Britain and the E.M.S.: An Appraisal of the Report of the Treasury and Civil Service Committee

Scott, Andrew

doi:10.1111/j.1468-5965.1986.tb00093.x

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 14 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…However, an earlier example of Whitehall attempting to depoliticise policy decisions by imposing binding rules on its freedom of action can be seen in the acceptance of membership of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM). It was hoped that by ‘tying’ the operation of monetary policy to this semi-fixed exchange rate system, ministers could discipline public expectations and contain the (inflationary) demands of societal groups (see for example, Scott 1986; Balls 1992; Masson 1995; Bonefeld and Burnham 1996; Thompson 1996; Stephens 1996; Giavazzi and Pagano 1988; Woolley 1992; Walsh 1994). Indeed, it might be suggested that this third aim is the most significant for Burnham because the phrase ‘rule-based’ is included in the formal title of this depoliticisation typology (Burnham 2001, 131, 142–144).…”

Section: Introduction: Depoliticisation In British Politicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Domestic Origins of Depoliticisation in the Area of British Economic Policy

Buller¹,

Flinders²

2005

The British Journal of Politics and International Relations

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article seeks to build on Peter Burnham's analysis of New Labour's depoliticisation statecraft as set out in an earlier volume of this journal. While Burnham provides a convincing account of how this new governing strategy differed from earlier 'politicised' methods of governance, we know less about why such change took place. Burnham makes a start by suggesting that developments in the international financial system go some way to explaining this shift. The main argument of this article is that this account of change needs to be supplemented by a focus on domestic factors. It is asserted below that politicised strategies failed in part because state managers governed within a strategically selective context which penalised the deployment of more activist and discretionary policy instruments in industrial affairs. Instead, this context was more favourable to the depoliticisation techniques which have emerged in the 1980s and the 1990s.

show abstract