Policy Without Politicians

Bureaucratic Influence in Comparative Perspective

Edward C Page

Offers fresh interpretation of bureaucratic systems in five separate countries and the EU
Offers a new perspective on bureaucratic policy-making and takes forward theoretical debates

Policy Without Politicians

Bureaucratic Influence in Comparative Perspective

Edward C Page

Description

Have bureaucrats taken over the decision making role of politicians? This book offers a direct assessment of the role of bureaucrats in policy making by analysing how they shape policy in making decrees - laws that generally do not pass through full legislative scrutiny. These are often described as "secondary legislation" and are known by a variety of names (including décrets, arrêtés, administrative regulations, Verordnungen, statutory instruments). Such decrees offer an important vantage point for understanding bureaucratic power not only because they account for a large proportion of policy making activity within the executive, but also because they are made largely away from the glare of publicity. If bureaucrats have strong policy making powers and use them in a way that minimises political involvement in policy making, we would expect to find these powers especially evident in this "everyday" decision making. The book is based on research examining 52 decrees produced between 2005 and 2008 in six jurisdictions: France, the UK, Germany, Sweden, the United States and the European Union. The comparative perspective allows one to see how far different patterns of bureaucratic involvement in policy making are characteristic of particular political systems and how far they are a general feature of modern bureaucracies. The book asks three main questions about how these decrees are produced: when do politicians become involved in making them? What happens when politicians become involved? And what happens when they are not involved? The answers to these questions are provided by examination of primary source material as well as interviews with over 90 officials.

Policy Without Politicians

Bureaucratic Influence in Comparative Perspective

Edward C Page

Preface and Acknowledgements
1: Silence, Conflict, and Bureaucratic Power
2: France: A Cross-Pressured Bureaucracy
Annex: Decrees Included in Chapter 2
3: Britain: Bureaucrats and Imaginary Ministers
Annex: Decrees Included in Chapter 3
4: Germany: Administration and Politics Revisited
Annex: Decrees Included in Chapter 4
5: Sweden: Political Direction and Decree Making
Annex: Decrees Included in Chapter 5
6: Political Leadership in US Bureaucracy
Annex: Decrees Included in Chapter 6
7: Regulated Bureaucratic Politics in the European Union
Annex: Decrees Included in Chapter 7
8: Bureaucrats, Politicians, Choice, and Motivation
References

Policy Without Politicians

Bureaucratic Influence in Comparative Perspective

Edward C Page

Author Information

Edward C Page, Sidney and Beatrice Webb Professor of Public Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science

Edward C. Page BA (CNAA) MSc PhD (Strathclyde) FBA was at the University of Hull prior to joinging the LSE. Recent books include Changing Government Relations in Europe (co-editor with M Goldsmith) Routledge,2010; From the Active to the Enabling State (co-editor with the late Vincent Wright) Palgrave 2006; Policy Bureaucracy: Government With a Cast of Thousands (with the late Bill Jenkins) Oxford University Press, 2005; Governing by Numbers: Delegated Legislation and Everyday Policy Making, Hart Publishing 2001. He has written many articles on comparative public policy and administration and British government. He has been Sidney and Beatrice Webb Professor of Public Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science since 2001.

Policy Without Politicians

Bureaucratic Influence in Comparative Perspective

Edward C Page

Reviews and Awards

"Policy Without Politicians provides intriguing insights into the everyday process of rule-making. These insights are highly relevant for those interested in policy production, as well as the relationship between politics and bureaucracy." - Ellen Mastenbroek, Public Administration