Eight Policy analysis in the civil service
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Richard Boyle
Abstract
One of the core roles of the civil service is to advise ministers and the government of the day on policy. Policy analysis – developing and testing ideas about policy proposals – is central to this role. In interpreting this policy advice role, the civil servant is operating at the interface of political and administrative systems. The traditional doctrine of ministerial responsibility, set out in the Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924, holds the minister to be the ‘corporation sole’, so she or he is legally responsible for every action of the department. In practice, of course, this is a fiction. Murray (1990, p 70) outlines the traditional view of many civil servants on this issue:
In our system of parliamentary democracy I see the responsibility for policies lying primarily with ministers, not alone in a formal, legal sense, but also in a practical sense. Civil servants, however, have their own responsibilities. They cannot adopt a passive role, content to operate existing policies without regard to their continuing validity or relevance, refusing to consider whether changes are required by changing circumstances. They have a responsibility to advise ministers on the need for change and to press this advice as forcefully as they can.
Within the constitutional and legal requirement of governmental-ministerial accountability with the minister as corporation sole, the Public Service Management Act 1997 introduced a new management structure to the civil service. As MacCarthaigh (2008, p 81) notes:
In relation to the policy-administration divide, the Act specifies that the responsibility for policy objectives and agreeing necessary results lies with ministers, while secretaries general advise ministers and ensure their department produces the necessary results…. The managerial role of secretaries general is much more explicit as a result of the Act.
Abstract
One of the core roles of the civil service is to advise ministers and the government of the day on policy. Policy analysis – developing and testing ideas about policy proposals – is central to this role. In interpreting this policy advice role, the civil servant is operating at the interface of political and administrative systems. The traditional doctrine of ministerial responsibility, set out in the Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924, holds the minister to be the ‘corporation sole’, so she or he is legally responsible for every action of the department. In practice, of course, this is a fiction. Murray (1990, p 70) outlines the traditional view of many civil servants on this issue:
In our system of parliamentary democracy I see the responsibility for policies lying primarily with ministers, not alone in a formal, legal sense, but also in a practical sense. Civil servants, however, have their own responsibilities. They cannot adopt a passive role, content to operate existing policies without regard to their continuing validity or relevance, refusing to consider whether changes are required by changing circumstances. They have a responsibility to advise ministers on the need for change and to press this advice as forcefully as they can.
Within the constitutional and legal requirement of governmental-ministerial accountability with the minister as corporation sole, the Public Service Management Act 1997 introduced a new management structure to the civil service. As MacCarthaigh (2008, p 81) notes:
In relation to the policy-administration divide, the Act specifies that the responsibility for policy objectives and agreeing necessary results lies with ministers, while secretaries general advise ministers and ensure their department produces the necessary results…. The managerial role of secretaries general is much more explicit as a result of the Act.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- List of figures, tables and boxes vii
- List of abbreviations viii
- Notes on contributors xi
- Editors’ introduction to the seriesr xv
- Acknowledgements xvii
- Foreword xix
- Preface xxiii
- Contextualising policy analysis in Ireland 1
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History, styles and methods of policy analysis in Ireland
- The evolution of economic policy analysis in Ireland 19
- The evolution of social policy analysis in Ireland: from a theocentric to an econocentric paradigm? 33
- The changing policy analysis capacity of the Irish state 47
- Introducing evidence into policy making in Ireland 63
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Policy analysis at various levels of government: from local to the EU
- Ireland’s ‘unique blend’: local government and policy analysis 79
- Committees and the legislature 93
- Policy analysis in the civil service 107
- Europeanised policy making in Ireland 123
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Think tanks, interest groups, political parties and gender-based policy analysis
- The social partners and the NESC: from tripartite dialogue via common knowledge events to network knowledge 141
- Thinks tanks and their role in policy making in Ireland 157
- Civil society organizations and policy analysis 171
- Political parties and the policy process 187
- Gender expertise and policy analysis 203
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The public, science and the media: the wider policy analysis environment in Ireland
- Democratic innovations and policy analysis: climate policy and Ireland’s Citizens’ Assembly (2016–18) 219
- Irish science policy: a case study in evidence-based policy design for small open economies 235
- Media discourses on the economy in Ireland: framing the policy possibilities 249
- Index 263
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- List of figures, tables and boxes vii
- List of abbreviations viii
- Notes on contributors xi
- Editors’ introduction to the seriesr xv
- Acknowledgements xvii
- Foreword xix
- Preface xxiii
- Contextualising policy analysis in Ireland 1
-
History, styles and methods of policy analysis in Ireland
- The evolution of economic policy analysis in Ireland 19
- The evolution of social policy analysis in Ireland: from a theocentric to an econocentric paradigm? 33
- The changing policy analysis capacity of the Irish state 47
- Introducing evidence into policy making in Ireland 63
-
Policy analysis at various levels of government: from local to the EU
- Ireland’s ‘unique blend’: local government and policy analysis 79
- Committees and the legislature 93
- Policy analysis in the civil service 107
- Europeanised policy making in Ireland 123
-
Think tanks, interest groups, political parties and gender-based policy analysis
- The social partners and the NESC: from tripartite dialogue via common knowledge events to network knowledge 141
- Thinks tanks and their role in policy making in Ireland 157
- Civil society organizations and policy analysis 171
- Political parties and the policy process 187
- Gender expertise and policy analysis 203
-
The public, science and the media: the wider policy analysis environment in Ireland
- Democratic innovations and policy analysis: climate policy and Ireland’s Citizens’ Assembly (2016–18) 219
- Irish science policy: a case study in evidence-based policy design for small open economies 235
- Media discourses on the economy in Ireland: framing the policy possibilities 249
- Index 263
