Library Portal | UWC Portal | National ETDs | Global ETDs
    • Login
    Contact Us | About Us | FAQs | Login
    View Item 
    •   ETD Home
    • Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences
    • Department of Political Studies
    • Magister Commercii - Mcom (Political Studies)
    • View Item
    •   ETD Home
    • Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences
    • Department of Political Studies
    • Magister Commercii - Mcom (Political Studies)
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    The higher civil service and bureaucracy: A comparative analysis of Great Britain and the' United States

    Thumbnail
    View/Open
    Thesis (5.497Mb)
    Date
    1994
    Author
    Madzivhandila, Lusani T
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Abstract
    This thesis is a comparative study of the higher civil service and bureaucracy of Great Britain and the United States. The study analyzes the political framework of the British and the United States systems of governance, examples of administrative reforms in the two systems, and the impact of education, socialization, recruitment, and civil servants as policy-makers. The methodology used in this study involves longitudinal as well as cross-national comparison. In dealing with differences between Great Britain and the United States, the study concentrates on the antecedent variables (constitution, political framework, cultural and administrative reform), intermediate variables (education, socialization and recruitment procedures), and the dependant variables (status of senior civil servants as policy- makers)In the first part of the study, the constitutional allocations of political power, history and the political system in which the higher civil service and bureaucracy operate are analyzed. The purpose here is to show that the bureaucracy and the civil service do not exist in a vacuum, they are influenced by constitutional, political and cultural constraints. The second part of the thesis deals with the education, socialization and the recruitment of the higher civil servants of Great Britain and the United States. This section points to the disproportionate representation of educated, high-status officials at the top of the political and administrative hierarchy of both countries. In Britain, however, there are social traditions built into the education system. The education and recruitment process concentrates on a general approach. In the United States, on the other hand, the specialist tradition dominates the civil service. Thus, United States higher civil servants are essentially specialists. The third part of the study analyzes the impact of education, socialization and recruitment processes on the role and performance of senior civil servants as policy-makers, in both societies. It is evident that civil servants are involved in the process of policy-making and, therefore, have a political role. This is due to the intricacies of bureaucracy and the fact that civil servants relative permanency, experience and expertise gives them a vast amount of knowledge that is relevant to policy-making. The conclusions suggest that the generalist approach applied in Great Britain hampers the capability of senior civil servants when it comes to negotiating with interest groups involved in policymaking. A specialist approach applied in the United Sates should be followed .
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/11394/7858
    Collections
    • Magister Commercii - Mcom (Political Studies)

    DSpace 6.3 | Ubuntu | Copyright © University of the Western Cape
    Contact Us | Send Feedback
    Theme by 
    @mire NV
     

     

    Browse

    All of RepositoryCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

    My Account

    Login

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics

    DSpace 6.3 | Ubuntu | Copyright © University of the Western Cape
    Contact Us | Send Feedback
    Theme by 
    @mire NV