Abstract: In its numbers (over 600,000), in the closeness of association between senior Civil Servants and Ministers, in the extensive and important duties of the Civil Service, and in its permanence (for Governments change, but the Civil Service remains the same), there would seem to be strong reasons for believing that the influence of the Civil Service may be a powerful factor in the formation of Government policy. That Civil Servants are sheltered by anonymity does not make the situation any more reassuring. Nor does the fact that their numbers have increased by over half since pre-war days, partly because of the expansion of work of existing Government Departments, partly because of the creation of new Government Departments. The Ministries of Labour, Transport, Food, Supply, Civil Aviation, National Insurance, Defence, Fuel and Power, and Town and Country Planning, for instance, have all been set up since 1914. In the distant period of the eighteenth century it was considered sufficient at one period to have only two Secretaries of State. Now Government activity has developed so much that it is doubtful whether even the present large number of Government Departments is enough, and from time to time suggestions are made for Ministries of Fine Arts, of Sport, and of Justice.KeywordsCivil ServantGovernment DepartmentMinisterial ResponsibilityBRITISH GovernmentAdministrative DecisionThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
Publication Year: 1965
Publication Date: 1965-01-01
Language: en
Type: book-chapter
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 1
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