Beyond Westminster and Whitehall
| Author | Arthur Midwinter |
| Published date | 01 July 1988 |
| Date | 01 July 1988 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/095207678800300308 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Review:
Arthur
Midwinter,
Department
of
Politics,
University
of
Strathclyde.
Beyond
Westminster
and
Whitehall
R.
A.
W
Rhodes
(1987)
(Unwin
Hyman)
For
a
decade
now,
Rod
Rhodes
has
been
writing
about
central-local
relations.
His
latest
endeavour
is
his
most
ambitious
work
to
date,
though
it
builds
solidly
on
his
previous
output.
It
is
ambitious
in
the
sense
that
he
attempts
to
move
his
analysis
beyond
the
exploration
of
centre-locality
linkages
to
encompass
the
whole
sweep
of
Sub-Central
Government
including
quangos
and
the
health
service,
and
to
the
explanation
of
who
gets
what
public
services,
when,
and
how?
The
structure
of
the
book
is
straight
forward,
with
major
chapters
on
theory,
structure,
process
and
outcomes.
Chapter
one
finds
the
author
doing
what
he
does
best,
critically
reviewing
theoretical
developments,
and
justifying
his
own
choice
of
a
neo-pluralist
intergovernmental
relations
model.
In
so
doing,
he
responds
robustly
to
criticisms
of
his
original
'power-dependence'
framework
(Rhodes
1981),
but
incorporates
some
of
these
into
a
theoretical
reconstruction.
In
particu-
lar,
he
recognises
the
failure
of
the
model
to
distinguish
between
levels
of
analysis,
and
a
number
of
other
weaknesses,
namely:
At
the
micro-level,
the
model
does
not
present
an
adequate
account
of
inter-organisational
political
processes
and
of
ways
in
which
they
are
related
to
inter-organisational
processes.
-
The
conception
of
the
role
of
central
government
does
not
reflect
the
centre's
hegemonic
or
structural
power.
-
At
the
micro-level,
the
explanation
of
the
changing
role
of
govern-
ment
was
implicit
and
ambiguous.
The
model
lacked
a
historical
dimension.
The
model
failed
to
explain
variations
between
policy
areas.
-The
model,
although
it
employed
a
broad
definition
of
intergovern-
mental
relations,
paid
limited
attention
to
territorial
representations.
(pp.
44-45)
Public
Policy
and
Administration
Volume
3
No.
3
Winter
1988
43
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