Book Review: Public Policymaking for Local Government
| Author | Martin Minogue |
| Published date | 01 September 1988 |
| Date | 01 September 1988 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/014473948800800207 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
Teaching Public
Administration:
Autumn
1988
vol.
VIII
no.2
pp48-53
operation
now
that
some
services
have
been
privatised?
Has
privatisation
weakened
cooperation
between
the
security
services?
Are
such
widespread
provisions
still
made
for
opening
mail
and
tapping
telephones
and,
if
so,
who
controls
them?
Fourthly,
readers
of
the
book
may
wonder
why
anyone
outside
the
United
Kingdom
is
able
to
buy
it
and
read
details
of
the
British
security
services
whereas
the
book
is
still
not
on
sale
in
the
United
Kingdom. What
sort
of
democracy
operates
in
the
United
Kingdom
where
its
citizens
are
prevented
from
learning
what
is
being
done
in
their
name,
whilst
the
embarrassing
details
of
how
government
actually
works,
with
appalling
muddle
and
inefficiency
in
its
security
services,
are
widely
available
throughout
the
rest
of
the
world?
RICHARD
A
CHAPMAN
Department
or
Politics,
University
or Durham
Public
Po1icymaking
for
Local
Government
J A
CHANDLER
(Croom Helm,
1988,
pp.202,
£25
h\b,
£9.95
p\b)
This
is
the
first
volume
in
the
new
Croom Helm
Studies
in
Public
Policymaking,
the
primary
emphasis
of
which,
according
to
series
editor
Richard
Chapman,
will
be
on
'explaining
how
public
policies
are
made'
rather
than
their
evaluation.
The
format
requires
contributors
to
describe
institutions,
examine
po1icymaking
processes,
and
illustrate
the
interaction
of
institutions
and
processes
through
specific
case
studies.
Chandler
meets
these
criteria
faithfully,
in
a
refreshingly
clear
style.
His
title
is
carefully
phrased,
because
his
subject
is
central
policies
towards
the
national
local
government
system
rather
than
policy
processes
within
local
government.
Chapters
2
to
5
sketch
out
the
institutional
map:
the
growth
of
the
system"
central-local
relationships,
parliamentary
and
party
mechanisms,
and
non-
governmental
associations.
Chapters
6
to
9
deal
with
the
policy
'system';
Chapter
7 on
the
legislative
process,
and
Chapter
8
on
methods
of
financial
decisionmaking
and
control,
give
admirably
concise
accounts
which
wi
11
be
welcomed by
students;
and
this
section
ends
with
an
analysis
of
implementation
issues.
The
author
then
seeks
to
illustrate
his
earlier
themes
in
studies
which
compare
the
processes
by
which
the
GLC
and
the
metropolitan
counties
were
first
created,
and
ultimately
destroyed.
The
strength
of
Chandler's
survey
resides
in
the
scrupulous
care
with
which
he
sets
out
the
irreducible
body
of
information
which
students
must
have
as
a
foundation
for
understanding
the
underlying
dynamics
of
the
local
49
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