Reviews
| Date | 01 January 1939 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.1939.tb03026.x |
| Published date | 01 January 1939 |
Reviews
Parliamentary Government
Parliamentary Government
in
England.
(A
commentary.) By
HAROLD
J.
PROFESSOR
LASKI
is an enthusiast for
the
British Constitution-at
times to the point of rhapsody. He does not, however, regard all
its institutions as good and consistent
with
each other. The
House
of
Lords, for instance, he regards as
a
dangerous survival in
a
democratic age, finding support for this view in the conduct
of
that
assembly in relation to the
Irish
problem between
1912-14.
The
Irish
problem also serves to give point to his dislike
of
the class basis
of
army organisation and discipline. Nor is he quite happy regarding
the law courts, particularly on questions
of
property rights in relation
to
social services or trade union law. But the increasingly
demo-
cratic basis
of
thc House of Commons, the growth in its power,
the
contact of its members with their constituencies, its relations-through
the cabinet-with the administrative departments
on
the one
h3nd
and party management on the other, are greatly to his liking.
This encouraging backward prospect does not Iead Professor
Laski to a limitless confidence when he peers into the future. Nor
would it be accurate to say that he succumbs to the
“
guess an’ fear
”
attitude which is
so
widespread at present. He
is
assertive and
argumentative on the subject-finding
3
basis for pessimism in the
doctrine
of
the class war-which he believes is implicit in the Labour
Party programme and the Conservative opposition to it. This, he
argues, raises issues which are different in kind-and more compelling
in their emotional appeal-than any of those over which politicians
bickered with safety in the
past.
So
many unknown,
and at present unknowable, factors are involved in
any
forecast of
the future that it is possible neither to accept nor to reject Professor
Laski’s forebodings. One is reminded, however, that many class
war
believers fail to find the embodiment of their creed in the Labour
Party programme, and, on the other hand, many Labour
Party
supporters deny the unique significance
of
the class war. Other
.emotions, related
to
such
diverse ideals
as
national
fitness,
economic
62
LASKI.
Pp.
442.
(George
Allen
and
Unwin.)
12s.
6d.
net.
Here we enter the realm
of
mere opinion.
efficiency, technological advance and humanitarianism, contribute
support to many of the proposals found in the Labour Party pro-
grammes. Without some measure
of
these contributions, prophecy
of
unconstitutional resistance appears to be peculiarly dangerous.
The critical and argumentative passages in this book, however,
are not such as
to
invalidate the claim that Professor Laski is in
fact an enthusiast for the British Constitution. From
a
chapter
of
over
80
pages on the House of Commons the following is a fairly
typical passage and, in addition, is of special interest to readers
of
this journal
:
It brings
the work of the Dcpartrnents of State into the public view.
It
makes them realis; that they are functioning under
a
close public
scrutiny which will continuously test their efficiency and honesty.
It mitigates, even
if
it cannot wholly prevent, the danger that
bureaucratic habits
will
develop in the Civil Service, men who
have to answer day by day for their decisions will tend
so
to act
that they can give
a
good account of themselves.”
In the extraction and publication of information, in the ventilation
of
grievances; in the selection of responsible ministers; in the public
debate of events and in its control and support of administration
Professor Laski has nothing but good to say
of
the House of
Commons. The most significant reform proposed is the increased use
of committees-to advise, but not to control, Ministers
on
the
management
of
their Departments; to supervise
the
operations
of
Departments in the exercise of their powers to make rules having
the effect
of
laws: fact-finding committees, and committees for the
exploration
of
policies and
so
on.
Two most interesting features in the chapter on the Cabinet are
the description of
a
Prime Minister, and the analysis of the con-
sideration and co-ordination of policy and administration. In this
connection the
“
Cabinet Secretariat,” the
“
Committee on Civil
Research ”-instituted
1925,
the Economic Advisory Council--rqq
,
and Sir William Beveridge’s and
H.
D.
Henderson’s proposed
“
Economic General Staff
”
are each considered. Of the
“
Council
”
he says
:
“
It
.
.
.
was ill-conceived for the purposes
Mr.
MacDonald
had in view. It was futile to expect a large mixed body to arrive
at
agreed conclusions upon large general issues about the very
premises of which they were not agreed. It was a mistake,
further, to superimpose a general advisory body of this kind,
charged with no administrative responsibility for its findings, upon
“The process
of
questioning has important results.
63
Public
A
dm
in
is
tra
t
ion
a
Civil Service which was, in
a
number of departments, already
duplicating its
work.”
Of
the proposed Economic General
Staff:
“At the back of the idea
,
.
.
there are
, ,
.
first the assumption
that there exists a body of expert knowledge which ought
to
be made available for political use
.
. .
[But] the expert formula-
tion of social knowledge never takes
us
very far; its meaning is
learned far more from a quality
of
mind and heart that
I
can
only call wisdom than from the possession of expertise.’’
Having disposed of the Economic Council because it failed
to
recognise the substantial validity of administrative responsibility, and
of
the General Staff because of the doubtful validity of objective
economic truths, Professor Laski
is
left only with the Committee
of
Civil Research, and the possibilities of this experiment depend mainly
on accidental and fortuitous circumstances such as the special interest
of the Prime Minister.
In various forms, however, the problem
of
economic and social
planning keeps cropping up.
In
particular consideration of
“
time
”
appears to claim almost as much weight as
“
wisdom.”
It
appears
that the average time lag between the publication
of
a
Royal
Commission Report and the legislative enactment
of
its policy is
eighteen years. Then, again,
so
much time was lost between
1929
and
1931,
in drawing from the departments administratively sound
educational proposals for legislation that the opportunity for this
legislation was lost altogether.
As a solution of this problem Professor Laski suggests that when
a
new government comes into power-in particular when
a
Labour
Government comes into office-it should bring with it proposals in
an advanced stage of preparedness for legislative action. The risk
of
an administrative misfit arising from such a procedure is obvious
-but it appears the only alternative to a time lag
of
eighteen years
to give legislative effect to Royal Commission Reports and
two
years
to draft Labour Party Bills-it therefore holds the field.
On the other hand
it
may be that the solution
of
this problem
is
to be found in the structure
of
the Civil Service to which Professor
Laski devotes his next chapter. He is well satisfied with the service,
defends it from the accusations
of
lust for power and has some
interesting things to say about its recruitment and organisation.
At
a
recent London meeting
of
the Institute
of
Public Administration,
a highly placed civil servant complained of an academic lecturer
that he was far too sweet to be good for the Service. What the Civil
Service required from the student of its work was, above all, pene-
64
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