The fragmentation of public administration: Differentiated and decentered governance in the (dis)United Kingdom
| Published date | 01 March 2022 |
| Author | Ian C. Elliott,Karin A. Bottom,Paul Carmichael,Joyce Liddle,Steve Martin,Robert Pyper |
| Date | 01 March 2022 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/padm.12803 |
SPECIAL ISSUE ARTICLE
The fragmentation of public administration:
Differentiated and decentered governance in the
(dis)United Kingdom
Ian C. Elliott
1
| Karin A. Bottom
2
| Paul Carmichael
3
|
Joyce Liddle
1
| Steve Martin
4
| Robert Pyper
5
1
Newcastle Business School, Northumbria
University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
2
Institute of Local Government Studies
(INLOGOV), University of Birmingham,
Birmingham, UK
3
Faculty of Arts, Humanities & Social
Sciences, Ulster University, Belfast, UK
4
Wales Centre for Public Policy, Cardiff
University, Cardiff, UK
5
School of Education and Social Science,
University of the West of Scotland,
Glasgow, UK
Correspondence
Ian C. Elliott, Newcastle Business School,
Northumbria University, City Campus East,
Falconar Street, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2
1UY, UK.
Email: ian.elliott@northumbria.ac.uk
Abstract
This paper analyzes a UK polity that is characterized by
fragmentation, differentiation, and decentered governance
which is evident at multiple layers of public policy and
administration. The development of devolved govern-
ments as well as ongoing debates around regional and
local governance have created increasingly fragmented
places. The intensification of policies associated with the
new public management has fragmented the provision of
public services. And the absence of a common approach to
professional development has led to growing fragmenta-
tion of public service workers from different professions
and sectors. We argue that these trends reflect many of
the aspects of an advanced or late-stage new public gover-
nance. This is ripe territory for further research and dem-
onstrates that UK public administration continues to have
much to offer to international scholars. It also raises
important questions about what forms of public adminis-
tration might emerge next.
1|INTRODUCTION
Once regarded as a model of stability, the United Kingdom has become increasingly fragmented in ways that are
reflected in both the academic discipline and practice of public administration. The old verities redolent of “tradi-
tional public administration”have crumbled, as successive paradigms, including those of the new public management
(NPM) and new public governance (NPG), have challenged longstanding assumptions about the UK state, and
Received: 8 October 2021 Revised: 12 November 2021 Accepted: 14 November 2021
DOI: 10.1111/padm.12803
98 © 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Public Admin. 2022;100:98–115.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/padm
introduced a new fluidity and flexibility to academic discourse as it grapples with the conceptualization of public
administration in what is arguably now one of the most complex polities in the western world.
Traditional approaches to public administration have been upended by the shifting politics of the
United Kingdom, variegated arrangements for territorial governance, a reconfiguration of public service provision,
and the destabilizing of established professional norms and practices. The centrality of Westminster has been chal-
lenged by the introduction of devolved government. The traditional left–right spectrum has become blurred, dis-
torted, and perhaps even transcended by devolution and the effects of austerity, Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic.
The dominance of the two major UK-wide political parties was challenged in England by the emergence of the Brexit
supporting UK Independence Party, which took votes from both Labor and the Conservatives. Meanwhile different
parties have been dominant in each of the three devolved nations. There are signs of growing policy divergence
across the United Kingdom and the pandemic raised the profile of political leaders in Scotland, Wales, Northern
Ireland, and English regions increasing public awareness of their ability to pursue distinctive policy agendas. Service
delivery has become more diverse and fragmented, with a dispersal of responsibilities for their provision to a com-
plex mosaic of public, private, and voluntary/community agencies. Reflecting and reinforcing these powerful centrif-
ugal forces, the corpus of public-sector professionals has itself been subject to fragmentation, particularly in respect
of recruitment, pay, conditions, training, and career development.
As Public Administration: An International Quarterly, a journal that originated in the United Kingdom, celebrates
its centenary it seems an appropriate juncture to take stock of recent developments in UK public administration the-
ory and practice. This article traces key trends and examines their implications for public administration scholarship
and practice. The first section briefly analyzes the historical significance of public administration and its study in the
United Kingdom. The paper then describes and seeks to account for the increasing fragmentation of the governance
of places, for public service provision and for the profession of public administration. Finally, it considers the signifi-
cance of this complex, contested, and constantly evolving picture for research, both in terms of the likely future
direction of UK public administration and the insights that it might contribute to advancing theory which has rele-
vance beyond the United Kingdom.
2|THE SIGNIFICANCE OF UK PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Historically, UK public administration has enjoyed a privileged position. Its relationship to imperialism and the legacy
of colonialism is, of course, highly problematic, but its influence is undeniable. The principles underpinning the UK
approach to public administration were exported across its Empire (Abernathy, 2000; De Gruchy, 2010) and still
influence many postindependence states. The term “civil service”originates from the East India Company and much
of contemporary professional public administration (including the organizational and institutional arrangements for
public service delivery and the management and leadership of public-sector bodies) can be traced back to the
Northcote-Trevelyan report of 1854 (O'Toole, 2006). Since the demise of the British Empire, the United Kingdom's
influence globally has been largely exercised through “soft power.”Though Brexit renders its future role uncertain
(Gifkins et al., 2019), the United Kingdom made significant contributions as a postimperialist state in the second half
of the twentieth century as a founding signatory of the European Convention on Human Rights (1950)
(Simpson, 2004), a permanent member of the UN Security Council, and through its membership of NATO, theCoun-
cil of Europe, the Commonwealth, the G7/G10/G20/D10 and, from 1973 to 2020, the European Union.
It has frequently been at the forefront of public administration innovations and offshoots, including the NPM
and NPG subparadigms, that have been transported around the globe by the IMF and World Bank, as well as aca-
demics and management consultants (Pollitt, 2013). This enabled Anglo-American theories and practices of public
administration to establish a global hegemony (Gulrajani & Moloney, 2012) and gave UK scholars a box seat from
which to observe and contribute to many of the key developments in the discipline. They also benefitted from the
United Kingdom's heritage of learned societies (notably the Royal Institute for Public Administration and Public
ELLIOTT ET AL.99
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