The Northern Ireland Civil Service under Direct Rule and Devolution
| Date | 01 June 2003 |
| Author | Paul Carmichael,Robert Osborne |
| Published date | 01 June 2003 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0020852303069002006 |
| Subject Matter | Journal Article |
The Northern Ireland civil service under direct rule and
devolution
Paul Carmichael and Robert Osborne
Abstract
Although the United Kingdom is usually regarded as a unitary state in the mould of the
Westminster model, in reality, complete political integration and administrative
standardization have never existed. Recent political devolution consolidates an
increasingly diverse and asymmetrical pattern of territorial governance. Frequently,
however, notwithstanding some notable exceptions, this differentiation within the
UK’s governmental arrangements is overlooked in much of the literature. To help
correct this oversight, this article reports on the longstanding differences in the public
administration arrangements of one of the UK’s smaller component countries,
Northern Ireland. Specifically, the article focuses on the role of the Northern Ireland
Civil Service and charts some of the key characteristics and trends that have emerged
under both the period of Direct Rule from London (since the end of the Stormont
devolution in 1972) and in the newly-restored devolved settlement that was introduced
in 1999, following the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement.
Introduction
Complete political integration and administrative standardization have never
existed within the UK. Recent political devolution consolidates diversity. British
public administration has become messy; indeed, it is rapidly becoming a case of
all exceptions and few rules. However, such intra-UK differences are seldom
acknowledged. Most studies of British public administration have long held that
the UK is a unitary state whose governmental system is predicated on the
Westminster model, despite evidence that its increasingly variegated governance
renders such a model less useful. Insofar as it was ever justified to regard intra-
UK differences as aberrations from the (implicitly English) norm, recent constitu-
tional changes make it no longer credible to do so. In the UK’s smaller constituent
Paul Carmichael is Reader in Public Administration and Robert Osborne is Professor of
Applied Policy Studies, School of Policy Studies, University of Ulster Newtownabbey,
County Antrim, Northern Ireland, UK. This article is based on a presentation at the
Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management, Biennial
Conference, 7–11 September 2002, Glasgow. Part of the research in this article was under-
taken as part of a project sponsored by the British Economic and Social Research Council
(Award number R000237035) that examined the changing nature of civil services through-
out the British Isles since 1970. CDU: 35.08(415).
International Review of Administrative Sciences [0020–8523(200306)69:2]
Copyright © 2003 IIAS. SAGE Publications (London, Thousand Oaks, CA and New
Delhi), Vol.69 (2003), 205–217; 033527
02_IRAS69/2 articles 22/5/03 12:00 pm Page 205
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