Steering the Ship of State: One Tiller but Two Pairs of Hands
- 1 October 1987
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in British Journal of Political Science
- Vol. 17 (4), 409-433
- https://doi.org/10.1017/s0007123400004853
Abstract
Policy-making reflects the combined activity of both politicians and higher civil servants; both have their hands on the tiller of the ship of state. But they approach problems of governing from different perspectives – partisan or bureaucratic – and each has a different contribution to make. This article considers six models of the relationship, varying according to inputs of political will and the probability of programmes achieving success. They are: willpower dominates; perfectly informed trade-offs; everything is uncertain; everything is predetermined; capture by civil servants; and policies dominate. The analysis emphasizes that there is a greater need for changes in the knowledge and behaviour of politicians in office than for further reform of the civil service.Keywords
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