Observing government elites : up close and personal / edited by R. A. W. Rhodes, Paul 't Hart and Mirko Noordegraaf.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Rhodes, R. A. W.

Hart, Paul 't.

Noordegraaf, Mirko.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Politicians.

Public officers.

Public officers--Research.

Public administration.

Research.

Physical Description:

ix, 245 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Basingstoke [England] ; New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.

Summary:

Why study government elites? Because the decisions of the great and the good affect all our lives for good or ill. We want to know what ministers, bureaucrats and managers do, why, how, and with what consequences. In other words, we are interested in their reasons, their actions and the effects of both. To understand their reasons we need a political anthropology of government elites.

Observing Government Elites studies top-level political office-holders, civil servants and public managers in different countries and the European Union. It describes their world through their eyes, focusing on beliefs and everyday practices. It analyses how such practices are embedded in political-administrative traditions; in webs of institutional rules, routines, rituals, and relations. It explores how their beliefs, practices and traditions create meaning in politics, policy making and public service delivery and it reflects critically on how to do this kind of fieldwork; on being up close and personal. By being there and getting up close to elites in ways that social scientists hardly ever do, the authors provide unique insights into the everyday life of ministers and senior public servants.

Contents:

1 Being There / R. A. W. Rhodes, Paul 't Hart, Mirko Noordegraaf 1

Part I Observing at Home: National and Local Elites

2 The Everyday Life of a Minister: a Confessional and Impressionist Tale / R. A. W. Rhodes 21

3 Spies at the Crossroads: Observing Change in the Dutch Intelligence Service / Paul 't Hart 51

4 Men at Work: How Public Policy Managers Cope / Mirko Noordegraaf 78

5 Governing Karlstad: an Insider's Story / P. O. Norell 103

Part II Observing Across Borders: Eurocratic Elites

6 Dutch Eurocrats at Work: Getting Things Done in Europe / Karin Geuijen, Paul 't Hart, Kutsal Yesilkagit 131

7 The EU's Nomads: National Eurocrats in European Policy-Making / Renita Thedvall 160

8 European Integration in Anthropological Perspective: Studying the 'Culture' of the EU Civil Service / Cris Shore 180

9 So What? The Benefits and Pitfalls of Being There / R. A. W. Rhodes, Paul 't Hart, Mirko Noordegraaf 206.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0230008402

9780230008403

OCLC:

124950445