To imbue students with an analytic, conceptual and empirical understanding of how Britain’s key governing and political institutions, and the relationships between them, have changed in the last 26 years, and the manner in which these changes have impacted upon the processes of policy-making.

• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the key changes in the operation and inter-connections of Britain’s political and governing institutions since 1979, and the ways in which government and governing have been superceded by governance..
• Critically evaluate the causes and dynamics of these changes.
• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the ways in which these changes have affected the ways in which policies are ‘made’.
• Critically evaluate the implications and consequences of these changes, in terms of the roles and relationships of Britain’s political and governing institutions and the transition to governance, and with read to the new dynamics of the public policy process.  

Teaching is by five seminars, each of three hours duration, and essay feedback; learning is via: seminar preparation and participation; essay preparation and writing; and involvement in the European Governance, Identity and Public Policy (EGIPP) research unit

2 hour written exam

The first seminar provides an historical overview of the traditional structure of, and relationships between, the key institutions of government and policy-making in Britain. It will critically evaluate the alleged or apparent deficiencies and problems attributed to this form of governing and policy-making, in order to provide the context of the post-1979 changes which are analysed in subsequent seminars. The second and third seminars examine the changes to the structure, operation and relationships between these institution and individuals, and the extent to which new conceptual tools have been deployed to comprehend and explain them (eg, from Cabinet vs Prime Minister/Ministers vs civil servants to ‘core executive studies’, from pressure group politics to ‘policy networks’, etc,). The fourth and fifth seminars will analyse the role of new(er) institutions and individuals who have either emerged anew, or become more active and apparently influential, in the last three decades, most notably, think tanks, special advisers, agencies (‘agencification’), regional institutions post-devolution, and the European Union ‘Europeanisation’), and who have thus been instrumental in heralding the transition from ‘government’ to ‘governance’. In each of these seminars, the consequent and concomitant impact of these changes on the policy process will be considered and exemplified.

Peter. Dorey, Policy Making in Britain, Sage, 2005.

Peter. Dorey (Ed) Developments in British Public Policy, Sage, 2005.

David Judge, Political Institutions in the United Kingdom, Oxford University Press, 2005.

J. Lee, George Jones and June Burnham, At the Centre of Whitehall: Advising the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Macmillan, 1998.

Michael Moran, ‘The Rise of the Regulatory State in Britain’, Parliamentary Affairs, 54:1, 2001.

Rod. Rhodes (Ed) Transforming British Government, Volume One: Changing Institutions, Palgrave, 2000.

Rod. Rhodes (Ed) Transforming British Government, Volume Two: Changing Roles ad Relationships, Palgrave,2000.

David Richards and Martin J. Smith, ‘How Departments Change: Windows of Opportunity and Critical Junctures in Three Departments’, Public Policy and Administration, 12.2, 1997.

David Richards and Martin J. Smith, Governance and Public Policy in the UK, Oxford University Press, 2002.

Martin J. Smith, The Core Executive in Britain, Macmillan, 1999.

Contemporary British History, 10.1 and 10.2, 1996 – special editions on the range and impact of think tanks in Britain