The Generalist in Public Administration

In earlier chapters, the present structure of the British civil service and its relationship to the political system have been described. We started by looking at the changing task of public administration, and saw that the essential problem was one of meeting incompatible demands. The administrative structure and individual public servants have to serve different purposes at the same time. It is partly a clash of goals - the expansion of health services and of road building programmes somehow have to be reconciled with one another and with the overall economy goal. But it is also a clash of operating modes - different parts of the total job demand different standards of relevance and a different administrative approach. The qualities needed to streamline a school building programme are not those needed to negotiate an incomes policy nor to help a Minister deal with criticism in Parliament. There is a tension between a Minister’s need for loyal servants and the need for those concerned with a developing service to take forceful initiatives; between meticulous attention to detail and the courage to take entrepreneurial risks; between central co-ordination and flexible, speedy decisionmaking.