Washington, Westminster and Whitehall

Walter Williams draws on his extensive American experience of central government management and analysis to recommend critical structure changes in the organisation of government in Britain.

Walter Williams (Author)

9780521127141, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 3 December 2009

248 pages
21.6 x 14 x 1.4 cm, 0.32 kg

In an important and provocative contribution to the debate on 'the British disease' in the 1980s, Walter Williams draws on his extensive American experience of central government management and analysis to recommend critical structure changes in the organisation of government in Britain. In this book, first published in 1988, Williams sees such radical upheaval as the only solution to her besetting economic and social problems, and calls for two interlocking revolutions - one in the structure of central government in Britain, and the other in the critical economic institutions of the nation. The latter can only succeed if the former has occurred, and Professor Williams focuses sharply on the managerial and analytic changes necessary. He argues that only with wholesale modernisation can any government, of whatever political hue, provide the institutional capacity to cope with the problems of a nation in deep social and economic decline. Written in a lucid and highly accessible style, Washington, Westminster and Whitehall is likely to provide a compelling text for anyone interested in the nature and development of government in Britain.

Preface
Introduction
1. The governance problem in broad perspective
2. An American's view of British government
3. Expert information and analysis
4. Top leadership
5. Public management
6. The analytic perspective
7. Modernising the parliament and the center
8. Modernising the ministries
9. Breaking the pattern
Notes
Index.

Subject Areas: Political economy [KCP]