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BUREAUCRACY TRIUMPHANT OR DENIED? THE EXPANSION OF THE BRITISH CIVIL SERVICE, 1919–1939
Author(s) -
LOWE RODNEY
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
public administration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.313
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1467-9299
pISSN - 0033-3298
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9299.1984.tb00564.x
Subject(s) - bureaucracy , treasury , inefficiency , civil service , rationality , spanish civil war , public administration , christian ministry , power (physics) , government (linguistics) , service (business) , political science , law , economics , economic history , political economy , sociology , politics , economy , public service , market economy , physics , philosophy , linguistics , quantum mechanics
The power of central government in Britain increased significantly in the inter‐war period, but did Britain become bureaucratic? This article examines the expansion of the civil service as a whole through a detailed case study of one particular department (the Ministry of Labour) in the light of traditional critiques of bureaucracy. It concludes that previous over‐concentration on the role of the Treasury has distorted analysis. The inter‐war civil service became bureaucratic in terms not of rationality, inefficiency or power but only of size and increasing complexity. In this it reflected a general trend in British society, which also affected industry and the trade union movement.