The British Bureaucracy and the Origins of Parliamentary Policy, I

Charles Aikin

American Political Science Review, 1939, vol. 33, issue 1, 26-46

Abstract: This is a study of the factors that are at work in the determination of British legislative policy. With a tendency to generalize and over-simplify, various authorities have located this function in Parliament, in the cabinet, or in the civil service. Occasionally, mention is made also of the influence of the king or of pressure groups. Each authority is able to cite examples in support of his views, at least when his views have been challenged and mere assertions fail to satisfy. As a matter of law, it is easy to determine where the function lies; but the British constitution has never found in law the measure of its reality.Contemptuous critics of democracy have been no less confused in properly locating this function than have been many of its supporters. Some defenders of the “democratic process” see the parliamentarian as one who translates the will of the electorate into public policy; and they see Parliament in turn delegating to technicians the duty of preparing the detailed rules that will effectuate that policy.

Date: 1939
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