{"product_id":"everyday-life-in-british-government-9780199601141","title":"Everyday Life in British Government","description":"As citizens, why do we care about the everyday life of ministers and civil servants? We care because the decisions of the great and the good affect all our lives, for good or ill. For all their personal, political, and policy failings and foibles, they make a difference. So, we want to know what ministers and bureaucrats do, why, and how. We are interested in their beliefs and practices. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eEveryday Life in British Government, \u003c\/em\u003e a fascinating, new piece of political anthropology, R.A.W. Rhodes uncovers exactly how the British political elite thinks and acts. Drawing on unprecedented access to ministers and senior civil servants in three government departments, he answers a simple question: 'what do they do?' On the basis of extensive fieldwork, supplemented by revealing interviews, Rhodes tries to capture the essence of their everyday life, describes the ministers' and permanent secretaries' world through their own eyes, and explores how their beliefs and practices serve to create meaning in politics, policy making, and public-service delivery. \u003cem\u003eEveryday Life in British Government\u003c\/em\u003e goes on to analyze how such beliefs and practices are embedded in traditions; in webs of protocols, rituals, and languages. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe story Rhodes has to tell is dramatized through in-depth accounts of specific events to show ministers and civil servants 'in action'. He challenges the conventional constitutional, institutional, and managerial views of British governance. Instead, he describes a storytelling political-administrative elite, with beliefs and practices rooted in the Westminster model, which uses protocols and rituals to domesticate rude surprises and cope with recurrent dilemmas.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e R. a. W. Rhodes\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Oxford University Press, USA\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/19\/2011\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 349\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.55lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.30h x 6.30w x 1.20d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780199601141\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 02\/01\/2012\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eR.A.W. Rhodes\u003c\/strong\u003e is is Professor of Government in the School of Government at the University of Tasmania and Professor Emeritus of Politics at the University of Newcastle. In addition, he is treasurer of the Australasian Political Studies Association, life Vice-President of the Political Studies Association of the United Kingdom, a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in both Australia and Britain, and editor of \u003cem\u003ePublic Administration, \u003c\/em\u003e 1986-2011. He was the Director of the UK Economic and Social Research Council's 'Whitehall Programme' (1994-1999); and of the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University (2007-8). He is the author or editor of some 30 books including: \u003cem\u003eThe State as Cultural Practice\u003c\/em\u003e (joint author, OUP 2010); \u003cem\u003eComparing Westminster\u003c\/em\u003e (joint author, OUP 2009); \u003cem\u003eObserving Government Elites\u003c\/em\u003e (joint editor); \u003cem\u003eThe Oxford Handbook of Political\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cem\u003eInstitutions\u003c\/em\u003e (joint editor, OUP 2006), and \u003cem\u003eGovernance Stories\u003c\/em\u003e (joint author).\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThis title is not returnable\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Oxford University Press, USA","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":39934235836531,"sku":"9.78E+12","price":63.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0555\/9255\/0515\/products\/img_8b41108e-d530-43f1-9ce6-452f034a5968.jpg?v=1647878390","url":"https:\/\/bookstorenmore.com\/products\/everyday-life-in-british-government-9780199601141","provider":"Bookstore N More","version":"1.0","type":"link"}