Politics, Policy Preferences and the Evolution of Irish Bureaucracy: A Framework for Analysis

Abstract

Analysis of the Irish state's administrative system is an unaccountably neglected area of systematic academic inquiry. This is all the more difficult to account for in view of the dynamic relationship between government actors and the public bureaucracy in realizing political goals. This paper identifies some distinguishing institutional features and dominant trends in Irish politico-administrative governance, and suggests avenues for future inquiry. The paper begins with an examination of the literature on administrative system change, with a focus on the New Public Management literature. Following this, the Irish case is profiled, identifying the evolution of ministerial departments and of state agencies by successive Irish governments, including patterns of agency creation and termination over time. Particular attention is given to the period 1989–2010, which has been one of quite rapid and complex organizational change within the state's bureaucratic apparatus.

Keywords:

• bureaucracy
• politics
• agencies
• administrative reform
• new public management

Notes

The number of portfolios has not always matched the number of ministerial positions, set at a maximum of 15 under the 1937 Constitution (Article 28.1). For example, in 1978 there were a total of 18 departments managed by a Cabinet of 15 Ministers.

In one of the few studies of organizational life cycles in public bureaucracies, Kaufman's (1976: 34–42) analysis of the survival rate of federal agencies in the USA between 1923 and 1973 uncovered the fact that while the number of agency creations increased over the period in question, the use of statutes for their creation became less frequent (Kaufman, 1976: 34–42).