Civil Servants: An Inquiry into Britain's Ruling Class - Softcover

Kellner, Peter; Crowther-Hunt, Norman

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0708820425 ISBN 13: 9780708820421

Publisher: Futura Publications, 1981

Synopsis

Peter Kellner, political editor of the New Statesman, and Lord Crowther-Hunt, a member of the Fulton Committee of Inquiry into the civil service, have written a challenging ad wide-ranging book which gives the first full modern account of how Whitehall works. Britain’s top civil servants, they argue, are the real ruling class. Their power is substantial, and invariably deployed with skill and subtlety. And like ruling classes I the past, the Civil Service has constructed an elaborate system of defences to protect that power from erosion. In a modern society the bureaucracy inevitably wields considerable power. The important issues raised here by the authors concern what sorts of people wield this power, how they wield it, and whether they are subject to sufficient democratic control. The authors’ conclusions on these issues provide a disturbing insight into the hidden machinery of government controlled by Britain’s new ruling class.

Edition details

• Publisher: Futura Publications
• Publication date: 1981
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0708820425
• ISBN 13: 9780708820421
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352