Posted by Richard D North under Dare to be dull / The Political Class on 17 July 2011. No comments.
Invented in their modern form in 1979, House of Commons Select Committees were designed to increase Parliament’s scrutiny of the Government of the day, and to do it by “marking” the departments (the ministries) through which it works. That approach has widened a lot, and in the case of bankers, the police and media tycoons, has maybe gone too far…. More »
Posted by Richard D North under Dare to be dull / Post-Bureaucratic world on 5 April 2011. No comments.
After a year in power, Cameron is now governing like Tony Blair. That’s to say, his use of the levers of power is increasingly bunkered in Number 1o, with message control and management of ministers and Whitehall by party trusties. Here’s an assessment of how it happened. More »
Posted by Richard D North under 'Power To The People!' / Dare to be dull / The Initiative Blizzard on 10 August 2010. No comments.
David Cameron and his Con-Lib coalition have mostly impressed people interested in Britain’s governance as well as its politics. I am not quite so sure, yet… More »
Posted by Richard D North under 'Power To The People!' / Dare to be dull / The Political Class on 23 May 2010. No comments.
Nick Clegg’s constitutional reforms may be worthwhile. But the big shift to good government depends on MPs getting a bit bolder and braver. More »
Posted by Richard D North under Post-Bureaucratic world / The Political Class on 1 March 2010. No comments.
Michael Cockerell’s BBC TV shows on the three Great Offices of State are a sad and not very useful commentary on the state of national debate. Here’s a proposal. More »
Posted by Richard D North under 'Power To The People!' / Dare to be dull / The Archipelago State on 10 February 2010. No comments.
Looking at the work of the Institute for Government makes me all the more interested in describing some radical changes in the way the Civil Service operates. Here goes… More »
Posted by Richard D North under 'Power To The People!' / Presentation or policy? on 18 November 2009. No comments.
For hundreds of years, the british have accepted some very odd fictions as being valuable to good government. As these tumble – or shake a bit – one wonders if we are being as clear-eyed as we think. More »
Posted by Richard D North under Dare to be dull / Post-Bureaucratic world on 5 November 2009. No comments.
Making government better by making it businesslike has a certain appeal. The trick is not to confuse policy with delivery. More »
Posted by Richard D North under Dare to be dull / Post-Bureaucratic world on 7 September 2009. No comments.
There is fresh and useful interest in improving the way a Prime Minister should engage with the Cabinet, and through the Cabinet with the Civil Service. By the way, hardly anyone is being too nostalgic for an imagined golden yesteryear. Here are some of the signs. More »
Posted by Richard D North under 'Power To The People!' / Dare to be dull / Death of ideology / Post-Bureaucratic world on 6 June 2009. No comments.
Here’s a quick guide to Parliamentary Reform
It’s in two parts (after v brief remarks by MBG editor):
(1) Current proposals for the reform of Parliament
(2) Some shakers and movers on the reform of Parliament
