Committees of Inquiry

1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-1-041-31432-5
Verlag: Taylor & Francis

Buch, Englisch, 232 Seiten, Format (B × H): 138 mm x 216 mm

Reihe: Routledge Revivals

The appointment of a committee of inquiry to examine a question of current political controversy is a common occurrence in Britain. Yet the committee of inquiry had received little attention from writers on public administration. Originally published in 1975, in this new study for the Royal Institute of Public Administration, Gerald Rhodes explores the nature and operation of such committees appointed during the ten-year period 1959–1968, and draws some general conclusions about their contribution to the development of public policy-making.

Committees of inquiry are called by a variety of names – royal commissions, departmental committees and, sometimes, working parties. They deal with a large range of subjects, some of great social and economic importance such as higher education and the major airports, and some of a more limited or technical nature such as the renumeration of milk producers or the technology of pressure vessels. Mr Rhodes discusses the problems of defining these wide-ranging bodies and examines the various purposes they serve. He also explores the differences in size and membership of committees and the influence these factors can have on their effectiveness. How committees of inquiry work may be analysed in terms of their sources of information or the way they view their tasks, and the book discusses the implications of these approaches.

Are committees of inquiry effective? Mr Rhodes looks at the consequences of committee reports and the means for assessing their success or failure. He also examines the role of such committees in the wider context of policy-making, and discusses whether they have a general purpose and value for democratic society beyond the more immediate and specific need for which they are usually created.

Zielgruppe

Adult education, General, and Postgraduate

Autoren/Hrsg.

Rhodes, Gerald

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Internationale Beziehungen Internationale Organisationen und Institutionen
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Studien zu einzelnen Ländern und Gebieten
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Systeme Verwaltungswissenschaft, Öffentliche Verwaltung

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface. 1. The Importance of Committees of Inquiry 2. Types of Committee 3. The Purposes which Committees Serve 4. Membership of Committees 5. Committees in Operation 6. Committee Reports and Their Consequences 7. Committees of Inquiry and the Policy-Making Process 8. The Role of Committees of Inquiry in British Government. Appendix: Committees of Inquiry 1959–1968. Index.

Über Autor(innen)

Gerald Rhodes was, after an early civil service career, a freelance researcher with the Royal Institute of Public Administration from 1961, with the London School of Economics and from 1980, with the Policy Studies Institute.