The British Polity by Philip Norton

Author:Philip Norton [Norton, Philip]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Politics
ISBN: 9781317343516
Google: 4FyxAQAACAAJ
Amazon: B017O1LHQS
Goodreads: 30224515
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 1984-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

The Power Dependency Model

The power dependency model has been advanced by R. A. W. Rhodes.67 Though developed to cover principally center-local relations, it is relevant for the relationships between the different bodies of government at national level. It contends that any organization is dependent upon other organizations for resources and that in order to achieve their goals, organizations have to exchange resources. In short, no body can operate as an exclusive entity. It depends on others to achieve outcomes just as other bodies may have to rely on it to assist them to achieve what they want to achieve. The prime minister has his own resources but is dependent on senior ministers and on civil servants to get what he wants. Ministers have to acquire allies in cabinet committees to ensure that their proposals are accepted. Civil servants need ministers to win battles in cabinet and with the treasury. Though the prime minister and senior ministers may have formal powers, they need more than these powers to ensure they get the outcomes they desire. Indeed, this approach is not dissimilar to Richard Neustadt’s thesis of presidential power: For a president to get his way, he has to persuade others that what he wants is in their interests as well.68 Formal powers are but one of the weapons in the arsenal needed to achieve particular outcomes. Professional reputation and popular support are other important weapons.

The power dependency thesis offers a complex and less hierarchical model than that advanced by the presidential model. It suggests that prime minister, ministers, and civil servants have an interactive and mutually dependent relationship. That mutual dependence was well drawn out by Headey in his study of minister-civil servant relationships and has been reiterated in recent studies: “The centre,” wrote David Richards in 2007, “is … dependent on departments as much as departments are dependent on the centre, and ministers are dependent on civil servants as much as civil servants are dependent on ministers.”69 Even Tony Blair, said Richards, eventually “recognized the need to work with and not against this age-old institution [the civil service].”70

The model can be widened. Ministers may be dependent on outside bodies for assistance in achieving the implementation of policy decisions. Departments may be dependent on sectional interest groups for information, advice, and cooperation. Interest groups may be dependent on ministers making decisions favorable to their interests. Ministers may build a parliamentary support base in order to ease the passage of contentious measures. MPs may support a minister in order to build goodwill for when they need the minister to make a decision favorable to their constituencies.

This model is highly plausible. It views the government as a complex network rather than a set of fairly disparate and discrete entities. However, it is not immune from criticism. It does not necessarily help explain who is principally responsible for determining a particular outcome. Extensive empirical study is necessary to discover that. It does not help explain outcomes that result from unilateral actions of the prime

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