Modes of Politicization in the Irish Civil Service: Ministers and the Politico-Administrative Relationship in Ireland

156 Pages·2016·2.388 MB·English

by  Aodhán Mac Cormaic (auth.)

MODES OF
POLITICIZATION IN
THE IRISH
CIVIL SERVICE
Ministers and the
Politico-Administrative
Relationship in Ireland
Aodhán Mac Cormaic
Modes of Politicization in the Irish Civil Service

Aodhán   Mac Cormaic
Modes of
Politicization in the
Irish Civil Service
Ministers and the Politico-Administrative
Relationship in Ireland
Aodhán   Mac Cormaic
Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht
Galway, Ireland
ISBN 978-3-319-33281-9 ISBN 978-3-319-33282-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-33282-6
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016948835
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To Alice and Aidan, who started me off,
and
to Bridie and Aoife, who kept me going.

A
CKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book is based on the results of research carried out by the author at
Queen’s University Belfast, in conjunction with the Institute of Public
Administration, Dublin. This was challenging at times, and the help,
understanding and patience of many was required in order to achieve suc-
cess. Chief among those I wish to thank are my wife, Bridie, and my daugh-
ter, Aoife, for their patience when they wanted to go places but when I
had to stay at home, and in Bridie’s case, for all her practical assistance and
support over four long but enlightening years. Thank you to Muiris M ac
Carthaigh of Queen’s University, an expert in his fi eld who gave freely of
his advice, and to Denise Toner, also of Queen’s, for her constant support
on the administration front. To my employers, the Department of Arts,
Heritage and the Gaeltacht, and, in particular, to my colleague, Séamus
Mac Giolla Chomhaill, I am indebted for their moral and fi nancial sup-
port. I am also indebted to those retired Ministers and Secretaries General
of Government departments who gave freely of their time and spoke so
frankly about their experiences in public service in Ireland. Last but not
least, I wish to thank all my classmates at Queen’s but in particular, Dr.
Timmy Frawley and Dr. Seán Redmond, for their camaraderie and for the
lighter moments during our visits to Belfast.
vii

C
ONTENTS
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 The Research Question 3
References 5
2 Interviewing Elites: Key Questions for Research Design 7
2.1 Introduction 7
2.2 A Positivist or Interpretivist Approach? 8
2.3 The Importance of Values 1 1
2.4 Threats to Validity 1 2
2.5 Sample Selection and the Interview Process: The Challenges 1 2
2.6 Data Quality: Countering the Threats 1 4
2.7 Conclusion 1 5
References 16
3 Theoretical Perspectives and Politicization in Other
Jurisdictions 17
3.1 Introduction 1 7
3.2 Defi ning Politicization 1 8
3.3 Political Systems 2 2
3.3.1 T he Westminster Model 23
3.4 Theoretical Approaches to the Politico-A dministrative
Relationship 2 5
ix