The Public Service Ethos in the British Civil Service: An Historical Institutional Analysis

Abstract

This articler traces the origins, development and decline of the public service ethos in the British civil service and the extent to which it has been supplanted by a new set of values, beliefs and institutional relationships since the 1980s. The modem civil service dates from the mid-nineteenth century and has evolved to meet the changing needs ofthe state as it has movedfrom a regulatory to a social service to a welfare state and now to an enabling state over the last 150 years. Some periods were significant for step changes in the structure and role of the service but these have been interspersed with longer periods of incremental change. By the 1920s the service was underpinned with an ethicalframework or public service ethos, which both attracted and guided civil servants and shaped the public's expectations of their behaviour It also contributed to its high international standing and the respect ofgovernments ofall political parties and the public. During the 1960s, however, criticisms of the service increased and by the 1980s the public service ethos had become an issue as a series of events called into question the impartiality and integrity of senior civil servants. This article explores the origins and content of the ethos and the extent to which it has been replaced by a new set of values consistent with the new role of the state associated with public management reforms and governance.

Performance audit and the importance of the public debate

“…There is a tendency that the professionals hybridize and incorporate governing principles linked to these values (Kurunmäki, 2004). This is a consequence of a development where civil servants are exposed to more diverse accountabilities than before for their managerial and administrative actions (Horton, 2006).…”

“…Public service reforms in a number of countries have sought to dilute the traditional power of professionals and increase managerial power (Horton, 2006). This has allegedly led to traditional high levels of trust being replaced by mistrust, rigorous control and audit devices, a practice now being questioned by leading political scientists (Fukuyama, 2013).…”

“…It represents values of the classic bureaucracy, such as transparency, equality and compliance with rules and the law (Weber, 1968). These values were particularly salient in the public service from the 1960s and up to the 1980s (Horton, 2006). The SAI could also bases its judgment on a managerial logic and the NPM ideology that has taken the form of the system of management by objectives and results (MBOR) in the Norwegian public administration.…”

Training in the public sector in a period of austerity: the case of the UK

“…This notion has long historical roots that extend back to the formation of the civil service in the mid-nineteenth century which has evolved and been institutionalised in a number of ways (Morgan and Allington 2002;Horton 2006;Davies 2012). The Royal Commission on the Civil Service, for example, stated that while a 'good employer' need not necessarily offer its employees high rates of pay, it did have to provide job security, joint consultation in the form of collective bargaining and 'facilities and opportunities for training' (Priestley 1955, 172).…”

Exploring the Public Service Ethos

“…Carr (1999) and Horton (2006a) studied the development of the public service ethos in Britain. Both concluded that market orientation has affected the traditional public service ethos, but has prevailed because its importance is acknowledged both by civil servants and by public opinion.…”