TY - JOUR
T1 - 'Glorified gofers, policy experts or good generalists'
T2 - A classification of the roles of the Irish ministerial adviser
AU - Connaughton, Bernadette
PY - 2010/9
Y1 - 2010/9
N2 - Since 1973 ministerial advisers have become a permanent feature in the political-administrative nexus of Irish government and other countries derived from the Westminster model. This article puts forward a classification of the adviser's role in the policy-making process which may consist of singular or overlapping profiles of an expert, partisan, coordinator and minder. In conjunction, results from a survey and interviews conducted with a group of advisers serving in the Fianna Fail-Progressive Democrat government of 2002-2007 are presented in order to understand the adviser's own assessments of the value and effects of what they do in government. Their profiles, motivations for service and the concrete tasks they carried out within (vertically) and outside (horizontal) government departments are examined. It is argued that the role of the Irish ministerial adviser best fits with the 'minder' category but that as a collective there is potential for advisers to contribute more effectively to the political coordination of policy-making.
AB - Since 1973 ministerial advisers have become a permanent feature in the political-administrative nexus of Irish government and other countries derived from the Westminster model. This article puts forward a classification of the adviser's role in the policy-making process which may consist of singular or overlapping profiles of an expert, partisan, coordinator and minder. In conjunction, results from a survey and interviews conducted with a group of advisers serving in the Fianna Fail-Progressive Democrat government of 2002-2007 are presented in order to understand the adviser's own assessments of the value and effects of what they do in government. Their profiles, motivations for service and the concrete tasks they carried out within (vertically) and outside (horizontal) government departments are examined. It is argued that the role of the Irish ministerial adviser best fits with the 'minder' category but that as a collective there is potential for advisers to contribute more effectively to the political coordination of policy-making.
KW - adviser
KW - executive
KW - minister
KW - policy process
KW - secretary-general
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77955434548&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/07907184.2010.497636
DO - 10.1080/07907184.2010.497636
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:77955434548
SN - 0790-7184
VL - 25
SP - 347
EP - 369
JO - Irish Political Studies
JF - Irish Political Studies
IS - 3
ER -