A government of advisers: the role, influence and accountability of ministerial advisers in the New South Wales political system

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Copyright: Folino, Benito
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Abstract
This thesis explores the roles, influence and accountability of ministerial advisers in the New South Wales (NSW) political system with a focus on developments during the Greiner/Fahey and Carr Governments. Important normative concerns are raised about advisers' functions, their power and influence, the legal and ethical framework in which they operate, and their involvement in managing interactions between ministers and the permanent public service. Much of the Australian research on advisers has focused on developments at the federal level with little attention being paid to political staffing arrangements in state jurisdictions. This thesis contributes to scant knowledge about advisers by focusing on the developments of political staffing in NSW. A grounded-theory based methodology is used on data collected from 23 interviews with advisers, ministers, government officials, and interest group representatives. Interpretivism was chosen as the principal research paradigm for eliciting an understanding of advisers' place in the NSW governmental system. The findings reveal that the administrative reforms introduced under Greiner created opportunities for advisers to both thrive in number and roles performed. Further, they show that advisers have led to a greater degree of convergence between political and administrative arms of government. This general argument challenges the authorised choice perspective of policy-making in which government officials develop policy and then pass this on to the Cabinet for final approval. The challenge this poses for a parliamentary democracy is that advisers make policy decisions both as ministers' representatives and as independent policy actors whose authority, though enacted through that of the minister's, lacks legitimacy. The adviser system in NSW has evolved into a large and elaborate political institution, one capable of providing the political executive with additional capacity to respond to the challenges of modern governance. As an organisational entity, advisers have become an important 'site of power' rivalling other more established political institutions such as the Cabinet and political parties. Significantly, the adviser system provides the political executive with an institutional means of organising for the development of policy by ministerialising the process: they imbue the process by ensuring a partisan perspective is brought to bear on policy decisions and that the process itself harmonises with the minister's outlook.
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Author(s)
Folino, Benito
Supervisor(s)
Baldry, Eileen
Wearing, Michael
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Publication Year
2010
Resource Type
Thesis
Degree Type
PhD Doctorate
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