Bureaucratic Performance and Control in British Politics: Asylum Policy 1994–2007

Abstract

There is a wealth of research into time series dynamics of bureaucratic control in the federal presidential system of the US, but no equivalent investigation in unitary parliamentary systems. This article proposes an approach for measurement of the effect of political interventions on bureaucratic outputs in British politics. It throws some light on tools of bureaucratic control that are associated with the fusion of legislative and executive powers in Britain's Westminster system. In contrast to the US, political control in the form of oversight or appointments is not required because government is able to intervene directly in bureaucratic activities through legislative, executive and administrative controls. It uses Box-Tiao time series models to analyse administration of the UK asylum system by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate of the Home Office.