Abstract
The Next Steps reform is a major reorganization of the British central state which has occurred rapidly since 1988. Existing explanations of the reform largely accept the official interpretation that it was a natural development of the earlier Financial Management Initiative. However. Next Steps is radically different involving passing responsibility for the management of many executive functions to agencies whilst senior officials in departments concentrate on policy work. Next Steps occurred rather than the alternative reform of senior officials becoming hands-on managers of integrated departments carrying out executive functions. The bureau-shaping model uses an institutional rational choice approach and views reorganizations as bureau-shaping strategies by self-interested officials who attempt to achieve desired combinations of core budget and policy work time. The model is applied as an explanation of Next Steps in the Department of Social Security.
Published Version
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