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First published in 1987 this book considers the practical implications of increasing public access to official information in Britain, both from the perspective of increasing Freedom of Information and reforming Section 2 of the Official Secrets Act. It draws attention to the practical problems such changes would pose for both politicians and civil servants working in an adversarial system of government. It examines the effects of proposed changes on the conventions which are a fundamental feature of the British constitution. It also considers the political significance of reforms, both to dem

In 1960 Professor William Robson, the leading specialist on the study of nationalized industry and public ownership, wrote: `The real character of the relationship between Ministers and public corporations is only gradually becoming known to the public' (Robson, 1962: 142). It seems that advances in knowledge of this subject have been no more than modest in the past 50 years. This article is an idiographic study (Riggs, 1962; Chapman, 1966) intended to contribute to that advance. It is a study, in as much depth as possible, of the gestation of the 1973 White Paper on the Steel Industry and of the implementation of its main proposals. It contributes not only to an understanding of the British Steel Corporation but also to the history of a particularly significant development in policy-making and administration in the 1970s and later. The main sources for the study have been: government files in the Public Record Office (PRO) at the National Archives; published commentaries and analysis, both contemporary with the White Paper and later.

What is an immigrant? How have immigrants shaped the United States? Immigration Nation: The American Identity in the Twenty-First Century invites middle and high school students to explore the history of immigration in the United States and follow the stories of people who have made the journey to this country through the perspectives of immigrants, citizens, policy makers, and border agents.

This article is essentially a polemic. The argument is that when politicians and officials now talk of 'leadership' in the British civil service they do not use that word in the way in which it was previously used. In the past leading civil servants, acting in partnership with ministers and within constitutional constraints, exercised leadership in the sense of setting example, inspiring confidence and encouraging loyalty. The loosening of traditional constitutional patterns, the marginalization of senior officials in the policy process and the emergence of business methods as the preferred model for public administration have led to a political and administrative environment in which leadership in the British civil service is now about encouraging patterns of behaviour which fit in with these changes. Leadership skills are now about 'delivery'; they are not about motivation. It is time for politicians, officials and scholars to be open about this.