Politics, policy preferences and the evolution of Irish bureaucracy: A framework for analysis

Analysis of the Irish state’s administrative system is an unaccountably neglected area of systematic academic inquiry. This is all the more difficult to account for in view of the dynamic relationship between government actors and the public bureaucracy in realizing political goals. Drawing on the Irish State Administration Database (Hardiman, MacCarthaigh and Scott, 2011; http://www.isad.ie), this paper identifies some distinguishing institutional features and dominant trends in Irish politico-administrative governance, and suggests avenues for future inquiry. The paper begins with an examination of literature on administrative system change, with a focus on the New Public Management literature. Following this, the Irish case is profiled, identifying the evolution of ministerial departments and of state agencies by successive Irish governments, including patterns of agency creation and termination over time. Particular attention is given to the 1989-2010 period which has been one of quite rapid and complex organizational change within the state’s bureaucratic apparatus.