Understanding Big Government: The Programme Approach

by Richard Rose

What grows when government grows? Why? What are the consequences for effectiveness and consent? Richard Rose answers these questions clearly and succinctly. The programme approach relates what government is, a set of organizations, to what these institutions do, namely, mobilize laws, money and employees to produce public programmes. The programmes are concerned with such varied things as education, health, pensions, economic development, law and order and national defence. There is a wealth of ideas and data about which governments are biggest, comparing America, Britain, Continental European and Scandinavian countries; when governments grow, comparing the affluent 1960s with the difficult 1970s and the uncertain 1980s; an

259 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1984

About the author

Richard Rose is a political scientist, author, and academic whose comparative studies in social science have significantly influenced political science and public policy in both practice and theory. He is a Professor and Director of the Centre for the Study of Public Policy at the University of Strathclyde (UOS) in Scotland, and is a Visiting Fellow at the Robert Schuman Centre of the European University Institute and the WZB Berlin Social Science Center.

[With thanks to Wikipedia]