Relations between public officials and pressure groups in the formation of public policy: Central and local government compared.

Abstract

This thesis is about the relations between public officials and pressure groups in the formation of public policy. The Third London Airport issue forms a major case study in the thesis. In this context, a comparison between central and local government is made. Chapters 1 to 3, which include, inter alia, a statement of aims, hypotheses to be tested and a survey of the literature, provide a conceptual framework for the study. Chapter 4 consists of a brief history of the Third London Airport issue. Here, the events in the airport story which are relevant to this work, are highlighted. Chapters 5, 7, 8 and 9 present the findings of a detailed investigation into relations between civil servants and pressure groups in making Third London Airport policies. In these chapters, the Government's attempt to implement the abortive Maplin Airport scheme and its later activities in formulating a Third Airport policy in the context of a national plan, are discussed. Chapter 6 is about the Friends of the Earth who, with like-minded groups, campaigned against the Maplin Airport policy. In chapter 10, an analysis, which is based on the findings in chapters 5 to 9, is conducted into civil servant/pressure group relations in policy making. In chapter 11, a survey is made of relations between officials and groups in a dozen local authorities who had been closely involved in the Third Airport issue. Chapters 12 and 13, which provide a detailed account of relations between local officials and pressure groups, concentrate on the airport policy making role of Hertfordshire County Council. Chapter 14 tests the hypotheses which are outlined at the beginning of the study and, in the context of relations between public officials and pressure groups, compares central and local government.

Date of Award	1984
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bath