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Role of quangos in Political System of the UK Quasi-autonomous non-governmental organizations (quangos) are an important part of social segment of government of the UK. Quangos include non-departmental and non-ministerial public bodies, like executive or advisory Ndpbs, etc. , national agencies (like the Art Council, etc), royal commissions (like the Audit Commission, etc. ), bodies of Health Authorities, public corporations and nationalized enterprises, training and educational organizations, advisory bodies, tribunals, etc. Officially, these bodies exercise the functions of the government in those matters, which have a little of political background, or do not have it at all, like, for example, issues of health, safety, industry, public enterprises, etc. Statistically estimated number of quangos in the UK comes to 6, 500 bodies, the majority of which working at local levels. Quangos include mostly appointed (not elected) management officials and personnel of about 70, 000 employees in total.
Such organizations are usually administrated by boards of directors. Dealing with different issues of social and public governing, quangos operate with financial means of about 60 billions pounds annually, which is one third of all public expenditure in the UK. Quangos became vital and valuable components of all the political system of the UK. Various strategies and functional purposes of such organizations radically influence on almost all aspects of social life and environment.
General function of quangos is to take special obligations of government on the tasks, which require deeper attention, more competence and more detailed comprehension. Moreover, frequently they play role of a sort of buffer between government and different social groups of claimants. Therefore, with the help of numerous quangos British government creates the opportunity to avoid its own direct duties and responsibilities, especially on controversial or compromising public issues. Since 1976, the expansion of quangos is 45 % in real term, prevalently at local and regional levels, where the number of appointed officials grows considerably higher than the number of democratically elected executives. Present Labor government does not direct special efforts on increasing the amount of quangos, thought it has been criticized for favoring to Ndpbs by Conservative forces.
But in any way, for the first year of the Blair office, about 200 quangos were established, mostly in controlling and advisory sector. Such stable expansion and increasing of importance of quangos in the UK can be explained with the following reasons. First of all, accordingly to modern social development, administrative functions and demands of the government are escalating, and such growing variety of duties and responsibilities requires enhancing of managerial forces and executive apparatus to be fulfilled successfully. Second, it can be a result of modern economical tendency of merger and incorporation, introducing of market and contractual relations, partnerships, as new modern types of governance, especially for local authorities, so numerous small bodies turned into big, frequently less flexible and efficient organizations. Besides, as researches underline, important role in the issue of functioning of quangos belongs to privatization of administrative organizations, especially in public segment. The government supposed privatization to be more effective and useful, because decision-making process in private sector is basically faster and more reliable, that appeared to be very important and primary for all the segments of public services.
For that reason, the very governmental officials and cabinet politicians turned into creators and generators of broad strategic plans and policies of general administration. Increasing amount of quangos in the country, their growing significance for the Whitehall causes a lot of discussions. Quangos fulfill different sorts of functions and particular activities in the UK. Some are providing public services, dealing with the issues of employment, education, health, housing, etc. , some are securing public interests or protect rights of social and cultural minorities, some are advisory and report to government about various performances in social and cultural life, like achievements in sports, or ecological researches, or keeping of national monuments and museums, some are distributing financial stimulators, awards, grants and scholarships, etc. , etc. Therefore, quangos seem to bring benefit to British government. They involve experts and specialists into the process of governmental regulation and control, who are competent in solving of various non-political matters.
Quangos provide many principal social services and this way demonstrate efficiency, promptitude and discipline in functioning of the government. First and exclusive prerogative of quangos is to exercise supportive, advisory and consultative functions of the government. Besides, work of such organizations is relatively fast and effective, that is naturally more welcomed. But there is also a range of disadvantages in the activity of quangos, which brings to lowering of their reputation and criticism, especially from the mass media. First of all, specialists claim on lack of democracy: as such organizations are mostly appointed, that is why their current policy and strategy is being ruled by ideology and viewpoints of effective managers or administrators who are in office. Also, in such case organizations crying abuse of duties and opportunities take place, together with incidents of corruption, patronage and bribery.
One more noticeable negative element is the absence of transparency in work of quangos, especially as to the ones, operating in advisory sector. There is a little of available information and public awareness about inner processes and development in those organizations. For example, according to reports, the occupations of about 90 % of board members of quangos can not be clearly identified. This lack of openness and accountability recently turned into a subject of numerous debates and researches, especially the circumstances of relations between quangos and mass media became a point of interest. It proved to be revealed that many Ndpbs administrations actually pay some definite attention on publicity and media issues, and willingly spend their financial resources with the belief that public and social involvement, received this way, will result in more effective and successful operating of their organizations. From 13 to 74 % of quangos at definite fields of operation employ special personnel, responsible only for public and media relations.
But mostly the specific attitude of quangos towards mass media and public relations are stipulated by personal views of the directors and boards, and it considerably influences on communicative activities of the organizations. The popular idea is that close collaboration with mass media means can be interpreted as advertisement or positioning, which must not be applicable for institutional sector, especially on executive and structural level. In their turn, publicity agencies do not express a lot of enthusiasm in working with quangos, because for them such cooperation will not be lucrative (in comparison with private industrial enterprises and firms), will take long time (because of obligation for quangos to report to government about all public communications) and therefore will be more like fulfillment of their social duty. Practically such situation will not influence negatively on particular status of quangos. Being non-elected organizations, quangos may not be dependent critically on public support. But being appointed organizations, quangos must reveal and display its activities and efficient work to their organizers, chiefs, leaders, and to all the participants in the territories of their operation.
The conclusion is the following. Quangos are active elements of bureaucratic system of the UK. Despite of some attempts of the government to decrease the amount of appointed officials of advisory and executive sectors, the number of newly established powerful bodies is increasing and require creating of more effective methods and means of accountability to the government and ministers, and also to the community. Establishment of more and more non-governmental organizations is aimed to withdraw some primary matters of social policy from the prompt political and governmental domain.
Bibliography: Byrne, I. "Quangos on the Internet." University of Essex, Human Rights Center. Oct. 2004 < web > Deacon, D. and Monk, M. "Media Coverage of Quangos in Britain." 2001. Loughborough University, Department of Social Science. Oct. 2004 < web > "Greening the Quangos." Environmental Reporting by Non-Departmental Public Bodies. Environmental Audit Committee.
Oct. 2004 < web > "Quangos and Quangocrates." Democratic Audit. Oct. 2004 < web > Osmond, J. "Cull of the Quangos." June-Sept. 2004. Monitoring for the National Assembly. Oct. 2004 < web >
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Research essay sample on Role Of Quangos In Political System The Uk
