Observing Government Elites: Up Close and Personal

The behaviour of politicians and public servants often strikes outside observers as erratic, inconsistent and sometimes foolish. One way of understanding their behaviour is political anthropology. This book focuses on the everyday life of ministers and senior public servants in different countries, describing their world through their eyes. It analyses how such practices are embedded in political and administrative traditions. It explores how their beliefs, practices and traditions create meaning in politics and public policy making. It provides unique data on the everyday life government elites and practical advice on how to conduct such fieldwork.

ROD RHODES is Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Director of the Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University. He is the author or editor of 25 books including recently; The Oxford Handbook of Political Institutions (joint editor, 2006); and Governance Stories (with Mark Bevir, 2006). He is also editor of Public Administration; life Vice-President of the Political Studies Association of the United Kingdom, and a Fellow/Academician of the Academy of Social Sciences in both Australia and Britain. PAUL 'T HART is Senior Research Fellow, Political Science Program, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University and Professor of Public Administration, Utrecht School of Governance, Utrecht University. He is the editor and author of 21 books including most recently The Politics of Crisis Management: Public Leadership under Pressure (2005). MIRKO NOORDEGRAAF is an associate professor at the Utrecht School of Governance, Utrecht University, Netherlands. He specialises in public management. His books include Attention! Work and Behavior of Public Managers amidst Ambiguity (2000); and the widely used (Dutch) textbook on Management in Public Domains (2004). He published/s in Public Administration, Public Management Review, Administration & Society, International Journal of Public Sector Management, Evaluation, and Journal of Management Studies.