Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #292448 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 356 pages

Synopsis
The role of the special adviser is currently one of the most controversial issues in British politics, with this unelected subdivision of the political class having multiplied in both number and influence since the advent of New Labour. But there is nothing new in the idea of the ruling classes bringing in outsiders to advise on particular areas of policy or the political machine, and this first in-depth study of special advisers brings an historical as well as analytical perspective to a hot topic. John Maynard Keynes, Lord Cherwell ('The Prof'), William Beveridge, Balogh and Kaldor, Bernard Donoughue, Alan Walters, Alastair Campbell, John Birt, Jo Moore - the list of special advisers who have left a footprint on British political history is considerable. But is the proliferation of special advisers under Blair really harmful to the democratic process? People who Live in the Dark - the book takes its title from Clare Short's exasperated assessment of spin doctors - examines the history and the issues.

Customer Reviews

Fascinating insight into the history of special advisers
I'd highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in specialadvisers and the enormous strength of the British Executive in relation tothe Legislature. Blick's book includes a number of contraversialrelevations and reveals how for the last 40 years, special advisers havebeen, for better or worse, very much at the centre of the political actionin Britain. This is a great alternative political history and an excellentinsight into the way we are governed today.