ABSTRACT
Much advice about relief for Ministers and departments simply consists of saying ‘hive off executive work’ without telling how to recognize what may be hived off : that is, the advice does not provide tests for the recognition of executive work. There have been two major approaches to providing them. The first is best represented in A. Brecht and C. Glaser’s study of German administration. The second approach is more fruitful. This is the distinction between the sort of controls, personnel and organization and methods employed by the administrative organization and the sort that the other, executive, organization employs. The differences between executive and administrative work therefore imply differences both within and outside the organization. Organizations suitable for administrative work may be controlled by parliamentary scrutiny and debate but not by cost accounting or sampling. Administrative organization is subject to different ways of improvement from executive organization.
