ABSTRACT

This chapter outlines the proposition which drove the present research was that governments use consultants during periods of increased contextual change for two reasons. These are one, to enable them to review public policy at ‘arms length’; and two, to incorporate a greater range of expertise than is contained within ‘slimmed down’ management - rather than policy-oriented, government departments. The benefits of case study research are widely debated in the social sciences, with detractors arguing that more rigorous methods are available while supporters suggest that case study research allows for an interpretation that goes beyond the sterility of empirical, quantitatively-based methods. F. G. Bailey suggests that all the processes leading to decision-making go through the less public arenas before the decision is made in the most public arena, ‘on-stage’. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.