ABSTRACT
The objectives of this chapter are to explore the concept of strategic policy-making, to consider the nature of bureaucratic culture, and to take note of the 'resistances' to strategic management in the public sector. Policy-making, seen as the function of the senior civil service, has been evaluated and weaknesses in it identified. The propositions of Max Weber about the consequences of the development of a bureaucratic officialdom in the administration of the state alongside mass democracy continue to find resonance today. He diagnosed an asymmetry of knowledge in the relationship between politician and bureaucrat that gave the expert and trained bureaucrat de facto power despite the nominal higher authority of the politician. The chapter presents case study of restorative justice in the UK, policy-making in the police at local level. With the growth of formal strategic planning by governments it is possible to argue that policy-making in ministries should take the government's strategic documents as a framework.
