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Political Science General

Civil Servants and Public Policy

A Comparative Study of International Secretariats

by (author) Robert I. McLaren

Publisher
Wilfrid Laurier University Press
Initial publish date
Jan 2006
Category
General, General, Public Affairs & Administration
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9780889206984
    Publish Date
    Jan 2006
    List Price
    $32.95
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781554585441
    Publish Date
    Jan 2006
    List Price
    $34.99

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Description

This thoroughgoing study of international secretariats might be entitled "What the International Civil Servant Really Does," as opposed to what he or she should do or is believed to do. The author interviewed international officials, studied the documents of the agencies involved, and reviewed the relevant literature in an intensive investigation of the political role played by international secretariats of United Nations organizations. He suggests that various factors are involved in determining the role of these secretariats—size, types of functions, the degree of control exercised by member governments, the relative technical expertise of these governments and secretariat officials, the personalities of these officials. An original conclusion is reached: civil services, at least at the international level, do not necessarily play a significant policy-making role in their organizations.

About the author

Robert McLaren, Associate Professor in the Faculty of Administration, University of Regina, Saskatchewan, holds the Ph.D. degree in public and international affairs from the University of Pittsburgh. His articles on international organizations have appeared in various journals.

Robert I. McLaren's profile page