Political Responsibility and Industry

Edmund Dell

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English

Routledge
02 December 2024

Political structure & processes; Manufacturing industries

Series: Routledge Revivals

First published in 1973, Political Responsibility and Industry discusses the nature of industrial policy and the capacity of the British governmental system to conduct it. This theme is illustrated by particular examples of the working of government-industry relations with which the author was intimately connected, such as the aluminium smelter project and the textile industry enquiry; and by discussion of particular instruments of industrial policy such as the Industrial Reorganisation Corporation and the Geddes Report on shipbuilding.

The author is critical of the tendency to regard industrial policy as some new catalyst of industrial growth. He describes it, at its best, as simply ‘casework in the public interest’. In a penetrating analysis of the machinery of government in Britain, he shows that this is inadequate as an instrument for the effective control of industrial policy. This in turn leads on to a discussion of the ‘myth of ministerial responsibility’ which, the author suggests, rather than locating effective responsibility for policy, ensures that it is not located anywhere at all. The arguments presented should be of interest not only to those concerned with Government-industry relations, but to anyone worried about the working of Parliamentary government in Britain.

By: Edmund Dell
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9781032960852
ISBN 10: 103296085X
Series: Routledge Revivals
Pages: 240
Publication Date: 02 December 2024
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Part 1: Dimensions of Industrial Policy 1. The Importance of Pragmatism 2. The Concept of Industrial Policy 3. Competition and the Public Interest 4. The Nation State as a Protective Device Part 2: The Conduct of Industrial Policy 5. The Problem of Dialogue 6. Intervention at Arm’s Length 7. The Problem of Ministerial Responsibility 8. Of Checks and Balances 9. Towards Criteria for Industrial Policy

Edmund Dell was a British politician and businessman who served as Birkenhead's Labour MP from 1964–79 and became James Callaghan's secretary of state for trade 1976–78. He later joined the Social Democratic party and the Liberal Democrats. After Parliament, Dell had a career in business as chairman of Guinness Peat, founding chairman of Channel 4 and as a director of Shell Trading.