Abstract
This chapter analyses the underlying dynamics that have led to the growth of quasi-government in the UK. The term ‘quango’ is employed loosely to indicate the broad variety of bodies that now exist to conduct a public service using public funds but have a degree of distance from politics. This raises questions of control, legitimacy and accountability. The chapter is divided into three sections. The first provides a history of this new layer of governance. The second section elucidates some of the key factors which have both forced and attracted successive governments to create these new bodies. The final section looks to the future and highlights some of the possible approaches a new government could take to quasi-government. The chapter concludes that for all its problems quasi-government is here to stay.
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© 1999 Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
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Flinders, M.V. (1999). Quangos: Why Do Governments Love Them? . In: Flinders, M.V., Smith, M.J. (eds) Quangos, Accountability and Reform. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-27027-9_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-27027-9_3
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