Guerrillas,Subordinates and Passers-By

A first draft of this paper was given in April 1980 at the annual conference of the British Sociological Association. For comments I am particularly grateful to Alan Walker-Hilary Rose. Noel Parry, Martin Bulmer, Michael Hill and Margot Jefferys.

P. Abrams , The Origins of British Sociology: 1834-1914, Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press 1968, p.vi.

Zsusa Ferge is one of the few sociologists who have reflected this view. 'Social policy has emerged historically as a palliative or corrective instrument intended to cope with imminent social problems endangering the status quo'. Z. Ferge , A Society in the Making: Hungarian Social and Societal Policy 1945-75, Harmondsworth: Penguin 1979, p.50.

A discussion of the concept will be found in my Sociology and Social Policy, Harmondsworth: Penguin 1975, especially chapter 1. A more recent illustration of the use ofthe concept in the analysis of social structure will be found in a paper entitled 'The structured dependency of the elderly: a creation of social policy in the twentieth century', which I published in Ageing and Society, vol.1, no.1, 1981 .

'The first and the most essential of all conditions, a principle which we find universally admitted, even by those whose practice is at variance with it, is, that [the pauper's] situation on the whole shall not be made really or apparently so eligible as the situation of the independent labourer of the lowest class'. Report from His Majesty's Commissioners for Inquiring into the Administration and Practical Operation of the Poor Laws, London: Fellowes 1834, p.228.

6 While the new Poor Law could be said to date from 1834 it was of course the culmination of a longprocess of administrative experiment and adaptation. It represented a victory of one set of tough-minded over another set of more tender-minded values in the countrywide administration of poor relief.

P. Townsend , Poverty in the United Kingdom, Harmondsworth: Penguin 1979, chapter 2.

Compare for example N. Bosanquet and P. Townsend , (eds) Labour and Equality: A Fabian study of Labour in Power, 1974-79, London: Heinemann 1980, with P. Townsend and N. Bosanquet (eds), Labour and Inequality, (covering 1964-70) London: Fabian Society 1972. See also K. Middlemas , Politics in Industrial Society, London: Deutsch 1979, chapters 14 and 15.

K.G. Banting , Poverty, Politics and Policy, London: Macmillan 1979, pp.103-104 (based on the Crossman diaries and press reports at the time, eg The Guardian, 2 June 1967).

A senior civil servant, N. Stacpole, was even given permission in 1971 to write an article for New Society in its defence.

This domination can be traced over a hundred years. See, for example, RM MacLeod , Treasury Control and Social Administration, London: Bell 1968. The Fulton Commission on the Civil Service recommended measures to reduce the Treasury's power which were quickly, and perhaps irretrievably, put into cold storage.

Eleventh Report from the Expenditure Committee, Session 1976-77, The Civil Service, vol.1, Report, London: HMSO 1977, paras.137-46. Among other recent sources of evidence about the operations of the senior civil service see B. Sedgemore , The Secret Constitution, London: Hodder and Stoughton 1980 and J. Haines , The Politics of Power, 1980.

See in particular R.H.S. Crossman , Diaries of a Cabinet Minister, vol.1, London: Hamish Hamilton 1975. The following extract conveys a reiterated view: 'One is aware of secret discussion between civil servants below. There is a constant debate as to how the ministers should be advised or, shall we say, directed and pushed and cajoled into the line required by the ministry. Each ministry has its own departmental policy and this policy goes on while ministers come and go'.

M. Meacher , 'The men who block the corridors of power', The Guardian, 14 June 1979.

15 ibid.

Tony Benn has argued that the Official Secrets Act, the Thirty Years' Rule, the Privy Councillor's Oath and collective Cabinet responsibility provide important instances of techniques defeating democratic control. T. Benn , Arguments for Socialism, London: Jonathan Cape 1979, pp.123-26.

There is a growing literature on official statistics by sociologists. See, for example, A. Cicourel , Method and Measurement in Sociology, New York: Free Press 1964; J.D. Douglas , The Social Meaning of Suicide, Princeton: Princeton University Press 1967

; P. Townsend , 'Politics and the statistics of poverty', Political Quarterly , vol.43, no.1, January-March 1972

; B. Hindess , The Use of Official Statistics in Sociology, London: Macmillan 1973; J. Irvine , I. Miles and J. Evans (eds), Demystifying Social Statistics, London: Pluto Press 1979; R.Thomas , Do Statistics Influence Policy? Milton Keynes: the Open University Press 1980. Some social scientists believe the criticisms of official statistics are in many respects unfair and exaggerated, and regard this fashion in sociology as a form of philistinism.

See, for example, M. Bulmer , 'Why don't sociologists make more use of official statistics?', Sociology, vol.14, no.4, Nov. 1980.

Sir C. Moser , 'Statistics and public policy', Journal ofthe Royal Statistical Society, Series A (General) vol.143, part 1, 1980.

19 To be fair, Sir Claus goes on to argue that government statisticians should give more attention to the analysis and interpretation of statistics and an integrated framework of social data'.

See the series of occasional papers based on the Centre for Administrative Studies, published by the Treasury from 1967; Department of Education, Output-Budgeting for the DES: Report of a feasibility study, London: HMSO 1970 and J.J. Hughes , Cost Benefit Aspects of Manpower Retraining, Department of Employment , 1970.

For example, A. Hunt , The Elderly at Home, OPCS, London: HMSO 1979.

There are exceptions. in the mid-sixties, after representations had been made to the then National Assistance Board by social scientists, the annual reports of the board were expanded to give much fuller information derived from sample analyses. Similarly, there was a considerable improvement in both the quantity and quality of information about supplementary benefits published. in the mid 1970s by the Supplementary Benefits Commission, under its chairman, Professor David Donnison.

N. Parry , M. Rustin and C. Satyamurti , (eds), Social Work, Welfare and the State, London : Edward Arnold 1979, chapter 2.

M.S. Larson , The Rise of Professionalism:A Sociological Analysis. Berkeley and London: University of California Press 1977, pp.xvi-xvii.

Townsend , 1979. op. cit. chapter 9.

Vol.2, New York 1968, especially chapter 9.

For example, M. Bruce , The Coming of the Welfare State, London: Batsford.

T.H. Marshall , Social Policy, London: Hutchinson, 2nd ed. 1967.

J. Goldthorpe , 'The development of social policy in England, 1800-1914' in Transactions of the Fifth World Congress of Sociology, vol.IV, 1962.

J O'Connor , The Fiscal Crisis of the State, London: St. James Press 1973; I. Gough , The Political Economy ofthe Welfare State, London: Macmillan 1979; C. Cockbum , The Local State, London: Pluto Press 1977; N. Parry , et. al., op. cit.; P. Thane , Origins of British Social Policy, London: Croom Helm 1978.

M. Bulmer , (ed), Social Policy Research, London: Macmillan 1978; C. Bell and H. Newby , Doing Sociological Research, London: Allen & Unwin 1977.

32 R Pahl, 'Playing the rationality game: the sociologist as a hired expert', in C. Bell and H. Newby, ibid.

For example, in a recent paper James Coleman has adopted an extraordinarily limited view of the role of sociology-first to conduct social policy research 'to inform policy in a narrow sense or to inform societal actions in a broader sense' (like experiments on negative income tax and housing allowances) and second 'about the way in which sociology can inform action in society'. He explains 'insofar as sociological analysis is seen as having a role in the functioning of society [it] is in providing the feedback information that allows redirection of social action'. He found little in the writings of Marx, Weber and Durkheim, or other early sociologists, about the social role of sociological analysis. The possibility that social policy might cover more than governments choose to specify, or that sociologists might analyse social conditions both to criticise existing policies and develop alternative goals, priorities or policies is scarcely broached. J. Coleman , 'Sociological analysis and social policy', in T. Bottomore and R. Nisbet , (eds), A History of Sociological Analysis, London: Heinemann 1979.

H. Newby , C. Bell , D. Rose and P. Saunders , Property, Paternalism. and Power: Class and Control in Rural England, London: Hutchinson University Library 1978.

A.B. Atkinson , Unequal Shares, London: Allen Lane & Penguin 1972; A.B. Atkinson and A.J. Harrison , Distribution of Personal Wealth in Britain, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1978; C.D. Harbury , Inheritance , 1979; C. Sandford , 'The wealth tax debate', in F. Field , (ed), The Wealth Report, London: RKP 1978.

H. Glennerster , Social Service Budgets and Social Policy, London: Allen & Unwin 1975; C. Crouch , Class, Conflict and the Industrial Relations Crisis, London : Heinemann 1977; J.H. Goldthorpe , 'The current inflation: towards a sociological account' in F. Hirsch and J.H. Goldthorpe , (eds), The Political Economy of Inflation, London: Martin Robertson 1978; H. Heclo and A. Wildavsky , The Private Government of Public Money, London: Macmillan 1974.