Departmentalism and joined-up government: Back to the future?

As part of its modernising approach to policy-making, the Blair government has emphasised the need for joined-up government. It is concerned to tackle 'wicked' issues which are not the responsibility of any other department. Departments and units have been urged to concentrate on delivering outcomes regardless of departmental boundaries. The authors show that this approach poses serious challenges to long-established Whitehall and ministerial patterns of behaviour and incentives. A review of previous attempts to combat departmentalism shows how and why they failed. The authors conclude that the present programme will have to be extended and the Whitehall system radically reformed if joined-up government is to succeed.