Still in neutral, or slipping out of gear? Public service neutrality in Wellington
In 2005 Dr Chris Eichbaum of Victoria University of Wellington's School of Government and Massey University Professor of Politics Richard Shaw surveyed public servants, Ministers past and present, and political staff on the risks of politicisation associated with the advent of political advisers in Ministerial and Prime Ministerial Offices. That research has provided the basis for numerous publications, much of which is viewed as constituting a body of work that has underpinned international scholarship in a number of jurisdictions.
With the cooperation of IPANZ, Chris and Richard conducted follow up research this year, repeating many of the same panel of questions that were used in 2005, complemented by some additional lines of inquiry. This talk, at the IPANZ AGM for 2017, was the first public release of some of the initial analysis.
Initial analysis (frequency counts) of the responses to questions included in their survey, together with text responses to 'open-ended' questions, is available in the attached pdf.
See his Opinion piece: Free and frank advice fast disappearing (8 August 2017, DomPost)