Civil Service Fusion: The Period of ‘Companionable Embrace’ in Contemporary Perspective

The 'Haldane relationship' underlies traditional relations between British ministers and their civil servants. Its doctrine of fusion between them is contrasted with the American one of separation.. While it enabled ministers to do more than they could on their own, it was associated with an ascendancy of civil service over ministerial power. Discusses how far it contributed to the difficulties the British government had in solving the political and economic problems of the postwar period, the reasons for its decline in the 1980s and 1990s, and the consequences for ministerial relationships with officials and thereby on the working of government. (Original abstract - amended)