Inside the Iron Cage

Abstract

In late February 2003, the AM I worked for won a random, computerized draw (which we referred to as "the lottery") to name the topic for debate for an upcoming short plenary debate in the National Assembly. "The status of Owain Glyndŵr's legacy" was chosen in recognition of the upcoming 600th anniversary of Glyndŵr convening a Welsh parliament (or Senedd) in Machynlleth, Wales, in opposition to English rule. About ten days prior to the plenary debate, our office received two phone calls directly from the government's civil service unit regarding the content of the debate. My colleagues were initially unsure about how to respond. Such a call would normally be considered intrusive (if not entirely inappropriate) under the established procedures governing interactions between the government (represented by the civil service) and legislature (represented in this case by my office's AM). According to the Assembly's Standing Orders, which along with the Government of Wales Act lays out the rules of executive-legislative contact, the Members' Research Service and the Assembly's Presiding Office must serve as buffers between these parliamentary spheres. Direct contact, in short, was deemed illegitimate; however, the civil service did have an institutionally valid question about the content of the debate under the Assembly's policymaking procedures.KeywordsCivil ServiceSupport StaffPlenary SessionSpecial AdvisorPlenary ChamberThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.