Policy staff and the evolving nature of policy analytical capacity in Australia, Britain, Canada, and New Zealand

Abstract

This article provides fresh empirical insights into the evolving nature of policy analytical capacity in Australia, Britain, Canada, and New Zealand. We argue for a focus on the formal policy staff employed in government to provide greater conceptual clarity and empirical purchase regarding specific types of policy analytical resources linked to capacity. Using ten years of administrative data we chart the evolution of the size, composition, and distribution of formal public service policy staff in these cases. We find, contrary to expectations, that formal policy staff have increased in all four cases. Comparative analysis reveals not only uneven staffing capacity across government organizations, but also important developments in the seniority and distribution of staff in “analysts” and “managers” classifications. The findings are used to generate country profiles that demonstrate more nuanced patterns of policy analytical capacity change over time. The findings also raise important questions about shortcomings in how governments track and classify their policy staff, and their ability to effectively manage policy analytical resources in policy making.