The Search for Policy Coordination: Ministerial and Bureaucratic Perceptions of Agency Amalgamations in a Federal Parliamentary System

Abstract

The imperative to coordinate is strong, but the means remain contentious. One approach is to amalgamate agencies into a few large organizations, the other to encourage a diversity of policy options. Drawing on the federal amalgamations of departments in Australia since 1987, this paper reports that senior bureaucrats find more policy coordination benefits than costs from working in larger structures, while ministers report a loss of options and a risk of information overload. Copyright © 1994, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved