Public Expenditure Planning in New Zealand

It is argued in this thesis that over the past 15 years planning - and in particular expenditure planning - has had three main functions in New Zealand central government: as a survival mechanism for elites; as a means to cope with the problems and deficiencies of organised knowledge; and as a symbolic act of reassurance in the face of economic and fiscal uncertainty. Expenditure planning is regarded in this work as a learning process. However, the thesis describes historical developments which illustrate that the imperative need to contain and manage conflict inside central government is such that real executive learning is effectively precluded. Dissonance between the political implications of significant information and the rational action that might be dictated by that information inhibits effective communication and control. The cybernetic malfunctioning of the central system arises not so much from political debate over the fiscal issues as from the need of certain elites to retain their pre-eminence in the planning process - most notably, the Treasury and its associated ministers. It is concluded that a less historically-bound system of power-sharing is called for if the executive agents - officials and ministers - are to react more sensitively to adverse fiscal circumstances and prepare more efficiently for future uncertainties than they have in the past

The role of the Highland Development Agency: With particular reference to the work of the Congested Districts Board 1897-1912

This thesis examines the constitution, aims and achievement of the Congested Districts Board (1897-1912) against the wider context of attempts to develop the Scottish Highlands from the late eighteenth century to the twentieth century. The extant records of the Congested Districts Board are used in conjunction with other archive material and with contemporary press articles to assess to what extent the Board was successful in achieving its objectives of developing agriculture and fishing; creating holdings, assisting migration, and enlarging existing holdings; improving communications infrastructure and fostering home industries: and to identify the reasons for the Board's comparative failure. It is contended that the Congested Districts Board was considerably handicapped initially by having a remit wider in scope than its narrow legislative provisions could hope to secure, whether in terms of powers, finance or administrative structure, while at a later stage its confidence was eroded by political uncertainty as to its permanence. In conclusion, it is suggested that the unique contribution of the Board to Highland development lies in its importance as an experiment, demonstrating what is feasible, and in what circumstances, and what is not