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Sunday 17 Jun 2012 @ 13:20
Think Tanks
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IfG: Coalition government must renew or risk ‘drifting without direction’
The coalition government needs a renewal plan to help it work more effectively over the next two and a half years, says the Institute for Government.
A mid-term review leading to a renewal plan, which sets out progress so far and objectives and priorities for the second half of the term, will help the parties in government work more effectively, the Institute’s latest report 'A game of two halves: how coalition governments renew in mid-term and last the full term' says.
The report is research based on over 60 interviews across Westminster and Whitehall and in several other countries where coalitions are common. The author, Akash Paun, looked at international experiences of coalitions and how the UK can learn from them.
All governments struggle with the task of mid-term renewal - international research confirms this - but for coalitions the process is more complicated. The risk coalitions face in the second half of their term is of ‘drifting without direction’, the report says. The parties in government will eventually separate and the incentives and pressures will grow to emphasise difference over unity.
There is also a major challenge ahead for the Civil Service which will need to adapt again to working with the parties in government in the final months, when they will be trying to emphasise their party record and their differences. They should plan for a minority government too, should the coalition pull apart early, the report warns.
The report’s author Akash Paun argues that the coalition should hold a mid-term policy review – though not a full renegotiation of the programme for government.
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