Ministers, Minders and Mandarins brings together the leading academics in this specialty to rigorously assess the impact and consequences of political advisers in parliamentary democracies. The ten contemporary and original case studies focus on issues of tension, trust and tradition, and are written in an accessible and engaging style. Using new empirical findings and theory from a range of public policy canons, the authors analyse advisers' functions, their differing levels of accountability and issues of diversity between governments. Cases include research on the tensions in the UK,...