Agencies: The Context

Government agencies are tremendously important in the everyday lives of citizens. In a considerable number of countries — the United Kingdom and the United States among them — most of the real work of government is carried on through agencies. It is agencies that may admit you to the country, pay your benefits, register your company, collect your taxes, lock you up when you commit crimes and provide you with your passport when you want to leave. It is agencies that eat up a large slice of the government’s total spending and agencies that employ a substantial percentage of the state’s employees. It is not at all unusual for them (as in the United Kingdom) to employ far more staff and spend far more money than their parent ministries. In the public sector, agencies are big business.