All were prominent in my undergraduate education. Bill Mackenzie (1975) was admired for his lucid, nuanced essays on both British government and the study of public administration. Norman Chester’s best books were the official history of the nationalised industries (1975) and a history of the English administrative system between 17 (1981). He was ‘one of the Olympian Fabians, worthy company to the Webbs’ (Jones 1986: 12). ‘His great ability was to assemble a huge mass of data, to analyse order out of the complexity, and to argue a coherent case for change’. Robson represented that blend of institutional description and Westminster reformism so typical of the British school.

For me, they represented traditional public administration, which was essentially institutional and concerned to analyse the history, structure, functions, powers and relationships of government organisations (see: Mackenzie 1975 Rhodes 1979a: chapter 5 Robson 1975). Its grand old men were William Robson (1895-1980), Norman Chester (1907-1986) and W. The study of public administration in the 1970s was shaking off the old order. And I told myself, the harder I worked, the luckier I got. As Bob Dylan’s evocative line from his song ‘My Back Pages’ suggests, I did seem older then but the certainties of a young academic did not last old beliefs gave way to new ideas. Looking back imposes a logic that was not clear at the time. Any overarching ratyionale would would be a patina.

Has it been that long? Can I remember ‘the gangling youth of the prominent Adam’s apple variety’ – as one of my referees expressed it back then? It is tempting to claim I had a rationale to cover an unfolding research agenda but I find myself reading the work of somone I struggle to remember. It is intimidating to look back over a 45-year career as a political scientist. Chapter 1: What A Long Strange Trip It's Been1

Lucky For Me by Frank Robson