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Most discussions of the public service ethos (PSE) have offered polemical accounts of how recent reforms have eroded the distinguishing values of public servants without ever defining this ethos or considering its relationship to other aspects of the public sector. This article considers the deeper and more structural implications of the PSE by characterizing it as a political institutions that shares the features of 'new institutionalism'. It concentrates upon the PSE as it manifests itself in local government and uses case studies of four authorities to analyse the extent to which external changes are altering the fundamental values of the ethos. In using the 'new institutionalist' perspective it argues that the PSE, a vital institution of the UK polity, has been resistant to external pressures for change. Hence, to be successful, public sector reform must take into account the interdependent relationship between the PSE and other political institutions.

Abstract A feature of English local political folklore is the belief among national political parties, that Independent councillors are Conservatives in disguise. Yet, little evidence is given to support this idea because little is known about these councillors’ beliefs and assumptions or how they distinguish themselves from the party politics they eschew. In this article we address the question: Are all Independent councillors really Conservatives? The article answers the question by reporting the findings of research conducted among Independent and Conservative councillors in England to explore the complex, multidimensional and fluid world that is Independent politics. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]