Ruth Dixon

@ruth-dixon.bsky.social

Retired from the University of Oxford. Co-author with Christopher Hood of 'A Government that Worked Better and Cost Less?' OUP 2015.

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A Government That Worked Better and Cost Less? Evaluating Three Decades of Reform and Change in UK Central Government is a book written by Christopher Hood and Ruth Dixon, and published by Oxford University Press in 2015. The authors attempt to assess the success of three decades of New Public Management, which was intended to create "a government that works better and costs less", concluding that "The short answer seems to be: higher costs and more complaints". The book was described by Michael Moran as "brilliant, highly original", and he concluded that "Future researchers will see further precisely because they will be able to stand on the shoulders of these scholars". In November 2015 the book was awarded the Louis Brownlow Book Award of the National Academy of Public Administration "for its comprehensive study of reform, cost and performance". In November 2016 it was awarded the W. J. M. Mackenzie award of the Political Studies Association, the jury stating that the book "carries considerable implications for policy-making, as well as the field of academic enquiry which it addresses." The book was repeatedly cited in Michael Barber's report Delivering better outcomes for citizens: practical steps for unlocking public value. .. more

Biology 30%

Medicine 15%

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Ruth Dixon @ruth-dixon.bsky.social · Jul 25

Thank you

Ruth Dixon @ruth-dixon.bsky.social · Jul 25

I hadn't thought about this before. Could you explain what is the function of a SI that brings codes of practice into force? e.g. www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2011/85...

www.legislation.gov.uk

Ruth Dixon @ruth-dixon.bsky.social · Jul 22

Huge number of inaccuracies in this article. Did AI write it?

Ruth Dixon @ruth-dixon.bsky.social · Jun 20

Thank you, Calum, for your work and principled stance on this bill.

Ruth Dixon @ruth-dixon.bsky.social · Jun 14

A collection of essays on civil services around the world, available open access. The UK chapter, by Christopher Hood and me, does not altogether buy the 'decline' narrative. The collection is dedicated in memory of Christopher. idjs.ca/en/publicati...

What Happened? The Decline of the Public Service in Democratic Governments - Institut Donald J. Savoie

idjs.ca

Reposted by Ruth Dixon

Nuffield Foundation @nuffieldfoundation.org · Jun 13

An effective legal system is core national infrastructure like rail or electricity, argues leading economist @dianecoyle1859.bsky.social from the @bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk in @uk.theconversation.com. But civil courts are in decline, physically and reputationally.

Read it here: ow.ly/rFkv50W8SKL

The deteriorating justice system in England and Wales is hindering economic growth

Economist Diane Coyle explains how backlogs and underfunding in tribunals and civil courts causes problems for business.

ow.ly

Reposted by Ruth Dixon

Martin Lodge @martinlodge.bsky.social · Jun 8

A celebration of Christopher Hood’s legacy: blogs.lse.ac.uk/government/2...

Christopher Hood (1947-2025) - LSE Government Blog

We were extremely saddened to learn about death of our former colleague Christopher Hood in early January.

blogs.lse.ac.uk

Reposted by Martín Lodge

Ruth Dixon @ruth-dixon.bsky.social · Apr 18

Huge congratulations to Iain McLean, @bpiotrowska.bsky.social, @maiaking.bsky.social, and the late - great - Christopher Hood for the award of the PSA's WJM Mackenzie Prize 2025! #PSA25

Nuffield College, Oxford @nuffieldcollege.bsky.social · Apr 17

Nuffield Senior Research Fellow Iain McLean has been awarded the Political Studies Association’s W J M Mackenzie Prize for his recent book 'The Way the Money Goes', written with Barbara Piotrowska, Maia King, and the late Christopher Hood.
Read more: www.nuffield.ox.ac.uk/news-events/... #nuffsky

Iain McLean receiving his Mackenzie Prize from the Political Studies Association. Credit: The Political Studies Association.

Reposted by Martín Lodge, Ruth Dixon

Nuffield College, Oxford @nuffieldcollege.bsky.social · Apr 17

Reposted by Ruth Dixon

Barbara Piotrowska @bpiotrowska.bsky.social · Apr 7

Last week, I joined Rozana Himaz, Ruth Dixon, @drjennings.bsky.social, and Colin Scott to pay tribute to Christopher Hood and his work: youtu.be/NA3vH8w1RUY. It was a real pleasure to hear memories and reflections from so many of his students, friends, and collaborators.

A Tribute to Christopher Hood:

YouTube video by Theories of Regulation & Governance

youtu.be

Reposted by Sarah Childs, Nicholas Allen, Ruth Dixon , and 2 more Sarah Childs, Nicholas Allen, Ruth Dixon, James Weinberg, Cristina Leston‐Bandeira

Alexandra Meakin @ameakin.bsky.social · Mar 25

So, so proud of this book! It was an honour to be asked by @estrangeirada.bsky.social & @louisevthompson.bsky.social to join the editing team and work with 70+ incredible practitioners & academics who shared their expertise for the benefit of students of Parliament: global.oup.com/ukhe/product... 🧵

The cover of Exploring Parliament Second Edition, showing the Palace of Westminster and Westminster Bridge from across the Thames, at twilight.

Reposted by Ruth Dixon

Martin Stanley @ukcivilservant.bsky.social · Feb 4

HT @roadscholar.bsky.social :-

"This means that in England, now, we can't build in towns because of people. We can't build in the countryside because of trees. And we can't build on industrial wasteland because of the spiders."

ukcivilservant.substack.com/p/jumping-sp...

Jumping Spiders & The Town that Disappeared

Growth v. The Environment

ukcivilservant.substack.com

Reposted by Ruth Dixon

Re:State @re-state.bsky.social · Jan 28

One year on from the original policy memes blog @jo3hill.bsky.social has produced an updated list, including...

👉Pilotitis
👉Hubs theory of everything
👉Risk-aversion
👉Everythingism

Read below!👇

reform.uk/comment/poli...

Policy memes 2.0 - predictions for 2025 - REFORM

A year ago, I wrote a blog for Reform on policy memes. I still think about that piece a lot, because the longer you work in Westminster, the more policy memes you see. And a few co-conspirators have b...

reform.uk

Reposted by Martín Lodge, Kai Wegrich, Ruth Dixon

Political Quarterly @politicalquarterly.bsky.social · Jan 25

As a tribute to Professor Christopher Hood who died earlier this month, we have made this 2006 article written with Martin Lodge free to view.

From Sir Humphrey to Sir Nigel: What Future for the Public Service Bargain after Blairworld?

@ox.ac.uk

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

Ruth Dixon @ruth-dixon.bsky.social · Jan 20

A tribute to Christopher Hood by @rikkidean.bsky.social and me

Politics_Oxford @politicsoxford.bsky.social · Jan 20

@politicsoxford.bsky.social is saddened to learn that former DPIR Emeritus Professor of Government and Fellow of All Souls College Christopher Hood passed away earlier this year aged 77: ow.ly/qP0R50UJxRS

Reposted by Ruth Dixon

Politics_Oxford @politicsoxford.bsky.social · Jan 20

Reposted by Ruth Dixon

Institute for Government @instituteforgovernment.org.uk · Jan 13

Governments prefer their members to vote with loyalty and leave legislation untouched

Tony Wright, former Labour MP from 1992 to 2010, argues that the new generation of his party's MPs may want to more than be mere lobby fodder

Read the comment👇
www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/what...

Support with scrutiny: What are MPs for? | Institute for Government

The debate on assisted dying could reshape the way MPs think about their jobs.

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk

Reposted by Ruth Dixon

Sam Macrory @sammacrory.bsky.social · Jan 13

“Civil service pay squeeze has led to ‘uncontrolled’ promotions”

We’re publishing our @instituteforgov.bsky.social annual Whitehall Monitor on Thursday. It’s packed with new data, numbers, news and analysis.

Here’s a preview in today’s Times story:

www.thetimes.com/article/b64e...

Civil service middle management has doubled in a decade

‘Uncontrolled’ promotions mean the cost of the civil service is now £2 billion annually

www.thetimes.com

Ruth Dixon @ruth-dixon.bsky.social · Jan 13

A tribute to Christopher Hood by Thomas Elston and me www.bsg.ox.ac.uk/news/memoria...

www.bsg.ox.ac.uk

Reposted by Ruth Dixon

Alexandra Meakin @ameakin.bsky.social · Jan 13

The Telegraph implying that the £108m cost of R&R is solely due to officials, without mentioning that a huge part of the cost is due to MPs repeatedly asking for more reviews/failing to take a decision www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/202... #WestminsterRR

Screenshot of story from the Daily Telegraph website. Headline reads: Officials spend £108m of taxpayers’ money on Parliament refurb before work has even begun
Palace of Westminster restoration could take decades and eventually cost over £20bn
There's a photo of building works on the Palace of Westminster

Reposted by Ruth Dixon

Tim Leunig @timleunig.bsky.social · Jan 13

Gilt rates - what has happened recently, how do we compare with other nations, how we can learn from Greece (!) and what the Chancellor needs to do. All in my free to read substack: timleunig.substack.com/p/what-shoul...

What should Rachel Reeves do now?

Gilt rates matter a lot

timleunig.substack.com

Reposted by Ruth Dixon

Rikki Dean @rikkidean.bsky.social · Jan 12

I was very sad to hear the news of Christopher Hood's passing. Many people have been posting about his massive intellectual contribution. One thing that was maybe not so well known is just how much work he put into to ensuring public admin research was relevant and accesible for policymakers. 🧵

Reposted by Martín Lodge, Ruth Dixon

Ruth Dixon @ruth-dixon.bsky.social · Jan 10

APSA and Cambridge University Press have just made Christopher Hood's John Gaus Award lecture "Public Administration and the War Against COVID" free to access until the end of 2025 www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

The 2021 John Gaus Award Lecture: Public Administration and the War Against COVID | PS: Political Science & Politics | Cambridge Core

The 2021 John Gaus Award Lecture: Public Administration and the War Against COVID - Volume 55 Issue 3

www.cambridge.org

Reposted by Ruth Dixon

Yanto Chandra @yantochandra.bsky.social · Jan 7

It is a sad to hear the passing of Prof Christopher Hood, who made popular the concept of “new public management”. We are grateful to have done a review of his work back in 2019, showing how the ideas diffused. A great scholar leaves a legacy way into time.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

How Does A Seminal Article in Public Administration Diffuse and Influence the Field? Bibliometric Methods and the Case of Hood's “A Public Management For All Seasons?”

Bibliographic methods offer an advanced microscope-like tool to probe specific fields of inquiry. In this article, we use these methodological tools to demonstrate how a seminal article diffused an...

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