The Development of the Administrative Class and the Modern State since 1853

Abstract

The bare minimum number of functions that the mid-nineteenth century British central Government could have been realistically limited to were four. First, the Government had the overall responsibility for the maintenance of internal law and order: hence, the primary responsibilities of the Home Office. Second, it attempted to ensure that the country was able to repel an external attack made upon her, and that she could also defend her overseas possessions: hence, the role of the Admiralty and the War Office. Third, it conducted the country’s diplomatic relations with other sovereign states: hence, the duties of the Foreign Office. Fourth, it exercised a general control over the affairs of the country’s Colonial Empire: hence, the responsibilities of the Colonial and the India Offices.