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This work reassesses the shifting fortunes of the Whitehall model of government, and finds it wanting. The United Kingdom's "Whitehall" model of governance, which in the postwar years was admired and respected by many other countries, especially the USA, has declined in influence over the last decade to the point where it is now looking increasingly outmoded. This model of apparently seamless relationships between ministers and civil servants (the so-called Central Executive Territory) which produced effective decisions, policies, and legislation has come under consistent attack by neo-liberal and neo-conservative critics alike. Its ability to generate effective decisions and policies has been repeatedly called into question. This book is a comparative analysis of the Whitehall model paradigm, and its successes and failures, in a range of Western democracies (including the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand). They also analyze its fortunes in its homeland, demonstrating that Whitehall's current problems are both a product of Thatcherism and a structural deficiency arising from governance in the modern polity itself. The book is based on over 150 interviews conducted with top officials and ministers.