This paper describes and explains the changes in the (political) nature of policy advise to ministers for France, The Netherlands and the UK. Using a combination of original and self-generated survey-data, interview data and secondary analysis, a comparative light will be shed on the changing nature on policy advise and its broader implications for political-administrative relations and the division of labour within the political-administrative top of national ministerial departments. Policy advise can come from a wide range of sources. This paper introduces a typology of policy advisers along two dimensions: external vs. internal; and political vs. administrative. An example of the external-political category are party committees, an example of external administrative are formal non-partisan advisory bodies, an example of internal-political are personal advisers or cabinet members, an example of internal-administrative are permanent career civil servants. Using this typology, a comparative insight can be gained in the “present who” of policy advise per country in a system of multi-level governance. This picture will be contrasted to the “traditional who” of policy advise as has been described in older accounts of advise and political-administrative relations (Heclo 1977; Rose 1980; Aberbach et al, 1981; Baum, 1982; Page 1992). Also, the available quantitative and qualitative material will help assess the degree to which the alleged increase in the multi-level nature of governance in Western Europe, has also implied an significant increase in the degree to which policy advising has become an activity of “framing, scripting, and casting” (Van Twist, 2010), for the public and for the political survival of the elected politician.
