Critically appraise the contribution of Le Grand's knights, knaves, Essay - 1

Critically appraise the contribution of Le Grand's knights, knaves, pawns and queens framework to our understanding of r - Essay Example Those who were offered these services (and who were beneficiaries of welfare) became known as pawns, primarily because they were seen as passive participants in the whole process. They did not actively influence any happenings, and instead sat and waited for the knights to do everything for them. With time, however, (Le Grand mentions the period after 1979) this scenario changed after pawns realized that there were some knights who were not really knights at all (Le Grand 1995, pg. 151). They were more focused on their self-interests than the benefit of pawns, and, therefore, morphed into knaves. In addition to this, there was little that was knightly about paying taxes and supporting the less fortunate in the society. On the other hand, pawns came to be viewed as â€Å"queens†; they were supposed to be treated better, since in any market consumers are usually kings. In this paper, I will discuss and dissect Le Grand’s concept and weigh it against arguments which have b een against it by the likes of Welshman and others. I will also explore the influence that Le Grand’s framework has had on relationships between public authorities and organizations which provide public services paid for under contract or by vouchers. Key words: Knights, knaves, pawns, queens, Le Grand, Welshman. Analysis Welshman presented an argument that fell a little short of being labeled as an attack on Le Grand’s ideas. He (Welshman) argued that the concept of a cycle of deprivation (or transmitted deprivation) provided sufficient foundation for a demolition job on the knights, knave, pawns and queens notion. In his article, he presented important researches by Joseph, Coffield and others that supported his propositions. In truth, the whole point of Welshman’s argument was a firm grounding in the ability to provide viable alternate arguments against Le Grand’s ideas. For example, using Coffield’s research, a new concept of web deprivation wa s coined as a replacement for cycle of deprivation (Coffield, Robinson & Sarsby 1980, pg. 48). In essence, Welshman used the loopholes he identified in Le Grand’s arguments to develop an entirely new concept. A closer look at his article also reveals that he viewed Le Grand’s definition of people under welfare was too shallow and simplistic (although Le Grand had also suggested this in his proposition) (Welshman 2007, pg. 95) It is important to note that the knights, knaves, pawns and queens framework borrowed heavily from theories about public management (or organization studies, or political science, or indeed social science quite generally). In a traditional sense, public management was seen as more of calling than just a normal activity with the exception of being directly involved in public affairs. In the past, public servants were held in very high regard, and this is because they were considered to be custodians and trustees of public interests. This thought wa s supported by a reliance on the scholarly approaches to organizational studies, social science and political science. Over the years, this traditional perspective has been overtaken by other feasible approaches that have proved to be more than just alternatives (Berthoud 1976, pg. 103). These new approaches have supplanted the