Example public administration dissertation topic 9:

Public administration and the detraditionalisation of local police forces: A review of former practices in Burton-upon-Trent.

It is often forgotten that within living memory a majority of large towns within England had responsibility for their own police forces. Indeed, they were only subsumed into the existing county-based forces as a consequence of the Police Act 1964. This dissertation looks at the nature of the administration of those smaller town-based forces in the period immediately prior to their abolition and focuses upon the force then in operation within Burton-upon-Trent. Focusing on issues of technological development, manpower, administrative control and democratic responsibility (such forces being responsible to the local town councils), this is a dissertation that would greatly benefit from interviews being conducted with former constables who served upon the force.

Suggested initial topic reading:

• Jacob, I. (1967). The future of the police. Police Journal, 40, pp. 309-315.
• Jones, T. and Newburn, T. (2002). The transformation of policing? Understanding current trends in policing systems. British Journal of Criminology, 42(1), pp. 129-146.
• Savage, S. (2003). Tackling tradition: Reform and modernization of the British police. Contemporary Politics, 9(2), pp. 171-184.