01525pab a2200157 454500008004000000100002100040245007200061260000900133300001400142362000800156520107600164650003701240650001801277700002001295773005201315180718b2003   xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d  aCarmichael, Paul  aThe Northern Ireland civil service under direct rule and devolution  c2003  ap.205-17.  aJun  aAlthough the United Kingdom is usually regarded as a unitary state in the mould of the Westminster model, in reality, complete political integration and administrative standardization have never existed. Recent political devolution consolidates an increasingly diverse and asymmetrical pattern of territorial governance. Frequently, however, notwithstanding some notable exceptions, this differentiation within the UK's governmental arrangements is overlooked in much of the literature. to help correct this oversight, this article reports on the longstanding differences in the public administration arrangements of one of the UK's smaller component countries, Northern Ireland. Specifically, the article focuses on the role of the Northern Ireland Civil Service and charts some of the key characteristics and trends that have emerged under both the period of Direct Rule from London (since the end of the Stormont devolution in 1972) and in the newly-restored devolved settlement that was introduced in 1999, following the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement. - Reproduced.  aCivil service - Northern Ireland  aCivil service  aOsborne, Robert  aInternational Review of Administrative Sciences