Bureaucracy and Democracy in Dark Times

Abstract

Democracies have come under attack worldwide as authoritarian backsliders conquer power in ever more countries. Backsliding or outright autocratic governments set their political systems and public administrations on an anti-pluralist trajectory. Such transformations dismantle liberal democratic institutions and political cultures—with the aim to foster backsliders’ grip on power and implement duely their agendas. Public administration systems stand in the center of backsliding conflicts. The panel thus invites papers about the role of state bureaucracies and bureaucrats under would-be autocratic rule. What happens to public administration when populists or outright autocrats take power? Of particular interest are the institutional and collective reactions of the bureaucracy as response to backsliding efforts of authoritarian populist / autocratic governments. What is the concrete impact of backsliders on the civil service and policymaking as well as on policy output in comparative perspective? Is there an obligation, individually and collectively, of a public service, to ensure actively the integrity of the democratic political order against transformative efforts of backsliders? How can democratic administration be made resilient in face of populist challenges? And what do we know about public administration systems that “survived” populist rule? Will democratic cultures just bounce back, or do we need to remain alert to potential illiberal legacies, perhaps paving the way for an even more comprehensive transformation in the next round when authoritarian-leaning leaders come again to power?

Title	Details
Bureaucrats under pressure: Political goals versus legal norms	View Paper Details
From the Managerial State to the Guardian State	View Paper Details
Bureaucratic activism in times of democratic backsliding: when do unions and peers’ support matter?	View Paper Details
Backsliding in An Anglophone System	View Paper Details