Politics and Public Administration: Institutional Change in the Shadow of the Market

Abstract

The boundaries between state and public administration have been reconfigured by two waves of change over the last three decades. Under the influence of ideas about market efficiency, public sector reform was initially driven by ideas about decentralization and budget controls. More recently, the quest for improved policy coordination and recurring concerns about democratic accountability in devolved governance has seen a trend toward 'whole of government' reforms that reintegrate activities at the centre. Further, political elites have attempted to reassert their control over policy after decades of decentralization and delegation. This is justified with reference to both policy coherence and democratic legitimacy. But there is no simple return to the status quo ante, and some elements of service delivery and planning capacity continue to be subject to market-conforming disciplines. Political executives may have mixed incentives to attempt to adjust the present power relationships between them and both public managers and relatively impersonal market forces. Even though the economic crisis has brought the state centre-stage again, political executives may also seek to avoid responsibility for complex policy problems for which they have limited tools and resources. The implications for governance capabilities resulting from these policy legacies, and the reactions of political elites, are as yet unclear. These problems lend themselves to comparative explorations of processes of incremental institutional change that have outcomes that are significant for the conduct of public policy.

Title	Details
Political Economy of Public-Private-Partnerships: Comparing different Models of PPP in the Field of Industrial Policy	View Paper Details
The Politics of Organisational Change: The Structural Evolution of the Irish and Norwegian States	View Paper Details
The Rise of Behavioural Governance after the Market: The Political Implications of the ‘Psycho-State Craft’ of Nudge Theory	View Paper Details
Credible Regulation as a Common Pool Resource	View Paper Details
Preparing for Performance Budgeting Reform in Estonia: The Pitfalls of Contracting Out	View Paper Details