The Politics of Bureaucracy

Public organizations and officials at various levels of government are key players in the policy process. At the same time, bureaucracy itself is profoundly affected by political decision-making. Among the key themes in the literature on politico-administrative relations are tensions between political control and bureaucratic autonomy and different explanations of the drivers of bureaucratic and political behaviour, both at the individual and the organizational level. The goal of this section is to promote this research agenda by explicitly adopting a political science perspective on public administration to study how political processes affect public bureaucracies, and vice versa. Panel 1-2: Ministerial Departments as Political Organizations and Arenas In recent years, researchers turned their attention (back) towards ministerial departments as core actors in government. We take this as an opportunity to bring together scholars interested in ministerial portfolio reorganization and its effects as well as in studying executive politics unfolding inside and via ministerial departments, which includes e.g., intra- and inter-ministerial coordination but also ministries’ relations with other government actors (such as agencies) or external actors (supranational administrations, organized interests, parliament, etc.). We invite papers with a theory-driven approach and empirical evidence studied with qualitative and/or quantitative methods, and we aim for a variety of country (and temporal) contexts. Panel 3: Inter-Ministry Politics: Ministries and the Politics of Policy-Making We know surprisingly little about the role of individual ministries in the policy process. Yet, since the staff composition, policy preferences and power resources of ministries vary, the involvement of and interactions between ministries in policy-making has implications for representation, responsiveness, knowledge use and the content of public policy. In this panel, we therefore welcome papers that contribute to our understanding of 1) the role of individual ministries in the policy process, 2) the substantive policy preferences of different ministries and how they are formed, and 3) inter-ministerial politics and the conditions under which ministries influence policy output. Panel 4: Consequences and Cures of Bureaucratic Overburdening Public administrations in advanced democracies are increasingly overburdened, facing severe and growing challenges in fulfilling their proper functions. Overburdening arises from a continuous increase in the number of policies that require execution and enforcement on the one hand, and the relative stagnation in administrative capacities on the other. This panel invites scholarly submissions that explore how administrators are managing these daunting conditions. More critically, we seek insights into potential strategies and solutions to mitigate this pressing issue. We invite papers with a theory-driven or empirical approach using qualitative or quantitative methods. Panel 5: The Politics of Bureaucratic Reputation Bureaucratic reputation scholarship has demonstrated that bureaucratic organizations adjust decision-making practices, produce diverse outputs, and engage in targeted communication strategies to build, maintain, or enhance their reputation. In other words, reputational considerations have been found to affect bureaucracies’ behaviour, processes and outputs in important ways. However, we still have a limited understanding of the effects of these efforts and the conditions under which bureaucratic actors succeed (or fail) in cultivating their regulatory power, autonomy, authority, legitimacy and/or engender citizen trust. To what extent are public organizations successful in cultivating support from their audiences? This panel invites theoretical and empirical contributions. Panel 6-7: Bureaucratic Responsiveness amid Multidimensional Stakeholder Demands Bureaucracies operate in complex and dynamic environments, engaging with diverse stakeholders possessing heterogeneous and potentially conflicting interests. These stakeholders not only observe bureaucratic conduct but actively articulate demands. If not handled adeptly, these demands may significantly impact the bureaucracy's capacity to fulfil its distinctive role effectively and uphold its legitimacy. This panel welcomes papers examining bureaucratic responsiveness to simultaneous, multidimensional demands emanating from a diverse array of stakeholders, including citizens, political principals, professional peers, and/or private interests. We invite theoretical and empirical contributions on bureaucratic responsiveness (prioritization) decisions, decision-making processes, or policy outputs. Panel 8: 360 degree Activism and the Inside Activist in Politics for the Green Transition This session addresses the role and place of activists and activism in the green transition. It explores this through the persistent insider/outsider dilemma – i.e. position relative to public policy – that activists for green transitions face and adopt in different careers and positionalities, also assessing the rationale for activism, including along a collaboration-conflict axis. This session encourages interdisciplinary as well as disciplinary perspectives on green inside-outside activists and their activism, and brings together accounts from public policy, administration, civil society, business, and others. It particularly seeks original empirical accounts and theoretic contributions to the novel idea of green inside activism.