300146 The Politics of Administration (S) (SoSe 2019)

"The bureaucracy is only concerned with self-preservation."
"All these administrative regulations are creating too much red tape."
"Civil servants don't know anything about the reality they are regulating."

In this course, we will explore the various ways in which politicisation and contestation enters current-day public administrations. As the above examples of common critiques suggest, the public administration may function in a less value-neutral manner than it is commonly expected to do. The question then arises whether this diagnosis is correct. Assuming different critical sociological and public administration perspectives, we explore where ‘politicking’ surfaces in public administration, whether it negatively affects the functioning of the bureaucracy, and if so, in what ways. Is the administration too autonomous, or is the opposite the problem? Is there too much bureaucracy, or are more/other types of administration desirable? And finally, are the methods by which the administration reaches its decisions out-dated, or rather in need of defence? Taking a thematic approach, we will address these questions in the context of various dimensions of administrative contestation.

The course will be fully conducted in English.

Bibliography

Hood, C. (2010). The Blame Game: Spin, Bureaucracy, and Self-Preservation in Government (Princeton: Princeton University Press)

Lindseth , P. (2010). Power and Legitimacy: Reconciling Europe and the Nation-State (Oxford: Oxford University Press)

Wilson, J. Q. (1989). Bureaucracy: What Government Agencies Do and Why They Do It (New York: Basic Books)