TY - JOUR
T1 - How Politicians See Their Relationship with Top Bureaucrats
T2 - Revisiting Classical Images
AU - Bækgaard, Martin
AU - Blom-Hansen, Jens
AU - Serritzlew, Søren
PY - 2022/1
Y1 - 2022/1
N2 - The relationship between politicians and bureaucrats is an enduring concern in political science. Central to this debate, Aberbach, Putnam, and Rockman (APR) in 1981 developed four images to characterize political‐bureaucratic relations. We argue that the one‐dimensional focus on roles in their images comes with important limitations. To deal with these limitations, we collect survey responses from 3,384 local politicians from four countries on seven dimensions of the political‐bureaucratic relationship. We then use cluster analysis to develop six images bottom‐up. Five of our images are largely consistent with APR's image II and III. Yet, they differ in the extent to which politicians trust the bureaucracy, consider them loyal, and see them as an important source of information. A sixth image is not consistent with any of APR's images. We find that both systemic (country, municipality size) and individual factors (ideology, position, seniority) contribute to differences in images. Overall, our images suggest that political‐bureaucratic relations vary more between and within political systems than suggested by APR's images.
AB - The relationship between politicians and bureaucrats is an enduring concern in political science. Central to this debate, Aberbach, Putnam, and Rockman (APR) in 1981 developed four images to characterize political‐bureaucratic relations. We argue that the one‐dimensional focus on roles in their images comes with important limitations. To deal with these limitations, we collect survey responses from 3,384 local politicians from four countries on seven dimensions of the political‐bureaucratic relationship. We then use cluster analysis to develop six images bottom‐up. Five of our images are largely consistent with APR's image II and III. Yet, they differ in the extent to which politicians trust the bureaucracy, consider them loyal, and see them as an important source of information. A sixth image is not consistent with any of APR's images. We find that both systemic (country, municipality size) and individual factors (ideology, position, seniority) contribute to differences in images. Overall, our images suggest that political‐bureaucratic relations vary more between and within political systems than suggested by APR's images.
KW - ADMINISTRATIVE RELATIONS
KW - CIVIL-SERVANTS
KW - ERA
KW - MANAGERS
KW - MINISTERS
U2 - 10.1111/gove.12558
DO - 10.1111/gove.12558
M3 - Journal article
SN - 0952-1895
VL - 35
SP - 5
EP - 24
JO - Governance: An international journal of Policy, Administration, and Institutions
JF - Governance: An international journal of Policy, Administration, and Institutions
IS - 1
ER -