Abstract
This volume examines three interconnected themes in political science: the nuts and bolts of government, the complex and evolving relationship between politics and administration, and continuity and change in government. Government ministries and agencies are vital components of the executive branch of government that play fundamental roles in the democratic governing of modern societies.
Contemporary public administration is conventionally portrayed as being based on a series of dichotomies: politics versus administration, coordination versus fragmentation, integration versus disintegration, trust versus distrust, etc. As an alternative, this volume, which is composed of a series of case studies from the Nordics and beyond, conceptualises and empirically demonstrates how government bodies at different levels of governance are driven by pragmatism characterised by the co-existence of multiple decision-making premises. To account for the composite aspect of government, this volume illustrates how institutional and organisational factors can structure elements in the policymaking process and how these elements are powerful tools available to purposeful design.
Contents
1. Public organisations and the study of contemporary politics
Jarle Trondal and Rómulo Pinheiro
2. Organizational design and the quest for practical relevance
Morten Egeberg
3. Public sector leadership: Conditions, challenges and avenues
Hanne Foss Hansen
4. Public service motivation among Danish and Norwegian local government administrative managers
Dag Olaf Torjesen, Tor Ivar Karlsen, Charlotte Kiland and Morten Balle Hansen
5. Leadership of organisations: Theory and evidence from the development of Norwegian scenic routes
Charlotte Kiland and Zuzana Murdoch
6. Prosocial motivation and local political leadership
Lene Holm Pedersen, Lotte Bøgh Andersen and Nanna Thomsen
7. Ambiguity with a purpose. The county governor as a multilevel actor, shaping the Norwegian Local Government Reform
Anne Lise Fimreite and Yngve Flo
8. Metagovernance in the social investment state: Lessons from the German case
Alexander Berzel and Tanja Klenk
9. External differentiated integration: EU macro-regional governance architectures and the inclusion of partner countries
Stefan Gänzle
10. Questioning the administrative impact on democratic innovations
Signy Irene Vabo
11. Communication advisers in public bureaucracies: Inhabitants of the zone between politics and administration
Kristoffer Kolltveit
12. The difference that makes a difference? Exploring the purple zone of political and administrative leadership in Danish and Norwegian local government
Christian Lo and Asbjørn Røiseland
13. Local government access to central-level decisions: The case of Norway
Jacob Aars
14. The politics of privatisation: A panel data analysis of the local political situation and share of private kindergartens in Norwegian municipalities
Nils Arne Lindaas and Pål E. Martinussen
15. Contained regionalism: Towards a Nordic model
Jon P. Knudsen
16. Partnerships for change in local governments
Carsten Greve
17. Strategies for change in municipal structural reforms
Åge Johnsen
18. Representative and responsible bureaucracy: A longitudinal study over 40 years of Norwegian central government
Tom Christensen and Per Lægreid
19. Searching for patterns of innovative public service delivery: Institutional design in Finnish public
Sanna Tuurnas, Tuula Jäppinen, and Elias Pekkola
Full info
Rómulo Pinheiro & Jarle Trondal (eds)
Organising and Governing Governmental Institutions
Fagbokforlaget, 2021
ISBN: 9788245035322