Chapter 1 Flashcards
Why is it difficult to compare in public administration
- Problem of equivalence: can concepts and terms be transferred to difficult context (language)
- Level of analysis: national systems, public organisations
- Units of analysis: comparing ministries, processes
- Limited availability of data with which to make real comparisons
What is administrative traditions and cultures? (Analytical dimensions)
Legal traditions of a country has influence on the dominant values in administrative action and the relation between politics, citizens and administration. It has two clusters
- Continental European rule of law
- Anglo-Saxon public interest culture
What is the continental Europeans rule of law culture? (Administrative traditions and cultures)
They have law books and constitution that form basis of administrative actions. They explain what legal servants should do and how they should do that. Derives from the Roman tradition to organise government through rule of law > civil law
- separation of state
- state integrating force society
- comprehensive codification
- administrative action as implementation of law
- dominant values in administrative action
What is Anglo-Saxon public interest culture? (Administrative traditions and cultures)
No law books that drive administration action. No comprehensive codification of legal rules but use political programs that fit ideology of government. Its flexible > common law
- no hierarchisation of public
- state is of instrumental importance
- no comprehensive codification of legal rules
- legislative acts with function of political programmes
- dominant values in administrative action
What is political institutional features? (Analytical dimensions)
Vertical dispersion of power: sharing authority between levels of government. Its about centralised or decentralised and looks if authority is concentrated on central level of dispersed through different levels. Its based on structure of state and administration and degree of centralisation or decentralisation and the relationship between them.
- Unitary state and centralised: France
- Unitary states and decentralised: UK
- Federal states: Belgium and USA. Federal, provinces, regions municipalities that have own responsibilities and constitutionally organised
What are the types of government? (Political institutional features)
- Single party, minimal winnen system (1 party more than 50%) : UK
- Minimal winning coalition (2 or more parties more than 50%): Belgium
- Minority cabinets (less than 50%)
- Oversized executives (grand coalitions)
How does it look like when we compare vertical dispersion of power and type of government? (Political institutional features)
To classify countries as either majority or consensual democracies can explain the condition of reforms.
- New Zealand UK: centralised and majoritarian
- Sweden: intermediate and majoritarian
- Canada and USA: decentralised and majoritarian
- France: centralised and intermediate
- Belgium and Germany: decentralised and intermediate
- Italy and Netherlands: centralised and consensual
- Finland: intermediate and consensual
- SwitzerlandL decentralised and consensual
5 Models based on administrative structure and organisation of country and administrative tradition and culture?
- Scandinavian model
- Central and South-eastern European model
- Continental European Napoleonic model
- Continental European Federal model
- Anglo-Saxon model
What is the Scandinavian model?
Countries: Norway, Denmark, Finland and Sweden
- Roman Scandinavian legal tradition: law important > Continental European
- Decentralised government and bureaucracy > Napeleonic tradition
- Strong and autonomous local government
- Openness in public service career system
- Easy access for citizens to administrative system
What is the Central and South-Eastern European model?
Countries: Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania
- Centralised party rule
- No separation of power
- Subnational administration acts as local offices of state
- Hungary and Poland : German tradition
- Bulgaria and Romania: Ottoman/Tsarist rule
What is the continental European and Napoleonic model?
Countries: France
- Roman-Franch legal tradition
- Legality
- Legal norms and administrative judicature
- Strong centralised government
- Powerful bureaucracy
Addition: Italy and Spain
- Strong politization
- Clientelist relations
- Political party patronage wit regard to recruitment
What is continental European Federal model?
Countries: Germany
- Strong legalistic orientation of administration
- Rule of law and culture (Roman)
- Important role subnational decentralised level > power
- Principle of subsidiarity: if lower level can do it let them
- Weaker centralised government and bureaucracy
- Territorial principle: mulit-compentence at lower level
What is the Anglo-Saxon model?
Countries: UK
- Common law legal tradition
- Public interest tradition
- No separation of public and private legal spheres
- Stateless society
- To implement political programs enacted by parliament
- Parliamentary sovereignty: control over bureaucracy and administration politically accountable
How are civil service systems organised?
- Big vs lean: public sector employment as percentage total employment. Status public service employer determined by comparing it to total employment of country
- Open versus closed:
- Open position based (UK): no difference between private and public sector and no specific public sector law. Position related recruitment. Use of contracts and rely on performance based promotion and pay
- Closed career based (Germany): remuneration and promotion based on seniority. Separation between public and private. Civil servant appointed mostly for life - Formal politicisation: politically controlled appointment of administrative key positions up to patronage positions
- Apolitical civil service (UK and Sweden): servants are neutral experts
- Political civil service (USA): spoils system > high ranking government positions dependent on change government
- Southern Europe: patronage and party political recruitment > because of membership card - Functional politicisation: influence of top civil servant on political decision making
- Classic bureaucrats vs policy makers
- Belgium and Italy: cabinets big political rol
What type of government, state structures and civil service does France have
Napoleonic Continental
- Type of government
- powerful position directly elected president
- weak position parliament
- mixed system: competitive democracy absolute majority voting in cases of no cohabitation and consensus democracy - Sate structure and administrative system
- some decentralised elements
- cumul des mandats
- leads to institutional status quo at subnational levels
- public law service statue
- closed system - Civil service
- public law service statue
- closed system
- state is largest employer
