In unsteady waters

How mayors and chief administrative officers make sense of a public service bargain in disequilibrium

Dados Bibliográficos

ID9963473
AutoresCaroline Howard Grøn (0000-0003-3276-8498, Aarhus University), Niels Opstrup (0000-0003-3511-5812, University of Southern Denmark), Heidi Houlberg Salomonsen (0000-0002-2002-6801, Aarhus University), Anders Ryom Villadsen (0000-0001-9935-6151, Aarhus University, autor correspondente)
Ano2024
Volume90
Fascículo4
Páginas723-740
Data de publicação2024-01-23
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoInternational Review of Administrative Sciences (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0020-8523 • E-ISSN: 1461-7226
EditoraSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/00208523231221461
OpenAlexW4391158350
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas3
Referências citadas32

Public service bargains (PSBs) have become a central heuristic to understand the relationship between politicians and senior bureaucrats. In this article, we add to the existing literature by exploring how both politicians and senior bureaucrats make sense of a PSB in disequilibrium. Based on individual and focus group interviews and six case studies of breakdown in the bargain, we find that bargains may be unstable due to both changing circumstances and differences in interpretations. We add to previous research by demonstrating how the differences in interpretations may manifest themselves along two dimensions, that is, in the balance between the types of competences and rewards that should be included in the bargain as perceived by politicians and senior civil servants, as well as how the competences and rewards agreed upon are interpreted. Points for practitioners The way mayors and chief administrative officers (CAOs) understand their relationship (the public service bargain) can sometimes reach a state of disequilibrium. This study explores how such a disequilibrium is interpreted by the relevant actors in terms of competences and rewards. Proactive renegotiation and alignment between mayors and CAOs is essential in responding to individual and relational dynamics to ensure efficient and legitimate cooperation between political and administrative actors

Business · Civil servants · Civil service · Disequilibrium · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Public service · Service (business · Sociology · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Marketing · Policy Transfer and Learning · Public Administration · Public Policy and Administration Research