Defining Bureaucratic Autonomy
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6232945 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Katherine Bersch (0000-0003-4112-0079, Davidson College), Francis Fukuyama (Stanford University) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 26 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 213-232 |
| Publication date | 2023-06-15 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Annual Review of Political Science (BOOK_SERIES) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1094-2939 • E-ISSN: 1545-1577 |
| Publisher | Annual Reviews (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1146/annurev-polisci-051921-102914 |
| OpenAlex | W4311691028 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 25 |
| References cited | 81 |
In political science, one issue still in need of greater theorizing is the proper measurement of bureaucratic autonomy, that is, the degree of discretion that political principals should grant to bureaucratic agents. This article reviews the literature on bureaucratic autonomy both in US administrative law and in political science. It uses the American experience to define five mechanisms by which political principals grant and limit autonomy, then goes on to survey the comparative literature on other democratic systems using the American framework as a baseline. Other democracies use different mixtures of these mechanisms, for example by substituting stronger ex post review for ex ante procedures or using appointment and removal power in place of either. We find that the administrative law and social science literatures on this topic approach it very differently, and that each would profit from greater awareness of the other discipline
Autonomy · Bureaucracy · Democracy · Discretion · Economics · Ex-ante · Law and economics · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Judicial and Constitutional Studies · Law · Political Influence and Corporate Strategies · Public Administration · Public Policy and Administration Research
Inhibitory Institutions
Bureaucratic Influence in International Politics
Bureaucratic Resistance in Times of Democratic Backsliding
Public Administration and the Illiberal Challenge
Meritocracy in authoritarian states
Navigating the eye of the storm
Bureaucrat assignments as instruments of political control
Democratic backsliding and the challenges for public administration scholarship
The politics of policing in Pakistan
The US Presidency
Calibrating autonomy
Varieties of participatory institutions and interest intermediation
Second-order beliefs among citizens, elected political elites, and unelected political elites
Reconceptualizing the Politics-Administration Dichotomy to Better Understand Public Leadership in the Twenty-First Century
Socioeconomic Shadows
Hierarchy in the Politics of Migration
Autonomy by Decree
Critical geographies of discretion in the environmental bureaucracy
Resisting Democratic Backsliding From Within the State
Incredibly Committed? Assessing Regulatory Agency Financial Autonomy in Brazil From a Critical Perspective
Agency independence and credibility in primary bond markets
Rules as data
Testing the effects of merit appointments and bureaucratic autonomy on governmental performance
Authoritarian Drift, Variegated Paths
Parties Are Not the Only Patrons
Appointing Central Bankers
Policy Without Politicians
The Audit Society
Jobs for the Boys
Outsourcing Sovereignty
Miti and the Japanese Miracle
The Politics of Presidential Appointments
Political Parties and the State
Congressional Influence on Bureaucracy
From old public administration to new public management
The study of organisational autonomy
The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Administrative Law
Economy and Society
State Building in Latin America
Democratic Backsliding and Public Administration
States in the Developing World
Technocracy and Democracy in Latin America
Citizen Engagement in Rulemaking – Evidence on Regulatory Practices in 185 Countries
Latin American State Building in Comparative Perspective
Organizing Leviathan
Political order and political decay
Bureaucratic structure and bureaucratic performance in less developed countries
Traveling Agents
Emergency Powers
The Ethics of Dissent
Minding Weber More Than Ever? The Impacts of State Capacity and Bureaucratic Autonomy on Development Goals
Judicial Review of Agency Interpretation of Statutes
Public sector reform as problem-solving? Comment on the World Bank’s Public Sector Management Approach for 2011 to 2020
Strategic Delegation, Discretion, and Deference
Populism and Public Administration
Civil service management and corruption
What Causes Patronage Reform? It Depends on the Type of Civil Service Reform
Civil Service Laws, Merit, Politicization, and Corruption
The Complete Anti-Federalist
The Legacy of the New Public Management in Developing Countries
Japan's Quest for Autonomy
The Political Origins of Transparency
Deconstructing the Administrative State
Combining Patronage and Merit in Public Sector Recruitment
Testing Pendleton's Premise
Careers, Connections, and Corruption Risks
Deprofessionalizing State Governments
Gauging the Impact of Transparency Policies
The Transhistorical Tension between Bureaucratic Autonomy and Political Control
The Merit of Meritocratization
Bureaucratic Structure, Regulatory Quality, and Entrepreneurship in a Comparative Perspective
Delegative Democracy
What Is Governance
State Capacity, Bureaucratic Politicization, and Corruption in the Brazilian State
Reforming the Westminster Model of Agency Governance
Merit, Tenure, and Bureaucratic Behavior
Political Competition and Public Procurement Outcomes
The Politics of Central Bank Independence
Comparative Bureaucratic Politics
Unprincipled Principals
Governance Indicators and the Level of Analysis Problem
A Public Management for All Seasons
Legal Problems in the Dismissal of Civil Servants in the United States, Britain, and France
From Expert Administration to Accountability Network
Bureaucracy and Growth
Bureaucratic Capacity, Delegation, and Political Reform
Politicians, Bureaucrats, and Development
Inching Toward Accountability
Bureaucratic Effects
| Unique citing works | 25 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 8,33 |
| Citation span | 2023 - 2026 (4) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 24 |