Search results

1 – 5 of 5
Book part
Publication date: 8 October 2018

Thurid Hustedt and Heidi Houlberg Salomonsen

Neutrality has traditionally been considered a key trait of the civil service in Western democracies. The conception of the neutral bureaucracy is closely linked to the notion of…

Abstract

Neutrality has traditionally been considered a key trait of the civil service in Western democracies. The conception of the neutral bureaucracy is closely linked to the notion of the prominent politics–administration dichotomy of the two spheres of politics and administration, as advocated by Max Weber (1980) and Woodrow Wilson (1887). According to conventional wisdom, the firm and encompassing implementation of the merit principle realises the idea of a neutral bureaucracy. In that respect, neutrality and merit-based recruitments are often considered the opposite of politicisation. Conventionally, a neutral bureaucracy is considered to assure competence and immunity against opportunistic ideas brought in by volatile, sometimes erratic political leadership. Because elected politicians come and go with elections, they cannot ensure that political decisions are carried out based on the ‘best’ available knowledge. In that sense, bureaucrats are conceived as neutral, obedient servants that subordinate their behaviour to the will of political masters, to the law and the common good. However, there is no strict politics–administration dichotomy in contemporary politico-administrative systems. Empirical findings from the late 1970s onwards demonstrated that bureaucrats are by no means as neutral and ‘apolitical’ as assumed, but rather remarkably involved in political processes. This chapter discusses the literature on neutral competence and presents an empirical analysis of Danish and British civil servants’ accounts of neutrality. This chapter concludes by suggesting the concept of competent neutrality and discussing implications for our understanding of bureaucratic neutrality.

Book part
Publication date: 11 October 2017

Finn Frandsen, Winni Johansen and Heidi Houlberg Salomonsen

Based on the assumption that the identity and self-understanding of an academic discipline determines how it conceptualizes different domains of social reality, including how it…

Abstract

Based on the assumption that the identity and self-understanding of an academic discipline determines how it conceptualizes different domains of social reality, including how it imports and/or exports concepts from or to other disciplines, this chapter presents some of the findings of a major ongoing comparative and cross-disciplinary study of how five key concepts within the combined fields of crisis management and reputation management are applied in three different disciplinary contexts. In this chapter, however, the focus is on just one of these concepts: the concept of reputation.

Details

How Strategic Communication Shapes Value and Innovation in Society
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-716-4

Keywords

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 11 October 2017

Abstract

Details

How Strategic Communication Shapes Value and Innovation in Society
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-716-4

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 8 October 2018

Abstract

Details

Bureaucracy and Society in Transition
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78743-283-3

Book part
Publication date: 11 October 2017

Abstract

Details

How Strategic Communication Shapes Value and Innovation in Society
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-716-4

Access

Year

Content type

Book part (5)
1 – 5 of 5