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The Changing Role of the Austrian Civil Service: The Impact of Politicisation, Public Sector Reform, and Europeanisation

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From the Active to the Enabling State

Part of the book series: Transforming Government ((TRGO))

Abstract

This chapter tries to assess changes in the role of Austrian senior civil servants in governance.1 It provides a long-term perspective, going back to the last decades of the Habsburg Monarchy. The main emphasis of this chapter, however, is the post-war period and particular attention is given to the time since the 1990s which is characterised by the presence of three challenges that have the potential to impact on the role of senior civil servants: EU membership, public sector reform, and politicisation. To be sure, the latter two are not entirely new phenomena. Public sector reform is about as old as the public sector itself and politicisation of the Austrian civil service can be traced back to the inter-war period. Yet, the most recent time has seen substantial changes with regard to both that add to each other and merit special attention.

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Authors
  1. Wolfgang C. Müller
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom

    Edward C. Page (Sidney and Beatrice Webb Professor of Public Policy) (Sidney and Beatrice Webb Professor of Public Policy)

  2. Nuffield College, University of Oxford, United Kingdom

    Vincent Wright (Sometime Fellow) (Sometime Fellow)

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© 2007 Wolfgang C. Müller

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Müller, W.C. (2007). The Changing Role of the Austrian Civil Service: The Impact of Politicisation, Public Sector Reform, and Europeanisation. In: Page, E.C., Wright, V. (eds) From the Active to the Enabling State. Transforming Government. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230288768_3

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