Synonyms
Administrative presidency; Patronage; Politicization; Spoils systems
Political appointees
are found in all democracies, though their numbers, roles, and expertise vary widely across time, across nations, and across subnational units like American states. The term political executives includes high-level political appointees but also may refer to top elected leaders of the executive in separation of powers governance systems like the USA, presidents, governors, and mayors. In parliamentary systems, political executives are elected officials with direct administrative responsibilities, at the national level prime ministers and cabinet ministers who typically work directly with executive level career bureaucrats (Aberbach et al. 1981; Savoie 1994).
This brief essay will explore the selection of political appointees and their roles primarily in an American context and discuss evaluations of their impact on governance.
Political appointees are those public servants who are not...
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Maranto, R.A. (2017). Political Appointees and Political Executives. In: Farazmand, A. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_2742-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_2742-1
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