Skip to main content

Politicization of Bureaucracy

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance

Synonyms

Bureaucracy; Democracy; Politicization; Public administration

Definitions

Bureaucracy: Bureaucracy refers to a formal-legal organization with a hierarchical structure of authority whereby merit-based criteria are used to appoint, retain, promote, and reward or sanction officials who perform functionally specialized duties in an impersonal manner.

Politicization: Politicization of bureaucracy is broadly defined as the substitution of impersonality for personal criteria in the functioning of the bureaucracy.

Democracy: Democracy is the institutional arrangement whereby individuals or groups of individuals in a society participate in regular free elections for the people’s vote to acquire the power to decide on constitutional opportunities on the strength of their advocated policies and/or their projected images.

Introduction

Public bureaucracies are institutions of administration that privilege some values, actions, interests, and actors in the distribution of resources to...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Acemoglu D, Robinson JA (2012) Why nations fail: the origins of power, prosperity and poverty. Profile Books, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Eichbaum C, Shaw R (2008) Revisiting politicization: political advisors and public servants in Westminster systems. Gov Int J Policy Adm Inst 21(3):337–363

    Google Scholar 

  • Erdmann G, Engel U (2007) Neopatrimonialism reconsidered: critical review and elaboration of an elusive concept. J Commonwealth Comp Polit 45(1):95–119

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Etzioni-Halevy E (1983) Bureaucracy and democracy: a political dilemma. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Farazmand A (1997) Professionalism, bureaucracy, and modern governance: a comparative analysis. In: Farazmand A (ed) Modern systems of government: exploring the role of bureaucrats and politicians. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, pp 48–73

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Farazmand A (2010) Bureaucracy and democracy: a theoretical analysis. Public Organ Rev 10:245–258

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grindle M (2012) Jobs for the boys: Patronage and the state in comparative perspective. Harvard Business Press, Cambridge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Kaufman H (1956) Emerging conflicts in the doctrines of public administration. Am Polit Sci Rev 50(4):1057–1073

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lipset SM (1959) Some social requisites of democracy: economic development and political legitimacy. Am Polit Sci Rev 53:69–105

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peters BG (1997) Bureaucrats and political appointees in European democracies: who’s who and does it make any difference? In: Farazmand A (ed) Modern systems of government: exploring the role of bureaucrats and politicians. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, pp 232–254

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Peters BG (2010) Bureaucracy and democracy. Public Organ Rev 10:209–222

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peters BG, Pierre J (2004) Politicization of the civil service in comparative perspective: the quest for control. Routledge, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Rourke FE (1997) Politics and bureaucracy: their impact on professionalism. In: Farazmand A (ed) Modern systems of government: exploring the role of bureaucrats and politicians. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, pp 181–195

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Waldo D (1948) The administrative state. Ronald, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Waldo D (1971) Some thoughts on alternatives, dilemmas, and paradoxes in a time of turbulence. In: Waldo D (ed) Public administration in a time of turbulence. Chandler Publishing Company, Scranton, pp 257–285

    Google Scholar 

  • Weber M (1968) Economy and society, vol 2. University of California Press, Berkeley

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson W (1887) The study of administration. Polit Sci Q 2(2):197–220

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniel Appiah .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

About this entry

Cite this entry

Appiah, D., Abdulai, AG. (2017). Politicization of Bureaucracy. 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_682-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_682-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-31816-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-31816-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Economics and FinanceReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics