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Cited by 22Public Policy and Administration ResearchPublic Administration and GovernancePolitical Theory and Democracy

Theoretical Perspectives on Bureaucrats: A Quest for Democratic Agents

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Železnik, Ana, Fink-Hafner, Danica·2023·Administration & Society
DOI 10.1177/00953997231165998
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Abstract

While the relationship between bureaucracy and democracy has gained attention in historical cycles, the literature on the roles of bureaucrats in relation to democracy has become increasingly fragmented. Drawing on comparisons among public administration theory and participatory, deliberative, and collaborative democracy, this article provides typologies that reflect the historical multiplication of the theoretically determined roles and characteristics of bureaucracy that contribute to democracy. This comparative analysis highlights a common democratic trend among the four schools in adding stresses on bureaucrats’ autonomy, morality, publicity, and direct connection to citizens, with a constant coexistence of rational and managerial elements.

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  • As public administration has become a pluralist institution in modern democracies, populists need to address the state bureaucracy to mold and steer it according to their ideological image.

    “As the public administration has itself become a pluralist institution in modern democracies (Železnik & Fink-Hafner, 2023), populists need to address also the state bureaucracy in their quest to”

    From Public Administration Under Populist Rule: Standing Up Against Democratic Backsliding (2024) · cites this paper as Železnik & Fink-Hafner, 2023

    The Context section describes complex, pluralistic societies and calls for policy-making to be accessible to citizens. The Normative Expectations section describes a fragmented state and changing bureaucratic roles, but neither passage establishes that public administration itself has become a pluralist institution. The citation attaches to that premise; the subsequent point about what populists need to do is the citing authors’ argument. (LLM, conf=0.76)

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2 of the 115 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 8

  1. Beetham, D. (1987). Bureaucracy. Open University Press.
  2. Bessette, J. M. (1997). The mild voice of reason. Deliberative democracy & American national government. University of Chicago Press.
  3. Dennard, L. F. (1996). The maturation of public administration. In G. L. Wamsley & J. F. Wolf (Eds.), Refounding democratic public administration (pp. 293-326). SAGE Publications.
  4. Forester, J. F. (1999). The deliberative practitioner: Encouraging participatory plan- ning processes. The MIT Press.
  5. Hildreth, W. B., Miller, G., & Lindquist, E. L. (2021). Handbook of public adminis- tration. Routledge.
  6. Miller, H. T., & Fox, C. J. (2007). Postmodern public administration. M. E. Sharpe. Morgeson, F. V. (2005). Reconciling democracy and bureaucracy: Towards a delib- erative-democratic model of bureaucratic accountability [Doctoral disserta- tion, The University of Graduate Faculty of Arts and Sciences, University of Pittsburgh]. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282258585_Reconciling_ Democracy_and_Bureaucracy_Towards_a_Deliberative-Democratic_Model_ of_Bureaucratic_Accountability
  7. Peters, B. G. (2009). Still the century of bureaucracy? The role of public servants. Public Policy And Administration, 1(30), 7-21. https://www3.mruni.eu/ojs/pub- lic-policy-and-administration/article/view/1211/1159
  8. Schomaker, R. M., Bauer, M. W., & Ege, J. (2019). Bureaucracy and international- ization. In A. Farazmand (Ed.), Global encyclopedia of public administration, public policy, and governance (pp. 1-19). Springer Link.

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Authors
Železnik, A., & Fink-Hafner, D.
Affiliations
  • University of Ljubljana (SI)
  • University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Corresponding author
Železnik, Ana
ORCID
Železnik, Ana
Venue
Administration & Society
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2023-04-08
Volume
55
Issue
7
Pages
1432-1456
ISSN
  • 0095-3997 (ISSN-L)
  • 1552-3039
DOI
10.1177/00953997231165998
OpenAlex
W4362720292
Cited by
21
References
115
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 3
FWCI
9.19
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Administration & Society (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • Repository of the University of Ljubljana (University of Ljubljana) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
Funders
  • University of Canberra
  • Javna Agencija za Raziskovalno Dejavnost RS (P5-0136)
  • Aston University
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Public Administration › Public Policy and Administration Research
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Public Administration and Governance
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Political Theory and Democracy
Keywords
bureaucrats, bureaucracy and democracy, public administration theory, participatory democracy, deliberative democracy, bureaucratic autonomy, publicity, rational bureaucracy, managerialism

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