Functional Politicisation Among Lower-Ranking Civil Servants: Conflicts and Dilemmas in Danish Central Government

Authors

  • Birgitte Poulsen Department of Social Sciences and Business, Roskilde University
  • Pernille Boye Koch Department of Social Sciences and Business, Roskilde University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.58235/sjpa.v22i3.11404

Keywords:

Civil servants, Politicization, Political responsiveness, Conflicting norms, Coping strategies

Abstract

The role of the civil servant in modern democracies is increasingly complex due to multi- ple and co-existing forms of democratic governance. Civil servants need to balance be- tween traditional bureaucratic norms ensuring a rule-governed public administration where they represent neutral competencies within the political system, while they at the same time must ensure efficiency in the public sector, interact with various stakeholders and citizens, and ensure the loyal implementation of the will of elected politicians. In the wake of several Danish political scandals involving both ministers and civil servants, the so called Bo Smith Commission was established in order to examine and discuss the current norms and practices of the civil service. In this article we draw on a survey con- ducted by the Bo Smith Commission in 2015 including nearly 4.000 lower-ranking civil servants. Through an in-depth study of the 554 responses in the open category, we uncov- er how functional politicization is manifested in Danish state administration among low- er-ranking civil servants. The study, thus, uncovers in detail the characteristics of func- tional politicization and investigates the coping strategies of lower-ranking civil servants, when the demand for political responsiveness compromises classical norms integrated in the Rechtsstat.

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Author Biographies

Birgitte Poulsen, Department of Social Sciences and Business, Roskilde University

Birgitte Poulsen, cand. scient. adm., Ph.D.., associate professor, Department of Social Sciences and Business, Roskilde University. Birgitte’s research covers public administration and public man- agement with a particular emphasis on the relationship between ministers and civil servants. Theoret- ically, she is interested in institutional theory and role theory with a specific focus on the develop- ment, and importance, of organizational cultures. Her work also covers conflict resolution strategies in public sector organizations both at state level and in municipalities. From October 2018 until December 2021 Birgitte will be working within the research program ”Civil servant norms in a state of flux”, financed by the Independent Research Fond Denmark (Danmarks frie forskningsfond).

Pernille Boye Koch, Department of Social Sciences and Business, Roskilde University

Pernille Boye Koch, cand. jur., Ph.D., associate professor in public law, Department of Social Sciences and Business, Roskilde University. Pernille holds a PhD from the University of Copenha- gen, Faculty of Law, and she has been working with a wide range of themes in the areas of constitu- tional law and administrative law. Her research has often been focusing on accountability issues, as she has published articles on constitutional control, ministerial accountability, civil servant norms, access to information regulation and democratic control of Intelligence Services. In addition to the university career, Pernille has for a shorter period of time been working as a civil servant in the Danish State Administration and as a legal consultant in the Administration of the Danish Parliament (Folketinget). From 2018-2021 Pernille will be the leader of the research program: ”Civil servant norms in a state of flux”, financed by the Independent Research Fond Denmark (Danmarks frie forskningsfond).

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Published

2018-09-15

How to Cite

Poulsen, B., & Koch, P. B. (2018). Functional Politicisation Among Lower-Ranking Civil Servants: Conflicts and Dilemmas in Danish Central Government. Scandinavian Journal of Public Administration, 22(3), 39–63. https://doi.org/10.58235/sjpa.v22i3.11404

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