Table Of ContentTransforming Government
General Editor: R. A. W. Rhodes, Professor of Political Science, Research
School of Social Sciences, Australian National University.
The Economic and Social Research Council mounted the Whitehall
Programme on ‘The Changing Nature of Central Government in Britain’
between 1994 and 1999. The Programme sought to repair gaps in our
knowledge about the workings of British central government and to explain
how and why British government changed in the post-war period. Also,
because we cannot understand the effects of these changes by focusing
only on Britain, the Programme analysed the experience of the advanced
industrial democracies of Europe and the Commonwealth. Initially the
‘Transforming Government’ series reported the results of that five-year
research programme, publishing ten books. Now, the series publishes any
research consistent with its long-standing objectives:
• Develop theory – to develop new theoretical perspectives to explain why British
government changed and why it differs from other countries.
• Understand change – to describe and explain what has changed in British
government since 1945.
• Compare advanced industrial democracies – to compare change in Britain
with other EU member states and other states with a ‘Westminster’ system of
government, especially the Old Commonwealth.
• Build bridges – to create a common understanding between academics and
practitioners and to make academic research accessible to a varied audience
covering 6th-formers and senior policy makers.
The series encompasses any theoretical approach to the study of government and
governance. We welcome books on such notions as hollowing-out, governance,
postmodernism, core executives, new institutionalism and cultural theory along-
side the more traditional topics of the civil service, prime ministers and government
departments. All books should meet the conventional criteria of theoretical and
empirical rigour, but also seek to address topics of broad current interest that open
the field of study to new ideas and areas of investigation.
Titles include:
Simon Bulmer, Martin Burch, Caitríona Carter,
Patricia Hogwood and Andrew Scott
BRITISH DEVOLUTION AND EUROPEAN POLICY-MAKING
Transforming Britain to Multi-Level Governance
Nicholas Deakin and Richard Parry
THE TREASURY AND SOCIAL POLICY
The Contest for Control of Welfare Strategy
Neil C.M. Elder and Edward C. Page
ACCOUNTABILITY AND CONTROL IN NEXT STEPS AGENCIES
Oliver James
THE EXECUTIVE AGENCY REVOLUTION IN WHITEHALL
Public Interest Versus Bureau-Shaping Perspectives
David Marsh, David Richards and Martin J. Smith
CHANGING PATTERNS OF GOVERNANCE IN THE UNITED KINGDOM
Reinventing Whitehall?
Iain McLean
THE FISCAL CRISIS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM
Edward C. Page and Vincent Wright (editors)
FROM THE ACTIVE TO THE ENABLING STATE
The Changing Role of Top Officials in European Nations
Hugh Pemberton
POLICY LEARNING AND BRITISH GOVERNANCE IN THE 1960s
B. Guy Peters, R. A. W. Rhodes and Vincent Wright (editors)
ADMINISTERING THE SUMMIT
Administration of the Core Executive in Developed Countries
R. A. W. Rhodes (editor)
TRANSFORMING BRITISH GOVERNMENT
Volume One: Changing Institutions
Volume Two: Changing Roles and Relationships
Martin J. Smith
THE CORE EXECUTIVE IN BRITAIN
Kevin Theakston
LEADERSHIP IN WHITEHALL
Kevin Theakston (editor)
BUREAUCRATS AND LEADERSHIP
Patrick Weller, Herman Bakvis and R. A. W. Rhodes (editors)
THE HOLLOW CROWN
Countervailing Trends in Core Executives
Transforming Government
Series Standing Order ISBN 978-0-333-71580-2
(outside North America only)
You can receive future titles in this series as they are published by placing a standing
order. Please contact your bookseller or, in case of difficulty, write to us at the address below
with your name and address, the title of the series and the ISBN quoted above.
Customer Services Department, Macmillan Distribution Ltd, Houndmills, Basingstoke,
Hampshire RG21 6XS, England
From the Active to the
Enabling State
The Changing Role of Top Officials in
European Nations
Edited by
Edward C. Page
Sidney and Beatrice Webb Professor of Public Policy
London School of Economics and Political Science, UK
and
Vincent Wright
Sometime Fellow of Nuffield College
University of Oxford, UK
Editorial matter,Selection,Introduction and Conclusion
© Edward C.Page and Vincent Wright 2007
All remaining chapters © respective authors 2007
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2007 978-1-4039-0319-8
All rights reserved.No reproduction,copy or transmission of this
publication may be made without written permission.
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save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the
Copyright,Designs and Patents Act 1988,or under the terms of any licence
permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency,90
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Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication
may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The authors have asserted their rights to be identified as the authors of
this work in accordance with the Copyright,Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 2007 by
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Companies and representatives throughout the world
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave
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DOI 10.1057/9780230288768
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Contents
Notes on Contributors viii
1 Introduction: From the Active to the Enabling State 1
Edward C. Page and Vincent Wright
When bureaucracies ruled the earth? 1
The changing environment of bureaucracy 3
Haemorrhaging power? 10
2 A Case of Amateurs and Professionals: The Role of
the Greek Senior Civil Service 15
Dimitri A. Sotiropoulos
Introduction: amateurs and professionals 15
The historical and political context of the Greek
civil service 17
The traditional role of the Greek senior civil service 19
Changing relations with centres of power 21
Conclusion: an assessment of the role of the senior civil
service in the beginning of the twenty-first century 31
3 The Changing Role of the Austrian Civil Service:
The Impact of Politicisation, Public Sector Reform, and
Europeanisation 38
Wolfgang C. Müller
How things were: Weberian bureaucrats, the traditional
social order, and early politicisation 39
Change: the bureaucracy as political battlefield, public
sector reform, and europeanisation 41
Conclusion: more political control, more civil servants’
control over less 58
4 From Incremental to Copernican Reform?: Changes
to the Position and Role of Senior Civil Servants in the
Belgian Federal Administration 63
Marleen Brans and Trui Steen
Introduction 63
The senior civil service from the 1960s to the 1990s:
no apparent change? 63
Conclusion 77
v
vi Contents
5 Italian Democracy Under Threat?: The Spoils System in
Historical Perspective 81
Paola Mattei
Autonomy, partisanship and neutrality 81
The development of autonomy 83
The onset of creeping politicisation? 89
Personalised trust: political appointment and the spectre
of history 92
Conclusions 96
6 The Changing Role of the Senior Civil Service in Dutch
National Government 99
Frits M. van der Meer and Jos C.N. Raadschelders
Introduction 99
External developments affecting the role of the senior
civil service 100
The balance sheet 115
7 French Top Civil Servants Within Changing
Configurations: From Monopolization to Contested
Places and Roles? 121
Philippe Bezes and Patrick Le Lidec
The strength of the new constitutional and political
arrangements of the early Fifth Republic: the golden
age of top civil servants 121
The transformations of the French state and the career
patterns of top civil servants since the 1970s:
solid historical trends and new paths of changes 124
Increasing ‘functionally politicized’ involvement among
top civil servants in newly oriented policies 133
Patterns of an underlying crisis within the French top
civil service 139
Do recent NPM-oriented reforms lead to a transformation
of the French public service bargain?: top civil servants
face re-differentiation and new accountability 145
8 German Officials and the Federal Policy Process:
The Decline of Sectional Leadership 164
Klaus Goetz
Active policy-making revisited 164
The decline of public bureaucracy: delegitimising
the civil service 167
Contents vii
Co-governing institutions and political control 172
New sources of policy expertise 177
Europe to the rescue? 182
Conclusion 184
9 The Changing Role of the British Senior Civil Service:
Challenge and Reform 189
Charlotte Sausman and Rachel Locke
Introduction 189
The traditional British senior civil service 190
Challenge and reform after 1979 191
Discussion and conclusion: assessing the current role of
the senior civil service 204
10 From Managing the State to Managing Contingencies:
Changing Roles of the Senior Civil Service in Sweden 208
Jon Pierre
Back to basics: towards the ‘enabling’ state in Sweden? 211
State restructuring and the changing role of the senior
civil service 216
Conclusions: from position to performance? 219
11 Conclusions: The Demystification of High
Bureaucratic Office 224
Edward C. Page and Vincent Wright
The limits of path dependence 224
Bases of senior civil service power 225
Declining bases of power? 227
The demystification of high bureaucratic office 232
Demystification and its consequences 237
Index 240
Notes on Contributors
Philippe Bezes is chargé de recherches at the Centre National des Recher-
ches Scientifiques at the Centre d’Études et de Recherches de Science
Administrative, University of Paris II, France.
Marleen Brans is Professor at the Public Management Institute,
University of Leuven, Belgium.
Klaus Goetzis Professor of Political Science at the Universität Potsdam,
Germany.
Patrick Le Lidec is chercheur associé at the Centre de Recherches
Politiques de la Sorbonne, Paris, France.
Rachel Locke is a Research Associate at King’s College, London.
Paola Mattei is the Marshall Research Fellow at the London School of
Economics, United Kingdom.
Frits van der Meer is Associate Professor in Comparative Public
Administration in the Department of Public Administration at the
University of Leiden, Netherlands.
Wolfgang C. Müller is Professor of Political Science at the Universität
Mannheim, Germany.
Edward C. Pageis Sidney and Beatrice Webb Professor of Public Policy
at the London School of Economics, United Kingdom.
Jon Pierre is Professor of Political science at the University of
Gothenburg, Sweden.
Jos C. N. Raadscheldersis Professor and Henry Bellmon Chair of Public
Service in the Department of Political Science at the University of
Oklahoma.
Charlotte Sausman was a Senior Research Associate at the Judge
Institute of Management, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.
viii
Notes on Contributors ix
Dimitri A. Sotiropoulos is Assistant Professor of Political Science in the
Department of Political Science and Public Administration of the Law
School of the University of Athens, Greece.
Trui Steenis a Fellow at the Public Management Institute, University of
Leuven, Belgium.
Vincent Wright died in 1999. He was a Fellow of Nuffield College,
Oxford, United Kingdom.
