Abstract
This article examines the changing nature of the relations between bureaucrats and politicians. Drawing on our earlier work with Robert D. Putnam (Bureaucrats and Politicians in Western Democracies, 1981) and our book published in 2000 (In the Web of Politics), plus additional works by others in this area, we consider the findings in these studies with particular emphasis on their implications for further research. One notable phenomenon is a retreat from what looked originally like a steady progression of bureaucratic influence in policymaking from Image I (politicians making decisions and bureaucrats implementing them) to Image IV (a deepening overlap of roles) back to Image II (with civil servants bringing facts and knowledge to the policy process and politicians defining values and representing interests). In a dynamic world, one should be cautious in suggesting a future research agenda. Despite this caution, however, we conclude the article with suggestions for work that we think will be important in the near future.
Notes
3. Eldersveld, S. J.; Kooiman, J.; van der Tak, T. The World of Dutch Elites: Images of MPs and Higher Civil Servants; University of Michigan Press: Ann Arbor, 1981; Anton, T. J. Administered Politics: Elite Political Culture in Sweden; Martinus Nijhoff: Boston, 1980.
4. Berger, M. Bureaucracy and Society in Modern Egypt: A Study of the Higher Civil Service; Princeton University Press: Princeton, NJ, 1957; Scott, J.C. Political Ideology in Malaysia: Reality and the Beliefs of an Elite; Yale University Press: New Haven, CT, 1968.
13. Aberbach, J. D.; Mayntz, R.; Derlien, H.; Rockman, B. A. American and West German Federal Executives: Technocratic and Political Attitudes. International Social Science Journal 1990, 123, 3–18; Aberbach, Joel D.; Derlein, Hans-Ulrich; Rockman, Bert A. Unity and Fragmentation: Themes in German and American Public Administration. In Systemrationalität und Partialinteresse; Derlien, Hans-Ulrich, Gerhart, Ute, Scharpf, Frize, Eds.; Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft: Baden-Baden, Germany, 1994; 271–290; Aberbach, J. D.; Putnam, R. D.; Rockman, B. A. Bureaucrats and Politicians in Western Democracies; Harvard University Press: Cambridge, 1981, Chapter 7.
14. Kingdon, J. W. Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies; Longman Classics: New York, 2003; Walker, J. L. Mobilizing Interest Groups in America: Patrons, Professions, and Social Movements; University of Michigan Press: Ann Arbor, MI, 1991.
20. Aberbach, J. D.; Rockman, B. A. What Has Happened to the U.S. Senior Civil Service? Brookings Review 1990, 8 (4), 35–41; Aberbach and Rockman, 2000.
21. Aberbach and Rockman, 2000; 101–107.
23. Aberbach and Rockman, 2000; Chapter 6.
27. The Volcker Commission Report, 1989.
28. Aberbach and Rockman, 2000; Chapter 8.
30. Aberbach, Putnam and Rockman, 1981; 6–9.