Organising and Governing Governmental Institutions: Essays in honour of Dag Ingvar Jacobsen
Synopsis
This volume examines three interconnected themes in political science: the nuts and bolts of government, the complex and evolving relationship between politics and administration, and continuity and change in government. Government ministries and agencies are vital components of the executive branch of government that play fundamental roles in the democratic governing of modern societies.
Contemporary public administration is conventionally portrayed as being based on a series of dichotomies: politics versus administration, coordination versus fragmentation, integration versus disintegration, trust versus distrust, etc. As an alternative, this volume, which is composed of a series of case studies from the Nordics and beyond, conceptualises and empirically demonstrates how government bodies at different levels of governance are driven by pragmatism characterised by the co-existence of multiple decision-making premises. To account for the composite aspect of government, this volume illustrates how institutional and organisational factors can structure elements in the policymaking process and how these elements are powerful tools available to purposeful design.
Kapitler
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Abstracts
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Table of Contents
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1. Public organisations and the study of contemporary politics
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2. Organisational design and the quest for practical relevance
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3. Public sector leadershipConditions, challenges and avenues
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4. Public service motivation among Danish and Norwegian local government administrative managers
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5. Leadership of organisationsTheory and evidence from the development of Norwegian scenic routes
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6. Prosocial motivation and local political leadership
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7. Ambiguity with a purposeThe county governor as a multilevel actor, shaping the Norwegian Local Government Reform
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8. Metagovernance in the social investment stateLessons from the German case
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9. External differentiated integrationEU macro-regional governance architectures and the inclusion of partner countries
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10. Questioning the administrative impact on democratic innovations
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11. Communication advisers in public bureaucraciesInhabitants of the zone between politics and administration
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12. The difference that makes a difference?Exploring the purple zone of political and administrative leadership in Danish and Norwegian local government
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13. Local government access to centrallevel decisionsThe case of Norway
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14. The politics of privatisationA panel data analysis of the local political situation and share of private kindergartens in Norwegian municipalities
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15. Contained regionalismTowards a Nordic model
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16. Partnerships for change in local governments
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17. Strategies for change in municipal structural reforms
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18. Representative and responsible bureaucracyA longitudinal study over 40 years of Norwegian central government
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19. Searching for patterns of innovative public service deliveryInstitutional design in Finnish public administration
