The autonomy of senior civil servants
The result's identifiers
Result code in IS VaVaI
<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216224%3A14230%2F25%3A00144501" target="_blank" >RIV/00216224:14230/25:00144501 - isvavai.cz</a>
Result on the web
<a href="https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/handbook-of-bureaucratic-autonomy-9781803927039.html" target="_blank" >https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/handbook-of-bureaucratic-autonomy-9781803927039.html</a>
DOI - Digital Object Identifier
<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.4337/9781803927046.00018" target="_blank" >10.4337/9781803927046.00018</a>
Alternative languages
Result language
angličtina
Original language name
The autonomy of senior civil servants
Original language description
This chapter examines the autonomy of senior civil servants (SCS) within contemporary parliamentary democracies, focusing on how their professional authority is shaped by institutional settings and interactions with political executives. Autonomy is conceptualized as both professional (policy-making and expert authority) and managerial (control over internal administrative decisions). We distinguish meritocratic, hybrid, and patronage environments, showing how formal rules governing recruitment and dismissal affect the balance between bureaucratic independence and political responsiveness. The chapter identifies strategies political leaders use to constrain SCS autonomy, including political appointments, expectations of loyalty, patronage practices, and the sidelining of expertise, particularly under democratic backsliding. In response, SCS deploy protective strategies such as functional politicization, signaling political competence, resistance, and exit.
Czech name
—
Czech description
—
Classification
Type
C - Chapter in a specialist book
CEP classification
—
OECD FORD branch
50600 - Political science
Result continuities
Project
<a href="/en/project/GA22-21665S" target="_blank" >GA22-21665S: Patterns of State Politicization in Central Europe</a><br>
Continuities
P - Projekt vyzkumu a vyvoje financovany z verejnych zdroju (s odkazem do CEP)
Others
Publication year
2025
Confidentiality
S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů
Data specific for result type
Book/collection name
Handbook of Bureaucratic Autonomy : Politics, Resources, Power
ISBN
9781803927039
Number of pages of the result
19
Pages from-to
133-151
Number of pages of the book
424
Publisher name
Edward Elgar Publishing
Place of publication
New York
UT code for WoS chapter
001665027200009