William E. Nelson
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195327281
- eISBN:
- 9780199870677
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195327281.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: early to 18th Century
The four-volume series of which this book is the first volume shows how the legal systems of Britain's thirteen North American colonies, which were initially established in response to divergent ...
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The four-volume series of which this book is the first volume shows how the legal systems of Britain's thirteen North American colonies, which were initially established in response to divergent political, economic, and religious initiatives, slowly converged until it became possible by the 1770s to imagine that all thirteen participated in a common American legal order, which diverged in its details but differed far more substantially from English common law. This book reveals how Virginians' zeal for profit led to the creation of a harsh legal order that efficiently squeezed payment out of debtors and labor out of servants. In comparison, Puritan law in early Massachusetts strove mainly to preserve the local autonomy and moral values of family-centered, subsistence farming communities. The law in the other New England colonies, although it was distinctive in some respects, gravitated toward the Massachusetts model, while Maryland's law, except during a brief interlude of Puritan rule, gravitated toward that of Virginia.Less
The four-volume series of which this book is the first volume shows how the legal systems of Britain's thirteen North American colonies, which were initially established in response to divergent political, economic, and religious initiatives, slowly converged until it became possible by the 1770s to imagine that all thirteen participated in a common American legal order, which diverged in its details but differed far more substantially from English common law. This book reveals how Virginians' zeal for profit led to the creation of a harsh legal order that efficiently squeezed payment out of debtors and labor out of servants. In comparison, Puritan law in early Massachusetts strove mainly to preserve the local autonomy and moral values of family-centered, subsistence farming communities. The law in the other New England colonies, although it was distinctive in some respects, gravitated toward the Massachusetts model, while Maryland's law, except during a brief interlude of Puritan rule, gravitated toward that of Virginia.
Larry Gragg
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199253890
- eISBN:
- 9780191719806
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199253890.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
This book challenges the notion that the 17th-century English planters of Barbados were architects of a social disaster. These planters were not simply profligate, immoral, and grasping capitalists ...
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This book challenges the notion that the 17th-century English planters of Barbados were architects of a social disaster. These planters were not simply profligate, immoral, and grasping capitalists who exploited their servants and slaves in a quest for quick riches in the cultivation of sugar. To be sure, they quickly transformed the island's economy from one of semi-subsistence to the most successful plantation economy in the seventeenth-century English empire. Yet, they, like English emigrants to other regions in the empire, transplanted many familiar governmental, religious, and legal institutions; eagerly started families; sought to abide by traditional views about the social order; and resisted compromises in their diet, apparel, and housing, despite their tropical setting. In short, they were more than rapacious entrepreneurs. Seldom becoming absentee planters, these Englishmen developed an extraordinary attraction to Barbados, where they saw themselves, as one group of planters explained in a petition, as ‘being Englishmen transplanted’. The book draws heavily upon material from the Public Record Office and the Barbados Archives.Less
This book challenges the notion that the 17th-century English planters of Barbados were architects of a social disaster. These planters were not simply profligate, immoral, and grasping capitalists who exploited their servants and slaves in a quest for quick riches in the cultivation of sugar. To be sure, they quickly transformed the island's economy from one of semi-subsistence to the most successful plantation economy in the seventeenth-century English empire. Yet, they, like English emigrants to other regions in the empire, transplanted many familiar governmental, religious, and legal institutions; eagerly started families; sought to abide by traditional views about the social order; and resisted compromises in their diet, apparel, and housing, despite their tropical setting. In short, they were more than rapacious entrepreneurs. Seldom becoming absentee planters, these Englishmen developed an extraordinary attraction to Barbados, where they saw themselves, as one group of planters explained in a petition, as ‘being Englishmen transplanted’. The book draws heavily upon material from the Public Record Office and the Barbados Archives.
Stuart Macdonald
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199241477
- eISBN:
- 9780191696947
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199241477.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Innovation, Organization Studies
Information is not taken seriously. Much is said about the information age, the information economy, the information society, and particularly about information technology, but little about ...
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Information is not taken seriously. Much is said about the information age, the information economy, the information society, and particularly about information technology, but little about information itself. Information has some very odd characteristics, conveniently overlooked by senior managers passionate about knowledge-based, learning organizations; by politicians and public servants, compensating with policy and programme for the information failure of organization and market; and by the IT and dotcom communities, bent on adding value to what they treat as just a commodity. This book looks at innovation from an information perspective; one that puts information first. Its information perspective is applied to eighteenth-century agriculture and high technology, to technology transfer and espionage, to corporate strategy and intellectual property.Less
Information is not taken seriously. Much is said about the information age, the information economy, the information society, and particularly about information technology, but little about information itself. Information has some very odd characteristics, conveniently overlooked by senior managers passionate about knowledge-based, learning organizations; by politicians and public servants, compensating with policy and programme for the information failure of organization and market; and by the IT and dotcom communities, bent on adding value to what they treat as just a commodity. This book looks at innovation from an information perspective; one that puts information first. Its information perspective is applied to eighteenth-century agriculture and high technology, to technology transfer and espionage, to corporate strategy and intellectual property.
Hanne Nexø Jensen and Tim Knudsen
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198294467
- eISBN:
- 9780191600067
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198294468.003.0011
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
The Danish senior civil service has a mixture of older and newer traditions, in which history and tradition are very important. Accordingly, this chapter starts by summarizing the historical ...
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The Danish senior civil service has a mixture of older and newer traditions, in which history and tradition are very important. Accordingly, this chapter starts by summarizing the historical background to the Danish central public administration and the historical role of Danish civil servants. Further sections then introduce the common organizational principles governing the central public administration. The different sections discuss: ranks and numbers of senior civil servants at the top levels; methods of recruitment and promotion; inter‐ministerial mobility; pay; party membership and the senior civil service; the status in the civil service of high status ministries; the social and educational background of top officials; women at the top; interaction and formal contacts within and between ministries; and political party policies towards the senior civil service.Less
The Danish senior civil service has a mixture of older and newer traditions, in which history and tradition are very important. Accordingly, this chapter starts by summarizing the historical background to the Danish central public administration and the historical role of Danish civil servants. Further sections then introduce the common organizational principles governing the central public administration. The different sections discuss: ranks and numbers of senior civil servants at the top levels; methods of recruitment and promotion; inter‐ministerial mobility; pay; party membership and the senior civil service; the status in the civil service of high status ministries; the social and educational background of top officials; women at the top; interaction and formal contacts within and between ministries; and political party policies towards the senior civil service.
Jon Pierre and Peter Ehn
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198294467
- eISBN:
- 9780191600067
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198294468.003.0012
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
The first part of this chapter discusses retrenchment, recent institutional changes, and senior civil servants in Sweden; it attributes the recent changes in the senior civil service to the budgetary ...
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The first part of this chapter discusses retrenchment, recent institutional changes, and senior civil servants in Sweden; it attributes the recent changes in the senior civil service to the budgetary crisis of the state and the emergence of a less interventionalist control regime, in which the heyday of state‐driven economic and social change has gone. The main source of uncertainty now concerns the final destination of the rapid changes in many core aspects of Swedish politics and public administration. The different sections of the chapter look at: the size and structure of the Swedish civil service; ranks of senior civil servants; systems of recruitment and promotion; party membership among senior civil servants; inter‐ministerial mobility of civil servants; status in the civil service; the social and educational backgrounds of top officials; informal contacts across ministries and between ministries and agencies; the relationship between national and sub‐national officials and those working in agencies; political party policies towards the civil service; and the social status of the senior civil service.Less
The first part of this chapter discusses retrenchment, recent institutional changes, and senior civil servants in Sweden; it attributes the recent changes in the senior civil service to the budgetary crisis of the state and the emergence of a less interventionalist control regime, in which the heyday of state‐driven economic and social change has gone. The main source of uncertainty now concerns the final destination of the rapid changes in many core aspects of Swedish politics and public administration. The different sections of the chapter look at: the size and structure of the Swedish civil service; ranks of senior civil servants; systems of recruitment and promotion; party membership among senior civil servants; inter‐ministerial mobility of civil servants; status in the civil service; the social and educational backgrounds of top officials; informal contacts across ministries and between ministries and agencies; the relationship between national and sub‐national officials and those working in agencies; political party policies towards the civil service; and the social status of the senior civil service.
Dimitri A. Sotiropoulos
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198294467
- eISBN:
- 9780191600067
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198294468.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
Formally, the higher civil service of Greece is a powerful group, but it also has a legitimate claim to relative powerlessness. Its subservient role is correlated with the perennial and problematic ...
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Formally, the higher civil service of Greece is a powerful group, but it also has a legitimate claim to relative powerlessness. Its subservient role is correlated with the perennial and problematic features of the organizational structure of the Greek public administration, which, in certain respects, is pre‐modern. Starts by distinguishing the main features of the top management level of the Greek civil service, pointing out the minor role played by Greek civil servants compared with their counterparts in other European countries. Goes on to describe the ranks of civil servants, the methods of recruitment and promotion to the Greek higher civil service, and the interdepartmental mobility of civil servants. Further sections discuss status in the civil service, the social background characteristics and social status of top officials, organizations and informal contacts across ministries, and political party policies towards the higher civil service.Less
Formally, the higher civil service of Greece is a powerful group, but it also has a legitimate claim to relative powerlessness. Its subservient role is correlated with the perennial and problematic features of the organizational structure of the Greek public administration, which, in certain respects, is pre‐modern. Starts by distinguishing the main features of the top management level of the Greek civil service, pointing out the minor role played by Greek civil servants compared with their counterparts in other European countries. Goes on to describe the ranks of civil servants, the methods of recruitment and promotion to the Greek higher civil service, and the interdepartmental mobility of civil servants. Further sections discuss status in the civil service, the social background characteristics and social status of top officials, organizations and informal contacts across ministries, and political party policies towards the higher civil service.
Ignacio Molinaxs Álvarez De Cienfuegos
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198294467
- eISBN:
- 9780191600067
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198294468.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
Starts with an account of the Spanish administration over the last two decades (to 1997); includes a definition of the Spanish civil service bureaucratic élite as composed at the top level (which ...
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Starts with an account of the Spanish administration over the last two decades (to 1997); includes a definition of the Spanish civil service bureaucratic élite as composed at the top level (which must be filled by public employees) and of senior civil servants who hold political posts. Followed by an analysis of the historical legacy of the Spanish civil service. The next section looks at exactly who the senior civil servants are in relation to the other public employees in the central administration, and in relation to educational background: three different circles of senior bureaucrats are distinguished: a political circle, a politico‐administrative circle, and a bureaucratic circle. Further sections discuss the sociological characteristics of senior officials, the position of the civil servant in the organization, and Spanish civil servants in relation to politics. The conclusion discusses the main structural problems of the Spanish civil service and the constant demands for transformation that there have been over the last two centuries.Less
Starts with an account of the Spanish administration over the last two decades (to 1997); includes a definition of the Spanish civil service bureaucratic élite as composed at the top level (which must be filled by public employees) and of senior civil servants who hold political posts. Followed by an analysis of the historical legacy of the Spanish civil service. The next section looks at exactly who the senior civil servants are in relation to the other public employees in the central administration, and in relation to educational background: three different circles of senior bureaucrats are distinguished: a political circle, a politico‐administrative circle, and a bureaucratic circle. Further sections discuss the sociological characteristics of senior officials, the position of the civil servant in the organization, and Spanish civil servants in relation to politics. The conclusion discusses the main structural problems of the Spanish civil service and the constant demands for transformation that there have been over the last two centuries.
Frits M. Van Der Meer and Jos C. N. Raadschelders
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198294467
- eISBN:
- 9780191600067
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198294468.003.0010
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
Dutch society takes pride in its egalitarian character, and political and administrative officeholders are neither separated off nor placed on a pedestal. This general attitude originates in the ...
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Dutch society takes pride in its egalitarian character, and political and administrative officeholders are neither separated off nor placed on a pedestal. This general attitude originates in the predominantly middle‐class nature of Dutch society, in which the idea of formal incorporation of top civil servants in a separate class of administrative personnel is foreign; however, at the same time, there is a striving for unity in the national administration. The issue of tension between unity and fragmentation forces an assessment in this chapter of current developments in the higher civil service in comparison with the situation as it existed from the Second World War up to the early 1990s, with the emphasis on developments in the past two decades in which the most important event was the formation of a Senior Public Service (the Algemene Bestuursdienst, or ABD) after 1 July 1995. The first main section of the chapter (section II) examines what is meant by a ‘senior civil service’ in the Dutch context, where even the creation of the ABD does not provide a conclusive answer, since there are many senior civil servants outside it. In order to address this issue, the characteristics of the Dutch personnel management system are examined, and a brief outline given of the ABD and of the number of top civil servants working at central government level in the period 1976–1995. Section III turns to the political–administrative organization and the consultative structures at the top of the central government departments, and discusses the structure of the ABD, while section IV discusses the political affiliation (politicization) of top civil servants, and section V looks at functional mobility at the top, with special attention to the functional motives for creating the ABD. Finally, the social political structure of the civil service is reviewed, with sections on social (VI) and educational (VII) background.Less
Dutch society takes pride in its egalitarian character, and political and administrative officeholders are neither separated off nor placed on a pedestal. This general attitude originates in the predominantly middle‐class nature of Dutch society, in which the idea of formal incorporation of top civil servants in a separate class of administrative personnel is foreign; however, at the same time, there is a striving for unity in the national administration. The issue of tension between unity and fragmentation forces an assessment in this chapter of current developments in the higher civil service in comparison with the situation as it existed from the Second World War up to the early 1990s, with the emphasis on developments in the past two decades in which the most important event was the formation of a Senior Public Service (the Algemene Bestuursdienst, or ABD) after 1 July 1995. The first main section of the chapter (section II) examines what is meant by a ‘senior civil service’ in the Dutch context, where even the creation of the ABD does not provide a conclusive answer, since there are many senior civil servants outside it. In order to address this issue, the characteristics of the Dutch personnel management system are examined, and a brief outline given of the ABD and of the number of top civil servants working at central government level in the period 1976–1995. Section III turns to the political–administrative organization and the consultative structures at the top of the central government departments, and discusses the structure of the ABD, while section IV discusses the political affiliation (politicization) of top civil servants, and section V looks at functional mobility at the top, with special attention to the functional motives for creating the ABD. Finally, the social political structure of the civil service is reviewed, with sections on social (VI) and educational (VII) background.
Edward C. Page and Vincent Wright
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198294467
- eISBN:
- 9780191600067
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198294468.003.0013
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
The conclusion starts by noting that there are clearly highly diverse trends in the development of bureaucracy in Western Europe, and that, although in some countries patterns of change are quite ...
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The conclusion starts by noting that there are clearly highly diverse trends in the development of bureaucracy in Western Europe, and that, although in some countries patterns of change are quite distinct, change does not appear to have followed any one expected pattern or scale. It then looks at two central questions for the role of bureaucracy: its political controllability and efficiency. These enable us to point to differences in broad underlying principles that reflect how different countries have traditionally understood and dealt with these two central problems, allow us to make important distinctions between different forms of bureaucracies, and explore the causes and character of changes in the senior ranks of post‐war bureaucracies. The two central questions are then examined in sections on political control, performance, managerial changes, and changes in political control. The concluding section finds that there is a common theme underlying the development of relationships between bureaucratic and political elites that applies to most of the country studies: a deinstitutionalization or personalization of political trust. Understood as a question of trust, change in bureaucracy is linked to much wider political changes that have been identified outside the literature on bureaucracy.Less
The conclusion starts by noting that there are clearly highly diverse trends in the development of bureaucracy in Western Europe, and that, although in some countries patterns of change are quite distinct, change does not appear to have followed any one expected pattern or scale. It then looks at two central questions for the role of bureaucracy: its political controllability and efficiency. These enable us to point to differences in broad underlying principles that reflect how different countries have traditionally understood and dealt with these two central problems, allow us to make important distinctions between different forms of bureaucracies, and explore the causes and character of changes in the senior ranks of post‐war bureaucracies. The two central questions are then examined in sections on political control, performance, managerial changes, and changes in political control. The concluding section finds that there is a common theme underlying the development of relationships between bureaucratic and political elites that applies to most of the country studies: a deinstitutionalization or personalization of political trust. Understood as a question of trust, change in bureaucracy is linked to much wider political changes that have been identified outside the literature on bureaucracy.
David Marsden
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199573547
- eISBN:
- 9780191722677
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199573547.003.0010
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Public Management, Organization Studies
This chapter analyses the case of pay for performance in the British Civil Service since the 1980s, which progressively moved from a 19th-century classified pay system (in which pay rises came either ...
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This chapter analyses the case of pay for performance in the British Civil Service since the 1980s, which progressively moved from a 19th-century classified pay system (in which pay rises came either from promotion to a higher grade or from incremental progression on a given grade) to one in which a fifth or more of pay was obtained by discretionary bonuses. It is argued that the intended consequence or perhaps more correctly, anticipated consequence of performance-related pay — to improve the motivation of public servants — has proved elusive. When a policy is the result of decisions by many actors, it is not clear whose intentions were paramount. In contrast, the unintended or unanticipated consequence was that, although performance appears to have improved in several cases, it did so by other means than motivation. Notably, it came about because of the emergence of processes facilitating convergence between goal setting at the individual and organizational levels. These have supported a renegotiation of performance standards and priorities at the individual level.Less
This chapter analyses the case of pay for performance in the British Civil Service since the 1980s, which progressively moved from a 19th-century classified pay system (in which pay rises came either from promotion to a higher grade or from incremental progression on a given grade) to one in which a fifth or more of pay was obtained by discretionary bonuses. It is argued that the intended consequence or perhaps more correctly, anticipated consequence of performance-related pay — to improve the motivation of public servants — has proved elusive. When a policy is the result of decisions by many actors, it is not clear whose intentions were paramount. In contrast, the unintended or unanticipated consequence was that, although performance appears to have improved in several cases, it did so by other means than motivation. Notably, it came about because of the emergence of processes facilitating convergence between goal setting at the individual and organizational levels. These have supported a renegotiation of performance standards and priorities at the individual level.
Edward C. Page and Vincent Wright
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198294467
- eISBN:
- 9780191600067
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198294468.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
It is argued that existing theories and accounts of change in state bureaucracies — which centre mainly on bureaucracy and changing role perceptions — are of little help in understanding how the ...
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It is argued that existing theories and accounts of change in state bureaucracies — which centre mainly on bureaucracy and changing role perceptions — are of little help in understanding how the civil service has developed in modern political systems, and substantially neglect the implications of social and political change for the position of top officials. The aim of this book is to redress this neglect and focus directly on the changing position of senior civil servants in the modern state, and provide evidence on which to base an assessment of the changing political status of senior civil servants in Europe. This introduction starts the process by looking at what might be expected to change vis ‐à ‐vis the political status of senior officials and why, provides a basis for the 11 chapters that follow and presents a picture of substantial diversity.Less
It is argued that existing theories and accounts of change in state bureaucracies — which centre mainly on bureaucracy and changing role perceptions — are of little help in understanding how the civil service has developed in modern political systems, and substantially neglect the implications of social and political change for the position of top officials. The aim of this book is to redress this neglect and focus directly on the changing position of senior civil servants in the modern state, and provide evidence on which to base an assessment of the changing political status of senior civil servants in Europe. This introduction starts the process by looking at what might be expected to change vis ‐à ‐vis the political status of senior officials and why, provides a basis for the 11 chapters that follow and presents a picture of substantial diversity.
Sabino Cassese
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198294467
- eISBN:
- 9780191600067
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198294468.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
The beginning of the twentieth century saw a progressive southernization of jobs in the Italian public sector, with a sizeable migration of personnel from South to North. In 1995, some 35% of civil ...
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The beginning of the twentieth century saw a progressive southernization of jobs in the Italian public sector, with a sizeable migration of personnel from South to North. In 1995, some 35% of civil servants worked in the North and 65% in the Centre‐South, but 27% of civil servants in the North were from the Centre‐South, which, in this way, contributed to the administration and the provision of public services in the North; in the top echelons of the state administration, the disequilibrium was even stronger. State employees in general, therefore, and senior officials, in particular, are not representative in territorial terms, resulting in the paradox of a senior civil service that administers the nation, but which is not national. This chapter aims to illustrate this paradox. It looks first at the subject to be analysed (the senior civil service) and its organizational context, and then defines a profile of senior officials, illustrating the characteristics of the category in which they are found; finally it analyses the two (failed) attempts of reform.Less
The beginning of the twentieth century saw a progressive southernization of jobs in the Italian public sector, with a sizeable migration of personnel from South to North. In 1995, some 35% of civil servants worked in the North and 65% in the Centre‐South, but 27% of civil servants in the North were from the Centre‐South, which, in this way, contributed to the administration and the provision of public services in the North; in the top echelons of the state administration, the disequilibrium was even stronger. State employees in general, therefore, and senior officials, in particular, are not representative in territorial terms, resulting in the paradox of a senior civil service that administers the nation, but which is not national. This chapter aims to illustrate this paradox. It looks first at the subject to be analysed (the senior civil service) and its organizational context, and then defines a profile of senior officials, illustrating the characteristics of the category in which they are found; finally it analyses the two (failed) attempts of reform.
Luc Rouban
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198294467
- eISBN:
- 9780191600067
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198294468.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
In France, the notion of a senior civil servant is a social rather than a legal one, and senior civil servants may be defined through their role as privileged partners of political power and ...
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In France, the notion of a senior civil servant is a social rather than a legal one, and senior civil servants may be defined through their role as privileged partners of political power and participation in government decision‐making; they are a heterogeneous group of senior managers of the state public administration, whose members share neither the same careers nor prestige nor professional culture, and regard themselves generally as intellectuals rather than as managers. The relationship between senior civil servants and politicians is more ambiguous and closer in the 1990s than it was during the 1960s, and the politicization of the senior civil service has been considerably strengthened, but senior civil servants still consider themselves as representing the permanence of the state, and are still reluctant to talk freely about their political involvements. Whatever the social changes that have occurred during the last 15 years and whatever the political changes, the senior civil service remains strong. An overview of the higher French civil service has to take into account three variables that interact simultaneously: the fundamentally individualistic culture acquired during years of professional training; the decisive role of the grand corps in the career path and in the representation of what is ‘good administrative work’; and the privileged social rank of the higher civil service. This chapter presents the main characteristics of senior public managers in France by trying to highlight signs of an evolution since the 1960s; the different sections look at recruitment and promotion methods, the political activity and mobility of senior civil servants, the internal hierarchy of the civil service, the sociological characteristics of senior public managers, the professional relationships of senior civil servants, the absence of any higher civil service policy, and the debated question of the erosion of higher civil service social status.Less
In France, the notion of a senior civil servant is a social rather than a legal one, and senior civil servants may be defined through their role as privileged partners of political power and participation in government decision‐making; they are a heterogeneous group of senior managers of the state public administration, whose members share neither the same careers nor prestige nor professional culture, and regard themselves generally as intellectuals rather than as managers. The relationship between senior civil servants and politicians is more ambiguous and closer in the 1990s than it was during the 1960s, and the politicization of the senior civil service has been considerably strengthened, but senior civil servants still consider themselves as representing the permanence of the state, and are still reluctant to talk freely about their political involvements. Whatever the social changes that have occurred during the last 15 years and whatever the political changes, the senior civil service remains strong. An overview of the higher French civil service has to take into account three variables that interact simultaneously: the fundamentally individualistic culture acquired during years of professional training; the decisive role of the grand corps in the career path and in the representation of what is ‘good administrative work’; and the privileged social rank of the higher civil service. This chapter presents the main characteristics of senior public managers in France by trying to highlight signs of an evolution since the 1960s; the different sections look at recruitment and promotion methods, the political activity and mobility of senior civil servants, the internal hierarchy of the civil service, the sociological characteristics of senior public managers, the professional relationships of senior civil servants, the absence of any higher civil service policy, and the debated question of the erosion of higher civil service social status.
Barbara Liegl and Wolfgang C. Müller
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198294467
- eISBN:
- 9780191600067
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198294468.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
First provides an overview of the formal structure of the civil service in post‐war Austria and the position of senior officials within it. Includes a discussion of recent changes aimed at making the ...
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First provides an overview of the formal structure of the civil service in post‐war Austria and the position of senior officials within it. Includes a discussion of recent changes aimed at making the civil service more flexible and effective and their impact on the top layer of the permanent bureaucracy. The following two main sections look at the incumbents in these positions, and provide information on the demographic and educational background and career patterns (duration in office and inter‐ministerial mobility) of the top civil servants and members of the cabinets ministériels who served in the 1970–1995 period. The next section turns to the political role of senior officials, and the penultimate section discusses the impact of party politics on the civil service. The concluding section summarizes the main points of the chapter.Less
First provides an overview of the formal structure of the civil service in post‐war Austria and the position of senior officials within it. Includes a discussion of recent changes aimed at making the civil service more flexible and effective and their impact on the top layer of the permanent bureaucracy. The following two main sections look at the incumbents in these positions, and provide information on the demographic and educational background and career patterns (duration in office and inter‐ministerial mobility) of the top civil servants and members of the cabinets ministériels who served in the 1970–1995 period. The next section turns to the political role of senior officials, and the penultimate section discusses the impact of party politics on the civil service. The concluding section summarizes the main points of the chapter.
Marleen Brans and Annie Hondeghem
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198294467
- eISBN:
- 9780191600067
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198294468.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
The Belgian senior civil service is in transition, with external pressures clearly pushing the government firmly towards a reform agenda and improving public confidence in the administrative system, ...
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The Belgian senior civil service is in transition, with external pressures clearly pushing the government firmly towards a reform agenda and improving public confidence in the administrative system, in terms of democracy and accountability and of economy and efficiency. In addition, budgetary pressures have combined with political will to ensure that the operation of the administration complies with the new managerialist paradigm. This chapter gives an overview of the position of senior civil servants in the Belgian federal ministries (the federal civil service). It consists of three main sections: the first describes the coexistence of two opposing civil service models, a formal bureaucratic one and an informal politicized one, and assesses the implications of the clash between these models for the position (job definition, classification, and security; the career ladder; salaries; political appointments; and ministerial cabinets) and role conceptions of top civil servants; the second addresses the issue of representativeness of the senior civil service in terms of education, language, and gender; the third deals with the two major challenges to the Belgian senior civil service (external pressure and internal constraints) and the resulting structural reform agenda.Less
The Belgian senior civil service is in transition, with external pressures clearly pushing the government firmly towards a reform agenda and improving public confidence in the administrative system, in terms of democracy and accountability and of economy and efficiency. In addition, budgetary pressures have combined with political will to ensure that the operation of the administration complies with the new managerialist paradigm. This chapter gives an overview of the position of senior civil servants in the Belgian federal ministries (the federal civil service). It consists of three main sections: the first describes the coexistence of two opposing civil service models, a formal bureaucratic one and an informal politicized one, and assesses the implications of the clash between these models for the position (job definition, classification, and security; the career ladder; salaries; political appointments; and ministerial cabinets) and role conceptions of top civil servants; the second addresses the issue of representativeness of the senior civil service in terms of education, language, and gender; the third deals with the two major challenges to the Belgian senior civil service (external pressure and internal constraints) and the resulting structural reform agenda.
Wolfgang C. Müller
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780198297840
- eISBN:
- 9780191602016
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019829784X.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
Reviews the mechanisms of delegation and accountability in post-war Austria. Discusses how political parties structure these processes and analyses the institutional constraints on parliamentary ...
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Reviews the mechanisms of delegation and accountability in post-war Austria. Discusses how political parties structure these processes and analyses the institutional constraints on parliamentary democracy. While the institutional framework makes Austria an imperfect parliamentary system, it is a fully fledged party democracy.Less
Reviews the mechanisms of delegation and accountability in post-war Austria. Discusses how political parties structure these processes and analyses the institutional constraints on parliamentary democracy. While the institutional framework makes Austria an imperfect parliamentary system, it is a fully fledged party democracy.
Tapio Raunio and Matti Wiberg
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780198297840
- eISBN:
- 9780191602016
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019829784X.003.0008
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
Describes the chain of delegation in the context of a semi-presidential democracy. The Finnish president has wide-ranging powers and is a strong political player, which influences the patterns of ...
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Describes the chain of delegation in the context of a semi-presidential democracy. The Finnish president has wide-ranging powers and is a strong political player, which influences the patterns of delegation and accountability in Finland. The chain of delegation and accountability in Finnish democracy is influenced by a number of constraints relating to political parties, the party system, and the power of various kinds of external agents (i.e. interest organizations and international actors like the European Union).Less
Describes the chain of delegation in the context of a semi-presidential democracy. The Finnish president has wide-ranging powers and is a strong political player, which influences the patterns of delegation and accountability in Finland. The chain of delegation and accountability in Finnish democracy is influenced by a number of constraints relating to political parties, the party system, and the power of various kinds of external agents (i.e. interest organizations and international actors like the European Union).
Gary Anderson
Olivia S. Mitchell (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199573349
- eISBN:
- 9780191721946
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199573349.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Public Management, Pensions and Pension Management
People covered by public pensions are often the subject of ‘pension envy’, that is, their benefits might seem more generous and their contributions lower than those offered by the private sector. Yet ...
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People covered by public pensions are often the subject of ‘pension envy’, that is, their benefits might seem more generous and their contributions lower than those offered by the private sector. Yet this book points out that such judgments are often inaccurate, since civil servants hold jobs with few counterparts in private industry, such as firefighters, police, judges, and teachers. Often these are riskier, dirtier, and demand more loyalty and discretion than would be required of a more mobile labour force in the private sector. The debate challenges traditional ideas about how the public employee labour contract is structured and raises questions about how such employees are attracted to the public sector, retained and motivated on the job, and retired, via an entire compensation package of wages and benefits. This book explores aspects of these schemes, addressing the cost and valuation debate, along with the political economy of how public pension asset pools are perceived and managed. The discussion also explores ways that public pensions can be strengthened in the US, Japan, Canada, and Germany.Less
People covered by public pensions are often the subject of ‘pension envy’, that is, their benefits might seem more generous and their contributions lower than those offered by the private sector. Yet this book points out that such judgments are often inaccurate, since civil servants hold jobs with few counterparts in private industry, such as firefighters, police, judges, and teachers. Often these are riskier, dirtier, and demand more loyalty and discretion than would be required of a more mobile labour force in the private sector. The debate challenges traditional ideas about how the public employee labour contract is structured and raises questions about how such employees are attracted to the public sector, retained and motivated on the job, and retired, via an entire compensation package of wages and benefits. This book explores aspects of these schemes, addressing the cost and valuation debate, along with the political economy of how public pension asset pools are perceived and managed. The discussion also explores ways that public pensions can be strengthened in the US, Japan, Canada, and Germany.
Raimond Maurer, Olivia S. Mitchell, and Ralph Rogalla
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199573349
- eISBN:
- 9780191721946
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199573349.003.0009
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Public Management, Pensions and Pension Management
This chapter analyzes the risks and rewards of moving from an unfunded defined benefit pension system to a funded plan for civil servants in Germany, allowing for alternative portfolio mixes using a ...
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This chapter analyzes the risks and rewards of moving from an unfunded defined benefit pension system to a funded plan for civil servants in Germany, allowing for alternative portfolio mixes using a Monte Carlo framework and a Conditional Value at Risk metric. The authors identify an investment strategy for plan assets that will minimize worst-case pension costs; this turns out to be 22 percent in equities, 47 percent in bonds, and 31 percent in real estate. The authors show that moving toward a funded pension system for German civil servants can be beneficial to both taxpayers and civil servants.Less
This chapter analyzes the risks and rewards of moving from an unfunded defined benefit pension system to a funded plan for civil servants in Germany, allowing for alternative portfolio mixes using a Monte Carlo framework and a Conditional Value at Risk metric. The authors identify an investment strategy for plan assets that will minimize worst-case pension costs; this turns out to be 22 percent in equities, 47 percent in bonds, and 31 percent in real estate. The authors show that moving toward a funded pension system for German civil servants can be beneficial to both taxpayers and civil servants.
Ruth Bell, Amina Aitsi-Selmi, and Michael Marmot
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197264980
- eISBN:
- 9780191754135
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264980.003.0006
- Subject:
- Sociology, Health, Illness, and Medicine
The distribution of obesity in developed countries follows a social gradient. In developing countries, a similar pattern is emerging as national per capita income rises. The epidemiological evidence ...
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The distribution of obesity in developed countries follows a social gradient. In developing countries, a similar pattern is emerging as national per capita income rises. The epidemiological evidence runs counter to the popular opinion that being overweight and obesity are matters solely of individual lifestyle choices or genetics. Both are important, but in themselves do not explain the social gradient in being overweight and obesity, to understand which, one needs to look at wider social influences. Evidence from studies including the Whitehall Study of British civil servants indicates that psychosocial factors, including stress, as well as material factors associated with position in the social hierarchy, contribute to the distribution of being overweight and obesity, particularly central adiposity, in the population.Less
The distribution of obesity in developed countries follows a social gradient. In developing countries, a similar pattern is emerging as national per capita income rises. The epidemiological evidence runs counter to the popular opinion that being overweight and obesity are matters solely of individual lifestyle choices or genetics. Both are important, but in themselves do not explain the social gradient in being overweight and obesity, to understand which, one needs to look at wider social influences. Evidence from studies including the Whitehall Study of British civil servants indicates that psychosocial factors, including stress, as well as material factors associated with position in the social hierarchy, contribute to the distribution of being overweight and obesity, particularly central adiposity, in the population.
