Democracy administered: How public administration shapes representative government

When the cat is away: How institutional autonomy, low salience, and issue complexity shape administrative action

“…While we have covered the opportunities for administrative agency that administrative spaces offer for entrepreneurial administrative problem solving, we are also very much aware of the potential challenges they raise to democratic governance. Although public servants are integral to democratic governance, implementing public policy and providing policy advice to elected officials, their mandate does derive from electoral support and their approval from the political leadership they report to (Bertelli, 2021). While there are accountability mechanisms in place to ensure that elected officials can control the public service, it could well be argued that too extensive discretion and latitude given to public servants to largely control policy design and implementation—an administrative state—would lead to deficits in democratic accountability.…”

The Guardian State: Strengthening the public service against democratic backsliding

“…This guarding role of the civil service against an illiberal regime begs the question of administrative neutrality and submission to the political level of government. The idea of bureaucracy being a democratic institution by its own standards is an idea that finds ample support (Bertelli, 2021; Etzioni‐Halevy, 1985; Heath, 2020; Rosanvallon, 2011). Not only do bureaucracies transform democratic values into societal values during the process of administrative implementation; a bureaucracy also upholds norms of impartiality, neutrality, effectiveness, and expertise.…”

“…More recently, Bertelli pursues this line of reasoning when he argues that administrative agencies play a significant—but underappreciated—role in shaping public policy and the implementation of democratic decisions. Although being unelected, civil servants have the authority to interpret and execute laws—and they do so as they translate the often abstract and general values that are decided upon in the political process into concrete programs (Bertelli, 2021). Finally, building on ideas and arguments similar to these, Heath (2020: 345) argues “that the executive branch—and more specifically, the class of permanent officials—is also the custodian of these basic liberal principles.” He continues that in the ultimate case, “this means that the executive may be called upon to serve as the countermajoritarian check on the legislature.”…”

“…We are not the first to advocate that bureaucracies must be perceived as a constitutive part of liberal democracy (Bertelli, 2021; Bertelli & Lynn, 2006; Etzioni‐Halevy, 1985; Heath, 2020). Friedrich's (1940) insistence on the importance of values in intrinsic accountability and allegiance to professional standards, echoed by Heath (2020) can be seen as one such call.…”

“…Friedrich's (1940) insistence on the importance of values in intrinsic accountability and allegiance to professional standards, echoed by Heath (2020) can be seen as one such call. While Heath anchors his discussion of the role of bureaucracy in preserving values in political philosophy, Bertelli (2021) does this more in terms of positive political theory. Bureaucracy, it is argued, has its own sources of legitimacy, which are based on expertise, the delegated authority, and the concern for the common good.…”