The “Trilemma” of Public Bodies: Bureaucratic Structures Versus Agencies Under Policy Conditionality

Abstract

The aim of this article is to explore the implications of the delegation of powers from central bureaucracies to semi-autonomous agencies for public administration under policy conditionality. Focusing on Greece, we argue that agencification reforms that were introduced during the economic adjustment programs (2010–2018) have changed the role of the administrative apparatus in policy-making and implementation. Based on two exemplary case studies, tax administration and state assets management, the empirical findings illustrate the political dynamics that induced organizational transformation and show how policy conditionality has changed the domestic agencification pattern and has rebalanced the institutional, functional, and democratic dimensions of agencies.

The perils of a bureaucratic fad in Africa: Examining the effects of the agencification of the state apparatus in Gabon

“…Following the popularity of “modern‐style” agencification, many scholars have investigated the phenomenon in several OECD countries. The findings of that literature are varied and point to mixed results (e.g., Benamouzig & Besançon, 2005; Dan, 2014; Egeberg & Trondal, 2009; Lampropoulou & Oikonomou, 2020; Overman & van Thiel, 2016; Verhoest & Wynen, 2016). Verhoest (2018, p. 339), in his wide‐ranging review of agencification in Europe, commented that “one should not be too surprised by these mixed findings regarding the performance and organizational effects of agencification.…”

“…Among the array of NPM‐associated reforms, agencification—the structural disaggregation of centralized bureaucracies into autonomous or semi‐autonomous organizations—very quickly became a keystone of modern‐day bureaucratic changes worldwide (e.g., Christensen et al., 2008; Hammerschmid et al., 2019; Lampropoulou & Oikonomou, 2020; Moynihan, 2006; Pollitt et al., 2001; Thynne, 2004; Verhoest & Wynen, 2016; Yamamoto, 2008). It was traditionally pursued because it conjured up images of “increased efficiency, strengthened and clarified responsibility and accountability lines, a more encouraged and professional administration, and a more service oriented administration placed closer to citizens” (OECD, 2005, p. 108 cited in Nchukwe & Adejuwon, 2014, p. 109).…”

Agencification in Greece: a parallel public sector?

“…Under policy conditionality (Spanou, 2016), a key external demand was the depoliticization of public administration, which in institutional terms was often translated as a transferring of powers from central ministerial structures to arm's length bodies, which could be better monitored by the EU level. Typical examples of this logic are the public revenue authority (AADE) (Dimitrakopoulos and Passas, 2020) and the funds for the management of public assets and privatizations (EESYP/HCAP, TAIPED/HRADF) (Lampropoulou and Oikonomou, 2020). During this period, and especially until 2015, mergers and a few abolitions of existing agencies (legal persons) took place with the aim of downsizing the public sector.…”

Accounting standards for semi-autonomous agencies: Experiences and lessons from Indonesia

“…Two decades of the NPM reforms have made the agencification phenomenon highly topical and attracted considerable scholarly attention (Trondal, 2014). Despite policy conditionality has changed the domestic agencification pattern (Lampropoulou and Oikonomou, 2020), NPM practices play a role in developing responsiveness and goal-oriented characteristic of the agencies (Yee and Van Thiel, 2020). Hence, governments across continents have established agencies at arm's length from ministerial departments to deliver particular regulatory and administrative tasks Verhoest et al, 2010).…”