Inspired by NPM, different European countries have pursued a stricter separation between politics and administration at the local level (Denters & Rose, 2005). In general, these reforms aim politicians who concentrate on... [ view full abstract ]
Inspired by NPM, different European countries have pursued a stricter separation between politics and administration at the local level (Denters & Rose, 2005). In general, these reforms aim politicians who concentrate on strategic management and policy choices, but leave day-to-day-business of public administration for civil servants (Larsen, 2005). As such, NPM-ideas concerning political-administrative coordination are, to a certain extent, inspired by the politics-administration dichotomy (Svara, 2006). NPM weakens however the hierarchical relationship between politics and administration: administrative bodies are granted the necessary freedom for interpreting rules and selecting means in order to achieve the politically defined policy output (Denters & Rose, 2005; Kersting & Vetter, 2003).
The stronger differentiation between administration and politics can also be observed at the Flemish municipal level, at least in terms of rhetoric and legislation. The Flemish Local Government Decree (LGD), which came into force in 2007, intends the administration’s empowerment in the municipal policy cycle - at the expense of the politicians’ impact - and aspires to change the political-administrative relationship from a situation of loyalty and hierarchy into a system of cooperation and partnership.
Relying on Kuhlmann and Wollmann’s analytical framework (2011), the paper aims to find out to what extent NPM-ideas have affected the municipalities’ political-administrative coordination and steering processes in practice. Drawing on surveys and interviews with Flemish municipal CEOs, mayors and aldermen, the following research questions will be answered:
1. To what extent have the reforms left behind lasting traces with respect to the empowerment of the administration vis-à-vis the local executive?
2. Which variables declare intermunicipal diversity concerning the NPM’s impact on the relationship between political officials and administrators?
In line with the purposes of the panel, the paper identifies the factors which have an impact on the institutionalization of NPM-ideas concerning political-administrative coordination. Hereby, new institutionalist literature is used as an organizing framework: attention will be paid not only to the formal institutional framework’s impact, but also to the organization’s informal elements, the broader institutional environment and individual characteristics with a possible mediating influence. As such, the paper is meant to take a noteworthy step towards promoting the evaluation of political-administrative reforms at the local level, a research field that has so far been underdeveloped. Nevertheless, insights from the local level are possibly interesting for the panel, since the new role conceptions for both politicians and administrators mean especially on the local level a trend reversal. A local government system in which local politicians are not allowed to concern themselves with particular or individual concerns forms an interesting challenge for local politicians (Larsen, 2005). Furthermore, the paper’s longitudinal approach allows to identify possible evolutions regarding the political-administrative relationship.
We preliminary conclude that the relationship between local politicians and civil servants has evolved since the LGD’s introduction. However, changing legislation is not the only significant factor. Regression analyses indicate the organization’s culture as an important factor in explaining the relationship between executive politicians and local administration.
