Lecture Notes on the Governance Approach

Bureaucracies, Political Responsiveness and Public Trust

Key Question/s for this Theme:

I. Is the ‘governance’ approach to public bureaucracy more likely to engender public trust in

these institutions, and ensure that they are more politically responsive?

II. If so, why? Recall what Gruber said in week one: what mechanism can ‘constrain’ the actions

of the bureaucracy that is directly traceable to citizens.

III. are public bureaucracies organised along rational or new public management criteria

sufficient to engender political responsiveness and public trust

IV. if not, what alternative ways of holding public bureaucracies to account may be more

effective at ensuring political responsiveness and building public trust



NOTES:

® Bureau-centric theories: rational features and NPM claim that you can design and reform the

bureaucracy from the inside to ensure its political responsiveness and public trusts

- Assumption that if you can figure the internal features of public bureaucracy we can generate

good political and public outcomes

- The public is treated more as passive beneficiaries of bureaucratic action