COMPARATIVE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND
MANAGEMENT LES 1: INTRO
INHOUD
1. Course introduction: Aims and organization
2. Conceptual basis for comparison of PA systems:
• cultural and historical aspects of PA systems
• basic features of government
• subnational (local) governance
• civil service
Five major administrative profiles + EU
COURSE INTRODUCTION: AIMS AND ORGANIZATION
COURSE GUIDING QUESTIONS
• What are the various administrative traditions in Europe and their defining features?
• How do public administration systems of European countries vary?
• Why is the EU a public administration system in its own right?
• What are the major types of administrative reforms in Europe?
• How have reform trajectories varied across countries and why?
• What are the effects of New Public Management and other reforms across countries and policy areas?
• What values guide and motivate civil servants?
+ digitalisation, crises, and other current issues in comparative PA.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• You will gain appreciation of the diversity of PA systems and reforms in various parts of Europe. This will allow
you to see your own system from new angles.
• You will understand better the reasons behind specific reforms, as well as explain the convergence/divergence
of reform trajectories across countries.
• You will learn from the successes and failures of PA systems and reforms, which can help you as future public
managers to make more informed decisions about your own reforms.
• You will understand better the impact of cross-cultural and historical factors on PA and governance reforms in
Europe.
• You will acquire useful resources to carry on with comparative PA research as an academician or practitioner in
the future.
BOOK
• Kuhlmann, S., & Wollmann, H. (2019). Introduction to comparative public administration: Administrative systems
and reforms in Europe (Second edition). Edward Elgar Publishing.
• The book can be purchased via Flemish Economic Association (VEK) and Moeder Lies (ML).
• Additional readings are presented in the syllabus and will be published on UFORA.
GENERAL COURSE LOGISTICS
• This course timing and location.
• The lectures will normally take place on campus unless announced otherwise.
1
, • Lectures will be recorded and posted on UFORA to the extent allowed by the technology. Guest lectures will not
be recorded.
• Occasionally, you may get non-graded homework assignments and in-class exercises for practicing the important
concepts.
• End of term evaluation: written exam accounting for 100% of grade.
WHY COME TO LECTURES?
• An extra opportunity to engage with class material.
• Your will receive tips about the exam.
• If you have questions, you can ask them right away.
• We plan on interesting guest lectures with practitioners.
• Recording fails sometimes.
• An excellent chance to see your classmates.
COURSE OVERVIEW
• Please refer to course syllabus for general course structure and readings on Ufora
• The course consists of two broad parts: theoretical and empirical (case analysis and comparisons)
CONCEPTUAL BASIS FOR COMPARISON OF PA SYSTEMS:
• Cultural and historical aspects
• Basic features of government
• Major administrative traditions
• Subnational (local) governance (Week 2)
• Civil service (Week 2)
• Reforms (Weeks 3 & 4)
CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL DIMENSION
Comparing administrative systems → 3 dimensions of comparison:
• Cultural: legal families and administrative cultures
• Institutional: macro-structure and governance levels
• Historical: development and transformation of administrative systems
Five Main Country Groups
1. Continental European Napoleonic group (incl. Southern European subgroup)
2. Continental European federal group
3. Nordic group
4. Anglo-Saxon group
5. Central and Southeastern European group
Administrative Traditions and Cultures in Western Europe
• Two Main Clusters
o Continental European Rechtsstaat (rule-of-law) culture
o Anglo-Saxon public interest culture
• Four Legal Families in Western Europe
2
, o Common Law
o Roman-French
o Roman-German
o Roman-Scandinavian
• Impact of Legal Tradition
o Determines dominant administrative values and policy implementation
o Influences the relationship between politics, citizens, and administration
State and Administrative Structure (institutional)
• Three Variants of State Structures
1. Federal (separation vs. integrationist model)
2. Unitary-centralized states
3. Unitary-decentralized states
Historical dimension
• Differences Between Western and Eastern European Administrative Traditions
o Western Europe: classic bureaucratic models
o Eastern Europe: post-communist transformations after 1990
• Hierarchization between private and public features
o Continental Europe: Civil services and public administration are covered by a separate set of laws then
civil/ commercial relations.
o By Anglo-Saxon there’s a little difference between private and public employment.
▪ Public employment will be governed by bargaining and thus a constructal type of relationship.
So, there’s a more blurred line between private and public employment.
• The state as integrating force of society
o Continental Europe: It sums the general public interest up. So, public interest of every member of society
stands above any individual interest for the sake of general societal interest.
3
, o By Anglo-Saxon: the interest of the public is in having the government cater to it’s needs primarily. So, the
government has an instrumental role, it is a tool at the disposal of the society to make life organized or to
resolve temporary problems that exist.
▪ So, the state serves people in the other way around.
• Comprehensive codification of legal rule
o Continental Europe: there’s a strong emphasis on legal rational for actions and procedures that are being
taken. Usually expressed through a written constitution, that governments administrative set of laws
cover the way a public servant should operate.
o Anglo-Saxon: There’s no designated constitution. There is a lose set of acts of governments relations in
the public sector.
• Administrative actions as implementation of law by means of legal specific action
o Continental Europe: When the parliament passes their law it usually tends to describe exactly what
needs to be done.
o Anglo-saxon: legislative acts often have a character of political programs and then the executive levels
are in charge of the implementation by interpreting those legal acts, and fill in the details.
• Dominant values in administrative action
o Continental Europe: principle of legality, equal treatment, neutrality of interest.
o Anglo-saxon: pragmatism, flexibility, reconciliation of interest
BASIC FEATURES OF GOVERNMENT
• Federal and unitary systems
• Unicameral vs bicameral parliaments
• Electoral representation and cabinet types
• Democracy types
• Welfare distribution
UNITARY VS. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE
Map 1: There are more unitary countries, but the federal countries are bigger.
Federal: A federal country has it’s federated entities that have a certain degree of independence from the central
authorities.
Unitary states: They are more uniform. The centre still controls the periphery to a large degree.
Map 2: two mistakes in the map!: Austria = federal! Romania = unitary!, Russian = Federal!
4
MANAGEMENT LES 1: INTRO
INHOUD
1. Course introduction: Aims and organization
2. Conceptual basis for comparison of PA systems:
• cultural and historical aspects of PA systems
• basic features of government
• subnational (local) governance
• civil service
Five major administrative profiles + EU
COURSE INTRODUCTION: AIMS AND ORGANIZATION
COURSE GUIDING QUESTIONS
• What are the various administrative traditions in Europe and their defining features?
• How do public administration systems of European countries vary?
• Why is the EU a public administration system in its own right?
• What are the major types of administrative reforms in Europe?
• How have reform trajectories varied across countries and why?
• What are the effects of New Public Management and other reforms across countries and policy areas?
• What values guide and motivate civil servants?
+ digitalisation, crises, and other current issues in comparative PA.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• You will gain appreciation of the diversity of PA systems and reforms in various parts of Europe. This will allow
you to see your own system from new angles.
• You will understand better the reasons behind specific reforms, as well as explain the convergence/divergence
of reform trajectories across countries.
• You will learn from the successes and failures of PA systems and reforms, which can help you as future public
managers to make more informed decisions about your own reforms.
• You will understand better the impact of cross-cultural and historical factors on PA and governance reforms in
Europe.
• You will acquire useful resources to carry on with comparative PA research as an academician or practitioner in
the future.
BOOK
• Kuhlmann, S., & Wollmann, H. (2019). Introduction to comparative public administration: Administrative systems
and reforms in Europe (Second edition). Edward Elgar Publishing.
• The book can be purchased via Flemish Economic Association (VEK) and Moeder Lies (ML).
• Additional readings are presented in the syllabus and will be published on UFORA.
GENERAL COURSE LOGISTICS
• This course timing and location.
• The lectures will normally take place on campus unless announced otherwise.
1
, • Lectures will be recorded and posted on UFORA to the extent allowed by the technology. Guest lectures will not
be recorded.
• Occasionally, you may get non-graded homework assignments and in-class exercises for practicing the important
concepts.
• End of term evaluation: written exam accounting for 100% of grade.
WHY COME TO LECTURES?
• An extra opportunity to engage with class material.
• Your will receive tips about the exam.
• If you have questions, you can ask them right away.
• We plan on interesting guest lectures with practitioners.
• Recording fails sometimes.
• An excellent chance to see your classmates.
COURSE OVERVIEW
• Please refer to course syllabus for general course structure and readings on Ufora
• The course consists of two broad parts: theoretical and empirical (case analysis and comparisons)
CONCEPTUAL BASIS FOR COMPARISON OF PA SYSTEMS:
• Cultural and historical aspects
• Basic features of government
• Major administrative traditions
• Subnational (local) governance (Week 2)
• Civil service (Week 2)
• Reforms (Weeks 3 & 4)
CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL DIMENSION
Comparing administrative systems → 3 dimensions of comparison:
• Cultural: legal families and administrative cultures
• Institutional: macro-structure and governance levels
• Historical: development and transformation of administrative systems
Five Main Country Groups
1. Continental European Napoleonic group (incl. Southern European subgroup)
2. Continental European federal group
3. Nordic group
4. Anglo-Saxon group
5. Central and Southeastern European group
Administrative Traditions and Cultures in Western Europe
• Two Main Clusters
o Continental European Rechtsstaat (rule-of-law) culture
o Anglo-Saxon public interest culture
• Four Legal Families in Western Europe
2
, o Common Law
o Roman-French
o Roman-German
o Roman-Scandinavian
• Impact of Legal Tradition
o Determines dominant administrative values and policy implementation
o Influences the relationship between politics, citizens, and administration
State and Administrative Structure (institutional)
• Three Variants of State Structures
1. Federal (separation vs. integrationist model)
2. Unitary-centralized states
3. Unitary-decentralized states
Historical dimension
• Differences Between Western and Eastern European Administrative Traditions
o Western Europe: classic bureaucratic models
o Eastern Europe: post-communist transformations after 1990
• Hierarchization between private and public features
o Continental Europe: Civil services and public administration are covered by a separate set of laws then
civil/ commercial relations.
o By Anglo-Saxon there’s a little difference between private and public employment.
▪ Public employment will be governed by bargaining and thus a constructal type of relationship.
So, there’s a more blurred line between private and public employment.
• The state as integrating force of society
o Continental Europe: It sums the general public interest up. So, public interest of every member of society
stands above any individual interest for the sake of general societal interest.
3
, o By Anglo-Saxon: the interest of the public is in having the government cater to it’s needs primarily. So, the
government has an instrumental role, it is a tool at the disposal of the society to make life organized or to
resolve temporary problems that exist.
▪ So, the state serves people in the other way around.
• Comprehensive codification of legal rule
o Continental Europe: there’s a strong emphasis on legal rational for actions and procedures that are being
taken. Usually expressed through a written constitution, that governments administrative set of laws
cover the way a public servant should operate.
o Anglo-Saxon: There’s no designated constitution. There is a lose set of acts of governments relations in
the public sector.
• Administrative actions as implementation of law by means of legal specific action
o Continental Europe: When the parliament passes their law it usually tends to describe exactly what
needs to be done.
o Anglo-saxon: legislative acts often have a character of political programs and then the executive levels
are in charge of the implementation by interpreting those legal acts, and fill in the details.
• Dominant values in administrative action
o Continental Europe: principle of legality, equal treatment, neutrality of interest.
o Anglo-saxon: pragmatism, flexibility, reconciliation of interest
BASIC FEATURES OF GOVERNMENT
• Federal and unitary systems
• Unicameral vs bicameral parliaments
• Electoral representation and cabinet types
• Democracy types
• Welfare distribution
UNITARY VS. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE
Map 1: There are more unitary countries, but the federal countries are bigger.
Federal: A federal country has it’s federated entities that have a certain degree of independence from the central
authorities.
Unitary states: They are more uniform. The centre still controls the periphery to a large degree.
Map 2: two mistakes in the map!: Austria = federal! Romania = unitary!, Russian = Federal!
4
