This workshop addresses the administrative dimension of democratic backsliding. What happens to state bureaucracies when authoritarian politicians enter office? How do they seek to use the administration to their ends, and how does it react? Literature on politicisation, reform and administrative culture may provide clues; however, a systematic analytical framework for state bureaucracies in times of democratic backsliding is yet to emerge. What can we learn from current and historical examples, and what does normative public administration theory have to say about the relationship of liberal democracy and bureaucracy in turbulent times?

Organiser:

Guy Peters (University of Pittsburgh)

Michael Bauer (German University of Adminis-trative Science Speyer & EUI)

Jon Pierre (University of Gothenburg)

Kutsal Yesilkagit (University of Leiden)

REGISTRATION & PROGRAMME