The Neo-Managerial Turn of Bureaucratic States. More Steering, More Devolution
Abstract
Taking stock of the global and national movement of administrative reforms since the 1980s, this chapter provides a comparative perspective on how European bureaucratic states have been differently transformed under a central tension: the reinforcement of steering and control versus the devolution of powers and increased autonomy granted to organizations implementing public policies. Steering and devolution have come in a great variety of reform initiatives in national contexts according to three modes (political, organizational, managerial) and the chapter illustrates how they have been differently combined in European states. Neo-managerial reforms have ‘moulded’ the process of state restructuring in Europe, resulting in contradictory trends of fragmentation and rebureaucratization while making administrative reforms a major political issue.