Populist Pressures and the Political-Administrative Relation: An Explanatory Research of the Perceptions and Expectations of Top Civil Servants

The influence of right-wing populist ideology on governments has increased over the past two decades and these developments are still ongoing in several countries over the world. Right-wing populist politics is often characterized by values of anti-pluralism and anti-elite, which threaten diverse, inclusive, and open societies. These influences in the form of populistic pressures may lead to democratic backsliding and can have far-reaching consequences on the administrative apparatus and political-administrative relations. Top civil servants as main actors within the democratic constitutional state and the civil service are important in safeguarding day-to-day governance and in dealing with populistic pressures and preventing democratic backsliding. This research, therefore, focuses on the perceptions and expectations of top civil servants regarding which strategies and actions a government with a populistic signature will adopt and subsequently the response of civil servants to...Show moreThe influence of right-wing populist ideology on governments has increased over the past two decades and these developments are still ongoing in several countries over the world. Right-wing populist politics is often characterized by values of anti-pluralism and anti-elite, which threaten diverse, inclusive, and open societies. These influences in the form of populistic pressures may lead to democratic backsliding and can have far-reaching consequences on the administrative apparatus and political-administrative relations. Top civil servants as main actors within the democratic constitutional state and the civil service are important in safeguarding day-to-day governance and in dealing with populistic pressures and preventing democratic backsliding. This research, therefore, focuses on the perceptions and expectations of top civil servants regarding which strategies and actions a government with a populistic signature will adopt and subsequently the response of civil servants to these pressures. The findings show that the absolute majority of top civil servants expect that a government with a populist signature will adopt strategies and actions about centralization of both structure and resources and regarding the politicization of both norms and personnel. Furthermore, most top civil servants are neutral regarding their expectations of whether civil servants will respond. They consider it most likely that civil servants will resign, closely followed by speaking out against the policy. They find it more likely that civil servants will have a response than not respond, and finally, expect that civil servants will not be loyal to a populist government when dealing with populistic pressures.Show less

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Populist Pressures and the Political-Administrative Relation: An Explanatory Research of the Perceptions and Expectations of Top Civil Servants