Handbook of Bureaucratic Autonomy
Politics, Resources, Power
Published on 4. November 2025
Book
Hardback
424 pages
978-1-80392-703-9 (ISBN)
Description
Bringing together an array of expert scholars, this perceptive Handbook presents an in-depth overview of bureaucratic autonomy across the globe. It examines the opportunities and implications of autonomy at the institutional, organizational and individual level, highlighting diverse perspectives as well as avenues for future research.
Exploring a variety of concepts, methods, and approaches to bureaucratic independence, this volume provides a comprehensive explanation of the agency model and delves into core issues such as measuring and explaining bureaucratic autonomy. Chapters draw on detailed case studies from Europe to Sub-Saharan Africa, analyzing the impact of commercialization, collaborative governance and policy ambiguity on political control. Raising key theoretical and empirical questions, the book ultimately underscores the need to consider normative issues including those surrounding accountability and the consequences of autonomy.
The Handbook of Bureaucratic Autonomy is an invaluable resource for students and academics in public administration and management, public policy, political science, regulation and governance, and organization theory. It will also greatly benefit policymakers and public sector administrators seeking a deeper understanding of developments in bureaucratic autonomy.
Exploring a variety of concepts, methods, and approaches to bureaucratic independence, this volume provides a comprehensive explanation of the agency model and delves into core issues such as measuring and explaining bureaucratic autonomy. Chapters draw on detailed case studies from Europe to Sub-Saharan Africa, analyzing the impact of commercialization, collaborative governance and policy ambiguity on political control. Raising key theoretical and empirical questions, the book ultimately underscores the need to consider normative issues including those surrounding accountability and the consequences of autonomy.
The Handbook of Bureaucratic Autonomy is an invaluable resource for students and academics in public administration and management, public policy, political science, regulation and governance, and organization theory. It will also greatly benefit policymakers and public sector administrators seeking a deeper understanding of developments in bureaucratic autonomy.
Reviews / Votes
'From street-level discretion, over agency autonomy and regulatory independence to institutional design, this indispensable Handbook offers a sweeping and richly detailed review of what we need to know about bureaucratic autonomy across contexts, in different settings as well as in relation with recent evolutions, like populism, bureaucracy bashing, collaborative governance and commercialization. Written by renowned scholars and taking different perspectives from political science, public administration, policy studies, history and law, this Handbook is an essential reading for students, scholars, and practitioners of public governance seeking to understand-and shape-the real-world dynamics of autonomy, accountability, and administrative power.' -- Koen Verhoest, University of Antwerp, Belgium 'He did it again. In a career of 50+ years Guy Peters has consistently addressed big questions in public administration, policy, and political science. This edited volume on bureaucratic autonomy is just another pearl in a long string of publications. Authors from all continents explore conservative and progressive perspectives. What a treat!' -- Jos C. N. Raadschelders, The Ohio State University, USAMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cheltenham
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 244 mm
Width: 169 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-80392-703-9 (9781803927039)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Edited by B. Guy Peters, Maurice Falk Professor of Government, Department of Political Science, University of Pittsburgh, US
Content
Contents
Preface xii
PART I INTRODUCTION
1 Understanding bureaucratic autonomy: existing approaches and the way
forward 2
B. Guy Peters
2 Civil servants' conceptions of bureaucratic autonomy 24
Min Han Kim and Kyungdong Kim
PART II THREE LOCALES FOR AUTONOMY
Section 2.1Bureaucracy as an Institution
3 The military as an autonomous actor: sources, dimensions, and dynamics 41
Zeki Sarigil
Section 2.2The Autonomy of Organizations
4 The politics of organizational autonomy: contrasting bureaucratic politics
and depoliticization 61
Erik Hysing
5 The agency model and autonomy 77
Tom Christensen and Per Laegreid
6 Assessing agency autonomy 94
Muiris MacCarthaigh and Abiha Zahra
7 The autonomy of international bureaucracies 114
Michael W. Bauer and Joern Ege
Section 2.3Individual Bureaucrats
8 The autonomy of senior civil servants 131
Katarina Staronova and Marek Ryban
9 The relative autonomy of street-level bureaucrats 149
Peter Hupe
10 Bureaucratic polarization theory 176
Joao V. Guedes-Neto
PART III THEORIES OF BUREAUCRATIC AUTONOMY
11 The synergetic model: mixing stewardship and principal-agent theory 192
Sandra van Thiel
12 Trust, populism, and the independence of regulatory agencies 208
Martino Maggetti, Fabrizio Di Mascio and Alessandro Natalini
13 Studying the politics-bureaucracy nexus beyond bureaucratic autonomy:
vertical policy integration and policy performance 218
Christoph Knill, Yves Steinebach and Xavier Fernandez-i-Marin
14 Diverse positions, diverse autonomies: bureaucrats as policy actors in the
policy arena 235
Lihi Lahat and Tanja Klenk
15 Bureaucratic autonomy: lessons from historians 247
Edward C. Page
PART IV MECHANISMS FOR BUREAUCRATIC AUTONOMY
16 Policy entrepreneurship within street-level bureaucracies 261
Ofek Edri-Peer and Nissim Cohen
17 Policy Ambiguity and Bureaucratic Autonomy in the Age of Democratic
Governance 276
Luke Fowler
18 Bureaucratic Autonomy in the Age of Collaborative Governance 290
Jacob Torfing
19 Bad bureaucrat: administrative autonomy and bureaucracy bashing 302
Jon Pierre
20 To may and to shall: studying administrative autonomy from a law-as-data
approach 312
Daniel Carelli
21 Seeking autonomy through commercialization: power sector governance in
Sub-Saharan Africa 324
Maxfield J. Peterson
PART V APPROACHES TO BUREAUCRATIC AUTONOMY
22 Aspects of autonomy in the bureaucratic vocation 349
Paul Du Gay
23 Bureaucratic autonomy and accountability 368
Christel Koop
PART VI CONCLUSION
24 Further Research on Bureaucratic Autonomy 386
B. Guy Peters
Preface xii
PART I INTRODUCTION
1 Understanding bureaucratic autonomy: existing approaches and the way
forward 2
B. Guy Peters
2 Civil servants' conceptions of bureaucratic autonomy 24
Min Han Kim and Kyungdong Kim
PART II THREE LOCALES FOR AUTONOMY
Section 2.1Bureaucracy as an Institution
3 The military as an autonomous actor: sources, dimensions, and dynamics 41
Zeki Sarigil
Section 2.2The Autonomy of Organizations
4 The politics of organizational autonomy: contrasting bureaucratic politics
and depoliticization 61
Erik Hysing
5 The agency model and autonomy 77
Tom Christensen and Per Laegreid
6 Assessing agency autonomy 94
Muiris MacCarthaigh and Abiha Zahra
7 The autonomy of international bureaucracies 114
Michael W. Bauer and Joern Ege
Section 2.3Individual Bureaucrats
8 The autonomy of senior civil servants 131
Katarina Staronova and Marek Ryban
9 The relative autonomy of street-level bureaucrats 149
Peter Hupe
10 Bureaucratic polarization theory 176
Joao V. Guedes-Neto
PART III THEORIES OF BUREAUCRATIC AUTONOMY
11 The synergetic model: mixing stewardship and principal-agent theory 192
Sandra van Thiel
12 Trust, populism, and the independence of regulatory agencies 208
Martino Maggetti, Fabrizio Di Mascio and Alessandro Natalini
13 Studying the politics-bureaucracy nexus beyond bureaucratic autonomy:
vertical policy integration and policy performance 218
Christoph Knill, Yves Steinebach and Xavier Fernandez-i-Marin
14 Diverse positions, diverse autonomies: bureaucrats as policy actors in the
policy arena 235
Lihi Lahat and Tanja Klenk
15 Bureaucratic autonomy: lessons from historians 247
Edward C. Page
PART IV MECHANISMS FOR BUREAUCRATIC AUTONOMY
16 Policy entrepreneurship within street-level bureaucracies 261
Ofek Edri-Peer and Nissim Cohen
17 Policy Ambiguity and Bureaucratic Autonomy in the Age of Democratic
Governance 276
Luke Fowler
18 Bureaucratic Autonomy in the Age of Collaborative Governance 290
Jacob Torfing
19 Bad bureaucrat: administrative autonomy and bureaucracy bashing 302
Jon Pierre
20 To may and to shall: studying administrative autonomy from a law-as-data
approach 312
Daniel Carelli
21 Seeking autonomy through commercialization: power sector governance in
Sub-Saharan Africa 324
Maxfield J. Peterson
PART V APPROACHES TO BUREAUCRATIC AUTONOMY
22 Aspects of autonomy in the bureaucratic vocation 349
Paul Du Gay
23 Bureaucratic autonomy and accountability 368
Christel Koop
PART VI CONCLUSION
24 Further Research on Bureaucratic Autonomy 386
B. Guy Peters