Browsing by Author "Van den Berg C"

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    Bridging the Archipelago: Toward an Integrative Approach to Studying Bureaucratic Politicization
    (International Public Policy Association, 2025-06-01) Belloir A; Shaw R; Van den Berg C
    Despite ample attention to bureaucratic politicization in the public administration literature, most research remains siloed, focusing on individual forms of politicization (formal, functional, or administrative) and limited to single-country analyses. When a comparative stance is adopted, it often concentrates on comparing countries with the same administrative tradition (e.g., Westminster countries). This paper advocates for a comprehensive comparative research approach that integrates all forms and spans administrative traditions, treating the three forms of politicization as analytically distinct but empirically interdependent. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with senior civil servants (n=27) in four countries with distinct administrative tradition - Ireland (Westminster), the Netherlands (Germanic), Norway (Scandinavian), and Spain (Napoleonic) – the study introduces an integrated typology and applies it to demonstrate how politicization manifests across various administrative contexts. The findings reveal that politicization is best understood as a composite phenomenon shaped by institutional rules, organizational practices, and civil servants’ interpretive behaviors. This study provides a cross-dimensional, comparative lens that not only bridges conceptual silos, but also offers a more nuanced, context-sensitive understanding of how politicization unfolds in practice.