Bridging the Archipelago: Toward an Integrative Approach to Studying Bureaucratic Politicization

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dc.citation.issue2
dc.citation.volume7
dc.contributor.authorBelloir A
dc.contributor.authorShaw R
dc.contributor.authorVan den Berg C
dc.date.accessioned2025-10-13T01:55:38Z
dc.date.available2025-10-13T01:55:38Z
dc.date.issued2025-06-01
dc.description.abstractDespite 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.
dc.description.confidentialfalse
dc.identifier.citationBelloir A, Shaw R, Van den Berg C. (2025). Bridging the Archipelago: Toward an Integrative Approach to Studying Bureaucratic Politicization. International Review of Public Policy. 7. 2.
dc.identifier.doi10.4000/14mnl
dc.identifier.eissn2706-6274
dc.identifier.elements-typejournal-article
dc.identifier.urihttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/73682
dc.languageEnglish
dc.publisherInternational Public Policy Association
dc.publisher.urihttps://journals.openedition.org/irpp/5307
dc.relation.isPartOfInternational Review of Public Policy
dc.rights(c) 2025 The Author/s
dc.rightsCC BY 4.0
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subjectbureaucratic politicization
dc.subjectcivil service
dc.subjectadministrative traditions
dc.subjectpolitical-administrative relations
dc.subjectbureaucracy
dc.titleBridging the Archipelago: Toward an Integrative Approach to Studying Bureaucratic Politicization
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.elements-id502962
pubs.organisational-groupOther
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