Administrative tradition and management reforms: a comparison of agency chief executive accountability in four Continental Rechtsstaat countries |
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| Authors: | Tobias Bach Sandra van Thiel Gerhard Hammerschmid Reto Steiner |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Political Science, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway;2. Department of Public Administration, Institute for Management Research, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands;3. Hertie School of Governance, Berlin, Germany;4. Center of Competence for Public Management, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland |
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| Abstract: | This article investigates perceived accountability patterns of national agencies’ chief executives in four countries with a Rechtsstaat tradition and tests theoretical expectations about potential tensions between managerial reforms and administrative values using survey data (N = 453). All countries combine old and new forms of accountability requirements, while legal and financial accountability have not been replaced with results accountability. Switzerland and the Netherlands score highest on results accountability, though in combination with legal and financial accountability, which are dominant in Germany and Austria. Nation-specific characteristics seem more important for core values of public administration than generic characteristics of the Rechtsstaat model. |
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| Keywords: | Administrative tradition accountability public sector organisations management reform comparative public administration |
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