Populism and Public Management

Éditeurs invités

• Zoe Radnor, Aston University
• David Walker, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust

Synthèse

This special issue examines the intersection of populism and public management, inviting cross-disciplinary perspectives from law, social sciences, politics and public administration. The rise of populist movements worldwide, spanning both left and right of the political spectrum, raises fundamental questions about how public managers and administrators navigate their responsibilities when faced with politicians whose values may conflict with liberal democratic principles and established governance standards.

The issue seeks contributions that explore critical tensions in public administration under populism: whether public managers have ethical obligations to defend democratic institutions, how they balance political responsiveness with professional integrity, and whether existing accountability frameworks adequately address challenges posed by populist policies. Contributors are encouraged to consider international comparisons and examine how different governmental structures and civil service frameworks respond to populist pressures.

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Thèmes proposés

• Are we facing the limits of traditional thinking in public management? Do public managers have a 'moral personality' with value commitment to liberal democracy and/or state continuity?
• Does populism create a challenge for public managers to abide by good governance principles?
• Are public managers obliged to defend the state from attack, rhetorical or actual?
• Have public managers traditionally lacked 'voice' within the political–administrative interface and what challenges do they face with the rise of populism?
• Is there a problem facing public managers if they are becoming answerable to politicians with antagonistic value sets or who may break the law?
• How anachronistic are Weberian doctrines of 'responsiveness' in the face of populism?
• What is 'extremism'/populism and can it be defined ex ante?
• Do public managers observe/answer to a code that protects them against orders?
• How far do existing doctrines of accountability accommodate answerability for extremist policies?
• Do public managers have ethical commitments that equip them to resist political directives that might subvert constitutional order?
• What lessons could public managers learn from international and comparative perspectives on populism?
• Is the UK a special case with its uncodified constitutional system?