From the Active to the Enabling State - The Changing Role of Top Officials in European Nations

From the Active to the Enabling State surveys the changing role of senior civil servants in Western Europe and explores whether they have kept their central role in government decision-making. Looking at these issues in comparative perspective, the contributors provide an insight into the causes that account for the changing role of officials and the extent to which those changes are a consequence of global or national factors.

Introduction: From the Active to the Enabling State; E.C.Page & V.Wright A Case of Amateurs and Professionals: The Role of the Greek Senior Civil Service; D.A.Sotiropoulos The Changing Role of the Austrian Civil Service: The Impact of Politicisation, Public Sector Reform, and Europeanization; W.C.Müller From Incremental to Copernican Reform?: Changes to the Position and Role of Senior Civil Servants in the Belgian Federal Administration; M.Brans & T.Steen Italian Democracy under Threat?: The Spoils System in Historical Perspective; P.Mattei The Changing Role of the Senior Civil Service in Dutch National Government; F.M.van der Meer & J.C.N.Raadschelders French Top Civil Servants Within Changing Configurations: From Monopolization to Contested Places and Roles?; P.Bezes & P.Le Lidec German Officials and the Federal Policy Process: The Decline of Sectional Leadership; K.Goetz The Changing Role of the British Senior Civil Service: Challenge and Reform; C.Sausman & R.Locke From Managing The State To Managing Contingencies: Changing Roles Of The Senior Civil Service In Sweden; J.Pierre Conclusions: The Demystification of High Bureaucratic Office; E.C.Page & V.Wright