PART I: CIVIL SERVANTS AND POLITICS: SETTING THE SCENE -- Introduction; C. Neuhold & S. Vanhoonacker -- Politicisation: What is it and why should we care?; B.G. Peters -- Civil Servants and Politicians: Problems and Future Prospects; L. Verhey -- Civil Servants and Whistle-blowing: Loyal Neutrality and/or Democratic Ideal?; G. Hunt -- PART II: POLITICISATION OF CIVIL SERVANTS BETWEEN NEUTRALITY AND POLITICAL ACTIVISM? COUNTRY STUDIES -- Civil Servants and Politicians: A Very British Relationship; D. Woodhouse -- Managerialism and politicisation in the Dutch Civil Service; S.van Thiel -- Civil Servants: How to Support the Political Level: The French Case; F. Baron -- Civil Service Reform in Slovakia and Hungary: The Road to Professionalisation?; K. Staronova -- Civil Servants and Politics in Germany; U. Battis -- PART III: SUPRANATIONAL BUREAUCRACIES AND CONSEQUENCES FOR ADMINISTRATIVE PLAYERS -- Commission Civil Servants and Politics: De-politicised Bureaucrats in an Increasingly Political Organisation; M.W. Bauer & J. Ege -- The European Parliament's Administration: Between Neutral and Politicised Competence; C. Neuhold & I. Romanyshyn -- Conclusion; S. Vanhoonacker, C. Neuhold & L. Verhey
Summary
The relationship between civil servants and politicians is as fascinating as it is complex with their mutual interdependence requiring to cooperate despite the ever-present risk of tension and conflict. For reasons of efficiency it is important that the civil service has a certain degree of independence and detachment from the political process. The requirement of democratically legitimate and accountable decision-making however demands control at the political level. This comparative study focuses on the changing relations between civil servants and politicians in the European Union in the last two decades. As well as national case studies this book also looks into politico-administrative relations in supranational institutions such as the European Commission and the European Parliament
