Who Are the Technocrats? From the Technostructure to Technocratic Government

Author(s):  
Anders Esmark

The chapter deals with the issue of how to identify technocrats outside and within the political system and determine the nature and extent of political influence. Drawing on organizational sociology, elite research and comparative politics, the chapter maps the available answers, from the most general idea of the ‘technostructure’ to the specific (and rare) occurrence of a fully technocratic government.

Author(s):  
Liudmyla Herasina

Problem of setting. Public government – it political practice of power which is carried out within the limits of the constitutionally political system and has a direct influence on all industries of life of socium is important. An effective public management in Ukraine must provide the state of stability, implementation of social obligations the states, deserving a condition for realization of congratulatory, financial, spiritual and social necessities of citizens; but him high-quality indexes far imperfect and characterized the plural of problems. Recent research and publications analysis. The questions of modernization and reforms of the system of state administration, constructions of the legal, social state, social and political processes are actively probed in the scientific mind of Ukraine, by the necessity of achievement of balance between the vital necessities of societies and interests of the state. Quite a bit Ukrainian scientists were engaged in researches of these questions - V. Kostytsky, І. Kostytska, O. Koban, A. Kovalenko, O. Batanov, I. Reznik, G. Chapala, M. Pukhtinskiy et al. Paper objective – ground of position, that a public management in Ukraine, which is carried out by public organs, local self-government, political parties and groups of political influence, must correlate with public resonance, to support the legitimity and answer to the innovative tendencies. Paper main body. A management in the public sphere of the state is very difficult professional activity, and foresees state and legal responsibility and account of public interests and expectations. However, disfunctions and destructions of public management can draw social and political instability, cutback of economic activity or regress, even weakening of sovereignty of the state. The criteria of political modernization matter very much for modern Ukraine: capacity of the political system for perception of innovations and mobilization of resources of power, structural and functional perfection of institutes of policy, powerful «social elevators» for equal access of people to imperious positions, effectiveness of principle of «equality all before a law». To Ukraine, as to the young state which passed by democratic transit, naturally peculiar strategy of reforms. Reformation is a not workaday situation for a country, it generates calls and problems. Among them most difficult is destructive of political power, what democratic development of country and becoming of civil institutes is braked through. Sociological researches rotined that a population considered: «The state must take more responsibility in providing of life of citizens» (68,6%). Stably negative is attitude of people toward a department judicial, which loses a «social capital» through inability to the just legal proceeding and mercenary political interests. In the end, unique reform 2014, that purchased positive social resonance is the process of decentralization the public power and strengthening of local self-government, which is mainly approved by citizens. Conclusions of the research. Problems of public management and collision of reforms are the sign of modern democracies which are modernized. The political system and public management can be effectively modernized at the maintainance of their integrity, institutional memory and, at the same time, harmonious relationships with a social environment.


1970 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. E. Finer

THIS ARTICLE IS A TEXTUAL EXAMINATION OF ALMOND'S CONCEPT OF the ‘political system’, as adumbrated in his Politics of the Developing Areas and developed in his latest book, Comparative Politics. It is concerned only with this concept; others, such as his notion of ‘political development’ have been left aside.There is at least one contribution which Almond has made to which I wish to pay full tribute: that is, his checklist of ‘functions’ which, it is alleged, all governed societies carry out, and by reference to which they can be compared. Almond's ‘functions’ are not logically necessary ones; they are simply a convenient checklist which he has derived from the data. This does not make them any the less useful. I would agree with Professor W. J. M. Mackenzie's estimate, ‘In fact Almond attempted the right thing in possibly the wrong way – but no one has yet improved on his analysis of the elements of the polity’.


1975 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 444-472 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. F. Ridley

AMBIGUITIES OF MEANING ARISE IN ALMOST ANY DISCUSSION OF comparative politics. In talk about the political responsibility of public officials it seems even harder than usual to be sure that one is not slipping from one meaning of responsibility to another oneself, harder yet to be sure that others are talkin about the same thing. Responsibility is a term used in politics, philosophy and law, and though there may be links between, for example, the debate about free will and individual responsibility and certain legal concepts, the philosophers' and the lawyers' discourse is quite different. The study of politics, for its part, involves many disciplines. Here, among other things, we may find ourselves concerned with the broad ideological and constitutional principles upon which the political system rests, with an institutional examination of the machinery of government, with the laws that regulate administrative practice, with the beliefs and behaviour patterns of administrators, and with broader philosophical questions about the nature of ‘good’ government. Given these different approaches, the word responsibility is bound to be used in a variety of senses and, within each, because our vocabulary is not legislated for us, there are bound to be shades of meaning that vary with the user.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 101
Author(s):  
Maksym A. Bułachtin

Polish Conservatives and Reform of the Electoral Law of Galicia at the Beginning of XXth CenturySummaryThe democratization of the political system of the Austro-Hungary at the turn of XIXth and XXth century accelerated the process of political changes. In these circumstances Polish conservatives were seriously bothered about the possibility of weakening not only the influence of the great land owners on the political life of Galicia but also diminishing of their role in shaping „Polish policy” in the whole monarchy. Moreover they were anxious about loosing the position of the party in the political life. Nevertheless the Cracow conservatives (so called „Stańczycy”) admitted the need for democratization of the political institutions and the necessity of concessions from the side of the hitherto governing elite. At the same time they wanted to shape the planned reform of the legislation regarding election to the State Parliament of Galicia (in Polish Sejm Krajowy Galicji) in a way that it ensured the political influence, and as a consequence the protection of interests, to the land owners and other rich social groups. The conservatives also aimed at the protection of Polish interests in a multinational Galicia. They wanted to ensure to Polish inhabitants a strong representation in the State Parliament as well as to guarantee election interests to the Polish minority in the Eastern part of the country, where the majority was composed of the Ukrainians. They also anticipated the smoothing and gradual solving of conflicts of nationalist nature in the country. Therefore they were ready for concessions towards the Ukrainian national demands.Dissimilarly, the conservatives of the Eastern Galicia (so called „podolacy”) did not want the democratization of the political system. They tried to prevent the mass political movements from strengthening. They were against broadening the representation of the Ukrainians in the State Parliament. These disparities led to a crisis between the two groups of the Polish conservatives at the beginning of the XXth century. The policy of the latter group did not have perspectives therefore they had to reconcile themselves with the principles of the reform prepared during the period maybe „when a Cracow conservative Michał Bobrzyński was the deputy of Galicia”.


2019 ◽  
pp. 31-42
Author(s):  
Zbigniew Czachór

If the relationship between the EU Council and the European Council in the context of the horizontal division of power is based on a system of checks and balances, the emphasis must be on balance rather than on the separation of authorities/entities exercising power. For this reason, the powers and authority of the states and of the European Union are to some extent mixed up in this relational formula, and they overlap. At the same time, each entity has decision-making powers creating a mechanism of political influence. The powers of the EU Council and the European Council are separated in terms of institutions (structures and personnel) but not of functions, because their powers are interrelated. The competition for power here results in its being shared, which is based on the ‘joint exercising’ of power and thus the joint performance of certain systemic functions, tasks and roles. The powers of one authority should not be performed directly or completely by any of the remaining authorities, and none of the authorities should gain a definite advantage over the others. This should be the message for both the presidency of the EU Council and for the President of the European Council.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 10-17
Author(s):  
Saranjam Baig ◽  
Manzoor Ahmad ◽  
Jan Alam

Using a simple sequential game, this article aims at exploring the outcome of the political interactions of various strategic players related to the political status of GilgitBaltistan. A political system that comes into existence after the strategic interactions of different players is defined to be an outcome for the purpose of our analysis. To discuss the constitutional limbo in Gilgit-Baltistan, the article identifies four strategic players: the federal government, the provincial, the Shia Muslims in Gilgit-Baltistan, and the Sunni Muslims in Gilgit-Baltistan. Their strategies, preferences, and payoffs have been highlighted. The simple sequential game has an outcome of “status-quo, which is in harmony with the existing political status of the region. The status-quo of the region will continue until the players decide to play different strategies. The outcome will tilt in the favor of the player with most political influence.


1977 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 242-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy C. Mitchell ◽  
James Cornford

This paper is the first fruit of a study of electoral politics in the Borough of Cambridge between the first and second Reform Bills, in which we are attempting to explore in detail some of the most important general questions about the political history of mid-Victorian Britain.The critical importance of the period between 1832 and 1868 to the transition from aristocratic rule to parliamentary democracy in Britain is not in doubt. In the terms of the most useful comparative study (Lipset and Rokkan 1967) 1832 represented an early, genuine but limited concession by the old elite to bourgeois and working class claims to political influence, a remarkably Whig view. The major works on the politics of the period (esp. Gash 1933 and Hanham 1959) have emphasised the limited nature of the concession while other have thrown doubt on the notion of concession, at all, pointing out the conservative intentions behind the First Reform Bill (Moore 1966, 1976) and the contingent pressures on the actual provisions of the Second (Cowling 1967). Control of Parliament remained largely where it had been before; the decline of aristocratic government was long drawn out; adaptation of the political system followed slowly in the wake of economic and social change. Middle class reform and militant labour were gradually accommodated in the parliamentary system, enlisted in the ranks of the aristocratic parties, which though transformed, even now, moderate, loyal, constitutionalist, bear the marks of their origin. Part of the explanation for the success of gradualism must be sought in the weakness of the labor movement and its failure at the revolutionary moment, which has been illuminated in detail by Foster's studies of industrial towns (1967, 1968, 1974).


1984 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 269-276
Author(s):  
George Philip

THE POLITICAL HISTORY OF SOUTH AMERICA COULD ALMOST be written in terms of military coups and returns to barracks. In Argentina, to take only the period since the Second world War, the military has relinquished power in 1946,1958, 1963, 1973 and 1983 (launching coups in 1955,1962,1966 and 1976). The military in Brazil, although less hyperactive than in Argentina, has relinquished power to civilians in 1945, 1955 and, incompletely so far, since 1982, while taking over government in 1954 and 1964. It seems therefore – rather paradoxically for some earlier writers on comparative politics (as was noted in the introduction) – that it is possible to speak of a military-civilian political system operating in much of South America. This features periods of military as well as civilian rule and operates largely because of a high degree of military self-confidence and the willingness of many civilians to contemplate military rule, even over a long period, with equanimity. A mere military coup, or return to barracks, need not imply a change in the political system itself. This point is not tautologous; the politica system may undergo genuine change, but only if civilian attitudes to the military (and willingness to accept military intervention) and military attitudes to civilian politics chan e fundamentally. Is there any sign that this has happened or is about to happen in the cases of Brazil and Argentina?


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