Premium
Politicization and the Replacement of Top Civil Servants in D enmark
Author(s) -
Christensen Jørgen Gronnegaard,
Klemmensen Robert,
Opstrup Niels
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
governance
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.46
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1468-0491
pISSN - 0952-1895
DOI - 10.1111/gove.12036
Subject(s) - civil servants , civil servant , civil service , politics , government (linguistics) , adaptability , political science , public administration , local government , political economy , law , sociology , public service , economics , management , linguistics , philosophy
This article of top civil servants in D anish central and local government sheds new light on politicization. A survival analysis shows that since 1970, the risk that a top civil servant will be replaced has increased. There is no evidence of politicization in central government while city managers' risk of replacement increases both when a new mayor, representing another party and holding an absolute majority, and when the shift of mayor takes place within the same party. We interpret these results as evidence of the adaptability of the merit civil service and political executives' stronger insistence on their authority to make discretionary replacements.