Tackling Bureaucracy Growth in Time of Crisis: The Case of Czech Statutory Cities
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4335/14.4.783-806(2016)Keywords:
local politics, bureaucracy growth, austerity, party competition, the Czech RepublicAbstract
In times of economic crisis, municipalities have faced serious fiscal stress and have had to implement responsive measures such as lowering operational costs, a hiring freeze or layoffs. Yet some cities even boost their bureaucratic apparatus. Based on empirical results of Czech statutory cities, it is argued, that the main cause of bureaucratic growth is party fragmentation, government alternations and weak mayors because post-communist administrations are affected by widespread patronage and clientelism. Decline or cutbacks strategies are linked to fiscal stress though in times of elections are determined by political context rather than the economic environment.
References
<p align="justify"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13px; font-family: Cambria">References:
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Biezen, I. (2003) Political Parties in New Democracies: Party Organization in Southern and East-Central Europe (New York: Palgrave Macmillan).
Birch, S. (2003) Electoral Systems and Political Transformation in Post-Communist Europe (New York: Palgrave Macmillan).
Boix, C. & Posner, D. (1998) Social Capital: Explaining Its Origins and Effects on Government Performance, British Journal of Political Science, 28(4), pp. 686–695.
Borge, L. E. (2005) Strong politicians, small deficits: evidence from Norwegian local governments, European Journal of Political Economy, 21(2), pp. 325–344.
Borge, L. E., Falch, T. & Tovmo, P. (2008) Public Sector Efficiency: The Roles of Political and Budgetary Institutions, Fiscal Capacity and Democratic Participation, Public Choice, 136(3-4), pp. 475–495.
Bozeman, B. (2010) Hard lessons from hard times: reconsidering and reorienting the ‘managing decline’ literature, Public Administration Review, 70(4), pp. 557–563.
Cameron, K. S. (1994) Strategies for successful organizational downsizing, Human Resource Management, 33(2), pp. 189–211.
Carmeli, K. S. & Scheaffer, Z. (2009) How leadership characteristics affect organizational decline and downsizing, Journal of Business Ethics, 86(3), pp. 363-378.
Cayer, N. J. (1986) Management implications of reduction in force, Public Administration Quarterly, 10(1), pp. 36–49.
Copus, C. & Erlingsson, G. (2012) Parties in Local Government: A Rewiev, Representation, 48(2), pp. 235–247.
Denters, B. & Rose, L. (2005) Comparing Local Governance: Trends and Developments (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmilan).
Evans, P. & Rauch, J. E. (1999) Bureaucracy and Growth: A Cross-National Analysis of the Effects of "Weberian" State Structures on Economic Growth, American Sociological Review, 64(5), pp. 748–765.
Gehlbach, S. (2008) What Is a Big Bureaucracy? Reflections on Rebuilding Leviathan and Runaway State-building, Czech Sociological Review, 44(6), pp. 1189–1197.
Getimis, P. & Hlepas, N. K. (2006) Aspect of Leadership Styles: An interaction of Contex and Personalities, In: Bäck, H., Heinelt, H. & Magnier, A. (eds.) The European Mayor: Political Leaders in the Changing Context of Local Democracy, Urban and Regional Research International (Wiesbaden: VS Verlag for Sozialwissenschaften), pp. 177–200.
Golden, M. A. (2003) Electoral Connections: The Effects of the Personal Vote on Political Patronage, Bureaucracy and Legislation in Postwar Italy, British Journal of Political Science, 33(2), pp. 189–212.
Grzymala-Busse, A. (2007) Rebuilding Leviathan: Party Competition and State Exploitation In Post-Communist Democracies (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
de Haan, J., Sturm, J. S. & Beekhuis, G. (1999) The weak government thesis: Some new evidence, Public Choice, 101(3-4), pp. 163–176.
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Heinelt, H. & Hlepas, N. K. (2006) Typologies of Local Government Systems, In: Bäck, H., Heinelt, H. & Magnier, A. (eds.) The European Mayor: Political Leaders in the Changing Context of Local Democracy, Urban and Regional Research International (Wiesbaden: VS Verlag for Sozialwissenschaften), pp. 21-42.
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Kitschelt, H. & Wilkinson, S. I. (2007) Patrons, Clients and Policies: Patterns of Democratic Accountability and Political Competition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
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Kopecký, P. (2012) Give Me Trafika: Party Patronage in the Czech Republic, In: Kopecký, P., Mair, P. & Spirova, M. (eds.) Party Patronage and Party Government in European Democracies (Oxford: Oxford University Press), pp. 74–91.
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Laakso, M. & Taagepera, R. (1979) Effective Number of Parties: A Measure with Application to West Europe, Comparative Political Studies, 12(1), pp. 3–27.
Levine, C. H. (1978) Organizational decline and cutback management, Public Administration Review, 38(4), pp. 31–325.
Levine, C. H., Rubin, I. S. & Wolohojian, G. G. (1981) The Politics of Retrenchment: How Local Governments Manage Fiscal Stress (Beverly Hills: Sage).
Lewis, G. B. (1984) Municipal expenditures through thick and thin, Publius, 14(2), pp. 31–39.
Lewis, G. B. (1988) The consequences of fiscal stress: Cutback management and municipal Employment, State & Local Government Review, 20(2), pp. 64–71.
Loughlin, J. (2007) Reconfiguring the State: Trends in Territorial Governance in European States, Regional and Federal Studies, 17(4), pp. 385–403.
Maher, C. S. & Deller, S. C. (2007) Municipal Responses to Fiscal Stress, International Journal of Public Administration, 30(12-14), pp. 1549–1572.
Mani, B. G. (2014) Determinants of a City Manager’s Tenure in Office: The Person, Job, Municipality, and Election System, SAGE Open, 4(1), pp. 1–16.
Marek, D. & Braun, M. (2002) The EU as a Regional Actor: The Case of the Czech Republic, Journal of Common Market Studies, 40(5), pp. 895–919.
Meyer-Sahling, J. H. & Veen, T. (2012) Governing the Post-communist State: Government Alternation and Senior Civil Service Politicization in Central and Eastern Europe, East European Politics, 28(1), pp. 4–22.
O’Dwyer, C. (2006) Runaway State-building: Patronage Politics and Democratic Development (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press).
Overmans, J. F. A. & Noordeegraaf, M. (2014) Managing austerity: rhetorical and real responses to fiscal stress in local government, Public Money & Management, 34(2), pp. 99–106.
Plümper, T., Troeger, V. & Manow, P. (2005) Panel data analysis in comparative politics: Linking method to theory, European Journal of Political Research, 44(2), pp. 327–354.
Pollitt, C. (2010) Cuts and reforms-public services as we move into a new era, Society and Economy, 32(1), pp. 17–31.
Raudla, R., Savi, R. & Liiv, T. R. (2013) Literature Review on Cutback Management. Coordinating for Cohesion in the Public Sector of the Future (Rotterdam: COCOPS).
Raudla R., Savi R. & Liiv, T. R. (2015) Cutback management literature in the 1970s and 1980s: taking stock, International Review of Administrative Sciences, 81(3), pp. 433–456.
Roubini, N. & Sachs, J. (1989) Political and economic determinants of budget deficits in the industrial democracies, European Economic Review, 33(5), pp. 903–938.
Ryšavý, D. & Bernard, J. (2012) Size and Local Democracy: the Case of Czech Municipal Representatives, Local Government Studies, 39(6), pp. 833-852.
Shefter, M. (1994) Political Parties and the State. (Princeton: Princeton University Press).
Šťastná, L. & Gregor, M. (2011) Local Government Efficiency: Evidence from the Czech Municipalities, IES Working Paper IES FSV, 2011/14 (Prague: Charles University in Prague).
Taylor, M., & Herman, V. M. (1971) Party Systems and Government Stability, The American Political Science Review, 65(1), pp. 28–37.
Volkerink, B. & de Haan, J. (2001) Fragmented government effects on fiscal policy, Public Choice, 109(3-4), pp. 221–242.</span></p>
Barber, B. R. (2013) If Mayors Ruled the World: Dysfunctional Nations, Rising Cities (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press).
Beck, N. & Katz, J. N. (1995) What to do (and not to do) with time-series cross-section data in comparative politics, American Political Science Review, 89(3), pp. 634–647.
Biezen, I. (2003) Political Parties in New Democracies: Party Organization in Southern and East-Central Europe (New York: Palgrave Macmillan).
Birch, S. (2003) Electoral Systems and Political Transformation in Post-Communist Europe (New York: Palgrave Macmillan).
Boix, C. & Posner, D. (1998) Social Capital: Explaining Its Origins and Effects on Government Performance, British Journal of Political Science, 28(4), pp. 686–695.
Borge, L. E. (2005) Strong politicians, small deficits: evidence from Norwegian local governments, European Journal of Political Economy, 21(2), pp. 325–344.
Borge, L. E., Falch, T. & Tovmo, P. (2008) Public Sector Efficiency: The Roles of Political and Budgetary Institutions, Fiscal Capacity and Democratic Participation, Public Choice, 136(3-4), pp. 475–495.
Bozeman, B. (2010) Hard lessons from hard times: reconsidering and reorienting the ‘managing decline’ literature, Public Administration Review, 70(4), pp. 557–563.
Cameron, K. S. (1994) Strategies for successful organizational downsizing, Human Resource Management, 33(2), pp. 189–211.
Carmeli, K. S. & Scheaffer, Z. (2009) How leadership characteristics affect organizational decline and downsizing, Journal of Business Ethics, 86(3), pp. 363-378.
Cayer, N. J. (1986) Management implications of reduction in force, Public Administration Quarterly, 10(1), pp. 36–49.
Copus, C. & Erlingsson, G. (2012) Parties in Local Government: A Rewiev, Representation, 48(2), pp. 235–247.
Denters, B. & Rose, L. (2005) Comparing Local Governance: Trends and Developments (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmilan).
Evans, P. & Rauch, J. E. (1999) Bureaucracy and Growth: A Cross-National Analysis of the Effects of "Weberian" State Structures on Economic Growth, American Sociological Review, 64(5), pp. 748–765.
Gehlbach, S. (2008) What Is a Big Bureaucracy? Reflections on Rebuilding Leviathan and Runaway State-building, Czech Sociological Review, 44(6), pp. 1189–1197.
Getimis, P. & Hlepas, N. K. (2006) Aspect of Leadership Styles: An interaction of Contex and Personalities, In: Bäck, H., Heinelt, H. & Magnier, A. (eds.) The European Mayor: Political Leaders in the Changing Context of Local Democracy, Urban and Regional Research International (Wiesbaden: VS Verlag for Sozialwissenschaften), pp. 177–200.
Golden, M. A. (2003) Electoral Connections: The Effects of the Personal Vote on Political Patronage, Bureaucracy and Legislation in Postwar Italy, British Journal of Political Science, 33(2), pp. 189–212.
Grzymala-Busse, A. (2007) Rebuilding Leviathan: Party Competition and State Exploitation In Post-Communist Democracies (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
de Haan, J., Sturm, J. S. & Beekhuis, G. (1999) The weak government thesis: Some new evidence, Public Choice, 101(3-4), pp. 163–176.
Hanley, S. (2008) Re-stating Party Development in Central and Eastern Europe? Czech Sociological Review, 44(6), pp. 1155–1176.
Heinelt, H. & Hlepas, N. K. (2006) Typologies of Local Government Systems, In: Bäck, H., Heinelt, H. & Magnier, A. (eds.) The European Mayor: Political Leaders in the Changing Context of Local Democracy, Urban and Regional Research International (Wiesbaden: VS Verlag for Sozialwissenschaften), pp. 21-42.
Illner, M. (2010) The Czech Republic: Local Government in the Years after the Reform, In: Hendriks, F., Lidström, A. & Loughlin, J. (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Local and Regional Democracy in Europe (Oxford: Oxford University Press), pp. 505–527.
Kitschelt, H. & Wilkinson, S. I. (2007) Patrons, Clients and Policies: Patterns of Democratic Accountability and Political Competition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
Kopecký, P. (2006) Political Parties and the State in Postcommunist Europe: The Nature of Symbiosis, Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics, 22(3), pp. 251–273.
Kopecký, P. (2012) Give Me Trafika: Party Patronage in the Czech Republic, In: Kopecký, P., Mair, P. & Spirova, M. (eds.) Party Patronage and Party Government in European Democracies (Oxford: Oxford University Press), pp. 74–91.
Kopecký, P. & Mair, P. (2012) Party Patronage as an Organizational Resource, In: Kopecký, P., Mair, P. & Spirova, M. (eds.) Party Patronage and Party Government in European Democracies (Oxford: Oxford University Press), pp. 3–16.
Kostelecky, T. (2007) Political Parties and Their Role in Local Politics in the Post- Communist Czech Republic, In: Lazin, F., Evans, M., Hoffmann-Martinot, V. & Wollmann, H. (eds) Local Government Reforms in Countries in Transition (Lanham, Boulder, New York, Toronto, Plymouth: Lexington Books), pp. 121–139.
Laakso, M. & Taagepera, R. (1979) Effective Number of Parties: A Measure with Application to West Europe, Comparative Political Studies, 12(1), pp. 3–27.
Levine, C. H. (1978) Organizational decline and cutback management, Public Administration Review, 38(4), pp. 31–325.
Levine, C. H., Rubin, I. S. & Wolohojian, G. G. (1981) The Politics of Retrenchment: How Local Governments Manage Fiscal Stress (Beverly Hills: Sage).
Lewis, G. B. (1984) Municipal expenditures through thick and thin, Publius, 14(2), pp. 31–39.
Lewis, G. B. (1988) The consequences of fiscal stress: Cutback management and municipal Employment, State & Local Government Review, 20(2), pp. 64–71.
Loughlin, J. (2007) Reconfiguring the State: Trends in Territorial Governance in European States, Regional and Federal Studies, 17(4), pp. 385–403.
Maher, C. S. & Deller, S. C. (2007) Municipal Responses to Fiscal Stress, International Journal of Public Administration, 30(12-14), pp. 1549–1572.
Mani, B. G. (2014) Determinants of a City Manager’s Tenure in Office: The Person, Job, Municipality, and Election System, SAGE Open, 4(1), pp. 1–16.
Marek, D. & Braun, M. (2002) The EU as a Regional Actor: The Case of the Czech Republic, Journal of Common Market Studies, 40(5), pp. 895–919.
Meyer-Sahling, J. H. & Veen, T. (2012) Governing the Post-communist State: Government Alternation and Senior Civil Service Politicization in Central and Eastern Europe, East European Politics, 28(1), pp. 4–22.
O’Dwyer, C. (2006) Runaway State-building: Patronage Politics and Democratic Development (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press).
Overmans, J. F. A. & Noordeegraaf, M. (2014) Managing austerity: rhetorical and real responses to fiscal stress in local government, Public Money & Management, 34(2), pp. 99–106.
Plümper, T., Troeger, V. & Manow, P. (2005) Panel data analysis in comparative politics: Linking method to theory, European Journal of Political Research, 44(2), pp. 327–354.
Pollitt, C. (2010) Cuts and reforms-public services as we move into a new era, Society and Economy, 32(1), pp. 17–31.
Raudla, R., Savi, R. & Liiv, T. R. (2013) Literature Review on Cutback Management. Coordinating for Cohesion in the Public Sector of the Future (Rotterdam: COCOPS).
Raudla R., Savi R. & Liiv, T. R. (2015) Cutback management literature in the 1970s and 1980s: taking stock, International Review of Administrative Sciences, 81(3), pp. 433–456.
Roubini, N. & Sachs, J. (1989) Political and economic determinants of budget deficits in the industrial democracies, European Economic Review, 33(5), pp. 903–938.
Ryšavý, D. & Bernard, J. (2012) Size and Local Democracy: the Case of Czech Municipal Representatives, Local Government Studies, 39(6), pp. 833-852.
Shefter, M. (1994) Political Parties and the State. (Princeton: Princeton University Press).
Šťastná, L. & Gregor, M. (2011) Local Government Efficiency: Evidence from the Czech Municipalities, IES Working Paper IES FSV, 2011/14 (Prague: Charles University in Prague).
Taylor, M., & Herman, V. M. (1971) Party Systems and Government Stability, The American Political Science Review, 65(1), pp. 28–37.
Volkerink, B. & de Haan, J. (2001) Fragmented government effects on fiscal policy, Public Choice, 109(3-4), pp. 221–242.</span></p>
Published
2016-08-30
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