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The political control of bureaucracy - A longitudinal analysis of portuguese health and justice ministries

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Resumo:The relationship between political power and public administration is central to democratic governance, as elected officials aim to steer the bureaucracy towards their policy objectives. While this dynamic is well-documented, its specific mechanisms within Portugal’s semi-presidential system remain underexplored. Studies on the political control of the bureaucracy in the Portuguese context are scarce. To tackle this, this dissertation aims to contribute to filling that gap by identifying the factors that determine how governments use institutional tools to exert control. Specifically, it analyzes political appointments, administrative reorganizations, and budgetary allocations in the Health and Justice ministries from 1976 and 2020. Through the adoption of a longitudinal design and employing Linear Models, Generalized Linear Models and t-tests, the study assesses the influence of government ideology, partisan alternation, political discourse, national crises, European events, and government composition on the institutional tools identified above. The results show that the variable political alternation is the most significant factor, strongly predicting turnover in senior leadership. The intensity of parliamentary debate also emerges as a relevant variable, particularly in the Justice sector, where heightened scrutiny appears to foster a more cautious approach to reform. In contrast, government ideology and composition were not found to be significant drivers of change, suggesting that institutional inertia and broad sectoral consensus often override partisan influence.
Autores principais:Ferreira, André Xavier
Assunto:Bureaucracy control mechanisms Principal-Agent Theory Longitudinal analysis Linear model Portuguese public administration Mecanismos de controlo da burocracia Teoria do Principal-Agente Análise longitudinal Modelo linear Administração pública portuguesa
Ano:2025
País:Portugal
Tipo de documento:dissertação de mestrado
Tipo de acesso:acesso aberto
Instituição associada:Universidade do Minho
Idioma:inglês
Origem:RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho

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