European administrative centre formation. Lessons from international bureaucracies
The strengthening of administrative powers is comprehensively documented within national governments. This article asks to what extent centre formation also happens within international bureaucracies. Based on a large body of data (N=121) within three international bureaucracies, this study adds two new observations: First, administrative centre formation is primarily observed inside the European Commission and only marginally within other international bureaucracies – such as the OECD and WTO Secretariats. Moreover, within the Commission, centre formation is primarily observed at the administrative centre (the General Secretariat) and only marginally within bureaucratic sub-units. Concomit…
International executives : transformative bureaucracies or Westphalian orders?
Public Administration is in an era of change. This paper studies one under-researched part of public administration, the executive arms of International Governmental Organizations (IGOs). These are referred to as International Executives (IEs) and provide a conceptual mapping and empirical illustrations of three important dynamics of IEs – intergovernmental, supranational and transgovernmental dynamics. The paper offers a middle-range organization theory perspective that suggests five independent variables that affect the behavior and roles of IE civil servants. The variables are (i) the organizational properties of IEs, (ii) the degrees of institutionalization of IEs, (iii) the recruitment…
Re-discovering international executive institutions
Public Administration is in an era of change. This article aims at re-discovering one underresearched part of public administration, the executive arms of International Governmental Organizations (IGOs). These are referred to as International Executives (IEs). The article provides a conceptual mapping and an empirical illustration of three important dynamics of IEs – intergovernmental, supranational and transgovernmental dynamics. The study also offers a middle-range organization theory perspective that suggests five independent variables that foster the advent of supranational and transgovernmental behavior and roles among IE civil servants. The variables suggested are (H1) the organizatio…
The OECD civil servant: Caught between Scylla and Charybdis1
ABSTRACT Civil servants in international secretariats are exposed to numerous, cross-cutting and, at times, conflicting pressures and expectations. The secretariat of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is no different. This study reveals a fundamental ‘misfit’ between external demands and internal dynamics in the OECD Secretariat. On one hand, the OECD analysts are employed on the basis of merit. Compared to the employees in the central administrations in many OECD member states, the OECD personnel are very competitive in terms of experience and academic skills. Thus, the OECD Secretariat can be seen as a veritable powerhouse of idea generation, data collection…