Journal Articles

THE DIFFICULT TRANSFORMATION OF STATE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN PORTUGAL. EUROPEANIZATION AND THE PERSISTENCE OF NEO-PATRIMONIALISM

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Portugal has been characterized by a late discontinuous democratization process. This contribution discusses the case of state and public administration reform in Portugal by using approaches from democratization, modernization and Europeanization theories. In order to understand the Portuguese case, the concept of ‘neo-patrimonialism’ is used. We characterize Portuguese public administration as still having ‘neo-patrimonial’ features, and therefore is still in transition from old closed-minded practices such as particularistic decision making or clientelistic relationships to new open-minded ones. The ‘new’ governance agenda combines new public management instruments and a growing flexibilization of public administration towards networks with non-statal actors and has certainly led to some improvement in the quality of the services associated with public administration. Although is still too early to assess, top-down and horizontal Europeanization processes, particularly since the late 1990s, may have contributed to a more reflexive approach in moving towards a more endogenous strategic vision based on the needs of the Portuguese state and public administration.

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Detail Information

Series Title

Public Administration

Call Number

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Publisher

Hoboken, United States : Wiley-Blackwell., 2011

Collation

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Language

English

ISBN/ISSN

00333298

Classification

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Content Type

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Edition

Volume 89, Issue 3, September 2011, pages 756–782

Subject(s)

THE DIFFICULT TRANSFORMATION OF STATE

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