Bureaucratic structures and organizational commitment: findings from a comparative study of 20 European countries

Do civil servants in some countries have higher organizational commitment? Is there any substantial cross-national variation in the form and degree of commitment? Good governance studies show a positive link between Weberian bureaucracy and favourable macro-level outcomes. However, previous comparat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Public management review 2020-06, Vol.22 (6), p.877-907
Main Authors: Suzuki, Kohei, Hur, Hyunkang
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bureaucracy
Bureaucratic structure
Civil service
civil service systems
Comparative analysis
comparative public administration and management
Comparative studies
Governance
Government employees
International comparisons
Organizational commitment
Public administration
Public officials
Social exchange theory
Weberian bureaucracy
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Summary:Do civil servants in some countries have higher organizational commitment? Is there any substantial cross-national variation in the form and degree of commitment? Good governance studies show a positive link between Weberian bureaucracy and favourable macro-level outcomes. However, previous comparative research is silent regarding cross-national differences of individual bureaucrats' attitudes and their relationship with national bureaucratic structures. Employing social exchange theory, we argue that closed civil service systems produce higher commitment in senior public officials than open systems do. Using two large data sets in 20 European countries, we find closed systems are associated with continuance and normative commitment.
ISSN:1471-9037
1471-9045
DOI:10.1080/14719037.2019.1619813