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

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...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Public administration (London) 2011-09, Vol.89 (3), p.756-782
Main Author: MAGONE, JOSÉ M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Clientelism
Decision Making
Democracy
Democratization
Europeanization
Governance
Government and politics
Governmental reform
Institutional reform
Management
Modernization
Patrimonialism
Political theory
Portugal
Public Administration
Public Services
Reform
Studies
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Summary: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.
ISSN:0033-3298
1467-9299
DOI:10.1111/j.1467-9299.2011.01913.x