Byråkratins ansikten : Rolluppfattningar hos svenska högre statstjänstemän

• The present study is based on interviews in 1971 with 314 top-level civil servants in the central government administration in Sweden. It is the result of a joint project at the universities of Stockholm and Michigan. Similar studies were carried out simultaneously in 5 other Western European nations and in the United States. The analysis consists of 3 parts. In the first there is a theoretical and empirical discussion of administrative role conceptions. The classical neutral executor with his roots in Weber’s writings and historical tradition is confronted with political and economic developments that lead to claims for more expertise and more political commitment in the civil service. In the empirical analysis, however, there are rather weak indications of such new role conceptions. A good third of the civil servants still see themselves as neutral executors. Most prevalent is a general manager role where the bureaucrats stress administrative tasks and sociability qualities in talking about their jobs. In the second analytical chapter the backgrounds and experiences of the civil servants are presented. Swedish top-level administrators constitute a social elite of its own with exclusive social and educational backgrounds. In addition they have very limited, professional experiences from outside of the civil service. The final analytical section gives data on images of the political and social world. Swedish top-level administrators turn out to have a basically positive view of the legitimacy of politics and politicians. They see quite a lot of conflict in society but define it in harmonious terms. The concluding chapter includes a brief discussion of administrative and political developments in the 1970’s and their possible consequences for future role conceptions in the Swedish civil service. 

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Statsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Political Science (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Political science

Statsvetenskap

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