Abstract
This article focuses on perceived coordination quality among Norwegian civil servants. It explains how they assess the quality of coordination in their own field of work along different dimensions. To what degree have such perceptions changed over the past 10 years and what can explain the variations in perceived coordination quality from a structural and a cultural perspective? The data base is a comprehensive survey in ministries and central agencies. The civil servants perceive coordination as better within their own policy area than across administrative levels and policy areas. The perceptions are rather stable over time. The most important factors for understanding variations in coordination quality are coordination capacity, mutual trust and administrative level.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
Excluded from the analyses are civil servants who do not see coordination on the different dimensions as relevant for their own daily work or who did not answer the questions on coordination quality. In 2016, this varies between 39% of the respondents for coordination within own policy area to 66% for coordination with local and regional bodies. In 2006, it varied between 24% for coordination within own policy area to 55% for coordination with local and regional bodies.
It has been controlled for demographic characteristics, such as age, gender, tenure and education but they have no significant effect.
References
Aberbach, J. D., & Christensen, T. (2014). Why reforms so often disappoint. American Review of Public Administration, 44(1), 3–16.
Ansell, C., & Gash, A. (2008). Collaborative governance in theory and practice. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 18(4), 543–571.
Aspøy, A. (2016). Tillitsreform i Skandinavia (trust reform in Scandinavia). Stat og Styring, 26(3), 14–16.
Bardach, E. (1998). Getting Agencies to Work Together. The Art and Practice of Managerial Craftsmanship. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution.
Bogdanor, V. (Ed.). (2005). Joined-up government. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Bouckaert, G., Peters, B. G., & Verhoest, K. (2010a). The coordination of public sector organizations. London: Palgrave.
Bouckaert, G., Peters, B. G., & Verhoest, K. (2010b). The Coordination of Public Sector Organizations. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Bringselius, L., ed. (2018). Styra och leda med tillit. Forskning oh praktik. (govern and manage with trust. Research and practice). SOU 2018:38.
Brunsson, N. (1989). The organization of hypocracy. Talk, decisions and actions in government. Chichester: Wiley.
Christensen, T. (2018). Blind spots: Organizational and institutional biases in intra- and inter-organizational contexts. In T. Bach & K. Wegrich (Eds.), The blind spots of public bureaucracy and the politics of non-coordination. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Christensen, T., & Lægreid, P. (2005). Trust in Government: The relative importance of service satisfaction, political factors, and Demography. Public Performance & Management Review, 28(4), 487–511.
Christensen, T., & Lægreid, P. (2007). The whole-of-government approach to public sector reform. Public Administration Review, 67(6), 1059–1066.
Christensen, T., & Lægreid, P. (2008). The challenge of coordination in central government organizations: The Norwegian case. Public Organization Review. A Global Journal, 8(2), 97–116.
Christensen, T., & Lægreid, P. (2009). Complexity and hybrid public organizations. Theoretical and Empirical Challenges. Public Organization Review, 11(4), 407–423.
Christensen, T., Lægreid, P., Roness, P. G., & Røvik, K. A. (2007). Organization theory and the public sector. London: Routledge.
Christensen, D. A., Lægreid, P., & Midtbø, T. (2012). Cross-border coordination activities in central government administration - combining organizational conditions and individual features. Public Organization Review, 12(4), 367–382.
Christensen, T., Lægreid, P., & Rykkja, L. H. (2016). Organizing for crisis management: Building governance capacity and legitimacy. Public Administration Review, 76(6), 887–897.
Christensen, T., M. Egeberg, P. Lægreid and J. Trondal (2018). Norsk sentralforvaltning gjennom 40 år. Stabilitet og endring (Central Civil Service in Norway over 40 years. Stability and Change). Oslo: Universitetsforlaget.
Cyert, R. M., & March, J. G. (1992). A behavioral theory of the firm (Second ed.). New York: Blackwell.
Dahl, R. A., & Lindblom, C. E. (1953). Politics, economics, and welfare. New York: Harper & Row.
Egeberg, M. (2012). How bureaucratic structure matters: An organizational perspective. In B. G. Peters & J. Pierre (Eds.), Handbook of public administration. London: Sage.
Egeberg, M., & Trondal, J. (2016). Why strong coordination at one level of government is incompatible with strong coordination across levels. Public Administration, 94(3), 579–592.
Genschel, P. (1997). How fragmentation can improve coordination: Setting standards in international telecommunication. Organizational Studies, 18(4), 603–622.
Gregory, R. (2003). All the Kings’s horses and all the King’s men: Putting New Zealand’s public sector Back together again. International Public Management Review, 4(2), 41–58.
Gulick, L. (1937). Notes on the theory of organization. In L. Gulick & L. F. Urwick (Eds.), Papers on the science of administration (pp. 1–46). New York: Institute of Public Administration.
Halligan, J. (2007). Reform design and performance in Australia and New Zealand. In T. Christensen & P. Lægreid (Eds.), Transcending new public management. Aldershot: Ashgate.
Head, B. W., & Alford, J. (2015). Wicked problems: Implications for public policy and management. Administration & Society., 47(6), 711–739.
Hood, C. (2005). The idea of joined-up government: A historical perspective. In V. Bogdanor (Ed.), Joined-up government. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kaufman, H. (1967). The Forest ranger: A study in administrative behavior. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University.
Kettl, D. F. (2003). Contingent coordination: Practical and theoretical puzzles of homeland security. The American Review of Public Administration, 33(3), 253–277.
Kingdon, J.W. (1984). Agendas, alternatives, and public policies. Boston: Little, Brown.
Koop, C., & Lodge, M. (2014). Exploring the co-ordination of economic regulation. Journal of European Public Policy, 21(9), 1311–1329.
Krasner, S. D. (1988). Sovereignty. An Institutional Perspective. Comparative Political Studies, 21(1), 66–94.
Lægreid, P., Ramnda-Liiv, T., Rykkja, L. H., & Sarapuu, K. (Eds.). (2014). Organizing for coordination in the public sector. Practices and lessons from 12 European countries. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Lægreid, P., Sarapuu, K., Rykkja, L. H., & Randma-Liiv, T. (2015). Emerging coordination practices of European central governments. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 81(2), 346–351.
Lægreid, P., Ramnda-Liiv, T., Rykkja, L. H., & Sarapuu, K. (2016a). Coordination challenges and administrative reform. In G. Hammerschmid, S. Van de Walle, R. Andrew, & P. Bezes (Eds.), Public administration reforms in Europe. The view from the top. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Lægreid, P., Sarapuu, K., Rykkja, L. H., & Ramnda-Liiv, T. (2016b). New coordination challenges in the welfare state. Public Management Review, 17(7), 927–939.
Lindblom, C. (1965). The intelligence of democracy. New York: The Free Press.
Lodge, M., & Wegrich, K. (2014). The Problem-solving Capacity of the Modern State. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lodge, M., & Wegrich, K. (2016). The rationality paradox of nudge: Rational tools of government in a world of bounded rationality. Law and Policy, 38(3), 250–267.
March, J. G., & Olsen, J. P. (1983). Organizing political life. What administrative reorganization tells us about government. American Political Science Review, 77(02), 281–297.
Moe, T. M. (2005). Power and political institutions. Perspectives on Politics, 3(2), 215–233.
Osborne, S. P. (2016). The new public governance? Public Management Review, 8(3), 377–387.
Page, E. C. (2005). Joined-up government and the civil service. In V. Bogdanor (Ed.), Joined-up government. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Patashnik, E. M. (2008). Reforms at risk. What happens after major policy changes are enacted. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press.
Peters, B. G. (1998). Managing horizontal government. The politics of coordination. Public Administration, 76(2), 295–311.
Peters, B. G. (2004). Back to the Centre? Rebuilding the state. The Political Quarterly, 75(1), 130–140.
Peters, B. G. (2006). Concepts and theories of horizontal policy management. In P. G. Peters & J. Pierre (Eds.), Handbook of Public policy. London: Sage.
Peters, B. G. (2015). Pursuing Horizontal Management. The Politics of Public Sector Coordination. Kansas: University Press of Kansas.
Pollitt, C. (2003). Joined-up government. A survey. Political Studies Review, 1(1), 34–49.
Radke, I., Hustedt, T., & Klinnert, A. (2016). Inter-ministerial working groups as a panacea for coordination problems. Der Moderne Staat, 9(1), 65–81.
Reiter, R. and T. Klenk (2018). The Manifold Meanings of ‘post-New Public Management’ – a Systematic Review. International Review of Administrative Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020852318759736.
Rommetvedt, H. (2017). Politikkens allmenngjøring. Stortinget, regjeringen og de organiserte interessene i et nypluralistisk demokrati (The Generalization of Politics. The Parliament, the Government and Organized Interests in a New-Pluralistic Democracy). Bergen: Fagbokforlaget.
Scharpf, F. W. (1999). Governing in Europe: Effective and democratic? Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Selznick, P. (1957). Leadership in administration. New York: Harper & Row.
Simon, H. A. (1957). Administrative behaviour. New York: Macmillan.
Verhoest, K., B.G. Peters, E. Beuselinck and F. Myers. (2005). How Coordination and Control of Public Organizations by Government Interrelate: an Analytical and Empirical Exploration. Paper presented at the Scancor/SOG Workshop on ‘Autonomization of the State’, April 1–2., 2005.
Voorn, B., M. Van Genugten and S. Van Thiel (forthcoming). Multiple principals, multiple problems: A review and implications for effective governance.
Wegrich, K., & Stimac, V. (2014). Coordinating capacity. In M. Lodge & K. Wegrich (Eds.), The problem-solving capacity of the modern state. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Wildavsky, A. (1987). Choosing preferences by constructing institutions. A cultural theory of preference formation. American Political Science Review, 81(1), 3–22.
Wolbers, J., K. Boersma and P. Groenewegen (2017). Introducing a fragmentation perspective on coordination in crisis management. Organization Studies, 39(11), 1521–1546. https://doi.org/10.1177/01708406177177095.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Christensen, T., Lægreid, P. Coordination Quality in Central Government – the Case of Norway. Public Organiz Rev 20, 145–162 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11115-018-00434-0
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11115-018-00434-0