The Executive Triangle: Politicians, Ministerial Advisors and Top Civil Servants

Our scientific research network, known as the "The Executive Triangle", was informally established in 2015, initially comprising 12 senior academics with an interest in researching executive-level public administration from across Europe and the UK. We have since grown to include more than 26 senior researchers across Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand. Fortunately for Flanders, Professor Marleen Brans in the Public Governance Institute at KU Leuven, was a key founding partner of the network, a key researcher, and is a leading voice in the group. We have only just made early steps to formalise our network, by, among other things, coordinating specialist panels at international conferences, preparing joint grant applications, developing a research agenda, and plans to launch a website. If successful, the Scientific Research Network (WOG) grant will provide a timely contribution to strengthen the network and help our Flemish partners improve their scientific leadership and knowledge exchange. We aim to use grant funding for building scientific collaboration by organising workshops, symposia, specialist technical exchanges, and joint publications. Plus, we aim to submit joint research projects with international research bodies (such as the UK's Economic and Social Research Council, Research Council of Norway, German Research Foundation, and international/multi-lateral level opportunities like the successor of Horizon 2020, NORFACE, and Open Research Area), which, if successful, would provide Flemish researchers access to new comparative projects and publications. Our research questions focus on the impact of politicisation on policymaking and legitimacy across Europe. Building a research infrastructure to answer our research questions will be a major step beyond purely descriptive analyses towards understanding the consequences of politicisation. In a more nuanced sense, the Executive Triangle delves into the tension between political craft and professional competence; or in other words, tension between democracy and technocracy. Critically, the network could potentially lay the foundation for a major push forward in the comparative study of the apex of governments, which has only progressed incrementally since the early 1980s.

Keywords:PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, PUBLIC GOVERNANCE

Disciplines:Political representation, executive and legislative politics, Public administration organisations

Project type:Collaboration project