What's the state of the civil service?
Book publication sheds light on the civil service. Associate professor Niels Opstrup and professor emeritus Jørgen Grønnegård Christensen are behind the analysis, which involves all ministries and 32 agencies and 9,000 civil servants are included in the study.
Book publication sheds light on the civil service. Associate professor Niels Opstrup and professor emeritus Jørgen Grønnegård Christensen are behind the analysis, which involves all ministries and 32 agencies and 9,000 civil servants are included in the study.
Niels Opstrup states that we basically have a central administration that works and delivers, where civil servants loyally serve changing ministers and governments and respect the constraints placed on government power and the civil servants themselves.
That said, he emphasises that we have a central administration under pressure. A large group of civil servants express concern about the speed of work and political decision-making processes.
-The risk is that we will have less smart politics, if you can use that term. However, politics is about weighing up different considerations, so a single specialism can rarely determine a specific policy," says Niels Opstrup.
According to Niels Opstrup, civil servants have a double task. The classic task is to administer the laws and authorisations that have been adopted politically. The other is to assist and advise ministers and the government in the preparation of new or changed policies.
- The task of assisting and advising ministers and the government has always existed, but today it is much more important, says Niels Opstrup, and the trend is that new and changed policies are increasingly being laid down in political settlements and agreements.
The process expertise of civil servants, understood as their education and the experience they have built up, plays an ever greater role than before.
Associate professor Niels Opstrup from the University of Southern Denmark and emeritus professor Jørgen Grønnegård Christensen from Aarhus University are behind the analyses in the book: "Forvaltningen i folkestyret". It examines both civil servants' knowledge of the principles and how they handle the balance between responsiveness on the one hand, and legality, truth and professionalism on the other in different situations.
"Magtudredningen 2.0" is initiated and supported by the Danish Parliament.
Niels Opstrup states that we basically have a central administration that works and delivers, where civil servants loyally serve changing ministers and governments and respect the constraints placed on government power and the civil servants themselves.
That said, he emphasises that we have a central administration under pressure. A large group of civil servants express concern about the speed of work and political decision-making processes.
-The risk is that we will have less smart politics, if you can use that term. However, politics is about weighing up different considerations, so a single specialism can rarely determine a specific policy," says Niels Opstrup.
According to Niels Opstrup, civil servants have a double task. The classic task is to administer the laws and authorisations that have been adopted politically. The other is to assist and advise ministers and the government in the preparation of new or changed policies.
- The task of assisting and advising ministers and the government has always existed, but today it is much more important, says Niels Opstrup, and the trend is that new and changed policies are increasingly being laid down in political settlements and agreements.
The process expertise of civil servants, understood as their education and the experience they have built up, plays an ever greater role than before.
Associate professor Niels Opstrup from the University of Southern Denmark and emeritus professor Jørgen Grønnegård Christensen from Aarhus University are behind the analyses in the book: "Forvaltningen i folkestyret". It examines both civil servants' knowledge of the principles and how they handle the balance between responsiveness on the one hand, and legality, truth and professionalism on the other in different situations.
"Magtudredningen 2.0" is initiated and supported by the Danish Parliament.
Meet Niels Opstrup
Niels Opstrup is an associate professor at the Department of Political Science and Public Management and is currently publishing the book "Forvaltningen i folkestyret" together with Jørgen Grønnegård Christensen, Aarhus University.