
Book contents
- Democratic Backsliding and Public Administration
- Democratic Backsliding and Public Administration
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Preface
- 1 Introduction: Populists, Democratic Backsliding, and Public Administration
- 2 Incomplete Democratization, System Transformation, and the Civil Service: A Case Study on the Weimar Republic and the Nazi Regime in Germany
- 3 Resilience Without Resistance: Public Administration Under Mutating Populisms in Office in Italy
- 4 Illiberal Transformation of Government Bureaucracy in a Fragile Democracy: The Case of Hungary
- 5 Public Administration in Poland in the Times of Populist Drift
- 6 Technocratic-Populist Mayors and Public Administration in Three European Cities
- 7 Populism and the Deep State: The Attack on Public Service Under Trump
- 8 “Doublespeak Populism” and Public Administration: The Case of Mexico
- 9 Venezuela: Sidelining Public Administration Under a Revolutionary-Populist Regime
- 10 Working, Shirking, and Sabotage in Times of Democratic Backsliding: An Experimental Study in Brazil
- 11 Public Administration: How to Respond to Populism and Democratic Backsliding
- 12 Conclusions: Public Administration Under the Rule of Democratic Backsliders
- References
- Index
10 - Working, Shirking, and Sabotage in Times of Democratic Backsliding: An Experimental Study in Brazil
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 August 2021
- Democratic Backsliding and Public Administration
- Democratic Backsliding and Public Administration
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Preface
- 1 Introduction: Populists, Democratic Backsliding, and Public Administration
- 2 Incomplete Democratization, System Transformation, and the Civil Service: A Case Study on the Weimar Republic and the Nazi Regime in Germany
- 3 Resilience Without Resistance: Public Administration Under Mutating Populisms in Office in Italy
- 4 Illiberal Transformation of Government Bureaucracy in a Fragile Democracy: The Case of Hungary
- 5 Public Administration in Poland in the Times of Populist Drift
- 6 Technocratic-Populist Mayors and Public Administration in Three European Cities
- 7 Populism and the Deep State: The Attack on Public Service Under Trump
- 8 “Doublespeak Populism” and Public Administration: The Case of Mexico
- 9 Venezuela: Sidelining Public Administration Under a Revolutionary-Populist Regime
- 10 Working, Shirking, and Sabotage in Times of Democratic Backsliding: An Experimental Study in Brazil
- 11 Public Administration: How to Respond to Populism and Democratic Backsliding
- 12 Conclusions: Public Administration Under the Rule of Democratic Backsliders
- References
- Index
Summary
In times of democratic backsliding and electorally successful populist leaders, it becomes relevant to identify which actors could function as gatekeepers of institutional and policy change. Would civil servants be willing to act as veto players by refusing to implement policies that undermine democratic institutions? We provide preliminary answers to this question based on a set of survey experiments conducted with Brazilian bureaucrats. Using the triad “working, shirking, and sabotage” (Brehm and Gates 1999), our results confirm that civil servants are willing to shirk and sabotage if assigned to implement policies that are perceived to restrict democratic rights, such as the freedoms of press and expression. Furthermore, we demonstrate how different individual characteristics affect the bureaucrats’ intention to behave in these situations.
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- Information
- Democratic Backsliding and Public AdministrationHow Populists in Government Transform State Bureaucracies, pp. 221 - 245Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021
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