Rezension: McCowan, Martina (2019): Public Administration in Times of Transnationalisation and Crisis - The Dynamics of Organisational Change in Ministries of Finance

Abstract

Recent policy and public administration studies have explored the emergence of organizational change of central government in turbulent times of reforms or crises to conclude repeatedly their manifest and persistent character. This book explores the influence of transnationalisation in fiscal policy and the European financial crisis on ministerial bureaucracies by comparing the German Federal Ministry of Finance and the Danish Ministry of Finance during the time period 1998 to 2014. The analysis is focusing on changes in organizational structure, civil servants’ behavior and levels/mode of coordination. Two types of change are distinguished: change in terms of path dependencies and profound change. The study reveals that transnationalisation as reform leads to smaller adaptations and incremental change in the first phase of the study period (1998-2007). The financial crisis in the second phase (2008-2014), however, provokes profound mchanges in terms of structure, behaviour and coordination in both countries.