Recording of a SweDev and EBA seminar at Kulturhuset in Stockholm on February 14, 2023.
Participants at the seminar on 14 February 2023. Photo by Alice Tunfjord, SweDev.
Effective political management of authorities requires a close interaction with the administration’s officials. A functioning “management contract” requires that politicians act with confidence in the administration. It also requires that the administration is sensitive to how, sometimes vaguely expressed, political will can be put into practice. Whoever wants to carry out major political reforms puts this interplay to the test.
What happens if the management contract between politicians and civil servants breaks? Using the Alliance government’s aid policy “results agenda” 2007–2013 as an example, political scientist Göran Sundström analyzes in this section what happens to governance if central conditions are not met.
In addition to the political scientist Göran Sundström, former minister of foreign aid Gunilla Carlsson and Martin H. Johansson, principal secretary of Huvudmannaskapsutredningen, participate. The moderator is Anders Mellbourn, former head of the Swedish Institute of International Affairs (UI) and DN’s former editor-in-chief.
Listen to the seminar (in Swedish) at EBA-podden episode 58: Biståndets styrning -erfarenhetr från en reformagenda. The episode is a recording of a SweDev and EBA seminar at Kulturhuset in Stockholm on February 14, 2023.