Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: ABSTRACT After decades of expansion, liberal democracy is threatened by autocratic populists. These actors exploit widening gaps between leaders and citizens, as well as growing political polarization in the population, to consolidate executive power by undermining courts, sidelining elected assemblies, discrediting public administrators, and intimidating both opposition and the press. This alarming predicament begs the question of what enterprising role public administrators can play in curbing the rise of autocratic populism by reconnecting elected politicians with diverse and polarized population groups while fostering alignment among them. To this end, public administrators are conceptualized as bridgebuilders promoting interactive political leadership along the vertical axis of the political system; as mediators fostering agreement, accommodation, or compromise between polarized groups along the horizontal axis; and as institutional architects linking representative democracy and collaborative governance arenas. This expanded role of public administrators as democratic guardians and protagonists raises important questions regarding its legitimacy.
Source: Public Administration Review
DOI: 10.1111/puar.70192
Authors: Eva Sørensen, Jacob Torfing
Institution: Roskilde University
Language: English
Subfield: Public Administration
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $4,250
Funder: Velux Fonden
Award: G2925303114
OpenAlex ID: W7204924719