Reforming the State in New Democracies

This course analyzes the politics and reform of the administrative state in new democracies. Our general focus will be on how electoral, legislative, and bureaucratic institutions affect the nature of governance in advanced and developing democracies. We will then focus specifically on the extent to which elected politicians are able to control bureaucrats. Finally, we will turn to several policy areas – civil service reform, regulatory and administrative procedural reforms and fiscal policy – and discuss the politics of each in comparative and theoretical terms. Enrollment limited to 20 juniors and seniors.