Autonomy and discretion
qualifying key concepts on bureaucracy studies
Keywords:
Implementation, Public Policy, Bureaucracy, Discretion, AutonomyAbstract
Understanding processes of public policies implementation, as well as the transformations in public management models has brought bureaucracy and context of its actions to the center of many studies on public policies. Two concepts occupy a central place in this debate: discretion and autonomy. Both are widely used to characterize bureaucrat’s actions, which are not restricted to the principal-agent relationship. However, they are commonly treated as synonyms, without questioning about their conceptual differences and analytical implications. Our objective is to develop a critical analysis on concepts of discretion and autonomy, seeking to understand their implications in terms of empirical studies on the state bureaucrat actions. We catalogued the different approaches to the study of these two concepts, their different uses and analytical consequences, based on political science and public administration literature mapping that study them historically. As a result, we point to the possibility of differentiating four distinct conceptions: autonomy of organizations; discretion as a space of action delegated to individuals; discretion as an action performed by individuals; and individuals’ autonomy as capacities to act.Downloads
References
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