Reconnecting citizens to the administrative state (RECONNECT)

Coordinator Institution: London School of Economics

The RECONNECT study investigates how the age of administrative turbulence, a result of changes in the political environment, cumulative side-effects of decades of public sector reform and changing citizen demands, have led to calls for more responsive administrative state institutions. In particular, RECONNECT investigates variation in attitudes and demands by citizens and politicians towards the administrative state and explores how the administrative state has sought to become more responsive to citizens and politicians. RECONNECT focuses on five distinct dimensions of the administrative state covering constitutional, regulatory, enabling, consumer protecting and consulting dimensions. These dimensions express different, but reinforcing elements of citizenship in democratic governance. Using focus groups and polling data to understand citizen attitudes towards the administrative state and documentary and interviews research regarding political and administrative actors, RECONNECT generates new knowledge to compare and explain variation across dimensions of the administrative state and EU member state jurisdictions. RECONNECT contributes to academic and practitioner knowledge and debates regarding the future of the administrative state in the current age of turbulence. In doing so, RECONNECT points to ways how citizens can be reconnected to the administrative state in particular and wider democratic governance more generally.

NORFACE Democratic Governance in a Turbulent Age (Governance) Joint Research Programme