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Governing the purple zone: How politicians influence public managers

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  • Bellò, Benedetta
  • Spano, Alessandro

Abstract

One of the issues raised by the New Political Governance (NPG) is the independence of senior management from politicians in public sector organizations. This article investigates how politicians influence managerial activities by providing empirical evidence for the existence of a deep form of politicization and a partisan management of public service in Italy. This relationship is also called the “purple” zone, where the “blue” of political strategy and the “red” of public administration merge in “strategic conversation”.

Suggested Citation

  • Bellò, Benedetta & Spano, Alessandro, 2015. "Governing the purple zone: How politicians influence public managers," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 354-365.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eurman:v:33:y:2015:i:5:p:354-365
    DOI: 10.1016/j.emj.2015.04.002
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Federico Quaresima & Fabio Fiorillo, 2020. "The economics of politics: patronage and political selection in Italy," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 27-48, March.
    2. Igor Benati & Mario Coccia, 2017. "The relation between public manager compensation and members of parliament’s salary across OECD countries: explorative analysis and possible determinants with public policy implications," quaderni IRCrES 201702, CNR-IRCrES Research Institute on Sustainable Economic Growth - Moncalieri (TO) ITALY - former Institute for Economic Research on Firms and Growth - Torino (TO) ITALY.
    3. Lukrafka, Tatiany Oleques & Silva, Diego Souza & Echeveste, Marcia, 2020. "A geographic picture of Lean adoption in the public sector: Cases, approaches, and a refreshed agenda," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 506-517.

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