Good administration in European countries

The Swedish Agency for Public management has conducted a study in which we examined how governments and state organisations across Europe work to promote basic values enshrined in good administration. The purpose of the study is to provide useful knowledge on this topic to practitioners in European states.

There are several European sources on the concept of good administration. Academic discourse has shed light on the fact that the practical effect of the European guiding legal sources is inconsistent, with national variance on how the concept “good administration” is interpreted and applied in practice. In our study, we show that most states value legality, proportionality, impartiality, high quality of service, non-discrimination and democratic legitimacy as fundamental principles that guide their public administrations. These principles are also found in European guiding legal sources. The states that were studied do, however, differ in their views on how these principles are to be applied in their public administrations.

Most of the countries in our study have institutions responsible for promoting basic values. In most countries, there is more than one institution that carries out this task. They usually apply a mix of tools in their efforts to promote basic values in their public administrations. The most common tools are training and counselling, followed by workshops and publications. Other tools seek to emphasise the role of managers in values promotion. Some countries also have dedicated websites for this purpose while some gather public servants together in networks or for theme days.

The main challenges to values promotion in public administrations identified in our study have to do with public administrations’ tendencies to work in silos and failing to prioritize basic values promotion. Our conclusion in this study is that basic values promotion is at its most efficient when structure (laws, rules and guiding documents) is balanced with culture (how civil servants work together to uphold basic values).