Contradictions Between the Political and Professional Roles of Higher Civil Servants:
Problems in Politically Representative Bureaucracy
Abstrakti
ln this article the contradictions between the
political and professional roles of higher civil
servants, inherent to the Finnish administrative
culture, are analyzed from both theoretical and
empirical viewpoints. ln the theoretical part of the
article an attempt is made to develop a better
conceptual framework through which the problems
caused by the politicization of the public
administration could be better understood; and
through which the main organizational design
alternatives and their consequences for securing the
poliltical control at the public administration in a
society could be identified.
ln the empirical part of the article an attempt is
made to analyze how Finnish higher civil servants
relate themselves to politics, political appointments
and political role of higher civil servants. The
empirical analyses are based on semi-structured
interviews of 38 Finnish top civil servants and a preinterview survey returned by 39 persons.
