Governance in an Era of Crisis: An Analysis of Public Administration Reform Convergence in the European Union

The public governance paradigm of public administration has emerged as the dominant school of thought in intergovernmental organizations, guiding public administration reform (PAR) toward citizen-oriented governance grounded in democratic values. In recent years, the rhetoric on public governance has found new meaning in an era marked by compounding crises and the global deterioration of democratic institutions. In this context, the European Union has embraced the public governance paradigm, encouraging Member State public administrations to bolster democratic resilience and increase public service capacity in an age of poly-crises. However, the limited power to shape Member State PAR strategies amid the diversity of European public administration calls the influence of the EU into question. This thesis explores the extent to which the administration reform rhetoric of the European Union has influenced the convergence of national PAR strategies, arguing that EU Member States are predicted to converge their public administration reform strategies to the public governance paradigm when it succeeds in transcending the barriers of national interests. A thematic analysis of Member State PAR strategies in relation to guiding paradigms of public administration and EU policy interests yielded three results: national PAR strategies have converged to the public governance paradigm; Member States that demonstrate an understanding of crisis governance in their PAR strategies are likely to implement public governance reforms; and rhetoric on democratic deficits as a driver for public governance reforms does not feature prominently in national PAR strategies.