The deformation of democracy in the United States: When does bureaucratic “neutral competence” rise to complicity?

Abstract

Recent years have seen a step‐change in the severity and nature of threats to United States democracy, including extensive efforts by elected officials to undercut democratic governance. When elected officials undermine democracy, this constitutes “deformation of democracy.” As implementors and agents of policy, public administrators can sometimes play essential roles as bulwarks against democratic deformation. However, among public administrators there is historically a strong ethos emphasizing neutral competence and subordination to political authority, in some cases reinforced by law. How should public administrators respond when confronted by deformation and, at the same time, constrained by tradition and law? We selectively review strands of public administration theory, focusing on theory especially relevant to the United States governmental system, to construct and assess a catalog of responses that public administrators can take under democratic deformation. We conclude by offering a set of recommendations focused on institutionalized collective action by public administrators.