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This article suggests a game theory analysis of the interaction between Israeli politicians and bureaucrats regarding the national budget process since the 1980s. During the 1970s and 1980s new structural conditions created new formal and informal rules that weakened Israeli politicians' bargaining position vis-à-vis the Ministry of Finance (MOF). The 1985 Israeli Economic Stabilization Plan not only changed the formal political institutions, but also created new informal institutions. Under the new circumstances, Israeli politicians can rarely challenge the MOF in the political bargaining process. Given that the MOF officials are aware of Israel's internal processes and public opinion, attempts by Israeli politicians to create the impression that they are willing to challenge the MOF officials are unlikely. We demonstrate that this situation may ultimately lead to a sub-optimal equilibrium for Israel's social welfare because the balance of power between the players favors one dominant side – the MOF officials.Points for practitionersThis article provides insights into how institutional change and various formal and informal political strategies are played out in budgetary decision-making. When structural conditions create new formal and informal rules that weaken politicians' bargaining position vis-à-vis the Ministry of Finance, politicians may find it very hard to challenge the Ministry of Finance officials. The results may include the creation of a significant gap between public opinion and the socioeconomic policy in practice. The key for preventing such scenarios is making sure, via strong institutions, that the balance of power between the players will not favor one dominant side.

What are the changes and challenges facing the public regulator in a context of risk governance? Through the analytical prism developed by Jacques Chevallier, this article proposes to examine the changes in the role of the public regulator by focusing on the style of public policy and governance tools. In the light of the hybridity observed in the study of the system regulating the safety of the food chain in Belgium, the contribution focuses on a double source of instability reflecting the tensions at the heart of the public values structuring the regulation system. A deconstruction of this hybridity reveals the negotiated and conflicting nature of the values underlying the action of the public regulator and its evaluation. Notes for practitioners Based on an inventory of the situation at the heart of the system regulating the risks to the safety of the food chain in Belgium, the contribution identifies the challenges faced by the public regulator in the context of risk governance. Observing the hybrid nature of their involvement, it highlights two sources of tension related to their policy style and their use of regulatory instruments. By considering the possible stabilization measures that could be taken to overcome tensions, three approaches have been identified as a means of adjusting the role of the public regulator, stressing the transversal importance of the findings.

This article sets out to study the profile of Swiss administrative elites at federal level by showing how their profile has evolved in the light of what has come to be known as the wave of New Public Management (NPM), which has benefited from a very fertile ground in Switzerland. These elites correspond to a specific institutional order, in relation to specific organizational structures and workings, and have specific characteristics in terms of career paths and academic background. However, the administrative reforms that have been rolled out since the 1980s have transformed the institutional order within which executives of the federal administration evolve. This article analyses the extent to which these transformations have had an impact on the characteristics of these elites, through indicators such as academic capital, social capital, and career path within and outside the administration. The results show a slow but significant transformation in the profiles of these elites towards an increasing managerialization, reflecting that of the context in which they evolve. Points for practitioners The relationship between politics and the administration is naturally shaped by individuals but is closely dependent on the profiles of the players. They are currently undergoing a transformation in the wake of administrative reforms, and also of the changing profiles of both the political and administrative players. Gaining an insight into the slow transformation of the profiles of administrative elites therefore sheds light on the political-administrative nexus. The gradual managerialization of the administrative elite highlighted in this article also allows for a better understanding of which professional experiences, qualifications and skills are valued today within the senior civil service in Switzerland.

When reporting to Eurostat for the purpose of deficit assessment, EU member states follow National Accounts (NA) rules, specifically the European System of National and Regional Accounts. However, the information reported is gathered from Governmental Accounting (GA), namely budgetary reporting. Consequently, several adjustments are needed when translating data from GA into NA, including those concerning the accounting basis – in some countries GA budgetary balance is already accrual-based while in others it is still cash-based. This research aims to analyse adjustments derived from different accounting bases adopted in GA and NA, demonstrating their diversity and materiality and the consequences for EU member states' deficit/surplus reliability. It analyses cash-accrual adjustments to be made in Central Government data, using a few EU countries and data from the respective Excessive Deficit Procedure notifications covering the years 2005 to 2010. The main findings show that cash-accrual adjustments are more diverse and tend to be material in relation to the final deficit/surplus, in countries still adopting cash-based budgetary reporting in GA, raising questions concerning the reliability of the deficit/surplus they report. Points for practitioners This article contributes to a better understanding of the accounting basis differences for the convergence process between GA and NA, allowing for more reliable and informative budgetary reporting to be reached from both micro and macro perspectives. It highlights how important it is that GA moves from cash to accruals, namely concerning budgetary accounting and reporting systems. The diversity and materiality of accounting basis adjustments are important starting points for the development of a common framework to deal with these adjustments, and this is to be learned by policy-makers, especially accounting standard-setters and statistics agencies.

In several countries, attempts have been made to increase the capacity to coordinate and control public policy in the executive centre. The literature on whole-of-government and joined-up government describes these changes as reassertion efforts to counter the negative effects of former New Public Management (NPM) reforms. The main research question discussed in this article is whether the strengthening of the executive centre also should be explained by broader developments in society and by features of the cabinet itself. The research question is answered by looking at changes in Norway over the last three decades. Although former NPM reforms play a part in the Norwegian case, the article finds that the efforts undertaken should also be explained by the wish to improve cabinet decision-making and to solve conflicts between parties in cabinet.Points for practitionersThis article examines different explanations for change in the executive centre in Norway. Over the last three decades, the Norwegian executive centre has been strengthened by the increased number of political appointees in ministries, by the enlargement of the Prime Minister's Office where its own coordination minister was appointed in 2009, and by the formalization of an inner cabinet. The empirical data are gathered from internal cabinet documents and semi-structured interviews with administrative and political leaders. The article finds that developments in Norway have several explanations, suggesting that changes in the executive centre are heterogeneous, and are seldom undertaken to serve only one purpose.

The Dutch top civil service level has seldom been described in 'elitist' terms; befitting a country with a strong egalitarian social culture. Though formally open to outside recruitment, in practice the (top) civil service in central government is a rather closed system. There is relatively little occupational mobility between these civil servants and political officeholders, and virtually none between the public and the private sectors. However, some initiatives have recently been taken to improve this external mobility. New Public Management has had little impact upon the structure and functioning of the Dutch administrative elites. More important for the positioning and functioning of these civil servants has been the creation of the Senior Executive Service, and, within the SES, the top management group. By creating this career system at the very top of the civil service at the central level, the elite nature of the top civil servants has been reinforced. Points for practitioners The structure and functioning of the Dutch civil service has not been influenced by New Public Management (NPM). The rotation of positions at the top, through the Senior Public Service, is mainly inspired by the effort to decrease the compartmentalization of government departments. What has changed is the environment in which higher civil servants work, with Parliament, media and citizens demanding fast and tangible results.

On 11 March 2011, an offshore earthquake of magnitude 9.0 and a massive tsunami hit the Tohoku region of Japan, followed by the Fukushima nuclear crisis. Despite these adversities, Tohoku is moving forward, and this extraordinary experience should guide us in the quest for responsible disaster management. A striking development after the disasters was the rise of wide-area collaboration, involving national and local governments, to help Tohoku municipalities. This study documents such collaboration in two areas – manpower support and debris processing. The empirical evidence suggests that the success of wide-area collaboration hinges on the success of both horizontal (interlocal) and vertical (inter-governmental) collaboration and that wide-area collaboration be added to future models predicting the effectiveness of recovery and reconstruction processes.Points for practitionersIt would be an error to assume that large-scale disasters will not occur in the future, and the challenge of wide-area collaboration faced by Japan this time naturally prompts the question of how to best design such collaborative governance in the country. This study offers a checklist of items policy makers need to specify when they design wide-area collaboration. The findings would seem to be most generalizable to disaster-prone unitary states with decentralized disaster management. The study sounds an alert that a decentralized system devoid of a plan for wide-area collaboration can be dangerous in times of crisis.