Gradual change towards re-integration: Insights from local public transport in Norway
| Published date | 01 October 2016 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0952076716634828 |
| Author | Julie R Krogstad,Merethe D Leiren |
| Date | 01 October 2016 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Public Policy and Administration
2016, Vol. 31(4) 324–341
!The Author(s) 2016
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DOI: 10.1177/0952076716634828
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Article
Gradual change towards
re-integration: Insights
from local public
transport in Norway
Julie R Krogstad
Institute of Transport Economics, Oslo, Norway
Merethe D Leiren
Institute of Transport Economics, Oslo, Norway
Abstract
Organisational arrangements with increased autonomy from politicians have become
common in public service provision in Western countries. Agency deficiencies have
been related to accountability and lack of trust, and a debate on re-municipalisation
or re-integration of public services is emerging. In this article , we explore what caused
the displacement of a local public transport agency in Norway by re-integrating agency
tasks in to the public administration. We find two points are particularly especially
important in explaining the displacement of the agency. First, powerful veto players
that benefit from change, such as new political coalitions and local bus companies,
are one driver for change. Second, weak administrative capacity and lack of competence
in the county administration open opportunities for change agents who oppose to
existing rules. The study also reflects the importance of seeing trust in an institutional
context when studying public administration.
Keywords
Agencies, agency termination, Norway, policy autonomy, public transport,
re-integration
Introduction
Outsourcing and the increasing autonomy of agencies are key components in New
Public Management reforms, which began in the Anglo-Saxon countries in the
early 1980s. Typically, public authorities have established agencies in the belief
Corresponding author:
Julie R Krogstad, Institute of Transport Economics, Gaustadallee
´n 21, NO-0349 Oslo, Norway.
Email: jrk@toi.no
that such organisational solutions improve efficiency and performance (Yeung,
2010). However, criticism – particularly in relation to accountability (Christensen
and Lægreid, 2007) and lack of trust (Van Thiel and Yesilkagit, 2011) – has been
voiced, and, currently, debate is emerging on re-municipalisation or re-integration
of public services (Hall et al., 2013; Wollmann, 2014). It is therefore of interest to
understand why re-integration, and displacement of professional agencies, occurs.
This is a case study of the displacement of a local public transport agency in
Norway, by re-integrating agency tasks into the public administration. The case is
particularly interesting, due to persisting tensions between the political institution
and the public transport agency prior to re-integration. A vast number of studies
look at agency creation and the role of agencies in politics (Bach, 2012; Leiren,
2015; Verschuere, 2009; Verschuere and Bach, 2012). Fewer studies have dealt with
the reasons as to why such agencies are abolished or displaced (Adam et al., 2007;
Lægreid and Verhoest, 2010: 276). This has limited our understanding of factors
that influence the displacement of public organisations (Adam et al., 2007). Such
studies can help us understand why some organisations die and others survive, as
well as the dynamics that lie behind this organisational change.
We investigate why a political majority made the ‘drastic’ decision to re-
integrate public transport competence, thereby displacing the age ncy – and how to
explain this decision. While most studies addressing agency termination are longitu-
dinal with quantitative data (Boin et al., 2010; Kaufman, 1976; Lewis, 2002;
Maccarthaigh, 2014; Rolland and Roness, 2012), we analyse a single case. This study
will contribute to the literature by providing deeper insights into the interpersonal
relations and ongoingdiscussions that take place in the gradual processof change.
The next section addresses literature on agencies and relevant theoretical per-
spectives. The following section presents the data and methods used. We then
describe how public transport is organised in Norway and provide a description
of the public transport in Telemark. Finally, in light of the theoretical framework,
we discuss the evidence and draw conclusions.
Theoretical framework
The popularity of delegating responsibilities to agencies, what we call the ‘agency
model’, has reintroduced the centuries-old discussion about task division between
politics and administration. Until the early 1970s, the dominating perspective was
in keeping political and administrative processes separate, but over time, a number
of scholars have argued that clear division is impossible (for an overview, see
Jacobsen, 2006). On the one hand, politicians will occasionally feel the need to
intervene in administrative matters, while on the other they will need the expert
knowledge from their administration to design their policy. Despite the difficulty of
keeping politics and administrative tasks separate, New Public Management elem-
ents contributed to increase the distance between political authority and the admin-
istrative and operational tasks. In particular, the introduction of semi-autonomous
agencies re-introduced this division (Rommel and Christiaens, 2009).
Krogstad and Leiren 325
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