Into the Purple Zone: Deconstructing the Politics/Administration Distinction. (October 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Alford, John; Hartley, Jean; Yates, Sophie; Hughes, Owen
• Is Part Of: American review of public administration. Volume 47:Number 7(2017)
• Page Start: 752
• Page End: 763
• Publication Date: 2017-10
• Subjects: politics/administration dichotomy -- political management -- political astuteness -- political skills; Public administration -- Periodicals; Public administration -- United States -- Periodicals; 351
• DOI: 10.1177/0275074016638481
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0275-0740

Abstract

We add new data to the long-standing debate about the interface between politics and administration, deploying theory and evidence indicating that it varies. It can be either a "purple zone" of interaction between the red of politics and the blue of administration, or a clear line. We use survey responses from 1, 012 mostly senior public managers in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand, along with semi-structured interviews with 42 of them, to examine the extent to which public managers perceive that they "cross" the line or go into a zone, and the ways in which they do so. Our inclusion of a zone as well as a line recasts how roles and relationships between politicians and administrators can be conceived. Moreover, it raises questions about how particular contingencies affect whether public managers perceive and work with a line or a zone.