Debate: Is the public manager’s duty always deference?

Q: What does this research mean for the field?

Public management professionals have largely not been alarmed by the rise of radical-right and populist parties, raising questions about whether their duty is always deference to political power. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.INCREMENTAL. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

David Walker

doi:10.1080/09540962.2026.2716695

August 19, 2026Public Money & Management

Debate: Is the public manager’s duty always deference?

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Key Points

To assess whether professional public managers should maintain absolute deference to political leadership amid the rise of radical-right and populist governments.
Conceptual policy and ethical debate analysis examining civil service responsiveness to changing political environments.
Public management professionals exhibit an apparent lack of alarm or resistance despite the ascension of radical-right and populist political parties to power.
Traditional norms of bureaucratic deference risk undermining democratic resilience when applied unconditionally to illiberal policy agendas.

Implication

Policy debate highlights uncritical civil service deference under radical-right governance, suggesting an urgent need to re-evaluate bureaucratic neutrality.

Abstract

Crisis, what crisis? To judge by the absence of consternation the arrival in power of radical-right and populist parties has not so far roused and alarmed public management professionals at large. ...

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Cite This Study

David Walker (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a895f87ca7ade938187e463 https://doi.org/10.1080/09540962.2026.2716695

View at Publisher

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Debate: Is the public manager’s duty always deference?

Key Points

Implication

Abstract

Discussion

Cite This Study

Debate: Is the public manager’s duty always deference?

Key Points

Implication

Abstract

Discussion

Cite This Study

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