Governing through Consultants: How does Central Government Agency Use of Private Consultants Impact Public Values?
The overall question for this project is how the inclusion of private consultants in central government agencies affects the upholding of public values. The project explores an understudied aspect of public sector consultancy use: when government agencies contract in consultancy services. Contracting-in means that private consultants work side by side with the employed staff. Such consultants are hired on a contractual basis because the government agency needs to reinforce a certain competence, to implement a project, but also to provide staff during intense periods of work more generally.
Details
- Period: 2024-01-01 – 2027-12-31
- Budget: 6,994,095 SEK
- Funder: Riksbankens jubileumsfond
Description
This issue is important because it is crucial for the quality of democracy that public ethics (our public ethos) permeate public decision-making. Public servants are expected to uphold certain specific values in their work, such as drawing a clear line between public and private property, handling cases impartially and objectively, and exercising public power under the law. In addition, openness and transparency are important values, i.e. that the work of the public administration is open to scrutiny, allowing for accountability. The question is whether, and if so how, these values are transferred to the workforce that is privately employed but works in the government agency on a consultancy basis.
Thus, the project aims to deepen our knowledge of what happens when government employees are joined by temporary colleagues from the private sector. We already know that employment conditions differ between the public and private sectors, but our knowledge of what happens when the value systems and cultures of the two groups meet is limited. What is known as our public ethos is a set of rules for how public servants should act, such as that their decisions should have legal support, be transparent and allow for democratic accountability. These rules are very important and, when followed, they create efficiency, legal certainty and trust in our democratic system of governance. As the prevalence of private consultants in government agencies increases, we need to know more about the possible consequences: how do government agencies work to ensure that these core values are upheld when hiring staff who are not formally covered by the terms and conditions of the public service?
We use survey data, interviews and analysis of government policy documents to answer these questions. In these parts, the focus is on the government agency’s decision-making processes and personnel work. We also examine whether the private consultants perceive themselves as integrated into the public workplace or retain their identities as foremostly private employees, and study similarities and differences in role perceptions between private consultants and public employees working in the same public workplace.