Micro-foundations of Socially Embedded Bureaucracies

Brian Levy 2025

The New Public Governance (NPG) agenda of ‘re-democratisation of the public sector’ is often met with scepticism. Part of the reason is that NPG appears to be radically at variance with the hierarchical logic of the mainstream, but also because enthusiasm among its champions has all too often outrun both conceptual clarity and empirical evidence. NPG seems to propose models of management, governance and reform that are too abstract, and lack tangible administrative tools. These papers aim to help fill this gap by examining one aspect of the NPG agenda – the potential to improve the performance of public bureaucracies by strengthening their ‘social embeddedness’.

Micro-foundations of Socially Embedded Bureaucracies

A TWP Working Paper

Brian Levy 2025

This working paper explores how ‘embeddedness’ might help improve public-sector effectiveness in a way that can contribute more broadly to renewing the legitimacy of the public domain. It sets out the theoretical and empirical arguments for micro-foundations.

Renewing the public domain: Can a more socially embedded bureaucracy help?

A TWP Think Piece

Brian Levy 2025

This TWP Think Piece provides a summary overview of the companion TWP Working Paper, which lays out the theoretical and empirical arguments for micro-foundations.