Wagenaar, H. (2004). “Knowing” the rules: Administrative work as practice. Public administration review, 64(6), 643-656.
‘Although […] it seems as if administrators like Judy operate in a well-ordered bureaucratic world, organized according to fixed rules, stable routines, […] from the perspective of the person on the work floor we know this stability is hard won. Routines are an optical illusion. Instead of describing administrative work as following guidelines or applying knowledge, […] it can best be described as an active, ongoing orientation in a shared world. Administrative work is […] an accomplishment.’ (Wagenaar, 2004, p. 651)
Summary
Wagenaar (2004) has discussed administrative work (e.g., handling files, communications, attending meetings, etc), as administrative practice. This approach is introduced through the example case of a civil servant, Judy, and her stories at the Immigration Office. This lens argues that behind the administrative work being done by officers, every human has micromechanisms, which constitute administrative practice – that is affecting the administrative work being done. These micromechanisms are 1) situatedness (the context of the particular case), 2) knowing (pre-existing knowledge), 3) action (acting to maintain one’s social image), and 4) interaction.
The paper urges us to keep in mind that, behind the seemingly organised operations of administrative work, there is administrative practice, which vary person by person, based on their micromechanisms.
Link to Rutte’s COVID-governance
The case of Judy’s practice of public administration at the level of the Dutch Immigration Office can be reflected onto Mark Rutte’s practice of the coronavirus pandemic, which we have all experienced.
Not only ‘small’ actors within a department – of one of the Dutch government’s ministries –follow the unwritten norms of public administration, as a practice, but so does the head of government, the Prime Minister and his close cabinet.
Administrative practice’s situatedness, in the Dutch context of the pandemic, comes through the government’s COVID-measures. Their policies tried to comply with the Dutch context of extensive liberal rights of freedom, with framing rules as one ‘should’ keep distance, -stay at home, etc. (especially in 2020 and early 2021, on the English government website). Rutte’s pre-existing knowledge must be limited, given the pandemic being one in the last 100 years. Which is why he has set up and has been interacting with the Outbreak Management Team (OMT) for advice (RvVeM, 2021). This lack of knowledge of his administrative practice has resulted in a rapidly changing ‘mess’ of restrictions (administrative work) throughout the pandemic (Platform Containment Nu, n.d.). Meanwhile, he had to actwell, particularly around the elections, in order to maintain his position. Which resulted in further twists in the administrative work, with easing some of the measures (Henley, 2021). Therefore, the seemingly well-organised governmental administrative work during the pandemic is based on unorganised, micromechanisms of administrative practices.
This raises the question: to what extent is a country, built on seemingly organised rulebooks, influenced by a prime minister’s personal administrative practices? Unlike in the case of Judy – an employee who is not in a position of power –, do politicians prioritise the micromechanism of acting over understanding in order to keep their power?
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References
Henley, J. (2021, March 1). Covid has ‘taken wind out of Dutch politics’, analysts say as elections loom. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/01/covid-has-taken-wind-out-of-dutch-politics-analysts-say-as-elections-loom
Platform Containment Nu (n.d.). Covid-19 in The Netherlands: A timeline. Platform Containment Nu. Retrieved from https://www.containmentnu.nl/articles/timeline?lang=en
[RvVeM] Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu (2021, August 17). Outbreak Management Team (OMT). Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu – Ministerie van Volksgezondheid, Welzijn en Sport. Retrieved from https://www.rivm.nl/en/coronavirus-covid-19/omt
Wagenaar, H. (2004). “Knowing” the rules: Administrative work as practice. Public administration review, 64(6), 643-656. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6210.2004.00412.x
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