Collaboration and autonomy in public administration: problem, opportunity, or both?

Who governs in processes of collaboration - the bureaucrats or the politicians?
Analysing collaboration and its impact on bureaucratic autonomy and policy-making.
A research project funded by the Swedish Research Council 2011-2016. The project is led by ass. prof. Patrik Hall.
Empirically the focus is on: urban develoment; projects; regional development; social policy on youth at risk; ethics in state administration.
Theoretically, this project draws on the government-governance discourse; the discussion on whether transparency, accountability and input legitimacy can be replaced by efficiency and output legitimacy; and not the least the question on who really governs - the bureacrats or the politicians.
Our main contribution is the focus on collaboration itself, where bureaucratic autonomy potentially challenges traditional forms of vertical government, and how this affects the role of the civil servants.