The State that Responds. On the Category of “Responsiveness” in Public Management and on Some Preconditions for the Responsiveness of the Polish Administration

Abstract

Over the past dozen years, the notion of responsiveness has made an impressive career in political studies. Initially used as one of theoretic criteria widening the narrow, procedural understanding of democracy, it soon became one of the most important operational criteria for good governance. On the ground of democratic theory, it refers to the ability of political elites to address social demands and moods. On the ground of public management theory, however, its tenor is rather different, stressing the public administration’s capacity to identify and react to emerging problems and dilemmas of governance. The dual character of the notion – used both as an ideological and purely technical demand – is worth noting, as each of the two perspectives (and there are more than these two) elicits a different set of conditions that the public administration has to meet to earn the name of “responsive”. The first emphasises the interaction between the system of public administration and civil society. The second – on the administration’s efficiency and resilience in the use of public policy instruments, regardless of the principles determining the nature and the limits of government. The article concentrates on the first of these perspectives. It presents the genesis of the present meaning of “responsiveness” in the debate on good governance and discusses findings referring to the state of public-social partnership in Poland, treated as one of the fundamental conditions of the responsive state.