Populism, Polarization, Fragmentation, and Bureaucracy

Research field: Current trends in urban management and governance

In recent years, there have been increasing signs of polarisation within societies – political camps are drifting apart, and public debates are becoming more heated and increasingly less objective. At the same time, political science has observed a rise in populist politics, which is helping to drive this development. From the perspective of organisational theory, this raises several questions: How can fragmentation be overcome through organised structures? How do bureaucracy and the institutional design of state communities respond to populist tendencies? And, conversely, how do existing administrative structures shape the scope for action of populist politics? From a legal perspective, the developments mentioned raise, amongst other things, the following questions: To what extent can governments reshape the administration, and on which (constitutional) legal guarantees does the democratic resilience of the administration depend? How is the (tension-filled) relationship between rule-bound administration and the political will to make decisions structured or resolved in different (constitutional) legal systems? How is the judicial review of administrative decisions carried out under conditions of populism and anti-bureaucratic narratives? Are there specific features in doctrinal approaches, institutional structures or decision-making processes that explain differences in polarisation within supreme courts? Does the polarisation of the judiciary not only reflect societal divisions but also actively reinforce them? How can the judiciary maintain its legitimacy under these conditions? These questions form the starting point for this thematic focus.

The focus is on the relationship between populism and bureaucracy from an organisational and legal perspective. Austria is a particularly suitable case study for this: in hardly any other country have these two phenomena had such a long and closely intertwined history – from the administrative tradition dating back to Josephinism to Karl Lueger, who, as Mayor of Vienna around 1900, is regarded as one of the first modern populist politicians. Another key focus is the comparative study of polarisation within (supreme) courts, which plays a crucial role, not least for the democratic resilience of the administration.

Project lead: Priv.-Doz. Dr. Stephan Leixnering, Univ.-Prof. Dr.ⁱⁿ Verena Madner, Univ.-Doz. Dr. Stefan Mayr, LL.M., Univ.-Prof.ⁱⁿ Dr.ⁱⁿ Renate E. Meyer