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The Palgrave Handbook of the European Administrative System pp 161–187Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

The Permanent Commission Bureaucrat

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Part of the book series: European Administrative Governance ((EAGOV))

Abstract

Although international organizations command considerable scholarly interest, surprisingly little attention has been paid to the people who work for them. Studies typically describe the functions that these organizations perform (for example, Barnett and Finnemore, 2004; Cox et al., 1973). They summarise the internal structures and procedures of international institutions, assess how effectively they carry out their responsibilities, and (sometimes) attempt to measure their influence. Commentary on personnel matters, such as recruitment, promotion, pay, and working conditions, sometimes also feature (for example, Davies, 2002), but the literature rarely has much to say about the backgrounds of employees, and — the socialization literature aside (for example, Checkel, 2007) — still less about their beliefs.1 Only recently have scholars begun systematically to investigate the motivation and values of international civil servants (Anderfuhren-Biget et al., 2013; Fresia, 2009; Häfliger and Hug, 2012).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Norwich Business School, University of East Anglia, UK

    Sara Connolly (Reader in Personnel Economics)

  2. University of East Anglia, UK

    Hussein Kassim (Professor of Political Science)

Authors
  1. Sara Connolly
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  2. Hussein Kassim
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. German University of Administrative Sciences, Speyer, Germany

    Michael W. Bauer (Jean Monnet Professor and Chair of Comparative Public Administration and Policy Analysis) (Jean Monnet Professor and Chair of Comparative Public Administration and Policy Analysis)

  2. Department of Political Science and Management, University of Agder, Norway

    Jarle Trondal (Professor of Political Science and Public Administration, Professor of European Studies) (Professor of Political Science and Public Administration, Professor of European Studies)

  3. ARENA Centre for European Studies, University of Oslo, Norway

    Jarle Trondal (Professor of Political Science and Public Administration, Professor of European Studies) (Professor of Political Science and Public Administration, Professor of European Studies)

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© 2015 Sara Connolly and Hussein Kassim

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Cite this chapter

Connolly, S., Kassim, H. (2015). The Permanent Commission Bureaucrat. In: Bauer, M.W., Trondal, J. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of the European Administrative System. European Administrative Governance. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137339898_10

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