The Function and Strategic Thinking of Interface Public Managers: Deputy Ministers’ Best Practices at the Political-Administrative Interface
Debates on political-administrative interactions in the literature sway between the principle of political-administrative separation recognized in Quebec and in Canada as much a legal fact than an ethical one, and a new public service bargain involving a palpable phenomenon of administrative politicization and political managerialism. This article discusses deputy ministers’ best practices at carrying off the interface challenges of the political-administrative intersection, where they play a strategic role. This exploratory study unearths four lynchpins of the political-administrative relation as well as deputy ministers’ best related practices.