Values and motivation in public administration: Public Service Motivation in an international
comparative perspective
Joint EGPA-ASPA Conference : Ethics and integrity of governance - The first transatlantic dialogue
Leuven (Belgium), 2-5 June 2005
Wouter Vandenabeele
Prof. Dr. Annie Hondeghem
Public Management Institute
Catholic University Leuven
Introduction
Disinterested behavior is an important characteristic of civil services. In academic public
administration, public service motivation and similar concepts are becoming increasingly important in
explaining this kind of behavior. In this study, we try to determine the nature of public service
motivation by examining the original concept as developed by Perry1 and compare it to the French and
the Dutch ideas. We also try to fit public service motivation into a larger framework (integrating it into
Public Administration) and we offer suggestions for further research on the topic.
Public service motivation in Public Administration
Public service and rational choice
Due to the ‘New Public Management’ upsurge, rational choice theories are occupying an important
position within public administration nowadays. Being one of the central themes on which New Public
Management is grounded, rational and public choice theories are frequently applied within
comtemporary public administration2. Rational choice theories (as well as public choice theories) are
mainly focused on explaining behavioral outcomes such as ‘shirking’, ‘subverting’ or other examples
of moral hasard3. This type of behavior is equally characteristic of public bureaucracies as it is of
private bureaucracies. Hence, rational choice based theories are just as applicable to private sector
experiences as they are of importance within public administration. Testimony to this is also the long
tradition these theories have in private sector management.
However, the explanatory power of these theories when analyzing specific ‘public’ or governmentrelated behavior remains limited. Although it is widely described by public administrationists4,
behavior like self-sacrifice, realizing the public interest and altruism is very hard to explain in terms of
rational choice. In trying to explain this kind of actions, the concept of public service motivation was
developped as a counterweight to the self-interested motivation of rational choice theories. This
concept should provide more openings to explain the disinterested (not self-interested) behavior often
displayed by public servants. Perry offered if not the first, certainly the most complete description of
this concept, subsequently developping a measurement scale of public service motivation and a
1
Perry, James L. 1996. Measuring public service motivation: an assessment of construct reliability and validity. In : Journal
of public administration research and theory. Vol. 6 (1). 5-23.
2
Dunleavy, Patrick and Hood, Christopher. 1994. From old public administration to new public management. In : Public
money and management. Vol. 14 (3). 9-16.; Greuning, Gernod. 2001. Origin and theoretical basis of new public
management. In : International public management journal. Vol. 4. 1-25.; Mae Kelly, Rita. 1998. An inclusive democratic
polity, representative bureaucracies and the new public management. In : Public administration review. Vol. 58 (3). 201208.
3
Di Iulio, John D. 1994. Principled agents: the cultural bases of behavior in a federal government bureaucracy. In : Journal
of public administration research and theory. Vol. 4 (3). 277-217.
4
Frederickson, H. George. 1997. The Spirit of Public Administration. San Francisco. Jossey-Bass.; Perry, James and Wise,
Lois Recascino. 1990. The motivational bases of public service. In : Public administration review. Vol. 50. 367-373.; Di
Iulio, John D. 1994. op. cit.
2
framework for a theory on public service motivation5. Subsequently, several other authors started
doing research on this topic, resulting in a stream of research on public service motivation6.
Two problems concerning Public Service motivation
When discussing public service motivation, two remarks have to be made. First, it is important to note
that in spite of the fact that public service motivated behavior is generally acknowledged in the field of
Public Administration, the definition of public service motivation itself is not as widely accepted.
Perry defines public service motivation as ‘an individual’s predisposition to respond to motives
grounded primarily or uniquely in public institutions7’. Although various authors adopt this definition
in their studies, several others have developped their own definition of public service motivation.
Brewer and Selden8 describe public service motivation as the motivational force that induces
individuals to perform meaningful public service. Rainey and Steinbauer9 define it as ‘a general
altruistic motivation to serve the interests of a community of people, a state, a nation or humankind’,
contrasted to task-motivation and mission motivation. Moreover, some, often non-american, authors
do not apply the term ‘ Public Service Motivation’ at all when studying public service motivated
behavior. Chanlat10 writes about ‘l’éthique du bien commun’ when trying to explain disinterested
behavior in a Canadian environment, whereas British public administrationists talk about public
service ethics or public service ethos11.
Second, and more important, is the observation that the content of concepts, similar to public service
motivation, differs according to nation or region. In a study comparing five international regions,
Norris12 finds a different motivational impact of public service values according to region (some had
no impact at all). Our own research demonstrated that Perry’s measurement model of public service
5
Perry, James and Lois Recascino Wise. 1990. op. cit.; Perry, James L. 1996. op. cit.; Perry, James L. 1997. Antecendents of
public service motivation. In : Journal of public administration research & theory. Vol. 7 (2). 181-197.; Perry, James L.
2000. Bringing society in : toward a theory of public service motivation. In : Journal of public administration research &
theory. Vol. 10 (2). 471-488.
6
Houston, David J. 2000. Public service motivation : a multivariate test. In : Journal of public administration research &
theory. Vol. 10 (4). 713-727.; Brewer, Gene A., Selden, Sally Coleman and Facer II, Rex L. 2000. Individual conceptions of
public service motivation. In : Public administration review. Vol. 60 (3). 254-264.; Lewis, Gregory B. and Alonso, Pablo.
2001. Public service motivation and job performance -- Evidence from the federal sector. In : American review of public
administration. Vol. 31 (4). 363-380.; Lewis, Gregory B. and Frank, Sue A. 2002. Who wants to work for government? In :
Public administration review. Vol. 62 (4). 395-404.; Naff, Katherine C. and Crum, John. 1999. Working for america --does
public service motivation make a difference. In : Review of public personnel administration. Vol. 19 (4). 5-16.
7
Perry, James L. 1996. op. cit.
8
Brewer, Gene A. and Selden, Sally Coleman. 1998. Whistle blowers in the federal civil service: new evidence of the public
service ethic. In : Journal of public administration research and theory. Vol. 8 (3). 413-439.
9
Rainey, Hal G. and Steinbauer, Paula. 1999. Galloping elephants: developing elements of a theory of effective government
organizations. In : Journal of public administration research and theory. Vol. 9 (1). 1-32.
10
Chanlat Jean-François. 2003. Le managerialisme et l'éthique du bien commun : la gestion de la motivation au travail dans
les services publics. In : La Motivation Au Travail Dans Les Services Publics. Duvillier, Thibaut, Genard, Jean-Louis and
Pireaux, Alexandre. 51-64. Paris. L'harmattan.
11
Brereton, Michael and Temple, Michael. 1999. The new public service ethos : an ethical environment for governance. In :
Public administration. Vol. 77 (3); Pratchett, Lawrence and Wingfield, Melvin. 1996. Petty bureaucracy and woolly-minden
liberalism ? The changing ethos of local government officers. In : Public administration. Vol. 74. 639-656.
12
Norris Pippa. 2003. Is there still a public service ethos? Work values, experience, and job satisfaction among government
workers. In : For the People - Can We Fix Public Service. Donahue, John D. Nye Joseph S. Jr. Washington DC. Brookings
institution press.
3
motivation could not be replicated satisfactorily in a Belgian environment. Some of the dimensions
that were found by Perry, could not be reconstructed13. When trying to retrace the origins of public
service motivation, Perry14 already pointed out various types of socialization out as being responsible
for the presence of public service motivation. Therefore, it should not come as a surprise that different
institutional settings deliver different conceptions of public service motivation.
These differences in both terminology and content complicate the research on public service
motivation enormously. The existence of similar but not identical concepts to explain disinterested
public behavior, varying from one institutional environment to another, makes it very difficult to
conduct macro-level comparative studies. It would be as if we were comparing apples with oranges.
An overarching definition of public service motivation
In order to be able to compare apples with apples, an umbrella definition of public service motivation
could clear out the first problem, the semantic puzzle. With a multitude of applied terms in mind, the
definition should not only cover public service motivation in the narrow sense, but also other types of
value-laden behaviorial determinants such as ethics. As they are often based on trans-temporal, transcultural values (especially virtue-ethics, see Hart15), ethics can play an important role in our concept of
public service motivation. This approach also brings ‘regime-values’ into our equation, which
Frederickson and Hart16 hold responsible for the existence of the ‘patriottisme of benevolence’, a
specific type of disinterested behavior. After all, even Perry17 referred to motives, rather than to
motivation in defining public service motivation.
The most basic element in our definition is that it does not need to fit within rational or public choice
theories, which are based on self-interest. First, a definition should go beyond self-interest or
organizational interest. Although it is self-evident, references to types of both interest are very
important elements of our definition. It assures that the reference framework is not the individual, and
even not the individual’s organization, but a larger framework (this also demonstrates that something
that is in the interest of a public organization, for instance the department of Defense, is not the same
as something that is in the public interest). It does not necessarily mean that individual or
organizational interests cannot be along similar lines as the public interest. However, when in
competition, the public interest should prevail, otherwise it would not be a matter of public service
13
Vandenabeele, Wouter and Hondeghem, Annie. 2004. L’appel de la fonction publique: la motivationdeservicepublic
(Public service motivation) en tant que facteur décisif d’engagement dans la fonction publique, à l’ère de la nouvelle gestion
publique. In : Revue économique et sociale. Accepted.
14
Perry, James L. 1997. op. cit.
15
Hart David Kirkwood. 1994. Administration and the ethics of virtue: in all things, choose first for good character and then
for technical expertise. In : Handbook of Administrative Ethics. Cooper, terry L. 107-123. New York. Marcel Dekker.
16
Frederickson, H. George and Hart, David k. 1985. The public service and the patriotism of benevolence. In : Public
administration review. Vol. 45 (5). 547-553.
17
Perry, James and Lois Recascino Wise. 1990. op. cit.
4
motivation. Second, following Rainey and Steinbauer18, public service motivation can refer to
communities, states, nations or humankind. The size of the entity does not matter, only the fact that it
should be political of nature. This implies that the main relationship between people who belong to
that entity is political, and therefore situated within a political system. It rules out romantic, religious
or friendly relationships as a basis for public service motivation (however, because of the interaction
between different systems, it is possible that political entities are religiously inspired).
For the last part of our umbrella, we must turn ourselves to motivational theory. According to
Heckhausen19, motivation is the general term that covers all processes of which the realization of
targetted behavior is the core element. Motivation only exists in interaction of individual values and an
actual situation that enables a person to realize these values (targetted behavior). It is in fact an
intermediary variable between the interaction of individual values and an opportunity for behavior on
the one hand and behavior on the other hand. In the case of public service motivation, this interaction
obviously should be public of nature (situated within public institutions). The behavior resulting from
public service motivation is therefore both public and intended.
When we incorporate these elements in a definition, one can define public service motivation as ‘the
belief, the values and the attitudes20 that go beyond self-interest or organizational interest, that concern
the interest of a larger political entity, and that induce, through public interaction, motivation for
targetted action’. In this definition, we hope to cover as many aspects as possible of the public service
motivation debate.
18
Rainey, Hal G. and Paula Steinbauer. 1999. op. cit.
Heckhausen, Heinz. 1991. Motivation and Action. Berlin. Springer-Verlag.
20
By applying the terms ‘beliefs, values and attitudes’ we try to cover as much value-laden behavioral determinants as
possible, avoiding to miss out discipline-bound concepts as ethos, ethics, attitudes, etc… which all have a value component.
19
5
Comparative analysis: France and the Netherlands
Such an overarching definition is a major tool when studying public services motivation. It enables us
to evaluate in a systematic way which aspects relate to public service motivation and which do not.
Therefore it is an important aid in selecting relevant information. This allows us to turn ourselves
towards our initial research question:’ What are the differences with respect to content when observing
public service motivation in different settings ?’.
Developping a framework of analysis
Within the scope of this article, we explore the differences in public service motivation between the
original American concept and a Dutch and a French variant. We study the American concept because
it is dominant in international public administration literature. Due to its original approach, is has a lot
of impact on the practice and theory building of public administration. Therefore, it cannot be left out
of any comparative analysis on public service motivation. However, in our analysis it is not used as a
third case. Rather it is used as a framework of analysis that enables us to structure the French and the
Dutch case. The Dutch variant is brought into the analysis because an important feature of Dutch
public administration is that it tries to ‘normalize’ itself as much as possible. ‘Normalization’ in this
context is the alignment of the public and private sector, creating as little differences as possible. The
French, then again, have a distinctive view on public administration and on the role of the state and the
public servant in particular. In France there is a huge difference between government and the private
sector.
Perry’s model is well-documented and methodologically sound. The nature and impact of public
service motivation in the United Stateshave been studied to quite a large extent, which should make it
fairly easy to gather relevant information. However, in France and in the Netherlands, this is not the
case. This is where our umbrella definition comes in. By relying on ‘beliefs, values and attitudes’, we
have broadened our horizon to every value-laden behavioral determinant. All of these determinants
can act in a motivational fashion whenever an apt opportunity presents itself. By studying ‘public’
value-laden determinants, we can obtain a clear image of what may be the content of public service
motivation in these countries. Nevertheless, as no single hypothesis will be put to the test, it still
remains an exploratory research.
Our main resource of information will be secondary literature on governmental values, ethics or
attitudes, as long as something can be considered as a value-laden determinant. However, this
information can be normative or empirical, how it should be or how it is. As it is not possible to make
a distinction between these levels, both of them will indiscrimenately be incorporated in the analysis.
6
After all, this kind of normative information can be considered as a carrier of institutional values, and
thus as an empirical indicator of the presence of a certain set of values within an institution21.
The analysis described in this article in fact consisted of three steps. First, the content of the individual
items of the four dimensions of Perry was made. This provided us with a basis to describe every
dimension in terms of a few core elements, constructing our framework of analysis. Second, a
literature review of motivation and value-related research was conducted. The focus of this review was
to obtain as much information as possible on value-laden determinants that are present in the French
and Dutch public services. In order to obtain a describtion the administrative values of France and the
Netherlands in similar terms as we described the public service motivation in our first step, this
information was clustered on the basis of content, . Finally, both sets of core elements were layed
together in order to make a profound and systematic comparison of public service motivation.
Public service motivation according to Perry
Perry has published a series of articles on public service motivation. In doing this, he adopted a rather
American operationalization in order to obtain the best possible measurement model. In an early
article, he also linked public service motivation explicitely to American government22. This
complicates our comparative effort, because typical American concepts can be difficult to translate.
Perry and Wise23 describe public service motivation as ‘an individual’s predisposition to respond to
motives grounded primarily or uniquely in public institutions’. The motives should be understood as
psychological deficiencies or needs. Perry24 sums up six such motives. A first motive is the attraction
to public policy making. A second motive is the commitment to the public interest. A third motive is a
sense of civic duty. Fourth is a sense of social justice. The fifth motive is compassion, refering to the
patriotism of benevolence, ‘an extensive love of all people within our political boundaries and the
imperative that they must be protected in all of the basic rights granted to them by the enabling
documents’25. The final motive is self-sacrifice, the willingness to substitute service to others for
tangible personal rewards. When operationalizing his measurement scale, Perry’s conception of public
service motivation is reduced to four dimensions instead of six. Only attraction to public policy
making, commitment to the public interest and civic duty, compassion and self-sacrifice remain. From
that article on, public service motivation is institutionalized in American public administration theory.
Other authors adopt Perry’s definition or scale when studying the concept. Authors sometimes develop
their own survey-items (sometimes due to lack of resources to use the entire scale), but generally they
21
Scott, W. Richard. 2001. Institutions and Organizations. Thousand Oaks. Sage.
Perry, James and Lois Recascino Wise. 1990. op. cit.
23
Ibid., p. 368
24
Perry, James L. 1996. op. cit.
25
Frederickson, H. George and David k. Hart. 1985. op. cit., p. 549
22
7
don’t stray from the path Perry has layed out. Therefore (and because of his sound methodological
approach) Perry’s measurement scale can be considered as representing the general accepted model of
public service motivation within the United States. Although it might be possible that other motives
occur in the United States, public service motivationas conceived by Perry is the framework of our
analysis. For the sake of clarity of analysis, no other elements will be added to this model.
Description of the cases
As mentioned before, the cases are not so clear-cut in the French and the Dutch situation. In our search
for administrative values, we must rely on the specificity of the state and the role and expectations of
public servants. The value pattern in which they are embedded might act in a motivational manner and
thus provide us with information about the content of public service motivation.
The history of the French state reads as a handbook of political science. Almost every conceivable
type of government has been adopted since the revolution of 1789. In this rapid succession of
governments, often not separated by more than a decade, the civil service was the only constant factor
on the political horizon, compensating for the instability of the other political players. The relative
vacuum in which the French civil service operated, enabled it to build a strong position within French
society and thus constitute a binding factor of the French nation26. One could even think of it as a
consolidation, as this position was already strong before the revolution27.
It also enabled another important feature of the French civil service fully to develop : the
administrative and technical corps. These corps gather the senior civil servants of the most important
administrative bodies to protect their position and their privileges28. By restraining the entrance
through educational selection, a closed, elitist identity prevails within the senior positions of
government. By coupling selection and education, this identity is easily passed on to the next
generation29. The lower levels of government find it very hard to infiltrate these corps. This causes a
vault line in the public service and in the replication of public service values. Althought there has been
a certain amount of imitation in practices, one cannot put the lower and the higher civil service in one
box30. This has to be kept in mind when analyzing the French case. However, as the corps, especially
the grandes corps occupy such an important position, the direct influence of the lower civil service on
the public service is minor.
26
Rouban, Luc. 2001. Les Fonctionnaires. Paris. Editions le cavalier bleu.
de Tocqueville, Alexis. 1988. Over De Franse Revolutie. Kampen. Kok, Agora.
28
Kessler, Marie-Christine. 1986. Les Grands Corps De L'Etat. Paris. Presses de la fondation nationale des sciences
politiques.
29
Vigouroux, Christian. 1997. Ce que l'on apprend, ce que l'on n'apprend pas a l'école. In : Pouvoirs. Vol. 80 . 57-65.
30
Schmid Lucile. 2000. L'Etat est-il malade ses hauts fonctionnaires ? In : Notre Etat. Fauroux, Roger and Spitz, Bernard.
45-79. Paris. Robert Laffont.
27
8
Also, the establishment of the European Union has caused the civil service to rock on its foundations.
The neo-liberal approach towards the civil service clashed with the dominant French approach31.
However, in spite of the many indictments that have been uttered32, in the last decade, the classic civil
service values seem to survive33.
Contrary to French government, Dutch government has had a rather stable monarchy for the last
century. Like most western countries, it showed a continuous increase in the size of government. Since
the 1870s it has evolved from a nightwatch man state to a welfare state. Social and religious
movements contributed to the expansion of government authorities and by consequence to the number
of public servants. In the 20th century, the succession of wars and other crises contributed to a further
growth of government34. This increased complexity was not overcome by a more integrative
coordination capacity. Instead, the separate ministries started to focus more on themselves in order to
cope. Because of this compartmentalization, coordination decreased even more. This also caused the
public interest to split up between the separate ministries and thus fragmenting the public interest.
Although government occupies a prominent place in Dutch society, contemporary civil service
practices are very similar to private sector practices. On the one hand, this is because of the stress on
the labor market. The government had to compete fiercely with private sector employers for potential
employees. Dutch government tried to cope with this challenge by adopting private sector techniques.
On the other hand, the public employees and unions tried to obtain an equal treatment by negotiating
private sector personnel systems as much as possible. This trend is called ‘normalization’, where
private employment is regarded as being the standard35. However, early and recent empirical evidence
demonstrate that public service motivation still is a relevant concept in Dutch public administration36.
31
Rouban Luc. 2004. Les cadres du public: un univers éclaté. In : Les Cadres Au Travail - Les Nouvelles Régles Du Jeu.
Karvar, Anousheh and Rouban, Luc. 231-258. Paris. La Découverte.
32
Rouban, Luc. 2004. La Fonction Publique. Paris. Editions la découverte.; Bodiguel, Jean-Luc. 1989. Les fonctionnaires en
periode de décroisance : moral, motivation et image. In : Revue politiques et management public. Vol. 7 (2). 37-58.
33
Foucher, Dominique. 2001. La motivation des collaborateurs dans la fonction publique française. In : Pyramides. Vol. 4.
93-105.
34
van der Meer Frits M. and Dijkstra, Gerrit S. A. 2000. The development and current features of the dutch civil service
system. In : Civil Service Systems in Western Europe. Bekke, Hans A. G. M. and van der Meer, Frits M. 148-187.
Cheltenham. Elgar.
35
Vandermeulen, Filip and Hondeghem, Annie. 2000. Perspectieven Voor Het Human Resource Management in De Vlaamse
Overheid. Brugge. Die keure.
36
van Raaij, Vinken en van Dun. 2002. Het imago van de overheid als werkgever. Tilburg. OSA.
9
Dimensions of Perry’s model of public service motivation compared
Table 1: attraction to politics and policymaking
United States
France
The Netherlands
¾ Policy making
¾ Policy making
¾ Policy making
¾ Care of politicians
¾ Primacy of politics
¾ Primacy of politics
¾ Contempt of politicians
¾ Loyalty to policians
The first dimension of Perry’s public service motivation model is the attraction to policy making and
politics. He mainly refers to the impact and status of politics and policy-making. However, Selden and
Brewer37 find attraction to politics is not a motivational element in the United States.
French public servants hold a rather important role within French political institutions38. They are
interested in politics39 and their role in it motivates them40. At the same time, There is a clear primacy
of politics over administration. Since the revolution they are considered to be operating under the
authority of elected politicians41. However, this political primacy does not translate itself into loyalty
towards politicians, as there is a certain degree of contempt towards politicians. French public servants
value politicians a lot less than they value their technocratic peers42.
In the Netherlands, (senior) public servants are attracted to policy-making. Meanwhile, they are also
considered to display a fair amount of reluctance towards policy making43. Here too, in spite of the
attraction to policy making, the primacy of politics plays an important role. Contrary to France, this
primacy generates a loyalty towards politicians. Due to the compartmentalization of government, this
applies particularly to the politician in charge of the ministry that employs them44.
37
Brewer, Gene A., Sally Coleman Selden and Rex L. Facer II. 2000. op. cit.
Gournay, Bernard, Kesler, Jean-François and Siwek-Pouydessau, Jeanne. 1967. Administration Publique. Paris. Presses
universitaires de france.
39
Rouban, Luc. 1998. La Fin Des Technocrates. Paris. Presses de sciences po.
40
Lhomme, Jean. 1966. Pouvoir Et Société Économique. Paris. Cujas.
41
Kessler Marie-Christine. 1985. La psychologie des hauts fonctionnaires - les directeurs d'administrations centrales. In :
Psychologie Et Science Administrative. Drai, Raphael. 157-175. Paris. Presses universitaires de France.; Pisier, Evelyne.
1989. Fonctionnaires : des personnels dépersonalisés. In : Revue française d'administration publique. Vol. 49 (spec.). 3541.; Thoenig, Jean-Claude. 1988. Serviteur de l'état ou manager public : le débat en France. In : Revue politiques et
management public. Vol. 6 (2). 81-92.; Rosanvallon, Pierre. 1992. L'État En France. Paris. Seuil.
42
Rouban, Luc. 2001. op. cit.
43
Van Braam, Aris. 1974. Opleiding van hogere bestuursambtenaren in nederland - overzicht en evaluatie. In :
Bestuurswetenschappen. Vol. 28 (special issue). 191-233.
44
Van Braam, Aris. 1974. op. cit.; Noordegraaf, Mirko. 1999. Publiek ondernemen, maar zonder ondernemen ? - de verticale
reflex. In : Bestuurswetenschappen. Vol. 53 (5). 371-391.; Hoetjes, B. J. S. 2000. De Kreukbare Overheid - Essays Over
Integriteit in Nederland. Utrecht. Lemma.
38
10
Table 2 : Public interest
United States
France
The Netherlands
¾ Community interest
¾ National interest
¾ National interest
¾ Meaningful public
¾ Centralization
¾ Social commitment
¾ Public welfare
¾ Civic culture,
service
¾ Civic duty
citizenship
The items Perry constructed are centered around three themes. First, the realization of the public
interest is operationalized by delivering meaningful public service. Second, this public service is
considered the civic duty of all of the citizens. Finally, the public interest refers to the level of the
community, but not to national level.
This is different in France, where public interest refers clearly to the national level (the state)45.
Thoenig46 even speaks of a ‘canonization’ of the state, while Kessler47 mentions ‘patriotism’. These
references to the nation and the national level are remarkable. Other levels are not even considered, as
the centralization ensures that the state is the most (and indeed the only) powerful level of
government.
This centralization has been historically prevalent48, but where it used to be that centralization was a
means to empower the national level, it now even has become an end of its own49.
Next to this, Kessler50 operationalizes public interest by taking care of the public welfare, ‘le sens du
bien public’.
The story is the same in the Netherlands, with the national level as reference framework for the public
interest51 and with civil servants socially committed to societal and public welfare52. Research shows
that civil servants are more willing to perform meaningful public service53.
Just like in the United States, concern for the public interest is said to be an integral part of civic
culture and the role of citizens54. However, in France, the realization of the public interest seems to be
more of a duty to government.
45
Chevallier Jacques. 2000. La place du service public dans l'univers juridique contemporain. In : Le Service Public En
Devenir. Rouban, Luc. 21-35. Paris. L'harmattan.
46
Thoenig, Jean-Claude. 1988. op. cit.
47
Kessler, Marie-Christine. 1986. op. cit.
48
de Tocqueville, Alexis. 1988. op. cit.
49
Long, Marcel. 2002. La fonction publique républicaine. In : Pouvoirs. Vol. 100. 67-85.
50
Kessler, Marie-Christine. 1986. op. cit.
51
(Bovens 1996;Hoetjes 2000)
52
(Van Poelje 1957;Seidel 1987;Van Braam 1974)
53
(Van Raaij et al. 2002)
54
Bovens, Mark A. P. 1990. Verantwoordlijkheid En Organisatie - Beschouwingen Over Aansprakelijkheid, Institutioneel
Burgerschap En Ambtelijke Ongehoorzaamheid. Zwolle. Tjeenk Willink.; Bovens, Mark. 1996. The integrity of the
managerial state. In : Journal of contigencies and crisis management. Vol. 4 (3). 125-132.
11
Table 3 : Compassion
United States
¾ Compassion
(emotional)
France
The Netherlands
¾ Societal solidarity
¾ Social commitment
¾ Socially progressive
¾ Need for social policy
values
¾ Government
employment
Perry’s dimension of compassion concerns in fact two levels of compassion. First there is the
individual level of compassion, which is elaborated in a rather emotional, humanitarian way. Second,
there is a level of more aggregate compassion, which refers more to government responsibility and
social policy.
The French civil service also incorporates some humanitarian values such as societal solidarity or
other socially progressive values55. Originally, this stems from the educational task the government
imposed on itself during the 3rd republic56. In time, the focus shifted from education to the broader
concept of solidarity. However, compared to the United States, there is stronger focus on the role of
government. The constitution already stated that the French state should be an example of fraternity
and the social dimension of government has long been an important dimension of the French state57.
Government policy should have a bias towards interventionism58 and government employment itself is
seen as an important way of conducting social policy59. Also, access to public service is considered as
cardinal to public welfare60.
The humanitarian aspect of compassion has totally dissappeared in the Dutch case. One can only refer
to the social commitment (see also table 2) of the public service to demonstrate the importance of
social policy. An individual level of compassion is however absent.
Table 4 : Self-sacrifice
United States
France
The Netherlands
¾ Public interest
¾ Public interest
¾ Public interest
¾ Self-sacrifice
¾ Refusal of self-interest
¾ Public service as a
¾ Defense of non-vested
calling
55
Chevallier, Jacques. 2000. op. cit.; Bellier, Irene. 1997. Les éleves entre eux : une tribu, un corps, un esprit ? In :
Pouvoirs. Vol. 80 . 43-55.; Lhomme, Jean. 1966. op. cit.
56
Rosanvallon, Pierre. 1992. op. cit.
57
Rainaud, Jean-Marie. 1999. La Crise Du Service Public Français. Paris. Presses universitaires de France.
58
Kesler, Jean-Francois. 2003. La "premiere" école national d'administration. In : Revue Francaise d'administration
publique. Vol. 108. 543-550.
59
Gournay, Bernard, Kesler, Jean-François and Siwek-Pouydessau, Jeanne. 1967. op. cit.
60
Thoenig, Jean-Claude. 1988. op. cit.
12
interests
¾ Heroism
The self-sacrifice dimension of the public service motivation model Perry constructed is mainly
focused on sacrificing personal interest for a greater good. In this respect, this dimension is also
connected with the public interest dimension (table 2). This is demonstrated when studying the interfactor correlation between the two dimensions61 .
Likewise, the most important theme of self-sacrifice in the French case is the refusal of self-interested
behavior and the promotion of public interest62 (see also table 2). Defense of non-vested interest is
highly regarded63. Some of the corps even describe their members who died in the line of duty as
heroes64.
This dimension is less strong in the Netherlands, although Bovens65 considers public service as a
calling, for which other interests have to be put aside. This is also supported by research demonstrating
civil servants commitment to non vested interests66. Given the correlation with public interest, it still
remains an important dimension (see also table 2).
Comparison of other elements of public service motivation
Table 5 : Religion
France
¾ Catholic morality
The Netherlands
¾ Protestant work ethic
The American concept of public service motivation developed by Perry consists of only four
dimensions. However, in looking for motivational values in public institutions in France and the
Netherlands, other value laden determinants surfaced. Obviously, they cannot be compared to the
Perry model. But a comparison between France and the Netherlands should yield extra information on
the possible content of public service motivation in both environments.
An important element is the prevailing religious morality in both countries. This has been
institutionalized within the public service. France traditionally has been a catholic country67, whereas
61
0.86, see Perry, James L. 1996. op. cit.
Gournay, Bernard, Kesler, Jean-François and Siwek-Pouydessau, Jeanne. 1967. op. cit.
63
Jean-Pierre, Didier. 1997. Reaffirming ethics and professionalism in the french public service. In : International review of
administrative sciences. Vol. 64 (4). 565-581.
64
Kessler, Marie-Christine. 1986. op. cit.
65
Bovens, Mark. 1996. op. cit.
66
van Raaij, W. F., Vinken, H. and van Dun, L. P. M. 2002. op. cit.
67
Bodiguel, Jean-Luc. 1989. op. cit.; Sheriff, Peta. 1976. Sociology of public bureaucracies 1965-1975. In : Current
sociology. Vol. 24 (2). 1-175.
62
13
the Netherlands have been a protestant country68. This translates itself into an entirely different
morality, with France being focused on catholic values (deliverance, obedience and compassion, see
also table 2), and the Netherlands focusing on a more individual, pre-destined protestant work ethic.
Table 6 : Equality
France
The Netherlands
¾ Equality
¾ Free of values
¾ Laicism
¾ Democracy
¾ Democracy
¾ Neutrality
¾ Neutrality
¾ Objectivity
Another motive is equality. The French have a long tradition of equality, dating back to the revolution
and even earlier. Crozier69 describes how France has always been an egalitarian society, already before
the revolution. This was transferred to a large extent to the public service, with equality being one of
the principles of public service, ‘les lois Rolland’70. Another one of those principles, neutrality71,
contributes also to the development of an egalitarian society. The values of laicism (free of
ecclesiastical values) and democracy in the constitution also stand testimony to this egalitarian view.
In the Netherlands, the focus on equality is not founded on an age-old tradition. The protestant theory
of pre-destination on the contrary promoted individualism. But the insertion of democratic72 and
bureaucratic values (see further) promoted objectivity, neutrality and a public service free of partisan
values73.
Table 7 : Service-delivery
France
The Netherlands
¾ Tradition in service
delivery
¾ Tradition in service
delivery
Both France and the Netherland have a strong tradition of delivering service to citizens, even before
the new public management era. However, it should be noted the content and the origin of this
tradition differ substantially. In France, this tradition is preserved through socialization at the ‘Ecole
68
Bovens, Mark. 1996. op. cit.
Crozier, Michel. 1963. The Bureaucratic Phenomenon. Chicago. The university of Chicago Press.
70
Pisier, Evelyne. 1989. op. cit.; Auby, Jean-François and Raymundie, Olivier. 2003. Le Service Public. Paris. Le moniteur.
71
Meininger Marie-Christine. 2000. The development and current features of the french civil service system. In : Civil
Service Systems in Western Europe. Bekke, Hans A. G. M. and van der Meer, Frits M. 188-211. Cheltenham. Elgar.; Auby,
Jean-François and Raymundie, Olivier. 2003. op. cit.; Thoenig, Jean-Claude. 1988. op. cit.Thoenig 1988)
72
Van Poelje, Gerrit A. 1957. De Ambtenaar Als Ambtenaar - Zijn Verantwoordelijkheid En Vorming. Alphen aan den Rijn.
Samsom.; Bovens, Mark A. P. 1990. op. cit.
73
Seidel, Jelle. 1987. Hoe sterk is de 'nieuwe' ambtenaar ? - de maatschappelijk geëngageerde ambtenaar in tijden van
'afslanking'. In : Wetenschap en samenleving. 20-27.
69
14
Nationale d’Administration’, where public servants are permeated with the importance of service
delivery74. The same is true for the ‘Ecole Polytechnique’, a military school, which also educates
members of the technical corps. Service delivery itself therefore is considered a motivational factor75.
In the Netherlands, Van Braam76 thought it to be one of the core elements of the role of public
servants. It provided a sense of legitimation for the special authorities they possess. Nowadays, service
orientation is considered an important value77, as Van den Heuvel and his associates (2002)
demonstrated empirically.
Table 8 : Technical competences
France
The Netherlands
¾ Rationality
¾ Focus on management
¾ Focus on management
¾ Knowledge
¾ Knowledge
¾ Focus on efficiency
¾ Intellectual capacities
Another common theme in France and the Netherlands is the discussion of the technical competences
that public servants should possess. This is not a mere technical discussion, as it clearly casts a valueladen shadow on the public service.
In the French public service, rationality is an important value78. Related to this is the focus on
managerial techniques and knowledge public servants have79. Apart from this, the intellectual
capacities and the wisdom of public servants are highly regarded80. This provides the public service
with a somewhat elitist aura.
The Dutch have an equal focus on knowledge81, a majority of the civil servants considers specialist
knowledge to be one of the most important values82. However, their interest in managerial techniques
has its origin in the new public management movement, which promoted managerialism83. This focus
on managerialism caused, contrary to France, efficiency to become a value in its own
right84.Especially new organizational formats are very prone to this85.
74
Thoenig, Jean-Claude. 1988. op. cit.; Bellier, Irene. 1997. op. cit.
Bodiguel, Jean-Luc. 1989. op. cit.
76
Van Braam, Aris. 1974. op. cit.
77
Hoetjes, B. J. S. 2000. op. cit.
78
Rouban, Luc. 2001. op. cit.
79
Lhomme, Jean. 1966. op. cit.; Vigouroux, Christian. 1997. op. cit.
80
Kessler, Marie-Christine. 1986. op. cit.
81
Van Poelje, Gerrit A. 1957. op. cit.; Van Braam, Aris. 1974. op. cit.; Seidel, Jelle. 1987. op. cit.
82
van den Heuvel, J. H. J., Huberts, L W. J. C. and Verberk, S. 2002. Het Morele Gezicht Van De Overheid - Waarden,
Normen En Beleid. Utrecht. Lemma.
83
Hupe, Peter. 1992. Klerk noch koopman - zakelijkheid en de ideale ambtenaar. In : Bestuurskunde. Vol. 1 (4). 180-193.;
Hammecher, D. M. and den Dunnen, R. 1997. Cultuurverandering in de rijksdienst. In : Bestuurskunde. Vol. 6 (1). 12-19.
84
Noordegraaf, Mirko. 1999. op. cit.; Bovens, Mark A. P. 1990. op. cit.
85
Smit, N. and Van Thiel, S. 2002. De zakelijke overheid - publieke en bedrijfsmatige waarden in publiek-private
samenwerking. In : Bestuurskunde. Vol. 11 (6). 226-234.
75
15
Tabel 9 : Bureaucracy
France
The Netherlands
¾ Continuity
¾ Continuity
¾ Equality
¾ Neutrality
¾ Neutrality
¾ Instrumentality
¾ Adaptation
¾ Primacy of politics
¾ Centralization
¾ Avoidance of conflict
¾ Primacy of politics
Bureaucratic values are fhe final common theme in France and the Netherlands. In France, the
bureaucratic values are incorporated in ‘les lois Rolland’. Continuity, equality, neutrality and
adaptation are the most important principles of public service86. When adding centralization (see table
2) and primacy of politics (see table1), it is a case–specific application of Weber’s bureaucracy that
fits France very well.
The Netherlands has a slightly different application of Weber’s bureaucracy. The principles of public
service are not institutionalized as thoroughly as in France. Instead, it is more focused on practical
arrangements and modes of operation, such as instrumentality, continuity, neutrality and primacy of
politics (being loyal to the minister)87. The avoidance of conflict demonstrates this pragmatic
orientation of the Dutch bureaucracy88. Also, accountability seems more important than it is in
France89. In this, it might be more similar to Weber’s original conception of bureaucracy.
Table 10 : Unique administrative values
France
¾ Contempt of monetary
rewards
The Netherlands
¾ Flexibility
¾ Rule of law
(‘Rechtsstaat’)
Next to these common themes, both France and the Netherlands have values that are (within bounds of
this comparison) unique to their public service. These constitute a major difference in the content of
their respective public service motivation concepts. In France, the most striking observation in the
civil service (and especially in the senior civil service) is the contempt of money and profit. Little
attention is devoted to monetary rewards as these only serve to live a life according to one’s rank. The
86
Pisier, Evelyne. 1989. op. cit.; Auby, Jean-François and Raymundie, Olivier. 2003. op. cit.
Hoetjes, B. J. S. 2000. op. cit.; Van Braam, Aris. 1974. op. cit.
88
Van Braam, Aris. 1974. op. cit.
89
Bovens, Mark. 1996. op. cit.
87
16
sense of merit and honor is related to this motive90. The drive for money is certainly no motivation to
enter the civil service91. Sheriff92 seeks the explanation in a secularization of the catholic morality.
However, Rouban93 puts it down to a lower general level of motivation of civil servants.
Recently the Dutch adopted the value of flexibility,when applying new public management
techniques94. This was a reaction to the rather practical implication of the bureaucratic model (whereas
in France, bureaucracy remained on an ideological level). Another feature is the huge significance of
the rule of law in government (‘Rechtsstaat’). As acountability, rules, legality, accuracy, punctuality,
publicness all are important in this respect95, there is a sound relation with the bureacratic system.
However, this rule of law surpasses administrative and bureacratic law and has become a value of its
own. In this, it is a counterweight for the primacy of politics and Dutch civil servants have the ability
to blow the whistle if the rule of law requires it96.
Conclusions
Up to a certain extent, our comparison demonstrates that public service motivation is a universal
concept. All four of Perry’s dimensions can be found when describing the French and Dutch variants.
However, on taking a closer look, several differences are revealed. For example, the esteem of
politicians and, consequently, the loyalty to these, differ across all three models. Also, the reference
level of public interest varies. Whereas the original - American - model focuses on the community,
France and the Netherlands focus more on the national level. The role of the individual versus the
government concerning the relieve of the needs of the underprivileged – a humanitarian compassion
versus social policy – is different in all three cases. Perry (and therefore our American case) focuses
on the individual level, turning to government only to alleviate vital needs. In the Netherlands, this
individual level is absent in the civil service. It is up to the government to pursue a social policy to and
answer social needs. The fact that it is not up to Dutch civil servants to relieve individual needs, might
be connected with high regard for neutrality in the Netherlands. France takes some sort of middle
position in this debate, answering to both the individual and the social level with its social policy.
Finally, the extent to which self-sacrifice is institutionalized is also a matter of difference. In France,
there is a stronger heroic connotation to public service than it is in the Netherlands.
A further comparison of the Dutch and the France case shows that public service motivation not only
consists of the dimensions introduced by Perry. The comparison reveals several additional elements of
90
Vigouroux, Christian. 1997. op. cit.
Kessler, Marie-Christine. 1985. op. cit.; Bodiguel Jean-Luc. 1986. La socialisation des haut fonctionnaires - les directeurs
d'administration centrale. In : La Haute Administration Et La Politique. Lochak, Daniele. 81-99. Paris. Presses universitaires
de France.; Lhomme, Jean. 1966. op. cit.; Auby, Jean-François and Raymundie, Olivier. 2003. op. cit.; Joxe Pierre. 2000. La
crise d'identité de l'Etat. In : Notre Etat. Fauroux, Roger and Spitz, Bernard. 33-43. Paris. Robert Laffont.
92
Sheriff, Peta. 1976. op. cit.
93
Rouban, Luc. 2004. op. cit.
94
Hupe, Peter. 1992. op. cit.; Hammecher, D. M. and R. den Dunnen. 1997. op. cit.
95
Bovens, Mark. 1996. op. cit.; van den Heuvel, J. H. J., Huberts, L W. J. C. and Verberk, S. 2002. op. cit.
96
Bovens, Mark A. P. 1990. op. cit.
91
17
public service motivation. First, religion has a major impact on a country’s administrative values. In
the United States, Gawthrop97 demonstrated the link of the United States’ administrative values and
the bible, and Perry98 confirmed it indirectly by declaring religious socialization one of the antecedents
of public service motivation. However, as we observe in our comparison of France and the
Netherlands, religion can have an entirely different impact. Second, democratic and bureaucratic
values are an important element of public service motivation. Whenever these values are
institutionalized, they determine how the business of government is run in a given environment.
However, this is linked to other elements in the environment, resulting in a regional or national type of
democracy and bureaucracy. Examplary in this respect is the way the egalitarian structure of French
society shaped the mode in which its civil service operates. After all, by implementing bureaucratic
values, French society could cope more easily with submission to authority. According to Crozier,
‘Face-to-face dependence relationships are, indeed, perceived as difficult to bear in the French cultural
setting’. Instead of suffering from a personal and humiliating dependence relationship, an impersonal
bureaucratic body offers the French a gentler way of coping with authority99. Third, the service
traditions of a civil service play an important part in public service motivation. The technical
competences demanded from public servants play a similar role in France and the Netherlands. The
extremely high standards required in France explain the elitist view of the French civil service,
compared to the Netherlands. Finally, public service motivation is determined by some unique
features. In the Netherlands, the rule of law, and recently new public management’s flexibility
changed the face of the Dutch public service, and therefore its motivational value. The contempt of
profit on the other hand, gave the French civil service its distinct character.
All these elements point to the explanatory framework of new institutionalism. Institutions are defined
as formal or informal, structural, societal or political phenomena that surpass the indivual level and
that are based on more or less common values. They have a certain amount of stability and they
influence behavior100. Contrary to rational and public choice theories, new institutionalism considers
motivational values not as exogenous but as endogenous101. This means that where motivation in
rational choice theories always is self-interested, it is shaped within the institutions according to new
institutionalist theories. This fits exactly our observation of a varying conception of public service
motivation depending on country or region. The institutions and the administrative history then
explain most of the features found in a specific public service motivation concept. This also explains
the multidimensional appearance of public service motivation, as these institutions are structured in a
97
Gawthrop, Louis C. 1998. Public Service and Democracy - Ethical Imperatives for the 21st Century. New York. Chatham
House.
98
Perry, James L. 1997. op. cit.
99
Crozier, Michel. 1963. op. cit.
100
Peters, B. Guy. 2000. Institutional Theory : Problems and Prospects. Wien. Institut für Höhere Studien.
101
Steunenberg, B., De Vries, J. and Soeters, J. L. M. L. 1996. Het neo-institutionalisme in de bestuurskunde. In :
Bestuurskunde. Vol. 5 (5). 212-216.
18
systemic way and relate to one another. Whenever studying public service motivation, these
institutions should be taken into account, because ignoring them probably results in violating concept
validity.
Comments and further research
When reviewing the analyis, some restrictions have to be borne in mind. First, the research was
conceived as a literature based exploratory exercise. No hypothesis has been tested emperically, and
therefore the results should be applied with great caution. This does not render the results useless, as
our information is based on a body of scientific litereature. It thus should render a profound overview
of the administrative values in France and the Netherlands. However, the motivational power of these
values is only demonstrated theoretically and needs further testing.
In keeping with the conclusion, it is not advisable to generalize findings to the population. As it is a
comparative case study, generalization to the population is not possible. However, generalizations can
be made to theory, offering new insights in other cases.
Because it is only an exploratory study, there are a lot of avenues for further research. First, the
features of the French and the Dutch concept of public service motivation should be empirically tested
before getting relative certainty on the nature of both concepts. Both survey research and in depth
interviews can cast more light on this. Furthermore, also the origins of public service motivation can
be retraced by means of hypotheses based on new institutional premises. By doing this, human
resource management (HRM) can withdraw itself further from private HRM theories and anchor
deeper into the field of public administration. Finally, the impact of public service motivation on
public HRM should be studied. This would enable public HRM to add an applied component to its
broadened theoretical foundation, also strenghtening the ties between HRM and public administration.
19