The 5th Trans-European Dialogues (TED5): The Politics of Agency Governance
February 1-3, 2012, Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary

The Corvinus University of Budapest, Department of Public Policy and Management hosted one of the key academic events of European Public Administration - the Fifth Trans-European Dialogue in Public Administration (TED5).


This year's TED focused on a key topic of contemporary government reforms, the "Politics of agency governance". TED5 hosted many of the most renowned European researchers of the field, the former and current leaders of the European (EGPA) and global (IIAS) academic organisations of Public Administration, as well as prominent US, Chinese, and Turkish scholars. Hungarian researchers, active in the field, also participated in this event.

This conference focused on aspects of politics in and around agencies in CEE, CIS and Western European countries. We invited speakers to discuss issues such as:

•    The appointment of agency CEOs and board members (including issues of patronage and politicisation).
•    The influence of agencies on the political and/or policy debate.
•    The role of politics and politicians in the decision to create agencies.
•    The role of politics and politicians in the governance (steering, control) of agencies.
•    The merits of agencification for politicians and political parties (including shifting of blame and risks, direct influence through appointments, and assets in political bargains…).
•    The effects of interference by politicians in agency matters for the functioning of agencies.

Participants – including, especially, young researchers – who were interested in giving a presentation on any of these topics or the theme of the conference, were invited to submit a short proposal with an overview on how it reflects their own research interests and activities.

TED5, as with the previous Trans-European Dialogues, was a focused, by-invitation only, meeting of roughly 40 participants from Europe. Rather than formally presenting all attendees' papers, the format centred on intense dialogue and discussions between the participants. The discussions were structured into 4 sessions, each of which began with a keynote presentation, followed by participants' oral contributions reflecting on the key elements of their research.

Further information on the academic programme, the participants and their contributions and future publications related to TED5 can be found on TED's official website:
http://ted-dialogues.org/ted5-budapest/