The year 2024 is a ‘year of elections’, with a majority of the world’s population going to the polls. In many of those elections, there are parties running that offer credible threats to liberal democratic values and the rule of law. Given these challenges to liberal democracy and governance, PMM wants to examine the resistance that public managers may put forward against elected leaders. Academics have discussed options such as exit, voice and loyalty (Schuester et al., 2022), or working, shirking or sabotage (Brehm and Gates, 1999; Pierre and Peters, 2017; Guedes-Neto and Peters, 2021) available to the public managers, so what do they do? Are civil servants in some settings more willing to resist than are others, and why? When they do resist, why are some civil servants more effective than others? Does this resistance alter the fundamental civil service bargains that exist in most liberal democracies?

Call for Submissions

We invite submissions of comparative or single case study articles for consideration that address issues such as:

- Common Themes in 2024's Election Campaigns and Results: What are common themes in 2024’s election campaigns and results, as they relate to the civil service and governance?

- Politicization of Civil Services: How do elections result in the politicization of civil services, and how do civil servants resist pressures for politicization?

- Conflicts within the Public Service: What conflicts arise within the public service following the election of far-right populist parties, particularly around resistance to their radical societal transition programs?

- Exodus of Senior Civil Servants: Are senior civil servants leaving government after, or even before, the election of illiberal governments? Is this exit resulting in a hollowing out of expertise?

- Codes of Conduct: How do the codes of conduct for civil services and politicians influence their reactions to elections?

- Building Trust: Can - and how do - new governments and civil services with different values build trust, given that effective governance depends on it?

- Public Service Bargain: Has the traditional public service bargain been terminated, eroded, or is it still viable?

- Preparation for New Governments: How should civil servants prepare for a new government, whether of a populist character or not?

- Power of Civil Servants in Government Absence: What do civil servants do when there is no government, and how much power should they exercise while waiting for a coalition to be formed?

- Adapting to New Ministers and Advisors: When there is a new government, two sides of the executive triangle change. How do civil servants deal with new ministers and new policy advisors?

- Impact of Increased Polarization: How do elections, especially those of 2024, reflect increased polarization of the electorate? What does that polarization do to democratic and effective governance?

Types of Articles
- Research articles (up to 8000 words, excluding references) will be reviewed by at least two reviewers.
- Debate articles (up to 1000 words) will be reviewed by guest editors.
- New development articles (up to 3500 words) will be reviewed by one or two reviewers.

See the journal’s instructions for authors: Journal's Instructions for Authors

Interested researchers are invited to submit contributions for consideration via PMM’s online submission portal: PMM Online Submission Portal.

Articles submitted to PMM for review must not be under consideration by any other publication outlet.

Accepted articles will be published online upon acceptance. The theme will be published in late 2025.

Contact Information

For questions about the theme, contact any of the guest editors:

- Joao Neto: joao.neto@fgv.br
- B. Guy Peters: bgpeters@pitt.edu
- Vincent Martigny: vincent.martigny@polytechnique.edu
- A. Kaya Yesilkagit: a.k.yesilkagit@fgga.leidenuniv.nl

Deadlines
- Submission of research articles: 30 November 2025
- Submission of debate and new development articles: 31 March 2025

More info here