Introduction : populists, democratic backsliding, and public administration

Populism challenges our democracies. And populists in governments attempt to transform public administration systems in manifold illiberal ways. This chapter outlines an analytical frame for systematic comparative research on determining how populists attempt to convert public bureaucracies, what are their motivations, and what are their chances of succeeding. It bridges different strands of scholarship that have remained rather insulated so far. It complements the debate on system transformation and democracy systematically with administrative aspects. The chapter thus offers a path to integrate public administration scholarship in system transformation research by eliciting the role of bureaucracies in reform projects of populist governments