DEVELOPING AN INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS FRAMEWORK IN STUDYING BUREAUCRATIC BEHAVIOUR IN GOVERNMENT AGENCIES FROM CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

The aim of this paper is to develop a comprehensive institutional analysis framework in studying bureaucratic behaviour in government agencies. Although the purpose is to outline a general framework for research, the focus will be on taking into account the specifics of the agencification process in states from Central and Eastern Europe. The paper is divided into three sections. In the first section I compare various neoinstitutionalist approaches in terms of analysing the processes and transformations in the institutional environment concerning government agencies as semi-autonomous bodies in state organization. I argue that the approach which has a greater potential in explaining the processes and transformations in the institutional environment in government agencies is rational choice institutionalism. The second section of this paper is focused on presenting several traditional bureaucratic models in studying bureaucratic behaviour, from the traditional approach to public choice ones, in order to determine their possible contribution in analysing officials behaviour in semiautonomous agencies. Using these and the institutional analysis framework sugested in the first section of this paper I will focus on developing a model for studying bureaucratic behaviour in government agencies. The final section of the paper will be focused on the possibility of using the institutional analysis framework for studying bureaucratic behaviour in government agencies in Central and Eastern Europe and the challenges presented.