Danish permanent secretaries, top civil servants in the Danish state administration, are formally both administrative heads of their ministries as well as prime advisers to Danish ministers. In this article we analyse whether and how the public service bargain (PSB) (Hood and Lodge, 2006) of Danish permanent secretaries primarily reflects elements of a managerial role as prescribed in many of the New Public Management reforms or whether their role as policy adviser is as important as their role as manager, as is formally prescribed. The PSB is assessed in terms of the typology of Hood and Lodge, including the dimensions: reward, competency, loyalty and responsibility. The analysis demonstrates that although elements of a managerial bargain have entered the role of Danish permanent secretaries, it is not more salient than the advisory aspect of the PSB.
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