Bureaucratic Ambition: Careers, Motives, and the Innovative Administrator

Manuel Teodoro's Bureaucratic Ambition examines how career ambition and professional norms influence policy innovation within U.S. local government. The book uses a mixed-methods approach, combining case studies of police chiefs and water utility managers with survey data to explore the interplay between individual motivations (achievement, power, affiliation), career paths (vertical vs. diagonal advancement), and policy choices. Teodoro argues that ambitious administrators, particularly those with diagonal career trajectories, are more likely to champion professionally favored policies, even if politically risky. The study's findings challenge existing principal-agent models of bureaucracy by highlighting the significance of individual bureaucrats' values and motivations. The book concludes by discussing the implications of these findings for democratic governance. You can listen and download our episodes for free on more than 10 different platforms: https://linktr.ee/book_shelter Get the Book now from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Bureaucratic-Ambition-Innovative-Administrator-Governance/dp/1421402459?&linkCode=ll1&tag=cvthunderx-20&linkId=4068860338cd0980f92b64d8873d82d9&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl Produced by: https://www.podcaistudio.com/