The Administrative State and the New Right: The Struggle for Control

The text analyzes a fundamental conflict in modern governance: the tension between the need for professional, stable administration and democratic control over the executive. The author invokes the concept of the 'administrative state' and Project 2025, pointing to risks associated with two pathologies: partisan patronage (the spoils system) and bureaucratic autonomization. Utilizing principal-agent theory and public-choice theory, the article explains how information asymmetry and the personal incentives of officials influence the implementation of state policy. This dispute is not merely an ideological battle, but a structural problem of power delegation, where the pursuit of full government responsiveness may collide with meritocratic independence and the institutional continuity of the state.