Speaker: Tom Christensen (Emeritus Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Oslo, Norway)

Host: Zhao Tan (Lecturer, School of Public Administration and Policy, Renmin University of China)

Time: March 28, 2025 (Friday), 12:00 noon

Venue: Room 320, Qiu Shi Building

Registration: Scan the QR code on the poster below to register.

About the Speaker:

Tom Christensenis Emeritus Professor at the Department of Political Science, University of Oslo; Member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters; and Senior Foreign Expert at Renmin University of China. A leading scholar in public administration, he has been extensively involved in multiple European Union reform initiatives. With over a hundred high-impact articles published in leading international journals and more than a dozen authored or co-authored books and textbooks, he ranks among the most prolific public administration scholars globally. He holds longstanding membership in numerous international public management associations and societies. His groundbreaking research earned him the Pierre De Celles Award from the International Association of Schools and Institutes of Administration (IASIA), an honor often referred to as the “Nobel Prize” of international public administration.

Lecture Synopsis:

The lecture will first define the concept of accountability in public organizations. It will then explore to whom actors are accountable and for what, leading to a discussion of Bovens' main accountability types—political, administrative/managerial, professional/technical, and legal—as well as Schillemans' concepts of horizontal accountability and felt accountability. Next, different types of trust will be outlined, distinguishing between generalized trust and specific trust. Finally, the interplay between accountability mechanisms and trust dynamics in public organizations will be analyzed.