Development agencies in the transition from weber bureaucracy to the alternative bureaucracy model: The case of Çukurova Development Agency (CDA)

Max Weber's theory of bureaucracy is one of the cornerstones of traditional public administration. This theory emphasizes a hierarchical structure and top-down control through rules and regulations. However, by the 1980s, escalating criticisms regarding the inefficiency of bureaucracy and concerns about resource waste, coupled with thoughts on the inability to attain solutions, have given rise to discussions necessitating a paradigm shift. Unlike the Weberian model, the governance model has emerged with a management approach that adopts a horizontal and flexible approach and includes the public, private sector and NGOs in decision-making processes with the principle of participation. While some argue that governance is a project-based alternative to bureaucracy in the twenty-first century and therefore cannot be sustained, others question the long-term viability of governance in nation states. An example of this transformation is seen in the Regional Development Agencies, which are the reflection of globalization and localization discourses on governance practices. In this context, considering the establishments of Development Agencies, the extent to which these organizations reflect the governance model in Türkiye is examined in the literature. The basis of the research is to examine the relations and working systems of Development Agencies in Türkiye with the central administration; to understand how the bureaucratic structure of Development Agencies in Türkiye relates to the central administration to which it was affiliated in 2006, 2011 and 2018; the role of the private sector and Non-governmental organizations in Development Agencies and the extent to which the governance model that observes the principle of participation is reflected in the case of Cukurova Development Agency (CKA) will be questioned through the answers given to the interviewer expert questions and the literature discussions in public administration in Türkiye. Staff working as experts at CKA were asked 33 open-ended questions. 10 expert staff participated in the research. In the analysis of the data, the MAXQDA 2022 program was used and the content analysis method was applied. In this context, the study enabled analyzes such as code relationship scanners, creative coding and code cloud techniques to be carried out. In this context, in the discussions in the literature about the organizational structure of Development Agencies in public administration in Türkiye, analyzes have been carried out on whether the functioning of these agencies reflects a hierarchical bureaucratic model or a governance model. These analyzes were obtained from the answers to the questions asked to CKA expert interviewers and inferences were made based on these answers.