STRATEGIC COORDINATION AND POLICY CAPACITY: EXECUTIVE INSTITUTIONS AS DRIVERS OF GOVERNANCE INNOVATION IN ARMENIA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46991/BYSU.F/2025.16.2.072Keywords:
bureaucratic field, state capacity, institutional isomorphism, symbolic capital, patrimonial governance, state autonomy, agents of change, ArmeniaAbstract
This article examines the transformation of executive institutions in the Republic of Armenia through the lens of political sociology, viewing them not merely as administrative structures but as arenas of struggle for symbolic and material capital, spaces for the reproduction of power relations, and agents of institutional change. Employing Bourdieu's neo-institutional optics, Evans's concept of state autonomy, and Mann's theory of state capacity, the study analyzes the dialectic between formal rules and informal practices in the process of administrative modernization. Particular attention is paid to the sociology of reform actors - the bureaucratic elite, the expert community, and international organizations - and the mechanisms of their interaction in the space of state policy. Empirical analysis reveals a contradiction between the discourse of modernization and practices of patrimonial governance, between the formal rationality of Weberian bureaucracy and personalized networks of influence. The study demonstrates that the success of administrative reforms is determined not by technical solutions but by profound transformations of the habitus of civil servants, the restructuring of power relations within the bureaucratic field, and changes in the symbolic economy of public administration. This analysis connects contemporary sociological frameworks with Armenia's ongoing executive authority reforms, examining how institutional design intersects with political culture and governance capacity in a post-Soviet context.
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