Internal Consultants in the Public Administration: Drivers of Change, Guardians of the Culture

Abstract Internal consultants understand better the specificities of public administrations. Their procedural intricacies, secular norms, behavioral tendencies, and the sense of public service are hard to understand and conceptualize; they are nuanced, ruled by the implicit, and carry institutional and personal histories. It’s no wonder public administrations are notoriously hard to reform. To succeed in their missions, external consultants are bound to work with and through internal consultants.