Being Empowered or Feeling Like a Pawn?

Abstract Governments often reallocate administrative units among ministries to meet parties’ office and policy demands or increase political control over the bureaucracy. How do such reforms affect work motivation performance of ministerial bureaucrats? Based on self-determination theory, this paper expects detrimental effects bureaucrats’ ability basic psychological needs competence, autonomy, relatedness, which should reduce motivation. This negative effect be weaker when bureaucrats perceive a substantive rationale long-term benefits reform compared changes perceived as driven solely by party-political goals. We find support for these expectations in interviews with top-level Germany working two areas (public construction consumer protection) that were frequently reallocated between ministries. The study shows organizational change also affects has broader implications understanding civil servants’ motivations well unintended consequences public sector reforms.