Showing papers in "Public Administration in 2013"
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this article, the effect of transparency on trust in government between the Netherlands and South Korea was investigated by two similar series of three experiments, and the results revealed similar patterns in both countries: transparency has a subdued and sometimes negative effect on trust.
Abstract: Transparency is considered a key value for trustworthy governments. However, the effect of transparency on citizens’ trust across different national cultures is overlooked in current research. This article compares the effect of transparency on trust in government between the Netherlands and South Korea. The effect is investigated by two similar series of three experiments. We hypothesize that the effect of transparency differs, because both countries have different cultural values regarding power distance and short and long-term orientation. Results reveal similar patterns in both countries: transparency has a subdued and sometimes negative effect on trust in government. However, the negative effect in South Korea is much stronger. This implies a subdued and negative effect of transparency on trust in the short term in both countries. Nevertheless, the difference in the magnitude of transparency’s effect suggests that national cultural values play a significant role in how people perceive and appreciate government transparency.
257 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the influence of gender norms and practices on the operation and interaction between formal and informal institutions has been discussed, and the key benefits of a gender analysis for understanding political institutions are discussed.
Abstract: New Institutionalism has shown that the ‘rules of the game’ are crucial to structuring political life in terms of constraining and enabling political actors and influencing political outcomes. A limitation of this approach, however, has been its overemphasis on formal rules, with much less attention paid to how informal rules work alongside and in conjunction with formal institutions to shape actors and outcomes. This article contributes to an emerging literature that highlights the importance of informal institutions by bringing into focus one element that has been hidden in these debates – the influence of gender norms and practices on the operation and interaction between formal and informal institutions. It highlights some of the key benefits of a gender analysis for understanding political institutions in both their formal and informal guise and considers some of the challenges in building a research agenda that requires new methods and techniques of inquiry.
214 citations
TL;DR: A variety of assessments through 2001 discussed the striking neglect of theory related to leadership in public sector organizational settings as mentioned in this paper, and a relatively negative assessment has been widely cited and needs to be re-evaluated a decade later.
Abstract: A variety of assessments through 2001 discussed the striking neglect of theory related to leadership in public sector organizational settings. For example, Jerry Gabris, Bob Golembiewski, and Doug Ihrke called on the field to ‘improve on the emaciated condition of public leadership theory’. My assessment of administrative leadership soon thereafter, while trying to emphasize a recent uptick in volume, was nonetheless that ‘the needs are great and the research opportunities are manifold’. My relatively negative assessment has been widely cited and needs to be re-evaluated a decade later since much progress has been made and the research needs have evolved substantially.
176 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors trace the development of 28 environmental NGOs in China and examine the political and institutional factors that have constrained or facilitated these organizations' policy advocacy activities, showing that political structural changes have created greater opportunities for eNGO's policy advocacy, and eNGOs with better financial resources and connections to the party-state system are more capable of utilizing these opportunities to enhance their policy advocacy capacity.
Abstract: Drawing on political opportunity and resource dependency theories, this paper traces the development of 28 environmental NGOs (eNGOs) in China and examines the political and institutional factors that have constrained or facilitated these organizations' policy advocacy activities. The paper shows that political structural changes have created greater opportunities for eNGOs' policy advocacy, and eNGOs with better financial resources and connections to the party-state system are more capable of utilizing these opportunities to enhance their policy advocacy capacity. Yet party-state connections may in turn constrain the types of policy advocacy pursued by these eNGOs.
123 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors proposed an evaluation of municipal waste collection and disposal services to determine whether single/joint or public/private municipal service provision, together with other factors including quality, political aspects, and the socioeconomic environment, most contribute to reducing costs.
Abstract: The current economic crisis is increasingly affecting the public sector, requiring stricter control of deficits, and local administrations are not exempt from these requirements. Therefore, it is essential to consider management forms that may produce cost savings in the provision of public services. In this article we propose an evaluation of municipal waste collection and disposal services to determine whether single/joint or public/private municipal service provision, together with other factors including quality, political aspects, and the socio-economic environment, most contribute to reducing costs. The results obtained for the period 2002–08 show that joint management (inter-municipal cooperation) and public management (in relation to single and private management systems, respectively) have a greater effect on reducing the costs of this service. Thus, small and medium-sized local authorities can identify formulas for reducing costs and thus be in a better position to overcome the economic crisis.
115 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a framework is developed to examine this in-between in terms of the everyday communicative practices and processes through which public professionals and citizens encounter each other, and sets a future agenda for developing it into a subject area of its own.
Abstract: Public encounters, face-to-face contact between public professionals and citizens, was first identified as a key issue in public administration 80 years ago, but never developed into a subject area of its own. Although receiving attention in research on street-level bureaucrats' contact with customers, clients, and citizens, the concept of public encounters is hardly used. However, it has great potential to overcome current limitations in understanding how public encounters can enhance the quality of services, decisions, and outcomes. This article traces the historical development of research on public encounters and sets a future agenda for developing it into a subject area of its own. The main argument is that, so far, the encounter, or ‘in-between’, has not been captured as a distinct phenomenon. A framework is developed to examine this in-between in terms of the everyday communicative practices and processes through which public professionals and citizens encounter each other.
113 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore how the interaction of three such conditions (network complexity, network management, and stakeholder involvement) results in stakeholder satisfaction, and they use fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis to compare the decision-making processes and outcomes of 14 Dutch spatial planning projects.
Abstract: Many studies have been conducted to determine the conditions that contribute to the satisfactory outcome of decision-making processes in governance networks. In this article, we explore how the interaction of three such conditions – network complexity, network management, and stakeholder involvement – results in stakeholder satisfaction. We use fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis – a relatively new approach in public administration research – to systematically compare the decision-making processes and outcomes of 14 Dutch spatial planning projects. Our analysis points to three combinations that result in stakeholder satisfaction: network complexity combined with adaptive management; stakeholder involvement combined with adaptive management; and low complexity combined with both limited stakeholder involvement and closed network management.
91 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined how well New Public Management (NPM) succeeded in cutting costs in the early stages in the 1980s and concluded that, contrary to stereotype, 1980s NPM in UK central government does not offer a model for the scale of administrative cost-cutting currently planned, and even the cutbacks of the 1990s fell far short of those current plans.
Abstract: New Public Management (NPM), particularly in its early stages in the 1980s, is often said to have concentrated on cost-cutting and efficiency, but few studies have examined how far NPM succeeded in cutting costs. Focusing on UK central government, often claimed to be a leading case of NPM, and analyzing three sets of data (for running costs, tax collection costs, and paybill), this study finds little evidence of real running cost reductions in the early NPM era. It concludes that, contrary to stereotype, 1980s NPM in UK central government does not offer a model for the scale of administrative cost-cutting currently planned, and even the cutbacks of the 1990s fell far short of those current plans. The conclusion for the academic study of NPM is that something more than a minor revision of the received view of NPM as a cost-cutting movement is needed to explain these observations.
84 citations
TL;DR: Li et al. as mentioned in this paper examined more than 80 winners and finalists in the Innovations and Excellence in Chinese Local Governance (IECLG) awards programme between 2001 and 2008 and found the main types of innovation in the Chinese public sector to be management, service and collaborative innovation.
Abstract: The article examines more than 80 winners and finalists in the Innovations and Excellence in Chinese Local Governance (IECLG) awards programme between 2001 and 2008. Our results show the main types of innovation in the Chinese public sector to be management, service and collaborative innovation, although instances of technological and governance innovation are emerging. State and party agencies at the city and county levels in eastern China appear to be more innovative than their counterparts at other levels in central and western China. We identify several factors that affect innovation in China, and find the country to have some distinct innovation characteristics relative to other countries. Our analysis contributes to an understanding of the state of the art in public sector innovation in China and suggests directions for further international comparative research.
82 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined whether increased representation of women in police forces in England leads to a higher rate of domestic violence arrests and found that the presence of a female police chief constable is positively associated with the domestic violence arrest rate, but only when they are accorded greater opportunity to carry out frontline police work.
Abstract: Drawing on theories of representative bureaucracy, we examine whether increased representation of women in police forces in England leads to a higher rate of domestic violence arrests. To do so, we use panel regression techniques to analyze the links between gender representation and variations in the arrest of domestic abuse perpetrators when controlling for a range of other relevant variables, including the relative prosperity of the local population and the size of the police force. Our statistical results suggest that the rate of domestic violence arrests varies in terms of the authority and discretion accorded to women police officers. We find that the presence of a female police chief constable is positively associated with the domestic violence arrest rate, but that increased representation of female police officers makes a difference only when they are accorded greater opportunity to carry out frontline police work.
76 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a conceptualization of non-profit innovation in which human agency and its interplay with institutional logics is an integral feature is proposed. But the authors do not consider the role of human agents in service innovation.
Abstract: Based on empirical research with two non-profits, this article critiques structural explanations of non-profit service innovation, which portray innovation as a response to institutional contexts and downplay the power and role of human agents. We offer instead, a conceptualization of non-profit innovation in which human agency – and its interplay with institutional logics – is an integral feature. Specifically, we outline the ways in which non-profit actors draw upon the competing institutional logics available to them to frame and serve their interests. We find that actors’ assumptions and beliefs about the organization’s role in the institutional field and the practice of normative, discursive work are central tenets of both the maintenance and transformation of institutions. We also find instances of service stability and service innovation ensuing from non-profit actors’ agency in infusing organizational practices with interpretations and elaborations of institutional logics.
TL;DR: The authors investigates the increasingly popular bundle of techniques operating under the generic descriptor of lean, which promises to improve operational quality processes while simultaneously reducing cost, and offers a critical appraisal of lean as a fashionable component of public sector reform and challenges the received wisdom that it unambiguously delivers "efficiencies".
Abstract: The prevailing economic and budgetary climate is intensifying the search for methods and practices aimed at generating efficiencies in public sector provision. This paper investigates the increasingly popular bundle of techniques operating under the generic descriptor of lean, which promises to improve operational quality processes while simultaneously reducing cost. It offers a critical appraisal of lean as a fashionable component of public sector reform and challenges the received wisdom that it unambiguously delivers ‘efficiencies’. Quantitative and qualitative research in HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) centred on employees' experiences has indicated the extent to which work has been reorganized along lean principles. However, employees perceive that changes in organizational processes and working practices have unintentionally generated inefficiencies which have impacted on the quality of public service. These suggested outcomes raise wider concerns as lean working is adopted in other public sector organizations.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors evaluate the rapid escalation of American household debt in relation to the changing dynamics of liberal welfare capitalism, starting with the outcome of rising household debt levels during the credit and asset bubble of 2001-7, arguing that the failure of asset-based welfare and the inability of households to move beyond their historical dependence on earned income made indebtedness essential to household social participation and protection.
Abstract: This article evaluates the rapid escalation of American household debt in relation to the changing dynamics of liberal welfare capitalism. Starting with the outcome of rising household debt levels during the credit and asset bubble of 2001–7 it argues that the failure of asset-based welfare and the inability of households to move beyond their historical dependence on earned income made indebtedness essential to household social participation and protection. It examines the unique relationship of young adults (households headed by persons under age 35) and senior citizens (households headed by persons over age 65) to the liberal welfare regime, in particular the ways in which these relationships were shaped by the 2001–7 credit and asset bubble. By using a framework in which debt is analyzed as a claim against income, alongside other costs of social participation and daily living, we see the impact of the credit and asset boom on both young adults and senior citizens: growing indebtedness and financial insecurity.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors identify three commonly used explanations that are then tested in a study of recruitment of agency heads in Sweden between 1960 and 2010 and conclude that none of the previously used explanations holds.
Abstract: Previous research has described, theoretically and empirically, the negative consequences of a politicized civil service, recruited on political instead of professional merits. However, we know very little about what explains politicization, especially outside the context of the USA. This study reviews literature in the field and identifies three commonly used explanations that are then tested in a study of recruitment of agency heads in Sweden between 1960 and 2010. For this purpose, we collected new data that includes information about 1,812 agency heads' political and/or professional backgrounds and 1,608 appointments to agency head positions. Our study demonstrates that none of the previously used explanations – ideological bias of the government, the number of years that the government has been in power, and the parliamentarian support for the government – holds. Our general conclusion is therefore negative and emphasizes the need for more systematic research on this question.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyzed the auditees' perceptions of the audit and found that performance audit was seen as useful by a majority of the audites, if auditee agreed to audit criteria and assessments, were allowed to influence the process, had favorable opinions of the reports, and believed that the State Audit Institution contributed to accountability and improvement.
Abstract: Performance audit is widely used in public administration, but, at present, little empirical evidence exists on its usefulness and contribution to accountability. Based on survey data from 353 civil servants in Norway, this article analyzes the auditees’ perceptions of the audit. Performance audit was seen as useful by a majority of the auditees. If auditees agreed to audit criteria and assessments, were allowed to influence the process, had favourable opinions of the reports, and believed that the State Audit Institution contributed to accountability and improvement, then they regarded it as useful. Reports used for accountability purposes were not perceived as less useful. The auditees’ administrative level, the use of the report to further interests, and attention from politicians, the media, and the Parliament impacted on the accountability dimension. These results indicate that performance audit can influence civil servants, but the influence is contingent on how the audited civil servants perceive the performance audit.
TL;DR: In this article, an analytical model for explaining the effect of EU involvement on agency autonomy was developed. But the model was not applied to the case of federal agencies in Germany, and it was found that EU involvement has a positive effect on national agencies' policy autonomy.
Abstract: The environment of national agencies has changed considerably in recent years as they increasingly become engaged in European Union networks. This article contributes to a growing body of literature on those networks and their effect on executive politics at the national level by asking whether and how the EU involvement of national agencies affects the agencies' autonomy in policy formulation. We develop an analytical model for explaining the effect of EU involvement on agency autonomy. Analyzing data from a comprehensive survey of federal agencies in Germany, we find that EU involvement has a positive effect on national agencies' policy autonomy. Moreover, we find a somewhat stronger effect of agency involvement in sectoral networks on autonomy than in intergovernmental networks, which is attributed to information asymmetries between ministries and agencies. Yet this effect is weaker than initially expected, which can be explained by a considerable degree of overlap between different types of EU involvement.
TL;DR: The authors used a mixed-method approach which employs both fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis and logistic regression to test a number of hypotheses regarding regulatory response patterns in the banking sector and found that financialization is both a sufficient condition and a good predictor of a significant regulatory response, and point to possible causal explanations for this surprising pattern.
Abstract: The variation in national regulatory responses to the recent global financial crisis has been considerable. This article explores this variation using new data on conditions in 30 different OECD countries between 2009 and 2012. Using a mixed-method approach which employs both fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis and logistic regression, we test a number of hypotheses regarding regulatory response patterns in the banking sector. Our findings suggest that while state intervention during the financial crisis was a necessary condition for a significant regulatory response, ‘financialization’, operationalized here as the structural dominance of the financial sector in the economy, plays a more important role. We show that financialization is both a sufficient condition and a good predictor of a significant regulatory response, and point to possible causal explanations for this surprising pattern.
TL;DR: In this article, a process sequencing approach is used to show how Italy's response to an earlier fiscal crisis has shaped the response to the current one in two public sector areas that are especially susceptible to fiscal constraints: the budget process and personnel policies.
Abstract: Using a process sequencing approach, this article shows how Italy's response to an earlier fiscal crisis has shaped the response to the current one in two public sector areas that are especially susceptible to fiscal constraints: the budget process and personnel policies. Substantively, it shows the extent to which Italian policymakers have used the repertoire of solutions of the past and the pressures of the current crisis to freeze the expenditure of the public sector. Previous New Public Management-inspired reforms have been sidelined but not completely extinguished.
TL;DR: The authors compared the domestic press coverage of two educational rankings (the 2006 editions of the OECD’s Progress in Student Achievement (PISA) and the IEA's Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) in four European countries (Germany, Finland, France, and Britain) and found negative press coverage in all four countries.
Abstract: Educational performance rankings elicit extensive press coverage and varied political responses. To investigate how the negativity of press coverage was related to the rankings results and political response, we compared the domestic press coverage of two educational rankings (the 2006 editions of the OECD’s Progress in Student Achievement (PISA) and the IEA’s Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS)) in four European countries (Germany, Finland, France, and Britain). We found negative press coverage in all four countries. Strikingly, Finland had the same percentage of negative articles as Germany, despite much better performance. British politicians received far more personal blame for poor results than their French or German counterparts, but the political response was strongest in Germany and Britain. We discuss our findings in the context of the effects such rankings might be expected to have, and argue that these rankings alone do not provide sufficient levers to improve educational performance.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the management of the irrigation commons in post-war Japan and explore a unique policy alternative termed "state-reinforced self-governance" which allows a financially, technologically, statutorily, and politically strong state to assist strategically, rather than coerce, users to selfgovern and avert the tragedy of the commons.
Abstract: The scholarly works on governance alternatives are peppered with arguments suggesting that, to avert the tragedy of the commons, the state should coerce resource users to manage the commons; take authoritarian ownership of it; privatize it; co-manage it with users, or, since the state may also destroy self-governing institutions of users, stay away so that users can develop self-governing institutions for management. This article examines the management of the irrigation commons in post-war Japan and explores a unique policy alternative termed ‘state-reinforced self-governance’. It allows a financially, technologically, statutorily, and politically strong state to assist strategically, rather than coerce, users to self-govern and avert the tragedy of the commons.
TL;DR: In this article, the challenges of developing and operating risk regulation and crisis management regimes in an era of highly complex and tightly interconnected socio-technical systems are discussed, and an agenda for public administration research in this area is sketched.
Abstract: Triggered by the recent inquiries into the Fukushima nuclear disaster, this article reflects on the challenges of developing and operating risk regulation and crisis management regimes in an era of highly complex and tightly interconnected socio-technical systems. These challenges are not just technical and professional but fundamentally institutional and cultural. The article identifies three key paradoxes and challenges of contemporary risk and crisis management, signals a range of recurrent problems in governments' efforts to cope with these challenges, problematizes current patterns of societal learning from crises, and sketches an agenda for public administration research in this area.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the relationship between climate, micro-level performance, and macro level performance in public organizations and found that four types of organizational climates (participative, innovative, leadership and service) impact employees' performance and public service outcomes.
Abstract: This study examines multiple organizational climates and their relationship with politics and performance in public organizations. We argue that four types of climates (participative, innovative, leadership and service) impact employees’ performance and public service outcomes, and that perceptions of organizational politics mediate these relationships. A theoretical model is suggested and examined empirically in a field study of 2102 teachers from 108 public schools and three major districts in Israel. Standard regressions and hierarchical linear model statistics are used to examine several hypotheses about the relationship between climate, micro-level performance and macro-level performance. The findings, both micro- and macro-level based, indicate that multiple climates in the school environment are positively related to teachers’ satisfaction and organizational citizenship behaviour. Furthermore, perceptions of politics and such micro-level performance indicators are also related to school level achievements.
TL;DR: The idea of a golden age pervades most academic analysis and debate about the welfare state as mentioned in this paper and the absence of academic debate focused on this idea is both pervasive and vague, which may contribute to the lack of precision in its use: taken-forgranted concepts are often sloppily deployed.
Abstract: The idea of a (golden) age pervades most academic analysis and debate about the welfare state. This article interrogates this largely unquestioned epochal image of welfare history which is, in effect, a shared conventional wisdom. That vast and often disputatious scholarly literatures should share a conventional epochal axiom is remarkable. So is the absence of academic debate focused on this idea, which is both pervasive and vague. Perhaps paradoxically, our easy recognition of the (golden) age of the welfare state may contribute to the lack of precision in its use: taken-for-granted concepts are often sloppily deployed.
TL;DR: Wang et al. as discussed by the authors examined the prevalence of various representational dimensions in non-profit and voluntary organizations and found that social organizations are more substantively and symbolically representative than private non-enterprise organizations.
Abstract: To what extent do China's non-profit and voluntary organizations have the capacities to represent effectively the interests of their constituents? In this paper, we examine the prevalence of various representational dimensions in these organizations. Our survey findings provide evidence that, other things being equal, an organization's levels of descriptive and participatory representation have a positive and significant impact on its levels of substantive and symbolic representation. Our findings also show that organizational type matters: social organizations are more substantively and symbolically representative than private non-enterprise organizations, whereas advocacy-oriented organizations are more symbolically representative than those that are not advocacy-oriented. Our case studies further illustrate how the typical advocacy-oriented organization differs from the service-oriented organization in the development of its ‘representational mix’, how an organization's ‘representational mix’ evolves over time, and how the relationship between the organization and its supervisory agency affects its various representational dimensions.
TL;DR: In this paper, a case study of the European response to the 2010 volcanic ash cloud crisis, focusing on the nature of the policy subsystem, the role of scientific information, competing crisis narratives, exploitation of resources and venues, and policy change is presented.
Abstract: Disruptive crises are generally conducive to policy conflict between multiple stakeholders. Following the potentially adversarial nature of crisis resolution, there is a need for theoretical approaches to advance the understanding of the political context in which such disputes evolve. This article explains how the advocacy coalition framework (ACF) can be applied as a theoretical basis for understanding the development and effects of policy conflicts in crisis resolution. Illustrating the ACF as a tool for descriptive policy analysis in this context, the article conducts a case study of the European response to the 2010 volcanic ash cloud crisis, focusing on the nature of the policy subsystem, the role of scientific information, competing crisis narratives, exploitation of resources and venues, and policy change. The concluding section identifies a set of theoretical implications and specifies how the framework can be used by practitioners to mitigate the effects of policy conflicts on crisis resolution.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors conceptualize European socialization as a mutually reinforcing process shaped by the interaction of officials with the institutions of which they are members, and argue that a focus on career arrangements provides a good starting point as these arrangements shape individuals' interaction with the organization.
Abstract: The trend towards flexible career arrangements has not left EU institutions untouched, as is manifest in the growing reliance on temporary and part-time officials. How does the increasing career hybridity within and across EU institutions affect European socialization, i.e. the extent to which officials embody the spirit of ‘working for Europe’ and adopt supranational norms? We conceptualize European socialization as a mutually reinforcing process shaped by the interaction of officials with the institutions of which they are members. We argue that a focus on career arrangements provides a good starting point as these arrangements shape individuals' interaction with the organization. Consequently, they generate diverging socialization processes which lead to different socialization products. Our empirical insights are based on a study of different types of career arrangements within the European Commission bureaucracy and specialized and independent EU agencies through structured and semi-structured interviews and surveys with officials.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present an open functional approach to reform to answer these questions and illustrate it empirically by discussing the drastic reform of the Dutch disability scheme in the early 1990s.
Abstract: Why are some governments able to push through radical welfare state reforms while others, operating in similar circumstances, are not? Why are some ideas more acceptable than others? We present an open functional approach to reform to answer these questions and illustrate it empirically by discussing the drastic reform of the Dutch disability scheme in the early 1990s. Ideas translate a functional pressure that existentially threatens a social insurance system into a drastic welfare state reform, such as a severe tightening of eligibility criteria. Functional requirements constrain the range of ideas that political actors can consider for welfare state reform, although they do not determine which ideas are adopted. But once adopted, ideas influence the reforms pursued. A government's choice of ideas and the political strategies to implement them determine the success or failure of the reform. Blame avoidance strategies mediate vitally between the functional pressure, the idea and the reform. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors reveal the contradictory influences that generated ambiguous, volatile, and variable commissioning practices in social care commissioning for older adults in a 2008/09 case survey of 14 English local authorities (LAs).
Abstract: Building on international insights into the complexity of public services' procurement and its outcomes, this paper reveals the contradictory influences that generated ambiguous, volatile, and variable commissioning practices in social care commissioning for older adults in a 2008/09 case survey of 14 English local authorities (LAs). Their commissioning practices ranged from cost minimizing to partnership-focused, with the more cost-focused practices associated with lower user satisfaction scores. Nevertheless, survey data show that LA measures such as more generous fees resulted in limited responses by the independent sector providers in improving employment practices. Overriding budget constraints, volatile national and local policy priorities, low trust relations, and an unwillingness among national providers to raise employment standards locally all limited the influence of local commissioning on actual practice. These findings point to the need for a stronger national framework for social care and for attention to be paid to how to improve providers' practices.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the role that personal experience with participatory mechanisms plays in the explanation of the perceived efficacy of these instruments, showing that citizens who have direct experience with these processes have a more negative evaluation of their performance.
Abstract: The article examines the role that personal experience with participatory mechanisms plays in the explanation of the perceived efficacy of these instruments. The first part demonstrates that , contrary to most expectations, citizens who have direct experience with these processes have a more negative evaluation of their performance. Where does this frustration effect come from? The second part analyzes three potential explanations of why this pattern emerges: (1) overly high prior expectations; (2) the existence of an underdeveloped institutional participatory context; and (3) the design of participatory mechanisms. We use a public opinion survey representative of the Spanish adult population living in medium sized cities to test these hypotheses. Results show that participants' overly high expectations are not crucial. On the other hand, people who live in more participatory cities and those who participate in individually based mechanisms do not feel the same disappointment with participatory experiences.
TL;DR: The impact of the Great Financial Crisis (GFC) on public services provision and delivery has been explored in this paper, where the authors discuss the political and media framing and counter-framing of what the GFC means for reforming public service bargains.
Abstract: This symposium of Public Administration explores the impact of the ?Great Financial Crisis? (GFC) on public services provision and delivery. This introductory article discusses the political and media ?framing? and ?counter-framing? of what the GFC means for reforming public service bargains. The dominant frame is that service reform and cutbacks to provision are inevitable and unavoidable. This is contrasted with the counter-frame that the GFC is being used as ?cover? for ?ideologically-driven? reforms that policymakers would have wanted to introduce even if the crash had not occurred. Reform processes, however, are highly context-specific and frames and counter-frames are rhetorical and subjective. They emanate from deep-seated yet fragile assumptions about the economic, social and moral capacities of markets and governments, and are therefore best understood as ?mechanisms of hope? (Brunsson 2006) rather that distinct and rational policy prescriptions.