Showing papers in "Public Administration Review in 1986"

Public management information systems: theory and prescription

Abstract: One reflection of the enormous increase in interest in management information systems (MIS) is the rapid growth of research, theory, and prescription. But available knowledge of MIS is not of equal service to all managers. Managers working in the public sector must exercise particular caution as they seek to draw lessons from MIS literature. The vast majority of MIS knowledge, both formal and "know how," has been developed from private-sector data sites for application in private sector contexts. Prescriptions developed for the private-sector or for "generic" management may be valid for the public sector context. The problem is in determining which findings and prescriptions are applicable to public management and which are not. While MIS theory and research has grown by leaps and bounds, little research and virtually no theory has been published on public management information systems (PMIS). The purposes of this paper are to provide an integrating theoretical framework for PMIS which focuses on the differences between public and private sector environments and to use the framework to develop prescriptive propositions for PMIS. Before presenting the PMIS framework, existing frameworks

Contracting out: for what? with whom?

Abstract: This paper develops a two-stage model of the decision to contract out The first stage is the choice of whether to produce publicly provided services internally, externally, or to reduce costs as well as potential cost savings, which depend primarily on the nature of a particular service The second stage in the contracting decision is the choice of sector with which to contract--other governments, private firms, or nonprofit organizations Sector choice is primarily influenced by the nature of the service and the availability of suppliers in the different sectors The model is used to analyze the current contracting patterns of 1,780 cities and counties from across the United States

Research Methodology in the "Public Administration Review," 1975-1984

Abstract: Public administration was in an early stage of development when Luther Gulick' called for a "science of administration." Gulick's exhortation became a source of heated and continuing controversy that centers around positivist versus alternative views of appropriate research methodology.2 This paper examines the last ten years of Public Administration Review (PAR) methodology and suggests directions for its future development. Two general methods are used in this study: historical and statistical. Past and current assessments of research methodology in public administration are reviewed in order to set the context for this analysis. Also, published research in PAR from 1975-1984 is analyzed statistically to provide a baseline for evaluation of the state of research methodology. In the final portion of the paper we generate some recommendations for future directions within the field.

Computing and public organizations

Abstract: This survey of empirical research on computing in government updates a review that appeared ten years earlier in Public Administration Review. It focuses primarily on research related to the management of computing and on differences between public and private sector management of computing because the bulk of the new research and findings are here. The impact of computing on employment, structure, worklife, decision making, organizational politics, and constitutional issues is treated briefly because there is little new research andfew newfindings. The authors conclude that although the use of computers in government at all levels of the federal system has increased greatly over the last decade, research on computing in government has declined precipitously.

The Crisis of Growth Politics: Cleveland, Kucinich, and the Challenge of Urban Populism

Abstract: By demonstrating the political role which investment plays in local politics, this book breaks new ground in the study of community power. Until recently, students of community power ignored growth politics because they saw the economic context of cities as nonpolitical. This study examines the effect of mobile investment on political power and public policy in Cleveland, a dying industrial city with an expanding downtown service sector. Swanstrom shows how a combative young mayor named Dennis Kucinich challenged the conservative logic of growth politics but was unable to put forth a positive agenda to address the inequities of urban development. Also, this book demonstrates how Kucinich's brand of politics resulted in paralyzing conflict with the city council and the myriad interest groups of city politics.Growth politics, very simply, is the effort by local governments to attract mobile wealth into their jurisdictions. Under economic pressure, many older cities have succumbed to the conservative logic of growth politics, a form of trickle-down economics.In order to provide the jobs and tax base necessary for a healthy city, the argument goes, local governments must compete with other cities for capital investment by cutting social expenditures for the poor and providing subsidies for mobile corporate investors. In Cleveland, such practices led to a striking contrast between its booming downtown and declining blue-collar neighborhoods, an uneven distribution of the costs and benefits of growth politics. Elected mayor in 1979, Kucinich refused to sell the municipal light plant, even under pressure from area bankers. This resulted in the city's default, thereby killing an ineffective tax abatement program for downtown.Swanstrom, who served in the administrations of both Kucinich and his more conservative successor, offers a careful study of the background, issues, and events of this highly charged episode of confrontation politics. He sets out to dispel the illusion of growth politics, to expose the politics hidden in economic growth issues, and to explore the unintended effects of reform efforts when collective interests rather than individuals benefit from political influence. Here is a study which demonstrates that growth politics and its hidden evils must be reckoned with and reexamined by those in local power. Todd Swanstrom is Assistant Professor of Political Science in the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs at State University of New York, Albany. He has been active in city planning both in Cleveland and in Albany.

The two different concepts of privatization

Abstract: The usefulness of much of the current discussion about privatization is impaired by a basic confusion about definitions and concepts. In particular, many observers fail to distinguish between the primary policy decision of government to provide a service and the secondary decision to produce a service. Either function or both may be "turned over" to private parties. In the latter case, the efficiency and effectiveness of government may be improved. In the former, the objective of social equity may be put seriously at risk.

The Case for Bureaucracy

Abstract: 1. An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States (New York: Macmillan, 1913). 2. Frederick C. Mosher (ed.), American Public Administration: Past, Present, Future (University, Alabama: University of Alabama Press, 19975), pp. 28-29, 263, 269-70. Bernard C. Borning, The Political and Social Thought of Charles A. Beard (Seattle: Univcrsitv of Washington Press, 1962), pp. 80-88. 3. Luther Gulick, "Beard and Municipal Reform," in Charles A. Beard: An Appraisal, Howard K. Beale (ed.) (Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1954), pp. 47-60. 4. Darrell L. Pugh, The History of the American Societyfor Public Administration: 1939-1979 (Los Angeles: University of Southern Califorinia, 1982), unpublished dissertation, pp. 23-25. 5. Beard's report of 1923 is published as The Administration and Politics of Tokyo: A Survey and Opinions (New York: Macmnillani, 1923). For additional materials on his work in Japan, see Marv Ritter Beard, The Making of Charles A. Beard (New York: Exposition Press, 1955), especially pp. 49-62. 6. Beard's "feminist" position was mentioned by the president of ASPA at her inaugural address in 1985. See Naomi B. Lynn, "Commemoration, Celebration, and Challenge," Public Administration Review, vol. 45 (July-August 1985), p. 456. 7. Charles and William Beard, "The Case for Bureaucracy," Scribner's Magazine, vol. 93 (April 1933), pp. 209-14, with quote at p. 210. The fact that the present author published a book with the same title 50 years later-without having yet discovered the Beard article-again reveals Beard's prophetic capacity! 8. Charles A. Beard, "The Role of Administration in Government," in The Work Unit in Federal Administration (Chicago: Public Administration Service, 1937), pp. 1-3, quote at p. 3. 9. Charles Austin Beard, "Philosophy, Science and Art of Public Administration," published address delivered to Governmental Research Association at Princeton, N.J. on September 8, 1939 (GRA, 1939). 10. Charles A. Beard, "Administration, A Foundation of Governnient," American Political Science Review, vol. 34 (April 1940), pp. 232-35. 11. Charles A. Beard, Public Policy and the General Welfare (New York: Farrar and Rinehart, 1941), Ch. 10: "Administration a Test of Ideal and Power" (quote at p. 148).

Mixed-Scanning Revisited

Abstract: An article on mixed-scanning as a “third” approach to decision-making, published in the Public Administration Review (December, 1967) which was awarded the William Mosher Award, generated a steady stream of discussion, criticisms, and applications but very little empirical research. The approach was developed in contrast to rationalist models of decision-making and to incrementalism. Rationalist approaches were held to be Utopian because actors cannot command the resources and capabilities rationalist decision making requires. Incrementalism was shown to overlook opportunities for significant innovations and to ignore the empirical fact that incremental decisions are often, in effect, made within the context of fundamental decisions. For example, once the U.S. embraced the Truman Doctrine after World War II, and decided to contain the USSR (rather than either allow it to expand or for the U.S. to attempt to free countries within the Soviet Bloc), numerous incremental decisions were made in Greece, Turkey, and Iran. However, these were implemented and guided by the fundamental context-setting decision, and cannot be properly understood without taking into account the basic decision.

On the Growth of Knowledge in Public Administration.

Abstract: The issue of proper research and theory development in public administration has been raised again by Howard E. McCurdy and Robert E. Cleary in their article, "Why Can't We Resolve the Research Issue in Public Administration?" They express concern for the lack of adequate research being done at the dissertation level and cite research findings suggesting that very few of the recent dissertations "meet the criteria that conventionally define careful, systematic study in the social sciences." These criteria include purpose, validity, testability, causality, topical importance, and cutting edge significance. By not meeting these criteria, they feel that current dissertation research is not advancing knowledge in our field.' Following their prescriptions for theory building could lead to the conclusion that case studies, histories, descriptions of administrative experiences, reports of action research projects, political theories, philosophical analyses, and social critiques will not contribute significantly to the growth of knowledge in public administration. This type of research normally does not satisfy the criteria of validity, testability, and causality. Nevertheless, this type of research has contributed significantly to our knowledge of public administration. Although Cleary and McCurdy may recognize the historical importance of descriptions and critiques for generating ideas about public administration, they claim: "A field that promotes descriptions and critiques still needs research. . . . [and] Someone has to publicly expose the descriptions and critiques to the standards of scientific verification before they become 'usable knowledge.' " They allow that "case studies can contribute to the verification of concepts or critiques, provided that they are consciously used to do so, especially in combination with other cases or studies," but they remind us about the validity problems of case studies in general. 2 Cleary and McCurdy advocate a mainstream social science approach: the belief that "the social sciences differ in degree and not in kind from the more well established natural sciences, and that the best way to achieve scientific success is to emulate the logic and methodology of the natural sciences."3 This is evidenced by their adherence to the criteria of validity, testability, and causality; their call for testing of ideas generated by descriptions and critiques; and by their appeal to Kerlinger's Foundations of Behavioral Research to identify the criteria for quality research in the behavioral sciences.4 But serious questions have been raised about

Comparative performance in urban bus transit: assessing privatization strategies

Abstract: The recent surge of interest in privatization reflects citizen and politician desires for reducing costs and improving quality of public services. This study assessed the costs and benefits of privatization in the context of urban bus transit. Five ownership-management structures were compared on a series of performance indicators. The results indicate that privately owned and operated systems produced more output per dollar and generated revenues than other types of systems. Publicly owned systems managed by contractors, however, performed no more efficiently and effectively than publicly owned, publicly managed systems. Despite these findings, large-scale shifts toward private ownership or away from contract management may be unlikely because of other factors influencing choices about ownership and management in the urban transit industry.

Macro-Budgetary Adaptations to Fiscal Stress in Industrialized Democracies

Abstract: A previous article by this author examined the manner in which industrialized democracies have adapted their macro-budgetary practices to fiscal stress.' This article extends the discussion to adjustments in micro budgeting. The findings presented here are drawn from surveys and interviews conducted by the author in a number of member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).2 Budgeting is an adaptive process; it changes as the larger political and economic environment in which it operates changes. In the postwar period, budgeting was a growth-oriented process; in recent times, it has adapted to the less favorable economic circumstances of democratic countries. Adjustments have occurred in both macro and micro budgeting, the former pertaining to decisions on total expenditure, the latter to spending on particular programs and agencies. The postwar era was characterized by sustained growth, widespread improvements in productivity and standards of living, and low rates of inflation and unemployment. Economic expansion begat incremental budgeting which concentrated government policy on the size and distribution of spending increases. Strict budgetary balance was abandoned as an operative norm in most OECD countries, as it was deemed more important to balance the economy than to balance the budget. Nevertheless, deficits usually were modest and manageable. Economic growth was accompanied by political stability. A broad consensus about the role of government in combating unemployment and in ameliorating the financial distress of the jobless, aged, and ill led to steep increases in social expenditure and transfer payments. As governments became more confident of their capacity to sustain economic vigor and promote the public welfare, their budgetary machinery was broadened to include (among other adaptations) multiyear planning and program analysis, the former to prepare for long-term growth, the latter to identify the most effective opportunities for spending the budget increments provided by an expanding economy. Economic and political stability were jarred in the late 1970s and early 1980s by stagflation-soaring inflation, high unemployment, and a slowdown (or halt) in the productivity gains that had previously made it possible for both public spending and private consumption to rise. Economic adversity transformed budgeting from an engine of government expansion into a process of

State Lotteries as Fiscal Savior or Fiscal Fraud: A Look at the Evidence

Abstract: As early as 1966, the lottery was characterized as "a fickle form of finance." ' At that time, only New Hampshire had a state lottery. In 1986, the number of lottery states will reach 22 plus the District of Columbia, including almost 60 percent of the nation's population. This increase in the number of lotteries reflects a popularity rare among public revenue sources. For example, 1984 lottery referenda in California, Missouri, Oregon, and West Virginia all passed by substantial margins; in only 10 of the 274 counties involved did the question receive less than half the votes cast. In the present environment, which is clearly pro-lottery, it is reasonable to examine lotteries as means of government finance. Has something changed to make them productive and acceptable sources of revenue, or does the growth of the state lotteries across the United States represent the expansion of a bad idea?

Dissertations and Publications in Public Administration.

Abstract: on file at the time of logon, which in this case was July 9, 1985. Unfortunately, nine dissertations had to be eliminated from the sample since only their author and title were reported. (These were produced at the University of Chicago and MIT which do not supply abstracts to University Microfilms International.) A few dissertations did not seem to have a public administration focus. They were not excluded following McCurdy's and Cleary's precedent. The data base for my general reading of the abstracts was completed by adding the 142 abstracts from the McCurdy and Cleary study. They were drawns from the McCurdy and Cleary study. They were drawn from the 1981 monthly editions of DAI (Vol. 41 No. 7 thru Vol.

A Representative Bureaucracy? Women and Minority Executives in California Career Service

Abstract: 18. FEIAA Newsletter, 1986, loc. cit. 19. See, for example, John B. Gifford, Robert L. Thorton, and H. Ralph Jones, "A Comparison of the Attitudes of Practitioners and Business Students Toward Social and Economic Systems," Collegiate News and Views, vol. 32 (1978), pp. 1-9; and James W. Evans, "A Comparison of the Socioeconomic and Political Ideology of Business and Government Managers and Students: Implications for Business and Society," paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the Academy of Management (San Diego), August 1981. 20. Posner and Schmidt, op. cit. 21. Mary Lippitt Nichols and Victoria Day, "A Comparison of Moral Reasoning of Groups and Individuals on the 'Defining Issues Test,' " Academy of Management Journal, vol. 24 (1982), pp. 201-208; Barry Z. Posner, "Individual's Moral Judgment and Its Impact on Group Processes," International Journal of Management, vol. 3 (June 1986), pp. 5-11.

Policy Making and Administration in State Agencies: Strategic Management Approaches

Abstract: The concept of strategy has been employed by business policy and management researchers for more than two decades. ' Common usage of the term captures a variety of images, including "adaptation," "learning," "evolution," and "coalignment.I 2 In this extensive literature, strategic management is seen to encompass strategic planning, direction setting for the organization as a whole, and the formulation, implementation, and evaluation of specific organizational strategies.3 Organizational strategies reflect the actual pattern of choices and actions made in guiding the organization through time. Although the strategy literature has largely focused on business organizations, public agencies also engage in strategic management, as reflected in a variety of policy-making and administrative activities. Agencies regularly engage in cycles of planning and goal setting, adopt and implement new policies, develop new programs or change the relative emphasis within a portfolio of programs, reorganize their internal structure, alter their service delivery systems, and seek new sources of funding and external support. Building on evidence of important differences as well as similarities between public and private organizations,4 scholars have begun to develop a literature specifically concerned with the distinctive nature and characteristics of strategy and strategic management in public organizations.5 This paper extends that emerging literature by reporting the results of field studies of strategic management in four Ohio agencies and providing a preliminary classification of public organization strategies.

Doctoral Programs in Public Administration: An Outsider's Perspective

Abstract: administration. The paper is divided into two sections. In the first, confusion over whether public administration refers to practice in the public sector or to the study of the public sector is noted. Since the study of the public sector seems to be the only defensible role for a doctoral program in the field, firsthand knowledge of practice is not sufficient as a method of study at the doctoral level.2 A qualitatively different form of knowledge, with different skills and training, is required for the study of public administration. The second section deals with assumptions about the core problems of the field. The practical problems of day-to-day activity in the public sector do not automatically produce significant questions for meaningful scholarly examination. A distinction between the form and content of human conduct based upon the work of the German sociologist Georg Simmel is presented as a device for identifying the types of problems central to doctoral study in this field.3 The perspective taken in this paper is that of the "outsider." It may seem that someone with neither background in managing public agencies nor an academic degree in public administration (the author's graduate degrees are in sociology) would have nothing useful to say about doctoral education in the field. After all, how can an outsider understand "our" problems? But Merton argues that by this reasoning:

Values and Expectations of Federal Service Executives

Abstract: With books about management and successful chief executives topping best-seller lists, much attention has been focused on the way senior administrators perceive themselves and their organizations. Because their personal values and expectations have such a significant impact on the organizations to which they give leadership, we want to know the answers to questions like: What do these key people stand for? What principles do they believe should guide the management of a successful organization? How do they handle pressures and interests that challenge the values they espouse? Are questions like these important? Tom Peters and his colleagues concluded that these issues are the very things which most concern top executives. Clarifying, communicating, and reinforcing personal value systems constituted the "one all-purpose lesson" from their study of America's excellent companies.' The U.S. Office of Personnel Management reached the same conclusion in a study of public and private sector companies published in 1981.2 Successful public sector organizations had a clear sense of purpose. People within these agencies and departments clearly understood the organization's goals. Considerable agreement was found among employees and managers alike that these goals were important. Intense feelings existed about the significance of these goals and about how best to accomplish them. Other research also shows that when managers feel their personal values are aligned with the organization's values, they feel more productive and committed than when personal and organizational values are unclear or mismatched.3 Interest in knowing more about managerial values is also generated when an organizational scandal hits the headlines. News of a faulty product, toxic waste pollution, bid rigging, cost overruns, conflict of interest, bribery, or some other gross misuse of organizational authority spotlights the personal values of managers and how those values are played out in policies and procedures. Gallup opinion surveys reported in 1983 that 65 percent of the American public have come to believe that the overall level of ethics in American society had declined in the previous decade.4 Little attention has been directed at understanding the managerial values of public administrators. This is unfortunate on both a personal and organizational level. Managers are more effective when they are clear about their core beliefs. Organizations with clear values benefit by increasing their members' focus and attention on key goals and constituents. High levels of teamwork

The Federal Government in the Year 2000: Administrative Legacies of the Reagan Years

Abstract: Historians writing in the future are likely to regard the two terms of the Reagan administration as a watershed period in the development of the American administrative state. This period is likely to be seen as a time when some issues of governance and public administration that had been brewing for quite a while were finally brought to the surface of political debate. At the center of this debate is the issue of the desirability of government intervention in the nation's social and economic affairs. An airing of this issue in the 1980s is particularly compelling because it is obvious to even the most casual observer that the United States is in the midst of a longterm technological, economic, and demographic transformation that is creating problems and opportunities for its people and government at a rapid pace. The technical and economic changes are closely interwoven. The nation is moving from an industrial era where the United States dominated the world economy through durable goods manufacturing and financial dealing toward what some have labeled a "postindustrial," "technoservice," or "knowledgeintensive" society. I In this new era, the world economic system is quickly becoming considerably more complex than before, with the movement of money and the production of goods and services more "internationalized" than in the past. In the process, the economic dominance of the United States has become more problematic than at any time since World War II reflecting a change in America's ability to control international markets and their importance in the economic health of the nation. To further complicate this picture, the demographic shape of the nation itself is changing. At least four dimensions of this demographic shift are cause for concern: (1) the growth in our aged population-the population of people over age 65 is expected to rise from 27 million in 1983 to about 35 million by the year 2000that will generate new demands on private resources and the federal treasury by way of pension, social security, and health care costs; (2) the aging of the "baby boom" generation-those born between 1945-1959-who will also be expected to place heavy demands on government but may also produce pressure for conservative social

Reorganization as Status Drama: Building, Maintaining, and Displacing Dominant Subcultures

Abstract: establishing organizational cultures, and the impact of sagas and myths on structure.3 Consultants have watched their carefully designed interventions founder on unspoken assumptions. They have devised diagnostic culture audits and culture-gap profiles to guide their actions.4 Bureaucrats and executives act as tribal leaders; they tell stories, repeat myths, and stage rites and ceremonials.5

Wisconsin Item-Veto Lessons

Abstract: President Ronald Reagan, in his 1986 State of the Union Message, called upon Congress to give the President authority to item-veto appropriations legislation, imploring: "Give me the authority to veto waste, and I'll take the responsibility, I'll make the cuts, I'll take the heat."' He also made a similar request in his FY 1987 Budget Message. But 1986 was not the first year in which the item veto was high on the President's agenda. Both the 1984 and 1985 State of the Union Messages also contained calls for a presidential item veto. The President's initiative set off a wave of controversy and reaction inside and outside of Congress. Fourteen bills and resolutions conferring item-veto authority on the President were introduced during the Ninetyeighth Congress. In 1985, contentious debate in the Senate over Senator Mark Mattingly's bill to provide the President item-veto authority on a trial-run, twoyear basis evolved into a week-long filibuster led by Senate Appropriations Chair Mark Hatfield. Even with President Reagan's personal contacts with recalcitrant senators, the vote to end debate fell two shy of the required 60. Both President Reagan and Senator Mattingly have vowed to continue their efforts in the Senate.2 Yet, even if the proposal were to make it through the Senate intact, the prospects for passage in the House appear dim, given the Democrats' significant margin of seats. While congressional enactment of a presidential item veto appears unlikely in 1986, that is not to say that the issue is lacking attention. Reviews and commentary have appeared in such nationally distributed periodicals as Fortune, 3 the National Journal, 4 The New Republic,5 Newsweek,6 MacLeans',7 the Wall Street Journal,8 Business Week, 9 and the Reader's Digest. 10 The American Enterprise Institute" and the Heritage Foundation' 2 have both prepared issue discussion papers generally supportive of the presidential item veto, while the House Committee on the Budget has produced an appraisal that is, in balance, critical of the presidential item veto. 'I Moreover, a few articles have begun to appear in scholarly journals analyzing the issues raised,'4 the history of presidential reliance on the general veto, '5 and the constitutional foundation and implications of the debate. 16 The key issues most prominently addressed include: 1. Whether or not a presidential item veto would provide an effective tool to control federal spending and reduce the national deficit, given the high percentage of entitlement and multiyear spending authority comprising the federal budget; 2. Whether or not presidential item-veto authority would restore or undermine the presidential/congres* An item veto for the President has been hailed by supporters as a potentially significant tool of fiscal restraint. Supporters point to its successful use by state governors, yet little is really known about how the item veto is employed at the state level. This study of gubernatorial item-veto use in Wisconsin over a 12-year period suggests that it has been used primarily as a tool of policy choice and partisan advantage rather than of fiscal restraint. Based on the Wisconsin experience, the author suggests that a presidential item veto could well be used largely as a resource to gain partisan leverage in pursuit of the President's policy agenda.

Evaluating the Use of Tax Amnesty by State Governments

Abstract: With states finding it more difficult to raise taxes and with declines in federal funding for many types of programs, states are interested in maximizing the revenues available from current tax sources by improving the design and administration of current systems. Tax amnesty programs are currently enjoying great popularity with state governments which see them as a low cost means of collecting delinquent taxes and improving long run compliance with tax codes. Typically, these programs provide delinquent taxpayers with a one-time opportunity to clear their accounts by paying back taxes and interest without being subject to criminal or civil penalties. Recent interest in tax amnesty programs appears to have been triggered by the favorable experience of Arizona and Massachusetts. Arizona conducted the first of the current round of programs in 1982 in response to a budgetary crisis. The program produced a financial windfall of $6 million. In 1983 Massachusetts conducted what has come to be regarded as one of the most successful of the current amnesty programs. This program, which was part of an extensive effort at revenue reform, produced an initial revenue windfall of approximately $84 million during a three-month amnesty period. Between November 1982 and August 1985, thirteen states conducted major tax amnesty programs. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), which serves as a clearinghouse for amnesty information, six more states will complete amnesties in 198586.' These programs have attracted considerable attention among elected officials and public administrators concerned with fiscal policy, but there has been little systematic assessment of the states' experience with amnesty to date. The most comprehensive report on the amnesty experience of the states is "Tax Amnesty: A Revenue Alternative," which was published by the National Conference of State Legislators as part of their series State Legislative Reports.2 Prepared by NCSL researcher Corina Eckl, this report offers concise and useful summaries of the major features of each state's program, as well as some brief, common sense, suggestions on designing an amnesty program. This study was originally released in May 1984 and was updated in March 1985. It is intended as a description rather than an assessment of what states are doing in the area of amnesty. * This article identifies major issues underlying the use of tax amnesty by state governments and empirically examines experience of states with amnesty programs. The study is based on a survey of state fiscal agencies conducted in the summer and fall of 1985. Considered first are when and under what circumstances amnesties are likely to be effective. Criteria developed in that analysis are then employed as a framework to compare experiences of 13 amnesty states. Factors examined include planning, structure, performance, and politics. Concerns about current uses of tax amnesties are discussed, and suggestions are made for implementing amnesty programs.

Performance Appraisal Practices for Upper Management in City Governments

Abstract: lems and Prospects (Columbia: University of South Carolina, Bureau of Government Research and Service), pp. 260-274. 18. Frank Thompson, "Minority Groups in Public Bureaucracies," Administration and Society, vol. 7 (August 1976), pp. 201-226. 19. David Rosenbloom, "The Declining Salience of Affirmative Action in Federal Personnel Management," Review of Public Personnel Administration, vol. 4 (Summer 1984), pp. 31-40. 20. Meier and Nigro, op. cit. 21. David Garnham, "Foreign Service Elitism and U.S. Foreign Affairs," Public Administration Review, vol. 35 (January/ February 1975), pp. 44-51. 22. Jeff Rinehart and Lee Bernick, "Political Attitudes and Behavior Patterns of Federal Civil Servants," Public Administration Review, vol. 35 (November/December 1975), pp. 603-611. 23. Bob Wynia, "Federal Bureaucrats' Attitudes Toward a Democratic Ideology," Public Administration Review, vol. 34 (March/April 1974), pp. 156-162. 24. H. 0. Waldby and Annie Hartsfield, "The Senior Management Service in the States," Review of Public Personnel Administration, vol. 4 (Spring 1984), pp. 28-39. 25. See, for example, Pat Ingraham and Charles Barrilleaux, "Motivating Government Managers for Retrenchment: Some Possible Lessons from the Senior Executive Service," Public Administration Review, vol. 33 (September/October 1983), pp. 393-402, particularly the bibliography; and "Symposium on Civil Service Reform," Review of Public Personnel Administration, vol. 2 (Spring 1982). 26. John Rehfuss and Debra Furtado, "Bureaucratized Management Reform-The Case of California," State Government, vol. 55 (August 1982), pp. 43-50. 27. United States Merit Systems Protection Board, The 1984 Annual Report on the Senior Executive Service (Washington: Government Printing Office, December 1984), p. 2.

Models of Public Management: Are They Useful to Federal Managers in the 1980s?

Abstract: Definition of proper relationships between the career bureaucracy and political leadership is one of the enduring problems of public administration. Several models which seek to describe these relationships have emerged in literature and debate, but they have seldom been tested empirically. It is clear, however, that serious differences which distinguish various models can be evaluated. Because these conflicting role prescriptions have important implications for both career managers and political executives, such empirical tests are needed. Two recent developments highlighted and altered the nature of career-political relationships in the United States national government. The first was the introduction in 1978 of the Senior Executive Service (SES); the second was the election and re-election of Ronald Reagan. In this analysis, the major models which are present in public administration literature are described and tested, using survey and personal interview data, against current realities of public management in the federal service.

Information systems for public management: design and implementation

Abstract: The issue of design and implementation of information systems in the public sector has received little attention to date. This has resulted in the lack of an appropriate process for the development of information systems for public organizations. Thus, a serious problem exists in the public sector. The development and use of information systems is becoming a high priority in many organizations, but paradigms for systems development have been derived largely for use in private enterprise. These models are often inappropriate for the public sector, for they fail to address the differences between public and private organizations. Application of these existing models to a public organization has the potential to lead to failure of the information system, as well as wasted financial and human resources. The term "information system" is a generic one. It encompasses both management information systems (MIS) and decision support systems (DSS), and is used when refering to both types of systems. Management information systems are transaction-based systems that seek to summarize data for routine managerial decision making. Decision support systems provide highly flexible computer modeling frameworks that allow the decision maker or policy analyst to address unstructured and nonroutine managerial problems. The use of computer-based information systems in public organizations has been an important topic in the public management literature for some time. The major thrust of research in this area has been on how organizations and managers utilize MIS and how the introduction of MIS has affected the structure and dynamics of the organization. ' In contrast, the design and implementation of MIS and DSS are major areas of research for the business community, and a substantial body of literature exists on these topics for private sector organizations. This literature and the associated prescriptive methodologies can form the basis for developing an appropriate process for both the design and implementation of MIS and DSS in the public sector. Though a few articles in this literature discuss the difficulties associated with information systems design in public organizations, only limited attention has been focused on needed differences in the design process for the public sector.2 * The development and use of information systems is becoming a high priority in many public organizations, but methods for this development have been designed largely for use in the private sector. These systems development approaches are often inappropriate for the public sector, for they fail to address the differences between public and private organizations. This article addresses this problem by dealing with the theoretical and practical aspects of developing both management information systems (MIS) and decision support systems (DSS) for public management. It introduces the reader to the concepts and methods of information systems development, provides a review of the relevant literature, describes the primary approach used for information systems design and implementation in the private sector, and identifies the problems associated with its use in public organizations. An information systems development method appropriate for public management, the Iterative Systems Development Cycle, is proposed and applied to a public organization.

Courts and Public Purse Strings: Have Portraits of Budgeting Missed Something?

Abstract: Do judges make budget decisions? At one time the question would have seemed preposterous. No formal constitutional role exists for the courts in the budget process, nor do various portraits of budgeting include a place for the judicial branch. Yet, few would argue that disputes have come before the courts in which resolution has required forms of budgetary action. Consider two easily recognizable illustrations: The federal courts have been particularly active in the area of prison reform-especially the issue of prison overcrowding. Arkansas was the first state to have its corrections system judged to be in violation of the Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment beginning with Holt v. Sarver in 1969. Since then 35 states have experienced similar litigation against their prison systems. Research has indicated that state spending for corrections has been affected by court decisions; capital expenditures have tended to increase in the years immediately following a court judgment, and corrections spending as a percentage of the total state budget has increased after a court order. ' This form of court involvement-usually referred to

Crises in the U.S. Civil Service

Abstract: "I can count the votes.... Withdraw my request for reconfirmation." ' With these words spoken at a hearing of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, Donald J. Devine foreclosed a continuance of his four tumultuous years as President Reagan's director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM). A seldom enacted provision of law for holding presidential appointees accountable was the vehicle that produced this surprising result. How and why it occurred makes a compelling and urgent case for correcting a fundamental flaw in the organization for federal personnel management. As part of the legislation to overhaul the civil service system in 1978, the Carter administration proposed that the head of the federal government's central personnel agency be one individual instead of a bipartisan commission. A director would be appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate and would serve at the pleasure of the president. The Houseapproved bill included this provision, but the version passed by the Senate and ultimately enacted into law expressly limited the director's appointment to four years. The change was made to provide the Senate with a specific opportunity to review the performance of any director whom a president wanted to keep in that position for more than four years. Such a requirement for heads of agencies has been adopted rarely. In only seven positions must the incumbents leave office when their terms expire if they have not been reappointed with the advice and consent of the Senate. Three are heads of entire organizations: the comptroller general, director of the National Science Foundation, and the director of the Office of Personnel Management. The other four are heads of agencies located within executive departments. Dr. Devine's term expired on March 25, 1985. The president nominated him for a second four-year term on March 8, 1985. The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee scheduled hearings for Monday and Tuesday, April 1 and 2, and planned a committee vote on April 3. This scenario assumed a favorable committee recommendation and the possibility that the Senate would act on the nomination before recessing for Easter at the end of that week. The fact that the president's nominee had to relinquish the position of director on March 25 was seen by some as good reason for accelerating the confirmation process. While Dr. Devine's confrontational style and some of his policy initiatives were expected to draw intense criticism, very few seasoned observers of Capitol Hill expected that President Reagan's nominee would fail to win approval from the Republican controlled Senate.

The Evolution of a Policy Orientation for Evaluation Research: A Guide to Practice.

Abstract: Although evaluation research has become an important part of the management structure in many public agencies, its contribution to improved policy making continues to be thwarted by two interrelated problems. First, despite increased attention to problems of utilization, evaluations are still produced which decision makers find are irrelevant for the decisions which they make (see, for example, Cronbach, 1980; Freeman and Solomon, 1981; Patton, 1978). Second, decision makers frequently need certain types of research information which seldom is produced by evaluation studies. Both of these problems stem from a common source: the conceptual framework which guides evaluation has not