Clients’ Help Deservingness, Crowd Situational Stress And Discretionary Decision-making: An Experimental Study Of Regulatory Street-level Bureaucrats In China

Abstract: Embrick and his colleagues (p. 250) also realize this problem exists: ‘‘Yet, our sociological understanding of people and virtual technologies often lag far behind. Part of the reason is because we are just beginning to develop the methodological and theoretical tools needed to engage as researchers in this still new terrain.’’ Despite these organizational issues, the editors did a great job in assembling a colorful mixture of innovative research and very interesting, well-written articles. Highlights are the semiotic analysis of Elizabeth Erkenbrack (pp. 38ff.) in ‘‘Discursive Engagements in World of Warcraft,’’ in which the author explores ‘‘interactive realities, the multiple orientations of players, and the inter-frame effects’’ of the game ‘‘World of Warcraft,’’ as well as the chapter of J. Talmadge Wright (pp. 81ff.) on the production of place and play in virtual spaces, in which he makes the novel argument that the new technology of representation ‘‘amplifies already existing social relationships.’’ In conclusion, Embrick, Wright, and Lukács’s book is a very innovative collection of essays on virtual culture and online games. They succeed in filling the sociological research gap by issuing broader questions on power, exclusion, and inequalities in a digital and mediatized society. The chapters and authors present the state of the art in this research field. The topics are carefully selected, the chapters are well written, and readers especially benefit from the concise introduction and conclusion.

Abstract: Frontline information disclosure refers to the endeavor to make the information of interactions between frontline officials and their clients available to policy stakeholders. This study proposes t...

Abstract: The comprehensive law enforcement of Beijing municipal administration has been developed for more than ten years and played a vital role in Beijing urban management.Some phenomena existing in this area directly hinder the realization of effectiveness of the comprehensive law enforcement of the municipal administration,such as vagueness in the standard of authority definition,lack of material supplies in law enforcement,unreasonable structure of law enforcement personnel,unscientific allocation of power,simplification of ideas and measures of law enforcement and so on.There are several solutions to these problems:firstly,the authority of comprehensive law enforcement of the municipal administration should be scientifically defined;secondly,the material supplies in law enforcement and the construction of law enforcement personnel should be improved;thirdly,a system should be built to coordinate the various functions of the comprehensive law enforcement;finally,both the ideas and measures of law enforcement should be changed to improve the ability of law enforcement.

Abstract: Scholars of public administration are increasingly using experimental research to develop more robust causal inferences and greater methodological capacity. Against this backdrop, we examine the ex...

Abstract: How is the discretion of police officers influenced by clients’ gender and situational visibility under emergency regulations? To answer this question, this study uses the scenario-based-experiment...

Abstract: Organizations * Armies, Prisons, Schools * Organization Matters Operators * Circumstances * Beliefs * Interests * Culture Managers * Constraints * People * Compliance Executives * Turf * Strategies * Innovation Context * Congress * Presidents * Courts * National Differences Change * Problems * Rules * Markets * Bureaucracy and the Public Interest

Abstract: It has been argued that the EU suffers from serious accountability deficits. But how can we establish the existence of accountability deficits? This article tries to get to grips with the appealing but elusive concept of accountability by asking three types of questions. First a conceptual one: what exactly is meant by accountability? In this article the concept of accountability is used in a rather narrow sense: a relationship between an actor and a forum, in which the actor has an obligation to explain and to justify his or her conduct, the forum can pose questions and pass judgement, and the actor may face consequences. The second question is analytical: what types of accountability are involved? A series of dimensions of accountability are discerned that can be used to describe the various accountability relations and arrangements that can be found in the different domains of European governance. The third question is evaluative: how should we assess these accountability arrangements? The article provides three evaluative perspectives: a democratic, a constitutional and a learning perspective. Each of these perspectives may produce different types of accountability deficits.

Abstract: A penetrating look at how government workers make sense of their work, ascribe identity to the people they encounter, and account for their decisions and actions

Abstract: "Disciplining the Poor" lays out the underlying logic of contemporary poverty governance in the United States. The authors argue that poverty governance - how social welfare policy choices get made, how authority gets exercised, and how collective pursuits get organized - has been transformed in the United States by two significant developments. The rise of paternalism has promoted a more directive and supervisory approach to managing the poor. This has intersected with a second development: the rise of neoliberalism as an organizing principle of governance. Neoliberals have redesigned state operations around market principles; to impose market discipline, core state functions - from war to welfare - have been contracted out to private providers. The authors seek to clarify the origins, operations, and consequences of neoliberal paternalism as a mode of poverty governance, tracing its impact from the federal level, to the state and county level, down to the differences in ways frontline case workers take disciplinary actions in individual cases. The book also addresses the complex role race has come to play in contemporary poverty governance.