SOCIAL CAPITAL,ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT,AND THE QUALITY OF GOVERNMENT: HOW INTERACTION BETWEEN SOCIAL CAPITAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AFFECTS THE QUALITY OF GOVERNMENT

This study investigates the relationship between social capital and governmental quality by considering the relationship between social capital and economic development in a cross‐section of countries. It is shown that countries with both high levels of social capital and economic development exhibit higher quality of government as measured by government effectiveness, rule of law, impartiality, professionalism, and a governmental quality index. It is also shown that countries with both high levels of social capital and low levels of economic development are associated with higher governmental quality as measured by professionalism. These findings question the use of heterogeneous indicators for governmental quality and show that the relationship between social capital and the quality of government depends on the level of economic development. Thus, the importance of the level of economic development in explaining the variation in the quality of government sheds light on the social capital theories of governmental qualities.     

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND THE INTEGRITY OF THE ELECTORAL PROCESS IN BRITISH ELECTIONS

Although Britain has often been held up as being a model of electoral integrity, recent controversies have suggested that this perception may not be wholly justified. This article explores overall standards of electoral administration across Britain, utilizing performance reporting data for returning officers in the 2010 general election to outline a comprehensive measure for the integrity of the administration of the electoral process. Discussion begins by outlining the question of electoral integrity and, most importantly, the issue of electoral administration. The second section considers recent British controversies, while also outlining steps taken to monitor the performance of electoral administrators. The third section introduces the performance standards and the index of electoral integrity developed from these, while the fourth section presents an analysis. The article concludes with discussion of the challenges facing electoral administrators, and highlights the utility of an index of electoral integrity in helping electoral professionals address these challenges.     

THE ROLE OF EXTERNAL INSPECTION IN THE PUBLIC SERVICES: THE CASE OF THE UK TRAINING MARKET

We consider two interpretations of the role of external inspection in the public services in the UK in the context of publicly funded, work‐based training programmes for young people. The first is that inspection provides substantive information to buyers concerning training quality, thereby improving efficiency in the ‘training market'. The second is that it provides procedurally oriented reassurance concerning service quality to government and the public, irrespective of substantive quality. Evidence is drawn from the inspection procedures and reports of the Adult Learning Inspectorate between 2001 and 2005. The inspectors rated training providers on various attributes, some clearly procedural, others potentially substantive. We find that while inspectors took both procedural and substantive dimensions of training into account in judging the quality of a provider's services, they attached considerably more weight to procedural than to substantive attributes. In particular, they undervalued the trainee completion rate, despite its potential association with the substantive quality of training and the priority the government attaches to raising it. These results are interpreted as evidence of limited validity in inspection findings, which do little to resolve information asymmetries in the UK training market.     

CONTINUITY AND CHANGE: THE ROLE OF THE HR FUNCTION IN THE MODERN PUBLIC SECTOR

As the public sector has modernized and sought to become more efficient and cost‐effective, the effective and strategic management of people has received increasing prominence and there have been calls for the Human Resource (HR) function to play a more strategic role. However, not much is known about whether the role of the HR function has changed substantively. In this paper, we present empirical evidence from six matched‐pair public sector organizations in the UK to assess whether HR functional roles have changed, as envisaged, into a model more akin to the private sector. The findings highlight the complex and often contradictory nature of HR functional roles, and suggest that new and more strategic roles have not replaced traditional approaches but, rather, have been grafted on, giving rise to a variety of hybrid HR forms.     

LIBERALIZATION AND THE PUBLIC SECTOR: THE PRE-EMINENT ROLE OF GOVERNMENTS IN THE 'SALE' OF HIGHER EDUCATION ABROAD

Much recent scholarship concerning liberalization has emphasized the role of regulatees, rather than governments, in promoting liberalization. This article examines such scholarship in the light of an important development in the British and French public sectors—the creation of new agencies (the Education Counselling Service and EduFrance) to 'sell' British and French higher education to potential international students. The new agencies attempted to induce two things: competition amongst higher education institutions for the recruitment of international students from developed and emerging economy countries, and the commodification of these students. This article shows that, contrary to existing theories of liberalization, governments were pre-eminent in pushing forward this liberalization, while higher education institutions attempted to hold it back.     

PUBLIC BUDGETING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: EVOLUTION AND PRACTICE OF AN IDEA

One of the major dimensions of public budgeting relates to the generation of growth, employment, and more favorable income redistribution in the economy. This dimension had come to acquire a good deal of importance during the last seventy years. The use of public budgeting for purposes of promoting economic growth, employment, income distribution, has so far been considered as a part of development economics in general, and more specifically, as a part of economic planning. Indeed, such use has been so extensive that it is difficult to consider budgeting for economic development without a consideration of organized economic planning and associated formulation of medium term and annual plans. Planning itself has gone through several vicissitudes during these decades. As an extension, budgeting too has gone through several phases. By 1985, nearly 300 plans were formulated by developing countries. During the same period, the approaches in industrial countries of the west incorporated some elements of organized planning into their budgetary systems. By early 1990s, however, there was a noticeable sense of fatigue with planning. The state which was seen thus far as a solution to market failure, came to be viewed as a major problem in itself, standing between the legitimate aspirations of the community and their realization. Countries, particularly those belonging to the Soviet block, moved away from planning for economic development and came to adopt market friendly policies. In the process, several countries have abandoned formulation of economic development plans. In these countries, there has been a revival, and, therefore, strengthening of public budget as the one and only instrument of economic development conceived, sponsored, funded, and to a significant extent, implemented by the government. Plans, which at one stage had generated the illusion of permanence, proved after all, to be as transient as many other things in the world.     

PRESCRIPTIONS FOR REGIONAL ECONOMIC DILEMMAS: UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF THINK TANKS IN THE GOVERNANCE OF REGIONAL POLICY

The aim of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of the role of think tanks in the governance of regional policy. The paper critically reviews a series of reports by United Kingdom (UK) based think tanks, published between 2002 and 2008, a period of interest on the part of national government in the most appropriate configuration of subnational governance. Policy transfer and the role of ideas in regional policy provide the framework for analysis. The interpretation of the findings suggests that the think tanks considered are largely products of national policy debate and party politics in the United Kingdom, despite efforts to devolve power. This is surprising given debates about the influence of European Union regional funding on UK regional policy, seen as a prime example of multi‐level governance.     

TOWARDS A EUROPEAN NERVOUS SYSTEM: THE ROLE OF THE ECONOMIC UNION

This article introduces the European Nervous System, a system of interoperable, networked, trans-European telematics applications linking public administrations in the Community member states. The reasons for its development are described, and progress to date outlined. The article also touches on its funding and management structures, and seeks to draw out some of the issues involved in the development of the ENS and the lessons to be learnt.     

THE DYNAMICS OF PROFESSIONS AND DEVELOPMENT OF NEW ROLES IN PUBLIC SERVICES ORGANIZATIONS: THE CASE OF MODERN MATRONS IN THE ENGLISH NHS

This study contributes to research examining how professional autonomy and hierarchy impacts upon the implementation of policy designed to improve the quality of public services delivery through the introduction of new managerial roles. It is based on an empirical examination of a new role for nurses – modern matrons – who are expected by policy-makers to drive organizational change aimed at tackling health care acquired infections (HCAI) in the National Health Service (NHS) within England. First, we show that the changing role of nurses associated with their ongoing professionalization limits the influence of modern matrons over their own ranks in tackling HCAI. Second, the influence of modern matrons over doctors is limited. Third, government policy itself appears inconsistent in its support for the role of modern matrons. The attempts of modern matrons to tackle HCAI appear more effective where infection control activity is situated in professional practice and where modern matrons integrate aspirations for improved infection control within mainstream audit mechanisms in a health care organization.     

A PROLEGOMENON TO THE STUDY OF THE ROLE OF RHETORIC IN THE GARBAGE-CAN POLICY PROCESS: THE CASE OF HONG KONG'S POSITIVE NON-INTERVENTIONISM

This article analyzes the Hong Kong government's policy making process from the garbage-can perspective. Despite the official claim that the principle of positive non-interventionism has been consistently adhered to, Hong Kong policy makers have been strategically employing positive non-interventionism as rhetoric in legitimizing what they choose to do or not to do in an ad-hoc manner. As a result, be it under colonial rule or Chinese sovereignty, Hong Kong has been governed like an “organized anarchy.” Indeed, playing with the rhetoric of positive non-interventionism has become the identity of Hong Kong policy makers. This argument is illustrated with a review of Hong Kong's industrial policy making from the pre-war period to the present.     

STRUCTURAL CHANGE AND PUBLIC SERVICE PERFORMANCE: THE IMPACT OF THE REORGANIZATION PROCESS IN ENGLISH LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Organization theory suggests that structural change has disruptive effects on managerial behaviour and organizational outcomes, and that these effects are likely to emerge in the period between the announcement and the commencement of the new structure. We evaluate the validity of this argument by analysing the performance of English county councils in the transition period before the voluntary restructuring of a sub‐set of these organizations. Disruptive effects are tested while controlling for a range of other variables, including the relative prosperity of the local population and the diversity of their service needs. The empirical results indicate that the performance of local authorities facing reorganization deteriorated prior to the onset of the new structures, and support the view that structural change has disruptive effects on organizational outcomes.     

EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES POLICIES AND RACIAL INEQUALITY: THE ROLE OF PUBLIC POLICY

This article examines the seeming contradiction between the publicly stated objective of successive governments to promote greater equality of opportunity for racial minorities and the limited impact of successive policies and programmes on processes of racial discrimination and exclusion in British society. The article begins by outlining the different conceptual approaches used to analyse the development of public policies on racial inequality. It then analyses the main aspects of national policy change in this area over the past two decades, and more recent initiatives which have sought to use local government as a vehicle for promoting racial equality. This analysis offers a critical review of the achievements and limitations of both past and present policies. The concluding section takes up the question of the prospects of change in the future.     

STRATEGY,STRUCTURE AND PROCESS IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR: A TEST OF THE MILES AND SNOW MODEL

We present a comprehensive empirical application of the Miles and Snow (1978) model of organizational strategy, structure and process to the public sector. We refine the model by distinguishing between strategy formulation and implementation, and applying it to 90 public service organizations. Although the empirical evidence shows that organizational strategies fit the Miles and Snow categories of prospector, defender and reactor, the relationship between these strategies and organizational structures (for example, centralization) and processes (for example, planning) is less consistent with their model. Conclusions are drawn for public management theory and practice.     

THE VALUE OF CHOICE IN PUBLIC POLICY

Conceptualizing and measuring choice is problematic both in theory and in practice. Measuring by counting the alternatives seems counter-intuitive as a smaller set of better or more diverse alternatives seems to provide more choice than one that is simply larger. However, concentrating upon better alternatives leads to choice being defined by welfare or utility which is also counter-intuitive. The implications of this paradox are considered in relation to examples drawn from the choice agenda in British social policy. Empirical difficulties in measuring the welfare gains through implementing greater choice at a time of other central-led policy initiatives such as targets are discussed, and the extant evidence discussed. Criteria for judging whether or not choice has been welfare-enhancing are suggested. It is argued that 'soft choice' where service providers provide information and explain different options is preferable to 'hard' choice of simplistic targets to increase choice by ticking target boxes.     

CHANGE IN THE MANAGEMENT OF PUBLIC SERVICES

This article identifies the main themes in recent changes in public sector management and shows the extent of the challenge to past organizational assumptions. While recognizing the objectives of the changes could bring benefits if realized, it argues that there are a series of issues that are unresolved. The language of consumerism, the development of government by contracts, the form of performance management and the use of quasi-markets are seen as creating problems. These are seen as deriving from an attempt to apply approaches drawn from the private sector to the public domain. It is argued that they need to be balanced by approaches that recognize the values of the public sector.     

PUBLIC VALUE AND POLITICAL ASTUTENESS IN THE WORK OF PUBLIC MANAGERS: THE ART OF THE POSSIBLE

The public value framework, with its call for more entrepreneurial activities by public managers, has attracted concern and criticism about its implicit breaching of the politics/administration dichotomy. This article explores the role of political astuteness not only in discerning and creating public value, but also in enabling public managers to be sensitive to the dichotomy. We employ a conceptual framework to identify the skills of political astuteness, and then articulate these in relation to identifying and generating public value. Drawing on a survey of 1,012 public managers in Australia, New Zealand, and the UK, and in‐depth interviews with 42 of them, we examine the perceptions and capabilities of public managers in producing value for the public while traversing the line (or zone) between politics and administration. We conclude that political astuteness is essential to both creating value and maintaining allegiance to democratic principles.     

POLICY ISSUES IN MANAGING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

This symposium examines several public policy and management issues that are important to economic development. The symposium introduction paper consists of two major sections. The introduction section provides a brief review of the literature related to economic development management. The second section summarizes the major issues and findings emphasized in each symposium paper.