Managing governance complexity and knowledge networks in transparency initiatives: the case of police open data

Public organisations are often described as being subject to types of complexity that result from the interorganisational structure of governance networks. Transparency programmes add another level of complexity due to increased information openness. However, neither the nature of this complexity nor the network management approaches needed for transparency programmes has been conceptually developed. To address this gap, this article brings together governance complexity theory and knowledge management theory. An empirical model is tested using the case of police open data with regression analysis and 22 expert interviews. The results show that institutional and environmental complexity such as budget pressures, legal-normative constraints, and task complexity exert a negative influence on police information openness. However, network knowledge management practices including developing mission focus on people and communication and overcoming organisational boundaries through interorganisational collaboration can counteract these problems of complexity.     

Public–private efficiency in the delivery of services of general economic interest: The case of urban transport

This paper studies urban transport, a public service with extensive initiatives towards deregulation and privatisation throughout the European Union and in other developed and developing countries. The relative merits of deregulation, public or private provision and the implications of different policies for the performance of public services have become important issues. A crucial question is what type of operating and regulatory environment is best suited to stimulate efficiency in public service delivery. This paper analyses specifically the effect of privatisation and deregulation on the technical efficiency of bus services in 73 cities, in order to compare performance in cities with bus services provided by public operators, private operators, both types simultaneously or in which the service is deregulated. The behaviour of the different types of operators analysed in this paper shows that competition – total or partial – is effective in controlling costs.     

Using Crowd-Sourced Data to Study Public Services: Lessons from Urban India

As cities throughout the developing world grow, they often expand more quickly than the infrastructure and service delivery networks that provide residents with basic necessities such as water and public safety. Why do some cities deliver more effective infrastructure and services in the face of rapid growth than others? Why do some households and communities secure better services than others? Answering these questions requires studying the large, politicized bureaucracies charged with providing urban services, especially the relationships between frontline workers, agency managers, and citizens in informal settlements. Researchers investigating public service delivery in cities of the Global South, however, have faced acute data scarcity when addressing these themes. The recent emergence of crowd-sourced data offers researchers new means of addressing such questions. In this paper, we draw on our own research on the politics of urban water delivery in India to highlight new types of analysis that are possible using crowd-sourced data and propose solutions to common pitfalls associated with analyzing it. These insights should be of use for researchers working on a broad range of topics in comparative politics where crowd-sourced data could provide leverage, such as protest politics, conflict processes, public opinion, and law and order.     

Multiple principals,multiple problems: Implications for effective governance and a research agenda for joint service delivery

The multiple principal problem refers to multiple collective action problems that organizations face when they must balance (competing) interests of multiple stakeholders under joint service delivery. It negatively affects different types of organization, yet we know little about how organizations (can) mitigate it. We expand a framework based on principal–agent theory, review the literature, and consider implications for effective governance of joint service delivery in the public sector. We observe that joint service delivery can lead to free‐riding and duplication in monitoring, lobbying by principals, and increased autonomy for agents, leading to inefficiency. We build a research agenda and tentatively suggest, based on the literature, that an interface approach, where an elected unitary actor is placed in a middle tier between politics and service delivery, might best mitigate the multiple principal problem, which is currently not dealt with effectively in public management.     

OFFICER-MEMBER RELATIONS IN COUNTY-LEVEL POLICY-MAKING FOR RURAL AREAS: THE CASE OF THE GLQUCESTERSHIRE STRUCTURE PLAN

Studies of rural planning have only recently begun to focus on concepts of policy-making and implementation which have been developed in urban and regional contexts. Although recognizing the need for inter-organizational frameworks, this paper investigates one particular factor in policy-making – officer-member relations – as illustrated in the structure plan-making process of Gloucestershire County Council. Through a partnership between senior officers who were able to orchestrate decision-making, and elite members who provided political support for technical policy justifications, a form of directed policy consensus was reached. The consensus in this particular structure plan was marked by the prominence of a political-bureaucratic goal to provide policy-responses to rural problems. This theme was diluted, however, when the plan moved from the local to the central arena of power.     

Measuring Network Structure

Networks have been a research issue in public administration for many years. Because of the difficulty of measuring networks, they have often been treated as a metaphor, a conceptual scheme, or a management technique (networking). The work on networks in public administration is almost all of the case study and rarely of the comparative case variety. This article presents the results of two studies of networks using social network analysis as a technique for studying structural relationships between organizations. This technique is utilized to show both the research and practical potential of network analysis as an evaluation methodology for organizations that jointly produce a service. In the first study, the network provides mental health services to seriously mentally ill adults. In the second study, the network attempts to prevent young people from abusing drugs and alcohol. The two studies were undertaken for different reasons. The first was an elaborate comparative study of four mental health networks and the relationship between network design and performance. The second was a much simpler consulting effort to help a local prevention partnership create linkages to other community organizations. However, in both of the studies the goal was to measure the structural ties in the network based on various types of relationships that exist in a given field of practice. These linkages are ties that bind the network together and become data that can be used to compare networks on their degree and type of integration. The article makes the argument that links in a network are one way that scholars can compare networks in similar or different policy domains. At the same time, the article argues that analysing linkages in an organization's network is an effective and practical means of determining how well integrated any given organization is in a network.     

Privatising Local Public Services: Between Industrial Legacy and Political Ambition

Since the 1980s, research on the privatisation of local services has analysed the factors affecting government's delivery choices; but this research has not given unanimous results, for reasons connected both to the different methodologies adopted and the dynamic nature of privatisation processes. This article introduces the case of Italian water services reform, drawing attention to the economic and political dynamics that make privatisation an extremely complex choice, in which the preferences of politicians have to be balanced with industrial heritage and the strategies of the utilities. By privileging a historical analysis of the conditions in which such choices take place, it is possible to grasp the changing relations between local governments and utilities and to look at the relative power of firms, citizens and governments in the process of service delivery choice.     

Citizen’s Charter for Improved Public Service Delivery and Accountability: The Experience of Land Administration at the Local Government in Bangladesh

Improved public service delivery and accountability have increasingly turned out to be important issues in public sector management. In Bangladesh, there has been noteworthy progress, including the introduction of citizen’s charter since 2008. This article explores the contribution of citizen’s charter in improving public service delivery and accountability at the local government land administration, adopting a qualitative longitudinal study. Analysis of the findings reveals that most of the service recipients are ignorant about the charter even after 8 years of its introduction. The charters are mainly producer dominated and their grand rhetorics are far away to achieve in reality.     

Breaking up a partnership to build a competitive market in Denmark’s ambulance service: how can studies of contract reversals learn from the sociology of markets?

ABSTRACT

paper analyses a case of contract reversal in the market for ambulance services. The paper suggests that the sociology of markets-literature provides insights into market institutions of importance to relations between government and contractors that will benefit contracting out theory. Building on document analysis and interviews with 19 key stakeholders, it is demonstrated how a regional government in Denmark tried to wrestle the service provision from a long-time private provider and create a competitive market, only to discover that the implementation of the new contract was beset by obstacles largely stemming from informal norms in the market and attempts of the existing provider to hamper market entry for challenger firms. The result was a contract reversal: from private provision to government-provided service delivery. The paper contributes to the contracting out literature by providing a more elaborate understanding of the institutional conditions under which contract reversals can take place.     

The third sector, user involvement and public service reform: a case study in the co-governance of health service provision

The ‘modernization’ of British public services seeks to broaden public sector governance networks, bringing the views of third sector organizations, the public and service users (among others) to the design, management and delivery of welfare. Building on previous analyses of the contradictions generated by these roles, this paper draws on longitudinal qualitative research to enunciate the challenges faced by one third-sector organization in facilitating service user influence in a UK National Health Service (NHS) pilot programme, alongside other roles in tension with this advocacy function. The analysis highlights limits in the extent to which lateral governance networks pluralize stakeholder involvement. The ‘framing’ of governance may mean that traditional concerns outweigh the views of new stakeholders such as the third sector and service users. Rather than prioritizing wider stakeholders' views in the design and delivery of public services, placing third sector organizations at the centre of governance networks may do more to co-opt these organizations in reproducing predominant priorities.     

A Tangled Web: Complexity and Inequality in the English Local Government Finance Settlement

The £29 billion formula grant stands at the heart of the English local government finance system. This transfer of resource from central to local government has, since 2006–07, been distributed using the so-called ‘four block model’. This extraordinarily complex formula-based funding mechanism aims to ensure that all local authorities are able to provide individuals with a broadly comparable level of public service – offering greatest support to local authorities with high service needs and/or low capacity to raise revenue. This paper outlines the structure and workings of the four block model and, drawing attention to key methodological shortcomings, explains why the resulting distribution of the formula grant is both arbitrary and inequitable. In particular it argues that key model parameters – specifically the need and resource equalisation proportions – are set in order to fulfil a particular funding outcome. This flies in the face of the basic tenets of resource allocation methodology in that, being outcome-led, the approach is clearly neither need-based nor impartial. The paper argues that the four block model fails to meet its own goal of fiscal equalisation, is likely to lead to increasing service disparities, and must be replaced as a matter of urgency.     

The role of local government in rural communities: culture-based development strategies

ABSTRACT

This paper discusses local development and various governance strategies that local governments can use to engage actors in rural communities and resources from a broader environment to achieve desired socio-economic outcomes. We ask: How can local governance vary in rural communities? How can governance arrangements lead to contrasting socio-economic outcomes? Our conceptual framework combines a typology of local governance roles with socio-economic outcomes associated with neo-endogenous development theory. We explore culture-based development projects from three rural communities. We find that local governance strategies vary between relatively similar rural communities and that they represent compromises in terms of socio-economic outcomes. Local government in rural communities can act strategically through use of local networks. Local governance here is best understood as an emergent quality of the local context, history, institutions, culture, and, power relations. Therefore, governance strategies in rural contexts should be based on careful reflection on potential roles, trade-offs and desirable outcomes.     

Central Steering And Local Networks: Old-Age Care In Sweden

Recently, some European social scientists have claimed that the old legal-bureau-cratic model of administration has been replaced by a new paradigm in public administration, characterized by a strong emphasis on collaboration in local inter-organizational networks. The proponents of this policy network approach take a clearly voluntaristic view on policy implementation; network actors build consensus in negotiation processes, and the role of central government is restricted to that of goal-setter, facilitator and mediator. Thereby, phenomena like power and steering are overlooked. This paper gives an account of a major Swedish reform in the area of old-age care, whereby the boundaries between regional and local areas of responsibility for care of the elderly were displaced. By using a variety of control methods, central government was able to structure and steer the old-age implementation networks. The consequences of this central steering were different on different administrative levels: for the county councils, the reform has resulted in a specialization for the core areas of primary health care and hospital treatment, whereas the municipalities have had to diversify their areas of activity. Thus, to understand the effects of the reform, implementation networks must be viewed as both hierarchical and horizontal power structures, where national government, from a hierarchically superior position, can affect formally horizontal relations between actors by creating patterns of interdependence. Central government's steering has taken on less direct forms than the traditional ones, but indirect forms of steering can certainly be efficient, especially when several mutually reinforcing control methods are combined.     

Decentralisation,Governance and the Structure of Local Political Institutions: Lessons for Reform?

Many governments are devolving power to elected local councils, hoping to improve service delivery and citizen representation by bringing officials closer to the people. While these decentralisation reforms hold the promise of improved governance, they also present national and sub-national leaders with a complex array of options about how to structure newly empowered local political institutions. This article draws on cross-national experience and the latest research to identify the trade-offs inherent in structuring local political institutions. The study's specific interest is in the impact of strong, locally elected councils on governance and representation. Proceeding from an empirical basis that competitive elections are vital for the legitimacy and efficiency of local political institutions, the analysis first questions the impact of four institutional features – central versus local control, local executive versus local council authority, local council structure, and the role of parties – on service provision and fiscal solvency. The article's second section analyses the impact of decentralisation on political representation, with a particular focus on the role of institutional design in combating the threat of extremist parties. A final section summarises empirical findings and advances some policy-relevant conclusions.     

The Link Between Public Service Motivation and Volunteering: The Case of South Korean Civil Servants

Despite the consensus on volunteering as a behavioral consequence of public service motivation (PSM), research has not yet empirically examined how various PSM constructs relate to an individual’s volunteering, and the underlying mechanism between PSM and volunteering remains a mystery. This study identifies common motivational grounds between PSM and volunteering and examines how the four PSM types—rational, normative, affective, and self-sacrifice—predict public service employees’ volunteering. The findings from the survey of employees in the Korean National Government suggest a connection between public employees’ volunteering and the rational dimension of PSM, i.e., their desire to influence public policy process.     

One-Stop Shopping for Government Services: Strengths and Weaknesses of the Service Tasmania Experience

Government service delivery in Tasmania has undergone a customer-orientated shift, changing the nature of the relationship between the Government and the community. A Tasmanian State Government initiative named Service Tasmania utilizing information technologies and private sector style business administration values offers new possibilities in service delivery through its integrated whole-of-government approach. This initiative facilitates cross-agency customer-centered service delivery within the overall government framework. This article introduces an empirically based qualitative investigation into the implementation of Service Tasmania’s One-Stop-Shops. Particular interest is placed on identifying the strengths and weaknesses of implementing the Service Tasmania service delivery model. Data were analyzed by using a grounded theory approach comprising open, axial, and selective coding. Findings indicate that whilst some weaknesses in the approach have been uncovered the numerous strengths outweigh them. Some practical implications are identified for policy-makers and practitioners engaged in service delivery reform projects.     

‘Hardware,Software or Network Connection?’ Theorizing Crisis in the UK Next Steps Agencies?

This paper explores the literature theorizing institutional crises by examining the policy problems faced by the UK's Child Support Agency and Prison Service Agency in the mid 1990s. In both these cases the 'hardware' (delivery through agencies), and the 'software' (policy saliency) were linked to their difficulties. However, these policy areas can be contrasted with the Benefits Agency, another highly salient policy area where no crisis occurred. This paper argues that it was neither the 'hardware' nor the 'software' but the way in which the bureaucratic networks surrounding these agencies operated that explains why the policy process was difficult. In concluding, the relevance of the network concept to the crisis literature is examined, illuminating the role that networks play in promoting or preventing institutional crisis as well as the research questions that arise if network relations are considered alongside a broader understanding of the dynamics of institutional crisis.     

Chester I. Barnard's reflections on his nine weeks in the United States treasury department

This essay seeks to identify relevant issues regarding the relationship between organizational change strategies aimed at improving the delivery of public services to low income clientale in human service agencies. ^{* *}A human service is defined as a form of assistance given to a client by a public agency; such assistance i s ameliorative in nature and is intended to provide for a social welfare need that cannot otherwise be met. ^*A human service is defined as a form of assistance given to a client by a public agency; such assistance i s ameliorative in nature and is intended to provide for a social welfare need that cannot otherwise be met.$ef: The strategies discussed in this

essay are: organizational development (OD), transorganizational development, reorganization and decentralization. The discussion is mainly theoretical, derived only in part from the literature and from actual experiences. The focus i s on detemining (logically, not empirically) the consequences of applying different types of organization change strategies as means for improving the delivery of human services. A major assumption i s that each of the strategies would incur somewhat different costs and produce different benefits with varying operational constraints.     

A GENDER ANALYSIS OF WOMEN IN PUBLIC–PRIVATE–VOLUNTARY SECTOR ‘PARTNERSHIPS’

The nature of work and traditional notions of the public sector have been changing with increasing collaborative governance and delivery of public services among public, private and voluntary sector organizations. In the UK, governments at national and devolved levels of government have adopted collaborative governance for service delivery through various networks and partnerships. This article explores collaborative governance from a gender perspective, specifically the perceptions of women in public–private–voluntary sector partnerships. While previous research in this area has explored aspects of collaborative governance such as power, trust, accountability, decision‐making, performance, exchange of information and participation, there is very little research on women within these networks. The article therefore provides a gendered analysis, disaggregating survey data to better understand the dynamics, for women, of collaborative governance and partnerships among public, private and voluntary sector organizations.     

E-Governance to Cut Corruption in Public Service Delivery: A Case Study of Fiji

Experience in a number of developed and developing countries has shown that E-Governance initiatives can promote greater transparency with the goal of cutting corruption. This article examines perceptions of public service delivery in Fiji to explore the potential of E-Governance to cut corruption and improve governance. Based on a survey of community perceptions and a review of selected literature it suggests that service-delivery oriented IT initiatives can contribute to an effective, multi-pronged strategy to cut corruption in the Fiji public sector.