Networks, Management and Institutions: Public Administration as 'Normal Science'

How does network analysis fit into the development of public administration as an academic discipline? This article tries to bridge theoretical developments in public administration between the middle of the 1970s and the first half of the 1990s. The benchmarks being used are (1) the now classical account by Vincent Ostrom of The Intellectual Crisis in (American) Public Administration - published 25 years ago this year - and (2) Christopher Hood’s reconstruction of core values in (British) new public management. Rather than representing analytical developments as an endless succession of different or even mutually exclusive approaches, this contribution tries to reconcile different foci for analysing public administration. Administrative theory provides us with a rather stable meta-theoretical framework for studying the meaning of quality in government, governance and public administration at various levels of analysis. By relating the emergence of network analysis in PA to parallel developments such as the resurgence of (neo-)managerial and (neo-)institutional analysis, it also becomes clear that network analysis is useful as an analytical device, but that it needs to be linked to theoretical perspectives that provide us with operational assumptions about ‘networks’. Network analysis in itself only provides split ground for reinventing government and refounding public administration.     

Public Administration in Norway: a rejoinder

Public administration studies have had a prominent role in Norwegian political science. Here, I argue for a revitalization of its role based on what gave it prominence – the merger of the rather opposite traditions of organization theory and democratic theory. A new merger between the two, i.e. by bringing discussions of democracy back in, is necessary to understand and discuss principally prominent changes in Norwegian politics and administration where the role of democratic decision making has been reduced. Also, a merger will contribute to the development of new theoretical insights in the current debate over 'governance'. As it is a goal for public administration to study the whole pattern of the political system it is further argued for a revitalization of the study of the role of interests outside the state, and for a fusion of the separte tables of studies of different levels in politics and administration.     

Public Administration in Libya: Continuity and Change

ABSTRACT

Libyan public administration has been shaped by Libya’s history, ideology, and economy. It has been negatively affected by the political changes occurring since independence in 1951, particularly Gaddaf’s distinctive initiatives, and by upheavals in the post-Gaddafi transition. Libya’s rentier economy has had its impact on public administration, particularly through its promotion of widespread public corruption. This article analyzes the history of Libya’s politico-administration system before describing the current administrative arrangement, identifying the essential factors that have given rise to those arrangements, and analyzing the contemporary characteristics of public administration that constitute the key future challenges Libya faces.     

Citizen Participation in Public Administration: Views from Lebanon

This article examines citizen participation in Lebanon. Specifically, we apply the International Association for Public Participation Spectrum of Public Participation (2007) and use survey, interview, and archival data to understand how and why Lebanese government agencies use citizen participation. In addition to reviewing survey data, we present short cases about citizen participation in the three Lebanese agencies. Our findings indicate that the majority of public agencies in Lebanon use basic forms of citizen participation that span the inform-consult categories on the IAP2 spectrum. The article concludes with a discussion about the challenges of and prospects for citizen participation in the Lebanese public sector.     

Public Administration Reform in Jordan: Concepts and Practices

ABSTRACT

This study reviews the transition of Jordan from a British colony to a modern independent state. It covers contextual attributes influencing the development of the administrative system such as centralization, demographic explosion, low economic growth, excessive reliance on patronage in recruitment for public positions, and corruption. These and other factors hinder administrative reform efforts. As case analysis illustrates, administrative decision making is non-institutional, regularly undermines the merit system, indifferent to accountability, and manifests a low commitment to professional ethics. The study emphasizes that administrative reform in Jordan needs to reconcile these obstacles and to advance skilled and ethical organizational leaders.     

Understanding Migration: The Case for Public Administration

ABSTRACT

Migration has emerged as a key issue for governments in the 21^st century. While multiple disciplines address migration, the study of public administration has been slow to do so. Given the complexities of migration policy implementation, and the multiple levels of government involved, public administration can add significantly to the current understandings of the phenomenon. This article examines what is known on migration, what still needs to be understood, and how public administration can assist in understanding migration.     

Accountability in Public Management Networks: An Analysis of Cost Monitoring in Chicago Municipal Networks

Public management networks (PMNs) continue to proliferate as governance becomes more complex, and so does the need to hold them accountable. Agency and collaboration theories provide a solid foundation, but additional constructs are necessary to adapt to this dynamic era. Building from Bovens et al. (2008), the authors offer an ecological framework of third-party accountability that incorporates a number of prominent accountability theories under the same construct. Employing a mixed-methods research design that examines eight local PMNs in the Chicago region, the study finds that an exemplar accountability mechanism—additional cost monitoring—occurs more often in situations predicted by the framework. Additionally, qualitative interviews of network participants suggest that cost structures can differ by network type, which is verified quantitatively.     

Emerging Challenges to the Public Capacity in the Era of Evolving Public Administration: Toward Collaborative Public Management

New paradigms of public administration have been introduced in government in order to cure administrative ills around the world. Various trajectories of public sector reforms have been actively introduced in many countries and the benefit of shifting to new paradigms of public administration has been well documented. However, the cost or the consequence of public sector reforms remains understudied. Accordingly, the purpose of this article is to deal with the consequences of the paradigm change of public administration and government reform because the author sees that the public capacity has declined or at least not improved in recent years while a wide range of innovations have been carried out by many governments under the New Public Management and governance perspectives. This article first looks at the evolution of public administration and its implication, followed by a discussion on government reform and its unintended consequences, and governance change in South Korea. Then various issues on new challenges such as the lack of the public capacity, and new tasks such as capacity building and calls for curriculum development, will be elaborated, followed by conclusions.