Getting engaged: Public‐service merit and motivation revisited

Abstract: The concepts of merit and motivation are central to recruiting and retaining high‐quality public servants. The meaning of merit has evolved to the more flexible interpretation contained in the 2003 federal Public Service Employment Act (PSEA), and the concept of motivation has become much more central to public management. The PSEA enshrines merit and non‐partisanship as the main values to be protected in public‐service appointments. It also provides a new definition of merit. Employees with a high level of public‐service motivation (PSM) are predisposed to having greater job satisfaction and organizational commitment and, therefore, to performing at a higher level. The challenge is to recruit and retain employees with a high PSM level and to maintain this level while fostering high performance by other employees. This challenge is being pursued in part by fostering employee engagement in the sense of job/organization satisfaction and organizational commitment. Among the major drivers of employee engagement is fair staffing practices, including merit‐based hiring. The successful pursuit of a high level of employee engagement can improve public‐sector management in general and human resource management in particular.     

Building the Base: Al Qaeda's Focoist Strategy

Al Qaeda has developed a coherent strategy for insurgent violence that has much in common with the focoism advocated by Che Guevara in the 1960s. In their strategic writing, explored here, key Islamist strategists stress the role of violence in creating revolution, and describe the export of committed fighters to focoist enclaves at the margins of enemy control. In contrast to some prominent themes in recent scholarship, the article argues that physical space is demonstrably important to the revolutionaries, that their development of leaderless jihad is designed to supplement not replace territorial control, and that their violence is avowedly strategic.     

Transforming Teens: Measuring the Effects of Restorative Justice Principles in a Teen Court Setting

This paper examines the impact of restorative justice principles in a teen court setting. Specifically, our research attempts to quantitatively measure learning of certain restorative justice principles through the teen court process by comparing matched, pre‐ and post‐survey responses to questions involving the adolescent's ability to understand their crime as a violation of relationships within their community, as opposed to merely a violation of law. Qualitative responses regarding the efficacy of the teen court program from both teen participants and their parents are also examined in the context of restorative justice principles. Finally, the efficacy of the teen court model is discussed in terms of recidivism rates compared to teens who do not experience the teen court process.     

Politics,policy and public servants: political neutrality revisited

Abstract. The thesis of this paper is that the traditional model of political neutrality, which defines the relations between public servants and other actors in the political system, is inadequate in its portrayal of the present nature and complexity of these relations. In this essay, the traditional model of political neutrality in a parliamentary system of government is described in terms of six major components. These components are discussed under the headings of politics and administration, political patronage, political activity, public comment, anonymity and ministerial responsibility, and permanency in office. The current status of the doctrine of political neutrality is assessed with particular reference to the Canadian federal public service by examining the extent to which the practices of public servants adhere to or depart from the traditional model. The major conclusion is that the present operations of the Canadian public service are not in accord with the traditional doctrine of political neutrality. Public servants are actively involved in the political process both by necessity in the areas of policy development and execution and by choice in the sphere of political partisanship. Sommaire. Cette communication propose la thèse suivante: le modèle traditionnel de la neutralité politique qui définit les rapports entre les fonctionnaires et les autres acteurs du système politique est insuffisant en ce qu'il ne reflète pas la nature actuelle et la complexité de lews relations. Dans cet exposé, l'auteur décrit le modèle traditionnel de la neutralité politique comme se composant de six elements principaux. Il étudie ces éléments sous les rubriques: politique et administration, patronage politique, activité politique, expression publique d'opinion, anonymat et responsabilité ministérielle, permanence au poste. Il évalue le statut actuel de la doctrine de la neutralité politique, particulièrement du point de vue de la fonction publique fédérale canadienne, en examinant dans quelle mesure les pratiques des fonctionnaires respectent ou non le modèle traditionnel. Sa conclusion principale, c'est que les operations actuelles de la fonction publique canadienne ne se conforment pas à la doctrine traditionnelle de la neutralité politique. Les fonctionnaires participent activement au processus politique à la fois par nécessité, dans les domaines d'élaboration et d'exécution des politiques et par choix, quant à leurs options politiques personnelles.     

The Marble Cake: Introducing Federalism to the Government Growth Equation

A great deal of A great deal of literature has examined thefactors that explain government growth in the United States.Analyses have typically been conducted either nationally orby states, but virtually no systematic attention has been givento the role federalism plays in shaping patterns of growth acrossdifferent orders of government. In this research note, we useGranger causality methods to assess the degree to which governmentgrowth is an interactive process across local, state, and nationalgovernments. Our findings indicate that state governments arean important force in this process; hence, future models ofgovernment growth need to incorporate federalism explicitly.     

Neill S. Brown's mission to Russia, 1850-53

Neill S. Brown, who served as US minister to Russia from 1850 to 1853, had little formal education, no prior experience in diplomacy, and spoke only the English language. His support for a winning candidate for the presidency constituted his sole qualification for a diplomatic post. The question addressed in this article is how such an individual could author reports on Russian governance and society that qualify as minor classics in the literature of Russian-American relations. Although the focus is on the 1850s, the analysis reaches across space and time to draw comparisons and contrasts between Brown and George Kennan, America's premier twentieth century interpreter of Russia. Despite significant differences between the two diplomats and between the Russia of Nicholas I and the Soviet Union of Josef Stalin, the suggestive parallels are helpful in understanding the statecraft of Neill Brown.