A Review of: “Social Decision Making: Social Dilemmas,Social Values,and Ethical Judgments Edited by Roderick M. Kramer,Ann E. Tenbrunsel,and Max H. Bazerman”

ABSTRACT

Our ability to interpret, generalize, and build theory across public service motivation (PSM) studies is limited by lack of knowledge regarding the equivalence of different PSM measures that researchers frequently use. While past research has given considerable attention to validating multidimensional measures of PSM, this study investigates the psychometric properties of the global measures that have been used to provide much of the empirical evidence on PSM. Building on the lessons of other research using global and multidimensional measures, we first discuss the strengths and weaknesses of existing global measures of PSM relative to those of the multidimensional measures. After highlighting the potential merit of global scales, we then provide empirical justification for global scales. Using five different data sets to compare commonly used global measures of PSM, our findings suggest that these different measures are not only highly correlated with each other but also display a similar pattern and strength of relationships with important correlates of PSM. These findings suggest that these measures do tap into the same conceptual space and help validate our continued reliance on empirical studies that have used different measures to build our understanding of PSM.     

Of miracles and models: The rise and decline of the developmental state in South Korea

This article argues that the South Korean economic 'miracle' was based on the ability of the state to implement a strongly developmental policy. The state was able to do so because, for a time, it was highly insulated from demands from social classes which might have diverted it from the objective of industrialisation. This insulation, or 'relative state autonomy', derived from an historical trajectory which left the state in an unusually dominant position in relation to these classes. Domestic dominance was one factor enabling the state to insert the South Korean economy into world markets in a more advantageous position than would otherwise have been possible. However, its very success in industrialising the country strengthened various class forces, whose demands and intrusion into politics undermined the autonomy of the state. With industrialisation, the state's freedom of manoeuvre was lessened. International influence only reinforced those class pressures inside South Korea. The overall effect was to force a retreat of the state and an end to a developmental policy.