Abstract This paper serves as a renewed call for public management scholars and public leaders in liberal democracies to be the champions of accountability standards that are explicitly and ...implicitly inherent to liberal democratic forms of governance. This call is particularly salient amid increasing populism, polarization, and democratic backsliding. Drawing from the historical and contemporary political and legal philosophies of small‐ l liberalism and democracy advanced throughout the ages, we define a set of seven liberal democratic accountability standards focusing on matters of authority, rights, tolerance, truth claims, and professional deference. We then consider how these standards relate to some of public administration and management's ongoing considerations of the politics‐administration dichotomy, citizen engagement, and network governance, and make the case for more explicit focus on liberal democratic accountability standards in public management scholarship.
Abstract The hybridization of digital commons and public administration institutions led by bureaucratic entrepreneurs is a relatively recent phenomenon that has received limited attention in the ...literature. The term coined to describe this evolution is the “commonization” of digital public goods and services. I define commonization as the integration of shared property, peer production, and self‐governance into public administration. To explore the democratizing potential of commonization, I conducted a qualitative study comparing two case studies in France and Spain (Barcelona). My approach involves 44 semistructured interviews and online observations analyzed through the analytical framework of institutional work. The findings highlight five factors that enhance, and two that hinder, citizen power in co‐governance arrangements. In conclusion, I identify the theoretical and practical implications of commonizing digital public goods and services, providing valuable insights for practitioners and scholars, particularly in the New Public Governance paradigm.
Abstract Organizations worldwide are concerned about workers using generative pretrained transformers (GPTs), which can generate human‐like text in seconds at work. These organizations are setting ...rules on how and when to use GPTs. This article focuses on street‐level bureaucrats' (SLBs) intentions to use GPTs even if their public organization does not allow its use (tech rule‐breaking). Based on a mixed‐methods exploratory design, using focus groups ( N = 14) and a survey experiment ( N = 279), we demonstrate that SLBs intend to break the rules and use GPTs when their competitors from the private sector have access to artificial intelligence (AI) tools. We discuss these findings in the context of hybrid forms of public management and the Promethean moment of GPTs.
Abstract State and local governments seek to save money through fiscal efficiency. One such mechanism widely studied in the literature is through the choice for financial underwriting of debt. The ...extant literature generally suggests that state and local governments can lower borrowing costs through a competitive method of sale. In a meta‐analysis of 418 effects from 97 studies, we find that competitive sales do enjoy a statistically significant reduction in borrowing costs However, these effects are moderated when using key control variables, the use of more recent data, as well as due to measurement and methodological choices. Consequently, despite a large number of studies in this area, more research specific to small borrowers, new and understudied contexts, or those using sophisticated selection and causal methods is needed to understand whether the practical preference for competitive sales should persist.
Abstract
This article studies in how far participation of stakeholders enhances their active support for place brands, conceptualized in this study as Brand Citizenship Behavior (BCB). Combining ...insights from governance and branding theory this article uses survey data (N = 162) among stakeholders involved in branding processes of two Dutch regions. The analysis shows that more intense participation in the development of the brand is related to more BCB. Beyond participation, perceived value of the brand for stakeholders and degree of place identity (identification with place) also positively relate to brand citizenship behavior. The findings not only confirm the importance of participation in achieving support for public brands, but also provide insight into the role of affective factors (identification) and interest‐based factors (value of the brand for the stakeholder) on BCB.
Abstract Despite a rich literature on nonprofit density, the founding and dissolution of nonprofit organizations remains poorly understood. This study explores the founding and dissolution in ...nonprofit populations including density dependence, resource concentration, government size, and hypothesizes that dissolution creates an entrepreneurial opportunity. The hypotheses are tested using county level data covering the continental US from 2010 to 2016 ( N = 21,756). The results show government size, competition, and resource concentration are important for understanding founding and dissolution, and establishes strong support for a link between the events: a one standard deviation increase in the number of dissolutions in a county predicts an increase of 1.5% (CI: .72–2.31) in the nonprofit founding rate. The study highlights ways for public officials to support nonprofit entrepreneurship and calls for renewed interest in ecological applications in contemporary nonprofit populations.
Abstract Numerous studies associate ethical leadership with ethical behavior in the public sector. By contrast, the effects of unethical leadership in the public sector have largely not been ...explored. Yet, unethical leadership need not beget unethical followership. Instead, we theorize that some bureaucrats may perceive unethical leadership as a moral threat and respond to it with moral compensation and greater ethical behavior. We provide evidence for our theorized effect through a vignette experiment with 19,852 bureaucrats in Chile. Bureaucrats exposed in the vignette to unethical role modeling by their superior or peers react with greater ethical awareness and ethical intent. This effect is concentrated among bureaucrats recruited through merit‐based, public service criteria rather than connections, and thus bureaucrats who more likely feel morally threatened by unethical leadership. This suggests that unethical leadership in the public sector may differ in its consequences from the mere absence of ethical leadership.
Abstract Public encounters are an essential element in citizen–state interactions. Yet, we know very little about the interactional dynamics between clients and street‐level bureaucrats. By analyzing ...data from interviews and participatory observations of public encounters in a social security administration context, we propose a typology of public encounters based on clients' and employees' preparedness that affects the dynamics and outcomes of services. Encounters can either be characterized by “Conflict and Obstruction,” “Advocacy,” “Case Processing,” or “Agreement and Collaboration.” We conceptualize the relation between these types and how both clients and caseworkers transition between them. Additionally, the article's findings suggest that public encounters should not be observed as singular events. Rather, spillover effects between encounters and long‐term multi‐episode interactions with clients prove to be essential in understanding behavior on both sides through mutual learning.
Abstract Crowdsourcing platforms such as MTurk and Prolific have emerged as data sources for researchers in the social sciences. This article delves into the past, present, and future use of ...crowdsourced data in public administration scholarship. Through a review of published articles in top public administration journals (years 2013–2022), we uncover a general growth in the use of crowdsourced data over time. Additionally, we document how researchers have leveraged crowdsourced data to study a diverse range of themes and topics, with particular emphasis on survey experimental approaches and the examination of citizen attitudes and responses. Moreover, drawing on insights from a survey among quantitative public administration researchers, we discuss why the use of crowdsourced data is unlikely to diminish in the foreseeable future—despite ongoing debates regarding data quality and validity. We provide a set of guiding questions for researchers to consider when using crowdsourced data in public administration studies.
Abstract Administrative burden research has contributed to improved understanding of citizens' experiences while accessing state services. However, the significance of the material infrastructure ...within which citizen–administrator interactions take place remains largely absent from this line of research. To help address this research gap, this article uses ethnographic data to discuss the influence of material and virtual artifacts in bureaucratic offices on the administrative burden faced by citizens accessing social services. This significance of artifacts is further unpacked along their material, symbolic, and aesthetic dimensions. Our findings suggest that the instrumentality of certain artifacts (or lack thereof) can disproportionately decrease accessibility and usability of bureaucratic spaces for certain social groups thereby augmenting their administrative burden. Moreover, artifacts symbolizing power, prestige, and administrative easing are reserved for spaces occupied by the social elite while the underprivileged groups are relegated to bureaucratic spaces characterized by a general neglect of aesthetics and symbolism of decay.
