Internet/web‐based forms of communication have increasingly been implemented by welfare agencies. However, there have been few studies of the experiences of welfare service users and the consequences ...of new technology for welfare service users. To what extent is the new technology adopted by the Norwegian Welfare and Labour Organization (NAV) used, and how do the users apply and experience the new possibilities? Do screen‐to‐screen encounters replace face‐to‐face encounters, and is this trend affected by age, gender, education or type of benefit? To answer these questions, we combine survey data, short‐term fieldwork in welfare reception areas and qualitative interviews with people receiving health and work‐related benefits. Our study indicates that screen‐to‐screen interaction in general does not replace face‐to‐face encounters, as many face‐to‐face encounters are related to screen communication. However, digital competence combined with life circumstances appears to be the source of a new divide between welfare service users.
Japan's invasion of Manchuria in September of 1931 initiated a new phase of brutal occupation and warfare in Asia and the Pacific. It forwarded the project of remaking the Japanese state along ...technocratic and fascistic lines and creating a self-sufficient Asian bloc centered on Japan and its puppet state of Manchukuo. InPlanning for Empire, Janis Mimura traces the origins and evolution of this new order and the ideas and policies of its chief architects, the reform bureaucrats. The reform bureaucrats pursued a radical, authoritarian vision of modern Japan in which public and private spheres were fused, ownership and control of capital were separated, and society was ruled by technocrats.
Mimura shifts our attention away from reactionary young officers to state planners-reform bureaucrats, total war officers, new zaibatsu leaders, economists, political scientists, engineers, and labor party leaders. She shows how empire building and war mobilization raised the stature and influence of these middle-class professionals by calling forth new government planning agencies, research bureaus, and think tanks to draft Five Year industrial plans, rationalize industry, mobilize the masses, streamline the bureaucracy, and manage big business. Deftly examining the political battles and compromises of Japanese technocrats in their bid for political power and Asian hegemony,Planning for Empireoffers a new perspective on Japanese fascism by revealing its modern roots in the close interaction of technology and right-wing ideology.
From the author's preface: Sublime Porte--there must be few terms more redolent, even today, of the fascination that the Islamic Middle East has long exercised over Western imaginations. Yet there ...must also be few Western minds that now know what this term refers to, or why it has any claim to attention. One present-day Middle East expert admits to having long interpreted the expression as a reference to Istambul's splendid natural harbor. This individual is probably not unique and could perhaps claim to be relatively well informed. When the Sublime Porte still existed, Westerners who spent time in Istanbul knew the term as a designation for the Ottoman government, but few knew why the name was used, or what aspect of the Ottoman government it properly designated. What was the real Sublime Porte? Was it an organization? A building? No more, literally, than a door or gateway? What about it was important enough to cause the name to be remembered?
In one sense, the purpose of this book is to answer these questions. Of course, it will also do much more and will, in the process, move quickly onto a plane quite different from the exoticism just invoked. For to study the bureaucratic complex properly known as the Sublime Porte, and to analyze its evolution and that of the body of men who staffed it, is to explore a problem of tremendous significance for the development of the administrative institutions of the Ottoman Empire, the Islamic lands in general, and in some senses the entire non-Westerrn world.
Background There is increasing recognition that the development of evidence-informed health policy is not only a technical problem of knowledge exchange or translation, but also a political ...challenge. Yet, while political scientists have long considered the nature of political systems, the role of institutional structures, and the political contestation of policy issues as central to understanding policy decisions, these issues remain largely unexplored by scholars of evidence-informed policy making. Methods We conducted a systematic review of empirical studies that examined the influence of key features of political systems and institutional mechanisms on evidence use, and contextual factors that may contribute to the politicisation of health evidence. Eligible studies were identified through searches of seven health and social sciences databases, websites of relevant organisations, the British Library database, and manual searches of academic journals. Relevant findings were extracted using a uniform data extraction tool and synthesised by narrative review. Findings 56 studies were selected for inclusion. Relevant political and institutional aspects affecting the use of health evidence included the level of state centralisation and democratisation, the influence of external donors and organisations, the organisation and function of bureaucracies, and the framing of evidence in relation to social norms and values. However, our understanding of such influences remains piecemeal given the limited number of empirical analyses on this subject, the paucity of comparative works, and the limited consideration of political and institutional theory in these studies. Conclusions This review highlights the need for a more explicit engagement with the political and institutional factors affecting the use of health evidence in decision-making. A more nuanced understanding of evidence use in health policy making requires both additional empirical studies of evidence use, and an engagement with theories and approaches beyond the current remit of public health or knowledge utilisation studies.
Reputation and Public Administration Carpenter, Daniel P.; Krause, George A.
Public administration review,
January/February 2012, Letnik:
72, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
This article examines the application of organizational reputation to public administration. Organizational reputation is defined as a set of beliefs about an organizations capacities, intentions, ...history, and mission that are embedded in a network of multiple audiences. The authors assert that the way in which organizational reputations are formed and subsequently cultivated is fundamental to understanding the role of public administration in a democracy. A review of the basic assumptions and empirical work on organizational reputation in the public sector identifies a series of stylized facts that extends our understanding of the functioning of public agencies. InparticuUr, the authors examine the relationship between organizational reputation and bureaucratic autonomy.
BackgroundIndonesia has the fourth-largest number of new HIV diagnoses per year worldwide, is the only country in the Asia-Pacific region where HIV prevalence is increasing, and the WHO aims of ...90–90–90 has not yet been reached. It is therefore important to investigate barriers and facilitators to antiretroviral (ARV) therapy initiation and adherence. This study set out to delineate these barriers and facilitators from the perspective of health care providers.MethodsBetween March and May 2020, 20 semi-structured interviews were conducted with health care providers in Indonesia. Thematic analyses were subsequently conducted to ascertain categories of barriers and facilitators to initiation and adherence.ResultsMain facilitators to ARV initiation and adherence were social support; good client-provider communication; less bureaucracy or easy access to ARV; and sufficient HIV and ARV knowledge among people with HIV. Additionally, the use of euphemistic terminology for ARV was a facilitator for adherence, but not for initiation; whereas having sufficient self-care motivation, a desire to live or having health goals, and HIV status acceptance were facilitators to initiation but not adherence.Barriers to initiation and adherence included stigma; complicated bureaucracy; insufficient health care facilities, health care coverage or ARV supply; and distance to clinics. Side effects and experiencing regimens as tedious were additional barriers to adherence; and being in denial, being asymptomatic, fatalism, and the influence of anti-ARV social media were additional barriers to initiation.ConclusionBarriers and facilitators to initiation and adherence occur on various socio-ecological levels and should therefore be targeted on structural, interpersonal, and individual levels. Health care providers can play a key role in promoting facilitators and reducing barriers, but must be supported by national and organizational level efforts that increase access to HIV clinics and health care coverage, and decrease bureaucracy and community-level initiatives that correct myths and misinformation.
In Latin America as elsewhere, politicians routinely face a painful
dilemma: whether to use state resources for national purposes,
especially those that foster economic development, or to channel
...resources to people and projects that will help insure political
survival and reelection. While politicians may believe that a
competent state bureaucracy is intrinsic to the national good,
political realities invariably tempt leaders to reward powerful
clients and constituents, undermining long-term competence.
Politician's Dilemma explores the ways in which political
actors deal with these contradictory pressures and asks the
question: when will leaders support reforms that increase state
capacity and that establish a more meritocratic and technically
competent bureaucracy? Barbara Geddes brings rational choice theory
to her study of Brazil between 1930 and 1964 and shows how state
agencies are made more effective when they are protected from
partisan pressures and operate through merit-based recruitment and
promotion strategies. Looking at administrative reform movements in
other Latin American democracies, she traces the incentives offered
politicians to either help or hinder the process. In its balanced
insight, wealth of detail, and analytical rigor, Politician's
Dilemma provides a powerful key to understanding the conflicts
inherent in Latin American politics, and to unlocking possibilities
for real political change.
Editors' Introduction Isett, Kimberley R; Head, Brian W; Van Landingham, Gary
Public administration review,
01/2017, Letnik:
77, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
In this issue’s Evidence in Public Administration feature, we explore perspectives on the use of evidence in addressing complex issues of water policy in times of climate uncertainties.
Most research on administrative burdens focuses on measuring their impact on citizens’ access to services and benefits. This article fills a theoretical gap and provides a framework for understanding ...the organizational origins of administrative burden. Based on an extensive literature review, the explanations are organized according to their level of intentionality (deliberate hidden politics or unintended consequences) and their level of formality (designed into formal procedures or caused by informal organizational practices). The analysis suggests that administrative burdens are often firmly rooted in a political economy of deeply engrained structures and behavioral patterns in public administration.
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