Here are some notable features of bureauphilia from the academic world:
From PS: Political Science and Politics:
Ensuring Accountability and Transparency through Integrated Public Management Systems
by Carmen R. Apaza
Abstract
Government efforts to prevent corruption vary from reformulating laws and regulations to establishing control and oversight mechanisms such as integrated public management systems within central and local governments. However, several technical issues as well as social-political events may critically affect its effectiveness. This article addresses this issue by analyzing the Integrated Management System and Administrative Modernization (SIGMA for its acronym in Spanish) established in Bolivia through a World Bank US$15 million loan. Possible solutions and next steps to improve its effectiveness that can be applied to other countries are suggested.
From International Public Management Journal:
Does Goal Setting Have a Dark Side? The Relationship Between Perfectionism and Maximum Versus Typical Employee Performance
by Coreen Hrabluik, Gary P. Latham & Julie M. McCarthy
Abstract
A possible “dark side” of goal setting, namely perfectionism and its relationship with employee performance, was investigated. A study of police officers (n = 235) revealed that perfectionists’ predisposition to (1) set goals that they perceive to be extremely high, and (2) base evaluations of self-worth on the attainment of those goals were positively related to maximum performance, namely promotional exam scores. The mediating variable was perceived effort. In the second study involving police officers (n = 242), however, perfectionism displayed a complex relationship with typical performance. The two dimensions of perfectionism, perceived high goals and contingent self-worth, were negative predictors of this criterion through their relationship with emotional exhaustion. Nevertheless, the goal difficulty dimension was a positive predictor of typical performance.
Corrupt Governmental Networks
by David Jancsicsa & István Jávorb
Abstract
This study provides an empirically based analysis of corrupt governmental networks. We conducted 45 interviews in Hungary with different organizational actors who were actually participating in corrupt transactions or at least had first-hand experiences of corruption. Given the secret nature of the topic, this article provides a unique insight into the phenomenon. Our findings show that corrupt elite cliques consciously design and coordinate multilevel structures of corrupt networks within and among organizations that involve a large amount of people. We identified the major network elements and their functions in corrupt transactions. The article also provides a typology of corrupt networks. The networks have different structural characteristics based on location of the “cash cows,” points from where the system is fed, and the actors’ positions of power. Our findings are compared with the already existing literature on dark networks, terrorist, and organized crime formations.
From Public Administration Review:
Public Administration Scholarship and the Politics of Coproducing Academic–Practitioner Research
by Kevin Orr and Mike Bennett
Abstract
Developing greater cooperation between researchers and practitioners is a long-standing concern in social science. Academics and practitioners working together to coproduce research offers a number of potential gains for public administration scholarship, but it also raises some dilemmas. The benefits include bringing local knowledge to bear on the field, making better informed policy, and putting research to better use. However, coproduction of research also involves managing ambiguous loyalties, reconciling different interests, and negotiating competing goals. The authors reflect on their experience of coproducing a research project in the United Kingdom and discuss the challenges that coproducers of research confront. They situate the discussion within a consideration of traditions of public administration scholarship and debates about the role of the academy to understand better the politics of their joint practice. Thinking about the politics of coproduction is timely and enables the authors to become more attuned to the benefits and constraints of this mode of research.
Leveraging Technologies in Public Agencies: The Case of the U.S. Census Bureau and the 2010 Census
by Kevin C. Desouza and Akshay Bhagwatwar
Abstract
Emerging technologies are transforming government agencies and the nature of governance and pose new challenges for public managers. Under the leadership of Steven J. Jost, associate director for communications, the U.S. Census Bureau leveraged emerging technologies during the 2010 Census to complete the project under budget while also engaging citizens through the design of viable participatory platforms. The 2010 Census campaign focused on increasing response rates and encouraging citizen participation through innovations in the communication process with citizens and through the infusion of technology. The Census Bureau also effectively managed risks associated with the use of emerging technologies. The authors examine the innovations, the risks, and the effort to manage those risks under Jost’s leadership.
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