{"title":"Promoting public sector innovation: who does what, when and how?","authors":"Mats Fred, Dalia Mukhtar-Landgren","doi":"10.1177/09520767241271848","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09520767241271848","url":null,"abstract":"A strong and prevailing innovation imperative is sweeping across the public sector and despite a growing literature on public sector innovation (PSI), the actors driving these processes tend to end up in the background of analysis. Based in an analytical framework of narrative theory and organization studies, and the efforts to introduce Social Impact Bonds (SIB) in Sweden as empirical case, the aim of this article is to unpack and analyze the neglected initial stages of PSI. Building on a 4-year qualitative study, the analysis shows that actors promoting PSI narrate the public sector as in need to “open up” for (1) new actors; (2) new services and solutions; and (3) new forms of knowledge. Our findings suggests that the initial stages of PSI are substantially more formative than previously indicated. We show how the innovation at hand function as a discursive node towards which the actors’ storylines gravitate. Despite differences, the actors involved narrate their world similarly constituting discourse coalitions that connects and aligns their interests and objectives. We argue that the early stages of PSI are to be understood as cognitive and narrative struggles, or negotiations. The potentially good news here is that change continuously takes place in processes of PSI, despite narratives of inertia. The potentially bad news is that the same change is difficult to predict, control and govern.","PeriodicalId":47076,"journal":{"name":"Public Policy and Administration","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-08-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142183170","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Contours of a research programme for the study of the relationship of religion and public administration","authors":"Edoardo Ongaro, Michele Tantardini","doi":"10.1177/09520767241272897","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09520767241272897","url":null,"abstract":"This is the introductory article to the special issue ‘Religion as an explanatory factor in public administration: Directions for research’. We make the argument that religion matters for understanding public administration, and that the manifold relationships between religion and public administration deserve more systematic investigation. We present and critically consider the papers of this special issue with the goal of delineating the contours of a proposed research programme for advancing the study of the relationships between religion and public administration. We also notice the risks associated with the study of the influence of religion on public administration, and we argue for an ethics of responsibility in engaging with this important field of scholarly inquiry.","PeriodicalId":47076,"journal":{"name":"Public Policy and Administration","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-08-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142183174","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
J Ignacio Criado, Rodrigo Sandoval-Almazán, J Ramon Gil-Garcia
{"title":"Artificial intelligence and public administration: Understanding actors, governance, and policy from micro, meso, and macro perspectives","authors":"J Ignacio Criado, Rodrigo Sandoval-Almazán, J Ramon Gil-Garcia","doi":"10.1177/09520767241272921","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09520767241272921","url":null,"abstract":"Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become one of the most prominent topics in public policy and administration studies over the last years. Despite the attention to AI in this field isn’t entirely new, the universality of these group of technologies has radically increased the attention of scholars around the globe. This expansion of AI in the public sector entails the exploration of renovated foundations of analysis, not only to understand the novelty of these technologies, but also to connect these processes of adoption and implementation with other debates in public policy and administration. To do so, in this article we debate the need of an analytical framework of AI in the public sector based on the three levels of public administration: macro, meso, and micro. Also, we review the state-of-the-art in the field using the articles presented in the special issue on Artificial Intelligence and Public Administration: Actors, Governance, and Policy. Form here, we propose studying AI using a combination of macro, meso, and micro levels of public administration. We assume this will help to broadly apprehend how and why people, policies, and institutions interrelate with AI in public sector settings, and which effects can be expected from these processes in public administration.","PeriodicalId":47076,"journal":{"name":"Public Policy and Administration","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142183172","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Sustainable urban development: A scoping review of barriers to the public policy and administration","authors":"Diego Galego, Giovanni Esposito, Nathalie Crutzen","doi":"10.1177/09520767241266410","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09520767241266410","url":null,"abstract":"Sustainable urban development (SUD) gained prominence after the launch of the Sustainable Development Goals (2015-2030), countering imbalanced growth that was impacting society, the economy, and the environment. Research on SUD is rapidly expanding among scholars and practitioners, analysing theoretical and empirical aspects. However, SUD encounters multiple barriers in public policies and administration. This study examines academic literature to identify trends in barriers hindering effective policy development based on policy cycles. Through analysis of 90 records, 183 fragments express barriers to SUD, categorized into five types: organisational, interaction-specific, SUD characteristics, contextual and policy-related. The article offers insights to enhance SUD policies and overcome the identifying barriers.","PeriodicalId":47076,"journal":{"name":"Public Policy and Administration","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-08-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141969331","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Appraising the philosophical influences on modern public administration research","authors":"Li Tang, Zhaopeng Li, Hongxu Liu, Yijia Jing","doi":"10.1177/09520767241266774","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09520767241266774","url":null,"abstract":"As an interdisciplinary field, public administration (PA) has evolved by borrowing and integrating knowledge from multiple disciplines, including philosophy. Consequently, the means by which these disciplines’ influence diffuses to PA may significantly influence PA research quality and direction. This study is a first step to quantitatively appraise the effect of philosophy on PA research alongside other disciplines. Using a dataset of 58,333 PA journal articles, their 2,224,146 references, and 563,237 philosophy articles extracted from the Web of Science database, this study explores the evolution of knowledge sources, temporal-geographical distribution, and thematic topics of PA journal articles under direct philosophical influences. Empirical evidence reveals that citing philosophy in PA research continues to grow, despite continuing to make up a lesser share of citations than political science, economics, management and law. Articles published in top PA journals tend to cite the most impactful philosophical journals. There is no significant difference in authorship structures between PA journal articles citing or not citing philosophy articles, but those that do have greater research impacts and demonstrate different topical preferences.","PeriodicalId":47076,"journal":{"name":"Public Policy and Administration","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141779423","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Theoretical-methodological aspects of researching the area of religion and public administration","authors":"Adrian Kay","doi":"10.1177/09520767241265151","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09520767241265151","url":null,"abstract":"This article, commissioned by the editors of Public Policy and Administration, contributes to the theoretical and methodological groundworks for the development of research in religion and public administration. It does so in three ways. The first part contrasts different approaches to defining the concept of religion, those from the vantage of academic observers against those from within religious traditions themselves. Several theoretical and methodological challenges for public administration follow. Part two sets out two theoretical concerns; first, the role of religious belief in intentional explanations of public administration activity; second, the institutionalised position of secularity in the recently freighted concept of a religious regime. Part three identifies a clutch of methodological concerns associated with these theoretical issues. A final section concludes with a summary of the contribution of the article to the nascent research programme in public administration for a post-secular world.","PeriodicalId":47076,"journal":{"name":"Public Policy and Administration","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141779419","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Emine Zehra Akgün, Paolo Gerli, Luca Mora, Clare McTigue
{"title":"Breaking barriers for breaking ground: A categorisation of public sector challenges to smart city project implementation","authors":"Emine Zehra Akgün, Paolo Gerli, Luca Mora, Clare McTigue","doi":"10.1177/09520767241263233","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09520767241263233","url":null,"abstract":"Smart city technologies provide promising solutions for local governments to tackling societal challenges and enhancing public service provision. The global embrace of these digital innovations represents a new era in public sector advancements. However, it has also brought to light difficulties that existing public sector innovation (PSI) theories struggle to address. One key issue is the lack of comprehensive knowledge regarding the most critical barriers to implementing smart city projects and their intensity. We address this knowledge gap with a systematic literature review within the smart city domain, focusing on literature reporting on the barriers that local governments commonly encounter. This effort has culminated in the development of a conceptual framework that categorize smart city project barriers, forming a taxonomy that builds on and expand the most recent development in the PSI literature. This study contributes to PSI theory refinement by offering a more nuanced understanding of the barriers that local governments might experience when attempting to sustain digital innovation efforts. Moreover, this insight into PSI dynamics is a valuable resource for local governments as they seek to devise realistic mitigation strategies tailored to local development needs.","PeriodicalId":47076,"journal":{"name":"Public Policy and Administration","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-07-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141743056","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Religion and representative bureaucracy: Does religion guide administrative discretion?","authors":"Karl O’Connor, U. Shahwan","doi":"10.1177/09520767241254869","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09520767241254869","url":null,"abstract":"In this paper we seek to understand how religion influences discretion in a developing fragile society: Palestine. Drawing on a recent review of the religion and public administration literature and the theory of representative bureaucracy, we ask: Does active representation on behalf of a religious identity exist? And if so, what does it look like? We explore four different possible manifestations, including none at all. In other words, this is a study of how religiosity influences civil servant behaviour in instances of discretion. Using original small-n in-person survey data, we find active representation by a majority of mid-level civil servants on behalf of a religious identity; we find evidence of religious service being underpinned by public service motivation and by pro-social motivation. Others are guided by traditional Weberian bureaucratic values while others are guided by what they perceive to be the religious foundation of the bureaucracy.","PeriodicalId":47076,"journal":{"name":"Public Policy and Administration","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141379820","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"What can we learn from service model analysis? An application in the government export finance sector","authors":"Andreas Klasen, Kuno Schedler","doi":"10.1177/09520767241251913","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09520767241251913","url":null,"abstract":"The service model approach, like business models in the private sector, is gaining increasing attention in public management literature. In line with this evolving discourse, our study analyzes service models in government export promotion. By exploring the use of service models and discussing key developments, we shed light on the diverse application of service models in the context of officially supported export credits – an under-researched field in which a lot of innovation is happening. We observe a limited number of traditional service models with significant relevance. In addition, our findings suggest a rising diversity that signifies innovation and the broadening scope of activities. We also uncover the underlying motivations and practical experiences associated with their implementation and provide valuable insights into the benefits they offer.","PeriodicalId":47076,"journal":{"name":"Public Policy and Administration","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140884789","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Deliberative mini-publics as a Confucian institution","authors":"Zhichao Tong","doi":"10.1177/09520767241247989","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09520767241247989","url":null,"abstract":"This article constructs a positive case for deliberative mini-publics (DMPs) from the perspective of contemporary Confucian political philosophy. Extant empirical and normative studies of DMPs have treated them primarily as a concrete way to instantiate the deliberative conception of legitimacy advocated by Western political philosophers such as John Rawls and Jurgen Habermas. Almost no attention has been paid to how certain non-Western philosophies like Confucianism could provide different understandings of such an institutional innovation. The article fills this gap by exploring why DMPs should be incorporated into the two ideal types of regimes considered by today’s Confucian political philosophers, Confucian democracy and Confucian political meritocracy. In this regard, it makes an original contribution to both the field of democratic theory and the emerging paradigm of Confucian public administration.","PeriodicalId":47076,"journal":{"name":"Public Policy and Administration","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140661236","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}