Australian Journal of Public Administration最新文献

{"title":"Expertise under uncertainty: Comparing policy expert platforms at the global climate–health nexus","authors":"Holger Straßheim","doi":"10.1111/1467-8500.12618","DOIUrl":"10.1111/1467-8500.12618","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This paper centres on expert platforms at the nexus between global climate policies and public health. Policy nexus problems have been associated with fragmentation and unclear authority. At the core, however, seem to be uncertainties about the nature of these problems and even about the nature of the nexus itself. The paper focuses on an especially rich ecosystem of policy expert platforms that have emerged at the climate–health nexus over the past decade. It outlines a typology and presents a comparison of selected policy expert platforms in terms of how they deal with these nexus uncertainties. It is argued that these platforms have developed various ways of interlinking science and policy. Insights on contradictions and controversies resulting from these ‘politico-epistemic logics’ are discussed. Mapping the nexus may inspire current research on political and epistemic uncertainty. It may also be a source of practical inspiration for developing forms of expertise beyond the standards of evidence-based policy.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Points for practitioners</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <div>\u0000 <ul>\u0000 \u0000 <li>The landscape of advisory arrangements at the nexus may be a source of practical inspiration for developing forms of expertise beyond the standards of evidence-based policy.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>A commonality across various platforms is the acceptance of uncertainty as a resource that can be used to make knowledge more robust and to keep open multiple pathways.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Types of policy expert platforms are associated with specific conflicts and tensions. Being aware of them might be helpful to deal with contradictory expectations and to avoid disappointment.</li>\u0000 </ul>\u0000 </div>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47373,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Public Administration","volume":"83 2","pages":"173-191"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2023-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1467-8500.12618","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138518737","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Why are individuals unwilling to report corruption? An inquiry into perception-based definitions of corruption and employment-related factors","authors":"Felippe Clemente,&nbsp;Luís de Sousa,&nbsp;Raquel Rego,&nbsp;Patrícia Calca","doi":"10.1111/1467-8500.12617","DOIUrl":"10.1111/1467-8500.12617","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Despite the increasing interest and investment in whistle-blowing regulations, policies, and mechanisms, people are still hesitant to report corruption. The existing literature explaining what deters people from reporting serious wrongdoing predominantly concentrates on either organisational factors or personal motivations. Only a limited number of studies integrate objective and subjective individual-level constraints on whistle-blowing. Using original survey data from Portugal, this article investigates two sets of individual-level factors that explain the reluctance to report corruption: employment-related characteristics (objective constraints) and perception-based definitions of corruption (subjective constraints). A regression analysis of the survey data reveals that individuals working in the private sector are less inclined to report corruption compared to public officials. This finding underscores the significance of job security in influencing people's willingness to report corruption. The results also indicate that individuals with a minimalist definition of corruption, perceiving it solely as a legal offence, are more hesitant to report corruption. This finding supports the notion that whistle-blowing policies should not be limited to reporting blatant legal violations instead of any suspected wrongdoing of corporate or public significance. Our study emphasises the need for whistle-blowing policies to not only establish secure and visible mechanisms for reporting serious wrongdoing within organisations, but also to raise awareness of how social norms and job security can impact individuals’ decisions to report such occurrences. This article contributes to whistle-blowing and governance research by shedding light on how perception-based definitions and judgements of corruption, as well as employment-related factors, can influence individuals’ willingness or unwillingness to report corruption.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Points for practitioners</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <div>\u0000 <ul>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Job precariousness and limited understanding of corruption are two key factors that limit individuals’ willingness to report corruption.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Policies and measures aimed at improving work conditions and ethical climate within organisations may be more effective in encouraging whistle-blowing than solely improving formal reporting mechanisms.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Further research is needed to explore individual-level factors for reporting corruption in different types of organisations and sectors, along with more specific information about whistle-blowing policies and mechanisms.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Implementing effective whistle-blowing policies and mechanisms requires not only adopti","PeriodicalId":47373,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Public Administration","volume":"83 4","pages":"625-646"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2023-11-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138518753","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":"Agonism of GPR120 Prevented High Glucose-Induced Apoptosis of Retinal Endothelial Cells through Inhibiting NLRP3 Inflammasome.","authors":"Xiaoju Ding, Haijuan Xie, Wuqiang Shan, Ligang Li","doi":"10.1055/a-1811-7099","DOIUrl":"10.1055/a-1811-7099","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>GPR120 has been reported to ameliorate inflammation in diabetes and diabetic complications. In this study, GW9508, the GPR120 agonist, was utilized in human retinal microvascular endothelial cells (HRMECs) exposed to high glucose (HG) to investigate the involvement of GPR120 in cellular viability and apoptosis as well as the association with the NLRP3 inflammasome.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The expression of GPR120 in HRMECs cultured under HG was firstly detected by Western blotting. HRMECs were then assigned to the normal control, GW9508, HG, and HG + GW9508 groups. The expression of the NLRP3 inflammasome consists of NLRP3, ASC, and caspase-1 and was detected by Western blotting and the downstream IL-1<i>β</i> and IL-18 by ELISA. The cellular viability and apoptosis of HRMECs were detected by CCK-8 and flow cytometry, respectively. The expressions of apoptosis-related proteins Bax and Bcl-2 were detected by Western blotting. Finally, nonspecific siRNA (NS) or GPR120 siRNA (siGPR120) was transfected to the cells, followed by stimulation with or without GW9508 or HG, and the expression of NLRP3, ASC, and caspase-1 were detected by Western blotting in these groups.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>GPR120 is expressed in HRMECs, and HG can reduce its expression in a time-dependent manner. GW9508 can attenuate inflammation by reducing the expression of NLRP3, ASC, caspase-1, IL-1<i>β,</i> and IL-18 under HG. GW9508 rescues the viability of HRMCs and reduces cell apoptosis by preventing an increase in Bax expression and the reduction in Bcl-2 expression. Additionally, knockdown of GPR120 by siRNA weakened the effects of GW9508 on NLRP3 inflammasome expression.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Activation of GPR120 protects retinal vascular endothelial cells from HG through inhibiting NLRP3 inflammasome. Thus, GPR120 might be a potential therapeutic target to reduce retinal endothelial damage in diabetic retinopathy.</p>","PeriodicalId":47373,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Public Administration","volume":"30 1","pages":"1292-1299"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2023-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85054644","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":"The nature of measurement across the hybridised social sector: A systematic review of reviews","authors":"Elizabeth-Rose Ahearn,&nbsp;Catherine Mai","doi":"10.1111/1467-8500.12616","DOIUrl":"10.1111/1467-8500.12616","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;div&gt;\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 &lt;section&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;p&gt;Performance measurement and management serve as the key elements for demonstrating accountability to funders and stakeholders for many social entities. Although substantial study has been completed to understand the measurement practices employed by specific models of social entities, there is an absence of studies taking a broader perspective on organisational performance measurement across the entire system. A systematic review of reviews methodology identified previous systematic and meta-studies of social performance measurement and management practices across the entire sector. The 19 reviews identified examined the measurement and management practices of a range of hybrid social entities including non-profits, social enterprises, corporate social responsibility undertakings, impact investments and bonds, government departments, and knowledge-intensive public organisations. The motivations of demonstrating accountability and learning opportunities for improvement are congruous across all entities. However, the approaches and methods employed to measure impact and meet these objectives are distinct between the different entity forms. Furthermore, acknowledgement of the different measurement approaches of other hybrid social entities was notably absent perhaps indicating a lack of knowledge dissemination across the broader system. Some barriers and complexities seem to be generalised across all hybrid entities; however, other challenges appear to be unique to specific hybrid models and measurement approaches. Through amalgamating a broad range of papers, we present opportunities to strengthen performance measurement and management across an increasingly hybridised social sector.&lt;/p&gt;\u0000 &lt;/section&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;section&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;h3&gt; Points for practitioners&lt;/h3&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;div&gt;\u0000 &lt;ul&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;li&gt;Performance measurement and management are crucial for demonstrating accountability and improving social impact for all forms of hybrid entities including non-profits, social enterprises, corporate social responsibility undertakings, impact investments and bonds, government departments, and knowledge-intensive public organisations.&lt;/li&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;li&gt;While the measurement practices of these organisational entities have been studied separately, there has been a lack of understanding as to the common practices and deviations across a hybrid organisational system. Practitioners should explore the different approaches and methods employed by the various social impact entities to identify opportunities for improved practice.&lt;/li&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;li&gt;Meeting the information needs of the diverse range of stakeholders in social services sector poses a challenge for all social initiatives. However, our","PeriodicalId":47373,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Public Administration","volume":"84 2","pages":"210-229"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2023-10-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1467-8500.12616","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135871498","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Reducing the gap between rhetoric and reality: Use of Digital Service Standards for public service innovation through digital transformation in Australia","authors":"Eric Patterson,&nbsp;Renu Agarwal","doi":"10.1111/1467-8500.12615","DOIUrl":"10.1111/1467-8500.12615","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Nearly a decade ago, the Australian Federal Government introduced a Digital Service Standard (DSS) for new and redesigned government services. This was an opportunity to encourage digital services and disruptive innovations to help the government improve citizens outcomes, and indeed there was a significant uptake in the digital services assessments offered by the program with key government agencies across health, human services, taxation, and education on board. However, by the 2020s the number of publicly visible assessments had significantly reduced. The initial broad adoption and recent reduction in numbers present an opportunity to explore the effectiveness of this government innovation management program that was ahead of its time. This paper reviews the impact of the DSS in fostering public service innovation and presents lessons learnt from the program. To perform this analysis, this research evaluates to what extent the DSS applied common private sector innovation management approaches of Innovation Process Management and Innovation Portfolio Management in the public sector. It also looks at the impact of these programs in encouraging specific types of modern digital innovations. The analysis draws on DSS assessments from 2015 to 2021 and considers how the program demonstrated public sector innovation leadership. This paper proposes a framework to improve the DSS by tailoring its approach for new and existing services, adopting specific standards to encourage incremental and disruptive innovations, and promoting more transparent reporting and funding of innovation management programs. This evaluation found that the DSS exemplifies Innovation Process Management in its use of stages and gates, and Innovation Portfolio Management in its use of targeted assessment criteria across innovation portfolios of various government agencies. The analysis also identified design limitations in the DSS as a whole of government innovation management approach due to its limited uptake in multiple large agencies and lack of specific standards to encourage different types of innovation. The impact of this research is to increase the adoption of the DSS and increase the innovation outcomes delivered by this government program. We conclude by reflecting some of the unique considerations in applying private sector innovation management practices in the public sector.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Points for practitioners</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <div>\u0000 <ul>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Innovation management techniques are emerging but remain immature in the public sector.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Australia has shown leadership in Government Innovation Process and Portfolio Management.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <l","PeriodicalId":47373,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Public Administration","volume":"82 4","pages":"557-589"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-10-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1467-8500.12615","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135869470","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The limits of voluntary measures: Packaging the plastic pollution problem in Australia","authors":"Stephen Jones,&nbsp;Brian W. Head","doi":"10.1111/1467-8500.12614","DOIUrl":"10.1111/1467-8500.12614","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The massive global growth in the production, use, and disposal of plastic materials has generated a pollution crisis in many countries. In Australia, debates about how to address this multi-faceted challenge have lacked the political urgency necessary for adopting strong reform measures. Consistent with the early stages of other sustainability debates, the industrial producers and distributors of plastic materials have been successful in prioritising voluntary measures, such as recycling materials and local authority collection schemes, to mitigate the problem, instead of agreeing to implement enforceable reduction targets. This paper examines Australian measures to manage plastic waste with a focus on how particular policy instruments were favoured and endured and how a greater focus on the full range of policy instruments—market based, regulatory, and voluntary—could generate more effective solutions.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Points for practitioners</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <div>\u0000 <ul>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Choice of effective policy instruments is crucial for tackling sustainability problems.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Policy instruments employed by Australian governments to manage plastic waste have been ineffective.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Moreover, policy settings do not support effective co-ordination between key stakeholders for the reduction of plastic pollution.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Policy advisors should recognise the limits of voluntary approaches and market-based mechanisms, and consider introducing clear and mandatory pathways to achieve policy targets.</li>\u0000 </ul>\u0000 </div>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47373,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Public Administration","volume":"83 4","pages":"647-665"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2023-10-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1467-8500.12614","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135871533","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Reconsidering expertise for public policymaking: The challenges of contestability","authors":"Brian W. Head","doi":"10.1111/1467-8500.12613","DOIUrl":"10.1111/1467-8500.12613","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <p>It is commonly claimed there is a crisis of expertise in liberal democracies and that experts who provide evidence-based policy ideas have become widely distrusted. This paper reconsiders the nature of this perceived crisis in policy advisory systems. The literature has identified four reasons for this trend—politicisation, diversification, diminished policy capacity, and populism. Building on these claims, this paper suggests that the <i>contestability</i> of policy advice has been the key underlying shift in policy advisory processes. Contestability can be positively useful for testing the robustness of policy proposals. However, if the policy debate has no evidentiary standards, the contest becomes a clash of opinions and slogans. Hence, several approaches have been proposed to strengthen the role of professional expertise and improve the quality and legitimacy of evidence-informed policymaking. One approach is the rebuilding of bureaucratic capacity to provide evidence-informed policy advice. However, a technocratic–elitist style that invokes scientific authority would be difficult to sustain politically in relation to complex issues affecting citizen well-being. A second approach is to improve stakeholder engagement and to enhance respect for the expertise embodied in ‘lived experience’. Thus, rebuilding trust and legitimacy may require broadening the range of relevant expertise through multi-stakeholder approaches.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Points for practitioners</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <div>\u0000 <ul>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Types of expert policy advice have evolved and diversified, with many sources and channels both inside and outside government</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Contestability of policy advice has become more widespread</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Public service policy capacity has arguably been weakened through outsourcing, use of consultants, interest group lobbying, and the growing influence of ministerial advisors</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Evidence-informed advisory systems have been challenged by fast decision-making, wicked problems, media misinformation, and populist slogans</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Rebuilding capacity and trust in high-quality policy systems requires new thinking, including more inclusive processes and a wider view of relevant expertise.</li>\u0000 </ul>\u0000 </div>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47373,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Public Administration","volume":"83 2","pages":"156-172"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2023-10-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1467-8500.12613","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136263410","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Prioritisation in municipal service delivery management: An exploratory qualitative research study in Turkish municipalities","authors":"Mehmet Barca,&nbsp;İhsan Aytekin,&nbsp;Ali Danışman,&nbsp;Halis Kıral,&nbsp;Mustafa Şahin","doi":"10.1111/1467-8500.12612","DOIUrl":"10.1111/1467-8500.12612","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;div&gt;\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 &lt;section&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;p&gt;This study attempts to understand to what extent the actual priority setting in the municipalities of Türkiye as a developing country aligns with idealised rational models based on theoretical principles and successful cases in developed countries. For that purpose, the study examines the cases of priority-setting process of service provision in Turkish municipalities through an exploratory qualitative research method involving focus group meetings with the representatives of 30 municipalities and field observation in two municipalities. The findings reveal key aspects of the prioritisation process, including approaches taken by the municipalities, citizen and stakeholder engagement, the role of managers, criteria used for the assessment of alternatives, and evaluation methods. The analysis identifies two distinct patterns, that is the idealised rationalist versus pragmatic, in all the key aspects examined. These findings contribute to a better understanding of what aspects of idealised rationalist and pragmatical decision-making processes are distinct from each other, and to a more comprehensive international perspective in public organisations, especially in which top manager such as the mayor is elected into office in developing countries. The study cautions against uncritical acceptance of oversimplified rationalistic as well as universalistic assumptions behind priority-setting models and advocates for a more substantiated and contextualised understanding of decision-making processes.&lt;/p&gt;\u0000 &lt;/section&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;section&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;h3&gt; Points for practitioners&lt;/h3&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;div&gt;\u0000 &lt;ul&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;li&gt;Adopting a priority-setting approach (technique, method, or criteria) necessitates considering the unique conditions and challenges of one's organisation and the local context. It is imperative to blend theoretical principles with practical realities to achieve optimal decision-making and superior outcomes.&lt;/li&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;li&gt;Priority setting in public organisations of developing countries diverges from idealised rational models used in developed countries due to contextual factors like culture and limited resources. Policy advisors from international organisations and developed countries should endorse knowledge and experience sharing that acknowledges both ideal and practical realities. Concurrently, practitioners in developing countries must critically assess the applicability of advised models to their specific context before adoption.&lt;/li&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;li&gt;If the mayor takes a dominant role in the priority setting that outweighs institutional strategies and priorities, effective prioritisation among alternatives may be hindered. To rebalance power, it is crucial to foster an organisational culture that embraces participative decis","PeriodicalId":47373,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Public Administration","volume":"83 4","pages":"666-696"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2023-10-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135512938","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":"At a cost: A review of the public accountability risks of Social Impact Bonds","authors":"Simon Demuynck,&nbsp;Wouter Van Dooren","doi":"10.1111/1467-8500.12610","DOIUrl":"10.1111/1467-8500.12610","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Social Impact Bonds (SIBs) have gained popularity as an alternative financing method for public services. SIBs promise to have lower risks for public budgets than traditional approaches. However, integrating private finance instruments into established public accountability procedures is notoriously difficult. Through a systematic review of the empirical research on implemented SIBs, this article examines those public accountability concerns. The results indicate that narratives of a new, more horizontal way of holding organisations accountable should not be accepted too easily. Risks are identified in the literature in four public accountability dimensions: transparency, controllability, responsiveness, and liability. Accountability safeguards will need to centre on establishing detailed procedures that precisely delineate the role of each actor, building effective platforms for both gathering and sharing information, and adequately transferring risks. At the same time, these safeguards could come at the cost of the attractiveness of the instrument for investors, creating a catch-22 in which making the SIB a sustainable model of service delivery at the same time may undermine its viability.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Points for practitioners</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <div>\u0000 <ul>\u0000 \u0000 <li>To address public accountability risks, practitioners can focus on establishing procedures that clearly define the roles of each actor involved in the SIB, creating effective platforms for gathering and sharing information between partners and making sure that financial risks are adequately transferred to private partners.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>At the same time, implementing safeguards for public accountability may prove challenging, as it increases transaction costs and undermines the attractiveness of SIBs for all actors.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Administrations should use SIBs sparingly and transition from multiplex SIBs to two-party contracts once programmes prove effective.</li>\u0000 </ul>\u0000 </div>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47373,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Public Administration","volume":"83 4","pages":"697-716"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2023-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135918938","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":"Governing Greater Sydney: The democratic promise and contention of local governments’ metropolitan integration","authors":"Jordan Taylor","doi":"10.1111/1467-8500.12601","DOIUrl":"10.1111/1467-8500.12601","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Metropolitan planning in Australia is argued to suffer from a ‘governance deficit’, alongside various calls for planning reform. The Greater Sydney Commission (renamed the Greater Cities Commission in 2022) was established in 2015 as a state-appointed planning commission to preside over new strategic and statutory planning powers; local governments’ metropolitan integration is one tenet of the reform's ambition for a more cohesive system. While the grounds for reform are often argued on effective terms, there is a clear need to explore the ways it may suffer from a ‘democratic deficit’ or be democratically defensible. This study explores the shifting planning powers, accountabilities, and forms of interest representation at the local level of the political system, in Australia's most concerted contemporary metropolitan reform attempt.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Points for practitioners</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <div>\u0000 <ul>\u0000 \u0000 <li>The reformed planning process promoted new forms of substantive exchange and coordination from the local government sector informing local, district, and metropolitan planning processes.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Interest representation outside of local governments’ required plans is largely voluntary; Western City District councils demonstrated considerably more inter-council collaboration as well as collaboration with the Commission than the Central City District. New forms of inter-local exchange and coordination may help address ‘fragmented’ localism.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>The reform has improved prior democratic qualities of local strategic planning and improved policy accountabilities between councillors, the community, and planners in a loose compliance framework.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>The state's governance of housing growth targets and land use was said to contradict what had been negotiated between councils and the Commission, alongside local governments’ increasingly narrow land-use and development approval powers and policy churn of its governance.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Practitioners can use the meta-governance framework to consider the democratic ‘performance’ or defensibility of the Greater Sydney Commission's governance system and improve this or similar metropolitan governance reform settings.</li>\u0000 </ul>\u0000 </div>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47373,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Public Administration","volume":"83 3","pages":"433-456"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2023-10-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1467-8500.12601","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135970154","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}