PA — 2026-08-20
Original Face‐to‐Face With Administrative Burdens: Design Simplification, Emotional Costs, and Procedural Outcomes in Digital Welfare Applications
Fabian Hattke, Judith Hattke, David Hensel, Pamela Herd, Janne Kalucza, Donald P. Moynihan, Rick Vogel
PAR — 2026-08-20
Original Expansive Public Service Delivery: Advancing Public Value Governance
Mary K. Feeney, Julie Langer, Justin M. Stritch
Abstract
ABSTRACT Public administration has traditionally emphasized the normative ideal that public agencies have a responsibility to improve the lives of communities through public service delivery. We turn to public libraries to explore possibilities for what we call Expansive Public Service Delivery. Expansive Public Service Delivery is defined by a mission to serve all, professional and ethical responsibilities, and proactive responsiveness through outreach and (re)assessment. Public libraries have long aimed to improve communities and advance democracy by providing open, free information access to all. Today, they also proactively seek to expand their services to underserved groups ensuring their relevance and mission achievement. This research draws from 25 in‐depth qualitative interviews to explore librarian narratives to identify four core responsibilities that constitute Expansive Public Service Delivery. We conclude with a discussion of how service for all, professionalism, ethical responsibility, and reflexive decision‐making around community needs can result in more vibrant, sustainable public organizations.
AJPS — 2026-08-20
Original A theory of political divergence and gradual institutional change
Clair Yang
Abstract
Abstract Why do some societies succeed in breaking away from historical traditions while others remain trapped? This paper proposes a formal theory to investigate the interaction between short‐run and long‐run political dynamics, highlighting a co‐evolution of political institutions and social structures. A society consists of various social groups, such as the rulers, the elites, and the commoners. Short‐run strategic considerations give rise to different coalitions among these groups, which determine not only political regimes but also redistribution policies. In the long run, these policies shape the accumulation of wealth and power, where small initial differences can lead to divergent paths of development. Finally, the paper examines three historical case studies on medieval Europe, imperial China, and the medieval Muslim world to illustrate potential pathways of long‐run political development.
PAR — 2026-08-19
Original To Add Insult to Injury: Exploring the Impact of Policy Inequity on Administrative Burden
Yongzheng Yang, Qingqing Zhang, Peng Liu
PMR — pp. 1-30 2026-08-19 Original Public sector innovation management in the shadow: why the overlooked sibling still matters
Marina Carelli Reis, Ana Paula Franco Paes Leme Barbosa, Jacob Brix, Mario Sergio Salerno
PAR — 2026-08-19
Original Democratic Backsliding and Governance Outcomes: Measuring Administrative and Political Channels of Decline
David Ibañez, Ricardo A. Bello‐Gómez
JPART — 2026-08-19
Original Conditional Compliance: The Role of Sector and Policy Design in State Sexual Misconduct Policy
Jaeyeong Nam, Daniel L Fay, Emily Boykin, Elizabeth Bell
PAR — 2026-08-18
Original Governing Before the State: Indigenous Javanese Administrative Theory
Dede Setiono
Abstract
ABSTRACT Public administration scholarship often treats the Weberian ideal type as a universal model of bureaucracy, making governance arrangements that differ from it appear deficient rather than different. A decolonizing approach instead asks whether non‐Western historical records can offer alternative ways of theorizing governance. This study explores that possibility through the Nagarakretagama, a 14th‐century Javanese court eulogy composed by Mpu Prapanca in 1365, which predates Machiavelli's The Prince by 148 years. Qualitative content analysis of all 98 cantos identifies five governance domains: bureaucratic hierarchy, mandala‐based territorial administration, conditional fiscal exemptions, a legal order combining written law and custom, and ceremonial practices integrated with administration. These dimensions show how the Javanese empire organized authority, territory, revenue, law, and legitimacy through institutional arrangements that differ from the Weberian model. Reading this governance system as theory reveals an alternative conceptualization of administration and advances a decolonizing, pluriversal approach to public administration.
AJPS — 2026-08-18
Original Captured participatory institutions: Theory and evidence from Venezuela's Consejos Comunales
Jared Abbott, Jose Morales‐Arilla
PNAS 123/34 pp. e2610388123-e2610388123 2026-08-17 Original Value misalignment in X’s feed algorithm is a reflection of value tensions in engagement
Ziv Epstein, Farnaz Jahanbakhsh, Tiziano Piccardi, Axel Peytavin, Isabel Gallegos, Shardul Sapkota, Dora Zhao, Johan Ugander, Michael S. Bernstein