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Polihot

Senior Bureaucrats, Coalitions and the Quality of Government: Accounting for Effective Governance in Fragmented Settings

·583 字·2 分钟
Polihot 公共行政 比较政治 Coalition Government Bureaucratic Politicization Quality of Government Senior Civil Service Career Systems
GOV 39/4 2026-08-01 Original Senior Bureaucrats, Coalitions and the Quality of Government: Accounting for Effective Governance in Fragmented Settings André Borges, Arnaldo Mauerberg Abstract ABSTRACT Debates over the consequences of party and cabinet fragmentation for government performance remain unsettled. While some scholars argue that coalition governments foster instability and rent‐seeking, others contend that they enhance accountability and inclusion. This article argues that the effects of cabinet fragmentation depend on the rules of recruitment and promotion of the senior civil service. Using data from the Quality of Government Expert Survey covering 89 democracies, we examine how fragmentation interacts with both bureaucratic politicization and bureaucratic career systems. The results show that fragmentation amplifies the negative effects of politicized senior appointments, although we find limited evidence that fragmentation itself reduces the quality of government under high politicization. By contrast, fragmented cabinets are associated with more effective governance in the presence of career‐based structures characterized by internal recruitment of senior bureaucrats and long‐term careers. The findings highlight the importance of bureaucratic career structures for effective governance in multiparty systems.

Accountability systems and coping in the bureaucratic environment

·353 字·1 分钟
Polihot 公共行政 Accountability Street-Level Bureaucracy Coping Conjoint Experiment Discretion
PMR — pp. 1-26 2026-08-01 Original Accountability systems and coping in the bureaucratic environment Christine H. Roch, Ellen V. Rubin Abstract Advocates for strengthening accountability in government assume stronger consequences will change bureaucratic behavior. This study considers whether more strict accountability regimes change bureaucrats’ discretionary efforts. We consider this puzzle using a conjoint experiment with teachers in New York State. Our results show street-level bureaucrats in high accountability settings prioritize low-performing clients, while street-level bureaucrats in moderate accountability settings prioritize clients exhibiting high levels of effort. Overall, teachers demonstrate a weak preference to provide extra assistance to students who are hardworking and low-performing.

Consolidating Liberal Democracy From Within A Theory of Public Institutional Leadership

·614 字·2 分钟
Polihot 公共行政 政治理论 Public Institutional Leadership Liberal Democracy Democratic Values Bureaucratic Autonomy Public Administration
PAR — 2026-07-31 Original Consolidating Liberal Democracy From Within A Theory of Public Institutional Leadership Sandra Groeneveld, Heidi Houlberg Salomonsen Abstract ABSTRACT Recent developments in also established democracies have made clear that public administration and management research alike have neglected giving scholarly attention to public organizations as institutions. Drawing upon research on leadership of institutions and leadership in public organizations we suggest a theory of public institutional leadership . Public institutional leadership reconnects public management with democracy by suggesting three central dimensions of leadership behaviors that instill and sustain liberal democratic values in public organizations. These behaviors include articulating and reaffirming democratic values through top‐down vision‐setting; building “character” bottom‐up through role modeling and fostering psychological safety to enable dialogue and deliberation around these values as well as demonstrating constrained responsiveness to political principals relative to those values enabled by the cultivation of bureaucratic autonomy. Although the necessity of such behaviors is made salient by rising populism and democratic backsliding, their relevance extends to public management situated in liberal democracies in general.

Understanding red tape perceptions of street-level bureaucrats: a multilevel cross-country analysis

·417 字·1 分钟
Polihot 公共行政 Red Tape Street-Level Bureaucrats Multilevel Analysis Cross-Country Public Administration
PMR — pp. 1-29 2026-07-30 Original Understanding red tape perceptions of street-level bureaucrats: a multilevel cross-country analysis Qianhui Li Abstract Despite extensive research on red tape’s negative consequences, its antecedents remain underexplored. Building on the psychological process model, this article investigates antecedents of street-level bureaucrats’ red tape perceptions across the micro, meso, and macro levels. Using a dataset of 90,480 teachers across 44 countries, results show that antecedents across all levels relate to teachers’ red tape perceptions. Specifically, red tape perceptions are weaker among teachers having a growth mindset, working in schools with a wide span of control, and living in low uncertainty avoidance and individualism cultures. Across these antecedents, the cultural contexts are particularly important.