JPART — 2026-09-09
Original Institutional Conversion and Digital Transformation in Local Governments: A Longitudinal Analysis of Trajectories
Adalmir de Oliveira Gomes
Abstract
Abstract This article asks a central question in digital government research: why do local governments operating under similar institutional conditions follow sharply different digital transformation trajectories over time? Drawing on theories of gradual institutional change, the study conceptualizes digital transformation not as a discrete adoption outcome, but as a process of institutional conversion through which technological capacity is translated into sustained digital service provision. Information governance is theorized as the key conditioning mechanism linking technological resources to durable organizational outcomes. The analysis combines longitudinal panel models, fixed-effects estimators, and trajectory-based clustering using a panel of all Brazilian municipalities (MUNIC/IBGE; N = 5,569) across seven waves between 2004 and 2024. Results show that increases in technological capacity are associated with subsequent gains in digital services, but these effects are gradual and conditional. Information governance significantly shapes how municipalities mobilize and stabilize technological resources over time, while interaction models reveal non-linear and diminishing returns consistent with institutional coordination limits. Trajectory analyses identify four distinct patterns of digital transformation, ranging from ‘institutionalized pioneers’ to ‘persistent stagnation’, demonstrating that digital development unfolds through path-dependent and institutionally anchored trajectories rather than through simple convergence. The article contributes to public administration research in three ways: provides rare longitudinal evidence on local digital transformation over two decades; integrates institutional change theory into digital government research by conceptualizing governance as a mechanism of institutional conversion; and advances a trajectory-based explanation of digital transformation that shifts attention from episodic technological adoption to cumulative institutional processes shaping long-run administrative performance.
PAR — 2026-08-21
Original Informal Authority, Legitimacy Transition, and Institutional Change: A Theory of Advisory Capture
Byunggeor Moon
Abstract
ABSTRACT How do informal actors achieve rapid bureaucratic dismantlement without formal authority? Analyzing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative, this article argues that when performance‐based legitimacy displaces procedural legitimacy as the dominant evaluative framework, informal actors can bypass established safeguards and reshape government institutions. Three concepts capture this process: advisory capture , legitimacy regime transition , and constrained coercion . The analysis reveals that dismantlement targets agencies based on political vulnerability rather than functional logic, that informal authority becomes institutionalized through formal rulemaking such as the Schedule Policy/Career rule, and that judicial review operates as ongoing contestation rather than definitive constraint. Protecting democratic governance requires defending not only formal rules but the legitimacy regimes within which those rules derive meaning.
PSJ 54/3 2026-08-21
Original Diagnosing Institutional Design‐Implementation Gaps: A Dual‐Layer Systems Modeling Language Protocol for Visualizing Institutional Change Mechanisms
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.
PMR — pp. 1-30 2026-05-28 Original Explore and integrate: how digital innovation units enable local government digital transformation
Friso Selten
Abstract
The politics and administration of institutional change