PAR — 2026-06-02
Original Rethinking Budgeting? An Analysis of Budget Theory and Reform for Modernizing Municipal Practice
Emily Boykin, Clifford McCue, David Goldman
Abstract
ABSTRACT This study examines the persistent gap between budget theory and practice in local governments, using the Government Finance Officers Association's (GFOA) Rethinking Budgeting Initiative as a case study. Analyzing 32 GFOA publications from 2020 to 2024, we identify four key themes in the GFOA's attempt to modernize budgetary decision‐making: public values, behavioral science, coordination and collaboration, and fiscal prudence. Through a narrative synthesis grounded in budget theory, we find normative theories align with reforms emphasizing participatory practices and public values, while descriptive theories underpin traditional fiscal approaches. The endurance of incremental budgeting, despite reformist rhetoric, underscores the challenge of transforming budget practice. Our findings suggest meaningful reform depends on integrating behavioral insights, stakeholder collaboration, and value‐driven goals with theoretical frameworks. Ultimately, this study contributes to scholarly discourse by highlighting opportunities to advance budget theory and improve practitioner engagement, offering a pathway for more adaptive and responsive local government budgeting practices.
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
PA — 2026-04-28
Original Governing the Local Digital Transformation: A European Comparative Perspective
Sabine Kuhlmann, Justine Marienfeldt, Frederico Ganz
Abstract
ABSTRACT This study compares governance structures, policy formulation and implementation of administrative digitalization at the local level in three countries with different administrative traditions: France, Germany and the United Kingdom. A new analytical framework is developed that allows for a systematic comparison of administrative digitalization in different national contexts. To this end, we draw on concepts from comparative public administration and public policy analysis and assess whether and how national political and institutional contexts and ‘initial conditions’ influence local administrative digitalization. Three distinct models of governance are identified that reflect specific administrative traditions: a centralized and coordinated approach in France, a fragmented and multilevel system in Germany, and a centralized and decoupled model in the United Kingdom. Despite these differences, all countries priorities a policy‐making model based on voluntary participation and incentive systems in the digitalization of municipal administration. In terms of the results of the reforms, there are notable differences between countries: high digital maturity in the United Kingdom, medium and low levels of maturity in Germany and France. The continuation of capacity differences is also emphasized, with growing digital divides between municipalities.
PA — 2026-04-22
Original Policymakers' Preferences Over Public–Private Modes of Service Delivery and Credit‐Claiming: Experimental Evidence
PAR 86/5 pp. 1447-1461 2026-04-21 Original An Unstable Hierarchy: Departmental Dynamics in Local Government Organizations
Bradley M. Johnson, Kimberly L. Nelson, Mary Beth Spoehr
Abstract
ABSTRACT Local governments offer untapped insights into public organizational change. Despite their large number and variety, internal departmental dynamics are poorly understood, with implications for information processing, service delivery, and democratic accessibility. Using data from 272 municipalities collected 5 years apart (2014–2019) analysis finds that 88% changed at least one department name and 69% experienced an increase or decrease in the total number of departments. To understand what contextual elements may lead to these changes, capacity and institutional triggers are explored. Findings indicate that turnover of executive leadership increases the likelihood of change, while population and employment change affect the scale of change. Other commonly discussed conditions such as changes in financial resources, the turnover in legislative bodies, and the independence of executives are not significantly associated. For public administration, the consequences of continuous change in organizational hierarchies could affect assumptions of bureaucratic stability, democratic responsiveness, administrative burden, and organizational legibility.
PAR 86/5 pp. 1265-1280 2026-04-16 Original Managing Value Conflicts Through Formal and Informal Institutions: A Longitudinal Case Study in Local Government Service Reform
Jin Hong Kim
PSJ — 2026-03-28
Original Resource Substitution: Local Governments' Issue Attention and Policy Reinvention
Yingxin Zhang, Yixue Yao, Kaifeng Yang
Abstract
ABSTRACT Research on policy reinvention, where a government modifies rather than replicates policy innovations introduced by other governments, has progressed significantly, but how it is influenced by the government's issue attention has not been thoroughly examined. This study introduces a resource substitution framework, in which issue attention serves as a type of organizational resource that not only promotes policy reinvention directly but also compensates for deficiencies in systematic resources. Focusing on the organizational structuring policy regarding public data governance in Chinese cities from 2015 to 2023, we employ a directed dyadic‐based Heckman sample selection model with exclusion restrictions to test the hypotheses. The results demonstrate that issue attention significantly promotes policy reinvention, particularly in resource‐constrained settings, where it acts as a functional substitute for systemic resources. These findings contribute to a broader understanding of issue attention and clarify the conditions under which it drives policy reinvention.
PMR — pp. 1-28 2026-03-24 Original Navigating financial distress and perceived vulnerability to build (financial) resilience during austerity: An exploratory study on the responses to shocks in local government
CQ 266 pp. 345-364 2026-03-24 Original Explaining China’s High Welfare Spending: Local Models and Drivers of Fiscally Oriented Affordable Housing
GOV 39/2 2026-03-19
Original Challenging Conventional Wisdom on Administrative Capacity With Open Data: Could ‘Administrative Throughput’ Be the Missing Link Between Administrative Inputs and Outputs?