State Administration Research Articles

1/20,000th of a Person?

Notice-and-comment rulemaking is a key function of the U.S. administrative state, thought to give members of the public access to the process of government decisionmaking. However, notice-and-comment rulemaking fails to accomplish that goal, and its deficiencies have critical implications for U.S. democracy and for the role of women and other traditionally underrepresented groups in that democracy. This Article examines the many ways in which notice-and-comment rulemaking has fallen short of its central purpose through a case study of a 2018–19 rulemaking dealing with enforcement of Title IX’s prohibition on sexual harassment. Members of the public, mobilized by activists, filed a historic 124,000+ comments in that rulemaking. This author created and led a “crowd-research” innovation to catalog ninety-four percent of those comments. Analysis of that rulemaking and its comments exposes rulemaking’s oligarchic tendency to value technocratic practices above democratic ones, a tendency that is particularly problematic in the case of rulemakings that implicate civil rights and discrimination. This Article proposes a path for agencies to avoid notice-and-comment rulemaking’s failings by supplementing traditional processes with a modified form of negotiated rulemaking.

On the Legal System of the First Republic of Armenia (1918–1920)

Abstract This article examines the development of the judicial and legal systems in the First Republic of Armenia (1918–1920), highlighting key reforms and challenges. It explores the establishment of various courts, including conciliation, district, and appellate courts, as well as the introduction of a jury court and notarial activities. Despite progressive reforms aimed at democratizing the legal system, such as the creation of jury courts and the regulation of investigatory bodies, widespread malfeasance plagued state administration. Efforts to combat corruption through the establishment of the Extraordinary Investigative Commission and Extraordinary Court proved ineffective, leading to their abolition in 1920. The article also discusses the failure to adopt a constitution, largely due to the republic’s short-lived existence and unresolved political crises. This research draws on primary sources including materials from the National Archives of the Republic of Armenia, parliamentary and government session minutes from 1918–1920, official records, statistical data, periodicals, and contemporary writings.

Socialist urbanism and cultural infrastructure facilities in China: Cities of the Pearl River Delta and the Guangzhou cultural infrastructure facilities plan, 2003–07

The construction of “cultural infrastructure facilities” (wenhua jichu sheshi) in China – auditoria, exhibition halls, libraries, museums, performance centers – for state administration of culture and information originated in the 1950s with Sino-Soviet exchange and has continued throughout the reform era. However, scholarship on urban development in China, embedded in discourses of capitalism and modern planning, generally does not recognize this category of infrastructure construction by contemporary city governments. To address the lacunae, this article analyzes the history of cultural infrastructure facilities in socialist urbanism, their transfer to the People’s Republic of China from the Soviet Union, the conditions of socialist realism, and the continuity of cultural infrastructure construction since the 1980s. Evidence from the Guangzhou Cultural Infrastructure Facilities Projects Plan (2003 – 07) and cultural facilities sites in the new city center projects of Shenzhen, Shunde, and Dongguan demonstrate how the party-state prioritizes the planning and construction of cultural infrastructure facilities. Contemporary architectural designs for new cultural buildings represent the international aesthetic of reform while cultural facilities continue to house and display party-sanctioned culture and information for the people.

STRUCTURAL AND FUNCTIONAL ASPECTS OF POLITICAL COMMUNICATION IN THE CONTEXT OF MODERN SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

The article highlights the structural and functional features of political communication as a process of communicative interaction in the political sphere in the conditions of modern social development. It was determined that political communication is a communicative process of mutual exchange of political information and broadcasting of political discourse among political subjects, state administration bodies, civil society, aimed at achieving consensus in making political and managerial decisions, legitimizing power and maintaining the stability of the democratic political system through means mass communication, Internet social networks, informal contacts, etc. The leading functions of political communication in terms of its structural elements are distinguished: 1) subjects of political communication: citizens, state authorities and management, political parties, movements and associations, civil society institutions, associations and groups of users of social networks on the Internet etc; 2) feedback between the subjects of political communication, acting as a communicative interaction that takes on different forms of information exchange; 3) information message as a relevant political discourse; 4) channels and means of information transmission and two-way communication between subjects of political communication.

The Dynamic Consequences of State Building: Evidence from the French Revolution

How do radical reforms shape economic development over time? In 1790, the French Constituent Assembly overhauled the kingdom’s organization to establish new local capitals. In some departments, the choice of local capitals over rival candidate cities was plausibly exogenous. We study how changes in administrative presence affect state capacity and development in the ensuing decades. In the short run, administrative proximity increases taxation and investments in law enforcement. In the long run, capitals obtain more public goods and grow faster. Our results shed light on the dynamic impacts of state building following one of history’s most ambitious administrative reforms. (JEL D70, H41, H71, O18, O43)

Pertanggungjawaban Pidana Pemberi dan Penerima Suap dalam Proyek Pengerjaan Pembangunan Infrastruktur: Studi Putusan Nomor 438 K/Pid.Sus/2021

Bribery in infrastructure projects is a form of corruption that undermines the legal order and public trust in government institutions and state administrators. In this study, the bribe giver is considered to play a role in influencing the decision or action of public officials, while the bribe receiver is considered to have abused his authority. This research uses normative research methods, commonly referred to as legal research techniques, positive legal research techniques, doctrinal legal research techniques, and pure legal research techniques, used in this research. Legal research that focuses on written laws or regulations (law in books) or legal research based on social norms and regulations is known as normative legal research. bribe givers and recipients have criminal liability regulated in law number 31 of 1999 concerning the eradication of criminal acts of corruption amended by law number 20 of 2001. Article 5, both the giver and receiver of a bribe are considered to be the perpetrators of a criminal offence. a bribe giver who offers or gives something to a state official to influence a decision that will benefit him or her or someone else can be sentenced. Enforcement is carried out through investigation, investigation, prosecution, and trial of bribery cases. One method that is often used is the Hand Capture Operation (OTT) by the KPK, which has successfully uncovered many major bribery cases among state officials,

Is taxation a curse or a blessing? The case of Turkiye

This study aims to reveal whether taxes are blessings or curses based on the distinction between direct and indirect taxes. As in the past, taxation is an indispensable instrument of government policy in today’s modern state administration models. Since taxation is an inevitable phenomenon, designing an effective and efficient tax policy is an important decision process in economic development. This study will serve as a source for formulating an effective fiscal policy. Within the scope of the study, 1998/Q1 period and 2023/Q2 quarterly data for Turkiye are used. The tax curse hypothesis is analyzed using Prais-Winsten and Cumulative Fourier-frequency Toda & Yamamoto Test methods. In addition, the long-run performance of the relationship between the variables used in the model was evaluated by Wavelet Transform Coherence (WTC) analysis. The results of the analysis reveal that direct taxes have a negative impact on economic growth and thus the tax curse hypothesis is valid, while there is no tax curse in terms of indirect taxes. The study also reveals that direct taxes have a devastating effect in economies that are in the middle of the economic growth process and have a high growth rate, but this effect is not permanent and disappears after a while. The results are important in terms of guiding the formulation of government policies and the formulation of effective tax policies, especially for developing countries.

An empirical study of the level of corruption intolerance among the employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs

ObjectivesThe report presents the objective need to measure the level of corruption intolerance in the public sector and its importance for the formation of specific behavior aimed at the observance of important value principles in the performance of official duties in the public sector. The activity of the state administration should justify society's expectations of professional competence, legality, loyalty, correctness and responsibility. That is why corruption intolerance can be accepted as a factor for measuring the quality of activity in the public sector. The empirical research on the corruption intolerance in the Ministry of the Intenal Affairs is an important indicator for the efficiency of the system.MethodsThe scientific methodology used is a combination of a theoretical review of the issue, a critical scientific review and the presentation of new scientific advances in the measurement of corruption intolerance.ResultsThe rates of corruption intolerance in the Ministry of Internal Affairs are satisfactory.ConclusionsThere is an objective need to maintain a high level of motivation and effectiveness of training to achieve high-quality professional performance of official duties among the employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Therefore, Dynamic socio-economic changes necessitate a new approach to the problems of measuring the corruption intolerance.

FEATURES OF STATE ADMINISTRATION IN THE CONDITIONS OF GLOBALIZATION

The article reveals the concept and content of globalization. It is emphasized that in modern conditions, the concept of «globalization» has entered scientific circulation along with the key categories of modern science and has become the subject of wide discussions. The article is devoted to the peculiarities of state administration under the conditions of globalization. It is indicated that the sphere of public administration is affected by several processes at once – adaptation, transformation and modernization. Adaptation is a forced process of adjustment, adaptation and arrangement of the state administration system of the national state to the qualitatively new processes of globalization. Transformation is a mechanism for reflecting the radical changes that the world and each national system of public administration are undergoing in the context of globalization. Modernization is one of the options for social development, which simultaneously improves and accumulates quantitative and qualitative changes in the state administration system in the context of globalization. These processes are the main basic factors of the transformation of the modern world, according to them the national state and its system of public administration are changing. It is emphasized that the factor of public administration is an indicator of the extent to which the modern national state is able to resist or adapt to the processes of globalization. The main problems of globalization in modern conditions and their impact on the sphere of public administration are revealed. It is emphasized that globalization puts forward new requirements, which should become effective and efficient means of solving complex contradictions that arise in the course of the joint functioning of national states in the world space. The influence of governmental and non-governmental organizations on management processes is shown. It is indicated that the main mechanism of activity of international non-governmental organizations in the period of globalization is the mobilization of the opinion of the world community. It has been proven that at the current stage, globalization leads to a kind of «updating» of the structure of the world, and as a result – corrects national systems of state administration. In addition, it changes the strategies of economic, political and cultural development, creating a complete interdependence of the world, which is the basis of its functioning. The growing rates of interdependence unify and standardize the conditions and factors of the development of individual states, acting as peculiar indicators of determining the level of sustainability of the development of national states.

Application of probabilistic and stochastic models and data mining for forecasting the contingent of old age pension recipients in the context of systemic uncertainty

The object of the research is mathematical models for forecasting the contingent of pension recipients in conditions of uncertainty caused by both the reform of the pension system and the impact of armed aggression. Based on the study of statistical information on the structure and dynamics of the contingent of pension recipients, an approach to uncovering systemic uncertainty in the task of forecasting the contingent of pensioners is proposed. This work is part of a study of the application of data mining methods of intellectual data analysis and mathematical modeling in information technology intended for use in the pension system. The main focus of this work is on forecasting the dynamics of the contingent of pension recipients by age, in particular, forecasting the number of newly appointed pensions. The difficulty of forecasting the contingent of pension recipients, in particular by age, is connected with the fact that it is necessary to ensure the representativeness and variability of data sets. In addition, it should be taken into account that a significant number of factors must be included in the model in accordance with the requirements of regulatory documents. Another problematic issue is that the time series of the investigated indicators, such as data on the insurance experience of insured persons (based on the results of a sample survey), may contain significant (more than 40 %) gaps that can be filled only on the basis of primary (paper) documents. Therefore, the input data sets are formed with assumptions about the probability of the accumulation of insurance experience in various groups of insured persons. The paper proposes an analytical toolkit based on the use of probabilistic and statistical models in the form of Bayesian networks, intended for use in specialized decision-making support systems of the Ukrainian pension system. In the course of the study, a number of numerical experiments were carried out, in which the correctness of the proposed method was investigated. The proposals presented in the paper will improve the stability of the pension system of Ukraine, including through a more accurate definition of the dynamics of the contingent of pension recipients and, accordingly, the costs of pension payments. The proposed models and methods can be used as part of decision-making support systems of state and public administration bodies to analyze the results of reforming the pension system.

A Study on the Reliability and Validity of the Social Media Leadership Scale in Education Organizations Sample

Purpose: In this study, it is aimed to develop a Likert-type scale that can measure the status of managers and employees working in organizations in the context of social media leadership in a sample of educational organizations. Design/Methodology/Approach: The study was conducted on teachers working in schools affiliated with the Ministry of National Education during the 2022–2023 academic year. Expert opinions were sought to ensure the construct validity of the scale. The content validity rates of the items were determined, and the content validity index of the scale was calculated as 0.88. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were conducted to test the validity of the scale. KMO and Bartlett tests were used to determine the suitability of the obtained data for factor analysis. The EFA revealed that the scale had a 5-factor structure, which was then confirmed by the CFA. The CFA results were supported by acceptable and excellent fit values. The conformity and validity of the scale and the correlation between the factors were calculated. The internal consistency reliability coefficient was used to determine the reliability of the scale. After the aforementioned procedures, the Social Media Leadership Scale (SMLLS) was developed. The SMLLS consists of 24 items with 5 factors: guidance, innovation, ethical principles, sensitivity, and awareness. The lowest score on the scale is 24, and the highest score is 120. Findings: The SMLS is a measurement tool developed to determine the leadership levels of social media users. The findings regarding the validity and reliability of the scale indicate that it has sufficient psychometric properties to determine the leadership levels of social media users. Highlights: This scale can be used to assess the current status of teachers and administrators working at various levels within educational institutions in the context of social media leadership.

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION UNDER MILITARY THREATS: UKRAINIAN EXPERIENCE OF ADAPTING TO CRISIS SITUATIONS

The article examines the Ukrainian experience of public administration under conditions of military threat as of 2022-2024. The key challenges faced by Ukraine during the full-scale war are analyzed, including the destruction of critical infrastructure and the need to ensure uninterrupted provision of public services. Special attention is paid to the digitization of public administration, which played a decisive role in maintaining the stability of state institutions. The role of the «Action» platform and other innovative solutions that enabled interaction between citizens and the government in crisis conditions is described. The impact of decentralization on the ability of local authorities to respond to the challenges of war has been studied. The interaction with international partners within the framework of the SIGMA program, which is aimed at providing support in the reform of public administration with a course towards European integration, is characterized. A comparative analysis of the Ukrainian experience with other European countries that faced large-scale crises was carried out, and unique aspects of the Ukrainian model of adaptation were revealed. The article analyzes strategies for the restoration and modernization of the state administration of Ukraine in crisis conditions. Attention is focused on the interaction between the state and corporate sectors to maintain economic activity even in conditions of active hostilities. The role of business relocation to safer regions and the influence of state support on the stabilization of the labor market and the economy are outlined. Programs aimed at restoring infrastructure and vital services in cooperation with international partners are mentioned. The experience of implementing temporary solutions to ensure the basic needs of the population is described. It examines the impact of international aid and financial support through IMF and World Bank programs that helped maintain budget stability and avoid economic collapse. The perspectives of public administration during Ukraine's integration into European structures and further strengthening of public administration are highlighted. Special attention is paid to the prospects for the development of public administration in the post-war period, the solution of socio-economic problems, the restoration of infrastructure and the attraction of investments. Strategic directions for reforming public administration for the future are proposed, taking into account the experience of the war and cooperation with international institutions.

Zbyt długi żywot ustawy o pracownikach urzędów państwowych

In 1982, the Act on State Office Employees was passed. Despite the establishment of the civil service, which, according to Art. 153 of the Constitution should serve government administration offices, the 1982 Act is still in force, although its repeal has been announced many times. This is mainly because the 1982 Act, unlike the Civil Service Act, does not provide for a public procedure for equal recruitment for vacant official positions, which allows all political decision-makers to fill these positions through their discretion. However, this constitutes a violation of Art. 60 of the Constitution, which provides citizens with equal access to public service. The data collected under the Act on Access to Public Information shows that the number of people subject to the 1982 Act is very large and, moreover, that numerous important positions in the offices of the supreme state administration bodies are filled on its basis. This is to the obvious detriment of the public interest, especially since the 1982 Act does not contain a whole range of legal structures and requirements intended to ensure professional, reliable and impartial operation of the administration, as required by Art. 153 of the Constitution. The article contains a polemic with arguments about the need for special trust in employees, pointing out their extra-legal nature, as well as the dangers resulting from these assumptions. The thesis is the need to repeal the 1982 Act as soon as possible, as it has already been announced many times.

The Catalog of Procedures as Part of Recordkeeping

The Regulation of the Government of the Republic of Serbia on recordkeeping of state administration bodies, which applies to other holders of public administration bodies from 2023, adapted recordkeeping to the needs of e-administration. The designed ePisarnica (Serbian erecords centre) as a unique software solution for recordkeeping and managing centralized registry of records, and a unique system for managing documents as a separate software solution, caused a number of changes in the way of managing registries on files in regard to the so far way of recordkeeping. The catalog of procedures is a new element in office business, it is a record of all administrative and non-administrative procedures of administration bodies and entities exercising public powers. The catalog also contains a codebook of records categories with retention periods. The paper will show the development and innovations in recordkeeping and the role of the catalog of proceedings in the central record of cases with special reference to the catalog of proceedings of provincial bodies.

The Role and Place of the Legislative Power in War Conditions (The Case of Ukraine)

Objective: The purpose of the article is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the role and place of the legislative power in Ukraine during and after martial law, in particular, by examining the functions and challenges arising from the war, and to identify prospects for improving Ukrainian parliamentarism by adapting to European standards and harmonizing domestic legislation with EU legal norms. Theoretical Framework: The theoretical basis for this study is the scientific studies dedicated to legislative power in Ukraine and abroad, particularly considering its key role in building a democratic society and the rule of law. The issues addressed in the article are examined through the processes of harmonization of Ukrainian legislation with EU law. Method: The research methods used are: monographic analysis, analysis and synthesis, systematic, generalization, forecasting, etc. Results and Discussion: The role of the legislative power in the conditions of the military conflict, its functioning and influence on the stability and efficiency of state administration is analyzed in the article. The importance of the place of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in the system of separation of powers is substantiated in view of the functions it performs during the war, in particular, the adoption of laws for mobilization, defense and economic support, as well as control over the activities of the executive power and legitimization of the introduction of martial law through the approval of presidential decrees of Ukraine. Contributions: The state of protection of the rights and freedoms of citizens in accordance with international standards during armed conflict is analyzed. The directions for the development of the legislative power after the end of this conflict are revealed, in particular regarding the restoration of the constitutional order, the reform of legislative processes and the reintegration of the affected regions.

Adminisztratív státussal nem rendelkező települések helyi közösségként való működésének vizsgálata

This paper presents the findings of a one-year group DOMUS research programme conducted among settlements without administrative status. Data collection was based on on-site fieldwork and interviews conducted among 25 villages in the Szeklerland region. The Research Group examined how these villages continue to function as local communities, also the presence and function of traditional community knowledge typical to the regional villages, the strength and impact of local identity, the operation of formal and informal local organizational frameworks and initiatives, and the organization of local events. This research program can be seen as a continuation of previous data collection efforts covering similar settlements in the region (Biró – Sárosi-Blága 2023).

Do women state legislators and administrators make any difference in preventing natural disaster mortality? Evidence from India

Abstract We investigate the effect of women's political representation in the state legislative assembly and public administration on natural disaster mortality in 20 Indian states from 1981 to 2019. The paper combines two critical dimensions: political and administrative representation of women and disaster risk reduction. Results suggest that women's political representation reduces total disaster mortality after controlling socioeconomic and political covariates; however, the effects are statistically insignificant for the current and lag periods. We find that a one standard deviation increase in women's representation in public administration lowers total disaster mortality by 20.6 percentage points, which is 9.8 per cent of the sample mean. We observe the impacts of female administrative representation on gender-specific human development outcomes through reduced male and female disaster mortality, and we explain some mechanisms. Thus, women's political and administrative representation is crucial for addressing disaster mortality as it has major public health consequences.

Improving Social Equity Within Public Organizations: Authority Differentials as Reference Points for Fostering Diversity and Inclusion Within U.S. Federal Agencies

Fostering diversity and inclusion (D&I) is a major challenge confronting the contemporary American administrative state. The asymmetric distribution of authority within U.S. federal agencies is critical for understanding employee perceptions of agency D&I efforts. Leveraging data from approximately 2.51 million U.S. federal employees across 105 agencies between 2010 and 2019, the statistical evidence demonstrates that authority differentials, reflected by the relative gender and racial balance of supervisory and non-supervisory personnel within U.S. federal agencies, predict employees’ evaluations of agency efforts at fostering D&I. Although these authority differentials have similar effects on employee D&I evaluations for both men and women, minority employees exhibit more sanguine assessments of agency D&I efforts than compared to non-minority colleagues predicated on such authority differentials. The statistical relationship between authority differentials and employees’ agency D&I evaluations is most pronounced for women minority employees, as well as for those holding supervisory positions.

The impact of integrating technology and finance on firm entry: Evidence from China's FinTech pilot policy

This study investigates the effects of technology-finance integration on firm entry across industries in China. Based on a comprehensive dataset from the State Administration for Industry and Commerce covering 2002–2020, we construct a quasi-natural experiment design using the 2011 FinTech pilot policy. On average, the policy impedes new firm entry by raising market barriers and increasing competition. However, a nuanced industry-specific effect is observed, with the policy promoting entry in strategic emerging, technology-intensive, and high-tech sectors, while deterring entry in others. These findings help understand how technological innovation and financial policies interact to shape industrial dynamics and entrepreneurial activity.

Inside de- and re-centralisation: the formation of governance in Swedish local education authorities during education reform

ABSTRACT This article concerns the professional work of Swedish heads of local educational authority [LEA] school administrations) with a particular focus on their relationships with local politicians since the 1990s. In recent decades, Sweden has undergone foundational educational reforms, radically de-centralising - and then re-centralising - the school system. Thus, Sweden represents an interesting case for understanding both de-centralisation and re-centralisation processes. We cover seven empirical studies of superintendents to understand how municipal governance and the role of superintendents have changed over time in response to these large-scale reforms. We show that the de-centralisation reforms of the 1990s destabilised municipal administrative structures and superintendents' roles and duties with regard to politicians. However, during the 2000s, the municipal administrative structures and the role and duties of superintendents stabilised significantly. In the mid-2010s, reforms institutionalised superintendents' roles and bound them more closely to the state administration.