Bureaucratic Perceptions Research Articles

The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the performance of street level bureaucrats in Brazil

Abstract: Dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic requires that the State make hard decisions that involve the action of bureaucrats who interact with the population through the implementation of public policy, the street-level bureaucracy (SLB). In this paper, based on a mixed- method exploratory study, we analyze how the daily performance of street-level bureaucrats in different policy areas- health and social care, access to the justice system, public security and education - has changed during the pandemic. We also explore the repercussions of those changes. Based on the analysis of the perceptions of bureaucrats, changes in their work and in their relationship with the public, we identify three categories that illustrate the dynamics of SLB work during the pandemic: the SLB who faces the crisis on the front lines; the SLB who suffers the effects of the pandemic, but whose work does not require her to face it directly; and the SLB who began to work remotely. We conclude that, during the pandemic, SLB suffered in varying degrees an aggravation of structural problems, such as their removal from decision-making processes - now restricted to the highest government level - and the exacerbation of already existing conflicts and ambiguities.

Driving participatory reforms into the ground: The bureaucratic politics of irrigation management transfer in Pakistan

Abstract Participatory governance is a means of making the state more responsive and accountable to its citizens. However, attempts to involve end users in decision making are often met with considerable resistance not just from political elites, but from the bureaucracy. I investigate how and why bureaucrats resist such reforms by focusing on the implementation of the Provincial Irrigation and Drainage Authorities Act (1997) in Pakistan, an Irrigation Management Transfer (IMT) program that attempted to put farmers in charge of water allocation, revenue collection, and dispute resolution. Drawing on qualitative interviews conducted in 2015 and 2019 with bureaucrats across the administrative hierarchy and water sector practitioners and consultants, I emphasise the role bureaucratic perceptions and incentives played in driving this program into the ground over two decades. My argument is two-pronged. First, I show that bureaucratic resistance to participatory programs needs to be studied in light of wider political events and processes, particularly patterns of political engagement and parallel attempts at devolving power. Second, I find that the precarious conditions under which irrigation bureaucrats work make them unwilling to cede what official power and influence they do have to farmers. In other words, I contend that bureaucratic resistance to farmers’ involvement in decision-making is the result of a more nuanced set of political and bureaucratic experiences than the perceived technical superiority and colonial inheritance of the irrigation bureaucracy. More broadly, my argument has implications for participatory reforms in other sectors and for decentralized government in Pakistan and in other countries in the Global South.

The Effectiveness of Online Citizen Evaluation of Government Performance: A Study of the Perceptions of Local Bureaucrats in China

Since the 1990s, more local governments across China have launched Internet-based citizen participation in government performance evaluation. However, we know little about how it is perceived by bureaucrats whose attitudes are critical in determining the outcome of this citizen participation. In this article, we present an analytical framework to identify major factors influencing bureaucratic perceptions of the effectiveness of online citizen participation. We use survey data collected from local government bureaucrats in Guangdong Province, China, to test our research hypotheses. The results suggest that the effectiveness of online civic participation is primarily a function of citizens’ capacity and motivation, inter-agency difference, and administrative burden. This article concludes with a discussion about how our study extends previous research on citizen participation and the implications for practitioners and future research.

Perceptions of Discretion in Street-Level Public Service: Examining Administrative Governance in Romania

ABSTRACTStreet-level bureaucrats have long been seen as key figures in program and policy implementation, often occupying unique positions that encompass executive, legislative, and judicial functions. Osborne’s concept of the New Public Governance addresses concepts of policy implementation and interpretive activities that characterize street-level bureaucracy. Current understanding of street-level bureaucracy is, however, dominated by research focused on the United States and the United Kingdom, both of which demonstrate differences from countries in Eastern Europe. This study uses survey data to examine street-level bureaucracy in Romania, with attention to the determinants of bureaucratic perceptions of discretion. Results indicate that proactive personality, prosocial motivation, autonomy, job satisfaction, and years of experience are related to individual perceptions of discretionary latitude among front-line workers.

Bridging the Gap - Contractor and Bureaucrat Conceptions of Contract Management in Outsourcing

Perceptions of bureaucrats and contractors and their contractual relationship underpin contracting success. They are important phenomena but have not been fully explored in the current contracting literature, particularly in a highly politicalized context, namely Hong Kong. Using the principal-agent theory and the transaction cost theory as the theoretical framework, this study examines the perceptions of the key stakeholders, conceptualizes five attributes of effective contract management, and offers recommendations on bridging their perceptions for success of contract administration in Hong Kong. The study helps readers comprehend the dynamics of contract management, and its implications of Hong Kong’s politicalized background.

Toward Understanding Another Gender Gap: How Women in Economic Development Perceive Access to Capital

ABSTRACTThis study uses survey data collected from members of the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) to assess gender differences in the perceptions of female economic developers involved in the policy process. The analysis reveals women are more likely than their male counterparts to believe access to capital serves as a barrier to economic development in the communities they serve. This finding is important because bureaucratic perceptions are anticipated to have a gendered dimension, because there is ample evidence that women-owned businesses less frequently obtain external financing than do those owned by men. This obstacle to growing a business may therefore resonate more strongly with female economic developers if their perceptions reflect experiences and socialization processes shared with the women they represent. Results of an ordinal logistic regression model support this contention and contribute to the study of economic development and the role of women in the policy process.

Human resource management (HRM) outsourcing in the Asian public sector – a probe into the achievability and consequences in Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Thailand

ABSTRACTUnder the ideology of ‘small government, big individual’, outsourcing of public service functions is gaining momentum, particularly when it comes to certain professional areas such as human resource management (HRM). Upper tiers of the public service and managerial functions have largely been immune to outsourcing. The present studies on outsourcing are extensive, but are largely western-centric, and qualitative or quantitative in nature. This study combines qualitative and quantitative techniques, making use of survey questionnaires to explore the perceptions of bureaucrats and contractors towards public sector outsourcing against an Asian context comprising Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Thailand. The results suggest that the political contexts of the jurisdictions shaped certain perceptions of the respondents. However, for other attributes such as the reasons for outsourcing public services and the constraints facing them, the respondents generally shared typical stereotypes of contractors and bureaucrats.

Bureaucratic Perceptions to the Politics–Bureaucracy Relations in Bangladesh: A Moral Dilemma in between Political Neutrality and Responsiveness

Irrespective of the systems of government, a major question is: what are the views and perceptions of the bureaucrats about politics–bureaucracy relations? Aiming to address this problem, in this article an attempt has been made to undertake an empirical study of bureaucracy in Bangladesh. The study reveals that as a post-colonial structure, government bureaucracy is an essential and integral part of the administration in Bangladesh but the bureaucracies are always in a dilemma regarding their relationship with the political leaderships. The relationship between politicians and bureaucrats is neither normatively dichotomous with political neutrality nor abundantly cohesive or responsive to the political leaderships according to the perceptions of bureaucracy. Moreover, bureaucracy in Bangladesh is suffering from a moral puzzle between political neutrality and political responsiveness even though the bureaucrats are still in a dominant position in some cases.

The Search for Policy Coordination: Ministerial and Bureaucratic Perceptions of Agency Amalgamations in a Federal Parliamentary System

The imperative to coordinate is strong, but the means remain contentious. One approach is to amalgamate agencies into a few large organizations, the other to encourage a diversity of policy options. Drawing on the federal amalgamations of departments in Australia since 1987, this paper reports that senior bureaucrats find more policy coordination benefits than costs from working in larger structures, while ministers report a loss of options and a risk of information overload.

Local-cosmopolitan and bureaucratic perceptions in public accounting firms

The growth of the accounting profession has been accompanied by changes in the organizational structure of public accounting firms. Firms vary from one-man offices to large multinational firms containing thousands of employees. This study attempts to partially assess the impact of firm size and hierarchical position on accountants' loyalty to the profession and their firms. Additionally, accountants' perceptions of the “bureaucratic” structure of their firms were surveyed. Differences were found on the loyalty question by position and on the bureaucracy question by firm size.