State-provided Services Research Articles

Overestimation of social security payments reduces preferences for spending on social policy

We test the fiscal illusion hypothesis, which concerns whether an awareness of the government’s costs and benefits is linked to preferences for redistribution and social policy. We conduct an N=2016 survey experiment in Russia—a country where many taxpayers are not aware of social security contributions that are paid by employers on their behalf. The treatment consists of a video with a calculation of the total amount of taxes and social security contributions that typically arise from an individual’s salary. We show that for individuals who initially overestimated these payments, information provision increases preferences for redistribution, while overall, the awareness of these payments reduces preferences for state spending, possibly due to reduced trust in the government and lower satisfaction with state-provided services. This is consistent with the explanation that new information about taxes and social security contributions signals a low state quality. These results persist in a follow-up survey given six weeks later.

Legacies of Change: Probation Staff Experiences of the Unification of Services in England and Wales

Abstract A discourse of professionalism has proved crucial to driving recent organizational restructurings of the probation service in England and Wales. The Coalition Government argued that bureaucratic, state provision of services had stifled probation practice—for which the introduction of market logic, via the 2014 Transforming Rehabilitation (TR) reforms, would restore professional discretion. And yet, the detrimental impact of TR on practice meant that re-professionalization was an important objective of yet more restructuring. This paper explores probation staff experiences of organizational change, particularly since services were returned to the public sector, in June 2021, through three dominant modes of workplace organization around which change has been articulated: professionalism, the market and bureaucracy. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 38 members of staff, it argues that the exercise of professionalism in probation has been, and continues to be, shaped by a legacy of organizational change that is both bureaucratic and dependent upon market(-like) mechanisms. It contends that the ongoing impact of a ‘discursive battle’ between market and bureaucratic forces has further eroded professionalism in probation.

Shifting terms: Development discourses and moral imaginaries in Indian state service provision

How are multiple visions of state–society relations accommodated within the daily practices of the post-liberalization Indian state? How does state service provision relate to these shifting normative framings of state duty and citizen responsibility? This article examines these questions through an ethnographic study of citizen–state encounters in rural north India. Focusing on the presentation of social services and programmes through a single village council, I trace how development discourses under the post-liberalization state oscillate between welfarist principles of distribution and neoliberal values of self-sufficiency. As the state is fashioned variously as a provider or a more distant facilitator of enterprising activity, I explore how citizens manage these shifting normative terms, negotiate the varied demands of bureaucratic claims-making, and engage with moral ideals of responsibility and care.

Organizational and methodological aspects of the work of a psychiatrist on a qualification category. Current status and prospects of psychiatric care in Russia

Introduction: Preparing a report and passing certification for a qualification category is one of the forms of improving the professional level of each medical worker. Material and methods: The analysis of 5 qualification works of a psychiatrist (1997, 2002, 2008, 2013, and 2018) was carried out for the mandatory requirements for the preparation of documents when they were submitted to the Attestation Commission on the assignment of a qualifying medical category in psychiatry and formation methodological approaches to their implementation. The depth of research was 27 years. Results: Methodological approaches to the design of 11 mandatory sections provided for in the certification work of a psychiatrist presented for the award of a qualification category were considered. Discussion: The attitude to the Administrative Regulations for the provision of state services for the assignment of a qualification category to specialists engaged in medical and pharmaceutical activities should be revised in terms of its synchronization with the official duties of a doctor. Conclusion: The dynamic development of the regulatory, organizational, methodological, and scientific aspects of medicine and psychiatry, in particular, in the period of active digitalization of healthcare, requires periodic corporate discussion and correction of the Administrative Regulations for the provision of public services for assigning a qualification category to specialists engaged in medical and pharmaceutical activities. Attention should be paid to the insufficient statistical processing of the submitted materials by applicants for the assignment of the 1st and highest categories, the lack of calculations, references, and comparisons of confidence intervals, and the reliability of the study. Preparing a report and passing certification for a qualification category can be the first step in introducing a practitioner to scientific work through the generalization of personal work experience, worthy of speaking at a scientific and practical conference at the level of LU and the region and publishing abstracts in collections and scientific and practical journals. The proposed methodological approaches are purely advisory in nature and can be used by psychiatrists when working on a qualification category at their discretion.

Досвід Грузії у сфері ДРАЦС та можливості його використання в Україні

Розглянуто досвід Грузії у розбудові механізму надання адміністративних послуг у сфері реєстрації актів цивільного стану. Доведено перспективи адаптування досвіду Грузії для України. Визначено необхідність введення у вжиток критеріїв якості послуг, що надаються владою громадянам в органах ДРАЦС.

Dapat, kita: Representations of the Schema of Heteronormativity and the Visibility of Abuse in Domestic Violence

Barangay Violence Against Women (VAW) Desk officers are the frontliners in the provision of services to a victim/survivor of domestic violence. They are the first persons that a woman encounters, and they determine whether her truth claim identifies her as domestic violence case, thereby enabling her to access State-provided services and interventions. Thus, it is important to inquire into the Desk officers’ worldviews and beliefs, also called schemas, and how these influence the ways they communicate and interact with the victim/survivors they encounter daily in their work. Guided by gender schema theory, this study examines the drawings of the VAW Desk officers—and the ecology of images that accompany these drawings—to delve into their cognitive constructions of the gendered nature of domestic violence. Two dominant schemas emerge from this examination: the schema of heteronormativity (dapat), and the schema of the necessary visibility of domestic violence (kita). These schemas govern the Desk officers’ everyday judgments and decision making, and inform the ways they communicate with domestic violence victim/survivors.

Rural-Urban Inequalities in Poor Self-Rated Health, Self-Reported Functional Disabilities, and Depression among Chinese Older Adults: Evidence from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study 2011 and 2015.

The household registration system (Hukou) in China classifies persons into rural or urban citizens and determines eligibility for state-provided services and welfare. Not taking actual residence into account may underestimate rural–urban differences. This study investigates rural–urban inequalities in self-reported health outcomes among older adults aged 60+, taking into account both Hukou and actual residence, adjusting for sociodemographic determinants, based on the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) in 2011 and 2015. Self-Rated Health (SRH) was assessed with a single question, functional abilities were assessed with the Basic Activities of Daily Living (BADLs) and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs) scales, and depression was assessed with the 10-item version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Rural respondents had poorer socioeconomic status and higher prevalence of poor SRH, functional disabilities, and depression than urban respondents in both years, which were closely related to rural–urban differences in educational level and income. Impairments appeared at a younger age among rural respondents. Analyses using only Hukou registration and not actual residence resulted in underestimation of rural–urban differences. This study may serve as a basis for interventions to address rural–urban differences in health and social services and reduce health inequalities among Chinese older adults.

Повышение эффективности государственного управления в области обеспечения промышленной безопасности путем перехода на реестровую модель лицензирования отдельных видов деятельности

Licensing is one of the most important mechanisms in ensuring industrial safety in the Russian Federation. This tool of the state administration is a complex and energy-intensive process both for licensing authorities, and for license applicants, licensees. For the purpose to eliminate the excessive administrative barriers in planning and implementation of production activity, the issuance of licenses in paper form was canceled in favor of making a legally significant entry. In order to implement the register model, a number of new administrative regulations on the provision of state licensing services was developed, according to which, as a result of the provision of state services, from January 1, 2021, Rostechnadzor forms an entry in the register of licenses and sends a notification to the applicant about making the corresponding entry in the register of licenses. The information contained in the license register is open and publicly available, except in cases where access to such information is restricted in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation. Access to the information from the register of licenses is provided by Rostechnadzor by publishing it on the official website on the Internet. Also, the information about a specific license can be obtained by an interested person in the form of an extract from the license register in paper or electronic form, while the corresponding fee is charged for providing an extract from the license register in a hard copy. It is worth paying attention to the fact that the amount of the fee was set not for replenishing the budget of the Russian Federation, but in order to stimulate the transition of the interaction of applicants with licensing authorities to an electronic form. The innovations simplified the process of interaction between the licensing authorities and the license applicants and licensees, accelerated and simplified the procedure for obtaining a license, and increased the efficiency of state administration in the field of industrial safety.

Sustaining peace through better resource governance: Three potential mechanisms for environmental peacebuilding

For international and domestic actors, post-conflict peacebuilding is one of the most difficult policy arenas to understand and in which to operate. Environmental and natural resource governance have the potential to facilitate peacebuilding in such contexts, but existing research has not yet produced a cohesive theoretical understanding of the pathways by which natural resource management strategies can facilitate positive peace. This paper explores the wider benefits of natural resource management and discusses their potential for reducing political fragility in affected states and helping to build positive peace. The paper outlines three mechanisms through which improved natural resource governance in post-conflict contexts is theorized to have positive effects on peace: (a) the contact hypothesis, whereby the facilitation of intergroup cooperation reduces bias and prejudice; (b) the diffusion of transnational norms, where the introduction of environmental and other good governance norms supports human empowerment and strengthens civil society; and (c) state service provision, where the provision of access to public services addresses the instrumental needs of communities, thereby strengthening their belief in the state. Guided by an interest in the opportunities presented by natural resource management to support peacebuilding processes in post-conflict states, the paper seeks to revise and advance the current environmental peacebuilding research agenda.

“Caged Women”: Migration, Mobility and Access to Health Services in Texas and Arizona

ABSTRACT Borderlands are redefined by the hardening of borders, through border walls, increased internal controls, toughened immigration laws, which creates a climate of fear for undocumented migrants. Over the past years, some states and cities in the United States have enacted restrictive policies regarding access to State-provided services, such as healthcare. The impact of these laws needs to be assessed through the gender lens. This paper uses the metaphor of cages to delve on the study of undocumented migrant women’s access to healthcare services when the intersection of immigration and healthcare laws creates a restrictive environment, through the case study of Arizona and Texas. It first analyzes the impact on undocumented migrant women’s physical health, addressing preventive and emergency care and reproductive and sexual healthcare. Secondly, it addresses the impact of that intersection on women’s psychological health, assessing how these policies, when combined, worsen the impacts of past traumas and create new ones while restricting access to psychological services. It demonstrates that undocumented migrant women are affected in specific ways by the intersection of immigration and healthcare laws as it exacerbates the multiple oppressions they experience as low-income women of color without legal status.

Dialogues between the Astana Declaration, the Right to Health and Family and Community Medicine training in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

This paper discusses and fosters concerns in light of the repercussions of both the 40th anniversary of the Alma-Ata Declaration and the Astana Declaration, discussing the possible influence on Family and Community Medicine training, as per the lenses of two Residency Programs of three public institutions, namely, State University of Rio de Janeiro, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, and the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation. These are inserted in a historical and social context, between the world of work, public policies, international organizations, the population and subjects involved in the construction, maintenance, and consolidation of the Brazilian PHC. Thus, in a brief historical revival, we contextualized which Primary Care was a practice setting and where we might be headed. We concluded that the willingness to ensure the Right to Health would be threatened by the concept of Universal Coverage, advocated by the Astana Declaration, which leads to essential discussions: ensuring state-provided services, advocating for equity and integrality of actions, reaffirming the risk of generating inequality by creating multiple service offerings for different segments of the population, reiterating the relevance of access to health, and valuation of territorialization.

A Countermeasure to GDP Veneration: Social Progress Indicator

A Social Progress Indicator is a survey instrument, which combined with objective data, can evaluate the impact and quality of state services. The areas of state intervention envisaged include child and long-term care services, education, environment, health, housing, public transport, state pension system and security of the citizen. The impact and quality of state services can determine national well-being. It is vitally important that the economic performance of the Irish state `trickles down' to its citizens by way of the high quality provision of state services, and a Social Progress Indicator can be tailored to achieve that outcome. In this discussion paper, we present the main arguments that a Social Progress Indicator can provide a valuable and novel supplementary measurement of national well-being for Ireland, and that Ireland has an opportunity to act as a global leader in this context. We also provide, at an executive level, guidelines in regard to a methodology to construct a Social Progress Indicator for Ireland. The principal arguments for a Social Progress Indicator are as follows. First, the inadequacy of conventional measurements of national performance e.g. national income, as a proxy for the state's impact on the quality of life of its citizens. Second, the scope, via a Social Progress Indicator, for the improvement of quality of life of a state's citizens, as measured by international standardized rankings e.g. European Quality of Life Survey. Third, the absence of a customer satisfaction criterion, for scientific and timely feedback, in relation to the provision and improvement of state services. Finally, the scope for applications of Social Progress Indicator, in regard to motivating state actors, across state departments, can serve to further motivate the establishment of a Social Progress Indicator. The question of how to measure the quality of delivery of state services is complex and challenging. Relying, in part at least, on people's own judgment is a convenient shortcut and potentially provides a natural way to aggregate various, and potentially diverse, experiences. In a world of misleading anecdotal evidence (i.e. 'fake' news) and media marketed opinion pieces in regard to the quality of state services, a rigorously constructed Social Progress Indicator can play a critically important and informative role. In this vein, we provide executive level recommendations on the data science of representative sampling, sub-index aggregation, and we include a justification for a pilot study and the management of user expectations. We also highlight how a machine learning approach, in the form of textual analytics, can play an important role in aggregating feedback from the citizens of the state. We provide the first evaluation of arguments for a Social Progress Indicator, as a metric to capture the quality of state services in Ireland, with a view to enhancing national well-being.

Contracts for the provision of state in relation to COVID-19 in Colombia

Profession service provision contracts are a form of direct public procurement that can only be suspended by force majeure, fortuitous event or public interest. In this sense, being the COVID-19 a pandemic that has the qualities to be considered an event of force majeure, the content of Legislative Decree No. 491 of 2020 was interpreted, through which it was decided on the suspension of the contracts for the provision of state services, finding that it complies with article 95 contained in the Political Charter of 1991, which refers to the principle of solidarity, which merits its application to ward off the public health crisis dueto the Coronavirus in light of fundamental, economic and social rights, such as life, human dignity, the vital minimum, health and work. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21017/Rev.Repub.2020.v28.a83

THE USE OF ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES WHEN RECEIVING GOVERNMENT SERVICES OF THE PENSION FUND OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

The provision of state services in electronic form today is one of the innovative directions of development of mechanisms for implementing the functions of state bodies. This was made possible by the improvement of information technology and the use of electronic signatures to give legal significance to documents in electronic form. The article raises the legal and technical issues of using electronic signatures in the practice of providing public services to the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation in electronic form.In the first part of the article, based on an analysis of federal regulatory legal acts in the field of public services and the use of electronic signatures, it is concluded about the types of electronic signatures used in the provision of public services in electronic form, as well as by what means the applicant can check the availability and validity of the electronic signature on received documents as a result of the provision of services.The second part analyzes the use of electronic signatures in the provision of two selective government services of the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation (informing insured persons about the status of their individual personal accounts in the compulsory pension insurance system and informing citizens about the category of citizens of pre-retirement age) through the Unified portal of public services and the personal account of the insured Pension Fund of the Russian Federation website. The author verifies the validity of electronic signatures on documents obtained as a result of an experiment using the services of the Unified Portal of State Services and a commercial accredited Certification Authority.

Rebel Territorial Control and Civilian Collective Action in Civil War: Evidence from the Communist Insurgency in the Philippines

Under what conditions do rebel organizations control territory during civil war? How do civilians influence the distribution of territorial control? This article introduces a civilian agency theory, emphasizing community collective action capacity (CAC) defined by underlying social network structure, to complement existing explanations of territorial control. I argue communities with greater CAC mobilize information and resources more efficiently, increasing belligerents’ incentives to control territory. However, CAC also increases community bargaining power to demand costly investments in governance, partially offsetting these gains. CAC increases rebel control in areas of state neglect. But, as state service provision increases, communities leverage CAC to demand prohibitively costly rebel governance, deterring rebel control. This article tests the theory in the context of the communist insurgency in the Philippines, using military intelligence reports from 2011 to 2014 to measure village-level communist insurgent territorial control and a household-level census (2008–2010) to measure village CAC. Interviews with village elders in Eastern Mindanao illustrate causal mechanisms and explore alternative explanations.

Modernization of the system for providing governmental services of local authorities in Ukraine in the context of decentralization reform

The subject of research is the process of modernization of the system of provision of state services of local authorities in Ukraine. The purpose of the article is to clarify the current level of public service provision by local authorities and to develop ways to improve the functioning system of administrative services in the united territorial communities of Ukraine. The aim of the article are: to examine the essence of decentralization and reveal the mechanism of functioning of the united territorial communities; reveal the content of the extended powers of local governments; explore the conceptual framework of state incentives for the process of voluntary association of communities in Ukraine; to identify the real degree of quality, availability and approach of management services to the population through the network of centers providing administrative services; reveal the problems of coexistence and duplication of functions of the district and society; explore promising areas of municipal cooperation and identify the leading regions; consider the functions of the Ukrainian electronic service iGov and justify the problems and prospects for its implementation in the process of public services of local authorities in Ukraine modernization. Research methods. In the process of research, the following general and specific scientific research methods were applied: a systematic approach, methods of logical generalization and comparison, scientific abstraction, methods of synthesis, logical generalization and analogies. The methodological base of the research was made by scientific works of domestic and foreign scientists and leading specialists, analytical materials on the research problem. Results of the work. The essence of decentralization and the mechanism of functioning of united territorial communities are revealed. Analyzed changes in the powers of local governments and highlighted the mechanism for the provision of administrative services. The directions of state stimulation of the process of voluntary association of communities in Ukraine are investigated. It was revealed that in spite of the fact that the united communities received the authority and resource of the population are partially or completely dissatisfied with the quality of services provided by local authorities. The problem of duplication of functions of structural divisions is revealed - a district-united community. The necessity of the development and adoption of effective by-laws and regulations has been substantiated, and they regulate the procedure for the application and implementation of existing laws in the field of decentralization and self-government. The prospective directions of municipal cooperation are investigated and it is revealed that Poltava region is the leader in Ukraine in the number of concluded inter-municipal cooperation agreements. Analyzed international technical assistance projects aimed at reforming self-government. The Ukrainian electronic service iGov and the reasonable prospects of its widespread implementation have been investigated. Practical implications. The results of the study can be used by both local and state authorities to consider the possibilities of modernization of public services in Ukraine in the context of decentralization reforms. Conclusions. The study led to the conclusion that today the population is partially or completely dissatisfied with the quality of services provided by local authorities. However, we believe that Ukraine is able to modernize state services of local authorities and bring them as close as possible to citizens. To improve the functioning of the system of providing administrative services in the united territorial communities of Ukraine, in our opinion, it is necessary: to develop effective by-laws and regulations that regulate the procedure for applying and implementing laws on local self-government; ensure the organizational unity of the front office and back office of the centers providing administrative services of the united territorial communities; to expand the list of administrative services provided to residents of united territorial communities; provide state support for expanding the network of united territorial communities to cover the entire territory of Ukraine; develop and implement educational programs for certain categories of civil servants and officials of local governments in the provision of administrative services; to ensure the widespread introduction and use in the regions of the electronic portal of state services iGov, which will make it possible to effectively combat corruption and improve business processes in state and municipal authorities.

Rebel Territorial Control and Civilian Collective Action in Civil War: Evidence from the Philippines

Under what conditions do rebel organizations control territory during civil war? How do civilians influence the distribution of territorial control? This article introduces a civilian agency theory, emphasizing community collective action capacity (CAC) defined by underlying social network structure, to complement existing explanations of territorial control. I argue communities with greater CAC mobilize information and resources more efficiently, increasing belligerents’ incentives to control territory. However, CAC also increases community bargaining power to demand costly investments in governance, partially offsetting these gains. CAC increases rebel control in areas of state neglect. But, as state service provision increases, communities leverage CAC to demand prohibitively costly rebel governance, deterring rebel control. The article tests the theory in the context of the communist insurgency in the Philippines, using military intelligence reports from 2011-2014 to measure village-level communist insurgent territorial control and a household-level census (2008-2010) to measure village CAC. Interviews with village elders in Eastern Mindanao illustrate causal mechanisms and explore alternative explanations.

Проблемы интеграции процедур предоставления государственных услуг и юридического оформления частных отношений

Проблемы интеграции процедур предоставления государственных услуг и юридического оформления частных отношений

Europeanization in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Despite the European Union’s prior success promoting marketization and democracy in post-communist countries, Bosnia and Herzegovina may prove a unique challenge due to the incentives embedded in its governance structure. This article examines how the EU shifted strategy in response to these challenges through the example of BiH’s dairy industry. By de-emphasizing explicit leverage and instead promoting increased institutional capacity in discrete sectors, the EU sought to inculcate norms of professionalism and create more coherent top-to-bottom state service provision, which over time could help reduce resistance to the more fundamental constitutional changes that likely will be necessary for EU membership.

Development of the budgetary expenditures planning system in Ukraine

The subject of the study is the theoretical and practical issues of the development of the budget planning system in Ukraine. The purpose of the study is to reveal the theoretical and methodological principles of planning budget expenditures as a tool for influencing the social development of the country. Research methods. The paper uses a set of scientific methods and approaches, including systematic, structural, comparative, factor methods, which allowed to realize the conceptual unity of the research. Results of work. The economic essence of budget expenditures is disclosed. Peculiarities of formation of budget expenditures in conditions of economy transformation are analyzed. It has been determined that the use of budget expenditures as a tool for regulation of socio-economic development of the country has certain features during the period of transformational changes in the economy, its structural adjustment, which consists in ensuring the macroeconomic equilibrium, creating a favorable financial and economic environment for the development of market relations, support of strategic sectors of the economy, including those aimed at domestic consumption. The main objective of strengthening the qualitative level of budget expenditure planning is to ensure long-term macroeconomic and social stability in the state. At the present time, it is important to deepen the theoretical and methodological principles of forming budget expenditures as a component of the regulatory mechanism of financial policy of the country, which will enable to strengthen the relationship of financial regulation with the dynamics of socio-economic development. The field of application of the results of work. Budget. Budgetary regulation of social development. Budget expenditures. Conclusions. Financial resources of the budget influence economic growth, structural transformations in the branches of economy, equalization of regional disproportions, development of human capital and increase of a high level of social protection of the population. During the years of Ukraine's emergence as an independent state, the underlying foundations and corresponding mechanisms for functioning of a sufficiently effective system of forming budget expenditures as one of the conditions for conducting a consistent fiscal policy aimed at economic growth have been formed. The budget process, depending on the changes in internal and external economic factors, the development of financial and economic relations, the increase of the quality requirements, the provision of state services of public services inherent permanent adaptation mechanisms that affect the need to improve the management of budget resources, which will provide the opportunity to ensure the effectiveness of economic transformations, sustainability budgetary system, increase the quality of budget planning and forecasting, and the efficiency of using budget funds. It is advisable to further strengthen systemicity and consistency in the implementation of state policy in the area of budget expenditures planning, to determine the optimal structure and content of budget programs, their correspondence to indicators of development of economic sectors in the short and medium term and directions of social and economic development of the country.