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Fluid paths to the cabinet in federal presidential systems: Argentina 1983–2020
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Book review: Rup Kumar Barman, The Raidak: A Transnational River from Bhutan to Bangladesh Through India
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
Rup Kumar Barman, The Raidak: A Transnational River from Bhutan to Bangladesh Through India. Mittal Publications, 2021, 126 pp., ₹600 (Hard Bound).
Rup Kumar Barman, The Raidak: A Transnational River from Bhutan to Bangladesh Through India. Mittal Publications, 2021, 126 pp., ₹600 (Hard Bound).
The Courage to Face COVID-19: Preventing Hospitalization and Death While Battling the Bio-Pharmaceutical Complex
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Common sense justice? Comparing populist and mainstream right positions on law and order in 24 countries
Party Politics, Ahead of Print.
While the subject of populism receives increasing scholarly attention from both political scientists and criminologists, so far these two bodies of literature have existed mostly in isolation of each other. This paper aims to connect them by investigating whether parties that political scientists describe as populist are likely to evince positions on criminal justice that criminologists describe as populist. Relying on a secondary data analysis comparing mainstream right-wing and populist right-wing parties for 131 elections in 24 countries since 1973, this paper concludes that the populist right on average expresses slightly more support for penal populism than the mainstream right, but that its positioning is crucially shaped by considerations relating to issues of immigration and multiculturalism. These findings suggest that most contemporary populist parties on the right primarily pursue a nativist agenda and will only invoke penal populism when it fits this overall strategy.
While the subject of populism receives increasing scholarly attention from both political scientists and criminologists, so far these two bodies of literature have existed mostly in isolation of each other. This paper aims to connect them by investigating whether parties that political scientists describe as populist are likely to evince positions on criminal justice that criminologists describe as populist. Relying on a secondary data analysis comparing mainstream right-wing and populist right-wing parties for 131 elections in 24 countries since 1973, this paper concludes that the populist right on average expresses slightly more support for penal populism than the mainstream right, but that its positioning is crucially shaped by considerations relating to issues of immigration and multiculturalism. These findings suggest that most contemporary populist parties on the right primarily pursue a nativist agenda and will only invoke penal populism when it fits this overall strategy.
Local governments’ communication on social media platforms: refining and assessing patterns of adoption in Belgium
International Review of Administrative Sciences, Ahead of Print.
This article relies on the literature on technology adoption and empirical studies on social media adoption in the public sector to analyze the case of Belgian municipalities. Our objective is threefold as we aim to: (a) provide a new approach to assess the adoption of social media platforms by governments, (b) describe the current situation in Belgium through the concept of “active adoption” and (c) determine the main factors that relate to the uptake of Facebook in Belgian municipalities over 10,000 inhabitants. To achieve these objectives, we used software to retrieve quantitative data regarding Facebook adoption and institutionalization. Our results reveal that municipality size, median age and longevity on the platform are positively associated with the adoption of Facebook. In contrast, median income is, surprisingly, negatively associated with several dimensions of active adoption. These findings contribute to the literature on the factors related to social media use. In addition, the new ways of uncovering social media adoption and institutionalization patterns provide a solid conceptual approach for future research. For practitioners, our study provides municipalities with a better assessment framework and offers them a new model to evaluate social media adoption, underlining the fundamental difference between registration and “active adoption”.Points for practitionersThis article provides a new approach to assess social media adoption and institutionalization patterns in public organizations. It offers a framework to evaluate social media adoption, underlining the fundamental difference between registration and ‘active adoption’. It also identifies the main factors that relate to the uptake of Facebook in Belgian municipalities over 10,000 inhabitants: population size, median age, median income and social media-related variables – that is, activity on Twitter and Instagram – as well as longevity on the platform.
This article relies on the literature on technology adoption and empirical studies on social media adoption in the public sector to analyze the case of Belgian municipalities. Our objective is threefold as we aim to: (a) provide a new approach to assess the adoption of social media platforms by governments, (b) describe the current situation in Belgium through the concept of “active adoption” and (c) determine the main factors that relate to the uptake of Facebook in Belgian municipalities over 10,000 inhabitants. To achieve these objectives, we used software to retrieve quantitative data regarding Facebook adoption and institutionalization. Our results reveal that municipality size, median age and longevity on the platform are positively associated with the adoption of Facebook. In contrast, median income is, surprisingly, negatively associated with several dimensions of active adoption. These findings contribute to the literature on the factors related to social media use. In addition, the new ways of uncovering social media adoption and institutionalization patterns provide a solid conceptual approach for future research. For practitioners, our study provides municipalities with a better assessment framework and offers them a new model to evaluate social media adoption, underlining the fundamental difference between registration and “active adoption”.Points for practitionersThis article provides a new approach to assess social media adoption and institutionalization patterns in public organizations. It offers a framework to evaluate social media adoption, underlining the fundamental difference between registration and ‘active adoption’. It also identifies the main factors that relate to the uptake of Facebook in Belgian municipalities over 10,000 inhabitants: population size, median age, median income and social media-related variables – that is, activity on Twitter and Instagram – as well as longevity on the platform.
The control of the policy advice industry: how patrons defer their decision-rights to think tank boards
International Review of Administrative Sciences, Volume 89, Issue 3, Page 808-824, September 2023.
Patrons of think tanks—for example, governments, corporations, philanthropists, NGOs, and so forth—may control think tanks’ boards, that is, their highest decision-making body. Whether patrons are likely to control boards is a question that remains under-explored and under-theorised in public administration and governance scholarship. It is posited that patrons are likely to control boards when the marginal benefit of partaking in decision-making does not exceed the cost of information transfer. The comparative examination of International Relations think tanks’ statutes shows that patron control is substantial. However, patronage does not always guarantee board control. Patron control is moderated by the nature of the transaction. The conclusion assesses patron control concerning decision-making processes in the think tank and the idiosyncratic character of policy advice.Points for practitionersPractitioners can assess events of goal displacement in think tanks by learning about mechanisms that facilitate or hinder patron control over think tanks. Laying out the conditions under which patrons exercise control, the latter turns out to be substantial despite not all patrons having control over think tank boards. Patron control is shown to depend on the position of stakeholders in the decision-making chain and the nonlinear relation between effort and influence in policy advice.
Patrons of think tanks—for example, governments, corporations, philanthropists, NGOs, and so forth—may control think tanks’ boards, that is, their highest decision-making body. Whether patrons are likely to control boards is a question that remains under-explored and under-theorised in public administration and governance scholarship. It is posited that patrons are likely to control boards when the marginal benefit of partaking in decision-making does not exceed the cost of information transfer. The comparative examination of International Relations think tanks’ statutes shows that patron control is substantial. However, patronage does not always guarantee board control. Patron control is moderated by the nature of the transaction. The conclusion assesses patron control concerning decision-making processes in the think tank and the idiosyncratic character of policy advice.Points for practitionersPractitioners can assess events of goal displacement in think tanks by learning about mechanisms that facilitate or hinder patron control over think tanks. Laying out the conditions under which patrons exercise control, the latter turns out to be substantial despite not all patrons having control over think tank boards. Patron control is shown to depend on the position of stakeholders in the decision-making chain and the nonlinear relation between effort and influence in policy advice.
Co-production before, during, and after the first COVID-19 lockdown: The case of developmental services for youth with disabilities
International Review of Administrative Sciences, Volume 89, Issue 3, Page 864-882, September 2023.
Co-production was vital to support public services provision during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic, and one of the main challenges for service providers is to make co-production sustainable. There are few empirical studies on the sustainability of co-production from a long-term perspective. This study aims to contribute to this topic by exploring the micro-level foundations of co-production persistence through a longitudinal qualitative study in three public service organizations providing developmental services for youth with disabilities. Co-production is analyzed along the service provision process before, during and after the first COVID-19 lockdown, with specific attention on exploring how the conditions for sustainable co-production – mutual commitment, complementarities and institutional arrangements – occur and reinforce one another after an external shock. The findings suggest that the persistence of co-production is a result of a process in which experimentation with new complementarities can enhance previous co-production experiences and generate a context of mutual commitment that facilitates future co-production initiatives and their institutionalization.Points for practitionersThis article suggests how service providers can activate a potential virtuous cycle of co-production by increasing the opportunities that foster and sustain users and families' self-efficacy and reciprocal trust, and the contributions from wider social support networks of the most vulnerable people.
Co-production was vital to support public services provision during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic, and one of the main challenges for service providers is to make co-production sustainable. There are few empirical studies on the sustainability of co-production from a long-term perspective. This study aims to contribute to this topic by exploring the micro-level foundations of co-production persistence through a longitudinal qualitative study in three public service organizations providing developmental services for youth with disabilities. Co-production is analyzed along the service provision process before, during and after the first COVID-19 lockdown, with specific attention on exploring how the conditions for sustainable co-production – mutual commitment, complementarities and institutional arrangements – occur and reinforce one another after an external shock. The findings suggest that the persistence of co-production is a result of a process in which experimentation with new complementarities can enhance previous co-production experiences and generate a context of mutual commitment that facilitates future co-production initiatives and their institutionalization.Points for practitionersThis article suggests how service providers can activate a potential virtuous cycle of co-production by increasing the opportunities that foster and sustain users and families' self-efficacy and reciprocal trust, and the contributions from wider social support networks of the most vulnerable people.
Walking with Foucault in Gaza
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Corruption risk analysis in local public procurement: a look at the Àrea Metropolitana de Barcelona
International Review of Administrative Sciences, Volume 89, Issue 3, Page 919-934, September 2023.
Over the past years, the anti-corruption strategy in public administrations has been shifting from a formal way of control towards a risk management and assessment one. However, it is not clear whether these legal reforms at EU and at national level are reaching local institutions. The study evaluates the degree of compliance of the Greater Metropolitan Area of Barcelona by analysing a set of indicators divided into five main areas: codes of ethics, oversight bodies, transparency, conflicts of interests, and whistleblowing channels and protection. The results show that, even if there are also positive outcomes, the process of transforming the public administration and its contracting bodies towards a culture of integrity or risk management is still far from complete at local levels, and there are still institutional and normative shortcomings in terms of anti-corruption strategy and planning that should be promptly addressed.Points for practitionersThis article explores the impact of the current anti-corruption legislation on local governments and public bodies. It analyses the state of development of four key public procurement areas of action within the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona, gathering 170 entities of different legal nature and size. The results show that the impact of European and national legislations seems to be still weak in local administrative structures, although the degree of development varies significantly among different types of entities.
Over the past years, the anti-corruption strategy in public administrations has been shifting from a formal way of control towards a risk management and assessment one. However, it is not clear whether these legal reforms at EU and at national level are reaching local institutions. The study evaluates the degree of compliance of the Greater Metropolitan Area of Barcelona by analysing a set of indicators divided into five main areas: codes of ethics, oversight bodies, transparency, conflicts of interests, and whistleblowing channels and protection. The results show that, even if there are also positive outcomes, the process of transforming the public administration and its contracting bodies towards a culture of integrity or risk management is still far from complete at local levels, and there are still institutional and normative shortcomings in terms of anti-corruption strategy and planning that should be promptly addressed.Points for practitionersThis article explores the impact of the current anti-corruption legislation on local governments and public bodies. It analyses the state of development of four key public procurement areas of action within the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona, gathering 170 entities of different legal nature and size. The results show that the impact of European and national legislations seems to be still weak in local administrative structures, although the degree of development varies significantly among different types of entities.