International Review of Administrative Sciences, Volume 89, Issue 3, Page 703-721, September 2023.
The prevalence of top-heavy bureaucracies in non-democracies cannot be explained by the theories of Parkinson, Tullock, Niskanen, or Simon or by classical managerial theories. When bureaucracy positions carry rents, the competition for promotion becomes a rent-seeking process. Borrowing the career-tournament theory framework from managerial scholarship, we argue that top-heavy bureaucracy resembles a tournament with too many finalists. When rent is centralized at the top (i.e. power centralization), as is the case in many non-democracies, the optimal bureaucracy should be top-heavy, accommodating and encouraging relatively more finalists at the top to compete for the final big prize. We provide suggestive evidence by analyzing ministry organizations in China (1993–2014) and Russia (2002–2015). After some fluctuations, the shape of Russian ministries eventually converged with that of China. In the steady state, their ministry shapes are far more top-heavy than what is prescribed by managerial theories. At the micro-level, ministry power centralization, measured by the perceived influence of the ministers, is correlated with ministry top-heaviness in Russia.Points for practitionersOur theory suggests that a top-heavy authoritarian bureaucratic structure naturally follows from a back-loaded sequential career tournament and an effort-maximizing bureaucratic leader. Our findings also suggest that Chinese and Russian ministries both converge to a highly top-heavy structure in the long run. We demonstrate that the top-heavy structure first arose during the planned-economy experiment in the Soviet Union. Our research sheds new light on public-sector reforms that aim to reduce bureaucracy top-heaviness in autocracies.
A transformative change through a coordination process and a steering agency. The case of the financial information system of the French central state
International Review of Administrative Sciences, Volume 89, Issue 3, Page 775-790, September 2023.
Recent scholarship has focused on how coordination mechanisms are implemented by public sector organizations, thereby paying attention to coordination as a process. This article studies the coordination process that resulted in the implementation of the interministerial financial information system of the French central state—named Chorus. Chorus is a case of an unlikely coordination process rolled out in the non-conducive context of the French Napoleonic Administration. Chorus aimed at connecting all ministries’ administrative services to a shared information system, while ministries were previously using their own systems and applications. Based on the literature on mechanisms of coordination, and focusing on the role of existing institutions and the actors involved in the coordination process, the analysis has two main results. First, AIFE—“Agence pour l’informatique financière de l’État”, the agency in charge of the implementation of Chorus—steered the process by developing a stepwise network-based interministerial strategy. Second, the coordination steered by AIFE resulted in a transformative change of the French state's financial and accounting structures through a layering process of change. Thereby, the article contributes to the empirical analysis of public administrations’ recent changes toward increased coordination at the central level by studying recent reforms in France and their outcomes. Points for practitionersThis article shows that coordination processes within public sector organizations are context sensitive and depend on the behavior of the “agents of change” in charge of these processes. In contexts that are non-conducive to transformative change (e.g. siloed structures, presence of veto players), the set-up of agile, resourceful and autonomous change agents is key. When veto players may oppose structural change, the article suggests setting up network-based coordination processes aiming at incremental evolutions inducing transformative change.
Recent scholarship has focused on how coordination mechanisms are implemented by public sector organizations, thereby paying attention to coordination as a process. This article studies the coordination process that resulted in the implementation of the interministerial financial information system of the French central state—named Chorus. Chorus is a case of an unlikely coordination process rolled out in the non-conducive context of the French Napoleonic Administration. Chorus aimed at connecting all ministries’ administrative services to a shared information system, while ministries were previously using their own systems and applications. Based on the literature on mechanisms of coordination, and focusing on the role of existing institutions and the actors involved in the coordination process, the analysis has two main results. First, AIFE—“Agence pour l’informatique financière de l’État”, the agency in charge of the implementation of Chorus—steered the process by developing a stepwise network-based interministerial strategy. Second, the coordination steered by AIFE resulted in a transformative change of the French state's financial and accounting structures through a layering process of change. Thereby, the article contributes to the empirical analysis of public administrations’ recent changes toward increased coordination at the central level by studying recent reforms in France and their outcomes. Points for practitionersThis article shows that coordination processes within public sector organizations are context sensitive and depend on the behavior of the “agents of change” in charge of these processes. In contexts that are non-conducive to transformative change (e.g. siloed structures, presence of veto players), the set-up of agile, resourceful and autonomous change agents is key. When veto players may oppose structural change, the article suggests setting up network-based coordination processes aiming at incremental evolutions inducing transformative change.
Indigenous rethinking challenging White academic privilege
Public service-oriented work motives across Europe: A cross-country, multi-level investigation
International Review of Administrative Sciences, Volume 89, Issue 3, Page 667-684, September 2023.
This article disentangles the country-specific institutional system at the macro level from individual-level attraction and socialization in measuring public service-oriented work motives across European countries through public–private sector comparisons. We argue that country-specific institutions shape the level of public service-oriented work motives of each country and thereby generate level differences across countries. In contrast, public–private sector differences, (i.e. gaps), in public service-oriented work motives within a country reflect aspects of individual-level attraction and socialization. We use the 2005 and 2010 waves of the European Working Conditions Survey and demonstrate that the levels and gaps are empirically distinct phenomena, contrary to current treatment in the literature. We conclude that the distinction between levels and gaps can advance understanding of the antecedents of public service-oriented work motives and support the institutional theory of public service-oriented work motives.Points for practitionersThis article argues and provides evidence for the fact that levels of work motives oriented towards public service that are visible in a cross-country comparison should not be confused with the gap of such work motives inside one country. This distinction is important because in countries where gaps between the sectors are almost non-existent and levels are generally high, interventions geared towards public service-oriented work motives are less likely to be effective.
This article disentangles the country-specific institutional system at the macro level from individual-level attraction and socialization in measuring public service-oriented work motives across European countries through public–private sector comparisons. We argue that country-specific institutions shape the level of public service-oriented work motives of each country and thereby generate level differences across countries. In contrast, public–private sector differences, (i.e. gaps), in public service-oriented work motives within a country reflect aspects of individual-level attraction and socialization. We use the 2005 and 2010 waves of the European Working Conditions Survey and demonstrate that the levels and gaps are empirically distinct phenomena, contrary to current treatment in the literature. We conclude that the distinction between levels and gaps can advance understanding of the antecedents of public service-oriented work motives and support the institutional theory of public service-oriented work motives.Points for practitionersThis article argues and provides evidence for the fact that levels of work motives oriented towards public service that are visible in a cross-country comparison should not be confused with the gap of such work motives inside one country. This distinction is important because in countries where gaps between the sectors are almost non-existent and levels are generally high, interventions geared towards public service-oriented work motives are less likely to be effective.
Oppressed Within the Oppressed: The Patriarchal Hegemonic Discourse of Colourism on Dalit Women in Shahjadpur, Sirajganj, Bangladesh
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
The biggest victims of colourism in Bangladesh are girls, who are victims of colour-based violence and suffer from a dark-black complexion. In general, Bangalee society is a dominating patriarchal society, which has been established through a hegemonic discourse. This study explores how and in what process this racist discourse has started in the society. Therefore, being born with only a black complexion, a family deals with long-term psychological problems. In addition to the so-called mainstream social system in Bangladesh, a detached and marginalized group living in Bangladesh is known as Dalits. They are primarily a neglected community, isolated from the mainstream. Among them, the condition of Dalit women is much more deplorable. Dark complexion women are experiencing the most exploitation, deprivation and neglect. The Dalit women are ‘Oppressed within the Oppressed’—they are forced to live a cursed life through a dark-black complexion from birth. This study focuses on how masculine authoritarian behaviours dominate the dark-black face of the Dalit girls in Bangladesh. A random sample-based interview has been conducted on Dalit people of Shahjadpur in the Sirajganj district to explore what kind of mechanism exploits the girls and how the literal meaning of ‘beauty’ is established in society.
The biggest victims of colourism in Bangladesh are girls, who are victims of colour-based violence and suffer from a dark-black complexion. In general, Bangalee society is a dominating patriarchal society, which has been established through a hegemonic discourse. This study explores how and in what process this racist discourse has started in the society. Therefore, being born with only a black complexion, a family deals with long-term psychological problems. In addition to the so-called mainstream social system in Bangladesh, a detached and marginalized group living in Bangladesh is known as Dalits. They are primarily a neglected community, isolated from the mainstream. Among them, the condition of Dalit women is much more deplorable. Dark complexion women are experiencing the most exploitation, deprivation and neglect. The Dalit women are ‘Oppressed within the Oppressed’—they are forced to live a cursed life through a dark-black complexion from birth. This study focuses on how masculine authoritarian behaviours dominate the dark-black face of the Dalit girls in Bangladesh. A random sample-based interview has been conducted on Dalit people of Shahjadpur in the Sirajganj district to explore what kind of mechanism exploits the girls and how the literal meaning of ‘beauty’ is established in society.
Federalism in post-conflict Somalia: A critical review of its reception and governance challenges
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Federalism in post-conflict Somalia: A critical review of its reception and governance challenges
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Destroying and Recreating Myths: A Subversive Response to Caste Ideology
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
Centred on a famous canonical Hindi fiction by Munshi Premchand (1880–1936), Godān (1936), which means ‘a gift of a cow’ and on contemporary Dalit fiction by Roop Narain Sonkar, Sūardān (2010), which means ‘a gift of a pig’, the present article discusses how the hegemonic Indian myths are destroyed and recreated as a subversive response to caste ideology. Godān, which can have a parallel to a popular Hindu myth of a ritual of gifting a cow which, as it is believed, guarantees moka (salvation) after mtyu (death), is condemned by Sūardān, which, in its turn, backs its assault by presenting a parallel myth of pig. Thus, the present article illustrates how the canonical literary texts are revisionized and re-appropriated by the vidrh writers using adaption techniques similar to the postcolonial strategies of ‘writing back’.
Centred on a famous canonical Hindi fiction by Munshi Premchand (1880–1936), Godān (1936), which means ‘a gift of a cow’ and on contemporary Dalit fiction by Roop Narain Sonkar, Sūardān (2010), which means ‘a gift of a pig’, the present article discusses how the hegemonic Indian myths are destroyed and recreated as a subversive response to caste ideology. Godān, which can have a parallel to a popular Hindu myth of a ritual of gifting a cow which, as it is believed, guarantees moka (salvation) after mtyu (death), is condemned by Sūardān, which, in its turn, backs its assault by presenting a parallel myth of pig. Thus, the present article illustrates how the canonical literary texts are revisionized and re-appropriated by the vidrh writers using adaption techniques similar to the postcolonial strategies of ‘writing back’.
The Legal Defect in the Conditional Prohibition of Manual Scavenging in India
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
This article problematizes the definitional discourse of manual scavenging in Indian legislative interven-tions and its judicial treatment by the Supreme Court of India. It assesses the evolution of the definition of manual scavenging and the judicial treatment of it to cull out the insufficiency of legal doctrines and judicial interpretations in its elimination. It is argued that the career of legal prohibition of manual scavenging, despite deploying new measures to promote the elimination and rehabilitation, is antithetical to the very objectives of the legislations due to a paradoxical definitional discourse. The paradox is discerned by problema-tizing the condition-based permissibility of manual scavenging, where the usage of protective gear is the excluding criterion for identifying manual scavengers and perpetuates the practice. This condition-based permissibility has been a key burden on the discourse of elimination, as no such measures, it is argued, can mitigate discrimination, humiliation and stigma faced by manual scavengers. After identifying the conditional prohibition of manual scavenging, the article makes normative suggestions towards the adoption of a non-condition–based complete prohibition approach rooted in the understanding of human dignity. This must be complemented with the complete rehabilitation of individuals and complete mechanization of sewage work.
This article problematizes the definitional discourse of manual scavenging in Indian legislative interven-tions and its judicial treatment by the Supreme Court of India. It assesses the evolution of the definition of manual scavenging and the judicial treatment of it to cull out the insufficiency of legal doctrines and judicial interpretations in its elimination. It is argued that the career of legal prohibition of manual scavenging, despite deploying new measures to promote the elimination and rehabilitation, is antithetical to the very objectives of the legislations due to a paradoxical definitional discourse. The paradox is discerned by problema-tizing the condition-based permissibility of manual scavenging, where the usage of protective gear is the excluding criterion for identifying manual scavengers and perpetuates the practice. This condition-based permissibility has been a key burden on the discourse of elimination, as no such measures, it is argued, can mitigate discrimination, humiliation and stigma faced by manual scavengers. After identifying the conditional prohibition of manual scavenging, the article makes normative suggestions towards the adoption of a non-condition–based complete prohibition approach rooted in the understanding of human dignity. This must be complemented with the complete rehabilitation of individuals and complete mechanization of sewage work.
Geeli Pucchi: An Account of the Inheritance of Trauma and the Desire of an Untouchable: A Critical Film Review
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
The piece is a critical review of a part of a contemporary anthology. The film is written and directed by a contemporary Dalit filmmaker. The author discusses the portrayal of caste in the film while deconstructing the identity of both the protagonist and the antagonist, discusses their traumas and caste locations. The author further discusses how being Dalit, a woman and bearing an identity other than that of being heterosexual is a lethal combination in both rural and urban India even today. The author brings focus on caste and the power structures prevalent today and how they change the experience of love, intimacy and sexuality, how the bodies of Dalit folks are undesirable and continue to remain untouchable.
The piece is a critical review of a part of a contemporary anthology. The film is written and directed by a contemporary Dalit filmmaker. The author discusses the portrayal of caste in the film while deconstructing the identity of both the protagonist and the antagonist, discusses their traumas and caste locations. The author further discusses how being Dalit, a woman and bearing an identity other than that of being heterosexual is a lethal combination in both rural and urban India even today. The author brings focus on caste and the power structures prevalent today and how they change the experience of love, intimacy and sexuality, how the bodies of Dalit folks are undesirable and continue to remain untouchable.