Overcoming Neutrality in Bureaucratic Systems

Professor Hongtao Yi talks with Dr. Sebastian Shulz of the University of Technology of Compiègne, Compiègne, France, about bureaucratic entrepreneurs, hybrid digital commons and public administration institutions.  To explore the democratizing potential of commonization, which Dr. Shulz defines as the integration of shared property, peer production, and self-governance in public administration, he engages interviews and online observations in France and Spain to identify five factors that enhance, and two that hinder, citizen power in co-governance arrangements. His work spotlights the theoretical and practical implications of commonizing digital public goods and services.To learn more about this article: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/puar.13795

In this episode, Professor Jos Raadschelders holds a thought-provoking conversation with Edwin O. Stene Distinguished Professor Chris Koliba of the University of Kansas about liberal democratic accountability standards and public administration.  Professor Koliba draws on past and present political and legal philosophies of liberalism and democracy to define a set of accountability standards and then relates these standards to conceptions of the politics-administration dichotomy, citizen engagement and network governance.  He calls for using these standards to assess democratic backsliding and as foundational for defending democratic institutions under fire globally.To learn more, you can read the full article here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/puar.13831.

In this episode, Prof. Katherine Willoughby asks Professors Whitney Afonso and Kimberly Nelson of the School of Government at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill to dive into their study of the relationship between form of government and corruption in U.S. localities.  The professors use propensity score matching and other scoring methods to drown out the noise, generating strong proof that the council–manager form of local government reduces the risk of corruption. Their results support the professionalism–performance model of governance.To learn more, you can read the full article here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/puar.13737.

In this episode, Prof. Hongtao Yi, Editor of Public Administration Review, speaks with Dr. Ulrik Roehl, PostDoc in the Copenhagen Business School in Frederiksberg, Denmark, about his latest research article, "Automated, administrative decision-making and good governance: Synergies, trade-offs, and limits." Dr. Roehl has parlayed his significant managerial experience in Danish local and national digital government into scholarship, joining the academia in 2018.

The third issue of Public Administration Review in 2024 includes work by senior scholars, Kutsal Yesilkagit (Leiden University, The Netherlands), Michael Bauer (European University Institute, Italy), Guy Peters (University of Pittsburgh, USA), and Jon Pierre (University of Gothenburg, Sweden). In this podcast, Peters, Pierre, and Yesilkagit discuss modern liberal democracy, its vulnerabilities, and the gradual erosion of democratic institutions. To protect liberal democracy, they propose a Guardian State that embraces liberal principles while defending against illiberal tendencies. They emphasize that structural measures at the individual and organizational levels are essential to fortify foundations of the State to protect liberal democracy against evolving threats. The scholars argue that bureaucracy plays a critical role in preserving the core principles of democracy.

The first issue of Public Administration Review in 2024 includes work by early career scholars, Karen Sweeting (University of Rhode Island, USA) and Brittany "Brie" Haupt (Virginia Commonwealth University, USA).  In this podcast, the two discuss their research about the negative implications of neutrality in bureaucratic systems and public service. They explain neutrality as an organizational barrier that hinders centering the human experience and ensuring equity in outcomes. They propose an action-oriented, learning-focused approach to raise the consciousness of those in public service. 

In this episode, Prof. Jos Raadschelders, Editor-in-Chief of Public Administration Review, speaks with Prof. Don S. Lee from Sungkyunkwan University about his latest research article, "Bureaucratic Professionalization and Cabinet Management: How Civil Servants in Presidential Democracies Are Treated Differently."Prof. Lee’s research examines how bureaucratic professionalization influences presidential strategies for appointing and managing cabinet members. Using evidence from four Asian democ...