International Public Management Review
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Samvirke – the core concept of Norwegian search and rescue services – as seen by voluntary organizations
No full textThe core concept of the search and rescue services is in Norwegian language described with the term samvirke, often translated into English by cooperation. In this article we will explore if samvirke is more than usually meant by cooperation. Empirical material from interviews with representatives for voluntary organizations engaged in search and rescue is analyzed on basis of Sennett’s theories on the social triangle (earned authority, mutual respect, cooperation) and craftsmanship. The findings suggest that the social triangle may explain the working elements of samvirke in the Norwegian search and rescue services. They may be summed up by the need to have confidence with each other and not least between voluntary and public efforts. When trying to gain increased interest, especially among young people for engaging as volunteers, it might be of value to build future strategies upon Sennett’s theories on craftsmanship. Samvirke appears to be more than just cross-institutional cooperation in crises. A prerequisite is that voluntary organizations are regarded as competent providers of relevant craftsmanship. Samvirke is not a principle that can be chosen by decision. It has to be established through processes in real life. Samvirke is organization, work and ideology, thus more than cooperation or coordination
Democratic innovation: the case of Milan’s Area C
Full text linkCan an innovation in public sector be also respectful of the will of the citizens? While public managers are asked by NPM-led reforms to become more entrepreneurial and risk-takers, several scholars are concerned with the discretionary power awarded to managers being detrimental to democracy.This paper investigates the case of Area C in the city of Milan, an innovation in transport policy, through both a document analysis and interviews conducted with top managers involved in the innovation design and implementation and politicians adopting the «Harvard Kennedy School’s Innovations in Government Award Programs Semi-finalists’ Questionnaire» as a frame of reference.Results show that innovation is achieving relevant results in reducing both pollution and traffic congestion while increasing the average speed of public transport. Such achievements have been reached through a long process of consensus building, started including such policies in the electoral program, and persuading citizens about the necessity and usefulness of the initiative. Difficulties regard the necessity of a continuous involvement of citizens and the oppositions of some economic associations worried that Area C could damage their own businesses
Coordination and regulation in crisis management. Response of the health sector to disasters. The case of the 2017 earthquake in Mexico City
Full text linkThe present article analyzes actions carried out by different organizations of the Mexican public health sector to manage the crisis caused by an earthquake in Mexico City. The investigation is focused on the way in which coordination and regulation instruments were used by the health care system in the city affected the legitimacy and ability of the government to cope with the crisis. Our approach assumes that the political and administrative infrastructure has affected decision-making processes in public health care organizations, as well as the types and characteristics of organizations in charge of managing crises. The article uses a case study narrative, and the analysis was mainly based on semi-structured interviews with health sector officials from all organizational levels and in the review of public documents, regulatory instruments such as local and federal laws and internal regulations on the functioning of Mexican health care sector organizations. Different types of coordination and regulation associated with different epistemic communities were observed, as well as the existence of formal protocols and instruments for crises management, which nevertheless operate in fragmented and complex systems
Climate adaptation and preparedness: small-scale wickedness as a third order effect influencing governance capacity in municipalities and state agencies in western Norway
No full textClimate change poses a series of risks and hazards that fall within the responsibilities of public sector organizations. Climate adaptation and preparedness for climate-related events creates pressures for these organizations to handle complex, fragmented, divergent and uncertain problems that are more locally oriented than what is typically considered as the main wickedness of climate change-related action. In this article, two questions are raised: whether there may be a particular form of small-scale wickedness associated with climate adaptation and preparedness, and what the issues this would raise for governance capacity. By investigating six cases where Norwegian local, regional and national public organizations interact, the article suggests that there is indeed a certain small-scale wickedness in the context of local climate adaptation and preparedness. This wickedness intertwines with organizational factors relating to coordination and interconnectivity across levels and actors. This may contribute to an ‘amplification’ of the wicked characteristics of local climate adaptation and preparedness issues. Although important elements of this wickedness rests with climate change as such, the presence of third order effects are displayed in increasing complexity, fragmentation, uncertainty and divergence. These wicked aspects are arguably barriers to establishing, sustaining and increasing governance capacity
Decisions in crisis: Heuristics in policy transfer under uncertainty
No full textThis paper looks into decision-making processes in the course of a crisis. In particular, it looks into how governments decide and use heuristics during crisis management, in order to transfer policies, as an attempt to reinforce or regain their legitimacy in unsettled times. It aims to understand how two institutional features, one intrinsic–problem uncertainty– and one extrinsic –ambiguity at the international level– affect decision-making. It develops a typology of policy transfer under these two dimensions.It examines the case of disappearances in Mexico, where Congress issued national legislation in a crisis generated after the disappearance of 43 students in 2014. The Law on Disappeared was a result of an explicit attempt to transfer international guidelines.Results show that, as long as the degree of uncertainty surrounding the problem is low, heuristics change according the degree of ambiguity at the international level: when they are clear, tallying occurs, while when they are ambiguous, one-reason heuristics would favor binding instrument.Furthermore, findings also point towards a nuanced understanding on the effect of a high degree of problem uncertainty on policy transfer. The research is relevant for understanding how, in crisis, decisions adapt based on context
Performance-based Financing and Strengthening Health Governance in the Fragile State of the Democratic Republic of Congo
Full text linkThis article explores the outcomes of performance-based financing for strengthening the health system in the context of state-building in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It focuses specifically on health system governance, which plays a pivotal role in the process of building the health system. Based on long-term qualitative field research, it examines the effectiveness of PBF in three areas of health system governance: structural governance from a capacity-building perspective, health service-provision management and demand-side empowerment for effective accountability. In general, the study found that PBF has positively impacted the process of health system-building in these three areas. Although much is still lacking, health governance and the provision of services improved, while patient-centered care and social accountability strengthened the provider–patient relationship. However, donors, state officials and other stakeholders doubted their sustainability. In addition to structural threats related to state fragility and uncertain sustainability, transforming transactional motivation into transformational change is a challenge. Ultimately, PBF supports state-building in the health sector, but it cannot repair a collapsed state
Innovation in financial governance reforms: for better or for worse?
Full text linkThe global financial crisis has put public budgets throughout the European Union under severe pressure. Government responses to the financial crisis have mainly focused on cutbacks to balance the budget. In this paper, we focus on a specific case of innovation in financial governance in Italy that aimed to minimize the severe effects of financial constraints on local government, while managing deficit control goals at the central level. The regulatory innovation consisted in a system of agreements between levels of government based on the ability to exchange fiscal deficit permits. While this system keeps the aggregate government-wide deficit unchanged, it allows individual local governments to deviate from their initial fiscal balance targets by obtaining deficit permits from governments that have a surplus. This paper critically analyzes this innovation from three perspectives: the governance model inherent to this mechanism, the new financial management practices emerging at the local level, and the effectiveness of the mechanism with regard to declared goals and objectives. Findings from this study show that a critical element limiting innovation in fiscal governance seems to be connected to the simplistic observation that the overall budgetary position of the country’s government results from the algebraic sum of all individual government bodies’ financial results. At the core of this understanding are collateral effects that occur when local priorities are distorted by the need to achieve detached fiscal targets set in a top-down manner by the central government, as exemplified by the unexpected investment crunch in Italy induced by fiscal targets calculated on a mixed accrual-cash basis.Keywords– innovation, governance, local government, deficit control, austerity, financial managemen
Public Administration and the MBA Crossover: what is the case for more socialisation?
Full text linkThis article sets Masters in Public Administration in the complex context that such executive education is delivered today. It discusses sector blurring, skills capacity building needed as the economy and organisations move away from the old ‘industrial mindset’ and the new mission of social enterprise shared with MBAs. It demonstrates that executive education today needs to develop an ‘open mindset’ and related skills of creativity, leadership and innovation. The article makes the case for greater strategic socialisation between MPAs and Masters in Business Administration which it argues can benefit students from the commercial sector, public service organisations and everything in between.