an article by
Howard James Elcock (Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne) published in Public Policy and Administration Volume 29 Number 3 (July 2014)
Abstract
The ancient Greek philosophers taught us many of the desirable features of government, but since 1979 we have lost sight of most of them. We now have a restricted view of citizenship, a defective view of the public interest, a diluted public service ethic, little public service education and training and above all we have lost sight of the Greeks’ demand to seek the good life and the good society.
Instead we have the ‘Three Es’ and a business approach which is profit led.
Leadership and action are needed to restore the former virtues of British government, many of which were learnt from Plato and Aristotle.
Hazel’s comment:
When I first became a civil servant in 1971 the emphasis was on the true meaning of both of those words.
I had to be civil – even when asked whether I knew when the next bus into town was. A frequent happening as a direct result of the Jobcentre having a bus stop right outside.
And I had to provide a service – to both employers and jobseekers and provide value for money to my paymaster.
Showing posts with label citizen_participation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label citizen_participation. Show all posts
Friday, 16 January 2015
Thursday, 17 January 2013
Managing for local resilience: towards a strategic approach
an article by Keith Shaw (Northumbria University, Newcastle, UK) published in Public Policy and Administration Volume 28 Number 1 (January 2013)
Abstract
The term resilience is increasingly being used to capture the challenges involved in managing in ‘hard times’.
This article aims to provide one of the first empirical studies of the term’s application to local authority interventions around emergency planning and climate change: two areas in which resilience has been particularly emphasised in local policy making.
Drawing upon research undertaken in the north east of England, the article considers how local managers have understood and applied the term, the extent to which it has been developed as a coherent policy agenda, and its strategic significance.
In reframing the debate on resilience in terms of discourses of ‘recovery’ and ‘transformation’, the article examines how, in addition to informing policy realities on the ground, resilience is also a normative, politically laden term, within which conservative narratives of uncertainty, vulnerability and anxiety compete with a more radical focus on hope, adaptation and transformation.
The study reveals concerns over the term’s longevity, tensions between the different interpretations of resilience, and the lack of a coherent strategic framework within which the different discourses on resilience could be considered and reconciled.
However, the article also captures the growing importance of a resilience narrative that is seen to add value in a period of austerity, integrate key features of climate change adaptation and emergency planning, and act as a ‘strategic lynchpin’ in relation to other policy areas, such as economic resilience.
Abstract
The term resilience is increasingly being used to capture the challenges involved in managing in ‘hard times’.
This article aims to provide one of the first empirical studies of the term’s application to local authority interventions around emergency planning and climate change: two areas in which resilience has been particularly emphasised in local policy making.
Drawing upon research undertaken in the north east of England, the article considers how local managers have understood and applied the term, the extent to which it has been developed as a coherent policy agenda, and its strategic significance.
In reframing the debate on resilience in terms of discourses of ‘recovery’ and ‘transformation’, the article examines how, in addition to informing policy realities on the ground, resilience is also a normative, politically laden term, within which conservative narratives of uncertainty, vulnerability and anxiety compete with a more radical focus on hope, adaptation and transformation.
The study reveals concerns over the term’s longevity, tensions between the different interpretations of resilience, and the lack of a coherent strategic framework within which the different discourses on resilience could be considered and reconciled.
However, the article also captures the growing importance of a resilience narrative that is seen to add value in a period of austerity, integrate key features of climate change adaptation and emergency planning, and act as a ‘strategic lynchpin’ in relation to other policy areas, such as economic resilience.
Thursday, 25 October 2012
What’s wrong with this picture? The case of access to information requests in two continental federal states – Germany and Switzerland
an article by Sarah Holsen (Swiss Graduate School of Public Administration, Lausanne) published in Public Policy and Administration Volume 27 Number 4 (October 2012)
Abstract
More than 80 access to information (ATI) laws exist worldwide. Their primary objectives are to increase transparency and accountability in government. Given the similarity in the components of ATI laws across countries, one could expect per capita usage of the laws to be roughly similar.
However, comparing the number of requests in seven countries, we found that far fewer requests are being made in Switzerland and Germany than in Canada, Ireland, Mexico, India, and the UK and that, in contrast to these five, the number is not increasing.
Drawing on 28 semi-structured interviews with experts on the Swiss Law on Transparency (LTrans) and German FOI Law (IFG), we offer three primary explanations for the low use of the laws.
The first is that few people are aware of the law in either country as a consequence of little promotion of the laws.
The second is that people might have more interest in information held at the state or local level than at the federal level.
The third is that other avenues to information in Switzerland reduce interest in using the LTrans and a culture of “amtsgeheimnis”, or official secrecy, in Germany inhibits the administration from willingly disclosing information.
We examine these hypotheses against the situation in the UK, where awareness of the FOI law is known to be high and the number of requests is high and has been on the rise for the past four years.
Abstract
More than 80 access to information (ATI) laws exist worldwide. Their primary objectives are to increase transparency and accountability in government. Given the similarity in the components of ATI laws across countries, one could expect per capita usage of the laws to be roughly similar.
However, comparing the number of requests in seven countries, we found that far fewer requests are being made in Switzerland and Germany than in Canada, Ireland, Mexico, India, and the UK and that, in contrast to these five, the number is not increasing.
Drawing on 28 semi-structured interviews with experts on the Swiss Law on Transparency (LTrans) and German FOI Law (IFG), we offer three primary explanations for the low use of the laws.
The first is that few people are aware of the law in either country as a consequence of little promotion of the laws.
The second is that people might have more interest in information held at the state or local level than at the federal level.
The third is that other avenues to information in Switzerland reduce interest in using the LTrans and a culture of “amtsgeheimnis”, or official secrecy, in Germany inhibits the administration from willingly disclosing information.
We examine these hypotheses against the situation in the UK, where awareness of the FOI law is known to be high and the number of requests is high and has been on the rise for the past four years.
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