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2020 | Book

Quality of Governance: Values and Violations Read chapter Read first chapter

Quality of Governance

Values and Violations

Editors: Dr. Hester Paanakker, Dr. Adam Masters, Prof. Leo Huberts

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Part of: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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About this book

"Quality of governance: Values and violations arrives at a time when governance faces new and often dire challenges and as traditional democratic values strain against the rise of authoritarian forms of populism and anti-government sentiment. This comprehensive volume considers these challenges from a variety of angles- transparency, bureaucratic pathologies, public values, sector relations- but at the same time manages a higher degree of integration than one usually finds in most edited volumes. The individual selections focus on topics of widespread interest but with new theories, analytical frameworks and insights. This book should be read by anyone interested the values bases of governance and in exploring good ideas about how to improve policy and management. The book serves a professional academic audience but could also prove quite useful as a text or supplementary book for graduate and undergraduate courses in public affairs."Barry Bozeman, Regents' Professor, Arizona State University, School of Public Affairs, USA.
"Public governance matters. It touches almost every aspect of our lives, from the most mundane to the most important, the most commonplace to the most intimate. This book critically examines some of thorniest values and issues for governance in the 21st century -- democracy, legitimacy, accountability, transparency, integrity, professionalism, and more -- all of which are of crucial importance for practice and research on the quality of governance."Tina Nabatchi, Syracuse University, USA, Co-Chair of the Study Group ‘Quality of Governance’ of the International Institute of Administrative Sciences.
"This volume provides an up-to-date overview of key themes and theories about the quality of governance. Many of the field's most thoughtful scholars have contributed chapters on both the positive and problematic dimensions of good governance, providing fascinating insights in this important topic. Therefore, this book is a must read for all scholars, students, and practitioners interested in improving the quality of governance in their countries and institutions."Zeger van der Wal, National University of Singapore and Leiden University The Netherlands.
This volume unravels the meaning of public values for the quality of governance, for good and bad governance, and examines their significance in governance practices. It addresses public values in context, in different countries, policy sectors and levels of governance. In a series of in-depth studies, a critical eye is cast over eight central values: democratic legitimacy, accountability, transparency, integrity, lawfulness, effectiveness (in terms of service quality), professionalism and craftsmanship, and robustness. How does for instance integrity or lawfulness contribute to the accomplishment and preservation of quality, and what happens if we fail to address it adequately? This unique exercise yields important lessons on the differences in normative interpretation and application of often abstract values in the demanding administrative settings of today. Practitioners, scholars and students of public administration, public management and political science will find the volume a vital resource for theory and practice.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter

Introduction

Frontmatter
Chapter 1. Quality of Governance: Values and Violations
Abstracts
In the first chapter, the editors introduce the content and the relevance of this book to the quality of governance and why and how public values matter. Central concepts are defined, the meaning and phases of governance are addressed, including an introduction of the significant public values stemming from the literature. These values are dealt with in relation to good and bad governance in the chapters of the book: democratic legitimacy, accountability, transparency, integrity, lawfulness, effectiveness, professionalism, and robustness.
Hester Paanakker, Adam Masters, Leo Huberts

Institutionalizing Values in Governance Practices

Frontmatter
Chapter 2. Democratic Legitimacy in Bureaucratic Structures: A Precarious Balance
Abstract
In this chapter, we explore democratic legitimacy as a public governance value. This exploration builds on an enduring debate in the field of public administration, which has long sought to reconcile the role of bureaucracy within democratic governance. The overarching topic is broad, and much has been written about various aspects of legitimacy in governance. Here, our primary focus is on the relationship of democratic legitimacy to other public values, especially those which find more emphasis within administrative structures. Several of these values, including accountability, transparency, and lawfulness, which are further explored in other chapters in this volume, inform our case study of the water disaster in Flint, MI, USA, a poignant example of both values and violations of the integrity of governance. Our driving question is as follows: To what extent can democratic legitimacy be supported and maintained through bureaucratic means and authority?
Neal D. Buckwalter, Danny L. Balfour
Chapter 3. Dissecting the Semantics of Accountability and Its Misuse
Abstract
In this chapter, we address the many different meanings that accountability harbors and examine the effects of such complex and multifaceted interpretations in the light of governance quality. We seek to develop a ‘relational’ perspective on accountability and on the so-called ‘unaccountability.’ We focus on Mark Bovens’s use of the forum metaphor in his accountability model, arguing that his relational perspective is too narrow. We advocate instead a far broader and more fundamental engagement with the idea of relational accountability. Expanding the metaphors, we point to two other accountability spaces: ‘agora,’ a primordial accountability space and ‘bazaar,’ an emergent accountability space rooted in ground-level exchange between different actors. Assertions about ‘unaccountability,’ we argue, very often reflect a failure to appreciate the fundamentally relational nature of accountability: those who use such assertions as bases for action aimed at making situations, processes, or people ‘more accountable’ in fact seek to assert or impose a certain form of relationship—one that is hierarchical and monopolistic—and reflect therefore a drive to power and domination. This represents a violation of accountability at the cost of the overall quality of governance.
Ciarán O’Kelly, Melvin J. Dubnick
Chapter 4. Transparency Assessment in National Systems
Abstract
This chapter proposes a new conceptual framework for assessing transparency at the country level. It identifies three distinct interpretations of transparency: access to information; two-way communication; and predictability, or decision-making based on clear and publicly known rules. Each represents an increasingly demanding form of transparency, but all are tied to democratic accountability and the rule of law. Using the case of Romania, the chapter illustrates how such a framework can be employed to assess the evolution of transparency in a relatively recent democracy. Findings indicate that, while the virtues of transparency have been advocated by international organizations, governments, and civil society, the focus has primarily been on access to information—whether through freedom of information acts or open data. However, realizing the democratizing potential of transparency requires a multifaceted approach. This chapter suggests that transparency advocates should pay more attention to issues such as increasing citizen participation, opening up decision-making rather than just data, strengthening the rule of law, and fighting corruption. In other words, it argues for a more holistic discourse and practice of transparency.
Sabina Schnell
Chapter 5. Integrity and Quality in Different Governance Phases
Abstract
Essentially, this book discusses ‘the relevance, limitations and/or applicability of specific values to the ‘quality of governance’. This chapter focuses on ‘integrity’ as the basic value, reflecting on its relationship with quality. This is not a simple endeavor. Integrity and quality of governance relate to a multitude of topics and disciplines. Basic questions concern the precise meaning and relevance of ‘governance,’ of ‘integrity of governance’ and of ‘quality of governance’ (including many of the values addressed in this book, including legitimacy, accountability, transparency, lawfulness, and effectiveness).
Our basic line of reasoning seems to be that integrity is an important (public) value amidst (many) others, while quality refers to all relevant values. This chapter focuses on some questions—perhaps even blind spots—in our interpretation of integrity within such a quality framework. A number of topics or questions will be addressed in the next paragraphs: (1) What is ‘governance’? (2) What is ‘integrity (of governance)’? (3) What is ‘quality of governance’ as used in research into public values, good government, and good governance? (4) What is the meaning/content of integrity in the context of quality of governance or good governance, taking into account the different phases of governance? The process of answering these questions will prompt suggestions for our research agenda.
Leo Huberts
Chapter 6. The Multi-interpretable Nature of Lawfulness in a National Framework
Abstract
This chapter explores lawfulness in the Italian context, where it is a ‘fluid’ value. Despite the Italian constitution providing a rigid foundation for public administration, a level of flexibility is found within the processes of governance exercised by both the executive and legislature. In effect, the instruments of state comply with the general principles in place as well as the rules in force. This allows at least three different conceptions of lawfulness, depending on how strongly the rules are able to influence the structure and content of the administrative measures. An element of complexity characterizes the relationship between lawfulness and the corollaries of the principle of good administration; the possible existence of discretionary power is also important from the point of view of judicial review. The increasingly close link between public and private law and the introduction of ‘new’ sources of law are the last (but not least) pieces of a kaleidoscopic puzzle.
Anna Simonati

Translating Values in Practitioner Behavior

Frontmatter
Chapter 7. Mission Impossible for Effectiveness? Service Quality in Public–Private Partnerships
Abstract
Departing from the assumption that private sector involvement increases efficiency and effectiveness, many Western governments create public–private partnerships (PPPs) for the delivery of public services and public infrastructure. It is argued, however, that quality might be at stake when, in search of financial optimization, private firms take over responsibility. Although the validity of the quality-shading hypothesis has been explored in the context of privatization and outsourcing, this is not the case in the context of PPPs, and, given the importance of PPPs for public policy, this is surprising. In order to shed light on whether service quality is shaded in PPPs and how this can be explained, this study analyzes project members’ perceptions of service quality in four PPPs. Based on 66 interviews, this study demonstrates which conditions determine quality in PPPs and concludes that quality is neither safeguarded nor a priori better protected.
Anne-Marie Reynaers
Chapter 8. Professionalism and Public Craftsmanship at Street Level
Abstract
Rather than the overall quality of governance, this chapter explores quality in public professions by looking at public craftsmanship. What does it mean to be a ‘good’ public administrator according to professionals themselves? What value orientations do public professionals have toward public craftsmanship and how convergent are these? In-depth qualitative research among Dutch prison professionals (N = 18) indicates that the specific work context is paramount in identifying and prioritizing a compact set of professional values. However, understandings of how to translate these values into good craftsmanship show only marginal commonality in practice, with professionals making their own personal compilations of ideal qualities. The results call for a focus on apprehending the meaning of values in specific professional work contexts, and to move from the study of broad, predefined, and prearranged value sets to concrete articulations of values and the disparate nature of their actual application.
Hester Paanakker
Chapter 9. Robustness and the Governance Sin of Bureaucratic Animosity
Abstract
We expect our governance systems to be robust. When they are challenged by internal or external actors, ideally they are sufficiently flexible and appropriately thought out to cope and function for the betterment of society. A governance system incapable of resisting challenges is soon replaced—or so we would hope. Unfortunately, lived experiences for many find that bureaucratic inertia gives a new meaning to robustness—the system survives and continues to roll on despite its flawed integrity. Robustness as a value thus has two interpretations—it is good when it protects the processes of governance from spurious challenges; and robustness is bad when a techno-rational mindset violates the integrity of governance to cause harm to the governed.
Adam Masters

Conclusion

Frontmatter
Chapter 10. Reviewing Quality of Governance: New Perspectives and Future Research
Abstract
In the concluding chapter, the editors address the central topics of the book as well as some lessons learnt on quality of governance. Public values do matter, but how do they relate (and conflict), with many actors involved in public governance, including at street level and in public-private networks? A broad panorama of values appears to be important for the quality of governance, but the interpretation of the values differs and context is always relevant (macro, meso, and micro). Thus, the work in progress and the chapter define an agenda for future research and offers food for thought for all levels of governance.
Adam Masters, Hester Paanakker, Leo Huberts
Backmatter
Metadata
Title
Quality of Governance
Editors
Dr. Hester Paanakker
Dr. Adam Masters
Prof. Leo Huberts
Copyright Year
2020
Electronic ISBN
978-3-030-21522-4
Print ISBN
978-3-030-21521-7
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21522-4