0000000000700961

AUTHOR

B. Guy Peters

Moving Away from Patronage: A Feedback Approach

Patronage appointments in government are a continuing issue in many administrative systems. Especially for countries in Latin America and Africa patronage is considered a major impediment to developing more effective administrative systems. A great deal has been written describing patronage and discussing the causes for patronage, but much less research has addressed the dynamics of moving away from patronage to more merit-based systems. This paper reviews the patronage literature and then develops a dynamic feedback model for movement away from patronage. The model links the quality of the services provided by the government, the nature of the political party system, and levels of trust t…

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The Rise of European Administrative Space. Lessons learned

Presentation on department page: http://www.uia.no/no/portaler/om_universitetet/oekonomi_og_samfunnsvitenskap/statsvitenskap_og_ledelsesfag/ forskning_isl/isl_working_papers_series Despite advances in contemporary research on the European administrative space (EAS), no widespread understanding about its meaning, mechanisms and significance yet exists. This research agenda paper offers a comprehensive conceptualisation of EAS and takes stock of accumulated lessons learned. It is suggested that the rise of EAS features a transformation of administrative order that analytically can be grasped in terms of four analytical dimensions: independence, integration, co-optation and institutionalisatio…

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Patronage and the Public Service: A Dynamic Performance Governance Perspective

Patronage is one of the enduring issues in public administration. Although the virtues of merit-based recruitment and retention in the public service are extolled widely, patronage of some form persists in many, if not most, countries. By using system dynamics modeling applied to performance governance, this chapter provides an analysis of both the pathological and the eufunctional aspects of patronage appointments in the public sector. It also considers the potential virtues of using patronage appointments. In addition, using a dynamic performance governance model, we examine how patronage may actually improve the performance of public services.

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