The American Review of Public Administration current issue

Editors' Note

Adams, G. B., Glassberg, A. D., Thomas, J. C. — 2008-08-13

Ruminations on the Study of American Public Bureaucracies

Kaufman, H. — 2008-08-13

Public bureaucracies warrant the attention of political scientists because bureaucrats help determine the contents and effectiveness of public policies. Although the relationships between them and the other participants in public policy making can theoretically range from bureaucratic dominance, or at least autonomy, to passive bureaucratic subservience, most political scientists tend to treat American bureaucrats as significant but not commanding partners in the interplay of checks and balances in the political process. Understanding their roles in this process, however, is beset by ambiguities about when and to what extent their behavior is controlled or controlling. These uncertainties, plus incessant changes in their roles, may mean that we cannot hope for universal, long-enduring generalizations about their place in the polity. Consequently, to fully understand our political system, we must continuously observe, analyze, and reassess the influence they exert and the influences on them.

Value Solidity in Government and Business: Results of an Empirical Study on Public and Private Sector Organizational Values

van der Wal, Z., Huberts, L. — 2008-08-13

This article reports on a survey study of 382 managers from a variety of public and private sector organizations, on the values that guide sectoral decision making. Just as some important classical differences emerge, a number of similarities between the public and private sector appear to result in a set of common core organizational values. Furthermore, the data support neither increasing adoption of business values in public sector organizations nor flirtation with public values by business sector managers. This contradicts expectations in the literature on new public management and corporate social responsibility, suggesting public—private value intermixing. Value solidity seems the dominant feature in both sectors. Additional analysis shows that "publicness," the extent to which an organization belongs to the public or the private sector— rather than age, gender, years of service or a past in the other sector—strongly determines value preferences.

Disaster Vulnerabilities: How Strong a Push Toward Regionalism and Intergovernmental Cooperation?

Caruson, K., MacManus, S. A. — 2008-08-13

In 2004, the Government Accountability Office reported that in the context of homeland security and disaster management, regional organization is an effective way to improve intergovernmental cooperation and preparedness at the local level. In 2006, the Department of Homeland Security began including risk (vulnerability) calculations in its funding formulas and adopted a regional approach to the distribution of funds to major metropolitan areas. Despite regionalism's theoretical appeal and its popularity as an organizational structure, what makes regionalism work in the context of emergency management/homeland security has not been methodically examined at the first responder level. Our study of local governments in Florida empirically tests the relationship between perceived vulnerabilities (risks) and the effectiveness of regional emergency management organizational structures. We find that certain types of local vulnerabilities, such as population attributes and infrastructure, are more powerful promoters of proregionalism sentiments than others, most notably financial condition.

Public and Nonprofit Management and the "New Governance"

McIntyre Hall, L., Kennedy, S. S. — 2008-08-13

Many public functions originally performed primarily by state actors now routinely rest not with the responsible government agencies but with a host of nongovernmental, third-party surrogates or proxies. There has also been an increase in partnerships and collaboration between nonprofits, corporations, and governments, necessitating new skills and competencies for public and nonprofit leaders alike. The authors summarize the literature on these issues and identify important areas of agreement. They then report the results of a research project intended to help public and nonprofit managers identify characteristics of nonprofit organizations that are most likely to signal the existence of an effective and accountable organization.

Nonprofit Board Role Ambiguity: Investigating Its Prevalence, Antecedents, and Consequences

Wright, B. E., Millesen, J. L. — 2008-08-13

This study investigates the degree to which nonprofit board volunteers understand their role and performance expectations in the organizations they govern. Using data collected from chief executives and board members, the authors first compare board member self-reports of role ambiguity with chief executive assessments of how well board members understand their roles. They then examine the antecedents and consequences of board role ambiguity, finding that training and feedback can decrease role ambiguity and that role ambiguity adversely affects board engagement.

A Mixed Method Look at State Growth Management Policy

Howell-Moroney, M. E. — 2008-08-13

Using a mixed method approach, this article investigates growth management policy in the American states, presenting an event history analysis of state growth management policy adoptions, supplemented by a case study of growth management's evolution in the state of Maryland. Empirical results from the event history analysis suggest that growth pressures, the countervailing forces of state environmentalism and building interests, stronger gubernatorial powers, and citizen liberalism are all important factors associated with state adoptions of growth management. The Maryland case triangulates and contextualizes these key empirical findings, demonstrating the importance of those variables in a state-specific context. Beyond triangulating the empirical results, Maryland's legislative history with growth management highlights the importance of civic engagement as a means to both formulate and build sustained support for state growth management policy, even in the face of significant opposition from development interests.

Getting What You Ask For: Barriers to Proper Use of Service Monitoring Tools

Lambright, K. T. — 2008-08-13

This article provides a greater understanding of the contract monitoring process by identifying barriers that prevent contracted providers from using service monitoring tools properly. To evaluate barriers to proper tool use, seven case studies were conducted on early childhood programs in three communities in upstate New York. The case studies specifically focused on the reporting forms that the early childhood programs completed. Data sources included (a) interviews with government agency and contracted provider employees, (b) content analysis of key documents relating to the service monitoring tools, and (c) attendance at meetings between government agencies and contracted providers on the service monitoring tools. This article identifies lack of contracted provider ability and misunderstandings between government and contracted providers as key barriers to proper tool use. This study also finds evidence suggesting a link between the overall strength of technical assistance systems and understanding problems.

Book Review: Michael Austin, M. J., & Hopkins, K. M. (Eds.). (2004). Supervision as Collaboration in the Human Services: Building a Learning Culture. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage

Mani, B. G. — 2008-08-13

Book Review: Vaughn, Jacqueline, & Otenyo, Eric (2007). Managerial Discretion in Government Decision Making: Beyond the Street Level. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett

Caillier, J. G. — 2008-08-13