Edward C. Page and Vincent Wright
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198294467
- eISBN:
- 9780191600067
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198294468.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
It is argued that existing theories and accounts of change in state bureaucracies — which centre mainly on bureaucracy and changing role perceptions — are of little help in understanding how the ...
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It is argued that existing theories and accounts of change in state bureaucracies — which centre mainly on bureaucracy and changing role perceptions — are of little help in understanding how the civil service has developed in modern political systems, and substantially neglect the implications of social and political change for the position of top officials. The aim of this book is to redress this neglect and focus directly on the changing position of senior civil servants in the modern state, and provide evidence on which to base an assessment of the changing political status of senior civil servants in Europe. This introduction starts the process by looking at what might be expected to change vis ‐à ‐vis the political status of senior officials and why, provides a basis for the 11 chapters that follow and presents a picture of substantial diversity.Less
It is argued that existing theories and accounts of change in state bureaucracies — which centre mainly on bureaucracy and changing role perceptions — are of little help in understanding how the civil service has developed in modern political systems, and substantially neglect the implications of social and political change for the position of top officials. The aim of this book is to redress this neglect and focus directly on the changing position of senior civil servants in the modern state, and provide evidence on which to base an assessment of the changing political status of senior civil servants in Europe. This introduction starts the process by looking at what might be expected to change vis ‐à ‐vis the political status of senior officials and why, provides a basis for the 11 chapters that follow and presents a picture of substantial diversity.
You‐tien Hsing
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199568048
- eISBN:
- 9780191721632
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199568048.003.0007
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Political Economy
Chapter 6 moves to the third type of place examined in this book, the rural edge of the metropolitan region, where the influence of the metropolitan government gives way to ...
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Chapter 6 moves to the third type of place examined in this book, the rural edge of the metropolitan region, where the influence of the metropolitan government gives way to low‐ranking township governments exercising informal power over rural land. Acting as power and property brokers between the state bureaucracy and peasants, township leaders try to avoid scrutiny from above while intensifying downward control over village land to develop illegal industrial, commercial, and residential projects. Townships' power and property brokerage is exemplified by their issuing of homeownership certificates that attract buyers of affordable homes but are not recognized by the state. Townships' limited formal power is secured through construction projects and expanded through the operation of the black market for property.Less
Chapter 6 moves to the third type of place examined in this book, the rural edge of the metropolitan region, where the influence of the metropolitan government gives way to low‐ranking township governments exercising informal power over rural land. Acting as power and property brokers between the state bureaucracy and peasants, township leaders try to avoid scrutiny from above while intensifying downward control over village land to develop illegal industrial, commercial, and residential projects. Townships' power and property brokerage is exemplified by their issuing of homeownership certificates that attract buyers of affordable homes but are not recognized by the state. Townships' limited formal power is secured through construction projects and expanded through the operation of the black market for property.
Elton Skendaj
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801452949
- eISBN:
- 9780801470189
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801452949.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter addresses the role of international interventions in building state bureaucracies and democracy. The crucial factor that linked international insulation to bureaucratic effectiveness was ...
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This chapter addresses the role of international interventions in building state bureaucracies and democracy. The crucial factor that linked international insulation to bureaucratic effectiveness was meritocratic recruitment and promotion. In effective bureaucracies, international administrators stayed on the boards that recruited and promoted according to merit. Moreover, international administrators established bureaucratic rules that motivated performance and penalized corruption. Indeed, public officials learned that they were being evaluated and promoted on the basis of their performance. In Kosovo, when international organizations structured the rules of new bureaucracies while insulating them from political, clientelist pressures, such institutions attracted and retained professional domestic employees, who then performed their tasks more effectively.Less
This chapter addresses the role of international interventions in building state bureaucracies and democracy. The crucial factor that linked international insulation to bureaucratic effectiveness was meritocratic recruitment and promotion. In effective bureaucracies, international administrators stayed on the boards that recruited and promoted according to merit. Moreover, international administrators established bureaucratic rules that motivated performance and penalized corruption. Indeed, public officials learned that they were being evaluated and promoted on the basis of their performance. In Kosovo, when international organizations structured the rules of new bureaucracies while insulating them from political, clientelist pressures, such institutions attracted and retained professional domestic employees, who then performed their tasks more effectively.
Ida Susser
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195367317
- eISBN:
- 9780199951192
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195367317.003.0004
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Stratification, Inequality, and Mobility, Urban and Rural Studies
Welfare assistance reflects a crucial aspect of low-income life: interaction with government institutions. Attitudes and roles fostered by the public assistance program indicate the constraining ...
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Welfare assistance reflects a crucial aspect of low-income life: interaction with government institutions. Attitudes and roles fostered by the public assistance program indicate the constraining influence of state bureaucracies, upon which low-income people are commonly dependent. The description presented here of relations between clients and officials and of pressures on each side also stands as a general picture of experiences of low-income people in the United States. Greenpoint–Williamsburg economic life reflected that of the nation from 1975 to 1977. Just as high unemployment, military enlistment, and the CETA program were nationwide phenomena, so was the welfare program. Since reliance on welfare assistance was a more constant factor it the structuring of most low-income households than any particular job situation, it is important to discuss the process and its influences in some detail. This chapter outlines the procedures which an applicant had to follow in order to enroll for public assistance. The focus is primarily on interaction between client and welfare officer, and the officers' perceptions of their role in the welfare bureaucracy are analyzed.Less
Welfare assistance reflects a crucial aspect of low-income life: interaction with government institutions. Attitudes and roles fostered by the public assistance program indicate the constraining influence of state bureaucracies, upon which low-income people are commonly dependent. The description presented here of relations between clients and officials and of pressures on each side also stands as a general picture of experiences of low-income people in the United States. Greenpoint–Williamsburg economic life reflected that of the nation from 1975 to 1977. Just as high unemployment, military enlistment, and the CETA program were nationwide phenomena, so was the welfare program. Since reliance on welfare assistance was a more constant factor it the structuring of most low-income households than any particular job situation, it is important to discuss the process and its influences in some detail. This chapter outlines the procedures which an applicant had to follow in order to enroll for public assistance. The focus is primarily on interaction between client and welfare officer, and the officers' perceptions of their role in the welfare bureaucracy are analyzed.
James E Shaw
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263778
- eISBN:
- 9780191734823
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263778.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
The rulers of Venice prided themselves on their unique brand of justice, which was a source of both ridicule and admiration for foreign commentators. This book uncovers what this special justice ...
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The rulers of Venice prided themselves on their unique brand of justice, which was a source of both ridicule and admiration for foreign commentators. This book uncovers what this special justice meant for ordinary subjects by studying the history of one of the oldest magistracies of the city, a body responsible for handling petty market crime and small-claims litigation. It examines how changing ideas about justice at the level of the political elite were related to judicial and policing practices in the courtroom and on the street. The book shows how failure to invest in the state bureaucracy allowed corruption to flourish and effectively delegated power to private interest groups such as the guilds. At the same time, it reveals that the bottom level of civil justice was fast, cheap, and accessible. Everyone had the chance to be heard, and the poor and disadvantaged could hope for justice along with the rich and powerful.Less
The rulers of Venice prided themselves on their unique brand of justice, which was a source of both ridicule and admiration for foreign commentators. This book uncovers what this special justice meant for ordinary subjects by studying the history of one of the oldest magistracies of the city, a body responsible for handling petty market crime and small-claims litigation. It examines how changing ideas about justice at the level of the political elite were related to judicial and policing practices in the courtroom and on the street. The book shows how failure to invest in the state bureaucracy allowed corruption to flourish and effectively delegated power to private interest groups such as the guilds. At the same time, it reveals that the bottom level of civil justice was fast, cheap, and accessible. Everyone had the chance to be heard, and the poor and disadvantaged could hope for justice along with the rich and powerful.
Bonnie Honig
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780823276400
- eISBN:
- 9780823277063
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823276400.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
In the contemporary world of neoliberalism, efficiency is treated as the vehicle of political and economic health. State bureaucracy, but not corporate bureaucracy, is seen as inefficient, and ...
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In the contemporary world of neoliberalism, efficiency is treated as the vehicle of political and economic health. State bureaucracy, but not corporate bureaucracy, is seen as inefficient, and privatization is seen as a magic cure for social ills. This book asks whether democracy is possible in the absence of public services, spaces, and utilities. In other words, if neoliberalism leaves to democracy merely electoral majoritarianism and procedures of deliberation while divesting democratic states of their ownership of public things, what will the impact be? This book suggests that democracy postulates public things—infrastructure, monuments, libraries—that citizens use, care for, repair, and are gathered up by. To be “gathered up” refers to the work of D. W. Winnicott, the object relations psychoanalyst who popularized the idea of “transitional objects”—the toys, teddy bears, or favorite blankets by way of which infants come to understand themselves as unified selves with an inside and an outside in relation to others. The wager of this book is that the work transitional objects do for infants is analogously performed for democratic citizens by public things, which press us into object relations with others and with ourselves. The book attends also to the historically racial character of public things: public lands taken from indigenous peoples, access to public goods restricted to white majorities. The book underlines the material and psychological conditions necessary for object permanence and the reparative work needed for a more egalitarian democracy.Less
In the contemporary world of neoliberalism, efficiency is treated as the vehicle of political and economic health. State bureaucracy, but not corporate bureaucracy, is seen as inefficient, and privatization is seen as a magic cure for social ills. This book asks whether democracy is possible in the absence of public services, spaces, and utilities. In other words, if neoliberalism leaves to democracy merely electoral majoritarianism and procedures of deliberation while divesting democratic states of their ownership of public things, what will the impact be? This book suggests that democracy postulates public things—infrastructure, monuments, libraries—that citizens use, care for, repair, and are gathered up by. To be “gathered up” refers to the work of D. W. Winnicott, the object relations psychoanalyst who popularized the idea of “transitional objects”—the toys, teddy bears, or favorite blankets by way of which infants come to understand themselves as unified selves with an inside and an outside in relation to others. The wager of this book is that the work transitional objects do for infants is analogously performed for democratic citizens by public things, which press us into object relations with others and with ourselves. The book attends also to the historically racial character of public things: public lands taken from indigenous peoples, access to public goods restricted to white majorities. The book underlines the material and psychological conditions necessary for object permanence and the reparative work needed for a more egalitarian democracy.
Michael S. Gorham
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801452628
- eISBN:
- 9780801470578
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801452628.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, Russian Politics
This chapter looks at the concept of “glasnost” in the Gorbachev era, noting how its ambiguity both ensured the success of the policy and served as a rhetorical flash point in the battle between ...
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This chapter looks at the concept of “glasnost” in the Gorbachev era, noting how its ambiguity both ensured the success of the policy and served as a rhetorical flash point in the battle between reform-minded democrats and members of the Soviet bureaucracy, or apparatchiks. In his original use of the term, Mikhail Gorbachev viewed glasnost as a mechanism that, through the more open publicity of various state-related facts and information, would disturb the entrenched party–state bureaucracy, beat back the growing economic stagnation, and give rise to a new form of what he repeatedly called “democratic socialism”—a concept that still envisioned a single-party state run by the Communist Party. Thus, glasnost served as a new party–state ideology that promoted criticism and self-criticism as a means of reviving a stagnant party apparatus and giving a new sense of empowerment to the people—a heightened sense of interest in a restructured socialism.Less
This chapter looks at the concept of “glasnost” in the Gorbachev era, noting how its ambiguity both ensured the success of the policy and served as a rhetorical flash point in the battle between reform-minded democrats and members of the Soviet bureaucracy, or apparatchiks. In his original use of the term, Mikhail Gorbachev viewed glasnost as a mechanism that, through the more open publicity of various state-related facts and information, would disturb the entrenched party–state bureaucracy, beat back the growing economic stagnation, and give rise to a new form of what he repeatedly called “democratic socialism”—a concept that still envisioned a single-party state run by the Communist Party. Thus, glasnost served as a new party–state ideology that promoted criticism and self-criticism as a means of reviving a stagnant party apparatus and giving a new sense of empowerment to the people—a heightened sense of interest in a restructured socialism.
Frank J. Byrne
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813124049
- eISBN:
- 9780813134857
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813124049.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, Cultural History
This chapter examines the condition of merchants and their families in the Confederate South during the period from 1861 to 1863. It explains that the effect of the American Civil War on the southern ...
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This chapter examines the condition of merchants and their families in the Confederate South during the period from 1861 to 1863. It explains that the effect of the American Civil War on the southern commercial population transcended the number of merchants who served and died while fighting for the Confederacy. During this period, Confederate citizens endured material deprivation, loss of independence to a swelling state bureaucracy, and all the personal hazards associated with warfare. Several policies implemented by the Confederate government also had a conspicuous impact on merchant families, particularly conscription.Less
This chapter examines the condition of merchants and their families in the Confederate South during the period from 1861 to 1863. It explains that the effect of the American Civil War on the southern commercial population transcended the number of merchants who served and died while fighting for the Confederacy. During this period, Confederate citizens endured material deprivation, loss of independence to a swelling state bureaucracy, and all the personal hazards associated with warfare. Several policies implemented by the Confederate government also had a conspicuous impact on merchant families, particularly conscription.
Amanda Slevin
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781784992743
- eISBN:
- 9781526115355
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9781784992743.003.0004
- Subject:
- Sociology, Economic Sociology
Keating's terms were introduced at a time when interest in North West Europe's hydrocarbon potential was at its peak due to large discoveries in the North Sea. Consequently, some politicians, oil ...
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Keating's terms were introduced at a time when interest in North West Europe's hydrocarbon potential was at its peak due to large discoveries in the North Sea. Consequently, some politicians, oil industry representatives and trade unions anticipated an economic boom in Ireland courtesy of oil and gas exploitation. This chapter discusses hydrocarbon activities onshore and offshore Ireland in the period from 1976 to 1999, connecting these with shifts in the Irish state's model of hydrocarbon management and oil companies' investment strategies. Progressing beyond empirical happenings, this chapter examines the growth in popularity of neoliberal ideology and its influence on Ireland's approach to its gas and oil. Attention to restrictions imposed on state companies like the Irish National Petroleum Corporation, and the encapsulation of a free-market perspective in the 1992 licensing terms, illustrates the impact of prevailing ideologies and global trade on the Irish model of hydrocarbon management. This chapter also considers the oscillating power of interest groups such as the oil industry lobby and the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union and contemplates their interactions with different political parties and the state bureaucracy.Less
Keating's terms were introduced at a time when interest in North West Europe's hydrocarbon potential was at its peak due to large discoveries in the North Sea. Consequently, some politicians, oil industry representatives and trade unions anticipated an economic boom in Ireland courtesy of oil and gas exploitation. This chapter discusses hydrocarbon activities onshore and offshore Ireland in the period from 1976 to 1999, connecting these with shifts in the Irish state's model of hydrocarbon management and oil companies' investment strategies. Progressing beyond empirical happenings, this chapter examines the growth in popularity of neoliberal ideology and its influence on Ireland's approach to its gas and oil. Attention to restrictions imposed on state companies like the Irish National Petroleum Corporation, and the encapsulation of a free-market perspective in the 1992 licensing terms, illustrates the impact of prevailing ideologies and global trade on the Irish model of hydrocarbon management. This chapter also considers the oscillating power of interest groups such as the oil industry lobby and the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union and contemplates their interactions with different political parties and the state bureaucracy.
Elizabeth Fones-Wolf and Ken Fones-Wolf
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252039034
- eISBN:
- 9780252097003
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252039034.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter traces the emergence of a Christian free enterprise vision for the South at the end of the war. For evangelical businessmen, the region seemed a new promised land for growth and ...
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This chapter traces the emergence of a Christian free enterprise vision for the South at the end of the war. For evangelical businessmen, the region seemed a new promised land for growth and investment with a hard-working, low-wage labor force. Christian free-enterprise ideology meshed easily with the goals of corporate executives hoping to take advantage of the lower wages and conservative politics of the South. Moreover, The South was a bulwark against the further spread of liberal, New Deal politics. Meanwhile, for white Protestant evangelicals, Christian free enterprise could protect the region against the threats that modernism and state-centered bureaucracies posed to the southern way of life.Less
This chapter traces the emergence of a Christian free enterprise vision for the South at the end of the war. For evangelical businessmen, the region seemed a new promised land for growth and investment with a hard-working, low-wage labor force. Christian free-enterprise ideology meshed easily with the goals of corporate executives hoping to take advantage of the lower wages and conservative politics of the South. Moreover, The South was a bulwark against the further spread of liberal, New Deal politics. Meanwhile, for white Protestant evangelicals, Christian free enterprise could protect the region against the threats that modernism and state-centered bureaucracies posed to the southern way of life.
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804773164
- eISBN:
- 9780804782852
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804773164.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, Latin American History
This chapter examines the history of welfare as charity provision in Mexico. It shows how the state authorities were blinded by their anticlerical animosities and forced the Catholic Church to sell ...
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This chapter examines the history of welfare as charity provision in Mexico. It shows how the state authorities were blinded by their anticlerical animosities and forced the Catholic Church to sell its assets which reduced its capabilities of serving the needy during the period 1850 –1950. It also explains that though several secular private welfare institutions emerged during the second half of the nineteenth century they failed to fill the void left by Catholic charitable enterprise. This chapter also mentions that the growth of the secular welfare institutions was hindered by state bureaucracy and they were not granted legal personality until the late 1940s.Less
This chapter examines the history of welfare as charity provision in Mexico. It shows how the state authorities were blinded by their anticlerical animosities and forced the Catholic Church to sell its assets which reduced its capabilities of serving the needy during the period 1850 –1950. It also explains that though several secular private welfare institutions emerged during the second half of the nineteenth century they failed to fill the void left by Catholic charitable enterprise. This chapter also mentions that the growth of the secular welfare institutions was hindered by state bureaucracy and they were not granted legal personality until the late 1940s.
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804773164
- eISBN:
- 9780804782852
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804773164.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, Latin American History
This chapter sums up the key findings of this study on the history of living standards in Mexico during the period from 1850 to 1950. It discusses the reasons for the continuing inequality in health ...
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This chapter sums up the key findings of this study on the history of living standards in Mexico during the period from 1850 to 1950. It discusses the reasons for the continuing inequality in health services and highlights the negative impact of state bureaucracy on welfare and poverty alleviation programs. This chapter also argues that the evolution of living standards with regard to poverty and inequality is the result of political decisions as much as economic performance, scientific advances, and technological innovations.Less
This chapter sums up the key findings of this study on the history of living standards in Mexico during the period from 1850 to 1950. It discusses the reasons for the continuing inequality in health services and highlights the negative impact of state bureaucracy on welfare and poverty alleviation programs. This chapter also argues that the evolution of living standards with regard to poverty and inequality is the result of political decisions as much as economic performance, scientific advances, and technological innovations.
David Vincent
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780198725039
- eISBN:
- 9780191792489
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198725039.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, Social History
The concluding chapter focuses on two issues. Firstly it considers why a comic figure should come to embody so much of the debate about privacy. It examines the growth of the bureaucratic state that ...
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The concluding chapter focuses on two issues. Firstly it considers why a comic figure should come to embody so much of the debate about privacy. It examines the growth of the bureaucratic state that commenced in the late 1820s, concluding that the threat to the individual and domestic archive from government was less than most accounts assume. The change in surveillance systems was gradual, and the nature of liberal governmentality generated a reluctance to inquire in detail into personal lives in the face of the rowdy defence of the home by even the poorest in the community. Secondly, the chapter focuses on the frequency with which those prying on domestic secrets came to the wrong conclusions. It challenges the long-standing treatment of Bentham’s Panopticon as the model of modern surveillance and argues that there is a need to bring communication theory to bear on private discourse.Less
The concluding chapter focuses on two issues. Firstly it considers why a comic figure should come to embody so much of the debate about privacy. It examines the growth of the bureaucratic state that commenced in the late 1820s, concluding that the threat to the individual and domestic archive from government was less than most accounts assume. The change in surveillance systems was gradual, and the nature of liberal governmentality generated a reluctance to inquire in detail into personal lives in the face of the rowdy defence of the home by even the poorest in the community. Secondly, the chapter focuses on the frequency with which those prying on domestic secrets came to the wrong conclusions. It challenges the long-standing treatment of Bentham’s Panopticon as the model of modern surveillance and argues that there is a need to bring communication theory to bear on private discourse.
