Governing by Numbers - Key Indicators and the Politics of Expectations. An Introduction

Bartl, Walter; Papilloud, Christian; Terracher-Lipinski, Audrey

doi:10.12759/hsr.44.2019.2.7-43

Cited by 11 publications

(9 citation statements)

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“…This development is currently accelerating due to digitalisation reinforcing the spread of management methodologies, such as NPM, Post-NPM and other neo-liberal specialties, which demand 'objective knowledge' and specific information systems to function in accordance with their workability principles. This management methodology trend has strengthened a knowledge hierarchy, in which figures and measurements have greater value than other kinds of knowledge , and where these objects, such as QIs, transform the world they claim to describe (Bartl et al, 2019).…”

Section: From the Quantified To Datafied Welfare State?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite criticism, 1 the survivability of indicators in policy and management culture is impressive. The ongoing intense datafication of public governance even strengthens their position and voice (Bartl et al, 2019;Saltelli & Fiore, 2020). With the speeding up of data production and dashboarding of information that new digital technologies and platforms imply, the use and circulation of quality indicators are on the rise.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Talking About Algorithms: How Can Interdisciplinary Translation in the Automation of Public Sector Casework Be Facilitated?

Geirbo,

Røste

2023

Lost in Digital Translations: Studies of Digital Resistance and Accommodation to the Welfare State in Practice

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Motivated by the need to save resources, increase efficiency, and reduce human error, public authorities are increasingly developing digital systems for the automation of casework. Since professional practices and algorithmic systems co-evolve, it is crucial that the expertise of caseworkers is included in the design of these systems. This presupposes that the algorithms can be scrutinised and discussed across professional boundaries. Recent literature on the digitalisation of public administration has called attention to several problems of translation associated with the development of algorithms. This chapter discusses two related problems: the problem of transforming laws, and transforming professional practice into algorithms. Based on interviews with system developers and caseworkers in the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV), the chapter presents and discusses tools and methods for overcoming these problems, and facilitating translation between professional groups in the development of digital decision support systems.

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Section: From the Quantified To Datafied Welfare State?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Talking About Algorithms: How Can Interdisciplinary Translation in the Automation of Public Sector Casework Be Facilitated?

Geirbo,

Røste

2023

Lost in Digital Translations: Studies of Digital Resistance and Accommodation to the Welfare State in Practice

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“…Indicators are a particular form of numbers. Although there is no consensual definition of what an indicator is, a frequently mentioned attribute is that they are numerical representations of relevant phenomena tailored to inform (political) decision making [23]. According to Theodore Porter and Wendy Espeland, the use of indicators tends to mechanize political and administrative decision making because it is a means of imposing rules on subjective judgement [24,25].…”

Section: Decision Making Based On Indicators: Information (E)valuatio...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When education reports point out spatial disparities, they can influence policy formulation by making them politically more salient. However, producing key indicators that are considered relevant by various audiences is not an easy task, nor is it the case that investments in the production of more indicators preclude the risk of non-use (e.g., because of information overload) or critique [23]. In constellations of purely epistemic quantification, no criteria of allocation are tied to the observation of spatial disparities.…”

Section: Distinguishing Between Different Forms Of Governing By Indic...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Governing Spatial Disparities in School Infrastructure by Numbers: Investments in Form, Tensions, New Compromises?

Bartl

2022

Education Sciences

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Given that education infrastructure has been a crucial element of the infrastructural power of the welfare state, surprisingly little is known about how spatial disparities in school infrastructure have been governed. While emphasis has recently been placed on the role of numbers in governing the education system, there have been contradictory results on the use of numbers for measuring spatial disparities in schooling on the one hand and on allocating school infrastructure by numbers on the other. What role have indicators played in the governance of regional disparities in education and how can we explain changes to this role? Assuming that indicators typically fulfil two functions in decision making processes (information gathering and allocation of resources), this article develops an ideal–typical distinction between four ways of (not) using numbers for governance purposes. This typology is applied to a historical case study of indicators as a device for governing spatial disparities in education in Germany. Cognitive investments in indicators for observing spatial disparities in education and for administering schools have been made in Germany since the early 19th century. However, conceptual flaws and conservative education policies have kept them from being put to effective practice in school infrastructure policies. It was not until the 1970s that demographic and administrative indicators became institutionalized as part of decentralized but fairly standardized school planning practices. While the use of indicators in the spatial allocation of education resources seemed to work well during periods of educational expansion, this calculative practice produced tension with the civic idea of spatial justice when enrolments declined.

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“…As is often observed, the opposite seems to be true. The combination of being both 'digital' and 'data' , with its double decontextualized and mobile character, is rather understood as giving the indicated information an extra aura of usability, precision, objectivity, and rationality (see Bartl et al, 2019). It is also broadly acknowledged that expressing reality in (digital) numbers cannot grasp the world holistically, but necessarily implies simplifications and reductions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Becoming In/dependent: An Assemblage Analysis of Technical Design from Below

Foss,

Sørhaug

2023

Lost in Digital Translations: Studies of Digital Resistance and Accommodation to the Welfare State in Practice

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In this chapter we investigate the resistance of two tech-savvy speech and mobility impaired users to increased attempts at digitalising their communication devices. Though these informants are keen users of technology and accommodate various types to increase their ability to become independent, they are also highly critical of the technologies they are continuously confronted with. Through in-depth ethnography, we suggest a context-sensitive approach when introducing new technology, for people who are not always able to communicate and express what they mean directly. We believe that we need to be attentive to what is being introduced, as well as to what is taken away from the assemblage of speech and mobility impaired users and their technologies. In a society that is increasingly streamlining services and communication towards digital technologies, we need to be attentive to users’ resistance, and how digitalisation might hinder people’s ability to become independent.

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Governing by Numbers - Key Indicators and the Politics of Expectations. An Introduction

Cited by 11 publications

References 0 publications

Talking About Algorithms: How Can Interdisciplinary Translation in the Automation of Public Sector Casework Be Facilitated?

Talking About Algorithms: How Can Interdisciplinary Translation in the Automation of Public Sector Casework Be Facilitated?

Governing Spatial Disparities in School Infrastructure by Numbers: Investments in Form, Tensions, New Compromises?

Becoming In/dependent: An Assemblage Analysis of Technical Design from Below

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