Values for Public Servants in Wales: Putting Them into Practice?

Farrell, Catherine; Law, Jennifer

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-03008-7_99-1

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 27 publications

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“…This is the starkest example of an intentionally behavioural approach to the foundations of administrative behaviour. The closest parallel appears to be the Welsh Government, which aimed to improve cooperation through a unified culture (“One Welsh Public Service”; Farrell and Law, 2020). While elements of the Welsh study are evidently behavioural in practice, the administrative discourse was less explicit about the intended choice architecture.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

(Non) rationality and choice architecture: a behavioural approach to public administrative discretion in New Zealand

Scott

Merton

2023

IJOA

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Purpose A central question of public administration is how political principals secure the cooperation of administrators within organisational frames and contexts; increasingly, rational influences are being considered alongside bounded rationality and non-rational influences. This paper aims to explore the intent of New Zealand’s Public Service Act 2020 in managing administrative behaviour. Design/methodology/approach The methodology is primarily ethnographic, combining emic and etic perspectives. A mixed-methods approach comprises participant observer field notes and meeting documentation, substantiated by official documents; documents were analysed thematically and triangulated with other data sources. Findings The Public Service Act introduces new bounds on administrative behaviour. The stated rationale for these changes reveals an attempt to set limits on the principal–agent relationship between politicians and administrators and causes predictable deviations from rational behaviour by cultivating public service motivation and a unified public service identity. Research limitations/implications As the legislation in question was only passed in 2020, it is too early to definitively assess the ultimate impact of legislation on administrative behaviour. This case study demonstrates that behavioural approaches to public administration are being applied intentionally by governments. The choice architecture created in the case study blends rational, bounded, and non-rational influences. Together, this produces a bricolage of semi-relevant theories from other disciplines, especially psychology, to explain administrative behaviour. Further refinement is needed to develop a cohesive and comprehensive theory of administrative behaviour that can account for contemporary practice. Practical implications Administrators act as agents of political principals, within ethical and rules-based limitations and influenced by public service motivation and social identity. Shifting from implicit to explicit choice architecture does not negate possible tensions between bounds and can signal them more explicitly. Shared symbols are sometimes intended to influence identity and therefore adherence to behavioural norms. Originality/value This paper explores the manipulation of choice architecture as a viable strategy for altering behaviour for the better and, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, is the first known instance of choice architecture being “legislated in” rather than merely “showing through”. This study illustrates the blending of rational, boundedly rational and non-rational factors into a choice architecture for public administrators that help mediate the biases and challenges of principal–agent relationships (which form a cascade in New Zealand’s public administration system).

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

(Non) rationality and choice architecture: a behavioural approach to public administrative discretion in New Zealand

Scott

Merton

2023

IJOA

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Reflecting on over 100 years of public administration education

Farrell

Hatcher

Diamond

2021

Public Administration

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Public administration education has an interesting history rooted in numerous scholarly disciplines, such as sociology, political science, economics, and engineering. The article reflects on the last 100 years of scholarship on public administration education, starting with an article on the topic in the first issue of Public Administration in 1923. We provide a concise review focused on the development of public administration education over this time. Next, we discuss scholarship in top journals on public administration education, Journal of Public Affairs Education and Teaching Public Administration. We use Denhardt's (2001) big questions in public administration education as a framework to examine this scholarship. We conclude by discussing the future of public administration education and advocating a community-based approach to pedagogy practice and research in the field.

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Values for Public Servants in Wales: Putting Them into Practice?

Cited by 2 publications

References 27 publications

(Non) rationality and choice architecture: a behavioural approach to public administrative discretion in New Zealand

(Non) rationality and choice architecture: a behavioural approach to public administrative discretion in New Zealand

Reflecting on over 100 years of public administration education

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