scholarly journals Political selection of public servants and parliamentary oversight

2012 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Braendle ◽  
Alois Stutzer
Keyword(s):  
Public Servants ◽  
Political Selection ◽  
Parliamentary Oversight ◽  
Selection Of

The Positive Image of Public Servants in Editorial Cartoons (1999 - 2003)

Public Voices ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 51
Author(s):  
Tony Carrizales
Keyword(s):  
American Culture ◽  
September 11 ◽  
The Political ◽  
Postal Service ◽  
Public Servants ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Positive Image ◽  
Editorial Cartoons ◽  
Positive Images ◽  
Selection Of

The editorial cartoon has been a part of American culture since the beginning of the nation’s founding. The following review of editorial cartoons takes a specific look at public servants who are not in the political spotlight, such as teachers, police, fire and postal service men and women. Through a review of editorial cartoons from 1999-2003, it becomes apparent that there are positive images of public servants amid the numerous negative ones published daily. The selection of cartoons, most notably those following the attacks of September 11, 2001, highlights that heroism and service can be transcended through cartoons as with any other form of art.

Election by Community Consensus: Effects on Political Selection and Governance

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-45
Author(s):  
Ashna Arora
Keyword(s):  
Secret Ballot ◽  
Village Level ◽  
Local Elite ◽  
Qualitative Evidence ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Local Politicians ◽  
Political Selection ◽  
Selection Of

This paper evaluates the effects of encouraging the selection of local politicians in India via community consensus, as opposed to a secret ballot election. Using village-level data on candidates, elected politicians, government budgets, and workfare employment, I show that incentives for consensus elections lead to politicians that are more educated but less likely to be drawn from historically marginalized castes, and increase how regressively workfare employment is targeted. These results are supported by qualitative evidence that shows that consensus elections are prone to capture by the local elite, which may reduce the need for clientelistic transfers to the non-elite.

scholarly journals Meet the Press: How Voters and Politicians Respond to Newspaper Entry and Exit

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 159-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Drago ◽  
Tommaso Nannicini ◽  
Francesco Sobbrio
Keyword(s):  
Municipal Government ◽  
Electoral Participation ◽  
Entry And Exit ◽  
Municipal Elections ◽  
Original Dataset ◽  
The Press ◽  
Political Selection ◽  
Relevant Role ◽  
Government Efficiency ◽  
Selection Of

This paper uses an original dataset covering the presence of local news in medium-large Italian cities in the period 1993–2010 to evaluate the effects of newspaper entry and exit on electoral participation, political selection, and government efficiency. Exploiting discrete changes in the number of newspapers, we show that newspaper entry increases turnout in municipal elections, the reelection probability of the incumbent mayor, and the efficiency of the municipal government. We do not find any effect on the selection of politicians. Competition plays a relevant role, as the effects are not limited to the first newspaper entry. (JEL D72, L11, L82)

scholarly journals Who Becomes A Politician?*

2017 ◽  
Vol 132 (4) ◽  
pp. 1877-1914 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ernesto Dal Bó ◽  
Frederico Finan ◽  
Olle Folke ◽  
Torsten Persson ◽  
Johanna Rickne
Keyword(s):  
Positive Selection ◽  
Social Background ◽  
Social Representation ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Political Selection ◽  
Occupational Social Class ◽  
Rich Data ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Parental Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Selection Of

Abstract Can a democracy attract competent leaders, while attaining broad representation? Economic models suggest that free-riding incentives and lower opportunity costs give the less competent a comparative advantage at entering political life. Moreover, if elites have more human capital, selecting on competence may lead to uneven representation. This article examines patterns of political selection among the universe of municipal politicians and national legislators in Sweden, using extraordinarily rich data on competence traits and social background for the entire population. We document four new facts that together characterize an “inclusive meritocracy.” First, politicians are on average significantly smarter and better leaders than the population they represent. Second, this positive selection is present even when conditioning on family (and hence social) background, suggesting that individual competence is key for selection. Third, the representation of social background, whether measured by parental earnings or occupational social class, is remarkably even. Fourth, there is at best a weak trade-off in selection between competence and social representation, mainly due to strong positive selection of politicians of low (parental) socioeconomic status. A broad implication of these facts is that it is possible for democracy to generate competent and socially representative leadership.

scholarly journals When guns govern public health: Examining the implications of the militarised COVID-19 pandemic response for democratisation and human rights in Uganda

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
James Nkuubi
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Current Trend ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Professional Services ◽  
Prevention Measures ◽  
Critical Question ◽  
Public Servants ◽  
Resistance Movement ◽  
The Military ◽  
Parliamentary Oversight

The article is premised on the hypothesis that the Uganda Peoples' Defence Force (UPDF) and the attendant auxiliary forces are not an ideal force for domestic deployment in contending with public health pandemics such as COVID-19. The UPDF has been the main architectural tool that has been deployed by the National Resistance Movement party, a former guerilla movement, to perpetuate militarisation in the country for the past 30 years. The conduct, power, authority and prominent position accorded to the UPDF in the management of COVID-19 and the enforcement of the prevention measures laid bare this reality. Thus, unlike in other jurisdictions where the militaries were deployed because of their superior capability to adapt and provide extra and immediate professional services to support the civilian authorities, in Uganda this deployment was different. It was informed by the long-held and widely-documented belief by the President of Uganda, Museveni, that the UPDF, which developed from his personal guerrilla army of the National Resistance Army (NRA), only holds a legitimate vision for the country and is far more reliable. The COVID-19 pandemic, therefore, was an opportunity to continue the deliberate build-up and normalisation of the infiltration of the military in what have hitherto been spheres of operation for the civil and public servants. Thus, a critical question arises as to whether the primary motivation factor for the UPDF deployment was political, to accentuate the presidency of Museveni in power through militarisation. The question is also whether any positive harvests from the deployment of the military in the fight against COVID-19 were unintended consequences and, if they did materialise, how they were used to further glorify the centrality of the military in dealing with societal crises, further entrenching militarism. The article concludes with some recommendations emphasising the need for accountability - more so, parliamentary oversight in the deployment of the military in such situations to counter a breach of rights and freedoms. Additionally, this would check the current trend of the executive having the exclusive power to deploy the military, making it susceptible to hijacking and eventual politicisation and militarisation.

scholarly journals ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PUBLIC CIVIL SERVANTS OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION (THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS)

2020 ◽  
pp. 12-18
Author(s):  
D. Yu. Znamenskiy ◽  
A. V. Gusarov
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Russian Federation ◽  
International Experience ◽  
Civil Servants ◽  
Public Servants ◽  
New Methods ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Social Features ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Selection Of

The content of this article is an analysis of the theoretical and methodological foundations for assessing the professional and service activities of public civil servants in the Russian Federation. The relevance of the article lies in the fact that the ongoing process of transforming public administration and increasing demands from the population to public civil servants requires the development of new methods for of assessing the effectiveness of their activities in the Russian Federation for the successful selection of a modern civil servants who can comply with the growing requirements emanating from population and successfully cope with the assignments and tasks emanating from the country’s leadership. Different theoretical approaches of public administration researchers to assessing the effectiveness of public civil servants have been considered. An analysis of international experience in building and establishing a system for evaluating the effectiveness of public servants will highlight and implement elements of evaluating the effectiveness of public civil servants, taking into account legal, historical and social features of the Russian Federation.

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