The Importance of Informal Intergovernmental Organizations

2019 ◽  
pp. 400-418
Author(s):  
Felicity Vabulas
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Large Degree ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Civil Servant ◽  
Black Box ◽  
Intergovernmental Organizations ◽  
Disciplinary Boundaries ◽  
Bureaucratic Structure ◽  
High Degree

International Relations and public administration scholars are now recognizing that formal intergovernmental organizations (FIGOs) are no longer the only way that states cooperate across borders. This chapter shows that states are increasingly interacting through informal intergovernmental organizations (IIGOs) which have neither a treaty nor an independent secretariat. This chapter opens the black box of IIGOs and explores how they ‘administer the global’ without a large degree of delegation to an independent secretariat. IIGOs illustrate how states utilize a taxonomy of different administrative designs. Organizational structures without a high degree of delegation include leveraging the bureaucratic structure of existing organizations, leaning on a state for technocratic functions, and setting up a rotating Chair. Each choice preserves sovereignty while also accepting the downsides of maintaining control. This chapter utilizes a state- and civil servant focus to examine how intergovernmental organizations work, showing the promise and benefits of crossing disciplinary boundaries.

Stakeholder Engagement in Water Management: Lessons from five Cases in Central Europe

MedienJournal ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-91
Author(s):  
Daniel Polzer ◽  
Angelika Maier
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Public Relations ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Stakeholder Engagement ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Communication Strategies ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Corporate Communication ◽  
High Degree

This paper deals with a stakeholder-focused perception of stakeholder engagement and the question of how much media and corporate communication influence people to get engaged with environmental issues and resources and the water issue in particular. With five case studies at a European, national, regional and local level it is shown that only a high degree of problematization of an issue (here: flooding or water scarcity and droughts) leads to participation as well as engagement which – much more than participation or activism – depends on the existence of organizational structures. Study findings conclude that stakeholder engagement equals a highly complex, autonomous and individual process that requires qualitative research methods. Organizations, political institutions as well as corporations have to acknowledge that stake - holders get engaged “themselves”, whereas the problematization of issues can foster engagement. Implications also refer to the field of Public Relations, where highly individual and customized communication strategies are needed.

scholarly journals Minister-Permanent Secretary Relationships: Lessons from Zimbabwe’s Government of national Unity

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 23
Author(s):  
Tawanda Zinyama ◽  
Joseph Tinarwo
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Large Degree ◽  
The State ◽  
Team Work ◽  
The Political ◽  
National Unity ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Government

Public administration is carried out through the public service. Public administration is an instrument of the State which is expected to implement the policy decisions made from the political and legislative processes. The rationale of this article is to assess the working relationships between ministers and permanent secretaries in the Government of National Unity in Zimbabwe. The success of the Minister depends to a large degree on the ability and goodwill of a permanent secretary who often has a very different personal or professional background and whom the minster did not appoint. Here lies the vitality of the permanent secretary institution. If a Minister decides to ignore the advice of the permanent secretary, he/she may risk of making serious errors. The permanent secretary is the key link between the democratic process and the public service. This article observed that the mere fact that the permanent secretary carries out the political, economic and social interests and functions of the state from which he/she derives his/her authority and power; and to which he/she is accountable,  no permanent secretary is apolitical and neutral to the ideological predisposition of the elected Ministers. The interaction between the two is a political process. Contemporary administrator requires complex team-work and the synthesis of diverse contributions and view-points.

TERMINATION OF CIVIL SERVICE

2020 ◽  
Vol 59 (10) ◽  
pp. 98-100
Author(s):  
Samira Eldar Mehraliyeva ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Key Words ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Civil Service ◽  
Civil Servant ◽  
Civil Servants ◽  
Legal Basis ◽  
The Law

The responsibility of civil servants in public administration in a democratic environment is one of the central issues. The responsibility of civil servants and the grounds and conditions of termination are specified in the Law on Civil Service, which is the main legislative act implementing sectoral regulation, which emphasizes the importance of this issue. The article briefly analyzes the civil service position and civil servant, the legal basis, the concept of responsibility as a legal phenomenon, and the grounds for termination. Key words: civil service position, civil servant, termination, responsibility, restrictions

Structure Theory and Government IT

2008 ◽  
pp. 361-375
Author(s):  
J. Ramon Gil-Garcia ◽  
Shahidul Hassan
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Structure Theory ◽  
Complex Nature ◽  
Dynamic Relationship ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Technological Artifacts ◽  
The Social ◽  
Long Time

The relationship between information technologies (IT) and organizational (structural) change has been a topic of interest for public administration and policy scholars for a long time (Dawes, Gregg, & Agouris, 2004; Fountain, 2001; Garson, 2004; Heeks, 1999; Heintze & Bretschneider, 2000; Kling & Lamb, 2000; Kling & Schacchi, 1982; Kraemer & King, 2003; Kraemer, King, Dunkle, & Lane, 1989; Rocheleau, 2000). Initially, most studies were somewhat deterministic in nature, arguing that either IT had the power to transform organizational structures, or that organizational and institutional factors largely determined the characteristics and effects of IT. Current research in information systems (W. Orlikowski, 2000; W. J. Orlikowski, 1992; W. J. Orlikowski & Robey, 1991), organizational studies (Barley, 1990; De- Sanctis & Poole, 1994), and public administration and policy (Fountain, 2001), however, indicate that the relationships between IT and organizational structures are not so simple. In fact, they are recursive, complex, and somewhat unpredictable. Employing what has been called the ensemble view of technology (W. J. Orlikowski & Iacono, 2001), these studies argue that research on IT in organizations should focus not only on the technological artifacts themselves, but also on the social relationships around their adoption, development, and use. Thus, they use, and encourage others to use, theoretical approaches that call attention to the social and complex nature of IT in organizations. Structuration theory (Giddens, 1984) is one such theoretical approach that has proved to be useful in studying the dynamic relationship between IT and organizational structure.

The Domestic Implementation of International Women’s Rights Norms

2020 ◽  
pp. 41-50
Author(s):  
Peace A. Medie
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Women's Rights ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
African Studies ◽  
Women’S Rights ◽  
Gender And Politics ◽  
Institutional Conditions ◽  
International Pressure ◽  
The Creation

The study’s theoretical framework is explicated in this chapter. The chapter draws on the international relations, gender and politics, public administration, and African studies literatures to develop a framework that explains implementation at the national and street levels. It shows that an interplay of external and domestic factors shape implementation but specifies that domestic actors and conditions become more essential at the institutionalization stage. While high international pressure is sufficient for the creation of specialized mechanisms, domestic pressure and conditions become more important at the institutionalization state. Thus, low domestic pressure and unfavorable political and institutional conditions hinder implementation, even when combined with high international pressure.

Discourses of Boundary Crossing

2021 ◽  
pp. 36-55
Author(s):  
Julie Thompson Klein
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Semantic Web ◽  
Theoretical Orientation ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Boundary Crossing ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Disciplinary Boundaries ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

Typologies classify activities into similarities and differences in a semantic web of purposes, contexts, practices, organizational structures, and theoretical frameworks. Huutoniemi and Rafols (2017) contended multiple claims tend to paralyze debate on definition. Yet, Frédéric Darbellay (2015) identified two major lines of argument in current discourse about interdisciplinarity: an epistemological, theoretical orientation that transcends disciplinary boundaries and a pragmatic, participative orientation to problem solving. The epistemic approach is philosophical, raising questions about the nature of knowledge amplified by ontological questions about the nature of reality. In contrast, problem solving is oriented to instrumental needs. This chapter compares discourses of philosophy and problem solving while adding a third imperative of critique. After acknowledging differences, it then takes into account their intersections. The chapter closes by asking whose knowledge counts, weighing the relationship of generalizations and individual cases, and reflecting on how discourse shapes definition.

1. International Relations Theory and the Middle East

2019 ◽  
pp. 21-38
Author(s):  
Fred H. Lawson
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
Structural Realism ◽  
International Relations Theory ◽  
English School ◽  
Alternative Perspective ◽  
The Many ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Neoliberal Institutionalism

This chapter discusses the different theories and approaches that characterize the study of international relations. Mainstream theories focus on the ways that states interact with one another in circumstances where no overarching authority governs their behavior — in other words, under conditions of anarchy. These theories include structural realism, neoliberal institutionalism, and the scholarship on relational contracting. An important alternative perspective — the English School — argues that, even under anarchic conditions, there is a high degree of orderliness in world affairs. Meanwhile, proponents of constructivism assert that states take shape in specific historical contexts, and that the conditions under which states coalesce and become socialized to one another play a crucial role in determining how they conceive of themselves and formulate their basic interests. Scholars of the Middle East have so far addressed only a fraction of the many theoretical debates and controversies that energize the field of international relations.

Significance of Qualitative Factors for a Deeper Understanding of Service Productivity

2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 46-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabrina Cocca
Keyword(s):  
Crucial Role ◽  
Processing Time ◽  
Service Management ◽  
Black Box ◽  
Process Efficiency ◽  
Input Output ◽  
Service Productivity ◽  
Qualitative Factors ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Measurable Factors

Analysing and optimising service productivity is a widely discussed task in service management. While directly measurable factors such as processing time or service turnover are frequently used in order to measure the productivity of services, underlying factors that are, in many cases, not (directly) measurable are not considered in-depth. However, these “qualitative” factors influence service productivity to a high degree. The idea behind the approach provided in this article is to open the former “black box” view on productivity (input–output) to a process efficiency-oriented perspective instead and to show which qualitative factors play a crucial role regarding service productivity.

Verfassung und Verwaltung. Landesfürst und Stände, Politiker und Beamte

2021 ◽  
pp. 139-174
Author(s):  
Peter Urbanitsch
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
State Government ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Substantial Part ◽  
Central State ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Role ◽  
Revolution Of 1848

Constitution and Administration. The Territorial Prince and Estates, Politicians and Officials. This chapter focuses on the bipolar political life in Lower Austria in the course of the long 19th century. Beginning with the constitutional realities before the revolution of 1848, it examines the constitutional developments after 1848 and 1861, and also offers a brief description of the various administrative organizational structures and their efforts and achievements. Prior to 1848, the aulic offices sought to minimize the political role of the estates and thus the participation of sections of the populace. Yet according to the constitutional settlement of 1861, some elements of the population hitherto not involved in politics were given the opportunity for self-determined activities. The “autonomous” administration of the land became a substantial part of public administration, being quite successful in supplying all kinds of services. Owing to a blurred assignment of remits between the “autonomous” administration of the land and that run by the central state government, this “dual-track” public administration diminished the effectiveness of its activities and became a nuisance for the public at large

The Shining Path

2019 ◽  
pp. 124-150
Author(s):  
Jenna Jordan
Keyword(s):  
Shining Path ◽  
Authority Structure ◽  
Bureaucratic Structure ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Communal Support

Chapter 6 explores the case of the Shining Path and accounts for variation in the outcome of targeting efforts. As the Shining Path became less bureaucratic in structure and experienced a loss in communal support, it became more susceptible to destabilization in the wake of leadership attacks. When Abimael Guzmán was arrested in 1992, the organization had a large amount of communal support and an organized bureaucratic authority structure. The ideology upon which the group relied was based on Guzmán’s interpretation of Marxist thought. Given the group’s high degree of institutionalization, its ideology became entrenched and was not dependent upon Guzmán. The organization was thus able to withstand the 1992 capture of Guzmán and other leaders. By 1999, when Óscar Ramírez Durand was arrested, the organization was already in a state of decline. It had lost a considerable number of its members and its bureaucratic structure was severely weakened.

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