scholarly journals The cost of democracy: The determinants of spending on the public administration of elections

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 354-369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alistair Clark

Managing the electoral process requires considerable administrative and organizational capacity. Poor performance can lead to voters being disenfranchised and the integrity and legitimacy of elections undermined. Providing sufficient capacity to manage a national electoral process is expensive. Little research assesses how much electoral democracy costs, and what drives those costs. These are crucial questions for democracies, political science and public administration. Using rare comprehensive data from Britain, this article’s major contribution is to begin identifying some of the drivers impacting on the cost of electoral administration in advanced democracies. It presents an overview of influences on spending on electoral administration, before developing a multivariate model utilizing socio-economic, organizational and administrative data on election spending. It finds that costs in an important advanced democracy have been driven in a major national election by the need to provide capacity, notably on the ground close to electors.

ForScience ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cátia Valéria Dos Santos Passos Brito ◽  
Welson Barbosa Dos Santos ◽  
Cristiane Xavier Galhardo ◽  
Vivianni Marques Leite dos Santos

A realização de um inventário não é uma tarefa fácil, principalmente em universidades federais, que possuem muitos bens permanentes. A gestão patrimonial é realizada através de procedimentos de identificação, tombamento, localização, contagem, preservação e desfazimento de bens. Devido a grande quantidade de informações e necessidade de segurança, confiabilidade e celeridade nos processos, deve-se buscar alternativas para melhorar a gestão, reduzir índices de não conformidades e aprimorar o planejamento de compras. O sistema RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification), por exemplo, funciona por meio da comunicação via radiofrequência, com uso de um chip passivo inserido em etiqueta inteligente. Dessa forma, o objetivo deste artigo é analisar a viabilidade do uso da tecnologia RFID para o aperfeiçoamento da gestão patrimonial na Universidade Federal do Vale do São Francisco - Univasf por meio do levantamento de suas vantagens, desvantagens e custos para implantação. Para isto, são realizadas pesquisas em periódicos e bases de patentes, além da realização de entrevistas e análise documental. Entre os principais resultados, constata-se que o processo de gerenciamento de bens da Univasf é realizado de forma manual e desgastante para servidores membros de comissão, para a qual são convocados sem consulta prévia, verificando-se ainda que os prazos são, comumente, ultrapassados. Por outro lado, o custo para implantação do sistema RFID para controle do número atual de bens da Univasf corresponde a apenas 0,78% do valor alocado para as ações orçamentárias referentes às despesas correntes e investimentos, constituindo fatores favoráveis a sua aquisição pela Instituição.Palavras-chave: Radiofrequência. Gestão patrimonial. Universidades públicas. Internet das coisas. Smart tags in the public administration: feasibility analysis in thepatrimonial control of the UNIVASFAbstractThe construction of an inventory is not an easy task, especially at federal universities, which have many permanent assets. The patrimonial management is carried through procedures of identification, tipping, localization, counting, preservation and undoing of assets. Due to the large amount of information and the need for security, reliability and speed in the processes, alternatives should be sought to improve management, reduce nonconformity rates, and improve procurement planning. The RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) system, for example, works by means of radio frequency communication, using a passive chip inserted in a smart tag. Thus, the objective of this paper is to analyze the feasibility of using RFID technology to improve asset management at the Federal University of Vale do São Francisco -Univasf by surveying its advantages, disadvantages and costs for implementation. For this, research is carried out in journals and patent bases, as well as interviews and document analysis. Among the main results, it can be seen that Univasf's asset management process is carried out manually and exhausting for commission member servers, to which they are summoned without prior consultation, and it is also verified that the deadlines are commonly outdated. On the other hand, the cost of implementing the RFID system to control Univasf's current number of assets corresponds to only 0.78% of the amount allocated to budget actions related to current expenses and investments, constituting favorable factors for their acquisition by the Institution.Keywords: Radiofrequency. Patrimonial Management. Public universities. Internet of things. 


2011 ◽  
Vol 105 (3) ◽  
pp. 437-456 ◽  
Author(s):  
JACK SNYDER ◽  
ERICA D. BORGHARD

A large literature in political science takes for granted that democratic leaders would pay substantial domestic political costs for failing to carry out the public threats they make in international crises, and consequently that making threats substantially enhances their leverage in crisis bargaining. And yet proponents of this audience costs theory have presented very little evidence that this causal mechanism actually operates in real—as opposed to simulated—crises. We look for such evidence in post-1945 crises and find hardly any. Audience cost mechanisms are rare because (1) leaders see unambiguously committing threats as imprudent, (2) domestic audiences care more about policy substance than about consistency between the leader's words and deeds, (3) domestic audiences care about their country's reputation for resolve and national honor independent of whether the leader has issued an explicit threat, and (4) authoritarian targets of democratic threats do not perceive audience costs dynamics in the same way that audience costs theorists do. We found domestic audience costs as secondary mechanisms in a few cases where the public already had hawkish preferences before any threats were made.


Author(s):  
Igor Zvarych ◽  
Olena Zvarych

This article highlights current issues of effectiveness and efficiency of the public administration system. Using systemic and synergetic approaches, methods of analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, comparative analysis it is established that the effectiveness of management is a result compared with the cost of achieving it (they include not only direct costs of management, but also implementation management decisions). At the same time, the tools of public administration can be divided into four types: organizational structures; belief; rules; financial resources, and their capabilities – two: external, which include the legal framework, leadership and resources, and internal in the composition of people, processes and strategies. At the same time, its effectiveness should be assessed in two ways: on the one hand, by assessing the available opportunities and the extent to which they are used to achieve organizational results (socalled internal efficiency), and on the other – by assessing the final achievements (external). The organizational results of public administration should be considered in two aspects. On the one hand, it is the implementation within the legal framework in accordance with the chosen strategy and under a certain guidance of such opportunities as resources, which means their allocation in accordance with the goals and objectives of the organization; processes and structures, which means their organization to achieve goals and objectives; and people, is the change of certain human factors, the emergence or resolution of existing conflicts, and so on. At the same time, the criteria for the effectiveness of public administration: the purposefulness of the organization and functioning of the public administration system; spending time on management issues and management operations; the state of functioning of the public administration system, its subsystems and other organizational structures; the complexity of the organization of the subject of public administration, its subsystems and units; the cost of maintaining and ensuring the proper functioning of such a management system. Therefore, based on the most common interpretation of the concept of efficiency, it is considered as a result compared with the cost of obtaining it. At the same time, the efficiency of management is a relative characteristic of a particular social governing system, reflected in various indicators that have both quantitative and qualitative features, the achievement of which is especially important in the development of modern civilized system market relations in modern Ukraine and its fustified relentless European integration aspirations.


Author(s):  
Dominic Shimawua ◽  

Contemporary Nigeria is plagued with the problems of widespread poverty, large-scale unemployment, technological backwardness, low capacity utilization, inadequate and decayed social and physicalinfrastructure, high incidence of diseases, high crime rate, among others. These disturbing socio-economicindicators in Nigeria are among the worst in the world. Ironically, these unpleasant indicators exist side-byside the country’s great national wealth and potentials, with an enviable stock of human resources whopossess knowledge, expertise and skills especially in the public service. Unfortunately, it appears these knowledgeable public servants are unable to serve as catalysts in the development of the nation. This situation makes the Nigerian case paradoxical. The objective of this study therefore is to identify the challenges preventing Nigerian public administration from playing its catalyzing role in the development of the country as well as to proffer possible solutions. One of the findings is that bribery and corruption are a bane of Nigerian public administration. In fact, they constitute a serious impediment to national development. The paper recommends, inter alia, the empowering of the anti-corruption institutions and introduction of information and communication technology in public governance. The paper submits that the label of poor performance and absence of excellence in the public service has the tendency to undermine development and good governance in Nigeria.


2001 ◽  
Vol 95 (1) ◽  
pp. 217-218
Author(s):  
John C. Pierce

Max Neiman provides a concise, well-written, and compre- hensive critical analysis of "the conservative attack on the public sector, especially its explanation for and evaluation of the size and growth of the public sector in the United States" (p. viii). In doing so, however, he only partially fulfills what is promised in the subtitle, namely, explaining why big govern- ment works. Rather than explicitly assess the reasons for goal achievement in a variety of policy areas, as the title implied to me, Neiman focuses on why we have big government and on the various critiques of that size. To be sure, the book is appropriate for upper division and graduate courses in political science, public policy, or public administration.


2001 ◽  
Vol 152 (7) ◽  
pp. 270-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roland Burri ◽  
Robert Sommerhalder

For some years forest enterprises have had an instrument at their disposal to make costs transparent with the accounting model, BAR, developed at the ETH Zurich. After 1989 the Swiss Forestry Union introduced the BAR programme in many forest enterprises. It enables the directors to manage the enterprises on economical lines and enables them to justify costs to the public administration. A good accounting system helps management decisions. As a management and planning instrument,forestry accounting will become even more important in the future. The public forestry administration in the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden have been using the BAR programme since 1992. Financial results for the years 1992 to 2000 are shown and commented on in the paper. Costs were considerably lower in the area of wood production. The cost for other charges, such as forest duties, advice to private forest owners,protection, charity etc., led to a considerable increase in overall costs.


2019 ◽  

Encyclopedia of Public Administration is the first Polish interdisciplinary encyclopedia covering the issues of public administration, both in the theoretical context and with reference to its functioning in practice. The publication, whose idea was developed by researchers from the Institute of Political Sciences at the Faculty of Political Science and International Studies of the University of Warsaw, was prepared by scientists from eight Polish universities. Readers seeking knowledge and information on such issues as democracy, the system of public authorities in Poland, including local and regional self-government authorities, rules governing the practice of the functioning of offices, issues regarding officials and professional ethics, and finally forms of citizens’ participation in co-governance and their rights in relations with the public administration system, will appreciate the several hundred entries. Issues related to the functioning of the Polish administration in the structures of the European Union are also taken into account. This list does not exhaust the extensive range of entries. The Encyclopedia is addressed to various readers – the scientific community, students, representatives of public administration or citizens seeking information about the system of public institutions and the rules governing their functioning. The authors of the entries are authorities in the field of law, state systems and political issues of public administration, such as Professors Hubert Izdebski, Robert Kmieciak, Izabela Malinowska, Stanisław Mazur, Andrzej Misiuk, Jacek Sroka, Jacek Wojnicki and scientific editor of the volume Jolanta Itrich-Drabarek, Head of the Department of State Sciences and Public Administration at the Faculty of Political Science and International Studies, University of Warsaw.


Author(s):  
Emanuele Vannucci ◽  
Andrea Jonathan Pagano ◽  
Francesco Romagnoli

AbstractThis work aims to offer a contribution in the analysis and management, from an economic and financial point of view, of the flood risk, and extended to the hydrogeological risk, from the perspective of a public administration. As main responsible actor for containing the phenomenon through the maintenance of the territory, public administration is responsible for the cost of restoring of the services that have been damaged by this type of phenomenon. The assets of which the public administration must ensure the restoration are all public infrastructures (i.e. transportation, energy and water supply system, communication) together with the damage suffered by private property, if these affect services to be guaranteed to the population. In this work, the authors propose possible strategies that a public administration can put in place to deal with flood risk. Three main strategies are analysed: an absolute passivity that provides for the payment of damages as they occur (i.e. business-as-usual scenario), a classic insurance scheme, a resilient and innovative insurance scheme. The economic–financial profiles of these strategies proposed in this work put an emphasis on how the assumption of a time horizon can change the convenience of one strategy compared to the others. This study highlights the key role of the quantification of flood risk mitigation measure from an engineering perspective, and their potential issues to pursue these objectives in connection to the regulatory framework of the public administrations. This synergy is supported by the potential use of Blockchain-based tools. Within the paper is highlighted the key role that such platform IT data management platform could have within risk analysis and management schemes, both as a data collection tool and as certification of the various steps necessary to complete the process.


1979 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 344-374 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. L. Wade

In recent years, several writers using the new political economy or public choice approach to political analysis have sought to improve our understanding of bureaus, bureaucrats and governments and, in some cases, to suggest ways in which their behavior might be “improved” in the public interest. The public choice approach to public administration rejects the so-called sociological or traditional political science approaches with their alleged Parsonian, Weberian, Marxist, historical, institutional or organic biases and limitations in favor of an individualistic, deductive, noninstitutional analysis, which is thought to be more cogent, more fertile in testable hypotheses, more genuinely theoretical and more relevant in terms of reform. Here the view is taken that the pathos of the public choice approach to public administration consists in this: that public choice advocates by virtue of their methodology are fated to “lose” consistently on questions of administrative reform and prescriptive efficacy, even while contributing, potentially importantly, to the scientific understanding of nonmarket, usually public, organizations or “bureaus.”


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