scholarly journals Does religious bias shape access to public services? A large-scale audit experiment among street-level bureaucrats

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Pfaff ◽  
Charles Crabtree ◽  
Holger L. Kern ◽  
John B. Holbein
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Public Services ◽  
Religious Affiliation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
The Public ◽  
Street Level ◽  
Street Level Bureaucrats ◽  
To Receive

Despite growing descriptive evidence of discrimination against minority religious groups and atheists in the United States, little experimental work exists studying whether individuals face differential barriers to receiving public services depending on their religious affiliation. Here we report results from a large-scale audit study of street-level bureaucrats in the American public school system. We emailed the principals of more than 45,000 public schools and asked for a meeting, randomly assigning the religious affiliation/non-affiliation of the family. To get at potential mechanisms, we also randomly assigned belief intensity.We find evidence of substantial discrimination against Muslims and atheists. These individuals are substantially less likely to receive a response, with discrimination growing when they signal that their beliefs are more intense. Protestants and Catholics face no discrimination unless they signal that their religious beliefs are intense. Our ?findings suggest that minority religious groups and atheists face important barriers to equal representation in the public arena.

The Shifting Political Winds

2016 ◽  
pp. 238-254
Author(s):  
Catherine A. Lugg ◽  
Jason P. Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Educational Policy ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Politics Of Education ◽  
Economic Decline ◽  
Lgbt Students ◽  
Street Level ◽  
Actual Meaning ◽  
Street Level Bureaucrats

This chapter teases out how shifting currents in US educational policy and politics vis-à-vis LGBTQ students conflict by employing a lens from the politics of education literature: street-level bureaucrats. Regardless of the intent of a policy’s authors, how street-level bureaucrats (career civil servants like public educators) define a policy through their implementation becomes the actual meaning of the policy. Given the shifting political winds regarding LGBTQ identity and educational policy, teasing out whose understandings of a given policy are actually implemented is critical for the well-being of LGBT students attending US public schools. Educators, as street-level bureaucrats, have the potential to find spaces within these broader political and policy changes to better serve as supports for LGBT students. Finally, in the United States and other locales, economic decline can amplify political discontent, including conflicts over the course and scope of educational policies.

PERMISSION TO CONDUCT THE FIRST STUDY OF THE HEIGHTS AND WEIGHTS OF CHILDREN IN THE UNITED STATES

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1968 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 311-311
Author(s):  
T. E. C.
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Medical School ◽  
Harvard Medical School ◽  
The United States ◽  
Harvard University ◽  
The Public ◽  
Boston Public Schools ◽  
School Committee ◽  
Boston School

The beginning of all growth studies in this country occurred less than a century ago when the Boston School Committee approved the following order permitting Henry Pickering Bowditch, Professor of Physiology at the Harvard Medical School, to measure and weigh children in the Boston public schools. This document is one of the great, and I believe little known, landmarks in modern pediatrics.1 In School Committee, March 9, 1875 Ordered, That permission be given to Prof. Henry P. Bowditch, of Harvard University, to ascertain the height and weight of the pupils attending the public school, through such an arrangement as the respective chairman and the headmaster, or masters, may deem most convenient.

Are Americans less likely to reply to emails from Black people relative to White people?

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (52) ◽  
pp. e2110347118
Author(s):  
Ray Block ◽  
Charles Crabtree ◽  
John B. Holbein ◽  
J. Quin Monson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Black People ◽  
Racial Bias ◽  
The United States ◽  
Simple Task ◽  
The Public ◽  
Medical Sector ◽  
Large Scale Field ◽  
Ethnic Subgroups

In this article, we present the results from a large-scale field experiment designed to measure racial discrimination among the American public. We conducted an audit study on the general public—sending correspondence to 250,000 citizens randomly drawn from public voter registration lists. Our within-subjects experimental design tested the public’s responsiveness to electronically delivered requests to volunteer their time to help with completing a simple task—taking a survey. We randomized whether the request came from either an ostensibly Black or an ostensibly White sender. We provide evidence that in electronic interactions, on average, the public is less likely to respond to emails from people they believe to be Black (rather than White). Our results give us a snapshot of a subtle form of racial bias that is systemic in the United States. What we term everyday or “paper cut” discrimination is exhibited by all racial/ethnic subgroups—outside of Black people themselves—and is present in all geographic regions in the United States. We benchmark paper cut discrimination among the public to estimates of discrimination among various groups of social elites. We show that discrimination among the public occurs more frequently than discrimination observed among elected officials and discrimination in higher education and the medical sector but simultaneously, less frequently than discrimination in housing and employment contexts. Our results provide a window into the discrimination that Black people in the United States face in day-to-day interactions with their fellow citizens.

scholarly journals The role of logistics management in public services – research plan

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 33-43
Author(s):  
László Buics
Keyword(s):  
Public Management ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Public Services ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
Logistics Management ◽  
Services Research ◽  
The Public ◽  
New Public ◽  
Efficiency And Effectiveness ◽  
Increase Efficiency

Public services and logistics are generally treated as different fields, but the tools of logistics management with the help of the Unified Services Theory can be used for the benefit of the public services. The aim of this theoretical paper is to generally introduce my topic and relevance of the research on which my PhD thesis will be based in the future. The expectations in the advanced, globalized world are pushing governments to find new methods to fulfil the needs of the citizens while keeping up or even increase efficiency and effectiveness. I believe that from a certain viewpoint the public administration system can be considered as a large scale supply network, and I am particularly interested in how we could apply logistical methods in public services to increase efficiency and effectiveness while simultaneously increase customer satisfaction. In this particular paper I would like to present how I see the connections between the concept of New Public management and the Unified Services Theory. I would like to show the similarities between them and how they could complete each other in order to serve as a background for later logistics related approaches and researches within the domain of public services.

scholarly journals DUPLICITY IN REGULATION AND PERFORMANCE OF THE FINANCIAL SECTOR IN KENYA

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dr.Agnes Ogada
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Developing Economies ◽  
Financial Sector ◽  
The United States ◽  
Empirical Literature ◽  
Unique Contribution ◽  
Regulatory Structure ◽  
The Public ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Uk

Purpose: The objective of the study was to investigate the duplicity in regulation and its effect on performance of the financial sector in Kenya. The specific objectives were; to review and identify regulation duplication/competition in existing regulatory framework for the financial sector in Kenya; to describe how regulatory effectiveness has been measured in empirical literature; to assess whether the current regulatory structure has affected the performance of the financial sector in Kenya and lastly to suggest potential ways of enhancing regulatory effectiveness in Kenya. Methodology: The paper used a desk study review methodology where relevant empirical literature was reviewed to identify main themes and to extract knowledge gaps. Findings: The study found out that financial sector in Kenya and other developing economies have reported losses on a large scale due to under regulation and regulator duplicity. Some of these have become insolvent, or have had to be taken over or rescued by their governments. A single market regulator clearly has its own advantages over multiple regulators. But it is more suitable for well-developed and mature markets which are smaller in size, like the UK. The study also found out that Kenya’s economy and political arena are not mature enough to handle a single financial market regulator. In this light it can be asserted that even mature economies such as the United States still have multiple regulators. Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: Adherence to principles of open government, including transparency and participation in the regulatory process to ensure that regulation serves the public interest and is informed by the legitimate needs of those interested in and affected by regulation. Governments should ensure that regulations are comprehensible and clear and that parties can easily understand their rights and obligations. Organizations should create personalized technology systems that create a demand adaptation of ICT at every level of the organizational operations

scholarly journals The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the performance of street level bureaucrats in Brazil

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriela Spanghero Lotta ◽  
Giordano Morangueira Magri ◽  
Ana Carolina Nunes ◽  
Beatriz Soares Benedito ◽  
Claudio Aliberti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Justice System ◽  
The Public ◽  
Street Level ◽  
Care Access ◽  
Structural Problems ◽  
Health And Social Care ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Street Level Bureaucrats ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Government Level

Abstract: Dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic requires that the State make hard decisions that involve the action of bureaucrats who interact with the population through the implementation of public policy, the street-level bureaucracy (SLB). In this paper, based on a mixed- method exploratory study, we analyze how the daily performance of street-level bureaucrats in different policy areas- health and social care, access to the justice system, public security and education - has changed during the pandemic. We also explore the repercussions of those changes. Based on the analysis of the perceptions of bureaucrats, changes in their work and in their relationship with the public, we identify three categories that illustrate the dynamics of SLB work during the pandemic: the SLB who faces the crisis on the front lines; the SLB who suffers the effects of the pandemic, but whose work does not require her to face it directly; and the SLB who began to work remotely. We conclude that, during the pandemic, SLB suffered in varying degrees an aggravation of structural problems, such as their removal from decision-making processes - now restricted to the highest government level - and the exacerbation of already existing conflicts and ambiguities.

scholarly journals The Effect of Governmental Health Measures on Public Behaviour During the COVID-19 Pandemic Outbreak

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guoyan Wang ◽  
Li Li ◽  
Lingfei Wang ◽  
Zhi Xu
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
New York State ◽  
The United States ◽  
Average Score ◽  
Phase Rule ◽  
The Public ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Epidemic Area

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in radical changes in many aspects of life. To deal with this, each country has implemented continuous health measures from the beginning of the outbreak. Discovering how governmental actions impacted public behaviour during the outbreak stage is the purpose of this study. Methods: This study uses a hybrid large-scale data visualisation method to analyse public behaviour (epidemic concerns, self-protection, and mobility trends), using the data provided by multiple authorities. Meanwhile, a content analysis method is used to qualitatively code the health measures of three countries with severe early epidemic outbreaks from different continents, namely China, Italy, and the United States. Eight dimensions are coded to rate the mobility restrictions implemented in the above countries. Results: (1) Governmental measures did not immediately persuade the public to change their behaviours during the COVID-19 epidemic. Instead, the public behaviour proceeded in a three-phase rule, which is typically witnessed in an epidemic outbreak, namely the wait-and-see phase, the surge phase and the slow-release phase. (2) The strictness of the mobility restrictions of the three countries can be ranked as follows: Hubei Province in China (with an average score of 8.5 out of 10), Lombardy in Italy (7.125), and New York State in the United States (5.375). Strict mobility restrictions are more likely to cause a surge of population outflow from the epidemic area in the short term, whereas the effect of mobility restrictions is positively related to the stringency of policies in the long term. Conclusion: The public showed generally lawful behaviour during regional epidemic outbreaks and blockades. Meanwhile public behaviour was deeply affected by the actions of local governments, rather than the global pandemic situation. The contextual differences between the various countries are important factors that influence the effects of the different governments’ health measures.

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