Interactive Governance Between and Within Governmental Levels and Functions: A Social Network Analysis of China's Case Against COVID-19

COVID-19 has created long-lasting yet unprecedented challenges worldwide. In addition to scientific efforts, political efforts and public administration are also crucial to contain the disease. Therefore, understanding how multi-level governance systems respond to this public health crisis is vital to combat COVID-19. This study focuses on China and applies social network analysis to illustrate interactive governance between and within levels and functions of government, confirming and extending the existing Type I and Type II definition of multi-level governance theory. We characterize four interaction patterns—vertical, inter-functional, intra-functional, and hybrid—with the dominant pattern differing across governmental functions and evolving as the pandemic progressed. Empirical results reveal that financial departments of different levels of government interact through the vertical pattern. At the same time, intra-functional interaction also exists in provincial financial departments. The supervision departments typically adopt the inter-functional pattern at all levels. At the cross-level and cross-function aspects, the hybrid interaction pattern prevails in the medical function and plays a fair part in the security, welfare, and economic function. This study is one of the first to summarize the interaction patterns in a multi-level setting, providing practical implications for which pattern should be applied to which governmental levels/functions under what pandemic condition.

To Have Versus To Have Not: A Cross-City Configurational Analysis of Social Service Contracting

This study employs a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to explore how combinations of demand- and supply-side factors jointly shape the scale of government-nonprofit contracting in social services across 38 Chinese cities. Our analysis reveals a huge disparity by identifying two pathways to large-scale government contracting for “to-have” (well-resourced cities with low service needs but a well-developed nonprofit sector) versus the other two pathways to small-scale government contracting for “to-have-not” (poorly-resourced cities with an underdeveloped nonprofit sector struggling with meeting high service needs). The study contributes to the literature by highlighting how different demand- and supply-side factors can complement each other to form different combinations in shaping the scale of government contracting with new empirical evidence from an authoritarian context. The rise of government-nonprofit contracting in China is more supply-driven, reflecting the government's active role in cultivating the nonprofit sector development. The findings also raise an important policy issue of accessibility and equity in social service provision.

Does Managerial Use of Performance Information Matter to Organizational Outcomes?

Public management scholars have made impressive strides in explaining managerial usage of performance information (PI). Does such PI use matter to performance? If so, what types of use make a difference? To answer these questions, we connect managerial self-reported behavior with objective organizational outcomes in Texas schools. We control for lagged comparative school performance and employ inverse probability weighting to mitigate endogeneity concerns. The results show that managerial use of PI is associated with objective indicators of performance, and that the type of use matters. In particular, school principals’ use of PI for strategic planning is positively associated with better high-stake test scores. The findings suggest that maturity of performance management system can shape the relationship between managerial PI use and organizational performance, thereby contributing to a contingency-based understanding of the relationship between performance management and organizational performance.

An Application of the Theory of Representative Bureaucracy, Gender Concordance, and Symbolic Representation in the Health Care Context

Although the United States spends more on health care than comparable nations, many Americans suffer from poor health. Many factors are emphasized as being important for improved health outcomes, including social and economic indicators, living and working conditions, and individual-level behavior. However, I argue the overwhelming attention to male health outcomes—compared to female health outcomes—and focus on factors that are “traditionally understood” as important in shaping health are two limitations of existing health-related research. I adopt an innovative approach that combines the theory of representative bureaucracy, gender concordance, and symbolic representation to argue that increase in female physicians contribute to improved female health outcomes. Using an originally collected dataset that contains information on female physicians, health outcomes, and state and individual-level factors, I study how female physicians influence the health outcomes of non-Hispanic White women, non-Hispanic Black women, and Latinas in the United States from 2000 to 2012. The findings suggest female physicians contribute to improved health outcomes for non-Hispanic White women and non-Hispanic Black women, but not Latinas. Supplemental Analysis bolsters confidence that the findings are not the result of increased access to health care professionals. This study highlights the importance of applying the theory of representative bureaucracy and symbolic representation to health care, the promise of greater female representation in health, and the insight gleaned from incorporating intersectionality in public administration research.

Collaborative Governance in a Developing Non-Democracy: Uganda's Organizational Success Fighting HIV/AIDS

Organization and management scholars seek theory-grounded and theory-building research regarding establishing and structuring organization forms to tackle large, intractable problems, especially grand challenges of poverty, disease, and hunger. Developing countries tend to have intractable social problems of rampant poverty and poor health and struggle with epidemics. The case of HIV/AIDS in Uganda contributes new understanding regarding public organization and state capacity in developing countries, especially regarding grand challenges of intractable social problems. Field research study of HIV/AIDS action in Uganda contributes unexpected insights regarding collaborative governance in an institution context under-explored in public administration and organization studies, the developing non-democracy. Ugandan public executives innovated a participatory organization model of cross-sector collaborative governance to fight their intractable social problem of HIV/AIDS during their start-up era. The participatory organization model innovated by the Ugandan public chief executive, called a best practice by WHO/UNAIDS and influential with PEPFAR designers, yields a construct of network coordination and network control for study of the organization of cross-sector collaborative governance. Integration of public administration and organization studies with development and international relations studies informs study of tensions between efficiency and inclusiveness and between social power and social legitimacy with respect to collaborative governance outcomes of network effectiveness and participatory accountability in the institution context of a developing non-democracy. Is non-democracy meaningful or meaningless to collaborative governance?

An Exploratory Examination of the Relationship Between Trust and Street-Level Bureaucrats’ Willingness to Risk Their Lives for Others

This article presents the findings of an exploratory study examining the relationships between street-level bureaucrats’ (SLBs) trust in their peers, managers, and the institution they belong to, and their willingness to endanger their own lives for the public. We build on previous administrative and behavioral theories to present a model of these relationships. Using a survey of 211 police officers in Israel, our findings demonstrate the important role of trust in understanding the willingness of civil servants to risk their lives for citizens. We also identify additional factors that may be related to their willingness to take this risk and the types of clients for whom they are less or more willing to do so. We discuss the normative elements related to these findings and suggest fruitful future directions for study.

The Impact of Cutbacks From a Major State Financial Crisis on Organizational Trust

Previous research has shown that cutbacks in public spending often impact the range and quality of the public services delivered, leading to negative behaviors on the part of public servants. This article examines how sudden cutbacks caused by a major state financial crisis have an impact on interpersonal trust within a special police unit. We present the results of a longitudinal case study using a combination of qualitative methods. The lack of foreseeability and reliability caused by drastic changes resulting from cutbacks has a negative effect on members’ trust in their capacity to perform.

Accountability in Collaborative Federal Programs—Multidimensional and Multilevel Performance Measures Needed: The Case of Wildland Fire Prevention

Collaborative programs among Federal agencies, state and local agencies, and private sector organizations are often prescribed to address difficult interdisciplinary and intersectoral problems. Accountability for these efforts is difficult to achieve and has frequently proved elusive. This research explores the nature of the accountability dilemma in collaborative programs and analyzes and illustrates them in the context of wildland fire prevention in the United States. It suggests a multilevel–multimeasurement approach is key to achieving a fuller picture of accountability in collaborative networks.