PPD 225: Midterm #2 Study Guide

governance

“regulation of social behavior through networks (of stakeholders) and other nonhierarchical mechanisms” (per Francis Fukuyama, 2016)

stakeholder

a person or group that has (1) formal decision making power, or (2) power to influence or block the decision or its implementation, or (3) moral interest in the decision because it affects them directly (per David Straus, 2002)

interest-holder

a politically correct or culturally sensitive terms for “stakeholder” that avoids the latter term’s historical connotation of using wooden stakes to claim ownership of land occupied by indigenous people.

collaborative governance

a governing arrangement where one or more public agencies directly engage non-state stakeholders in a collective decision-making process that is formal, consensus-oriented, and deliberative, and that aims to make or implement public policy or manage public programs or assets (per Ansell & Gash, 2008) government contracting business agreements between government and private organizations (for-profit or non-profit) to produce or deliver goods or services on behalf of the government.

transaction costs

costs associated with the decision to contract out for services rather than producing the service “in-house” using public-sector labor and capital.

information costs

time and effort spent determining the quality and prices of goods/services and comparing various sellers to determine whom to do business with.

bargaining costs

time and effort spent on negotiating and writing detailed contracts.

monitoring and enforcement costs

time and effort that the government spends to ensure that the contractor (aka vendor) follows through on delivering all the goods or services it promised, according to the schedule and the standards or quality specified in the contract.

Ethical risks in contracting

corruption (e.g. bribes, kickbacks, insider trading), conflict of interests (e.g. Public officials have a financial stake in firms they contract with), revolving door

accountability

the notion that public officials and public organizations are responsible for their actions and decisions and their consequences, and are expected to explain and justify them, with the possibility of facing consequences for failures or misconduct.

fiscal accountability

ensuring that public funds are spent appropriately and legally process accountability

Tools for promoting accountability

agency mission and culture, per James Q. Wilson’s (1989) Bureaucracy, principal–agent relationships, “overhead democracy” (the Congress–bureaucracy relationship), detailed legislation, appropriations (controlling an agency’s budget), performance management systems (Week 8A), program evaluation (Week 8B), oversight agencies or hearings (e.g. Congressional hearings where agency heads and other expert witnesses are called before Congress to testify about an issue or about the agency’s performance). whistleblower protection laws and policies that shield whistleblowers from retaliation when they bring attention to fraud or misconduct at higher levels of the organization. bounty programs that provide monetary rewards to individuals who uncover inefficiencies or waste. sunshine laws that grant to the general public access to basic information about governmental decision-making processes.

principal-agent dilemma

when a principal (e.g. a manager in an organization) directs an agent (e.g. a subordinate employee or “direct report”) to accomplish some task, the principal is unable to completely monitor and control the agent’s behavior; the agent is thus able to exploit this lack of oversight to shirk responsibilities and to pursue their own interests at the expense of the principal’s interests.

overhead democracy

the notion that the people hold administrative agencies accountable indirectly through their elected representatives who oversee the agencies. Agencies are expected to implement laws and policies faithfully and competently. Agencies are controlled by politicians, and these politicians are held accountable by elections.

performance management

a systematic approach to improving the productivity of employees or departments using routine and continuous collection of data, data analysis, and reporting; conducted to promote accountability, organizational learning, and the quality and efficiency of public service delivery.

CompStat

launched in 1994 by the New York Policy Department, using simple software at the dawn of the PC computer era, this program combined one of the first predictive policing systems with a performance management system in which top NYPD administrators held lower level officers accountable for arrest and crime reduction targets.

CitiStat

launched in Baltimore, Maryland in 2000 by the mayor Martin O'Malley, this performance management system was modeled after NYPD’s CompStat, but applied to all city departments. Through frequent meetings held at regular intervals, higher-level managers use performance data to hold lower-level employees accountable for achieving predetermined benchmarks or continual improvement.

institutional isomorphism

over time, organizations within a field or sector converge to have similar structures and procedures, often due to (1) mimetic processes, such as imitating high performing peer organizations, (2) normative concerns, such as comporting with professional norms and standards, or (3) coercive effects, such as complying with government policies or regulations.

perverse effects of performance management

instead of driving employees to improve performance, performance management systems risk incentivizing various types of maladaptive but strategic responses:

effort substitution

goal displacement, excessive focus on meeting quantifiable goals rather than a holistic pursuit of the agency’s mission. “What gets measured gets done.” 

cherry picking

focusing effort on subgroups of clients most likely to provide greatest impact on performance measures while denying services to others

ratchet effects

curbing productivity now to avoid receiving more challenging targets later churnin

cheating

creating false data (e.g. 2009 Atlanta Public Schools test score cheating scandal) program evaluation

descriptive research

research that seeks to answer questions about where, when, how many, what kinds, or how much diversity.

causal research

seeks to test hypotheses about the relationship between inputs and outputs or outcomes, such as whether a particular program (or aspect of the program) is responsible for observed changes in outcomes for target populations. For example, “Did the television commercials about the risks of smoking lead to lower smoking rates?” empirical research

data

quantitative or qualitative observations about the material world

causal variable

independent variable

outcome variable

dependent variable

causation

a conclusion about cause-and-effect relationships that is supported empirically by data that show either (1) difference between groups, of (2) correlations between independent and dependent variables. hypothesis

testable hypothesis

a hypothesis that is clear and specific enough that empirical research could help inform whether the hypothesis is true or false.

logic model

a relatively simple mechanistic model of a program that shows the causal relationships between (typically five) key elements of the program: inputs → activities → outputs → short-term outcomes → long-term outcomes.

outputs

quantifiable or countable goods or services produced by the agency implementing the program, which are almost fully under the control of the agency (and not affected by contextual factors or other independent variables).

outcomes

the short-term or long-term end goals that the program was designed to bring about (typically related to human health or wellbeing, including financial, social, or psychological wellbeing, or improved environmental or social conditions).

formative evaluation

focuses on testing hypotheses about whether the program is being implemented according to plan, including whether the inputs and activities of the program are generating the expected outputs.

summative evaluation

focuses on testing hypotheses about whether the structure of the program is responsible for generating specific outputs and outcomes. Typically conducted after the program has been up and running long enough to observe key outcomes (or after the program has been terminated).

administrative burden

the costs (financial or otherwise) that people experience in their interactions with government. Refers to burden on individual people (as opposed to regulatory burdens on businesses or nonprofits).

types of administrative burden

(1) learning costs, (2) compliance costs, (3) psychological costs purpose of administrative burdens

solutions to administrative burdens

(1) universal programs, (2) better customer service and technology, (3) transfer burdens to government.

Social Policy

an interdisciplinary academic field that traces its roots to the London School of Economics circa 1950. all the ways that governments and nonprofit organizations assist individuals who cannot meet their basic needs by themselves—usually the very young, very old, very poor, or disabled.

Means Testing

a process by which public benefits are reserved only for members of a population with the greatest demonstrated need due to limit income and/or assets.

Work Disincentives

the idea that receiving public assistance benefits tends to reduce the beneficiary’s motivation to earn an income through wages.

Perverse Incentives

the idea that certain social welfare programs may encourage or enable self-defeating personal choices related to work, marriage, or health behaviors.

Benefits Cliff

a significant decrease in eligibility for public benefits that occurs after a small increase in earnings, for public assistance programs where eligibility is inversely tied to income. If lost benefits outpace a wage increase, families would in theory be incentivized to avoid additional work hours, or stall their progress in their careers, or to hide income from program administrators.

Stigma or Stigmatization

Shame or guilt that some people experience when they receive public assistance benefits for which they are legally eligible or entitled, and which may lead to decreased rates of program participation.

Baby Bonds

a one-time UBI payment given to all newborn children, and managed by a trustee (usually a custodial parent or guardian) on the child’s behalf, and that typically cannot be spent until the child becomes an adult and assumes full ownership of the account at age 18.

Universal Basic Income (UBI)

an approach to social policy that involves regular (e.g. monthly) cash payments to all citizens, regardless of employment status or financial need, sufficient to barely cover a typical individual’s most fundamental needs (food, clothing, shelter); proposed as a way to eliminate severe poverty while simultaneously reducing the Administrative Costs, administrative burdens, and perverse incentives that are associated with benefit programs that have income-based eligibility criteria.

Guaranteed Income

monthly cash payments with no strings attached, similar to UBI but instead of universal eligibility, participation is gated by income or circumstantial eligibility criteria (e.g. programs that are available to low-income unmarried mothers with young children in a particular city).

Equality

equal opportunity or equal treatment for all members of society

Segmented Equality

horizontal equality, individuals are categorized into groups and are treated equally within each group, but different groups may be treated differently.

Block Equality

different groups are treated equally

Prospect Equality

each individual has the same probability of receiving a particular outcome

Disparity

different outcomes or opportunities across groups

Just Disparity/Legitimate Inequality/Meritocracy

different groups or individuals attain different outcomes based on criteria that are deemed legitimate or fair, such as their different levels of talent, ability, or effort.

Equity

fairness in treatment or parity in average outcomes across social groups

Inequity

lack of fairness or justice

Iniquity

severe inequity or injustice; wickedness

Critical Race Theory

a broad field of academic research and education exploring how race and racism have generated unjust disparities throughout history, usually focusing on the United States.

Cultural competency

the ability to communicate with and serve diverse populations

Diversity Training

workshops or online courses that many employers offer or require to help employees learn to recognize and reduce various forms of bias or discrimination, such as microaggressions, and to enhance employees’ cultural competence, with the goal of increasing employee wellness, cohesion, and productivity, while reducing the organization’s risk of discrimination-related lawsuits.

Representative Bureaucracy

the notion that public agencies should strive to hire employees who mirror the demographics of the populations they serve.

Cumulative and Cyclical Theory of Poverty / disparity

the notion that individual and institutional forms of discrimination interact with historical, geographic, and cultural factors to generate a spiral of deprivation or disadvantage, and that breaking this spiral requires multifaceted public policies addressing both individual and community-level issues.

Politics-administration dichotomy

The philosophy that public administrators in the executive branch of government should not take sides in politics; rather, they should focus on using their technical competence to implement existing laws and policies as established by elected officials in the legislature or the chief executive’s office.

Code of Ethics of the American Society for Public Administration

established in 1984 and revised in 2013, this eight-point framework outlines the professional standards that public servants should promote and adhere to.

Native American sovereignty

the inherent right of indigenous tribes to self-govern, manage lands, and regulate internal affairs, recognized by the U.S. Constitution and treaties. As "domestic dependent nations," many tribes operate as sovereign entities with their own governments, constitutions, court systems, and police.

Tribal consultation

a formal, two-way, government-to-government dialogue between official representatives of tribes and federal or state agencies, often required by federal or state law, or by executive order, and triggered by any action taken by the non-tribal government that would have substantial direct effects on one or more tribes.

Land Acknowledgements

short statements recognizing the original native inhabitants who historically (and often to this day) live or lived in the area where a particular event or institution is located. Used for various purposes, such as educating general audiences about this history and associated injustices, or to call for political responses such land repatriation.

The Landback Movement

a philosophical and political undertaking that seeks to transfer to Native American tribes the ownership or management (or co-management) of lands or natural resources currently owned or governed by federal or state governments or nonprofit land trusts.

Cognitive trust

trust or confidence in another person or organization that is rooted in rational evidence of trustworthiness, such as the other entity’s track record of accomplishments, history of reliability in terms of delivering on promises, certifications, demonstrated skills, or endorsements.

Affective trust

trust or confidence in another person or organization that arises from feelings of emotional closeness, empathy, or friendship. It is best developed through face-to-face interactions, often involving the sharing of food or drink or rituals or cultural experiences.

Conflict upgraders

verbal phrases used to accentuate disagreements, often used in cultures where open confrontations are seen as normal and constructive, such as Russia, Germany, France, Netherlands, and Israel.

Conflict downgraders

verbal phrases used to soften disagreements, often used in cultures where open confrontations are avoided, such as Mexico, Peru, Brazil, Japan, and Saudi Arabia.