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The role of the armed forces in Latin America is characterized by their participation in multiple internal missions. These range from security functions to the provision of social, educational, and public services, among others; their role also involves providing emergency relief. However, some of the armed forces involved in this type of mission do not have specialized units or corps. This poses obvious problems not only from a technical and operational point of view, but also from the perspective of civil-military relations and the definition of the roles of armies. Some Latin American countries have looked to the Emergency Military Unit in Spain as an example to follow for the implementation of a civil defense model based on specialized military resources. The aim of this paper is therefore twofold. First, it seeks to explain that the militarization of emergencies does not involve expanding the use of force but that it can become a "wildcard" policy tool instead. Second, it intends to show how the apparent success of the Spanish Emergency Military Unit resulted from some—not always positive—lessons that can be replicated in the armed forces in Latin America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural areas have often been labelled by the literature as 'left-behind' areas or 'places that don't matter', implicitly suggesting that residents of these communities feel neglected by political elites. This article studies the rural-urban divide in external political efficacy, which reflects individuals' beliefs about the responsiveness of political elites, while also examining if compositional and contextual factors can explain such a divide. Drawing on data from the European Social Survey, the results reveal a significant rural-urban gap in external efficacy, which is partly explained by differences in the sociodemographic characteristics of rural and urban dwellers, but not by disparities in their evaluation of the provision of basic public services. Notably, this rural-urban gap in external efficacy is substantively smaller in those countries with higher levels of electoral malapportionment that lead to an overrepresentation of rural areas in national parliaments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent attention to public service logic (PSL) has resulted in the creation of several theoretical guidelines for value creation. This empirical study applies PSL framework to explore how PSL is fit to and can adapt to the evolving landscape of the digitalization of public services. This research is based on 12 semi-structured interviews with managers of digital health services in Norway. Our results demonstrate that digital technology alters service users' involvement in value co-creation, helps solve capacity problems, empowers service users to take care of themselves, and cultivates several societal values but additional resources facilitating the co-creation process are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a proven technology and has arguably a potential to replace the human brain. The long-term success of AI in the public sector will depend on its early successes in improving the effectiveness of Government functions. Governments in India have been quick to adopt AI in revenue generating departments. However, they have been considerably slow in adopting it in social welfare schemes. There has been limited research in identifying challenges for the same in social welfare schemes in India, especially in identifying the potential beneficiaries and reaching out to them proactively. This research paper is a systematic literature review (SLR) for understanding barriers impeding the adoption of AI in social welfare areas. Through SLR, the authors have identified 82 sub-dimensions under five categories of barriers of Social Environment, Technology, Technology ecosystem, Organizational and individual related barriers. Thereafter authors discuss the possible resolutions to the barriers. The discussions presented would lay foundation of using AI in the Social Welfare Schemes of the Governments and would contribute to achieving improvements in the efficiencies and efficacy in the decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how top leader turnover in the public sector affects organizational strategic decision-making processes in the post-succession phase. Survey responses of managers were combined with a novel database on CEO turnover in the U.S. Federal Government. Drawing on threat-rigidity theory, we hypothesize that as CEO turnover is perceived as a threatening event for both managers and CEOs themselves, organizations as a whole respond by becoming more rigid, centralizing strategic decision-making and restricting the flow of information. This has knock-on effects on the quality of strategic decisions and their implementation, with detrimental effects on the delivery of public services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Citizen satisfaction is an important instrument to assess the quality of public services and hold governments accountable to their citizens. Despite significant amount of research, few studies have examined whether citizen satisfaction is generalizable across social groups or whether different social groups interpret it differently. Based upon the ingroup preference theory, this study uses data from Chicago Public Schools to argue that citizen satisfaction varies across different social groups, such that different performance information influences each groups' level of satisfaction differently. The findings suggest that different types of performance information (overall v. group performance) have different effects on citizens of different racial groups when they evaluate public services. Further, it is important to measure performance for each social group, and as each group's performance increases, divergence in citizen satisfaction among racial groups may decrease, helping public managers reduce unexpected factors that harm citizens' perception of their agencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed significant stress on public services, including front-line personnel in a variety of core government positions like policing. Past research in law enforcement has long described challenges related to these ideas of uncertainty, stress, and situational difficulties, and the effects of those on individual and group behavior and work practices. This exploratory research focuses on the retention of these key personnel in the midst of a pandemic. Survey data were collected in 2020 and 2021 from law enforcement personnel at all departmental ranks. Results indicate that there is wide variation in feelings of preparedness and efficacy of response, and that those with stronger perceptions of organizational capacity to respond to the pandemic, increased job satisfaction, and higher organizational commitment were more likely to express an intent to remain in those positions on a short- and long-term basis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Charitable giving is often seen as a flexible and efficient way to address societal issues. However, it has also been criticised for having the potential to undermine governmental responsibility for providing public services and leading to concentrations of power. Across three studies, we investigated whether high social class is linked to viewing charitable giving favourably and as fulfilling an important function in society. We found correlational (Studies 1 and 2; United Kingdom and Netherlands; N = 1613) and experimental (Study 3; United Kingdom; N = 400) evidence that high social class is linked to more favourable views of charitable giving. Social class, however, was not associated with preferences for policies aimed at promoting charitable giving over systemic policies when targeting specific social issues. These findings suggest that social class influences general attitudes towards philanthropy but does not consistently guide preferences for specific policies addressing social issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we examine children's ethnic discrimination in access to sport. We conducted two field experiments to test whether Roma applicants get greater rejection rates when applying to sport clubs and whether this rate is higher in case Roma applicants have a lower-class background. Basketball, volleyball, and soccer coaches were contacted by e-mail using Roma and non-Roma sounding names, requesting to participate in a trial practice. Previous findings show persistent discrimination of Roma people in Central and Eastern Europe in the labor and housing market and in access to various public services. Our findings in the field of sport in Hungary show that there is significant ethnic discrimination only when a stereotype about Roma people being lower class is activated. Further, gender was found to have a significant effect, with higher positive response rates for mothers applying for a trial session for a daughter, than for a son, regardless of their ethnicity. Our findings suggest a prevailing intersection of class and ethnicity, though our data does not allow for the separation of these two effects. These differences are discussed to better understand the role of intersectionality in discrimination within sport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rachel Reeves's March 2024 Mais lecture was an exercise in tempering hope that Britain's threadbare public services would soon be restored to health. The message of restraint might prove to be early confirmation of Reeves's instinctive governing philosophy, but it also reflected the fact that she was called upon to speak in a context of epistemic injustice. Senior Labour politicians must always accept greater scrutiny of their fiscal policy pronouncements than their Conservative counterparts. Their statements are also susceptible to disinformation, such that what Labour's opponents insist its frontbench team are hiding from the electorate often gets treated as a more authentic account of its plans than anything Labour says for itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: For decades, Israel's economic policy has favored either outsourcing or privatization of public services, including healthcare, generating an ongoing and prolonged debate of this approach. In 1997 school health services (SHS) for elementary and middle school pupils was outsourced to a sub-contractor firm, reducing budget, but also standards, for nurses and physicians. Consequently, the service has dwindled and was focused more and more on vaccinations. Between 2007 and 2012, under full private contractor delivery, SHS quality diminished substantially, leading to a significant decline in vaccination coverage in the Southern District. In 2012, a decision was made to return SHS to state control. Methods: This study analyzes the delivery parameters of SHS between the period when the service was operated by a private contractor from 2011to 2/2012, and the subsequent provision of the service directly by Ministry of Health (MoH) between 3/2012 and 2013. We compared the rates of vaccination coverage, screening tests and health education programs. Results: A statistically significant increase in SHS delivery for vaccinations and screening was observed in the Southern District of MoH after the transfer of service from contractor. The increase was variable in different population subgroups, and especially notable in the Bedouin schools of the District, where the MMRV vaccination rose from 19.3% to 96.8%. However, a substantial and significant reduction in health education activities was also noted, overall from 24.9% to 5.0%. Conclusions: The findings suggest that substantial benefits can be derived from direct provision of SHS by MoH and its regional offices, especially in the areas of reduced accessibility and lower socio-economic status. The case study of SHS in the Southern District of Israel can serve as an important example highlighting the impacts of privatization vs nationalization, with potential implications in other fields. These insights should be integral to future discussions of healthcare service provision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review addresses the fragmented literature on administrative interventions for cybercrime mitigation within e-government services, which often prioritise technological aspects over a unified theoretical framework. By analysing 32 peer-reviewed articles from the Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus databases, supplemented by additional sources located through Google Scholar, this study synthesises factors within the technical, managerial and behavioural domains using the Theory, Context and Method (TCM) framework. The findings reveal a predominant focus on managerial and technical factors, with behavioural aspects frequently overlooked. Cybercrime mitigation is often treated as a procedural step rather than a holistic process. This study advocates a well-established, context-specific mitigation plan, integrating regional factors through the Human–Organisation–Technology (HOT) framework to develop a comprehensive model for effective cybercrime mitigation in e-government services. This research has practical, theoretical and policy implications, offering actionable insights for improving operational practices, advancing theoretical frameworks and guiding policymakers in formulating effective cybercrime mitigation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental nonprofit organizations (ENPOs) play a critical role in climate governance. Though ENPOs dedicate significant efforts to advocacy and providing public services, their interaction with public opinion on global warming has not been fully explored. Through multilevel regression analysis on county-level data in the U.S., this article examines the relationship between the presence of ENPOs and public perceptions of global warming, taking into account variations among ENPOs. The findings indicate that: (1) the overall presence of ENPOs is slightly, but not significantly, positively correlated with public perceptions of global warming, with advocacy-oriented ENPOs showing a more robust and statistically significant correlation; (2) there is an inverted-U relationship between the presence of ENPOs and public opinion on global warming, with advocacy-oriented ENPOs reaching tipping points earlier than service-oriented ENPOs; and (3) the partisanship of liberal counties influences this association. This study suggests a potential role for nonprofits in policymaking by interacting with public opinion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is over 20 years since the publication of the Asymmetric Power Model (APM). In the ensuing period, Britain has faced multiple challenges: the increasing fragmentation of public services; austerity politics; devolution; and, most recently, coronavirus disease and Brexit. It is this backdrop which provides the context to this article. First, it addresses how the literature has subsequently evolved. It then examines what has changed over the last two decades while also emphasizing what remains the same. Here, we highlight issues regarding both increased inequality and instability, focusing particularly on tension emerging from a de-centralizing-recentralizing approach to governance. The article concludes by offering a revised APM as a means of understanding British politics moving forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public service media (PSM) have long been seen as the necessary counterweight to the failures of a market model. Given the rise of private corporate power over communications systems, PSM have long been claimed to the be the 'heart of a heartless world' – spaces dominated not by the relentless logic of capital but by broader ambitions that involve citizen participation, social improvement and knowledge acquisition. This article offers a different interpretation. It argues that at their very best, PSM have improved an otherwise anaemic commercial landscape; at their worst, they are simply an accessory to state actors and contaminated media markets that reproduce elite power. Media practices and institutions based on the public service idea all too often lack the accountability and indeed the fundamental democratic oversight of the publics in whose name they operate. This article seeks first to contrast the values and structures of public service media with those of wholly commercial models and illustrates some of the 'defensive' arguments and initiatives that have been developed in response to threats to PSM. The article then explores a series of arguments that problematise what is often a reflexive defence of PSM. It considers whether being non-commercial necessarily positions an institution as pro-public and focuses on the role of the state in the creation of PSM institutions. It argues that the gap between normative accounts of public service and their institutional structures is not an accident or an aberration but reflects the structural imbalances of power built into PSM. Finally, the article analyses the different ways in which 'the public' has been conceptualised and deployed in the operational models of PSM, often as the 'masses' or as individuals in need of enlightenment or as sovereign consumers, but rarely as active agents of social change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public–private partnership (PPP) has delivered expected results on a number of significant projects. Yet, despite the growing appeal, problems have been encountered which have either resulted in slow progress or the total failure of such arrangements. This study offers a comparison between Nigeria and South Africa focusing on several identified critical success factors (CSFs) for PPPs. We rely on secondary data to compare Nigeria and South Africa based on the top ten ranking CSFs identified in the literature. Findings reveal that both countries account for the highest number of PPP projects in Africa but have not recorded huge successes as a result of their shortcomings in important CSFs responsible for the success of PPPs. Nigeria, for instance, is still being challenged with poor energy supply, bad road networks, and ineffective waste management practices, among others. South Africa appears to have had better success in PPP delivery due to a suitable financial market, stable economic policy, favorable legal framework, and a transparent procurement process. We conclude by highlighting the key CSFs for PPPs in Nigeria and South Africa and emphasize the need to address the identified shortcomings. The relevance of this study is in its contribution to the understanding of CSF in PPP projects thereby offering useful insights for policy makers and administrators in improving the success rate of PPPs and enhancing the delivery of public services in these countries. Related Articles: Ikeanyibe, Okechukwu Marcellus. 2018. "Bureaucratic Politics and the Implementation of Liberalization Reforms in Nigeria: A Study of the Unbundling and Reorganization of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation." Politics & Policy 46(2): 263–94. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12249. Iwuoha, Victor Chidubem, Nneka Ifeoma Okafor, and Emmanuel Ifeadike. 2022. "State Regulation of Nigeria's Maritime Ports: Exploring the Impact of Port Concession on both the Regulator and the Operators." Politics & Policy 50(5): 1032–52. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12495. McNamara, Madeleine W., John C. Morris, and Martin Mayer. 2014. "Expanding the Universe of Multi‐Organizational Arrangements: Contingent Coordination and the Deepwater Horizon Transportation Challenges." Politics & Policy 42(3): 346–68. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12073. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For decades, policy learning has been often viewed as a force for the common good, a process that aims at creating value for the public through problem‐solving. While learning can indeed contribute to value creation, darkness also lurks therein, where learning can also contribute to value destruction. Yet, the dark side of policy learning remains under‐explored and under‐theorized, particularly going beyond meso‐level policy and organizational failures or “mishaps.” This article draws on policy learning and value theories to conceptualize two types of policy learning failures and plot how they can contribute to the destruction of value in the public sphere: misdirected learning design failures (non‐deliberate and cybernetic) and normative failures (intentional and deontological). This is done while addressing the two key facets of value in the public sphere; public values, being the guiding principles of policymaking and governance, as well as public value, being the worth of public services delivered to the citizenry. In doing so, this contributes to the literature by addressing calls for exploring the dark side of learning, expanding our understanding of learning outcomes beyond organizational and policy level implications, and developing novel fundamental understandings of value destruction mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of the global wave of privatization of local public services, re-municipalization has emerged as a viable policy alternative, broadly understood as the return to public management. The paper examines its transformative potential by analysing what 'public' means in practice with a particular focus on governance and decision-making. To do so, the paper investigates the re-municipalization of urban water services in Naples (Italy) and Paris (France) by utilizing qualitative methods. Through a critical political economy approach, informed by social reproduction theory and political ecology, I argue that re-municipalization should be seen as a process that different social forces continuously try to shape. The findings not only contribute to the specific literature on water services, but also to that on re-municipalization, within the debate about public versus private provision. More broadly, the research enhances the understanding of water through the lenses of critical political economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Safeguarding the elderly population in the countryside is an inherent requirement for alleviating social conflicts in rural areas and effectively carrying out China's Rural Revitalization. The existing spatial mismatch between rural elderly service facilities and population distribution in China aggravates the imbalance of facility resource space, how to improve the accuracy of demand and supply results and better measuring the spatial fairness of elderly service is significant to realize the optimal allocation of rural elderly service. Based on the above, this study pays attention to the refined needs of the elderly population, and focuses on the spatial equity of the rural elderly facilities, to make up for the short boards of the basic public services in the countryside and realize the all-round rural revitalization. This study takes Huanxian County in the hilly loess area of Longdong, China as an example and explores the spatial equity of rural elderly services by using the Urban Spatial Network Analysis (UNA) to measure the accessible quantity and supply capacity of elderly services. The results found that there were 553 rural eldercare service facilities in Huanxian County, including 285 eldercare facilities and 268 medical and health facilities, and the spatial distribution is characterized by a southward shift in the east and uneven regional distribution. Overall, the supply capacity of rural pension services was generally good, with the township center as the gathering point and spreading out in a faceted manner, with nearby townships forming a contiguous area; however, there were strong contrasts and obvious differences in the strength of supply capacity. However, the spatial equity of rural eldercare service was poor. In 42.05% of the elderly population grid cells, eldercare service spatial equity was extremely low. The spatial distribution also presented a northern preference over the southern, a western preference over the eastern, and a concentration along the highway. The study explored the realization of spatial equity in the optimal allocation of rural elderly services based on paying attention to the refined needs of the rural elderly population, a vulnerable group, to provide a reference for solving the shortcomings of basic public services in rural areas. The fair allocation of rural elderly services demands that the spatial optimization of facility layout be organically coordinated with policy, management, and post-maintenance, and all elements in the rural territorial system be fully mobilized to achieve the basic guarantee of China's rural elderly problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social exclusion is a multidimensional concept defined as being away from social resources and opportunities, being unable to participate in society, and being socially disadvantaged in society. In Türkiye, problems, such as economic disadvantages, inequalities in access to public services, migration and displacement, and lack of infrastructure make social exclusion an important risk factor for children. Therefore, adapting the Social Exclusion Scale for Children to Turkish culture and language can help identify children exposed to social exclusion, better understand the problem, develop effective interventions, and build a more inclusive society. The aim of this study was to adapt the Social Exclusion Scale for Children (SESC) to Turkish society. The data of this methodological study were collected from 380 children aged 12–17. The content validity, construct validity, and internal consistency of SESC were analyzed. The results of this study showed the validity and reliability of SESC as a measurement instrument to assess social exclusion in Turkish children aged 12–17 in the school environment. The Turkish version of SESC was found brief, practical, age-appropriate, self-reported, easily applicable, valid, and reliable measurement instrument. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital transformation has become a topic of interest since public institutions digitalize their processes to improve efficiency, while citizens wish to solve their issues through online platforms. Even if this topic is a priority, the Digital Economy and Society Index reveals that digital public services from UE are under 30% development and implementation. This paper presents the current research made on digital public services and the perspective of Romanian citizens on the adoption of these platforms. The authors conduct bibliometric research to highlight the current progress and concerns. Furthermore, a quantitative analysis is made to determine the perception of Romanian citizens on digital public services and the factors that influence their decision to use them instead of traditional methods. According to the bibliometric analysis, 23 countries showed a raised interest for digital public services after 2020, which was a crucial moment that pushed digitalization among public institutions. Although Romanian citizens are aware of the benefits brought by digital public services, they encounter issues in terms of lack of information and technical support, knowledge, data security, and the complexity of these platforms. Therefore, the government should implement an integrated approach that considers cultural values as well as reliable and accessible digital solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gap between fieldwork demands and academic knowledge necessitates the sharing of tacit knowledge to ensure continuity of context-appropriate professional knowledge. The research describes and explains patterns of minority social workers' sharing of their previously tacit knowledge, the knowledge's significance and the context where it was acquired. In data drawn from in-depth semi-structured interviews with twenty children and youth workers in Arab welfare bureaus throughout Israel, Arab social workers exposed tacit knowledge they had revealed and shared concerning prolonged institutional deprivation in out-of-home settings that dramatically limited their ability to ensure the minors' rights. This knowledge was shared in four ways: retention, transmission between colleagues, documentation for the future and publication. Social workers invested insufficient efforts to share their tacit knowledge, due to inappropriate relevant professional training and lack of a suitable infrastructure and organisational culture. They were aware that sharing and dissemination of their previously tacit knowledge could serve three players in the Children and Youth Services: the target population (giving them a voice), professionals (uniting their ranks for collective action) and government institutions (reflecting the reality and equipping them with data concerning service gaps). Social work should reconsider the potential value of sharing such knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tiebout sorting describes people moving to communities that most closely match people's preferences over taxes and public services. This Tiebout equilibrium is disturbed when cities vote to increase taxes and spending. We study the effect of increased taxes and public spending on population growth in growing and declining cities. Using regression discontinuity to compare otherwise similar cities, we find increasing local government taxes and spending by 15% can increase population growth rates. The increase is only evident the year after the vote. For the general sample, the increase is 0.4 percentage points, but it is 0.8 percentage points (25% of a standard deviation) for growing cities with below-median percentages of elderly residents. In cities with declining population, passing large tax levies increases population growth rates by 0.9 percentage points the year after the vote—33% of a standard deviation. Instead of cutting taxes and services, cities with declining population might instead consider providing additional public services to stem population declines. Most migration studies use a fairly large geographical unit like states, counties, and urban areas; our study contributes to the literature by studying migration at the local government level (cities, villages, and townships). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the perception of international students regarding their satisfaction with administrative services while studying in Türkiye. Internationalization stands as a pivotal policy within Türkiye's higher education framework. In addition to the services students receive at the academic level, the quality of administrative services significantly influences overall student satisfaction. Understanding student satisfaction with public services from their application process to their departure is crucial for identifying and addressing any existing issues. In this context, a survey was conducted with 250 international students at Bartın University. The results indicated general satisfaction with administrative services among participants, with notable variations in responses based on gender, age, prior experiences with administrative issues, and the presence of close relatives or acquaintances in Türkiye. In addition, interviews revealed that the primary causes of administrative difficulties stem from language barriers, procedural complexities in documentation, and associated costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environment & Urbanization is a journal that aims to promote social justice and environmental sustainability in urban areas, particularly in the global South. The journal encourages contributions from diverse voices, including those of disadvantaged and marginalized groups, to advance understanding of urban challenges and solutions. Future issues will focus on topics such as urban reform coalitions and socio-technical assistance for socially and environmentally just cities. The journal also offers discounted prices and electronic access to its content, as well as opportunities for engagement through blogs, social media, email newsletters, and book notes. [Extracted from the article]

Purpose: This paper aims to unravel the puzzle that the United Kingdom's high-quality government accounting and fiscal architecture is associated with low-quality outcomes, including poor productivity growth, high public debt, public services which do not meet citizen expectations and historically high levels of taxation. It contributes to public sector accounting research in the fields of fiscal transparency and governance. Design/methodology/approach: This paper uses Miller and Power's (2013) economization framework and Dunsire's (1990) concept of collibration to explain why being a global leader in public sector accounting reform and in fiscal and monetary architecture has not protected the UK from weak governance. The intersection of economization's roles of accounting with modes of government accounting clarifies the puzzle. Findings: Whereas accruals government accounting contributes to fiscal transparency, this is not a sufficient condition for well-judged policy and its effective application. Collibration is the dominant mechanism for mediation in the fiscally centralized UK, but it has failed to deliver stable outcomes, in part because Parliament is limited in its ability to hold back inappropriate behaviour by the Executive. Subjectivization has disrupted adjudication because governments at all levels resist constraints on their behaviour, with unpredictable and often damaging consequences. Originality/value: This paper provides insights through the combined lens of economization and modes of government accounting, demonstrating the practical value of this conceptualization. Although some causes for unsatisfactory outcomes are specific to the UK, there are cautions for accounting and fiscal reformers in other countries, such as Member States of the European Union. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Representative bureaucracy theory has mainly been used to understand how identities related to race, ethnicity, and gender influence how bureaucrats administer public services. Although representation through lived experience has expanded the scope of the theory, this theoretical thread has mostly focused on the perspectives of management. The purpose of this article is to employ lived experience representative bureaucracy theory to understand the influence of first responders' experiences with substance use disorder (drug addiction) on their viewpoints regarding the humanness and deservingness of clients with opioid use disorder. We analyze data from a survey of emergency medical services (EMS)-providers and police officers in the United States (N = 3,500) with ordinary least squares regression and Hayes' PROCESS macro to test for mediation. Results show that indirect and direct lived experiences—respectively, having a family member or friend who has experienced addiction and believing addiction has had a direct impact on respondents' lives—predict increases in client deservingness, mediated by ascribed humanness and driven largely by EMS-providers. However, responding to opioid overdoses—an on-the-job lived experience—is associated with reduced deservingness and ascribed humanness. The study adds to the literature by expanding representative bureaucracy theory beyond race, ethnicity, and gender; broadening representation through lived experience beyond a focus on managers to include street-level bureaucrats; and incorporating concepts from social and political psychology that have yet to be integrated into representative bureaucracy studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although performance information is widely promoted to improve the accountability of public service provision, behavioral research has revealed that motivated reasoning leads recipients to update their beliefs inaccurately. However, the reasoning processes of service users have been largely neglected. We develop a theory of public service users' motivated reasoning about performance information stemming from their identification with the organization providing their services. We address a significant challenge to studying motivated reasoning—that widely used existing research designs cannot rule out alternative cognitive explanations, especially Bayesian learning, such that existing findings could be driven by strong prior beliefs rather than biased processing of new information. We use a research design incorporating Bayesian learning as a benchmark to identify departures from accuracy motivated reasoning process. We assess the empirical implications of the theory using a preregistered information provision experiment among parents with children using public schools. To assess their identity-based motivated reasoning, we provide them with noisy, but true, performance information about their school. Overall, we find no evidence of directionally motivated reasoning. Instead, parents change their beliefs in response to performance feedback in a way that largely reflects conservative Bayesian learning. Performance reporting to service users is less vulnerable to motivational biases in this context than suggested by the general literature on motivated reasoning. Furthermore, exploratory findings show that performance information can correct erroneous beliefs among misinformed service users, suggesting that investment in reporting performance to service users is worthwhile to inform their beliefs and improve accountability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the topic of municipally owned corporations (MOCs) and their governance and accountability. It discusses the challenges faced by MOCs in balancing organizational autonomy with accountability to municipal owners. The article emphasizes the importance of context-specific choices and risk management in MOC governance, as well as the balance between close connections and the risk of corruption. It calls for better understanding and research on MOC governance and highlights the potential benefits and risks of corporatization. Overall, MOCs have the potential to improve public service provision, but careful management and accountability are essential. [Extracted from the article]

In recent years, more websites have been collecting personal information for many processes, such as banks, internet connections, and government services. The public needs to provide all personal information, such as Aadhar, PAN card, date of birth, and phone number. The personal and sensitive information is at risk of being used for phishing attacks through URL manipulation. In addition, a phishing attack cause's financial and reputational loss. Hence protecting sensitive information by adapting required protection is extremely valuable for global security. To overcome this, we proposed a method to detect phishing attacks based on previous history, including the duration of operation, customer reviews, web traffic, and the URL. Based on these parameters, the proposed optimal machine learning-based algorithm (OmLA) analyze the previous information about URLs and predict whether it is phishing- or legitimate. As per simulation and performance analysis, the proposed method outperforms conventional methods such as random forest (RF), support vector machine (SVM), and genetic algorithms (GA) by 8%, 18%, and 23%, respectively in terms of accuracy. Additionally, it achieves detection times of 0.2%, 0.6%, and 0.9%, respectively, and excels in response times of 0.45%, 0.56%, and 0.62%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social enterprises, promoted by policymakers as effective and efficient public services producers and deliverers, are increasingly gaining academic focus. This paper explores the state of studies on social enterprise within Public Administration (PA) field, highlighting through a bibliometric analysis a community of 274 scholars contributing to 138 articles, grouped in six research clusters. We discuss three scenarios for SE-PA relationships: separation, cooperation, and integration into public administration & management (PAM) field alongside suggesting a future research agenda for SE in the PAM domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores increasing emphasis on long-term investment in English devolution policy, as part of attempts to revitalise struggling communities through investment in infrastructure and public space. English councils seek to offset the financial difficulties they faced due to austerity cuts by establishing their own corporations, joint ventures, and investment partnerships, in order to generate needed income by creating economic flows from capital markets to public services. They have, consequently, envisaged a form of 'patient investment' in their communities, taking a long-term view of economic regeneration that aims to balance the risk of investment with the reward of local growth. The rollout of the Levelling Up agenda in February 2022 entrenches the narrative of patient investment as a conduit to regional regeneration, although it emphasises investment in infrastructure projects primarily for the purpose of attracting business and industry to deprived areas. Through a narrative policy analysis of Parliamentary debates about Levelling Up in England, I examine the turn towards long-term investment as an ethical shift in conceptions of welfare provision which prioritises private sector expansion for its potential to drive economic improvement. In this understanding, quality of life in communities is tied to growth and profit, rather than social support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How does emigration affect tax preferences in migrant-sending countries? Experiencing public services in a high tax-capacity destination may reduce support for tax increases by throwing fiscal failure at home into stark relief (the socialization hypothesis). Alternatively, migrants' exclusion from certain public services may increase desire to fund these services in migrant origin countries (the exclusion hypothesis). We test these competing hypotheses with an online survey experiment in Mexico and explore variation in US healthcare access on fiscal policy preferences of migrant households. Migrant households, especially those with returned migrant members, are more supportive of taxation when tax revenue is earmarked for healthcare, a service to which many Mexican immigrants in the US lack access. It is migrants' exclusion from, rather than their socialization into, the fiscal contract in destination countries that influences fiscal policy preferences in their countries of origin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concentration of population in cities and processes of rural depopulation coupled with the generational shift to older societies represent new challenges in road safety. Here, we examine the severity of injuries suffered by the occupants of motor vehicles involved in a crash based on the population density of the area in which the crash occurs, the driver's age and the density of their place of residence. We conduct the study in Spain, a country with one of the highest levels of elderly population concentrated in rural areas in Europe. Relational methods are used to match Eurostat's urbanization classifications with the accident database of Spain's Directorate General of Traffic so as to correlate each crash with the population density of the place where it occurred. A set of generalized linear models with random effects is fitted to analyze the relationship between population density and the bodily injury severity of the occupants of the vehicle(s) involved in a crash, measuring the effect of drivers' relocation and aging by geographical area. Independence of injury severity and the degree of urbanization was rejected at the 5% significance level. While 53.8% of the Spanish population is living in densely populated areas and only 13.5% in rural areas, the latter concentrates most crashes with fatalities: 2.3 times more than in urban areas (43.5 and 18.6%, respectively). Drivers living in rural areas are more likely to be associated with serious or fatal injuries when involved in a crash in urban and intermediate areas. Moreover, drivers aged over 75 are significantly more likely to be associated with serious and fatal injuries, especially when the crash occurred in urban areas. Recent research alerts on the implications for rural (often elderly) residents of concentrating public services, particularly healthcare, in densely populated areas. Our study shows that motor crashes in more densely populated areas are also a rural health concern. Policy decision-makers need to address this issue to reduce the number of victims and their bodily injury severity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remote rural and postindustrial regions are much more vulnerable to population drain in comparison with industrialized centers and capitals, due to obvious reasons such as meager job opportunities, difficulties in accessing public services in education, healthcare and transport, housing, entertainment, lack of integration with other territories and, finally, less advanced levels of digitalization. This represents an open challenge for the European Union within the framework of its Cohesion Policy. This paper analyzes the impact of digital trends, represented by the percentage of the population with access to internet and broadband and the percentage of individuals who buy goods and internet services (percentages provided by Eurostat) in less populated EU NUTS2 regions with lower income, on the crude population growth rate composed of natural changes in population and migratory flows and on the unemployment rate by applying panel data analysis. It has been possible to confirm that digitalization has a positive impact on natural changes in population in EU regions with lower economic development. On the contrary, the unemployment rate does not affect natural changes in population, but it does have a negative impact on migratory flows. The findings show that digitalization may contribute to reversing negative demographic trends in more disadvantaged EU regions in terms of income and population density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examines the interaction between social capital, education, and subjective well-being in Ecuador, highlighting its impact on economic development. The study aims to understand the situation of social capital and subjective well-being and how the identified factors explain the impact on subjective well-being in the Ecuadorian population, using a descriptive and analytical approach with information from the World Value Survey database of waves 6 and 7. The main results show a significant relationship between social capital and subjective well-being, with positive influences such as justice and union membership, and negative effects of public administration and media. In conclusion, the importance of strengthening social capital and improving public services and communication to promote the well-being of the Ecuadorian population is emphasized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The book review discusses "Interpreting Technologies—Current and Future Trends," which explores the role of computer-assisted, remote, and machine interpreting in the field of interpreting studies. The volume aims to inform and empower interpreters, sparking new reflections on the impact of technology. Chapters cover innovative topics such as smartpens, tablet interpreting, AI-enhanced computer-assisted interpreting, and video-mediated interpreting, offering insights into the challenges and opportunities presented by technological advancements in interpreting. The book serves as a valuable resource for interpreters, educators, and senior interpreting students, providing an overview of existing research and applications in the field while also suggesting potential avenues for future research projects. [Extracted from the article]

This article shows, through a study of hosts' experiences of the UK's Homes for Ukraine scheme, the ways in which sponsoring refugees can impose burdens on sponsors by virtue of the state's administrative processes. Specifically, it shows how sponsors incur learning, compliance, and psychological costs from administrative burdens and that these burdens are encountered both directly, through their own engagements with public bodies, and vicariously, through the experiences of their guests. The article thus makes a significant contribution to the understanding of the ground-level experience of refugee sponsorship while also expanding the burgeoning theory of administrative burden by demonstrating the relevance of burdens experienced vicariously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews government employment and compensation trends using data derived from the government's payroll. Employment levels and average pay grew strongly in the 2000s, but in the last decade, headcounts have stagnated or fallen, and increases in average pay have been moderate. The distribution of pay between government employees is compressed, especially when compared to income inequalities in society. The paper suggests attempts to reduce government's wage bill that rely on blunt, across-the-board measures will have their largest impact on core public services – basic education, healthcare and criminal justice – and are likely to erode the value of these services and the quality of service delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the gap between policy and implementation in the United States, particularly in relation to technology. It argues that the failure of technology in various systems, such as unemployment systems during the pandemic, is a result of a dysfunctional system that prioritizes policy over implementation. The author suggests that policy schools, specifically academia, contribute to this gap and proposes incorporating technology and digital literacy into policy school curricula. The article emphasizes the intertwined nature of policy and technology and the need for policymakers to understand this relationship. It also highlights the importance of sense-making and navigating complex environments in policymaking. The article discusses the need for policy schools to adapt their teaching methods to prepare students for the complex and rapidly changing world. The author suggests incorporating design research into the curriculum to develop sense-making skills and problem-solving abilities. They also propose introducing short courses on technology to help students become familiar with relevant topics without overwhelming them with additional coursework. The author emphasizes the importance of equipping future policymakers with the tools and experiences necessary to navigate ambiguity and complexity. [Extracted from the article]

The e-Identity initiative in Bosnia and Herzegovina aims to improve digital solutions and governance in the country, aligning with UN Sustainable Development Goals and EU strategies. Implemented in three phases, the initiative aims to enhance public services and establish BiH as a leader in digital identity technology in the Western Balkans. The initiative has the potential to revolutionize various sectors such as healthcare, banking, telecommunications, and government services. Educating and motivating citizens to adopt digital services is crucial for its success, and BiH can learn from successful implementations in other countries. The successful implementation of the initiative can contribute to BiH's EU integration and economic growth. [Extracted from the article]

France's adoption of corporate management strategies for its public services, its decision to consolidate health care agencies and to delegate decision-making power to high-level bureaucrats and Regional Health Agencies was influenced by several factors. These include the political context, characterized by a reduction in public expenditures by governments worldwide. Additionally, the European integration and the adoption of austerity measures following the 2008 financial crisis played a significant role in shaping these policy changes. The emphasis was also on private sector entities, and the re-centralization of decision-making in health affairs. Nevertheless, outcomes did not meet expectations, which led to a negative assessment of New Public Management (NPM) in the healthcare sector and other public areas that experienced similar reforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the high prevalence of epilepsy in Rwanda, specifically in rural areas. The authors conducted two separate studies in different regions of Rwanda and found high rates of epilepsy in both areas. They acknowledge the limitations of small-scale studies and the potential influence of specific factors in geographically isolated areas. The authors emphasize the need for increased access to healthcare in rural areas and the importance of addressing the stigma and discrimination associated with epilepsy. They also highlight the ongoing research to investigate the risk factors and causes of epilepsy in Rwanda. [Extracted from the article]

Birds, cats, dogs, and horses are some of the creatures that have collaborated with humans in delivering public services. This assertion is known but insufficiently examined. To bring animals into the public affairs discourse, this article defines public service and employs a narrative approach to examine animals working with people in service delivery. Animals are shown to satisfy essential public needs—from helping to win wars to policing streets to providing support for people as diverse as nursing home residents and occupants of the White House. Animals also make significant contributions to public service by being inspirational, demonstrating how mutual effort can accomplish goals, advancing the concept of empathy, bringing out the importance of character ideals, spurring innovation, and generally adding value to the public administration ecosystem. These findings support future research to understand the nature of human-animal cooperation in achieving societal objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Armed conflicts exacerbate public health challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa. Inequality across groups and poverty in rural areas can be an important factor in triggering local wars. This study investigates whether equitable distribution of public services by governments across urban and rural geographical regions reduces the risk of local wars initiated by armed groups in Sub-Saharan African countries. Does an equitable distribution of public services such as healthcare and clean water public services across regions decrease the risk of armed conflicts? Uneven distribution of public services can increase the risk of conflict by contributing to group grievances, rural poverty, and rent-seeking competition over government resources. Analyses of 39 Sub-Saharan African countries from 1947 to 2021 show that a one-standard deviation increase in equal access to public services by urban–rural location lowers the risk of armed conflict, a substantial 37 to 53 percent with consideration of a battery of control variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that to understand housing as domestic only is a misconception. People intensify the use of their homes in ways that create substantial economic opportunities, urban services, and a range of social protections for themselves and their communities. The research presented here introduces the concept of 'space-use intensity', influenced by time-use surveys, Jane Jacobs's ideas on mixed-use, and the continuum approach to the informal economy, as conceptualized by Elinor Ostrom. Further, it describes the 'house interview' methodology devised to document spaceuse intensity and presents findings from houses in informal settlements in Bogota, Kampala, Dar es Salaam, and Dakar. The data reveal that houses are less than a third residential (29 per cent), almost half of the uses are economic (47 per cent), and they provide a fair share of urban or community services (24 per cent). This visual methodology demonstrates that local governments are overlooking 83.8 per cent of the activities taking place within homes. In sum, the evidence discussed here shows that homes contribute significantly to the urban economy and public services, making space-use intensity analysis instrumental in the design of effective housing, urban, and social protection policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Digital government (DG) can significantly promote corporate green innovation (CGI). • Digital government promotes CGI by digitizing the business environment. • Digital government promotes CGI by reducing transaction costs. • Digital government promotes CGI by increasing green investment. • The impact of DG on CGI varies across different companies, industries, and regions. This study leverages data of China's A-share listed companies spanning from 2010 to 2020, using the Internet Plus Government Services initiative as a quasi-natural experiment. By employing the difference-in-differences method, it empirically examines the empowering effects and underlying mechanisms of digital government on corporate green innovation. Research findings are as follows: 1) Digital government significantly enhances both the quantity and quality of corporate green innovation. 2) Corporate green innovation can be enhanced by digital government through promoting the digitization of the business environment, reducing transaction costs for enterprises, increasing R&D investment and green investments. 3) The enabling effects of digital government on corporate green innovation are particularly evident in companies with better environmental information disclosure, elevated levels of digital technology application, non-heavy-polluting industries, and enterprises located in regions with stricter environmental regulations. From the perspective of internalizing digital technology into government transformation, this study provides important insights for the future coordination of policies related to digital and green development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In multi-ethnic rural settlements, a diversity of social relationships gives rise to various public spaces. The integration of cultures, propelled by urbanization, poses challenges to the unique characteristics of these rural public spaces. This process leads to issues such as the loss of cultural diversity, increased homogeneity of spaces, uneven distribution of public services, and low efficiency in space utilization, which seriously interfere with the healthy and sustainable development of rural social systems in multi-ethnic rural areas. This study, focusing on the rural public spaces in Tongren's multi-ethnic settlements, employs a social network analysis approach to investigate the implications of these spaces for the stability of rural community life and the preservation of cultural identities. A model for analyzing social networks in rural public spaces was developed, emphasizing overlapping patterns of user groups, activities, and spatial entities. Analysis of the social networks was conducted in three domains: emotional support, material exchange, and information dissemination. A semantic model was also constructed to understand the usage and structural networks within these public spaces. Comparative analyses between the usage and structural networks of rural public spaces were conducted to develop a comprehensive structural analysis system for these areas. Application of this system in analyzing the rural public spaces of Tongren revealed distinct findings. The connectivity of the structural network in Dongganmu Village's public spaces was found to be lower than that of the usage network, indicating that social factors heavily influence villagers' interactions. Furthermore, the number of small groups within the usage network was fewer than in the structural network, reflecting a lack of hierarchy in public space organization. Villagers' preferences for public spaces were primarily influenced by cultural beliefs rather than spatial accessibility. The insights garnered from this study not only contribute to the understanding of social network structures in rural public spaces within multi-ethnic settlements but also provide a foundation for informed decision-making regarding the sustainable development of these areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]