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The article presents a case study on the law that regulates disciplinary processes in the Brazilian Federal Public Service (Act 8,112/1990). The aim of this investigation is to examine the features of the law that may lead to unfairness in disciplinary processes. Two theoretical concepts guide the investigation: "institutional corruption" and "administrative evil." Institutional corruption refers to rules, arrangements, and procedures that, despite their legality and ethical intent, exert a systemic and strategic influence that impairs organizational performance and effectiveness. Administrative evil alludes to the phenomenon in which public officials cause harm to innocent people while explaining away their responsibility, usually by projecting negative emotions to an external "object" (i.e., another person). Through a comparison between disciplinary processes and criminal cases, the analysis makes evident that Act. 8,112/1990 deviates from its original purpose of promoting ethical behaviour in the public service because it fails to provide individual protections to defendants. Thus, disciplinary processes in the Brazilian Federal Government can be seen as a case of institutional corruption that opens opportunities for administrative evil. The article presents measures to prevent disciplinary processes from becoming conveyors of institutional corruption and administrative evil and suggest a theme for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Central European Public Administration Review is the property of University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Public Administration and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The present article is a critical analysis of the model proposed by José Eisenberg in "Justificação, Aplicação e Consenso: Notas sobre Democracia e Deliberação" (Dados, 44(1):195-213, 2001), which aims to explain the genesis of political arrangements in contemporary democracies. The article?s analysis focuses on Jürgen Habermas? "discourse ethics" concepts, adopted by the model in question as its main theoretical reference. Based on the works of the German philosopher and social theorist, the article seeks to demonstrate that these concepts were initially developed from the Habermasian notion of discourse and, consequently, are not based on empirical consensus, as the model under analysis suggests. The article also points to other problems in the model?s theoretical consistency and suggests an approach for its improvement.

In recent years, an increasing number of studies adopting the experimental method have appeared in Public Administration journals. It has been argued that the advantage of experiments in behavioral sciences is that researchers can control contextual factors while investigating the effect of manipulations on a variable of interest. Another point is that experiments can be replicated and, thus, increase confidence in research results. However, replications are rarely undertaken, especially in the behavioral sciences. This article examines the results of the "Open Science Reproducibility Project: Psychology," which replicated 100 experiments previously published in leading Psychology journals. Based on the findings of this project, we present seven recommendations to Public Administration scholars that can improve the quality of their experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this multiple-case study, which involved seven municipalities in Brazil, we argue that good education is a by-product from educators’ commitment, which in turn is explained through self-determination theory. The research findings suggest that the support provided by local officials to teachers, their social status in small municipalities, and the lack of externally imposed educational targets all contributed to the fulfilment of educators’ needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness, thereby enabling the emergence of self-motivation, and, as a consequence, of commitment. It is also argued that these practices enhanced educators’ engagement in prosocial behaviour, which explains why they went a step further to help their poorest students. The authors suggest that the insights provided by self-determination theory can offer an alternative view to the carrot-and-stick approach in educational policies. The article closes with suggestions for further research on the role of motivation and prosocial behaviour on public service effectiveness. Points for practitioners Administrative practices associated with social policies have often avoided clarifying their theoretical assumptions, failing to state the implications that these may have on human motivation. By examining the case of education in poor municipalities, the study shows not only that commitment is a key factor for achieving policy goals but also that self-determination theory provides the theoretical explanations for this commitment. The knowledge of theoretical principles related to self-motivation can assist practitioners in social policy design, where the long-term goals are more relevant than short-term targets. Policy-makers can find creative alternatives to deal with specific contexts when instructed by overarching theories on motivation such as self-determination theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of an empirical research that sought to estimate the impact of poverty on the Brazilian School Performance Index - IDEB - for elementary schools in more than 5,500 Brazilian municipalities, comparing the performance of state and municipal schools. The investigation examines IDEB data for 2005, 2007, and 2009 through simple linear regressions, residue analysis, and partial correlation analysis. The results showed that poverty has a strong impact in students' performance, explaining up to 60 percent of the variation of IDEB scores. The authors discuss the results vis-à-vis the current trend in educational policies, such as those based on input factors and teachers' accountability, pointing out their shortcomings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Perspectivas is the property of Universidade Estadual Paulista and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Adopting the work of Jürgen Habermas as a critical reference, this paper examines the ideas exposed in the The New Science of Organizations, the last and most important work of Alberto Guerreiro Ramos, the renowned Brazilian Public Administration scholar. Guerreiro Ramos 'organizational theory has much in common with the ideas of critical theorists from the Frankfurt School, including Habermas. However, as is discussed in the paper, Guerreiro Ramos' attachment to transcendental phenomenology and to the concept of substantive reason imposes fatal limitations to his critical theoretical project. It is argued that Habermas' philosophical standpoint overcomes the theoretical limitations that emerge from the philosophy of consciousness. Finally, the paper suggests that Habermas's critical theory--for reaching beyond New Public Management positivism and Postmodern skepticism--offers a feasible alternative for research in Public Administration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]