Southern European Public Bureaucracies in Comparative Perspective

Sotiropoulos, Dimitri A.

doi:10.1080/0140238042000228077

Cited by 159 publications

(96 citation statements)

References 39 publications

(18 reference statements)

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“…It contributes to knowledge regarding the use of performance information by politicians in a country undergoing a period of 'transition' in introducing NPMlike techniques. Our findings add to literature review regarding the limited use of performance information in the public context (Ter Bogt, 2003Pollitt, 2006a;Askim, 2007;Moynihan and Pandey, 2010) and particularly in a Southern European country where the traditional bureaucracy may difficult the introduction of NPM reforms (Sotiropoulos, 2004). However, additional research is necessary to investigate the circumstances under which politicians are likely to use performance information to evaluate top mangers' performance.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 67%

“…These distinctive characteristics may set Portugal apart from the rest of the West European bureaucracies (Sotiropoulos, 2004) on the adoption of NPM reforms. Despite these features of the political/administrative context, in the last two decades, the succes sive Portuguese governments have implemented several administrative reforms (Araújo, 2001(Araújo, , 2002CorteReal, 2008;Gomes and Mendes, 2013) with the aim 'to introduce a new managerial rationality in public services, replacing the traditional approach to public management by the introduction of new managerial techniques' (Araújo and Branco, 2009:557).…”

Section: Institutional Reforms In Portuguese Local Governmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Use of performance information by local politicians: a field study in the Portuguese context

2017

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This paper presents a qualitative study that aims to investigate whether and how local politicians use perform ance info rmation to evaluate top managers' performance. The main goal is to contribute to knowledge on perform ance manag ement in the political sphere. Based on semistructured interviews, findings show that the organizational climate determines the willingness to use information. There is an internal culture embedded in public agencies, like municipalities, that lead politicians to be more or less concerned about the use of performance in formation. In this paper we find that politicians have a greater orientation towards the 'implicit' and the 'operationscon scious' styles rather than to the 'outputconstrained' and the 'outcomeconscious' styles. In general, politicians failed to implement a culture focused on the use of performance information. The institutional approach helps us to identify political responses to institutional pressures and understand the reasons for a reduced use in the Portuguese context. Keywords: performance information; politicians; institutional theory; organizational responses; Portuguese context. O uso da informação de desempenho pelos políticos locais: um estudo de caso no contexto português Este artigo apresenta um estudo qualitativo que pretende investigar até que ponto e como os políticos locais portu gueses usam a informação de desempenho para avaliar a performance dos gestores de topo. O objetivo principal é contribuir para o conhecimento na área da performance management na esfera política. Tendo por base as entrevistas semiestruturadas realizadas com os políticos locais, os resultados mostram que o clima organizacional determina a predisposição para usar a informação. Existe uma cultura enraizada nas organizações públicas, nomeadamente os municípios, que conduz os políticos a estarem mais ou menos predispostos a usar a informação de desempenho. Neste artigo concluímos que os políticos têm uma maior orientação para o uso de estilos 'implicit' ou 'operationsconscious' em vez dos estilos 'outputconstrained' e 'outcomeconscious' . Em geral, os políticos falharam ao implementar uma cultura orientada para o uso da informação de desempenho. A teoria institucional ajuda a identificar as respostas po líticas às pressões institucionais e a compreender as razões para o uso reduzido da informação no contexto português. Palavras-chave: Informação de desempenho; políticos; teoria institucional; respostas organizacionais; contexto português.El uso de la información de desempeño por los políticos locales: un estudio de caso en el contexto portugués Este trabajo presenta un estudio cualitativo que tiene como objetivo investigar si y cómo los políticos utilizan la información de ubicación para evaluar el desempeño de los top managers. El principal objetivo es contribuir al conocimiento de la PM en la esfera política. Tiendo por base las entrevistas realizadas a los políticos locales, los resultados muestran que el clima organizacional determina la voluntad de utilizar la información. ...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 67%

Section: Institutional Reforms In Portuguese Local Governmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of performance information by local politicians: a field study in the Portuguese context

2017

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“…At the same time, many of the issues discussed in this article are linked to the administrative capacity of the public sector, especially in relation to the organization of the asylum system. Public administration in Greece has been marked by high levels of centralization, clientelist relations between the government and the civil service and inefficiency (Featherstone 2005;Sotiropoulos 2004). It is not surprising that the asylum system has reflected these shortcomings, but as Tsibiridou (2004) has noted, the inability to create procedural frameworks based on law has had adverse effects on the rights of migrants.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Realizing One's Rights under the 1951 Convention 60 Years On: A Review of Practical Constraints on Accessing Protection in Europe

Karamanidou¹,

Schuster²

2011

Journal of Refugee Studies

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“…They argue that besides having sufficient financial resources for the bureaucracy, the implementation process also depends on the strength of bureaucracy, translated as: a) the independence of the administration from politics; b) a clearly specified legal framework for the bureaucracy, and c) the accountability of the bureaucracy as a crucial factor that contributes towards its own quality and effectiveness (Hille, Knill, 2006). Whereas, Dimitri A. Sotiropulos, in his study, finds out that the public bureaucracies of Southern Europe (Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain) until mid of 1990's were characterised by interrelated characteristics such as: a) party politicians working in higher civil service; b) patronage patterns of personnel recruitment to the public sector; and c) lack of human resources in the public sector and lack of implementation (Sotiropoulos, 2004). In contrast to the Central and Eastern European Countries where the implementation of the acquis has been a question of bureaucracy rather than political veto, in the case of Albania, both factors have been influential.…”

Section: A) Uneven Distribution Of Human Resourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lost in Implementation: EU Law Application in Albanian Legal System

Hajdini

Skara

2017

Journal of Legal Studies

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Considering the growing importance of the researchers in the area of Europeanization in the candidate countries, the purpose of this paper is to analyse whether, and to what extent EU as a legal normative power has influenced Albania to approximate existing and future legislation and to ensure proper implementation. The paper argues that the Europeanization process is pushing Albania toward greater convergence with EU acquis by developing a modern legal framework. However, the paper points out that weak implementation has hampered the application of EU law in Albania due to: a) weak bureaucracy or uneven distribution of human capacities; b) the lack of an established practice of consultation with interest groups on specific draft legislation, and c) the inability to put in sound planning mechanisms and to carry out a realistic assessment. The paper concludes that effective adjustment of Albanian legal system with EU norms requires cooperation between different actors involved in the approximation and implementation process.

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Southern European Public Bureaucracies in Comparative Perspective

Cited by 159 publications

References 39 publications

Use of performance information by local politicians: a field study in the Portuguese context

Use of performance information by local politicians: a field study in the Portuguese context

Realizing One's Rights under the 1951 Convention 60 Years On: A Review of Practical Constraints on Accessing Protection in Europe

Lost in Implementation: EU Law Application in Albanian Legal System

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