Bureaucratic Discretion

Author : Joel Handler
Publisher : Russell Sage Foundation
ISBN 13 : 1610442679
Total Pages : 342 pages
Book Rating : 4.71/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Conditions of Discretion written by Joel Handler and published by Russell Sage Foundation. This book was released on 1986-08-20 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This timely book is concerned with interactions between ordinary people and large public bureaucracies—interactions that typically are characterized by mutual frustration and antagonism. In fact, as Joel Handler points out, the procedural guidelines intended to ensure fairness and due process fail to take account of an initial imbalance of power and tend to create adversarial rather than cooperative relationships. When the special education needs of a handicapped child must be determined, parents and school administrators often face an especially painful confrontation. The Conditions of Discretion focuses on one successful approach to educational decision making (developed by the school district of Madison, Wisconsin) in order to illustrate how such interactions can be restructured and enhanced. Madison's creative plan regards parents as part of the solution, not the problem, and uses "lay advocates" to turn conflict into an opportunity for communication. Arrangements such as these, in Handler's analysis, exemplify the theoretical conditions under which discretionary decisions can be made fairly and with the informed participation of all concerned. The Conditions of Discretion offers not only a detailed case study, sympathetically described, but also persuasive assessments of major themes in contemporary legal and social policy—informed consent, bureaucratic change, social movement activity, the relationship of the individual to the state. From these strands, Handler weaves a significant new theory of cooperative decision making that integrates the public and the private, recognizes the importance of values, and preserves autonomy within community. "A masterful blend of social criticism, social sciences, and humane, constructive thought about the future of the welfare state." —Duncan Kennedy, Harvard Law School

Author : John D. Huber
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780521520706
Total Pages : 308 pages
Book Rating : 4.03/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Deliberate Discretion? written by John D. Huber and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2002-09-02 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explains the different approaches legislators use when they write laws.

Author : Gary C. Bryner
Publisher : Pergamon
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 276 pages
Book Rating : 4.32/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Bureaucratic Discretion written by Gary C. Bryner and published by Pergamon. This book was released on 1987 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Author : Gary J. Miller
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1107008751
Total Pages : 287 pages
Book Rating : 4.55/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Above Politics written by Gary J. Miller and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2016-05-26 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book argues that bureaucracies can contribute to stability and economic development, if they are insulated from unstable democratic politics. The book will appeal to those interested in political science, economics, law, sociology, and modern political history.

Author : Steven G. Koven
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 3030057798
Total Pages : 238 pages
Book Rating : 4.94/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Case Against Bureaucratic Discretion written by Steven G. Koven and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-01-25 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores contemporary and historical examples of bureaucratic discretion to describe a continuum of resistance to authoritative directives by hierarchical superiors. Resistance ranges from blind obedience or complete nonresistance to street-level opposition; in between these extremes, however, are minimal compliance and resistance sanctioned by immediate superiors. Although politicians may pass legislation, the subject of bureaucratic implementation or lack thereof remains an area of vital concern. Grounded in administrative theory (beginning with Woodrow Wilson’s seminal discussion of the virtue of adopting a businesslike approach to American governing) and emphasizing the power of street-level bureaucrats, the aim of this book is to expand awareness of the potentially dangerous power of insulated bureaucrats.

Author : Michael Lipsky
Publisher : Russell Sage Foundation
ISBN 13 : 1610443624
Total Pages : 263 pages
Book Rating : 4.23/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Street-Level Bureaucracy written by Michael Lipsky and published by Russell Sage Foundation. This book was released on 1983-06-29 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Street-Level Bureaucracy is an insightful study of how public service workers, in effect, function as policy decision makers, as they wield their considerable discretion in the day-to-day implementation of public programs.

Author : Hupe, Peter
Publisher : Policy Press
ISBN 13 : 1447313267
Total Pages : 404 pages
Book Rating : 4.67/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Understanding Street-Level Bureaucracy written by Hupe, Peter and published by Policy Press. This book was released on 2015-07 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book draws together internationally acclaimed scholars from across the world to address the roles of public officials whose jobs involve dealing directly with the public. Covering a broad range of jobs, including the delivery of benefits and services, the regulation of social and economic behavior, and the expression and maintenance of public values, the book presents in-depth discussions of different approaches, the possibilities for discretionary autonomy, and directions for further research in the field.

Author : Charles Rowley
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 0792386078
Total Pages : 1142 pages
Book Rating : 4.70/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Encyclopedia of Public Choice written by Charles Rowley and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2004-07-06 with total page 1142 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Encyclopedia provides a detailed and comprehensive account of the subject known as public choice. However, the title would not convey suf- ciently the breadth of the Encyclopedia’s contents which can be summarized better as the fruitful interchange of economics, political science and moral philosophy on the basis of an image of man as a purposive and responsible actor who pursues his own objectives as efficiently as possible. This fruitful interchange between the fields outlined above existed during the late eighteenth century during the brief period of the Scottish Enlightenment when such great scholars as David Hume, Adam Ferguson and Adam Smith contributed to all these fields, and more. However, as intell- tual specialization gradually replaced broad-based scholarship from the m- nineteenth century onwards, it became increasingly rare to find a scholar making major contributions to more than one. Once Alfred Marshall defined economics in neoclassical terms, as a n- row positive discipline, the link between economics, political science and moral philosophy was all but severed and economists redefined their role into that of ‘the humble dentist’ providing technical economic information as inputs to improve the performance of impartial, benevolent and omniscient governments in their attempts to promote the public interest. This indeed was the dominant view within an economics profession that had become besotted by the economics of John Maynard Keynes and Paul Samuelson immediately following the end of the Second World War.

Author : John Brehm
Publisher : Russell Sage Foundation
ISBN 13 : 1610440803
Total Pages : 184 pages
Book Rating : 4.06/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Teaching, Tasks, and Trust written by John Brehm and published by Russell Sage Foundation. This book was released on 2008-06-20 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The mere word "bureaucracy" brings to mind images of endless lines, piles of paperwork, and frustrating battles over rules and red tape. But some bureaucracies are clearly more efficient and responsive than others. Why? In Teaching, Tasks, and Trust, distinguished political scientists John Brehm and Scott Gates show that a good part of the answer may be found in the roles that middle managers play in teaching and supporting the front-line employees who make a bureaucracy work. Brehm and Gates employ a range of sophisticated modeling and statistical methods in their analysis of employees in federal agencies, police departments, and social service centers. Looking directly at what front-line workers say about their supervisors, they find that employees who feel they have received adequate training have a clearer understanding of the agency's mission, which leads to improved efficiency within their departments. Quality training translates to trust – employees who feel supported and well-trained for the job are more likely to trust their supervisors than those who report being subject to constant monitoring and a strict hierarchy. Managers who "stand up" for employees—to media, government, and other agency officials—are particularly effective in cultivating the trust of their workers. And trust, the authors find, motivates superior job performance and commitment to the agency's mission. Employees who trust their supervisors report that they work harder, put in longer hours, and are less likely to break rules. The authors extend these findings to show that once supervisors grain trust, they enjoy greater latitude in influencing how employees allocate their time while working. Brehm and Gates show how these three executive roles are interrelated—training and protection for employees gives rise to trust, which provides supervisors with the leverage to stimulate improved performance among their workers. This new model—which frames supervisors as teachers and protectors instead of taskmasters—has widespread implications for training a new generation of leaders and creating more efficient organizations. Bureaucracies are notorious for inefficiency, but mid-level supervisors, who are often regarded as powerless, retain tremendous power to build a more productive workforce. Teaching, Tasks, and Trust provides a fascinating glimpse into a bureaucratic world operating below the radar of the public eye—a world we rarely see while waiting in line or filling out paperwork. A Volume in the Russell Sage Foundation Series on Trust

Author : George A. Krause
Publisher : University of Michigan Press
ISBN 13 : 0472024043
Total Pages : 361 pages
Book Rating : 4.49/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Politics, Policy, and Organizations written by George A. Krause and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 2009-12-14 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The bureaucracy is the fourth branch of government, often receiving attention in times of emergency or when it is the object of criticism from the media or politicians. Less understood is how bureaucratic institutions function in a democracy, both from an organizational perspective and as institutional participants within the political arena. Drawing on rational choice approaches, computationally intensive data and modeling techniques, and systematic empirical inquiry, this original collection of essays highlights the important role bureaucracies play in shaping public policy-making. The editors of and contributors to this volume demonstrate not only the constraints political officials face in harnessing the bureaucracy but, more important, how bureaucracies function as organizational entities in diverse contexts. George A. Krause is Associate Professor of Political Science, University of South Carolina. Kenneth J. Meier is Charles Puryear Professor of Liberal Arts and Professor of Political Science, Texas A&M University.