Call for Papers

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Aug 22, 2016 - The 2016 Annual Conference of the European Group for Public ... sector” research agenda forward by connecting it to governance challenges ...
Call for Papers www.iias-iisa.org www.iias-iisa.org/egpa

Improving Administrative Sciences Worldwide

2016 EGPA Annual Conference 24-26 August – Utrecht, Netherlands

Permanent Study Group II : Performance and Accountability in the Public Sector: Plans for 2016-2017 (previously “Performance in the Public Sector”)

The 2016 Annual Conference of the European Group for Public Administration will be held in Utrecht, the Netherlands from 24 to 26 August. The event will be preceded by PhD Symposium on 22 and 23 August. Co-chairs: Jostein Askim University of Oslo, Norway: [email protected] Gerhard Hammerschmid Hertie School of Governance, Berlin, Germany [email protected] Mirko Noordegraaf Utrecht University, The Netherlands [email protected] Thomas Schillemans Utrecht University, The Netherlands [email protected]

INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCES rue Defacqz, 1, box 11 B-1000 Brussels, Belgium Tel : +32 2 536 08 80  Fax : +32 2 537 97 02 e-mail :[email protected]   EUROPEAN GROUP FOR PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION [email protected]

(Until 2015: Jostein Askim (University of Oslo), Wouter Van Dooren (University of Antwerp) and Kai Wegrich (Hertie School of Governance, Berlin)). Thematic orientation 2016-17 The aim of the study group in recent years has been to bring the “performance in the public sector” research agenda forward by connecting it to governance challenges posed by fiscal austerity, emerging forms of collaborative governance and increasing entanglement of policy tools. In the years 2016-2017, we will attempt to push the research agenda forward by bringing together two closely related research fields: performance and accountability. This ambition is reflected in changes in study group chairs, and in changes to the study group’s name.

Call for Papers

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Call for Papers www.iias-iisa.org/egpa

Improving Administrative Sciences Worldwide In recent years, research on performance and research on accountability in the public sector have both been dominated by the waves of public management reforms transforming European bureaucracies. On the one hand, there has been a major focus on performance and performance management systems and the enormous investments in and hopes for improved performance in the public sector. On the other hand, the restructuring of government and new provider models for public services relying on third parties of many sorts (quango’s, privatization, etc.) have thwarted traditional systems of accountability. In many studies of performance and accountability, the notion of NPM has been highly central. But, although the practical and intellectual background of those studies was fairly similar, studies of performance and accountability in the public sector have often been conducted in separate strands and groups. Accountability studies have had a strong focus on democratic deficits in public service provision, and accountability scholars may have overlooked the important links, conducive as well as counter-productive, between accountability and performance. While performance scholars on the other may have had a strong focus on NPM-reforms and formal performance systems and measurement, while overlooking more fundamental ethical norms and broader institutional impacts on performance. One simple reason for bringing performance and accountability research together is that the two are connected in practice and the societal relevance of the research will improve if existing studies, scholars and knowledge connect. A second reason is that there have been great advances in both fields of study, so that it makes sense to expand their horizons and connect their foci of research. And a third reason is that many studies have been great at discrediting some of the “great expectations” (Overman 2015) of the NPM-age, yet the ideas on better and alternative models of or approaches to performance and accountability are still in its infancy. It is time, thus, we believe, to expand, connect and move forward. A first logical step is to try to connect the dots between accountability and performance. This could be done either theoretically or empirically. How are performance and accountability connected conceptually? How can we conceive of fruitful – and unfruitful – ways in which accountability and performance can connect? What can we learn from empirical studies about the positive and negative ways in which both can interact? A second logical step is to expand our research focus with new methods, comparing accountability and performance across countries or sectors, or by introducing new types of research such as experiments, in order to delve into causal explanations. How can new types of research help us understand the effects of accountability systems on performance, or, conversely, the effects of performance on accountability?

INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCES rue Defacqz, 1, box 11 B-1000 Brussels, Belgium Tel : +32 2 536 08 80  Fax : +32 2 537 97 02 e-mail :[email protected]   EUROPEAN GROUP FOR PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION [email protected]

A third logical step would be to shift our focus towards new policy issues urgently demanding improved performance and accountability. Take the current refugee crisis, putting bureaucracies and politicians under great strain. They have to up their performance and to find viable ways of accountability. The global financial crisis, and the ensuing crisis in the regulation of financial markets, is another recent ‘crisis’ where both accountability and performance were at stake. How can performance and accountability be studied in these types of settings? And what is the relevance of findings on performance and accountability in recent studies for these new and highly contested issues? In addition to themes specified in each year’s call for papers, the group covers three standing themes, i.e. themes that through our previous sessions have proven to be of general importance to the study of performance in the public sector:

Call for Papers

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Call for Papers www.iias-iisa.org/egpa

Improving Administrative Sciences Worldwide The politics of performance: What is the role of politics in performance management? Politics is broadly defined as political activity and thus goes beyond the political institutions. Relevant topics include, among others: framing contests in the development of performance measurement and management systems, turf wars in the decision-making about performance, negotiations between principals and agents about the indicators to be used to measure performance, progress, compliance etc. in contracts, networks, or policies, evidence about the scope and real effects of coping strategies developed in reaction to indicators systems, and political-administrative dynamics that performance management engenders in organizations. The use of performance information: Public administrations have been measuring performance for quite some time now. But is this information actually used, or is performance measurement mainly a ritualistic exercise detached from organisational reality and policymaking? A core theme of the study group is the use of performance information: Who is (not) using performance measurement information, where, when, why and how? The behavioral effects of performance management: The selection and design of the indicators, the organization of the measurement process and the way measurement is embedded in modes of control and accountability matter a lot for how the affected parties react to such systems. Behavioural coping strategies such as ‘gaming’ and ‘crowding out’ effects (i.e. teaching to the test) have been widely reported and discussed, although their overall significance is contested. Please respect the following deadlines: For online submission of abstracts proposals through the submission website via the link www. egpa-conference2016.org under «Registration-Submissions» :15 April 2016 For decision and selection by the co-chairs :5 May 2016 For submitting the complete papers : 31 July 2016

INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCES rue Defacqz, 1, box 11 B-1000 Brussels, Belgium Tel : +32 2 536 08 80  Fax : +32 2 537 97 02 e-mail :[email protected]   EUROPEAN GROUP FOR PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION [email protected] Call for Papers

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