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Democratic accountability for outsourced government services
Title
Democratic accountability for outsourced government services.
Creator
Keeler, Rebecca L., College for Design and Social Inquiry, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description
Public administration scholars have raised serious concerns about loss of democratic accountability when government services are outsourced to private forprofit businesses because of the very different values and missions of the two sectors. Particular concern for democratic accountability arises when administrative discretion is delegated to governments' private sector agents. Furthermore, if contractors may adversely impact individual rights or interests, or may adversely impact vulnerable...
Show morePublic administration scholars have raised serious concerns about loss of democratic accountability when government services are outsourced to private forprofit businesses because of the very different values and missions of the two sectors. Particular concern for democratic accountability arises when administrative discretion is delegated to governments' private sector agents. Furthermore, if contractors may adversely impact individual rights or interests, or may adversely impact vulnerable populations, special democratic responsibilities arise. It is these three features of outsourcing transactions that constitute the elements of the proposed framework used in this research in order to assess need for heightened attention to democratic accountability. Some scholars argue for application of constitutional and administrative law norms to some government contractors., Public service ethics and transparency requirements found in administrative law are heavily value-laden and mission-driven. If applied to certain government contractors, they can help to bridge the sectors' mission and value differences, thus enhancing democratic accountability for the services performed by governments' private sector agents. This research offers an analytical framework for identifying features of outsourcing transactions that call for enhanced democratic accountability measures such as ethics and transparency requirements, and explores the application of ethics and transparency requirements to governments' contractors. Contracts and laws governing three Florida local government service categories were subjected to close systematic textual and legal analysis: residential trash collection, building code inspection, and inmate health care., The analysis revealed circumstances calling for greater attention to democratic accountability in that the selected outsourcing transactions delegated to contractors the authority to exercise police power, make public policy, and commit expenditures of public funds. Contracts and laws haphazardly required contractors to abide by public service ethics and transparency requirements, thus beginning to adapt the mission and value system of their private sector agents to those of government.
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Date Issued
2010
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/1927311
Subject Headings
Contracting out, Privatization, Public administration, Decision making, Public contracts, Management
Format
Document (PDF)
attitudes of certain parents of elementary school children and their teachers toward various school choice plans
Title
The attitudes of certain parents of elementary school children and their teachers toward various school choice plans.
Creator
Bacallao, Mary Kay, Florida Atlantic University, Morris, John D., Gray, Mary B.
Abstract/Description
This study investigated the degree of agreement parents and teachers in public and private schools had with full school choice in the form of tuition vouchers. The school choice attitude assessment instrument was developed for this purpose and determined to be reliable. The surveys were administered to 416 volunteer respondents. Significant differences were found in the voucher subscale score obtained from parents and teachers. The parents were more favorable to the concept of school choice F...
Show moreThis study investigated the degree of agreement parents and teachers in public and private schools had with full school choice in the form of tuition vouchers. The school choice attitude assessment instrument was developed for this purpose and determined to be reliable. The surveys were administered to 416 volunteer respondents. Significant differences were found in the voucher subscale score obtained from parents and teachers. The parents were more favorable to the concept of school choice F(1, 412) = 10.80, p < .00625. Private school parents and teachers were more positive about school choice than public school parents and teachers, F(1, 412) = 46.63, p < .00625. There was also an interaction between role (parent or teacher) and institution (public or private). The interaction was disordinal; private school teachers had a higher mean than private school parents while public school teachers had a lower mean than public school parents, F(1, 412) = 8.45, p < .00625. The demographic variables of education, age, race, and family income were not significantly related to the voucher subsale score. The demographic variables of education, age, race, and family income were not significantly related to the voucher subsale score. Republicans were found to be more favorable to the concept of school choice than Democrats, F(1, 3) = 3.84, p < .00625. Teacher union members were less favorable toward the concept of full school choice than non-union respondents, F(1, 1) = 67.57, p < .00625. The uniform (with additions) voucher was the most popular, chosen by 38.8% of the respondents. Consequently, full school choice programs in the public schools will probably receive more support from parents than teachers. In the future, full school choice programs will probably originate from outside the public school system.
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Date Issued
1996
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12458
Format
Document (PDF)
threat of school choice and changes in public school organizations
Title
The threat of school choice and changes in public school organizations.
Creator
Thompson, Jeanethe D., Florida Atlantic University, Pisapia, John
Abstract/Description
This study tested the assumption that faced with the threat of losing students via vouchers public school principals would make changes in their organizational practices to improve their schools and avoid this occurrence. Two variables were investigated: (a) the level of threat and (b) school organizational practices. Data were collected using a 55-item mail survey-questionnaire, structured to assess changes in school organizational practices perceived by teachers at the randomly selected...
Show moreThis study tested the assumption that faced with the threat of losing students via vouchers public school principals would make changes in their organizational practices to improve their schools and avoid this occurrence. Two variables were investigated: (a) the level of threat and (b) school organizational practices. Data were collected using a 55-item mail survey-questionnaire, structured to assess changes in school organizational practices perceived by teachers at the randomly selected schools. The School Organization Teacher Survey was field-tested twice to check reliability and validity. Cronbach alpha values were 0.88 and 0.93 for the pilots. The unit of analysis for this study was the school. Eight hundred (800) surveys were sent to 160 schools; 331 representing 112 schools were completed and returned for a response rate of 71.3%. Descriptive statistics, multiple regression, and analysis of variance techniques were utilized to determine whether and to what degree relationships existed between the independent variable of grade and threat and the dependent variable of change in the organizational practices by the principals. The results of this study are consistent with the literature on public school choice or market theory. First, a strong relationship was found between school choice and changes in school organizational practices. Faced with the voucher threat, Florida public school principals made changes in teaching conditions, enhancing opportunities for student learning, and encouraging parental involvement. Second, the level of threat felt dictated the level of response by principals. Principals at low performing schools felt a greater sense of urgency and responded more quickly and to a greater degree. Principals at high performing schools, on the other hand, did not feel this threat and did not make changes in their organizational practices. The results from this provide support for the use of choice as a mechanism for school reform, since, as the results indicate, principals made changes in their practices to improve the performance of their students when faced with the threat of losing students to other schools through vouchers or opportunity scholarships.
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Date Issued
2004
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FADT12107
Subject Headings
School choice--United States, School management and organization--United States, Educational equalization--United States, Charter schools--United States, Privatization in education--United States
Format
Document (PDF)
Eminent domain as enclosure movement: the privatization of law under neoliberalism
Title
Eminent domain as enclosure movement: the privatization of law under neoliberalism.
Creator
Kleeger, Jeffery, Araghi, Farshad A., Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Sociology
Abstract/Description
Law is a means to an end. The state has always claimed it uses law as a tool to promote social order and progress (the Brazilian National Flag is an example). The use of law to force social change to facilitate capital accumulation for elites in society flies in the face of what the takings clause is supposed to stand for. This research examines the connection between economic development and public good. It focuses on takings because takings lie at the intersection between economics,...
Show moreLaw is a means to an end. The state has always claimed it uses law as a tool to promote social order and progress (the Brazilian National Flag is an example). The use of law to force social change to facilitate capital accumulation for elites in society flies in the face of what the takings clause is supposed to stand for. This research examines the connection between economic development and public good. It focuses on takings because takings lie at the intersection between economics, politics, and social relations. Takings are justified by necessity and public good, but the claim isn’t genuine. Takings condone displacement and cause harm. State-authorized condemnation juxtaposes civic duty with social obligation, ownership with license and privilege. The thesis developed here is the state is pushing the law of takings toward the satisfaction of private interests. To that end the public use concept was expanded. Kelo v. City of New London (2005) holds economic development is a public use and in making that fallacious claim the case has ruptured takings law. Public use shouldn’t be about private gain. Property should be creative and is when it facilitates productivity, but it’s destructive if it erodes personal autonomy. The state claims it promotes social good when it reorders uses, but the claim is false. Instead the state achieves an air of legitimacy, offering a sound rationale for acts of displacement and uses law to support the claim it promotes public good. If an individual doesn’t want to part with her property she shouldn’t be forced to do so. Taking is use of state power to accomplish ends that can’t otherwise be achieved. Taking is a lawful means to displace to benefit private interests. The proof of this is in the pudding of the transformation of law between Berman v. Parker (1954) and Kelo v. City of New London (2005). Berman (1954) required blight. Kelo v. City of New London (2005) eliminated that requirement. This thesis explains how law and state are captured by private interests.
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Date Issued
2015
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004386, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004386
Subject Headings
Common good, Eminent domain -- Law and legislation -- United States, Land use -- Economic aspects -- United States, Neoliberalism, Privatization -- United States, Property -- Social aspects, Right of property -- United States
Format
Document (PDF)
Collaborative governance and the implementation of the Ryan White CARE Act
Title
Collaborative governance and the implementation of the Ryan White CARE Act: a case study of HIV health services planning councils in two South Florida counties.
Creator
Agbodzakey, James K., College for Design and Social Inquiry, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description
The complex problems of the twenty-first century cannot be effectively addressed with twentieth century top-down bureaucratic governance alone because of limited stakeholder participation in collective decision making and/or implementation. The somewhat limited stakeholder participation in the policy process, especially, that of target populations, can impact generating viable solutions to complex problems. Collaborative governance has emerged as a promising alternative to traditional...
Show moreThe complex problems of the twenty-first century cannot be effectively addressed with twentieth century top-down bureaucratic governance alone because of limited stakeholder participation in collective decision making and/or implementation. The somewhat limited stakeholder participation in the policy process, especially, that of target populations, can impact generating viable solutions to complex problems. Collaborative governance has emerged as a promising alternative to traditional management in addressing contemporary complex problems. Collaborative governance is thus a type of governance that promotes joint participation of state and non-state stakeholders in decision making and/or implementation by using agreed upon processes of engagement to collectively address problems. Such governance is especially beneficial for addressing the challenges posed by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). This dissertation uses the collaborative governance concept to explicate the efforts of HIV Health Services Planning Councils in Broward County and Palm Beach County of South Florida with the purpose of accentuating how collaborative governance works in providing various categories of services to meet the needs of people with AIDS (PWAs), as part of the implementation of the Ryan White CARE Act. The study focuses on critical variables of collaborative governance such as facilitative leadership and institutional design, the collaborative process variables such as trust building, commitment to the process and shared understanding, and outputs such as allocation priorities of the Councils. This study employed mixed methods in collecting data from various relevant sources., The combined findings from surveys, interviews, observations and document reviews were essential to knowledge and understanding of collaborative governance of the respective Councils. The results revealed more similarities than differences between the Councils in their efforts towards addressing the HIV/AIDS problem. The Councils are similar in all variables of collaborative governance with few exceptions relative to facilitative leadership and institutional design. The differences were relative to membership, number of committees, amount allocated for various service categories and number of clients served. Furthermore, the Councils were slightly different in reaching consensus on subjects of deliberation. On the average, Palm Beach County's Council make decisions by consensus relatively easily when compared with the Broward County's Council. Nonetheless, both Councils are consensus-oriented and strive to make decision by consensus as evidenced by unanimous votes or simple majority votes on various subjects of deliberation. In addition, representation and participation of target populations in collaborative governance have contributed to the empowerment of those target populations. The study contributes to the literature by developing a conceptual model for HIV/AIDS collaborative governance for producing outputs to help meet needs of target populations. Also, the study contributes to collaborative governance theorizing by drawing a nexus between variables of collaborative governance and by complementing the existing non-linear perspective of collaborative process for collective problem solving. Collaborative governance involving state and non-state stakeholders thereby enhances efforts of public managers by harnessing resources to effectively manage and/or address complex problems for the benefit of society.
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Date Issued
2009
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/368614
Subject Headings
HIV infections, Government policy, AIDS (Disease), Patients, Services for, Public-private sector cooperation, Public administration, Decision making
Format
Document (PDF)