...online at www.sciencedirect.com Government Information Quarterly 25 (2008) 155 – 180 E-government policy and practice: A theoretical and empirical exploration of public e-procurement Catherine A. Hardy ⁎, Susan P. Williams Information Policy and Practice Research Group, Discipline of Business Information Systems, Faculty of Economics and Business, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia Available online 19 April 2007 Abstract The purpose of this paper is to theoretically and empirically explore how public e-procurement policies are translated into practice. The theoretical argument draws on actor network theory (ANT), coupled with Colebatch’s [Colebatch, H. K. (2002). Policy (2nd ed.). Maidenhead, Open University Press.] social construct of policy, to analyze the actors, actions, and circumstances through which understanding of public e-procurement comes to stabilize (or not) into a coherent policy for action. Drawing on three case studies of central government agencies in Italy, Scotland, and Western Australia, we suggest new intellectual perspectives and methodological heuristics that may assist researchers and practitioners analytical efforts in examining sociotechnical change and the implications for policy development and implementation. © 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: E-government; E-procurement; Actor network theory; Social construction of policy 1. Introduction Public e-procurement, as an information system (IS) enabled innovation in government...
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...ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMISSION FOR WESTERN ASIA (ESCWA) IMPACT OF INDUSTRIAL POLICIES ON THE COMPETITIVENESS OF SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES United Nations Distr. GENERAL E/ESCWA/SDPD/2007/7 11 December 2007 ORIGINAL: ENGLISH ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMISSION FOR WESTERN ASIA (ESCWA) IMPACT OF INDUSTRIAL POLICIES ON THE COMPETITIVENESS OF SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES United Nations New York, 2007 The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Mention of firm names and commercial products does not imply the endorsement of the United Nations. References have, wherever possible, been verified. Symbols of United Nations documents are composed of capital letters combined with figures. Mention of such a symbol indicates a reference to a United Nations document. 07-0488 Preface This study has been prepared by the secretariat of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) as part of its regular programme of work for the 2006-2007 biennium. The study draws upon work that ESCWA is implementing within the framework of harnessing technology and enterprise development for the improved productivity of small and medium-sized enterprises, with a view to...
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...acknowledge that the scope and nature of public policy problems play increasingly active roles in times of rapid changes. Public policies have always and will continue to influence if not affect our selves and lives, families, communities, societies. By nature and all intent and purpose public policies influence our daily interactions to such a profound extent that with a closer look, we realize that we need to be active in all aspects of public policies including their analysis. (Gambia 2008). Public policies are generally aimed at one or more of the following, reconciling or fostering cooperation that would probably not occur without government influence or encouragement and protecting the right of individuals. The local policy process appears to be most influenced by consensus and coalition building, unlike that national policy process which is largely influenced by shifting public moods and opinion as well as changes in electoral leadership). We also have to look on local power structures democratic accountabilities, business government relations and policy impacts and distribution effects (Baumgartner / Jones 1993: Cobb / Elder, 1983: Jones 1994). The nature of public policy is changing. Evaluation today has many more purposes not only accountability and learning, but also better policy planning ,improved implementation, empowerment of those without voice. Since evolution is so big in the policy system of one government or one set of policies and encompass partners, including civil...
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...how it is used in American society. Public administration allows public policies and actions, decision-making ability and day to day operations of an agency to be executed effectively in our environment. The reader becomes familiar with the historical and social aspects pertaining to the evolving field. Public administration does not have a definite age of existence but has been recognized as reliable tool used to perform public service in the United States for the past century. Following the overview of public administration, an example of a public agency is illustrated to further acquaint the reader to the practice of public administration and how it operates to service the public. Table of Contents I. Introduction – Brief Overview of Public Administration II. Body A. Woodrow Wilson B. Principles behind Public Administration C. Public Administration in the United States D. Luther Gulick and Functions in Management E. POSDCORB III. Community Action Agency- Brief Overview IV. Conclusion V. Bibliography Introduction Public administration is encompasses the management of public agencies, organizations, associations, nonprofit and social services as well as various programs. The field is applied to all levels of government: local, state and federal. Public administration centers itself around organizing programs, policies, initiatives and day to day operations of an agency to allow it to run effectively...
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...Head Start 1 Running Head: HEAD START Social Policy Study Improving Head Start Act of 2007 Kristin Sancken University of Minnesota Head Start 2 I. Introduction Head Start is a beloved program and one of the few social welfare programs that continues to garner strong support from both sides of the aisle. It has seen very little shift in public perception over the last 44 years since it’s creation as part of President Johnson’s Office of Economic Opportunity, and politicians have framed it essentially the same way during that time, namely, a way to provide the least fortunate with a chance at educational opportunity. Every few years, the Head Start Act must be reauthorized by the U.S. House and Senate in order to continue receiving federal funding. The Head Start Act itself states that its purpose is to, “promote the school readiness of low-income children by enhancing their cognitive, social, and emotional development”(U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2008). Head Start focuses on growth in a variety of areas such as acquisition of language, literacy, math, science, social and emotional functioning, creative arts, and physical education (Kildee, 2007; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2008). To reach these lofty goals, Head Start provides a holistic blend of services to low-income children and their families, based on family needs (Kildee, 2007; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2008). The latest reauthorization...
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...ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPACT OF SERVICE CHARTERS ON SERVICE DELIVERY IN MALAWI – A CASE OF SOUTHERN REGION WATER BOARD BY RASHID FRIDAY NTELELA (201004511) A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE MASTERS DEGREE IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION TO THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN THE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC MANAGEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT, UNIVERSITY OF FORT HARE, BISHO CAMPUS SUPERVISOR PROF. E.O.C IJEOMA 20th January, 2012 1 DECLARATION I, Rashid Friday Ntelela, hereby declare that this research thesis is my own original work, that all reference sources have been accurately reported and acknowledged, and that this document has not previously, in its entirety or in part, been submitted to any University in order to obtain an academic qualification. Rashid Friday Ntelela 20th January, 2012 2 Table of Contents DECLARATION ............................................................................................................... 2 DEDICATION .................................................................................................................. 7 Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................... 8 CHAPTER 1 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Introduction............................................................................................................ 9 Statement of the Problem .................................................................................. 11 Research...
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...Better Regulation for Growth Regulatory Quality and Competition Policy Investment Climate Advisory Services of the World Bank Group With funding from FIAS, the multi-donor investment climate advisory service in partnership with BETTER REGULATION FOR GROWTH GOVERNANCE FRAMEWORKS AND TOOLS FOR EFFECTIVE REGULATORY REFORM REGULATORY QUALITY AND COMPETITION POLICY INVESTMENT CLIMATE ADVISORY SERVICES WORLD BANK GROUP ©2010 The World Bank Group 1818 H Street NW Washington DC 20433 Telephone: 202-473-1000 Internet: www.worldbank.org All rights reserved Rights and Permissions The material in this publication is copyrighted. Copying and/or transmitting portions or all of this work without permission may be a violation of applicable law. The World Bank encourages dissemination of its work and will normally grant permission to reproduce portions of the work promptly. For permission to photocopy or reprint any part of this work, please send a request with complete information to the Copyright Clearance Center Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA; telephone: 978-750-8400; fax: 978-750-4470; Internet: www.copyright.com. All other queries on rights and licenses, including subsidiary rights, should be addressed to the Office of the Publisher, The World Bank Group, 1818 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20433, USA; fax: 202-522-2422; e-mail: pubrights@worldbank.org. About the Investment Climate Advisory Services of the World Bank Group The Investment Climate...
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...An Essay: An evaluation of how workplace practice is influenced and directed by a specific social policy. Social policy is “the theoretical pursuit of norms about how we think society ‘ought’ to behave” (Alcock et al. 2008) in action it consists of plans and interventions put in place by the government and social services to improve the wellbeing of society. There are five main areas influenced by social policies derived to improve services for the classic welfare state namely, education, housing, social security, health and social work. Social policy is intimately concerned with how to address and ameliorate social problems and with the analysis of the success or failure of policies designed to improve welfare and wellbeing (Alcock et all. 2008:2-3) Historically social policy can be seen as far back as 1388 when “attempts were made to fix wages and to limit the mobility of labour which may cause wages to rise” (Alcock, 2008:9) a more methodical system of poor relief was introduced in Victorian times, the Elizabethan Poor Law Acts of 1598 and 1601 to house and provide work for the poor under the direction of local parishes. Following this the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 set the foundations for social policy and the modern welfare state today by changing the way that poor law was dealt with, it was streamlined into universal laws and principles that towards the end of the 18th century prompted formation of the English government. The...
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...Public policy reaches into all parts of society, and addresses social problems in a purposeful way, that has been decided to be for the good of the people. Any level of government, whether federal, state or local may be in involved in a particular policy effort because of social problems, public demand for action on these problems, and formulate or produce solutions that become formal plans of action (Kraft & Furlong, 2013). Resources are allocated, according to policy guidelines, to citizens within the US. Because we are a representative democracy, public opinion often mirrors public policy (Pawson & Wong, 2013). Public policy effects the public and is driven by social & economic conditions, among other things. Issues are brought forward and contemplated before they are deemed appropriate for being proposed for legislation. A policy often starts with a public problem that has been pressed by the public and/or groups for formal adoption. The issues are brought forward, solutions discussed and if found feasible, then may pushed forward to be adopted by legislatures (Pawson & Wong, 2013). For instance, states have speed limits to reduce the number of accidents on the road ways. In a given area, if there are higher than average deaths, there may be a push to reduce the speed limit on that stretch of road. I commute about an hour and a half each day to work and am often thankful to police officers who enforce the speed limit. Without these policies in effect...
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...Master of Public Administration (MPA) About the MPA Program The Master of Public Administration (MPA) program, accredited by the Canadian Association of Programs in Public Administration (CAPPA), is designed to prepare students for careers in public administration and policy work in diverse areas such as non-government organizations, industry associations, and, of course, the public service. MPA students are exposed to core concepts in policy formation and analysis, and have the opportunity to explore substantive areas such as social policy, health policy, innovation policy, trade and immigration policy, resource and environmental policy, and public sector management. This combination of theory, application and research ensures that our graduates are well prepared to: > develop strategic planning, leadership and management skills; > draft policy papers and decision documents; > engage in basic and applied policy research; > work with governments and advocacy groups to identify and promote specific policy measures; and > participate in and lead teams of individuals or groups seeking to examine problems, identify issues, promote solutions and evaluate and assess outcomes of policy measures. The MPA program can be completed in one year with the appropriate selection of courses; however, the program can be extended beyond one year for those students who need more time, are working or whose first language is not English. Students entering the program are required to participate in...
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...community analysis paper for the semester is a project that you will complete individually; the topic of this paper should ideally be based on a question of interest to you and related to your community concern (work and family, schools, crime, or health and the environment). You have two options for the term paper. For your first option, you should choose a specific community problem and evaluate the extent to which government policies or non-profit initiatives solve the problem at hand. If this is your choice of paper, be sure to address the following: 1. the extent of the problem in low-income communities generally and (to the extent that you can) in Highland Park in particular. When completing this section, you will find that the work that we did in class with the statistical data and the community profile your group is assembling of great use. I encourage you to draw from them. 2. the reasons why this problem exists in low-income communities, or is worse in low-income communities than in more affluent ones. In this section, you will most likely draw heavily from the required and recommended readings as well as the blog postings you and your colleagues did throughout the semester. In addition, you may need to turn to library research. You should consult the sources listed under the RESOURCES page on the course website, and feel free to schedule a meeting with Laura Horne, our course’s reference librarian. 3. and the extent to which our public policies alleviate...
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...in a known as public policy. In this vain, this essay is an attempt to define the term policy using examples from education. Furthermore, it will explain why it is necessary that each sphere of public life be enshrined in a public policy. The term Policy is not a precise term. Unfortunately, the term policy is something which takes different forms. There is push to designate policy as the ‘outputs’ of the political system, and in a lesser degree to define public policy as more or less like interdependent policies dealing with many different activities. Studies of public policy areas, on the centrally, have tended to focus on the evaluation of policy decisions in terms of specified values, that is, a rational rather than a political analysis. The magnitude of this problem can be recognized from the other definitions, which have been advanced by scholars in this field. To start with, Policy refers to those plans, positions and guidelines of government which influence decisions by government (e.g., policies in support of sustainable economic development or policies to enhance access to government services by persons with disabilities). In other words, policy is an action to achieve a goal (Bell & Stevenson, 2006). A policy establishes guidelines or direction for the City's actions with regard to one or more concerns, problems or opportunities. A policy can also be a general plan or approach to a specific need, problem or issue. This means that a policy is a general directive...
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...Poverty and Public Policy ECON203 Introduction Increases in poverty have occurred since 2000. Rising poverty rates have caused significantly high caseloads to many public assistance programs in the US; causing a growing concern regarding public safety net cost. Poverty is a situation where a family cannot satisfy its needs for food, shelter, clothing and transportation based on their income alone. The government determines the poverty-level income for each family size. The Official Poverty Measure (OPM) determines poverty status by comparing pre-tax cash income by three times a minimum food diet, adjusted by family size and updated annually for inflation. In 1963, the average family spent a third of their income on household goods; today, the ratio of income spent on a food diet is less than 33%. Programs There are several government programs available to assist the poor called safety nets. Safety nets are where county or municipal government, secular nonprofit, faith-based nonprofit organizations and religious congregations come together to provide an assortment of programs of assistance for the poor. The role of local safety nets has received less attention from poverty and safety net researchers, regardless of the important role that they play in many communities. There are disputes in legislation that will cut public assistance program spending and caseloads; these opinions for cutbacks occur frequently. Since the debates and studies of restructuring poverty...
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...An Understanding of Public Administration Master of Public Administration Program Modern Public Administration: Managing Public & Nonprofit Organizations PAD 500 Abstract The purpose of this paper, An Understanding of Public Administration, is to provide the reader with an overview of the field and its application towards public programs, agencies, groups and other associations. It also provides a clear definition, introduces some principles associated with public administration along and how it is used in American society. Public administration allows public policies and actions, decision-making ability and day to day operations of an agency to be executed effectively in our environment. The reader becomes familiar with the historical and social aspects pertaining to the evolving field. Public administration does not have a definite age of existence but has been recognized as reliable tool used to perform public service in the United States for the past century. Following the overview of public administration, an example of a public agency is illustrated to further acquaint the reader to the practice of public administration and how it operates to service the public. Table of Contents I. Introduction – Brief Overview of Public Administration II. Body A. Woodrow Wilson B. Principles behind Public Administration C. Public Administration in the United States ...
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...employment equity policies in Canada’s 10 provinces and the federal government. We approach the issue of employment equity from the standpoint of challenging systemic oppression. We have sought to describe, explain and suggest ways to rectify a perceived impasse in the effective implementation of employment equity policy regarding the implications it holds for the advancement of visible minority women within the provincial government sector. We premised our study on a recognizable gap between legislative policy designed to promote greater workplace diversity for groups that have experienced systemic oppression within Canada, and the effective implementation of such policies in the workplace. This study combined two elements in its methodological approach. The first was based on policy analysis, the second on a series of qualitative interviews with equity policy stakeholders in, or dependent on, provincial governments. We developed such a methodology to provide an overview of the state of employment equity policy as it is currently formulated in the provincial governments of Canada and at the same time, to assess these policy packages in terms of implementation. This policy study includes a province-by-province general review of the state of employment equity policy across Canada. In Canada’s provinces today, the climate of debate on employment equity stands along a spectrum, from extreme commitment to extreme opposition to the principles on which such policy is based. Within...
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