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SUSS POL 353 Study Unit 4 Overcoming Challenges in Public Service…
SUSS POL 353 Study Unit 4 Overcoming Challenges in
Public Service Delivery
Chapter 1 Skills required for Contemporary Public Service Delivery
Skills for Public Service Delivery
civil servants currently
face a multitude of unprecedented challenges and complexities
Civil servants thus
must have the correct skillsets
and administrative and political support to
be innovative
to redesign the tools of governance and
develop novel solutions
to persistent and emergent policy challenges”
professional and educational qualifications alone will not automatically place civil servants in good stead to address challenges of today and of the future
OECD recommends that civil servants ideally possess skills in
four main areas
to ensure that their service delivery has “public value”
Policy development
Citizen centric service delivery
Network Collaboration
Contracting and outsourcing
Policy Development
Civil servants are expected to
provide policy advice
to policymakers that is objective, honest and without inhibition
this interaction is
complicated by
the presence of
wicked problems
Holistic thinking:
Civil servants thus should be able to
think beyond their own departments
and sectors + be
open to embracing datasets and insights from other departments
and sectors, social networking and community outreach and social media when defining policy problems and designing policy solutions
Politically astute yet socially balanced
: Balance Must also
strike a balance
between being politically neutral and designing policy solutions that fit the agenda and vision of the political leaders that also address grievances/needs of the citizens
Case Study: Foresight Techniques in Public Administration
Citizen involvement:
Foresight techniques move away from the exclusive reliance on technical experts and
incorporates citizen involvement to participate in discussions and decisions
concerning their future which allows policymakers and public service delivery providers to include more choices for inclusive growth and social justice
Data-driven:
Foresight techniques
involve the use of data, information and intelligence
and skills to explore possible scenarios, identify potential risks and opportunities and rehearse potential responses to the scenarios identified
Foresight techniques involve
3 Ps
:
Prospective:
it focuses on
gathering new data
rather than projecting old data, assumptions and hindsight; it also probes the impact of change, shocks and disruptions on future realities
Policy-related:
rather than relying purely on academics or analysts, foresight techniques are sponsored and
championed by political and administrative actors
Participative:
as relevant knowledge is distributed in the wider settings and not restricted to technocrats or academics, foresight techniques
involve a larger and broader participant base
comprising different groups of stakeholders; this also helps to prevent groupthink
Case Study: Singapore foresight (RAHS)
Using foresight techniques, the Risk Assessment and Horizons Scanning (RAHS) programme was
launched in 2005
under the National Security Coordination Secretariat (Public Service Division, 2015).
The RAHS
identifies, synthesises and prioritises emerging issues and risks
that can have a strategic
impact on Singapore
by
using a big data tool
to scan the environment for weak signals on important emerging issues and incorporates a wide range of analytical methods such as narrative capture, quantitative modelling, data fusion and analysis, and policy gaming.
While
used primarily in the internal security sector
, RAHS has also carried out projects with other public service agencies such as the Ministry of Education to collect data and promote engaged learning in the classroom.
Centre for Strategic Futures (CSF):
Following in the footsteps of RAHS, Centre for Strategic Futures
(CSF) was established
in 2009 as a
futures-oriented think-tank
within the Singapore Government to help
build a strategically agile public service
to “manage a complex and fast-changing environment” (Centre for Strategic Futures, 2020) using foresight techniques and risk assessment methodologies to
conduct research on emerging issues
, “develop insight into future trends, discontinuities and strategic surprises” (Centre for Strategic Futures, 2020)
and communicate these findings to decisionmakers
in Singapore to inform public policy formulation and implementation.
Citizen-Centric Service Delivery
Clarity in delivery:
Civil servants need to be
aware
of the range of public services available + also need to be
able to assist citizens to navigate through the complex web of “services
, entitlements, benefits and eligibility requirements (including those that may be delivered by external vendors/agents)
especially digital public service,
must remain citizen-friendly
and civil servants must also help to bridge the digital divide
Network Collaboration
Addressing wicked problems requires collaborative partnerships and networks,
Avoid turf-guarding:
civil servants
need to work across organisational boundaries
and “be less passionate about guarding their own turf” so that they can arrive at policy outcomes that are more about benefitting citizens,
rather than conforming to the rules of their own departments
this requires skills in “
designing, overseeing and managing
contractual arrangements
with other organisations”
Avoid traditional leadership:
Also requires a shift away from traditional, hierarchical notions of leadership +
acknowledge that leadership is now distributed among various levels
and departments of the organisation and among multiple stakeholders, without forgoing accountability
Contracting Out and Outsourcing
Civil servants must be able to conduct
“impact assessments,
cost-benefit analysis,
risk management,
forecasting and foresight and
assess value for money”
Weigh benefits against procurement limitations:
overall, must be able to ensure that bring about more benefits to the citizens as well as ensure that due diligence is done in these procurement processes
require knowledge of procurement process, markets, management of contracts
Must be able to show reduction of costs (material and non-material)
Must maintain transparency, accountability
Case Study: What are Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs)?
PPPs are
organisation structures
among public, private or not-for-profit partners who
collaborate on projects
.
Often PPPs are
used either to attract fund-support
from the private sector
or to utilise the expertise
and operational capacities of the private sector
Develop Quality infrastructure:
In developing countries especially, PPPs can potentially be
a tool to efficiently deliver more quality infrastructure
services to more citizens, especially in the areas of energy, transport, telecommunications, water, healthcare and education
Conditions for PPPs:
PPPs can only be effective on the condition that
they are well designed,
implemented where appropriate,
and implemented with regulatory oversight
Key concerns:
The following are some concerns central to the development and management of
PPPs
Negotiation skills
Communicating the needs:
Public sector
officials and civil servants
must
be able to
effectively communicate their needs
to the various stakeholders of the PPP.
Aware of the stakeholder's needs/motivation:
They must also be able to have a keen
appreciation of the motivations
and incentives
of the stakeholders
. As such, the civil servant who negotiates the parameters of the PPP should have relevant knowledge on both the public and private sectors.
Innovation and Competitiveness
Political management
Government needs to consider
two issues
firstly, the
necessity of collaborating
with the private sector; and
secondly, what the
resultant political risks
are, if any,
and
whether the
benefits
of developing a PPP may outweigh the risks.
Example:
For instance, the development of Moments of Life, an app that bundles useful services, information and government initiatives, needed by parents and caregivers of young children and senior citizens (two vulnerable demographics in Singapore), was helmed by a PPP between Singapore government agency, GovTech and an American technology consultancy firm, ThoughtWorks (Wong, 2019). This app was developed based on insights gathered by the Singapore government through citizen engagement sessions to understand the unique challenges and needs citizens faced with caregiving in Singapore
Correct Framing of the Problem
Mapping Civil Servant Skills on Paradigms of Public
Administration
Chapter 2 Challenges in Public Service Delivery
E-Government
Refers to
the use of information and communication technologies (
ICTs
), and particularly the Internet,
as a tool to achieve better government
” for improved policy outcomes, better quality services for stakeholders, and improve citizen engagement
The Case for E-government
Not simply digitalising
of government services -> it is an administrative process and successful implementation and use of e-government
include several components
central to public administration
such as
decisive leadership
cooperation of bureaucrats
sufficient funding of e-government initiatives
clear lines of responsibility and accountability
explicit metrics of success or failure
effective mechanisms for feedback
The
aims
of which is:
Increased Efficiencies
Seamless, one-stop self-service platforms that are swift, secure and
convenient
for both public administration systems and citizens
Policy Objectives
achieve specific policy
outcomes (i.e. creating security awareness via SGsecure)
Citizen-Government Relations
more sensitive to citizen needs,
increased citizen access
to government and public goods and services, a
feedback channel
Reform
more user-centric services, curbs corrupt practices by
increasing transparency
in service provision, timeliness in responding to users, address corruption, implement audits/oversights
Challenge of E-Government and Street-level Bureaucrats
Human discretion
: street-level bureaucrats make
citizen-related decisions
and deliver public service that “
calls for human judgment
that cannot be programmed and for which machines cannot substitute
ICT, Removing discretion
: may no longer are able to apply discretion on a case-by-case basis as “human interference in cases is eliminated” or minimised -
human judgement are replaced by “screen-level bureaucracies
Downside:
in some cases, where ICT and e-government platforms do not satisfactorily address users’ concerns or questions,
a bureaucrat HAS to intervene
” - affects citizen experience as it
adds to response time
for resolution
E-Government in Southeast Asia
E-Government Development Index
EGDI
(biennial survey by UN), an index which assesses e-government development trends across countries based on the following
telecommunication infrastructure
human resources to promote and use
information and communication technologies
online service availability
Case Study: E-government progress in Lao PDR despite many obstacles
The ICT implementation
: strategy Despite Internet Service being expensive and fledgeling Information and Communications Technology (ICT) knowledge among the population,
mobile phone usage reached at least 80%
of the population in 2016 and mobile internet use has been growing, administered by the National Internet Committee and two private Internet Service providers
Key initiatives:
Some of the major e-government developments include the following initiatives:
E-Gov centre:
the establishment of a national e-government service centre in Vientiane
to coordinate digital communications among agencies
and the Lao Computer Emergency Response Team to battle cybercrime
E-Services
: Provincial e-government service centres have been established throughout Lao PDR
E-Identification
: A national electronic citizen identification card system was implemented by the Ministry of Public Security
Digitising info
: The Lao Decide Info project has online databases for census, housing, agriculture, and mining and hydropower, with limited attempts at creating interactive websites
Case Study: Texting as an E-government platform in the Philippines
Electronic Commerce Law
: E-government kicked off properly in 2000, with the initiation of the Electronic Commerce Law, whereby electronic documents, signatures and transactions were legally recognised and the Government Information Systems Plan
saw the computerisation of government offices
and a more widespread implementation of e-government measures
.
Criticism
: An early criticism of e-government initiatives in the Philippines was that the government initially
lacked a coherent, centralised strategy
and often left it to the auspices of the individual agencies to implement e-government initiatives on their own terms
Success of Philippines E-gov
It has since enjoyed several successes, including the following
Transparency
: to reduce corruption and increase transparency, the Department of Management and the Budget established the Government Electronic Procurement System as the official channel for soliciting and approving bids on government project
.
Cashless
: Government agencies also adopted a
single electronic cashless form
that calculates payments due, which
reduces opportunities for bribe-taking
as face-to-face meetings between inspectors and cargo agents are eliminated during imports and customs declaration
Citizen participation
: Citizens can provide feedback and input via the Department of Budget and Management’s Bottom-up Budgeting interactive website
EGDI Trends
Growth:
E-government has been rapidly growing in many countries over the past 17 years, reflecting a consistent positive global trend towards
higher levels of e-government initiatives
, with all 193 countries in the world establishing at least some form of online presence.
Common Services:
most commonly used e-government services included
(1) payment for utilities,
(2) submitting income taxes, and
(3) registration of new business
Mobile platform:
More countries are providing online services using email, SMS and RSS feed updates, mobile apps,
downloadable forms
and archived information.
Income level
: positive correlation between a country’s
income level and its EDGI ranking
The politicisation of Civil Servants
politics and policy administrators should ideally be
complimenting
each other.
Expertise and Leadership
Elected politicians often depend on civil servants in areas requiring policy expertise
Bureaucrats also require the policy vision and guidance of elected politicians
Power Dynamics in Politics and Administration
power dynamics between elected politicians and bureaucrats based on different combinations of level of independence of bureaucrats and degree of control by elected politicians can be categorised into
laissez-faire governance
Low levels of bureaucratic independence and low degrees of control by elected politicians result in either a stalemate, where neither bureaucrats nor politicians wish to influence each other or laissez-faire governance, where
neither politicians nor bureaucrats wish to actively contribute to policymaking
. In either case, the public interest is at the losing end
Complimentary
Reasonably high levels or optimum levels of both bureaucratic independence and degrees of control by elected politicians result in
optimal
complementarity, as discussed above - elected
politicians respect
the expertise, competence and public service ethos of bureaucrats, while
bureaucrats are accountable
to the public interest and respect the vision and oversight of elected politicians.
Bureaucratic autonomy
High levels of bureaucratic independence and low degrees of control by elected politicians result in bureaucratic autonomy, where bureaucrats are “
self-controlling
and
advance agency interests
rather than the public interest
there is also
little chance for clientelist
politics to emerge
dominance of politicians
Low levels of bureaucratic independence and high degrees of control by elected officials result in politicisation of bureaucrats and dominance of politicians in the policy making and administrative processes. This can
lead to corruption, patron-client relationships
, loss of administrative professionalism, weak civil services, and ineffective public service delivery, among others. In this case, public interest is also at the losing end.
The Principal-Agent Framework
Roles:
Principal/politician
- Use public authority to delegate power. Use the agent to accomplish tasks.
Agent/ administrators
- Operates under the guidance of the principal. Seeks to align aim and goals with the principal.
.
In this framework, the elected politicians are the principals who have public authority bestowed upon them as a result of being elected by the electorate.
They use the bureaucrats (the agents) to accomplish tasks. This can be due to a variety of reasons.
The bureaucracy may be passive during policy formulation but “exercises influence over policy primarily through implementation” (Ricks, 2018). The bureaucrats also possess technical and administrative expertise that may run counter to the politicians’ interest.
Case Studies in Politicisation of Civil Servants in Southeast Asia
Case Study: Party-Loyalists Or Civil Servants? Politicisation of the Indonesian Bureaucracy
Case Study: Ethnic Politics and Politicisation of the Malaysian Civil
Servant
Types of politicisation
•
direct politicisation
refers to the recruitment of political loyalists to career or senior bureaucratic positions
anticipatory politicisation
refers to the removal or exit of civil servants when a new government is expected
redundant politicisation
refers to the recruitment of political loyalists to positions so as to supervise the activities of the civil service
dual politicisation
refers to recruitment decided by parliament and government
professional politicisation
refers to the recruitment of political loyalists that are
concurrently professional civil servants
social politicisation
refers to the influence of other social actors (likely business corporations, political donors or influential stakeholders) on the recruitment or the career progression of civil servants