Bridging the citizen gap: Bureaucratic representation and knowledge linkage in (international) public administration

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Eckhard, Steffen
• 署名单位: University of Konstanz
• 刊物名称: GOVERNANCE-AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF POLICY ADMINISTRATION AND INSTITUTIONS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0952-1895
• DOI: 10.1111/gove.12494
• 发表日期: 2021
• 关键词: local knowledge; performance; GOVERNMENT; GENDER

摘要

Bureaucratic representation theory holds that civil servants are not neutral in a Weberian sense. Bureaucrats are thought to actively represent their communities by trying to make them better off. This article proposes an alternative understanding of individual behavior in representation that emphasizes knowledge sharing instead of patronage, but leads to similar outcomes: Their societal background provides officials with advanced social knowledge about the group(s) they represent, including both informational knowledge (facts about culture, history, politics) and relational knowledge (how people interact). Bureaucratic knowledge linkage is the process of sharing information and managing relations internally and with citizens. An extreme case serves to illustrate knowledge linkage empirically: Survey data from an international organization yield high levels of knowledge asymmetries within staff bodies and subsequent observation of knowledge linkage mechanisms. In generalizing findings, the risks (knowledge distortions) and benefits (attaining public value) of knowledge linkage are discussed for both international and domestic administrations.