Melvin Dubnick | University of New Hampshire (original) (raw)
Papers by Melvin Dubnick
Resumen. En este documento tratamos de desarrollar una perspectiva «relacional» de la rendición d... more Resumen. En este documento tratamos de desarrollar una perspectiva «relacional» de la rendición de cuentas y de la llamada «no rendición de cuentas». Nos centramos en el uso que hace Mark Bovens de la metáfora del foro en su modelo de rendición de cuentas, argumentando que su perspectiva relacional es demasiado estrecha. En cambio, defendemos un compromiso mucho más amplio y fundamental con la idea de la rendición de cuentas. Ampliando las metáforas, señalamos otros dos espacios de rendición de cuentas: el «ágora», un espacio primordial, y el «bazar», un espacio emergente de rendición de cuentas que se basa en el intercambio entre diferentes actores. Las afirmaciones sobre la «falta de rendición de cuentas», argumentamos, reflejan a menudo una falta de apreciación de la naturaleza fundamentalmente relacional de la rendición de cuentas: quienes utilizan tales afirmaciones como base para la acción dirigida a hacer que las situaciones, los procesos o las personas sean «más responsables», en realidad buscan afirmar o imponer una determinada forma de relación-que es la jerárquica y monopólica-y reflejan, por lo tanto, un impulso de poder y dominación.
Public Integrity, Mar 21, 2014
Nearly two decades after his seminal Functions of the Executive was published, Chester Barnard ca... more Nearly two decades after his seminal Functions of the Executive was published, Chester Barnard came to believe that moral responsibility and accountability might be a more powerful principle for guiding individual actions within organizations than the executive authority it emphasized. This article elaborates one direction in which Barnard might have developed his insight, by adopting ethical acceptance rather than self-interested indifference as the metaphor describing organization members' willingness to act in accordance with institutional needs rather than purely individual preferences. The alternative metaphor opens up opportunities for understanding how organizations structure their members' ethical commitments, and suggests that leaders can enhance organizational behavior by working to recognize, understand, and (re)design organizational accountability and discretion.
Public Administration Review, Sep 1, 2000
Book Reviews | Larry Luton, Editor Spirited Dialogue is a special forum for lively exchanges on b... more Book Reviews | Larry Luton, Editor Spirited Dialogue is a special forum for lively exchanges on books of interest to PAR readers. In this issue, we focus attention on the award winning book, Unmasking Administrative Evil, by Guy Adams and Danny Balfour. The exchange begins with a hard-hitting and controversial critique by Mel Dubnick. The essays by Margaret Vickers and Hubert Locke praise the contribution made by Adams and Balfour and respond to Dubnick's critique. The exchange concludes with a response by Adams and Balfour. LSL
Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Dec 17, 2009
Ordinarily research articles on public sector third-party governance, or the state of agents, tur... more Ordinarily research articles on public sector third-party governance, or the state of agents, turn to the subject of accountability in their conclusions. Rather than leaving it to the conclusions, this article takes up the subject of public sector third-party governance as a problem of accountability. To consider accountability, we studied contemporary performance measurement practices in the federal government, particularly as they are applied in five agencies of the US Department of Health and Human Services. Our findings are presented using a six-part ''promises of accountability'' heuristic which captured the many and varied uses of accountability in contemporary policy and administration discourse. We found that the characteristics of third parties and the nature of their principal-agent relations are a key determinant of accountability; bureaucratic and hierarchical controls enhance agency and program accountability; building rules and program policies into grants and contracts enhance accountability; agencies that practice lateral trust-based forms of ''relational contracting'' foster cultures of accountability; auditing and reporting requirements enhance program accountability; federal performance measurement regimes tend to be ''top down'' and ''one size fits all;'' federal performance measurement regimes are primarily executive branch forms of accountability; performance measurement often represents attempts to superimpose managerial logic and managerial process on inherently political processes embedded in the separation of powers; there is little evidence that performancebased accountability results in enhancing democratic outcomes or greater justice or equity.
Routledge eBooks, Oct 8, 2018
This paper seeks to develop a system for evaluating the implications of accountability and value-... more This paper seeks to develop a system for evaluating the implications of accountability and value-for-money (VFM) decisions in private finance initiative (PFI) projects from initiation through setup , implementation and internal and external monitoring. By reviewing the extant literature on accountability and VFM, a model is developed for evaluating the implications of various types of accountability and VFM decisions on PFI projects. Most previous studies have considered either the accountability or VFM at the projects' initial stages; little attention has been paid to the interrelationship between accountability and VFM issues in the evaluation of various PFI processes. This paper addresses these lacunae in the literature.
Public Administration Quarterly, Apr 1, 1993
In recent years the role of the states in economic policy-making has been subject to considerable... more In recent years the role of the states in economic policy-making has been subject to considerable discussion. Faced with local economic downturns, many previously affluent regions have taken the policy offensive in the battles for jobs and economic growth. While pressing forward with economic development programs which vary from indirect subsidization through tax breaks to direct incentives in new and risky enterprises, state and local governments have seemingly been indifferent to questions and doubts regarding the ...
Journal of public and nonprofit affairs, Apr 1, 2018
For the past half-century, those defining the field of Public Administration in their role as its... more For the past half-century, those defining the field of Public Administration in their role as its leading "theorists" have been preoccupied with defending the enterprise against the evils of value-neutral logical positivism. This polemical review of that period focuses on the Simon-Waldo debate that ultimately leads the field to adopt a "professional" identity rather than seek disciplinary status among the social sciences. A survey of recent works by the field's intellectual leaders and "gatekeepers" demonstrates that the antipositivist obsession continues, oblivious to significant developments in the social sciences. The paper ends with a call for Public Administrationists to engage in the political and paradigmatic upheavals required to shift the field toward a disciplinary stance.
Public Performance & Management Review, Dec 8, 2014
CrossRef Listing of Deleted DOIs, 1985
The emergence of industrial policy proposals on the national scene raises the prospect of a great... more The emergence of industrial policy proposals on the national scene raises the prospect of a greater role of the states in American economic policy. Four types of industrial policy proposals are described, each representing a distinctive strategic orientation. After describing the implied role of states in each type, the authors argue that state involvement is politically necessary if any proposal
Midwest review of public administration, Mar 1, 1979
Standard-setting, one of the traditional and more mundane tasks of government in the United State... more Standard-setting, one of the traditional and more mundane tasks of government in the United States, has recently become the focus of considerable attention among both policymakers and analysts.i This increased attention reflects a number of developments in contemporary public policy, but has specifically derived from the federal government’s2 increasing reliance on standards as a means for protecting both the general public and certain groups from critical health and safety hazards.3
International Journal of Organization Theory and Behavior, Mar 1, 2003
While a relationship between accountability and ethics has long been assumed and debated in Publi... more While a relationship between accountability and ethics has long been assumed and debated in Public Administration, the nature of that relationship has not been examined or clearly articulated. This article makes such an effort by positing four major forms of accountability (answerability, blameworthiness, liability and attributability) and focusing on the ethical strategies developed in response to each of these forms. the Graduate Department of Public Administration, Rutgers University-Newark. His research interests are in the areas of accountability, ethics, civics education and the role of narratives in the public sphere.
Review of Policy Research, Aug 1, 1985
Oxford University Press eBooks, May 1, 2014
Routledge eBooks, Mar 5, 2018
Administrative Theory & Praxis, Jun 1, 2000
In September 1999 I presented a paper at the American Political Science Association meetings that... more In September 1999 I presented a paper at the American Political Science Association meetings that drew both the attention and ire of my colleagues (I believe it was Curt Ventriss who said reading it was a" vein-popping" experience). It was explicitlya contentious paper, and in hindsight the" argument" took too many liberties with the literature I was critiquing. Were I revising the paper for publication today, several of my interpretations would be different. Nevertheless, I would still stick with the fundamental point of the paper: that the ...
Oxford University Press eBooks, May 1, 2014
This chapter examines the emergence of accountability as a culturally significant concept that bo... more This chapter examines the emergence of accountability as a culturally significant concept that both reflects and shapes changes taking place in our understanding of contemporary governance. Dubnick explores how its emergence as a "cultural keyword" has transformed both the form and function of accountability, and the challenges this development poses for the study of accountable governance.
(Attached is an earlier, more expansive version of this chapter under the same title can be downloaded from this site.)
Prepared for a presentation at a seminar of the
Research Colloquium on Good Governance
Netherlands Institute of Government
VU University
Amsterdam, May 9 2012
Resumen. En este documento tratamos de desarrollar una perspectiva «relacional» de la rendición d... more Resumen. En este documento tratamos de desarrollar una perspectiva «relacional» de la rendición de cuentas y de la llamada «no rendición de cuentas». Nos centramos en el uso que hace Mark Bovens de la metáfora del foro en su modelo de rendición de cuentas, argumentando que su perspectiva relacional es demasiado estrecha. En cambio, defendemos un compromiso mucho más amplio y fundamental con la idea de la rendición de cuentas. Ampliando las metáforas, señalamos otros dos espacios de rendición de cuentas: el «ágora», un espacio primordial, y el «bazar», un espacio emergente de rendición de cuentas que se basa en el intercambio entre diferentes actores. Las afirmaciones sobre la «falta de rendición de cuentas», argumentamos, reflejan a menudo una falta de apreciación de la naturaleza fundamentalmente relacional de la rendición de cuentas: quienes utilizan tales afirmaciones como base para la acción dirigida a hacer que las situaciones, los procesos o las personas sean «más responsables», en realidad buscan afirmar o imponer una determinada forma de relación-que es la jerárquica y monopólica-y reflejan, por lo tanto, un impulso de poder y dominación.
Public Integrity, Mar 21, 2014
Nearly two decades after his seminal Functions of the Executive was published, Chester Barnard ca... more Nearly two decades after his seminal Functions of the Executive was published, Chester Barnard came to believe that moral responsibility and accountability might be a more powerful principle for guiding individual actions within organizations than the executive authority it emphasized. This article elaborates one direction in which Barnard might have developed his insight, by adopting ethical acceptance rather than self-interested indifference as the metaphor describing organization members' willingness to act in accordance with institutional needs rather than purely individual preferences. The alternative metaphor opens up opportunities for understanding how organizations structure their members' ethical commitments, and suggests that leaders can enhance organizational behavior by working to recognize, understand, and (re)design organizational accountability and discretion.
Public Administration Review, Sep 1, 2000
Book Reviews | Larry Luton, Editor Spirited Dialogue is a special forum for lively exchanges on b... more Book Reviews | Larry Luton, Editor Spirited Dialogue is a special forum for lively exchanges on books of interest to PAR readers. In this issue, we focus attention on the award winning book, Unmasking Administrative Evil, by Guy Adams and Danny Balfour. The exchange begins with a hard-hitting and controversial critique by Mel Dubnick. The essays by Margaret Vickers and Hubert Locke praise the contribution made by Adams and Balfour and respond to Dubnick's critique. The exchange concludes with a response by Adams and Balfour. LSL
Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Dec 17, 2009
Ordinarily research articles on public sector third-party governance, or the state of agents, tur... more Ordinarily research articles on public sector third-party governance, or the state of agents, turn to the subject of accountability in their conclusions. Rather than leaving it to the conclusions, this article takes up the subject of public sector third-party governance as a problem of accountability. To consider accountability, we studied contemporary performance measurement practices in the federal government, particularly as they are applied in five agencies of the US Department of Health and Human Services. Our findings are presented using a six-part ''promises of accountability'' heuristic which captured the many and varied uses of accountability in contemporary policy and administration discourse. We found that the characteristics of third parties and the nature of their principal-agent relations are a key determinant of accountability; bureaucratic and hierarchical controls enhance agency and program accountability; building rules and program policies into grants and contracts enhance accountability; agencies that practice lateral trust-based forms of ''relational contracting'' foster cultures of accountability; auditing and reporting requirements enhance program accountability; federal performance measurement regimes tend to be ''top down'' and ''one size fits all;'' federal performance measurement regimes are primarily executive branch forms of accountability; performance measurement often represents attempts to superimpose managerial logic and managerial process on inherently political processes embedded in the separation of powers; there is little evidence that performancebased accountability results in enhancing democratic outcomes or greater justice or equity.
Routledge eBooks, Oct 8, 2018
This paper seeks to develop a system for evaluating the implications of accountability and value-... more This paper seeks to develop a system for evaluating the implications of accountability and value-for-money (VFM) decisions in private finance initiative (PFI) projects from initiation through setup , implementation and internal and external monitoring. By reviewing the extant literature on accountability and VFM, a model is developed for evaluating the implications of various types of accountability and VFM decisions on PFI projects. Most previous studies have considered either the accountability or VFM at the projects' initial stages; little attention has been paid to the interrelationship between accountability and VFM issues in the evaluation of various PFI processes. This paper addresses these lacunae in the literature.
Public Administration Quarterly, Apr 1, 1993
In recent years the role of the states in economic policy-making has been subject to considerable... more In recent years the role of the states in economic policy-making has been subject to considerable discussion. Faced with local economic downturns, many previously affluent regions have taken the policy offensive in the battles for jobs and economic growth. While pressing forward with economic development programs which vary from indirect subsidization through tax breaks to direct incentives in new and risky enterprises, state and local governments have seemingly been indifferent to questions and doubts regarding the ...
Journal of public and nonprofit affairs, Apr 1, 2018
For the past half-century, those defining the field of Public Administration in their role as its... more For the past half-century, those defining the field of Public Administration in their role as its leading "theorists" have been preoccupied with defending the enterprise against the evils of value-neutral logical positivism. This polemical review of that period focuses on the Simon-Waldo debate that ultimately leads the field to adopt a "professional" identity rather than seek disciplinary status among the social sciences. A survey of recent works by the field's intellectual leaders and "gatekeepers" demonstrates that the antipositivist obsession continues, oblivious to significant developments in the social sciences. The paper ends with a call for Public Administrationists to engage in the political and paradigmatic upheavals required to shift the field toward a disciplinary stance.
Public Performance & Management Review, Dec 8, 2014
CrossRef Listing of Deleted DOIs, 1985
The emergence of industrial policy proposals on the national scene raises the prospect of a great... more The emergence of industrial policy proposals on the national scene raises the prospect of a greater role of the states in American economic policy. Four types of industrial policy proposals are described, each representing a distinctive strategic orientation. After describing the implied role of states in each type, the authors argue that state involvement is politically necessary if any proposal
Midwest review of public administration, Mar 1, 1979
Standard-setting, one of the traditional and more mundane tasks of government in the United State... more Standard-setting, one of the traditional and more mundane tasks of government in the United States, has recently become the focus of considerable attention among both policymakers and analysts.i This increased attention reflects a number of developments in contemporary public policy, but has specifically derived from the federal government’s2 increasing reliance on standards as a means for protecting both the general public and certain groups from critical health and safety hazards.3
International Journal of Organization Theory and Behavior, Mar 1, 2003
While a relationship between accountability and ethics has long been assumed and debated in Publi... more While a relationship between accountability and ethics has long been assumed and debated in Public Administration, the nature of that relationship has not been examined or clearly articulated. This article makes such an effort by positing four major forms of accountability (answerability, blameworthiness, liability and attributability) and focusing on the ethical strategies developed in response to each of these forms. the Graduate Department of Public Administration, Rutgers University-Newark. His research interests are in the areas of accountability, ethics, civics education and the role of narratives in the public sphere.
Review of Policy Research, Aug 1, 1985
Oxford University Press eBooks, May 1, 2014
Routledge eBooks, Mar 5, 2018
Administrative Theory & Praxis, Jun 1, 2000
In September 1999 I presented a paper at the American Political Science Association meetings that... more In September 1999 I presented a paper at the American Political Science Association meetings that drew both the attention and ire of my colleagues (I believe it was Curt Ventriss who said reading it was a" vein-popping" experience). It was explicitlya contentious paper, and in hindsight the" argument" took too many liberties with the literature I was critiquing. Were I revising the paper for publication today, several of my interpretations would be different. Nevertheless, I would still stick with the fundamental point of the paper: that the ...
Oxford University Press eBooks, May 1, 2014
This chapter examines the emergence of accountability as a culturally significant concept that bo... more This chapter examines the emergence of accountability as a culturally significant concept that both reflects and shapes changes taking place in our understanding of contemporary governance. Dubnick explores how its emergence as a "cultural keyword" has transformed both the form and function of accountability, and the challenges this development poses for the study of accountable governance.
(Attached is an earlier, more expansive version of this chapter under the same title can be downloaded from this site.)
Prepared for a presentation at a seminar of the
Research Colloquium on Good Governance
Netherlands Institute of Government
VU University
Amsterdam, May 9 2012
American Public Administration: Politics and the management of expectations, 1991
This is a scanned version of a 1991 textbook co-authored with Barbara Romzek focused on public ad... more This is a scanned version of a 1991 textbook co-authored with Barbara Romzek focused on public administration and organized around the "expectations" framing first presented in Romzek & Dubnick 1987.
Co-authored with Barbara Bardes and published as an introduction to policy analysis for undergrad... more Co-authored with Barbara Bardes and published as an introduction to policy analysis for undergraduates in 1983. This version scanned in 2022 under Creative Commons 4.0 non-commercial use license requiring attribution.