2014 Founders’ Fellows: Policy Formulation and Service Delivery

National Food Security Act of India (2013): Impact & Implications
By Anbu Arumugam, Annamalai University

The Global Hunger Index (GHI) in its latest report has estimated 842 million people who go hungry in 2011-2013. This figure is slightly lesser than the 2010-2012 estimates of 870 million people but India holds a quarter of them i.e. 210 million of hungry citizens. The three indicators used are: the proportion of people who are undernourished, the proportion of children under five who are underweight, and the mortality (death) rate of children younger than age five. The report has been brought out by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), and two international charities Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide. A recent survey of consumer expenditure said that nutritional intake measured in terms of calories declined from 2,153 kilocalories (Kcal) per person per day in 1993-94 to 2,020 in 2009-10 in rural areas and from 2,071 to 1,946 Kcal in urban areas. These shocking results are according to a report of the 66th round of survey done by the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO). India continues in the “Alarming” category of countries classified by severity of hunger along with Ethiopia, Sudan, Congo, Chad, Niger, and other African countries. World Vision’s recent assessment report “The Killer Gap: A Global Index of Health Inequality for Children” assessed 176 countries around the world according to the size of gap between those who have access to healthcare. The four indicators used for the study were – life expectancy, out-of-pocket expenses for using healthcare, adolescent fertility care and coverage of health services for population. India ranks 135th of the 176 countries assessed. In India more than 47,000 children die before they reach the age of five every day. The food security act is not a new phenomenon rather it is a legal entitlement of already existing food policies targeting different groups of the population and enabling food as a fundamental human right. Progress has been made in terms of the Food Security Bill and revamping of Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme, but the urgency to do more in terms of policy formulation and implementation is more at present. This paper is a preliminary analysis of India’s domestic concerns with regard to food security and also the international (global) commitments with regard to World Trade Organization (WTO) which are in direct conflict due to the NFSA.

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Revamping Delivery of Public Services in India: A Case Study of Indian State of Punjab with Special Reference to Punjab Right to Service Act, 2011
By Mohammad Sohail, Panjab University

The bureaucratic institutions are aimed at providing various services to the citizens. However the rules and regulation embedded in the working of bureaucracy and administration made it fragile, full of formalism and delays, less transparent, less responsive and accountable. Good governance is one of the latest and foremost important developments in the field of public administration resulted in the wake of above-mentioned challenges in administration. The aim of the good governance is to promote transparency in the administration, to make the administration more responsive and to make the administrative officials accountable to the citizen. To make the interaction between the administration and citizen smoother, the first attempt that came into being is Citizen Charters. The initiative of Citizen Charters introduced by John Major’s government in UK in 1991 has set an example and later on many countries have adopted the same as the initiative improved the quality and delivery of public services (Centre for Good Governance, 2008; Ghuman, B.S. and Mehta Akshat (2007); Public Affair Centre 2007; Ghuman, B.S. (2000); Government of India (a); Government of India (b)).

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Women in the Face of Disaster: Formulating Gender-Sensitive Policy
By Bridgette Cram, Florida International University

Disaster policy is often the center of debate after a region is affected by a natural disaster. More often than not, these policies are criticized for not accounting for the diversity of the region, whether geographic, demographic, or physical. Disasters, whether in developed or developing countries, expose or exacerbate realities that may not be readily acknowledged in every day life. Disaster research as a whole, however, has produced a variety of literature that discusses these realities. An important finding that this research has produced is that disasters have been shown to affect women more, and in different ways than that of men (Fothergill, 1998, p. 126). This finding is important to the field of public administration, as the creation of gender-sensitive disaster policy is critical to every aspect of the disaster cycle; a neglect to develop gender-sensitive disaster policy is the antithesis of the third pillar of public administration, social equity. This paper discusses the need for policy that recognizes gender differences guided by public administration’s tenet of social equity.

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Enhancing Representation: Hispanic Minorities in 21st Century Public Service Delivery
By Lindsey L. Evans, Virginia Commonwealth University

“If men were angels, no government would be necessary.” – James Madison

When James Madison wrote Federalist Paper 51 in 1788 (1999: 290), he was referencing a principal of classical political thought—questioning the goodness of man. Classical political theorist before him, such as Aristotle, Plato, and St. Thomas Aquanis, debated the goodness of man while laying the foundation for American revolutionary thinkers. The constitutional framers questioned the nature of man in conjunction with the structure of government.

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Government Upgrade: How Can 3-1-1 Call Centers Improve Service Delivery in Jackson, Mississippi?
By Ashlee D. Theodore, Jackson State University

According to the City of Jackson, the major causes for poor response times to 911 calls are lack of government accessibility. Citizens have become more reliant on 9-1-1’s emergency services for personal situations or quality of life issues. 9-1-1 should only be used for emergency situations. An emergency is any situation that requires immediate assistance from the police, the fire department or an ambulance. In order to release the call volume of 9-1-1 and to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of public services and programs, the municipalities across the country implemented 311 service centers to address nonemergency situations or quality of life issues. 311 centers are citizen service centers that provide citizens with a single number for their non-emergency problems. Some local jurisdictions combine 311 call centers with constituent relationship management which can enhance performance in delivering services. They are favored by local governments because they may increase accountability and transparency of government to their citizens through easy and equal access to services and because they may also increase efficiency and effectiveness in delivering services.

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Are Data Policies Really Important?
KyungWoo Kim, University of Illinois at Chicago

Information technology is often expected to heighten transparency of government to citizens and stakeholders. The World Wide Web (WWW) provides important platforms to some governments in interacting with their residents (Fountain, 2001). Government can readily disclose information on its operation and performance on its web sites and citizens or stakeholders can easily access the information technology (Bimber, 1999; Jun & Weare, 2011; La Porte, Demchak, & Friis, 2001; Musso, Weare, & Hale, 2000; Tolbert & Mossberger, 2006; Welch, 2012; Welch & Fulla, 2005; West, 2004). High transparency is believed to be important factor for citizens’ trust in government (Bouckaert & Van de Walle, 2003; Cook, Jacobs, and Kim, 2010).

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A Closer Look at the Financially Effective Contract Management: Focus on the Internal and External Control Mechanism
By Soojin Kim, Rutgers University Newark

Last few decades have witnessed a growing number of publicly funded service delivery and management by for-profit and non-profit organizations through contracting out, regardless of level of government. Much attention about the significance and impact of contracting out became inevitable among researchers in public administration field. As a result, various metaphors have been created, such as “hollow state” (Milward & Provan, 2000), “contracting regime” (Smith & Lipsky, 1993), “government by proxy” (Kettl, 1993), and “third-party governance” (Salamon, 1981). Besides, this situation has provided many scholars with unique social experiment opportunities to investigate how contracting out can be operated effectively (e.g., DeHoog, 1990; Fernandez, 2007) or how much cost can be reduced through contracting out (e.g., Hodge, 1998; Prager, 1994; Savas, 2000). But surprisingly, little research has been empirically undertaken on the important question that has not answered yet in the prior literature—under which conditions public funds can be spent properly against financial corruption such as fraud, waste, and abuse at large.

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Outsourcing Oversight: Extending Collaborative Monitoring – the role of external factors
By Lachezar G. Anguelov, Florida State University

For a number of years state governments have been “opening up” traditional public service delivery to the competitive market in efforts to obtain a good deal for the public. And through the use of various methods the outsourcing of government services has been increasing. With this increase an important factor not to be overlooked is the contract monitoring function: “Monitoring and assessing the performance of outside contractors is vital to maintaining the quality of services” (Office For Program Review & Investigations, 1999). Thus “…managing the contracted-out services is critical, yet …has been a major challenge at the state and local levels…” (Kamensky & Morales, 2006). This begs the question: can this function also be improved if exposed to a competitive market?

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The Challenge of Policy Formation and Service Delivery in the 21^st Century
By Emma Powell, Western Michigan University

Look to our new voters, this is the demographic that is changing the face of policy formulation; the direction of our future public administrative professionals. Realizing the needs of our up-and-coming citizenry demonstrates the changing fabric of America’s regime values and the culture that resides within those values. Policy implementation is centered on efficiency, competency, government responsiveness, and efficacy. Successful implementation within the US requires an understanding of integral American values, such as individualism, acquisitiveness and reputation.

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The Persistent Influence of the PA Dichotomy on Public Administration
By Hannah Carlan, Mississippi State University

The current structure and political influence of the modern American government is undoubtedly complicated. Recent Supreme Court decisions like Citizens United and partisan disputes causing the government to shutdown are indicative of a changing bureaucratic and political system. Therefore, the traditional models of government, especially the bureaucracy are limited in explaining the current phenomenon. The politics-administration dichotomy articulated by Woodrow Wilson is a debate that persists into 2013 and while the end is not in sight, there is sufficient reason to desire a new model. Overall, the discourse is beneficial to the field of public administration, but it is no longer the best model to explain the relationship between the bureaucracy and the politics that surround it. Wilson’s government is not foundationally different from the modern U.S. government, but I wonder if Wilson would recognize the bureaucrats if he were to suddenly appear somewhere in the deep belly of the Department of Homeland Security. Would he see a semblance of the government he participated in during his presidency and political life?

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