Interorganizational Policy Studies: Lessons Drawn from Implementation Research

Contingency approaches to organizing suggest that policy objectives are more likely to be achieved if the structures employed for implementation mesh with the policy objectives being sought. Interorganizational arrangements are used increasingly in carrying out public programs, and contingency logic can be used to assess the degree of match between policy objective and interunit structure. Such a perspective would seem to offer an approach of practical significance. Here the contingency logic as applied to interorganizational implementation is reviewed and its assumptions identified. To probe these assumptions, empirical evidence is analyzed from one policy sector which would seem especially promising. The findings suggest that even under highly favorable conditions, a contingency perspective provides only limited help. The research demonstrates the need for additional conceptual clarification and theoretical care in reaching conclusions about the impact of interorganizational structures on policy settings

Implications for democracy of a networked bureaucratic world

Dwight Waldo wrote nearly fifty years ago that democracy is very much more than the political context in which public administration is carried out. Public administration is now less hierarchical and insular and is increasingly networked. This has important implications for democracy, including changing responsibilities for the public interest, for meeting public preferences, and for the enhancement of political deliberation, civility, and trust. Networked public administration can pose a threat to democratic governance and it can open possibilities for strengthening governance, depending on the values and actions of public administrators

Desperately Seeking Selznick: Cooptation and the Dark Side of Public Management in Networks

Most literature on public-sector networks focuses on how to build and manage systems and ignores the political problems that networks can create for organizations. This article argues that individual network nodes can work to bias the organization's actions in ways that benefit the organization's more advantaged clientele. The argument is supported by an analysis of performance data from 500 organizations over a five-year period. A classic theoretical point is supported in a systematic empirical investigation. While networks can greatly benefit the organization, they have a dark side that managers and scholars need to consider more seriously

Mode identification for Balloon 090100001 using combined multicolour photometry and spectroscopy

In this paper, we show that method of mode identification using combined multicolour photometry and spectroscopy can be successfully applied to the pulsating subdwarf B star Balloon 090100001. The method constrains the spherical degree, l.We confirm that the dominant mode is radial and we show that for some other modes the method provides values of l consistent with the observed rotationally split triplet. Moreover, we derive a radius variation of 1.7 per cent for the dominant mode. The identification opens the possibility for constraining the internal structure of the star by means of seismic methods.Comment: MNRAS, in press, already at the online-early stag

Spatial Variations of Fundamental Constants

We show that observational limits on the possible time variation of constants of Nature are significantly affected by allowing for both space and time variation. Bekenstein's generalisation of Maxwell's equations to allow for cosmological variation of $alpha$ is investigated in a universe containing spherically symmetric inhomogeneities. The time variation of $alpha$ is determined by the local matter density and hence limits obtained in high-density geophysical enviroments are far more constraining than those obtained at high redshift. This new feature is expected to be a property of a wide class of theories for the variation of constants.Comment: 4 page

Time resolved spectroscopy of the multiperiodic pulsating subdwarf B star PG1605+072

We present results for the 2m spectroscopic part of the MultiSite Spectroscopic Telescope campaign, which took place in May/June 2002. In order to perform an asteroseismological analysis on the multiperiodic pulsating subdwarf B star PG 1605+072 we used over 150 hours of time resolved spectroscopy in order to search for and analyse line profile variations by using phase binning. We succeeded in finding variations in effective temperature and gravity for four modes. A pilot analysis using the \textit{BRUCE} and \textit{KYLIE} programs and assuming strong rotation and low inclination favours models with $l=1$ or $l=2$ with $m\leq0$.Comment: 2 pages, 2 figures, proceedings of the "Vienna Workshop on the Future of Asteroseismology", to appear in Communications in Asteroseismology v. 14

Networks and Networking: The Public Administrative Agendas

Published in 1997, the article “Treating Networks Seriously: Practical and Research-Based Agendas in Public Administration” outlined the importance of networks for the field of public administration and suggested a series of research agendas that should be pursued. That argument has received substantial attention in the years since. Research on networks and networking has made substantial progress, particularly on some questions—the descriptive agenda, for instance, and some aspects of the practical agenda. However, considerable work remains to be done. More needs to be known about the ways in which networks and networking behavior can shape performance and affect the most salient values in our governance systems; better empirical theory is also needed in this regard. Such further developments would be of immense value to the practice of public administration. The world of public administration has for some time been treating networks seriously, but the work is far from complet