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AbstractIn this essay, I take stock of the red tape research program (and research programs on administrative burden and sludge) to assess whether subjective individual experience has been given its rightful due in public policy and public administration. My primary purpose is to assess how concepts facilitate or hinder our understanding of the subjective individual experience. To serve this purpose, I present a conceptual analysis strategy and elaborate on the value of interrogating the modularity assumption (fit between conceptualization and experience). I conclude by advocating for consilience across concepts and research programs to better capture the subjective individual experience.

Despite widespread agreement about goals of knowledge development in public administration, there is imbalance in efforts directed at these goals. The overlap between the domains of theory and practice is not substantial. Important concerns in public administration theory and practice are outweighed by naïve quantitative bias (NQB), an unfortunate methodological artifact. This symposium seeks to highlight this imbalance and to nudge the public administration scholarly community toward paying attention to theoretical and practical matters, recognizing NQB and mitigating its undesirable effects on knowledge development. Broadly speaking, two recommendations emerge from symposium contributions. The first recommendation emphasizes paying attention to theoretical goals. The second recommendation is to promote reflexivity about how the domains of theory and method interact to counter the methodological artifact of NQB. A brief overview of each article in the symposium and its contribution to advancing knowledge development is provided.

Surveys have long been a dominant instrument for data collection in public administration. However, it has become widely accepted in the last decade that the usage of a self-reported instrument to measure both the independent and dependent variables results in common source bias (CSB). In turn, CSB is argued to inflate correlations between variables, resulting in biased findings. Subsequently, a narrow blinkered approach on the usage of surveys as single data source has emerged. In this article, we argue that this approach has resulted in an unbalanced perspective on CSB. We argue that claims on CSB are exaggerated, draw upon selective evidence, and project what should be tentative inferences as certainty over large domains of inquiry. We also discuss the perceptual nature of some variables and measurement validity concerns in using archival data. In conclusion, we present a flowchart that public administration scholars can use to analyze CSB concerns.

Despite an upsurge of red tape research, a central issue remains unresolved. The most widely used red tape measures draw on key informant reports about red tape. The starkest objection to such measures is that key informant reports are mere perceptions—perceptions that are subject to distortion. We assess the validity of key informant perception-based measures of personnel red tape by using "anchoring vignettes." Findings suggest that anchoring vignettes can be used to improve the accuracy of survey measures of red tape. Implications of findings for red tape scholarship and survey measurement in public management are discussed.

City managers play an influential role in brokering intergovernmental service arrangements on behalf of their jurisdiction, yet their motivations for doing so are not well understood. One argument, drawn from theories of bureaucratic entrepreneurship and ambition theory, suggests that cities with managers who are motivated to advance their careers will parlay more interlocal service delivery as means of capturing economic efficiencies. Such strategies serve to build their personal resumes of career achievements. An alternative argument suggests more altruistic motives, including a desire for increased social equity and valuing the common good of the region, compel city managers to pursue interlocal service arrangements. These competing theories are tested on 134 large municipalities, using survey data from the city managers of these jurisdictions, coupled with interlocal revenue and expenditure data for these cities. Results yield greater support for the first theory. However, progressive ambition possesses complex consequences for interlocal service delivery choices. Jurisdictions managed by city managers with career‐enhancement ambitions are more likely to sell services to other local governments. Yet, they are significantly less inclined to buy services from other jurisdictions, thereby underscoring entrepreneurship in shaping managers' professional trajectories.

While various descriptive and prescriptive citizen participation models suggest ways to improve citizen participation, none has been subjected to large‐scale empirical tests. This article develops and tests an organizational theory model that explores the conditions under which citizen involvement as a general strategy can improve administrative decision making. The new model focuses on organizational variables that are more directly subject to managerial influence, such as political support, leadership, red tape, and hierarchical authority, as well as variables related to participant competence and representativeness. Hypotheses are tested with data collected from a national survey of local government managers. The results suggest that public management matters for citizen participation. The conclusion calls for integrating quantitative designs with normative and qualitative citizen participation research.

Political support is an important environmental factor in public management, and over the past few decades, the implementation of results-oriented reforms has become highly influential as well. However, few studies have examined the impact of these two factors on employee attitudes and behaviors. This article proposes that the extent of results-oriented reforms and political support from elected officials -- as perceived by managers -- has a significant influence on managerial practice and normative commitment to the organization. Using data from a national survey of state-level human service managers, we test and find support for a model positing that managerial perceptions of political support have a direct influence on the implementation of results-oriented reforms, organizational structure, and internal communication. We also find that more extensive results-oriented reform efforts are positively associated with goal clarity, communication adequacy, and flexible structures and that normative commitment is affected positively by goal clarity and negatively by bureaucratic structure. Adapted from the source document.