Conceptual issues in the study of centralization and information technology
Article Abstract:
Growing government reliance on information technology for decision-making and the delivery of public services spotlights the contemporary relevance of the centralization debate. The view that the employment of advanced technology by bureaucracies will dispossess local actors of their policy-making autonomy provides the foundations for a substantial body of literature on information technology and organizational change. The reliance of past research on anecdotal or case data casts doubt on the theoretical and empirical soundness of this proposition. Findings have contributed few reliable generalizations about the ways in which the locus of authority between a government agency and its field service shifts. This paper offers a revised approach to characterizing an administrative system as moving towards centralization over time. Assumptions about the nature and direction of causal influence for conceptualizing centralization as a dynamic process are explored. An issue-centred approach and process orientation are proposed to assess changes to the relative distribution of power between field and headquarters. An acknowledgement and understanding of these refinements serve as a basis for future empirical research. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)
Publication Name: Canadian Public Administration
Subject: Government
ISSN: 0008-4840
Year: 1991
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Full-time municipal councillors: a strategic challenge for Canadian urban government
Article Abstract:
Conventional models of municipal organizations in the larger Canadian cities assume that councillors will not be occupied with municipal tasks on a full-time basis. This assumption has historically been reflected in low remuneration levels and limited provisions for office space and support staff. Members of council have been expected not to interact with staff on a regular basis except at meetings of council and committees. Information gathered from Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, Quebec City, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver suggests that a significant number of councillors now view their position as full-time and are accordingly demanding changes in their working conditions. Full-time councillors, especially if backed by personal staffs, are in a position to challenge traditional practices and patterns of power within our city halls. Although the emergence of full-time councillors has been incremental, the long-term impact on municipal organization will be profound. The main objects of this paper are to determine the extent to which such changes have taken place and to assess their impact for both policy-making and administration within Canadian urban government. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)
Publication Name: Canadian Public Administration
Subject: Government
ISSN: 0008-4840
Year: 1990
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