Call for Papers Reforms, accountability and cross-cutting coordinative arrangements EGPA Study Group on Governance of Public Sector

Organizations Conference of the European Group of Public Administration (EGPA) 5-8 September 2012, Bergen, Norway
The EGPA Study Group on Governance of Public Sector Organizations studies aspects of public sector organizations. The focus is on organizations of different forms, ranging from semi-independent governmental units to different types of agencies, state-owned companies and government foundations as well as different forms of inter-organizational arrangements. Central issues under study are: the establishment, change and dissolution of these organizations; different characteristics of different forms of organizations; their design; governance, coordination, management and control; and their performance. Furthermore, these organizations interact with a complex (multi-level) network of actors, consisting of for example parliament, ministers and ministries, subnational and international government organizations, regulators, other agencies, interest groups, courts and civil society. The quality, frequency and type of interactions can be studied, as well as the consequences for all parties involved. One aim of this workshop is to examine how contemporary welfare states reforms have affected accountability relations. The question of accountability to whom or the problem of many eyes will be in focus. We will especially focus on public accountability such as the relationship between political and managerial accountability and the implications for democratic legitimacy. One central issue is how recent welfare state reforms have affected political governance and the relationship between the state and its citizens. Such reforms have often focused on managerial accountability, neglecting the critical issue of how to maintain and develop mechanisms for democracy and political accountability.But also other accountability relations will be discussed, such as administrative, professional, legal, social and market accountability. Also issues such as who is accountable or the problem of many hands will be addressed as well as the question of accountability for what (process and procedures, finances and results/performance), why different actors are accountable (vertical mandatory or horizontal voluntary accountability) and how to access accountability (popular democratic control, avoiding abuse of power and learning and improvement). Different stages of account giving such as a) information of the conduct, b) questioning and debating and c) judgment and facing consequences will be discussed, addressing both formal changes in accountability relations as well as actual changes. Another and linked issue is the question of governance of horizontal and cross-cutting issues in government. Often organizational arrangements to handle such challenges tend to produce ambiguous accountability relations. Evaluating the extent and consequences of NPMs alleged fragmenting tendencies and the resulting need for coordination is a key challenge when assessing the impact of NPM reforms. The workshop wants to focus on the governance of social cohesion and new innovative

coordination practices in public management. One objective is to search and identify innovative coordination practices and related steering instruments in public management in European public sectors, to analyze the functioning of such coordination practices and to assess their value in countering public sector fragmentation and delivering public value. A special focus will be on such transboundary arrangements and governance mechanisms that are transcending administrative levels and policy areas to handle wicked issues such as climate change, poverty, unemployment, immigration, financial crisis, internal security and immigration. Governments may develop different responses to secure the internal governance of cross-cutting issues: for example (ranging from major to minor): to revise the structure of government in such a way that cross-cutting issues become internalised (e.g. merging the involved departments and agencies into one superministry); to build lateral structures, plans and monitoring devices to coordinate cross-cutting issues; to devise horizontal or joined budgets and other incentives to cooperate, or to integrate cross-cutting issues into existing line-specific plans, control instruments and monitoring devices. Interorganizational arrangements such as partnerships and networks that are supposed to enhance vertical and horizontal coordination is of particular interest. The basic problem is how cross-cutting policies get translated into objectives, (collaborative) actions and results at the level of individual organisations. When confronted with demands re. cross-cutting policies, individual organisations (be it departments or agencies) need to make choices with respect to prioritization of these demands and the relationship towards their routine tasks. Individual organisations tend to prioritize the tasks which are of primordial importance for them and for which they are accountable. What kind of governance mechanisms can ensure that individual organisations give sufficient attention to the cross-cutting objectives set by cabinet and by central departments, besides the attention they give to the objectives set by their portfolio minister? We invite papers that present research findings on these processes of reforms, accountability arrangements and horizontal and cross-cuttting arrangements, as well as the underlying motives and driving forces and results and implications thereof for the different actors (government, ministries, agencies, parliament, customers, and so on). Papers can be descriptive or explanatory, but they should have a clear conceptual and theoretical basis and meet the normal methodological standards for research. Compara-tive papers (across time, countries, government levels or policy sectors) are particularly welcomed. The Study Group aims at expanding its boundaries by inviting researchers from public administration and other disciplines like management research, organisation studies, and public policy to its meetings.

Practicalities The permanent Study Group will aim for publication of high-quality papers in special issues of peer-reviewed journals, as well as creating possibilities for the publication of single papers. Study Group website: http://soc.kuleuven.be/io/egpa/org/index.htm Practical information on the EGPA 2012 conference can be found at: http://www.egpa-conference2012.org Please submit a short abstract (max. one page) outlining the title of the paper; a short description of the contents of the paper; the research method of your contribution, and the empirical material to be used, name, affiliation, and contact information of the author(s).
Deadline for submission of abstracts of proposals by e-mail: 5 May 2012 Deadline for online submission of abstracts of proposals: 15 May 2012 Deadline for decision and selection by the co-chairs: 1st June 2012 Deadline for submitting the complete papers: 25 July 2012.

Papers will be made available on the Study Group Website. Paper presenters will be expected to prepare a short presentation and to act as a discussant for at least one other paper. Please e-mail paper proposals in doc(x), pdf or rtf format to the study group convenors: Prof.dr. Per Laegreid Department of Administration and Organization Theory /Rokkan Centre University of Bergen, Norway per.lagreid@aorg.uib.no Assoc. Prof. dr. Koen Verhoest Public Management Institute - KU Leuven & from February 2012 onwards, Department of Politics - University of Antwerp, Belgium koen.verhoest@soc.kuleuven.be koen.verhoest@ua.ac.be Prof. Dr. Sandra van Thiel Radboud University Nijmegen Public Administration s.vanthiel@fm.ru.nl