Citizens’ perceptions of the performance of public service providers are a central concern for academics and policy-makers alike. A growing body of behavioral public administration research... Show moreCitizens’ perceptions of the performance of public service providers are a central concern for academics and policy-makers alike. A growing body of behavioral public administration research emphasizes the psychological biases that shape the perceptions of citizens. This article makes a novel contribution to this debate by examining the interaction between politically motivated bias and cognitive bias in citizens’ performance appraisals. It asks: Are citizens more negative about failing service delivery by public organizations than by private organizations, and if so, why? This is investigated through a survey experiment conducted among a representative sample of 2,623 Dutch citizens. The main finding of the study is that public organizations are punished more severely by citizens for negative performance information than private organizations, but this tendency is concentrated among citizens who have a preference for private service provision and varies across service areas. Our study shows not only that citizens’ processing of information about public services is subject to various forms of bias, but also that these biases interact in shaping how citizens view public organizations. Further investigating these complex dynamics is an important task for behavioral public administration scholars seeking to understand the specific implications of behavioral dynamics for the broad range of organizations providing public services. Show less
Christensen, J.; Bekerom, P.E.A. van den; Voet, J. van der 2017
The article addresses an issue that has received little attention in the literature on representative bureaucracy, namely the relationship between representativeness and specialized expertise in... Show moreThe article addresses an issue that has received little attention in the literature on representative bureaucracy, namely the relationship between representativeness and specialized expertise in public administration. While representation may strengthen the legitimacy of public bureaucracies, what implications does it have for expert knowledge in these organizations? This issue is examined by looking at the recruitment of civil servants to the European Commission, an international bureaucracy where the question of geographical representation is of fundamental importance. Based on a quantitative analysis of nearly 200 recruitment competitions for the organization from 1958 to 2015, the article finds that competitions related to EU enlargement where nationality was an explicit criterion put significantly less emphasis on specialist qualifications and knowledge than other competitions. This indicates a negative relationship between geographical representation and specialized expertise in recruitment to the European Commission. Implications for broader debates about representative bureaucracy and international public administrations are discussed. Show less
