scholarly journals Rules, Prudence and Public Value: Public Servants and Social Media in Comparative Perspective

2015 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis C. Grube

The reach of social media is prodigious. Its ubiquitous nature has reshaped the ways in which government agencies can communicate with citizens. But amidst the rush to embrace the opportunities of Twitter, Facebook and other platforms, governments have had to lay down rules to govern how and when public service departments should use social media. This article undertakes a comparative analysis of the formal rules and guidelines in place across four Westminster jurisdictions – Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the UK – to identify the types of behaviours and activities that are seen as desirable when public servants are reaching out to the wider public through social media. The article argues that the horizontal communication patterns associated with social media are fundamentally at odds with the hierarchical structures of the Westminster system of government.

2020 ◽  
pp. 009539972094985
Author(s):  
Jeroen van der Heijden

For many years, governments around the globe have been called on to increase the professionalism of their public services. The New Zealand Government Regulatory Practice Initiative (G-REG) is an illustrative example of a network of government agencies responding to this call by providing a program of standardized training for public servants. This article maps, explores, and interrogates this example to obtain a better understanding of whether a standardized program can help to nurture and increase the professionalism of a community of public servants. It finds that the main challenge of such an undertaking is finding a balance between narrow professionalism (technical expertise and knowledge) and broad professionalism (acting proficiently and ethically).


English Today ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 60-62
Author(s):  
J. P. Robinson

Eric Partridge's A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, first published in 1937, ran to 8 editions culminating in 1984 and is widely acknowledged as the definitive record of twentieth-century British slang. The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (NPD) maintains the tradition impressively, enhanced by a more conventional approach to citing sources, a broader focus to include examples of colloquial and vernacular vocabulary worldwide and prominence given to usage since 1945. A thousand new entries from the UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, India, South Africa, Ireland and the Caribbean, and increased representation of the language of social media, document linguistic innovation and/or reflect more sophisticated lexical data capture since the previous print edition of 2006. The 19 pages of introductory text outline criteria for inclusion, describe the structure of entries and provide a fascinating set of observations on slang drawn from Partridge's many published works. With over 60,000 entries the second edition of NPD is complemented for the first time by Partridge Slang Online (PSO), a resource which offers new ways to access and interrogate the data.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Mele Katea Paea

<p>This dissertation presents research focused on leadership processes among Pacific public servants at multiple levels in the New Zealand Public Service. The current study was guided by this research question: What are the leadership processes currently employed by Pacific public servants in the New Zealand Public Service? This study also explored participants' views on the effect of Pacific cultural backgrounds and organisational contexts on their current experience of leadership processes. The exploration of the topic was developed within a post-positivist research paradigm, using phenomenological methodology to examine the leadership processes of Pacific public servants. It employs qualitative case studies of two New Zealand Public Service organisations in the Wellington region. I employed two data collection tools in these case studies. The first was the use of in-depth interviews, and the second was an analysis of relevant organisational documents. A total of sixteen Pacific public servants participated in my study, eight from each case organisation. The findings indicated that the Pacific participants understood leadership as a social process of collective influence within a context. Participants perceived participating, networking and relationship building, learning about leadership from cultural contexts, and practising the Pacific value of va as important leadership processes for their performance in the organisations in which they were working. This study also found that the organisations' key roles and leadership values, which are embedded in Pacific cultures, shaped participants' experiences of the leadership processes. The findings also highlight some factors that contribute to and constrain the Pacific public servants' leadership processes. This emphasises the need for diverse policies to encompass leadership development. This study also highlights the need for leadership support for Pacific public servants at all levels in their New Zealand organisations. Practical and future research recommendations gained from the findings are discussed. The study contributes to the field of leadership research on Pacific public servants in New Zealand, and provides a different perspective on leadership processes in general leadership theory.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Gintova

Since 2011, Canada like many other countries, has been formally using social media as part of its open government policy. In the past few years, many federal and provincial departments and agencies in Canada have invested significant resources in social media initiatives and begun to build up their presence on social media platforms. This research examines if the use of social media makes a difference and adds value in public service delivery. The study focuses on immigration agencies in Canada – the federal government’s Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and the Province of Ontario’s Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration (MCI) – and comparison with Australia and New Zealand as two other jurisdictions using social media in immigration related matters. It is aimed at capturing and analysing the perspectives of both public servants and users of government social media, therefore, filling existing gaps in the literature related to how government immigration agencies are using social media and how that use relates to social media users’ expectations and needs. The methodology used in this study includes qualitative methods: document analysis, content analysis and semi-structured interviews. Content analysis of social media data is supplemented by analysis of government documents and interview data offering insights into the meaning of effective use of social media for government and social media users. Using existing secondary sources from the scholarly and practitioner literature, the study also defines and examines effective use of social media by government and includes recommendations for practitioners. Findings of this study add value to existing scholarship on public policy and administration and for policy makers and public servants responsible for the use of social media in government to improve existing policy and public service delivery.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Mele Katea Paea

<p>This dissertation presents research focused on leadership processes among Pacific public servants at multiple levels in the New Zealand Public Service. The current study was guided by this research question: What are the leadership processes currently employed by Pacific public servants in the New Zealand Public Service? This study also explored participants' views on the effect of Pacific cultural backgrounds and organisational contexts on their current experience of leadership processes. The exploration of the topic was developed within a post-positivist research paradigm, using phenomenological methodology to examine the leadership processes of Pacific public servants. It employs qualitative case studies of two New Zealand Public Service organisations in the Wellington region. I employed two data collection tools in these case studies. The first was the use of in-depth interviews, and the second was an analysis of relevant organisational documents. A total of sixteen Pacific public servants participated in my study, eight from each case organisation. The findings indicated that the Pacific participants understood leadership as a social process of collective influence within a context. Participants perceived participating, networking and relationship building, learning about leadership from cultural contexts, and practising the Pacific value of va as important leadership processes for their performance in the organisations in which they were working. This study also found that the organisations' key roles and leadership values, which are embedded in Pacific cultures, shaped participants' experiences of the leadership processes. The findings also highlight some factors that contribute to and constrain the Pacific public servants' leadership processes. This emphasises the need for diverse policies to encompass leadership development. This study also highlights the need for leadership support for Pacific public servants at all levels in their New Zealand organisations. Practical and future research recommendations gained from the findings are discussed. The study contributes to the field of leadership research on Pacific public servants in New Zealand, and provides a different perspective on leadership processes in general leadership theory.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Daryn Bean

<p>This kaupapa Māori examination of Māori leadership in the New Zealand public sector reveals that the experience of Māori working in government agencies is neither well understood nor specifically addressed in the fields of public administration and public-sector leadership. The study found that a key leadership practice of Māori public servants is to position themselves strategically and thoughtfully to advance mātauranga Māori and kaupapa Māori. They are public servants who are cognisant of the Crown–Māori spaces in which they occupy. They are careful in their assumptions and views about the underlying forces at play and the responsibility they have in working for government. They are concerned about the legitimate place of mātauranga Māori and kaupapa Māori in kāwanatanga spaces and work to alleviate and mitigate bureaucratic pressures imposed by the dominant Westminster model of governance. Māori leadership practices are designed and constructed through personal models of leadership shaped by Māori values, legacies, whakapapa, and whānau upbringing. Māori leadership practice has influence beyond the hierarchical structures of kāwanatanga. Metaphorically, Māori public servants are manu kōrero (literally, knowledge birds) who, given the right conditions, would not operate alone singularly, but operate as many birds, as Manurau (literally, one hundred birds). They work inside kāwanatanga – empowering and leading others, expressing rangatiratanga from a position of personal integrity, humility, and authority. This study applied critical theoretical tools for research and analysis and found answers that are rooted in kaupapa and mātauranga Māori methodologies. Te Arawatanga, as a tribal framework, positions the insider Māori researcher into a safe cultural space to be courageous about expressing rangatiratanga in a kāwanatanga context. Whakapapa analysis grounds the research within a Māori ontology. Whakataukī emphasises the Māori voices and narratives framed within the wisdom of ancestors. This study can be said to rest on the shoulders of those with lived experience who see with Māori eyes, hear with Māori ears and feel with a Māori heart. The significance of this thesis therefore provides a ‘starting point’ that seeks to legitimate the Māori leadership contribution to New Zealand’s public service and advocates for greater recognition and validation of Māori leadership practice and indigenous leadership in public administration globally.</p>


2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Lodge

Over 60 years ago the first political science professor at Wellington’s Victoria University, Leslie Lipson, noted in his 1948 The Politics of Equality that: With the political parties the modern [New Zealand]civil service has struck a mutually beneficial bargain. By guaranteeing to public servants a life’s career and a pension, parties have foresworn the use of patronage and have guaranteed to the state’s employees their tenure of their jobs. In return the parties expect, and the public servants owe, equal loyalty to any government which the people have placed in office. (Lipson, 1948, p.479)


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Gintova

Since 2011, Canada like many other countries, has been formally using social media as part of its open government policy. In the past few years, many federal and provincial departments and agencies in Canada have invested significant resources in social media initiatives and begun to build up their presence on social media platforms. This research examines if the use of social media makes a difference and adds value in public service delivery. The study focuses on immigration agencies in Canada – the federal government’s Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and the Province of Ontario’s Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration (MCI) – and comparison with Australia and New Zealand as two other jurisdictions using social media in immigration related matters. It is aimed at capturing and analysing the perspectives of both public servants and users of government social media, therefore, filling existing gaps in the literature related to how government immigration agencies are using social media and how that use relates to social media users’ expectations and needs. The methodology used in this study includes qualitative methods: document analysis, content analysis and semi-structured interviews. Content analysis of social media data is supplemented by analysis of government documents and interview data offering insights into the meaning of effective use of social media for government and social media users. Using existing secondary sources from the scholarly and practitioner literature, the study also defines and examines effective use of social media by government and includes recommendations for practitioners. Findings of this study add value to existing scholarship on public policy and administration and for policy makers and public servants responsible for the use of social media in government to improve existing policy and public service delivery.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Daryn Bean

<p>This kaupapa Māori examination of Māori leadership in the New Zealand public sector reveals that the experience of Māori working in government agencies is neither well understood nor specifically addressed in the fields of public administration and public-sector leadership. The study found that a key leadership practice of Māori public servants is to position themselves strategically and thoughtfully to advance mātauranga Māori and kaupapa Māori. They are public servants who are cognisant of the Crown–Māori spaces in which they occupy. They are careful in their assumptions and views about the underlying forces at play and the responsibility they have in working for government. They are concerned about the legitimate place of mātauranga Māori and kaupapa Māori in kāwanatanga spaces and work to alleviate and mitigate bureaucratic pressures imposed by the dominant Westminster model of governance. Māori leadership practices are designed and constructed through personal models of leadership shaped by Māori values, legacies, whakapapa, and whānau upbringing. Māori leadership practice has influence beyond the hierarchical structures of kāwanatanga. Metaphorically, Māori public servants are manu kōrero (literally, knowledge birds) who, given the right conditions, would not operate alone singularly, but operate as many birds, as Manurau (literally, one hundred birds). They work inside kāwanatanga – empowering and leading others, expressing rangatiratanga from a position of personal integrity, humility, and authority. This study applied critical theoretical tools for research and analysis and found answers that are rooted in kaupapa and mātauranga Māori methodologies. Te Arawatanga, as a tribal framework, positions the insider Māori researcher into a safe cultural space to be courageous about expressing rangatiratanga in a kāwanatanga context. Whakapapa analysis grounds the research within a Māori ontology. Whakataukī emphasises the Māori voices and narratives framed within the wisdom of ancestors. This study can be said to rest on the shoulders of those with lived experience who see with Māori eyes, hear with Māori ears and feel with a Māori heart. The significance of this thesis therefore provides a ‘starting point’ that seeks to legitimate the Māori leadership contribution to New Zealand’s public service and advocates for greater recognition and validation of Māori leadership practice and indigenous leadership in public administration globally.</p>


Author(s):  
Peter Goddard

This chapter considers the concept of distinctiveness in public service broadcasting. The notion of distinctiveness is relatively new in regulatory terms. The words ‘distinctive’ or ‘distinctiveness’ do not appear at all in the 2007 Charter and only once (requiring the BBC to enrich ‘the cultural life of the UK through creative excellence in distinctive and original content’) in the accompanying Agreement. Distinctiveness can be taken to mean original rather than imitative, foregrounding quality and public value, antipopulist, and different from other channels' programming. Hence, although these might all be worthy aspirations for a public service broadcaster, it appears that distinctiveness is a rather elastic term and at times a contradictory one.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document