abstract: Government performance and accountability have grown to be predominant areas within public administration literature over the last forty years. The research presented in this dissertation examines the relationship between citizen satisfaction and local government performance. Citizen review of service delivery provides vital feedback that facilitates better resource management within local government. Using data from a single jurisdiction, two aspects of citizen satisfaction are reviewed. This includes citizen review of overall city performance, and citizen satisfaction with individual service delivery. Logit regression analysis is used to test several factors that affect citizen evaluation of service delivery in local government, while ordinary least squares regression is used to test the relationship between personal factors and citizen evaluation of specific local services. The results generated four major findings that contribute to the scholarly body of knowledge and local government knowledge application. First, citizens who are predisposed to supporting the local jurisdiction are more likely to rate service delivery high. Second, customer service is important. Third, those who experience government services similarly will collectively react similarly to the service experience. Finally, the length of residency has an impact on satisfaction levels with specific services. Implications for the literature as well as for practice are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Public Administration 2012

M.Phil. (Industrial Psychology) / The aim of the study was to explore the managing of employee performance in the Department of Human Settlements (DHS). The study was necessitated by increasing dissatisfaction by the public in general regarding the performance of the DHS. A qualitative study was undertaken and four participants were interviewed. This study was particularly important because the performance of government departments in South Africa continues to fall under scrutiny as pressure for service delivery mounts. Recent studies indicate that public sector performance is a critical issue for governments around the world (Kealesitse, O’Mahony, Lloyd-Walker, Polonsky, 2013) and that an efficient public service in most cases enhances or improves the social conditions of the citizens. Hope (2012) acknowledges that citizens hold high expectations for their government to continuously provide quality and timeous services. Interviews were conducted with respondents at management level. The study established that while problems regarding the performance management of employees are experienced in the DHS, this has not reached a crisis stage. These problems occur due to subjectivity of the role players, vague performance standards in performance contracts, prioritisation of compliance with submission of performance contracts rather than managing the whole process diligently, lack of training of performance moderating committees, and lack of adequate management of poor performance. The researcher has offered recommendations for the management of subjectivity, the content of performance work plans, the referral to the incapacity code, and procedure for addressing poor performance as well as other areas that could enhance the management of poor performance in the DHS.

Civil society and social capital have become staples of political science and public administration since the publication of Robert Putnam's landmark book Making Democracy Work in 1993 and his bestseller Bowling Alone in 2000. The research presented here explores the role of social capital and trust in enhancing institutional performance. Specifically, this dissertation analyzes the dynamics of social capital and government performance in metropolitan county governments. The dissertation also explores alternative theoretical approaches that have recently or historically been proposed as predictors or determinants of government performance in public administration and political science scholarship. The results reported here indicate that many of the dimensions of social capital are significantly correlated with government performance. The results suggest that counties with citizens that are more open to taking risks, that are more open-minded and less averse to change, that have faith in major political and economic institutions, that are more optimistic and that are more trusting of people they perceive to be like themselves, tend to have higher performing governments. The results also indicate that the relationship between the various dimensions of social capital and government performance is more nuanced than portrayed by a simple bi-variate correlation analysis, suggesting that the relationship between government performance and social capital is strongest at the margins, that is, among both the highest and lowest performing county governments. / Ph. D.

More and more foreign spouses have been immigrating to Taiwan. The ¡§New Taiwan Children¡¨ are consequently expected to become the elites of Taiwan¡¦s next generation. The political education and learning in families, as well as the political attitude of the husband¡¦s family, will all influence the political attitude and national identity of foreign spouses and their children. Most of the dissertations regarding foreign spouses now, however, are focused on the life adaption and Chinese character recognition services for foreign spouses. Little effort has been made to explore their political attitudes. In this research, therefore, we focus our research on the participants of the Chinese-character Recognition Classes in 24 elementary and junior high schools in Kaohsiung City and probe their political attitude after attending the courses. In this paper, we will discuss the factors influencing the political attitudes of foreign spouses, particularly, their personal backgrounds (including nationality, language and education), family backgrounds of their husbands (e.g., the political party supported by their spouse and their perspectives on unification or independence), and social inclusion factors (for example, political-related discussions with neighbors and friends, community activities, participation in Chinese-character recognition classes or life adaptation-courses organized by the government, etc.) The ultimate purpose of the study is to determine whether innate factors (i.e., personal backgrounds) or environmental factors (i.e., the social factors) are more influential on their political attitudes. If environmental factors turn out to be more influential, we may expedite the social inclusion process through collaborative efforts between the government and private agencies. We will also incorporate in the ¡§conclusion¡¨ our recommendations for further facilitating social inclusion. It was found in the research process that, in terms of political inclusion, a significant level (P<.001) has been reached in four aspects including ¡§Evaluation of Government Performance¡¨, ¡§National Identity¡¨, ¡§Political Participation¡¨ and ¡§Political Efficacy¡¨. The correlation coefficients between social inclusion and political inclusion are, respectively, .370, .362, .187 and .270. It is therefore recommended that increasing the political participation of foreign spouses may be achieved by encouraging their social inclusion. The research results also show that, for foreign spouses with different language proficiency, there is a significant variance in the extent of social inclusion. On the average, more foreign spouses communicate with the families of their husbands in English, Mandarin or Fukienese, as compared with those communicating in the language of Thailand, Philippines or Indonesia. We suggest that the authorities should provide more subsidies/incentives to encourage foreign spouses to participate in language-training courses. The survey also shows that foreign spouses rarely attend the community activities or discuss with their friends, mainly because of language barriers. Improvement of language ability will be a motivating factor for their social inclusion. Foreign spouses seldom participate in community activities or in political discussions. The main reasons for this include busy with childcare or household chores, language problems or inadequate Chinese proficiency, which causes insufficient social inclusion. It is recommended that the government should provide subsidies/incentives to encourage their participation in community activities, including attending the life coach classes and Chinese-character Recognition Classes, etc. The research shows that foreign spouses with better Chinese proficiency are better prepared to participate in political activities. For example, they will find it easier to read election-related information. Among the foreign spouses surveyed this time, few have the habit of reading political commentary in newspapers or TV programs; this is due to their incompetency in Chinese language. One of the ways to improve their abilities in political participation, therefore, is to encourage them to participate in the Chinese-character Recognition Classes. In our visit to the Immigrant Center of Learning in the city, we learned from an instructor at the YMCA that free Chinese courses are now offered by the YMCA to the foreign spouses. It is our hope that through close cooperation between the government and the private institutions we can expedite the social and political inclusion of foreign spouses, enabling them to enjoy a happy life in Taiwan with all of us.

The research examined the work of the Fontana Police Department in light of a theoretical framework of managing for results. This study consists of a review of the literature, which provides background and basic knowledge on managing for results, high performing public agencies, strategic planning, outcome measurement, and results-based budgeting along with a policy analysis and an examination of the operations of the Fontana Police Department.

In this dissertation research, I try to deepen the understanding of the logic and history behind science of science policy approaches and to substitute for this scientific evidence-based science policy model an evidence-critical and -informed model in which scientific and democratic claims are promoted simultaneously. Science of science policy, or what I call the scientizing science policy (SSP) discourse, is a strategic response of science policy community members to the following two socio-political developments: the government performance management reform movement and a new social contract of science. These two developments have motivated the science policy community to construct new science R&D management strategies that make science R&D investment more effective and economically beneficial than before. Former Presidential Science Advisor John Marburger played an important role in articulating an SSP approach at the federal level that opened up a political space for the larger SSP discourse to emerge and take hold. Other heterogeneous science policy community actors, including science agency managers and academic researchers, have also engaged and played major roles in shaping the premises, strategies, and directions that make up the SSP discourse by articulating their own approaches to SSP. The SSP discourse constitutes a series of strategies such as economizing and quantifying R&D investment decisions. In particular, to implement the ideas of performance reform and a new social contract of science in the field of science policy and management, the SSP community members have prioritized the development of data, models, and evidence related to federal R&D investment by funding studies on new scientific data, tools, and quantitative methods through the National Science Foundation (NSF) Science of Science and Innovation Policy (SciSIP) program. Interagency collaboration organized and supported by the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) is another key feature promoted by the SSP community. Through this research of the rise and development of the SSP discourse, I emphasize the following aspects that are relevant to both science policy practice and research community members. First, the SSP discourse demonstrates the influence of the performance reform movement on science, technology, and innovation policy and R&D management. Second, the SSP discourse has the strong potential to shift science policy makers' focus from planning and implementing to evaluating federal R&D programs. Third, the SSP discourse not only reflects, but also promotes the tendency of public policy makers, politicians, and the public to rely on scientific claims and evidence when they are engaged in discussions or policy decision making processes related to science and technology. Fourth, the SSP discourse alters the balance of authority and influence among science policy actors, including science agency managers, scientists, and executive branch offices in the decision making process on federal R&D priority and investment. Fifth, even though there are conflicts and disagreements among science policy community members on the visions and future of the NSF SciSIP program, the SSP discourse is valuable as a space in which heterogeneous science policy research and practice community members can interact, learn from each other, and collaborate to develop U.S. science, technology, and innovation policy. I conclude by proposing an evidence-critical and -informed science policy in which the SSP discourse contributes to promoting democratic values in the science policy decision process. In particular, the evidence-critical and -informed model focuses on not only using scientific data and evidence when making federal R&D decisions, but also on promoting the democratic and deliberative process in monitoring R&D activities' performance and social outcomes. In this model, I view the public as a legitimate stakeholder for evaluating federal R&D investment. This evidence-informed model can be implemented under the SSP discourse if the new R&D data, models, and tools developed by the NSF SciSIP-funded research are coupled with a new government performance website in which the public can access information about federal R&D activities as well as provide feedback about R&D investments to science policy makers. / Ph. D.

本研究分析在2005年台北縣長選舉中，民眾是否以回顧性評價或是展望性評估來決定其投票對象。運用2006年「台灣選舉與民主化調查」的研究資料，分析民眾對於過去的家庭經濟情況、社會整體經濟狀況評價及施政表現；以及民眾對於未來家庭經濟、總體經濟狀況評估及主要政黨候選人展望性預期，是否影響其投票行為。 本研究發現：控制民眾的人口學背景以及其他政治態度之後，民眾認為過去整體經濟情況變差者，愈不傾向投給民進黨候選人。認為民進黨候選人愈具備執政能力者則愈傾向投給他。除此之外，民眾的政黨認同也具有重要的影響力。 從本研究的結果可以得知，民眾會運用理性的標準，判斷過過去總體經濟表現與未來哪位候選人較具執政能力而決定其投票對象。顯示執政者應該以總體經濟表現以及優秀的人才，才可以吸引選民持續的支持。 / In this Study, we employ individual-level survey data collected by ‘Taiwan’s Election and Democratization Study” in the 2005 Taipei Magistrate election to examine whether voters apply retrospective voting or prospective voting. We include variables such as personal well-being and national economics performance in the past ,candidate evaluation and expectations on future economic performance to see how these variables might affect their voting behavior. We demonstrate that, after controlling demographic variables and other political attitudes, when voters consider national economy is worse off, he/she voted against the incumbent party. However, voters give greater support to candidates of the incumbent party if he/she believes this candidate is competent to govern Taipei county. Additionally, party identification still exerts a powerful influence upon the individual vote decision. In the study, it is found that people decide their voting behavior is employ their rational calculations to examine sociotropic economic performance and candidate quality. Therefore, citizens are not fools, and the incumbent party has to realize the importance of governance and nominate qualified candidates to govern.

Performance and accrual-based financial management systems as envisaged in the 1990 Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act, the 1993 Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA), the 1996 Federal Financial Management Improvement Act (FFMIA) and related legislation have been in place since prior to the turn of the millennium. Nevertheless, although performance has been measured and financial accountability improved in U.S. federal government agencies, there remains a gap in reporting on operational efficiency and effectiveness. This dissertation extends research into performance management to determine the extent to which performance measurement systems report on operational efficiency and effectiveness and thereby further facilitate performance management. It examines outputs as the unit-of-analysis within the input-output-outcome framework of performance measurement and reporting systems and their integration with accrual-based financial management systems in assessing government operations. It challenges the predominantly outcomes-focused reporting system as insufficient to the objective of improved operational efficiency and effectiveness. The research methodology employs qualitative analysis of selected agency performance reports, interviews of selected agency senior managers and oversight officials, analysis of previous research on performance reporting, and analysis of GAO survey data. The research examines an increased focus on output reporting as a means to improve operational efficiency and the linkage of outputs to outcomes as an effectiveness measure. The research leads to the conclusion that very little output efficiency or effectiveness measurement and reporting is occurring. The failure to measure performance in this manner is to the considerable detriment of operational efficiency, effectiveness and cost reduction in the federal government. / Ph. D.

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