Dissertation
UNTANGLING BROWNFIELD IMPLEMENTATIONS: HOW DO INSTITUTIONS AND VALUES CONSTRAIN THE DECISIONS OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATORS
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
01/2014
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/111940
Abstract
Many different forces are transforming the practice of public administration. Local public administrators often have discretion in how they choose to shape their policy responses to public problems. Public administrators can choose hierarchies (government-only), markets (contracting), or cooperation (with the community and private actors). What are the factors that shape these choices? Within the governance literature, less focus has been placed on decisions of local public managers and their decisions to carry out their programs to fulfill local community goals. Focus on the operations and institutional arrangements of local government may help to explain actions of public administrators.
Brownfields, or environmentally contaminated real estate properties, present a "tangled" puzzle to public administrators: not a routine problem, but potentially not as complex as a "wicked problem". Therefore, public administrators may exercise discretion to craft a solution to the problem. This research has used institutional frameworks and public service motivation theories to understand public administrator decisions in cleaning up brownfields. Are the public administrators driven to satisfy internal values and needs or are they responding to institutional pressures? Within the context of brownfields and local policy implementations, this research has used quantitative methods and qualitative comparative analysis to understand the conditions under which cooperation occurred in brownfield planning processes in Washington State. The results indicate both institutional rules and public service motivations were important factors. Specifically, results indicate that the project context, such as the site ownership, contamination levels, agency type and community characteristics are important factors. Agency rules and norms about cooperation and leadership on the project were also conditions present in cooperative processes. Public ownership and organizational rules about cooperation remained important conditions when public service motivations were considered in the model, indicating a role for the public administrator. Overall, this paper provides insight into how institutions function at the local level to guide cooperation. It enables an understanding of why cooperation takes place when not specifically mandated by law. Ultimately it is argued that public administrators, and the organizations they work within, have important roles within a multi-organizational world of governance in policy implementation.
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Details
- Title
- UNTANGLING BROWNFIELD IMPLEMENTATIONS: HOW DO INSTITUTIONS AND VALUES CONSTRAIN THE DECISIONS OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATORS
- Creators
- Ellen Amanda Rogers
- Contributors
- Mark Stephan (Advisor)Steven D. Stehr (Committee Member)Dana L. Baker (Committee Member)Edward P. Weber (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Politics, Philosophy and Public Affairs, School of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 248
- Identifiers
- 99900581535001842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation