Tension in democratic administration: Does managerial confidence in administrative capacity reduce citizen participation in organizational decision‐making?
| Published date | 01 September 2020 |
| Author | Fengxiu Zhang,Justin M. Stritch,Eric W. Welch |
| Date | 01 September 2020 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/padm.12645 |
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Tension in democratic administration: Does
managerial confidence in administrative capacity
reduce citizen participation in organizational
decision-making?
FengxiuZhang| JustinM.Stritch| EricW.Welch
School of Public Affairs, Watts College of
Public Service and Community Solutions,
Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, USA
Correspondence
Fengxiu Zhang, School of Public Affairs, Watts
College of Public Service and Community
Solutions, Arizona State University, 411 N
Central Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85004, USA.
Email: fzhang59@asu.edu
Abstract
The tension between bureaucratic and democratic values
has characterized significant debates in the field of public
administration. In this article, we ask, does public managers'
confidence in their organizational administrative capacity
affect citizen participation? Using managerial confidence
in organizational response capacity (ORC) during crises as a
vehicle to investigate the tension between democratic
and administrative values, we examine whether an
administration-centric approach to management influences
citizen participation. We posit that higher levels of manage-
rial confidence in organizational administrative capacity can
lessen the pressure from political stakeholders which, in
turn, might allow managers the autonomy to isolate them-
selves from the general public. The empirical analysis uses a
structural equation model (SEM) to examine survey data
from senior managers in 500 US cities. We find that mana-
gerial confidence in ORC reduces citizen participation, but
only indirectly through diminishing influence from other
governmental actors or by allowing managers to win the
trust of political principals.
1|INTRODUCTION
The tension between bureaucratic and democratic values has long been the subject of debate in the field of public
administration. Bureaucratic values denote the organizational pursuit of administrative efficiency, rationality,
Received: 3 June 2018Revised: 5 August 2019Accepted: 12 November 2019
DOI: 10.1111/padm.12645
Public Admin. 2020;98:675–695.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/padm© 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd675
technical and professional competencies in the delivery of public goods and services (Gulick et al. 1937; Friedrich
1940). Democratic values reflect the need for public organizations to be responsive to not only the political princi-
pals, but also to the broader constituencies they serve (Finer 1941; Appleby 1949). Burke and Cleary (1989) summa-
rize the tension, suggesting that ‘Responsiveness need not guarantee efficiency, while bureaucratic effectiveness
and efficiency often belies democratic control’(p. 180).
Tension between bureaucratic and democratic values is particularly salient in the context of managerial discre-
tion and organizational decision-making. Value conflict arises because democratic processes can potentially reduce
the efficiency (or speed) as well as the rationality of decision-making (King et al. 1998; Roberts 2004). Democratic
decision-making emphasizes representation, engagement and the acceptability of decisions among diverse stake-
holders. Whereas technical efficiency and cost-effectiveness remain important criteria among actors in administra-
tive models of decision-making, these criteria must compete with others such as representativeness, equity, access
and distributive fairness. Furthermore, scholars argue that democratic accountability can be eroded or diminished
when public managers gain too much autonomy and discretion in organizational decision-making (Terry 1998).
Research in public administration frequently frames the contribution of citizen participation to organizational
decision-making as either positive or supportive (e.g., Daley 2007; Neshkova and Guo 2012). While we do not con-
test the potential for coexistence and support, we reframe the relationship between administrative efficiency and
democratic decision-making as conflictual and dependent on managerial confidence in the organization's ability to
fulfil its mandate. Public managers in organizations that emphasize administrative and managerial values may be less
attuned to the democratic goals of public participation and may seek to reconfigure their organizations' investments
in participation. Instead of asking how participation shapes decision-making processes or outcomes, we ask: Does
public manager confidence in their organization's administrative capacity reduce the extent to which the organization
engages citizens and solicits community participation in decision-making processes?
We use managerial confidence in organizational response capacity (ORC) as a vehicle to investigate the tension
between administrative and democratic values, while accounting for the broader political institutions that shape and
constrain managerial behaviour. We define managerial confidence in ORC as a manager's belief in her/his organiza-
tion's ability to effectively respond to unexpected shocks. Underlying the ORC construct is the manager's evaluation
of his or her organization's overall capability to perform tasks, solve problems, set goals and achieve desired out-
comes (Gargan 1981). Attributes embedded within the organization such as resources, expertise and structure
enable it to effectively accomplish its tasks through management and implementation (Howlett 2009).
2|MANAGERIAL CONFIDENCE IN ORGANIZATIONAL RESPONSE
CAPACITY (ORC)
2.1 |Conceptualizing managerial confidence in ORC
Managerial confidence in ORC is a manager's belief in her/his organization's collective capacity to marshal and
deploy personnel and organizational resources for effective responses to crises. It reflects a goal orientation where
an organization can draw on its structure, expertise and resources to expeditiously respond to the unexpected, mobi-
lize support and remain focused on problem solving (Turoff et al. 2011; Steigenberger 2016). Crises usually stretch
organizations to the limit and profoundly test a broad spectrum of their administrative capacities, such as monitoring
emerging risks, processing information, and developing concerted and coordinated responses (Boin and Lodge 2016).
Despite the task uniqueness of responding to the unexpected as compared to day-to-day operations, it is often true
that a bureaucratic institution still ‘serves as a big reservoir of expertise, knowledge and know-how for action; it pro-
vides the fundamentals and the base for administration action’(Farazmand 2009, p. 405). Organizations with higher
administrative capacity are better able to arrest crises in the early stages and manage evolving elements as they pre-
sent themselves.
676 ZHANG ET AL.
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