A Review of the Anthropological Literature on the Civil Service
This paper reviews anthropological literature on the topic of how and why civil services function as they do. The paper considers the formal and informal rules that structure bureaucratic practice, including the effects of institutional history or...
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2017
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/492901496250951775/A-review-of-the-anthropological-literature-on-the-civil-service http://hdl.handle.net/10986/26953 |
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okr-10986-269532021-06-08T14:42:46Z A Review of the Anthropological Literature on the Civil Service Hoag, Colin Hull, Matthew CIVIL SERVICE ANTROPOLOGY ETHICS INSTITUTIONAL REFORM PUBLIC SECTOR REFORM This paper reviews anthropological literature on the topic of how and why civil services function as they do. The paper considers the formal and informal rules that structure bureaucratic practice, including the effects of institutional history or culture. The review examines how bureaucrats understand or experience their work, such as the rules that guide them; the clients, bosses, or employees with whom they interact; and their own actions. Finally, the review considers what methodological or ethical challenges are posed by the study of bureaucracies. The first section explores normative expectations of organizational practice and how they shape scholars’ accounts of the nature of bureaucratic power. The second section focuses on bureaucratic decision making, scrutinizing how institutional goals manifest in specific practices. The third section considers how sociocultural structures bear on bureaucratic practice, including the question of how organizational history and culture might complicate efforts at institutional reform. The fourth section engages with questions of knowledge production, ignorance, and indeterminacy, reviewing recent literature that questions the presumed role of bureaucracies and states as producers of knowledge. The fifth section explores the conceptual and practical methodological challenges faced by field researchers at institutions, and points toward key areas for future research. 2017-06-05T21:15:13Z 2017-06-05T21:15:13Z 2017-05 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/492901496250951775/A-review-of-the-anthropological-literature-on-the-civil-service http://hdl.handle.net/10986/26953 English en_US Policy Research Working Paper;No. 8081 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English en_US |
| topic |
CIVIL SERVICE ANTROPOLOGY ETHICS INSTITUTIONAL REFORM PUBLIC SECTOR REFORM |
| spellingShingle |
CIVIL SERVICE ANTROPOLOGY ETHICS INSTITUTIONAL REFORM PUBLIC SECTOR REFORM Hoag, Colin Hull, Matthew A Review of the Anthropological Literature on the Civil Service |
| relation |
Policy Research Working Paper;No. 8081 |
| description |
This paper reviews anthropological
literature on the topic of how and why civil services
function as they do. The paper considers the formal and
informal rules that structure bureaucratic practice,
including the effects of institutional history or culture.
The review examines how bureaucrats understand or experience
their work, such as the rules that guide them; the clients,
bosses, or employees with whom they interact; and their own
actions. Finally, the review considers what methodological
or ethical challenges are posed by the study of
bureaucracies. The first section explores normative
expectations of organizational practice and how they shape
scholars’ accounts of the nature of bureaucratic power. The
second section focuses on bureaucratic decision making,
scrutinizing how institutional goals manifest in specific
practices. The third section considers how sociocultural
structures bear on bureaucratic practice, including the
question of how organizational history and culture might
complicate efforts at institutional reform. The fourth
section engages with questions of knowledge production,
ignorance, and indeterminacy, reviewing recent literature
that questions the presumed role of bureaucracies and states
as producers of knowledge. The fifth section explores the
conceptual and practical methodological challenges faced by
field researchers at institutions, and points toward key
areas for future research. |
| format |
Working Paper |
| author |
Hoag, Colin Hull, Matthew |
| author_facet |
Hoag, Colin Hull, Matthew |
| author_sort |
Hoag, Colin |
| title |
A Review of the Anthropological Literature on the Civil Service |
| title_short |
A Review of the Anthropological Literature on the Civil Service |
| title_full |
A Review of the Anthropological Literature on the Civil Service |
| title_fullStr |
A Review of the Anthropological Literature on the Civil Service |
| title_full_unstemmed |
A Review of the Anthropological Literature on the Civil Service |
| title_sort |
review of the anthropological literature on the civil service |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2017 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/492901496250951775/A-review-of-the-anthropological-literature-on-the-civil-service http://hdl.handle.net/10986/26953 |
| _version_ |
1764462972260843520 |