P34 Administrative burden, digital governance and social equity

Panel chairs

Corresponding panel chair and review group chair

Martin Baekgaard, professor, Aarhus University, Email: MartinB@ps.au.dk

Co-chairs

Maria Tiggelaar, Assistant Professor, Ghent University/Leiden University

Donald Moynihan, Professor, Michigan University

Description:

This panel will explore themes of administrative burden – citizens' experience of policy implementation as onerous (Herd and Moynihan 2018). These themes have clear links to primary conference themes about the relationship between citizens and the state, social equity, and digitalization. Administrative burdens as a topic directly touches upon citizen-state interactions. A central theme is the ways in which even seemingly small frictions can have big effects on access to public services, and in doing so, can reinforce inequities in society (Herd et al. 2023). Initiatives to reduce administrative burdens are found worldwide and draw on both technological advancements and on fostering human and social capital. One proposed solution is to use digital technology to reduce burdens both on users and bureaucrats, but digital tools can also backfire, excluding some and imposing burdens on others. Third party groups can also play a role in reducing burdens, creating connections to the study of burdens and nonprofit management (Tiggelaar and George 2023). Another aspect of burdens is the question of why burdens exist in public programs and policies. An emerging question here has to do with how policymakers, bureaucrats and the public view such burdens, i.e. burden tolerance (Baekgaard et al. 2024). This is likely to have important implications for how and where burdensome requirements are implemented, and which groups in society experience their consequences most. 

While the nature of burdens may differ from one setting to another, the topic is broadly applicable to all sorts of policy domains and government settings. Comparative studies (analyzing multiple contexts or policy settings) are yet scarce in administrative burden research. We particularly encourage international, interdisciplinary and multi-method approaches.

Research questions of relevance to the panel include (but are not limited to):

• How do burdens affect individual access to public benefits and services?
• Do some groups experience burdens more than others? Do burdens reinforce existing patterns of inequality?
• How does the experience of burdens influence civic engagement, political beliefs and actions?
• What are the most promising policy frameworks or organizational practices to identify and reduce burdens, such as “sludge audits” or “human centered design”?
• What role do third parties like peers or non-governmental organizations play in terms of reducing (or increasing) burdens?
• How do citizens perceive the role of algorithms, artificial intelligence and big data in citizen-state encounters and how does it influence their perceived burdens from taking part in such encounters?  
• What role do technological tools play in increasing or reducing burdens?
• How do public employees experience burdens and how does this affect their work and ability to respond to the public?
• What are the main causes of burden?
• What explains “burden tolerance” – people’s willingness to accept burdens?
• How does “burden tolerance” of key stakeholders influence public discourse and political decisions about implementing burdens?
• To what extent do burden differ across countries?

References:

• Baekgaard, Martin, Aske Halling, and Donald Moynihan. "Burden Tolerance: Developing a Validated Measurement Instrument across Seven Countries." Public Administration Review (2024).
• Herd, Pamela, Hilary Hoynes, Jamila Michener, and Donald Moynihan. "Introduction: administrative burden as a mechanism of inequality in policy implementation." RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences 9, no. 4 (2023): 1-30.
• Herd, Pamela, and Donald Moynihan. Administrative Burden: Policymaking by Other Means New York: The Russell Sage Foundation (2018).
• Tiggelaar, Maria, and Bert George. "No two-party game: how third-sector organizations alter administrative burden and improve social equity." Public Management Review (2023): 1-22.