Bríd Quinn

THE MOVE FROM GOVERNMENT TO GOVERNANCE: Irish development policy's paradigm shift

English This article examines the evolution of Irish development policy, suggesting that it illustrates significant changes in government at both national and sub-national level. It is argued that pressures for change have arisen both beyond and below the national level of administration, as a result of reforms to Structural Funding at the European Union level and the growth of community initiatives at sub-national level.The chief consequence has been a redefinition of development policy which has impacted upon the structure of government, as well as the substance and style of policy delivery. Irish development policy now embraces social as well as economic policy objectives, and its implementation relies on the cooption into the policy arena of new actors and agencies, representing different interests in the development process. As a consequence, the design and direction of development policy now places greater emphasis on increased negotiation, partnership and subsidiarity. The extent of the change is characterised as a move towards governance in Ireland, and by doing so, the work seeks to develop the use of this term in a comparative context.

Reflexivity and Education for Public Managers.

The changing nature of the world that public managers inhabit requires strategies for sense-making. This is frequently the reason why managers engage in mid-career education. Disciplinary elements provide knowledge and insights. However, growing significance is being placed on enabling practitioners to reflect on their own practice and assumptions. This article examines how links between learning and reflecting developed and why the fostering of reflexivity has become implanted in practitioner education. It outlines the origins, meanings and validations of reflexivity in mid-career education. By examining and connecting the different interpretations of reflection and reflexivity, the paper provides a conceptual framework to underpin applications of reflexivity in management education.

Mind‐sets, mirrors and mid‐career education

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to explore why critical reflexivity should be promoted within mid‐career management education programmes and articulate the benefits of a deliberate research orientation for such programmes. Design/methodology/approach – Having considered meta‐issues concerning the content and context of management education and research, the article identifies the categorical, methodological and contextual challenges which confront manager‐researchers and those facilitating mid‐career programmes. It argues that managers need to develop awareness of the different epistemologies and an understanding of their personal ontological orientation and methodological preferences in order to maximise the pertinence and added value of their research. Findings – The paper delineates the curricular, pedagogical and organisational challenges inherent in the promotion of critical reflexivity and research within mid‐career programmes. Originality/value – The paper outlines how a deliberate linkage of research and teaching can be forged in order to help managers surface and interrogate the knowledge, norms and values which frame their beliefs and actions. Consequently, it is of practical help to both academics and manager‐researchers.

A New Position for Civil Society and Citizens

Increased interdependencies and changed economic and political strategies have altered the role and resources of government while the spread of neo-liberalism and pluralism has affected perceptions of the legitimate role of government and increased the dependence of government on other actors. These transformations have led to ongoing reform of institutions, structures and processes in an effort to respond effectively to the challenges of change. Acknowledgement of defects in current democratic systems has caused governments everywhere to focus on the puzzles identified in Chapter 1. A common approach to resolving these puzzles at local level is to institutionalise linkages between politicians, public servants, communities and citizens, thereby reducing the tensions between representative, associative and participatory forms of democracy. Consequently, many countries have introduced schemes for re-engaging citizens and civil society as a means of ‘democratic renewal’. This chapter explores the theoretical and empirical manifestations of such strategems.

Ireland's pragmatic adaptation to regionalization: the Mid-West region

Ireland is perceived as perhaps the most effective user of EU structural and cohesion funds. Involvement in the EU has contributed significantly to the emergence of the Celtic Tiger. Using regional policy as a lens, this article explores Irelands pragmatic adaptation to European policy. The article examines the Irish socio-economic context, the significance of its institutions and the level of social capital as a context for exploring the countrys adaptation to EU membership and the evolution of its regional policy structures. A more detailed analysis of the impact of adaptation to EU regional policy in the Mid-West region is carried out by means of social network analysis. The patterns of adaptation and institutional and policy learning amongst the main governmental and non-governmental actors in the Mid-West region are examined and conclusions are drawn about the “goodness of fit” between Irelands existing institutions and the EUs regional policy processes and instruments.

Teaching, Assessment and Professional Development: Praxis in Ireland's Political Science Community

Abstract Reflecting international and national policies, the strategies of individual educational institutions seek to ensure excellent learning experiences for students. This paper explores the strategies used by political science faculty on the island of Ireland to achieve excellence in their teaching and learning. Drawing on the work of Hartlaub and Lancaster [(2008). Teacher characteristics and pedagogy in political science, Journal of Political Science Education, 4(4), pp. 377–393], Henderson et al. [(2011). Teaching old dogs new tricks or simply using the old tricks at the right time, Journal of Business & Economics Research, 1(3), pp. 69–74] and Moore [(2011). How (and what) political theorists teach: results of a national survey, Journal of Political Science Education, 7(1), pp. 95–128], it uses a survey to gather data on the pedagogical techniques and assessment tools most frequently used by political scientists in their undergraduate and postgraduate classrooms. It also documents the influence of professional development, length of service, annual teaching loads and other contextual issues on their choice of techniques and tools. It finds that a mix of traditional and modern approaches to teaching and assessment is used. The lecture and the essay are the most popular teaching technique and assessment tool in the undergraduate classroom. However, more active learning approaches are used by many faculty. Some clear gender differences are observed in terms of professional development, teaching techniques and assessment tools. Finally, the results suggest a strong commitment to innovation, pedagogic adaptability and continuing professional development at a time of educational constraints and cutbacks.

Teaching and research in mid-career management education Function and fusion

The apparent disconnect between teaching and research has implications for both curricular content and pedagogic practice and has particular salience in the field of mid-career education. To overcome this disconnect, faculty endeavour to integrate teaching and research. Pressure to do so stems from many sources. Benchmarks of professional excellence as well as the scholarship of teaching and learning champion such synergy. Institutions advocate teaching that is informed by research and research that is relevant to students. This article explores the conceptual and instrumental arguments for linking research and teaching. It discusses the benefits of such linkages and the challenges in effecting them. The exploration provides a conceptual base for other contributions in the volume which demonstrate specific research–teaching synergies in the Public Administration/Public Management classroom.

Developing Public Managers for a Changing World

Volume 5 of Critical Perspectives in International Public Sector Management is comprised of three parts. The need for experimental learning in public management development, experimental learning formats and innovative teaching and transfer and value creation.

The Irish Case: Decentralisation-Lite?

In Ireland, the term ‘decentralisation’ has been used vicariously. Although more than 50% of civil servants now work outside the capital, what has occurred has been deconcentration of services rather than decentralisation of power and resources. This chapter reviews central government decentralisation projects, particularly, the doomed programme of 2003–2011 (which focused on physical decentralisation of central government departments). The rhetoric of decentralisation is frequently used with reference to sub-national level in Ireland. However, the reality is that power remains centralised despite the wide-ranging local government reforms implemented in recent years. Thus, decentralisation in Ireland can be regarded as more symbolic than systemic.

A Practical Note on Transferring Ideas and Methods from Consultancy Practice to the MPA Classroom: A Personal Account from a Danish Case Study.

At the lead author’s home institution – Copenhagen Business School (CBS) – the combination of theory and practice is seen as very important in teaching. Research-based teaching is the slogan. In this respect, CBS has the same ambition as other universities. But it seems as if CBS has an advantage at the master’s level, because students come with a lot of experience. The average age of the MPA students is generally over 40. Consequently, they are able to bring practice into the classroom and to confront it with theories and also the experiences of their fellow students. There are, however other ways of bringing practice and theory together. In this note, the author reviews a three-year consultancy/research project in a merging hospital department. The aim of the note is twofold. One is to detail the more exploratory methods used to develop the organization. The second is to evaluate whether these methods can be transferred to a potential MPA module at CBS. It is concluded that for some of the methods such as diary-keeping and agenda-setting, transfer is easy. Other methods, such as using a cross-sectional group or manager role-analysis, may not transfer easily but could be applied in the home organizations of participants. The design of the module and the non-traditional roles of the teachers are very important for successful implementation.