Public Administration

The active participation of citizens is the lifeblood of any functioning democracy. But what drives people’s willingness to participate in political life? A key driver is their self-perception of their ability to understand political processes and to...

The rapid pace of technological advance and associated potential for the use of data have not only changed the way people live but also the way people work. This digital disruption hits all sectors, including the public sector, and this working paper...

This working paper introduces the key concepts and features of anticipatory innovation governance– i.e. the structures and mechanisms to allow and promote anticipatory innovation alongside other types of innovation in the public sector. This paper...

Blockchain remains a hot topic for digital transformation and innovation. In the private sector, blockchain has demonstrated disruptive potential through proven use cases. However, despite strong interest and greater awareness, blockchain has had...

This Working Paper presents the process, methodology and results of the OECD 2019 Digital Government Index (DGI). It has three key objectives. First, the paper describes the design, the content and the methodology of the pilot OECD Survey on Digital...

Rules as Code (RaC) is an exciting concept that rethinks one of the core functions of governments: rulemaking. It proposes that governments create an official version of rules (e.g. laws and regulations) in a machine-consumable form, which allows...

Public service leaders – senior civil servants who lead and improve major government functions – are at the heart of government effectiveness. They translate political direction into the policies and programmes that keep citizens healthy, safe, and...

This paper provides a holistic policy approach to the challenge of disinformation by exploring a range of governance responses that rest on the open government principles of transparency, integrity, accountability and stakeholder participation. It...

Egypt has embarked on an ambitious reform agenda to achieve key strategic objectives for the country’s growth and development by 2030. This working paper examines Egypt’s institutional and decision-making framework governing the implementation of the...

This paper analyses two common uses of the responsiveness concept in the public management and political science literature: external political efficacy and satisfaction with health and education services. The decline of people sense of influence in...

This working paper seeks to contribute to the understanding of the public sector innovation process at an organisational or team level, and suggests areas for consideration for public sector organisations developing their innovation capabilities. It...

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an area of research and technology application that can have a significant impact on public policies and services in many ways. In just a few years, it is expected that the potential will exist to free up nearly...

Embracing a policy and culture of diversity and inclusion (D&I) is increasingly considered the norm for public services across the OECD. A growing number of countries acknowledge how diversity has the potential to improve service delivery to citizens...

This Working Paper is intended to highlight the main opportunities and challenges for the use of emerging technologies (ET), and in particular emerging digital technologies, in the public sector. Based on the first results of the analysis of evidence...

Over the last decade the Open Government Data movement has successfully highlighted the value of data and encouraged governments to open up information for reuse both inside, and outside the public sector. This Working Paper argues that governments...

Informed by the OECD’s well-being framework, this Working Paper considers how the experience of civic engagement and governance is being transformed and explores how governments can harness the potential of digital technologies and data to develop...

This paper presents the methodological process and results of the OECD 2017 Open-Useful-Reusable Government data Index (OURdata Index). It is meant to present the methodology and outline the data collection and verification process; discuss key...

Ombudsman institutions (OIs) act as the guardians of citizens’ rights and as a mediator between citizens and the public administration. While the very existence of such institutions is rooted in the notion of open government, the role they can play...

Blockchain technology has evolved from a niche subject to the hottest tech disruption buzzword, but there is still a lot of confusion about the subject. Without a clear understanding about what Blockchains are, their potential public sector potential...

Natural disasters have caused, and continue to cause, a significant amount of economic costs. The costs of disasters are often, and to a large extent, shouldered by governments, especially in economies where private insurance markets are not well...

This working paper takes a comparative snapshot of social media use in and by OECD governments. The focus is on government institutions, as opposed to personalities, and how they manage to capture the opportunities of new social media platforms to...

The paper was prepared by John F. Helliwell, Haifang Huang, Shawn Grover and Shun Wang in collaboration with Mario Marcel, Martin Forst and Tatyana Teplova. This paper has three main objectives. The first is to review existing studies of the links...

This report highlights the changing landscape of risk and crisis communications and in particular how social media can be a beneficial tool, but also create challenges for crisis managers. It explores different practices of risk and crisis...

Governments are confronted with crises that may spread beyond national borders and trigger significant economic knock-on effects. Managing crises is a key responsibility for governments, which have a crucial role to play to strengthen the resilience...

Open Government Data (OGD) initiatives, and in particular the development of OGD portals, have proliferated since the mid-2000s both at central and local government levels in OECD and non OECD countries. Understanding the preconditions that enable...

Strategic workforce planning is gradually becoming a key priority and core management practice for public sector employees in OECD countries. In times of limited resources, governments are required to demonstrate workforce planning capability to meet...

The Budgeting and Public Expenditures Division of the Public Governance and Territorial Development Directorate of the OECD has developed a database of public expenditures according to spending purpose. The classification used resembles closely the...

This Working Paper analyses the institutional setting for regulatory reform. It is the first comprehensive analysis of regulatory oversight bodies. The analysis adopts a functional approach through four core functions: i) oversight of the rule-making...

This Working Paper presents preliminary analytical estimates using the 1998 and 2005 surveys of indicators of systems for the management of regulatory quality. Two broad dimensions are found in regulatory management systems using Factor Analysis, and...

This report is part of the OECD-Mexico initiative “Strengthening of Economic Competition and Regulatory Improvement for Competitiveness”. It summarises the findings of several case studies on best practices to promote regulatory reform and...