Governance by artifacts

Theory and evidence on materiality of administrative burdens

Datos Bibliográficos

ID6359883
AutoresMuhammad Azfar Nisar (0000-0001-7201-3829, Suleman Dawood School of Business Lahore University of Management Sciences Lahore Pakistan, autor de correspondencia), Ayesha Masood (0000-0003-2481-3543, Suleman Dawood School of Business Lahore University of Management Sciences Lahore Pakistan)
Año2024
Volumen84
Número6
Páginas1052-1066
Fecha de publicación2024-04-08
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaPublic Administration Review (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0033-3352 • E-ISSN: 1540-6210
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/puar.13821
OpenAlexW4394630234
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas7
Referencias citadas66

Administrative burden research has contributed to improved understanding of citizens' experiences while accessing state services. However, the significance of the material infrastructure within which citizen–administrator interactions take place remains largely absent from this line of research. To help address this research gap, this article uses ethnographic data to discuss the influence of material and virtual artifacts in bureaucratic offices on the administrative burden faced by citizens accessing social services. This significance of artifacts is further unpacked along their material, symbolic, and aesthetic dimensions. Our findings suggest that the instrumentality of certain artifacts (or lack thereof) can disproportionately decrease accessibility and usability of bureaucratic spaces for certain social groups thereby augmenting their administrative burden. Moreover, artifacts symbolizing power, prestige, and administrative easing are reserved for spaces occupied by the social elite while the underprivileged groups are relegated to bureaucratic spaces characterized by a general neglect of aesthetics and symbolism of decay

Aesthetics · Art · Business · Corporate governance · Materiality (auditing · Cultural Industries and Urban Development · Finance · Law in Society and Culture · Regulation and Compliance Studies