Nicholas J. Armstrong is the senior director for research and evaluation at the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University. There he oversees the Institute’s portfolio of sponsored research, program evaluation, and data analytics initiatives. Armstrong’s research centers public management and social policy issues affecting veteran and military family well-being. He has received funding from the NY State Health Foundation, E.M. Kauffman Foundation, Smith Richardson Foundation, and U.S. Navy, among others.
This report focuses on a fairly defined target population – veterans of military service and their families. Yet, as the report’s authors note, the diffuse approach in delivering benefits and services to these individuals is incredibly complicated.
In the IBM Center’s new book, Government For The Future: Reflection and Vision for Tomorrow’ Leaders, we have identified six major trends that have driven government management reforms. This is the fourth in a six-part series where we highlight each trend; part two summarizes the evolution of performance management in U.S.
Katherine Barrett and Richard Greene, who have analyzed researched and written about
state and local government for over thirty years are visiting fellows at the IBM Center for The
Business of Government; contributors to Governing Magazine, executive advisors for the
American Society for Public Administration; editors and administrators of their own website
“dedicated to state and local government” at greenebarrett com; advisors to the Government
This report provides three sets of lessons from Katherine Barrett and Richard Greene, a pair of veteran observers of state and local government management, to help gubernatorial teams move quickly and set the stage for a successful term in office:
How the City of Hangzhou Assesses Agency Performance and Gathers Citizen Feedback
While the oversight of New York City’s performance system is run out of the Mayor’s office, in Hangzhou, an independent commission assesses agency performance and gathers extensive citizen feedback. This is a leading-edge approach in China. Most other Chinese cities operate more like New York City, with their performance management system and oversight being managed by a bureau within the city’s government, with more of a focus on compliance and less on problem-solving.
There’s been a decades-long movement in the U.S. to increase citizens’ involvement in government, and for government services to be more citizen-centric. As a result, we expect to see such initiatives in cities across the U.S., but what about in China? Interestingly, there is a real commitment in some cities in China to listen, and respond, to their citizens.
