Technological Advancement and Public Service Motivation: Insights from the Lebanese Public Service

Abstract

The 1950s and 1960s witnessed the rise of a new anti-bureaucratic philosophy, namely public choice theory. The advocates of this theory, like Anthony Downs and William Niskanen, called for downsizing, trimming the size of the bureaucracy, contracting out and privatizing public sector services. The 1980s and 1990s witnessed the rise of a new paradigm, namely new public management (NPM), which has its origins in public choice theory. The supporters of NPM, like political rulers in Western democratic countries and international donors, called for downsizing the public sector, privatizing its services, and introducing pro-market and business management techniques to the public service out of the belief that private sector firms are superior to public organizations. The widespread adoption of these business management principles in the public sector has blocked the performance of public servants who are motivated by intrinsic motives along with causing real threats to the existence and identity of public sector values and norms like equity, accountability, fairness and merit. This led to the revival of public service motivation which was a reaction against the widespread use of market principles in the public sector.

Public management scholars studied public service motivation from different sides; however, no one has studied the effect of technology, as part of the external environment, on public service motivation. This study will fill this gap in public service motivation literature.

Keywords: Public service motivation, technology, electronic government, civil service,  transparency, accountability, equity.