Document Type : Research Paper
Author
Assistant Professor, Department of Political Economy and Public Policy, Allameh Tabataba’I University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Extended Abstract
Introduction
The metaphor of "hollow " is used to express the changing nature of the public sector. "hollowing out " is used to describe the nature of devolution of power and decentralization of services from central governments to local governments and thus to third parties. This outsourcing did not cause the state to shrink, but it caused the state to be empty from the inside, but on the outside, it has the same big bureaucracy. The concept of a hollow state is usually understood as the blurring of boundaries between the public and private sectors in modern societies. The influence of private entities in the public sector is done through the increasing use of privatization strategies. These strategies are believed to lead to the delivery of networked services across sectors more efficiently and effectively than if the government were involved in implementation alone. However, it should be noted that the following scenarios occur in different ways beyond the approach of privatization contracts. Hollowing of state also occurs in the policy cycle, as programs go through periods of redrafting. Here, non-governmental entities can influence not only the implementation of programs but also their design, goals, and structure.
Materials and Methods
The current study relied on a qualitative, causal-explanatory approach, as well as the data collected from library and internet sources.
Results and Discussion
The establishment of the hollow state means the thinning of the executive organizations. The thinner the institutions, the weaker they become and their capacity for proper management decreases. Fragile institutions lack integrity, cannot provide effective service to public interests, and lack the capacity for good governance. On the other hand, networks, which are the new form of social action alongside the hierarchy and the market, are the main support of the hollow state. On the one hand, networks increase the problem-solving capacity of traditional political-administrative institutions, and on the other hand, they cause the draining of these traditional institutions of resources and legitimacy. In the end, political-administrative institutions may turn out to be hollow institutions whose real power is transferred to networks without any transparent system of accountability. This situation threatens the management and legitimacy because the executives perform actions in the name of the state without the controls that should be done as a public service. policymakers need strong networks with a degree of autonomy, administrative capacity, and resources to solve "complicated issues", but the stronger these networks are, the more likely they are to weaken traditional governance institutions and, as a result, hollow out of state increase. In the meantime, the experience of some countries, especially the United Kingdom, can be used. In the United Kingdom, the hollowing-out situation includes networks that are not purely public, purely private, or completely voluntary but have the personnel and characteristics of two or three of these sectors in a combined manner. For example, the UK Coalition Government's Healthy Lifestyles Accountability Program involves large companies in government policy planning and seeks local business involvement in running campaigns. In the continuation, The British government started decentralization to empower the local communities, while at the same time reducing the budget of these communities and limiting the ways of obtaining taxes for them. In the same period, the privatization of healthcare services and the cancellation of welfare programs, which all hurt the most vulnerable sections of society, were initiated. To face this situation, concepts and tools such as " joined-up government ", "policy coherence", "increasing strategic capacity in the center", "organizational flexibility" and "information collection and processing systems" can be used.
Conclusion
A look at the historical process of hollowing of the state shows that both political leaders and citizens have exerted pressure to reduce the power of the central government and create a "hollow" state. These pressures reflect some of the failures of governments in the post-war era, but they are also ill-considered responses to those problems. it is by no means clear that the private sector has acted in providing superior services at a more reasonable cost. The purpose of the measures that led to the hollowing of the state was to increase efficiency but It created many problems for coordination, control, accountability, regulating competition, ensuring coordination, and providing public services to all people. This historical experience should always be against similar trends in Iran.
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