Passion Led Us Here
The Public Service Lab is a social science research and teaching lab comprising a team of students working with Dr. Robert K. Christensen. The Public Service Lab’s primary purpose is to address important public service (government and nonprofit) questions through the development of mentored, graduate-student research, and teaching. Our work is supported by Brigham Young University the George W. Romney Institute of Public Service and Ethics and the National Science Foundation.
Current Projects
Book: Local Government Careers Throughout
The United States of America
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There is a lack of understanding of what jobs are available at the local level and how they operate day to day around the country. This issue is helped by the lack of information available about local government. Many individuals struggle to know what careers are to be had at that level and what it takes to do those jobs. Therefore, we are endeavoring to interview local government officials across the country about their careers, in hopes that we can help the next generation of local government workers be more informed as they seek careers in local government.
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Values and Priorities Across Different Organizations and Sectors
Value conflicts in public administration have been studied vicariously over the years, but none have so far attempted to utilize the framework presented by Rosenbloom. He proposes that Political, Managerial, and Legal values are the main value constructs that public servants face on a daily basis. In our research, we attempt to test this framework amongst MBAs and MPAs to compare value differences amongst different emphases.
Desegregation Project
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Some have argued that courts are lesser policy actors — able to reinforce policies that majoritarian branches (executive and legislative) have articulated, but less relatively less capable to lead real policy change. This project collects qualitative data to support a quantitative argument that courts are indeed powerful policy actors. Using court ordered school desegregation in the wake of Brown, we examine districts and schools that experiences various levels of court intervention. We test the extent to which the following is true: too little or too much court intervention does not lead to the kinds of positive changes (racial integration) that occurred in settings of moderate court intervention.
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Measuring Public Service Motivation: A New Int'l Scale
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What makes public servants different? What motivates them to do the work they do? And does this differ depending on where you are in the world? We have partnered with scholars in Australia, China, and the UK to compare results and see if an international scale would make a difference.
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