Overview and details of the sessions of this conference. Please select a date or location to show only sessions at that day or location. Please select a single session for detailed view (with abstracts and downloads if available).
Please note that all times are shown in the time zone of the conference. The current conference time is: 14th Aug 2025, 03:46:42am BST
Session Chair: Dr. Charity L BOYETTE, Virginia Tech
Presentations
Democratic backsliding, elite polarization, and job seekers’ pursuit of government employment
Sharon GILAD1, Susan Miller2
1The Hebrew University of Jerusalem; 2Arizona State University
Recent studies examine the conditions under which citizens in democracies are willing to endorse leaders who promote anti-democratic platforms. These studies typically focus on the variation and logic shaping citizens’ willingness to vote for such candidates. However, much less is known about the downstream ramifications of democratic backsliding on American citizens’ attitudes and behaviors toward government and the public sector. Specifically, no study has examined whether democratic backsliding, and its association with politicians’ bashing and undermining of the bureaucracy, affects citizens’ willingness to engage with, collaborate with, and contribute to government. This article advances this research agenda by employing a conjoint experiment distributed via Prolific shortly before the November 2024 elections to assess the impact of state-level democratic backsliding and elite polarization on Americans’ attraction to state government employment among those who are actively seeking employment. Findings indicate that democratic backsliding, including political attacks on the state bureaucracy, alongside elite polarization, significantly and negatively affect job seekers’ attraction to state government work. The negative effect of democratic backsliding is more pronounced when there is a mismatch between job seekers’ partisan identity and the party affiliation of the state governor. Furthermore, these negative effects are stronger among pro-socially motivated job seekers. These findings suggest democratic backsliding repels potential job seekers and fosters their partisan self-selection. These patterns can contribute to authoritarian populist leaders’ attempts to transform the bureaucracy into a political machine prepared to implement controversial policies and decisions.
Weakening the Vulnerable: How Change Uncertainty Triggers Loss Spirals in Stressed Civil Servants
Jan WYNEN1, Stéphanie VERLINDEN2, Jan BOON3, Dries Van Doninck4
1UAntwerp, Belgium; 2UAntwerp, Belgium; 3Univesity of Hasselt; 4UAntwerp, Belgium
Chronic stress is prevalent in the public sector, where employees face ongoing bureaucratic and political pressures. This study examines how change uncertainty introduced during organizational changes disproportionately affects civil servants who are already experiencing high levels of chronic stress. Based on the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, we hypothesize that civil servants with elevated chronic stress, are more susceptible to "loss spirals," where resource depletion leads to greater vulnerability to further stress. Using survey data combined with hair cortisol concentration analyses, we investigate how chronic stress moderates the relationship between change uncertainty and perceived stress. Our findings provide insights into how uncertainty exacerbates stress in the most vulnerable civil servants and suggest strategies for mitigating these effects during times of organizational change.
What is the Public Employee Identity? A cross-national analysis of the public employee identity.
Sheeling NEO, Sangwon Ju
American University, United States of America
Is there a distinct public employee identity? Existing literature on anti-public sector bias and public employee stereotype suggests that public employees are often prescribed a collective identity. However, little is known as to whether public employees themselves identify as such. Specifically, we do not know how public employees define themselves and how they shape their perceived roles in relation to desirable values.
In this study, we will take a two-step mixed-method approach to inductively explore public employee identities across countries with different governing philosophies: namely South Korea, the United States, and the Netherlands. Through an interview, we identify the core dimensions of public employee identity and their efforts to fulfill these dimensions in their work. Then, we will use a large scale qualitative and quantitative survey among public employees to compare the dimensions of public employee identity across the three countries.
This study will be the first large scale systematic study to define public employee identity. This study is important for several reasons. First, this study contributes theoretically to identity research within the public sector by uncovering whether the concept of an idiosyncratic public employee identity that transcends social and occupational identities exists. Second, this distinct identity, which differentiates public sector workers from their counterparts in the private and nonprofit sectors, would provide a lens to understand the behavior of public employees.
Data collection is ongoing and is estimated to complete by April 2025.
