Exploring the Administrative Roles and Types of Responsible Administrators: An Application of Cluster Analysis in Taiwan
Chien-Hsun Huang*
Abstract
In an environment of democratic governance, responsible administrators are expected to respond to multiple values, such as obedience, efficiency, impartiality, competence, and public interest. However, because of their values and preferences, administrators may have different attitudes toward these multiple requests from personal, organizational, and political settings. This study uses data from Taiwan Government Bureaucrats Survey in 2008 and method of cluster analysis to explore different responsive attributes and sub-groups of Taiwan’s bureaucracy. This study relies on seven clustering variables: public interest, efficiency, profession, obedience, law, political responsiveness, and neutrality, to divide into four groups that are labeled by four roles -- "experts", "result-seeking autonomists", "public interest promoters" and "implementing agents". Finally, some suggestions on personnel management, organizations, and ethics are provided.
Keywords: responsiveness, responsibility, ethics, cluster analysis, bureaucracy
* Ph.D. student, Department of Public Administration, National Chengchi University, email: 101256501@nccu.edu.tw, polchh@gmail.com.