What is good government? comparing public values across three Confucian societies
Qinrou Zhou et al.
What the paper says
What should a good government do? Answers to this question vary across institutional and cultural contexts, reflecting individuals’ underlying public values. This study examines how future public administrators–students majoring in public administration–perceive public values associated with a good government in China, Singapore, and Taiwan, three Confucian societies. Drawing on survey data from first-year public administration students and analysing differences using ANOVA and ANCOVA, we find that students prioritise government functions differently, with public sentiment strongly shaping their expectations. Certain societal dimensions–such as efficiency in China, public security in Singapore, and human rights in Taiwan–are highly prioritised, whereas others–such as equity in China, happiness in Singapore, and public security in Taiwan–receive relatively limited attention. This study contributes to comparative public administration by moving beyond East–West comparison and focusing on variations within Confucian societies. It has implications for public administration scholars and educators for a more balanced perspective about public values.
1 citation
Evidence weight
Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40
| F · citation impact | 0.16 × 0.4 = 0.06 |
| M · momentum | 0.53 × 0.15 = 0.08 |
| V · venue signal | 0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03 |
| R · text relevance † | 0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20 |
† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.