| This research was conducted while policy formulation was taking place at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and focused on the reasons why civil servants participate in policy formulation. A workgroup of highly skilled scientific and technological experts were involved in policy formulation regarding the integration of disease surveillance systems. Formulating policy regarding an integrated system may be applied to as many as 62 existing systems within CDC, could be adopted by all 50 State health departments, and may be further expanded for use by city and county health departments throughout the nation.;Much of participation research has focused on citizen participation in policy formulation, the use of experts and advisors to policymakers, and employee participation in organizational decision-making. Research of public service ethic has consisted primarily of a comparison between public and private sector employees and the factors that influence those who choose to work in the public sector. This research focused on public service ethic of civil servants within a government agency to determine if a stronger public service ethic influenced participation in policy formulation. Other rival hypotheses served as control variables, including self-interest, organizational "turf" protection, work environment, and structural and group dynamics.;Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected during this longitudinal case study. The meetings of the integrated surveillance workgroup were observed for more than 18 months. Qualitative data includes information about participation as well as 106 records of the meetings and events. The quantitative data consists of results from a written survey conducted of workgroup participants and non-participants who had the opportunity to participate but elected not to. The dependent variable participation includes three aspects: group membership, participation-hours and participation-attitude. Analysis of the data included narrative summation of events, review of critical events, chronology of events and identification of participation patterns. In addition, comparison of means, correlations, factor analysis, and linear and logistic regression were conducted.;Results indicated that dimensions of public service ethic are the primary factors influencing participation in policy formulation, but not all dimensions have significant influence. Particular dimensions of the hypothesized model affected participation with varying degrees of influence. |
