Public Performance & Management Review

Redesigning Burden: Administrative Costs, Digital Governance, and Equity in Public Services

Public administration research has long documented the burdens placed on individuals navigating government services, particularly those who are already disadvantaged. Yet in today’s governance environment, these burdens take on new dimensions. Digital interfaces, algorithmic decision-making, and automated systems promise efficiency—but may reinforce or reconfigure burdens in ways we are only beginning to understand. Simultaneously, researchers are rethinking how to better measure administrative burden and explore its implications for equity, legitimacy, and trust.

This special issue invites papers that advance theoretical, methodological, and practical understandings of administrative burden. We seek contributions that challenge conventional views, propose new tools for analysis, or evaluate efforts to redesign processes for greater inclusion and fairness. We especially welcome papers exploring how AI, automation, and digital service delivery influence burdens—and for whom. We also encourage work that centers social equity and incorporates intersectional or justice-oriented approaches.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

• How algorithmic tools and digital platforms reshape the experience and distribution of administrative burden.
• Advances in measuring learning, compliance, and psychological costs—especially with attention to historically marginalized populations.
• The role of administrative burden in perpetuating or disrupting social inequities.
• Interventions or reforms that reduce burden through human-centered design, co-production, or policy change.
• New theoretical frameworks or methodological approaches to studying burden and its effects.
• Comparative or international perspectives on administrative burden under varying institutional or cultural contexts.

We welcome both empirical and conceptual submissions, using qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods. Submissions should clearly situate their contributions within the administrative burden literature and speak to implications for public management or public policy.