Leisha DeHart -Davis

Leisha DeHart-Davis is a Professor of Public Administration and Government who joined the School in 2012. She directs the Local Government Workplaces Initiative, which conducts organizational research for improving city and county workplaces, and is also a faculty partner in Engaging Women in Local Government, a program that seeks to equip women to pursue public service leadership positions. DeHart-Davis is a National Academy of Public Administration Fellow and recipient of the 2019 Gary Cornia Distinguished Lecturer given by the Romney Institute of Brigham Young University. She has published in the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Public Administration Review, International Public Management Journal, Administration and Society, and Review of Public Personnel Administration. Her book, Creating Effective Rules in Public Sector Organizations, was published by Georgetown University Press in 2017 and has won best book awards from the American Society for Public Administration and the Academy of Management Public and Nonprofit Division. DeHart-Davis holds a PhD in public policy from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Selected Publications

Hassan, Shahidul, Leisha DeHart‐Davis, and Zhongnan Jiang (2018) "How Empowering Leadership Reduces Employee Silence in Public Organizations." Public Administration.

DeHart-Davis, Leisha. Creating Effective Rules in Public Sector Organizations (2017) Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.

Kaufmann, Wesley, Erin L. Borry, and Leisha DeHart‐Davis. "More than Pathological Formalization: Understanding Organizational Structure and Red Tape." Public Administration Review (2018).

Borry, Erin L., Leisha DeHart‐Davis, Wesley Kaufmann, Cullen C. Merritt, Zachary Mohr, and Lars Tummers. "Formalization and consistency heighten organizational rule following: Experimental and survey evidence." Public Administration 96, no. 2 (2018): 368-385.

"Green Tape and Job Satisfaction: Can Organizational Rules Make Employees Happy?,” Leisha DeHart-Davis, Randall S. Davis, and Zachary Mohr, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory (2014): muu038.

"Written Versus Unwritten Rules: The Role of Rule Formalization in Green Tape," Leisha DeHart-Davis, Jie Chen, and Todd D. Little. International Public Management Journal 16, no. 3 (2013): 331-356.

"Green Tape: A Theory of Effective Organizational Rules." Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 19 2: 361-384. JPART 2010 Virtual Reader inclusion of Leisha DeHart-Davis, 2009.

"Bureaucracy and Public Employee Behavior: A Case of Local Government," Review of Public Personnel Administration 29 4. 311-326. Mary K. Feeney and Leisha DeHart-Davis, 2009.

"Can Bureaucracy Benefit Organizational Women? An Exploratory Study," Administration and Society 41 3.:340-363. Leisha DeHart-Davis, 2009.

"Gender and Organizational Rule Abidance," Public Administration Review 692.:339-347. Shannon Portillo and Leisha DeHart-Davis, 2009.

Additional Publications

Nesbit, Rebecca, Stephanie Moulton, Scott Robinson, Craig Smith, Leisha DeHart-Davis, Mary K. Feeney, Beth Gazley, and Yilin Hou. "Wrestling with Intellectual Diversity in Public Administration: Avoiding Disconnectedness and Fragmentation While Seeking Rigor, Depth, and Relevance." Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 21, no. suppl 1 (2011): i13-i28.

Feeney, Mary K., and Leisha DeHart-Davis. 2009. Bureaucracy and Public Employee Behavior: A Case of Local Government.Review of Public Personnel Administration 29 4. 311-326.

DeHart-Davis, Leisha 2009 Green Tape and Public Employee Rule Abidance: Why Organizational Rule Attributes Matter Public Administration Review 69 5.: 901-910.

Shannon Portillo, Leisha DeHart-Davis. 2009. Gender and Organizational Rule Abidance. Public Administration Review 69 2.:339-347.

DeHart-Davis, Leisha. 2007. The Unbureaucratic Personality Public Administration Review Vol. 67, No. 5, pp. 892-903.

DeHart-Davis, Leisha, Marlowe, Justin & Pandey, Sanjay K. 2006. Gender Dimensions of Public Service Motivation Public Administration Review Vol. 66, No. 6, pp. 873-887. (Also in 2012 PAR Virtual Issue: Public Service Motivation).

Zia, A., B. G.Norton, D. S. Noonan, M. O. Rodgers, and L. DeHart-Davis. 2006. A Quasi-Experimental Evaluation of High-Emitter Non-Compliance and Its Impact on Vehicular Tailpipe Emissions in Atlanta,1997-2001. Transportation Research Part D 11 1.: 77-96.

DeHart-Davis, Leisha; G. Kingsley 2005. Managerial Perceptions of Privatization: Evidence from a State Department of Transportation State and Local Government Review Vol. 37, No. 3, pp 228-241.

DeHart-Davis, Leisha and R. Guensler 2005. Employers as Mediating Institutions in Public Policy: The Case of Commute Option Programs Policy Studies Journal Vol. 33, No. 4, pp. 675-697 .

DeHart-Davis, Leisha and S. Pandey. 2005. Red Tape and Public Employees: Does Perceived Rule Dysfunction Alienate Managers? Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 133-148.

Corley, Elizabeth. L.DeHart-Davis, M. Rodgers 2003. Inspection/Maintenance Program Evaluation: Replication of the Denver Step Method for an Atlanta Fleet Environmental Science and Technology, Vol. 37, No. 12, pp. 2801-2806.

DeHart-Davis, Leisha, E.Corley, M. Rodgers. 2002. Evaluating Vehicle Inspection/Maintenance Programs Using Onroad Emissions Data: The Atlanta Reference Method, Evaluation Review, Vol. 26, No. 2, pp. 111-146.

DeHart-Davis, Leisha and B. Bozeman 2001. Regulatory Compliance and Air Quality Permitting: Why Do Firms ‘Overcomply?’, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Vol. 11, No. 4, pp. 471-508.

Bozeman, Barry and L. DeHart-Davis 1999. Red Tape and Clean Air: Title V Air Pollution Permitting Implementation as a Test Bed for Theory Development Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 141-177.

Fields of Expertise Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace Employee Engagement Surveys Employer-Employee Relations Human Resource Management Organizational Change and Development Organizational Policies and Procedures Public Administration Public Management Research Methods for Public Administration Survey Methodology Women in Public Service