Phuc Nguyen
Papers
1
Total Citations
58
H-Index
1
About
Phuc Nguyen is a leading scholar at the intersection of public administration, social policy, and digital governance, whose work critically examines how technology reshapes the delivery of welfare and employment services. Nguyen’s research centers on the rise of “machine bureaucracies”—automated systems that increasingly replace human discretion in welfare-to-work programs. In their landmark 2022 paper, “Can Robots Understand Welfare? Exploring Machine Bureaucracies in Welfare-to-Work,” Nguyen investigates how performance-based contracting and algorithmic decision-making transform the exercise of administrative discretion, a core function of street-level bureaucrats. This work, which has garnered 58 citations, reveals the tensions between efficiency and equity as governments deploy digital tools to manage social services. Nguyen’s contributions are vital for understanding how automation can both streamline and undermine citizen access to benefits, raising urgent questions about accountability and fairness in the digital state. By bridging governance theory with empirical insights on technology, Nguyen has become a key voice in debates on the future of public administration, offering a critical lens for students and researchers navigating the complex interplay of policy, discretion, and artificial intelligence.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1