Bureaucratic Capacity of the Public Administration: Judiciary Function of Ecuador in the Pandemic

Abstract

Bureaucratic capacities variable (effect) changed by government measures (cause) as a result of the health emergency. It displaced the bureaucratic capacities towards a new reality with its effect on institutional performance. It aimed to analyze the current state and the effect of the measures adopted during the pandemic on the bureaucratic capacities of the judicial function. The research is qualitative and transversal. Information was obtained by two sources. The first was a semi-structured interview applied using convenience sampling; the second was a documentary inquiry. Information was processed according to the bureaucratic capacities in public administration. It was analyzed a causal relationship supported in the logical-deductive perspective to build knowledge. The challenges faced by the Judicial Council were analyzed in four dimensions: deconcentrating, institutional expansion, social participation and performance evaluation. A theoretical argument was developed as a basis for analysis. It was analyzed under the cause-effect logic the impact of government measures on bureaucratic capacities. The bureaucratic capacities due to governmental measures in the judicial function are close to the limit of its functionality as an institution, which compromises its services in the present and it possible collapse in a future.