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Articles 1 - 7 of 7

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Innovations In Citizen-State Interaction In Vanuatu: Grassroots Approaches To Maintaining Bio-Cultural Diversity, Thomas Dick, Cherise Addinsall Jan 2013

Innovations In Citizen-State Interaction In Vanuatu: Grassroots Approaches To Maintaining Bio-Cultural Diversity, Thomas Dick, Cherise Addinsall

Thomas Dick

Many countries in the South Pacific are currently failing to adequately address issues in regards to bio-cultural diversity, which is leading to escalating environmental and health problems for Pacific Islanders (Morrison & Munro, 1999). These issues have the potential to undermine the Pacific way of life, which requires healthy ecosystems and continued access to natural resources for livelihoods and cultural enrichment (SPREP, 2011). The disposal of waste in small island developing states is limited due to small land areas, shallow water tables and population pressures. The consequences from insufficient waste management can consist not only of obvious aesthetic problems but …


Decentralisation In Peru, Robert Andrew Nickson May 2012

Decentralisation In Peru, Robert Andrew Nickson

Robert Andrew Nickson

There has been a striking increase in fiscal transfers in Peru since 2005. However the overall decentralisation process has been held back by limited progress in administrative reform and associated weak transfer of service delivery responsibilities. The Economy and Finance Ministry continues to play a crucial and generally negative role in controlling the pace and direction of the overall process.


Fiscal Decentralization Stocktaking Study In Nepal: Final Report, Roy Kelly Jan 2011

Fiscal Decentralization Stocktaking Study In Nepal: Final Report, Roy Kelly

Roy Kelly

Nepal is in the midst of a major political, administrative and fiscal restructuring reform moving towards a federal government structure to enhance governance and improve public service delivery. These ongoing efforts are being formulated against the background of the current sub-national governance structure which is largely based on the 1999 Local Self Governance Act (LSGA). The LSGA was a major decentralization reform at the time, introducing a number of key reform initiatives. Despite these bold initiatives under LSGA, however, the Nepalese government structure remained highly centralized, unable to address many of the pressing governance and service delivery problems. In fact, …


Where Is Local Government Going In Latin America? A Comparative Perspective, Robert Andrew Nickson Jan 2011

Where Is Local Government Going In Latin America? A Comparative Perspective, Robert Andrew Nickson

Robert Andrew Nickson

In the light of the decentralisation process now under way in Latin America, this paper seeks to address the direction of local government in the region. It proposes two Weberian ideal types of local government systems – ‘managerial’ and ‘governmental’. Ten basic features of local government systems are then used as a template to ‘situate’ Latin American local government within this typology. On the basis of this comparative framework, the paper tentatively concludes that the ‘managerial’ type of local government is gaining ground in the region.


The Global Financial Crisis And Local Government, Robert Andrew Nickson Sep 2010

The Global Financial Crisis And Local Government, Robert Andrew Nickson

Robert Andrew Nickson

This short paper examines the impact of the global financial crisis (GFC) on local government. It first proposes a framework to explore the possible transmission mechanisms through which the GFC impacts on local government income and expenditure, and then assesses the strength of these effects. The second section addresses the wider question of the potential impact of the GFC on decentralisation, which has been a notable feature of the development strategy of many Commonwealth countries in recent decades. The final section suggests that the GFC provides an opportunity for addressing three longstanding structural concerns affecting local government.


Report On Survey Of Councillors In The Gambia, Robert Andrew Nickson, Munawwar Alam, Andrea Deri Jan 2009

Report On Survey Of Councillors In The Gambia, Robert Andrew Nickson, Munawwar Alam, Andrea Deri

Robert Andrew Nickson

This research was conducted at a national training workshop held in February 2008. Almost all councillors from The Gambia participated and all of those who attended responded to the Secretariat’s questions. It finds that a statistically ‘typical,’ ‘average’ councillor in The Gambia in 2009 can be characterised as a 41 year old male who completed secondary level education, works over 38 hours per week as a full time councillor, lives off his allowance only without any other income, serves his first term in office and represents 16,000 people.


The Political Economy Of Township Government Debt, Township Enterprises, And Rural Financial Institutions In China, Lynette H. Ong Jun 2006

The Political Economy Of Township Government Debt, Township Enterprises, And Rural Financial Institutions In China, Lynette H. Ong

Lynette H Ong, Dr

This paper sheds light on the ways in which township governments had mobilized resources from local financial institutions, and how failure to repay many of these loans had given rise to sizeable local government debt. Mobilization of resources was done through loans to collective enterprises whose de facto owners were township authorities. Though the enterprises were nominal borrowers, loan transactions would not have occurred in the absence of guarantees by township governments. Another way of financial resource mobilization was by establishing local informal financial organizations that were subject to less strict regulations, and over which township authorities could exercise control. …