Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Traditional, Democratic, Accountable? Navigating Citizen-Subjection In Rural South Africa, Robin Turner

Robin L Turner

Nearly two decades after South Africa’s democratization, questions of tradition and accountability continue to trouble the polity as more than 14 million black South Africans remain subject to state-recognized, so-called “traditional” leaders – kings, queens, chiefs and regents. This article deepens our understanding of contemporary governance by exploring the agency of these citizen-subjects through close examination of traditional leaders’ strategies and citizen-subjects’ mobilizations in four rural localities. These cases illustrate how citizen-subjects are working with, against and through traditional leaders and councils, hybrid organizations and independent groups to pursue community development and effective, accountable governance, and show how the present …

Economic Development Strategies, Timothy J. Bartik

Timothy J. Bartik

This paper provides a guide to economic development policies for local government managers. Local economic development policies today include not only tax subsidies for branch plants, but also job training to provide workers to businesses, advice and support services for potential entrepreneurs, and extension services to help businesses modernize and export. To help local government managers, this paper suggests a number of guiding principles, including: local economic development should be pursued cooperatively across the local labor market; economic development programs should consider the quality of jobs created; tax subsidies are expensive per job created; development subsidies are more effective if …

Strategies For Economic Development, Timothy Bartik

Timothy J. Bartik

No abstract provided.

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

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.

Contributions To Local Government Accountability In Colonial New South Wales, T. Watts, Ciorstan J. Smark

Ted Watts

Accountability innovations often reflect the contemporary social, political and economic relationships, and they are not always made by accounting professionals. This article reports the contributions made to local government accountability in colonial New South Wales by a medical practitioner, Dr John Spark. His contributions relate specifically to the financial management and reporting practices of the Katoomba Municipal Council (NSW), during his tenure as Alderman and Mayor in 1893 and 1894. Spark’s innovations included the regular reporting and reviewing of major expenditure items, separate reporting of extraordinary items, separation of capital expenditure and recurrent expenditure, the presentation of detailed comparative reports, …

Managing Undocumented Students: Do Undocumented Students Hinder Student Performance?, Gregory Hill, Daniel P. Hawes

Gregory C. Hill

Illegal immigration is a salient topic for policy makers and for local units of government who are responsible for implementing policies. One particularly relevant policy topic is to what extent undocumented students affect performance in public schools, and if undocumented students do have an impact on performance, what can be done about it? Using Texas as a case study, this analysis finds that, surprisingly, undocumented students have only a marginal effect on the overall performance on standardized exams. Among Latinos, however, there is a statistically negative effect. Furthermore, evidence suggests that managerial skills can mitigate those negative effects.

From Dog Licenses To Democracy: Local Government Approcahes To Eservice Delivery In Australia, Peter Shackleton, Julie Fisher, Linda Dawson

Associate Professor Linda Dawson

Municipal councils worldwide are recognizing the need and value of the Internet to deliver information and services. The move to e-Government in Australia and across the world has been prompted by factors such as government reform and the need to reduce cost, and to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery. Only recently, however, have there been more significant moves towards local e-Government in many countries. This research paper reports on the progress local governments in Victoria, Australia have made towards e-Government implementation. The paper provides a background to types of electronic information and services provided by local government …

Town Hall Egovernment: A Study Of Local Government Electronic Service Delivery, Peter Shackleton, Julie Fisher, Linda Dawson

Associate Professor Linda Dawson

Australian municipal councils recognize the need to use the Internet to deliver information and services. The move to eGovernment has been prompted both by local government reform and pressure from controlling State governments. Only recently, however, have there been more significant moves towards local eGovernment. This research paper reports on the progress local governments in Victoria, have made towards electronic service delivery. The paper provides a background to types of electronic information and services provided by local government and the stages of electronic maturity. The research found that although the web sites of Victorian municipal councils provide far more information …

Victorian Local Government Websites: Tracking Information Provision And E-Service Maturity, Peter Shackleton, Julie Fisher, Linda Dawson

Associate Professor Linda Dawson

Local and municipal governments worldwide are embracing and using the Internet to deliver services and therefore better value to their communities. Current research has identified the use made of the Internet by higher levels of government. There has been limited research, however, examining the lowest tier; local government’s approach to Internet use. This paper presents the results of a content analysis undertaken on Victorian local government Websites over four years and describes the results of usability testing also conducted on local government sites. The results identify the changes in e-service delivery over that time and the usefulness of the information …

Equitable Fiscal Regionalism, Matthew J. Parlow

Matthew Parlow

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

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

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.

Spatial Inequality As Constitutional Infirmity: Equal Protection, Child Poverty And Place, Lisa R. Pruitt

Lisa R Pruitt

This is the first in a series of articles that maps legal conceptions of (in)equality onto the socio-geographical concept of spatial inequality, with a view to generating legal remedies for those living in places marked by socioeconomic disadvantage. Written for a symposium on “rural law,” this article considers in particular whether the funding and delivery of government services at the county level in the state of Montana violate the state’s constitution because of the grossly disparate abilities among Montana counties to finance and provide such services. Pruitt’s analysis focuses on children as a particularly vulnerable and immobile population, many of …

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

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. …

Pre-Disaster Planning And Mitigation And Its Impact On Comprehensive Emergency Management And The Nation: Pre-Disaster Mitigation (Pdm) Program And The Population Protected, Thomas Lyons Carr Iii

Thomas Lyons (Thom) Carr III Appl.Sc., CEM

A Project for a Professional Degree submitted to The Faculty of School of Engineering and Applied Science of The George Washington University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Applied Scientist of Engineering Management May 21, 2006

On October 10, 2000, The Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (DMA 2000 or DMA 2K) (Public Law 106-390) was enacted, amending the Robert T. Stafford Relief and Emergency Assistance Act and established new requirements for the national for hazard mitigation planning. States, Tribes, territories, and local governments now must have an approved mitigation plan in place prior to receiving certain …

Richard Riordan And Los Angeles Charter Reform.Pdf, Matthew J. Parlow

Matthew Parlow

Redefining Local Government Roles In Public Services: A Research‐Informed Process Model, Stacie Bosley

Stacie Bosley