THE GROWING IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION UPON CITY POLICIES1

The increasing pace of globalization is impacting numerous cities across the United States. The imperatives of complex interdependence and the progressive internationalization of production have been particularly important stimuli. Moreover, the increasing professionalization of local governments makes them better equipped to handle an active international role. As the forces of globalization penetrate deeper into communities, local leaders find themselves resorting to symbolic or “conscious‐raising” measures designed to heighten international sensitivities and awareness. Economic interests are also pivotal in forging bilateral foreign contacts and accords initiated at the local level. Of particular significance is the horizontal restructuring of private‐public sector relationships. Finally, a case study of Charlotte illustrates both the variety of forces pushing cities to respond to globalization and the considerable constraints that still exist upon such efforts.     

IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF RESEARCH SYNTHESIS IN PROGRAM EVALUATION

Because research synthesis enables one to determine either the overall effectiveness of different types of treatments, it is becoming increasingly popular as a tool in program evaluation. Numerous methodological problems arise, however, when research synthesis is applied to studies conducted in field settings. The present paper categorlzes and discusses these problems as being threats to either the (1) internal validity (whether one can draw conclusions about cause and effect), (2) statistical conclusion validity (whether one's inferential statistics are capable of detecting cause-and effect relationships, (3) construct validity (whether one's treatments and outcome measures are valid operationalizations of the independent and dependent variables of interest), or (4) external validity (whether one can generalize results to particular populations, settings, or time periods) of research synthesis (see Cook & Campbell, 1979). Specific recommendations are made for minimizing these threats to validity, In order to improve the quality of research synthesis in program evaluation. Finally, the validit framework is applied to an actual synthesis to identify strengths, weaknesses, and potential means of enhancing research quality.     

SOME ASPECTS OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE CITY OF GOLD COAST

The Administration appointed to take over the Gold Coast City Council was constituted as follows. An Administrator was appointed by the Governor in Council on 4 March 1978. He became Administrator and Chairman of the Executive Committee. The Administrator thus became the Council of the City of Gold Coast. Two Members of the Executive Committee were appointed on the same date by the Minister for Local Government and Main Roads to assist the Administrator. The initial term of appointment was to 30 June 1978, later extended to 30 September 1978, and finally extended to 31 March 1979 to coincide with the Triennial Local Government elections in the State of Queensland. In each case it was the Governor in Council who extended the term of the Administrator and the Minister who extended the terms of the Committee Members.     

A COMPARISON OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF INCENTIVES AND DIRECTIVES: THE CASE OF DUTCH WATER QUALITY POLICY

The use of effluent charges as an instrument o f regulatory policy has been the object of much dispute. The controversy between advocates and opponents of replacing directives by incentive strategies in various fields of public intervention has always been rather heated, though carried on more in terms of theory than of empirical evidence drawn from experience with policy instruments in actual operation. Much like permit trading in the United States, regulatory effluent charges in The Netherlands more or less "sneaked in through the back door." The Dutch system o f water quality charges had originally been designed to fulfill solely a revenue-raising function.
The unique features of The Netherlands system make it an interesting example of the use of charges. The Dutch system of effluent charges has been in operation since 1970 and, in terms of the level of the charges, is more than twice as large as the more recent German program. Furthermore its use as a regulatory instrument has been "accidental." It did not replace the official intervention strategy of direct regulation. Given this situation, the Dutch case provides a unique opportunity to examine the effects of these two approaches as they were applied to the same case.
Three statistical analyses of the impacts of the policy instrument used, supplemented by two expert assessments of these impacts, show the Dutch effluent charges have had a very remarkable effect on industrial polluters. In Holland, t h e water quality policy i s regarded as one of t h e few examples o f successful governmental intervention. The final section presents some general thoughts on relevance of the Dutch experience with effluent charges for other countries.     

QUALITY COST IN THE PUBLIC SERVICE: IDENTIFYING, MEASURING AND REPORTING

Abstract: The identification, collection, and reporting of quality costs are necessary to achieve efficiency in the delivery of public service. This paper argues that quality costs are major elements in the total costs of delivering programs and services in the public service. To support this point, a seven-step system is described that could be used to develop a feasible modification of existing charts of account to incorporate quality cost elements. Incorporation of quality cost elements in the financial accounting system would enable the public service to use quality costs in the current wave of performance management of programs and services to bring about reliable and valid efficiency measures of deliveryfunctions.