Local government revenue policies in new Mexico

This examination of the revenue patterns of local governments in New Mexico finds that communities with the greatest social needs for public services-- small population rural areas, less affluent communities, and rapidly growing districts-- are precisely those that have the weakest revenue bases. Moreover, none of these types of disadvantaged jurisdictions receives above-average redistributive assistance from the federal government.Variations in revenue effort, especially among municipalities, exacerbate this problem because certain communities gain huge revenue windfalls which bear little relationship to either their social needs or taxing efforts but stem, rather, from fortuitous geographic positions. This advantage works its way through the entire revenue system, directly because state transfers are linked to place of collection and indirectly because of the overwhelming effect of revenue effort on revenue sharing allocations in the state. The local revenue system in New Mexico, therefore, works against the communities that have the greatest need for government services. Most of these inequities, however, do not appear to be the explicit goal of economic or political policy. Instead, they are the unintended consequences of a supposedly “neutral” allocation formula. This state of affairs certainly argues for policymakers paying more attention to the actual results of their policies.     

Multiple perspectives on the meaning of revenue

The full range of the meaning of revenue emerges from seriously considering how people understand revenues from various perspectives. Explicit discussion of revenue meanings may contribute to improving our understanding of revenue-related phenomena. Insights can be gained from considering revenues from various perspectives. Revenue conceptualizations examined here range from the most immediate one, the notion of resources, to policy devices, mediation of relationships, measurements of political situations, and values. These discussions show that a variety of meanings are associate with revenues and that revenues are at least as fundamental to public budgeting as expenditures.     

牙买加人民民族党的民主社会主义道路及其启示

牙买加人民民族党在执政实践中首先经历了从民众主义向民主社会主义的转变,后来再从新自由主义回归到民主社会主义,成为发展中国家政党选择民主社会主义道路的典型之一.通过对牙买加人民民族党曲折的民主社会主义道路的研究,可以得出以下基本启示:单纯通过收入分配政策来实现社会公正的民主社会主义道路,并不完全适合发展中国家急需发展经济和进行结构调整的实际.     

Meeting the challenge: state revenue raising

Recent trends in state tax revenue reveal that overall reliance of states on taxes have been declining for the last 43 years. Faced with reduction in tax revenues, states have restructured their tax systems to meet public demand for more services. State income taxes are the one type of tax that has risen consistently. What causes state policy makers to rely on this type of tax? This research addresses this question.     

Jamaican political processes: A system in search of a paradigm

This paper critically examines the explanations for the remarkable stability in the Jamaican socio‐political system provided by conflict pluralist, charismatic authority, dependency and patron‐client approaches. A variation of the patron‐client approach involving three interrelated levels (one external and two internal) is proposed as an alternative conceptual framework. The usefulness of the approach is demonstrated in an analysis of the defeat of the Manley government in the 1980 elections. Attention is drawn to the dynamic interrelationship between internal and external forces, and it is suggested that electoral behaviour during the 1980 elections was largely dictated by existing patron‐client relations.     

The revenue implications of the Uganda and Tanzania plans 1

A New System of Slavery: The Export of Indian Labour Overseas, 1830–1920. By Hugh Tinker for the Institute of Race Relations, London, New York, Bombay: Oxford University Press. 1974. Pp. xvi + 432, maps, diagrams and illustrations. £5.75.

Modernization in South‐East Asia. Edited by Hans‐Dieter Evers. Singapore and Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press. Pp. xix + 249. £7–25.

Protest Movements in Rural Java. By Sartono Kartodirdjo. London, New York, Singapore, etc.: Oxford University Press, 1973. Pp. xv + 229, maps, price not indicated.

Economic Prospects of Bangladesh. By Austin Robinson. London: Overseas Development Institute Ltd., 1973. Pp. vii + 59: £1.50.

Disaster in Bangladesh: Health Crises in a Developing Nation. Edited by Lincoln C. Chen. London: Oxford University Press, 1973. Pp. xxviii + 290, figures, tables, glossary, index; £4.25 (cloth); £2.70 (paper).

Socialisms and Development. By Rene Dumont with Marcel Mazoyer. London, Andre Deutsch, 1973. Pp. 352. £3.50.

Economic Growth and Development in West Malaysia, 1947–1970. By David Lim. London: Oxford University Press, 1974. Pp. xvi + 346. £9.95.

Land and Family in Pisticci. By J. Davis. London: The Athlone Press, and New York: Humanities Press, 1973. Pp. x + 200, maps, diagrams. £3–50.

The Green Revolution in West Pakistan: Implications of Technological Change. By Leslie Nulty. New York: Praeger and London: Pall Mall, 1972. Pp. xxi + 150. £5.25.

Taxing a Peasant Society: The Example of Graduated Taxes in East Africa. By Kenneth Davey. London: Charles Knight and Co. Ltd., 1974. Pp. 226. £2.50.

Regional Development Banks: The Asian, African and Inter‐American Development Banks. By John White. New York: Praeger and London: Pall Mall, 1972. Pp. vii + 204. £5.25.

Human Fertility in India: social components and policy perspectives, by David G. Mandelbaum. Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of California Press, 1974. Pp. ix + 132. $6.00 and £3.00.     

Criteria for evaluating revenue options: a comprehensive view

We identify twenty-nine criteria that are proposed for decision makers to use when they consider revenue measures and classify these criteria into four categories: adequacy, neutrality, consent and fairness. This discussion offers the decision maker help in deciding how to select revenue measures.     

Europe and local government

The Care in the Community initiative has resulted in a renewed interest in collaboration between local and health authorities. The focus of such collaboration is commonly on the transfer of long‐stay patients from psychiatric and mental handicap hospitals that are due to close, though the extent of local authority involvement in closure programmes varies considerably.

Joint planning typically involves a number of local authority departments: social services, housing, chief executives’ offices and legal services. It sometimes also involves education, recreation and leisure departments. Joint planning can be very time‐consuming and can call for considerable effort. It frequently gives rise to a good deal of conflict between the participating agencies. The pay‐offs, on the other hand, often appear to be small. Such plans as are finally implemented tend to be small‐scale: attempts at broader strategic planning almost invariably come to grief. The question then has to be asked, whether joint planning is worth all the effort. In the end, the primary justification for such planning has to lie in its ability to produce more appropriate services for service‐users.

This paper examines one local authority's experience of joint planning in relation to the closure of a large psychiatric hospital. Despite several setbacks, joint plans were eventually agreed and a number of former long‐stay patients were able to move into the community. The paper considers both the achievements and the shortcomings of the authority's collaboration with the health service.     

Policy analysis for local government

This paper considers the impact of quality approaches within the personal social services over the last decade. In particular it examines how applicable private sector approaches to quality, such as Total Quality Management, are in the public and personal social services. Both the hard and soft tools of Total Quality Management are critically considered in terms of their relevance and ability to modernise service provision. In the context of the managerial discourse presently dominating the public sector, it is argued that the hard tools of Total Quality Management, such as performance measurement and review, will only add to managerial control; whilst the soft tools of empowerment and cultural change will lose their critical effect. It is the contention of this paper that unless the current Labour government's Modernising Services Policy succeeds in democratising the process of developing quality then it will only add to the managerial agenda at the expense of improving service provision.     

Professional leadership in local government

Local public service professionals are experts who temper their use of expertise with public service ethics. Public service ethics differ from the ethical codes of most professions in that they stress external accountability. Ethical codes of private sector professions create a sense of responsibility to the profession and help undergird professional autonomy. Public service ethics emphasize public responsibility and help create public accountability. City and county managers show how public service ethics can help make experts accountable to the public.