Directions in intergoverni1ental management

This paper identifies the emerging concept of intergovernmental management (IGM). As a process that focuses on the routine transactions between governments, IGM has become associated with increased interjurisdictional complexity and the corresponding need to manage. Ten IGM approaches are explained. Research and definitional issues related to this central intergovernmental concept are then raised.     

Inside the Matrix: Integrating the Paradigms of Intergovernmental and Network Management

Abstract

The basic research concepts of intergovernmental and network management are examined with regard to blending the two into a unified theory of collaborative management. A substantial literature in both fields has emerged and is ripe for conceptually enhancing interorganizational management in the public sector. The collaborative management concepts forwarded emanate from the authors' comprehensive study of collaborative public management in 237 cities. The major concerns that are found to be ready for knowledge unification include: (1) multiple network complexity and the emergence of governance through policy networks, (2) strategic behavior and its implementation through networks, (3) the role of government institutions in network governance, and (4) the use of myriad policy instruments and multiorganizational activity. Each of these research arenas are representative of the kind of knowledge base that can be blended and extended to help public managers understand how to operate in the vertical/horizontal matrix of intergovernmental network management.     

Changes in the Scandinavian Model. From Bureaucratic Command to Interorganizational Negotiation

Scandinavian local government is increasingly changing its organizational pattern away from the principles of local centralized bureaucratic control that were held sacred after the reforms of the 1960s and 1970s - reforms that made local government the building block for the welfare 'state'. Organizational fragmentation is taking place, making room for both new managerial styles similar to those of the New Public Management, featuring contracting out and similar market-like arrangements, and for democratic initiatives which place service users in command of service institutions. Such developments call for new approaches to the study of local government, approaches that take interorganizational relations more directly into account. Suggestions about such an approach are made, based on studies of intergovernmental relations. Distinctions are made between intergovernmental politics which is concerned with symbolic values linked to the status of an organization, and intergovernmental management where processes of making do are seen as most important. In spite of the managerial fashion for strategic goal-setting, it is expected that the new political actors are more interested in day-to-day results and thus challenge politicians, moving them away from the abstract goals in favour of advancing and monitoring actual accomplishments. This increases the need to understand network relations and, in turn, may yield better understanding on the part of citizens of how local politics and management works.     

The use of intergovernmental grants to municipalities for electoral purposes by subnational governments

Subnational governments devote a significant share of their financial resources to help municipalities provide local public services to their citizens. Compared to the large number of studies on national governments, little effort has been devoted to the influence of distributive politics on the use of intergovernmental grants by subnational governments. To fill this gap, this study uses a data set covering the period 2001–2011 to verify to what extent the Québec government used conditional grants to municipalities for electoral purposes. The results of this study show that the allocation of grants to municipalities is not exempt from electoral politics as municipalities located in districts held by governing parties or in high electoral competition districts receive more grants than other municipalities. However, the influence of electoral politics decreases substantially when the management of intergovernmental grants is under tight scrutiny by the opposition parties, mass media and the population. These findings suggest that distributive politics can be conceptualised as a political agency problem whose prevalence is seriously constrained by the improvement of the transparency of public policies management.     

Hardening Budget Constraints: A Cross-National Study of Fiscal Sustainability and Subnational Debt

This study explores the financial sustainability of subnational governments in four different countries. Scholars argue that subnational fiscal capacity helps local governments deliver better public services and provide public goods, which in turn helps to promote economic growth. While administrative control by the central governments contributes to reducing moral hazard from the soft budget constraints, bottom-up strategies to manage fiscal profligacy also need attention. The study first provides understanding about the characteristics of central-local governance and management of subnational government debt of each country. Then, we test our hypotheses regarding local fiscal capacity and administrative control, including political-economic factors that may affect debt spending by local governments. Our findings show that subnational fiscal sustainability improves when the central governments have clear rules to intergovernmental transfers in place and more (market) liberal policies, meanwhile when subnational governments have a more fiscal capacity and less intergovernmental transfers they are able to manage their debt more soundly.     

The Flypaper Effect: Do Political Institutions Affect Danish Local Governments’ Response to Intergovernmental Grants?

Abstract

Despite a large number of empirical studies on the flypaper effect, it remains disputed whether the effect exists and to what extent it is asymmetrical. The flypaper effect suggests that intergovernmental grants tend to result in higher increases in public expenditures than a similar increase in citizens’ private income would have led to. An asymmetrical effect exists when the fiscal response differs depending on whether grants are increased or decreased. By considering political institutions that moderate the effect of intergovernmental grants, this article offers a theoretical explanation that accounts for the mixed empirical evidence. The local response to intergovernmental grants is tested using a reform of the Danish intergovernmental grant scheme in 2007. In line with the expectation, the article finds a strong asymmetrical effect, but more surprisingly, this effect is found both when subnational budget institutions are centralised and when they are fragmented.     

INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS

The field of intergovernmental relations has been strongly affected by the considerable processes of upheaval and change that have been experienced within the British system of central-local relations. Researchers have tried to understand these changes both at an empirical and theoretical level. This article reviews four of the main perspectives on the changing nature of intergovernmental relations. The first perspective provides a historical and institutional analysis within the tradition of public administration. The second perspective draws on organizational theory. The third develops insights through rational choice analysis. The final perspective draws on neo-Marxist influenced state theory. It can be concluded that in a search to understand the turmoil of recent years, students of intergovernmental relations have ranged far and wide in their theoretical concerns. The article closes with an assessment of the advantages and disadvantages of this approach.     

Remapping the State: Inter-Municipal Cooperation through Corporatisation and Public-Private Governance Structures

The institutional setting of regional and local government in Italy appears to be characterised by an ongoing process of reform and adjustment ever since Regions were created in 1970. More recently, provinces and Municipalities gained wide autonomy in 1990, and the constitution itself was revised in 2001 to set up what is sometimes referred to as a ‘quasi-federal’ system of intergovernmental relations. In this context, inter-municipal cooperation also has witnessed several phases and dynamics, ranging from (very rare) fusions, through single-purpose cooperation, to integrated service management (Public-public partnership, and consortia for the management and/or regulation of public utilities). More recently, and most notably over the past decade, inter-municipal cooperation has taken on a new form, consisting in the shared ownership in joint-stock companies. The so-called ‘corporatisation’ of public bodies, i.e. the creation of public-owned (or mixed public-private), private-law companies and corporations for the fulfilment of public-interest activities, has come to constitute a network of inter-municipal cooperation that appears to represent a shift from an institutional intergovernmental structure of cooperation, to one that is pre-eminently played out in the arenas of public-private forms of governance. The article analyses the literature and overarching trends in inter-municipal cooperation in Italy, and draws on very rich original data on the companies owned by Municipalities in six Italian regions to show how these companies represent the locus of inter-municipal (and multi-level) relations that go well beyond the formal boundaries of local administrations, and are often brokered by powerful private partners.     

Counties and land-use regionalism: Models of growth governance

This article examines the contrasting roles of county government in state and regional growth management programs in the United States, and focuses on the potential utility of citizen-inspired land-use regionalism in stimulating county home-rule and modernization efforts. Two types of county involvement in intergovernmental growth management programs are discussed--a subordinated implementation function in “top-down” state growth programs, and an empowered role in “bottom-up” regionalism wherein county governments are key participants and mediators in the formulation of regional growth policy. A case study of grassroots regionalism in Cape Cod, Massachusetts between 1988-1991 spotlights how growth concerns can provide a compelling need for county government modernization and restructuring of land use control. The article concludes by discussing the benefits and costs of citizen-inspired regionalism, and recommends that states should do more to encourage locally-formulated regional solutions.     

Transformation of bureaucratic states in eastern europe: public expenditure lessons from latin America

Creation of functioning public administration systems in Eastern Europe is made difficult by the need to tear down the centralized, state-owned economy of the past 45 years, deal with existing fiscal and security crises, and build new administrative systems and analytic capabilities. This paper suggests that the core of such an effort should be a focus on public expenditure management improvements through innovative training and technical assistance. In Latin America, too often aid was focused on supplying information technology without attempts to overcome obvious constraints to demand for its use. Comparative analysis of public administration systems in both regions reveals the same problems of (1) overcentralization of management and intergovernmental relations which destroys decision-making legitimacy, and (2) legalistic and compliance-oriented administrative systems which destroys incentives to manage effectively. To avoid these problems in Eastern Europe, technical assistance should stress incentives for decentralized management, and more flexible fiscal controls at the center.     

Intergovernmental Agreements in Contemporary Russia

ABSTRACT

The paper discusses the evolution and current forms of agreements between federal, regional and municipal governments, as well as between the constituent units of the Russian Federation and municipalities. It analyses the problems and prospects of using these regulatory instruments. The purposes of this paper are to examine the current context of making intergovernmental agreements in Russia, to provide a comprehensive vision of contemporary state of this instrument of shaping intergovernmental relations, and to assess the prospects for their further practical use in the Russian Federation.     

Financing the capital budget: change and transition

The changes in intergovernmental finance which occurred in the 1980s have impacted the traditional roles of state and local governments in many areas. The changing roles of such governments in the financing of infrastructure and public capital investments have been particularly pronounced. Their growing responsibilities in infrastructure finance has led to an enhanced emphasis on capital budgeting and on developing new initiatives in the capital financing arena. This article explores the impact of such changes on the strategies that are and will, probably, be employed by state and local governments to finance future capital acquisitions in a changing economy and intergovernmental fiscal environment.     

How does intergovernmental fiscal environment affect general fund balances of major American cities?

This study explores the extent to which intergovernmental fiscal factors affect fiscal reserves in municipal general funds. Statistical results from panel data of 87 major cities in the US for the period from 1995 to 2010 show that cities facing more restrictive limitations on local property taxation tend to maintain higher levels of unreserved general fund balances. Additional analyses also show that fiscally constrained cities accumulate surpluses in their general funds. This is consistent with the proactive approach in which municipal governments make fiscal decisions with the awareness of expected state constraints on their revenue-raising capacity. We call for consideration of relevant intergovernmental constraints in the determination of appropriate level of fund balances for municipal governments.     

Public official associations and public administration: A shared history

This essay focuses on the development of public official associations—those organizations that represent the interests of incumbent public officials in public affairs and their sense of the public interest—as a way to illustrate major issues of professionalism and intergovernmental management. Associations are seen as vehicles for linking an otherwise fragmented federal system and profession. Concentrating on the groups representing general government officials, efforts to make public official associations financially secure, intellectually stimulating, and influential in policy formulation will be reviewed from 1891 to 1940. An understanding of the history of Public Administration is incomplete without recognizing that the early development of the field was based on the logic of reform, a central feature of which was an alliance of nongovernmental associations dedicated to the public good.     

Governance,federalism and organizing institutions to manage complex problems

In managing complex policy problems in the federal system, state and local governments are organized into different arrangements for translating policy goals into policy outcomes. Air quality management is used as a test case to understand these variations and their impact on policy outcomes. With data from Clean Air Act implementation plans and a survey of state and local air quality managers, five separate institutional designs are identified: (1) central agencies; (2) top-down; (3) donor–recipient; (4) regional agencies; and (5) emergent governance. Findings indicate that some arrangements (donor–recipient and emergent governance) result in notably better air quality than others (central agencies, top-down). Specifically, when designed to allow bargaining between state and local officials, intergovernmental management is still the most effective approach to complex policy problems; but, in absence of this, conventional federalism arrangements are less effective than public agencies self-organizing around shared policy goals.     

FISCAL FEDERALISM, PROFESSIONALISM AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF AMERICAN STATE GOVERNMENT

A combination of political and economic forces have helped to return the states to the centre of the political stage. Whether measured by objective indicators (employment, share of government expenditure, elasticity of state revenues) or political institutional changes (the rise of career governors, the increasing influence of the intergovernmental lobby and the spread of state responsibilities), the states have become increasingly important in the formulation and implementation of American domestic policies. However, these changes have by no means reduced the level of intergovernmental conflict. On the contrary, cuts in federal expenditure, the introduction of block grants and public opposition to increases in state and local taxation are likely to intensify debate on distributional questions at the state level.     

Procurement policy: The missing element in financial management education

This study emphasizes the need to include purchasing, or procurement, as a topic in the graduate-level public administration curriculum. It notes the absence of purchasing research in mainstream public administration journals and in leading public financial management textbooks. The study also reports the results of a survey mailed to the purchasing directors of the 46 largest U.S. counties outside Florida. The survey was designed to familiarize academians and practitioners with various administrative, legal, structural, and procedural dimensions of county procurement policies. Areas of greatest deficiency are those dealing with protest and appeals procedures and contract monitoring, and to a lesser extent procedures for declaring an emergency, entering into intergovernmental purchasing agreements, and contracting with minority businesses. The most comprehensively-covered elements are those delineating award authority, small purchase authority, methods of soliciting bids, definitions of emergencies and professional services, and procedures for contracting professional services.     

Intergovernmental redirection

Intergovernmental reformers have long attempted to remedy the system's more apparent defects, especially the recent buildup in federal-state-local relations as Washington's involvement became broader and deeper. These remedies have included incremental and procedural changes, rationalization of federal aid and program delivery instruments, and total overhaul of the system through functional realignment. Efforts in the past have proved only marginally successful, essentially due to the fact that Congress had become the dominant architect and defender of the system. The world of intergovernmental relations changed dramatically from 1978 on, due to the poor performance of the economy, antitax and antispending sentiment, public-sector retrenchment, and fiscal deterioration at the federal level. Decentralization, competition, and fragmentation characterize the contemporary do-it-yourself federalism. President Reagan's proposed swap, turnback, and trust-fund package of New Federalism seeks to capture these changes in a system realignment. I examine these changes in light of whither intergovernmental relations go in the 1980s.     

The challenge of design of intergovernmental relations in economies in transition

The governments of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union are at a crucial juncture in their movement from highly centralized command economies to more decentralized market economies. While there is a belief in these countries that decentralization brings greater economic efficiency, the reality is that such a transition is a difficult process. This paper examines what types of administrative reforms are needed for the decentralization process, how far along the countries are with respect to these reforms, and what reforms are missing. As we discuss, many of the necessary administration reforms are missing and we argue that more attention must be paid to these elements for successful decentralization of these governments.

This paper examines the recent experience and reform needs of the key administrative aspects of the design of intergovernmental relations in countries in transition in Eastern Europe and in the former Soviet Union. There is a widespread realization in all of these countries that decentralizing government will help increase efficiency in the public sector just as privatization will improve efficiency in their economies. Decentralization of government operations is also attractive as a way to cement a democratic form of government. Despite the appearances of the existence of an already decentralized system, such as in the case of the Soviet Union, this experiment started in practically all cases with a lack of institutions and experience on how decentralized government operations should be organized.

As different as these countries are, there are many similarities in the reform process they are following in order to decentralize government structure. While the basic components of a decentralized system of government are emerging in many of these countries the structure of government has not fully evolved in a manner that can support such a decentralized system. Often, governments remain structured along a vertical hierarchy: information, budgetary authority, and revenue pass from the central government down to subnational levels of government while little communication or interaction exists at a horizontal level. In general, the assignment of revenue and expenditure has not been clearly defined among the two or three levels of government, central government transfers continue to occur in a relatively ad hoc manner, and the entire budgeting system still rests in many cases on more or less formal system of negotiations and bargaining among the different levels of government. There has been some change in this structure in certain countries. Over the last three years, both Poland and Hungary have legally increased the automony of subnational governments. In 1994 in Russia a new and more transparent system of intergovernmental grants has been established between the federal government and the regions. In 1994 also, Latvia introduced a more transparent formula-driven, transfer formula for the regional and municipal governments.

The focus of this paper is to develop a “blue print” for necessary changes in organization and administration of intergovernmental relations in countries in transition. While many experts have recently been discussing the public finance policy components of this new, evolving relationship among levels of government, less attention has been paid to the structural and administrative challenges and the information design issues that must be met in order to develop and support a system of intergovernmental relations.

The paper is organized as follows: First we review the major responsibilities and their allocation among levels of government, the assignment of revenue sources, and the system of transfers. We then turn to a discussion of the current experience of Eastern European and NIS countries in the context of the structural components of an intergovernmental fiscal system. Next, we analyze the organizational reforms that are necessary for the efficient functioning of a decentralized system of government in the economies in transition. Finally we “rate” the transition economies in relation to their current design of the system of intergovernmental relations and support mechanisms.     

Inter-Governmental Policy Implementation: State Inducements to Encourage Implementation at the Local Level

This article investigates how State departments can best equip Local government to implement State environmental protection legislation effectively. Research on joint implementation by the then New South Wales Environment Protection Authority and NSW Local government authorities is reviewed to explore inducements and constraints on intergovernmental policy implementation, including the multi-jurisdictional nature of policy.