From Utopia to Pragmatism: the Heritage of Basismo in Local Government in the Greater Buenos Aires Region1

Abstract – Contemporary municipal politics and administration in the poor outer suburbs of Buenos Aires is heavily influenced on one hand by the heritage of grassroots Peronist activism of the 1970s and on the other by the exigencies of contemporary neo-liberalism. The paper explores the tensions between these pressures.     

State-building or state-capture? Institutional exports,local reception and hybridity of reforms in post-war Kosovo

ABSTRACT

Post-war Kosovo has been the subject of a highly intrusive international state-building project, including an unprecedented influx of international administrators, assistance and funds. However, it increasingly bears the hallmark of a weak and captured state. This special issue contributes theoretical and empirical insights that shed light on possible explanations, difficulties and prospects of the state-building project in Kosovo. Theoretically, we investigate how international and local explanations play out, interact and gain dominance over each other; highlight the local factors that shape the experience of state-building; and focus on the hybridity of institution- and state-building on the ground. Empirically, we take stock of two decades of international state-building activities and one decade of independent statehood by providing long-term and in-depth analysis of specific areas of reform – municipal governance, state bureaucracy, normalization of relations between Serbia and Kosovo, education, creation of armed forces, security sector reforms and reception of Salafi ideologies. Such time-sensitive, case-nuanced and empirically heavy analysis enables the authors to go back and forth between the role of international activities, domestic strategies of resistance and evidence of hybrid reforms in order to test the role of competing explanations.     

新时代背景下地方政府智慧政务建设路径研究——以云南省为例

党的十九届四中全会为地方政府加强和创新社会治理、推进社会治理现代化、提高社会治理效能和水平提供了行动遵循。我国地方政府应从强化资源整合、设立协作平台、优化第三方合作等方面进行路径探索,推动我国地方政府在新时代背景下的智慧政务建设,营造发展新格局。     

The Role of Local Government in the Prevention of Violence against Women and Girls during the COVID-19 Pandemic

This article discusses aspects of the emerging evidence around the impact of COVID-19 on violence against women as well as local government interventions relating to the prevention of domestic violence in Latin American countries. I show how, during the coronavirus outbreak, local governments are vital in the prevention of violence against women and girls, and I present examples of some local actions that seek to guarantee access to the appropriate support and services during the pandemic.     

Challenges to Intergovernmental Relations in Switzerland and Japan

In comparing Switzerland and Japan with respect to intergovernmental relations, differences are more obvious than similarities. Switzerland is a strongly federalist country. In contrast, Japan was clearly centralist in the past, and despite continuing decentralization reforms, it is usually still considered to be so today. The influence of the lower levels of government on the national legislative process remains comparatively low in Japan. Its centralized political structure seems to fit Japan's homogeneous culture, while on the other hand Swiss federalism has proven to be apt for the integration of minorities and for respect of cultural diversity. In spite of obvious basic differences, intergovernmental relations in these two countries face similar challenges: the concentration of human and economic resources in urban areas, the weakening of sub‐national parliaments, and financial strain.     

Heightening Leadership Effectiveness in Local Governments of Uganda: ‘Challenge the Process’ for Organisational Support

ABSTRACT

Leadership effectiveness is an enviable characteristic in public as well as in private organisations. This article presents a discussion of the leadership practice known as ‘Challenge the Process’; within the context of Bushenyi district local government administration in Uganda. The discussion reveals that the leadership practice of ‘challenge the process’ influences the organisational climate and can be influential in generating change within an organisation. The study also demonstrates that Bushenyi district employees associate the behaviour patterns of their leaders and supervisors with the organisation. Based on data collected, the argument is that the leadership practice of ‘challenge the process’ positively influences employees’ perceived organisational support in Bushenyi local government of Uganda. The conclusions are in agreement with Kouzes and Posner (2002) that leaders who ‘challenge the process’ can achieve extraordinary results and improve employees’ perceived organisational support.

The article recommends that in the current environment of local government administration in Uganda be characterised by a democratic political dispensation and private-public sector initiatives; leaders should consider not merely being mindful of the rules and standing instructions in public administration; must be innovative, willing to take risks, and challenge assumptions about the way things have always been done in order to increase employees’ perceived organisational support. As stressed by Kouzes and Posner (2002), leaders in local governments can promote the resourcefulness of employees at work through the practice of ‘challenge the process’.     

Between Interculturalism and Ethnocentrism: Local Government and the Indigenous Movement in Otavalo‐Ecuador

To what extent might an indigenous mayor govern beyond ethnically defined grievances, without being labelled traitor by the indigenous organisation? This article deals with the challenges faced by the Ecuadorian indigenous movement when it attains power in local government. The issue will be explored through the case of Mario Conejo, who in 2000 became the first indigenous mayor of Otavalo representing the indigenous political movement Pachakutik. Although ethnically based tensions in the local indigenous movement were evident throughout the period, 2006 saw Conejo leave Pachakutik and create a new political movement. This rupture can be traced, I argue, to an intercultural dilemma and the difficulties of ethnically defined political movements.     

Negotiating Natural Resource Conflicts: A Study of State Practices,Peasant Mobilisation and Sub‐National Government in the Peruvian Andes

This article explores the dynamics of natural resource conflicts and local government in the Peruvian Andes. Recent publications have found that efficiency and democratic accountability in local government are key variables for mitigating conflict. By focusing on the ethnographies of two conflicts and as participant observers within local government, we argue that by re‐framing the analytical focus within local histories and current practices of natural resource conflicts, we can better make sense of the dynamics of current land politics. The article presents a sequential framework that explores key moments of the relations between the state and peasant communities during natural resource conflicts. Through this framework, we argue that natural resource conflicts are negotiated in a sphere of politics that transcends the state's institutional and legal limits.     

Local governance and spatial distribution of resources: The need to harness traditional leadership for service delivery in South Africa

Abstract

Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis methods, the aim of the study forming the basis of the article was to examine how traditional leadership can be harnessed for the purposes of service delivery at the local level in South Africa. Specifically, the study sought to examine the juxtaposition of traditional and modern forms of governance in South Africa (institutional duality) and the role traditional leaders play in the provision and delivery of social and economic services to the sections of the population within their jurisdictions. The results of the study confirmed the existence of this institutional duality with regard to the Southern African institutional culture. In other words, even though traditional leaders no longer wield the considerable administrative, legislative and judicial powers they used to exercise over the chiefdoms, they are still very much part of the institutional culture of South Africa and the sub-region.     

泰国的禁毒运动

制毒、贩毒和吸毒是当今世界最大的公害之一。它跟艾滋病、恐怖主义一样,是人类的大敌。目前全世界毒品的种植、生产和消费仍呈蔓延和发展的趋势,毒品问题已成为全球性的问题,几乎没有一个国家能幸免于难。地处世界著名毒源“金三角”的泰国,更是在劫难逃,长期受到毒品的危害和困扰,可以说,毒品已成为泰国国家安全与稳定的主要威胁之一。他信政府自2001年2月上台执政以来,把禁毒作为与脱贫、治贪并列的三大施政目标之一。他信认为,毒品是泰国当前的大敌,防毒反毒是政府的当务之急,提出了向“毒品宣战”的口号。近三年,由于措施得力,行动果断,所以扫毒工作战果累累。泰国政府禁毒的成功将不仅造福于全体泰国人民,也将为整个亚洲乃至全世界的禁毒斗争做出历史性贡献。     

博弈类型与国际机制--APEC方式的博弈论分析

博弈论对具体的国际合作机制的形成具有很强的解释力.具体利益博弈的类型不同,它所要求的国际合作机制也不同.亚太经合组织内发达经济体与发展中经济体的利益博弈是一种特殊的非合作型博弈,这决定了A距C合作方式的特殊性.     

Challenges to decentralisation in Ghana: where do citizens seek assistance?

Decentralisation in Ghana, and across sub-Saharan Africa, faces a number of challenges to successful local governance provision because there are a number of formal and informal actors to choose from. Citizens may take problems they want a governance provider to solve to a member of parliament or a district assembly person, a traditional chief or a police officer, a neighbour or an NGO. In this article we report on a four-constituency survey administered to explore and understand how citizens choose between the options of local institutions available to them in order to solve a problem important to their community or themselves. We find that formal national (Parliamentarians) and informal traditional (Chiefs) institutions are where respondents turn for assistance most often instead of constitutionally described local modes of governance (District Assemblies). We consider the implications of this finding in terms of decentralisation in Ghana and the need to build institutions that are context-sensitive and reflect how citizens understand political options.