Leading the Implementation of ICT Innovations

This article analyzes the associations between leadership, the implementation of information and communication technology (ICT) innovations, and performance. After reviewing theories and empirical evidence from the literature on leading change, ICT innovations, and performance, the authors elaborate hypotheses and test them in an analysis of the implementation of an ICT innovation in a Danish multisite hospital. In a quasi‐experimental research design using panel data, survey responses from more than 2,000 employees before and after the implementation were generated, in addition to qualitative interviews with change agents. Findings indicate how differences in leadership during the ICT implementation process have an important impact on performance after the implementation. Mobilization of initial support, directive leadership through information and technical assistance, participative leadership through employee involvement, and locally adapted implementation processes are important leadership factors associated with performance. The article concludes by discussing broader perspectives of the study and implications for practice, theory, and future research.     

A Green Post-capitalist Alternative to a System of Accumulation: A Bioregional Economy*

This paper explores capital accumulation as the engine of the capitalist mode of production. Accumulation drives the socio-economic damage caused by capitalism, as well as the environmental crises of land use, climate change and resource depletion. It may not be possible to address these problems within a reformed capitalism. Rather, such a goal can only be met within “a practical, workable post-capitalist and post-accumulative ecological economy, an economy by the people, for the people, that is geared to production for need, not for profit” [Smith, R. (2010). “Beyond Growth or Beyond Capitalism?” Real-World Economics Review 53: 28–42., 42]. This paper sets out a post-capitalist alternative, drawing from green economics and Marxian economics, that is, applied at a local and regional level.     

Interests,passions and politics: business associations and the sovereignty dispute in Turkey

This paper examines business associations in a context where the state is being contested from below, focusing on Diyarbak?r, a major Kurdish city in Turkey. Against the backdrop of armed conflict, reform processes triggered by the country’s EU candidacy and socio-economic change, Diyarbak?r has become a contested zone over which the Turkish government and the Kurdish movement have been competing for control. Local business associations have also been implicated in such contestation. Considering the situation of dual power and moral economy at the local level, the paper examines how these associations deal with an adverse situation that is characterized by political instability and uncertainty. The analysis shows that business leaders have been able to make the ‘best’ of the situation.     

Explaining non‐participation in deliberative mini‐publics

This article investigates citizens’ refusal to take part in participatory and deliberative mechanisms. An increasing number of scholars and political actors support the development of mini‐publics – that is, deliberative forums with randomly selected lay citizens. It is often argued that such innovations are a key ingredient to curing the democratic malaise of contemporary political regimes because they provide an appropriate means to achieve inclusiveness and well considered judgment. Nevertheless, real‐life experience shows that the majority of citizens refuse the invitation when they are recruited. This raises a challenging question for the development of a more inclusive democracy: Why do citizens decline to participate in mini‐publics? This article addresses this issue through a qualitative analysis of the perspectives of those who have declined to participate in three mini‐publics: the G1000, the G100 and the Climate Citizens Parliament. Drawing on in‐depth interviews, six explanatory logics of non‐participation are distinguished: concentration on the private sphere; internal political inefficacy; public meeting avoidance; conflict of schedule; political alienation; and mini‐public's lack of impact on the political system. This shows that the reluctance to take part in mini‐publics is rooted in the way individuals conceive their own roles, abilities and capacities in the public sphere, as well as in the perceived output of such democratic innovations.     

The economy and the educational system in capitalistic societies

The purpose of this article is to analyse the relations between the educational system and economy in capitalist societies. The economy is conceived here in terms of its technical as well as its social relations. The analysis here is centered around the capitalist labour market rather than capitalist technical relations of production as is usual in the literature on the relations between the educational system and the economy. This article is a preliminary attempt to break out of both economistic and sociologistic conceptions which dominate the literature on education.     

Production efficiency versus bureaucratic self-interest: Two innovative processes?

This article reports on a study of technological innovations in state and local government agencies. The study was based on an aggregate analysis of 140 previously published and unpublished case studies, in which a closed-ended questionnaire was used to extract information from the case studies. The main hypotheses and findings of the study concern the possible existence of two innovative processes, one that emphasizes service improvements but that does not necessarily lead to enduring incorporation of the innovation (production efficiency), and the other that emphasizes incorporation even where the innovation may not have produced a demonstrable service improvement (bureaucratic self-interest).This study was supported in part by a grant from the Office of R&D Assessment, National Science Foundation, though the author alone is responsible for the views expressed here.     

Trade union strategies and change in Neo-corporatist concertation: A new century of political exchange?

This article examines change and divergence in the politics of partnership-based governance of two weak neo-corporatist countries, Italy and Spain. Evolution in the forms and processes of concertation is driven by a logic of interaction guiding actors' behaviour which is different from that theorised for strongly neo-corporatist countries. As the framework governing the industrial relations system is characterised by conflict and poor coordination capacities, change will take the form of a top-down search for accommodation of this conflict through political exchange in contexts where neo-corporatist institutions provide weak constraints on actors' behaviour. This has been possible in the last decade because political participation, though weakly institutionalised, remained for trade unions a positive course of action used instrumentally in order to achieve policy and organisational benefits. Hence, the divergent evolutions of the two countries are to be traced back to factors affecting the strategic decision of political participation of trade unions, in particular inter-union ideological and political divisions and the dynamics of the relationship between grass roots and leadership.     

Tracking and Explaining Neighborhood Socioeconomic Change in U.S. Metropolitan Areas Between 1990 and 2010

This article addresses four fundamental questions about neighborhood change processes and outcomes among large U.S. metropolitan areas between 1990 and 2010: (a) Is it possible using census data and other secondary sources to come up with a consistent and robust method to measure gentrification and other forms of substantial neighborhood socioeconomic change (SNSEC) across all U.S. metropolitan areas? (b) To what degree are gentrification and other forms of SNSEC the result of metropolitan-scale economic and demographic forces versus more bottom-up and neighborhood-specific forces and dynamics? (c) To what degree are gentrification and other forms of SNSEC shaped by the actions of individual, and groups of, property owners, developers, and speculators versus the neighborhood service and location preferences of households? (d) To what extent are gentrification and other forms of substantial neighborhood change always accompanied by the displacement of existing residents?     

Verhandeln statt Argumentieren oder Verhandeln durch Argumentieren? Eine empirische Analyse auf der Basis der Sprechakttheorie

In a recent debate in German political science the terms ?bargaining and arguing“ have been construed as semantic opposites in the same dichotomous way as the terms ?strategic action and communicative action“ and ?game theory and discourse theory“. This paper rejects the notion of these dichotomies and presents a new theoretical approach to distinguish bargaining and arguing as modes of communicative resolution of conflicts. On the basis of speech act theory a method for the empirical analysis of bargaining and arguing processes is developed and demonstrated with an example of interest conflict resolution by mediation. Three conclusions can be drawn: First, in empirical processes of communicative conflict resolution, in almost all cases both arguing and bargaining will be present. Second, within the context of an interest conflict, arguing is not an alternative to bargaining, but a means for bargaining. Third, in the example in question a sequential structure could be observed: The resolution of disagreements over facts and values by arguing took place before the resolution of interest conflict by bargaining.     

Budgeting in Ghana: Innovations, Problems, and Prospects

Systematic development has been a high priority of Ghanaian leaders, particularly since Independence. The impetus for this national objective has been recent budgetary innovations aimed at far-reaching implications for a healthy national economy, including meaningful development. This article evaluates these innovations with a view to finding out the extent to which such forces of innovation have improved overall public financial administration, as well as the masses' living conditions via development. Finally, the results of these innovations and the lessons learned are summarized.     

American Federalism on the Horizon

The American federal system took some unpredictable twists andturns during the twentieth century. As a new century—indeed,a new millennium—begins, which trends are likely to continue,which are likely to dissipate? What issues pose the greatestchallenges for the intergovernmental system? This article plotsseveral possible paths along which the federal system couldtravel over the next decade. The fundamental issue in Americanfederalism is a perennial one: How will the balance of powerbetween the federal government and the states change? Otherkey issues facing American federalism are identified and theirlikely impacts examined. The article concludes with an assessmentthat the next decade in American federalism may be surprisinglyrobust.     

Participatory innovations and maxi-publics: The influence of participation possibilities on perceived legitimacy at the local level in Finland

Participatory innovations (PIs) have been introduced as one possible cure to democratic malaises. Empirical research on these mechanisms for citizen participation has, however, focused on their effects on individuals and policy outcomes, leaving aside their consequences for the wider public. This article fills part of the gap by examining the effect of PIs on perceived legitimacy. The article acknowledges that citizens value not only outcomes but also the inclusiveness of decision-making processes, and defines procedural fairness and outcome satisfaction as the key evaluative criteria behind perceived legitimacy. Both total number and type of PIs are considered as possible factors shaping legitimacy evaluations. By analysing data from 9,022 citizens in 30 Finnish municipalities, the article reveals that introducing PIs is not a simple fix for legitimacy of local governments. The type of participation matters, with discursive participation generating the strongest effects on procedural fairness. However, attention should also be paid to citizens’ awareness of participation possibilities.     

Class and social policy in the knowledge economy

Recent studies of welfare state attitudes in the knowledge economy find very high generalized support for generous welfare state policies, both among the working and the middle classes. Has class become irrelevant as a predictor of social policy preferences? Or do we simply mis-conceptualise today's class conflict over social policy? To what extent has it changed from a divide over the level of social policy generosity to a divide over the kind of social policy and – more specifically – over the relative importance that should be given to different social policies? Answering these questions is not only relevant to understand welfare politics in the twenty-first century, but electoral politics as well: only when we understand what working- and middle-class voters care about, can we evaluate the role distributive policies play in electoral processes. We use original survey data from eight West European countries to show that middle- and working-class respondents indeed differ in the relative importance they attribute to social investment and social consumption policies. Middle-class respondents consistently attribute higher absolute and relative importance to social investment. We also show that this emphasis on investive policies relates to the middle class expecting better future economic and social opportunities than the working class. This divide in anticipated opportunities underlies a new kind of working- versus middle-class divide, which contributes to transforming the class divide from a conflict over the level of social policy to a conflict over the priorities of social policy.     

Bureaucratic Inefficiency: Failure to Capture the Efficiencies of Outsourcing

This paper analyzes the political economy ofoutsourcing by 16 federal bureaus during 1981-96. Inan era of restricted budgets and budget balancing, thepaper questions why federal bureaus did not exploitfully the efficiencies of outsourcing. It proves thatfederal bureaus can achieve technical and costefficiency through outsourcing when contracts can benearly fully specified. Federal bureaus outsource byobtaining inputs to their production processes throughcontracts with competitive market producing units. Econometric results substantiate the hypothesis that``institutions matter,'' and reveal that bureausachieve varying levels of technical efficiency throughdifferent levels of outsourcing.     

Path Dependence in Settlement Processes: Explaining Settlement in Northern Ireland

The recent literature on path dependence provides a model that can be used in explanation of ethnic conflict and settlement processes. Using Northern Ireland as a case study, this article identifies path dependent patterns of conflict embedded in long-term processes of political development whose change may interrupt these patterns. It highlights the importance of long-term state trajectories in constituting and reproducing these patterns, the generation of 'endogenous' processes of change and the impact of wider geopolitical processes in strengthening these. It shows how and why factors such as power, perception, networks and institutions vary in their impact on conflict and explains when they work together to produce settlement.     

The Negotiated Economy: Is There a Theory?

The original concept of the negotiated economy from the late 1970s provided some heuristic insights into significant developments of political, economic, and administrative processes. The later development of the concept has not brought the theory of the negotiated economy any further. This is a reply to an article published in SPS (Andersen et al. 1996) which responded to criticisms brought by me in an earlier article (1W.4). The defence of the theory of the negotiated economy is not consistent. The theory is both non-positive and positive, and normally accepted criteria for empirical confrontation are not adhered to.     

Conflict resolution: benchmarking water utility performance

The water sector has economic and symbolic importance for citizens in developing countries. Water utility benchmarking is no panacea for improving water sector performance. Nevertheless, it can contribute to addressing four sources of conflict in the design and implementation of policies: cognitive conflicts (based on technical disagreements regarding how data might be analysed and interpreted), interest conflicts (where suppliers and demanders obtain different benefits and costs under alternative policies), values conflicts (involving ideology or personal preferences regarding water sector outcomes) and authority conflicts (stemming from jurisdictional disagreements over who has the last word). These potential sources of conflict characterise most politically‐charged situations, including water supply management. This article examines the extent to which water utility benchmarking facilitates conflict resolution. Without information on historical trends, current baselines and realistic targets, conflicts over reforms to improve sector performance can weaken systems that are already fragile, particularly those in developing countries. This article attempts to improve our understanding of the links between sources of conflict, government approaches for dealing with conflict and the role of water utility benchmarking as a complementary strategy for addressing policy issues. Benchmarking is one way regulators and managers can promote conflict resolution that allows participants to focus on performance. The principles apply to all sectors with significant state oversight. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Local government and urban protest in Colombia

This article examines how urban conflict in Colombia is highlighting important features of local government in that country. Four interrelated questions are asked: (a) What is the role of local government in the provision of public goods and services in urban communities? (b) To what extent has local government been the target of urban community protest? (c) Has local government taken on a petitioner role by being a participant in urban community protest? (d) Does urban protest threaten the system of political domination of which local government is an integral part? The article points to certain key features of local government in Colombia that may be built upon in order to create a more progressive, democratic and community-based system of local government. There are, however, powerful political constraints on this occurring.     

Same Governance,Different Day: Does Metropolitan Reorganization Make a Difference?

This commentary focuses on three points related to the debate about urban governmental restructuring: existing conflicts in the literature regarding the outcomes of local government consolidation; insights about consolidation based on an assessment of the amalgamation of twelve municipal units creating the new city of Ottawa; and, a discussion of a variety of methodological and political factors that may well account for the continuing inconsistency in academic assessments of structural change in local government. One possible explanation for the latter conflict is that governmental reorganization does not really make things substantially different in terms of taxes and services, that is, those outcomes most directly experienced by the average citizen. Over the long term other forces, such as intergovernmental relations and the economy, will tend to negate most of the initial effects of change. While there are likely to be winners and losers related to power in government or regime, it will be argued that in large part, for most citizens, governmental reorganization produces the same governance on a different day.     

The Economy Effect: Conceptual Innovation and Benefit Corporations

What kind of thing is the economy, and how might we act to change it? This article draws on the work of Timothy Mitchell and J. K. Gibson-Graham to suggest that the economy may be fruitfully understood as a structural effect, or an appearance of difference maintained through the repetition of acts and practices. It then employs Reinhart Koselleck’s theory of conceptual change to argue that the economy effect may be altered through efforts aimed at conceptual innovation. If the economy effect is maintained through repeated acts and practices that delineate the distinction between the economy and everything else, then conceptual innovation with respect to those concepts that inform these acts and practices could alter the manner in which this distinction is produced. The benefit (or public interest) corporation serves as an example of how such efforts at conceptual innovation might produce change in the structural effect that we call “the economy.”