Local government fiscal reform: principles and options for the future

U.S. local governments in the 1980s were under increasing fiscal stress. The fiscal outlook is not particularly bright because of projected rapid growth of certain expenditures and the slow growth of most local revenue sources. Potentially major changes in fiscal responsibilities at the federal and state levels may call for local government fiscal reform in the future. This article uses a case study of Broome County, New York, to illustrate the difficulties local governments face and then suggests a series of revenue reforms that can enhance equity, efficiency, revenue productivity, and administrative simplicity.     

Monetary policy in europe: towards a european central bank and one european currency

Most alternative blueprints for European Monetary Union (EMU) differ in their opinions about convergence requirements or the need for binding fiscal rules and controls of individual national governments' debt policies, but there is, if not complete consensus, widespread agreement that the European Central Bank (ECB) should be independent of political control from both European Community (EC) institutions and national governments. The main argument for an independent European central bank is empirical: those countries in which central banks are insulated from the political process and charged with maintaining price stability have experienced the lowest and most stable inflation rates in recent decades. The present paper reviews and critically evaluates this political economy literature which relates inflation performances to the constitutional features of central bank statutes. Based on this assessment the draft statutes of the ECB and the constitutions of the individual European national central banks are discussed in terms of the independence they grant central bank board members from partisan influences. Furthermore, concrete country-specific suggestions for enhancing central bank independence during stage two of the gradual transition to EMU, which is to be completed by 1999, are made. It is argued that in some countries laborious constitutional reforms of central bank statutes are overdue and must be implemented in order to make these institutions fit for an anti-inflationary EMU.     

Beyond privatisation and cost savings: alternatives for local government reform

Unsatisfactory results from privatisation have caused local governments to seek alternative reforms. Inter-municipal cooperation, mixed public/private delivery and contract reversals are three alternatives that have gained traction in the last decade. These alternatives help local governments manage markets for public service delivery as a dynamic process. They maximise government/market complementarities and address a wider array of public goals beyond cost efficiency concerns. The alternative reforms show how local governments balance citizen, labour and community interests to ensure efficiency, coordination and stability in public service delivery.     

Local government and the arts revisited

This article discusses policy developments in the arts and local government since the publication of the original article on this topic. It assesses the continued relevance of the thinking behind policy attachment in the original article for understanding and explaining policy in this sector, and indicates the direction in which the concept of policy attachment could be developed in both analytical and empirical ways.     

Transnational policy networks and the European Union's energy policy

The goal of this article is to critically examine the engagement between the European Union (EU) and a transnational policy network (TPN) that deals with an issue that has grown in importance in the architecture of the EU's energy policy: fracking. The author argues that successful engagement between the EU and networks on shale gas was facilitated by the fact that the TPN or the members of the TPN were in possession of technical and scientific information that is highly needed by institutions in Brussels. Also, the article reveals that the fact that EU energy insecurity has been high on the EU agenda increased EU's interest in actors that could provide vital insights into potential panaceas and palliatives to energy insecurity.     

Local government reforms: between multifunction and single-purpose organisations

The paper argues that, in ‘revisiting’ the referred-to article published back in 2004, the concept then guiding the analysis would need to be modified particularly on three scores. For one, in order to achieve a more adequate comparison the country selection should be expanded beyond the earlier sample (UK, France, Germany and Sweden) to also capture Southern and Central Eastern European countries. Second, the ‘developmental’ (‘over time’) analysis of the pertinent institutional changes should be further accentuated and complemented by proceeding ‘by (developmental)stages’ instead of ‘country by country’. Third, while still deeming the distinction between ‘multifunction’ and ‘single-purpose’ organisations fruitful to guide a ‘government versus governance’ analysis and interpretation, the distinction between ‘political rationality’ and ‘economic rationality’ should be added with the former (ideal-typically) identified with elected (local) government and the latter seen characteristic of many of the actors in the governance-typical actor networks.     

Reputation reform strategies in local government: investigating Denmark and Norway

This article investigates reputation reform in Norwegian and Danish local government and whether they have the same strategy content depending on the degree of administrative involvement and municipality size. Political and administrative actors are likely to cultivate different types of reputation strategies (place or organisational reputation), which explicitly embrace the potentially diverging interests cultivated by the two types of actors. We use a comparative design and quantitative method with an empirical ambition to explore local government reputation strategies in two national contexts. We find that local government responses to reputation reform depend on the size of the municipality and the type of actors involved; the larger the municipality, the more the administration is involved. And the more that administrative actors are involved, the more the strategies target organisational reputation. The country-specific factors do not appear to be the most important determinants for reputation reform strategies.     

The view from below: Local government and Putin's reforms

Local government reforms in contemporary Russia are placed in the broader contexts of political reform under Putin and the historical relationship between local administration and the state. Reforms of local government thus help illuminate the architecture of contemporary state building in Russia and the degree to which contemporary Russia perpetuates political traditions. This study reviews the antecedent action in local government prior to the Putin era. It then examines the Kozak Commission and the new law on local government, assessing the strengths and weaknesses of these reforms. Finally, this study examines the challenges of implementing the reforms and what these challenges tell us about devolution and centralisation under Putin.     

Cultural policy,local government and museums: an Australian perspective

This article examines cultural policy developments affecting the Australian local government sector arguing for policy that directly addresses the operational needs of small to medium museums. Over a period spanning roughly three decades, national and state government involvement in ‘community’ cultural programmes has decreased, with local authorities assuming primary funding responsibility; a process I call the ‘municipalisation of culture’. The dual imperative for councils to provide dynamic cultural facilities while demonstrating prudent spending of ratepayer money has produced a challenging climate for local museums. Using the state of New South Wales as a case study, this article explores how this shifting cultural policy landscape, together with growing instrumentalisation of cultural programmes, has transformed the perceived context and purpose of museums in local government areas. It argues that the pressures of demonstrating impact across an array of public benefits in a restricted funding climate threatens the sustainability and meaningfulness of local museums.     

Management,markets and democracy: Australian local government reform in the 1990s

Australian local government has been subjected to extensive reform during the 1990s. This article considers the three main dimensions of the reforms — changes to management structures, the introduction of competition policy, and municipal consolidation. It reviews the evidence available about the nature of outcomes and examines the impact of the reforms on governance values. It is argued that, so far, economic considerations have been balanced by a commitment to community particpation. Recent political developments, however, may yet prove to be an emerging threat.     

Policy networks and the GM crops issue: assessing the utility of a dialectical model of policy networks

A dialectical model of policy networks is deployed to analyse policy change in the area of GM crops in the UK. The model uses an analysis of the interaction between agents and structure, network and context and network and outcomes to understand and explain how policy change has occurred. A key advantage of the model is that it increases understanding of network transformation, explanation of which has been an alleged weakness of the policy network approach. However, this case study does throw up some weaknesses with the model, including the tendency of the model to emphasize the role of 'insider' agents and downplay the role of 'outsiders' in the policy process.