THE REGIONAL OFFICES OF THE DOE — POLICEMEN OR MEDIATORS? A STUDY OF LOCAL HOUSING POLICY

The article begins with a review of the existing literature on the regional level of government and the 'regional state', and proceeds to focus on the range of linkages which are found between the centre and local authorities. Seven linkages are identified and after an analysis of the regional level of government it is suggested that professional and technical linkages predominate. The roles of the regional offices of the DOE are then examined within this framework with particular attention being paid to the professional involvement in the housing investment programme negotiations. The article concludes with suggestions concerning the role and influence of the regional officers of the DOE on local authority housing policy.     

Perceptions Of Federal Management In The Clinton Era

This article examines aspects of planning, budgeting and reorganization in order to evaluate what improvements have been undertaken during the Clinton presidency to improve government performance in the United States national government 1 . The authors develop a model of government reform based upon a series of escalating steps. These are: (1) internal government improvements; (2) fundamental restructuring and reorganization of agency operations; (3) programme reforms, driven by internal management; (4) programme reforms – driven by policy and political change; (5) reform of the political system itself. The authors conclude that while the National Performance Review and Government Performance and Results Act are the centre-pieces of this effort, reform will continue in the US after NPR
and GPRA wither away because the time is right for reform for a variety of reasons discussed in the article. The findings are then focused in a broader context in terms of their applicability to western democracies which could result in smaller more successful governments in the twenty-first century.     

The Primordialisation of Ethnic Nationalism in Macedonia

Abstract

After the Greek veto on Macedonia’s NATO accession in 2008, the Macedonian government launched comprehensive policies to reconstruct the Macedonian ethno-national narrative as stretching back to ancient Macedonia. The ‘Skopje 2014’ project, which was a large-scale reconstruction of the capital city in neoclassical and baroque styles, as well as new educational and mass media campaigns claiming the continuous existence of the Macedonian nation since antiquity, were the cornerstones of the Gruevski government’s project. The so-called ‘antiquisation’ programme was both a domestic and international assertion of Macedonia’s name, identity and history amid Greek challenges and attempts to undermine Macedonia’s legitimacy in the eyes of the international community. The Skopje 2014 project increased tensions between ethnic Macedonians and Albanians in Macedonia, and also deepened divisions among Macedonians.     

Balancing revisability and robustness? A new institutionalist perspective on local government modernization

This article focuses upon one particular aspect of new institutionalist thinking – that which analyses the scope for, and constraints upon, deliberate interventions in institutional change. New institutionalist insights are used to illuminate the challenges faced by the British Labour government in its programme for modernizing local government. The focus is upon two core concepts: robustness and revisability – a pairing which highlights the potential contradictions that exist within the new institutionalist approach to design. It is argued that New Labour struggled to achieve a balance between these key design criteria during its first term, with revisability increasingly sacrificed in favour of robustness. In its second term in office (since June 2001), Labour has sought to rebalance robustness and revisability, largely through the principle of 'earned autonomy'. In this context the values informing the institutional redesign of local government have become less clear and more contested, and there has been a progressive shift from commitment-based to control-based strategies for change.     

Delivering joined–up government in the UK: dimensions, issues and problems

In the UK, joined–up government (JUG) was a central part of the first Blair government's programme for public sector reform. It remains a pivotal, if more muted, feature of the second term. We will identify the range of disparate activities that have been branded as 'joined up'. We then look at the variety of official guidance coming from the centre of government to highlight the overlapping and competing strategies that underpinned the implementation of joined–up government. Various competing strategies have been advocated and implemented at any one time. Therefore the situation was more fluid and more contested than might be inferred from the use of the homogenizing term 'joined–up government'. We conclude by briefly considering what this implies for our understanding of intra–state relationships, of the relationships between public agencies and civil society, and the relationship between JUG and the politics of the Third Way.     

A DEFENCE OF FREQUENT MINISTERIAL TURNOVER

The frequency with which British ministers are transferred between departments incurs considerable adverse comment. It is generally held to have a prejudicial effect upon government. However, much of the criticism is misdirected and predicated upon questionable assumptions. There are cogent (if rarely voiced) arguments in favour of relatively rapid ministerial turnover. Within departments short-stay ministers are in a stronger position than conventional wisdom allows. At the cabinet level they are less likely to adopt a narrow, departmentally oriented approach at the expense of wider considerations. The party management function of ministerial reshuffles, though much disparaged, plays an essential part in effective government, promoting ministerial vitality and assisting in the achievement of the legislative programme. The preponderance of career politicians in the House of Commons accentuates the pressures for rapid ministerial turnover, the need for which is, paradoxically, further increased by the same party being in office for a prolonged period.     

Citizens by Design? Explaining Ex-Combatant Satisfaction with Reintegration Programming

After armed conflict, there is often a surge in programmes designed to consolidate the peace. During the transition to peace, the quality of programme management has been argued to shape public perceptions about government and citizenship. What aspects of programme management are most important? What implementation failures have the greatest negative effects? We study these questions in the context of a reintegration programme for former combatants in Colombia. We find evidence that programme implementation has strong impacts on participant satisfaction, regardless of programme outcomes. This suggests that how benefits are delivered matters as much as what is delivered.     

MI 6's Requirements Directorate: Integrating Intelligence into the Machinery of British Central Government

The following article examines the relationship between the British Secret Intelli-gence Service (SIS, a.k.a. MI 6) and the machinery of central government, particularly departments of state and other agencies which employ information generated by the SIS. It is argued the main link between the SIS and its consumers in British government is the SIS's requirements 'side', embodied throughout most of the post-war era in the form of a Requirements Directorate. The article argues that the Requirements mechanism operates as a line of communication between the SIS and its consumers separate from the Cabinet Office Joint Intelligence Organisation (JIO), although there is overlap and interdependency between the two architectures. This discussion traces the development of the 'requirements side' from the interwar period up to the post-Cold War era using information from archival sources and a programme of interviews with former UK intelligence officials. It is further argued that the structure and process of the SIS 'requirements side' has developed and changed as a consequence of changes in the structure of demand in the machinery of British government, including adapting to the increasingly central role of the JIO. However, despite that increasingly central role of the JIO, the 'requirements side' has continued to serve as the first point of contact between the SIS and its customers in Whitehall.     

Breaking new ground: Afghanistan's response to landmines and unexploded ordnance

Operating since the late 1980s, in an environment of shifting wars, the Humanitarian Mine Action ( HMA ) programme in Afghanistan has nonetheless been highly successful in reducing the impact of landmines. This article discusses three factors that have contributed to its success: the building of national capacity; the systematic application of surveys; and the ability to act flexibly and innovatively. Having operated under the auspices of the UN, but in the absence of a functioning government, the programme faces new challenges with the potential transition to peace in Afghanistan. Ultimately, however, the programme is a world leader in its field, and as one of the best functioning sectors in economic and humanitarian assistance to the country, it represents a key resource for a new internationally recognised Afghan government.     

The reformists: Kalahi and the performances of local government officials in Bohol,Philippines

To make sense of the gap between the theory and practice of community-driven development (CDD), development scholars and practitioners have proposed that the success of interventions is relative to the reform-mindedness of local government officials. This article sheds some light on the good governance performances of local government officials as part of the CDD programme Kalahi in the province of Bohol, Philippines. It highlights that locally, mayors who styled themselves as reformists enjoyed heightened power and electoral victories. In parallel, the province experienced a pattern of ‘growth with immiserisation’ and persistent political clientelism wrapped in a discourse of pro-poor development.     

Are Place-Based Policies Always a Blessing? Evidence from China’s National Poor County Programme

In this paper, we evaluate the effects of a large-scale and continuing place-based policy in China. In 1994, the Chinese central government designated 592 counties as National Poor Counties (NPC), which have been receiving preferential treatment in several aspects. Our identification strategy exploits a discontinuous criterion for determining a county’s eligibility of the programme. We find that the NPC programme failed to foster local economic growth. Further investigation suggests that local capture is partly responsible for this failure. Our findings yield important policy implications that, in countries with limited local accountability, place-based policies characterised by decentralised implementation are not always a blessing.     

The influence of elections on IMF programme interruptions

Using panel data for 104 countries between 1975 and 1998, this article tries to explain interruptions of IMF programmes around election dates in the recipient countries. On average, programmes seem to be more likely to break down before elections. This increase in interruption probabilities is, however, less severe in more democratic countries. In true democracies interruption frequencies are even lower prior to elections. While no other political variables than elections and democracy were found to influence compliance systematically, programme interruptions are significantly more likely in countries with high government consumption, high levels of short-term debt and low GDP per capita at programme initiation.     

In Search of Inclusion: Informal Sector Participation in a Voluntary,Defined Contribution Pension System

This paper examines who contributes and who persists in contributing in a national, voluntary, defined contributory pension programme, where the government provides the incentive of matching contributions of a minimum amount (USD 16). The paper uses proprietary data from a financial services firm where 12 per cent of customers (37,000 individuals) chose to participate in this programme. The evidence shows that only about 50 per cent of contributors reach the minimum amount for the co-contribution, but that participants persist in contributing even if they failed to contribute the minimum amount in a given year. While this paper does not provide causal estimates, it does present evidence of considerable interest among the informal sector in a state-run voluntary pension programme in an emerging market where access to formal finance is otherwise poor.     

Performance Management,Evaluation and Learning in ‘Modern’ Local Government

Public sector reforms throughout OECD member states are producing a new model of ‘public governance’ embodying a more modest role for the state and a strong emphasis on performance management. In the UK, the development of performance management in the context of the ‘new public management’ has been primarily ‘top‐down’ with a dominant concern for enhancing control and ‘upwards account‐ability’ rather than promoting learning and improvement. The development of performance management and evaluation in local government in the UK has been conditioned by external pressures, especially reforms imposed by central government, which have encouraged an ‘instrumental–managerial’ focus on performance measurement. The new Labour government's programme of ‘modernizing local government’ places considerable emphasis on performance review and evaluation as a driver of continuous improvement in promoting Best Value. However, recent research has indicated that the capacity for evaluation in local government is uneven and many obstacles to evaluation exist in organizational cultures. Local authorities need to go beyond the development of review systems and processes to ensure that the capacity for evaluation and learning is embedded as an attribute of ‘culture’ in order to achieve the purpose of Best Value.     

The economic impact of a foreign debt bail‐out for private firms in Ecuador

In this article the effect of Ecuador's general foreign debt conversion programme on private firms' financial position is analysed. The programme, called the Sucretización, was similar to programmes implemented by many heavily indebted countries after the debt crisis began. I concentrate on the Sucretización's implicit transfer from the government to firms, arguing that it was large, but unnecessary. Very few firms would have gone bankrupt because of their devaluation‐induced foreign exchange losses. What is more, I find no evidence that firms receiving these transfers used them to strengthen their balance sheets.     

Performance Management, Evaluation and Learning in 'Modern' Local Government

Public sector reforms throughout OECD member states are producing a new model of 'public governance' embodying a more modest role for the state and a strong emphasis on performance management. In the UK, the development of performance management in the context of the 'new public management' has been primarily 'top-down' with a dominant concern for enhancing control and 'upwards account-ability' rather than promoting learning and improvement. The development of performance management and evaluation in local government in the UK has been conditioned by external pressures, especially reforms imposed by central government, which have encouraged an 'instrumental–managerial' focus on performance measurement. The new Labour government's programme of 'modernizing local government' places considerable emphasis on performance review and evaluation as a driver of continuous improvement in promoting Best Value. However, recent research has indicated that the capacity for evaluation in local government is uneven and many obstacles to evaluation exist in organizational cultures. Local authorities need to go beyond the development of review systems and processes to ensure that the capacity for evaluation and learning is embedded as an attribute of 'culture' in order to achieve the purpose of Best Value.     

The Political Economy of Bad Data: Evidence from African Survey and Administrative Statistics

Abstract

Across multiple African countries, discrepancies between administrative data and independent household surveys suggest official statistics systematically exaggerate development progress. We provide evidence for two distinct explanations of these discrepancies. First, governments misreport to foreign donors, as in the case of a results-based aid programme rewarding reported vaccination rates. Second, national governments are themselves misled by frontline service providers, as in the case of primary education, where official enrolment numbers diverged from survey estimates after funding shifted from user fees to per pupil government grants. Both syndromes highlight the need for incentive compatibility between data systems and funding rules.     

Different Seeds in the Same Plot? Competing Models of Capitalism and the Incomplete Contracts of Partnership Design

This article explains the differing nature of UK government and European Commission approaches to partnership, drawing on the 'competing models of capitalism' debate. Comparative studies have typically considered the impact of the same institutional arrangements across different territories – the 'study of identical seeds sown in different plots'(Putnam 1993, p. 7). However, this article is concerned with the study of different seeds sown in the same small plot: an area within the city of Sheffield. The different approaches to partnership enshrined in UK and EU regeneration programme documents structure different prospective outcomes. However, regeneration programme requirements must be understood as 'incomplete contracts' and as such, policy implementers play a key role in shaping policy outcomes.     

Central-Local Relations in an Era of Multi-Level Governance: The Case of Public Participation Policy in England, 1997-2001

The election of a 'New Labour' UK government in 1997 promised a new era of central-local relations facilitated by a programme of local government reform which recognised local government's 'community leadership' role. Other aspects of the agenda supported the development of multi-level governance, for example, the establishment of sub-national institutions such as the Scottish Parliament and the promotion of neighbourhoods as key sites for action. Despite these actions this paper will argue that in England the central state retains considerable influence over the key agents of local governance. Using the example of public participation policy, and drawing on the findings of a recent study in two English cities, the paper will explore how national policy aspirations were reflected locally. It concludes that while local action generally complemented national priorities, there were important points of contrast, and that localities' capacity to act in their own interests is supported by the opportunities presented in a multi-level governance environment.     

Of texts and practices: Empowerment and organisational cultures in world bank-funded rural development programmes

The World Bank's recent concern for ‘empowerment’ grows out of longer standing discussions of participation, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and civil society. While commitments to empowerment enter World Bank texts with relative ease, their practice within Bank-funded projects is far more contingent, and the meanings they assume become much more diverse. This paper considers the relationship between such texts and the development practices which emerge, using an analysis of the ‘organisational cultures’ of the Bank and the many organisations on which it depends in the implementation of its rural development programmes. The paper presents a framework for analysing these organisational cultures in terms of (a) the broader contexts in which organisations and their staff are embedded; (b) the everyday practices within organisations; (c) the power relations within and among organisations; and (d) the meanings that come to dominate organisational practice. A case study of a development programme in Bangladesh is used to illustrate the ways in which cultural interactions between a variety of organisations – the World Bank, government agencies, NGOs, organisations of the poor, social enterprises – mediate the ways in which textual commitments to empowerment are translated into a range of diverse practices.