The Evaluation of Performance in the Mexican Federal Government: A Study of the Monitoring Agencies' Modernization Process

An initial assessment of the Mexican government’s implementation of the Model for the Performance Evaluation of Internal Control Organizations (MIDO) can reveal its actual influence on the organizational culture of those agencies. MIDO began in 2003 as an instrument to transform all federal monitoring agencies into effective, performance‐driven organizations. It seeks to modify the behavior of internal control organizations in order to shift their rigid focus on control to a more flexible perspective. The idea is to allow them to take co‐responsibility for the performance of the agencies they supervise. The author exposes a contradictory and paradoxical result of the program’s implementation: the “net organizational effect” is different from MIDO’s stated objective. The internal control organizations are not only adopting the discourse of performance, but also they are adapting it to fit their own purposes while keeping their traditional function of supervision intact. They have not internalized the co‐responsibility culture, as MIDO proposes, despite accepting the discourse of performance evaluation.     

Decoupling practical and legal compliance: Analysis of member states’ implementation of EU policy

Despite the vast literature on policy implementation, systematic cross‐national research focusing on implementers’ performance regarding different policy issues is still in its infancy. The European Union policies are conducive to examining this relationship in a comparative setting, as the EU member states need to implement various EU directives both legally and in practice. In this study, a first attempt is made to analyse the relationship between legal conformity and practical implementation and the conditions for practical deviations in 27 member states across issues from four policy areas (Internal Market, Environment, Justice and Home Affairs and Social Policy). In line with existing approaches to EU compliance, it is expected that the policy preferences of domestic political elites (‘enforcement’) affect their incentives to ‘decouple’ practical from legal compliance. Instead, administrative and institutional capacities (‘management’) and societal constraints (‘legitimacy’) are likely to limit the ability of policy makers to exert control over the implementation process. The findings suggest that practical deviations arise from policy makers’ inability to steer the implementation process, regardless of their predispositions towards internationally agreed policies. The results have strong implications for the effective application of international rules in domestic settings, as they illustrate that political support for the implementation of ‘external’ policy does not ensure effective implementation in practice.     

EVALUATING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT POLICY: LESSONS FROM DETROIT'S CENTRAL INDUSTRIAL PARK PROJECT

Success in implementing the Central Industrial Park project required clearing a 500-acre site for a new General Motors assembly plant, at a public sector cost of more than $200 million, in less than two years, to meet a deadline set by the corporation; clearance involved relocation of 3.500 people and more than 100 businesses, and demolition of 1,500 structures. Despite the complexity of the project and the need for approvals from multiple decision makers at the local, state, and national level, timely implementation was possible because of consensus on the project and i t s importance, formulation of special organizational structures and procedures, the actions and influence of the mayor and his development director as I'fixers, and redefinition and expansion of the statutory authority of officials responsible for project implementation. The crisis atmosphere in which project decisions were made, a consequence of corporate deadlines and the city's desperate economic situation, was essential to the effective combination of these forces. The price for success was steep, however, including higher acquisition and relocation costs, reduction of property tax revenues from the project to minimal levels for 30 years, and transfer of control over the formation and implementation of economic development policy to the private sector.     

Multi–organisational implementation: A challenge for empirical research and modelling

The tentative evidence which has emerged from multi–organisational implementation processing has had little impact on explanatory theoretical frameworks. The literature uses 'top–down' and 'bottom–up' models as if they were totally discrete ways of examining the institutionalisation of an implementation process. However, actual processes tend to fall somewhere between these two extremes. In this paper, I consider why this might be the case and suggest that there are ways of solving the theoretical dilemmas which prevent a comprehensive analysis of implementation processing. Using evidence from a recently completed case study of the implementation of environmental health–care in Finland, I suggest that the evidence of an interplay between the mandated implementors and others, be they public or private agents, may be an indication of an effective method of coping with these issues.     

Divided Government and the Fragmentation of American Law

We investigate institutional explanations for Congress's choice to fragment statutory frameworks for policy implementation. We argue that divided party government, which fuels legislative‐executive conflict over control of the bureaucracy, motivates Congress to fragment implementation power as a strategy to enhance its control over implementation. We develop a novel measure of fragmentation in policy implementation, collect data on it over the period 1947–2008, and test hypotheses linking separation‐of‐powers structures to legislative design of fragmented implementation power. We find that divided party government is powerfully associated with fragmentation in policy implementation, and that this association contributed to the long‐run growth of fragmentation in the postwar United States. We further find that legislative coalitions are more likely to fragment implementation power in the face of greater uncertainty about remaining in the majority.     

Multi-organisational implementation: A challenge for empirical research and modelling

Abstract The tentative evidence which has emerged from multi–organisational implementation processing has had little impact on explanatory theoretical frameworks. The literature uses 'top–down' and 'bottom–up' models as if they were totally discrete ways of examining the institutionalisation of an implementation process. However, actual processes tend to fall somewhere between these two extremes. In this paper, I consider why this might be the case and suggest that there are ways of solving the theoretical dilemmas which prevent a comprehensive analysis of implementation processing. Using evidence from a recently completed case study of the implementation of environmental health–care in Finland, I suggest that the evidence of an interplay between the mandated implementors and others, be they public or private agents, may be an indication of an effective method of coping with these issues.     

Implementing Change on the Front Lines: A Management Case Study of West Feliciana Parish Hospital

In the policy implementation field, theorists are challenged to develop stepwise frameworks that facilitate the implementation of public policy. This case studies the implementation of a Medicare charity care policy in a small rural hospital using the top-down implementation framework. It offers an overview of top-down implementation theory and a discussion of top-down research findings as they relate to the real implementation experiences of hospital administrators. The case presents six recommendations for the effective implementation of a new policy on the front lines.     

Institutional boundaries and common‐pool resource management: A comparative analysis of water management programs in California

Policymakers and academics often identify institutional boundaries as one of the factors that shape the capacity of jurisdictions to manage natural resources such as water, forests, and scenic lands. This article examines two key bodies of literature—common‐pool resource management theory and local public economy theory—to explain how the boundaries of political jurisdictions affect natural resource management. Two empirical methods were used to test hypotheses from the literature, using a study of water management programs in California. The results demonstrate that institutional boundaries that coincide with natural resources are likely to be associated with the implementation of more effective resource management programs. At the same time, where jurisdictions can control through coordination, they can also facilitate more effective resource management where jurisdictions do not match resource boundaries. © 2004 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.     

The political hand: Policy implementation and youth employment programs

Outstanding studies in the past decade have illuminated the sources of ineffective implementation and thus have suggested what not to do. To learn more about what to do, we analyzed a broad range of cases of effective implementation of youth employment programs in eight cities. The goal was to build an impressionistic model of the conditions contributing to flective implementation. We found that executives in the successful programs often acted as “fixers,” repairing the implementation process and protecting and correcting their programs, especially through coalition building and constant intervention in administrative detail. Some executives created patterns of interest convergence among the relevant actors, using incentives to turn mild interests into active support. They thus provided the public sector's missing “political hand,” analogous to the market's “invisible hand.”     

Ensuring regulatory compliance in banking and finance through effective controls: The principle of duality in the segregation of duties

Today the segregation of duties is commonly used to ensure regulatory compliance in various industries. This article considers the organizational requirements for the effective implementation of this principle, through an examination of a duality‐based segregation‐of‐duties type control system and its fundamental characteristics. Cases from the Swedish banking and finance sector are discussed to show how breakdowns in duality‐based systems have compromised compliance and even encouraged crime, and how crimes could be carried out in practice. Particular attention is paid to the critical role that gullibility, loyalty, and dependency relations among employees played in these cases, in leading control persons to neglect their responsibility to review and approve their colleagues’ work, while bringing no consequences for their ability to carry on performing their work tasks. The argument is made that an effective duality‐based segregation‐of‐duties type control system presupposes social relations characterized by relative autonomy and third‐party dependence, along with work task interdependence.     

Public Financial Management Reforms: The Role of Ipsas in Latin‐America

During the last 30 years, many public administration reforms promoted by New Public Management have been undertaken. These reforms have spread to Latin‐American countries and include changes in governmental accounting systems, where the implementation of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSASs) has been a stimulus for modernization. This article aims to clarify the situation of IPSASs implementation in the Latin‐American context as well as the stimuli for and effects of their implementation. The analysis shows that there is an emerging international trend to adopt IPSASs in Latin‐American countries although at the same time, there are evident obstacles to achieving reform goals. In Colombia, reforms are still underway, and the usefulness of IPSASs to improve decision‐making at an organisational level cannot be evaluated. Meanwhile, in Peru, the modernization is more rhetorical than real, and many efforts remain to be made for the effective implementation. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Linking program implementation and effectiveness: Lessons from a pooled sample of welfare‐to‐work experiments

This paper addresses the question: How does implementation influence the effectiveness of mandatory welfare‐to‐work programs? Data from three large‐scale, multi‐site random assignment experiments were pooled; quantitative measures of program implementation were constructed; and multilevel statistical modeling was used to examine the relationship between program implementation and effects on short‐term client earnings. Individual‐level data were analyzed for 69,399 sample members and group‐level implementation data were analyzed for 59 local programs. Findings indicate that, other things being equal, earnings effects are increased by: an emphasis on quick client employment, an emphasis on personalized client attention, staff caseloads that do not get too large, and limited use of basic education. Findings also show that mandatory welfare‐to‐work programs can be effective for many types of people, and that focusing on clients who are especially job‐ready (or not) does not have a consistent influence on a program's effectiveness. © 2003 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management     

Principles of the Ukrainian social welfare system in the context of European integration

At the stage of the development of a new social welfare system in Ukraine, it is important to investigate all possible models and develop recommendations for the implementation of the most effective ones. The relevance of this paper lies in the study of the legal framework that operates in Ukraine and the possibilities of its improvement and consolidation into a more specific regulation. The purpose of the research was to study the principles of the social welfare system in Ukraine and to study foreign practices of the social welfare system. Within the framework of this study, the existing systems and models of social welfare systems in different countries were analyzed. The study identifies the most positive examples of social welfare policy for implementation in the current legal framework to improve and enhance the quality of social services in Ukraine. The analyzed foreign practices helped to identify the most effective models of social security. It was concluded that with the successful redistribution of funds, the introduction of a system of audit and control of social assistance financing, as well as being guided by foreign experience, Ukraine will be able to build a social welfare system that would satisfy all of the existing social needs of citizens.     

Interactive governance and implementation effectiveness in India's National Health Insurance Program

Many public sector programs, such as those directed at public health, are often multiagency tasks where structural incongruity in the program design is liable to emerge over time from changing operational requirements. Yet, successful implementation remains possible because of the interactions and relationships between implementation parties that encourage cooperation and collaboration despite incongruence in the program design. We examine how the dynamics of these interparty relationships influence implementation success in a comparative study of India's National Health Insurance Scheme. We find that implementation parties exhibiting support and complementarity in their interactions created a virtuous cycle of continually encouraging better performance and vice versa. Thus, our findings exhibit a distinct functionary role of interparty interactions and relationships for eliciting effective implementation and governance. The analysis also showcases the need for policy makers and policy designers to be cognizant of the inadvertent introduction of structural inconsistencies and veto points into program designs and their potential influence on implementation outcomes.     

Managing policy formulation and implementation in Zambia's democratic transition

This article describes the establishment of a policy management group in Zambia's Cabinet Office and the introduction of a policy formulation and implementation process managed by that policy management group. Both have served as models for other governments aiming at more effective, transparent and accountable governance. (© 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)     

The impact of the control function on the effectiveness of policy implementation

This contribution concerns a study that aims to trace factors that determine the effectiveness of policy implementation. To this end, a case study was conducted in two municipalities. In both municipalities, a random sample was drawn of 100 activities in the cultural field carried out in the year 2021. Based on this, the effectiveness of the implementation of subsidy provision was examined for both municipalities. This effectiveness has been operationalised to the percentage of correct non-applications, the percentage of rightly approved subsidy applications and the percentage of rightly rejected subsidy applications. A comparison between these municipalities, based on an analysis of the documents and 22 interviews, then provided an opportunity to explain differences in effectiveness. It turns out, that the control function provides the decisive explanation for the difference in effectiveness. This control function is not only about monitoring and controlling the implementation, but also about facilitating and optimising the process of providing subsidies. Although previous research highlights the importance of an adequate monitoring and control for implementation, the control function can be defined in a broader way. Besides overseeing proper implementation, the control function in this broader view also plays a facilitating role towards the implementers. This broader control function specifically has not often been the explicit object of implementation research. It should be noted, however, that this study is based on only two municipalities, which only examined the subsidisation of cultural activities. Therefore, no general conclusions can be drawn on this basis.     

论高速公路全过程财务跟踪审计

首先论述了高速公路建设实施全过程财务跟踪审计的必要性包括用以加强项目资金管理、控制造价、规范管理等;实施跟踪审计的原则;并着重阐述了财务跟踪审计的主要内容,包括审查会计信息是否失真,审查资产、负债的真实性、合法性及增减变化情况审查;有无隐瞒、收入体外循环问题,审查业主单位提供对外担保是否符合规定等。     

Ministerial Leadership and Endorsement of Bureaucrats: Experimental Evidence from Presidential Governments

Scholars have debated what constitutes effective ministerial leadership with respect to administrative competence versus political influence. The authors contribute experimental evidence to this debate through a unique survey design of endorsement experiments. Using original data from 949 national civil servants in South Korea, this article examines civil servants’ assessments of ministerial leadership in three central dimensions of public management: internal management, interbranch coordination, and policy formulation/implementation. Further, existing variation in the characteristics of agencies is used to test whether such variation induces systematic differences in civil servants’ responses. Findings show that that civil servants’ attitudes toward ministerial leadership are asymmetric in nature. Ministers with civil service backgrounds are endorsed in all three dimensions, whereas ministers with legislative backgrounds receive increased support only for interbranch coordination skills. The levels of support for ministers with different backgrounds also vary across agency types. This analysis has implications for public management practice and agency control in presidential governments.     

Questioning local ownership: Insights from donor-funded NGOs in Tajikistan

ABSTRACT

Local ownership is one of the popular paradigms of Western development aid. It involves giving more effective control of the design and implementation of development aid to local actors in aid-receiving countries, including governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and local communities. This article contrasts the understanding of local ownership as a top-down process triggered by donors, with an alternative, bottom-up ownership, which emerges spontaneously on the ground. By looking at the case of a local NGO in post-Soviet Tajikistan, the article analyses practices which reveal how the NGO actively takes ownership of development aid through everyday work. This includes fundraising, structuring relations with other organizations competing for donor funding, selecting calls for proposals from NGOs and writing grant applications. Each of these activities involves negotiations of the goals and scope of development work, against parameters imposed by donors. By means of example, the article questions the application of the local ownership paradigm in development work.     

BUILDING ENFORCEMENT CAPACITY: EVIDENCE FROM THE MEXICAN CIVIL SERVICE REFORM

Building enforcement capacity, that is, attaining and sustaining control in order to implement changes, is crucial for the success of public management reforms. However, this aspect of public management reform does not receive much theoretical or empirical attention. This paper analyzes the process of building enforcement capacity for the case of the Mexican Professional Civil Service reform. Although this reform experienced several complications (e.g., limited support, resources, and credibility), important goals were attained and some control was achieved. We study how officials attained control over implementation through the adaptive management of combinations of different types of control strategies (regulatory, normative, and procedural). The case study, focused on the analysis of in‐depth interviews with the highest officials involved in the implementation of this reform, finds evidence for three combinations of strategies next to a general pattern characterized by a trade‐off between compliance and coordination. This trade‐off shows that the process of building enforcement capacity may affect the goals of the reform, deviating from lawmakers' original intentions Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.