Capacity to Sustain Sustainability: A Study of U.S. Cities

Why do some governments implement more sustainability practices than others? Based on a national survey of U.S. cities, this article finds moderate levels of sustainability efforts and capacity in U.S. cities; about one‐third of the sustainability practices identified in this article have been implemented. The authors conclude that, first, capacity building is a useful conceptual focus for understanding sustainability implementation in U.S. cities. Capacity building involves developing technical and financial support and increasing managerial execution. Second, sustainability is strongly associated with managerial capacity, which includes establishing sustainability goals, incorporating goals in operations, and developing a supportive infrastructure. Third, getting stakeholders involved furthers the capacity for sustaining sustainability efforts. Citizen involvement is strongly associated with securing financial support for sustainability.     

Bottom-Up Federalism: The Diffusion of Antismoking Policies from U.S. Cities to States

Studies of policy diffusion often focus on the horizontal spread of enactments from one state to another, paying little or no attention to the effects of local laws on state-level adoptions. For example, scholars have not tested whether local policy adoptions make state action more likely (through a snowball effect) or less likely (through a pressure valve effect). This study conducts the first comprehensive analysis of vertical policy diffusion from city governments to state governments, while simultaneously examining the influence of state-to-state and national-to-state diffusion. Focusing on three different types of antismoking laws, we find evidence that policies do bubble up from city governments to state governments. State politics are crucial to this relationship, however, as local-to-state diffusion is contingent on the level of legislative professionalism and the strength of health advocates in the state.     

Interlocal Service Cooperation in U.S. Cities: A Social Network Explanation

Local governments increasingly confront policy problems that span the boundaries of individual political jurisdictions. Institutional theories of local governance and intergovernmental relations emphasize the importance of networks for fostering service cooperation among local governments. Yet empirical research fails to examine systematically the effects of social networks on interlocal service cooperation. Do the individual networks of local government actors increase their jurisdiction's level of interlocal service delivery? Drawing data from the National Administrative Studies Project IV (NASP‐IV), multivariate analysis is applied to examine this question among 919 municipal managers and department heads across the United States. The findings indicate that interlocal service cooperation increases when jurisdictional actors network frequently through a regional association or council of government and when they are united by a common set of professional norms and disciplinary values. Manager participation in professional associations, however, does not increase interjurisdictional cooperation. The key conclusion for local government practitioners searching for ways to increase collaboration: networks that afford opportunities for more face‐to‐face interaction yield better results for effective service partnerships.     

A Jurisdiction-Based Model of Intergovernmental Management in U.S. Cities

Variations in levels of intergovernmental activity are explainedin terms other than standard "top-down" or "bottom-up" federalmanagement perspectives. Data from 237 cities on intergovernmentalmanagement by local managers of economic development policyindicate that differences are determined by the degree to whichmanagers assume a more mutually interactive approach throughbargaining, strategic activity, local adjustment, and otherinternal actions. The jurisdiction-based model is consistentwith growing diversity in the federal system and with changingmodels of public management.     

Frames of Influence: U.S. Environmental Rulemaking Case Studies

The purpose of this article was to question whether interest group actions during the pre‐proposal stage of U.S. federal rulemaking influences the language proposed in natural resource agency rules. The influence of interest groups during this stage was examined across three case studies: (1) the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) critical habitat designation for Nebraska's Salt Creek tiger beetle, (2) the USFWS critical habitat designation for the Utah/Arizona Shivwits and Holmgren milk vetch, and (3) the USFWS delisting of the Northern Rocky Mountain gray wolf population from the endangered species list. To analyze these three cases, a frame analysis approach is used and offers evidence to support the proposition that the instructive, expertise, and fiscal feasibility frames that stakeholders used during the pre‐proposal stage can shape the language of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. These cases suggest the rich potential for careful study of the earliest stages in the regulatory and administrative rulemaking process in the United States and beyond.     

Big Data and U.S. Public Policy

This paper examines the growing recognition of the phenomenon called “Big Data” and the policy implications it poses. It is argued that a core policy issue is personal and organizational privacy. At the same time there is a belief that analysis of “Big Data” offers potentially to provide public sector policy makers with extensive new information that would inform policy at unprecedentedly detailed levels. Despite this potential to improve the policy‐making process data often contain individual identifiable information that would negatively impact American core values such as privacy. This makes the use of these data almost impossible. The paper recognizes that there may be a way to strip individual data from Big Data sets thereby making their analysis more policy useful. This approach is not at this time technically feasible but research is ongoing.     

Primacy Implementation of Environmental Policy in the U.S. States

Environmental regulation is frequently implemented through asystem that allows states to choose whether to assume primaryauthority, or "primacy," for implementation and enforcement.This study looks at what causes states to assume this authorityin two important areas of environmental policy: air and waterpollution. It finds that in each policy area, primacy assumptionis unrelated to the "greenness" of state environmental policygenerally and negatively related to indicators of policy innovationwithin that area. Rather than being driven by commitment tothe environment, primacy assumption appears to be driven predominatelyby other factors, which differ substantially across the airand water policy arenas. These findings call into question thewidely held view that primacy assumption is an indicator ofstate environmentalism and indicate that a more nuanced viewof what causes states to assume primacy is necessary to fullyunderstand the dynamics of intergovernmental policy implementation.     

Managing Emotional Intelligence in U.S. Cities: A Study of Social Skills among Public Managers

This study assesses perceptions of managerial emotional intelligence in local government, as well as the practices and polices affecting it. Though few cities offer training programs for managers that are called "emotional intelligence," many cities engage in activities that target or address EI skills. This study finds improvement opportunities for managers to become better attuned to the feelings of others and themselves, to better know their own strengths and weaknesses, to better deal with their negative emotions and increase their adaptability, and to improve their communication and relationship skills. Feedback and mentoring processes are directly associated with increased perceptions of EI, while other practices such as training, selection and policy development are only indirectly associated with perceptions of EI. This study contributes to the knowledge base by increasing awareness about managerial EI skills, and providing specific examples of practices to further managerial EI.     

Sino-U.S. Decoupling: The Roles of U.S. Congress

Journal of Chinese Political Science - The Sino-U.S. relations tumbled during the Trump Administration. The talk of decoupling permeated the decision-making circle in Washington D.C. Many factors...     

数据开放、公众参与和环境治理创新

随着网络信息技术的发展与大数据的产生,公众对于政府各类数据开放共享的要求日趋强烈,同时政府也可以通过数据开放共享推动公共治理创新。研究表明,政府通过环境数据开放可以让公众更好地参与环境治理,从而推动环境治理创新;环境数据开放使公众能够获得更多的环境信息,与政府进行有效沟通并形成良性互动,从而提升环境治理效果。针对数据开放与环境治理创新问题,提出了相应的政策建议:改革政府环境数据管理体制,加强政府与市场的合作;加强环境数据开放平台建设,打造"一站式"环境数据服务;加大宣传力度,调动公众利用开放环境数据的积极性。     

The Role of Informal Institutions in U.S. Immigration Policy: The Case of Illegal Labor Migration from Kyrgyzstan

Immigration is a sensitive topic on the American political, social, and economic agenda. Globalization as well as the end of the Cold War have meant that people are on the move worldwide as never before. Millions of people from poor countries migrate to richer ones to provide better lives for themselves and their families through legal and illegal channels. Heated debates surround this subject. A dramatic divide persists between proponents, who equate immigration policy with civil rights, and opponents, who cite the burden of illegal immigration on public education and public welfare systems. The author argues that informal institutions involved in migration processes, such as migrant smuggling networks, explain why the current crisis persists. The role of informal institutions is examined by focusing on those who migrate from Kyrgyzstan to the United States seeking low‐wage labor. The author generalizes how formal and informal institutions interact in the processes of migration and how informal institutions decisively influence immigration‐related policies in the United States.     

Organizational Reputation and Jurisdictional Claims: The Case of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration

When do regulatory agencies expand, following the emergence of novel technologies? This article presents a verbal model that suggests that a regulator is most likely to announce that it has statutory authority to regulate a novel technology when its reputation is at stake. This is most likely to occur when (1) new information becomes available to the regulator regarding the seriousness of the anticipated harm of a novel technology, or (2) a rival regulator attempts to formalize its regulatory authority or fails to do so although officially required to. A historical–institutional analysis of the temporal process leading to jurisdictional claims by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration over gene therapy, laboratory‐developed complex diagnostic tests, human tissue transplants, and human cloning supports the model's prediction.     

Ethnic Decentralization and the Challenges of Inclusive Governance in Multiethnic Cities: The Case of Dire Dawa,Ethiopia

Abstract

Ethnic decentralization which could emerge in the form of autonomy and/or federalism has become an important way of responding to the challenges of ethno-nationalist conflicts. Since 1991, Ethiopia has adopted an ethnic federal structure which provides territorial autonomy to its various ethnic groups. This approach to autonomy, however, has brought challenges to multiethnic cities and ethnic borderlands where different ethnic groups coexist. By examining the experience of Dire Dawa, the second largest city in Ethiopia, this article shows how federalism and territorial autonomy by themselves are not enough to address problems of participatory governance in multiethnic cities. The article finally underscores the need for policy innovations that would ensure power-sharing in multiethnic cities.     

Commercial Mining of Celestial Resources: Case Study of U.S. Space Laws

ABSTRACT

The fact that there are abundant mineral resources in space is shown by remote sensing and observation through space probes and analysis of samples, in situ and otherwise. That these resources are useful to humanity and can augment depleting Earth resources is also established beyond a doubt. Further, the technology to excavate and process the same in situ is feasible. The end-product can be used for other activities on the mined planet or transported to Earth. The processed material can also be recycled for use and manufacturing on the celestial body itself, or to refuel space probes on deep space missions. Thus, the utility of celestial natural resources to mankind is obvious, but the algorithms of law and economics in regard to excavation, processing, transportation, and use in situ are not yet adequately clear for business viability and reasonable profits. This article discusses the prospects of space mining on celestial bodies in this context, focusing on the case of U.S. space laws.     

The Fiscal Impact of Federal and State Aid to Large U.S. Cities: An Empirical Analysis of Budgetary Response

This article examines four types of aid programs to thirty-nine large U.S. cities federal revenue sharing, federal categorical aid, state general aid, and state categorical aid. The central finding is that there is significant variation in the magnitude of property tax reduction resulting from different types of state general aid. Property tax credits and exemptions are less effective approaches in reducing local property taxes than are state lump-sum aid or city use of piggybacked taxes Categorical state and federal aid mostly fund additional city spending and have small but important stimulative effects on the revenue side These results suggest that differences in the design of aid programs have important implications for their fiscal impact and their effectiveness in reducing property taxes.     

Leveraging Technologies in Public Agencies: The Case of the U.S. Census Bureau and the 2010 Census

Emerging technologies are transforming government agencies and the nature of governance and pose new challenges for public managers. Under the leadership of Steven J. Jost, associate director for communications, the U.S. Census Bureau leveraged emerging technologies during the 2010 Census to complete the project under budget while also engaging citizens through the design of viable participatory platforms. The 2010 Census campaign focused on increasing response rates and encouraging citizen participation through innovations in the communication process with citizens and through the infusion of technology. The Census Bureau also effectively managed risks associated with the use of emerging technologies. The authors examine the innovations, the risks, and the effort to manage those risks under Jost’s leadership.