FEDERAL POLICY IN LOCAL CONTEXT:PUZZLING THROUGH THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF PARADIGMATIC POLICY REFORM

Although comprehensive reform programs (CRPs) have been influenced by theories of government failure, they pose some puzzles for these theorists. My purpose is to address puzzles that relate to observed characteristics of the timing, radicalism, implementation, rhetoric and democratic consequences of reforms. The long period of paradigm stability which typically precede them is explained in terms of the institutional and political risks associated with radical policy reform while the reforms themselves are explained in terms of factors that generated opportunities for new sources of policy leadership. This leadership was collectively supplied by a network that sought to break the hold of a fragmented structure of policy communities over the policy process.     

FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING POLICY: A VIEW FROM THE LOCAL LEVEL OF GOVERNMENT

To maximize the use of human capital, employment and training resources need to be redirected to meet four objectives: (1) reduce welfare dependency by helping people gain skills for self-sufficiency, (2) prepare a new workforce through better education of youth, (3) retrain dislocated workers, and (4) develop an employment system that links workers and jobs through the coordination of institutions. Suggestions for federal, state, and local initiatives to meet these objectives are spelled out. Particular emphasis is placed upon both a significant revitalization of the federal role in employment and training and a reassessment of traditional approaches.     

THE BIOTECHNOLOGY OF SEX PRESELECTION: SOCIAL ISSUES IN A PUBLIC POLICY CONTEXT

Sex preselection is the ability to select the sex of one's offspring prior to conception. After a discussion of the potential methods of sex preselection, this paper explores the possible diffusion of sex preselection biotechnologies within sociopolitical systems. Ethical aspects are discussed w i t h i n the context of broad social issues, family considerations, social class effects, crime, religion, and medical services. The article concludes with an examination of the public policy choices that might confront decision makers should sex preselection become a reality.     

PROGRAM COORDINATION IN THE EMPLOYMENT SERVICE: A STATE AND LOCAL POLICY PERSPECTIVE

This paper analyzes the role of coordination criteria in employment and training service delivery within the Job Training Partnership Act system. The evolution of coordination criteria is related to current initiatives in the Employment Service at the state and local levels. An operational set of program outcome measures for monitoring coordination efforts is discussed. This set of outcome measures is formulated in the broad context of stabilizing employment and averting the "structuralization" of unemployment impacts wrought by fundamental economic change in the labor market. The assessment and monitoring of such coordination efforts is discussed.     

DEADLY FORCE AS A POLICY PROBLEM IN LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT: DO ADMINISTRATIVE PRACTICES MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

This article examines the impact of six administrative practices on the use of deadly force by police officers in American cities with a population greater than 50,000. Generally, departmental policies demonstrate little association with the frequency of shooting incidents per police officer, or in the number of incidents resulting in fatalities or injuries. It does appear that police departments which issue more traditional sidearms tend to experience fewer incidents than departments which issue heavier firearms. This same lack of association between administrative practices and the use of deadly force is discovered when controlling for city population size arid state legal codes. Notwithstanding that some of the relationships are in the expected direction, their lack of statistical significance suggests that the use of deadly force has its antecedents in sources other than the administrative policies of local police departments.     

Federal-State Relations in Gun Control: The 1993 Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act

The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, which took effectin February 1994, sets minimum nationwide requirements for thesale of handguns and establishes a national criminal-backgroundinformation system. Each of these thrusts of Brady involvesfundamental issues of federalism. The first involves the traditionalgive-and-take between the states and the federal governmentin sorting out specific authority over the prohibition of firearmsales. The second thrust, establishing a national informationnetwork, requires cooperation of all the states and the federalgovernment. This article reviews Brady in the context of twenty-fiveyears of federal gun-control activity, examines its impact onfederal-state relations, and addresses the development of anational criminal-history information network linking the statesand the federal government.     

GLOBALIZATION'S IMPACT ONSTATE AND LOCAL POLICY: The Rise of Regional Cluster‐Based Economic Development Strategies1

We propose proactive policies which allow state and local governments to participate in the global economy, offering opportunities and venues for effective development. We first develop the argument that the changing economic conditions associated with globalization call for a new approach to state‐local economic development policy. We then outline three assumptions which are critical to drive successful state and local economic development policy in a global environment. The major part of the analysis describes this new strategy of “regional cluster‐based economic development,” drawing extensively upon a case study of Cleveland's economic revitalization.     

State-Local Relations in Policy Implementation: The Case of Highway Transportation in Iowa

This article examines relationships between state agencies andlocal communities, using survey and interview data from a casestudy of the Iowa Department of Transportation. It argues thatthese relationships often parallel the agency-clientele relationshipsobserved by public administration scholars. The agency derivessimilar benefits from local government support as from privateclientele support, namely, an independent power base that helpsto preserve its flow of resources and its administrative autonomy.IDOT possesses formidable political resources in the breadthand intensity of its clientele, but the key to IDOT's successis the skillful utilization of those resources through an administrativestrategy stressing the development of widely accepted technicaldecision-criteria and an administrative style emphasizing accessibility,responsiveness, and flexibility. A survey of mayors and localbusiness leaders shows that this strategy has generated widespreadpositive perceptions of the department among these clientelegroups.     

The Paradox of Implementing the Government Performance and Results Act: Top-Down Direction for Bottom-Up Implementation

Research on the implementation of the Government Performance and Results Act generally has not considered how the strategic plan, annual performance plan, and annual performance report are produced and used. Are the documents good decision and management tools, as the act intends, or are agencies internalizing them to meet the unique needs of their organization? Interviews with representatives of 14 cabinet‐level federal agencies suggest that implementation of the act is not standardized. Instead, it is influenced by the unique challenges that agencies face. Further, there is a relationship between the implementation challenges and the overall use of the documents.     

Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act: Implementation of an Administrative Remedy

Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act is an administrative remedythat has not been fully enforced to protect the voting rightsof minority citizens in those jurisdictions covered by the VRA.Failure to enforce Section 5 fully is the result of: (I) thestructure of the Section 5 review process, (2) the poor qualityof data received by the U.S. Department of Justice, and (3)the cursory analysis of data by the Equal Opportunity Specialists.What is needed to strengthen Section 5 enforcement is a strongpresidential commitment to protect the interests of minorityvoters. Reform of the Section 5 review process can only takeplace if the president places voting rights enforcement highon his political agenda.     

营造良好的地方政府间关系:基于和谐社会视野下的研究

良好的地方政府间关系对和谐社会建设具有重要意义,它关系到服务型政府的建设,关系到行政效率的提高,是政府适应日益复杂行政环境的需求。建设和谐社会需要用府际管理的模式来治理地方政府间关系,营造出适合和谐社会的新型府际关系。为此要解决和处理好府际冲突、利益补偿和中央与地方关系等问题。     

网络政治参与影响地方政府治理的路径和限度

网络政治参与在中国发展迅速,它从三个方面影响着地方政府治理:激发地方政府的问题意识,影响地方政府治理中的议程设置;促进公共政策的执行,影响地方政府治理中的公共政策制定;增强对干部权力的监督,影响地方政府治理中的干部行为。但是,在网络政治参与中的数字鸿沟、群体极化和地方政府面临的双重压力、官员的自利性与有限理性,也削弱网络政治参与对地方政府治理的影响程度。     

Reporting on the Control Structures of Local Government Under the Single Audit Act of 1984

One of the major objectives of the Single Audit Act of 1984 (SAA) is to improve the financial management of local governments (Public Law 98–502, 98 Stat.2327). The purpose of this study is to examine how local governments have responded to the SAA and to provide some evidence concerning the extent to which the SAA is accomplishing its stated objectives. This study examines what auditors have reported with respect to the control structures of local governments and considers the extent to which control structures changed over the first four reporting years under the SAA. Differences in the frequency of reported weaknesses are examined across the four years and between types of government-counties and cities-and types of auditors- large and small public accounting firms and state auditors. The study also considers the extent to which reported weaknesses were corrected. The research findings reveal that auditors reported considerably more control weaknesses in counties than in cities, and the frequency of control weaknesses reported declined significantly over the first four reporting years under the SAA for city governments but remained relatively constant for county governments. In addition, there were significant differences in the frequency of control weaknesses reported related to the type of auditor.     

The Implementation and Utilization of Stabilization Funds by Local Governments in Massachusetts

This paper examines the management of stabilization funds by local governments in Massachusetts. It assesses the implementation and funding of stabilization funds and explores how they were utilized to respond to a midyear reduction in state aid. We find that stabilization funds correlate weakly with unreserved general fund balances. We also construct multiple regression models to predict stabilization and general fund balances. We surmise that communities have either implicit or explicit financial management strategies in which slack resources play more than countercyclical roles. Further research is needed to determine the role of stabilization funds in local government financial management strategies.     

The Potential for Local Diversity in Implementation of the National Competition Policy

Australian governments have embarked on a major effort to improve the competitiveness of the economy by adoption of a national competition policy (NCP). The policy extends the scope of trade practices legislation to encompass the public sector and professions, modernises policy in the areas of pricing and access powers, and is intended to revitalise the microeconomic reform agenda. The intended result is an integrated national economy, more uniform and consistent business regulation across the country and improved levels of competitiveness. But, there is an inherent tension between the imperatives for harmonisation, uniformity and reduced regulation on the one hand and tendencies for local diversity and increased regulation on the other. This article explores this tension with illustrations taken from three key aspects of the policy — opportunities for institutional diversity, treatment of the public interest and the prognosis for an integrated national, competitive market. The potential for each jurisdiction in Australia to take diverse and problematic approaches to the implementation of competition policy is then re-examined through the mechanism of a specialised case study involving the regulation of access to gas pipelines in Western Australia.