Local governance and learning: in search of a conceptual framework

This article proposes a conceptual framework explaining the phenomenon of local governance learning. The framework is grounded in organisational learning, institutional theory and in a case study of local governance practices undertaken in the process of public dispute resolution. Our analysis offers an advancement in the knowledge on governance learning by (1) specifying different types of governance learning, which are linked to the structure of learning not to its motivation, (2) linking the micro level of local governance practices with the mezzo level of organisational structures, and with the institutions regulating governance on the macro level and (3) explicating the difference between learning and institutional change. We introduce the category of astonishment, which we treat as a prerequisite of governance learning. It is defined as a cognitive state caused by a disruption of institutionalised patterns of thinking and behaviour deployed by a (public) organisation to deal with a specific (social) problem.     

Guest workers or unauthorized immigrants? The case of forest workers in the United States

This study examines regional differences in the legal status of forest workers in the Pacific Northwest and Southeastern United States, using United States Department of Labor data and qualitative fieldwork in Alabama and Oregon. The authors find that there are significantly fewer H-2B guest workers on federal lands in Oregon than on privately owned forest plantations in Alabama, and the Southeast more generally. By contrast, numerous workers on federal lands in Oregon are undocumented. This difference may largely be explained by variations in the economies of scale in forest work in the Pacific Northwest (federal lands) and the Southeast (mainly private lands). The study also finds that there is no real difference in the working conditions of undocumented immigrants and guest workers—both groups face labor exploitation. Guest workers in the forest industry, many of whom have no previous work experience or access to social networks in the United States, face extreme isolation at worksites, are beholden to contractors, fear losing their jobs if they complain, and are generally unaware of their basic rights. By contrast, many undocumented forest workers in Oregon belong to established social networks through which they are recruited onto forest labor crews. However, unauthorized workers are also vulnerable to labor exploitation because they fear deportation and are obliged to their kin-employers. Policy recommendations to improve labor conditions and enforce existing labor laws for all forest workers include: better tracking of workers across states to monitor labor abuses, allocating more resources to state labor departments to facilitate worker outreach and worksite inspections, and better communication among land management officials and the Department of Labor.

Reaching Out or Pulling Back: Macroeconomic Conditions and Public Support for Social Welfare Spending

In economic hard-times, do Americans call for increases in governmental assistance, or do they clamor for declines in government assistance? We address this question by identifying the impact of state-level macroeconomic conditions on public support for social welfare spending. We analyze individual-level data from the 1984–2000 National Election Studies, combined with state-level macroeconomic indicators of inflation, unemployment, and productivity. We find that state-level inflation, not state-level unemployment nor state-level productivity, consistently and consequentially shapes citizens’ support for social welfare. With rising inflation, Americans become more supportive of means-tested social welfare spending. Our analyses generally reaffirm the value Americans place on the social welfare safety net, especially during times of economic duress. When the going gets tough, Americans reach out, rather than pull back.     

地方政府绩效评估的"南通模式":效应、瓶颈及努力方向

基于目标导向的地方政府绩效评估的“南通模式”具有十分明显的传递效应、导向效应和监督效应。同时,也存在着指标体系没有充分体现现代政府绩效评估的要求、政府绩效评估工作机制有待统一完善、政府绩效考核的方法和工具比较单一、政府绩效考核的结果运用不够全面等亟待消除的难点与瓶颈。完善基于目标导向的地方政府绩效评估模式的主要路径是：以科学发展观指导地方政府绩效评估、完善政府绩效评估工作机制、将政府绩效评估从技术方法提升到制度安排、深化地方政府绩效评估结果运用等。     

地方立法民主化的不足及完善

地方立法的民主化,是指地方立法主体和立法程序从较低程度的民主不断走向较高程度民主的一种动态过程。我国地方立法的民主化程度还较低,主要表现为地方立法主体和地方立法程序的民主性不足。推进我国地方立法的民主化,应不断加强地方立法主体的民主化建设,不断完善地方立法的公众参与机制。     

我们需要什么样的生态环境问责制度?——兼议生态环境损害赔偿中地方政府的两难困境

我国的生态环境问责制度是一项以党内法规和生态环境政策为规范基础,并以《环保督察规定》、环保督察制度和问责依据为主体构成的制度。在实践中,它也拥有着基层性、广泛性和严厉性三大特点。这样的属性和特点使得生态环境问责制度一方面对督促地方党委和政府履行生态环境保护职责,解决重大生态环境问题上大有裨益。但另一方面,也给地方政府带来了较大的政治压力,并继而影响到了生态环境损害赔偿制度的实施。在这种压力的影响下,如何引导地方政府积极提起生态环境损害赔偿诉讼就成为了亟待解决的问题。为此,我们首先需要构建生态环保领域干部容错机制,并实现生态环境问责制度法制化的改造,最后完成生态环境问责机制多元化的转变,以此赋予生态环境问责制度新的功能和使命。     

扫黑除恶的刑事法治原则及技术对策

扫黑除恶专项斗争是贯彻、落实习近平总书记重要指示精神,维护社会治安、保障公民安全、稳固基层政权的重要决策,是国家和社会治理的必然选择。在黑恶势力逐步从硬暴力转向软暴力、帮派转向公司、黑色产业转向白色产业以及寻"伞"到变"伞"的转型背景下,基于传统的组织犯罪理论,黑恶势力将给我国公民安全、经济发展、政治环境以及政权稳定带来连锁性威胁。当前,扫黑除恶需要坚守法治思维,维护现代法治基本原则,在此前提下创设新型法律制度,应对黑恶势力的变化。     

Local Governments’ Responses to Revenue Changes: The Effects of Unreserved General Fund Balances

ABSTRACT

Volatile revenues affect the quality and consistency of municipal service provision. This article investigates how cities use unreserved general fund balances to mitigate annual expenditure fluctuations when confronted with volatile revenues. Based on the analysis of a panel dataset of over two thousand American cities from 2003 to 2011, the fixed-effects regression results suggest that unreserved general fund balances reduce municipal expenditure fluctuations on a year-to-year basis. The expenditure-smoothing effects were more pronounced when municipal governments experienced large revenue changes. Results are robust when excluding large cities, using different cutting-points to define ‘moderate’ or ‘large’ revenue changes, and in recession and non-recession years. This article contributes to the local expenditure stabilization literature by recognizing the unreserved general fund balances’ expenditure-smoothing effects during ‘non-rainy days.’ It adds empirical evidence to the organizational theory that financial slack works as a crucial buffer against external changes and provides managerial discretion to local administrators.     

The Imbalance between Public Expectations and Resource Provision in Developing Countries: Can Inter-Assemblies Cooperation Reduce the Gap?

ABSTRACT

Local authorities have long sought for solutions to the numerous service delivery challenges arising out of increasing demands from the general public coupled with budgetary constraints. One such solution is inter-organisational cooperation which has been found as an alternative cost-effective way of providing services to the general public. Drawing on resource-dependency theory, this paper explores the possibilities and challenges of cooperation among Assemblies in Ghana by adopting a qualitative approach. The findings reveal that inter-district cooperation is still at its development stages in Ghana despite the respondents’ recognition that it has the potential to address most of the problems faced by District Assemblies in Ghana.     

Economies of scale and Brazilian local government expenditure: evidence from the State of Paraná

ABSTRACT

Controversy surrounds local government reform, particularly efforts directed at reducing the number of local authorities to secure economies of scale. We examine whether economies of scale exist in local government outlays by analysing the expenditure of 398 municipalities for the Brazilian state of Paraná using a 16-year panel dataset covering the period 2002–2017. We find evidence that municipal expenditure is characterised by substantial scale economies. However, given the strong correlation between population size and population density, it is important to ascertain whether the influence of population size on municipal expenditure is due to variations in population density or not. When local government areas are divided into sub-groups based on population density, evidence of scale economies remains with the majority of councils operating below optimal size. Municipal consolidations may thus lead to lower per capita expenditure.