Decentralization Of Authority Research Articles

Participation of Georgian Local Authorities in the Process of Hospital Care Reforms

The article addresses power distribution issues within the context of scientific discourse and explores potential solutions to be implemented by local authorities in the realm of Hospital Care reforms in Georgia, particularly in the conditions of authority decentralization. The significance of addressing this scientific issue stems from the financial challenges faced by many communities, especially in economically depressed Georgian regions. Prior to the reform, the network of hospital facilities relied on subsidies from higher-level budgets.
 The methodological approach involves the use of desk research, secondary analysis of literary, research, and analytical sources, along with regulatory methods. The research spans from 1991 to 2022, focusing on the power of local self-governments, both their inherent powers and those delegated to them, given that almost 60% of medical services are provided at the territorial community level.
 The article presents empirical analysis results regarding the distribution of financial power in the new model of Hospital care management. It demonstrates that, fundamentally, the new model remains budget-funded, consistent with the pre-reform structure. The research empirically and theoretically supports the assertion that the overall direction of reforms has been appropriately chosen, a sentiment echoed by positive assessments from international experts.
 The findings of the research can be valuable for local authorities representing the interests of territorial communities and for local executive authorities involved in the implementation of these reforms. Additionally, the research aligns with Georgia's commitment to the path towards European integration changes.
 This process is developing very slowly in Georgia. This is a loss of opportunity to raise the standard of living of local communities.

Achievements and Issues of Geographical Studies on Decentralization: Focus on Decentralization of Authority, Financial Resources and Government

Achievements and Issues of Geographical Studies on Decentralization: Focus on Decentralization of Authority, Financial Resources and Government

Passing on the hot potato. Dutch municipalities under financial pressure have incentives to shift the costs of social care for older people to the central government

In view of the impending ageing of the population, countries have been searching for ways to restructure their social care system. Reforms often involve a decentralisation of authority from central to local government. Although such a decentralisation presents the opportunity to be receptive to social demand, it could provide the incentive for local governments that bear the burden of the costs to (partly) transfer their costs back to the central level. In this paper we examine the impact of fiscal distress of municipalities on cost-shifting behaviour to the central long-term care system in the Netherlands. Using data on both the municipal level as well as the level of individual applicants for the period 2016–2019, we find that municipalities with fiscal distress in social care have higher percentages of applications for centrally funded long-term care. However, we also observe that higher percentages of applications and rejections are positively correlated suggesting that the Dutch independent need assessor has the capacity to (partly) discard cost-shifted applications.

Empowering local response and community-based disaster mitigation through legislative policies: Lessons from the Kerala floods of 2018-19.

The present paper draws on a series of qualitative studies exploring civic response and community resilience post the 2018-19 floods in Kerala, India. Data were triangulated from multiple sources and -perspectives-community leaders and key informants, rescue and relief volunteers, and survivors. This viewpoint paper aims to highlight the critical role of local volunteerism in disaster mitigation and preparedness, the cost of gaps in emboldening community response, and to suggest actionable means of maximizing civilian potential through legislative policies. The local populace are the first responders at disaster sites and play a vital role in disaster mitigation. Knowledge about local geography, community, and readily accessible resources enables community members to respond efficiently, unlike state deployed disaster task forces who need to be scaffolded into these sites. Liaisons between the state and civilian responders are necessary for informed and time-e-fficient response. Insights gleaned from interviews with the participants offer several suggestions for streamlining administrative channels and structural reforms in governance. Community response can be emboldened by adopting policies that formalize civilian participation in the state's disaster mitigation systems. Decentralization of authority to local self-governance bodies and acknowledgment of local expertise is key to fostering disaster resilient communities. This paper argues that empowering local stakeholders through legislative reforms can bridge existing gaps between community-action focused research recommendations and policy in practice. It provides a framework and actionable measures toward actualizing the call for society-inclusive disaster risk reduction practices.

Pathways towards improved water governance: The role of polycentric governance systems and vertical and horizontal coordination

Persistent challenges in dealing with water management problems arise from complex interdependencies of diverse water uses. Water-related crises, such as prolonged droughts or extreme floods, may have severe impacts across scales and in different sectors. At the same time, numerous, largely independent decisions in different sectors affecting water resources and water-dependent ecosystems introduce further uncertainties. Conceptual consideration and empirical evidence suggest that polycentric governance systems have a high capacity to deal with such challenges. Polycentric governance systems combine decentralization of authority and decision-making with some kind of coordination of the different (semi-)autonomous governance units. However, the nature of and pathways towards polycentric governance are still quite poorly understood. This paper analyses requirements (1) for governance systems to become polycentric and (2) for such systems to effectively tackle water management challenges. The analyses are based on a data set of 26 cases from developed and less developed countries. Results from Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) confirm the hypothesis that polycentric governance systems are characterized by high performance in supporting effective coordination. Fragmented as well as centralized, not coordinated (rent-seeking) regimes show poor performance. The QCA analyses highlight further the importance of high institutional capacity for the effectiveness of formal coordination instruments. Results show as well a strong interdependence between vertical coordination and horizontal coordination. The results from QCA analyses are substantiated with findings from in-depth studies of selected cases from the larger data set.

The Application of Law as a Key to Understanding Judicial Independence

Judges across China recently declined to apply a law that the National People’s Congress had newly brought into effect. In this article, I describe this startling finding and explore the significance of it. I conclude that it represents an exercise of judicial independence. Using a thickly descriptive approach that focuses on textual analysis and institutional context, I demonstrate that judges in China have no legal duty to apply law and that it is professionally risky for them to apply law; that judges there operate within a professional culture that encourages restraint; and that the court system has developed a strong set of internal rules that encourage reference to judge-made rules rather than to external rules such as those enacted by legislative or executive bodies. I further argue that the topic of judicial independence is important not just for countries outside the United States, but for the United States as well, and that a framework developed from a broadly comparative perspective is the best approach for understanding judicial independence in China, and, likewise, in the United States. Understanding judicial independence in China is important for myriad reasons. It is a gauge of the robustness of the rule of law in China. It is an important proving-ground for judicial independence as a universal phenomenon. It adds perspectives from China to the comparative law literature on judges. It is a bell-weather of the kind of decentralization of authority that famously marks China’s post-Mao government. There is no question that the courts of China were enlisted to play a role in the larger governmental initiatives of the past century. Its courts garnered respect for the People’s Republic of China’s legal system, which in turn helped China participate as an equal in the international legal order, as well as the international economic system. With judicial independence, there is no escaping the fact that to understand it is to measure it. This is because it would be false and misleading to believe that either you have it or you don’t. Each country’s, each county’s, each judge’s independence is affected by a complex of circumstances around it that vary over time. Some of these circumstances are institutional, some are cultural, and some are the products of chance and human agency. Care is needed when framing the measuring project. If we choose to view the degree of judicial independence as arraying itself along a spectrum, then we need

Decentralisation of Authority and its Implications for Inclusive Economic Development strategies in South Africa: A critical review

Decentralisation of Authority and its Implications for Inclusive Economic Development strategies in South Africa: A critical review

Three Paradigms in Emerging Christian Witchcraft

Over the past five years, the emergence of something called Christian witchcraft has alarmed many who have heard of it. Ethnographic research has shown that it is a product of many things: religious deconstruction, decolonization, and even popular culture, but the effect seems to have been one of empowerment for women and queer folk, a healthy respect for other religions, an assertion of agency and consent within religion, and a decentralization of authority in those places where it exists. The informal, popular form of religious deconstruction has created this room for Christian witchcraft, but religious decolonization has played a key role in how the various forms of Christian witchcraft have categorized themselves, and these categories have closely mirrored pre-existing categorizations developed by Dorothee Sölle: orthodox, liberal, and radical.

Between Decentralization and Recentralization: Conflicts in Intramunicipal and Intermunicipal Governance in Tokyo’s Shrinking Suburbs

<p>The suburbs of Tokyo Metropolis are experiencing path-dependent, multifaceted shrinkage in socio-demographic, economic, and political and administrative (including fiscal) dimensions. The following two contradictory processes taking place in the opposite direction are at work, namely: the political and administrative decentralization of authority and responsibility (although without much fiscal devolution), and the socio-demographic, economic, and fiscal recentralization of workplaces, residences, and municipal finance. As Tokyo’s suburbs confront these contradictory processes of decentralization and recentralization, they fall into the gap between, on the one hand, policies that prioritize the internationally competitive metropolitan center by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and, on the other hand, policies that address the growing problems of lagging provinces by the Government of Japan. These phenomena are affecting radical, but barely visible, changes in public affairs of municipal governments on the lowest tier. We thus examine the emerging modalities of intra- and inter-municipal affairs in Tokyo’s shrinking post-suburbs. First, we explore the intra-municipal upheavals, incorporating instabilities and disarrays, of ideas and practices inside a municipal government. Next, we investigate the inter-municipal upheavals that involve oscillations between unification and fragmentation among municipal governments. These interrelated intra- and inter-municipal upheavals hinder the consistency and timeliness of planning and decision-making in the local arena. In conclusion, we emphasize the importance of taming these upheavals and creating integrated governance systems by exploiting the emerging sense of the increasingly intertwined future among municipal governments. This is vital to strengthen local solidarity and promote inter-municipal collaborations at scales that can ensure metropolitan and suburban sustainability.</p>

Structural and psychological empowerment of students obtaining continuing leadership education in Finland–a national survey

BackgroundIn nursing, empowerment may be deemed one's potential to gain power, achieve goals and promote one's skills to advance positive changes in the working environment, or decentralization of authority. Empowerment is associated with nurses' and nurse leaders' satisfaction, performance and organizational commitment, as well as burnout, emotional exhaustion and intentions to leave the profession. Research on nurse empowerment in relation to continuing education is sparse. ObjectivesThis study describes the structural and psychological empowerment levels of students beginning a collaboratively implemented continuing leadership education program. DesignCross-sectional electronic survey. SettingsNational, continuing nursing leadership education program (37 ECT) organized by five universities that provide masters level education to nurse leaders in Finland. ParticipantsStudents (N = 85) working at nine healthcare organizations across the service system as current or prospective nurse leaders and enrolled in the continuing leadership education program. MethodsThe Conditions of Work Effectiveness Questionnaire and the Work Empowerment Questionnaire were each used to measure structural and psychological empowerment, respectively. The data were collected between October 2019 and February 2020. ResultsA total of 69 students participated (response rate 81 %). Moderate levels of both structural and psychological empowerment were observed. In structural empowerment, the strongest dimension was access to opportunity (4.1, SD 0.7), whereas access to support was the weakest (2.7, SD 0.7). The strongest psychological empowerment dimension was verbal empowerment (8.5, SD 1.9) and the weakest was outcome empowerment (7.0, SD 1.6). ConclusionsNurses and nurse leaders seem to lack the status and power required to impact their organizations, possibly causing them to apply for nursing leadership education. Nurse leaders should be given opportunities for continuing leadership education to improve empowerment and, as a result, staff outcomes.

Blockchain Technology for Renewable Energy: Principles, Applications and Prospects

Blockchain, or distributed ledger, is an innovative technology that is emerging in various sectors and industries across the globe. It has attracted the attention of different interest groups such as energy companies, SMEs and start-ups, information technology developers, financial institutions, national authorities, and the university community. Through, for example, the decentralization of authority in transactions, Internet of Things (IoT) implementation, and smart contracting, the improvement of the daily business operations is firmly forecasted. In the energy sector, digitalization is already present in solutions such as smart grids, smart meters, electric vehicles, etc. Moreover, a new concept of the Internet of Energy (IoE) has been introduced in the academic literature. In this article, the level of trust and maturity of Blockchain technology implementation is investigated through the Blockchain Maturity Questionnaire, developed by the authors. The database consists of responses from upper management professionals from the renewable energy industry. The analysis reveals the state of know-how about Blockchain, the main benefits and bottlenecks associated with its implementation as well as willingness to integrate this technology in the case companies’ future operations. The insight from the industry experts helped to provide a “Roadmap for Blockchain Adoption” in future energy systems. This curiosity study yields numerous applications not only for the renewable energy industry experts but also for the interest groups coming from different industries, as well as public authorities and researchers scrutinizing the fields taken into its scope.

“This machine will not communicate”: The Decentralization of Authority in Radiohead’s Music and Digital Media

This study examines how the British band Radiohead have decentralized their authority over their lyrics, music, song titles, artwork, music videos, Web sites, and business practices to allow listeners to participate in the meaning-making process. In pursuit of this goal, the band has supported and developed digital spaces for fan interpretations, playlists, and remixes. As a result, Radiohead have empowered their fans to act as cultural intermediaries, curating and sharing personal interpretations, histories, and collections of the band’s work through digital media.

Authority decentralization and air pollution reduction: Evidence from China.

Whether authority decentralization can strengthen the effort of local governments to reduce environmental pollution is theoretically and practically important. Based on a reform of delegating power of organizing marathon games from central to local governments in China, this paper finds that air quality during the days of marathon games improves significantly after decentralization. Such results pass a series of robustness checks. Moreover, we find that the improvement of air quality during marathon games after authority decentralization have close relationship with official promotion incentives, local political cycles and the career concerns of prefectural secretaries and mayors.

Multiauthority Attribute-Based Encryption With Dynamic Membership From Lattices

Attribute-based encryption is useful for one-to-many encrypted message sending. However, most attribute-based encryption schemes authorize and issue attributes to users by a single authority. Such a scenario conflicts with practical requirements and may cause the key-escrow problem. Hence, decentralization of authority is a critical issue in attribute-based encryption. Besides, dynamic membership management is another important issue in attribute-based encryption. With dynamic membership management, a system may update the user’s attributes without affecting other users, making the system more flexible and practical. On the other hand, with the rapid development of quantum computers nowadays, encryption schemes based on traditional mathematical problems are at the risk of quantum attacks. Among the existing quantum-resistant mathematical architectures, lattice-based cryptography is the most widely studied. Thus, we propose a multi-authority attribute-based encryption scheme with dynamic membership from lattices to solve the above problems. Moreover, we also formally prove the security of the proposed scheme under the decisional learning with errors assumption.

Analysis of the factors influencing the development and competitiveness of territorial communities

In order to create favorable conditions for the dynamic development of the territory, local governments today need to improve the methods and principles of management, as competition between territories is growing. Although territorial communities have the same powers, they differ in spatial parameters, resource capacity, historical and cultural heritage, and other characteristics. This encourages them to use their unique features to increase their competitiveness and attractiveness to various stakeholders. The decentralization of authorities and new boundaries of territorial communities have opened up new opportunities for attracting investments. Attracting investment for community development programs helps to improve its economic, intellectual, and production capacity, find commercial partners, and increase competitiveness. The article aims to examine the main components of improving the competitiveness of territorial communities. It analyzes the peculiarities of the development of territorial communities and identifies the main factors influencing the development and improvement of their competitiveness. The study outlines the main problems that arise in the process of community functioning: finances, governance, environment, personnel, interaction, migration, and infrastructure, and suggests ways to minimize and eliminate them. The decentralization reform and its impact on the socio-economic development of territorial communities are substantiated. The main proposals for increasing the investment attractiveness of the community are presented. The main areas that will facilitate efficient cooperation between local governments and private businesses are identified. The article proves that the main advantages of increasing the competitiveness of territorial communities include building and planning marketing strategies.

Explanation of the directions of improvement of state policy regarding the protection of children's rights in the conditions of decentralization of authority in Ukraine

Explanation of the directions of improvement of state policy regarding the protection of children's rights in the conditions of decentralization of authority in Ukraine

Foreign experience in the management of competitive advantages of territories

The completion of the decentralization of authority and finance in Ukraine has opened up new horizons for the creation of innovative approaches to territorial community management. Local governments were granted significant powers and financial resources, which creates new opportunities for the development and expansion of the capacity of communities. The rights of local governments in the organization of community management were expanded, which contributes to a more effective and balanced solution to local problems. Thus, the management of competitive advantages of territories is an important topic in economics, management, and regional development. The study of this issue is becoming increasingly relevant as more and more regions around the world compete to attract investment, develop entrepreneurship and tourism, develop transportation infrastructure, create jobs, and improve the quality of life. The article aims to examine new approaches to the development and management of competitive advantages of territories based on foreign experience. The article analyzes the peculiarities of competitive advantage management in local communities of several EU countries. Based on the study, the authors identify and substantiate the advantages of foreign experience and reveal the shortcomings that should be taken into account when implementing this experience. The author substantiates the process of decentralization reform and its impact on the development of territorial communities in terms of the use of management tools to increase the competitiveness of territories. The article shows that clustering, strategic planning, and public-private partnerships are the main tools for improving the competitiveness of communities. The main directions used by a number of countries to improve the efficiency of territorial development are characterized.

‘民族經濟’와 ‘割據經濟’ ― 남경국민정부 시기 省統制經濟의 문제화 ―

This article pays attention to the debate on the controlled economy by provincial governments, which aims to analyze the contents of the debates and to clarify their contemporary context of 1930s. Intellectuals of the time basically derived the debate from the theoretical and practical ground of the theory of controlled economy in the same period, but the aftermath of the two came to be developed in a distinctive way. The distinction lay in the difference between the geopolitical level of the nation-state and that of the provinces when discussing the obligation of the time, particularly anti-Imperialism and anti-Feudalism. Whereas general discourse of the controlled economy presupposed the central government of the nation-state as a proper unit for administrative agency, the discourse on the controlled economy by provincial governments necessarily and significantly distant from the strong attachment to the nation-state. For provincial governments claiming the controlled economy was considered a good opportunity for possessing a leading authority to the construction of nation-state, and the pursuits also worked for the strengthening of provincial identity. <BR> Such composition of discourse brought about the trait of rivalry between centralization and decentralization. Either intended or not, it was attached in the discourse of controlled economy the context of locality versus center and that of rule-by-government versus rule-by-governments. The narrative of centralization defined the provincial governments’ claim of controlled economy as feudalistic separatist economy, in other words, disrupting the foundation of national economy and the true unification of China of overcoming semi-colonial condition and integrating the nation. However, the province-centered narrative claimed that the realization of controlled economy by provincial government would complement the central government, expand the authority and autonomy of provinces, and eventually contribute to the national economy.<BR> The trait or limitation of the debates on the controlled economy by provincial government lay in the fact that the issue of provincial autonomy was barely treated to the extent of reformation of political system or expansion of democracy and autonomy from the bottom. Intellectuals mostly did not took advantage of the legacy despite the recognition of the history in 1920s when the movements for inter-provincial autonomy stimulated the pursuit of decentralization. It primarily reveals the still-powerful entity of warlords, but it also tells the predominant narrative of nation-building in the 1930s so much so to dwarf the significance of the slogan, anti-Imperialism and anti-Feudalism. However, as seen in the lively construction of economy in Shanxi and Guangdong provinces in 1930s there existed some space for the provincial government more proper as the agency of the controlled economy, and there also existed some practical results that could be assessed for the realization of the anti-Imperialism and anti-Feudalism. It is likely to be the significant case of showing the aporia of the task of nation-building in the 1930s, the crossing and rivalry between centralization and decentralization of authority circumscribing the discourse of controlled economy by provincial government. Nevertheless of the overwhelming narrative of centralization, it is still worthwhile to rethink the meaning of the controlled economy of provincial government. We need to shed enough lights on the current of pursuing decentralization that had competed against it.

COVID-19 Death in High-Medicaid Nursing Homes: The Role of Employment Empowerment

This study examines the association between COVID-19 death and employee empowerment in under-resourced nursing homes (70% or higher Medicaid census). Employee empowerment captures elements of participative decision making, autonomy, responsibility, open communication, decentralization, and decision-making flexibility within an organization. Survey data from 391 Directors of Nursing (response rate of 37%) from 2017-2018, were merged with secondary data from CMS Nursing Home COVID-19 Public File, LTCFocus, Area Health Resource File, and Nursing Home Compare. A Poisson regression was used to examine reported COVID-19 death and employee empowerment. The independent variable employee empowerment was the mean score of summated Likert scale questions. Control variables included organizational (size, location, ownership, chain affiliation, quality, payer mix, acuity, occupancy, and race/ethnicity, staffing mix), and county factors (Medicare Advantage penetration, per capita income, poverty, unemployment, education, 65+ population, and competition). Employee empowerment was associated with a lower number of COVID-19 cases (p < 0.05). Rural, not-for-profit, and payer-mix were also significantly associated with a lower number of COVID-19 deaths. Employee empowerment captures the decentralization of authority and an employee’s ability to make decisions without approval. In light of this crisis, empowerment may have helped under-resourced nursing homes be more agile and faster in their response. High-Medicaid nursing homes may need to consider different decision-making practices when faced with a crisis, such as, COVID-19.

Twitter as a mirror of political space(s): An analysis of multi-level party competition in Italy

ABSTRACT The literature on the nationalization of party systems has found that decentralization of authority leads to increasing territorial heterogeneity of voting behaviour. In this article, we intend to further extant knowledge on this topic by exploring whether different levels of government imply distinct representations of party competition at the citizens’ level. We do so by analysing Twitter data collected during the 2015 regional elections in five Italian regions (Liguria, Veneto, Tuscany, Campania and Apulia) to estimate national and regional party configurations by means of multi-dimensional scaling. Analyses show that national party competition is generally perceived in the same way across regions, but representations of regional political spaces tend to stand out from it and also to differ from each other. These results suggest that, in line with the process of political decentralization of authority, voters perceive party competition in different ways according to the level of territorial governance at stake.