Government Decision-making Processes Research Articles

The role and importance of civil initiatives in local governance

Local governance is closely related to democracy and provides a central position to the participation of citizens in decision-making, where the perspectives of different authors such as political scientist Robert Dahl emphasized that democracy must offer equal and proper opportunities for citizens’ participation in decision-making (Forrester & Sunar, 2011). The purpose of this paper is to create a fair overview of the real condition of citizens’ involvement in local government decision-making processes, by highlighting the necessity to adapt local government to the real needs of citizens, which facilitates their lives within the municipalities. The review of literature and development of qualitative research was the methodology applied within this study. During the development of this study, surveys were also conducted with citizens and other institutional stakeholders with a key role in local governance. The findings of this paper indicated that municipal bodies have made minimal efforts to inform citizens about their opportunities and raise awareness regarding the importance of activism in decision-making, as substantiated by the questionnaire outcomes. On this occasion, it was also observed that there is a low level of citizens’ inclination to participate in public gatherings aimed at influencing municipal governance activities.

Tensions between Religion and Policy: Navigating the Public Sphere

This article explores the complex relationship between religion and policy in the public sphere. This research explores the tensions that arise when religious beliefs and practices intersect with government policies and decision-making processes. This study examines how individuals, communities, and governments address these challenges, seeking to strike a balance between upholding religious freedom and ensuring public policy is secular. Through a multidisciplinary approach, this research highlights the multiple dimensions of this issue, providing insight into its implications for governance, social cohesion and individual rights. This exploration aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of the dynamic relationship between religion and policy in contemporary society.

The Role of Economic Intelligence in Accelerating Welfare of Gorontalo Province

The Gorontalo Province region has the potential for significant resource wealth. However, the Gorontalo Provincial Government still faces problems and challenges when trying to improve the welfare of its people. One is the limited data/information that is accurate, up-to-date, and integrated. This data/information is important in planning and making appropriate decisions. Another problem is that the community's role in modern development based on economic intelligence in Gorontalo Province has not been optimal. This means that the public and even bureaucrats are still unfamiliar with "Economic Intelligence." As a result, economic intelligence has not been fully used in planning, implementing programs/activities, evaluating and monitoring, or government decision-making processes. This research aims to analyze the problems and challenges in modern development based on economic intelligence in Gorontalo Province. This research uses a qualitative-descriptive approach. This study found that the main problems in modern development based on economic intelligence in Gorontalo Province are: 1) The lack of integration of economic data/information from various government and private agencies; 2) Lack of human resources (HR) who are reliable and have competence as managers and/or analysts of scientific data; and 3) Lack of technological support in managing economic data/information. The results of data analysis also show that the role of society in modern development based on economic intelligence is still very low. A lack of public understanding of the importance of economic intelligence causes this. Therefore, it is recommended that the Gorontalo Provincial Government make: 1) efforts to integrate economic data/information from various government and private agencies; 2) increase human resource capacity in managing and analyzing scientific data; 3) provide technological support in managing economic data/information; and 4) increase public understanding of the importance of economic intelligence.

Spatial-temporal evolution and driving factors of green high-quality agriculture development in China

The fundamental means of addressing the challenges concerning China’s agricultural resources and environment is to achieve green and high-quality development within the agricultural sector. In this study, we measured the level of green high-quality agricultural development (GHQAD) in China from 2003 to 2020, and used Theil index, Moran’s I and Geographic detector to reveal the evolution trend and driving factors of GHQAD in China. The results show that the development level of GHQAD in China is constantly improving while the spatial difference is decreasing, and the primary contributor to this overall variation is the intra-regional variation. The spatial distribution of GHQAD in China was positively correlated, with high concentration in eastern and central regions, and low concentration in western regions. Notably, topographic relief degree and urbanization level are the key driving factors contributing to the spatial differences in GHQAD across China. The insights gained from this study will be particularly valuable for the government decision-making processes, thereby elevating GHQAD development in China and ultimately achieving coordinated development within the agricultural sector.

Government Information Disclosure and the Expansion of Public Reason

In the process of deepening government reform and transforming government functions, the disclosure of government information has increasingly gained widespread attention in both academic and practical circles. Government information disclosure is based on the evolution of rational choice model in organizational decision-making, the introduction of information asymmetry assumption in game theory, and the impact of information asymmetry on the effectiveness of policy decision-making, etc., focusing on the alleviation of information asymmetry. This paper finds that government information disclosure is mainly aimed at expanding public rationality by enriching the amount of information in the government decision-making process, increasing the possibility of monitoring government decision-making behavior, and weakening the influence of subjective factors of decision-makers.

Influential Factors Affecting the Adoption Intention of Electric Vehicles in Indonesia: An Extension of the Theory of Planned Behavior

The primary goal of the thesis was to examine the factors that affect the willingness of people in Indonesia to adopt Electric Vehicles (EVs). Given the pressing need in Indonesia to address energy shortages and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, this research aimed to investigate the elements that influence people's inclination to use EVs. In this study, questionnaires were used as a means of measurement. Respondents were provided with a brief explanation before completing the survey. Using an extended TPB (Theory of Planned Behavior) model, the research analyzed the adoption intentions of 310 respondents from Indonesia, following a minimum sample guideline of 200. The collected data was analyzed using smartPLS4 to extract insights. The empirical analysis of the research focused on five key factors: attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, environmental concern, and moral norms. Notably, the empirical results showed that while attitude had an insignificant impact on the adoption intention of EVs in Indonesia, the other factors subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, environmental concern, and moral norms had a significant and positive influence on the intention to embrace electric vehicles in the country. Based on these findings, it can be concluded that the extended TPB model is suitable for predicting the adoption intention of electric vehicles. Considering these results, the study explores the implications for EV adoption in Indonesia, offering valuable insights and recommendations for future research and for the Indonesian government's decision-making process regarding the factors that influence EV adoption.

DEMOCRACY AND RULE OF LAW IN THE ERA OF ALGORITHMS: A REVIEW ON INTERNET SHUTDOWNS IN INDIA

The author of this article analyses the algorithmic impact on public participation in the decision-making process and its effects on democratic principles as recognized under the Constitution. Democratic principles are implemented through the Institutions of civil societies, and civil societies have problems with internal and external contractions and trust issues. In the contemporary world, it is observed that the government is silent on public opinion on several of its decision. This silence of government gives rise to several questions, such as – In a democratic setup, to what extent public can participate in the decision-making process of government? To what extent government can curb the voice of people with the help of assisted technologies such as internet shutdown and filter bubbles? What are the possible legitimate ways a government can be accountable for its actions?

Empowering Voices: Building an Electronic Petition System for Strengthening Freedom of Speech in Indonesia

Currently, the issue of freedom of expression poses a significant challenge in Indonesia. Despite being a democratic nation, the scope of people's freedom of expression is largely confined to electoral processes. In order to advance this fundamental right, the implementation of an electronic petition system has been undertaken as a means to facilitate the exercise of freedom of expression. The primary objective of this research is to examine the status quo of freedom of expression in Indonesia and to analyze the pressing need for the adoption of an electronic petition system. This study employs a normative legal approach and conducts comparative analysis with the United Kingdom and Germany, utilizing secondary data sources. The findings of this research demonstrate that Indonesia would greatly benefit from the adoption of an e-democracy system through the implementation of an electronic petition system. The efficacy of such a system has been successfully demonstrated in the United Kingdom and Germany, where it has served as an effective intermediary between the public and the government, ensuring sustained public participation and influencing governmental decision-making processes. In order to implement the electronic petition system in Indonesia, several crucial steps must be undertaken. These steps include the establishment of a Petition Committee, the formulation of Petition Laws, and the official recognition of a dedicated website serving as the electronic petition platform in Indonesia. Additionally, political will and legislative enforcement will be required to ensure the Indonesian Parliament's commitment to act upon the outcomes of these petitions.

LEGO: Linked electronic government ontology

E-government services are subject to a growing level of complexity, which requires a disruptive approach that better support the citizen needs concerning the government administration. Nowadays, available information technologies facilitate the description and online execution of administrative tasks, saving time and reducing possible errors. These technologies reduce administrative costs but require a complex electronic government system. We propose using semantic technologies to describe the e-government organisational units and services in the Open Government Data and Services context. The use of semantics improves government management, service delivery and decision-making processes. This article presents an extension of related work, introducing the evolution of the Ontology for Electronic Government (EGO): integrating other existing ontologies, supporting new features to describe e-government services and widening the usage scenarios. This extension enables the use in a real scenario with four use cases: the electronic government in the Province of Misiones (Argentina). However, the use in the domain of electronic government in a provincial context is also a proof of concept that this approach is general enough to expand into superior domains of countries that adopt the republican system of government with the division of government into the executive, legislative and judicial branches.

An Exploratory Study of the Determinants of the Decision-Making Process of Local Government During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Indonesia

This study aims to answer how complex decision making is and what factors determine the decision making process in regions to manage the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study uses the perspective of decision-making theory in crisis. However, this study is not intended to prove one specific theory. This study is an exploration type. It is intended to explore the practice of decision making in crises. The unit of analysis for this study is the highest officials, both executive and legislative, at the provincial and district levels, where it has been awarded as the best province in handling the COVID-19 pandemic. The total of respondents who completed the online questionnaire form were 45 percent of all DPRD members in the province and district; and 41 percent of provincial and district government officials. This study found new findings that executive leaders, rather than legislators, believed that pandemic-era decision-making was complex. The second new finding of this study is that the crisis has encouraged the emergence of transformational leadership. The last new finding is the consideration of the consequences of decision making that affect executive leaders in making decisions. Other factors that determine the extent of the complexity of the decision-making identified are organizational and management capacity and government innovation capacity.

Youth Participation and Disaster: Examining Suggestions on Disaster Risk Reduction Management in Metro Manila, Philippines

Communication is critical in all areas of disaster risk reduction management (DRRM). Efficient and comprehensive information is essential to minimize unanticipated and unexpected economic and social repercussions and increase the response's effectiveness. Furthermore, the local government unit should discuss youth involvement in DRRM to develop inclusive policies. Thus, this study examines 752 typhoon-and-flood-related textual suggestions of youth leaders and volunteers from different typhoon and flood communities in Metro Manila, Philippines to discuss emerging themes on DRRM. Using Google Forms, this study gathers suggestions regarding the disaster governance measures of the participant's respective communities. Youth leaders' and volunteers' suggestions for better disaster preparedness revealed seven thematic recommendations including the need for more robust early warning systems, information campaigns, capacity building and tactics for increasing personal preparedness. Filipino values such as damayan (to give sympathetic support), pakikipagkapwa (having a sense of shared identity) and bayanihan (a spirit of communal unity) have also emerged from the suggestions. The role of women and persons with disability was also a repeated theme that will empower them in times of disaster. Overall, this study provides initial insight into youths' role in increasing inclusivity in local government and communities' decision-making processes on disaster risk reduction management.

Climate Change SOS: Addressing Climate Impacts within a Climate Change Spiral of Silence

This study uncovers the dynamics that exist among key government officials working to address impacts of climate variability and change within a hostile socio-political setting. Through qualitative analysis of interviews with Oklahoma government officials, this study finds evidence of a climate change spiral of silence impacting key government decision-making processes through the suppression of climate change discourse and science. We argue that settings hostile toward climate action (where there is pervasive skepticism/denial of anthropogenic climate change and opposition to climate mitigations/adaptation policies) are primed for normative dynamics that reinforce a climate change spiral of silence.

The effects of urbanisation on food security in Africa: An overview and synthesis of the literature

Abstract The rapid and unplanned urbanisation in Africa has resulted in unprecedented and turbulent effects which include prolonged drought, massive floods, economic losses, increased food insecurity among small-scale and subsistence farmers and increased vulnerability because of rapid climate change. This has been exacerbated by the irrefutable fact that governments in Africa have been ill-prepared and incompetent to effectively deal with the adverse effects of increased urbanisation. In this light, in the overview of this literature study, the researcher set out to explore the theoretical underpinnings and empirical dimensions of the effects of urbanisation on food security in Africa. The study further captures, analyses, and synthesises the literature on best practice applied by governments in Africa in proactively responding to the effects of urbanisation on food security. Furthermore, patterns on the adverse effects of urbanisation relating to food security are unpacked from scholars, and various solutions investigated. This was achieved by rigorously reviewing eleven empirical and relevant journal which were selected from Google Scholar and ResearchGate. The interesting themes that emerged in this study include poor government interventions and decision-making processes, inadequate or absent land-use planning, and high incompetency levels among urban planners. This has led to environmental degradation and unsustainable food security as the result of prime agricultural land being used for infrastructure or housing developments. Solutions suggested for urban food insecurity include public–private partnerships, the alignment of policies with urban agriculture, participatory and strategic land-use planning, and the empowerment of women.

Guidelines for public sector managers on assessing the impact of outsourcing on business continuity strategies: a Brazilian case

PurposeThis paper aims to propose guidelines for public sector managers in assessing the impact of outsourcing on business continuity (BC) strategies. This paper evaluated how public managers from the state of Pernambuco, Brazil, perceive outsourcing, considering BC and how it relates to the outsourcing of services and activities.Design/methodology/approachTheoretical lenses of outsourcing and BC were used to derive the study hypotheses. A questionnaire was drawn up to collect information to test the hypotheses. To test the proposed hypotheses, binary logistic regression was used through an empirical analysis of a sample of 51 Brazilian public managers.FindingsThis study found that when the public sector suffers from negative impacts of financial restrictions, outsourced services are the first ones to receive the negative impacts. This has had an adverse impact on BC in the public sphere. On the other hand, the authors verified that the public sphere’s capacity for resilience and the existence of specific methodologies to support public managers in outsourcing decision-making can contribute to BC.Research limitations/implicationsThis study assists public organizations to take advantage of internal outsourced services in the best possible way, making better use of public resources, gaining social legitimacy and legitimacy also in the provision of public services. However, each public sector can present different risks of non-continuity, and this aspect could not be considered in this research as well.Originality/valueThis study is a pioneer in highlighting the relationships between outsourcing strategies and BC in public services in Brazil. Through the guidelines discussed in this study, public managers could develop a more effective response to the implications of post-outsourcing budget constraints. In addition, the findings of this paper add to an understanding of the importance of business strategies for public services continuity and seek to help reduce uncertainties and better inform the government decision-making process.

Developing a Decision-Making Model for Construction Safety Behavior Supervision: An Evolutionary Game Theory-Based Analysis.

Without the active participation of enterprises and front-line workers, it is difficult for the government to perform effective supervision to ensure behavioral safety among front-line workers. To overcome inadequate government supervision and information attenuation caused by vertical management mode and limited resources, and to change passive supervision into active control with the proactive participation of enterprises and workers, this paper combines the entity responsibility mechanism and the third-party participation mechanism based on government supervision to analyze the decision-making process of government and enterprises on safety behavior supervision. An evolutionary game model was established to describe the decision-making interactions between the government and construction enterprises under the two mechanisms, and a simulation was performed to illustrate the factors influencing the implementation of the mechanisms. The results show that both mechanisms have a positive effect on government supervision, and the third-party participation mechanism was found to be working better. The implementation of the two mechanisms is influenced by punishment, subsidy, and cost, and it has different sensitivities to the three influencing factors. This study provides a theoretical framework for enhancing the government supervision mechanism, and the decision-making between the government and construction enterprises enhances the management form and guides their actual supervision practices.

Unpacking the complexity of the UK plastic packaging value chain: A stakeholder perspective

The pace to achieving a sustainable plastics economy remains noticeably slow. This could be due to a lack of understanding of the role and importance of stakeholder dynamics in the plastic packaging system. Therefore, this study aims to unpack and assess the role of stakeholders in improving the plastics recycling rate and circularity in the UK, using polyethylene terephthalate (PET) drinks bottles value chain as a case study. Via the theoretical lens of stakeholder theory the study identifies and groups the stakeholders in the PET drinks bottles value chain, and tries to make sense of, and analyse, their complex interactions via the use of the Complex Value Optimisation for Resource Recovery (CVORR) systems thinking approach. This integrated approach reveals, that even though external stakeholders (e.g. NGOs, trade associations) engage with internal stakeholders (e.g. suppliers, consumers, investors), and vice versa, at different levels and scales in promoting the circularity in the PET drink bottles value chain, there is a strong drive in incentivising the production and consumption processes. This is driven by the significant lobbying power of internal stakeholders operating upstream of the PET bottles value chain (i.e. producers and brand owners), that is supported by financial institutions, and which, strongly influences national and local government policies and decision-making processes. Meanwhile, the waste management processes are short-sighted, being unable to gain improved momentum and increase the PET bottles recycling rates. This dynamic conceals, and somewhat retains, the prevailing resistance in removing the infrastructural, regulatory and technological lock-ins. A collaboration between internal and external stakeholders is paramount to sustainably managing PET drinks bottles in the UK and achieving a transition to a sustainable circular plastics economy. Creating a level playing field and fostering a closer collaboration between all stakeholders involved in the system can aid the development of new value networks, and support new policy interventions that can improve circularity in the plastic packaging sector.

Community engagement in pastoralist areas: Lessons from the public dialogue process for a new refugee settlement in Turkana, Kenya

Large-scale development interventions have long failed to accommodate the needs and preferences of pastoralists or the systems of resource governance and land tenure upon which they rely. However, advocates of rights-based approaches to development emphasise the importance of community participation in planning and agenda-setting, and in Kenya, public participation is a formal constitutional requirement for government decision-making processes. In 2015, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees concluded negotiations with local stakeholders about the use of 15 km2 of communal rangelands to build a new refugee settlement in Turkana County, Kenya. Negotiations entailed a community dialogue process involving local people living in the vicinity of the proposed settlement. This paper retrospectively examines the inclusivity of the dialogue process, with particular attention to the involvement of pastoralists and the representation of their interests. Interviews and focus groups conducted with a range of key informants and community stakeholders highlighted two key problems. First, negotiations relied upon a simplistic approach to communal land tenure that overlooked the complexity of overlapping and often contested access rights. Second, there was an over-reliance on urban professionals and politicians as intermediaries between rural communities and development actors. Even where elite intermediaries act in good faith, they may introduce an ‘oppidan bias’ into development policies, thereby marginalising the viewpoints of non-urban, non-sedentary demographics, such as pastoralists. I conclude with recommendations for the UNHCR to develop a more explicit strategy for direct engagement with host community stakeholders in Turkana and with increased attention to the interests of livestock producers and the nuances of pastoralist land use.

Digitally Transforming Electronic Governments into Smart Governments: SMARTGOV, an Extended Maturity Model

Smart government aims to provide intelligent and agile personalized public services to government stakeholders. Over the past few years, governments seek to employ innovative technologies, such as blockchain, analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, robotics process automation, and machine learning (ML), to improve citizens’ experiences and quality of life as well as government decision-making processes. They also aim to increase the efficiency of business processes and to transform the delivery of public services. However, the extant e-government literature lacks an inclusive digital government maturity model that can be used as a unified reference for guiding public organizations through the journey to smart government. Accordingly, the main aim of this paper is to develop a smart government maturity model by extending and revising the extant literature related to e-government. The developed model is then used to empirically evaluate the smart government initiative in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). We applied the model on 41 UAE federal governments’ websites/portals and measured their maturity level using 73 indicators. The findings indicate that the UAE is quite advanced with regard to smart government, as the majority of governmental entities scored “High” and above on the use of innovative and disruptive technologies in various domains. The smart government maturity model proved its efficacy and value in evaluating the UAE's smart government initiative.

Benthic habitat mapping of Plazh Gradina - Zlatna ribka (Black Sea) and Karpathos and Saria Islands (Mediterranean Sea).

BackgroundHabitat mapping is nеcessary for the efficient conservation and protection of marine ecosystems. In addition, it is a requirement for EU Member States as stated in the European Union (EU) Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), as well as necessary for the achievement and maintenance of 'good environmental status (GES)' of benthic marine habitats in the framework of the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (2008/56/EC).New informationThis study provides baseline information on the marine benthic habitats of Sozopol Bay (Black Sea) and Karpathos and Saria Islands (Mediterranean Sea). These two Natura 2000 sites were selected as study sites of the RECONNECT project, which aimed at creating a transnational cooperative network to confront the environmental threats of ecosystems with a high natural and cultural interest, by the establishment of common practices and a joint regional strategy. The specific objective was to map the marine habitats using a defined a priori classification (EUNIS), with the ultimate purpose of supporting government marine spatial planning, management and decision-making processes through the development of a Decision Support System.

A proposed citizen participation–public trust model in the context of service delivery protests in South African local government

The South African local government context has been marred by persistent citizen protests that continue to jeopardise public administrators’ quest for effective service rendering. Such protests have been attributed to the disregard of citizen participation in local government and unresponsive service rendering, amongst other factors. Meaningful citizen participation is seen as a precondition for the establishment of trust between communities and public administrators. This article, delving into the empirical literature, presents a citizen participation and public trust model aimed at minimising service delivery protests in South Africa. It argues that whilst lack of community trust has been lauded as one of the factors that have brewed citizen protests over the years, there is evidence to show that between the core values of procedural justice and public trust, citizen perception of power to influence may be vital to minimise proclivity to protest. The article finds that in addition to the interactional and informational justice components of procedural justice, meaningful citizen participation can be measured as a combination of these justice areas with mechanisms that highlight citizens’ positive perceptions of their power to influence decisions. As recommendations, the article argues that indeed lack of community involvement in municipal processes has the potential to break down trust and explode into service delivery protests. However, the article concludes that ensuring meaningful participation in local government decision-making processes, as defined in this article, is a precondition for building community trust and limiting the outbreak of service delivery protests in the local government context.