Head Of Agency Research Articles

The Development of Russia's Rural Territories

This article analyzes the socioeconomics of rural territories and a survey of the heads of local governments' agricultural agencies and agricultural businesses. Changes in the Russian countryside, actual or expected contributions by state and federal programs to rural development, and opinions as to what areas of development should be assigned the highest priority are all examined.

Debunking Humphrey's Executor

The Supreme Court’s 1935 Humphrey’s Executor decision paved the way for the modern administrative state by holding that Congress could constitutionally limit the President’s powers to remove heads of regulatory agencies. The Court articulated a quartet of features of the Federal Trade Commission’s statutory design that ostensibly justified the Commission’s constitutional independence. It was to be non-partisan and a-political, uniquely expert, and performing quasi-legislative and quasi-judicial, rather than executive, functions. In recent years, the staying power of Humphrey’s Executor has been called into question as a matter of constitutional design. This article reconsiders Humphrey’s Executor from a different angle. At the end of a one hundred years natural experiment, the Commission bears almost no resemblance to the Progressive-technocratic vision articulated by the Court. The Commission is not politically independent, uniquely expert, or principally legislative or adjudicative. Rather, it is essentially a law enforcement agency beholden to the will of Congress. This finding has potentially important implications for agency design, constitutional doctrine and theory, and understanding of agency functioning.

System Analysis in Developing an Effective Government Internal Audit System

Units of Government Internal Audit (GIA) play a significant role in developing a system of good governance. They contribute to the improvement of public services delivery and the welfare of society. But some current governance issues in Indonesia, such as corruption, accountability and performance problems, raise questions concerning the effectiveness of Indonesia’s GIA units. The complexity of these issues requires cybernetic study to find holistic and effective solutions. The objective of this study is to examine the effectiveness of government internal audit systems in order to enhance the professionalism of government internal auditors and the maturity of the management processes that they audit. This research was based on qualitative approaches with systems methodology. The instruments used during the research were regulatory analysis, survey, and in-depth interviews. The survey involved 205 Chief Audit Executives (CAE) of Government Internal Supervisory Apparatus (GISA) in national government and regional governments, and was conducted on-line or on paper. The survey was complemented by in-depth interview with 24 (twenty four) senior stakeholders representing practitioners (the CAE of GISA units), internal users (governors, mayors, heads of regional planning agencies), external users (Indonesia’s Supreme Audit Board, SAB), regulators, and associations of professional internal auditors, both private sector (IIA) and public sector (AAIPI). The research found that the effort of enhancing the role of the GIA units should be seen holistically. The improvement of the role of GIA units related to the stakeholders, including management line of the organization, the SAB, professional associations, regulators, and law enforcement officials as well as other factors. The arrangement of the internal audit system could allow the government auditors to improve their professionalism and help line management to mature their management processes. The emerging strategic issues needed to build an effective internal audit system are the improvement of independence and objectivity of the auditors, a relationship with relevant stakeholders regulation and harmonization of regulation for the internal audit system.

Public Affairs Office, August–October 19, 2015, ESA Governing Board Report

Public Affairs Office, August–October 19, 2015, ESA Governing Board Report

Paris Climate Talks Could Spur Energy Sector Action

A robust climate pact from the United Nations meeting in Paris could urge nations and energy investors toward lower-emissions energy generation, the head of a global energy agency suggests.

Binding the Enforcers: The Administrative Law Struggle Behind Pres. Obama's Immigration Actions

President Obama’s ambitious use of executive discretion in immigration – especially the DACA and DAPA programs – should be understood in context of a struggle within the executive branch between the President and frontline enforcement officers in the Department of Homeland Security who have actively resisted his policy agenda. The so far successful litigation by 26 states to partially halt these programs has focused on this struggle within the executive branch, rather than on the stalemate between the President and Congress over legislative immigration reform. In preliminary rulings, the federal district court and the Court of Appeals have interpreted ambiguous provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act to require a cumbersome notice and comment process in order for the President and the heads of immigration enforcement agencies to provide binding instructions to frontline enforcement officers about how to exercise discretion in individual cases. This article argues that interpreting the APA in this manner is unnecessary and thwarts the ability of elected leaders to direct the operations of government, and thus insulates law enforcement from change through the democratic process. Prosecutorial discretion requires judgment calls, and these decisions should be made as much as possible in a manner that renders them accountable to voters. To illustrate the need for elected officials to be able to direct their subordinates, this article draws analogies to conservative critiques of public sector unions, and to First Amendment case law involving public employees.

Public Capitalism: The Political Authority of Corporate Executives

<i>Public Capitalism: The Political Authority of Corporate Executives</i>

Kepemimpinan Kepala Badan Kepegawaian Daerah Kabupaten Katingan Provinsi Kalimantan Tengah

In the leadership of an organization, the lead role that determines the effort to achieve the goals of the organization he leads. This implies that the progress of the journey of the life of the organization depends on the extent of the ability of the leader in carrying out his leadership duties. This study uses qualitative methods, which are intended to develop concepts, gather facts by being supported by existing data and used to show and answer whether the problem is true. The data source consists of primary data (1) while the primary data source is the employee of the Regional Personnel Agency of Katingan Regency, Central Kalimantan Province. Data collection techniques are observation, interviews, and documentation. Based on the results of the study, it was found that (1) Leadership of the Regional Civil Service Agency (BKD) of Katingan Regency was able to influence organizational goals, motivate subordinate behavior to achieve goals, influence to improve the group so that the desired goals through vision and mission can be achieved. (2) Head of BKD Regional Personnel Agency, Katingan Regency obtains support and cooperation from people outside the organization to achieve organizational goals that have been previously planned. (3) The success of the Regional Personnel Agency (BKD) of the Katingan district depends on the leadership of the head of the Katingan regency agency itself whether it is able to influence, motivate subordinate behavior and to improve the group

Handbook for Survival—Saving Lives During Radiation Release and Other Disasters

This short book (145 pages) is the culmination of Dr. Brodsky’s 65 year career devoted to good science in radiation safety and really caring for the welfare of workers and the public. The book is a condensed version of his 2011 book Actions for Survival –Saving Lives in the Immediate Hours After Release of Radioactive or Other Toxic Agents, MJR Publications, Baltimore, MD 373 pages. In these books Dr. Brodsky has taken on the daunting task of presenting defensible science for safety in words that are understandable to persons without scientific training. During his career he constantly challenged those who abused science for their own agenda. He describes how he has confronted antinuclear activists, other scientists, and the heads of government agencies in a lifelong endeavor to correct bad science and the results of misunderstandings about radiation.

Open Government: Origin, Development, and Conceptual Perspectives

The term “open government” is frequently used in practice and science. Since President Obama’s Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies in March 2009, open government has attracted an enormous amount of public attention. It is applied by authors from diverse areas, leading to a very heterogeneous comprehension of the concept. Against this background, this article screens the current open government literature to deduce an integrative definition of open government. Furthermore, this article analyzes the empirical and conceptual literature of open government to deduce an open government framework. In general, this article provides a clear understanding of the open government concept.

“Between Two Mountains”: On Moshe Sharett and His Relations With David Ben-Gurion and Chaim Weizmann

During 1942–1947, when European Jewry was destroyed and the political struggle of the Zionist movement to found a Jewish State continued, a severe political confrontation developed between Chaim Weizmann, president of the Zionist movement, and David Ben-Gurion, then the head of the Jewish Agency. Moshe Sharett as head of its political department became the “go between” of these two national leaders. The political and personal clash was first and foremost about the authority of the president vis-a-vis the power of the Jewish Agency Council, and second, about the policy toward Britain and the U.S. Ben-Gurion demanded an immediate political turn of the orientation of the Zionist movement from Britain to the U.S., and Weizmann negated such an extreme change. Moshe Sharett supported on one hand Ben-Gurion’s activist policy toward Britain, and on the other hand was, together with Weizmann, very careful not to break off completely the political ties with the British government. This article is an effort to understand Moshe Sharett’s political way of compromise in that issue, which might throw light on his political leadership as foreign minister of the State of Israel and as prime minister as well.

Words or deeds: what matters? On the role of symbolic action in political decentralization

Although decentralization is often modeled as an outcome of bargaining over rents and policies, public statements, symbols and status have a great impact on this process as well. The paper studies the relative importance of “real” political actions versus changes of a symbolic nature in the bargaining over devolution, using the unique laboratory of personnel recentralization in the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs in 2000 through 2007. While in the 1990s, most regional branches of federal ministries were under control of regional governors, and Vladimir Putin replaced the heads of agencies with new bureaucrats in the 2000s, thereby cutting their connections to the regions. This paper finds a robust influence of symbolic gestures made by regional governments in the earlier bargaining process on appointments, even controlling for the actual policies. It finds that regions sending stronger signal in favor of devolution in the 1990s were less likely to be punished by the federal government.

SANITASI PONOOK PESANTREN MATHLABUL ULUM 01 OESA JAMBU KECAMATAN LENTENG KABUPATEN SUMENEP TAHUN 2014

Basicsanitary condition in boarding schools is an effort to control physical environmental factorswhich may otherwise result in negative impacts on the health of the occupants and local people aroundthe boarding schools. One boarding school named "Mathlabul Ulum" do have some sanitary problems suchas dirty surrounding, dirty bathrooms and kitchens, and high density of its occupants. The purpose of thisresearch was to describe the basic sanitary condition in the boarding school that is located in desa Jambu,kecamatan Lenteng, kabupaten Sumenep in 2014.This was a descriptive study. The primary data included assessment results of the designatedforms, assessment results of respondent's action, as well as secondary data sources consisting of thenumber of students, the 10 main diseases, and number of sanitary facilities. Observation of hygienic andhealthy practices was carried out using simple random sampling that produce 78 respondents. Results ofthe study were tabulated and analyzed descriptively.Basic sanitation in "Mathlabul Ulum" boarding school did not satlsfv the criteria or requirementsrepresented with a score of 456 (46%) score. In terms of actions of there were ten respondents (13%)that. were classified as good in terms of hygienic and healthy behavior while 68 respondents (87%) wereclassified as poor.Therefore, it is suggested that the management of the boarding school exercise proper controlover cleanliness of every room. The head of health center agency in Sumenep District and the localprimary health centers inspect and control all of the boarding school present in Sumenep district,particularly the Mathlabul Ulum boarding school in desa Jambu, kecamatan Lenteng, kabupaten Sumenep.

Contracting and Performance in Agencies: A Question of Control, Dialogue or Autonomy?

The article investigates whether contracting process affects goal attainment in internal contracts. Based on literature on contracting and performance management, we deduce four hypotheses concerning contracting processes and goal attainment. The hypotheses are tested by studying contracts from all Danish agencies together with a survey and interviews with the heads of agencies. We find that dialogue and some autonomy in the contracting process increase goal attainment if balanced with hierarchical control. We also find that agreement between agencies and departments on performance demands and assessment criteria positively affect goal attainment.

EPA Proposes CO Cuts For Power Plants

The head of the Environmental Protection Agency announced last week the first-ever proposal to cut carbon dioxide emissions from U.S. coal-fired power plants. The proposal would require state governments to develop plans by June 2016 that would result in 30% less CO2 emissions from coal-fired power plants in 2030 than were emitted in 2005. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy underscored benefits she said would spring from the CO2 reductions. Most directly relate to climate change and global warming, such as slowing sea-level rise and forestalling higher global temperatures. Others are cuts in air pollution from coal-fired power plants, such as a 25% reduction in particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxide. “The plan represents a concrete step toward reducing CO 2 emissions that the overwhelming number of scientists have said is critical to addressing climate change,” ACS President Tom Barton says. “The most recent National Climate Assessment dramatically illustrates that every ...

A Closer Look at Nigeria's Economic Performance

Just how well is the Nigerian Economy performing? In the absence of a holistic report articulating the economic performance of Nigeria, no one could claim to know. There are only a lot of partial views on different aspects of the economy being expressed by different government officials. Little surprise that there will be controversies at the highest policy levels about whether the economy is weak or strong. Nigeria needs to show a stronger sense of responsibility in reforming aspects of its economic policy machinery like provision of required data, and periodic articulation of the main issues arising from the data in formal official economic reports. But more importantly, since the President and the National Assembly are the ones with the electoral mandate to manage the national economy, and unelected heads of economic agencies are their appointees, the President and the National Assembly must accept direct responsibility for policy conception and design, and leave implementation to unelected appointees in charge of economic policy agencies, but hold the appointees accountable for the tasks they are appointed to carry out.

Gauging national performance GDP A Brief but Affectionate History Diane Coyle Princeton University Press, 2014. 167 pp.

Gauging national performance <b>GDP A Brief but Affectionate History</b> <i>Diane Coyle</i> Princeton University Press, 2014. 167 pp.

German and Soviet intelligence activities in Sweden in 1944: Voldemar Blankenfelds and the deportation of Baron Bernd von Gossler

This article addresses the intricate and previously untold story of a German attempt in 1944 to have an agent, the Latvian Voldemar Blankenfelds, dispatched by boat, via Sweden, to South America where a German intelligence network was being established. Shortly after his arrival in Sweden in June 1944, however, Blankenfelds got in touch with the British diplomatic mission in Stockholm, told them of his assignment and became a double agent, maintaining contacts with the Germans while continually providing information to the British, who in turn kept the Swedish police informed. Blankenfelds was later arrested and interrogated by the Swedes and, when released, agreed to provide them with information as well. He thereby significantly contributed to the arrest and extradition of a German agent in Sweden – the Head of the German tourist agency in Sweden, Baron Bernd von Gossler. Blankenfelds’ assignment to America was repeatedly delayed throughout the autumn of 1944 and by late October, Berlin ordered the mission to be called off altogether. In the meantime, the Germans had tried to have Blankenfelds engage in intelligence activities in Sweden aimed at the Baltic refugee community. Blankenfelds refused however to cooperate. Newly declassified Soviet encrypted cables, together with archival material from Blankenfelds’ file in the archive of Swedish security police, reveal striking similarities between German and Soviet intelligence objectives regarding the Baltic refugees in Sweden.

LOJALUMO STRUKTŪROS ĮTAKA LIETUVOS VIEŠOJO SEKTORIAUS POLITIZACIJAI

SummaryThis article deals with politicisation of the public sector in Lithuania in the context of ensuring loyalty of high public officials to the politics of the Government of the day. The theoretical framework of Public Service Bargains (PSBs) was used in order to analyse historical changes and contemporary perception of loyalty among politicians and high public officials.The analysis of available historical researches does not allow identifying precisely a clear picture of the loyalty bargain in the public sector of the interwar Lithuania. But the lack of clear legal framework, some elements of the tsarist Russia public administration tradition and no evidence on the intended attempt to create loyalty to the state and the law don’t allow regarding historical Lithuanian interwar tradition as a hierarchical loyalty bargain. Post-war Soviet type administration tradition in Lithuania was analysed taking into account the researches of central Soviet administration tradition as well as studies of the Soviet Lithuania administration. A close look at the dual type Soviet administration provides evidence on the domination of egalitarian with some individualistic elements loyalty bargain type among the ruling elite. This type of loyalty bargain was secured by a personal loyalty network based on formal and informal ties. An analysis of changes in the legislative framework after re-establishing independence was used to identify the attempts to redefine loyalty bargain in transition period. The integration to the EU was a factor that was used by the administrative elite of Lithuania to secure a hierarchical loyalty bargain in a formal and legalistic way without reaching a common understanding with politicians. This hierarchical loyalty bargain is not based on historical administrative or cultural tradition. An analysis of biographies of the heads of the policy making institutions, statements of politicians as well as courts’ decisions regarding the removal from office provides a mixed picture regarding the praxis of loyalty bargain in the Lithuanian public sector. There is some evidence that politicians prefer egalitarian loyalty bargain and do not recognise formal hierarchical loyalty setting. The hierarchical loyalty bargain is tolerated by politicians only with judges and in some cases with the heads of the regulatory agencies. On the other hand, most of the heads of the policy making institutions are making attempts to consolidate the hierarchical loyalty bargain through legal means. This situation could be regarded as cheating on loyalty bargain from both sides that provoke politicians to search for new ways in achieving the loyalty of high public officials to the politics of the incumbent government and exercise politicisation practices for that purpose

Barriers and Successes in U Visas for Immigrant Victims: The Experiences of Legal Assistance for Victims Grantees

This paper examines barriers encountered and successes experienced in the provision of legal representation and advocacy to victims of violence applying for legal immigration status under the Violence against Women Act’s U visa protections. The U visa is designed for immigrant victims who have suffered substantial physical or mental abuse as a result of being a victim of criminal activity, and who have helped, are helping or are likely to be helpful to government officials in the detection, investigation or prosecution of criminal activity. This article is based on quan titative and qualitative data reported by grantees of the Legal Assistance for Victims grant program administered by the Office on Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice. Legal Assistant for Victims program grantees provide legal aid to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and/or stalking and report semi-annually on services provided. The sample consists of grantees during the years 2007-2008 who reported serving high proportions of immigrant and limited English proficient victims of violence. The paper will focus on problems, successes, and creative solutions reported by attorneys and advocates working with immigrant victims eligible to receive crime victim U visas under federal immigration laws. Victims applying for U visa immigration relief must, under current law, submit a U visa certification signed by the head of a law enforcement agency, prosecutor, judge, or other government official with their U visa application. This research provides information regarding effective strategies and best practices used by grantees that are successful in obtaining U visa certification. The systemic barriers that immigrant victims and their advocates encounter when working with U visa are also discussed, along with creative solutions grantees are using to overcome these barriers.