Local Government Implementation Research Articles

Analysis of the Inhibiting Factors of Transparency in the Implementation of Local Governance

This paper aims at describing the factors that inhibit transparency in local governance in Indonesia. The method used in this research is a qualitative method. The source of the data obtained from documentation and related archives. The informant in the interview was selected by purposive. The informants were the people who know the process of local governance in several areas in Indonesia. The validity of the data used in this paper was by triangulation of sources. It was comparing results of the observations and interviews, as well as comparing the results of the interview and the contents of the different documents. Analysis of the data used is interactive analysis models. The results of this research show that the implementation of local governance in Indonesia has not been fully transparent. Several factors cause it. First, the formulation of a policy of transparency in local governance is a multi-level interpretation. Second, the government officials are not obedient and very arrogant. Third, bureaucratic culture is still influenced by the authoritarian new order system. Fourth, communication in the socialization of policy has not been maximized. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n6s4p464

The Effect of Formal and Informal Contracting Mechanisms on Implementation Performance in the U.S. Federalist System

The relationship between contract management capacity and implementation success in local government contracting is well established. However, less is known about how specific contract mechanisms are linked to this success. This study uses implementation of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program to examine the use of formal and informal contract management techniques in the implementation of energy projects. The use of formal contract mechanisms, such as full and open competitive bidding, contact rescission and outcome-based performance measures, exhibits a statistically significant effect on implementation performance. The findings advance contracting theory and have practical implications for local government contracting and implementation success in fiscal federalism.

Local Governance in a Developing Country

How the implementation of local governance can be improved in the developing world is an open research question. This study discusses the difficulty of transitioning toward local governance in Turkey. To analyze the basic difficulties of local governance, a survey was conducted using a random sampling method within the inner city municipalities of Ankara. The findings indicate that improving local governance by enhancing transparency and building mechanisms of e-governance is the first step to motivating the public to participate in and to move toward a system of local governance. In general, each of these strategies would likely increase overall citizen involvement and, in particular, would increase the involvement of those citizens between 26 and 35 years old.

Water resources management: traditional technology and communities as part of the solution

Abstract. Rajasthan, the largest State in India, has one of the most critical water statuses. Rajasthan, with more than 10.4 % of the country’s geographical area, supports more than 5.5 % of the human population and 18.70 % of the livestock, but only has 1.16 % of the total surface water available in the country. More than 60 % of the state is a part of the Great Thar Desert, and of the total 142 desert blocks in the country, 85 blocks are in the state of Rajasthan. The per capita annual water availability in the state is about 780 m3, compared with the minimum requirement of 1000 m3. It is feared that the availability would fall below 450 m3 by the year 2050. Thus, increasing population coupled with erratic rainfall further aggravates the water crisis. It is possible to harvest and augment water resources through the construction of small water harvesting structures called johads and the implementation of local water governance. This has been amply demonstrated by the successful experience of local communities in Alwar District in Rajasthan. Since 1985, 8600 johads have been built in 1086 villages. This has resulted in the rise in water levels in the shallow aquifer, increase in the area under single and double crops, increase in forest cover and drinking water supply security. The water collected in a johad during the monsoon penetrates into the sub-soil. This recharges the groundwater and improves the soil moisture in vast areas. The water in the johad can be used directly for irrigation, drinking water by animals, and other domestic purposes. The other advantage of this structure is that it checks soil erosion, mitigates floods, and ensures water availability in wells or boreholes used for drinking water supply, even for several successive drought years. Also, during the dry season when the water gradually recedes in the johad, the land inside the johad itself becomes available for cultivation.

Exploring the Role of Local Governments in Implementation of Multicultural Policy: Lesson from Canada Cases

Exploring the Role of Local Governments in Implementation of Multicultural Policy: Lesson from Canada Cases

Chiefs, Democracy, and Popular Participation: The Case of Lesotho

In the majority of emerging African democracies, two structures of government exist in juxtaposition, the elected and the hereditary. When governments have to make policy decisions that affect the overall governance set-up such as devolution of state power, the process becomes very complex, especially when they attempt to take on board the views of citizens in their diversity. This article seeks to demonstrate this complexity by examining the local government policy formulation and implementation processes in Lesotho. I use primary data generated from interviews with purposively selected respondents in the four councils in the Maseru administrative district of Lesotho and relevant government documents. I describe the local government policy process, focusing on the nature and role of the participation of Area Chiefs in two stages of this policy. I problematize the notion of stakeholders' participation in the public policy-making process and expose how it may have exclusionary effects on those who are otherwise real stakeholders, while at the same time serving to rubber-stamp the predetermined policy positions of those in power. I argue that, rather than promoting participation of Area Chiefs as key stakeholders in this policy, the notion has been used by the government to marginalise them.

Institutional Investors: The Way to Active Ownership

Manuscript Type: Empirical Research Question/Issue: Institutional investors are facing increased pressure and threats of legislation from the European Union to abandon passive ownership strategies. This study investigates the prerequisites for – and potential dissimilarities in the practice of, active ownership among institutional investors in two Scandinavian countries with diminutive legal and cultural distance in general.Research Findings/Insights: Using data on shareholder proposals from Danish and Swedish annual general meetings from 2006 throughout 2010, we find that institutional investors are approximately a thousand times more active in Sweden than in Denmark. Joint legal and cultural traditions trigger the development of alternative explanations. We study the influence of a local governance mechanism - the shareholder-based nomination committee employed in Sweden, as a potential explanation. This is relevant, as such a setup transfers power from the board to the owners. Presumably, this reduces the impact of free rider and collective action problems, and increases the shareholders’ inclination to make proposals, which is also what we find.Theoretical/Academic Implications: We contribute to literature by investigating the importance of local governance mechanisms – an area where research is scarce. The paper discusses how two classical theoretical dilemmas – free rider problems and collective action problems among shareholders, can be reduced by the implementation of local corporate governance elements.Practitioner/Policy Implications: Regulators should be aware of the impact by local governance mechanisms, and how shareholders react under different legal and practical prerequisites. The paper also highlights legal elements that differ between Denmark and Sweden, and which might affect institutional activism.

Public sector e-procurement: a study of benefits from e-markets in the local government sector

Procuring goods and services through e-markets can have profound effects on organisations in terms of the benefits e-markets deliver to them. In the local government sector, the adoption and implementation of electronic government initiatives to increase the effectiveness of how public services are delivered and the need to address inefficiencies in their procurement function have been two of the key drivers of e-market adoption. Although a number of studies have looked at some of the prospective and realised benefits e-markets offer organisations in the private sector, to date, few studies have examined the procurement benefits that public sector organisations gain from e-market participation. This exploratory study uses an e-market procurement benefits framework to examine the types of benefits local authorities gain from procuring through e-markets that operate in the local government sector. E-markets were found to provide a number of benefits to local authorities that correspond to the operational, m...

Understanding Organizational Barriers Influencing Local Electronic Government Adoption and Implementation: The Electronic Government Implementation Framework

Researches in electronic government have indicated a number of organizational barriers that hinder the adoption and implementation of electronic government. This paper proposes a research framework for analysing how organizational barriers influence the adoption and implementation of e-government at local levels. The framework is constructed based on four organizational dimensions; adaptability, involvement, mission, and bureaucracy drawn from organizational theories and e-government literature. We found that organizational barriers which are identified in major e-government literature link to the dimensions of organizational culture and effectiveness. Our conclusion is that the framework is relevant to understand organizational barriers influencing adoption and implementation of local e-government. The limitation of this study is that the framework has been developed based on the application of a theoretical lens on the e-government literature. It is now necessary to test this model in different contexts.

Pendapatan Asli Daerah Berdampak pada Kemandirian Keuangan Daerah

Demands for reform in all fields are supported by all Indonesian people in addressing regional issues have an impact on the financial relationship between the Central Government and Local Government. Autonomy and financial balance is fair, proportionate and transparent to be one of the demands of regional and community. The main characteristic of a region capable of autonomous autonomy lies in the financial ability to fund the implementation of local government with a degree of dependence on government is getting smaller. It is expected that the revenue (PAD) should be the biggest part in mobilizing funds local governance. Based on the above reasoning this study aims to look at local financial independence through a proportion of local revenues to total local revenue and ability to fund research activities. The method used is descriptive qualitative analysis method by analyzing the ratio to measure the level of independence local finance Bandar Lampung municipality. The results showed that the level of financial independence Bandar Lampung municipality area is still low, it is seen from the ratio of revenue to total revenue is only 8.06%, compared to operating expenses to be incurred only 9.83%, which can be financed from local revenues while the remaining comes to tax natural resources as well as transfers from the central government and the provinces. Keywords: PAD, TPD, & TBO (Pendapatan Asli Daerah, Total Pendapatan Daerah dan Total Belanja Opersional).

Partnering to proceed: scaling up adolescent sexual reproductive health programmes in Tanzania. Operational research into the factors that influenced local government uptake and implementation

BackgroundLittle is known about how to implement promising small-scale projects to reduce reproductive ill health and HIV vulnerability in young people on a large scale. This evaluation documents and explains how a partnership between a non-governmental organization (NGO) and local government authorities (LGAs) influenced the LGA-led scale-up of an innovative NGO programme in the wider context of a new national multisectoral AIDS strategy.MethodsFour rounds of semi-structured interviews with 82 key informants, 8 group discussions with 49 district trainers and supervisors (DTS), 8 participatory workshops involving 52 DTS, and participant observations of 80% of LGA-led and 100% of NGO-led meetings were conducted, to ascertain views on project components, flow of communication and decision-making and amount of time DTS utilized undertaking project activities.ResultsDespite a successful ten-fold scale-up of intervention activities in three years, full integration into LGA systems did not materialize. LGAs contributed significant human resources but limited finances; the NGO retained control over finances and decision-making and LGAs largely continued to view activities as NGO driven. Embedding of technical assistants (TAs) in the LGAs contributed to capacity building among district implementers, but may paradoxically have hindered project integration, because TAs were unable to effectively transition from an implementing to a facilitating role. Operation of NGO administration and financial mechanisms also hindered integration into district systems.ConclusionsSustainable intervention scale-up requires operational, financial and psychological integration into local government mechanisms. This must include substantial time for district systems to try out implementation with only minimal NGO support and modest output targets. It must therefore go beyond the typical three- to four-year project cycles. Scale-up of NGO pilot projects of this nature also need NGOs to be flexible enough to adapt to local government planning cycles and ongoing evaluation is needed to ensure strategies employed to do so really do achieve full intervention integration.

Démocratie participative et attractivité des villes en Amérique latine

L’article compare les politiques de développement urbain de deux villes latino-américaines, Rosario en Argentine et Villa El Salvador au Pérou, caractérisées par la mise en place d’une gouvernance locale participative. Il s’agit d’analyser l’impact de ces processus participatifs sur l’attractivité territoriale des deux villes, tant sur le plan national qu’international.

<strong>EFEKTIVITAS PAKET PENGENDALIAN RESIKO PENYIMPANGAN IKLIM DI JAWA TENGAH</strong><br>(THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE CLIMATE CHANGE RISK MANAGEMENT SCHEME IN CENTRAL JAVA)

This paper is summary report of study on implementation of local government designed strategies to anticipate and manage the climate change risks in Central Java. The basis of information obtained from interviews to farmers. In general, planting patterns follow schedule of water availability; therefore, farmers are more interested in talking about the lack of water compared with the excess water. According to farmers' language, climate change is the rainy season retreat. In this context, almost all respondents stated that the climate changes disrupt their farming activities. These disorders include reduction of production, planting schedule delays, increased costs of irrigation, seeds, pesticides and land management. Local agricultural agencies have been disseminating strategies to anticipate and manage the risks of climate change. Those strategies are planting reschedules, changing varieties or commodities, and improving the water management. Local governments also facilitate the implementation of those strategies, namely distribution of water pumps, and seeds according to climate prediction, and repair or construction of irrigation channels and reservoirs. Most respondents (59%) had never directly followed those socialization activities, and due to limited of the distributed facilities, only 29.87% of respondents enjoyed such facilities. However, the recipient stated that the government facilities effectively assist them in controlling the impact of climate change, and most farmers had committed the management of climate changes impacts in a manner consistent with the recommended strategy. These results show that both government assistance and collective action by farmers had the same important role in anticipating and controlling the impact of climate changes. Therefore, the government should socialize recomended strategies in a more intensive, and improve, and expand the reach of distribution facilities to implement the strategy. These efforts would stimulate farmers self-supporting as a whole, so that the programs in anticipating and controlling the impact of climate changes would be more effective.

The impact of GATS on public services and local governments

Globalisation has put considerable strain on trade in public services. This paper deals with the tremendous impact of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), which involves the liberalisation and privatisation of public services. The overall goal is to explore the main challenges to success factors of local government implementation of the privatisation of public services. The main hypothesis is that market orientation in public management will lead to greater efficiency for governments, without having negative side effects on other local objectives and considerations. With regard to these effects the paper concentrates on the sustainable management of public services. This paper is structured in five main sections, as follows: After some introductory thoughts about public services and governance, Section 2 examines the multifaceted process of the privatisation of public services. Based on an examination of WTO documents and discussions, Section 3 outlines a theoretical framework for measuring the aggregate attribute of the GATS and examines its effects on governance. In Section 4 the author proposes success factors for achieving competitive local governance and suggests local strategy objectives with a view to strengthening strategic planning, adequate funding, transparency and public participation. The concluding remarks in Section 5 highlight the main public management considerations for local governments.

Information Into Action: Biodiversity Data Outreach and Municipal Land Conservation

Problem: Technical specialists in environmental planning rely on science to suggest effective conservation strategies. The assumption that rational technical information will be readily turned into action, however, is often not accomplished in practice. Purpose: In this article, we present a study of Maine's Beginning with Habitat (BwH) program, a statewide collaborative multiagency effort that distributes customized ecological information directly to local governments who must develop state-mandated comprehensive plans. The goal is to spur the implementation of land use policies that more effectively protect biodiversity. We first review the changing conception of how technical information from experts comes to influence decisions on science-intensive green planning issues. We then test that recent thinking with an empirical study examining what conditions have encouraged local governments to use the BwH ecological information to enact new land conservation tools. Methods: We collected data on the local government planning and implementation response to the BwH program in a 2004 survey of all participating Maine towns and cities. Results and conclusions: The investigation supports conceptual arguments by Innes and others that getting stakeholders to use planning and environmental management information is critical to overcoming the limitations of the conventional rational planning model. The likelihood that a community will act on the new science-based information depends on its wealth and urbanization pressures, but even more significantly on the extent to which different interests are engaged in using the information. We were surprised to find less implementation when local planning staff led the use of the technical information, absent wider public engagement. Takeaway for practice: When addressing local ecological land use planning issues effectively depends on using technical information, scientists, specialists, and advocates should encourage stakeholder access to such information and support them in using it to make decisions. Research on the planning process itself should aim to provide technical specialists evidence-based models of effective public engagement processes that make information usable. Research support: This work was partially supported by the Maine Coastal Program in the Maine State Planning Office, Executive Department.

Intergovernmental influences on the implementation of coastal zone management in the United States: Public shoreline access in the Southeast

This article is about factors that influence local government implementation of state coastal policies with specific application to public shoreline access. Although the national government delegates authority for coastal zone management to state governments, local jurisdictions are ultimately responsible for public shoreline access program implementation. Local budgets provide the funds and staff that impact public access development in addition to daily maintenance of public access sites. However, since local governments are creatures of the state, local implementation naturally involves a reciprocal relationship with state governments. Local governments get grants and technical support from state governments while the states get successful state policy implementation at the local level. Previous shoreline public access evaluations only reviewed how well each state agency met federal objectives. Such evaluations gave little attention to local government programs, despite acknowledging that local governments are the “primary implementers of state coastal policies and programs” through the use of land use powers and infrastructure improvements. Understanding of local government's relationship with state agencies is an essential ingredient for the formulation of public shoreline access programs and to gain insight into national coastal policy success and failure. Forty-five local public shoreline access programs were examined in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida. Although no single indicator explained local compliance with state public beach access policy; selected economic, political and demographic variables were statistically associated with compliance. Public officials and others interested in shoreline access need to be aware of how such capacities can influence policy implementation.

The progress of English and Welsh local authorities in addressing climate change

This paper describes the progress that local authorities in England and Wales are making in adapting to the threat of climate change and taking action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The responses from surveys of local authorities in England and Wales carried out in 2000 (IDeA, Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions: survey of activities and initiatives by local authorities. (Questionnaire and results) Improvement and Development Agency, 2000) and 2002 (Allman et al., Climate Change: a survey of local authorities, Local Government Association, 2002) were compared. Progress in implementing the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) five-step methodology (ICLEI, Local Government Implementation of Climate Protection—report to the United Nations, International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, 1997) was used to identify the 'successful' local authorities. The barriers faced by these authorities were then compared with those faced by the remaining local authorities.Most local authorities are not making substantial progress. However, a small number have successfully prepared greenhouse gas emissions inventories, developed strategies and implemented adaptation and greenhouse gas reduction measures. These successful authorities have made progress despite the fact that addressing climate change is not a legal requirement.Their success is due to three key factors. Firstly, they have recognised the secondary benefits of tackling climate change, e.g. potential employment, improved quality of life and reduction in fuel poverty. Secondly, they have the strong political, professional and technical support necessary to champion climate change activities. Finally, they have worked in partnership with utilities, private, public and voluntary groups to raise the finance needed to implement measures both to adapt to climate change and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

MANAJEMEN ERA OTONOMI DAERAH: PEMERINTAH DAERAH SEBAGAI VALUE CREATING SYSTEM

Since local autonomy regulation have been implemented efectively in one year, but empirically it still has many euphoria coming from institution process and Local Government management. Weak commitment and unclear strategic implementation of Local Government for value creating system cause poor quality of good governance and public accountability. This article presents an idea for a paradigm of Local Government strategic role through value creating system.

Local Government Implementation of the Americans With Disabilities Act: Factors Affecting Statutory Compliance

One of the questions raised after the signing of the 1990 Americans With Disabilities Act is how local governments would implement the statute. This qualitative study examines 20 cities in two states, categorizing implementation efforts and identifying factors that affect local government compliance with the law.

Crisis and Disorder in British Local Economic Governance: Business Link and the Single Regeneration Budget

This paper explores the rise of local economic governance in Britain. It argues that local economic governance is associated with the rise of non‐elected state forms and a multitude of partnership arrangements involving the public and private sector. This modus operandi is to be contrasted with economic government — the traditional method of managing the local state through the organisational forms of local government. Using the analytical tools of regulation theory, the paper unravels some of the problems caused by the implementation of local economic governance — namely public accountability (resulting from implementation confusion and leading to a democratic deficit), and funding (resulting from performance‐based management and fostering short‐termism, leading to partnership friction). The paper illustrates these issues by way of a discussion on two contemporary, local economic policy experiments — Business Link and the Single Regeneration Budget.