Intergovernmental Relations Research Articles

Intergovernmental Relations in the UK: Cooperation and Conflict in a Devolved Unitary State by Marius Guderjan

<i>Intergovernmental Relations in the UK: Cooperation and Conflict in a Devolved Unitary State</i> by Marius Guderjan

Intergovernmental Relations and the Financial Resource Allocation for the Healthcare Sector in Nairobi City County, Kenya

Since the beginning of devolution of health sector in Kenya in 2013, there have been several concerns regarding heath care service delivery ineffectiveness, which have been attributed to strained ties between the national and county governments. There have been issues with service delivery and medical supply shortages in Nairobi City County's healthcare sector. This study sought to investigate how intergovernmental interactions have affected healthcare in in Nairobi City County. Specifically, the study examined how intergovernmental relations affect the financial allocation for the sector. The study was anchored on resource-based theory. A descriptive research design was employed involving a census for all the 7 administrators working at level 4 and level 5 health facilities in Nairobi City County as well as 78 employees working in the health department of Nairobi City County Government, constituted the sample population. Descriptive analysis was done using the standard deviation and the mean while inferential analysis was done using regression, F-test and ANOVA. The analyzed data was provided as frequency tables, percentages, and charts. Before the data collection, respondents were asked to provide informed consent, and anonymity and secrecy were assured to boost the response rate. The most critical relationship was between intergovernmental relations and financial resource allocation for the healthcare sector in Nairobi City County accounting to 39.4%. The findings suggested that in order to guarantee that financial resources are allocated appropriately, the national and the county government should work to enhance intergovernmental ties. This also helps in ensuring timely release of financial resources to health facilities by the national government. The study recommends that the financial allocation for healthcare should be enhanced so as to improve service delivery. There is also need to enhance own source revenue for the City County so as supplement the shareable revenue from the national government, which collectively will increase the finances available for utilisation in the healthcare sector

Транстихоокеанское партнерство и всестороннее региональное экономическое партнерство как международно-правовая модель экономической интеграции в Азиатско-Тихоокеанском регионе

The article explores international law aspects of the contemporary integration processes in the Asia-Pacific with a specific focus on such relatively new formationsas the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). Based on the WTO law provisions with regard to the free trade areas for goods and services, both Partnerships significantly widen the scope of regulated inter-governmental relationships, which allows considering the TPP and the RCEP as a fundamentally new form of the regional trade agreements. Having a fixed number of participating states and a system of institution with their functions and competencies, the Partnerships do not represent inter-governmental organizations and are vested with no legal capacity or, especially, supranational powers. However, this does not undermine the trade and economic significance of the Partnerships while also making them an attractive model of the soft integration structure between the states having different level of economic development, located in different geographical regions and bound with their own integration obligations under bi- and multilateral (subregional) trade agreements. The founding agreements of the Partnerships are typical “WTO plus” arrangements combining the provisions on liberalization of trade in goods and services with the parties’ mutual obligations in the fields of investments, sustainable development, competition, administrative and legal cooperation. At the same time, applicability of parallel bi- and multilateral trade agreements between the Asia-Pacific states, including those within ASEAN, forms a complex multilayer regulation of foreign trade and entails a risk of legal uncertainty for economic operators.

Does decentralization boost electoral participation? Revisiting the question in a non-western context

Since the late 1970s, intergovernmental relationships worldwide have undergone an unequivocal transformation, with powers increasingly shifting toward subnational governments. One of the expected outcomes of decentralization reforms is a (re)vitalization of participation in subnational decision-making. If available empirical evidence tends to support this claim, it has remained primarily restricted to Western countries. This article leverages asymmetric decentralization arrangements in Ukraine to re-examine the effect of decentralization on voter turnout in a diverging setting. It conducts matching and regression analyses using an original city-level dataset that combines electoral, census, administrative, financial and geospatial data. The results converge on a significantly positive effect on voter turnout in local elections of more than 4 percentage points. Additional analyses concerning the mechanisms suggest that the effect might be driven by citizens’ awareness of electoral stakes. Interestingly, the increase in voter turnout appears concomitant with lower perceived local government performance.

Negotiated Federalism: Intergovernmental Relations on the Maritime Frontier, 1789–1815

Abstract: The U.S. Constitution was designed to produce a profound alteration in the structure of the American federal polity by giving the U.S. government the power to raise its own money and enforce its own laws within the states. But when federal officials began to implement the new constitutional order across the union in 1789, they realized that this process required the participation and consent of state governments, whose legislation, investment, and manpower were needed to allow federal laws to take effect. Because of the power that state governments continued to wield, the successful institution of federal authority within the states relied on intergovernmental negotiation. The Atlantic port cities presented a crucial test case for this negotiated federalism, as the federal government sought to exercise power in spaces where state authority was already entrenched. In the course of setting up the customs and lighthouse services, rebuilding coastal fortifications, and enforcing neutrality and embargo regulations, early federal officials encountered the limits of federal power within the states, and developed intergovernmental negotiation strategies that allowed them to execute federal law in the ports. This negotiated federalism would become fundamental to the governance of the American union.

Working behind the scenes: The Scotch Whisky Association and the US liquor market c1950–c1970

We present an historically informed case study of the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA), during the 1950s, and 1960s, to illustrate the fundamental role it played in protecting the Scotch whisky industry in its key export market, the US. We illuminate the relationship between the SWA and its eminent legal counsel in the US, Ansel Luxford, who shielded the SWA from major disputes between US and Canadian distillers. Our study explores the following question: what is the nature and extent of a trade association’s external agency that enables it to influence the policies and regulations of foreign governments? Our principal finding is that successful interaction with a foreign government, and its agencies, is facilitated by the employment of experienced legal counsel, and the existence of a bilateral inter-governmental relationship.

Beyond intergovernmental relations in federal systems: the concept of intergovernmental law

Beyond intergovernmental relations in federal systems: the concept of intergovernmental law

An unstable Union? The Conservative Party, the British Political Tradition, and devolution in Scotland and Wales 2010–23

Abstract While devolution in Scotland and Wales is often established as the settled will, it has been built on unsettled ground, lacking a robust system of intergovernmental relations, and sitting increasingly at odds with the central principle of parliamentary sovereignty. Examining successive UK Conservative-led governments, we evaluate devolution in Scotland and Wales through the lens of the Asymmetric Power Model and the British Political Tradition, documenting changes in the position of successive Conservative governments, from the more plurinationally sensitive respect agenda of David Cameron to the more assertive and intrusive Unionism advanced under those in post after 2016, notably Theresa May and Boris Johnson.

Professional Associations as Networks: How Informal Networking Characterizes Inter-Agency Collaboration from a Social Psychology Perspective

Relatively little empirical and theoretical research in public management explores the roles of professional associations in collaborative governance and inter-governmental relationships. Drawing on network perspectives and social psychology literature, this study aims to bridge the gap by examining the case of the Los Angeles County Management Council (LACMC) and theorizing about the characteristics of inter-agency collaboration that is derived from local professional associations. Results from the qualitative analysis reveal five key themes: relational comfort and affect-based trust, autonomy and spontaneity in knowledge sharing, shared identity and group cohesion, enhanced system awareness, and informal accountability.

COVID-19 and territorial politics: towards a redefinition of Spanish intergovernmental relations?

ABSTRACT When COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) struck Spain, it caused a multidimensional crisis that sparked countless debates on its health, social and political implications. Drawing on the literature on multilevel crisis management and federalism, this paper focuses on the impact of the pandemic on the Spanish intergovernmental relations between 2020 and 2022. This research demonstrates that several intergovernmental coordination and cooperation mechanisms were activated or reactivated at the political and technical levels. This change improved joint decision-making and strengthened the system’s own capacity to cope with future crises. In particular, this article shows how and to what extent the health crisis broke down the existing logic of discretionary collaboration and increased coherence among regional governments by strengthening the role of central ministries. Three movements have been observed and measured consisting in a growing institutionalisation, coordination and cross-sectoral logic of action. Consequently, we conclude that intergovernmental relations in Spain have been strengthened by the pandemic under the leadership of central ministries. The Spanish intergovernmental system has demonstrated its capacity to adapt to external shocks and its learning ability.

More cooperation than conflict despite no ‘Third Level’? Understanding the dynamics of paradiplomacy towards the EU in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg

ABSTRACT This article advances new understandings of paradiplomacy in action, by reconsidering the mobilisation towards the EU of two German Länder, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, over a 30-year period (1992–2022). Refining its traditional usage as a catch-all concept, we deploy a novel typology of layers of paradiplomatic activity, in order to unpack the inherent dynamics of substate engagement with the EU and explore the implications of paradiplomacy on intergovernmental relations in Germany. We find little difference between Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg in the dominant mode of interaction with the federal government resulting from paradiplomacy, the cooperative mode, though modes of interaction differ across the layers of paradiplomatic activity, ranging from more active cooperation in the policy space through to benign neglect on cross-border cooperation and on regional identity promotion.

The federal project in Pakistan: beyond fixing the design

ABSTRACT Federalism remains a contested matter in Pakistan. This article analyses the issues of representation, territoriality, ethnicity and asymmetry of the federating units in the federal theory and practice in Pakistan. It focuses on the pattern of conflict between the federation and the provinces following the implementation of the 2010 18th Amendment. While the mainstream and ethnic parties in general welcomed the amendment, un-elected institutions such as the military establishment, the civilian bureaucracy, and the judiciary implicitly, and sometimes explicitly, expressed reservations. Periodic conflict about the relocation of officers, the fiscal transfer regime, the operational aspects of the joint ownership of mineral resources by the federation and provinces, and distribution of water resources continued to make intergovernmental relations controversial. An unintended consequence of the empowerment of provincial governments was the demand for creation of new provinces from minority communities of the provinces.

Provincial Autonomy and the 2023 Federal-Provincial Healthcare Deal: A Federalism Deficit at Work?

The fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic put enormous strain on healthcare services across the country, leading Canadian premiers to call on the federal government to negotiate a new healthcare deal. The dynamics of these negotiations received extensive media coverage and highlighted some of the most fundamental issues in Canadian federalism. The objective of this article is to explore whether the 2023 healthcare negotiations were conducted in accordance with core federalism principles (e.g. autonomy, constitutionalism, partnership), or if they rather reflect some form of federalism deficit. More specifically, it asks whether, and to what extent, provincial autonomy was challenged through conditional federal funding to health care. The authors conclude that the formal division of constitutional powers is blurred through the federal government’s use of its “spending power,” and that the state of intergovernmental relations in Canada has undermined the principle of equal partnership between Ottawa and the provinces within the federal system.

Federal transfers to municipalities through parliamentary amendments: implications for SUS funding.

The present article analyzes the transfers from parliamentary amendments by the Ministry of Health to municipalities to finance public health actions and services from 2015 to 2021. A descriptive and exploratory study was carried out with secondary data, including all Brazilian cities. Resources from amendments showed an increase, particularly from 2018 onwards, indicating the expansion of their relevance for financing SUS. From 2016 to 2021, over 80% was allocated to municipalities, representing 9.5% of all federal transfers, with 91.2% for operational expenses. Transfers from amendments differ from regular transfers due to greater instability and per capita variation among the amounts collected by municipalities and due to the fact that they allocate most resources to the Northeast and primary care to the detriment of the Southeast and medium and high complexity care. These transfers represent a differentiated modality of resource allocation in SUS that produces new distortions and asymmetries, with implications for intergovernmental relations, as well as between the executive and legislative powers, increasing the risk of the discontinuity of actions and services and imposing challenges for the municipal management.

Pandemia COVID-19 w Chile. Wyzwania dla stosunków między organami władzy i koordynacji w zdecentralizowanym państwie unitarnym

The paper explores the relationship between national and subnational authorities in Chile in the context of the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly analyzing the principle of coordination and the complexities of the state of emergency. The analysis is carried out in light of the constitutional provisions of the Chilean political system. Although subnational authorities developed significant activities to address the effects of the pandemic in their respective territories, particularly the local mayors, this was not accompanied by legal or practical reforms to integrate institutional or procedural changes to incorporate the subnational levels of government in the decision-making processes. During this state of emergency, the formal and informal institutions failed to be accountable for the necessary coordination of their competences at national, regional and local levels. Therefore, the COVID-19 pandemic, occurring during a nationwide constitution-making debate in Chile, opened the opportunity to discuss institutions and arrangements that could lead to an effective and legitimate system of intergovernmental relations in a decentralized unitary state.

Intergovernmental Relations and implementation of social housing policy in Gauteng Province, South Africa

The aim of this paper is to assess intergovernmental relations in the implementation of social housing policy in Gauteng Province, South Africa. Despite all mechanisms, efforts and resources, the pace of social housing delivery is not at a point where it is measurably satisfactory across all spheres of government. The performance of government shows a lack of institutionalised arrangements, coordination, and alignment in implementing social housing policy. A mixed-methods research approach was implemented. Interviews were conducted with senior managers and research questionnaires were administered with operational staff within the national, provincial government and the three metropolitan municipalities in Gauteng Province which included City of Tshwane, City of Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni, state agencies involved in the delivery of social housing units and municipal social housing institutions, private and non-governmental social housing entities. The data were complemented by documentary content analysis pertaining to the provision of human settlements and social housing. The paper acknowledges the role played by government in implementing social housing policy, however, it proposes a model to fast track social housing delivery in Gauteng Province.

The grand bargain on local government debt: Evidence from China's intergovernmental relations

IMPACT This article provides a deeper understanding of policy implementation in local government, highlighting the key role of subnational governments in public risk governance. In fiscally centralized countries with significant local government debt problems, officials at the central government level cannot effectively mitigate local government debt risks solely through restrictive financing policies. The authors explain why policy-makers at the central government level in these countries need to revaluate the structure of the local government financial system.

The Factor of Multinational Companies in International Relations: The Case of the USA and China

In this study, the historical development of multinational corporations, which have held significant positions in both the global economy and international relations since their inception, is examined, along with the roles they have played in intergovernmental relations. The aim of the study is to reach a conclusion by conducting an analysis of the content found in the literature and examining the findings and data through a content analysis method. In parallel, this study attempts to reach its conclusions by examining the regional policies of the United States and China alongside the activities of multinational corporations in the region. Additionally, the study provides examples of the impact of multinational corporations on international relations by considering high-impact capacity actors such as Apple, Huawei, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, ZTE, and SMIC. Moreover, this study attempts to understand the positions of these actors in the struggle for hegemony by comparing them through the SWOT analysis method. Comprehensive research and findings indicate that multinational corporations still play a significant role in international relations today. These corporations serve not only as negotiation tools and sources of sanctions for nation-states but also play an active role in shaping the strategic and covert foreign policy decisions of states, contributing to their direction. Therefore, this study aims to understand how effective multinational corporations are in the world and in the context of international relations, where the United States and China stand in the struggle for hegemony, and the consequences they have on the political system.

Federalism in Nigeria: Issues, Challenges and the Way Forward

The study investigated Federalism in Nigeria: Issues and Challenges.To achieve this purpose, Survey research design was adopted. This design was found suitable because it involves using a self-designed questionnaire in collecting data from the respondents. The Population of the study consisted of all the respondents in Akwa Ibom State. A sample of 200 respondents was selected using purposive sampling technique. The Instrument used for obtaining data was a researcher developed instrument entitled “Practice of Federalism Questionnaire (PFQ)”. The instrument was given face validation by experts. In order to establish the reliability of the instrument, a pilot study was carried out on a sample of 30 respondents using a test-retest method. Data generated from the study were analyzed using mean, standard deviation and t-test analysis for both research questions and t-test respectively. The results of the findings showed that there is a significant influence of Federalism in Nigeria: Issues and Challenges based on resource allocation, inter-ethnic competition and inter-governmental relations. Based on the findings, it is recommended among others that there should be a review of Revenue Allocation Formulae to emphasize the Derivation Principle and allocation of larger percentage of resources to states, there should also encourage and facilitate dialogue among ethnic leaders and civil society organizations to address grievances and promote peaceful coexistence. Finally,there should consider devolving more powers to the state and local governments, allowing them to have greater control over matters that directly affect their communities. This promotes local governance and development.

Assessment of Intergovernmental Relations and Service Delivery in SabonGari Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria

The practice of Intergovernmental Relations provides certain conditions for two or more federating units to come together to provide services to the people. Local Government inability to function effectively is due, in part to corruption, financial and constitutional problems, due to continued strangulation of local government authorities by state government and also through the use of joint account financing. The objectives of the study generally, are to find out whether and how the Kaduna state government interferes with the autonomy of Sabon-Gari Local government in the latter’s quest to formulate and implement local policies for the provision of service delivery. The major finding of the study showed that the more accumulated financial resources of local government account, the more the state government takes out of it illegally, thereby resulting into less services provided by local government to its people. The study recommended, the need for the on-going national constitutional review to make emphasis on ensuring the power of autonomy of local government authorities should be given in full also the removal of joint account financing.