Local Government Responses Research Articles

Fiscal policy response of local governments to floods in Italy

Fiscal policy response of local governments to floods in Italy

Understanding rural local government response during COVID-19-induced lockdown: perspective from Bangladesh.

This study intends to explore the responses of local government during the COVID-19-induced lockdown in the rural areas, with particular emphasis on Bangladesh. By adopting a qualitative phenomenological research approach and employing multi-method data collection techniques (for instance, Key Informant Interview (KII), Focus Group Discussion (FGD), participant observation, and content analysis), this study found that the local governments managed the crisis of the pandemic relatively well with its limited manpower and funding through adequate preparedness and prevention strategies; effective emergency responses; and consolidated post-lockdown measures. The study revealed that the Bangladesh local government promptly took some essential actions, such as preparedness and prevention, arrangement of home quarantine and isolation, the training program for readiness, and disseminated crucial information to the local people during the pandemic, such as using masks, hand washing and sanitizing, and social distancing. Besides, the local government delivered relief, such as food and non-food items and financial support. Furthermore, the rural local government took post-lockdown responses to tackle pandemic in rural Bangladesh. Nevertheless, the service delivery individuals from local governance encountered numerous challenges, like scarcity of manpower, less support, and superstition, while providing services during the pandemic.

Participatory governance and local government responsiveness: evidence from participation in politics on television in China

ABSTRACT Based on the data of cities in China from 2005 to 2015, this paper examines the impact of the sandwiching approach involving the media governance model on government responsiveness with a quasi-natural experiment of participation in politics on television (PPTV). The study found that PPTV can help strengthen government responsiveness. After a series of robustness tests, the conclusion is still valid. The heterogeneity analysis shows that PPTV can effectively enhance government responsiveness in technology, social security, and employment sectors. Furthermore, government responsiveness is more effectively enhanced by adopting PPTV in form of annual live broadcast activities with public rating and cooperation with print media. This policy has a stronger role in enhancing government responsiveness in cities with high levels of economic development and high government competition. Considering officials characters, the longer the tenure of the mayor and the secretary of the municipal party committee, the stronger the government responsiveness.

Характеристика стосунків органів місцевого самоврядування із закладами первинної медичної допомоги

At the current stage of the development of health care systems, it is believed that local governments should be included in any reform plans. The World Health Organisation emphasizes the important role of local governments in reforming primary care while maintaining the primary responsibility for building national central government health systems. The purpose of the study is to characterize the relations of primary health care facilities with local governments by the heads in the context of reforming the health care system in Ukraine and identifying problem areas in them that require improvement. Materials and methods. The study was carried out in two stages: focusing interviewing heads of primary health care facilities with a high level of competence to determine the set of characteristics that form the relationship between of the local governments and primary health care facilities; a survey of 100 heads of primary care facilities using a questionnaire drawn up based on the results of the first stage of the study. Statistical analysis was carried out using descriptive and analytical statistics. Results and discussion. Comprehensive reform of local self-government and primary health care in Ukraine faces certain difficulties and requires coordination of relations between the local governments and primary health care facilities. Twelve main characteristics of the relationship between local governments and primary health care system of the community were identified. Of the total number of respondents, 72% did not give a satisfactory assessment of the competence of the representatives of local governments in the organization of medical services; 36% – the attitude of local governments to primary care facilities; 32% – response of local governments to the needs of primary health care facilities; 78% – understanding by the owner of the contribution of the primary health care to the prosperity of the community; 52% – priority of health development for community; 12% of the respondents noted that their facilities did not receive additional funding from local budgets for the development of the institution and improvement of the quality of medical care. In general, 68% of the surveyed primary health care managers assessed positively the relationship with the owner; 19% – negatively. Conclusion. The study identified problems in the relationship between the local governments and primary care facilities during the reform of the health care system, which need to be addressed. It was revealed that the main problem is the lack of awareness of the local governments of the importance of primary health care for the community, which is primarily due to the low competence of representatives of local authorities on health issues

Budgeting reform in the Covid-19 pandemic era and the response of the local government in Indonesia: A case study in Southeast Sulawesi Province

This article describes budgetary reform policies in the era of the Covid 19 pandemic and the local government's response. This article aims to answer how the regional budgeting mechanism is in the pandemic era and the response of regional apparatus organizations to budgeting reform. The data sources in the article use the literature study method and documents sourced from the Southeast Sulawesi Provincial government and media coverage. This article finds that the Indonesian government issued a policy of budget refocusing in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This policy applies to all ministries/agencies, including local governments, where local government responses are divided into two groups. Namely, some do budget refocusing, but local governments also do not refocus their budgets. The Southeast Sulawesi Provincial Government took the attitude of refocusing the budget by issuing Governor Regulation Number 10 of 2020; this shows that the regional government is responding to the direction of the central government. However, this policy of budget refocusing does not appear to have the full support of the Regional Warfare Task Force (SKPD) or the bureaucracy, which is subordinate to the governor. This can be seen from several SKPDs that maintain their budgets so as not to experience a significant reduction. This finding shows that although budgeting reform during the pandemic was carried out quickly, each regional apparatus organization's content, minor, and budget scope did not experience much change.

Regional features of birth and mortality rate in the Volga-Vyatka, Middle Volga and Orenburg regions during the famine of 1932–1933

The paper analyzes the vital statistics of the 19321933 famine in the Volga-Vyatka, Middle Volga and Orenburg regions (Gorkovsky and the Middle Volga Krais with national autonomous areas and the Tatar ASSR within the 1933 borders). It has been established that a high level of vital statistics registration occurred in most studied regions, high underestimating occurred in the rural areas of the Middle Volga Krai and Mordovia especially. High underestimating mortality among non-local residents and unidentified residents has not been established. Birth and mortality rate of non-local residents and unidentified residents were registered by local statistical service structures and were included in regional statistical reports, but their presence in central statistical reports has not been established. A high percentage of dead migrants in the towns has been shown, it refutes the opinion of administrative migration limit during the famine. It has been established that mortality in the town population was not lower and even exceeded rural mortality in some cases. It refutes the opinion that peasantry suffered from the famine most of all. The author proves that there was no sociocide or ethnocide (genocide) in the studied regions during the 19321933 famine. The high population loss in the Low Volga region was compensated by natural population increase in the Volga-Vyatka and Middle Volga regions. The mortality as well as birth rate varied dramatically within different administrative borders, indicating specific local conditions (local government response, natural and climate conditions, etc.), that invalidate hypothesis of authorities-made famine. The mortality peaks in 19321933 may indicate not only the famine, but seasonal epidemics as well and require additional research. The author has established that it is necessary to consider regional climatic conditions when analyzing vital statistics during the 19321933 famine. The entire number of deaths excess during the 19321933 famine totaled up to 324 000 in the Volga-Vyatka, Volga (excluding the Kalmyk Autonomous Oblast in 1933) regions and 48 000 deaths excess in the Gorkovsky and Middle Volga Krais, and Tatar ASSR in 1934. The total demographic losses due to a decreased birth rate in the Volga-Vyatka, Volga (excluding Kalmyk Autonomous Oblast in 1933) and Orenburg Regions in 19321934 came to 306 000 people.

COVID Connections: Lessons from Adaptations to COVID‐19 as Strategies for Building Food System Resilience

AbstractTo identify elements of crisis response that might hold lessons for resilience beyond the current moment, we studied a central North Carolina food system during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Based on ethnographic interviews with farmers, employees and volunteers of food access organizations, and local government employees, our work found that connection, networking, innovation, and technology adoption were sources of strength and growth. Lessons: food system actors found that their social connections helped them to exchange information and resources, meet increased food needs among SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) participants and Latina/os immigrants, and combine efforts to adopt technologies and learn from new labor pools. Challenges: while navigating COVID‐19, food system actors faced challenges spanning labor, safety, information, government policies, supply shortages, weather, and unreliable information. In addition to lessons and challenges, we offer a series of future research directions that we identified in our study findings. Our study shows that small‐scale production and local food organization and government responses are important and dynamic parts of a resilient food system. Regional systems’ actors were able to pivot more quickly than large‐scale systems and presented a more flexible, locally suitable model that will likely prove adaptive beyond the pandemic.

국가적 중대재해에 관한 자치단체와 지역 커뮤니티의 대응 -미국의 사례를 중심으로-

재해 시에 어떻게 피해를 최소화할 것인가, 그것은 지역주민의 안전과 안심을 담당하는 지방자치단체에게 매우 중요한 과제이자 책무이다. 산불, 가뭄, 지진, 해일, 태풍이나 홍수 등 자연 재해가 많은 우리나라에서는 역사적으로도 이것에 어떻게 마주보고, 어떻게 대처하고, 그리고 귀중한 목숨이나 가재를 어떻게 지킬지가 지역의 큰 과제가 되어 왔다.<BR> 이웃 일본에서는 동일본대지진(2011.3.11)과 한신아와지 대지진(1995.1.17)에서는 수많은 고귀한 희생 속에서 이재민의 도움과 협력은 해외에서도 큰 감동과 높은 평가를 받았다. 국내에서도 태안 유조선 기름유출 사건 때도 지역주민과 자치단체의 헌신적인 노력이 큰 감동을 준적도 있다. 그리고 지역이 괴멸적인 피해를 입고, 행정기능이나 긴급원조 기능이 마비되었을 때에는, 현장에서 즉시 즉응할 수 있는 지역주민의 힘이나 이웃끼리의 도움이 큰 힘을 발휘한다는 교훈도 남기고 있다. 한편, 재해 후의 도움뿐만 아니라 평소부터의 지역에서의 대비나 가르침, 도움이 피해를 감소시키는 효과적인 방법이라는 것도 지금까지의 수많은 경험으로부터 얻어지고 있다. 이러한 과제를 해결하기 위한 하나의 시사가 되는 것이 본 연구이다.<BR> 본고는 미국의 지역방재에 대해, 자주방재조직(Community Emergency Response Team(CERT))이 완수하는 역할과 내용에 대해 정리한 것이다. 필자는 캘리포니아주 로스앤젤레스시 자주방재조직(CERT)의 조사를 실시했다. 대규모 재해 발생시에는 지역주민 개개인이 ‘우리 지역은 우리 스스로 지킨다’는 연대의식 하에 조직적으로 재해정보의 수집전달, 통신수단 확보, 초기진화, 피난유도, 이재민 구출과 응급처치, 급수 등의 자주적인 방재활동을 할 필요가 있다. 재해대응에 필요한 ‘자조,’ ‘공조,’ ‘공조’의 각 단계에서, ‘공조’ 즉, 인근주민에 의한 도움과 자주방재조직이 완수하는 의의와 역할은 무엇인가라는 것도 본 논문은 기술하고 있다. 우리나라의 자주방재조직과 지역주민의 공조를 생각하는데 참고가 될 수 있을 것으로 기대한다.

The local government response to austerity in a small devolved country: the case of Wales

ABSTRACT The 2008 Global Financial Crisis and subsequent austerity drive across Europe and North America has been particularly felt at a local government level. Wales presents a valuable case study through which to explore the impact of austerity on local government: it is a small country with a devolved government that is philosophically opposed to austerity, yet where cuts to local government have been drastic. Drawing on interviews with Welsh councils and key stakeholders, this paper explores three approaches councils have taken to managing austerity – efficiency, investment, and retrenchment – and finds that councils were already at a financial ‘tipping point’ before the pandemic. This paper concludes by considering the lessons that could be applied to the new challenge of recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

A rapid review of practices to support people experiencing homelessness during COVID-19

Purpose People experiencing homelessness are uniquely vulnerable to the impacts of a pandemic, such as COVID-19. Therefore, governments across Canada have been implementing a patchwork of responses to address the needs of those who are homeless at this time. The purpose of this study is to both compile and assess the varying responses by exploring the breadth of actions presented in print and social media. Design/methodology/approach Rapid review methodology is a means of compiling a breadth of information to compare and contrast policy implementations. Herein, the authors provide a comprehensive rapid review of responses to homelessness considered through a health equity lens. Findings Based on policy implementations to date, the authors offer eight recommendations of potentially promising practices among these responses. Situated within a capabilities approach, the authors call upon governments to provide a full breadth of responses to ensure that both health and housing are better protected and obtained during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originality/value This paper presents the first comprehensive review of local government responses to homelessness in the context of COVID-19.

Local government's response to the recovery of the tourism sector after the COVID-19 pandemic

This study aims to analyze the strategy of the Singkawang City Government in restoring the private sector during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research method is descriptive and qualitative, specifically related to the COVID-19 impact mitigation strategy and Singkawang tourism policies. Then analyze the strategic elements of a policy according to the implementation of the O.Jones model. Data was collected by using interviews, observation, and documentation techniques. The data is then analyzed using domain data analysis techniques as a researcher's effort to get a general and comprehensive (holistic) picture of the object under study. The findings in this study are 1) a connected tourism COVID-19 impact mitigation policy strategy from the national to local levels in Singkawang in the form of directives, regulations, COVID-19 mitigation programs, and stimulus for economic recovery in the tourism sector; and 2) there are no visible creative efforts based on health protocols in organizing tourism resources, methods, and unit synergies to restore tourism, interpretation of social media-based policies regarding tourist visits has not been measured, and strategies have not been implemented to meet the opportunities for pandemic trend tourism types with models alternative tourism according to health protocols.

Local government responses for COVID-19 management in the Philippines

BackgroundResponses of subnational government units are crucial in the containment of the spread of pathogens in a country. To mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Philippine national government through its Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases outlined different quarantine measures wherein each level has a corresponding degree of rigidity from keeping only the essential businesses open to allowing all establishments to operate at a certain capacity. Other measures also involve prohibiting individuals at a certain age bracket from going outside of their homes. The local government units (LGUs)–municipalities and provinces–can adopt any of these measures depending on the extent of the pandemic in their locality. The purpose is to keep the number of infections and mortality at bay while minimizing the economic impact of the pandemic. Some LGUs have demonstrated a remarkable response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study is to identify notable non-pharmaceutical interventions of these outlying LGUs in the country using quantitative methods.MethodsData were taken from public databases such as Philippine Department of Health, Philippine Statistics Authority Census, and Google Community Mobility Reports. These are normalized using Z-transform. For each locality, infection and mortality data (dataset Y) were compared to the economic, health, and demographic data (dataset X) using Euclidean metric d=(x−y)2, where x∈X and y∈Y. If a data pair (x,y) exceeds, by two standard deviations, the mean of the Euclidean metric values between the sets X and Y, the pair is assumed to be a ‘good’ outlier.ResultsOur results showed that cluster of cities and provinces in Central Luzon (Region III), CALABARZON (Region IV-A), the National Capital Region (NCR), and Central Visayas (Region VII) are the ‘good’ outliers with respect to factors such as working population, population density, ICU beds, doctors on quarantine, number of frontliners and gross regional domestic product. Among metropolitan cities, Davao was a ‘good’ outlier with respect to demographic factors.ConclusionsStrict border control, early implementation of lockdowns, establishment of quarantine facilities, effective communication to the public, and monitoring efforts were the defining factors that helped these LGUs curtail the harm that was brought by the pandemic. If these policies are to be standardized, it would help any country’s preparedness for future health emergencies.

Citizens’ perception of government responsiveness: building an engaged citizenry

ABSTRACT Responsiveness is one of the tenets of good governance. In the post-Soviet setting, in which government officials view provision of public services to the population as government largesse, the perception of government responsiveness is particularly important in building active and engaged citizenry. This study explores a potential link between citizen perceptions of local government responsiveness among residents of squatter settlements in the Kyrgyz Republic and citizen-municipal government collaboration. Based on a survey of 914 urban squatter settlers in Bishkek, the article examines how residents of slums perceive the responsiveness of different levels of government in improving their communities’ access to basic urban services. Lower level of governance is found to be associated with higher levels of perceived responsiveness. Participation in informal demand-making and self-help activities is positively associated with perceptions of government responsiveness, especially when it comes to the city administration.

Local Government Response to COVID-19: Revitalizing Local Democracy in Bangladesh

The study aims to identify the role of local government and its transformation in response to the COVID-19. It also shows how local governments extended the scope of accountability and transparency to strengthen democracy. The study followed the social survey method and collected data online through Google Docs form. The data were analyzed through descriptive statistics to generate expected results and test the hypothesis by the Spearman correlation coefficient. The study found local governments were positive during COVID-19 to provide services and offered more public engagement in policy formulation, thus more democratic. The health sector has shown the highest priority, with food and environmental services. Inefficient management capacity of leaders and apathy in public engagement hamper resource mobilization at the local level. During COVID-19, ICT intervention and innovation for digital transformation in local governance increased accountability and transparency through easy and effective participation of mass people to strengthen local democracy to respond effectively against COVID-19.

Flood risk perception and responses among urban residents in the northeastern United States

Growing flood risks raise difficult questions regarding risk perception, protective actions, and government response. Drawing on behavioral decision theory, protection motivation theory, and the protective action decision model, we examine the roles risk salience and immediacy, response efficacy, and trust in government authorities play in perceptions of flood risk and adoption of protective actions, with a focus on flood insurance. Data come from focus group discussions conducted in 2 flood-affected neighborhoods in Troy, New York, United States of America. Troy has a history of flooding, including major floods linked to Hurricane Irene in 2011. While several participants had vivid memories of past floods, overall salience of flood risk was low. While they recognized responsiveness of local government at the time of hazard events, they expressed concern about inadequate preparation for future disasters. Participants expressed concern about flood insurance, citing costs, inadequate coverage, and arduous procedures needed to file claims. They expressed distrust in the institutions surrounding flood insurance. We argue that emergency managers will need to be responsive to people's multiple concerns in order to build the awareness and trust on which effective natural hazard preparedness depends.

Do squeaky wheels get the grease? Understanding when and how municipalities respond to online requests

Citizens often attempt to interact with government through online modes of communication such as email and social media. Using an audit study, we examine when and how American municipalities with populations of over 50,000 respond to online requests for information. We develop baselines for municipal responsiveness, including the average rate, time, and quality of responses, and examine whether these response attributes vary based on the mode of communication or the tone of the request. Overall, municipalities responded to 54% of email requests and 38% of Twitter requests. A majority of responses were received on the same business day. Responses are slightly faster on Twitter, but of higher quality on email. Governments are more likely to respond to frustrated constituents on email, but respond faster to frustrated queries on Twitter, though with lower quality responses. These findings contribute to our understanding of local government responsiveness and have significant implications for democratic accountability and resident compliance with and the effectiveness of local government policies. Furthermore, our scholarly understanding of local government communications with residents, and particularly the promise of social media as a tool of two-way communication, may be underdeveloped.

The Chinese Government's Response to the Pandemic: Measures, Dynamic Changes, and Main Patterns.

(1) Background: The governance measures that governments deploy vary substantially across countries and even within countries; there is, however, limited knowledge of the responses of local governments or from different areas in the same country. (2) Methods: By using grounded theory and an automatic text processing method, this study analyses the pandemic governance measures, the pandemic governance pattern, and possible factors across 28 provinces in mainland China based on the text of 28 official provincial government Sina microblogs dating from 20 January to 1 July 2020. (3) Results and discussion: The provincial pandemic governance patterns in China are divided into a pathogen-control pattern, a diagnosis and treatment consolidation pattern, a balanced promotion pattern, a quick-adjustment response pattern, and a recovery-oriented pattern. The pandemic severity, economic development, public health service, and population structure may all have an impact on pandemic governance measures. (4) Conclusions: The conclusions of this study may help us to reconstruct governance systems related to global public health emergencies from the perspective of normalisation, as well as providing important clarification for management and a reference for countries seeking to curb the global spread of a pandemic.

Fluxos de controle de protestos em São Paulo (2013-2014)

The article analyzes the dynamics of protest control in São Paulo, from June 2013 to June 2014, focusing on coalitions between actors, arenas and institutional repertoires. We argue that the police crackdown on June 13 in São Paulo encouraged ordinary citizens to join the demonstrations, as well as spurred changes in local and federal government responses to protests and in repressive repertoires of social control.

Innovation or implementation? Local response to low‐carbon policy experimentation in China

AbstractThe low‐carbon pilot city project is a critical policy experimentation in China, which is designed to implement policy instruments and local initiatives for low‐carbon development targets. However, some scholars have argued that local pilots have not met the central government's expectation of policy innovation. The current literature mainly focuses on pathways at the national level and few studies have discussed how subnational authorities respond to the national goals. Through a case study, we present the actions and the political will of the local authorities and discuss the logic involved in the local government's response to the low‐carbon pilot city project. We conclude that the bottom‐up initiative has become a top‐down policy implementation process, which contributes little to the design of new and appropriate policy instruments and initiatives. The local government only “package up” the low‐carbon related policies responding to the country's requirement, showing less enthusiasm and political will toward low‐carbon development initiatives. This study contributes to subnational pathways of low‐carbon development and explores the responses and the political will of local government to policy experimentation.

How Does a Reduction in Mandated Medicaid Spending Affect Local Fiscal Behaviors? Evidence from New York State

In 2005, New York (NY) state capped the growth of county-level Medicaid spending, which abruptly decreased counties’ Medicaid outlay in both relative and absolute terms. This study exploits this discontinuity in county Medicaid outlay to estimate the impact of the relief mandate policy on county budgets and property tax levies. It bridges a gap in the public finance literature by addressing local government responses to a sudden decrease in the outlay of a large mandatory spending category. We find a compositional change but no income effect on non-Medicaid spending. However, the policy reduced the effective property tax rate significantly by 6.6 to 8.1 percent on average among affected NY counties after the enactment of the policy relative to control counties. This study advances our understanding of local fiscal responses to an intergovernmental fiscal policy that changes how state and local governments share the costs of a large public social insurance program.