Lower Levels Of Government Research Articles

Pendampingan Pembuatan Website untuk Pengembangan Desa Digital di Desa Baros, Kabupaten Serang

The use of a website is a common thing by an institution. Almost every institution and organization inIndonesia used the website to reaches audiences and provides services. In addition to media information, thewebsite is also used for branding to marketing goods and services. Therefore, village as the lowest level ofgovernment in Indonesia also needs a website to provide services to villagers, disseminate information aboutthe village, and marketing main village products. This is a community service article in Baros Village, SerangRegency, which previously did not have a village website. The community service team facilitated a focusedgroupdiscussion (FGD) by presenting village stakeholders to formulate steps to create a website..

Fiscal Federalism, Tax Independence and Social Enhancement

Abstract The tax autonomy of Nigeria’s three tiers of government is examined in this study to estimate the value of revenue fiscal decentralization in increasing citizens’ social welfare. Nigeria is a developing country that follows fiscal federalism by allocating resources to the three tiers of government and equally allowing them specific amounts of tax revenue collection based on the requirements of the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s 1999 constitution’s second schedule part II. The main goal is to affect social development in all parts of the country. Thus, this study uses secondary data from 2007 to 2020 and analyzes it using a multiple regression approach to determine the influence of each tier of government’s tax autonomy on residents’ social welfare. According to the findings of this research, the federal government’s fiscal autonomy empowers social development more than the other two levels of government (state and local governments). The policy conclusion is that the tax autonomy of the three tiers of government may need to be reassessed in order to offer additional taxing powers to lower-level governments for better economic growth prospects. As a result, the research advises revamping the country’s overall fiscal system in order to promote social growth across states, local governments, and the whole nation.

The influence of administrative status on the trajectory of socio-economic changes: A case study of Polish cities

Abstract Most of the academic literature indicates that high administrative status positively influences the development of a city, while the loss of such status leads to marginalisation. Most of these studies, however, investigated national capitals, and relatively little research has analysed the effect of a change in status at lower levels of government. Poland is an obvious subject for such research, due to the recent extensive reforms of its system of territorial government. This article presents the recent dynamics of socio-economic development in Polish cities and their relation to whether a city maintained or lost its status as a regional capital. These results enable us to identify correlations between the dynamics of socio-economic development and the status of a city. The nature of these correlations is more ambiguous than the results presented in previous studies. The findings of this study give new insight into the effect of changes in a city’s administrative status.

Dynamic capabilities and governance: An empirical investigation of financial performance of the higher education sector

AbstractResearch SummaryWe postulate that resource allocation decisions consistent with dynamic capabilities can improve financial performance, but that governance moderates the relationship between resource allocation flexibility and financial performance. Using more than a decade of data on US public universities, we find that flexibility has much more impact when matched by lower levels of governance that allow greater expenditure autonomy for university executives and administrators.Managerial SummaryOrganizations are increasingly subject to conflicting demands imposed by their institutional environments. Given the importance of governance arrangements, we apply strategic management concepts to public universities and investigate the effect of external governance arrangements on university performance. We show that universities that reallocate resources more regularly are more likely to run larger budget surpluses. This is far more likely to be true at universities where external governance arrangements allow greater executive discretion.

Public Participation and Performance of Government Projects in Thailand

Public participation is the inclusion of the public in the activities of any organization or project. The performance of government projects in Thailand has been slow. Some of the projects have taken a longer time than anticipated to be completed. In addition, some projects are not the priority of the citizens and they end up being of no value to the citizens. Thus, the study sought to examine the effect of public participation on the performance of government projects in Thailand. The study used a descriptive research design. The collection of the data was done using questionnaires. The study sampled randomly 1378 people in Bangkok. The analysis of the data was done using SPSS. The study findings showed public participation has a positive and significant effect on the performance of development projects in Thailand. Public participation is a basic condition in local democracy because it allows the citizen to take part and contribute to bringing more solutions to any type of problem. Most governments are called to change and give their citizens room in the decision-making processes, from the low levels of governance to the highest. The study concluded that public participation has led to the effective planning, execution, operation, and monitoring of projects. It is recommended that the project officers should encourage the participation of the community by motivating participants to offer their views on various projects. The project officers need to include locals in all relevant activities involving work sequencing, work organizing, financing and staffing. Public participation makes it possible to consider community issues. Public participation should be organized in a particular way to make sure that they contribute to the environmental, financial, and social sustainability concerns of the project. Keywords:  Public Participation, Performance, Government Projects, Thailand

IMPLEMENTASI KEBIJAKAN PROGRAM PEMBERDAYAAN MASYARAKAT DALAM MENDUKUNG KEGIATAN PEMBANGUNAN DI DISTRIK SUGAPA KABUPATEN INTAN JAYA

The issue of village development has become a priority for realizing development from the lowest level of government. Particularly in poverty alleviation priorities of rural communities. One of the activities aimed at building and prospering the village community is contained in Law No. 6 of 2014 on the Village, which is the activities of BUMDes. This research is conducted to know the implementation of the policy of BUMDes in Sugapa District Intan Jaya Regency. The correct management and implementation and in accordance with the policies made are expected to realize the ideals of BUMDes establishment. This research uses qualitative descriptive writing method. The data source used is primary data and secondary data. The study used the data obtained through interview, bservation and documentation. The theoretical basis used is the theory of policy implementation of Van Meter and Van Horn explains that policy implementation is an action to transform policy into action that is operational by government or private that directed to reach the purpose which have been determined. There are 6 variables of policy implementation according to Van Meter and Van Horn are Policy Objectives, Resources, Inter-Organizational Relations, Characteristics of implementing agencies/ organizations, Political, social and economic environment, Disposition/ response or attitude of the implementers. The process of policy Implementation BUMDes Sejahtera Sugapa District can run smoothly. The achievement of BUMDes welfare mission-mission can be realized. The resources of the marine can be well explored. The relationship between supervisors, administrators and members of BUMDes is conducive. The political, social and economic sectors can thrive. It is based on the level of understanding of the very high actors of economic development and poverty alleviation in Sugapa District. Neither the Village Government nor the managers of BUMDes Sejahtera.

Analyzing multi-level governance dynamics from a discourse network perspective: the debate over air pollution regulation in Germany

BackgroundDesigned to set limits to air pollutant emissions, EU Directive 2008/50/EG has pushed city administrations to strengthen their commitment to environmental protection with mixed results. However, the effectiveness of these policies remains suboptimal. Within this context, this paper provides original empirical evidence on the nature and evolution of the debate over air pollution in the EU that helps readers understand how the interplay among discourse coalitions across levels of governance relates to the implementation of air pollution directives in Europe. To provide this evidence, we apply the discourse-coalition framework to a multi-level governance context by comparing debates over air pollution and examining their evolution in different contexts through the use of discourse network analysis.ResultsOur results show that the debate in the EU institutions is largely dominated by pro-environmental coalitions, whereas discussions in Stuttgart and Berlin show different degrees of permeability to such arguments. Hence, the relative prominence of certain actors and levels of governance in the local discourse helps explain the extent to which debates at the local level align with the arguments put forward by the EU institutions. For their part, governmental organizations have a tendency to act as bridges between discourse coalitions.ConclusionsThis novel empirical evidence provides clues that help make sense of the varying levels of implementation of EU air pollution directives at the local level. In this regard, the ability of supranational and national bodies to align their discourse with those of local organizations might facilitate a common understanding and the successful implementation of EU policies. Policymakers aiming to improve air quality at the local level may want to consider engaging actively with this debate by reinforcing the arguments of pro-environmental coalitions. They may also want to make a special effort to ensure that the messages conveyed to supranational and national bodies are also effectively conveyed to lower levels of governance.

Mechanisms of the Chinese Government's Efforts to Fight COVID-19: Integration of Top-Down Interventions and Local Governance.

The experiences and lessons of China's response to COVID-19 have been described in several studies, but the mechanisms of the Chinese government's efforts to fight COVID-19 have not been well characterized. Despite strong policy directives and orders from the central government, the response and handling of the epidemic also reflected distinctive characteristics of local governments in terms of their governance systems and capacities. In this article, we analyze public health policies and mechanisms of the Chinese government's response to COVID-19 based on the integration of top-down and local governance. A compendium of key events and measures provides the foundation for our analysis. Mechanisms related to leadership, emergency response, centralized mobilization, and accountability fully reflect the decisive measures for top-down interventions in the face of emergencies. China's policies and mechanisms to address the COVID-19 pandemic are consistent with its party-state bureaucracy and socioeconomic context. However, lower levels of government have used "repeated increments" and "one-size-fits-all" practices in the implementation of antiepidemic policies. Conservative local officials are more averse to social innovation and favor strict controls to manage the pandemic. Moreover, even under a unified system, there are substantial differences in the capacity and level of crisis management among local governments, especially in the mobilization of nonprofit organizations and volunteers. In this case study, we aim to expand the existing understanding of the tension between top-down interventions and local governance innovations.

표준화된 체육교과 교육과정 개발의 난제 고찰 : 미국의 교육환경을 중심으로

This article explores sociocultural and education-structural factors that have exerted significant limits on national curriculum reform for school physical education (PE) in the United States (U.S.). Based on prior research and discourses, three primary education-contextual issues that circumscribe extensive curriculum reform were found: socioeconomic and cultural disparities in student population, the longstanding tradition of multiple-layered governance structure, and an deeply held conviction about an idiosyncratic/localized curricular approach among educational professionals. An overly rigid national curriculum has the potential to prompt diverse ideological issues such as inequitable learning opportunities, a hegemony of knowledge, and the reproduction of divisions among groups of students. It would seem to be advisable for extensive curricular reform for school-based PE to be initiated voluntarily at the state or local level to reduce any potential resistance or anti-sentiment from lower level government entities. PE curriculum must be socioculturally responsive, locally flexible, and aligned with the needs and interests of individual students.

A review of existing policy for reducing embodied energy and greenhouse gas emissions of buildings

The building sector is a significant contributor to global energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions and thus has a major role in combating climate change. To date, efforts to address this issue have focussed on reducing energy demand during building operation, resulting in significant reductions in this area. However, recent studies have shown that substantial improvements to operational energy efficiency have increased the relative significance of indirect or embodied energy demands and associated greenhouse gas emissions. Subsequently, policies addressing this next frontier of energy and emissions reductions are emerging. To understand different approaches and inform future development, this study reviews existing policy mechanisms targeting embodied energy and greenhouse gas emissions in the building sector for four countries – Australia, Canada, USA and United Kingdom. The study found that voluntary instruments dominate the policy landscape, with regulatory measures largely absent at national levels and confined to inconsistent application across lower levels of governance. Signals of change emerging from the analysis include growing private sector investment and increasing quantitative targets for reduction. The study concludes with the challenges facing this sector of energy governance, alongside recommendations for regulated caps, mandatory LCA reporting, prerequisite requirements in voluntary instruments, data accessibility and resolving methodological inconsistencies.

A Moveable Benefit? Spillover Effects of Quotas on Women’s Numerical Representation

Abstract Quotas have helped women achieve greater numerical representation in government around the world. Yet do they have indirect effects on representation elsewhere? We take advantage of plausibly exogenous variation in when and which states enacted legislation mandating 50% women’s representation in the lowest level of government in India to analyze how quotas affect women’s candidacy, vote share, and winning probability at the state level of government. We find that women are more likely to compete and win for the higher political office when women reservation is implemented at the local levels of political governance. This suggests that gender quotas have spillover effects onto other levels in politics. As women continue to be under-represented in politics, this paper highlights the role of policy instruments in shaping political careers for women and building inclusive political institutions.

Attracting the remote emperor’s attention: local policy entrepreneurship in China’s policy experimentation under hierarchy

ABSTRACT Scholars have paid little attention to the mechanisms of locally initiated national policy experiments. This article reveals why some lower-level governments in China can successfully promote bottom-up policy experimentation. With a historical case study of Kunshan, we find that local policy entrepreneurs effectively deploy the nexus of related strategies to attract the central attention. The persistent bottom-up policy experimentation is driven by the interaction between structure-level and actor-level factors through historical evolution, while local economic structure matters for sharping policy entrepreneurs’ innovative abilities. This study contributes to unpacking the mechanisms of bottom-up policy experimentation under hierarchy by connecting policy entrepreneurship with experimental governance.

MENEROPONG DETERMINAN OPINI LKPD KABUPATEN/KOTA DI SUMATERA UTARA

The financial reports of lower level governments in North Sumatra Province still require serious attention because there are several regions that have not yet obtained unqualified opinions. This study aims to analyze the factors that influence BPK's audit opinion on those financial statements. This research observes financial reports and reports on the results of BPK audits during the 2016-2018 period. The sample selection method was purposive sampling and obtained 31 districts / cities. The panel data analysis used in this research is the random-effect model. Based on the results of statistical tests, the number of audit findings is proven to have a negative impact on the quality of financial reports. Meanwhile, the level of financial statement disclosure and regional characteristics cannot explain the variation in audit opinion between regions.

Tipologias de governança corporativa em cooperativas de crédito no Brasil

A presente pesquisa objetiva identificar agrupamentos que permitam criar tipologias de cooperativas de crédito com base nas características da governança corporativa. Para tanto, utilizou-se dos dados da pesquisa sobre governança aplicada pelo Banco Central do Brasil, no período de 2013/2014. Em termos metodológicos, a pesquisa caracteriza-se como descritiva com abordagem quantitativa, e utiliza-se da técnica multivariada de análise de clusters para a análise dos resultados. Os principais achados indicam a existência de dois clusters nas 994 cooperativas estudadas. Entre as principais características, tem-se que o cluster Tipo A é formado por 65% da amostra e apresenta um baixo nível de governança, enquanto que o cluster Tipo B é composto por 35% da amostra e reflete um nível médio de governança. A partir dos resultados constata-se que as cooperativas possuem baixos e médios níveis de governança, não sendo possível classificá-las como de alto nível em relação as práticas de governança desenvolvidas.

Hierarchical difference in attention allocation of local Governments: Explaining change and stability in safety management

Under the constraints of information flooding and asymmetry, the government attention has become a scarce resource, and appropriate allocation is a necessary condition for obtaining effective safety information and improving safety management. Focusing on the attention perspective, this paper studies the short-term dynamic difference and long-term stable relationship between the upper-level government and the lower-level government in the attention allocation of safety management under the Chinese bureaucratic system. Drawn on 3231 government work reports (2010–2020), we extract the topic contents of safety management through the LDA model. Then, with the help of machine learning and time series models, we calculated the intensity of safety management attention and analyzed their short-term and long-term relationship across different levels of governments. Empirical results identified the long-term consistency and short-term inconsistency in the safety management attention of provincial and prefecture governments. This phenomenon exists simultaneously between the central government and the provincial governments. We also found that increased short-term hierarchical differences in government attention significantly increase regional safety risk. In addition, the influence and stimulus factors, as well as the heterogeneity of hierarchical differences were detected in this study. We found that hierarchical differences of government safety attention affect access to safety-related information, thereby affecting regional safety risks. Meanwhile, the construction of a novel dataset based on government work reports provides a new pattern to explore government attention allocation. This study widens the horizon of safety management from the perspective of inter-government attention differences, and enriches the research on safety management and government attention.

Village Development Initiative as an Alternative Strategy of Rural Poverty Reduction: An Evaluation of Village Fund Program in Indonesia

Law Number 6 of 2014 on villages has been ratified due to the persistent poverty suffered by the village community. Through financial decentralization (Village Fund Program) as regulated in the law, poverty reduction policies are expected to be applied by the lowest level of government. This study aims to evaluate the contribution of the Village Law to reducing poverty. Therefore, this study is important not only to assess how deepening process of decentralization works but also evaluate its impact to reduce rural poverty in Indonesia. The study was conducted in three regions in Indonesia, namely West Sumatra, East Java, and North Maluku Provinces represents the western, central, and eastern regions of Indonesia respectively. The findings indicate that although the studied village governments did not specifically design a development program for poverty reduction in their budget, access to basic needs and public facilities improved and rural unemployment reduced significantly.

Blame avoidance in hard times: complex governance structures and the COVID-19 pandemic

This article investigates how governments shift blame during large-scale, prolonged crises. While existing research shows that governments can effectively diffuse blame through ‘fuzzy’ governance structures, less is known about blame diffusion patterns during severe crises when citizens widely expect governments to assume leadership. The article develops expectations on how blame diffusion patterns – consisting of blame-shifting onto lower-level government units, citizens and experts – look and differ in fuzzy governance structures (the political courant normal) and in consolidated governance structures (when governments are called on to consolidate responsibility). The article then tests this theoretical argument with a within-unit longitudinal study of the blame diffusion patterns employed by the Swiss Federal Council (FC) during press conferences held during the COVID-19 pandemic. The period under analysis (March–December 2020) is divided into three phases characterised by different governance structures due to the FC’s enactment of emergency law. The analysis reveals that blame diffusion patterns vary considerably across phases and that blame spills out of the political system when fuzzy governance structures ‘lose their bite’. These findings are relevant for our understanding of democratic governance under pressure.

Improvement of the local self-government system in the Republic of Kazakhstan

For Kazakhstan, the development of local self-government is a very relevant issue. This is due to general economic situation in the country, and the system of public administration. Therefore, the State, as well as scientific community, constantly pays attention to the socioeconomic condition and infrastructure of rural areas. Methods – historical and logical analysis, comparisons and generalizations. Results – it is shown that one of the important issues is the lack of clear and actually defined functions and powers at the lower levels of government. Based on the study of the experience of local government abroad, it was determined that in solving socio-economic issues it is necessary to endow local governments with sufficient rights and powers. The authors state that the government policy in the field of management at different levels requires the development of a system of local self-government, which must be considered as a method or tool for rational public administration. It is justified that the more powers are exercised, taking into account local conditions and opportunities, the more comprehensively they will meet the interests of the population and management will be more effective. Conclusions – since the republican, regional and district budgets are an integral part of the general state budget, the distribution of income sources between them should be optimal, and rational. It is also necessary that financial instruments ensure the reduction of interbudgetary flows.

Addressing threats like Covid: why we will tend to over-react and how we can do better

A number of behavioral economic insights suggest we will tend to overreact, individually and collectively, to a new, serious, but low probability health threat, like Covid 19. To respond more effectively to such threats, we should recognize why we will tend to overreact and prepare in advance not to do so. We also should recognize the usefulness in giving lower level governments, non-profits, and less formal communities some ability to respond, rather than presuming we should address a significant threat like Covid using the highest level of government.

Human Rights Institutionalization at the Local Level: A Case Study of Sub-National Human Rights Commissions in Korea

Abstract Over the past decade, all upper-level (regional) Korean sub-national governments and a large number of lower-level (municipal) governments have passed ordinances mandating the establishment of local human rights commissions. Many of these commissions have now been set up and operating for several years. In this case study, we critically examine the development and work of these commissions, with a particular focus on five aspects: personnel; functions; norms; level of activity, and relationships with other relevant actors. In each of these areas, we examine the choices made and the major challenges faced, and contextualize within the standards established for national human rights institutions and experiences in other jurisdictions. The case study will be based on examination of a mix of primary source documents and secondary Korean-language research on the topic, supplemented by interview and questionnaire responses from practitioners active in the field.