Multi-level Governance Context Research Articles

Electoral Accountability in a Multilevel Governance Context: Economic Voting and Gubernatorial Support in Latin America

Electoral Accountability in a Multilevel Governance Context: Economic Voting and Gubernatorial Support in Latin America

Decomposition, decoupling and dynamic prediction of carbon emissions from city-level building operations: a case study of the Yangtze River Delta

Reducing carbon emissions in the building sector is crucial to achieving carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals. Identifying the influencing factors of carbon emissions from building operations at the city level and predicting carbon peaks is of great significance for developing locally adapted policies. This article examines the spatial and temporal trends of carbon emissions at the building operation stage in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region over the last 15 years. This article analyzes the driving factors at a city level using the GDIM method and evaluates the decoupling status of income growth and carbon emissions with the GDIM-based decoupling model. The peak time and peak value of operational carbon emissions in the YRD region are predicted through a combination of scenario analysis and the Monte Carlo method. The research shows that: (1) the total carbon emissions from the building operational stage in the YRD region increased by 163.63%, of residents’ disposable income and energy consumption contributed the most. (2) In terms of decoupling relationship between carbon emissions and income growth, rural residential buildings (RR) outperform urban residential buildings (UR) and public buildings (PB). (3) According to the dynamic simulation, the operational carbon emission in the YRD region is expected to peak at 498.18–504.83 Mt MtCO2 between 2030 and 2035. (4) The peak of PBs and URs in Nanjing, Suzhou and some third- and fourth-tier cities, and RRs in eastern and central cities in the YRD will occur at the latest, necessitating close monitoring. These findings can serve as a basis for developing scientific and reasonable building emission reduction policies in a multilevel governance context.

Unsettling Resettlement: Examining Local Dynamics of Refugee Integration in the United States Amid National Policy Change

Immigrant integration scholars increasingly emphasize the “local” level, yet most analyses of multilevel integration governance focus on municipal or other governmental actors. However, in the U.S. resettlement program, local governments have little influence on refugee integration, as resettlement services are provided by contracted non-governmental organizations. To understand local integration in this context, I analyze local resettlement practices via an Iowa-based case study. This study highlights the interplay between national policies and local practices within the context of multilevel integration governance via non-governmental organizations, enhancing comprehension of local integration processes.

Promoting green buildings in China's multi-level governance system: A tripartite evolutionary game analysis

Multi-level governance (MLG) represents a big challenge in promoting green buildings (GBs) in China. This study aims to provide policy insights for promoting GBs under MLG. The dynamic interactions and evolutionary processes among the central government, local governments and developers in China's MLG context are investigated through a tripartite evolutionary game model. This study first analyses the decision-making behaviour of each participant and then the stability strategy among multiple stakeholders in the MLG system. Numerical analyses are performed to simulate the stable strategies and evolution paths, evaluating key factors and proposing policy implications. The findings reveal that the central government plays a guaranteed role in promoting GBs, while consumers' high willingness to pay for GBs plays a vital role. Interestingly, incentive local governments slow down the realisation of GB promotion, whereas incentive consumers are more efficient than developers. Furthermore, increasing punishment by local governments is more efficient than that by the central government. These results may inform research hypotheses for future empirical studies and provide a valuable reference for promoting GBs under MLG in other countries.

Multi-Level Governance and Emergency Management: Building a Priority Assessment Matrix in the Pandemic Outbreak

The execution of effective responses during a large-scale emergency requires gathering appropriate information and implementing priority assessment processes. In particular, the design of comprehensive and multi-dimensional evaluation methods is crucial, especially in countries characterized by the presence of multiple levels of authority and regional governance. In this article, we illustrate the development of a structured method that was used to support emergency decisions during the COVID-19 emergency in Brazil. We applied a design science roadmap in order to produce an artifact development process, based on extensive expert involvement and multiple sources, to identify the core requirements and information needs at healthcare management and governance levels. This study provides an assessment matrix and measurement scale based on twenty indicators and five key criteria (i.e., gravity, urgency, trend, amplitude, and impact). The study provides an evidence-based method for assessing the emergency status of, and defining recommendations for, operators and policymakers. This method can be adopted for other emergency management scenarios and contexts in order to support the analysis and implementation of responses; this has a specific relevance for multi-level governance contexts.

City branding in a multi-level governance context: comparing branding performance across five institutional models for urban development in Saudi Arabia

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine how five different multi-level governance (MLG) models affect place branding (PB) performance in Saudi Arabia. Design/methodology/approach In hierarchical administrative systems, central governments exert control on PB, influencing its effectiveness. While PB as such is widely studied, the effect of MLG on PB performance in centralized administrative systems remains understudied. The study is approached as a multiple case study of nine cities. Findings The study reveals that different MLG models indeed affect PB performance differently. Direct access to central leadership and resources boosts branding performance, while privatization promotes flexibility with similarly positive effects. Study findings, furthermore, show that some cities are considered too big to fail. Cities such as Riyadh and Neom are of prime importance and receive plenty of resources and leadership attention, while others are considered peripheral, are under-resourced and branding performance suffers accordingly. Emerging differences in PB performance associated with different MLG models are thus likely to deepen the gap between urban economic winners and losers. Originality/value This paper introduces five MLG models based on the actors involved in PB, their interactions and their access to resources. For each model, this paper assesses other factors which may influence the effectiveness of PB as well, such as access to the national leadership and staff capacity. This research thereby adds to the literature by identifying specific factors within MLG models influencing PB performance in hierarchical administrative systems.

Aspirations and realities of intergovernmental collaboration in national- level interventions: insights from maternal, neonatal and child health policy processes in Nigeria, 2009–2019

In Nigeria’s federal government system, national policies assign concurrent healthcare responsibilities across constitutionally arranged government levels. Hence, national policies, formulated for adoption by states for implementation, require collaboration. This study...

Taking critical junctures seriously: theory and method for causal analysis of rapid institutional change

ABSTRACT Social, political, and economic change sometimes occurs during relatively brief periods in which previously relatively stable institutions are transformed and new approaches established. Historical institutionalists refer to these as critical junctures. Processes of incremental revision and evolution are also important, but if critical junctures sometimes produce enduring legacies, then these processes of rapid institutional change are an important topic for research and theory development. Planning history offers many examples of such relatively short periods of significant change that produced lasting and distinct outcomes in different jurisdictions. The study of critical junctures has been a major theme of comparative historical analysis and historical institutionalism for three decades. This has contributed to the development of robust conceptual frameworks detailing the structure and mechanisms of such change processes and associated research methods that are valuable for planning history and comparative urban research. This paper reviews this research, develops a conceptual framework relevant to planning history and urban governance, and points to processes of rapid institutional change characteristic of cities, suggesting that planning and urban institutions are particularly prone to critical junctures because of multi-level governance contexts, urban complexity, the impacts of urban disasters, and the challenges presented by urbanization and technological and social change.

Total CO2 emissions associated with buildings in 266 Chinese cities: characteristics and influencing factors

Rapid urbanization and increasing demand for buildings have brought tremendous pressure to reduce carbon emissions for cities. Quantifying the building emissions and exploring the socioeconomic characteristics of CO2 emissions can promote urban low-carbon development. However, existing studies have not yet provided a complete and comprehensive database of city-level CO2 emissions associated with buildings in China. Here, we calculated the building-related CO2 emissions for 266 Chinese cities in 2010 and 2015. Results show that total carbon emissions of buildings increased by 26%. We further divided cities into four groups: megalopolis, metropolises, large cities and medium and small cities. The high-emission concentrated in large cities, whereas medium and small cities showed higher emission intensity and lower per capita emissions. We show that CO2 emissions of buildings were significantly correlated with tertiary industrial outputs. The results provide scientific support for policy evaluation in a multilevel governance context for reducing CO2 emissions of buildings.

Addressing the Swedish Large Carnivore Controversy: Identifying Roadblocks in Collaborative Governance to Reduce Conflict

In Europe, and many places throughout the world, the return, and preservation of large carnivores is escalating tensions between stakeholder groups, as well as between local actors and authorities. In Sweden, despite policies aimed at reducing conflict surrounding wildlife management, tensions seem to have intensified. This research investigates the collaborative governance model within Swedish wildlife management and what dampens the capacity to reduce ongoing tensions. In-depth interviews were conducted with stakeholders at different levels of wildlife management. Through an abductive approach combining empirical data from interviews and theories from the human-wildlife conflict and collaborative governance literature, we problematize the role of regional wildlife managers in this multilevel governance context, in exploration of ways to advance collaboration. Our model analyzes the challenges for wildlife managers to implement government policies based on broad international conventions while remaining accountable to local concerns. The results reveal that issues within the governance structure and relationships within management in terms of lack of legitimacy, trust, and participation, need to be addressed to create a socially viable collaborative governance regime capable of managing conflict.

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.

Implementing national support programmes for sustainable urban mobility plans in a multilevel governance context

Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) are a new approach to local transport planning strongly promoted by the European Commission and increasingly adopted around Europe. They exist, however, in a largely national legal and financial framework, one which varies greatly between countries. In recent years many countries have developed national programmes to support the development of SUMPs within their national framework.The paper explains the role of SUMP national supporting programmes by relating them to key factors that are critical to the success of SUMP development. It also seeks to understand how the national programmes that exist are improving; challenges related to development of SUMPs in complex multilevel governance contexts; and the degree of support provided by the programmes within this context.To answer these questions a two-stage methodology was used. The first element was a questionnaire survey focused on the existence and state of national SUMP programmes in several EU/EEA member states or regions. The second element was interviews with SUMP experts in four countries selected to represent the experienced, the new and active, and the new but less active, in terms of their activity with SUMP national programmes.The results show that the national SUMP supporting programmes in the countries surveyed and interviewed do not fully address the factors which have been identified as being critical to the success of SUMP development and implementation. The overall picture of national SUMP supporting frameworks is one where most of such frameworks are still in the early stages of development. On the other hand, the relatively small impact of the national SUMP supporting programme was seen as less of a barrier to SUMP implementation in most of the countries than lack of funds and public opposition to contentious transport measures.

Mapping the clouds: the matter of data centers

ABSTRACT The social spatial geographies of telecommunications and their infrastructures have long interested scholars in the social sciences, and in urban geography specifically. This paper focuses on data centers. Much effort has been placed in preserving the notion that data centers are ‘clouds’, a terminology that obfuscates the real human geographies of cyberplaces. In this map-making exercise, we visualize the sociopolitical human geographies of data centers, and provoke the reader to consider the impacts that data centers have on residents and their environments. The maps shown in this paper suggest four trends. First, hyperscale data center owners are building near large waterways, signifying a shift in location preferences. Second, data centers stress local administrations, financing, and availability of upstream resources, as hyperscale data centers step up their input needs. Third, data center development is state-led. Fourth the competition for data center industries unfolds across a multi-level governance context.

Introduction. Critical Issues Emerging from the Study of Unspent Funds

This chapter introduces the thematic volume The Puzzle of Unspent Funds. It explains the scope of the Volume, which conducts a cross-context analysis of unspent funds in its other individual chapters. These chapters span two different socio-economic and institutional contexts: India and Italy, thus presenting valuable points of comparison. They map underspending through the four fiscal phases of collection, allocation, use and monitoring of funds, analysing these phases through the key notions of fiscal architecture and administrative structures, which this chapter explains before emphasizing the main contributions of each individual chapter. This Volume provides an innovative perspective to analyse institutional design and reforms in multilevel governance contexts; administrative and bureaucratic state practices; modalities of state-society engagement; and mechanisms to increase democratic accountability.

Local level failure? Non-compliance of EU environmental policy within EU multi-level governance

ABSTRACT Non-compliance with EU environmental policy not only impedes Europeanization, but jeopardizes the protection of human health and the environment. However, research on failed policy implementation still applies traditional top-down or bottom-up approaches and disregards complex actor constellations and contextualization. The research in this paper applies a comprehensive multi-level governance (MLG) approach to overcome this gap and explain non-compliance with EU environmental policy. We conducted a qualitative analysis of non-compliance with the Air Quality Directive (2008/50/EC) within an MLG context, based on a case study in Germany. Our findings revealed a dynamic interplay of local government’s lack of action, an absence of serious support and pressure from superordinate levels, business actors exerting influence across all levels, and media reporting contributing to misinformation, all of which contribute to non-compliance. At the same time, there was a lack of awareness of the negative effects of air pollution and thus a lack of public pressure to act.

Multi-level Governance of Integration Policy. Role of the Cities. Comparison of Warsaw and Prague

This paper analyses the role of the cities in the multi-level governance of integration policy. The goal was to analyse the relations of diverse actors in a multi-level governance context and the direct impact of the transnational EU policy to local level actors (that also bypassed the national level). We show how the interconnection of policy levels and the presence of actors in many roles in the process of developing immigrant integration policies resulted in the top-down transfer of policy goals. We also highlight the converse perspective and demonstrate how bottom-up policy initiatives strengthen the position of cities as important players in the multilevel governance, both individually and collectively.

Cities Towards Migrants. Case Study of Local Integration Policies of Gdańsk and Wrocław

Abstract In migration research, one can observe a turn towards locality and interest in the role of municipal authorities in multi-level migration governance. Migration governance can be defined as set of legislation and regulatory measures, as well as actions developed and implemented by public and private actors, at transnational, national and local levels. Integration strategies include long-term programs, as well as short-term and ad hoc activities. Migration and growing diversity in cities bring both challenges and opportunities for the local authorities. The local responses to the settlement of migrants should not be underestimated because of the focus on integration, this can build upon a common sense of belonging. This paper analyses the institutionalization of local integration strategies in two Polish cities: Gdańsk and Wrocław. The goal is to analyse the relations of diverse actors in a multi-level governance context. It looks at the aims of the strategies, tools, target groups and the definition of integration.

‘Anything Westminster can do we can do better’: the Scottish climate change act and placing a sub-state nation on the international stage

ABSTRACT In 2009, Scotland passed, at the time, the world’s most ambitious climate change legislation, gaining significance due to its high-reaching targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and a complex bureaucratic set-up. It was the most complex legislation to pass through the Scottish Parliament since its inception, and a landmark bill of the Scottish National Party’s first term in government. Based on documentary research and interviews with policymakers and stakeholders, I use the Multiple Streams Model against the context of multi-level governance to analyse the emergence of the Climate Change Act in Scotland and what factors influenced its form, analysing problem, policy, and politics streams as well as structural and cultural-institutional entrepreneurship. The Act’s creation was tied up in attempts to position Scotland, a sub-state nation, on the international stage, with the legislation framed not only as necessary in the face of climate change, but an opportunity for Scotland.

Starting low, reaching high? Sequencing in EU climate and energy policies

In order to achieve the UNFCCC Paris Agreement goals, climate policies worldwide require considerable ratcheting-up. Policy sequencing provides a framework for analysing policy process dynamics that facilitate ratcheting-up. We apply a sequencing perspective to two key EU climate and energy policies, the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and the Renewable Energy Directive (RED), to comparatively test the empirical relevance of sequencing for single policies – in addition to sequencing across policies, which has been the focus of sequencing theory so far – and to uncover specific mechanisms. Our results confirm that sequencing, based on triggering positive and controlling negative feedback, is relevant both within and across policies. Policy choices that may facilitate ratcheting-up include tools to control costs, the possibility to centralise and harmonise in a multi-level governance context, options for compensation of reluctant actors, and the encouragement of learning processes.

Leader as a European Policy for Rural Development in a Multilevel Governance Framework: A Comparison of the Implementation in France, Germany and Italy

Abstract Parts of European rural development policies are meant to empower local decision makers. These policies are implemented in very different multilevel governance contexts in the member states. We question the extent to which the institutional differences at the different levels affect the implementation of LEADER (an approach for Community-led Local Development). This contributes to a better understanding of the causes and consequences of different types of LEADER implementation. The research is based on ten case studies in France, Germany and Italy. First, there is an examination of the three different administration systems and the variations of Rural Development Programmes. Based on analyses of documents and interviews with stakeholders, we analysed institutional differences in the LEADER implementation at local level.