Municipal Level Of Government Research Articles

Authoritarian welfare and resilience: politics of child benefits in Russia

ABSTRACT Recent literature on authoritarian stability and legitimation has highlighted the role of propaganda and information control, national identity politics, participation technologies and other communication strategies autocrats use to shape public opinion. The authoritarian tool kit is, incomplete if we do not account for governance-related measures. Focusing on authoritarian social policy and contributing to the literature on the authoritarian welfare state, this study measures the political effects of unconditional and conditional cash transfers, specifically focusing on child subsidies, that the Russian government has increasingly integrated into its policy tools. Social policy and child support earn the government political dividends in terms of shoring up public support and have acquired added significance over the last few years. It is part of the current social pact that enables authoritarian resilience during Russia’s war against Ukraine and that is made possible by the actions at the federal, regional, and municipal levels of government.

5G implementation and multi‐level governance: The case of Quebec municipalities

AbstractMunicipalities are often considered to be places of innovation. However, certain issues, such as 5G, suggest that the municipal level of government is hampered by challenges. In this article, we present the results of a survey of 220 respondents from 54 different municipalities of various sizes, alongside a media press review. We show that 5G is indicative of the challenges pertaining to multi‐level governance, the presence of a significant information deficit as well as the clout of the private sector in public planning. These findings call on us to examine municipal governance and the relevance of creating intermunicipal cooperation.

Readiness Level of Bureaucratic Apparatus and its Impact on Online-Based Community Socio-Economic Development Program Services; Evidence from Tebing Tinggi City, Indonesia

Background: The online-based social-economic development program has emerged as a prevalent bureaucratic service model in Indonesia, particularly at the municipal government level. The model has not been consistent across all service units despite the implementation in several agencies providing bureaucratic service. Therefore, this research aims to analyze the factors affecting the readiness of the community and apparatus in the implementation of the online-based government bureaucracy service model. Method: The research with focus of research on the online-based government bureaucratic service system. This research uses descriptive and explanatory methods with a quantitative approach. Descriptive research is a study to describe in detail a particular phenomenon. Results: The results show that understanding, technology mastery, mental and moral guidance, formal and informal education, as well as material and non-material incentives have a positive and significant impact on the readiness of the community and apparatus in providing online-based bureaucracy service. Furthermore, online-based social-economic development program services can accelerate the role of the community and apparatus in developing urban areas. Conclusion: Tebing Tinggi City government and other similar city governments should focus and increase their attention to efforts to increase mastery of technology and moral development in the bureaucratic service apparatus, as well as build a performance-based equitable material incentive system. Improving the three aspects of apparatus readiness will encourage the realization of better community socio-economic development program services.

Problems of Information Support of Regional and Municipal Strategic Management

The regional and municipal levels of government are characterized by insufficient preparedness for the transition to new forms of information support based on the digital economy, a lag in the development of information infrastructure, contradictions between the legislative framework and the financial and economic situation of regions and municipalities in the current management system, insufficient effectiveness and efficiency of information support management processes. The purpose of the study is to justify the necessary changes in the information support system of regional and municipal government, which ensures the development of strategic planning and forecast documents and their implementation in the digital economy. Based on the analysis of strategic planning documents in the field of digital transformation of public administration, trends in the introduction of information technologies in the activities of public and private sector organizations have been identified, and the current problems of digital transformation have been identified, taking into account the factor of diversification of the regional economy. Proposals have been formulated to improve the efficiency of information support for regional and municipal government, as well as directions for further research.

The Strategy of Economic Security of the Municipality from the Standpoint of ESG-Principles

The practice of building strategies for the development of modern Russian municipalities is filled with both new methodological content and the content of the strategies themselves. So, for example, the release of the law on strategic planning in the Russian Federation was followed by the Decree of the President of Russia, which determined the strategy of economic security in the country and was reflected in the strategies of the regions and municipalities. However, in the methodological plan, there are no recommendations for determining the content of the elements of the economic security strategy both at the regional and municipal levels of government. Traditionally, the results of the analysis of factors of the external and internal environment serve as the basis for determining the content of strategies, but if we analyze the content of the results of the analysis and the content of the strategies, it is easy to see that these two subsystems of the strategy (the results of the analysis and the content of the strategy itself) are largely not interconnected. The purpose of this study is the desire to find tools that allow the transition from the results of the traditional SWOT analysis (but in terms of the non-traditional sphere of analysis — economic security) to the content of the economic security strategy of the municipality. Among the research methods used are content analysis of documents, the method of constructing morphological matrices, methods of grouping and generalization, as well as methods of logical analysis and synthesis of information within the subject area of the study. In this paper, on the example of one of the leading districts of the Vladimir region, an algorithm for the formation of an economic security strategy is shown, based on the application of ESG principles of sustainable development and economic security tasks limited by the powers of municipalities, the combination of which is filled with the content of the results of a modified SWOT analysis with subsequent aggregation of the formulated solutions in the strategy of economic security of the municipality. The result obtained in the study indicates that the economic security of the municipality in the form of interconnected projects and programs can be formed in three main directions that ensure security in the field of ecology, economy and society of the municipality. In the future, it is necessary to study the aspect related to the distribution of these projects and programs in the areas recommended by the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation in terms of implementing the law on strategic planning in the Russian Federation.

Public Consultation in Kosovo

The primary aim of the paper is to explore whether the public consultation system in Kosovo enables respective stakeholders to contribute and protect their interests during the process of drafting government policies and legislation. Based on the analysis of Kosovo’s legal framework in place, and findings from the empirical research with CSOs, we can conclude that Kosovo has undertaken substantial legislative steps and introduced new tools and guidelines to improve the public consultation system at the central and municipal level of government. Therefore, from the legal point of view, minimum standards for the consultation process are established under Kosovo’s legal framework. Considering the role of civil society organisations and their influence on policymaking in Kosovo, particular attention has been paid to the CSOs’ perception of this issue. The analysis of a sample of documents and CSOs’ responses reveals concerns on whether stakeholders are enabled to contribute to the drafting of policies and legislation. A major issue of concern with regard to the effectiveness of the current consultation system in Kosovo is the low response rate from stakeholders as compared to the number of documents open to consultation. The study demonstrates a lack of clarity about how institutions select, invite and involve stakeholders, whether they select the appropriate stakeholders to participate in the drafting and consultation process, and whether sufficient information and feedback is provided to them about the individual consultations.

Vaccine hesitancy and respect for public health measures: Citizens’ trust in politicians and public servants across national, subnational and municipal levels of government

Research shows that citizens' trust in government is associated with lower vaccine hesitancy and an increased willingness to follow public health measures. Thus far, however, the population health literature has largely conceptualized “government” as a unitary actor. This article furthers our understanding of this relationship by examining two important features of modern governance that have largely gone unexamined: (1) that governing involves popularly elected politicians and appointed bureaucrats; and (2), that governing often comprises many levels of government within the same country. Analyzing survey data from Canada with various multivariate regression models, this article finds that the relationship political trust has with vaccine hesitancy and intention to follow for public health measures is more complex than presently recognized. Specifically, a larger change in citizens’ public health behaviors is associated with trust in public health officials than with trust in government, and of particular importance is trust in national public health authorities, despite the fact that public health measures in Canada are largely the jurisdiction of subnational governments. The implications of these findings for population health research and policymakers are discussed.

Местное самоуправление в единой системе органов публичной власти: предпосылки и перспективы

The article is devoted to the theoretical understanding of the issues of improvement and development of local self-government in the context of transformation of the local self-government status in modern Russia, which occurred during the adoption of amendments and additions to the Constitution of the Russian Federation in 2020. The adopted amendments were the result of the work of the working group formed by the initiative of the President of Russia V. V. Putin. A working group has been formed for the preparation of proposals for amendments to the Constitution. An important aspect regarding the organization of local authorities is the fact of inclusion of local self-government bodies along with state authorities in the unified system of public authority. This process definitely increases the prestige of the municipal level of government and makes the issue of financial support and economic independence of local governments more relevant, given the potential expansion of their powers and the range of tasks entrusted to them. At the same time, an important question is how responsibilities will be distributed between state authorities and local governments in a unified system of public authorities in the course of implementation of their functions, in particular, provision of resources for normal functioning of municipalities and in terms of autonomous decision-making of local governments in the interests of the population living on the relevant territory. The process of actualization of the status of local government allows to optimize the institutional structure and improve the relations between the elements of the system of public authority. Theoretical understanding of these issues can be of great help in the practical implementation of the normative provisions enshrined in the updated Constitution of the Russian Federation.

Adopting metaverse‐related mixed reality technologies to tackle urban development challenges: An empirical study of an Australian municipal government

Fast-growing urban areas bring challenges to government authorities. The urban planning system in Australia is still very analogue with paper-based systems as standard practice. Two-dimensional document-based blueprints and Geographic Information System (GIS) maps do not always give stakeholders and investors the necessary insights. By exploring Mixed Reality (MR) application at the municipal government level, this research explains how metaverse-related immersive technologies can assist the government in better engaging with stakeholders and potential partners to improve their understanding of the urban environment and showcase future city developments to foster new opportunities and contribute to the development of the real living world.

Administrative Law Forms and Methods of Corruption Prevention in Public Administration in the Mechanism of Ensuring Protection of the Rights and Freedoms of Citizens of the Russian Federation

The study is devoted to a comprehensive analysis of the content and features of the currently existing administrative law forms and methods used to prevent corruption in public administration of the Russian Federation. The authors draw attention to the high level of public danger of corruption and its manifestations. It is emphasized that corruption is one of the main threats to Russia’s national security. The paper describes the main universal legal and doctrinal approaches to corruption prevention and corruption manifestations in public administration bodies at federal, regional and municipal levels of government. The authors have revealed the main causes of corruption in public administration; their detailed classification is given. The paper also considers the main directions of the state anti-corruption policy of the Russian Federation in public administration bodies. Attention is focused on the participation of civil society institutions in the implementation of certain areas of anti-corruption. The paper presents the authors’ proposals for improving legal foundations of the currently existing domestic system of anti-corruption forms and methods aimed at preventing and minimizing corruption manifestations. The paper analyzes types, content, and features of their application in public administration activities.

Analysis of government agencies and stakeholders' twitter communications during the first surge of COVID-19 in Brazil.

Official authorities are in charge of communicating with the public in a consistent and coherent manner. The impact of social media on managing the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic potentially influenced social behavior in Brazil. Using Twitter, this study analyzes communications about the COVID-19 pandemic from official agencies of the Brazilian government and key public sector decision-makers. We captured public Twitter messages about COVID-19 exchanged between authorities at the federal, state, and municipal levels of government. These messages were further classified into guidance and information messages or disinformation messages. Finally, through analysis of tweets and their frequency, we evidenced the level of information generated by the three levels of government. Our analyses show an underestimation of the magnitude of the pandemic by Brazilian government authorities. None of the spheres of government anticipated the imminent health crisis, did not issue good recommendations and guidelines, and did not take preventive actions. The lack of governmental actions and adequate guidance in Brazil has led to an explosive increase in infected people and deaths. Surprisingly, this was not due to technical or structural reasons. It resulted from conflicting communication strategies implemented by the federal, state, and municipal governments in attempts to minimize the effects of COVID-19 on their local health structures.

Challenges to Nonprofit Organization Participation in Social and Development Policy Planning in South Africa

Abstract In South Africa, government relies significantly on NGOs in the delivery of social services (Patel, L. 2012. “Developmental Social Policy, Social Welfare Services and the Non‐Profit Sector in South Africa.” Social Policy & Administration 46 (6): 603–18). The services NGOs provide in areas such as early childhood development, education, health care, skills development, food security, elder care, and other arenas form part of South Africa’s framework for achieving its long-term development goals. Also aligned to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), this government-NGO shared vision for development highlights the importance of NGOs in the development ecosystem. At the policy level, government explicitly refers to NGOs as stakeholders and development partners. However, at the level of practice, questions remain about NGOs’ participation in planning for the development to which they so significantly contribute, and the extent of NGOs’ role in increasing participation in democratic processes. In an effort to better understand whether NGOs adequately participate in development planning processes in South Africa, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 73 participants, including NGO leaders and relevant key informants from national, provincial and municipal levels of government. The interview data were supplemented with content analysis of government documents. In spite of the fact that NGOs’ involvement in development planning is explained by the state as a good governance principle ensuring meaningful participation of stakeholders (Republic of South Africa: Department of Social Development 2017, United Nations Development Programme 2011), the research findings suggest that NGOs’ participation in the development planning process is deficient. This deficiency stems from institutional and policy issues including the lack of a framework for participation, government’s perception of NGOs and neglect of the NGO sector, and political issues such as partisan political activity in spaces of participation and engagement. The democratic potential of NGO participation is also hindered by organizational issues relating to the amorphous nature of the NGO sector, apathy of NGOs and a fragmented NGO sector.

PENERAPAN AKUNTANSI PERTANGGUNGJAWABAN SEBAGAI ALAT PENILAIAN KINERJA MANAJERIAL PUSAT BIAYA PADA DINAS KELUARGA BERENCANA, PEMBERDAYAAN PEREMPUAN DAN PERLINDUNGAN ANAK KABUPATEN TULUNGAGUNG

In Indonesia, there are several instances of budget anomalies in the national and municipal levels of government. As a result, there is a waste of funds. Furthermore, the community wants the government to use state funds more wisely so that it can be more effective, efficient, transparent, accountable, and responsible. The purpose of this research was to see how the Department of Family Planning, Women's Empowerment, and Child Protection, Tulungagung Regency worked, used accountability accounting as a tool for evaluating the managerial performance of cost centers; to identify obstacles to implementing accountability accounting; and to solve issues to that arise during the adoption of accountability accounting. In this study used descriptive qualitative method as a research method. Observation techniques, interviews, and documentation were used to obtain data. According to the findings of the study, responsibility accounting has been adequately implemented and meets the requirements and characteristics of responsibility accounting. Keyword: performance assessment, responsibility accounting, cost center, budget, program realization

Цифровые формы политического участия в России

During the implementation of the federal course on the development of the digital economy, initiatives aimed at involving citizens in the process of making managerial decisions receive political support. Currently, they are developing most productively at the municipal level of government, with the exception of Moscow as a city of federal significance. The article is devoted to the analysis of the experience of functioning the capital platform «Active Citizen» as the most successful crowdsourcing project in the Russian Federation and answers questions about the features and prospects for the development of digital forms of political participation in Russia.

THE INSTITUTIONAL ENVIRONMENT OF COLLECTIVE ACTIONS OF CITIZENS (ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE ACTIVITIES OF SOCIALLY ORIENTED NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS)

The study analyzes the institutional environment of associated collective actions of citizens on the example of the functioning of organizations of the non-profit sector, which is formed by the state and affects their work. Using the methods of economic-statistical, comparative and structural-logical analysis, the main trends in the provision of financial and property state support to socially oriented non-profit organizations at the federal, regional and municipal levels of government are identified. The study showed that state funding is carried out in two major areas – industry and grant (competitive). Problems of implementation of these directions are noted. It is determined that at the regional level, the form of competitive subsidies from the budgets of the subjects of the Russian Federation for the implementation of social projects by non-profit organizations prevails. In terms of state property support, it was found that more than half of the registered organizations do not have premises for carrying out their activities, while only 13% received it for free use from the state. The results of this discussion can be used by the authorities to make management decisions in the implementation of public policy aimed at the development of the non-profit sector.

The Chineseness of Urban Cultural Policy in Taiwan

ABSTRACT The narrative of Chinese culture occupied the central position in Taiwan’s cultural policy agenda after the Kuomintang (KMT) retreated to the island in 1949, but the primary (if not exclusive) focus on Chinese culture became contentious after democratisation and bentuhua (“Taiwanisation”) in the late 1980s. This prompted the KMT to redesign and renegotiate its cultural policy objectives in accordance with the changing political climate. Nevertheless, as shown in this article, these revisions were not as extensive or as progressive as one might have anticipated. This study examines the roles and meanings attached to Chinese culture by the KMT in the context of urban cultural policy. Drawing on interviews with local policymakers and policy document analysis, it explores cultural policy in Taipei during the KMT’s incumbency in the city (1998–2014), arguing that despite the adoption of multiculturalism and bentuhua narratives at the national and municipal levels of government, the KMT’s version of Chinese culture continued to dominate cultural policy discourse in Taipei until as late as 2014.

Twenty-First Century Science Calls for Twenty-First Century Groundwater Use Law: A Retrospective Analysis of Transboundary Governance Weaknesses and Future Implications in the Laurentian Great Lakes Basin

How has groundwater use been historically governed by the binational to municipal government levels across the Laurentian Great Lakes Basin (GLB)? To what extent have they contemplated the physical–environmental requirements to maintain aquifer storage in devising policies and making decisions governing groundwater use? Although it is amongst the largest freshwater stores in the globe, cases of groundwater shortages are increasingly being reported across GLB communities, raising questions on the fitness of governance approaches to maintain groundwater storage (GWS) with growing climate and human pressures. Applying retrospective analytical methods to assess the century-old collaboration of the United States and Canada to maintain GLB water quantities, we characterize long-term trends and undertake systematic diagnosis to gain insight into causal mechanisms that have persisted over the years resulting in current GWS governance gaps. We reveal the surprising prominence of policies originally intended to safeguard surface water quantities being used to govern groundwater use and thereby maintain GWS. We also connect these, based on sustainable aquifer yield theory, to growing groundwater insecurity in the Basin’s drought-prone and/or groundwater-dependent communities. Based on deep understanding of long-standing policy pathologies, findings inform transboundary GWS governance reform proposals that can be highly useful to multiple levels of government policymakers.

지역관광추진조직(DMO) 육성정책에 대한 한 · 일 비교연구

This study was conducted for comparing the background and contents of the policies for fostering Destination Management Organizations in Japan and Korea since the mid-2010s and providing some implications for the future policy. The findings showed that despite the same DMO promotion policy, there were differences in the details of the policy implementation between Korea and Japan. In other words, Japan has fostered various types of DMO, implemented DMO registration system, established broad cooperative governance, and pursued the organizations with professional human resources and independence in finances in the long-term. On the contrary to this, Korea has took a short-term approach to foster DMOs at the municipal government level and to support DMO’s internal system development and regional tourism resource development through the one-year unit’s government-funded project. This study suggests that a longer-term approach is needed to support the stabilization and specialization of DMO organizations in the future DMO incubation policies of Korea. Furthermore, it needs a further research on DMO’s activities and performances.

Formation of mechanisms for state regulation of environmental investment activities in the region

The modern development of the Russian economy is characterized by conditions of socio-ecological and economic development, which create the preconditions for the formation of such a system of using natural resources in the processes of industrial production and consumption, which will be distinguished by rationality, ensure not only environmental, but also economic security of society, the well-being of the present and future generations of the population, assume the creation of necessary and sufficient conditions for sustainable development, which, in turn, will require the introduction of not only economic, technical, technological, social and other transformations, but also changes in the mechanisms of state control and regulation of investment processes of environmental orientation. In our opinion, the greatest improvement should be subject to the regulatory and legal mechanism of both state regulation and, in particular, local public self-government. This need is explained by the fact that in the territories of municipalities, there are sources of environmental pollution and industrial enterprises implementing eco-efficient investment projects. However, as the analysis of the regulatory framework has shown, almost all documents regulating the activities of municipal government bodies in the investment and environmental spheres are approved by laws and resolutions of the governments of the regions in which the municipalities are located. Hence, it can be concluded that the improvement of the regulatory mechanism of state and public regulation should be carried out in a comprehensive manner for both the regional and municipal levels of government.

(In)effective tax policy vs. fiscal (un)sustainability: evidence from Polish municipal government level

(In)effective tax policy vs. fiscal (un)sustainability: evidence from Polish municipal government level