Devolution Of Power Research Articles

Outsourcing governance in Peru’s integrated water resources management

Participatory water governance has become highly influential around the world as a means for managing water resources. Scholars and practitioners advocate for the inclusion of previously marginalized communities in water resources management through the devolution of power, responsibility, and participation. Where community institutions are weak or missing, experts recommend strengthening or re-building them to enable inclusive decision-making over water resources. Our study looks at devolution in a government-initiated integrated water resources management approach in the Caylloma Province, located in the department of Arequipa, Peru. We used process tracing to analyze 97 qualitative interview transcripts with crop farmers and pastoralists managing water for irrigation, interview transcripts with personnel in water management agencies, and field notes from participant observation in water-related meetings. We found that farmers had limited ability to participate in local institutions for water management due to market integration and labor migration, among other socioeconomic and political stressors. For this reason, transferring more water management responsibilities and decision-making power to community-level institutions without considering the factors that limit their sustainability over time is not necessarily feasible or even desirable by local communities. Instead, strengthening and streamlining intermediary and government institutions at regional scales may be more effective at addressing local needs in watershed management.

Fundamentals of Provincial Governance in Nepal’s Federalism

The objective of this article is to answer the state of provincial states and the challenges faced by them, and to show the constitutional provisions for coordination, cooperation and coexistence of inter-provincial relations of Nepalese new federal set up. The provincial governments are facing lots of challenge including resource, proper policies, devolution of power and bureaucratic accountability and lack of intra-provincial coordination. The constitution stands on tri-pillar theory (cooperation, coexistence and coordination) to operate the holding together federalism in Nepal. In this article, an empirical facts and field observation of Gandaki Province have been analyzed. The writer argues that other provinces throughout the country have been facing the similar kinds of problems. During the writing, the facts were collected by inter and intrapersonal relations with the civil servants, provincial assembly members and various interaction programs with provincial stakeholders. But the core study area is Gandaki Province. The major finding of this study is that provincial cooperation and coordination is an essential factor to implementing federalism in Nepal. If the provinces failed to cooperate with federal government as well as intra-provincial government, federalism is hardly likely to sustain in Nepal.

Federalism in Pakistan: A Conflict Management Tool to Manage Ethnic Diversities (2002-2012)

Federations can be different at the level of centralism and in practices of governance. Due to such idiosyncratic features, states can be considered as centralized on the basis of the powerful federal government at the centre or decentralized because of the implementation of the theory of devolution of power and majoritarian federations due to the influential position of majority ethnic groups of the society. Certain federal states can apply a multi-dimensional system of governance, power and authority, while some other states can ascent more centralized and powerful governance. Some scholars alleged that the capability of the Federal state to meet the issue of ethnic diversity diverges transversely to its commitments and different structures. The aforementioned is further claimed that “a formal federal system functions in practice as a unitary system; the system's capacity is not according to the needs to accommodate ethnic and national cleavages” (Kohli, 2004). On the basis of such suggestions, this research paper endeavors to examine federalism as a tool to manage ethnic diversities in Pakistan. This paper argues that a more effective paradigm of the power sharing mechanism can be fruitful to enable federalism in Pakistan to manage ethnic diversities more exclusively.

Institutionalising federalism in Nepal: operationalising obstacles, procrastinated progress

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore how local government bodies in Nepal are empowered to play their constitutional roles and engage in activities to deliver public services at the doorsteps of the people effectively. The focus is on the institutionalisation of federalism, its implications for local governance, and capacity development of local authorities.Design/methodology/approachIdeas of decentralisation, governance and public management have been used to interpret findings based on qualitative research methods by key informant interviews, focus group discussions and personal observations conducted in five selected municipalities in Nepal.FindingsThe process of operationalising the power of local government bodies is more conventional and hierarchic. At the same time, the formulation and implementation of inclusive plans and budgeting are confined with certain formalities that do not necessarily allow citizens the space for voices. Federal government grants constrain fiscal jurisdiction and control over resource mobilisation. The mere preparation and administration of local government legislation and relevant by-laws have weakened the capacity of local government bodies.Originality/valueFrom interpretation of first-hand data, this paper has identified the pitfalls of the federalisation process, the constraints deter the devolution of power to local bodies as well as the transformation of local governments into autonomous institutions in Nepal.

Decentralizing while centralizing: An explanation of China's collective forestry reform since the 1980s

Governance systems are characterized by differing degrees of centralized vs decentralized decision-making and distribution of powers. This study investigates the history of Chinese centralized decentralization reforms in collective forestry using data from government documents and secondary literature based on the democratic decentralization and environmental governance frameworks. Additionally, it divides China's collective forest decentralization reform into three stages since the 1980s—the “economic development” period, “marketization cultivation” period, and “ecological protection” period. Our findings indicate that the effect of decentralization reform is largely due to whether the decentralization reform is consistent with the national government's centralized means/mechanism. In the economic development period (1980–1991), there were two sources of conflict: (1) between the centralized timber market system (unified purchase and sales system in state-owned forest) and the opening of the collective forest timber market; and (2) between the horizontal government upward accountability system and the decentralization of financial power to local governments. In the marketization cultivation period (1992–2002), the conflict between the horizontal government upward accountability system and decentralized financial power to the local government still existed, but the centralized fiscal policy of monetary tightening complemented the full-scale opening of the forestry market. During the ecological protection period (2003-present), the vertical government upward accountability system has complemented the devolution of financial power to forestry departments. We also find that the results of decentralization reforms of the government and market system usually affect the decentralization reform results of the community system.

Local Governance in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Regimes Response and People Perceptions

The passage of the 18th Amendment to Constitution of 1973 of Pakistan is a major constitutional development to strengthen local system of government in Pakistan. The amendment constituted one of the most dramatic devolution of power since drafting of 1973 Constitution. The increased authority accorded to provincial governments has enhanced their ability to retain control of their revenue; however, most taxes will continue to be redistributed by the center. The amendment authorizes the provinces to establish the local government system. This paper focuses on the failure of various provincial governments to conduct periodic local body’s elections and to implement the system. The study also focuses on the political leadership insincerity in their commitment to devolution of power to the local representatives. The study finds out that contrary to non-elected institutions elected institutions are to greater extent reluctant to empower local representatives. The study also finds out that despite lack of political will, unsound financial conditions remained a major obstacle in deepening the roots of these institutions. These elected representatives at federal and provincial level half-heartedly supporting this system as they think of the later will reduce their influence and will decrease their power base.

Lesson from COVID-19: restructuring the current health system and policies in Nepal

Although COVID-19 pandemic has created a state of alarm worldwide, the downfall in health and economy is rather paramount in low income countries. Nepal, due to its inadequate health resources and poor health system, is more vulnerable to the plight. But on a positive note, the weaknesses that have been exposed can be taken as lessons to learn. With the policies committed to achieving health as the fundamental right of people as per the constitution, capacity building, intersectoral coordination, preventive, promotive and curative facilities, and appropriate strategies and preparedness plan, Nepal can combat the pandemic and develop a resilient and well-functioning health system in future. Now is a moment of historic opportunity. Public health program must be strengthened as soon as possible by ensuring that at least minimum requirement are in place at the province and municipality levels and media partnership should be created to prevent societal fear. Furthermore, this is an opportunity to implement the power devolution in federal republic of Nepal

Moments of alignment between devolved political ideology and policy design: the case of Wales

The devolution of power and responsibility from central to sub national levels of governance over the past half century marks a paradigm shift in forces shaping social policy across much of Western Europe. Scholarship in this field is often concerned with a binary analysis of before and after the advent of devolution, with insufficient attention paid to transitory changes over time. Through attention to Wales’ flagship community regeneration programme, Communities First, a striking instance of divergent devolved social policy, we highlight the need to attend to the dynamics of devolution across time. Drawing on empirical data charting the programme’s conception, implementation, evolution, distortion and eventual demise, we argue that a moment of alignmentbetween ideology and policy design was visible at conception but eroded over 16 years, as the programme increasingly came to bear the hallmarks of neoliberalism. Using this case study, we consider the extent to which newly devolved states can implement ideological policy visions that resist the restraints put upon sub-state governance on the one hand and forces of central state ideologies and logics on the other.

CHILDREN'S SERVICES AND DEVOLUTION

Before coronavirus, the government promised a renewed focus on devolution of power to the English regions. Joe Lepper explores its impact on children's services to date and looks at what the future holds

COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan: Containment Failed or Successful?

This short article examines key governmental measures against the spread of COVID-19 in Japan from a geopolitical perspective. “Geopolitical” in this article means to see the measures as spatial strategies. At the stage of globalized pandemic, state territoriality or border control is no longer able to effectively control the spread of the virus. Instead, this article argues, multi-scalar intergovernmental coordination is inevitable to tackle the virus moving along increasing trans-border/local human flows. Using the case of Japan, this article overviews how effective social distancing as a spatial strategy has been and illustrates how the limits to such a strategy to control human behavior can affect anti-virus measures. In conclusion, this article argues that the effective devolution of state power to local governments and the strengthening of state supplementary function to sustain local healthcare system and economy would be more desirable than the authoritative concentration of state power in the state of emergency.

PENGARUH SERVANT LEADERSHIP DAN MOTIVASI TERHADAP KINERJA ANGGOTA SUBDIT REGIDENT DITLANTAS POLDA JATIM

A success of an organization is the role of the human resources involved. Therefore, it takes a qualified individual quality to manage the organization. The things related to human resources are leadership, leadership is often equated with a comfort, a pleasant position and always desired by many people. However, in the reform era as it is today, the perspective of leadership has shifted where most of the leaders just ordered, demanded to be served, and lacked care for subordinates or what happened in the field, the process of devolution of power too much favored. The type and approach of this proposed research is causality research, which is a study focused on proving the influence of servant leadership and motivation as independent variables on the performance of members of the Regencies Sub-Directorate of Ditlantas of East Java Regional Police as dependent variables. The design of this study is to research carried out by using a questionnaire instrument. From the description of the results of the discussion of research Influence of Servant Leadership and Motivation Performance Against Members Subdit Regident which has been discussed above, researchers can draw the conclusion that the form of servant leadership (Servant Leadership) and be able to motivate much needed in the middle of the environment at work at the moment to improve performance member.Keywords: servant leadership, motivation, performance

Medication by Proxy: The Devolution of Psychiatric Power and Shared Accountability to Psychopharmaceutical Use Among Soldiers in America\u2019s Post-9/11 Wars

With the United States military stretched thin in the “global war on terror,” military officials have embraced psychopharmaceuticals in the effort to enable more troops to remain “mission-capable.” Within the intimate conditions in which deployed military personnel work and live, soldiers learn to read for signs of psychopharmaceutical use by others, and consequently, may become accountable to those on medication in new ways. On convoys and in the barracks, up in the observation post and out in the motor pool, the presence and perceived volatility of psychopharmaceuticals can enlist non-medical military personnel into the surveillance and monitoring of medicated peers, in sites far beyond the clinic. Drawing on fieldwork with Army personnel and veterans, this article explores collective and relational aspects of psychopharmaceutical use among soldiers deployed post-9/11 in Iraq and Afghanistan. I theorize this social landscape as a form of “medication by proxy,” both to play on the fluidity of the locus of medication administration and effects within the military corporate body, and to emphasize the material and spatial ways that proximity to psychopharmaceuticals pulls soldiers into relationships of care, concern and risk management. Cases presented here reveal a devolution and dispersal of biomedical psychiatric power that complicates mainstream narratives of mental health stigma in the US military.

Civilianization of Military Rule in Pakistan: A Study of Musharrafs Era (2005-2008)

The Military s involvement in the political system of Pakistan began from the mid-1950s and continued verily as a guardian, a praetorian, or ruler on various occasions. Its disengagement, after the direct intervention, remained usually slow and gradual. Hence, it took a long time for disengagement and created a power-sharing model instead of transferring power to the civilian elite. The pattern of civilianization adopted by the Ayub Khan and Zia-ul-Haq was also adopted by the Musharraf regime with few changes. In his early days, though, General Pervaiz Musharraf demonstrated intention for economic revival, accountability, devolution of power, and democratic consolidation as his foremost goals and took some steps towards that direction but he abruptly reversed those steps when he sensed a threat to his dominating position in a self-created system. This paper is an attempt to critically analyze the process of civilianization during the period under consideration based on the theoretical framework and practical norms of the democratic system.

The Polluter Pays Principle as an Instrument of Municipal and Global Environmental Governance in Climate Change Mitigation Law: Lessons from China, India, and the United States

The disparate fates of the polluter pays principle (ppp) as an instrument of municipal environmental governance in the environmental law of China, India, and the United States illustrate how institutions and culture can shape its use. In China, essential elements of the Chinese legal tradition and an institutionalized devolution of power from the central government to local governments essentially neutralized the Chinese variant of the ppp in one important context by mobilizing certain culturally defined behavioural norms at the local level. In India, the Supreme Court has behaved in accordance with the socially revolutionary role intended for it by the framers of India’s Constitution by recognizing a maximalist conception of the ppp as part of Indian law, although other features of India’s unique legal culture and institutions have reduced the impact of this development. In the United States, the institutionalized fragmentation of the law-making process within the Federal Government has undermined even the implicit implementation of the ppp, to which US environmental statutes do not refer. The implications of these developments for the ppp as an instrument of municipal but also global environmental governance in climate change mitigation law flow less from the nominal status of the ppp in the laws of China, India, and the United States than from the unique institutional and cultural conditions that prevail there. The result is a case study in how institutions and culture can transform the implementation of a principle of environmental governance that at first glance might seem to be a simple exercise in economic rationality into a different exercise that is not simple at all.

Federalism and the Challenges of Democratization in Nigeria: Lessons from the Swiss Model

Switzerland, a country composed of four major language groups, is comprised of 26 cantons and many municipalities, with each canton being linguistically homogenous, has always been a model of a federal state that is practising an inclusive democracy. The Nigerian federation, on the other hand, has evolved from a colonial federal legacy that was based on three unwieldy component regions into a union of 36 states and 774 constitutionally entrenched localities. Pressures for fundamental federal reforms have remained a persistent, intense and divisive feature of contemporary Nigerian politics, characterised by ethnic, religious and regional contestations that frequently produce episodes of violence. The paper examines the impact of federalism and Democratization process in Nigeria with particular focus on governance, political representation and participation using the Swiss federalism as a model in a comparative perspective. Both primary and secondary sources of data are applied with the theory of Separation of Powers guiding the discourse in the paper. The findings suggest that the Swiss federation has been built into a state where governance is institutionalised, while diversity is seen as strength with the people and the cantons well represented through participation in decision making, whereas in Nigeria, the practice of federalism has thrown up many challenges of governance. The paper recommends that Nigeria should borrow a leaf from the Swiss model of federalism through the devolution of power and decentralisation of functions from the federal government to the states and local governments. Also, Nigeria could adopt the Swiss model of direct democracy, which would allow for more citizens' participation in decision making and governance.

Does administrative decentralization enhance economic growth? Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China

This paper employs a quasi-natural experiment of “counties power expansion (CPE)” reform in China to investigate the effect of administrative decentralization on local economic growth. Administrative decentralization seeks to redistribute authority, responsibility and financial resources for providing public services among different levels of government. Using a county-level dataset from 2000 to 2008 in China, we find that administrative decentralization significantly increases per capita GDP by about 3.3%. Our results further indicate that the positive effect on economic growth is mainly attributed to the increase of investments. We find that the devolution of power attract more private firms and enterprises from foreign countries as well as Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan of China. We also find that after being given more power in the administrative decentralization reform, local officials in areas with relatively weak supervision on the financial funds might divert a certain amount of fiscal revenue intended for county construction and public goods provision to illegal uses, thereby greatly undermining the positive role of administrative decentralization on economic growth.

Unintended consequences of expenditure targets on resource allocation in health systems

In recent decades, several countries have reformed their health care systems leading to the devolution of power to a lower governance level and, subsequently, to re-centralisation. Due to the ambiguous results of these policies and the start of the financial crisis of 2008, a wide number of national governments implemented cutback initiatives aimed at controlling health expenditure. The literature shows that the introduction of such initiatives may have produced unintended consequences on health systems’ performance. In order to better understand the power relations and the resulting decision-making processes between national governments and local authorities, it is important to focus on the effects of such expenditure control mechanisms on the inputs of the health systems, i.e. the production factors.This research aims at investigating the effects of a cutback initiative intended to control personnel costs in a federal Beveridge health system through the analysis of resource allocation at the devolved level.The paper is based on a quantitative analysis of data resulting from the financial statements published by the 21 Italian regional health systems from 2012 to 2017.The results show that, although the Italian regional health systems managed to reduce personnel costs – i.e. hitting the target – the control of the total cost dynamic was not fully addressed. Overall, the initiative implemented by the national government had the effect of limiting the decision-making autonomy of regional authorities, pushing them toward shifting resource allocation from personnel to the purchase of services.

A Novel Approach to Local Level Food Policy Case Studies: Application of the Advocacy Coalition Framework

This case study-based research was influenced by the growing movement of UK municipalities joining the Sustainable Food Cities (SFC) Network and developing food policies. This comes at a time of “growing tensions between global and local dynamics of food”. The national devolution of power to UK municipalities has resulted in Local Authorities (LAs) joining forces with Civil Society (CS) groups out of mutual need at a time of over £700 million in cuts to local public health funding and social services over the last decade [1,2]. Recognition of diverse skillsets, networks, access to funding as well as formal power for policy change highlight these mutually beneficial partnership arrangement at a time where cities are being seen as drivers of change for social policy [3]. As an examination of local food policy development, this work examined five cases from within the SFC network (Bath and Northeast Somerset (BNES), the cities of Bristol, Belfast, and the counties of Durham and Devon). These cases represent three different coalition structures, ranging from council/public authority-led to civil society-led and a hybrid partnership. This research examined how the concept of sustainability and local food production were understood and linked to one another by Civil Society (CS) and Local Authority (LA) actors to achieve local objectives. Based on the idea that policies and programs reflect the “translated beliefs” of those actors involved in the policy development process [4], this research compared interview material and the content of the local food strategy as a process output. Acknowledging the role of power as one that is central to policy research [5], the cases were examined according to their governance structures, to illustrate how power was concentrated and exercised within these partnerships. Ultimately, this had significant bearing on how sustainability and local food production content were presented in the documents and framed for the audience.

The Impact of Federalization on Health Sector in Nepal: New Opportunities and Challenges.

The promulgation of constitution of Nepal in 2015 has shifted the unitary government of Nepal towards federalism with significant devolution of power to seven newly created provinces, each with their own unicameral legislature. The major challenges during the transition phase in health sector are spillover effects, unclear roles and responsibilities of local authorities, human resource management and strengthening capacity at local level as per local need. Despite these challenges, federalism brings fertile ground for the local government to work more closely with their people; with more effective financing and planning based on evidences and their need. Keywords: Federalism; health sector; Nepal; challenges; opportunities.

Entangled alternatives: political-economic conditions constructing farmer training programs as solutions to the farming crisis

This article contributes to debates about the potential of alternative food networks and their contradictions using sustainability-oriented farmer training programs as a case study. I provide an empirical account of the political-economic structures at play in the construction of farmer trainings as a solution to the farming crisis, as well as the possibilities and tensions herein. I argue that that the main rationale framing the farming problem in the public-institutional discourse – namely the apolitical production of a scarcity of farmers – and its discursive usage in popular and institutional circles directs the solution towards the urgent production of more farmers who will farm sustainably and independently of the current structural conditions in which farming is embedded. On the ground, this apolitical ecology is sustained by philanthropism and consumption elitism. In addition, the making of FTPs as an intervention to solve the farming crisis is determined by neoliberal governance structures that promote the devolution of power into the NGO sector and responsibilization of individuals. I finally call for a broader and non-binary vision to alternatives, in which political ecology perspectives bring relevant tools and insights. The case of FTPs throws light into the particular governmentalities, forms of governing at-a-distance, and whiteness associated with sustainable farming and agriculture, and the way society thinks of it.Keywords: farmer training programs, emergent farmers, sustainable agriculture, alternatives, alternative food networks, NGOization of farming, power, privilege, California