Spheres Of Government Research Articles

Democratizing social scientists’ impact on federal policy: Using the evidence act to help government and ourselves

It is common for social scientists to discuss the implications of our research for policy. However, what actions can we take to inform policy in more immediate and impactful ways, regardless of our existing institutional affiliations or personal connections? Focusing on federal policy, I suggest that the answer requires understanding a basic coordination problem. On the government side, the Foundations of Evidence-based Policymaking Act (2018) requires that large federal agencies pose, communicate, and answer research questions related to their effects on people and communities. This advancement has opened the black box of federal agency policy priorities, but it has not addressed capacity challenges: These agencies often do not have the financial resources or staff to answer the research questions they pose. On the higher education side, we have more than 150,000 academic social scientists who are knowledge producers and educators by training and vocation. However, especially among those in disciplinary departments, or those without existing institutional or personal connections to federal agencies, we often feel locked out of federal policymaking processes. In this article, I define the coordination problem and offer concrete actions that the academic and federal government communities can take to address it. I also offer leading examples of how academics and universities are making public policy impact possible in multiple governmental spheres. I conclude by arguing that both higher education institutions and all levels of government can do more to help academic social scientists put our knowledge to work in service of the public good.

The Political Economy of Coalitions in the South African Local Sphere of Government

The Political Economy of Coalitions in the South African Local Sphere of Government

A look at decentralization in public policies: achievements and challenges in the work of the coredes in RS

This article aims to verify the influence of the Regional Development Councils (Coredes) on the socio-economic growth of Rio Grande do Sul, as an experience of decentralization of public policies between the different federal entities and civil society. This is a qualitative study using bibliographical and documentary research, with a focus on analyzing the socio-economic indices presented on the IdeseVis platform, from 2013 to 2020, considering the participation of the Coredes and the role of the Central Government in aligning public policies with the other spheres of government. We can say that a well-structured system combined with effective coordination by the national government is fundamental to guaranteeing satisfactory performance in development indices, represented here by the areas of health, education and income. These structures require a variety of factors, including government policies, investments, local initiatives and global economic conditions, constant monitoring and evaluation and training for the actors involved. However, it can be said that the decentralized system has led to exceptional advances in public policies, as well as providing a balance between the different regions of RS.

Women in Healthcare Leadership- Maintaining Work-life Balance

Women leaders are marginalized in higher healthcare leadership positions. Despite being higher percentage in medical colleges, only few females join healthcare force and even fewer reach top leadership positions. The main reason for this fallout is fixed gender roles in society which mandates female to take care of 1,household. 2 Women continue aspiring leadership positions in all spheres of governance both in public and private healthcare settings; however, they face many challenges in taking leadership positions. Social and cultural barriers hinder women from attaining leadership positions. From the lessons learnt from women leaders, young women entering and excelling in careers and attaining leadership positions should be appropriately educated. Main factors identified by research studies
 are gender biased society and not maintaining work-life balance. The rigid mindset in male dominated culture denies women the opportunities to attain top management positions in healthcare settings. In response to these opposing factors women either leave healthcare force or opt for part-time opportunities.3,4 The objective of this article is to suggest strategies for advancing women
 leaders in clinical and educational healthcare settings. Women leader may exclude themselves from being a leader as cost of leadership overweigh, its benefits.

Sustainable development goals and corporate strategy: A map of the field

AbstractThe Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by the United Nations in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure peace and prosperity, call on companies everywhere to advance sustainable development through the investments they make, the solutions they develop, and the business practices they adopt. This research work carries out a systematic review of the previous literature related to the adoption of SDGs as a corporate strategy in companies, that shows an exponential increase in the papers related to this topic during the first years after the adoption of the 2030 Agenda. Our findings show that the economic dimension of sustainability has lost lightly interest in the academic world since then, with the spheres of governance and society being predominant, without forgetting the field of protecting the planet, especially about the fight against Climate Change (SDG13/ESG). And despite the importance of the 2023 Agenda for the future of the world, even today there are few reference authors in this field of study.

Leveraging windows of opportunity for expertise to matter in global environmental governance: insights from the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

IntroductionWhether and under what conditions scientific knowledge provided by experts actually leads to political action is a question that academic research in various fields have focused on at length, without reaching a definitive answer. The position of expertise is especially delicate within the global environmental governance sphere containing multiple values, worldviews and epistemological standpoints.MethodsFirstly, we developed a theoretical model to examine how contextual factors, like institutional design and boundary work dynamics, contribute to expertise influencing global environmental governance. Secondly, we applied this model to the case of the Science Policy Interface to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD SPI), using data from semi-structured interviews with SPI stakeholders and participant observation of meetings.ResultsWe identified specific dimensions of the SPI mandate that enabled expertise to matter: inclusive membership of practitioners, close interaction between experts and political actors, coordination with other advisory bodies, regular reviews, and a small group size. However, after underpinning the prevailing differences in power between SPI experts and member states in their interactions, we found that international environmental decision-making and its national-level implementation remain ultimately and inevitably subordinated to political actors, making it less likely for expertise to have a significant impact.DiscussionInternational expertise for sustainable development can only take advantage of the rare “windows of opportunity” that intergovernmental processes concede for experts to influence policy.

The Role of Local Online Communities in the Implementation of State and Municipal Policies: the Opinion of a Young Audience

The article is devoted to the analysis of the role of local Internet communities in public and political communication. The perception of modern student youth of the socio-political role performed by local online communities is considered.The purpose of this paper is to identify the features of an active audience of social media attitude to the idea of the local Internet communities functioning in the context of solving socially significant issues and the sphere of state and municipal government. The aim of the article is to establish the presence or absence of a stable group of users who simultaneously consider local Internet publics and groups, and as a significant and effective mechanism for the development of a particular territory, and an instrument for the implementation of state and municipal policy.The theoretical basis of the study is the theory of the information society and the concept of “Local Internet Community”. The main empirical method is a sociological survey of student youth. The total sample of respondents is 292 people. The results of the survey have been processed using frequency and cross-sectional data analysis, and the corresponding contingency tables have been constructed.The results of the survey have showed that the vast majority of respondents agree that local Internet communities help in solving socially significant issues and create new opportunities for direct civic participation in solving such issues. The majority of respondents also has supported the idea that local online communities are an effective tool for implementing state and municipal policies. However, when answering this question, the audience’s opinion has been seriously divided, many survey participants have not agree with this idea or found it difficult to answer. A cross-sectional analysis of the survey data has made it possible to identify the presence of a relatively large group of respondents who are optimistic about the role of local Internet publics and groups both in resolving issues significant to society and in pursuing an effective state and municipal policy. A generalized conclusion has been made about the importance of using local online communities for political and public actors in the performance of their functions.

LEADERSHIP AND ETHICS IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN PUBLIC SECTOR: ETHICAL AND LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES

This paper analysis the leadership and ethical challenges facing South African public sector including municipalities. Generally, the South African public sector is grappling with service delivery challenges. On top of the public service crisis discourse there is a huge complain about the ethical challenges facing leadership in all the three spheres of government. The South African government sector has turned into a haven for bad management. This has resulted to unmet service delivery to residents of South Africa. This paper is conceptual in approach, and it contends that despite numerous factors affecting service delivery, one major cause that has been overlooked is the failure of the public sector officials to uphold moral principles when performing public duties in their offices. The paper conclude that the current South African sector requires ethically grounded leaders in order to achieve a stable service delivery system compatible with the South African citizenry and their satisfaction.

КОНЦЕПЦИЯ РИСК-МЕНЕДЖМЕНТА «С ЧЕЛОВЕЧЕСКИМ ЛИЦОМ»

The article examines the critical role of risk management in contemporary business operations within an ever-changing economic landscape. It emphasizes that decision-making in corporate, social, and governmental spheres now requires not only the selection of alternatives to minimize pessimistic scenarios but also the generation of these alternatives. The study identifies several key factors necessitating the improvement of risk management practices, including rapid digitalization of business processes, increased governmental influence in the economy, globalization, and the frequent occurrence of significant risk events. The article offers a detailed examination of various definitions and concepts of risk from historical and modern perspectives, illustrating the multifaceted nature of the term. It argues for the necessity of a comprehensive approach to risk management that includes not only measurable financial risks but also subjective social risks, which can affect the organization’s reputation and relationships with stakeholders.

A fome no Brasil: notas sobre as narrativas no jornal Folha de São Paulo no período pandêmico de 2020

ABSTRACT Objective This survey aims atreviewing the journalistic narratives of the newspaper Folha de São Paulo (digital edition) about hunger in Brazil during the 2020 pandemic period. It is known that journalism plays an important role in keeping the public informed and in helping to contribute to the shaping of society's opinion. Despite hunger being a structural phenomenon in this country, little is published in the mainstream media discussing the magnitude of the problem and the articulation of measures taken in the three government spheres (federal, state and municipal), to ensure access to food to the most vulnerable populations. Method News excerpts addressing hunger as the main topic were selected from Folha de São Paulo daily newspaper and were highlighted based on reading keys (n=11, published between March and December 2020). Results In all the selected articles, the newspaper addressed the cause of hunger from the perspective of the pandemic (passing event and manifestation). Issues linked to the economic and social crisis experienced in the country were not emphasized. This form of covering hunger in news articles can enhance the idea that the poor are the result of the currently spreading fatality. Conclusion Finally, from these first results we could infer that the newspaper, when addressing hunger in Brazil in the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, sought to construct a biased reality that hunger was derived from the health crisis, at the same time that it presents the hungry people narratives as a discursive strategy to sensitize the reader to Folha de São Paulo intentions.

Problems of legal regulation of electronic petitions in the sphere of local government

Problems of legal regulation of electronic petitions in the sphere of local government

Los asientos ciudadanos en el Consejo Nacional de Seguridad Pública: participación formal e incidencia informal

The participation of representatives of organized civil society in the National Public Security Council of Mexico allows us to discuss the practical scope of the collaboration of some social agents in the definition of public policies on the matter. From a theoretical point of view, a selection of conceptual approaches focused on the relationship between participation and incidence allows us to clarify the case studies in this article as an experience in which formal participation channels have not generated formal incidence mechanisms but have a series of informal possibilities to increase the legitimacy of the government sphere and the reputation of the organizations selected to participate in the Council.

PROFESSIONALISATION AS A TOOL TO STABILISE PUBLIC FINANCES: SOUTH AFRICAN LOCAL GOVERNMENT PERSPECTIVE

Local government is closer to the citizens and serves as a vehicle for democracy and service delivery in South Africa. Municipalities in South Africa face a significant challenge when it comes to managing public finances to provide effective and efficient services. Corruption, financial mismanagement, wasteful and fruitless expenditure, irregular expenditures, governance failure, lack of consequence, management, insufficient skills, and capacity are among the challenges. These factors have delivered an enormous setback to service delivery, and citizens are bearing the brunt of the burden. The most difficult situation in local government is that municipalities' finances are deteriorating year after year. According to the Auditor General of South Africa (AGSA), "the audit outcomes were in a poor state at the end of the previous administration's term, and this state did not improve in 2021-22." It is critical for the local government sphere to promote financial sustainability because most South African citizens rely on government services because the economy no longer provides favourable economic benefits such as employment that citizens can leverage. The goal of this paper is to investigate how professionalising South African municipal public finances can help to stabilise public funds. The qualitative method was used, which included a review of secondary sources on the topic at hand.

Analysis of the use of the BYOD concept in corporate information systems

The article discusses the issue of expanding the level of use of private terminal (terminal) programmable devices in corporate information systems and networks. It is noted that the main consumer of the "bring your own device" concept (BYOD concept) is the educational sphere, the sphere of services and the sphere of entertainment. As for the government sphere and the business sphere, the issue of spreading the BYOD concept is determined by the information that circulates in the corporate information systems and networks where it is used. And this, in turn, is related to the following security issues: leakage of company-sensitive information or state information with limited access through one's own mobile devices; penetration into the corporate information system and network. It is also stated that the spread of the BYOD concept is not so much of a technical nature as of a social-civilizational nature, since the frontmen of this concept are millennials - people who were born and grew up in the digital era and who cannot imagine their life without a private mobile device, and also have a completely different attitude to traditional approaches to learning and work. Ensuring a high level of cyber security when using the BYOD concept is possible if all issues of using private mobile devices in corporate information systems and networks are formalized and institutionalized. In addition, the concept of BYOD determines the need to establish certain restrictions, special software, the possibility of remote access and administration of private mobile devices, which in turn narrows its possibilities and reduces the boundaries of the use of the entire existing range of services, programs and content. Also, the implementation of the BYOD concept requires the readiness of the employees themselves to increase the level of self-control, self-discipline and allow remote access to their private mobile device, as well as restrictions.

The phenomenon of political trust in virtual communities (based on the materials of Chinese social networks during the Covid-19 pandemic)

Political trust is a barometer of the effectiveness of national governance, a link in the relationship between the people and the Government, and plays the role of a political stabilizer. The relevance of this topic conditioned by the fact that in the Internet era, 1 when everyone ‘holds a microphone’ on the network media in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, communication in the network virtual spaces such as Weibo and forums is capable of dissipating and restoring trust in governments in the form of questions, doubts and criticism, which has an impact on political media ecology as a whole. The paper is based on the media monitoring of the network communities in China. The author analyses the forms of manifestation of the confrontational (conflict-prone) discourse of virtual communities in the context of the pandemic of the New Corona virus and the following ‘infodemic’, and considers the ways of restoring the political trust of network virtual communities within this context, whereas: (1) the government should include the network virtual space in the sphere of national governance in order to open bidirectional channels for good communication with the masses; (2) the quality of discourse in the network space of the virtual community should be improved; (3) the network media should fulfill their social responsibilities, while ensuring the quality of the content.

Conflict of Interest: An Epidemic Dilemma Within the South African Public Procurement System

Background: Challenges of the South African public procurement system continues unabated to make visible footprints in the yearly Auditor-General’s reports. At the centre of the challenges is the failure to comply with the legislative framework regulating public procurement resulting in irregular expenditure. Compliance failures are at the root of evil deeds and misconduct in the South African public sector.Setting: The existence of a plethora of legislative frameworks, polices and standard operating procedures and the yearly reports of the Auditor-General leaves one pondering in relation to the difficulty for procurement officials to adhere to these prescripts. Aim: It against this notion that this conceptual paper gives an analysis of the impact of conflict of interests as suspect in chief on failure by procurement officials to adhere on procurement regulations. Of essence is to examine causal factors and inherent consequences which in most instances is conflicting interest by public officials.Method: This paper analyses secondary data with regard to conflict of interest with in the South African public procurement system. This is done by means of literature and government documentation.Conclusion: This paper concludes that the concept of conflict of interest is not new within the procurement space, yet procurement officials still grapple on how to effectively deal with it whenever it arises. This therefore calls for reform in procurement processes especially in ensuring consequentialism for wrongdoers.Contribution: The paper contributes towards the shaping of public procurement policies and ethical guidelines in all spheres of government. This paper further contributes to the body of knowledge considering that it will unearth critical dimensions of conflict of interests particularly for the public sector.

Green Grabbing and “Weak Land Governance” in Matopiba's Agricultural Frontier

This article contributes to the current debate on the violation of human rights through the practice of green grabbing. The study reflects upon the situation of territorial insecurity and the struggle for territorial rights of the Akroá Gamela people, who live in the south of the State of Piauí, characterized by what is called here weak land governance. The indigenous territory studied does not have its homologation process finalized, which means that it does not officially exist, nor does it allow its boundaries to be added to most of the official databases of different governmental spheres. The region where the Akroá Gamela people are located is also situated within an area of advancing agricultural frontier known as Matopiba, located in the Cerrado area, the second largest biome in Brazil and South America. The main goal is to think on how green grabbing wickedly uses legal problems of communication between entities and governance to foster deforestation. To do so, we analyze two land regulation tools: the Rural and Environmental Registration (CAR) and the Vegetation Suppression Authorization (ASV), to understand this process of traditional population and peasants' land rights encroachment.

Cyber threat intelligence practices in the national sphere of government in South Africa

Over the past two decades, cybercrime and cybercriminals have had a great impact on the safety, security and protection of the public sector’s confidential data and information assets. The increased usage of the internet and new, advanced 4IR technologies, and the digitisation of government’s public sector goods and services have become a growing concern to the government and its public sector institutions. In the South African context, as a developing country, it unfortunately lags behind advanced and developed nations in terms of fully counteracting cybercrime and cybercriminal operations. Despite this challenge, the South African government has been making tremendous efforts in combatting cybercrime. The aim of this article is to contextualise the study and practice of cyber threat intelligence at the national sphere of government in the South African public sector, namely, the former Department of Energy (DoE), former Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the former Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) a qualitative research approach was followed using a case study approach. Primary data was collected through semi-structured interviews with senior departmental management. The findings are presented according to the Threat Intelligence Lifecycle analysis which serves as an analytical framework. The study concludes that in order to achieve effective cybersecurity practices and principles in the public sector , the government must identify the top trends commonly associated with cybersecurity to be able to develop and implement counteractive strategies and approaches, as well as to improve security systems and programs to ensure that an organisation is sufficiently prepared for and protected against cybercriminals and cyberattacks.

Constitutional and Legislative Frameworks for the Local Sphere of Government in South Africa: Analytical and Interpretive Perspective

After many years of apartheid rule, South Africa held its first democratic elections in 1994. As evident in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996, a commitment to establish developmental and human rights became an imperative doctrine. Three government spheres were established here: national, provincial and local. The latter is the sphere closest to the public and is constitutionally mandated to render and deliver sustainable essential services. Since 1994, significant strides have been made by the local sphere of government with both successes and failures. South Africa’s legal and policy framework transformation took place between 1993 and 2000 through changes in legislation, proclamations, white papers and by-laws. However, the elements of bad governance since 1994 have created a loss of confidence and service delivery hindrances in South African local government. Much of the population, especially the previously marginalised, face inadequate health services, unclean water and poorly maintained infrastructure and housing because some state institutions have become paralysed due to corruption and maladministration. This article aims to delve into the constitutional and legislative framework of local government in South Africa. The premise from which this article moves is that the quality of governance at the local government level directly impacts service delivery and is, therefore, critical to understanding some of the constitutional and legislative underpinnings driving local government. Municipalities should ensure that all actions and conducts comply with the statutes (acts of parliament, legislations and laws) and regulatory documents (white papers, official rules and regulations and by-laws) to local government.

Measures that may assist non-performing municipalities in improving their performance

Background: Municipalities’ non-performance in terms of service delivery is often considered to be a significant concern that affects the community. Municipalities constitute the most important sphere of government as they operate at grassroot level and are mandated to provide essential services to communities. A lack of governance, poor financial management reporting, poor supply chain and asset management processes are some impediments that affect the service delivery.Aim: This study aimed to identify performance enhancing measures that non-performing municipalities in South Africa could apply.Setting: The article focused on all 44 district municipalities and identified the best performing ones from the period 2017 to 2020 financial years before examining measures that assisted well-performing municipalities.Method: A sequential exploratory research design was used in the study. The municipal performance measures were identified from the literature, confirmed, and validated through the content analysis of performing municipalities’ annual reports. The performance of these municipalities was based on the audit outcomes from the Auditor General South Africa (AGSA).Results: Forty-two measures were recommended to enhance non-performing municipalities’ performance.Conclusion: The overall view of all district municipalities and the identification of measures to focus on may assist municipalities in reflecting and implementing the suggested measures.Contribution: Most of the available literature focuses on metropolitan municipalities and tends to focus on corporate governance. This study examined change drivers in district municipalities and focuses on governance, financial management, supply chain management, and asset management. Areas for improvement were flagged and improvement measurements were put in place to enhance performance.