In this paper three case studies of urban development policies are outlined in order to advance two models of the diverse structuring of interaction between business and politicians. The three cases concern the Italian cities of Pavia, Parma, and Modena. For each city we describe the economic and political context and review the planning policy, focusing on specific decisionmaking processes. This sets the stage for an analysis of the interaction between political and economic actors and for an evaluation of the results of that analysis with respect to the effectiveness of the decisionmaking and implementation processes of urban policy. Those factors which account for the relative strength of business interests and elected officials and favor their engaging in the bargaining relationships are discussed, and two contrasting models of their interaction are presented.
The need for restrictions on borrowing by subnational governments is a generally accepted notion that is justified both by public choice theory and by the fact that such restrictions are in force in the majority of decentralized countries. Furthermore, recent breaches of the Stability and Growth Pact of the European Union have led to the introduction of legislative tools aimed at balancing the budget at all levels of government have come to the forefront of interest in European public finance research. This paper is concerned with the financial situation and debt level of Spanish municipalities from 1988 to 2000. We have two main objectives: the first is to assess the value of mandatory limitations on municipal borrowing and past trends in the borrowing policies adopted by Spanish local authorities. The second is to develop an econometric model using panel data stratified by population size to measure indebtedness in Spanish municipalities. These measures enable us to formulate a series of hypotheses to explain municipal borrowing practices, which are then tested empirically. The evidence thus obtained appears to support the effectiveness of institutional borrowing restrictions to introduce some financial discipline in the borrowing policies adopted by local governments in Spain. Adapted from the source document.
Today's pandemic and the Great Recession are the most turbulent moments of the 21st century. The aim of the paper is to explore the pattern of response through mixes of harmful trade policy interventions during these two systemic crises.The descriptive assessment focuses on two broad categories of measures, i.e. import-related and export-related harmful interventions. Some stylized facts emerged from this analysis and conclude that the two major crises led to different responses from governments, driven by specific reasons and needs. These patterns of response challenge the future of international trading system and the behavior of companies in the global business environment. Therefore, this research provides valuable information not only for the business community, but also for policymakers. ; La actual crisis pandémica y la Gran Recesión son los acontecimientos más turbulentos del siglo XXI. El objetivo de este documento es explorar e identificar el patrón de respuesta a través de combinaciones de intervenciones de política comercial perjudiciales durante estas dos crisis sistémicas.La evaluación descriptiva comparativa se centra en dos amplias categorías de medidas, es decir, las intervenciones perjudiciales relacionadas con las importaciones y las relacionadas con las exportaciones. De este análisis se desprenden algunos hechos estilizados y se llega a la conclusión de que las dos grandes crisis han dado lugar a respuestas diferentes por parte de los gobiernos, dictadas por razones y necesidades específicas. Estas pautas de respuesta ponen en tela de juicio el futuro y la estabilidad del sistema comercial internacional y el comportamiento de las empresas en el entorno empresarial mundial. Por lo tanto, esta investigación proporciona información valiosa no sólo para la comunidad empresarial, sino también para los responsables de la política macroeconómica.
South Africa is a water scarce country and faces challenges of water distribution and fair allocation. In the country's political landscape water thus took a center stage position in the past and continues to do so. Water has been politicized since the 1950s and represents a technological flagship of the country. In preceding decades engineering aspects dominated the legal, policy, and decision‐making water landscape. At the same time water policies reinforced the ideas of apartheid and disempowerment. The early 1980s saw legislation focusing more on the conservation of natural agricultural resources by maintaining the production potential of land with special focus given to combating and preventing soil erosion and the weakening or destruction of water sources. With the advent of a democratic South Africa in 1994, the 1956 Water Act was abolished and replaced with two Acts, viz. the National Water Act (NWA of 1998) and the Water Services Act (WSA of 1997) reflecting a massive regime shift that was aimed at transformation, empowerment, and economic growth. Overall, South Africa's water legislation is highly innovative, due to a constitutional right to water and a healthy environment reflected by the so‐called Reserve allocated to human use and the environment. Further, the water legislation is based on a highly integrated approach, catchment‐based management, and underpinned by strong participatory principles. Its implementation though is not without problems, these mainly being lack of adequate approaches and enforcement as well a deskilling, staff turn‐over and coordination challenges in government. In conclusion, the paper shows that the sector's legislation appears to be in a continual state of flux, and the transparencies of the 1990s are seemingly diminishing, with the decentralization initiatives in the field of water legislation of two decades ago appearing to be replaced by a recentralization. The latter is in urgent need of further investigations by scientists of all disciplines in order to better understand the forces at play.
Limiting Institutions examines the security threats in Eurasia and the role of institutions in the post-Cold War international environment. It looks at both the crucial aspect of foreign policy as well as a theoretical area of security studies and its imp
AbstractPatriarchal culture still dominates among women in Indonesia and several other countries, often resulting in discrimination. Although almost every country has laws regulating women's positions in the public sector, developing women's roles and positions is still slow, especially in government institutions. This research highlights the importance of women's leadership roles as potential resources for nation‐building. This research uses a holistic approach with an orientation toward natural descriptive data and a qualitative approach through a case study method. In Lampung Province, only two districts have female regional heads, namely the mayor of Bandar Lampung and the regent of Tanggamus. The study found that both leaders used communication patterns that were appropriate to local conditions: the mayor of Bandar Lampung adopted persuasive and participatory patterns, while the regent of Tanggamus used democratic and collaborative communication approaches with a focus on MSME actors and the community. These communication patterns are key to building strong relationships with constituents and achieving better development goals for the region.
AbstractIndividuals increase their support for social systems in response to the threat, panic, and uncertainty that characterized the COVID‐19 pandemic. This could be because a powerful social system can compensate for a lack of control at the individual level. However, the levels of public support for national versus local systems could be different in China. Two studies investigate whether people support the national more strongly than the local system during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Study 1 analyzed data of 3593 participants from China; the results showed that participants reported higher levels of support for the national system than the local. In Study 2, we further tested a possible moderator for it. With a sample of 275 participants, we found that the difference between public support for national and local systems in China was based on the perceived higher response efficacy with the national government. Implications for research on system justification and governmental pandemic responses were discussed.
AbstractCurrently, Europe is dealing with a large number of asylum seekers. A recent report show that attitudes toward asylum seekers are not that negative in the Netherlands, and yet Dutch citizens living close to asylum seeker centers barely have contact with them. Because contact is vital for a multicultural society, we investigated the facilitators and barriers for Dutch citizens to establish and maintain contact with asylum seekers where they live close together. We conducted semistructured interviews with Dutch people and analyzed them using thematic analysis. We found four themes: Physical possibilities for Contact, Goals for Contact, Social Identities, and Positivity and Openness, and proposed a grounded theory model based on how the themes are related. The findings are discussed in relation to debates on multiculturalism and intergroup tolerance, and can be used to improve the integration policies by local governments, because they present clear conditions and practical information as to how contact can be established and maintained.
In this study, we explore the effects of an educational intervention in the form of digital games targeted towards improving the learning outcomes in mathematics and Hindi language among first, second and third graders in four government schools in southern New Delhi. In addition to administering these games in the classroom, we randomly recruited 40 households from a low-income community, where children play the games as an extra-curricular activity. We measure the improvement in aptitude in math and Hindi pre- and post-intervention, using various demographic controls and find that the community intervention had some impact in boosting aptitude. In contrast, the school intervention did not show the desired results though it did register some improvement in children's knowledge. Using qualitative observation coupled with the quantitative assessment of impact, we attempt to deconstruct the various infrastructural challenges and sampling issues posed in our school intervention, and identify key features that need to be adhered to for future researchers who may want to assess the impact of educational interventions on young children from underprivileged backgrounds in India.
Janani Suraksha Yojna (JSY), implemented under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) since 2005, focused on strengthening accredited social health activists (called ASHAs) to improve maternal health in the community. The purpose of this paper is to identify various issues and challenges faced by the ASHAs in pregnancy care under JSY. Focus group discussions and in-depth interviews were conducted with ASHAs employed in tribal pockets of Jaleswar block, which may be considered a vulnerable area due to its demographic profile and inaccessible terrain. Data were analysed and grouped thematically based on government operational guidelines. The study shows ASHAs face challenges in various stages of pregnancy care, particularly during antenatal and natal stages. There are considerable limitations in identifying target groups, assisting pregnant women and in providing counseling. Many of them stem from their poor capacity to operate in vulnerable communities, thereby, showing inadequate training and capacity building of the ASHAs. The paper concludes by proposing a model for improving competency of ASHAs by taking into account both administrative as well as community inputs.
Development Research News is a quarterly publication of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS). It highlights the findings and recommendations of PIDS research projects and important policy issues discussed during PIDS seminars. PIDS is a nonstock, nonprofit government research institution engaged in long-term, policy oriented research.
This article argues that communitarianism, as the prevalent citizenship paradigm in the Philippines, observable also in modest expectations towards government services among Filipinos and a high emphasis on individual and community action, can be used to explain the lack of political change in the Philippines. In its first part, the article presents data on the sense of citizenship and concepts of social rights and obligations among Filipinos by combining findings from a series of problem-centered interviews with young urban professionals and quantitative data collected within annual surveys by the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) on government, social inequality, and citizenship. The second part of the article attributes these findings to everyday concepts of citizenship as ideal-typical state responsibility theories and modern citizenship paradigms. By including ethnographic data, it discovers significant traits of communitarianism in Philippine everyday life. This section goes on to present how communitarianism (with its inherent character of exclusivity) impedes a democratic culture and moreover, how it is unable to serve as a guiding social philosophy in unifying a large-scale society mainly consisting of citizens who are strangers (ibang tao) to each other. Nevertheless, in conclusion, the article suggests the possibility of deepening and broadening the sense of citizenship in the Philippine society and its respect for the stranger by drawing on elements of Filipino culture. (ASEAS/GIGA)
AbstractInequalities within and between countries continue to grow as a result of globalization. Although traditional anti‐poverty efforts from governments and NGOs have had their respective successes, poverty continues to exist in every country, particularly in rural areas where there are fewer resources to support socioeconomic development. Private enterprises may use their strengths, including market knowledge and accessibility to various resources, to develop innovative business models that can provide viable and effective solutions to social problems such as poverty. This article examines a case study of a poverty alleviation initiative by Jingdong (JD). The results indicate that JD utilizes industrial poverty alleviation to empower local enterprises. Through the use of education and training, finance, and employment support, JD builds an ecosystem that provides local enterprises high‐quality employees and reliable logistics with which to conduct business. As a result, the JD model enables local enterprises to compensate farmers with sufficient wages that can reduce poverty and improve their well‐being, creating a mutually beneficial solution for all stakeholders. The findings demonstrate the potential of a private enterprise to reduce poverty in a way that might not be otherwise independently achieved by government and NGOs.
AbstractWord searches of Google's library of digitized books suggest that there have been two "Poverty Enlightenments" since 1700, one near the end of the 18th century and the second near the end of the 20th. The historical literature suggests that only the second came with a widespread belief that poverty could and should be eliminated. After the first Poverty Enlightenment, references to "poverty" (as a percentage of all words) were on a trend decline until 1960, after which there was a striking resurgence of interest, which came with rising attention to economics and more frequent references to both general and specific policies relevant to poverty. Developing countries also became more prominent in the literature. Both Enlightenments came with greater attention to human rights. The written record reflects the push‐back against government intervention and the retreat from leftist economics and politics since the late 1970s. Although many debates from 200 years ago continue today, there is little sign that the modern revival of the classical 19th century views on the limitations of government has come with a revival of the complacency about poverty that was common early in that century.
