Suchergebnisse

Der im Frühjahr 1985 beendete Bergarbeiterstreik in Großbritannien war die längste, teuerste und härteste Auseinandersetzung, die die Geschichte der britischen Arbeiterbewegung aufzuweisen hat. Hierzu einige Fakten: Auf nationaler Ebene dauerte der Streik vorn 2. März 1984 bis zum 5. März 1985 - in einigen Gegenden jedoch begann er beispielsweise zwei Wochen früher und endete eine Woche später. Parallel zu diesem Streik führte die Dachorganisation der Bergarbeitergewerkschaft, die National Union ofMine Workers (NUM) in der Zeitvom Oktober 1983 bis Mai 1985 eine Kampagne für die Überstundenbegrenzung auf nationaler Ebene. Zur Sicherung des Streiks in der Zeit von 1984 bis 1985 marschierten in dem gesamten Zeitraum jede Woche durchschnittlich 5300 Polizisten auf; 9778 Verhaftungen und 7785 richterliche Belehrungen wurden vorgenommen. Die Mehrzahl der zwei Drittel Beschuldigten wurde aufgrund geringfügiger Vergehen angeklagt und für schuldig befunden. Sechzig Bergarbeiter waren im Juli 1985 noch immer in Haft- angeklagt wegen schwerer Vergehen.

Advocates of democratization in Central and Eastern Europe before 1989 placed great emphasis on community self-government as the basis of civil society and democracy. After the 'Velvet Revolutions' of 1989 and the break up of the Soviet Union in 1991, the new states created an elected local government, whereby cities, towns and villages elected their own representatives and started running local services. This unleashed the development potential of urban communities across the region, but also led to the emergence of a different logic based on resource efficiency and service effectiveness. Loc

With articles by a high quality set of contributors including Darrell Slider and Vladimir Gel'man, this title explores the increasingly authoritarian character of Putin's rule, especially in his second term since 2004.

The changing European context has generated a greater interest in learning from each others' political and managerial practices. In central and eastern Europe this is a matter of urgency as new government systems are established. In western Europe there are opportunities to compare the responses of different structures and traditions of government with common issues: the redefinition of the state's role in economic development and welfare; calls for new forms and levels of political participation and control; assertions of localism; demands for more responsible and accessible service provision; and efficiency in the face of fiscal constraint. This opportunity to learn has particular pertinence in the British case where, after 25 years of periodic reform, local government is once again due to undergo radical transformation in its structure and procedures. This book takes up the question of the form of the political executive. This is not simply a matter of internal management but relates to the central question of the balance between command structures and local accountability. How do different executive systems (committees, cabinets, boards, mayors, city managers) affect the efficiency of administration and the effectiveness of democracy? John Stewart considers the principles on which the British collective executive, combined with the legislature, is based. He identifies the implications of alternative executive systems and reminds us that change can be brought about by building rather than scrapping existing practices. The following three articles show how that evolutionary approach has been adopted in countries whose executive systems have, at least partly, shared the British collective approach. Baldersheim analyses Oslo's experiments in shifting from an aldermanic to a cabinet system, changing not only the model of political organization but also its relationship with the administration. The executive may now further evolve into a ministerial model, consolidating political over official control of the administration. Montin's account of reforms in the relationship between politics and administration in Sweden describes a vigorous debate which will be familiar to readers in Britain and elsewhere. Since 1945 there have been the classical shifts from top-down managerialist reforms, to a concern with political participation and decentralization, to a new managerialism combined with an assertion of the merits of privatization and user control. What is distinct from Britain in the Swedish case is the extent to which the experiments in new forms of management and contracting are locally inspired rather than centrally imposed. Grunow describes the movement in North Rhine-Westphalia from the 'British model' to a strong executive leadership; current reforms propose a new mayoral model. He identifies the implications for majority and minority parties, for officers, and for the influence of external interests. This leads him to consider whether reform processes in East Germany are repeating old mistakes. Rolla then examines the relationship between the political and the executive structure in Italian local government. Lastly we return to the British case and Crawford's analysis of the British central government's resistance to the signing of the European Charter of Local Self-Government. In particular he questions the government's objection to local 'general competence' and greater financial freedom.

Abstract. The extent to which decentralisation is compatible with effective performance management that is able to influence the motivation of public sector bodies has been a subject of limited attention in the academic literature. This paper contributes to that limited debate by investigating the extent to which minimum service standards (MSS), a performance management tool directed at local government service delivery, influences the motivation of local governments in highly decentralised systems, such as that in Indonesia. The two research questions are: (a) what influence does MSS have on the motivation of local governments to improve their service delivery performance, and (b) to what extent does decentralisation influence the implementation of performance management. The information used to answer these questions is taken from semi-structured interviews with eighty-three respondents from central government, district and city governments, and the non-governmental sector. The results of this study show that MSS, with its characteristic minimum thresholds, can lead to different patterns of motivation in local governments to improve service delivery. However, MSS only motivates better performance amongst those local governments whose current performance falls just below the required standard. It does not appear to motivate those who are well above or well below the standards. This study also showed the limitations of centrally led performance management systems like MSS to improve performance. They are constrained by the decentralised nature of the system, wherein the autonomy of local governments has to be respected. This implies that decentralisation is, to some extent, not compatible with effective performance management and attempts to improve local service delivery, which requires strong enforcement and effective incentives. However, this does not mean that MSS has no impact at all. Although the impact is limited, MSS, to an extent, helps to improve central-local dialogue in service delivery. This could ...

SUMMARYMainstreaming has been adopted internationally as a key approach to promoting environmental concerns and opportunities in national plans and strategies, as well as in sectoral policies and plans. As the climate change response begins to look to mainstreaming as a way forward for adaptation, lessons should be learnt from the environmental mainstreaming experience on the forms of organisational arrangements adopted. From an analysis of experience in a range of southern countries, the article uses a framework of vertical and horizontal organisational arrangements for policy integration to assess which organisational forms have been adopted and with what implications. The review found a mix of experience, with strong political commitment seeming to support a vertical approach to organisational integration, with a lead, overarching agency, as opposed to a more horizontal approach with the ministry responsible for the environment leading. The theory and analysis suggests that a more promising approach to facilitate effective mainstreaming might be to combine elements of vertical and horizontal arrangements, at least over the medium term, where there is strong central commitment and capacity for sustained implementation. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.