Suchergebnisse

AbstractThis article seeks to contribute to the discussion of the dynamics of trust in street‐level public sector work, especially in settings where relationships between agencies, frontline workers, and society are fragile. Data was gathered in different vulnerable areas of the city of São Paulo, Brazil using interviews with frontline workers and complemented with field notes from a five‐year longitudinal study in one high‐density area with a history of violence. Concern was to understand how, despite a lack of reciprocal trust, citizens and service providers create ways of meeting daily demands and how, in doing so, they see each other. Results show that in vulnerable settings, issues of inter‐agency cooperation and territorial connectivity between different public sector services can be more important than individual agency performance in helping citizens find solutions to the problems they are facing. In the absence of an effective inter‐institutional framework, trust is quickly eroded.

Abstract
Recent debate on the importance of education for socioeconomic development has largely focussed on school achievement, as measured by international rankings. The pressures from governments to improve results has led to concerns about the consequences for teachers and students, and to counter proposals to value schools that promote the general good of the surrounding community and, in doing so, return to the idea of community schools that was much debated in the 1970s in the developing and developed world. In 2001, the São Paulo city government began building a network of Unified Education Centres (CEUs) in vulnerable areas. In addition to enhanced educational and sports facilities, they all have a theatre, library, swimming pools, a computer centre, and spaces for workshops and community meetings. Evaluation studies have mainly focussed on the experience of education staff in learning how to deal with the broader inter-sectorial aspects of the Centres. We look at the Centres from the outside; from the position of those who live and/or work in the surrounding streets and neighbourhoods. Based on 68 street level conversations, the analysis concentrated on four dimensions: the use made of the CEU in the day to day; new perspectives for the young; the CEU as a space for sport, leisure, and culture in a peripheral region; and the socioeconomic impact. Results show that whilst the impact of the Centres 'in the surrounding community' is significant, there is still much to be learned for them to be seen as part 'of the community'.

The article aims to present the fight for government recognition of indigenous collective rights to land ownership in the Upper Rio Negro region in Brazil. It contextualizes the historical aspects of the colonization process in the region and the efforts to create the Federation of Indian Organizations of the Negro River (FOIRN). Focus of particular interest is how the organizational strategy adopted by the FOIRN has allowed the Indian population of the Upper Rio Negro to active participate in the land demarcation process, with their opinions heard and respected. The article was written with basis on information obtained from a varietyof sources, such as documents, conversations and interviews with the main social actors involved in the area, carried out during a field visit to São Gabriel da Cachoeira in January 2010. ; El artículo tiene como objetivo presentar la lucha por el reconocimiento gubernamental de los derechos colectivos indígenas de la propiedad de la tierra en la región del Alto Río Negro en Brasil. Se contextualizan los aspectos históricos del proceso de colonización de la región y los esfuerzos para crear la Federación de Organizaciones Indígenas del Río Negro (FOIRN). El foco de interés particular es cómo la estrategia de organización adoptada por la FOIRN ha permitido a la población indígena del Alto Río Negro participar activamente en el proceso de demarcación de tierras, escuchando y respetando sus opiniones. El artículo fue escrito con base en informaciones obtenidas de diversas fuentes, tales como documentos, conversaciones y entrevistas con los principales actores sociales involucrados en el área, llevadas a cabo durante una visita a São Gabriel da Cachoeira, en enero de 2010.

AbstractThis paper reports on a major study undertaken between 2000–2008 to assess the effect of decentralization and changes in democratic practice upon sub‐national policymaking. The analysis uses several reference points: intra‐governmental relations at the sub‐national level as well as intergovernmental relations and the changing nature of civil society. Developed by a network of scholars, the paper outlines a comparative research strategy that was adopted in order to analyze the tensions created by decentralization and the recasting of federalism in three countries – Brazil, Mexico, and the USA. In addition to examining the vertical relations of political devolution up and down the administrative hierarchy, we also examine the horizontal opening of the political space between the various branches of governments by including the separation of powers and the exercise of checks and balances and monitoring. The paper concludes with reflections about the future of federalism and sub‐national policymaking, and asks: whither federalism?ResumenEste artículo presenta un estudio importante realizado entre 2000‐2008 para evaluar el efecto de la descentralización y los cambios en las prácticas democráticas en la formulación de políticas subnacionales. El análisis utiliza varios puntos de referencia: relaciones intragubernamentales a nivel subnacional así como relaciones intergubernamentales y la naturaleza cambiante de la sociedad civil. Elaborado por una red de académicos, el artículo resume una estrategia de investigación comparativa que fue adoptada para analizar las tensiones creadas por la descentralización y la reestructuración del federalismo en tres países – Brasil, México y los EE.UU. Además de examinar las relaciones verticales del traspaso de competencias políticas arriba y abajo en la jerarquía administrativa, examinamos también la apertura horizontal del espacio político entre las diferentes secciones de los gobiernos mediante la inclusión de la separación de poderes y la realización de comprobaciones, balances y monitoreo. El artículo concluye con reflexiones sobre el futuro del federalismo y la formulación de políticas subnacionales, y pregunta: ¿hacia dónde va el federalismo?