Can local governments shape the long-run fortunes of their communities through their own policies, or is the autonomy of localities swamped by larger macroeconomic forces? This study considers the relationship between California municipalities' policy orientations toward residential development at the start of the housing boom in the late 1990s and the subsequent incidence of foreclosures during the housing crisis in 2008 and 2009. The authors find that cities reported to have stronger city council opposition to residential growth had a lower incidence of foreclosures a decade later, even after controlling for the rate of increase in the housing stock and other local economic, demographic, and geographic characteristics. Although the foreclosure crisis was driven by national and global forces, more cautious local government policy approaches to residential growth appeared to moderate the damage.
AbstractThis article examines the relationship between local participatory policies and their market in France. The study stems from long‐term field research drawing on a variety of materials: qualitative interviews with citizen participation professionals (consultants or civil servants), questionnaires, and an analysis of public procurement. This study depicts the way both the industry and the policies of citizen participation are structured in France. It also explores how French participatory policies are coproduced through mechanisms of competition–collusion between clients (mainly local public authorities) and providers (consultants). Finally, the study questions the effects of this market on local policies, showing that the market cannot be interpreted as an unequivocal sign of a decline in actors along with political stakes in public policies.
The terrorist attacks at the start of the new millennium shook the world. In Western countries, the new threat of 'home-grown' Islamic terrorism has directed the authorities' attention towards local Muslim communities. Islamic terrorism is generally seen as a sign of the lack of integration of these communities. Authorities therefore often opt for preventive policies in which the engagement with Muslim organisations and spokespersons plays a significant role. However, this engagement comes with its own problems and dilemmas. Should authorities aim for a broad representation of the community or instead go for selective engagement? Are non-violent fundamentalist organisations also to be seen as the enemy? Should authorities enter into public debate with extremist organisations? Is it wise to link anti-radicalisation policies to more general integration policies?
At the core of this book are theoretical and empirical analyses of how local policies are shaped by the incentives that various institutions in education and media markets create for economic agents. Evidence is provided that Dutch schools harboring large shares of disadvantaged students apply lower grading standards and that there is a positive link between intensity of competition among schools in local education markets and academic achievement. When it comes to media markets, data on the location of television stations in the United States is employed in showing that there are incentives for politicians to gear public spending towards informed voters. In a similar vein, increasing levels of newspaper readership are shown to exhibit an efficiency enhancing effect on Norwegian local governments and thus elicit better politics ...
In: Agricultural management in peri-urban areas. The experience of an international workshop. 2010; Agricultural management in peri-urban areas, Pise, ITA, 2009-06-11-2009-06-12, 29-44
L'agriculture, en particulier en périurbain, se situe sous l'influence de trois types d'acteurs eux-mêmes interdépendants: les habitants, regroupés ou non en associations, les acteurs politiques (en ce concentrant ici sur les politiques locales, de la commune à la région), et le monde agricole. L'agriculture selon qu'elle est appréhendée plutôt comme un espace, un ensemble d'entreprises, de milieux, de paysages, de produits ou comme un patrimoine ou un bien commun se déplace à l'intérieur de ce triangle d'acteurs et d'influences. On peut identifier cinq types de politiques qui engendrent différentes proximités entre agriculture, habitants et territoires: politiques foncières; de soutien aux structures; de qualité des produits et des milieux; de commercialisation; d'intégration dans le patrimoine et la gouvernance. Elles se renforcent ou s'affaiblissent les unes les autres même si elles sont gérées par plusieurs niveaux de collectivité aux moyens très variés. La durabilité du projet agricole périurbain se joue dans l'implication croisée des habitants, des politiques et des producteurs, en bref dans l'émergence d'un pays. ; Nelle aree peri-urbane, l'agricoltura è influenzata da tre diverse categorie di attori: gli abitanti (sia in forma associativa, sia individuale), i soggetti politici (in particolare le istituzioni locali, dal comune alla regione) e le comunità agricole. L'agricoltura può essere percepita da queste tre categorie come un'entità spaziale, un'attività economica, un ambiente, un paesaggio, una produzione, un patrimonio culturale o un bene pubblico. Possono essere identificate cinque tipologie di politiche in grado di avvicinare abitanti, agricoltori e istituzioni: politiche fondiarie, di sostegno alle strutture, di qualità dei prodotti e dell'ambiente, di commercializzazione, di integrazione dell'agricoltura e di governance. Si rinforzano o indeboliscono una con l'altra, anche se sono gestite a diversi livelli amministrativi e con diversi mezzi. La sostenibilità del progetto agricolo peri-urbano è importante nelle dinamiche di interazione tra abitanti, politici e produttori, in poche parole nell'emergenza di uno spazio condiviso che in Francia porta il nome di pays.
Poorer health suffered by lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) populations may be associated with public policies. We collected the laws that in 2013 prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation from 50 United States (US) states, the District of Columbia (Washington, DC or DC), and the 30 most populous US metropolitan areas. To facilitate future research, we coded certain aspects of these laws to create a dataset. We generated descriptive statistics by jurisdiction type and tested for regional differences in state law using Chi-square tests. Sixteen (31.4 per cent) states prohibited discrimination by all employers based on sexual orientation, 25 states (49.0 per cent) in public employment, 18 states (35.3 per cent) in government contracting, and 21 states (41.2 per cent) in private employment. Twenty-one states prohibited discrimination (41.2 per cent) in housing practices (selling and renting), and 17 (33.3 per cent) in public accommodations. Local (county/city) laws prohibiting discrimination were less common. State laws differed significantly by US census region – West, Midwest, Northeast, and South. Future analyses of these data could examine the impact of these laws on various outcomes, including health among LGB populations.
Cities and countries are increasingly becoming more ethnic diverse. In the European context there have been several waves of immigration since the end of the Second World War. From guest-workers invited to work at the economic development of Europe in the 1960's and on until new fluxes of immigration nowadays, national policies have also been transforming accordingly. Policies went from being assimilationist to multiculturalist and now they are again in transformation. However, despite most laws concerning immigration and integration being national, cities and neighborhoods are the places in which newcomers influence the most. Moreover, immigrants are a diverse group and will settle under different socioeconomic conditions. While some immigrants are able to achieve more easily the same standards of the host society, others are more likely to live in deprivation. Thus, claims for greater social justice are raised. Following the Young's (1990) concept of social justice, in this thesis I propose to analyze whether local and national policies concerning immigration and integration are able to promote social justice for the ethnic diverse population. In order to answer this question, the case of neighborhoods of Neustadt- Neuschönefeld and Volkmarsdorf in Leipzig were chosen. This area concentrates high proportions of immigrant population and at the same time it is one the most deprived areas in Leipzig. Thus, most immigrants that are located in this area are living in more vulnerable situations. Three local policies were analyzed to better understand how the municipality approaches such situation. The four documents are: "Overall concept for immigrant integration", the "Integrated Development Concept for Leipzig", the "Integrated Development Concept for the district of Leipzig-East" and finally the "Municipal overall strategy for democracy and diversity". Moreover, to understand how those policies are put into practice, investments done in this area were also brought up. Three main conclusions were drawn in this respect. The first concerns the importance of the local context that shapes relations between locals and immigrants and that can limit the response of the municipality when tackling such subject. The second result concerned a possible mismatch between the reality and the policies, given that most policies were developed in a top-down approach and the few indicators in which the policies were built. Lastly, it concerns the incompatibility of assimilationist policies and social justice. ; Les villes et les pays sont de plus en plus multiethniques. L'Europe a connu un certain nombre de changements sociétaux depuis l'immigration : des travailleurs de l'après Seconde Guerre Mondiale jusqu'aux flux d'immigration actuels. Aussi, l'augmentation de l'immigration a eu un impact direct sur les politiques nationales des pays d'accueil. Cependant, bien que de la majorité des lois relatives à l'immigration et à l'intégration soient pensées à une échelle nationale, les migrants influent directement sur l'environnement urbain, où conflits entre population locale et étrangers peuvent être directement ressentis. Ainsi, les ressortissants de nationalités diverses s'installent dans les villes de façon différente selon leurs ressources économiques et leur accointances personnelles. Tandis que certains migrants peuvent plus facilement atteindre un niveau socio-économique similaire à celui de la population locale, d'autres se retrouvent dans des situations plus précaires, nécessitant ainsi une plus forte prise en charge, selon le principe de justice sociale. Suite à la définition de la justice sociale élaborée par Young (1990), cette thèse se propose d'examiner si les politiques nationales et locales relatives à l'immigration et à l'intégration peuvent promouvoir la justice sociale à une population ethniquement diversifiée. Pour répondre à cette question, nous utiliserons le cas des quartiers Neustadt-Neuschönefeld et Volkmarsdorf à Leipzig. Ces zones concentrent une grande partie de la population immigrée, la plus socialement vulnérable de Leipzig. Nous avons donc analysé un certain nombre de politiques publiques pour comprendre le traitement que font les municipalités de cette question. En outre, nous avons listé les investissements dans la région afin de mieux comprendre de quelle manière les plans et les politiques publiques sont mis en pratique. Une des premières conclusions qui se dégage concerne l'influence du contexte local sur les relations entre les migrants et les natifs, qui peuvent avoir un impact restrictif direct sur les actions de la municipalité. Une deuxième conclusion se rapporte au décalage entre la réalité du terrain et les politiques développées. Alors que plusieurs indicateurs sociaux manquent déjà dans l'architecture des politiques, leur processus d'élaboration n'a eu que peu recours à la participation de la population immigrée pour laquelle, pourtant, ces politiques sont destinées. Enfin, nous verrons que notre dernière conclusion se réfère directement à l'incompatibilité entre justice sociale et politiques d'assimilation.
Cities and countries are increasingly becoming more ethnic diverse. In the European context there have been several waves of immigration since the end of the Second World War. From guest-workers invited to work at the economic development of Europe in the 1960's and on until new fluxes of immigration nowadays, national policies have also been transforming accordingly. Policies went from being assimilationist to multiculturalist and now they are again in transformation. However, despite most laws concerning immigration and integration being national, cities and neighborhoods are the places in which newcomers influence the most. Moreover, immigrants are a diverse group and will settle under different socioeconomic conditions. While some immigrants are able to achieve more easily the same standards of the host society, others are more likely to live in deprivation. Thus, claims for greater social justice are raised. Following the Young's (1990) concept of social justice, in this thesis I propose to analyze whether local and national policies concerning immigration and integration are able to promote social justice for the ethnic diverse population. In order to answer this question, the case of neighborhoods of Neustadt- Neuschönefeld and Volkmarsdorf in Leipzig were chosen. This area concentrates high proportions of immigrant population and at the same time it is one the most deprived areas in Leipzig. Thus, most immigrants that are located in this area are living in more vulnerable situations. Three local policies were analyzed to better understand how the municipality approaches such situation. The four documents are: "Overall concept for immigrant integration", the "Integrated Development Concept for Leipzig", the "Integrated Development Concept for the district of Leipzig-East" and finally the "Municipal overall strategy for democracy and diversity". Moreover, to understand how those policies are put into practice, investments done in this area were also brought up. Three main conclusions were drawn in this respect. The first concerns the importance of the local context that shapes relations between locals and immigrants and that can limit the response of the municipality when tackling such subject. The second result concerned a possible mismatch between the reality and the policies, given that most policies were developed in a top-down approach and the few indicators in which the policies were built. Lastly, it concerns the incompatibility of assimilationist policies and social justice. ; Les villes et les pays sont de plus en plus multiethniques. L'Europe a connu un certain nombre de changements sociétaux depuis l'immigration : des travailleurs de l'après Seconde Guerre Mondiale jusqu'aux flux d'immigration actuels. Aussi, l'augmentation de l'immigration a eu un impact direct sur les politiques nationales des pays d'accueil. Cependant, bien que de la majorité des lois relatives à l'immigration et à l'intégration soient pensées à une échelle nationale, les migrants influent directement sur l'environnement urbain, où conflits entre population locale et étrangers peuvent être directement ressentis. Ainsi, les ressortissants de nationalités diverses s'installent dans les villes de façon différente selon leurs ressources économiques et leur accointances personnelles. Tandis que certains migrants peuvent plus facilement atteindre un niveau socio-économique similaire à celui de la population locale, d'autres se retrouvent dans des situations plus précaires, nécessitant ainsi une plus forte prise en charge, selon le principe de justice sociale. Suite à la définition de la justice sociale élaborée par Young (1990), cette thèse se propose d'examiner si les politiques nationales et locales relatives à l'immigration et à l'intégration peuvent promouvoir la justice sociale à une population ethniquement diversifiée. Pour répondre à cette question, nous utiliserons le cas des quartiers Neustadt-Neuschönefeld et Volkmarsdorf à Leipzig. Ces zones concentrent une grande partie de la population immigrée, la plus socialement vulnérable de Leipzig. Nous avons donc analysé un certain nombre de politiques publiques pour comprendre le traitement que font les municipalités de cette question. En outre, nous avons listé les investissements dans la région afin de mieux comprendre de quelle manière les plans et les politiques publiques sont mis en pratique. Une des premières conclusions qui se dégage concerne l'influence du contexte local sur les relations entre les migrants et les natifs, qui peuvent avoir un impact restrictif direct sur les actions de la municipalité. Une deuxième conclusion se rapporte au décalage entre la réalité du terrain et les politiques développées. Alors que plusieurs indicateurs sociaux manquent déjà dans l'architecture des politiques, leur processus d'élaboration n'a eu que peu recours à la participation de la population immigrée pour laquelle, pourtant, ces politiques sont destinées. Enfin, nous verrons que notre dernière conclusion se réfère directement à l'incompatibilité entre justice sociale et politiques d'assimilation.
