Suchergebnisse

In the process of China's promoting its economic growth and social development, the adjustment of the relationships between the central and local governments have played the key role. The decentralization policy implemented in China has resulted in great economic achievement but, at the same time, has created many difficult problems. Fiscal and investment decentralization, and other important decentralizations, have been the main levers for the central government to gear the relationships between central and local governments. However, these levers require a through examination. Decreases in the central government's revenue, enlarging regional disparties and the upheaval of the local-interest-centered activities are the unintended by-products of China's decentralization policy. To eliminate decentralization's negative impacts and overcome the shortcoings, relationships between the central and local governments need to be readjusted. While offering further discussion and making key suggestions in conclusion, the author thinks that some immediate measures should be taken. Enormous effort is dedicated to theoretical discussion and empirical studies on the cause and result of decentralization of China in transition.

Recent developments in Swedish local government and central‐local government relations have been characterized by re‐regulation and cut‐back strategies on the one hand and decentralization and deregulation on the other. In this article these developments are analysed as a dynamic process with contradictory features. Swedish society is becoming more and more differentiated and specialized with fewer mechanisms of collective socialization, but with more economic and strategic calculations on the part of central and local authorities, interest organizations and individuals. New formal rules are developed in order to handle conflicts and enhance public sector legitimacy. In the communes we can identify an ideological shift from viewing the commune as a political institution to regarding it as a service‐producing company. In addition, citizens are increasingly looked upon as individual consumers rather than political citizens. Corresponding organizational solutions such as depoliticization, privatization and freedom of choice have been developed. However, as a reaction to communal consumerism there is also a growing interest in communitarian values. There is an increasing number of examples of people participating in matters of common nature and expressing their belonging to a community. An interesting question for future research is whether the observed contradictory tendencies will increase or decrease the legitimacy of the traditional democratic institutions at the communal level.

Shipping list no.: 2000-0097-P. ; Distributed to some depository libraries in microfiche. ; Cover title. ; Includes bibliographical references. ; Mode of access: Internet.

The changing roles of cities and local governments -- Uncovering administrative, fiscal and political powers of local governments in Kazakhstan -- Administrative urban struggle : Almaty city versus Almaty region -- Fiscal challenges facing Astana and Almaty : fighting for national projects and transfers -- Clash of local deputies versus local bureaucrats in urban transport development -- Reconsidering the role of local governments in the Central Asian context.

This state-of-the-art study traces the relationship between Europeanization and multilevel governance, two key concepts that have become increasingly important in recent years. Through the lens of cohesion policy, Ian Bache illustrates how the EU has affected the vertical and horizontal dimensions of domestic policymaking. The author focuses especially on Britain, comparing its experiences to that of ten other member states. Bringing together the conceptual tools of multilevel governance and policy networks and developing a framework for using these tools together in future research, this conc

AbstractThis article explores the role of district government in agricultural development in Vietnam's Long An province from 1954 to the present. It argues that it is only in the reform era that the district has begun to realise its potential as a 'transmission belt' between the higher authorities and the grassroots. Under the South Vietnamese regime and in the pre-reform era of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, local initiative was stifled as policy was dictated from on high by central government, with disastrous consequences. In the reform era, district officials have been joined by 'associates of the state', such as agricultural extension officers, to develop innovative 'local' approaches to agricultural development. This has led to increased prosperity but also rising inequality. While the central government has been more willing to allow local experimentation under reform, its influence and interests are still felt, even at the district level. Most scholars emphasise a sharp break between pre-1975 and post-1975 Vietnam. By contrast, this article highlights the way in which there are important elements of continuity both between regimes and between the pre-reform and post-reform eras.