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This article argues that the local government capacities and local government performance in Europe clearly rank this continent to the most developed world areas from the point of local democracy. The background factors explaining this situation have a multidimensional character and one can identify as core positive factors the relative economic wealth, high human development, the long historical tradition of the subsidiarity principle in most parts of Europe, and the regulatory function of the Council of Europe. The strong development of local and regional democracy in Europe is protected and based on the principles of European Charter of Local Self Government. However, this does not mean that everything is perfect in Europe and that there would be no challenges to be addressed. It is difficult to define clear common weaknesses of the local democracy in Europe. We need to mention the core structural challenges here, for instance the continuous discussion about amalgamation versus fragmentation. Most countries also indicate one overarching threat to the local democracy in Europe today, that is, the financial crisis, which significantly decreased the level of available financial resources for self-governments, while the structure of responsibilities remains the same or even increases. Another core threat visible in many European countries is the trend toward re-centralization or limited real will do continue with decentralization in, both in established and emerging democracies. Regional issues differ, and we mention especially the situation of post-communist countries, where local democracy does not have a long tradition and still needs to be revitalized. ; Straipsnyje įrodoma, jog vietos valdžios gebėjimai ir veiklumas Europoje leidžia aiškiai laikyti šį žemyną kaip labiausiai pažengusį vietos savialdos srityje. Kontekstiniai veiksniai, paaiškinantys šią situaciją, yra daugiadimensiniai – kaip esminius teigiamus veiksnius galima išskirti santykinę ekonominę gerovę, aukštą žmogaus raidos indeksą, ilgą istorinę subsidiarumo principo daugelyje Europos šalių tradiciją ir reguliacinę Europos Tarybos funkciją. Nuoseklus vietos ir regioninės demokratijos Europoje vystymasis yra ginamas ir grindžiamas Europos Tarybos priimtoje Europos vietos savivaldos chartijos principais. Europos Taryba, be daugelio kitų veiklų, reguliariai vykdo stebėsenos vizitus į visa šalis nares, kurių metu tikrina vietos ir regioninės demokratijos situaciją. Šie vizitai yra svarbi ir efektyvi visų Europos šalių vyriausybių motyvavimo stiprinti Chartijos principais pagrįstą vietos demokratiją priemonė. Tačiau tai nereiškia, jog Europoje viskas tobula ir kad nėra jokių iššūkių, į kuriuos reikėtų reaguoti. Yra sunku aiškiai apibrėžti bendrus vietos demokratijos trūkumus Europoje. Tačiau reikia paminėti, jog kaip vieną esminių struktūrinių iššūkių galima išskirti nepertraukiamą diskusiją apie suvienijimą versus fragmentaciją. Dauguma šalių kaip vieną svarbiausių grėsmių vietos demokratijai šiandienos Europoje nurodo finansinę krizę, kuri žymiai sumažino vietos valdžiai prieinamų finansinių išteklių lygį, nors atsakomybė išlieka tokia pati ar net didesnė, tuo pačiu neabejotinai didėja ir poreikiai. Kita daugumoje Europos šalių pastebima esminė grėsmė yra recentralizacijos arba ribotos valios tęsti decentralizaciją tiek išsivysčiusiose, tiek besivystančiose demokratijose, tendencija. Regioninės problemos yra skirtingos, ypač situacija pokomunistinėse šalyse, neturinčiose ilgos vietos demokratijos tradicijos, kuri turi būti gaivinama iš naujo. Dar daugiau, centrinė valdžia kai kuriose NVS šalyse visiškai nėra linkusi propaguoti decentralizacijos idėją kaip oficialią nacionalinę politiką (ypač Baltarusija ir Azerbaidžanas).

This article points to the adverse circumstances in which public administration education and training has to take place in developing countries, more specifically in South Africa. This is especially seen in the combination of scarce resources and rapidly increasing enrolment. The consequence thereof is that the didactics of education and training suffer in becoming characterized by mere teaching instead of the promotion of learning. The article points to a serious dilemma especially faced under such difficult circumstances, namely that a curriculum either addresses all the subjects relevant from an academic perspective and conform to international accreditation criteria, and becomes deficient in the way all these topics are taught—or opts to prioritize topics based on a skills-needs analysis and optimizes the way in which this limited number of topics is learned.

Résumé Dans le présent article, nous examinons les volumes d'assistance technique (AT) offerts aux pays d'Europe centrale et orientale (PECO) dans le cadre de l'aide au développement en général. Si beaucoup d'auteurs se sont intéressés à l'aide étrangère, rares sont ceux qui ont étudié les composantes de cette aide, comme l'assistance technique. L'un des débats en cours sur l'aide au développement porte sur la question de savoir si cette aide est essentiellement offerte afin d'améliorer la situation des pays bénéficiaires, ou si cette amélioration n'est que la conséquence indirecte d'une aide fondée sur des facteurs politico-militaires. Dans le présent article, nous soutenons que l'aide au développement, à la différence de l'assistance technique, est souvent offerte sur la base de facteurs politico-militaires, avec pour conséquence indirecte une amélioration de la situation. Afin d'analyser l'aide financière offerte aux PECO durant leur transition (1990-2004), nous avons utilisé des données du Comité d'aide au développement (CAD) de l'OCDE, dans lesquelles l'assistance technique est considérée comme une composante de l'aide étrangère. Notre analyse révèle que l'aide étrangère offerte aux PECO en général était en grande partie déterminée par des facteurs politiques, tandis que les fonds offerts dans le cadre de l'AT sont essentiellement déterminés par les besoins des pays bénéficiaires. L'assistance technique s'est avérée nettement plus durable. Nous terminerons en concluant que des recherches empiriques devraient analyser séparément les composantes de l'aide. Remarques à l'intention des praticiens Le volume d'assistance technique offerte aux PECO ne peut s'expliquer par les éléments politiques et militaires dans les pays bénéficiaires. Cette assistance vise plutôt à faciliter leur adaptation à leur nouvelle situation ainsi que leur développement. La présente analyse fait apparaître que la principale motivation de l'AT est d'améliorer la situation des pays bénéficiaires. Ce constat souligne l'importance de cette forme d'assistance de même que des initiatives visant à améliorer la façon dont cette assistance technique est programmée, offerte et évaluée.

This article investigates technical assistance (TA) to CEE countries in relation to development aid in general. There is plenty of literature examining the foreign aid, but specific components of aid, like technical assistance, remain largely unexplored. One debate about development aid focuses on whether aid is primarily given to improve the situation in the recipient countries or if this improvement is simply a side-effect from aid based on political-military factors. This article argues that development aid, unlike technical assistance, is often provided based on political-military factors with the accompanying side-effect of improving the situation. To investigate aid money to CEE countries during their transition (1990—2004), we used data from OECD DAC that distinguishes technical assistance as a component of foreign aid. The analysis shows that the foreign aid to CEE countries in general seems to have been largely determined by political factors while the money provided for TA is shown to be especially determined by the recipient countries' needs. The technical assistance has proved to be much more sustainable. The article concludes that empirical research should analyze the components of aid separately. Points for practitioners The volume of technical assistance to CEE countries cannot be explained by political and military developments in recipient countries. Instead, such assistance is intended to contribute to the adaptation and development of the recipient countries to their new situation. This analysis shows that the main motivation for TA is to improve the situation in the recipient country. This underlines the importance of such technical assistance as well as efforts to improve the way in which such the technical assistance is planned, provided and evaluated.

Facing the reality of groups in Europe being in effect socially and politically marginalized, this article asks how the political inclusion of minorities is and should be established at the local level. First, a model is developed building on normative theories of political inclusion. This points to the importance of two dimensions of inclusion and exclusion, namely the possibility of direct participation and the granting of (special) rights to minorities. In order to test the relevance of the model data based on a survey among approximately 5000 members of the local élite in East and West European countries are analysed. The conclusion is that most local officials in East and Western Europe are remarkably unwilling to allow for special participatory arrangements or special rights. A difference between the old and new democracies in Europe as to the propensities towards possible democratic arrangements is revealed. In the old democracies, local élites are more positive as to general participatory arrangements, whereas the élites in the new democracies are more inclined to grant minorities the right to organize and institutionalize. Further analysis indicates that the differences found cannot be explained in terms of individual traits. Moral and cultural values and structural circumstances seem to be dominant factors. The relative stability of such factors suggests that we cannot be optimistic about the development of more inclusive arrangements on behalf of those that now seem to be systematically excluded.

PurposeWhile there is an urgent need for clean water in Ghana and Nigeria, governments lack the financial means to do much to address this need. This does not mean that improving access to clean water is impossible. On the contrary, this paper argued that engaging citizens through co-production, as is already being done in developed countries in the fields of care-giving, waste management, healthcare and community policing, could provide a successful strategy. The purpose of this paper is to examine how public water facilities are being managed to improve and sustain access to clean water for domestic use in rural areas in Ghana and Nigeria.Design/methodology/approachA survey interview with households and in-depth interviews with water professionals were conducted in Ghana and Nigeria to help the authors understand the practicalities of the co-production of clean water and how this is improving and maintaining access to clean water sources. The paper draws on a philosophical framework of "deep" citizen engagement to describe the merits of co-production and how it works in practice in developing countries.FindingsBased on the interviews with officials and surveys among the population of rural areas in the two countries studied, the authors found that the two countries vary significantly in their approach to water management decisions and the extent to which citizens are involved. Ghana's approach seems much more successful than Nigeria when it comes to maintaining boreholes for water supply with the help of the population. In Nigeria, three-quarters of the public water facilities are non-functional, while in Ghana, community involvement in maintaining public water facilities has resulted in the sustained use of boreholes and eliminated the lack of access to clean water in many communities.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the practical understanding of co-production in developing countries and the potential of such co-production in improving clean water access. To the best of the authors' knowledge, no previous scientific research has studied how co-production can improve and sustain access specifically to clean water sources in developing countries, and this paper aimed to fill this gap.

Résumé Depuis 20 ans, la décentralisation est proposée en tant que moyen de renforcer la participation du public. Les organismes donateurs, tels que la Banque mondiale, ont encouragé les processus de décentralisation dans plusieurs pays dans l'espoir que cette démarche favorise l'autonomie des citoyens, réduise la corruption et améliore l'efficacité ainsi que la prestation de service public. Cette hypothèse est à la base d'une analyse comparative du rapport qui existe entre décentralisation et participation au niveau local au Brésil, au Japon, en Russie et en Suède. Nous avons réalisé une analyse de régression à plusieurs niveaux au moyen des données issues du projet « Democracy and Local Governnance » afin de vérifier les hypothèses de l'« universalité » (ou « one size fits all ») et de la « diversité dans le développement » (« diversity in development »). Les résultats confirment la seconde hypothèse. L'autonomie perçue a des conséquences variables sur l'ouverture à la participation selon le pays examiné ; dans un pays (le Japon), l'autonomie perçue a eu une influence négative sur la disposition des fonctionnaires à s'ouvrir à la participation du public. Remarques à l'intention des praticiens Dans le présent article, nous présentons des données empiriques qui réfutent l'idée répandue selon laquelle les processus de décentralisation produisent des résultats souhaités similaires indépendamment du pays concerné. Cette idée a été diffusée dans de nombreuses publications destinées aux décideurs des pays en développement, notamment celles produites par les organisations multilatérales, en particulier la Banque mondiale. Cet article a pour but de mettre en garde les praticiens que les organismes donateurs encouragent à mettre en œuvre des processus de décentralisation. Lorsque les caractéristiques du contexte concerné et les facteurs politiques à l'origine du processus ne sont pas dûment pris en compte, la décentralisation peut produire des résultats extrêmement différents des résultats attendus au départ.

AbstractTransparency is increasingly a general norm for government conduct, but it is not considered desirable in all situations. Leaking confidential information is a salient example of this. Leaking namely has a very negative connotation: it is associated with egotism, harmfulness and prosecution. Despite its impact, hardly any empirical research has been conducted to test these assumptions. We seek to redress the negative bias by discussing three sources of empirical material. Our discussion leads us to conclude that some officials leak for unvirtuous reasons but that many are actually driven by public interest. Leaking appears to occur quite often and within more or less stable networks of journalists and public officials. Leakers mainly prove to be higher ranked officials and politicians, rather than frustrated lower ranked officials. This indicates that generally too much is held secret. Increasing transparency may be a good measure to reduce leaking, because it removes the breeding ground for leaks. This would imply the need for a new definition of leaking that offers a clearer pretext for moral judgement of leaks. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.