Suchergebnisse

Local government structures are believed to be the essence of participatory democracy. It is through local government that citizens come into direct contact with their elected government, as power flows from national to local government. It is against this backdrop that the new local government structures were adopted in South Africa: as a measure to extend democracy to the larger citizenry. However, local government structures have not been able to live up to expectations, as they are generally characterized by sluggishness in terms of service delivery; failure to attract community participation; and, lately—towards the run-up of March 1 2006 local elections—mass protests and uprisings against these problems. The problem has been explained in terms of lack of capacity and technical know-how. This paper aims to go beyond such explanations, and argues that the local government "mayhem" has to do with structural limitations when it comes to drawing citizens' participation. Thus, in addition to lack of capacity, there is a problem of exclusion which undermines local government.

Redrawing Local Government Boundaries: An International Study of
Politics, Procedures, and Decisions, John Meligrana, ed., Vancouver:
University of British Columbia Press, 2004, pp. 246.Canadian readers will appreciate this book because it shows us that we
are not alone. Our perennial obsession with adjusting, sometimes
completely redrawing, local-government boundaries has its counterparts
near and far. There is a trajectory and a pattern: Senior levels of
government generally want to see local governments with larger
territories. However, the decision-making and implementation processes,
and the results of those processes, have scarcely been examined or
compared from an international perspective. Even policy makers often have
been in the dark about others' best (or worst) practices. This book
is therefore very useful.

While controversy surrounds compulsory consolidation as a means of improving the operational efficiency of local government, the literature suggests that gains can accrue to groups of local councils which form voluntary alliances as platforms for shared service delivery. However, real‐world experience has demonstrated that voluntary alliances in local government are difficult to establish and do not always endure in the longer term. After reviewing the limited extant scholarly literature on shared services and local council voluntary alliances, as well as applications of the social capital approach to inter‐organisational endeavour, such as theWeber and Weber (2010)venture capital model, this article argues that the social capital approach can offer insights into local council cooperative alliance and shared service models.

In Portugal important legal innovations have been introduced in local government, related to the problems of negative images associated with longevity and corruption, and a decrease in voters' turnout. Independent local lists were introduced into the race in the form of citizen groups, mayors' terms were limited to three and there was a parity law. Participative budgets and decentralized local council meetings have also provided new tools for citizen participation. The object was to discuss whether these innovations are real contributions for local democracy. Methodology included the analysis of the legislative process and its enforcement, and practical consequences, namely on new representatives and citizen participation. ; Em Portugal foram introduzidas inovações legislativas importantes no poder local, relacionadas com o problema da imagem negativa associada à longevidade dos autarcas e à corrupção, assim como ao aumento da abstenção. Foram admitidas listas de independentes, sob a forma de grupos de cidadãos eleitores, os mandatos dos presidentes de câmara foram limitados a três e foi aprovada a Lei da Paridade. Os orçamentos participativos e as assembleias municipais descentralizadas também proporcionaram novos instrumentos para a participação dos cidadãos. O objetivo deste artigo é discutir se estas inovações contribuem de facto para a democracia local. A metodologia incluiu a análise do processo legislativo e da sua aplicação e consequências práticas nos novos representantes eleitos e na participação dos cidadãos. ; Le Portugal a introduit d'importantes innovations législatives dans le pouvoir local, liées au problème de l'image négative associée à la longévité des élus locaux et à la corruption, ainsi qu'à l'augmentation de l'abstention. Les listes d'indépendants, sous forme de groupes de citoyens électeurs, sont désormais admises, le nombre de mandats des maires est limité à trois et la Loi de la parité a été adoptée. Les budgets participatifs et les conseils municipaux décentralisés offrent aussi de nouveaux instruments pour une plus grande participation des citoyens. Cet article cherche à savoir si ces innovations contribuent vraiment à la démocratie locale. La méthodologie suivie comprend l'analyse du processus législatif et de son application, ainsi que les conséquences pratiques sur les nouveaux élus et sur la participation des citoyens. ; En Portugal se introdujeron innovaciones legislativas en el poder local relacionadas con el problema de la imagen negativa asociada a la longevidad de los alcaldes y a la corrupción, así como al aumento de la abstención. Fueron admitidas listas de independientes bajo la forma de grupos de ciudadanos electores, los mandatos de los presidentes municipalesfueron limitados a tres y fue aprobada la Ley de Paridad. Los presupuestos participativos y las asambleas municipales descentralizadas también proporcionaron nuevos instrumentos para la participación de los ciudadanos. El objetivo de este artículo es discutir si estas innovaciones contribuyen, de hecho, para la democracia local. La metodología incluyó el análisis del proceso legislativo y de su aplicación, y de las consecuencias prácticas en los nuevos representantes electos y en la participación de los ciudadanos.

This paper analyses the problem of corruption in the local government in Spain, where despite a complex and sophisticated set of local rules to ensure due process in town planning and urban development, a great number of corruption incidents have come to light. The explanation of this outcome rests in the combined effect of factors such as the bad design of both integrity rules and town planning policies, the relevance of informal institutions such as the patronage networks, and the existence of perverse incentives. The Spanish case highlights the important influence of local informal institutions for the actual working of formal ones.

The purpose of this study is to examine whether the type of wells drilling in Pennsylvania matters to the fund balance of local governments in Pennsylvania. After conducting one‐way analysis of variance and Kruskal–Wallis equality‐of‐populations rank test, the median value of fund balance of local governments have differences by the type of wells drilling. This result can suggest that the local governments of Pennsylvania should consider how to levy the level of impact fee to the companies operating wells for extracting shale gas. In other words, it should be designed more systemically by the type of wells drilling in Pennsylvania.

This paper examines the nature of three tier federative structure of Brazil and Nigeria and the reasons for the failure of the model to guarantee local government autonomy as envisaged by the design. It is found that the two countries exhibit divergence in the manner of constitutionalisation, which also provides difference in degree of autonomy enjoyed by the local government- where the constitution provides powers and rights of local government directly or whether it seeks to achieve these through the laws of other governmental levels. In Nigeria the structure has not lifted the local government beyond an embedded system in a dual federal structure in which the states merely deal with local governments as appendages rather than as separate tier of government. In Brazil, the structure provides relative political and fiscal autonomy, but also inhibits smooth fiscal control by Federal government that makes constitutional changes more frequent. In both experience, it is seen that federalization through constitutionalism still has its limits. DOI:10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n15p559

"Religious and Sexual Nationalisms in Central and Eastern Europe : Gods, Gays, and Governments presents case studies from some ten countries that serve to explore the ways in which religion, nationalism, and (homo)sexuality intersect in public discourse. It shows how religious leaders, political and social movements, LGBT-organizations, governments, and media negotiate the powers of religion and state in taking position regarding sexual diversity. These negotiations are as much about sexual morality as they are about national identity, anti-EU sentiments, and the efforts of religious institutions to regain power in post-communist societies. Contributors are: Alar Kilp, Dorota Hall, Koen Slootmaeckers, Magda Dolinska-Rydzek, Marek Mikuš, Mariecke van den Berg, Martina Topić, Mihai Tarta, Miloš Jovanović, R. Ruard Ganzevoort, Srdjan Sremac, Tamara Pavasović Trošt, Zlatiborka Popov-Momčinović"--Provided by publisher.