Suchergebnisse

This article advances a political theory of regulation that accounts for the choices of regulators and regulated entities when both are governments. Leading theories of regulation assume that governments regulate profit‐maximizing firms: Governments set rules, to which firms respond rationally in ways that constrain their behavior. But often the entities that governments regulate are other governments. We argue that government agencies and private firms often face different compliance costs, and that agencies have greater incentives than firms to appeal regulations through political channels. Simultaneously, the typical enforcement instruments that regulators use to influence firm behavior may be less effective against governments. Our empirical subjects are public and private entities' compliance with the U.S. Clean Air Act and Safe Drinking Water Act. We find that, compared with private firms, governments violate these laws significantly more frequently and are less likely to be penalized for violations.

Argues that the US model of corporate governance may not be the best choice for developing countries. Discussion begins with a look at the common law of fiduciary duties and market forces characteristic of the US model. Several reasons are then advanced as to why such a market-based model of corporate governance is not feasible for developing countries. In this light, it is suggested that a mandatory model of corporate law utilizing bright-line rules might result in better economic growth for developing countries. Concrete provisions for such a code are then considered, along with factors driving a thriving venture capital market.

Central Government refuses to accept the need for freedom of information or open government laws affecting its administration. In 1985, however, the Local Government (Access to Information) Act was passed which constitutes a freedom Of information law for local government. What has been the impact of this statute on local government administration? What problems or difficulties has the legis lation caused and what lessons for good government might the law and its operation hold?

What is the proper role of local government? Professor P.M. Jackson of Leicester University argues that local government deserves more support it gets. It can operate as a valuable counterweight to the centralising tendencies of national government.

In a year which sees the tenth anniversary of both the Council of Europe and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) there are a number of good reasons for looking again at some aspects of the problems of these organizations of limited membership. The most important reason is that there is a general feeling in the western world that neither the "European" organizations nor NATO are working as well as might have been hoped, and that there is probably a good deal of room for improvement even within the limits set by the present public attitudes toward the counter-claims of "integration" and "national sovereignty" in the countries concerned.

Over the past two decades, governments have used information and communication technologies (ICTs) to integrate their internal functions and improve their delivery of services. Scholars and practitioners have conceptualized these various ICT trends and referred to them collectively as e-government. As the number of citizens using the Internet and mobile technologies increases, the public sector is constantly innovating to keep pace with the changing technologies and citizens' expectations. This essay reviews the academic literature on e-government among local governments and explores the issues related to its adoption and implementation. Adopting an e-government stages perspective with attention to institutional capacity, the essay examines the factors and determinants of local e-government success. The essay concludes with directions for future research on e-government and innovation in local governments.

"Electronic government, or, in short e-government, can contribute significantly to strengthening the efficiency, productivity, and transparency of government institutions. However, the potentials of the new information and communication technologies (ICT) are not always so easy to translate into practice. Rapid successes can be achieved above all in cases where a solid institutional base is already in place and good expert and infrastructural resources are
available – a set of conditions not given in many developing countries. The aim of e-government is to open up new internal and external communications channels, to simplify administrative
procedures, to improve the accessibility of public actors and services, and to enhance access to information. This often also means that these new technologies are vehicles of democratic, customer-oriented, and decentralized models of political decision-making and public administration. If these models are to be translated into practice, reforms must be embedded in an overall concept that takes account of both customer and target-group demand and the
challenges posed by internal administrative cooperation and networking. In the foreseeable future it will be mainly industrialized and advanced developing countries that are in a position to
draft and implement comprehensive strategies of this kind. But potential uses are also opening up for poorer countries. The obstacles to modernization of government institutions must often be sought less in financial or infrastructural bottlenecks than in blockades in the political sphere.
Development cooperation (DC) can use e-government as a means of supporting partner countries in devising and implementing political and administrative reforms and in improving market-oriented frameworks. Beyond the immediate benefits of the new technologies, e-government should be taken as an instrument to promote good governance and to strengthen reform-oriented actors in politics and civil society." (author's abstract)