Weakening the Strong Mayor: Partisan Division and Presidential Intervention in Istanbul

2021 ◽  
pp. 0160323X2110453
Author(s):  
İhsan İkizer
Keyword(s):  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Central Government ◽  
City Council ◽  
Government Agencies ◽  
Local Elections ◽  
Nationalist Movement ◽  
Central Government Agencies ◽  
Mayoral Leadership ◽  
The City ◽  
Ruling Party

Istanbul, the leading city of Turkey, is a good case for analyzing the conflictual relations of the mayor with the city council and the central government. Istanbul had been governed by the mayors from the ruling party, the Justice and Development Party ( Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi; AKP) and its predecessor parties since 1994. In the local elections held in March 2019, which was repeated only for Istanbul after two months with a highly suspicious decision by the Supreme Election Board, the AKP lost this city. Ekrem İmamoğlu, the mayor of Istanbul, has harsh relations with the city council, which is dominated by the AKP and its alliance party, the Nationalist Movement Party ( Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi; MHP). What exacerbates this situation is the partisan intervention of the increasingly authoritarian central government that weakens the mayor's position. The mayor tries to counterbalance the power of the city council and central government agencies through livestreaming the city council meetings and attracting civic engagement on his side. This article is expected to contribute to the literature on mayoral leadership, partisan constraints to mayoral powers as well as the mayor's strategies against the authoritarian intervention of the central governments. Mayor İmamoğlu's strategies and measures adopted for overcoming the efforts of blocking his agenda by both the council and central government might inspire other mayors experiencing similar partisan constraints.

Meta-Governance

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morten Egeberg ◽  
Jarle Trondal
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Focal Point ◽  
Reform Process ◽  
Government Agencies ◽  
Reform Processes ◽  
The Government ◽  
Central Government Agencies ◽  
Instrumental Control

Chapter 8 draws attention to meta-governance and how the governing of reforms is affected by how reform processes are organized. The chapter asks how reformers can ensure support for large-scale reforms that are likely to attract profound resistance. The focal point of the chapter is a study of geographical decentralization of central government agencies. The chapter argues that successful meta-governance can be provided for by careful organization of the reform process. The empirical case studied is a large-scale relocation of government agencies in Norway during the early 2000s. In carrying out this reform, the government succeeded against the odds. Most importantly, research has revealed huge constraints on the instrumental control of large-scale reforms in general and of geographical relocation of organizations in particular. Yet, this chapter shows that large-scale reforms can be successfully achieved through careful crafting of the reform organization.

scholarly journals Together, We Can Make This Place Our Home: Civic Engagement Among Asian Immigrants

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 99-99
Author(s):  
Cindy Bui ◽  
Kyungmin Kim ◽  
Qian Song ◽  
Yuri Jang
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Asian American ◽  
American Culture ◽  
City Council ◽  
Asian Immigrants ◽  
The City ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Acculturation Factors

Abstract Civic engagement is an important dimension of age-friendly communities but has been understudied among Asian immigrant groups. While research has attributed greater civic engagement among immigrants to acculturation factors, the influence of acculturation may be conditioned upon Asian immigrants’ social network and place attachment to their city. We used data from the Asian American Quality of Life survey to analyze civic engagement activity (e.g., City council meeting, voting in a City election) among a diverse sample of middle-aged and older Asian immigrants in Austin, Texas (N = 994). 34.5% of the sample had participated in at least one civic engagement activity in the past 12 months. We examined how such civic engagement is associated with acculturation factors, and further examined whether one’s friend network and perception of their city moderated the association. We found that number of years lived in the U.S., familiarity with mainstream American culture, and number of friends in one’s social network were positively related to civic engagement activity. Furthermore, we found that the association between years lived in the U.S. and civic engagement was more pronounced for immigrants with larger friend networks; the association between familiarity with American culture and civic engagement was more pronounced for immigrants with more positive perceptions of the city. These findings highlight that acculturation may not operate alone in civic engagement among Asian immigrants. Rather, it may also be important to create opportunities for Asian immigrants to feel connected to their community and build meaningful friend networks to encourage civic engagement.

Student’s Perception toward Online Classes during COVID-19 Pandemic - Hotel Management Students

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 180-187
Author(s):  
Nisheeth Kumar ◽  
Tangjakhombi Akoijam
Keyword(s):  
Central Government ◽  
Academic Institution ◽  
Government Agencies ◽  
Hotel Management ◽  
Online Classes ◽  
Academic Institutions ◽  
Technological Tools ◽  
Central Government Agencies ◽  
Management Institutions ◽  
Management Students

COVID-19 (‘CO' stands for corona, 'VI' for the virus, and 'D' for disease) has been categorized as a pandemic in March 2020 by WHO. Due to this pandemic, the academic institutions were closed on orders by various state and central government agencies of India. The academic institutions were shut down in between the running academic session. Thus the teachers adopted various online modes for conducting classes to cover the syllabus which was pending. With the help of various technological tools like Zoom, Cisco, Google meet, etc., the academic institution could cover their syllabus. This study was performed to study the student’s perception toward the online classes during COVID-19 Pandemic. The study was performed on the present students who are pursuing Hotel management courses at undergraduate and postgraduate levels from various academic institutions of India. Keywords: COVID-19, Academic, Online classes, perception, Hotel management, Institutions.

scholarly journals Current trends in debt policy of city councils and directions of its improvement

2020 ◽  
pp. 56-67
Author(s):  
S. Boyko ◽  
O. Dragan ◽  
K. Tkachenko
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Fiscal Decentralization ◽  
City Council ◽  
Government Bonds ◽  
City Councils ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
Ministry Of Finance ◽  
Central Government Agencies ◽  
Debt Policy

The need to rethink the role of urban debt policy in accordance with the growing needs of urban communities and their sustainable socio-economic development is identified. In Ukraine, the legal preconditions for the formation of cities' own debt policy and the implementation of borrowing in both domestic and foreign nancial markets. The current state of local budgets and decentralization processes only highlight the need for cities to develop debt policy. The formation of the institution of local borrowings in Ukraine is analyzed and an in-depth analysis of borrowings of city councils in 2014-2019 is carried out with the definition of three periods: 2014-2015 - increase in borrowed funds, but such borrowings were formed mainly due to debt activity of Kyiv City Council domestic local bonds; 2016–2017 - decrease in the amount of borrowed funds, which occurred under the inÀuence of macroeconomic, political and fiscal instability; 2018-2019 - resumption of debt activity of city councils that had experience of borrowing in the previous, relatively analyzed, period and diversification of forms of local borrowing. Based on the cluster analysis, the main characteristics of the modern debt policy of city councils of Ukraine, which is based on the di൵erentiation of city councils-borrowers, are determined. The main borrower remains the Kyiv City Council (the share was about 67%), the activity of borrowings was noted in the following city councils: Zaporizhia, Dnipro, Lviv, Odessa, Ivano-Frankivsk. It is established that the debt policy of city councils is based on raising funds from NEFCO, state-owned banks and the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine. Improving the debt policy of city councils of Ukraine should be based on the synergy of actions of central government agencies: (Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, Debt Agency of Ukraine, NBU, National securities and stock market commission (NSSMC)Financial Control Ofice, etc.) and city councils. Vectors for improving the debt policy of city councils should be an integral part of the Strategy for the Development of the Financial Sector of Ukraine until 2025 and meet its key strategic goals and directions. Key words: debt policy, local debt, local borrowings, domestic local government bonds, external local government bonds, fiscal decentralization.

scholarly journals Technology Use by Urban Local Bodies in India to Combat the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-115
Author(s):  
Falguni Mukherjee
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Civil Liberties ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Government Agencies ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
First Case ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Central Government Agencies

This article provides a comprehensive review of the use of information and communication technologies by urban local bodies in India in their war against the COVID-19 pandemic based on a detailed survey conducted during the pandemic period. India reported its first case of COVID-19 in late January, and government authorities have been on a war footing since then to curb the spread of the virus. Following a tradition that has been instilled within government agencies since the Modi Government came into power in 2014, local, state, and central government agencies turned to a widespread use of geospatial, surveillance and information and communication technologies as part of a strategy to monitor and track movement, manage individuals, and enforce quarantine norms. However, several important questions arise from the blind use of technology that remain unanswered. The use of technology by government agencies raise key questions on privacy, civil liberties, and suitability and viability of their use.

The 2018 Municipal Elections in Jerusalem: A Tale of Fragmentation and Polarization

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-24
Author(s):  
Csaba Nikolenyi
Keyword(s):  
Municipal Government ◽  
City Council ◽  
Local Elections ◽  
Electoral Process ◽  
National Politics ◽  
Arab Population ◽  
Decision To Leave ◽  
The City ◽  
State Of Israel ◽  
East Jerusalem

This article analyzes the 2018 local elections in Jerusalem, the contested capital of the State of Israel. These elections were unique in terms of their level of competitiveness and fragmentation as well as producing a highly divided local government in the wake of the incumbent mayor’s, Nir Barkat’s, decision to leave the local political scene and enter national politics. While his party has no representation in city council, the new mayor of Jerusalem, Moshe Lion, built a broadly based new coalition that includes all parties in the council except for Hitorerut, the party that won the most seats and whose mayoral candidate, Ofer Berkovitch, was the runner-up to Lion. With the exception of the ultra-orthodox parties, national political parties that sought to interfere with the local electoral process to promote their candidates and lists by and large failed. Therefore, the governance of the city of Jerusalem once again fell under the control of the ultra-orthodox majority. Furthermore, even though the Arab population of East Jerusalem largely continued its traditional abstention from the electoral process, there was some evidence to suggest that a slight shift was taking place in that community in favor of participating in the institutional process of municipal government and democracy.

scholarly journals Transitioning Service Design within Government: An exploration of how the role of Service Design within Central Government agencies might benefit from Transition Design as a key artbiter of social change

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Logan Westwater
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Service Design ◽  
Government Agencies ◽  
Economic Issues ◽  
Social And Environmental Change ◽  
Central Government Agencies ◽  
Sustainable Futures ◽  
Emergent Design

<b>This research considers how Transition Design, an emergent design provocation, could be used to grow the role of Service Design within New Zealand Central Government. Leading this investigation is the assertion that currently within Central Government agencies a re-evaluation and re- scoping of the contributions that Service Design can make towards the resolution, mitigation or navigation of the complex social, cultural, political and economic issues these agencies now face is required. This study also asserts that Service Design could play a more impactful role within Central Government as an arbiter of change. To achieve this, the role of Service Design needs to be redefined and service designers’ skills recalibrated. This research considers how Transition Design could be used to achieve this aim. </b><p>Transition Design, as a provocation not a manifesto, challenges the existing paradigms which characterise Service Design and illuminates radical pathways for societal transitions to more sustainable futures. This study identifies opportunities within New Zealand Central Government structures, systems and processes to use Transition Design as a model to challenge existing modes and having done so, enable more radical social and environmental change. </p> <b>A critical component of this research is a series of interviews conducted with Service Design practitioners currently working within or alongside New Zealand Central Government. These interviews were analysed and used to help define areas or stages of Service Design that TransitionDesign interventions could be tested against. Importantly, these interviews also served to develop new models that illustrated areas in which Transition Design methods or ideologies could be applied within the Central Government context. A second round of interviews critiqued the practical application of Transition Design within current and towards future Service Design practice. Having identified many of the key barriers currently limiting the effectiveness of Service Design and service designers working within Central Government, this research posits that the provocations exhibited within Transition Design will go a long way to enabling the expansion of both Service Design’s role and service designer’s capacities, capabilities in the resolution, mitigation and navigation of the complex social, cultural, political and economic issues that need to be addressed by New Zealand </b><p>Central Government. </p>

The People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs (NKID) of the USSR in the City of Kuibyshev (1941-1943)

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 178-198
Author(s):  
S. I. Chernyavsky
Keyword(s):  
Great Britain ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Far East ◽  
Foreign Affairs ◽  
Practical Implementation ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Central Government Agencies ◽  
The City

This article analyzes the work of the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs (NKID) of the USSR in the city of Kuibyshev (now Samara), where it was evacuated in 1941- 1943 together with other central government agencies and the diplomatic corps accredited in the USSR. Although this period was quite short, and though key decisions were, of course, made in Moscow, intense rough work was being carried out in the “reserve capital”, which ensured the solution of the tasks set by the country's leadership to the NKID apparatus.The aggression of Nazi Germany found the Soviet Union poorly prepared not only militarily, but also diplomatically. Due to the opposition of the Western powers, domestic diplomacy failed to create a collective security system to prevent the aggression of Germany, Italy and Japan. Negotiations with representatives of Great Britain and France, which were conducted in 1939, were interrupted and relations with these countries were virtually frozen.Some important strategic tasks were set before Soviet diplomacy. First of all, it was about the concentration of diplomatic activity in specific areas that could provide real assistance to the Red Army in obtaining the necessary weapons and strategic raw materials. Among other tasks were the search for allies, establishing effective military, economic and political cooperation with them, counteracting the expansion of the Nazi coalition at the expense of Sweden and Turkey, and conducting an extremely balanced policy in the Far East in order to avoid a military clash with Japan.Due to the deterioration of the military situation on the Western Front and the imminence of the capture of Moscow, on October 16, 1941, the main staff of the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs, headed by its Deputy Chairman A. Vyshinsky, as well as members of the diplomatic corps were evacuated to Kuibyshev (now Samara). V. Molotov and a small group of assistants remained in Moscow.The relations between the NKID and the embassies evacuated to Kuibyshev evolved differently. The level and the intensity of contacts with them largely depended on bilateral relations with the respective nations. Contacts with the embassies of Great Britain and the USA were naturally at the top of the agenda. By way of ambassadors of these countries the key tasks of forming the anti-Hitler coalition were being solved, and the dates of summit meetings were agreed upon.The crowding of the central office staff and foreign diplomats in a small regional city certainly introduced difficulties into the practical implementation of many tasks. Nevertheless, the striving for a common victory and the awareness of responsibility to their own country, united this motley crew of diplomats, and facilitated the search for compromise solutions. The return to Moscow of the employees of the People’s Commissariat and the diplomatic corps took place after the victory in the Battle of Kursk in the summer of 1943. Only at the end of 1943 Kuibyshev did finally cede its status of the capital of the USSR to Moscow.

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