scholarly journals Decentralization, legitimacy, and democracy in post-Soviet Central Asia

2021 ◽  
pp. 187936652110685
Author(s):  
David Siegel
Keyword(s):  
Local Governments ◽  
Political System ◽  
Local Level ◽  
National Level ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Ordinary People ◽  
Political Decentralization ◽  
Level I ◽  
Soviet Central Asia

During the 1990s, a conventional wisdom emerged, based on literature going back decades, that political decentralization might be among the most effective forces for democratization. If ordinary people could participate in autonomous local governments, democracy would be built from the ground up, ultimately shaping the entire political system. Once decentralization reforms were implemented across the world, however, the results were disappointing. Authoritarianism not only thrived at the local level, it could also undermine democratization at the national level. Thus, local-national transference still held, but sometimes as a poison. In this context, the case of post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan is an anomaly. Here, the relative success of political decentralization—rather than its failure—nevertheless failed to spur democratization at the national level. I argue that this is because decentralization allowed national authorities to appease international donors while they consolidated their own power. Moreover, while decentralization empowered local communities, it did so in ways that personalized local authority and pitted local and national authorities against one another, resulting in intense localism and antagonistic center-local relations that undermined any democratic transference. The case study findings are based on ten months of field research, which includes interviews with local and national officials, ordinary villagers, and representatives of NGOs and international organizations.

scholarly journals Militarized masculinity and the paradox of restraint: mechanisms of social control under modern authoritarianism

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Tapscott
Keyword(s):  
Local Level ◽  
National Level ◽  
First Century ◽  
Ordinary People ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Arbitrary Power ◽  
Social Discipline ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Do So

Abstract The twenty-first century is marked by the rise of new forms of authoritarianism, many of which are characterized by the ‘paradox of restraint', in which reforms compliant with the rule of law are used to unshackle the ruler's arbitrary power. Despite a proliferation of scholarly studies on this topic, we still have limited understanding of how national-level authoritarian power reaches ordinary citizens in these contexts. This article identifies the performance of militarized masculinities as an understudied mechanism that does so. It offers two main contributions: first, it highlights how performances of militarized masculinities enact the paradox of restraint through gendered idioms, thereby magnifying the ambiguities of modern authoritarianism and diffusing them at a local level. Second, it recasts the conceptual utility of militarized masculinities, showing that the concept's inherent tensions between ordered discipline and unaccountable violence produce and project authoritarian power, giving militarized masculinities special potency as a mode of social discipline in these contexts. The article draws on feminist International Relations, employing grounded ethnographic research to illustrate how national-level power circulates locally. To do so, it first illustrates the relationship between the paradox of restraint and militarized masculinities using the cases of Putin's Russia and Duterte's Philippines. It then turns to an in-depth case study of a local dispute between soldiers and civilians in Museveni's Uganda to trace how gendered local encounters facilitate the transmission of national-level authoritarian power into the lives of ordinary people.

The Problem of Policy Coordination in a Newly Decentralised Government: A Study of Policy Implementation in the Province of Bali, Indonesia

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 83-95
Author(s):  
Luqman H. Zainuri
Keyword(s):  
Policy Implementation ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Political System ◽  
Local Economic Development ◽  
National Level ◽  
Radical Change ◽  
Policy Coordination ◽  
Politics And Government ◽  
Government Relations ◽  
Societal Needs

Abstract The aim of this article is to describe inter government relations resulted from disorganized political change from Autocratic political system to the Democratic one. This purpose is described through a challenge against Governor’s moratorium policy in 2010 made by three Heads of Districts within the province of Bali over the issuance of principle of building permit of new hotels and tourist accomodations. The method by which this research is conducted is exploratory. The research found that the problems of coordination in the policy emanate from a radical change in politics and government from centralised to decentralised government and termination of President Soeharto from the office. The un-coordinated political transition at the national level being faced by Indonesia has brought about serious problems on coordination of inter government institutions of the local governments. In effect, to the large extent, the performance of local governments -as it has been the case in the province of Bali-is contra productive in fulfilling societal needs of public services as well as local-economic development.

scholarly journals Seducing for Truth and Justice: Civil Society Initiatives for the 1965 Mass Violence in Indonesia

2013 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 115-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sri Lestari Wahyuningroem
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Local Level ◽  
National Level ◽  
Policy Reforms ◽  
Mass Violence ◽  
The World

The article examines both civil society initiatives that seek to address the mass violence of 1965 and 1966 and the state's responses to them. Unlike other political-transition contexts in the world, a transitional justice approach is apparently a formula that state authorities have found difficult to implement nationally for this particular case. The central government has, through its institutions, sporadically responded to some of the calls from civil society groups and has even initiated policy reforms to support such initiatives. Nevertheless, these responses were not sustained and any suggested programmes have always failed to be completed or implemented. Simultaneously, however, NGOs and victims are also voicing their demands at the local level. Many of their initiatives involve not only communities but also local authorities, including in some cases the local governments. In some aspects, these “bottom-up” approaches are more successful than attempts to create change at the national level. Such approaches challenge what Kieran McEvoy refers to as an innate “seductive” quality of transitional justice, but at the same time these approaches do, in fact, aim to “seduce” the state to adopt measures for truth and justice.

No Money, No Representation: A Case Study of Zeguo Town in China

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Ye
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
Ordinary People ◽  
Fiscal Reform ◽  
Township Government ◽  
Opening Up ◽  
Local Leaders

Authoritarian regimes rely on fiscal resources to build patronage networks. And so it is with China. Budget making is usually dominated by government leaders. However, some local governments in recent years have invited ordinary people to review budgets and even to determine parts of budgets. Why would local leaders make themselves accountable to their constituencies in an authoritarian setting? Why would local governments in China tie their own hands? Using detailed description of a township government, this article argues that fiscal affluence based on land is an important factor for local governments in launching fiscal reform. Richer areas have become more fiscally accountable by opening up new discussion and encouraging citizen participation.

International Microtrade Regime - Structure and Financing

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Arpita Gupta
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Local Level ◽  
National Level ◽  
Maximum Efficiency ◽  
Great Promise ◽  
Indian Government ◽  
New Form ◽  
Indian Scenario

The conceptualization of a new form of trade, microtrade, is visualized to hold great promise in economic development of the producers belonging to LDCs and developing countries. In order to meet the goal of poverty reduction at a sustainable pace, the institutional, financial and logistical mechanisms for facilitating microtrade both at the international and national level needs to be built in a manner which ensures maximum efficiency. The paper deals with two fundamental aspects of development of microtrade. First, it delineates different aspects which would provide a strong substratum to the proposed microtrade regime. It explores the legal and institutional framework required for conduct of microtrade, which can be structured under the existing WTO regime and proposes necessary amendments to the WTO regime. Second, the paper explores financial aspects of the proposed microtrade regime. A case study of operation of micro-credit in the Indian scenario is undertaken in order to highlight the problems which have recently emerged in the microfinance sector. The scale of these problems has led the Indian government to propose a bill, regulating microfinance in India. Cue from this experience needs to be taken in order to move towards a foolproof system of financing microtrade at the local level.

scholarly journals Refleksiv institusjonalisering. Nytt frivillig engasjement i brytningen mellom endring og stabilitet

2018 ◽  
pp. 211-234
Author(s):  
Ivar Eimhjellen
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Local Level ◽  
National Level ◽  
Organizational Adaptation ◽  
Organizational Growth ◽  
Global Issues ◽  
Organizational Identities ◽  
Community Based Organization

In this chapter I explore how collective action is initiated, mobilized and organized in light of trends of more individualized and reflexive forms of volunteering in Norway. By conducting a qualitative case-study of the climate-based Transition-initiative in Bergen, Norway, I have illustrated how general trends in volunteering are manifested on the local level, shaped by institutionalized frames of action, but also open for interpretative flexibility. Adaptation to reflexive and self-oriented volunteers in Transition entailed a decentralized, informal, flexible, network- and neighborhood-based mode of organizing collective action, focusing on the volunteers’ and participants’ personal interests and resources and the surrounding social and physical infrastructure. A prerequisite behind this organizational form were paid positions for coordinating, administrating and “nudging” volunteers and their activities to fit the organization’s objective. A certain degree of formalization and institutionalization due to organizational growth has also been necessary over the course of the years. Contradicting expectations from the theory of reflexive volunteering of attenuated organizational identities and social bonds in organizations, the Transition-initiative indicated the opposite, aiming at building a community-based organization. Albeit being locally focused, the initiative was inspired by global issues and is also connected to the international Transition movement, and is also a political actor on the national level. In order to analytically describe the Transition-initiative I propose the concept of reflexive institutionalization, referring to an organizational adaptation to reflexive forms of volunteering simultaneous to an inevitable process of institutionalizing some form of organizational structure if a sustainable (network-) organization is to be built.

scholarly journals “And Slowly, the Integration and the Growing and the Learning”: Nuanced Notions of Integration of Bhutanese Refugees in US Cities

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 181
Author(s):  
Annie Taccolini Pannagio ◽  
Odessa Gonzalez Benson
Keyword(s):  
Local Level ◽  
National Level ◽  
Ground Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Wide Scale ◽  
Us Cities ◽  
Bhutanese Refugee

Policy related to refugee integration focuses on economic factors, while integration is not clearly operationalized nor is it being systematically measured and tracked in policy implementation. This study poses the question, how can local-level integration be conceptualized based on the perspectives of resettled refugees, to add nuance to policy. Using a case study approach with a nation-wide scale, data include 40 interviews and five focus groups with leaders of Bhutanese refugee-run organizations in 35 cities across the United States. Findings illustrate the importance of bonds, bridges and links in non-linear, relational integration. Findings also suggest that better access to services and resources is the responsibility of policy-makers and would lead to stronger bridges over time. This complicates existing policy and implies that resettlement programming should remain individualized and contextual from the ground level to the national level.

scholarly journals Clientelism, Partyarchy and Democratic Backsliding: A Case Study of Local Government Elections in Bangladesh

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-91
Author(s):  
Abu Elias Sarker ◽  
Faraha Nawaz
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Democratic Governance ◽  
The Political ◽  
Institutional Environments ◽  
Effective Role ◽  
Grassroots Level

In a developing country like Bangladesh, the devolved local government system is widely recognized as one of the key institutional forms for the citizen-centric public service delivery system and ensuring democratic governance at the grassroots level. However, the democratic nature of local governments and their effective role in rendering services are contingent upon the political and institutional environments of the country. Competitive electoral process is key to local democratic governance. The purpose of this article is to analyze the implications of contemporary political order and institutional environments for the proper functioning of the Union Parishad (council), the lowest tier of the local government system in Bangladesh. More specifically, this study will reflect on how political clientelism, partyarchy and institutional environments have stymied competitive electoral politics at the local level which may result in democratic backsliding.

Citizen engagement in South Africa: the case Prince Albert

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 232-244
Author(s):  
Vinitha Siebers
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Citizen Engagement ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Engagement Process ◽  
South African Constitution

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to gain insight in how South African local governments organize citizen engagement. The new South African constitution provides ways to construct and implement citizen engagement at local level. However, understanding citizen engagement at local level is still a challenge and municipalities search for proper structures and mechanisms to organize citizen engagement efficiently. Design/methodology/approach Interviews with different municipal actors were analyzed using a single case study method. As a primary unit of analysis, a specific project in which citizen engagement is organized was used. In addition, document analysis and a focus group were used to deepen understanding. Findings The findings reveal that citizen engagement is a viable strategy to identify the needs of the community if facilitated by a third party and that learning leadership is important when organizing citizen engagement. Originality/value The value of this research is the exploration of the citizen engagement process. It sheds light on the conditions that play a role when a local government organizes citizen engagement. As local governments search for ways to effectively organize and structure citizen engagement, insight into these conditions is helpful.

scholarly journals Hollowing out national agreements in the NHS? The case of “Improving Working Lives” under a “Turnaround” plan

2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-159
Author(s):  
Ian Roper ◽  
David Etherington ◽  
Suzan Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Performance Management ◽  
Local Level ◽  
National Level ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Employee Relations ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Working Lives ◽  
The Face

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to consider the resilience of a national-level initiative (Improving Working Lives (IWL)) in the face of local-level initiative (Turnaround) in an NHS hospital and compare to Bach and Kessler’s (2012) model of public service employment relations. Design/methodology/approach Case study research consisting of 23 in-depth semi-structured interviews from a range of participants. Findings The principles behind IWL were almost entirely sacrificed in order to meet the financial objectives of Turnaround. This indicates the primacy of localised upstream performance management initiatives over the national-level downstream employee relations initiatives that form the basis of the NHS’ claim to model employer aspiration. Research limitations/implications The case study was conducted between 2007 and 2009. While the case study falls under previous government regime, the dualised system of national-level agreements combined with localised performance management – and the continued existence of both Turnaround and IWL – makes the results relevant at the time of writing. Originality/value Some studies (e.g. Skinner et al., 2004) indicated a perception that IWL was not trusted by NHS staff. The present study offers reasons as to why this may be the case.

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