20. For the Better Administration of the Town’s Affairs: Civic Engagement, Local Governance, and Grass-Roots Activism in Canada West / Ontario, 1849–1870

2019 ◽  
pp. 448-466
Keyword(s):  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Grass Roots ◽  
Canada West

The policy implementation strategies of county cadres: Political instrument and flexible local governance

2020 ◽  
pp. 0920203X2096823
Author(s):  
Gang Tian ◽  
Wen-Hsuan Tsai
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Pollution Control ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Implementation Strategies ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
The Political ◽  
Air Pollution Control ◽  
Grass Roots ◽  
Political Risks

Using the concept of ‘hedging’, we explore how local cadres in China deviate from central policies in order to serve local interests and, while doing so, avoid being called to account by their superiors. Political signals enable cadres to decide when to invest more resources into the implementation of certain policies. In this way, they optimize their performance and avoid the political risks involved in failing to carry out their designated tasks. This article uses county Y as an example in a discussion of county-level implementation of policies related to economic growth and air pollution control. We find that local cadres weaken the functions of the superior ‘special inspection team’ (专项督察组, hereafter inspection team), treating them as political instruments used by the central and local authorities to ensure a greater level of responsiveness at the grass roots. Information concerning the imminent arrival of an inspection team in their locality acts as a signal for cadres to allocate more resources to the enforcement of air pollution control measures, thus maximizing their performance in this area. Through this research, we have endeavoured to provide a deeper understanding of the operating logic of Chinese local governments and the behaviour of county cadres.

The Decentralization, Devolution and Local Governance Practices in Nepal: The Emerging Challenges and Concerns

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 43-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deepak Chaudhary
Keyword(s):  
Good Governance ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Local Development ◽  
National Level ◽  
Empirical Inquiry ◽  
Grass Roots ◽  
Governance Practices ◽  
Laws And Policies ◽  
Local Levels ◽  
Power And Authority

Nepal has been facing political changes and systems over the decades. Presently Nepal has adopted the unitary federal political system. Under the system, devolution of power is shared to local levels in order to strengthen localism and development. The devolution is a broader concept of decentralization where power and authority are provided to a sub-national level of government constitutionally. This paper discusses the devolution and its implication on local levels that are directly related to local people and grass-roots democracy. The Constitution of Nepal 2015, Local Government Operations Act 2017, Inter Governmental Fiscal Transfer Act 2017 and other sectoral legislation and published related documents are reviewed for this paper. Besides, three numbers of local levels (rural municipalities) are taken as an empirical inquiry to find out the problems and challenges facing by local levels. The Constitution of Nepal 2015 provided enough power and authority to the local levels based on devolution under federalism. Despite that, the inadequacy of laws, and policies, and lacking coordination between local levels and center-province and poor mobilization are major challenges to local levels and the question of good governance and leadership is more pronounced in this regard. The relationship among the center, province and local levels is still debatable. Overall, the present collateral form of local governance is not being well functioned. The effectiveness of Leadership seems to be important to cope with local governance for local development and grass-roots democracy.

scholarly journals Participatory Budgeting as a Method for Improving Public Spaces in Major Polish Cities

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Szczepańska ◽  
M. Zagroba ◽  
K. Pietrzyk
Keyword(s):  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Community Involvement ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Governance System

AbstractOne of the forms of public participation in the local governance system is civic budgeting which actively engages residents in developing projects and voting on the submitted proposals. Civic budgeting aims to involve local communities in deciding how a defined portion of public resources should be allocated by means of a democratic debate. Public spaces are the essence of urban life; therefore, the aim of the study was to analyze civic budget records relating to public spaces. The study was conducted in the largest Polish cities. The research involved quantitative and comparative analytical methods. The analysis focused on community involvement and local community needs, represented by a wide array of public space-related project categories. The analyzed cities were ranked according to their civic engagement, and the resulting classification was compared with voter turnout during polls on the proposals adopted as part of the CB process. The results revealed considerable diversity in both civic engagement and local needs, and they could be used to develop guidelines for designing public spaces in the urban planning process. The present findings are also a valuable source of information for local governments in their efforts to improve the functioning, attractiveness and development of user-friendly spaces in citizen-oriented cities.

An Experiment in Feminist Technology in Local Governance: Revisiting the Question of ‘Invited Spaces’ of Participation in Kerala

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-223
Author(s):  
Binitha V. Thampi ◽  
Aarti Kawlra
Keyword(s):  
Women Leaders ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Political Context ◽  
The State ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Grass Roots ◽  
Critical Engagement ◽  
Collective Deliberation ◽  
Panchayati Raj

In this article, we foreground the potential for a space for collective deliberation and political subjectivities building among women leaders in local governance. We interrogate the Gramamukhya portal, which was initiated in 2011 and continued until 2015, as a democratic space to politicise the invited spaces of governance. Revisiting the question of women’s engagement in panchayati raj institutions in Kerala, we suggest that the practice of citizenship can become politically effective for women in governance if they use a platform that facilitates critical engagement from within and without the invited spaces of participation. This reflection becomes all the more significant given the contemporary political context of Kerala, where the women’s question is caught between developmentalist intentions of the state and right-wing political mobilisations at the grass-roots level.

Civic Engagement and Governance in the Urban-Rural Fringe: Evidence from Ireland

2009 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie Mahon ◽  
Frances Fahy ◽  
Micheál Ó Cinnéide ◽  
Brenda Gallagher
Keyword(s):  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Sense Of Belonging ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Economic Change ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Power Relationships ◽  
Local Democracy ◽  
Local Organizations ◽  
Urban Rural ◽  
Governance Processes

The urban-rural fringe in Ireland harbors diverse and often competing visions of place that unfold against a backdrop of rapid physical and socio-economic change. The desire to develop and articulate a shared sense of belonging rooted in place might be reasonably expected to lead to community-level expression through diverse local organizations. These in turn become embedded in wider institutionalized systems of governance. The importance of place vision, and the extent of civic engagement to create and protect such a vision, is the focus of this article. The ongoing and predominantly developer-led transformation of fringe locations has coincided with a shift from government to governance (particularly at local level) and associated changes in power relationships among various stakeholders. This article investigates the extent to which residents of fringe locations perceive themselves as part of local governance processes and explores the implications of such perceptions for citizenship and local democracy.

Nigeria and the African Charter on the Values and Principles of Decentralisation, Local Governance and Local Development: Navigating Content, Context, Issues and Prospects

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adeniyi Semiu Basiru ◽  
Adewale Toyin Adepoju
Keyword(s):  
Local Governance ◽  
Local Development ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Political Environment ◽  
Federal System ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Development History ◽  
Grass Roots ◽  
African Charter ◽  
Local Levels

This article examines the major provisions of the 2014 African Charter on the Values and Principles of Decentralisation, Local Governance and Local Development (hereafter the Charter) and the prognosis for the prospects of its actualisation in Nigeria. Specifically, it notes that if this Charter is viewed within the purview of the philosophical principles and values that undergird it, it seems novel. If it is domesticated and internalised by the Nigerian governing elites and their counterparts in other African countries, especially at the federal and local levels, it could be the springboard for ensuring development at grass-roots level. However, based on the evidence they gathered from the review of the country’s development history, the authors argue and submit that the objective of the Charter has a slim prospect of being realised in Nigeria, given the convoluted nature of the Nigerian federal state and the political environment that has sustained it. The article calls for the restructuring of the convoluted Nigerian federal system in order to allow peripheral governments to have more power and resources.

scholarly journals Democratic decentralisation, citizen engagement and service delivery in South Africa: A critique of legislative and policy considerations

2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-95
Author(s):  
Purshottama S Reddy ◽  
Jayanathan Govender
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Service Delivery ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Local Development ◽  
Developmental State ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
Local Democracy ◽  
Governance System

Negotiations to restructure and transform local government in South Africa commenced in 1993. Key roleplayers and stakeholders in local government were instrumental in adopting a negotiated local government model comprising three distinct phases during the constitutional development process. The Local Government Transition Act, 1993 (Act 209 of 1993) facilitated the process for the introduction of transitional local and metropolitan councils which constituted the first phase. Local government elections were held for the first time in November 1995 and May/June 1996 in seven provinces (and thereafter Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal) constituted the second phase. Three fundamental legislative enactments, i.e. Local Government: Municipal Demarcation Act, 1998 (Act 27 of 1998); Local Government Municipal Structures Act, 1998 (Act 117 of 1998) and the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, 2000 (Act 32 of 2000), were critical to the final phase. Elections held in December 2000 marked the end of the transition period resulting in a reduction of municipalities from 843 to 283. There were two successful local government elections held thereafter on 26 March 2006 and more recently on 18 May 2011. Regular elections and the plethora of legislation introduced to consolidate the new dispensation have resulted in local democracy and decentralization being deeply rooted in the local governance system. The latter is an integral component of the local governance policy framework as the country has a diverse population of almost 50 million people. It is believed that a democratic and decentralised governance system will promote local development, address poverty reduction, facilitate civic engagement and ensure national integration. Local democracy, introduced seventeen years ago following the ushering in of the developmental state in 1994, has since been tried and tested. Despite ‘world class’ legislation and a ‘best practice’ local governance system, which has as its basis people centred development, engagement and decentralisation, several governance challenges has emerged. This includes inter alia, unfunded mandates; rampant corruption and nepotism;violent service delivery protests; capacity constraints; crime, lack of communication, transparency and accountability; limited civic engagement and a significant number of municipalities that are not financially viable. These issues will have to be addressed if Chapter 7 of the Constitution has to become more meaningful to the majority of the populace in terms of discharging its developmental mandate.

scholarly journals PARTICIPATORY DEVELOPMENT APPROACH IN LOCAL GOVERNANCE – ITS RELEVANCE FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: A Case Study of Sri Lanka

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sisira Saddhamangala Withanachchi
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Participatory Development ◽  
Business Community ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Grass Roots ◽  
Development Approach ◽  
Theoretical Component

This research paper seeks to examine to what extent local governance iseffective in alleviating the vicious circle of poverty. Furthermore, traditional social relationships in Sri Lankan society are relatively and critically discussed in the notion of social capital. In Sri Lanka, local government institutions, administrative divisional secretaries, the Gramaseva division, civil society and the business community are the entities of local governance at the grass roots governance level that directly involve participation of the general public. The article studies the effect of Local Governance on poverty alleviation and observes people’s direct involvement in relation to their socio – economic development in the local governance political body. The Kasiwattapura at Polhena Gramaseva Division in the Matara Municipal Council is selected to study this theoretical component.

scholarly journals Local Journalism under Private Equity Ownership

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Ewens ◽  
Arpit Gupta ◽  
Sabrina Howell
Keyword(s):  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Private Equity ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Local Elections ◽  
Local Policy ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
Local Newspapers ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
The Media ◽  
Equity Ownership

Local daily newspapers have historically played an important role in U.S. democracy by providing citizens with information about local policy issues. However, in recent decades local newspapers have struggled to compete with new online platforms for readers’ attention. Private equity investors—who specialize in reorganizing struggling firms in distressed sectors—have entered the industry. How do these new owners affect newspaper content, survival, and local civic engagement? We document nuanced effects, contrasting with the polarized debate on this topic in the media and political discourse. On one hand, we find that private equity ownership leads to higher digital circulation and lower chances of newspaper exit. On the other hand, we document a change in news composition away from information about local governance, and lower employment of reporters and editors. Finally, we find declines in participation in local elections, consistent with local newspaper content being relevant for civic engagement. The results have implications for knowledge about local policy issues and highlight trade-offs surrounding media ownership.

Civic Engagement and Internet Use in Local Governance

2011 ◽  
Vol 43 (7) ◽  
pp. 807-835 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Joon Kim ◽  
Andrea L. Kavanaugh ◽  
Karen M. Hult
Keyword(s):  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Internet Use ◽  
Local Governance
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