THE ROLE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT SYSTEM IN SOUTH ASIA: A CASE STUDY OF PAKISTAN

Pakistan is a democratic country in the region of South Asia, but it has been deprived of political backdrop from its independence from the British Empire in 1947, notably in the field of local self-government. Pakistan's history demonstrates that inconsistency in civilian norms hampered the establishment of a robust democratic culture at all levels of government. The military has repeatedly swallowed the civil-military political romance. Each military commander instituted local self-government; General Ayyub instituted the Basic Democratic System in his dictatorship, and General Zia instituted local government as well; their primary goal was to legitimate their own authority and that of the military. However, the decentralisation changes in Pakistan may be traced back to the last military takeover led by General Musharraf in 1999. Under General Musharraf's leadership, recent decentralisation measures in Pakistan have been examined in this article. We emphasise the most important features of this reform and examine its growth in the context of history to better recognize the probable causes for the current decentralisation of power. In Pakistan, the history of local government reforms is particularly intriguing as, on request of a non-representative centre, each of the top three reform efforts has been executed using a "top-down" strategy for the reform process. It should be noted that each of these reforms is an add-on to the broader constitutional reengineering agenda that is designed to centralise the political authority of a non-representative centre further. In these cases, we would propose that the design of local government reforms is endogenous rather than exogenous for centralization purposes of the non-representative centre. Pakistan's analysis aims to provide understanding into the good economics of why non-representative governments were keen to promote local decentralisation, which has been dismay formerly

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Resource allocation and service design in local government: a case study

International Journal of Public Sector Management ◽

10.1108/ijpsm-01-2014-0013 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 28 (1) ◽

pp. 29-41

Author(s):

Manzurul Alam

Keyword(s):

Resource Allocation ◽

New Zealand ◽

Local Government ◽

Service Design ◽

City Council ◽

Reform Process ◽

Content Type ◽

Government Organizations

Purpose – Following the introduction of the New Zealand Local Government Amendment Acts (1996, 2002), some significant changes have taken place in resource allocation and service design of local government organizations. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of local government reforms on budgetary processes and service design in a New Zealand local government entity. Design/methodology/approach – The paper adopts a qualitative case study research involving semi-structured interviews with the key informants to understand the evolving role of resource allocation the study investigates the budgetary processes in a metropolitan city council. Findings – The traditional role of budget has changed to a more active and visible instrument in explaining the effectiveness and efficiency in the use and allocation of resources. Budgets have been given a central role in the management of local government finances. The reform process in New Zealand has enabled local government organizations to organize their activities by using the concepts of public and private goods. Research limitations/implications – This is a single local government entity case study. Any generalization of the conclusions from this study should undertaken with care even though there are similarities between New Zealand and other countries even though they operate under different institutional contexts in different countries. Originality/value – This paper makes important contribution by highlighting the implications of resource allocation on service design within New Zealand local government entities.

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A Coup Hidden in a Mutiny

Soldiers in Revolt ◽

10.1093/oso/9780190876074.003.0006 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 101-124

Author(s):

Maggie Dwyer

Keyword(s):

Sierra Leone ◽

Political Leaders ◽

Internal Dynamics ◽

History Of ◽

The Military

This chapter focuses on a revolt involving roughly fifty soldiers on April 29, 1992 in Sierra Leone. A brief history of the role of the military in Sierra Leone prior to the revolt will help contextualize the soldiers’ grievances. The chapter will then examine the internal dynamics of the unit drawing on interviews with soldiers involved in the revolt. Their complaints and suspicions about political leaders crystalized into a plan for a mutiny and ultimately resulted in a coup. This case study builds on the discussion of the differences between coups and mutinies.

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State-run celebration of Liberation Day in Czechoslovakia (based on audiovisual sources)

A day in the calendar. Celebrations and memorial days as an instrument of national consolidation in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century - Central-European Studies ◽

10.31168/2619-0877.2018.1.13 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 251-268

Author(s):

Timur Gimadeev

Keyword(s):

Political Development ◽

Communist Regime ◽

Political Regime ◽

The Political ◽

Historical Experience ◽

History Of ◽

Post War ◽

The 1960S ◽

The Military

The article deals with the history of celebrating the Liberation Day in Czechoslovakia organised by the state. Various aspects of the history of the holiday have been considered with the extensive use of audiovisual documents (materials from Czechoslovak newsreels and TV archives), which allowed for a detailed analysis of the propaganda representation of the holiday. As a result, it has been possible to identify the main stages of the historical evolution of the celebrations of Liberation Day, to discover the close interdependence between these stages and the country’s political development. The establishment of the holiday itself — its concept and the military parade as the main ritual — took place in the first post-war years, simultaneously with the consolidation of the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia. Later, until the end of the 1960s, the celebrations gradually evolved along the political regime, acquiring new ritual forms (ceremonial meetings, and “guards of memory”). In 1968, at the same time as there was an attempt to rethink the entire socialist regime and the historical experience connected with it, an attempt was made to reconstruct Liberation Day. However, political “normalisation” led to the normalisation of the celebration itself, which played an important role in legitimising the Soviet presence in the country. At this stage, the role of ceremonial meetings and “guards of memory” increased, while inventions released in time for 9 May appeared and “May TV” was specially produced. The fall of the Communist regime in 1989 led to the fall of the concept of Liberation Day on 9 May, resulting in changes of the title, date and paradigm of the holiday, which became Victory Day and has been since celebrated on 8 May.

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Assessing the role of intergovernmental relations in strategic planning for economic development at local government level : a case study of Umkhanyakude District Municipality

Journal of Gender Information and Development in Africa ◽

10.31920/2050-4284/2018/v7n2a11 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 7 (2) ◽

pp. 221-239

Author(s):

Andile Biyela ◽

Thokozani Nzimakwe ◽

Syanda Mthuli ◽

Isaac Khambule

Keyword(s):

Economic Development ◽

Local Government ◽

Strategic Planning ◽

Intergovernmental Relations ◽

Local Government Level ◽

Government Level

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Case Study: Rome's House of Memory and History: The Politics of Memory and Public Institutions

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195339550.013.0008 ◽

2012 ◽

Author(s):

Alessandro Portelli

Keyword(s):

Oral History ◽

Cultural Policy ◽

Public Institutions ◽

Politics Of Memory ◽

Political Events ◽

History Of ◽

Ambitious Program ◽

The City

This article centers around the case study of Rome's House of Memory and History to understand the politics of memory and public institutions. This case study is about the organization and politics of public memory: the House of Memory and History, established by the city of Rome in 2006, in the framework of an ambitious program of cultural policy. It summarizes the history of the House's conception and founding, describes its activities and the role of oral history in them, and discusses some of the problems it faces. The idea of a House of Memory and History grew in this cultural and political context. This article traces several political events that led to the culmination of the politics of memory and its effect on public institutions. It says that the House of Memory and History can be considered a success. A discussion on a cultural future winds up this article.

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Twin-To-Twin Transfusion Syndrome Donor and Recipient and Their Subsequent Cognitive Functioning in Late Childhood as Juvenile Athletes—A Case Study

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18052545 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (5) ◽

pp. 2545

Author(s):

Ilona Bidzan-Bluma

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Functioning ◽

Motor Skills ◽

Cognitive Functions ◽

Late Childhood ◽

Semantic Fluency ◽

Motor Functioning ◽

Gross Motor Skills ◽

History Of

Objective: It is estimated that twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) occurs in 10–15% of monochorionic twin pregnancies. One of the fetuses takes on the role of donor and the other of recipient. The treatment administered involves serial amnioreduction and laser photocoagulation of the communicating blood vessels. After TTTS, children may have deficiencies in psychomotor functioning, in particular in cognitive functions, expressive language, and motor skills. Few scientific reports indicate that twins after TTTS do not demonstrate significant differences in tests which measure intellectual functioning. Methods: The cognitive functioning of twins in the late childhood period was compared using the following tools: an analysis of their medical history, an interview with their parents, and neuropsychological tests allowing the evaluation of their whole profile of cognitive functions. Case Study: Cognitive functioning in the late childhood period was analyzed in a pair of 11-year-old male twins (juvenile athletes), a donor and a recipient, who had developed TTTS syndrome in the prenatal period. Results: Comparison of the cognitive functioning profile of the donor and recipient revealed that children with a history of TTTS develop normally in terms of cognitive and motor functioning in late childhood. A comparative analysis of the donor and recipient was more favorable for the recipient, who had a higher level of general intelligence, visual–motor memory, and semantic fluency. Conclusions: The fact that both the donor and the recipient chose to pursue athletics suggests that gross motor skills are their strongest suit. Playing sports as a method of rehabilitation of cognitive function of children born prematurely after TTTS could contribute to the improvement of cognitive functioning.

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Friends of Rose Canyon

California History ◽

10.1525/ch.2018.95.3.2 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 95 (3) ◽

pp. 2-20 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Andrew Wiese

Keyword(s):

Open Space ◽

Critical Role ◽

First Century ◽

Grassroots Politics ◽

History Of ◽

University City ◽

Participant Observer ◽

The Rose

Place-based activism has played a critical role in the history of urban and environmental politics in California. This article explores the continuing significance of environmental place making to grassroots politics through a case study of Friends of Rose Canyon, an environmental group in San Diego. Based in the fast-growing University City neighborhood, Friends of Rose Canyon waged a long, successful campaign between 2002 and 2018 to prevent construction of a bridge in the Rose Canyon Open Space Park in their community. Using historical and participant observer methodologies, this study reveals how twenty-first-century California urbanites claimed and created meaningful local places and mobilized effective politics around them. It illuminates the critical role of individual activists; suggests practical, replicable strategies for community mobilization; and demonstrates the significant impact of local activism at the urban and metropolitan scales.

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Replicating Elite Dominance in Intangible Cultural Heritage Safeguarding: The Role of Local Government–Scholar Networks in China

International Journal of Cultural Property ◽

10.1017/s0940739116000035 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 23 (1) ◽

pp. 71-97 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Christina Maags ◽

Heike Holbig

Keyword(s):

Local Government ◽

Cultural Heritage ◽

Focal Point ◽

National Level ◽

Comparative Case Study ◽

Intangible Cultural Heritage ◽

Republic Of China ◽

Heritage Discourse

Abstract:Since “intangible cultural heritage” (ICH) became the new focal point in the global heritage discourse, governments and scholars in many countries have begun to promote this new form of “immaterial” culture. The People’s Republic of China has been one of the most active state parties implementing the new scheme and adapting it to domestic discourses and practices. Policies formulated at the national level have become increasingly malleable to the interests of local government-scholar networks. By conducting a comparative case study of two provinces, this article aims to identify the role of local elite networks in the domestic implementation of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, focusing on the incentives of scholars and officials to participate in ICH policy networks. It finds that the implementation of the Convention has not removed the power asymmetry between elite and popular actors but, instead, has fostered an elite-driven policy approach shaped by symbiotic, mutually legitimizing government–scholar networks.

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