Local Managerial Perceptions of Intergovernmental Management

Interjurisdictional policy problems have facilitated both interlocal cooperation and opportunities for self-interested behavior from local governments. However, intergovernmental management (IGM) approaches shape how local governments interact with each other and how much influence local managerial efforts have on policy outcomes. After identifying three IGM models used to manage air quality, analyses of local managerial perceptions indicate that some approaches facilitate more cooperation and organizational efficacy than others through structuring responsibilities in Clean Air Act policy implementation. Conclusions suggest that approaches to IGM are important in shaping how managers perceive efforts to manage complex policy problems.

Conflict on the Red River: Applying the institutional collective action framework to regional flood policy

In reaction to major flooding, local governments in Minnesota and North Dakota formed a cooperative network to construct a $1.2 billion flood diversion along the Red River of the North. Threatened by this diversion, a second set of governments formed their own network in opposition to flood policy. This study uses propositions derived from the Institutional Collective Action framework to examine formal contracts at the core of these cooperative networks, as well as the circumstances under which the contracts were negotiated. It considers the ability of the framework to understand interlocal cooperation where regional consensus is nonexistent. The study finds that the two sets of governments faced very different transaction costs, resulting in contrasting approaches to governance.