Linking Public Agencies With Community-Based Watershed Organizations: Lessons From California

Watershed organizations routinely seek to influence public agencies and sometimes also depend on them for financial and technical assistance. For some agencies this relationship is strained and problematic. Watershed organizations tend to develop closer working relationships with decentralized and locally responsive agencies, like the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Centralized and unresponsive agencies, like the Forest Service, tend to be unreliable partners. Ironically, the same characteristics that once led to accusations that the BLM was captured by local stakeholders such as ranchers have allowed BLM officials to reorient themselves in the 1990s to become responsive to watershed organizations, which currently are favored by grass-roots environmentalists. This paper examines these relationships through a case study from California, where state and federal agencies designed and partially implemented a public/private strategy to preserve biodiversity. The strategy was a curious hybrid of top-down planning and bottom-up implementation. Although orchestrated primarily by the BLM, the strategy was implemented initially in a region of the state where the Forest Service predominated. The case study, therefore, highlights some of the fundamental tensions underlying the relationship between watershed organizations and public agencies.     

Scenarios of climate change and natural resource development: Complexity and uncertainty in the Nechako Watershed

Climate change and resource development interact to have significant impacts on both natural and human systems within watersheds. It is, however, difficult to conceptualize and communicate these intersections, as climate change and resource development are each independently uncertain and complex. We facilitated a process whereby stakeholders created plausible future scenarios for the Nechako Watershed in British Columbia, Canada. This region is reliant upon, and has been significantly affected by, many types of resource exploitation. During a full-day workshop, 32 stakeholders created scenarios for 2050 envisioning high and low levels of both resource development and climate change. The high and low levels of climate change were based on downscaled projections from global emissions scenarios, and the resource development levels were determined at the beginning of the workshop by the participants. The exercise was educational, and motivated stakeholders to conceptualize plausible future changes and their impacts, and the outcomes should motivate stakeholders to work towards realizing a more desired future. All scenarios (even low-low) were deemed to have significant negative impacts, suggesting that the Nechako Watershed is in a vulnerable state. The complexity of the exercise suggests that more capacity building may be necessary.     

Scaling up Participatory Watershed Development in India

‘Participation’ is widely accepted as a prerequisite to successful watershed development in India, but there is no shared understanding of its meaning, nor of how to make it operational. Meaningful participation, in which communities work collectively, help make decisions and share costs, is limited primarily to projects implemented by non‐governmental organizations (NGOs). Participation in government projects is more superficial because staff lack the skills and incentive to engage in meaningful participation. Strategies to scale up meaningful participation require a large number of NGOs. However, the number of NGOs with the necessary skills and values is limited, so a realistic strategy must seek to improve the capabilities and incentives of government agencies. Their performance may improve by making them accountable through transparent processes and participatory monitoring and evaluation. NGO‐facilitated access to information for communities can potentially change power relations and initiate political processes that make both community leaders and government agencies more accountable to communities.     

How Risk Perceptions Influence Evacuations from Hurricanes and Compliance with Government Directives

In this study we present evidence supporting the view that people's perceived risk of hurricane‐related hazards can be reduced to a single seriousness score that spans different hurricane‐induced risk types and that compliant behavior with official advisories is strongly dependent on whether one perceives a high risk with respect to any type of hurricane‐related hazards. Our analysis suggests that people are less sensitive to risk type than they are to the general seriousness of the risks. Using this single seriousness score, representing a composite risk measure, emergency managers can be informed about the severity of the public's risk perceptions to impending hurricane hazards and might better craft their public directives in ways that minimize disruptive evacuations and achieve greater compliance with government directives.     

论清末舆论放大现象的成因

清末舆论放大现象最为集中的体现是报刊发行量的飞速扩张;之二是舆论界自身定位为监督政府,并形成了强大的公共领域;之三是受众由以官吏为主转向以社会公众为主;之四是社会各阶层更加注重报刊舆论。至于舆论放大的成因,一是新闻界推行的白话运动,二是政府的引导与推动,三是政府与民间合力促成的讲报、阅报机构,综合催发清末的舆论放大效应。清朝政府对之未予正视,结果致使局势一发而不可收拾,王朝统治也随之荡然无存。     

公共危机治理主体的多元化及结构分析

政府失败理论、治理理论、利益相关者理论和协同理论为公共危机治理主体多元化提供了强有力的理论支撑。在多元主体结构中,政府是公共危机治理的主导力量,也是核心主体;民间组织是公共危机治理的重要力量,也是联系政府与公民的纽带;企业和公民是公共危机治理的基础;媒体是公共危机治理的重要媒介,也是政府与其他主体合作互助信息平台的主要搭建者。     

Public administration in the Australian Journal of Political Science: A review

This article reviews publications on public administration in the Australian Journal of Political Science (AJPS). A distinction needs to be drawn between public administration as a discipline and as a field of inquiry that engages specialists from several areas. The latter has been more significant in Australia in contrast to Europe and the United States. The questions discussed in the AJPS cover changes in the field and practice of public administration; the state and government; the structures of local government, public organisation and federalism; interfaces between public administration and other sectors and institutions; and issues with public sector reform and accountability. Despite the emphasis on governance in discourse and practice, the role of government continues to be central, and what emerges from experiments in new governance is that the authority of government and the significance of hierarchy (compared to markets and networks) very often remains pivotal.     

公共性旅游资源开发与保护的政府规制研究

公共性旅游资源的公益性特征决定了其既要注重资源配置效率,又要兼顾社会福利。目前公共性旅游资源在市场调节机制失灵的情况下,发挥资源保护职能的政府规制显得至关重要。本文运用政府规制理论,通过剖析政府在公共性旅游资源开发与保护中的重要作用以及目前存在的问题,探索性提出价格、进入、环境、税费和信息补偿方面的规制内容体系和管理体制、法律法规、监督约束机制方面的规制执行体系,以期有效实现公共性旅游资源的保护性目标和可持续利用。     

协同政府：背景、内涵与特征

行政环境和行政生态的变化导致了协同政府模式的产生。协同政府主要强调政府系统内部和政府系统与外界系统之间的协同合作关系。作为一种有效的政府治理模式,协同政府是具有强大公共事务治理能力的强政府,是能够提供优质高效公共服务的服务型政府,是具备现代信息技术的电子政府,是具有协同精神的合作政府。     

Rethinking American Public Policy: The Environment, Federalism, States, and Supranational Influences

The politics of American public policy recently have transformed in response to changing power relationships between levels of government in the United States. Certain policy choices now are made in different arenas–for example, state and local government institutions often make policy decisions that previously had been within the jurisdiction of America's national government. At the same time, new policy relationships between states also are altering previous political patterns. This article highlights and explains this phenomenon, and focuses particularly on the changing power relationships between levels of government in the United States–national, state, and local–and the resulting policies and politics. More specifically, it closely examines two 20th century innovations in government and public policymaking within the context of a discrete case study. One of these innovations is institutional–the rise of public authorities or public corporations as highly insulated, governmental entities. The other is procedural–the environmental impact statement process. Together, these innovations, in concert with broader international and global trends, have played a large role in the shifting power structure and politics underlying American public policymaking activities.     

THE MEDIAN VOTER,VOTING, AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYMENT*

ABSTRACT This paper provides an explanation for the level of local government employment by developing a median voter model that allows for migration into and out of the city, a local government balanced-budget constraint, and voting behavior by public employees that reflects their role as both demanders and suppliers of local government goods. Unlike previous research, the model developed here explicitly considers voting (for the incumbent) probability density functions which furthermore need not be stationary. The main conclusions of the model are that, ceteris paribus, it is plausible that the level of local government employment varies inversely with the public employee wage demand and with the elasticity of the privately employed voting population with respect to the local tax rate but directly with the voter participation rate of public employees. Contrary to previous theoretical research, there is no determinate relationship between the level of local government employment and the voter participation rate of privately employed citizens. Inferences concerning the structure of local government are also discussed.     

Public Goods and the Derivation of Land Value Assessment Schedules within a Spatial Equilibrium Setting

A method of mapping the classic economic public good into a spatial realm is identified. Within the spatial equilibrium land use model an ideal government distributes a public good; sets mill rates, assesses land, and collects property taxes; and maintains a balanced budget. Equilibrium is brought about within the household sector by the unfolding of the land value schedule both over space and in response to the public sector. The household and public sectors are mutually within a steady state when there is no excess demand or supply of public good. The model is extended to elucidate Tiebout's hypothesis that government activity is reflected in land values. Also, a criterion for judging fairness of the spatial equilibrium assessment schedule is presented and applied.     

Public Sector Relocation Policies in the UK and Ireland1

Public sector relocation from capital cities to reduce costs and ameliorate regional disparities has been a high profile but little researched government policy. The paper outlines the reasons for the growth of interest in public sector relocation in Europe, and then compares UK and Irish relocation policies. It argues there appears to be a good case for public sector relocation, but there is less agreement on the precise means whereby dispersal should be achieved. The paper highlights successful aspects of public sector relocation policies in the UK and Ireland and indicates areas for further research. Successful public sector dispersal depends on a willingness on the part of government to take a long-term view, and historical evidence suggests it is difficult to move senior posts from the capital.     

‘Unfortunate Jews’ and urban ugliness: crafting a narrative of the 1391 assault on the jueria of Valencia

On 9 July 1391, a mob assaulted the Jewish quarter of Valencia, killing and forcibly converting its inhabitants. This attack, one of many across Spain that summer, is much debated as a turning point in medieval Jewish history, but little attention has been paid to the role of the urban government. This article shows how the city council of Valencia shaped its narrative of the assault to further its goals for urban reform. In 1391, the Valencian council was in the midst of a reform initiative informed by the principles of Christian urban planning in Francesc Eiximenis’ Regiment de la cosa pública. The jueria was seen as an impediment to reform. The council’s retelling of the 1391 attack shifted responsibility onto the Jews and the jueria itself, considered a block to public order in the city. This laid the groundwork for the council’s solution: the removal of the jueria from Valencia.     

An investigation of cortical bone loss and fracture patterns in the neolithic community of Çatalhöyük,Turkey using metacarpal radiogrammetry

Bioarchaeologists have conducted numerous studies on human skeletal remains using metacarpal cortical bone radiogrammetry. This method allows cortical thickness of the second metacarpal to be quantified. As a sensitive index of bone health metacarpal cortical thickness is evaluated in the context of functional adaptations, growth, ageing and bone loss in osteoporosis, as well as used as a reliable indicator of fracture risk. The focus of this study is an examination of the widely used calculation that expresses second metacarpal cortical bone values, followed by an examination of age and sex-related patterns of cortical bone loss and skeletal fragility fracture in a Neolithic archaeological skeletal sample from Çatalhöyük, Turkey. Using metacarpal radiogrammetry, 49 adult metacarpals (f = 27 m = 22) were examined. Data were collected for size variables, length (L) and total bone width (TW) as well as quantity variables, medullary width (MW) and cortical thickness (CT). These parameters were then used to calculate the widely used cortical index (CI) and two new indices expressing medullary width and cortical bone thickness in relation to length (medullary width index, MWI and cortical thickness index, CTI). The ratios were then used to explore age- and sex-related cortical bone loss and fragility fracture patterns amongst the inhabitants of Çatalhöyük. Çatalhöyük males and females demonstrate an inverse relationship where CTI decreases as age and MWI increase. Analyses indicate statistically significant age-related change in MWI amongst the oldest females. Despite age-related loss of bone, no typical fragility fractures are observed. We discuss the role of ageing and lifestyle factors at Çatalhöyük that may have been beneficial to skeletal health and a reduction in the risk of fragility fracture.     

Twilight Institutions: Public Authority and Local Politics in Africa

Public authority does not always fall within the exclusive realm of government institutions; in some contexts, institutional competition is intense and a range of ostensibly a‐political situations become actively politicized. Africa has no shortage of institutions which attempt to exercise public authority: not only are multiple layers and branches of government institutions present and active to various degrees, but so‐called traditional institutions bolstered by government recognition also vie for public authority, and new emerging institutions and organizations also enter the field. The practices of these institutions make concepts such as public authority, legitimacy, belonging, citizenship and territory highly relevant. This article proposes an analytical strategy for the understanding of public authority in such contexts. It draws on research from anthropologists, geographers, political scientists and social scientists working on Africa, in an attempt to explore a set of questions related to a variety of political practices and their institutional ramifications.     

Integrating Technical Analysis With Deliberation in Regional Watershed Management Planning: Applying the National Research Council Approach

This paper suggests that applications of watershed management planning would benefit from a theoretical consideration of the policymaking process. A conceptual schema from the field of risk analysis proposes that policymaking be conceived of as a combination of two types of activities: analysis and deliberation. We argue that these concepts are relevant to watershed management planning and we illustrate how a process successfully might integrate both kinds of activities into an iterative, participatory process that is informed competently with relevant knowledge and that promotes learning.     

Bridging the Gap: Hong Kong Senior Civil Servants and the 1966 Riots

The 1966 Hong Kong riots were the trigger for wide-ranging changes in relationships between the government and the public which shaped the political future of the colony. However, it is not immediately clear why a relatively small-scale disturbance which was quickly contained should have had such a considerable impact. The explanation, it is argued, lies in a confluence of factors. The riots were the first to be specifically concerned with events in Hong Kong rather than in China and therefore required attention to local causes; urban councillors were demanding more electoral representation and devolution of government functions to the Council; the Commission of Inquiry into the riots held public meetings raising political awareness; and reforming senior civil servants saw the riots as an opportunity for change. Because there was antipathy within government towards elections and to any devolution of functions, the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry were given priority, resulting in administrative rather than public policy or electoral solutions, a decision which retarded the development of democracy.     

Leviathan vs. Lilliputian: A Data Envelopment Analysis of Government Efficiency

In this paper we present a new approach to measuring government efficiency, based on the theory that communities that allocate resources efficiently in the local public sector maximize property values. We use Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to identify the counties in Minnesota that are characterized by property-value maximization and hence an efficient public sector. The results indicate that the dominant source of public sector inefficiency is an inappropriate scale of operations. It appears that some county jurisdictions are too large to service the population efficiently. The size and concentration of government power are also responsible in part for observed inefficiencies.     

THE CAPITAL AND THE CAMPUS—EACH IN ITS PROPER PLACE

A tension exists between government and the academy. State and federal agencies demand that colleges and universities demonstrate their accountability for public funds and to public policy initiatives. The campuses hold that such requirements have come to represent an inappropriate intrusion into institutional affairs and that they present a serious challenge to academic freedom. While a reduction and redirection of regulation may serve the colleges veil, a review of history indicates that the important developments in higher education have occurred during periods of government involvement. Perhaps, then, the real fear that should be felt on campus is the- recent trend of government disinterest in higher education.