Reforming Local Government Policymaking and Management Through Organizational Learning and Experimentation

This article presents two ongoing programs of local government reform in Norway, the Free Commune Program and the Pilot Commune Program. These programs are fairly typical of thinking on local government development in the Nordic countries at the moment. On the one hand, the welfare states are seen as being in danger of becoming overloaded. On the other hand, local government is seen as being in need of developing a capacity to respond better to local communities; consequently, national regulations have to become less standardized in order to allow for greater local adaptability and more variation. The emergent municipal organizational models reflect a more community-oriented approach to local government and a deemphasis on local governments as distributive channels for central ministries. A New Nordic Welfare Model is emerging with more emphasis on local initiatives.     

Creativity,Culture and Urban Strategies: A Fallacy in Cultural Urban Strategies

Two fields of knowledge have been of special importance for the emergence of culture-led urban planning in Norwegian cities: one concerns the understanding of the potential of culture as an economic driving force in urban regeneration, while the other focuses on the emergence of the concept of the “creative class” and has drawn attention to the importance of competence and creativity in urban development. Despite clear connections between the two fields, it may appear that false connections have been made in regeneration strategies in a number of cities. Based on analyses of the culture-led urban strategy of Kristiansand, a small Norwegian city, these knowledge fields are discussed and it is claimed that there seems to be a fallacy in how they are treated in the culture-led urban strategy. The fallacy concerns the way that creativity is equated with culture and further how theories about the emergence of the creative class are equated with a culture industry approach to urban planning. Questions are raised about the potential of culture industry strategies and it is argued that the potential for growth in small cities may not be as great as the public debate and research conducted in large metropolises might suggest.     

'Going Local in a Global World': Locating the Public and Evaluating the Synchronic Context in Archaeological Resource Management

Abstract

Locating, and effectively engaging with, the public is part of the discussions that have taken place in the last two decades of archaeological resource management, within the context of changing post-colonial, 'ethically correct', democratic and indigenous-orientated perceptions. This article briefly reviews this wide area of thinking, examining an alternative methodology for locating and engaging with the public based on the notion of 'local', before presenting some results from the island communities of the Aegean.     

Dynamic and Flexible Aspects of Land and Marine Tenure at West Nggela: Implications for Marine Resource Management

At West Nggela, access to high value marine invertebrate stocks is controlled by consanguineal corporate groups holding primary rights (which include rights of exclusion) over reefs bearing these stocks. Disputes over primary rights appear to result in a breakdown in management practices, resulting in overfishing and severe depletion of stocks. An understanding of the common causes of disputes is therefore of considerable importance to marine resource management, and development, in this region. This paper outlines first the essential, or ‘ideal’, processes of descent reckoning and property transfer that underpin the Customary Marine Tenure (CMT) system at West Nggela as they are presented to ‘outsiders’ such as government officials and anthropologists. It then deals with some of the many exceptions to this norm, and the ways these variations can contribute to disputes over primary rights to property. The pressures of economic development, and the resultant commodification of resources and property, in our view catalyse the conflict between the ideal, simplified model and the complexity of actual praxis in respect to property rights. Recent dramatic increases in the perceived value of many properties as a result of proposed lucrative developments may underlie present day conflicts which in the past would not have arisen. Examples are drawn from interview data as well as case studies of two formal property disputes which were heard in local courts at West Nggela in 1995.     

Smart Growth Policy Choice: A Resource Dependency and Local Governance Explanation

Smart growth is a planning and land use policy objective that generally focuses on where development should occur and how best to protect natural resources. What explains the adoption of smart growth policy by local government? This study focuses on a cooperative intergovernmental program that seeks to enhance local government abilities to work toward achieving state goals on sustainability. Extant research suggests that local interest group preferences shape policy decisions. However, much of the evidence on the influence of local interest groups on smart growth policy is presented within the coercive intergovernmental context. This article argues that resource dependency influences local decisions in pursuing a smart growth agenda when state incentives are provided. The findings suggest that fiscal capacity and the characteristics of local governing institutions are significant predictors in the decision to take part in an intergovernmental program. Business and neighborhood interest groups have a significant effect on policy adoption, as do local characteristics depending on the smart growth functional area.     

论巴蜀文化虎纹戈的类型和族属

虎纹戈是巴蜀青铜兵器的重要种类。通过对这些虎纹戈形制及纹饰两方面的类型学研究以及时代的推断,可以发现其发展演变的大致过程。从化族属上讲,四川地区发现的虎纹戈主要为巴戈,是巴化的组成部分。巴戈上的虎纹与巴人崇虎有着内在的联系。     

Governing Regional Development Through Culture and Creativity: The Case of the Veneto Region

This article has adopted a focus on culture and creativity in order to reflect on existing policies for the governance of large polycentric territories. Two trends, namely the increasing importance of regions in the urban planning field of study and culture as a strategic factor for territorial development, are combined to see how culture can be used as a strategic element within processes of regional development. Culture-led strategies are found to be instrumental to regional development, especially in territories undergoing a moment of inertia. The case of the Veneto Region shows that this momentum has now evidently also arrived in Italy. At a time in which the whole country is experiencing economic crisis, the Veneto region seems to be trapped in a transition stage between its successful past and the uncertainty of these days. While the Regione del Veneto is only somewhat trying to include culture and creativity in its official regional planning documents, some bottom-up initiatives have highlighted culture as a strategic factor for governing large territories and for their all-embracing development. In this context, culture and creativity can be seen as tools for governing territories that do not follow the policy orientation given by Regione del Veneto, but rather have a new understanding of regional governance taken forward by the private sector working together with the local administrations.     

The Systematisation of Tradition: Maori Culture as a Strategic Resource

In this article I discuss the systematisation of Maori tradition in New Zealand during the 1970s and 1980s. More particularly, my focus is on the politicisation and rationalisation of Maori tradition within the New Zealand state, these processes occurring partly in response to calls by Maori leaders for a dismantling of colonial and monocultural structures in New Zealand and reactive objectifications of Maori tradition which challenged the legitimacy of the post-colonial state administration. I begin with a consideration of the main objectives towards which the systematisation of tradition has been directed over the past two decades, and I examine the way in which priorities have shifted in response to reactive politicisations of ethnic identity. I then draw upon a number of specific examples to illustrate the ethnicisation and rationalisation of Maori tradition as aspects of the systematisation process within the New Zealand state.     

Planning and the Culture of Governance: Local Institutions and Reform in France

Legislation introducing major reform of the French planning system is now 6 years old. It was intentionally seen as part of a trio of reforming statutes that linked spatial planning to institutional reform of local government. Taking as its starting point, the idea that planning is inevitably an embedded activity, it explores the relationship between institutional reform and the reform of planning in France generally, and then more specifically in the Région urbaine de Lyon. It concludes that the search for greater simplicity and clarity is not borne out by results on the ground. The French case demonstrates that the success or failure of planning reform is intimately linked to the nature of local government.     

论方志政治文化与泛政治化

方S的核心价值是资政。古方志是方国之志,是王国统治方国政治文化的需要。方志是介于政治与文化之间的政治文化现象。新方志必须体现社会主义核心价值,坚持正确的政治文化方向,坚持马克思主义历史观,弘扬爱国主义和时代精神,树立社会主义荣辱观,坚持文化“二为”方向和‘‘双百’’方针,方志工作应加强公益性文化建设,建立健全方志文化传承体系。既要坚持政治文化方向,又不能将非政治问题“政治化”,要正确处理政治文化与泛政治化矛盾,规范化编篡志书。     

Unwrapping the Parcel: an Examination of Culture Through Italian Australian Home Ownership

Critics of multiculturalism have revealed the limiting notion of culture within Australia's multicultural policy. Culture is not transported, but is constantly in process. Culture is (re)developed in the process of migration and settlement, and it is structured by broader economic and political forces. An examination of Italian Australian migrant experiences of family homes in Italy, and accommodation on arrival, shows what such a culture looks like and adds to explanations for Italian Australian rates of ownership.     

West African Perspective of the World Archaeological Congress: Challenges and Aspirations

This paper looks at how the West African region was involved in the early history and formulation of the World Archaeological Congress. In particular, it describes events around the 9th Congress of the Pan-African Association of Prehistory and Related Studies, held in Jos, Nigeria, in 1983. The question of apartheid South Africa came up in the plenary session of that meting. A resolution was adopted condemning apartheid, and calling for the cessation of all contacts with South African institutions, and for the censure of colleagues and institutions maintaining links with South Africa. This later became the core of the WAC approach to South Africa, adopted by the organizers of the Southampton Congress. Looking ahead, formidable obstacles remain for West African archaeology, many of them structural in nature. Punitive visa requirements, currency crises and the scarcity of resources all prevent West African scholars from participating fully in global scholarship.     

新闻媒体人力资源管理现状与改革

人力资源管理的水平和效率是新闻媒体生存和发展的关键。近年来,伴随着我国新闻媒体企业化改革的不断深化、市场化运作模式的逐步形成,新闻媒体人力资源管理中存在的问题与漏洞逐渐显现出来,一定程度上影响了新闻媒体的正常运行,而且,上述问题的存在,造成了新闻报道中“负面报道”的现象与问题不断出现。这不但致使得媒体的新闻报道没有坚持“正确舆论导向”原则,偏离了党对新闻媒体的基本要求,也致使整个社会对新闻媒体形成了不良的印象。因此,我国新闻媒体人力资源管理改革势在必行。     

志鉴类学术期刊资源及其影响力分析

本文通过对CNKI所收录的志鉴类学术期刊文献被引用频次、被引用文献作者、被引用文献选题等统计分析,探讨志鉴类专业贡献突出的作者和文献、研究热点以及期刊学术影响力等问题。     

方志文化发展改革浅探

近年来,方志文化研究论述焦点主要是从大文化视野看方志的文化属性,从软实力角度看方志的文化功能,从创新思路谈方志文化的开发利用。方志文化发展要以修志编鉴为主业,又好又快多出以志书年鉴为主打、多元化的方志文化产品;以改革创新为动力,全方位推进方志文化建设;以开放促发展,加强方志界的对外文化交流。