Meeting Agendas

Collection of meeting agendas for the U.S. Secretary of Labor\u27s Task Force on Excellence in State and Local Government Through Labor-Management Cooperation (1994-1996)

Letters from Executive Director Jonathan Brock

Collection of letters from Jonathan Broch, the Executive Director of the U.S. Secretary of Labor\u27s Task Force on Excellence in State and Local Government Through Labor-Management Cooperation

Report Finds Labor Management Cooperation Critical To State and Local Government Success

News release announcing the final report of the U.S. Secretary of Labor\u27s Task Force on Excellence in State and Local Government Through Labor-Management Cooperation

The Management of Local Government Apparatus Resource Based on Job and Workload Analysis

This Papers focus on Job analysis as the basis of human resource system. It is describe about the job and workload and also the obstacles that are perhaps to observe during the work, and to supply all of activities of human resource management in the organization. Workload analysis is a process to decide the sum of time required to finish a specific job. The result of job and workload analysis goals to determine the number of employees needed in correspond to some specific workload and responsibilities given to an employee (the right man on the right place)

DECENTRALIZATION AND LOCAL AUTONOMY - LOCAL PUBLIC MANAGEMENT DEFINING PRINCIPLES

In the context of multiplication and diversification of the requirements andsocial needs, public administration, together with its authorities needs to operate throughits entire activity to meet and resolve, under the best conditions, the public requirementsand issues. Only by implementing the principles and the rules governing this matter andunder the conditions in which the government deals with public affairs in an immediateand operational manner, efficiency will be ensured in meeting all interests, be theycentral or local. Constitutional principles, decentralization and local autonomy govern andunderlie the formation, organization and functioning of local government, ensuring theinterests and meet local needs, in concordance with the specifics of each administrative-territorial unit. Recognizing the legal personality of the administrative-territorial units and theirright to self administrate in order to satisfy their own needs, the principle ofdecentralization and local autonomy gives the local government the mission to identifyand to implement the optimal solutions for solving specific local administrative problems,and on behalf of the local interests which they represent. On the background of those exposed in the paper, analyzing the principles ofdecentralization and local autonomy, we can say that the exercise of this latter principleis possible only in the presence of the former, the basis for decentralization being theidea of local autonomy.local public management, public administration, decentralization, local autonomy,administrative-territorial units

Local institutions and Natural Resource Management

As researchers and policy-makers confront the challenges of and opportunities for improving natural resource management, increasing attention is being given to the dynamics of coupled natural-human systems. Interdisciplinary study of these coupled systems has generated considerable research and management innovations. Among these are more intensive research of the emergence and behavior of local institutions and consideration of the potential for voluntary and/or collaborative approaches to supplement conventional natural resource policy and management approaches. Front and center in this line of research are studies of local institutional responses to common pool resource management issues. Over time, this productive line of research is encouraging greater integration of insights across social science fields and identification of systematic patterns in research findings. Responding to such encouragement, this research blends insights from collective action theory, institutional rational choice and the institutional analysis and development (IAD) framework to investigate the distribution and success of resource-based organizations. Moreover, our research makes a unique contribution to this literature by considering the spatial aspects of these institutions' formation, behavior and success. Lake associations are an interesting class of resource-based organizations. These local, lake-centered institutions strive to address management issues using informal and voluntary strategies. Lake associations are most common in lake-rich states, including Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, New York, New Hampshire and Maine. The objectives of these groups vary from narrow (private road maintenance) to broad (watershed health). These organizations allow for lake-centered boundaries including multiple jurisdictions, provide a voice to seasonal property owners, and resolve some issues related to coordination, property rights, and transaction costs. The numerous and diverse lake associations of Maine are the focus of our empirical work. The primary research objective of this analysis is to develop an integrated empirical modeling framework of lake association presence and lake management success. To fulfill this objective, we examined the relative performance of empirical econometric models that ignore and address potential sample selection bias. Because we only observe measures of lake association management success on lakes that have a lake association, the sample is non-random. In our empirical work, entry into the lake association management success sample is further complicated by our reliance on survey data to describe management behavior and performance. A broad secondary research objective is to continue exploring the extent to which the Institutional Development Analysis (IAD) framework can be used to explain the distribution and behavior of Maine lake associations. We assembled an extensive spatial database describing natural and human features of 2,602 Maine lakes (Maine's great ponds; > 10 acres in size) to support this analysis. We integrated this extensive database with a smaller survey-based database describing lake association behavior and natural resource management success. Data describing the distribution and success of lake associations were drawn from non-government organization, federal and state agency databases and primary survey data collected to describe social and economic characteristics of Maine lakes. We captured additional lake and association attributes by manipulating various state and federal GIS databases and creating primary spatial databases. Results to date reveal support for the IAD theoretical framework in describing factors influencing the presence of lake associations. These results offer guidance on how to better integrate the informal approaches of local institutions with more formal, regional government-based management approaches. By understanding where local institutions are likely to form and what issues they are best suited to address, state and federal government agencies can better work with local organizations to address the complexities of natural resource management. Results explaining variation in natural resource management success and the potential gains from an integrated model of presence and success are less robust and are constrained by limited available data describing management behavior and success.local institutions, natural resource management, institutional economics, lake associations, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Task Force Mission Statement

The economic success of our Nation, as well as the social well-being of its citizens, depend, in large measure, on the essential services and infrastructure provided by state and local government. The imperative to compete in an increasingly worldwide economy and to respond to increasing societal demands requires that governments at all levels perform in a timely and cost-effective manner. It is essential that public management and organizations of their employees work together in order to respond effectively to these fundamental needs. To this end, the Secretary of Labor has established a Task Force on Excellence in State and Local Government through Labor-Management Cooperation

Community-based participatory irrigation management at local government level in Ghana

Ghana has attempted to decentralise the management of irrigation schemes to communities at local government level. This study examines the existing local participatory management structures and the principles of the Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) strategy designed to promote sustainable management of irrigation schemes in Ghana. Two community-based irrigation projects, Bontanga and Golinga in the Northern Region of Ghana were selected for the research. The study demonstrated that farmers’ participation was minimal and limited to the discussion of irrigation service charges at the expense of other issues related to the sustainability of the projects/schemes. The study also established that there was less participation of women, and more than half of all the crop farmers on the two irrigation projects were reluctant to assume additional responsibilities without remuneration. The study therefore concluded that the sustainability of the PIM strategy depends on the adoption of an integrated management approach involving all stakeholders including local government, with appropriate incentives