Disentangling Double Politikverflechtung? The implications of the federal reforms for Bund-Länder relations on Europe

The recent reforms of German federalism (Reform I) have established a new framework for Bund–Länder co-operation on EU policy. These seek to safeguard Germany's ability to co-operate in Europe by disentangling the joint roles and responsibilities bound up within the complex arrangements of the EU policy-making system, defined as a multiple framework of joint decisions, or doppelte Politikverflechtung. Whilst on the surface, the reforms enacted may be read as a success for the Länder in their bid to secure autonomy on European issues, closer analysis reveals that these changes may in fact hamper the Länder agenda on European issues, closing off new opportunities for influence.

Germany at a crossroads:the gathering crisis sharpens

In our book, The Gathering Crisis: The 2005 Federal Election and the Grand Coalition (Miskimmon et al, 2009), we argued that the German political and economic systems faced a number of serious challenges. The resource crunch in public finances has been particularly problematic in a country used to consensus politics- money had previously been used to oil the wheels of German federalism (and European integration). In the light of recent events- the global financial crisis, the Eurozone crisis, the 2009 federal election- we claim that the crisis in the German political economy has sharpened. The task of Angela Merkel and subsequent chancellors will be to navigate the new era, ensuring that Germany remains a leading political and economic power in the European Union and beyond. © 2010 Macmillan Publishers Ltd.

Farewell, welfare state – hello, welfare regions? Chances and constraints of welfare management in the German federal system

The German welfare state is in crisis. Alarming long-term demographic trends, the still not fully digested consequences of German unification and the current economic downturn in much of the Eurozone have combined to create an urgent need for welfare reform. Yet the constitutional arrangements which govern the German political system, and well-entrenched political practice, mean that any such reform process is a daunting challenge. Thus, the welfare crisis is also a crisis of German-style co-operative federalism. Current empirical evidence makes for uncomfortable reading, and triggers debate on the nature of the German federation: have the two constitutional principles of federalism and establishing equal living conditions throughout the federation become mutually exclusive? However, as much of the welfare state is centred on the best utilisation of scarce financial resources, it is debatable to what extent alterations in the functional distribution of welfare responsibilities among the territorial levels of government can be regarded as a solution for the current problems. The article concludes that in the search for long-term sustainability of the welfare state the territorial dimension is likely to remain a secondary issue.

Introduction of soft budget constraint as an analyzing tool into public management. The case of the Hungarian public administration reform

Public management reforms are usually underpinned by arguments that they will make the public administration system more effective and efficient. In practice, however, it is very hard to determine whether a given reform will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the public administration system in the long run. Here, I shall examine how the concept of the soft budget constraint (SBC) introduced by János Kornai (Kornai 1979, 1986; Kornai, Maskin & Roland 2003) can be applied to this problem. In the following, I shall describe the Hungarian public administration reforms implemented by the Orbán government from 2010 onward and analyze its reforms, focusing on which measures harden and which ones soften the budget constraint of the actors of the Hungarian public administration system. In the literature of economics, there is some evidence-based knowledge on how to harden/soften the budget constraint, which improves/reduces the effectiveness and hence the efficiency of the given system. By using the concept of SBC, I also hope to shed some light on the rationale behind the Hungarian government’s introduction of such a contradictory reform package. Previously, the concept of SBC was utilized narrowly in public management studies, mostly in the field of fiscal federalism. My goal is to apply the concept to a broader area of public management studies. My conclusion is that the concept of SBC can significantly contribute to public management studies by deepening our knowledge on the reasons behind the success and failure of public administration reforms.

The usefulness and appropriateness of a federalist perspective as a theoretical construct for the study of government and civics at the secondary level

This dissertation is the formulation of an argument for the incorporation of a liberated federalism perspective as the foundational theoretical construct for the teaching and study of American government and civics at the secondary level. The argument asserts that the history of the nation, in terms of its basic view of government, has developed from a traditional federalist view to a natural rights view. Instruction of government and politics has paralleled that development. The argument further asserts that the current dependence on the natural rights perspective has contributed and helped legitimize, however unintentionally, the excessive levels of individualism, self-absorption, and uncivil behavior that is being experienced in our society today.^ The argumentation follows the dialectic form presented by Hegel of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. That is, the thesis argues that the traditional federalist perspective would serve as a viable construct for the teaching of government and civics. In this portion of the argument, the republican model of political reality is presented. The antithesis promotes the natural rights perspective and relies on the political systems model for its theoretical approach. Finally, the synthesis argues that a liberated federalism perspective should be the foundational construct. Here, the argument presents its own model as a theoretical construct that is designed to assist teachers and curriculum materials writers in the development of American government and civics lessons and materials. ^

Savages into citizens: Families, political purge, and reconciliation in Cordoba, Argentina, 1820--1862

This dissertation explores the political exclusion and reintegration of families and individuals in Córdoba, Argentina during the early nineteenth-century. Part one is an examination of how Federals in Córdoba managed the process of political identification and purge. Federals set up ad hoc institutions that were responsible for targeting political subversives within provincial communities. From 1831 to 1852, Federals managed to target, or “classify,” over 400 individuals and families in various towns and villages as “savage Unitarians,” a political label that meant the certain loss of rights, property, exile, and worse. Federals also sought active participation among “citizens” from all levels of society. Thus, I argue that the process of correctly identifying a “savage Unitarian” in Córdoba was constantly subject to modification at the local level. I also reconstruct the stories of accused families as they struggled to survive the political purges. Many of the families were large landowners and wealthy merchants, confirming that early republican Argentine political struggles were often intra-elite affairs. However, the “classified” individuals and families also represented a variety of socio-economic, ethnic, and racial groups. ^ The second part of this study focuses on families who petitioned Federal authorities for the restitution of rights and property. They proclaimed their loyalty to the “Federal cause,” and often, they had friends and family who could vouch for their claims. These petitions forced Federal authorities to doubt the precision of political identification and re-think how the ideology of Federalism was defined. Authorities granted most requests for repatriation, thereby creating a process of reintegration that included amnesty and restitution. Yet, this system failed to repair the psychological, emotional, materials, and political effects of political purge. Conflicts between society and state led to numerous misunderstandings about what restitution, justice, and reconciliation meant. The new regime's leaders more often denied restitution claims to formerly accused families and individuals, demonstrating that the journey from “savage” to citizen left an indelible imprint on family life in mid-nineteenth century Argentina. ^

Fiscal decentralization and development: An analysis of city governments in Argentina and Mexico, 1980--2010

This dissertation examines local governments' efforts to promote economic development in Latin America. The research uses a mixed method to explore how cities make decisions to innovate, develop, and finance economic development programs. First, this study provides a comparative analysis of decentralization policies in Argentina and Mexico as a means to gain a better understanding of the degree of autonomy exercised by local governments. Then, it analyzes three local governments each within the province of Santa Fe, Argentina and the State of Guanajuato, Mexico. The principal hypothesis of this dissertation is that if local governments collect more own-source tax revenue, they are more likely to promote economic development and thus, in turn, promote growth for their region. ^ By examining six cities, three of which are in Santa Fe—Rosario, Santa Fe (capital) and Rafaela—and three in Guanajuato—Leon, Guanajuato (capital) and San Miguel de Allende, this dissertation provides a better understanding of public finances and tax collection efforts of local governments in Latin America. Specific attention is paid to each city's budget authority to raise new revenue and efforts to promote economic development. The research also includes a large statistical dataset of Mexico's 2,454 municipalities and a regression analysis that evaluates local tax efforts on economic growth, controlling for population, territorial size, and the professional development. In order to generalize these results, the research tests these discoveries by using statistical data gathered from a survey administered to Latin American municipal officials. ^ The dissertation demonstrates that cities, which experience greater fiscal autonomy measured by the collection of more own-source revenue, are better able to stimulate effective economic development programs, and ultimately, create jobs within their communities. The results are bolstered by a large number of interviews, which were conducted with over 100 finance specialists, municipal presidents, and local authorities. The dissertation also includes an in-depth literature review on fiscal federalism, decentralization, debt financing and local development. It concludes with a discussion of the findings of the study and applications for the practice of public administration.^

Selection and passage of county land preservation voter referendum: The role of government

County jurisdictions in America are increasingly exercising self-government in the provision of public community services through the context of second order federalism. In states exercising this form of contemporary governance, county governments with "reformed" policy-making structures and professional management practices, have begun to rival or surpass municipalities in the delivery of local services with regional implications such as environmental protection (Benton 2002, 2003; Marando and Reeves, 1993). ^ The voter referendum, a form of direct democracy, is an important component of county land preservation and environmental protection governmental policies. The recent growth and success of land preservation voter referendums nationwide reflects an increase in citizen participation in government and their desire to protect vacant land and its natural environment from threats of over-development, urbanization and sprawl, loss of open space and farmland, deterioration of ecosystems, and inadequate park and recreational amenities. ^ The study's design employs a sequential, mixed method. First, a quantitative approach employs the Heckman two-step model. It is fitted with variables for the non-random sample of 227 voter referendum counties and all non-voter referendum counties in the U.S. from 1988 to 2009. Second, the qualitative data collected from the in-depth investigation of three South Florida county case studies with twelve public administrator interviews is transformed for integration with the quantitative findings. The purpose of the qualitative method is to complement, explain and enrich the statistical analysis of county demographic, socio-economic, terrain, regional, governance and government, political preference, environmentalism, and referendum-specific factors. ^ The research finds that government factors are significant in terms of the success of land preservation voter referendums; more specifically, the presence of self-government authority (home rule charter), a reformed structure (county administrator/manager or elected executive), and environmental interest groups. In addition, this study concludes that successful counties are often located coastal, exhibit population and housing growth, and have older and more educated citizens who vote democratic in presidential elections. The analysis of case study documents and public administrator interviews finds that pragmatic considerations of timing, local politics and networking of regional stakeholders are also important features of success. Further research is suggested utilizing additional public participation, local government and public administration factors.^

Predicting success or failure of tax -base revenue sharing attempts: A comparative analysis

To promote regional or mutual improvement, numerous interjurisdictional efforts to share tax bases have been attempted. Most of these efforts fail to be consummated. Motivations to share revenues include: narrowing fiscal disparities, enhancing regional cooperation and economic development, rationalizing land-use, and minimizing revenue losses caused by competition to attract and keep businesses. Various researchers have developed theories to aid understanding of why interjurisdictional cooperation efforts succeed or fail. Walter Rosenbaum and Gladys Kammerer studied two contemporaneous Florida local-government consolidation attempts. Boyd Messinger subsequently tested their Theory of Successful Consolidation on nine consolidation attempts. Paul Peterson's dual theories on Modern Federalism posit that all governmental levels attempt to further economic development and that politicians act in ways that either further their futures or cement job security. Actions related to the latter theory often interfere with the former. Samuel Nunn and Mark Rosentraub sought to learn how interjurisdictional cooperation evolves. Through multiple case studies they developed a model framing interjurisdictional cooperation in four dimensions. ^ This dissertation investigates the ability of the above theories to help predict success or failure of regional tax-base revenue sharing attempts. A research plan was formed that used five sequenced steps to gather data, analyze it, and conclude if hypotheses concerning the application of these theories were valid. The primary analytical tools were: multiple case studies, cross-case analysis, and pattern matching. Data was gathered from historical records, questionnaires, and interviews. ^ The results of this research indicate that Rosenbaum-Kammerer theory can be a predictor of success or failure in implementing tax-base revenue sharing if it is amended as suggested by Messinger and further modified by a recommendation in this dissertation. Peterson's Functional and Legislative theories considered together were able to predict revenue sharing proposal outcomes. Many of the indicators of interjurisdictional cooperation forwarded in the Nunn-Rosentraub model appeared in the cases studied, but the model was not a reliable forecasting instrument. ^

Papel do município e relações federativas: atuação de municípios cearenses nas políticas de formação continuada de alfabetizadores

The investigation analyze s the role of the municipalities in the ongoing development of literacy teachers, having as a field of study the municipalities of Jaguaruana and Palhano, both in the State of Ceará. The political - educational space adopted as a sample of the study is the p eriod between the years 2003 and 2006, when the emphasis on cooperative action among the federated entities is observed in the Government’s guidelines and Brazilian educational policies, showing the municipal presence in the implementation and execution of these policies. T he historical - dialectical materialistic perspective, understood as an analysis of the social reality as historical elaboration and product of the human praxis, is expressed as the required theoretical - methodological path. The investigatio n is operationalized through interconnected stages: one that involves bibliographical and documental analysis, in which the theoretical input of the research is added, as well as the Federal, State and M unicipal documents accessed ; and another, regarding t he field work, studying the specific character of the object and its mutual rela tionships in the municipalities . The research brings the notion of intergovernmental relationships and cooperative mechanisms as central theoretical tools and, dialoguing with them, ideas such as decentralization, municipalization and municipal autonomy are inserted into a theoretical/practical body, through which the historical and logical aspects of the object are detailed. The study describes and interprets the policies of on going development of literacy teachers with focus on the national guidelines formulated since the 1990’s and on the govern mental incorporation in the national and subnational spaces. In this sense, the analysis is based on the comprehension of the interrel ationship between the municipal policies and the p olicies created by the S tate or Federal G overnments in order to offer ongoing development of literacy teachers. Considering the investigated sample, it shows how the municipal role and the relationships bet ween the State and municipalities of Ceará have emerged, as well as their characteristics regarding the education management policies, taking into account the practices of municipalization and cooperation between the State and municipalities in their histo rical composition. It shows the practices which aim at the ongoing development of literacy teachers observed in the researched municipalities, pointing out the realities and specific marks left by municipal presence in the area, demonstrating the assigned role and the role played. Based on the points of view of the managers interviewed in the municipalities of Jaguaruana e Palhano, it is possible to note the meaning and effectiveness of the policies carried out. With such elements, it discusses the municipa l asymmetries in their homogeneities and heterogeneities rega rding the execution of their federative role. The analysis shows that th e role of the municipalities vary according to the historical, political and social interventions in each municipality. In the fields of formulation and execution of educational policies, the actions of the municipal governments, situated and with expressive interferences, reveal asymmetries in the sense that some municipalities have bigger autonomy and participate more effect ively in the production and distribution of policies than others. In terms of the researched realities, the study shows that taking care of the policies of ongoing development of literacy teachers is not a task that should be assigned exclusively to the mu nicipalities, nonetheless it is a role that they play with varying degrees of success. This role is in fact a joint competence of the federated entities, in the scope the Brazilian cooperative federalism.

Do papel atribuído ao papel exercido: a política de formação continuada de alfabetizadores em municípios cearenses

The paper is about the role played by the municipalities in the literacy teacher continuing education policies. It is a research conducted in Ceará municipalities, Brazil, having the period between 2003 and 2006 as a contextual sample. The study brings the notion of intergovernmental relations and cooperative mechanisms as theoretical and central tools and, through interrelated stages of bibliographical and document analysis as well as fieldwork, it is carried out the analysis of the interrelation between the municipal policies and the policies developed by the Federal and/or State Government for literacy teacher continuing education. The research reveals that in the field of the realities examined taking care of the literacy teacher continuing education policies is not an exclusive municipal role, but it is a common competence of the federated entities within the Brazilian cooperative federalism.

A gestão educacional das secretarias municipais de educação de municípios maranhenses a partir do plano de ações articuladas 2007-2011

The main purpose of this thesis was to analyze educational management of Municipal Departments of Education (SEMED’s) of cities in Maranhão inserted in the Plan of Articulated Actions (2007- 2011). We evidence the role of Union in that public policy. The leading argument is that Brazilian federal government is not demos constraining in relation to its national sub-governments, what makes the central government to enforce, primarily, educational politics like PAR. This kind of politics interferes in the educational management by national sub-governments, turning them into mere executors. By turning them into mere executors, PAR limits their autonomy and over imposes the results-based management as a parameter to improve the education quality. In order to develop the hypothesis, we adopted Political Science as theoretical basis, represented by Federalism Theory as pact which premise is the cooperative pattern of federalism as being the best form of government because it allows a joint decision-making process from the idea of no centralization of power. The methodology was historical materialism, which assumes the totality and contradiction as a form to understand the phenomenon that does not express in direct way its existence, but can be analyzed from such categories that made possible to interpret the reality. So, we used as tools the semistructured interview and documental analyses with triangulation of data. The empirical basis of the research is 04 (four) cities in Maranhão that obey the following criteria: 1. The municipality has to be assigned on the FNDE Resolution nº 29/2007; 2. To present the lowest educational management indexes from the diagnosis made in loco by PAR; 3. To present the lowest financial management indexes based on the diagnosis in loco by PAR. The results suggest that PAR does not effect a resultbased management which are proposed in its legal rules neither the SEMEDs can propose their conception of educational management. That situation creates a hybridism that sometimes turns to managerialism and performativity, sometimes to bureaucracy, sometimes to a total uncoordinated and unarticulated action. In relation to SEMEDs management, this thesis shows that these institutions have no own conception about educational management and end up acting in an uncoordinated and unarticulated way. The thesis concludes that PAR is an over imposition by federal government towards national sub-governments that conflicts with management patterns of those institutions that are used to a less managerial logic. This over imposition makes the Central government to be the center of Brazilian federalism, which is in reality an incomplete pact.

La synthèse philosophico-juridique de V.S. Soloviev : élaboration et mise en œuvre d’un cadre théorique

Vladimir S. Soloviev (1853-1900) était un philosophe russe, poète et dissident de la période prérévolutionnaire. Comme celle de beaucoup de ses contemporains prérévolutionnaires russes, la pensée de Soloviev fut constamment sollicitée par la réfection imminente de l’État russe dans un futur très proche. Dans le contexte de cette époque, un examen des fondements théoriques du système juridique était peut-être inévitable. Néanmoins, dans la pensée russe, c’est seulement avec Soloviev que le droit cessa d’être un sujet spécialisé dans le domaine de l’administration, ne concernant guère les grands enjeux de société, et devint intimement lié au développement même de la philosophie morale et sociale. Au sein du projet philosophique systématique que propose Soloviev, le concept de l’unitotalité est envahissant, en termes épistémologique et social. Une pierre d’assise également fondamentale est le concept philosophico-religieux de la divino-humanité, à travers lequel la source de la dignité humaine est ultimement exprimée. La philosophie juridique de Soloviev, contenue pour l’essentiel dans un traité intitulé La Justification du bien : essai de philosophie morale (1897), a pour principal objet l’interaction entre le droit et la morale. Alors que l’objet et la portée du droit peuvent être directement déduits de principes moraux, le droit ne peut pas coïncider exactement avec la morale, compte tenu de son caractère plus limité, fini et coercitif. Pour Soloviev, le droit doit imposer un niveau minimum du bien en fournissant les conditions de base (par ex. la primauté du droit, le droit à une existence digne, la liberté de conscience) pour le libre développement des facultés humaines sans transposer directement en lui la plénitude complète du bien. La principale motivation de Soloviev réside dans la prémisse théologique sous-jacente que le bien ne peut jamais être complètement subsumé sauf par un acte conscient de liberté personnelle. En tandem, Soloviev souligne le rôle progressiste de l’État pour favoriser le libre perfectionnement humain. En tant que tel, Soloviev nous fournit certaines voies innovatrices dans le façonnement de la relation tant théorique que pratique entre le droit et la religion. À l’encontre d’un compromis entre objets, c’est-à-dire un arrangement de type interculturel situé entre fragmentation culturelle (multiculturalisme idéologique) et assimilation antireligieuse (laïcité militante), l’analyse de Soloviev présente la nécessité d’une conciliation temporelle, dans une perspective historique beaucoup plus large, où la laïcité est considérée non pas comme une finalité ontologique en soi, figée dans le temps, mais comme un moyen au service d’une destinée humaine en cours d’actualisation. Le cadre philosophico-juridique de Soloviev peut être utilement mis en dialogue avec des auteurs contemporains comme Stephen L. Carter, Charles Taylor, John Witte Jr, Ronald Dworkin et Jürgen Habermas. La contribution potentielle de Soloviev sur la place de la religion dans la société russe contemporaine est également mentionnée, avec un accent particulier sur le réexamen critique de l’héritage durable de la notion byzantine de la symphonie entre l’Église et l’État. Enfin, une théorie du fédéralisme inspirée par Soloviev est développée en appliquant, sur une base comparative, des avancées théoriques dans le domaine de l’histoire juridique global à l’évolution constitutionnelle du Canada et d’Israël.

Three Essays on Taxation, Growth and Consumption

The purpose of this dissertation is to examine three distributional issues in macroeconomics. First I explore the effects fiscal federalism on economic growth across regions in China. Using the comprehensive official data set of China for 31 regions from 1952 until 1999, I investigate a number of indicators used by the literature to measure federalism and find robust support for only one such measure: the ratio of local total revenue to local tax revenue. Using a difference-in-difference approach and exploiting the two-year gap in the implementation of a tax reform across different regions of China, I also identify a positive relationship between fiscal federalism and regional economic growth. The second paper hypothesizes that an inequitable distribution of income negatively affects the rule of law in resource-rich economies and provides robust evidence in support of this hypothesis. By investigating a data set that contains 193 countries and using econometric methodologies such as the fixed effects estimator and the generalized method of moments estimator, I find that resource-abundance improves the quality of institutions, as long as income and wealth disparity remains below a certain threshold. When inequality moves beyond this threshold, the positive effects of the resource-abundance level on institutions diminish quickly and turn negative eventually. This paper, thus, provides robust evidence about the endogeneity of institutions and the role income and wealth inequality plays in the determination of long-run growth rates. The third paper sets up a dynamic general equilibrium model with heterogeneous agents to investigate the causal channels which run from a concern for international status to long-run economic growth. The simulation results show that the initial distribution of income and wealth play an important role in whether agents gain or lose from globalization.

Letting the managers manage: analyzing capacity to conserve biodiversity in a cross-border protected area network

Biodiversity loss is one of the most significant drivers of ecosystem change and is projected to continue at a rapid rate. While protected areas, such as national parks, are seen as important refuges for biodiversity, their effectiveness in stemming biodiversity decline has been questioned. Public agencies have a critical role in the governance of many such areas, but there are tensions between the need for these agencies to be more “adaptive” and their current operating environment. Our aim is to analyze how institutions enable or constrain capacity to conserve biodiversity in a globally significant cross-border network of protected areas, the Australian Alps. Using a novel conceptual framework for diagnosing biodiversity institutions, our research examined institutional adaptive capacity and more general capacity for conserving biodiversity. Several intertwined issues limit public agencies’ capacity to fulfill their conservation responsibilities. Narrowly defined accountability measures constrain adaptive capacity and divert attention away from addressing key biodiversity outcomes. Implications for learning were also evident, with protected area agencies demonstrating successful learning for on-ground issues but less success in applying this learning to deeper policy change. Poor capacity to buffer political and community influences in managing significant cross-border drivers of biodiversity decline signals poor fit with the institutional context and has implications for functional fit. While cooperative federalism provides potential benefits for buffering through diversity, it also means protected area agencies have restricted authority to address cross-border threats. Restrictions on staff authority and discretion, as public servants, have further implications for deploying capacity. This analysis, particularly the possibility of fostering “ambidexterity”—creatively responding to political pressures in a way that also achieves a desirable outcome for biodiversity conservation—is one promising way of building capacity to buffer both political influences and ecological pressures. The findings and the supporting analysis provide insight into how institutional capacity to conserve biodiversity can be enhanced in protected areas in Australia and elsewhere, especially those governed by public agencies and/or multiple organizations and across jurisdictions.