Showing papers on "Government published in 2002"

The Evolution of E-Government among Municipalities: Rhetoric or Reality?

Abstract: Information technology has become one of the core elements of managerial reform, and electronic government (e-government) may figure prominently in future governance. This study is designed to examine the rhetoric and reality of e-government at the municipal level. Using data obtained from the 2000 E-government Survey conducted by International City/County Management Association and Public Technologies Inc., the article examines the current state of municipal e-government implementation and assesses its perceptual effectiveness. This study also explores two institutional factors (size and type of government) that contribute to the adoption of e-government among municipalities. Overall, this study concludes that e-government has been adopted by many municipal governments, but it is still at an early stage and has not obtained many of expected outcomes (cost savings, downsizing, etc.) that the rhetoric of e-government has promised. The study suggests there are some widely shared barriers (lack of financial, technical, and personnel capacities) and legal issues (such as privacy) to the progress of municipal e-government. This study also indicates that city size and manager-council government are positively associated with the adoption of a municipal Web site as well as the longevity of the Web site.

The rise of competitive authoritarianism

Abstract: The post–Cold War world has been marked by the proliferation of hybrid political regimes. In different ways, and to varying degrees, polities across much of Africa (Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe), postcommunist Eurasia (Albania, Croatia, Russia, Serbia, Ukraine), Asia (Malaysia, Taiwan), and Latin America (Haiti, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru) combined democratic rules with authoritarian governance during the 1990s. Scholars often treated these regimes as incomplete or transitional forms of democracy. Yet in many cases these expectations (or hopes) proved overly optimistic. Particularly in Africa and the former Soviet Union, many regimes have either remained hybrid or moved in an authoritarian direction. It may therefore be time to stop thinking of these cases in terms of transitions to democracy and to begin thinking about the specific types of regimes they actually are. In recent years, many scholars have pointed to the importance of hybrid regimes. Indeed, recent academic writings have produced a variety of labels for mixed cases, including not only “hybrid regime” but also “semidemocracy,” “virtual democracy,” “electoral democracy,” “pseudodemocracy,” “illiberal democracy,” “semi-authoritarianism,” “soft authoritarianism,” “electoral authoritarianism,” and Freedom House’s “Partly Free.” 1 Yet much of this literature suffers from two important weaknesses. First, many studies are characterized by a democratizing bias. Analyses frequently treat mixed regimes as partial or “diminished” forms of democracy, 2 or as undergoing prolonged transiSteven Levitsky is assistant professor of government and social studies at Harvard University. His Transforming Labor-Based Parties in Latin America is forthcoming from Cambridge University Press. Lucan A. Way is assistant professor of political science at Temple University and an academy scholar at the Academy for International and Area Studies at Harvard University. He is currently writing a book on the obstacles to authoritarian consolidation in the former Soviet Union.

Government Ownership of Banks

Abstract: We assemble data on government ownership of banks around the world. The data show that such ownership is large and pervasive, and higher in countries with low levels of per capita income, backward financial systems, interventionist and inefficient governments, and poor protection of property rights. Higher government ownership of banks in 1970 is associated with slower subsequent financial development and lower growth of per capita income and productivity. This evidence supports “political” theories of the effects of government ownership of firms. THIS PAPER DISCUSSES A NEGLECTED ASPECT of financial systems of many countries: government ownership of banks. It shows that such ownership is pervasive around the world, and has had significant consequences for economic and financial development. There are two broad views of the government’s participation in financial markets. The first, basically optimistic, “development” view is associated with Alexander Gerschenkron ~1962!, who focuses on the necessity of financial development for economic growth. Gerschenkron argues that privately owned commercial banks have been the crucial vehicle of channeling savings into industry in several industrializing countries in the second half of the 19th century, especially Germany. However, in some countries—most conspicuously Russia—economic institutions were not sufficiently developed for private banks to play the crucial development role. “The scarcity of capital in Russia was such that no banking system could conceivably succeed in attracting sufficient funds to finance a large scale industrialization; the standards of honesty in business were so disastrously low, the general distrust of the public so great, that no bank could have hoped to attract even such small capital funds as were available, and no bank could have successfully engaged in long term credit policies in an economy where fraudulent bankruptcy had been almost elevated to the rank of a general business practice” ~Gerschenkron ~1962! ,p . 19 !. In such countries, the government could step in and, through its financial institutions, jump start both financial and eco

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

Abstract: The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) assists states and localities overwhelmed by, or at risk from, disasters. FEMA also co-ordinates emergency management activities and planning for the continuity of government should national security be threatened. Since 1979 FEMA has administered a range of authorities that enable the agency to serve as the primary source of federal, technical, and financial assistance for emergency management. Among the types of aid provided through FEMA programs are grants and material to help disaster victims meet pressing needs such as food and shelter, education and training programs to improve the response capabilities of non-federal officials, and mobile communications equipment. FEMA exercises little regulatory authority, but directives that underlie the agency's mission authorise the agency to establish standards for reconstruction of buildings after a disaster declaration is issued, for the construction of federal buildings in earthquake-prone areas, and for the operation of first responder equipment. FEMA has responded to, and has helped communities prepare for, terrorist attacks in the United States. The Office of Homeland Security (OHS), established by President Bush subsequent to the attacks in 2001, has a similar, but more encompassing, mission related to disasters caused by terrorist actions. Congressional debate on the contours and framework for federal administration of homeland security might include consideration of FEMA's mission, the extent to which that mission overlaps with the assignments given the new OHS, and a new structure or set of authorities for that agency.

The tools of government : a guide to the new governance

Abstract: Machine generated contents note: 1 The New Governance and the Tools of Public Action: -- An Introduction I Lester M Salomon -- 2 Direct Government i ChristopherK. Leman -- 3 Government Corporations and Government-Sponsored -- Enterprises I Thomas H. Stanton and Ronald C. Moe -- 4 Economic Regulation LesterM. Sahaon -- 5 Social Regulation I Peter May -- 6 Government Insurance I Ron I1 Feldman -- 7 Public Information I anet A. Weiss -- 8 Corrective Taxes, Charges, and Tradable Permits I Joseph J Crdes -- 9 Contracting I Steven J. Kelman -- 10 Purchase-of-Service Contracting I Ruth Hoogand DeHoog and -- Lestr M. Salamon -- 11 Grants David R. Beam and Timothy i. Cmnan -- 12 Loans and Loan Guarantees I Thomas H. Stanton -- 13 Tax Expenditures I Christopher Howard -- 14 Vouchers I C Eugene Steuerle and Eric C Twombly -- 15 Tort Liability I Peter Schuck -- 16 Managing Indirect Government I Donald F. Keda -- 17 Financial Accountability in Indirect Government I John Lordan -- 18 Accountability Challenges of Third-Party Government I -- Paul L. Posner -- 19 The Politics of Tool Choice I B. Guy Peters -- 20 Policy Tools and Democracy I Steven Rathgeb Smith and Helen Ingram -- 21 European Experience with Tools of Government I -- Arthur B. Ringeling -- 22 The Tools Approach and the New Governance: Conclusion and -- Implications I LesterM. Salamon -- Bibliography -- Index.

Reinventing Local Governments and the E‐Government Initiative

Abstract: The Internet provides a powerful tool for reinventing local governments. It encourages transformation from the traditional bureaucratic paradigm, which emphasizes standardization, departmentalization, and operational cost-efficiency, to the “e-government” paradigm, which emphasizes coordinated network building, external collaboration, and customer services. Based on a content analysis of city Web sites and a survey of Web development officials, this article shows that many cities are already moving toward this new paradigm. These cities have adopted “onestop shopping” and customer-oriented principles in Web design, and they emphasize external collaboration and networking in the development process rather than technocracy. The article also analyzes the socioeconomic and organizational factors that are related to cities' progressiveness in Web development and highlights future challenges in reinventing government through Internet technology.

The Political Economy of Government Responsiveness: Theory and Evidence from India

Abstract: The determinants of government responsiveness to its citizens is a key issue in political economy. Here we develop a model based on the solution of political agency problems. Having a more informed an politically active electorate strengthens incentives for governments to be responsive. This suggests that there is a role both for democratic institutions and the mass media in ensuring that the preferences of citizens are reflected in policy. The ideas behind the model are tested on panel data from India. We show that public food distribution and calamity relief expenditure are greater, controlling for shocks, where governments face greater electoral accountability and where newspaper circulation is highest.

Adaptation options in agriculture to climate change: a typology

Abstract: Adaptation in agriculture to climate change is important for impact andvulnerability assessment and for the development of climate change policy. A wide variety of adaptation options has been proposed as having thepotential to reduce vulnerability of agricultural systems to risks related toclimate change, often in an ad hoc fashion. This paper develops atypology of adaptation to systematically classify and characterize agriculturaladaptation options to climate change, drawing primarily on the Canadiansituation. In particular, it differentiates adaptation options in agricultureaccording to the involvement of different agents (producers, industries,governments); the intent, timing and duration of employment of theadaptation; the form and type of the adaptive measure; and the relationshipto processes already in place to cope with risks associated with climatestresses. A synthesis of research on adaptation options in Canadianagriculture identifies four main categories: (i) technological developments,(ii) government programs and insurance, (iii) farm production practices,and (iv) farm financial management. In addition to these `directadaptations', there are options, particularly information provision, that maystimulate adaptation initiatives. The results reveal that most adaptationoptions are modifications to on-going farm practices and public policydecision-making processes with respect to a suite of changing climatic(including variability and extremes) and non-climatic conditions (political,economic and social). For progress on implementing adaptations to climatechange in agriculture there is a need to better understand the relationshipbetween potential adaptation options and existing farm-level andgovernment decision-making processes and risk management frameworks.

Stealth Democracy: Americans' Beliefs About How Government Should Work

Abstract: Part I. The Benefits of Studying the Processes People Want: 1. Policy space and American politics 2. Process space: an introduction 3. Using process space to explain features of American politics Part II. The Processes People Want: 4. Attitudes toward specific processes 5. Public assessments of people and politicians 6. Americans' desire for stealth democracy Part III. Should People Be Given the Processes They Want?: 7. Popular deliberation and group involvement in theory 8. The realities of popular deliberation and group involvement 9. Improving government and people's attitudes toward it.

Encouraging Citizen Adoption of E-Government by Building Trust

Abstract: The growing interest in e-Government raises the question of how governments can increase citizen adoption and usage of their online government services. e-Government becomes especially important given its potential to reduce costs and improve service compared with alternative traditional modes. Citizen trust is proposed to be an important catalyst of e-Government adoption. By investigating online tax services, already available and used extensively in the West, we propose several ways in which governments can increase citizen trust and thus encourage the adoption of this new and potentially significant mode of government service. The proposed e-Government adoption model also takes in account issues of cultural variables, risk, control and technology acceptance.Institution-based trust, such as an independent judicial system with appropriate legal powers, is proposed to be the major tactic to build trust in e-Government. In addition, among new users of online government services, characteristic-based and cognitive-based antecedents should be crucial; general psychological dispositions and knowledge of the process should also engender trust. Among experienced users, on the other hand, it is suggested that the nature of previous interactions with the e-Government system should be the major predictor of trust, and hence of continued use. These propositions are elucidated, as they apply to different cultures and to high-intrusive versus low-intrusive government services. This study has practical implications for the design of mechanisms for the adoption of e-Government.

Handcuffs for the Grabbing Hand? Media Capture and Government Accountability

Abstract: It is widely recognized that active media can play a role in enhancing political competition by informing voters Collusion between government and media can, however, undermine this role We extend the political accountability model to include the presence of media outlets and the possibility that the incumbent exerts influence over them In equilibrium, the media structure is linked to political outcomes in two ways: directly through its monitoring capacity and indirectly through political capture We examine evidence both across countries and within India

Evaluation, Policy Learning and Evidence-Based Policy Making

Abstract: The increasing emphasis on the need for evidence-based policy indicates the continuing influence of the ‘modernist’ faith in progress informed by reason. Although the rationalist assumptions of evidence-based policy making have been subject to severe challenge from constructivist and post-modernist perspectives, it is argued that the attempt to ground policy making in more reliable knowledge of ‘what works’ retains its relevance and importance. Indeed, its importance is enhanced by the need for effective governance of complex social systems and it is argued that ‘reflexive social learning’ informed by policy and programme evaluation constitutes an increasingly important basis for ‘interactive governance’. The expanded use of piloting of new policies and programmes by the current UK Government is considered to provide limited scope for evaluation to derive reliable evidence of whether policies work. There is a need for greater clarity about the role of evaluation in situations where piloting essentially constitutes ‘prototyping’. More emphasis should be placed on developing a sound evidence base for policy through long-term impact evaluations of policies and programmes. It is argued from a realist position that such evaluation should be theory-based and focused on explaining and understanding how policies achieve their effects using ‘multi-method’ approaches.

Encouraging Citizen Adoption of e-Government by Building Trust

Abstract: A b s t r a c t The growing interest in e-Government raises the question of how governments can increase citizen adoption and usage of their online government services. e-Government becomes especially important given its potential to reduce costs and improve service compared with alternative traditional modes. Citizen trust is proposed to be an important catalyst of e-Government adoption. By investigating online tax services, already available and used extensively in the West, we propose several ways in which governments can increase citizen trust and thus encourage the adoption of this new and potentially significant mode of government service. The proposed e-Government adoption model also takes in account issues of cultural variables, risk, control and technology acceptance. Institution-based trust, such as an independent judicial system with appropriate legal powers, is proposed to be the major tactic to build trust in e-Government. In addition, among new users of online government services, characteristic-based and cognitive-based antecedents should be crucial; general psychological dispositions and knowledge of the process should also engender trust. Among experienced users, on the other hand, it is suggested that the nature of previous interactions with the e-Government system should be the major predictor of trust, and hence of continued use. These propositions are elucidated, as they apply to different cultures and to highintrusive versus low-intrusive government services. This study has practical implications for the design of mechanisms for the adoption of e-Government.

The world of the social entrepreneur

Abstract: The term “social entrepreneurship” is being adopted and used more extensively, but its meaning is not widely understood. In particular, the scope of social entrepreneurship in both business and the voluntary sector has not been mapped effectively. This paper seeks to do this. It begins by defining social entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurship. Then, using projects considered for a charter award under the Duke of York’s Community Initiative, it looks at what social entrepreneurs do and achieve for the community, at the wide scope of their world, and at the help that is available and needed. The paper includes two case studies of successful social entrepreneurs as a means of drawing out a number of important issues and lessons. It provides a new map for understanding the complexity and the many facets of the world of the social entrepreneur and the voluntary sector. It questions whether the UK government’s stated desire for an “explosive act” of volunteering can happen without more substantial support, and concludes that whilst the growth of this sector is urgent and vital, a number of hurdles remain to be overcome.

Colonial archives and the arts of governance

Abstract: Anthropologists engaged in post-colonial studies are increasingly adopting an historical perspective and using archives. Yet their archival activity tends to remain more an extractive than an ethnographic one. Documents are thus still invoked piecemeal to confirm the colonial invention of certain practices or to underscore cultural claims, silent. Yet such mining of thecontent of government commissions, reports, and other archival sources rarely pays attention to their peculiar placement andform. Scholars need to move from archive-assource to archive-as-subject. This article, using document production in the Dutch East Indies as an illustration, argues that scholars should view archives not as sites of knowledge retrieval, but of knowledge production, as monuments of states as well as sites of state ethnography. This requires a sustained engagement with archives as cultural agents of “fact” production, of taxonomies in the making, and of state authority. What constitutes the archive, what form it takes, and what systems of classification and epistemology signal at specific times are (and reflect) critical features of colonial politics and state power. The archive was the supreme technology of the late nineteenth-century imperial state, a repository of codified beliefs that clustered (and bore witness to) connections between secrecy, the law, and power.

E-Government in Digital Era: Concept, Practice, and Development

Abstract: Governments worldwide are faced with the challenge of transformation and the need to reinvent government systems in order to deliver efficient and cost effective services, information and knowledge through information and communication technologies. Development of Information and communication technologies catalyzed and led up to E-government.

Who Wants to Work for the Government

Abstract: In an era when everyone wants to be a millionaire, governments struggle to attract and retain highly qualified employees, making it more important than ever to understand what attracts people to the public service. Using contingency table analysis and logistic regression on the 1989 and 1998 General Social Surveys, we explore how individuals' demographic characteristics and the importance they place on various job qualities influence their preference for and employment in the public sector. Job security may still be the strongest attraction of government jobs, but high income and the opportunity to be useful to society also attract some Americans to the public service. Minorities, veterans, Democrats, and older Americans preferred public-sector jobs more than whites, nonveterans, Republicans, and younger Americans, who were otherwise similar. Women and college graduates were more likely than comparable men and less-educated respondents to have government jobs, but no more likely to prefer them. Overall, desire for government jobs declined markedly between 1989 and 1998.

On the Vote-Purchasing Behavior of Incumbent Governments

Abstract: A couple of months before the Swedish election in 1998, the incumbent government distributed 2.3 billion SEK to 42 out of 115 applying municipalities. This was the first wave of a four-year long grant program intended to support local investment programs aimed at an ecological sustainable development. This temporary grant program differs from traditional intergovernmental grants in several aspects, most importantly in the sovereign decision making power given to the incumbent central government. In this paper we investigate whether there were any tactical motives behind the distribution of these grants. We find support for the hypothesis that the incumbent government used the grant program under study in order to win votes. In particular, we find strong support for the Lindbeck-Weibull/Dixit-Londregan model in which parties distribute transfers to regions where there are many swing voters. This result is statistically as well as economically significant. We do however not find any support for the model that predicts that the incumbent government transfer money to its own supporters.

Electoral Systems and Public Spending

Abstract: We study the effects of electoral institutions on the size and composition of public expenditure in OECD and Latin American countries. We emphasize the distinction between purchases of goods and services, which are easier to target geographically, and transfers, which are easier to target across social groups. We present a theoretical model in which voters anticipating government policymaking under different electoral systems have an incentive to elect representatives more prone to transfer (public good) spending in proportional (majoritarian) systems. The model also predicts higher total primary spending in proportional (majoritarian) systems when the share of transfer spending is high (low). After dee ning rigorous measures of proportionality to be used in the empirical investigation, we e nd considerable support for our predictions.

The quality of stakeholder-based decisions.

Abstract: The increased use of stakeholder processes in environmental decision making has raised concerns about the quality of decisions these processes produce. Some claim that stakeholders make inadequate use of scientific information and analysis and are all too ready to sacrifice technical quality for political expediency. This article looks to the case study record to examine the quality of the decisions from stakeholder-based processes. The data for the analysis come from a “case survey,” in which researchers coded information from 239 published case studies of stakeholder involvement in environmental decision making. These cases reflect a diversity of planning, management, and implementation activities carried out by environmental and natural resource agencies at many levels of government. Overall, the case-study record suggests that there should be little concern that stakeholder processes are resulting in low-quality decisions. The majority of cases contain evidence of stakeholders improving decisions over the status quo; adding new information, ideas, and analysis; and having adequate access to technical and scientific resources. Indeed, data suggest that it is the more intensive stakeholder processes—precisely those that have aroused recent concern—that are more likely to result in higher-quality decisions.

Financial Literacy: An Overview of Practice, Research, and Policy

Abstract: Attention to financial literacy has grown in recent years, in large part because technological, market, and legislative changes have resulted in a more complex financial services industry that requires consumers to be more actively involved in managing their finances. Consumer and community interest groups, banking companies, government agencies, and policymakers, among others, have become concerned that many consumers lack a working knowledge of financial concepts and the tools they need to make decisions most advantageous to their economic well-being. As a result, considerable resources have been devoted to financial literacy, with a wide range of organizations providing training, including banks, consumer and community groups, employers, and government agencies. Overall, studies suggest that financial literacy training can lead to better decisionmaking; however, the findings raise numerous questions about the best means of providing that training, the most appropriate setting, and the most opportune timing. Findings from recent research on personal money management styles, combined with awareness of human behavioral traits, offer insights that may be useful in developing successful training programs and strategies.

Globalization and the Decline of the Welfare State in Less-Developed Countries

Abstract: Why have trends in government welfare spending in developing countries diverged from those in developed countries? I address this question by investigating the effects of capital and trade flows on government welfare spending in fifty-three developing countries. Using an original measure of labor power in developing countries, I test the links between international markets, labor's political strength, and the welfare state. I argue that labor's collective-action problems, caused by large populations of low-skilled and surplus workers, offset labor's potential political gains from globalization. I show that when the proportion of low-skilled workers in a nation is high, globalization will lead to a decline in welfare spending. Most significantly, the results suggest that in nations where labor-market institutions are not yet well developed, government social-welfare spending is constrained by international market, forces.

'Food Deserts' in British Cities: Policy Context and Research Priorities

Abstract: This paper provides an introduction to the 'food deserts' theme by outlining how the problem of access to food, particularly foods integral to a healthy diet, for low-income households in poor neighbourhoods in British cities, became an increasingly important issue in the social exclusion and health inequalities debates, during the late 1990s. It documents the emergence of a policy response by UK government to this issue and the way in which policy development ran somewhat ahead of systematic research on key facets of the problem. The paper outlines the research priorities which became apparent by the end of the 1990s and some of the projects which have been funded by the UK research councils and by government departments and agencies to meet this need for fundamental research.

Reinventing Government in the Information Age: International Practice in IT-Enabled Public Sector Reform

Abstract: Introduction SECTION A 1 Reinventing Government in the Information Age 2 Different approaches to Information Age reform 3 Understanding success and failure in Information Age reform 4 Better information age reform: reducing the risk of Information Systems failure SECTION B 5 Information systems for improved performance management: Development approaches in the US Public Agencies 6 Automating personnel records for improved management of human resources: the experience of three African governments 7 Evaluating information systems for decentralisation: Health management reform in Ecuador SECTION C 8 Internet-enabled applications for local government democratisation: Contradictions of the Swedish Experience 9 Community development and democratisation through Information Technology: Building the New South Africa 10 Information Technology's Impact on the Quality of Democracy: Reinventing the 'Democratic Vessel' SECTION D 11 Transforming accountability for government information technology projects: The impact of new US legislation 12 Outsourcing and government information technology strategy: Relevance of external consultant models in Barbados 13 Meeting training needs for information age reform: Shortcomings of current training provision SECTION E 14 Strategic Information systems planning 15 16 Analysing performance information needs: Using framework approaches in a UK Public Healthcare Organisation 17 Recruiting and retaining information systems staff for Information Age reform Appendix

Entitled to Work: Urban Property Rights and Labor Supply in Peru

Abstract: Over the past decade, the Peruvian government has issued property titles to over 1.2 million urban households, the largest government titling program targeted to urban squatters in the developing world. This paper examines the labor market effects of increases in tenure security resulting from the program. In particular, I study the direct impact of securing a property title on hours of work, substitution of home for market work and substitution of adult for child labor. To isolate the causal role of ownership security I make use of differences across regions induced by the timing of the program and differences across target populations in the level of pre-program tenure security. My estimates suggest that titling results in a substantial increase in labor hours, a shift in labor supply away from work at home to work in the outside market and substitution of adult for child labor. For the average squatter family, granting of a property title is associated with a 17% increase in total household work hours, a 47% decrease in the probability of working inside the home, and a 28% reduction in the probability of child labor.

Outcomes–Based Performance Management in the Public Sector: Implications for Government Accountability and Effectiveness

Abstract: Requirements for outcomes–based performance management are increasing performance–evaluation activities at all government levels. Research on public–sector performance management, however, points to problems in the design and management of these systems and questions their effectiveness as policy tools for increasing governmental accountability. In this article, I analyze experimental data and the performance–management experiences of federal job–training programs to estimate the influence of public management and system–design factors on program outcomes and impacts. I assess whether relying on administrative data to measure program (rather than impacts) produces information that might misdirect program managers in their performance–management activities. While the results of empirical analyses confirm that the use of administrative data in performance management is unlikely to produce accurate estimates of true program impacts, they also suggest these data can still generate useful information for public managers about policy levers that can be manipulated to improve organizational performance.

A Comparison of U.S. and European University-Industry Relations in the Life Sciences

Abstract: We draw on diverse data sets to compare the institutional organization of upstream life science research across the United States and Europe. Understanding cross-national differences in the organization of innovative labor in the life sciences requires attention to the structure and evolution of biomedical networks involving public research organizations (universities, government laboratories, nonprofit research institutes, and research hospitals), science-based biotechnology firms, and multinational pharmaceutical corporations. We use network visualization methods and correspondence analyses to demonstrate that innovative research in biomedicine has its origins in regional clusters in the United States and in European nations. But the scientific and organizational composition of these regions varies in consequential ways. In the United States, public research organizations and small firms conduct R&D across multiple therapeutic areas and stages of the development process. Ties within and across these regions link small firms and diverse public institutions, contributing to the development of a robust national network. In contrast, the European story is one of regional specialization with a less diverse group of public research organizations working in a smaller number of therapeutic areas. European institutes develop local connections to small firms working on similar scientific problems, while cross-national linkages of European regional clusters typically involve large pharmaceutical corporations. We show that the roles of large and small firms differ in the United States and Europe, arguing that the greater heterogeneity of the U.S. system is based on much closer integration of basic science and clinical development.

Delivering joined–up government in the UK: dimensions, issues and problems

Abstract: In the UK, joined–up government (JUG) was a central part of the first Blair government’s programme for public sector reform. It remains a pivotal, if more muted, feature of the second term. We will identify the range of disparate activities that have been branded as ‘joined up’. We then look at the variety of official guidance coming from the centre of government to highlight the overlapping and competing strategies that underpinned the implementation of joined–up government. Various competing strategies have been advocated and implemented at any one time. Therefore the situation was more fluid and more contested than might be inferred from the use of the homogenizing term ‘joined–up government’. We conclude by briefly considering what this implies for our understanding of intra–state relationships, of the relationships between public agencies and civil society, and the relationship between JUG and the politics of the Third Way.