Bruce J. Perlman

Cultural Determinism versus Administrative Logic: Asian Values and Administrative Reform in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan

Abstract Cultural explanations of development claim that the choices a nation makes are dependent upon the countrys deeply held norms and values. When this argument is extended to the realm of administrative science, it suggests that values rather than formal institutions under certain circumstances exert a determining influence in administrative development. The truth of this general proposition implies that societies that have similar cultural foundations and which undergo similar external pressures can be expected to follow similar paths of administrative change. Is this general tendency borne out by empirical observation? The present article examines this expectation using empirical evidence from the experience of administrative reform in two Central Asian countries, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The article argues that these two countries, while having similar culture values and norms as well as a common administrative legacy, followed very different paths of administrative reform during the first decade of post-communist reorganization. The descriptive analysis of the two cases provides evidence for the conclusion that policy choice rather than cultural values played a determining role in administrative change in the countries reviewed. This argument rejects the assumption of cultural determinism, but does provide a nuanced interpretation of the continuing influence of cultural values on the process of policy.

Social Media Sites at the State and Local Levels: Operational Success and Governance Failure

This essay reviews some of the recent research on operational uses of Social Media Sites (SMS) in state and local governments throughout the world. Also, it assesses the recent research on the employment of SMS for the tasks of governance at the state and local level as distinguished from service delivery. Finally, it discusses the opportunity and need for further research in this latter area and concludes with a call for research in four areas.

Going It Alone New Survey Data on Economic Recovery Strategies in Local Government

To set the tone for the Special Issue, this article focuses on understanding the total impact of the Great Recession on local governments, predicting whether these impacts will be permanent, and providing explanations for the changes that these governments have made and prescriptions of how to address them and whether it constitutes a “New Normal.” This opening article first reviews the articles in the Special Issue that examine various facets of the “New Normal.” To add substance to this context, data from a recent survey of county and cities are presented and provide timely and useful information on these government’s recovery strategies, patterns of behavior, and responses to the their changed situation brought on by the recession. Finally, this article closes with a consideration of the data against the framework and a call for further research while looking at what these strategies imply about research on new governance arrangements for local governments.

The ARRA of Our Ways

The American Recovery and Rein vestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 is an unprecedented effort to jump-start the economy, create or save millions of jobs, and put a down payment on addressing long neglected challenges so that the United States can thrive in the 21st century. ARRA is an extraordinary response to a crisis unlike any since the Great Depression. Its aims include stopgap measures for the tough economic times faced by the nation like those that are provided by other stimulus initiatives such as the Troubled Assets Recovery Program and the Federal Reserves Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility. ARRA measures include immediate fund

Bridging the cultural chasm: Improving collaboration and cooperation between the computer and social sciences

This paper examines the cultural chasm between computer scientists and social scientists and suggests ways and benefits of closer interaction and possible collaboration. Specifically, it presents exploratory research on the attitudes of computer scientists concerning the need for social research in computer system design, the efficacy of social science and the utility of social scientists in this endeavor, and finally the real barriers to crossing what has been termed the great divide. It is based on in-depth, ethnographic interviews conducted in 2001 with 30 academics and practitioners from a research university, a national laboratory, and industry sites in new Mexico. It finds computer scientists, though they recognize the benefits of social science, seldom seek out social scientists to collaborate and know little about social science.

The Great Recession and Compensation Practices New Rules for Compensation

This article introduces the Governance Matters essays for this issue. It discusses the Great Recession and its effects on Labor Relations and Collective Bargaining and the effects of these on compensation practices in State and Local Governments. The Great Recession is an enduring event in American government and politics. It has had marked impact on the structure and operations of State and Local government especially on budgets. Given, the large proportion of state and local government budgets devoted to compensation the Great Recessions economic and political effects may be greatest there. This article asks of the essays, whether changes in labor relations and collective bargaining due to the Great Recession are changing the rules for government compensation practices at the state and local level in the U.S. It concludes that they are, but the durability of these rule changes and the political impact is yet to be determined.

Introduction: New Rules and Approaches for Succession Planning:

As a generation of baby boomers begins to retire, retrain, and retrench, how to take advantage of their institutional knowledge has become an increasing concern. These employees constitute an enormous investment of public and private resources during their careers. One way to take advantage of their intellectual capital is to keep them in the workforce longer; this was becoming a reality as longer life spans led to longer working careers, and this is supported and strengthened by the need to work longer during an economic downturn. Another way to get a return on the intellectual investment in maturing public managers in transition is to directly address the formulation, adoption, and implementation of policies and mechanisms for succession planning. Succession planning is the systematic and deliberate preparation for future changes of leadership in key positions and strategies for identifying individuals to meet future need. Local and state governments should address this need in creative and cost-effective ways. State and local governments face something akin to governance failure in the area of succession planning for the public service. Although pensions and retirements are a current concern because of their impact on financial capital, less attention is being paid to their effect on recapturing investment in intellectual capital. For example, some governments are changing rules concerning early retirement. In some cases this is done to induce workers to leave early to reduce the size of the wage bill. In other cases it is done to force workers to lengthen their time of service to ensure there is adequate return on investments in training and service. Yet little is done to ensure that what they know is captured before they do leave. Perhaps retirement programs are needed that use incentives to encourage workers who want to leave to mentor others or to help identify people to fill their leadership roles before they leave. For this to occur in the public sector, policy makers must take seriously addressing not just workforce planning but also ways to get government institutions—among the most important of social organizations with enduring missions and functions—to formulate the necessary policy rules and adaptations for effective succession planning. This is a classic problem of organizational governance, or, better put in the public context, of institutional governance. A key task of institutional governance for the public bureaucracy is the preservation and transmission of organizational intellectual capital and the investment of this in the appropriate parts of the organization in an optimal manner. The former is the point of cross-training, mentoring, and similar

Refinancing State and Local Debt: Decreased Current Costs or Decreased Future Flexibility?

Government budget cuts have been commonplace in state and local governments for most of the last seven years. One way state and local governments can cope with these cuts is to reduce the amount they must pay for the interest and principle on their financial obligations, including what they have borrowed or what they anticipate with good reason having to pay. If state and local governments were not cashstrapped, they could attempt to pay off such obligations or where permissible they could use reserves to create investment funds to pay them. Nevertheless, state and local governments that wish to reduce debt service pressure on the budget can refinance their financial obligations in such a way as to reduce or better manage the recurring interest and other costs. Cutting debt service to help absorb revenue cuts can be an appealing avenue for helping to restructure state and municipal operating budgets and the funds that these budgets comprise. It should be done when necessary, but always with caution, because ultimately it diverts money from capital to operating needs. One cost reduction approach is to refinance direct debt such as bonds or other securities that a state or municipality has previously sold on the market. This refinancing is carried out by using the various financial instruments for borrowing money by issuing public debt. When refinancing leads to lower current periodic payments, it reduces the recurring annual amounts paid to honor existing debt obligations and reduces the cash flow necessary for debt service in the government budget. The idea is to reduce the amount that state or local governments must pay in annual interest for these obligations—even if they may pay it for a longer period—thus reducing pressure on the budget. Borrowing is used to change the original terms of debt repayment in such a way that present costs are reduced even if net present value may be decreased. Consequently, it is an acceptable trade-off to pay less today when financial pressures are greater and more in the future when increased revenue is anticipated. The cost of extending debt buys reduced budgetary pressure. Another way financial measures can help state or local governments survive falling revenues is by using them to reduce or smooth the

Rethinking a Megalopolis A Metropolitan Government Proposal for the Mexico City Metro Area

This essay looks at the governance arrangements and challenges of “Mexico City,” one of the largest and most complex capital cities in the world and a true “Megalopolis.” The essay begins by presenting the background of the governmental structure of the Mexico City area which includes both old districts and a new metropolitan zone. It then goes on to present some of the challenges facing this structure, including basic service delivery and infrastructure provision for the geographically large, diverse, and sometimes politically disparate area. The complicated governance and administrative structure which must meet these challenges is then explained. Finally, the essay concludes with some proposals for rethinking this governance structure to make it more efficient and representative.

Devolutionary Realignment: Shedding Services, Ad Hoc Collaboration, and Political Reconfiguration: Expert Panel Comments on Michael Abels’ Article, “Strategic Alignment for the New Normal: Collaboration, Sustainability, and Deliberation in Local Government across Boundaries”

Change at the local level of government is constant. Local governments are buffeted by forces ranging from the decisions of other governments to the demands of their citizens. They must respond to the routine exigencies of daily life and to the shocks of systemic upheaval, all the while under the gaze of local press and people. To accommodate these situations, local governments must modify the scope and modalities of their services, as well as their agencies and operations, with some frequency. It is the cause and effects of this rejiggering and reconfiguring of services, which is the topic of this issue of the State and Local Government Review’s (SLGR) Governance Matters (GM) section.