Miquel Salvador

INSTITUTIONALIZING PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY AND THE EMERGENCE OF AN EPISTEMIC COMMUNITY IN SPANISH LOCAL GOVERNMENT

ABSTRACT: This article contributes to the academic debate on the emergence and configuration of an epistemic community and its encouragement of participatory democracy in local government. With a case study of the councils of cities in the province of Barcelona (Spain) with up to 5,000 inhabitants, where notable advances have been made in this field, a description is provided of the epistemic community and the activities it has undertaken to promote citizen participation. The results illustrate the role of the epistemic community in the establishment of participation units and its capacity to generate participatory processes in different spheres of local government with different levels of pre-existing institutional arrangements. However, questions arise concerning its capacity to maintain and extend its influence in spheres of advanced technical specificity and robust institutional arrangements, where negotiation is required to promote citizen participation.

The institutionalization of meritocracy in Latin American regulatory agencies

Research into 72 regulatory authorities in four policy sectors (pharmacy, telecommunications, finances and pensions) in 18 Latin American countries shows that the institutionalization of meritocratic practices in the recruitment and careers of its staff has not been widespread, even in countries with a professionalized bureaucracy. The implementation of meritocracy could be partially explained through the policy sector and the influence of epistemic communities while alternative explanations like administrative legacies or the autonomy of the regulatory authorities to devise and implement personnel policies play a less important role. The institutionalization of meritocracy in ‘islands of excellence’ has policy implications for sustained merit-based strategies for the civil service. Points for practitioners This research has shown that the institutionalization of meritocracy is not widespread when considering recruitment and staff careers in 72 regulatory Latin American agencies. Successful meritocratic practices are partially explained by the policy sector in which these agencies operate. Economic regulated sectors (financial services, delivery of pensions and telecommunications) are more meritocratic than social regulated areas (pharmacy). Two explanations have been offered for this. On the one hand, meritocracy seems to be influenced by particular epistemic communities in which competition plays an important role (for instance, economists). On the other hand, agencies need to increase their credibility and attract the confidence of international donors and private regulated enterprises. These findings suggest that the introduction of meritocracy could be more successfully approached through a more individualized process (i.e. by targeting individual agencies) instead of launching overall civil service reforms with uncertain consequences.

Outsourcing as management strategy in local public services

As a contribution to the academic debate on the use of outsourcing as a formula for the provision of local public services, the article proposes to focus attention on political-institutional factors. The paper departs from the review of the main arguments highlighted by the literature and it contrasts their expected results in cross-sectional study based on data from all the municipalities with over 5,000 inhabitants in Catalonia, a Spanish Autonomous Community. A typology of municipalities is constructed through principal component analysis and a cluster analysis and the existence of differences in the percentage of outsourcing among types of municipalities is tested. The results show the relevance of political-institutional factors in the selection of the service provision formula and allow us to identify three strategies that propose outsourcing as a mechanism of flexibility of public management.As a contribution to the academic debate on the use of outsourcing as a formula for the provision of local public services, this article aims to highlight political and institutional factors. The article firstly provides a literature review on the main arguments related to outsourcing, providing then empirical elements as result of a cross-sectional study based on data from all the municipalities with over 5,000 inhabitants in Catalonia, a Spanish Autonomous Community. In order to study the effects of political-institutional variables of local governments when outsourcing public services, the study determined a typology of municipalities by analyzing the main elements a set of variables and conducting a cluster analysis. After that, an analysis of variance was conducted to identify differences in the percentage of outsourcing among types of municipalities. The results show the relevance of political-institutional factors in the selection of the formula for service provision and allow identifying three strategies that propose outsourcing as a mechanism of flexibility in public management.

La externalización como estrategia de gestión en los servicios públicos locales

As a contribution to the academic debate on the use of outsourcing as a formula for the provision of local public services, the article proposes to focus attention on political-institutional factors. The paper departs from the review of the main arguments highlighted by the literature and it contrasts their expected results in cross-sectional study based on data from all the municipalities with over 5,000 inhabitants in Catalonia, a Spanish Autonomous Community. A typology of municipalities is constructed through principal component analysis and a cluster analysis and the existence of differences in the percentage of outsourcing among types of municipalities is tested. The results show the relevance of political-institutional factors in the selection of the service provision formula and allow us to identify three strategies that propose outsourcing as a mechanism of flexibility of public management.As a contribution to the academic debate on the use of outsourcing as a formula for the provision of local public services, this article aims to highlight political and institutional factors. The article firstly provides a literature review on the main arguments related to outsourcing, providing then empirical elements as result of a cross-sectional study based on data from all the municipalities with over 5,000 inhabitants in Catalonia, a Spanish Autonomous Community. In order to study the effects of political-institutional variables of local governments when outsourcing public services, the study determined a typology of municipalities by analyzing the main elements a set of variables and conducting a cluster analysis. After that, an analysis of variance was conducted to identify differences in the percentage of outsourcing among types of municipalities. The results show the relevance of political-institutional factors in the selection of the formula for service provision and allow identifying three strategies that propose outsourcing as a mechanism of flexibility in public management.