Local Government Capacity in Post-Soviet Central Asia

Urinboyev, Rustamjon

doi:10.5755/j01.ppaa.14.3.13431

Cited by 9 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…This was done in order to grasp to what extent people were willing or likely to conform to laws when dealing with state officials, and how people think about the proper social behaviour and law. Our material has informed the preparation of several other studies (Adams, Svensson, & Urinboyev, 2018;Urinboyev, 2011bUrinboyev, , 2011aUrinboyev, , 2014Urinboyev, , 2015Urinboyev, , 2016Urinboyev, , 2017Urinboyev, , 2018Urinboyev & Polese, 2016;Urinboyev & Svensson, 2013b, 2013a that have been used also to triangulate the presented data and in the interpretation of the evidence presented in the next sections. For this specific paper, in addition to several ethnographic vignettes, we present some examples of most relevant observations and two interviews that focus on informal practices in two state institutions: (1) the practice of traffic safety enforcement; and (2) the practice of maternity services.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 92%

Political vs. Everyday Forms of Governance in Uzbekistan: The Illegal, Immoral, and Illegitimate

Urinboyev

Polese

Svensson

et al. 2022

Informality, Labour Mobility and Precariousness

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Based on extensive ethnographic fieldwork in Uzbekistan, this article looks at the way official state narratives are challenged by silent, unorganised, often unaware gestures of resistance at the bottom of a society. Footing on a framework suggested by Scott's definition of infrapolitics (2012), we propose to incorporate informal practices in a definition of informality that is more inclusive and better explains the anatomy of a modern state, whose functioning rests on a combination of formal and informal practices. We suggest that this everyday dimension is of particular importance here when trying to understand the governance trajectories, as it allows to look critically, and from a broader perspective, at situations where individual and state perception of events, but also individual and state morality, diverge.By doing this, we propose that governance in transition states and societies may be regarded as a space where formal institutions and citizens (or informal institutions) compete for power and resources and thereby produce informal, alternative 'legal orders' and mechanisms that regulate public life in a given area. We will suggest that such a space of informal negotiation is vital in contexts where collective mobilisation and public articulation of social claims is not a preferred, or even available, strategy for citizens.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 92%

Political vs. Everyday Forms of Governance in Uzbekistan: The Illegal, Immoral, and Illegitimate

Urinboyev

Polese

Svensson

et al. 2022

Informality, Labour Mobility and Precariousness

Self Cite

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“…Studies on local governments in Kazakhstan have found that they do not have real power to address local issues adequately, as they are heavily subordinate to the higher government tiers in all areas (Bhuiyan, 2010; Makhmutova, 2006; Siegel, 2016; Urinboyev, 2015). Onalbaiuly (2019) argued that the vertical structure crippled local initiatives and decision-making, and this was the case for both the central–local relationship and the relationship between local tiers of government.…”

Section: Setting the Scene: Local Governments In Kazakhstanmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Exploration of Vertical and Social Accountability in the Elected Tier of Local Government: Evidence from Kazakhstan

Zhumashov

2022

Journal of Eurasian Studies

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This study explores the functioning of the lowest elected tier of local government in Kazakhstan that governs villages, towns and small cities. While the existing literature on this issue mostly relies on quantitative data, document reviews and comparative analysis with foreign countries, this study explores new angles on the subject through the qualitative interview method. In so doing, this investigation evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of the lowest elected tier of local governments, their vertical interaction with higher-level local government and social engagement. The following conclusions have been obtained. First, providing authority to aul akims (heads of the lowest elected tier of local government) to develop budgets from locally collected revenue creates unequal opportunities for service provision. This is because the capacity of such local governments to collect taxes varies by population size, geographical features and remoteness from large cities. Second, aul akims now allocate more funds than before, but financing conditions still make them dependent on higher authorities. Third, recent requirements stipulating that aul akims discuss local issues in a local community meeting have made the heads much more socially accountable. Finally, legislation that regulates the functioning of aul akims is complex and incomplete. Based on these findings, this study suggests a number of practical recommendations for policymakers, contributes to existing knowledge via enhancing contextual information and provides directions for future research.

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“…In other regions, such as Post-Soviet Central Asia and more specifi cally in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, local governments' capabilities are challenges in addressing citizens' needs and concerns. However, this is particularly complicated as addressing these needs and concerns all relate to aspects of policy that local government cannot address alone, because it is heavily dependent on central government on all aspects of policy at the local government level (Urinboyev 2015).…”

Section: Performance Management At Different Levels Of Governancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Th e successful international implementation of PM policy is infl uenced by a number of factors at the local government level , such as the prevailing organisational culture (Pearse and Williams 2009), the political situation, lack of resources and capacities (Urinboyev 2015), lack of, or absence of, the necessary experience amongst the elected and the appointed (Nemec et al 2008). Globally, the good performance of municipalities is key to achieving local government's development goals, making public-service delivery dependent not only on capacity, but also on well-craft ed policy and eff ective policy implementation.…”

Section: Performance Management At Different Levels Of Governancementioning

confidence: 99%

Performance Management and the Integrated Development Plan of the Msunduzi Municipality in South Africa

Khunoethe

Reddy

Mthuli

2021

NISPAcee Journal of Public Administration and Policy

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Poor local government performance has been detrimental to South Africa’s development. The study explores the challenge(s) the Msunduzi Local Municipality is facing in ensuring good performance necessary for achieving its planned development. The study argues that flaws in the management of performance lead to poor performance. This research was interpretivist, used a case-study strategy and adopted a qualitative design / approach. Secondary data in the form of municipal publications and primary data in the form of interview information was collected and analysed. The findings demonstrated that there is a lack of alignment between the planned development and the necessary performance to achieve it in the Msunduzi Local Municipality. The Key Performance Areas of top managers were not aligned to the Integrated Development Plan goals; Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) were internally rather than externally focused; some of the KPIs were too vague to be measurable, and there was no agreement on the top five strategic objectives of the Municipality. This research investigation sought to contribute to the limited understanding of municipal performance and development policy alignment by improving municipal service delivery in developing countries. Lessons have been learnt on the need for policy alignment based on holistic thinking.

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Local Government Capacity in Post-Soviet Central Asia

Cited by 9 publications

References 59 publications

Political vs. Everyday Forms of Governance in Uzbekistan: The Illegal, Immoral, and Illegitimate

Political vs. Everyday Forms of Governance in Uzbekistan: The Illegal, Immoral, and Illegitimate

An Exploration of Vertical and Social Accountability in the Elected Tier of Local Government: Evidence from Kazakhstan

Performance Management and the Integrated Development Plan of the Msunduzi Municipality in South Africa

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