This diploma thesis deals with fiscal rules at the sub-national government level. The main goal is to make an analysis of the evolution and current situation of fiscal rules at the sub-national government level and to make the systematic classification of fiscal rules parameters and their choice in the EU member countries. The literary overview includes the introduction into the topic of fiscal rules and explains the connection between short-terms and long-terms goals of public finances and motives for the implementation of fiscal rules. There is also presented their typology. The next important part of this theme is the fiscal decentralization, which is also introduced here. This part is concluded by the overview of studies, which examine and evaluate the strength and effectiveness of fiscal rules at sub-national government level. The part of solutions and results includes the descriptive analysis of evolution and current situation of fiscal rules in EU member countries (EU-27) with the focus on local and regional sub-national government level. Then some selected parameters (share of sub-national public debt to GDP, fiscal decentralization, fiscal autonomy and (non)membership of EU member countries in the Eurozone) are compared with the number of implemented fiscal rules at the sub-national government level and in some cases with the fiscal rule strength index to prove or refute the set hypotheses. The hypotheses which are formulated in the methodology of this thesis are not proved by the correlation and by the main graphs. But there are some examples supporting these hypotheses.

Submitted by Bruna Rodrigues (bruna92rodrigues@yahoo.com.br) on 2016-09-26T11:56:47Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DissDPL.pdf: 1158591 bytes, checksum: e8ad67dd8f881e7b20aafc8a8b65be93 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Marina Freitas (marinapf@ufscar.br) on 2016-09-26T18:40:57Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 DissDPL.pdf: 1158591 bytes, checksum: e8ad67dd8f881e7b20aafc8a8b65be93 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Marina Freitas (marinapf@ufscar.br) on 2016-09-26T18:41:04Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 DissDPL.pdf: 1158591 bytes, checksum: e8ad67dd8f881e7b20aafc8a8b65be93 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-09-26T18:41:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DissDPL.pdf: 1158591 bytes, checksum: e8ad67dd8f881e7b20aafc8a8b65be93 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-06-26 / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) / This paper has the purpose of to discuss the characteristics of municipal institutional arrangement of international relations and the impact of its work on public policies carried out by municipal institutions of city hall. For that, initially, the determining factors that legitimate the international action of the sub-national governments were found, subsequent to, we done an observation of the characteristics of municipal institutions of international relations of Brazil. Finally, we analyzed the institutionalization of international action of a particular subnational government as well as the activities that have been done by institution that takes care of external works, and we analyzed the governmental management of this organism. We examined too how is its involvement with other municipal institutions. Aiming at exemplify this matter, a case study of the International Relations Municipal Sub-Secretariat of Belo Horizonte/MG was done, because the Law 9.011/2005, which institutionalized this organism, recommends that this organism should work together with the other municipal institutions so that it can fulfill the purposes described in this same law. / O presente trabalho tem como objetivo discutir as características do arranjo institucional municipal voltado às relações internacionais e o impacto de sua atuação sobre as políticas públicas realizadas pelos órgãos municipais de uma prefeitura. Para isso, inicialmente, foram verificados os fatores determinantes que legitimam a atuação internacional dos governos subnacionais, posteriormente, fez-se uma observação das características dos organismos municipais de relações internacionais brasileiros. Por fim, analisou-se a institucionalização das ações internacionais de um determinado governo subnacional, assim como as atividades realizadas por seu organismo direcionado à ação externa; analisamos a gestão governamental deste, e examinamos como é seu envolvimento com os demais órgãos municipais. Com o intuito de exemplificar essa questão, realizamos um estudo de caso da Secretaria Municipal Adjunta de Relações Internacionais de Belo Horizonte (MG), uma vez que a Lei 9.011/2005, a qual a institucionalizou, preconiza que esta deva trabalhar em conjunto com as demais secretarias e órgãos municipais para que ela possa cumprir as finalidades descritas nesta mesma lei.

In the past three decades, there is a growing trend of conducting fiscal decentralization in both transition countries and developed countries. The primary reason for this interest is the theoretical prediction that fiscal decentralization could promote economic development through enhancing or improving the efficiency of the public sector. Despite general acceptance of the contribution of fiscal decentralization to economic growth in theoretical literature, none of the previous fiscal decentralization studies have been successfully verified the growth effect of fiscal decentralization. Moreover, a majority of the empirical research analyzes the relationship without taking institutional factors into consideration, which may result in a biased conclusion. Utilizing fixed effects panel data regression models, this thesis is dedicated to examining the impact of fiscal decentralization on economic growth across 27 EU countries over the period 1995-2015. It first analyzes how the effect of fiscal decentralization on economic growth could differ in Western European (WE) and Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. Then, it examines the complementarity between fiscal decentralization and well-established institutional mechanism in enhancing economic growth in these two groups of EU countries by...

Masters in Public Administration - MPA / According to the Constitution of Republic of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996) it is the responsibility of local government to provide basic and effective water services to all consumers in its area of jurisdiction. The Water Services Act (Act 108 of 1997) further supports this concept and establishes the institutional framework for service delivery and an enabling environment for development of the sector. In the spirit of co-operative governance the department of Water Affair and Forestry is obliged to provide this support to local government around the issues of water services provision but this support needs to be located within the legislative laid out in local government legislation. The nature of capacity support to Kei District Council is that it requires intensive initial support to ensure that it is able to fulfil its service functions, including those outlined in the Water Services Act. This requirement for intensive initial support is due of the following: (a) Kei District Council was previously not responsible for water services, (b) it require support to set up structures and systems for managing and monitoring water Services, (c) it need to develop water services expertise, (d)The Transitional Local Government process places an enormous challenge on Kei District Council to gear up for its role as developmental local government, and (e) the Water Services Act has introduced new requirement and clarified the water services authority functions that municipalities are required to fulfil.

This study was influenced by two sociological theories namely: Durkheim’s Structural Functionalism and Relativism. In terms of Durkheim’s Structural Functionalism, I claim that the aspects of social structures, cultural norms and values, which are among its main components, are also among the main components of Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS). In line with Relativism, this study argues against Durkheim’s claim that social structures, and cultural norms and values determine human choices and behaviour. It is claimed that in line with my understanding of IKS in this study social structures, cultural norms and values are relative aspects, because they change and differ from context to context even if their carriers are the same, and human choice in different times and places play a vital role in determining decisions. These theories have been applied practically by examining the relationship between Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) and good governance. The study asserts that IKS has the potential to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of policies at the local municipality level. Thus, the study has sought to understand the extent to which IKS is incorporated in the policy development and implementation at the local municipality level. This investigation has been undertaken in the thematic context of HIV/AIDS. I investigated the extent to which IKS is incorporated into policy development and implementation related to HIV/AIDS at the local municipality level. The study has argued that the extent to which IKS is appropriated into policy development and implementation relies on the power dynamics between the provincial and national spheres of government on the one hand, and the local municipality leaders and officials on the other. The study has found that local municipality leaders and officials have a strong affinity to the IKS due to their proximity to the local citizens. But, political leaders at the national and provincial spheres of the South African government exert influence on the local municipality leaders and officials to exercise their power with limited response to the IKS needs of the local communities. / Sociology / D. Phil. (Sociology)

The historic year of 1994 marked the demise of the apartheid government and its replacement with a new era of participative democracy in South Africa. Government in the new South Africa adopted a decentralised structure underpinned by chapter three of the Constitution (1996). Consequently, there are three spheres of government, which are, national, provincial and local levels. These spheres are obliged and mandated to mutually cooperate and support each other through peaceful interactions termed intergovernmental relations (IGR) which are aimed at achieving a cooperative system of government. IGR is institutionalised through forums which cut-across all spheres of government and such structures are established by the Intergovernmental Relations framework Act (No. 13 of 2005). Sustained intergovernmental cooperation can lead to an integrated and coordinated system of government, which can, deliver services effectively while meeting the needs of the citizens and ultimately promoting sustainable socio-economic development in South Africa.The aim of this empirical study was to assess the role played by cooperativegovernment and intergovernmental relations in promoting effective delivery of services in the Amathole District Municipality (ADM). Local government is the ‘grassroots’ government and it is where the actual rendering of services is situated which was reason behind the choice of the study area by the researcher. The study adopted amixed-method research paradigm in which both the quantitative and qualitative research paradigms were triangulated to ensure that the validity and reliability of the research findings is improved. Data in the study was gathered from a representative sample of seventy (70) respondents carefully selected using non-random sampling designs, viz, judgmental and snowball sampling. The study used both primary (questionnaires and interviews) and secondary (documentary analysis) sources of data to achieve the research objectives as validly as possible. Respondents in the study comprised of municipal officials, IGR practitioners, representatives from Community Based Organisations and the residents of ADM. Data analysis was done using the Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) software and the mains findings of the study were that; ADM has got IGR forums in existence although some of these are dormant and dysfunctional, only three out of the seven local municipalities in ADM are cooperative in IGR, there is general lack of political will on the side of politicians in terms of support of IGR initiatives, political factionism and interferences is crippling IGR and cooperation, the legal framework for IGR needs revision and revamping, there are still communities without access to basic services in ADM, public sector planning cycles are fragmented and need synergisation and IGR is not being monitored and evaluated. The study therefore recommended that; the relevant stakeholders in IGR should be fully dedicated towards cooperation, planning cycles for public entities need to be synergised, the National Planning Commission (NPC) should take an oversight role in the entire planning process, the legislation should be enacted which has a clause for punitive action being taken against those who fail to cooperate in IGR and the national, provincial and local governments should prioritise access to basic services in communities cooperatively.

D. Tech. (Business, Faculty of Management Sciences), Vaal University of Technology / Organisational performance in the public sector has emerged as a critical topic in the post-1994 era in South Africa. This could ostensibly be attributed to the inability of the majority of most public organisations in the country to deliver a satisfactory standard of service to the public. An intense controversy has also emerged the world over on the selection of performance measures that are appropriate for use in public organisations. This debate is actuated by the existence of a multiplicity of performance measurement indices as well as frameworks that can be applied to manage performance in organisations. The existence of these multiple measurement mechanisms tends to confound the entire process of managing organisational performance. Another unresolved controversy focuses on the extent to which various organisational resources impact on organisational performance. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between organisational performance and three organisational resources; specifically, the human factor, organisational systems and organisational processes. A quantitative design was adopted in which a survey questionnaire was administered to 272 managers and employees of a South African National Government Department. Respondents were selected using a blend of purposive sampling and convenience sampling approaches. Data were analysed using the Statistical Packages for the Social Sciences (SPSS version 20.0). Reliabilities were measured using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Exploratory factor analysis was used to identify the human factors, organisational systems and organisational processes. Spearman’s correlation and multiple linear regression analyses were used to investigate the relationship between organisational performance and the sub-elements under each of the three organisational resources. The impacts of each of the three factors on organisational performance were compared using the mean-score ranking technique. Performance of the National Government Department was measured using the four performance yardsticks of the Balanced Scorecard; namely, customer satisfaction, financial performance, innovation and learning, and internal processes The findings of the study revealed that performance of the National Government Department was highest in four strategic areas; which are the promotion of good corporate ethics and values, client satisfaction, service quality and relations with external organisations. However, performance shortfalls were observed in four key areas; namely, organisational speed, attrition of manpower, overloading of employees and the overburdening of divisions with high workloads. Correlation analysis showed that there were positive relationships between organisational performance and the five human factor components; life satisfaction, quality of work life, ability utilisation, creativity and autonomy. Regression analysis indicated that there were significant and predictive relationships between organisational performance and three human factor elements; namely, quality of work life, ability utilisation and life satisfaction. Among the five human factor elements, life satisfaction exerted the greatest impact on organisational performance. Significant, positive and predictive associations were also found between organisational performance and three organisational system factors; quality, innovation and inter-organisational systems, with quality exerting the greatest impact on organisational performance. Significant, positive and predictive relationships were further observed between organisational performance and the four organisational process factors identified in the study; namely, organisational structure, organisational change, team processes and organisational change. Among these, team processes exerted the greatest influence on organisational performance. Overall, the human factor applied the greatest impact on organisational performance, followed by organisational processes with organisational systems having the least impact. Based on these findings, recommendations were made and implications for further studies were suggested. The findings of the study provide empirical confirmation of the effectiveness of the Balanced Scorecard as a tool for the measurement and management of performance in public sector organisations. Additionally, managers in different public organisations may enhance the performance of their organisations by optimising the sub-elements of the three organisational resources examined in this study.