Multiorganizational Arrangements For Watershed Protection

With cross-pollination of the public administration and policy implementation literatures, Madeleine Wright McNamara and John Charles Morris present the Multiorganizational Interaction Model as a framework to explore the use of cooperation, coordination, and collaboration between 15 federal/state agencies, local governments, and nongovernmental organizations working together to restore coastal habitats and replenish aquatic resources on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Content analysis of data collected through interviews and organizational documents allows comparisons to be made regarding the distribution of data across the continuum of interaction. The presence of policy mandates intending to prescribe relationships coupled with strong perceptions of collaboration, create opportunity to explore mandated and voluntary collaboration. Themes regarding mapping relationships within the multiorganizational arrangement, movement on the continuum, and implementation through mid-level personnel are discussed. The combination of theory development and testing provides readers with a theoretical framework through which to think about interorganizational interactions, and a case study to illustrate the ways in which these complex relationships manifest themselves in practice. Multiorganizational Arrangements for Watershed Protection will be essential for scholars, students, and policy makers.

As Americans try to better manage and protect the natural resources of our watersheds, is politics getting in the way? Why does watershed management end up being so political? In Embracing Watershed Politics, political scientists Edella Schlager and William Blomquist provide timely illustrations and thought-provoking explanations of why political considerations are essential, unavoidable, and in some ways even desirable elements of decision making about water and watersheds. With decades of combined study of water management in the United States, they focus on the many contending interests and communities found in America's watersheds, the fundamental dimensions of decision making, and the impacts of science, complexity, and uncertainty on watershed management. Enriched by case studies of the organizations and decision making processes in several major U.S. watersheds (the Delaware River Basin, San Gabriel River, Platte River, and the Columbia River Basin), Embracing Watershed Politics presents a reasoned explanation of why there are so few watershed-scale integrated management agencies and how the more diverse multi-organizational arrangements found in the vast majorities of watersheds work. Although the presence of multiple organizations representing a multitude of communities of interest complicates watershed management, these institutional arrangements can-under certain conditions-suit the complexity and uncertainty associated with watershed management in the twenty-first century.

In this book Pragati Rawat and John C. Morris identify and evaluate the impact of factors that can help explain the difference in e-participation, public participation using information and communication technology, in different countries. While cross-sectional studies have been covered, few have taken an in-depth look at cross-national studies. This book attempts to fill the gap using quantitative panel data to explore the influence of technology and institutions, and the impact of their complex relationships in a mediation and moderation analysis, on e-participation. The current study reviews the scholarly work in the field of “offline” and “online participation” to identify a set of antecedents that influence e-participation. A conceptual framework is developed, supported by the theories from the public policy and socio-technical premise. The authors utilize secondary data, primarily from the UN and World Economic Forum, for 143 countries from three waves of surveys to measure the dependent and explanatory variables. The panel data is statistically analyzed and findings reveal the role of technology as a mediator as well as a moderator for institutions’ impact on e-participation. The Effects of Technology and Institutions on E-Participation provides a groundbreaking country-level analysis that will appeal to academics and students of e-government and Digital Government, Public Policy, Public Administration, Public Sector Innovation, and Public Participation.

This book examines the US Water Quality Act to determine state choice in water infrastructure policy, for researchers and policymakers.

Policy Making and Southern Distinctiveness examines the uniqueness of southern politics and their policy choices. While decades of scholarship on the politics of the American South have focused on partisanship and electoral outcomes as the primary elements of interest in southern politics, few works have focused on the more practical outcomes of these political processes, specifically, comparing state policy choices of southern states to non-southern states. This book examines six different policy arenas: voting access, gun control, health care, reproductive rights, water, and COVID-19 pandemic response, comparing policy choices in states in the South with states in the non-South. The authors find that the South is distinct in several, but not all, of the policy arenas examined. They conclude that the South as a region is unique because of the exceptional degree of one-party control evident in the South, coupled with a long-standing preoccupation with partisanship and race-based politics. Policy Making and Southern Distinctiveness provides valuable insights into how and why states behave in the manner they do and where southern states may diverge from the rest of the country. It will be of interest to scholars of southern politics, state comparative policy, public policy, American politics, and federalism/intergovernmental relations.

This book analyses the effectiveness of district administration from critical management perspective. Using classical organizational theory and leadership competency framework, the authors conducted a comparative study of two exemplary districts with distinctive traits in India ─ a rural district in the developed state of Maharashtra and an urban district from the underdeveloped state of Madhya Pradesh. The book delves into the dynamics of district administration by breaking down the processes further and mapping the role of the district magistrates on the UNDP competency framework. Given the changing scope and challenges of public service, this comparative analysis of the two districts would provide insights into district administration and would be of significant relevance to administrators and management professionals across the globe in assessing their effectiveness. The book provides an eclectic framework for public administration from an overall sustainability perspective

Malaysia and South Africa implement the most extensive affirmative action programmes worldwide. This book explores why and how to effect preferential treatment which has been utilized in the pursuit of inter-ethnic parity, specifically in higher education, high-level occupations, enterprise development and wealth ownership. Through methodical and critical analyses of data on education, workforce and population, the book evaluates the primary objectives of increasing majority representation in education, employment, enterprise and ownership. The book also critically considers questions of the attainments and limitations of ethnic preferential treatment in reducing disparity, the challenges of developing capability and reducing dependency and the scope for policy reforms.

The book looks into the domestic water issues and disputes in the Himalayan South Asian countries, and based on it analyzes trans-boundary water disputes. Himalayan South Asia comprises India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, and Afghanistan. All except Afghanistan share river waters with India. Home to some of the major river basins of the world, a part of this region falls into water scarce zone, and according to the United Nations Water Report of 2018 some of them will experience severe water scarcity by 2050. The book also studies water issues in China. Though the country is not a part of the Himalayan South Asia, most of the major rivers of this region originate in China. Over the years, China has been alleged by countries like India for diverting, choking or using the trans-boundary river waters for its purpose. Understanding water competition and issues in China will help one to understand its transboundary water behavior.