Child care, asili nido e modelli di welfare

America’s local governments spend about one-eighth of our national income, one-fourth of total government spending, and employ over 14 million people. This paper surveys the large and growing economics literature on local governments and their finances. A primary difference between local and national government is the ease of labor mobility within countries, which disciplines local governments and means that heterogeneous service levels can be beneficial, but mobility also challenges local attempts at redistribution. The empirical literature on mobility responses to local government is distinguished, but remains a pressing area for future research. We have sophisticated models of local spending, tax policy, and institutional design, but research is often far less developed on even basic questions of costs and benefits of core local public services.

China's land expropriation disputes seem to be growing incrementally to the level of massive protest and violent conflicts. This dispute becomes the focus of peasants protests. Local governments, encouraged by the concept of managing the city, move to making profits by the land. This motivation creates large expropriated land and then to earn high profits in the form of ”expropriated land rent.” The standard procedure includes expropriation of land in low compensation and lends the land in high prices. This profit-making approach becomes the major political performance, fiscal income and improvement of civil servants welfare of the local government. This paper aims at examining the deficiencies of China's villages land system, the ambiguity of public interests, and the legal conflicts so as to explain the roots of expanded expropriation practice in rural China. This paper first concludes that the plural and uncertain property rights of the land contribute to the conflicts between peasants and the local governments, which take over the land and become the final owners, supreme arbitrators and ultimate controllers in the name of national needs or public interests. There is no clear distinction between land of public interests and land of profit-making. So the government administrators seek financial interests by manipulating the ambiguity. Secondly, the ambiguity of public interests gives the local governments ample tools to interpret and operate its flexible jurisdiction in the name of public interests needs and public purposes so as to secure business interests. Thirdly, the process of land expropriation is extremely complicated. Current regulations involve multiple legal statutes and rules rather than constitutional provisions. Many local governments take flexible measures to decrease the level of compensation to the peasants by lowering the compensation standards, which is designed and implemented by local governments.

This article explores the diversity of services designed for young children currently operating in Australia in remote Northern Territory (NT) Indigenous communities as a provocation for the renewal and revitalisation of mainstream (typical Australian conventional, Western values oriented and urban-based) child care services. Australian society has accepted a standardised model of child care and conceptualised it as a service designed primarily for parents who work. It has become remarkably uniform in look, nature and purpose, regardless of where it is located. The article refers specifically to ‘Innovative’ Indigenous Children's Services (the term ‘Innovative’ refers to a federally funded government initiative called the ‘Innovative Child Care Scheme’, an initiative stemming from the 1992–96 National Child Care Strategy) as a new kind of children's space in the child care landscape. The authors reflect on the findings of recent research which explored what could be learned from remotely located Indigenous children's services staff, particularly in relation to the important questions the research raised for the social agendas and public policies that underpin development and theory currently shaping mainstream centre-based long day care programs.

Solid waste generation is an increasing global problem. The problem is more pronounced in developing countries due to experienced budget constraints and lack of strong institutions in the management of waste collections and disposals. Local government authorities in Tanzania have made efforts to ensure proper solid waste management especially in urban areas. Despite these initiatives solid waste management is still a key environmental problem in most urban areas of the country. This may be due to non-inclusion of household preferences on solid waste management when designing solid waste management services. A Choice Experiment Method was used in this study to determine household preferences on solid waste management services in order to design sustainable solid waste management services in Kinondoni municipality. The results showed that both low and high income households in Kinondoni Municipality prefer solid waste management services. The mostly preferred solid waste management service attributes were frequency of solid waste collection and use of vehicles while provision of polythene bags attribute was not preferred by households. The findings showed that are high variations in household preferences for solid waste management services caused mainly by socio-economic characteristics such as income. In order to improve solid waste management in Kinondoni municipality, policy makers and solid waste management service providers should incorporate household preferences on solid waste management services when designing these services.

This article reports upon findings from an investigation into care career patterns of children in a London inner‐city borough. Reviewing the literature on child care services, it highlights the dated and inadequate nature of information on this subject, and the degree to which black1 children's concerns have been omitted from the literature. Published studies on black children in care have focussed upon a partial sector of the care process and failed adequately to explain their admission and representation. Attention to the detailed information available from case notes enables a critical evaluation of explanations, and interviews with individuals illustrate the operation of racism in the admission of children into care.

Coastal communities are becoming increasingly aware of the risks to local infrastructure from more frequent and severe flooding, more extreme storm surges, and sea-level rise. As local governments are responsible for the lion’s share of land use decision-making and infrastructure development in coastal communities in the United States, local governments in the coastal zone will play a key role in adapting to the changing climate. Local decision-makers are facing hard questions about whether to build new infrastructure, adapt existing infrastructure to new standards, continue maintaining existing infrastructure as is, or abandon infrastructure altogether. Monroe County, Florida, for example, has begun to factor sea-level rise considerations into decisions related to road improvement projects, creating specific design standards addressing elevation and working to weigh the benefits and costs of different adaptation options such as elevating roads. Local governments are making these decisions in the context of increasingly unreliable and aging road systems, all while meeting current stormwater criteria which may require drainage improvements. Local decision-makers also are recognizing that crucial infrastructure decisions that directly affect their adaptation success are sometimes out of their control. In the case of the City of Tybee Island, Georgia, for example, tidal flooding restricts access to U.S. Highway 80 on an ever-increasing basis—yet the highway, the only road leading to the island, is not under the city’s jurisdiction but that of the Georgia Department of Transportation. To further complicate matters for local governments, both taking action and failing to act could result in either tort or “takings” liability in cases where a poorly maintained road results in harm to life or loss of property value from diminished access. Using the duty of state and local governments to maintain roads as a focus, this Article explores the complexity of adaptation at the local level as the impacts of climate change become more pronounced. Specifically, this Article presents an analysis of coastal communities in four South Atlantic states—Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina—that are currently facing questions about how to protect property and infrastructure as sea levels rise and flooding increases. This Article distills the findings of an interdisciplinary research project funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (“NOAA”), Florida Sea Grant, Georgia Sea Grant, South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium, and North Carolina Sea Grant. It also consists of a regional analysis comparing how tort and local government law can both further and hinder climate change resilience planning and climate adaptation efforts across these four states. Given that the federal government has offered little in terms of legislation, policy, or funding to direct or support climate adaptation activities, local efforts—and the litigation that inevitably results—are on the forefront of establishing the framework for defining adaptation policy more broadly and influencing the contours of tort and land use law. This Article, therefore, fills an important research gap in existing climate change literature, as it discusses how increased flooding at the local level is putting pressure on traditional conceptions of government duties, immunities, and authorities. This Article also uses roads as a case study to explore how sea-level rise is altering planning, maintenance, and funding for public infrastructure. This discussion focuses on local duties and responsibilities to build, rebuild, modify, or maintain existing roads for two primary reasons: (1) it is a widely shared function among jurisdictions and is the most obvious and visible type of infrastructure to the public, and (2) roads and highways, which are crucial to trade, defense, and nation-building, have long been under the purview of government regulation and funding in the United States. Recently, roads have also become a focal point in local government efforts to address rising sea levels and increased flooding. While sea-level rise may seem like a distant threat, many of its effects are being felt now, as low-lying coastal areas such as Norfolk, Virginia; Brunswick, Georgia; and Monroe County, Florida are experiencing increased nuisance or “sunny day” flooding occurring during seasonal or average high tides. Such flooding typically affects roads, temporarily closing them and increasing maintenance and repair costs. Residents who rely on these roads, often find themselves cut off from their homes, businesses, workplaces, schools, and local hospitals. In this way, sea-level rise and the flooding associated with it have become increasingly familiar and imminent, making roads the “climate change canary in the coal mine” for local governments. Part I of this Article briefly discusses recent sea-level rise issues and coastal science most relevant to the South Atlantic states—North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Part II analyzes and compares each state’s road ownership and maintenance duties, first by addressing the threshold question of ownership and jurisdiction, and then by explaining the multi-step analysis that governments must take to evaluate their duties to maintain roads in order to avoid liability. Part II also outlines the wide differences among the four states in our study area and observes a common thread, namely, that in almost each instance, local governments are faced with conflicting pressures that are likely to reward inaction over action and favor short-term political compromises over strategic investments in adaptation. This Part then details how counties and municipalities can discontinue their duties to maintain roads through the process of abandonment and how abandonment can lead to takings liability. Part III offers three proposals for encouraging coordinated adaptation action and protecting local governments that take action to address climate impacts: (1) redefining the scope of the duties that define reasonable conduct for governments in making decisions about public infrastructure in an era of rising sea levels; (2) defining the scope of sovereign immunity protections in a way that encourages innovative and creative decision-making in an era of climate uncertainty; and (3) calling for consistent adaptation duties and authorities at the state level as a crucial first step in mending the regulatory patchwork that currently exists at the state, county, and city levels in our four-state study area. Part IV concludes with a summary of observations and recommended next steps.

At the very outset of this book, we stressed the important role of local governments and local government finances in putting in place a pro-poor development strategy. In Chapter 1, we noted that decentralization reforms are used to pursue different goals in different countries, including improving the delivery of pro-poor public services, such as education and health care; empowering local communities by increasing participation and accountability of the public sector through local governments; and increasing the transparency and equity with which public resources are allocated across the national territory. In the context of Tanzania, the Policy Paper on Local Government Reform (MRALG, 1998) identifies the improvement of the quality of public service delivery in the context of poverty alleviation as the primary motivation behind decentralization by devolution.

A long-standing issue in politics and administration is how politicians and bureaucrats perceive themselves in their roles and relationships with their counterpart in the process of governance and development and which factors affect or configure the orientation or perception of the politicians and bureaucrats regarding politics-bureaucracy relationship in the political system. Like many other developed and developing countries, bureaucracy is the post-colonial reality of governance in Bangladesh. The elected politicians and non-elected official bureaucrats are the integral part of the administration in both the central and local government in Bangladesh. Probably the most elemental and theoretical debatable issue here is that - what will be the apt relationship between politicians and bureaucrats? And what are the relational effects on local governance and development? Thus, this inquiry empirically investigated the views and perceptions of the elected politicians and official bureaucrats to politics-bureaucracy relations and its effects on governance and development of Bangladesh in the context of local governance and development following the survey and case study methods. This study endeavored to undertake a theory based empirical research to figure out the theoretical paradigmatic perspectives from the existing literature on politics-bureaucracy relationship and an attempt has been made to identify “dichotomy” and “mutuality” as the major two models of the theoretical perspective by discussing the key variations and effectual deficiencies among the existing models, providing the argument that existing theoretical models are not identical and their characteristics are overlapping with either dichotomy or mutuality. Consequently, it also wanted to propose a logical modification of the existing relationship models by explaining some underpinning variables which underpin the relationship between politicians and bureaucrats in the process of governance. This study tried to develop a prospective third model of politics-bureaucracy relations focusing the light on symbiotic relationship between politicians and bureaucrats that is argued in this thesis as an interface between dichotomous and mutual relation, and an essential precondition or rational choice model of politics-bureaucracy relations for proper local governance and development as the theoretical construct. The empirical data and observation reveals that the theoretical models that already been discussed in the theoretical and conceptual framework cannot be found exactly in the context of politics-bureaucracy relations at the local government of Bangladesh. According to the perceptions of respondents and the empirical data, the relation is neither normatively dichotomous with political neutrality nor abundantly cohesive or mutual-interactive. However, some conditions of both dichotomy and mutuality are present in the relationship of local elected politicians and bureaucrats. In spite of that, empirical data reveals that the relation between local elected politicians and bureaucrats is conflicting and it is influenced by many components. The role perceptions and the patterns of relationships varies with the degree of social characteristics, alignment of interests, role perceptions, self-image and mutual interaction between local elected politicians and the official bureaucrats, which ultimately influence the level of local governance and development. The colonial and semi-colonial legacy, dominant attitude of the politicians and bureaucrats, politicization, distinctive self-image and mutual interaction are highly associated to the conflictual relationship. Moreover, the increased fusion of the political and administrative roles of the bureaucracy has complicated the perceptions of the bureaucracy in Bangladesh. The results of the empirical observation and statistical analysis demonstrate that the relational perceptions of politicians and bureaucrats are almost opposite and bureaucrats trend to dominate local governance and development by marginalizing the local elected politicians and thus conflict occurred between them which ultimately affect local governance and development significantly. In this milieu, this research propose the symbiotic model of relation that would be the rational choice for proper governance and development as the necessary conditions of symbiotic model are existing in the perspective of politics-bureaucracy relations at the local government in Bangladesh.

The UK’s foster care system supports over two thirds of children in care, with the majority being in care due to maltreatment, neglect or family-related adversities. While evidence shows that children in care face greater risks of emotional, behavioural and mental health challenges than the general population, foster care uniquely offers children the opportunity to build attachment relationships that can be protective in the face of adversity and support their overall wellbeing. However, differences in outcomes and operation between independent fostering agencies (IFAs) and in-house local authority (IHLA) foster placements remain largely underexplored. This study investigates the characteristics, psychological needs and stability of children/young people in IFAs and IHLAs using data from the online BERRI assessment. Findings reveal that children in IFAs are typically older and experience greater psychological needs than children in IHLA fostering. Despite these differences, children in both placement types were found to be similarly susceptible to risk, and demonstrated comparable stability and trends in mental health outcomes over an approximate four-month period. These findings suggest that IFAs perform an alternative function to IHLAs, where they appear capable of providing support that better accommodates children with more complex needs, though this distinction requires further investigation.

Paternal feeding and child care are significant determinants of child nutrition, health, and well-being. In many Kenyan communities, fathers seldom participate; child care is predominantly perceived as the mother's responsibility. Limited paternal involvement may negatively impact the quality of child nutrition and care in the home. This study investigated fathers’ roles, perceptions, and barriers to participation in child feeding and care in Kathonzweni Ward, Makueni County, Kenya. The study used an exploratory qualitative design. Researchers conducted 11 focus group discussions with fathers, mothers, and community health promoters to understand paternal practices, perceptions, and challenges. They audio-recorded, transcribed, and thematically analyzed each session to find key themes. Five main themes emerged: paternal roles (financial support and direct care), effects of paternal involvement on child health, barriers, cultural norms and evolving practices, and support needs. Fathers mostly provided financial support and decided on household food and health costs; a few helped with daily feeding and care. Younger and more educated fathers were more likely to feed, play with, and take children to health facilities. Economic hardship, substance use, limited nutrition knowledge, and prevailing gender norms constrained fathers’ participation. Further, societal and cultural beliefs that caregiving constitutes women’s work discouraged male involvement. Nevertheless, most participants agreed that children benefited from paternal involvement through improved nutrition, health, and family cohesion. The study urges sharing caregiving and feeding tasks equally between parents. Recommendations include health education for men, community awareness, and livelihood support to empower fathers as caregivers. Involving men in maternal and child health and removing social barriers can normalize their participation. These strategies could improve child nutrition and well-being in rural Kenya.

This thesis examines Anglo-Russian rivalry in Transcaucasia in general - and Azerbaijan in particular - focusing on the years 1918-1920. The first part of the thesis provides a general review of the history of the Great Game - the geopolitical rivalry between the British and Russian Empires fought in the remote areas of central Asia - before going on to examine the growing investment by British firms in the oil industry of Baku. It also discusses how the Anglo-Russian Entente of 1907 changed the texture of AngloRussian relations without resolving the tensions altogether, which lasted until the February Revolution of 1917, despite the wartime alliance between Britain and Russia. The thesis then goes on to examine British policy towards Transcaucasia after the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. The thesis argues that the political turmoil in Russia provided the British government with an opportunity to exert greater political control over the south of the country, securing its access to oil and control of the Caspian Sea region, thereby reducing any potential threat to India. The allied victory in the First World War, and the weakening of Turkey in particular, meant that British policy in central Asia after November 1918 increasingly focused on advancing British economic and strategic interests in the area. Although the British government did not seek to exert direct long-term political control over Azerbaijan, its policy in 1919 was designed both to support the local government in Baku against possible Bolshevik attack, whilst simultaneously exerting control over Baku oil. The thesis shows that the British military authorities who controlled Azerbaijan in the first part of 1919 typically acted as an occupying force, manipulating the local government, and behaving in ways that alienated large sections of the local population. This pattern of quasi-imperial rule, which was designed to secure the economic benefits of controlling Baku oil while avoiding the costs of large-scale military occupation, eventually proved fruitless. The final part of the thesis then examines how the British sought to defend their economic interests in Azerbaijan even as they removed their military forces. The government in London supported the local Musavat government in its attempt to gain international recognition, hoping that this would bolster its position both abroad and at home. Yet this policy failed to recognise the radical mood on the ‘streets’ of Baku and the appeal of Bolshevism to the many of the local population. When the Bolsheviks finally took control of Azerbaijan in 1920 they did so with the support of significant sections of the population. This thesis suggests that developments in Azerbaijan during this period can be analysed by using a Marxist framework that emphasises how imperialism creates divisions between imperial powers - divisions that endure over time even as they take new forms. It also examines how British policy towards Azerbaijan can be seen as an attempt to establish a form of colonial control that promoted the economic and political interests of key economic and political groups in Britain at the cost of the local Azeri population. In order to develop this argument and avoid the dangers of over-simplification, the thesis draws on a massive array of archive and published sources in English, Russian, Azeri and Turkish. In doing this it offers perspectives and arguments that are absent from the existing scholarly literature whilst introducing the reader to new material unfamiliar to most English-language readers.

The local bases of global public health: complexities and opportunities

Agricultural productivity improvements are essential for achieving overall economic growth. The Philippine performance on both counts has been disappointing. Agricultural extension which is one way of improving productivity has undergone substantial change in the last thirteen years through devolution under the Local Government Code of 1991. Whether devolution has improved agricultural extension delivery is a key question. Devolution generally has yielded some positive outcomes: cooperation between local government units (LGUs) and with the private sector and nongovernment organizations (NGOs); recognition of the realities of globalization; and use of modern management and communication. But problems of capacity building, partisan local politics and uncertain lines of financial and decisionmaking accountability between central and local government remain. These general lessons apply to agricultural extension. Moreover, even the best extension service, whether delivered by local or central government, is unlikely to be effective where farmer decisionmaking is unduly influenced by government controls and pricing policies and where security of tenure is weak. Philippines Journal of Public Administration Vol.XLVIII(3) 2004

Recent studies indicate that the defects and shortcomings of land expropriation has produced, owing to the land utilization behavior of local government under the ”land finance”, including the deficiencies of the institutional design of law, unclear definition of public interest, ambiguity of collective ownership, low standard of land compensation and lack of judicial aids. It will result in the decrease of cultivated land, increase of the unemployed population, low standard economic-social life, the influence of social stability and legitimacy for local government. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the choices of strategies among local governments, peasants and central government. Currently, local governments abuse expropriation power and authorization power of land leasing as a tool of maximizing finance revenue, government activities often lead to tortuous land expropriation. The result shows that land finance could induce local governments to expand cultivated land occupation in pursuit of fiscal revenue growth, economic development, local competition and achievement of official performance evaluation. The strategies of peasants' choices are to use weapons of the weak, mobilize children, women and elders to strengthen the degree of the morality and legitimacy for their rights of protection, and seek enough resources from social elites, choose the best moment of solution, use the right of recall and have recourse to law. The strategies of central government's choices are to take vertical management of land resource under province, establish the arbitration of land compensation and settlement construct the supervision of land expropriation and so on. The article reveals that strengthening the peasants' protection of their rights and upgrading degree of the punishment and threat from central government are important countermeasures. In the meanwhile, changing the cost of expectation benefit from local governments will be effective to constrain the illegal act of land expropriation by local governments.

The aims of this study were to explore and assess the household behavior towards recyclable waste discard and household attitudes towards good waste management in the Mekong delta region . southern Vietnam. A questionnaire survey was carried out in 100 households in Can Tho city. The existing household habits for waste discard, storage, collection, and recycling activities were clarified in order to identify the priority problems of these activities. Regarding household behavior towards recycling activities and the purchase behavior of households for avoidable wastes (e.g., plastic carry bags, container and packaging, expired/residual food waste) were explored. The household behavior for reusing the used valuable things instead of discarding and for consuming the products or goods made from recycling materials was also examined. Besides, household attitudes towards good waste management were partly explored; the results found that the neighbor s view and social norms seemed to work for keeping order in waste collection and discard activities. Moreover, the authors also analyzed the interrelationships among the household behavior towards recycling activities, the household attitudes towards good waste management, and individual attributes such as the education level, urbanization level, income, age, gender, and working status. It was found that household attitudes towards good waste management correlated to household behavior towards recycling activities; education level and urbanization level were identified as relevant factors for enhancing waste recycling activities and good environmental attitudes of households.