Goal Conflicts in Political Decisionmaking: A Survey of Municipality Politicians' Views of Road Pricing

10.1068/c19s ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 615-624 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lars-Olof Johansson ◽  
Mathias Gustafsson ◽  
Gunnar Falkemark ◽  
Tommy Gärling ◽  
Olof Johansson-Stenman
Keyword(s):  
Traffic Congestion ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Metropolitan Areas ◽  
Road Pricing ◽  
The Political ◽  
Car Use ◽  
Environmental Goal ◽  
Pricing Schemes ◽  
Political Decisionmaking ◽  
Goal Conflicts

An ongoing discussion concerns road-pricing schemes as measures to abate traffic congestion and air pollution in metropolitan areas. If such measures are to be effective, road-pricing fees must be set sufficiently high However, municipalities are likely to have other goals besides reducing car use, such as upholding fairness among citizens and financial goals such as creating revenues. If conflicts prove to exist between different goals, road-pricing schemes are not likely to achieve the environmental goal. To investigate the degree to which these goal conflicts exist, members of the local governments in the three major metropolitan areas of Sweden responded to a survey questionnaire. In the questionnaire they rated a number of principles guiding the setting of road-pricing fees hypothesized to correspond to the three goals. The results showed that, for the political majority, the hypothesized goal conflicts existed in that no single goal was optimized. It is concluded that in particular fairness may prevent road pricing achieving the environmental goal.

Revenue Usages, Pricing Schemes, and Media Discussions for Taxing Ridesourcing Services

2020 ◽  
Vol 2674 (9) ◽  
pp. 191-201
Author(s):  
Jerry Zhirong Zhao ◽  
Camila Fonseca ◽  
Raihana Zeerak
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Traffic Congestion ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Transportation Network ◽  
Transportation Systems ◽  
Media Analysis ◽  
Key Stakeholders ◽  
Shared Mobility ◽  
State And Local ◽  
Pricing Schemes

Shared mobility is transforming transportation in major urban cities. This paper focuses on taxes and fees on ridesourcing services, particularly those revenue strategies levied on their usages, generally on a per trip basis. These revenue strategies are analyzed from three main aspects. First, the usage of revenues was assessed. The majority of localities use them as a mechanism to cover regulatory costs or fill budget gaps, with very few using the proceeds to improve transportation systems or mobility overall. Second, the different pricing schemes used across localities were looked into. Most localities have adopted a fixed fee/surcharge charged per trip. Only two localities have established differential fees depending on the type of ride, aiming to increase vehicle occupancy and reduce traffic congestion. Lastly, a media analysis was conducted to examine the rationale for imposing a revenue-raising strategy, perceptions of key stakeholders, and ongoing discussions. Most debates around the adoption of the revenue-raising strategy involved the legislative and executive branches of governments at different levels, transportation network companies (TNCs), taxi businesses, and so forth. Supporters argued that the measure contributes to customer safety and the enhancement of equitable transportation options for all residents, while opponents stated concerns about the disproportionate impact of the measure on the middle-class and low-income populations. The findings provide a framework of current practices to assist state and local governments to make informed decisions in relation to TNC taxes and regulations.

scholarly journals THE AUSTRIAN HOV-LANE—EXPERIENCES IN IMPLEMENTATION AND OPERATION

2002 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 255-262
Author(s):  
Wolfgang J. Berger
Keyword(s):  
Metropolitan Areas ◽  
Local Level ◽  
The Political ◽  
Bus Drivers ◽  
Car Use ◽  
Upper Austria ◽  
Arterial Road ◽  
Bus Lane ◽  
Public Costs ◽  
The City

The ever increasing use of private vehicles for daily commuting trips contributes to a rising level of congestion in metropolitan areas. The trip times for each driver grow constantly. Just this situation is approaching Linz (ca 200 000 inhabitants), which is the capital of Upper Austria and also the political and economical centre of the region. At one every workday morning heavily congested arterial road towards the city, since 1998 high occupancy vehicles (HOV) with 3 or more occupants (3+) have been permitted to use the existing bus lane too. The opportunity to save time should encourage commuters to share their cars and should result in a more efficient car use. Based on a study, by which the efficiency of that first HOV-lane in Austria was investigated, the effects and the influences on the trip duration, commuting behaviour, drivers attitudes towards the measure, bus drivers' and policemen's experiences as well as the environmental and public costs are described. Additionally, some imperfections are revealed concerning, for instance, the used traffic signs. As the main outcome the implementation of this HOV-lane proves to be a practical approach for improving the bad commuting traffic situation on a local level. However, it must be seen only as one of many measures that would be necessary to create a real sustainable solution for the whole metropolitan area.

Bossa Mundo

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.E. Goldschmitt
Keyword(s):  
Local Governments ◽  
Film Music ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Political ◽  
National Brand ◽  
Brazilian Music ◽  
Media Environment ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Media ◽  
Rich Countries

Bossa Mundo chronicles how Brazilian music has been central to Brazil’s national brand in the United States and the United Kingdom since the late 1950s. Scholarly texts on Brazilian popular music generally focus on questions of music and national identity, and when they discuss the music’s international popularity, they keep the artists, recordings, and live performances as the focus, ignoring the process of transnational mediation. This book fills a major gap in Brazilian music studies by analyzing the consequences of moments when Brazilian music was popular in Anglophone markets, with a focus on the media industries. With subject matter as varied as jazz, film music, dance fads, DJ/remix culture, and new models of musical distribution, the book demonstrates how the mediation of Brazilian music in an increasingly crowded transnational marketplace has had lasting consequences for the creative output celebrated by Brazil as part of its national brand. Through a discussion of the political meaning of mass-mediated music in chronologically organized chapters, the book shifts the scholarly focus on the music’s transnational popularity from the scholarly framework of representing Otherness to broader considerations of a media environment where listeners and intermediaries often have differing priorities. The book provides a new model for studying music from culturally rich countries in the Global South where local governments often leverage stereotypes in their national branding project.

Organising the Old: Senior Authority and the Political Significance of a Rural Chinese ‘Non-Governmental Organisation’

2008 ◽  
Vol 42 (5) ◽  
pp. 1057-1078 ◽  
Author(s):  
METTE HALSKOV HANSEN
Keyword(s):  
Local Governments ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
Older Men ◽  
The Political ◽  
Local Power ◽  
Old People ◽  
Business People ◽  
History Of ◽  
Official Status ◽  
New Strategies

AbstractThis article argues that villagers' weakened trust in local governments has caused the officials to develop new strategies to cooperate with people and groups who enjoy traditional forms of authority. More specifically, the article shows how the officially established Old People' Associations in some areas have gained political influence far beyond what their official status as an “NGO” (minjian zuzhzi) would warrant. Villages of Fujian have a long history of being organised around patrilinear lineage organisations, and especially the older men still enjoys authority among the population. Local authorities, as well as business people, are therefore actively trying to engage and mobilise this traditional senior authority for their own political and economic purposes, thereby creating new relations of local power.

Political instability and the ability of local government to respond to reputational threats in unison

2017 ◽  
Vol 85 (3) ◽  
pp. 440-456 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Howard Grøn ◽  
Heidi Houlberg Salomonsen
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Political Instability ◽  
Reputation Management ◽  
Administrative Leadership ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Public Managers ◽  
History Of

This article investigates whether local governments are able to act in a unified manner when responding to reputational threats posed by negative media coverage. Based on an argument that local governments facing political instability are less able to perform in unison, the article investigates a number of expectations, including various types of political instability (council, agenda and policy area instability) and their relation to different types of responses to negative media coverage from the political and administrative actors (communication behaviour, responsibility and blame-avoidant behaviour, and sanctioning behaviour). The article finds such relationships for some of these aspects. The analysis also indicates that the reputational history of a local government is related to the degree of unified behaviour. The empirical analysis is primarily based on a survey sent to all Danish public managers in the three upper levels of the local government hierarchy. Point for practitioners Reputation management has become an area for strategic management in the public sector, not least in local governments. This article demonstrates that public managers need to pay attention to the degree of political instability characterizing their local governments when dealing with reputational threats. If the local government is characterized by political instability, the need to address potential disagreements between administrative and political actors becomes vital. Furthermore, public managers need to take into account the reputational history of their organization as it may challenge the ability to coordinate a unified response across the political and administrative leadership during reputational threats.

Political CSR and legitimation via corporate foundation: a public management program

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 553-570 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliana Souza Bittar-Godinho ◽  
Gilmar Masiero
Keyword(s):  
Local Governments ◽  
Public Management ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Political Legitimacy ◽  
Management Program ◽  
The Political ◽  
Organizational Relationships ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Political Csr ◽  
Governance Challenges

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the political involvement of a corporate foundation (CF) though CSR under two perspectives: CF managers and the sponsor firm managers. Design/methodology/approach A single case with a Brazilian CF was conducted. Interviews with sponsor firms and foundations managers were combined with firms’ sustainability reports data and CF’s website information. Findings It was found that CF acts as an ambassador and can be a source of political legitimacy for their sponsor firm. They intermediate in governance challenges as the goals and working style of the CF, firms and municipalities can be sometimes antagonistic. Research limitations/implications The authors could not reach the municipalities officials and their perception of the Public Management Program (PMP). Practical implications The PMP creates personal and organizational relationships with public officials, a resource that can be employed to impact the political strategies of the sponsor firm. Social implications The authors also show how CF’s may help managers to deal with the typical Brazilian peculiarity of policy discontinuity in local governments. Originality/value This case study sheds light a new phenomenon: CF’s support on public management. It adds to the CSR and corporate political activities literature, the role of foundations as ambassadors of the relationship between the firm, government and society. They are not only filling gaps left by the State but are also dealing with local governments administrative deficiencies.

scholarly journals Role of political parties in modern processes of state building in Ukraine

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 7-12
Author(s):  
Yuriy Kyrychenko ◽  
Hanna Davlyetova
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Political Power ◽  
State Building ◽  
The Political ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
The People ◽  
Problematic Situations

The article examines the role of political parties in modern state-building processes in Ukraine. The place of political parties in the political and legal system of society is determined. The general directions of overcoming problematic situations of activity of political parties in Ukraine are offered. It is noted that political parties play an important role in the organization and exercise of political power, act as a kind of mediator between civil society and public authorities, influence the formation of public opinion and the position of citizens directly involved in elections to public authorities and local governments. It is determined that in a modern democratic society, political parties carry out their activities in the following areas: the work of representatives of political parties in public authorities and local governments; participation in elections of state authorities and local self-government bodies; promoting the formation and expression of political will of citizens, which involves promoting the formation and development of their political legal consciousness. These areas of political parties determine their role and importance in a modern democratic society, which determines the practical need to improve their activities and improve the national legislation of Ukraine in the field of political parties. Political parties are one of the basic institutions of modern society, they actively influence the ac-tivities of public authorities, economic and social processes taking place in the state and so on. It is through political parties that the people participate in the management of public affairs. Expressing the interest of different social communities, they become a link between the state and civil society. The people have the opportunity to delegate their powers to political parties, which achieves the ability of the people to control political power in several ways, which at the same time through competition of state political institutions and political parties contributes to increasing their responsibility to the people. It is noted that the political science literature has more than 200 definitions of political parties. And approaches to the definition of this term significantly depend on the general context in which this issue was studied by the researcher. It was emphasized that today in Ukraine there are important issues related to the activities of political parties. First of all, it is a significant number of registered political parties that are incapable, ie their political activity is conducted formally or not at all. According to official data from the Department of State Registration and Notary of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, 352 political parties are registered, of which 48 political parties do not actually function. The reason for the liquidation of such parties is not to nominate their candidates for the election of the President of Ukraine and People's Deputies of Ukraine for 10 years. According to this indicator, Ukraine ranks first among other European countries. Thus, 73 political parties are officially registered in Latvia, 38 in Lithuania, 45 in Moldova, 124 in Romania, and 56 in Slovakia. However, despite the large number of officially registered political parties in Ukraine, public confidence in their activities is low. It is concluded that political parties occupy a special place in the political and legal system of society and play an important role in the organization and exercise of political power, as well as a kind of mediator between civil society and public authorities. The general directions of overcoming problematic situations of activity of political parties in Ukraine are offered, namely: introduction of effective and impartial control over activity of political parties; creating conditions for reducing the number of political parties, encouraging their unification; establishment of effective and efficient sanctions for violation of the requirements of the current legislation of Ukraine by political parties.

scholarly journals Condemning Religion: RLUIPA and the Politics of Eminent Domain

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Serkin ◽  
Nelson Tebbe
Keyword(s):  
Local Governments ◽  
Important Implication ◽  
Safety Valve ◽  
Eminent Domain ◽  
The Political ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
Federal Statute ◽  
The One ◽  
Special Protection

85 Notre Dame Law Review 1 (2009)Should religious landowners enjoy special protection from eminent domain? A recent federal statute, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), compels courts to apply a compelling interest test to zoning and landmarking regulations that substantially burden religiously owned property. That provision has been controversial in itself, but today a new cutting-edge issue is emerging: whether the Act’s extraordinary protection should extend to condemnation as well. The matter has taken on added significance in the wake of Kelo, where the Supreme Court reaffirmed its expansive view of the eminent domain power. In this Article, we argue that RLUIPA should not give religious assemblies any extraordinary ability to resist condemnation. We offer two principal reasons for this proposal. First, the political economy surrounding condemnation is markedly different from that of zoning, so that broadening the law’s protections beyond zoning to cover outright takings would be unnecessary and ineffective. Second, the costs of presumptively exempting congregations from condemnation are likely to be far higher than the costs of doing so with respect to zoning. In conclusion, we identify an important implication of our argument for the law’s core zoning provision – namely, our proposal invites local governments to circumvent RLUIPA by simply condemning religious property that they find difficult to zone because of the Act. On the one hand, this gives local governments a needed safety valve while, on the other hand, requiring them to pay just compensation to religious groups. Our proposal therefore suggests a powerful compromise.

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