Multilevel governance, community and emergency management during the pandemic: migrants in Japan

PurposeBuilding on perspectives from the study of multilevel governance, migrants' inclusion and emergency management, this article asks how differences across national regulations for foreign residents, work eligibility and access to national emergency supports intersected with local approaches in responding to migrants.Design/methodology/approachThis article examines national policy adjustments and parallel subnational governance early in the pandemic for three groups of foreign residents: international students, technical interns and co-ethnics with long-term visas, primarily Brazilians and Peruvians. It uses Japanese-language documents to trace national policy responses. To grasp subnational governance, the article analyzes coverage in six Japanese regional newspapers from northern, central and western Japan, for the period of April 1 to October 1, 2020.FindingsNational policies obstructed or enabled migrants' treatment as members of the local community but did not dictate this membership, which varied according to migrant group. Migrants' relationship to the community affected available supports.Originality/valueThe article brings together perspectives on multilevel governance, emergency management and migrants' inclusion. It exposes how different migrant groups' ties to the local community affected access to supports.

Bioprotection of Transportation and Facilities from SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19).

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has led to a nearly world-wide shelter-in-place strategy. This raises several natural concerns about the safe relaxing of current restrictions. This article focuses on the design and operation of heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems in the context of transportation. Do HVAC systems have a role in limiting viral spread? During shelter-in-place, can the HVAC system in a dwelling or a vehicle help limit spread of the virus? After the shelter-in-place strategy ends, can typical workplace and transportation HVAC systems limit spread of the virus? This article directly addresses these and other questions. In addition, it also summarizes simplifying assumptions needed to make meaningful predictions. This article derives new results using transform methods first given in Ginsberg and Bui. These new results describe viral spread through an HVAC system and estimate the aggregate dose of virus inhaled by an uninfected building or vehicle occupant when an infected occupant is present within the same building or vehicle. Central to these results is the derivation of a quantity called the "protection factor"-a term-of-art borrowed from the design of gas masks. Older results that rely on numerical approximations to these differential equations have long been lab validated. This article gives the exact solutions in fixed infrastructure for the first time. These solutions, therefore, retain the same lab validation of the older methods of approximation. Further, these exact solutions yield valuable insights into HVAC systems used in transportation.

How Governance Shapes Emergency Management: China's Mixed Records in Responding to COVID-19

A nation's governing system shapes its capacity for emergency preparedness and management. Designed to maintain the central government's absolute authority, China's governing system limits local governments' initiative and capacity in responding to mass emergencies. By examining China's fight against COVID-19, this essay dynamically demonstrates how the country's governing regime constrains the initial response of local officials and other non-state entities to the virus but facilitated large-scale mobilization once the crisis was recognized by the central leadership. Four essential factors for an adaptive emergency management system are identified: 1) raising the central government's ability to recognize mass emergencies, 2) changing political incentives of local cadres, 3) creating a flexible and efficient ad-hoc resource allocation mechanism, and 4) embracing the participation of non-governmental actors. This study provides insights into how political realities explain the disparity in pandemic control performance across nations. It also shows how the resilience of a mass emergency management system can be enhanced within the constraints of existing governing institutions.

The marble cake of social services in Italy and Spain: Policy capacity, social investment, and the national recovery and resilience plans

This article analyses the potential implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for the infrastructure of social services in Italy and Spain. Drawing from the policy capacity framework and focusing on childcare and elderly care, we investigate how the National Recovery and Resilience Plans are likely to impact the core functions of the social investment approach. Through document analysis, the article shows that, whereas the infrastructure of the social service system remains characterised by a ‘marble cake' type of institutional arrangement combining national and subnational responsibilities, attempts have been made by the central governments to steer the social investment policy capacity at the organisational and systemic levels. We argue that the pandemic represents a window of opportunity to rethink the overall system of intergovernmental relations in the field of social services. © The Author(s) 2023.

Content Analysis on Homelessness Issues at Airports by News Media Mining

The number of homeless people at airports has increased in recent years. As airports are safe, transit-accessible, convenient, and climate-controlled facilities with food and amenities, these places are attractive to homeless people who need a safe and secure place to stay. The main struggle of airports in this regard is maintaining a balance between customers, who are mostly the traveling public, and dealing with homeless people delicately. Moreover, because of their poverty and insufficient or no access to healthcare, these people suffer from physical and mental issues. With the COVID-19 pandemic, this problem became more critical. Many news media outlets started to report on homelessness at airports. News-framing impacts have some contribution in the context of this issue. However, the impact of news coverage on ‘‘airport and homelessness'' has not yet been studied. News-framing effects have been identified in the context of tourist destinations. Although many studies have explored homelessness and transit, this issue at airports has not been well studied. This study provides a brief overview of the issue of homelessness in the transportation domain, including transit and aviation. Additionally, this study collected news articles related to ‘‘airport and homelessness'' (71 articles) both during the COVID-19 pandemic (March 1, 2020–July 21, 2021) and before the pandemic (before March 1, 2020). These news articles contain around 50,000 words. As the data is unsupervised in nature, a text network analysis was performed to determine the latent information from these textual contents. The findings of this study can shed some light on this scientifically unexplored but widely discussed issue. © National Academy of Sciences: Transportation Research Board 2022.

Accountability, governance, and institutional change in intergovernmental relations: A theoretical framework

This article develops an explanatory framework of institutional change in intergovernmental relations. Using new institutionalism, we focus on a main explanatory factor—the players' perceptions of their own accountability and that of others. Integrating the concepts of multiple accountability and felt accountability, we develop the concept of an accountability gap, meaning differences between the perceptions of players in the central government about their responsibility to provide local services and the perceptions of players at the local level about their responsibilities. Our claim is that perceptual gaps concerning accountability in a two-tiered or multi-tiered system may influence their interests, strategies, and behavior and hence determine the timing and pace of specific institutional changes. We illustrate the theoretical framework by examining how Spain managed the COVID-19 pandemic. Related Articles: Aguado, N. Alexander. 2018. "Mayor-Council Form of Government and Policy Responses in Times of Economic Travail.” Politics & Policy 46(5): 714–30. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12273. French, Edward P., and Doug Goodman. 2011. "Local Government Human Resource Management Past, Present, and Future: Revisiting Hays and Kearney's Anticipated Changes a Decade Later.” Politics & Policy 39(5): 761–85. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-1346.2011.00312.x. Kwon, Sung-Wook, and Sylvia Gonzalez-Gorman. 2019. "Influence of Local Political Institutions on Policy Punctuation in Three Policy Areas.” Politics & Policy 47(2): 300–25. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12295. © 2023 The Authors. Politics & Policy published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Policy Studies Organization.

What has been done and what has not – the government of Canada's economic policy response to the coronavirus pandemic

Purpose: This paper aims to examine Canadian government measures to support country's economic recovery and sustainable development. The goal is to examine whether all orders of government are working well to deliver the required help to Canadians. Design/methodology/approach: The theoretical foundations for this article are drawn from liberal and institutionalist approaches to comparative politics. Specifically, the proposed study draws on political tensions that occur because of actions of self-centered regional (provincial) governments who legitimize individual policies based on their self-centered economic and political objectives. Findings: Nowadays, we can observe the primary role of the state in supporting and regulating the health governance systems, the economy and social life. Many informal groups have unstructured approach, which does not require them to follow existing strategies. The challenges caused by COVID-19 have led to the resurgence of collective, state-based approaches to the recovery. The key findings illuminate the importance of crisis communication activities which should be implemented properly. This implies that all disclosures must be timely and truthful. Practical implications: The study helps to better understand the events that disrupt parts of the Canadian economy during pandemic. It reviews the essential functions that are critical for reliable operation of infrastructure services to ensure safety and well-being of the population. During the COVID-19, federal–provincial–territorial collaboration runs into resistance because of competing interests, resource constraints, legacies from past conflicts and lack of coordination. In contrast to managers, who often focus on tangible short-term results, today's leadership more often seeks intangible long-term results. This means that the central–local government relations tend to be more informal. Originality/value: In the face of external shock, such as COVID-19, it did not take much time for Canadian provincial governments to realize that they cannot cope with a wide range of challenges alone. In these circumstances, the narratives of how governments work together during the challenging time to impact their desired outcomes are of crucial importance. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Subnational government responses to the Covid-19 pandemic: Expectations, realities and lessons for the future

Although national government and international actor responses to the Covid-19 pandemic have been very much in the public eye, the subnational government role has received less attention. Certain pandemic impacts were universal, but the mix and relative severity differed across countries, The actions taken had to reflect these variations, as well as to reflect country socio-economic, fiscal, institutional and political context. Diversity across areas within countries also required differentiated action. This article provides an overview of the potential subnational government role in pandemic response, summarizes what is known about what actually occurred, and raises the prospect that what was learned in the pandemic might help policymakers and managers both to identify ways to better respond in future crises and to create awareness of and opportunities for needed reforms in intergovernmental systems. This background sets the stage for other articles in this issue that focus on selected countries. Their experiences reinforce lessons from global experience and also provide insights from deeper analysis of specific cases. © 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The coordination role of Rio Grande do Norte state government in response to covid-19: Innovation in times of crisis? / A atuação coordenadora do governo do Rio Grande do Norte no combate à covid-19: inovação em tempos de crise?

Resumo A partir de um estudo de caso do Rio Grande do Norte, este artigo discute o papel dos estados na coordenação da saúde durante a pandemia do novo coronavírus. A ausência de coordenação federal no enfrentamento do surto pandêmico no Brasil tem sido compreendida por diversos analistas como algo inédito na federação brasileira, rompendo com um padrão recorrente de normatização e indução nacional por diferentes governos desde a Constituição de 1988. Nesse sentido, estados e municípios passaram a adotar iniciativas próprias para o enfrentamento da pandemia. A partir de uma pesquisa qualitativa baseada em dados documentais - mídia local, boletins epidemiológicos e regulamentações estaduais - e em entrevistas semiestruturadas com gestores estaduais e municipais, foi possível identificar mudanças na relação estado-municípios durante a pandemia no Rio Grande do Norte, caso marcado, historicamente, pela ausência de cooperação estadual. A pandemia, dessa forma, funcionou como um choque exógeno, que induziu uma mudança no padrão de atuação do governo estadual na saúde. Não está claro, porém, se essas alterações são pontuais ou permanentes, na medida em que o peso do autorreforço - especificação dos efeitos do legado histórico - atua como um mecanismo que produz dinâmicas inerciais de difícil rompimento com o passado.

Abstract From a case study of the State of Rio Grande do Norte, in Brazil, this article discusses the role of states in coordinating healthcare with its local governments in the context of the new coronavirus pandemic. The absence of federal government initiatives in responding to the pandemic in Brazil have been acknowledged by several specialists as an unprecedented event in the Brazilian federation, breaking with a recurrent pattern of national coordination and regulation by different governments since the 1988 Constitution. In this sense, states and municipalities had to adopt their own initiatives to respond to the pandemic. Qualitative research based on the collection of documents (local media, epidemiological reports, and state regulations) and in-depth interviews with state and municipal managers reveals significant changes in the state-municipal relationship throughout the pandemic period in Rio Grande do Norte, a state historically characterized by the lack of state coordination. The pandemic, thus, functioned as an exogenous shock, which induced changes in the pattern of state coordination in healthcare. It is unclear, however, whether these changes are one-off or permanent since the weight of increasing returns - a specification of a path dependency process - seem to work as a mechanism producing inertial dynamics of difficult disruption with the past.

STRESS TESTING THE FISCAL FRAMEWORK

The part of the UK fiscal framework which determines how UK government funding is allocated across the four home nations has undergone profound change since 2012, given tax and social security devolution. The UK government's post-Brexit plans for regional development funding, state aid, regulation and trade negotiations have led to significant disagreements about the nature of the devolved fiscal and constitutional settlement. And the COVID-19 pandemic provided a major shock to a fiscal system with limited flexibility for the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish devolved governments. This paper reviews the changes and challenges faced during these reforms and policy shocks. We find that: tensions about reforms to funding arrangements reflect the inconsistency of principles guiding the reforms;that the UK government's post-Brexit plans do reduce the policy autonomy of the devolved governments, but reflect powers central governments often have in even highly decentralised countries;and that temporary changes to rules and the nature of the COVID-19 pandemic prevented a subnational fiscal crisis, but that more systematic change may make the system more robust to future shocks. This suggests that a review of the principles underpinning the UK's subnational fiscal and economic policies would be highly worthwhile.

The coordination role of Rio Grande do Norte state government in response to covid-19: Innovation in times of crisis?

From a case study of the State of Rio Grande do Norte, in Brazil, this article discusses the role of states in coordinating healthcare with its local governments in the context of the new coronavirus pandemic. The absence of federal government initiatives in responding to the pandemic in Brazil have been acknowledged by several specialists as an unprecedented event in the Brazilian federation, breaking with a recurrent pattern of national coordination and regulation by different governments since the 1988 Constitution. In this sense, states and municipalities had to adopt their own initiatives to respond to the pandemic. Qualitative research based on the collection of documents (local media, epidemiological reports, and state regulations) and in-depth interviews with state and municipal managers reveals significant changes in the state-municipal relationship throughout the pandemic period in Rio Grande do Norte, a state historically characterized by the lack of state coordination. The pandemic, thus, functioned as an exogenous shock, which induced changes in the pattern of state coordination in healthcare. It is unclear, however, whether these changes are one-off or permanent since the weight of increasing returns - a specification of a path dependency process - seem to work as a mechanism producing inertial dynamics of difficult disruption with the past. Copyright © 2022, Universidade de Sao Paulo. Museu de Zoologia. All rights reserved.

The Conflicts for the COVID-19 Pandemic Management in Mexico: An Analysis of Intergovernmental Relations

The paper presents an exploratory case study on the operation of intergovernmental relations (IGR) in Mexico during the management of the COVID-19 pandemic to identify and explain the main conflicts faced in the management of the emergency. The main findings are: Mexico is undergoing an aggressive re-centralization process encouraged by inequalities among states and their lack of professional public administrative systems;2) formal rules for balancing IGR lose value versus informal rules based on transitory political-partisan agreements;3) the weakness of the rule of law, power imbalances, lack of clear rules, and communication problems difficult intergovernmental collaboration in emergencies management. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

Crisis and state transformation: Covid-19, levelling up and the UK’s incoherent state

This article provides a novel account of recent UK governance reforms, describing what can be termed an 'incoherent' state, ill-equipped to address complex, multi-dimensional policy challenges. This is evidenced through two interrelated case-studies: Covid-19 and levelling up. We highlight how the tradition of strongly centralised government combined with an ad hoc approach to reform has undermined inter-governmental relations and limited the possibility of effective policy. We conclude by arguing that current levelling up proposals, focused on redesigning sub-national government, reflect these deficiencies and therefore offer an insufficient remedy for the UK's imbalanced economic geography and resulting inequalities. The failure of past reform highlights the need for systemic transformation-including a new governance framework-to address meaningfully the UK's geography of discontent.

A Critical Review of Australian Law Reform Architecture for Developing National Uniform Legislation: Reinvent, Create, or Strengthen?

This article critically examines the institutional architecture for developing national uniform legislation with a focus on the functioning of National Cabinet, the Australian Law Reform Commission, and the Australasian Parliamentary Counsel's Committee. Federalism, which grounds our entire system of government has, for the past century, seen the Commonwealth as the ascendant power. We examine how the COVID-era has, to an extent, interrupted that trajectory. This research finds that Australia's nine jurisdictions would benefit from stronger national approaches, with ad- hoc responses occasionally suiting local vested political interests. Our findings show that the federation's architecture for national uniform legislation can be improved. Further, the significant roles played by the States and Territories during the pandemic should be acknowledged in planning new law reform architecture and in future assessments of when uniform action is required. Not surprisingly, resourcing and co-ordination are highlighted as keys.

Special issue on comparative intergovernmental relations and the pandemic: how European devolved governments responded to a public health crisis

This introduction and the special issue are a contribution to comparative intergovernmental studies and public administration. This introduction provides an analytical overview of the intergovernmental relations policy responses to the Covid-19 pandemic across ten European countries, focussing on the early waves of the disease. These policy responses are analysed in terms of three types of IGR process: (1) a predominantly multi-layered policy process involving limited conflict, (2) a centralised policy process as the central government attempts to suppress conflict and (3) a conflicted policy process where such attempts are contested and tend to contribute to poor policy outcomes. The conclusion, then, reviews the difficulties and trade-offs involved in attaining a balanced multi-layered, intergovernmental process.

What has been done and what has not – the government of Canada’s economic policy response to the coronavirus pandemic

Purpose: This paper aims to examine Canadian government measures to support country’s economic recovery and sustainable development. The goal is to examine whether all orders of government are working well to deliver the required help to Canadians. Design/methodology/approach: The theoretical foundations for this article are drawn from liberal and institutionalist approaches to comparative politics. Specifically, the proposed study draws on political tensions that occur because of actions of self-centered regional (provincial) governments who legitimize individual policies based on their self-centered economic and political objectives. Findings: Nowadays, we can observe the primary role of the state in supporting and regulating the health governance systems, the economy and social life. Many informal groups have unstructured approach, which does not require them to follow existing strategies. The challenges caused by COVID-19 have led to the resurgence of collective, state-based approaches to the recovery. The key findings illuminate the importance of crisis communication activities which should be implemented properly. This implies that all disclosures must be timely and truthful. Practical implications: The study helps to better understand the events that disrupt parts of the Canadian economy during pandemic. It reviews the essential functions that are critical for reliable operation of infrastructure services to ensure safety and well-being of the population. During the COVID-19, federal–provincial–territorial collaboration runs into resistance because of competing interests, resource constraints, legacies from past conflicts and lack of coordination. In contrast to managers, who often focus on tangible short-term results, today’s leadership more often seeks intangible long-term results. This means that the central–local government relations tend to be more informal. Originality/value: In the face of external shock, such as COVID-19, it did not take much time for Canadian provincial governments to realize that they cannot cope with a wide range of challenges alone. In these circumstances, the narratives of how governments work together during the challenging time to impact their desired outcomes are of crucial importance. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Cooperative federalism in obstruction: Intergovernmental crash in the pandemic

This article aims to show that the expectation of a robust and effective response to the sanitary and economic damages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, through the strengthening of the institutional culture of cooperative federalism, was frustrated. The result has been related to the violation of subnational autonomy by the Federal Government, which has obstructed a historical movement of decentralization and cooperative federalism, fostering litigation and preventing the construction of coordinated institutional strategies with shared responsibilities.

GIVE TO CAESAR WHAT BELONGS TO CAESAR: THE PROVISION OF WATER AND SANITATION SERVICE IN SOUTH AFRICAN RURAL AREAS

During the apartheid regime in South Africa, the provision of services was based on racial segregation. The black majority was excluded from obtaining basic service delivery. Meanwhile, the new democratic dispensation came into existence in 1994 with many promising transitions for a better life for all. However, the promises remain a manifesto as the service delivery backlog remains one of the challenges of the 21st century in developing countries across the world, including in South Africa. In other words, poor service delivery is a global problem just like the COVID-19 pandemic which requires global solidarity. The objectives of the study;to assess the status and nature of water service provision in South African rural areas. To determine the significance of water and sanitation service provision in South Africa, and lastly, to examine the challenges faced by South African rural municipalities in the delivery of water and sanitation services. Methodologically, a qualitative research design was adopted in this study. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and existing literature in search of evidence. Moreover, the thematic data analysis method was also used to clearly comprehend the overall challenges of water scarcity. It is found that South African rural municipalities are facing and experiencing problems concerning water service provision. The existing literature, reports, and interviews concur that there is poor water service provision in rural areas. Therefore, given the restricted availability of water resources, the article recommends that the Limpopo municipalities should seek out a variety of water sources and outsource some of the water service responsibilities to private or other state entities.

United States Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF): A Brief History-Formation, Functionality, and Future

Air mobility has been a military strategic advantage used by the United States (U.S.) from the onset of aircraft carriers, to supporting air bases worldwide. The U.S. government and defense components rely heavily on a civilian fleet of aircraft to supplement air transportation requirements in both peace times and during national emergencies. This paper reviews the historical and legal development of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) and discusses previous struggles and successes of the program by looking at the functionality of the program, before addressing how current events bring about the realization that the program must change. Current changes in the way U.S. airlines operate, the way warfare has been changed, and the financial hardships associated with the COVID-19 pandemic are all used to envision a future of the CRAF program to provide future air transportation capabilities to allow the U.S. government to maintain the necessary strategic advantage of responsive airlift capabilities.