The Section on Intergovernmental Administration and Management (SIAM), in collaboration with State and Local Government Review (SLGR), invite current Ph.D students to submit proposals for papers to be presented at the 2023 American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) conference (virtual, March 20-24).

Among the goals of the 2023 SIAM-SLGR collaboration panel are:

1. Provide an opportunity for Ph.D students to present their current work on subjects that are of interest to SIAM members
2. Provide a space for new conversations between scholars, students, and practitioners of public administration who may not be in regular dialogue with one another
3. Facilitate feedback on student work

Potential paper themes may include:

• Current or emerging trends in intergovernmental management and governance
• Contemporary trends in the administration of major state or local policies
• Impact of political institutions, political behavior, or recent economic and demographic shifts on intergovernmental policy and management.
• Impact of changes in policy on state and local governments and their relations
• Domestic or international policy areas involving intergovernmental relations and associated management tools and strategies

Submission Guidelines

Individual Paper Proposals. The committee welcomes individual paper proposals of 400 words or less. Proposed papers may feature theoretical, qualitative, or quantitative research.  The program committee may alter or remove individual papers that do not meet review criteria or to add an individual paper submission that fits well with the objectives of the SIAM-SLRG joint panel.

Submission Process

Proposals for the panel should be submitted by email to Chris Hawkins (christopher.hawkins@ucf.edu) by November 1, 2022. We welcome proposals from student members and nonmembers of SIAM.

I (Ed Benton, University of South Florida), along with John Kincaid (Lafayette College), am preparing an Encyclopedia of Local and Regional Government and Politics to be published by Edward Elgar by 2024. It is important to note that we already have a contract to produce this book. We propose to include in the encyclopedia new and original short articles on all pertinent topics/subject areas related to the existence and operation of local and regional governments around the world and their ensuing relevant politics, policies, programs, etc.

We invite you to be part of this monumental and ground-breaking work. There are three ways you can contribute to this encyclopedia. First, you can send us pertinent topics or subject areas that should be covered in the encyclopedia. (A tentative, initial list of topics is provided below.) Second, you can suggest topics or subject areas on which you would like to write one or more entries. Third, you can provide us names of, and contact information for, scholars who could contribute to the volume; please also provide their subject-matter expertise or specific topics they are qualified to write on. This volume has a global perspective and will, tentatively, cover the following countries: United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Columbia, United Kingdom, France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Romania, Poland, Czech Republic, Greece, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Russia, Nigeria, South Africa, Ethiopia, Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Australia.

We need to hear from you as soon as possible so we can finalize the topics and invite contributors in order to publish the encyclopedia in a timely manner so as to make the volume as current and relevant as possible to a wide and diverse audience. You can contact Ed Benton at jbenton@usf.edu and/or John Kincaid at kincaidj@lafayette.edu We encourage you to contact us as soon as you see this notice. Thank you.

List of Tentative Topics and Subject Areas

cantons

länder

provinces

republics

states

intergovernmental relations, generally

national government-local government relations

national government-regional government relations

regional-local government relations

interlocal relations

centralization of authority

decentralization of authority

federalism

unitary form of government

confederal form of government

federal form of government

counties

municipalities (cities)

towns

township

panchayats

special districts

legislative authorities

school districts

villages

regions

districts

shires

wards

parishes

departments

oblasts

prefectures

hamlets

boroughs

precincts

councils of governments

types of local government structure

sovereignty

tribal authority

eminent domain

government finances

local government budgeting

revenues

expenditures

grants-in aid

government borrowing and debt management

immunity

service provision, generally

public safety services

fire suppression and prevention services

health care services

public welfare services

hazardous material collection and disposal

parks and recreational programs and facilities

public/private partnerships in service provision

library services

utility (water provision, sewer collection and disposal services, natural gas provision, electric power provision

Internet and cable TV service

road and street construction and repair

provision of sidewalks and street lights

stormwater management

planning and zoning services

solid waste collection and disposal service

environmental protection and conservation services

consumer affairs and citizen protection services

government borrowing policies

types of bonds (general obligation, revenue, mortgage)

human resource policies and procedures

local government officials (mayors, council-persons, commissioners,

mutual aid agreements (pacts)

incorporation

ultra vires

citizenship

interjurisdictional cooperation

interjurisdictional conflict

administrative agencies and departments

bureaucracy

administrative procedures, rules, and regulations

administrative efficiency

elections, generally

at-large elections

district or ward elections

election campaigns

powers of elective officials

balanced budgets

bicameral legislatures

bill of rights

democratic regimes

autocratic regimes

Communist regimes

Civil service or merit system

Patronage system

Bureaucratic discretion

Bureaucratic responsiveness

Political campaigns

Campaign finances

Capacity of governments

Capital budgets

general fund budgets

citizens access to government

constitutional conventions

constitutions

Call for Nominations: SIAM Chair Elect

The Section on Intergovernmental Administration and Management (SIAM) of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) is seeking nominations for an executive officer. The SIAM Nominations Committee, chaired by Jayce Farmer and committee members Meghan Rubado and Kendra Stewart, is seeking nominees for the position of chair-elect. The chair-elect will serve a two year term (2022-2024) and then serve two years in the position of chair (2024-2026).  Please see our SIAM blog for the full list of current Executive Committee members as well as the bylaws governing elections.

Executive committee members are actively engaged in the governance and work of the section, often contributing service to the Section’s committees and events.  Together with the Chair, Chair-Elect, Secretary and Treasurer, Executive Committee members help guide SIAM’s ongoing contributions to the fields of intergovernmental administration and management.  The Chair facilitates the work of the section, chairs executive committee meetings and business meetings, and serves as a primary channel of communication with ASPA.

Please submit your nominations for the Chair-Elect to Jayce Farmer (jayce.farmer@unlv.edu) on or before January 8, 2021.

The Nominations Committee will share a slate of nominees with the SIAM membership by January 9, 2021. After this, the Nominating Committee will receive additional nominations through membership petitions between January 9 and February 9, 2021.  Additional nominations during the petition period must be signed by 25 members of SIAM and accompanied by a statement from the nominee expressing interest and willingness to serve the Section.  Election ballots will be distributed to the membership after February 15 and election results will be announced at the annual business meeting at the virtual ASPA conference in April 2021.

SAGE Publishing and SLGR’s sponsor, SIAM, are seeking proposals for the editorship of SLGR, for the term beginning January 1, 2021.

State and Local Government Review (SLGR), peer-reviewed and published quarterly, provides a forum for the exchange of ideas among practitioners and academics that contributes to the knowledge and practice of state and local government politics, policy, and management. Of particular interest in SLGR are articles that focus on state and local governments and those that explore the intergovernmental dimensions of public-sector activity.

Founded by the Carl Vinson Institute of Government of the University of Georgia, State and Local Government Review is the official journal of the Section on Intergovernmental Administration and Management (SIAM) of the American Society for Public Administration. Since 1968 the Review has provided a forum for the exchange of ideas among practitioners and academics that contributes to the knowledge and practice of state and local government politics, policy, and management. Like the Vinson Institute, SIAM has an interest not only in state and local government, but also in the effective interaction among public officials in a federal system. It seeks to foster the dissemination of information about research and experience that contributes to the understanding and improvement of the intergovernmental system.

The Editor will be responsible for soliciting, reviewing, and making final decisions on submissions to the journal, and will manage all aspects of the publication and review process using the Manuscript Central electronic submission and review platform. Editor is expected to maintain timely and effective communication, advance journal performance, and work towards upholding SLGR’s high-quality standard.

In their proposals, candidates should discuss their vision for SLGR and how the journal can advance an interdisciplinary study of state and local government. They should also discuss how they will identify and promote new perspectives for the student of state and local government—including subtopics, research questions, framing, terminology, theoretical approaches, methodology, and data sources.

 

Applicants should send a letter of application which includes their vision for the future of the journal and a description of their qualifications for the editorship. Applicants should also include copies of their CV.

 
Applications, nominations, and requests for additional information should be sent electronically to Ian Balisy, Associate Editor, at Ian.Balisy@sagepub.com. Please put “SLGR Editor Application” in the subject line of your email.

 

Call for Papers – Governance Matters section of State and Local Government Review

The Governance Matters (GM) section of State and Local Government Review (SLGR) invites complete submissions as well as proposals from authors for individual articles or topic specific collections in a symposium format for potential publication in 2021. Prospective authors are encouraged to contact Grant Rissler, SLGR GM Editor (risslerge@vcu.edu) about any ideas for this section of the journal.

The GM section of SLGR features peer reviewed applied research on state and local government of interest to both practitioners and academics.  In 2018, GM articles represented 3 of the 5 top downloaded articles from SLGR.  Mainstream news sources such as the New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, The Hill, among others, have cited a 2019 GM article.

Articles published in the GM Section may include case studies or other empirical pieces and should highlight implications for a practice as well as academic knowledge.  In the past, a variety of timely governance topics included:

• social media use
• capital budgeting
• local government fiscal health
• core values in local government organizations in practice
• mitigation strategies in flood control
• social equity impacts at the local level of federal budget choices
• environmental sustainability
• local home rule and municipal takeover
• municipal human resource strategies in challenging times
• alternatives in city-county consolidation decisions
• adopting and implementing recreational marijuana policies

Submissions from early career and international scholars are specifically welcomed.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

State and Local Government Review

2020 Special Issue:

“Filling a Vacuum: Subnational Governance amidst National Government Inaction”

Michael J. Scicchitano, University of Florida, Editor

Andrew Karch, University of Minnesota, Guest Editor

As the United States battled the coronavirus pandemic in early April, President Donald J. Trump tweeted that the role of the national government was to serve as a “backup” to state and local governments. This remark sparked sharp criticism from governors across the country, and even Republicans like Governor Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas called for a new approach to procuring essential medical supplies. States, localities, and the national government struggled to coordinate with one another and frequently found themselves locked in conflict.

Subnational officials always play a central role during disasters, and the coronavirus pandemic is no different. While many called for a national “stay-at-home” order, the decision to declare a state of emergency or to shutter public schools and other institutions fell to governors, mayors, and school superintendents. This dynamic caused one observer to urge voters to “remember that who sits in state and local offices, and how they engage with federal authorities, may be the most important decision they have to make” (Roberts 2020).

While the coronavirus pandemic is (hopefully) a once-in-a-lifetime event, the intergovernmental dynamics it sparked are not uncommon in the contemporary United States. Partisan polarization has rendered the national government unwilling or unable to address a range of pressing issues, leading subnational governments to try to resolve them on their own. Examples abound of policy arenas where the national government has either failed to craft realistic solutions or has instead sent mixed signals. Often these problems are then passed down to states and localities where they cannot be ignored. States and localities have taken the lead on issues like immigration, adopting a wide range of approaches in a domain that many once viewed as the exclusive responsibility of the national government. Similarly, the absence of a national policy on sustainability has sparked a “contested federalism” dynamic as American lawmakers grapple with the challenge of climate change (Rabe 2011). The delayed reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and the repeated congressional failure to address the issue of Internet sales taxation provide additional illustrations of intergovernmental policy issues where the national government has been slow to act.

The objective of this special issue is to publish original research that examines the implications of this emerging intergovernmental dynamic. We hope to include five or six short articles (about 6,500 words each) on individual policy areas where subnational governments have filled the vacuum left by national government inaction. Appropriate policy areas are not limited to the ones listed above. The specific implications addressed in individual articles can take multiple forms, but two types of consequences seem especially significant. First, what does state and local government activity imply for governance in a federal system? Do subnational officials have the necessary expertise, financial resources, and administrative capacity to implement effective programs in a specific domain? Do the designers of these policies demonstrate the ability to learn from earlier successes and failures? Do they take into account the possibility of policy overload? Do they put evaluation mechanisms in place to assess whether a program is achieving its objectives?

The governance-related implications of subnational leadership extend beyond individual policy arenas, and we welcome manuscripts that think broadly about what it means for the functioning of the American political system. In a recent book, Karen Orren and Stephen Skowronek (2017, 6) describe the emergence of a “policy state” that renders “achievements provisional, protections unreliable, and commitments dependent on who is next in charge.” Does the absence of national leadership, and the primacy of state and local governments, in a specific policy area indicate that the federal system is somehow out of balance, or is it an indication that the system is functioning as intended? Customization and experimentation are typically portrayed as benefits of American federalism. Do scholars need to reconsider this standard assessment? Has subnational leadership produced geographic variation or policy gyrations that undermine programs’ abilities to achieve their goals?

In an era of partisan polarization, it is not enough to note that subnational governments are filling the vacuum left by national government inaction. They are also moving in different—often very different—policy directions. States and localities under Republican control are taking actions that diverge considerably from those occurring in jurisdictions where Democrats control the levers of power. This variation generates a second significant set of implications. What it means to belong to the American community is increasingly defined in geographic terms. The rights that residents possess, such as the ability to exercise the right to vote or to bear arms, depend on where they live. The government services available to them, and their ability to gain access to those services, depend on where they live. Does this variation indicate that the federal system is working largely as intended, or are there specific policy domains in which geography should be irrelevant? Does the partisan nature of this variation prevent state and local officials from the institutional learning that is characteristic of good governance? Articles might grapple with these and other normative questions as they consider recent developments in specific policy domains.

Please submit a proposal that identifies a specific policy arena in which subnational governments have adopted major policy changes in response to the inaction of the national government. The proposal should clearly describe the nature of this subnational activity and the research strategy that will be used to assess its implications. If this assessment will be based on quantitative data, please indicate whether these data have already been collected. To ensure that the manuscript can meet the tight schedule outlined below, please also identify the current status of the research and writing.

We encourage proposals from all disciplines including but not limited to public administration, political science, sociology, economics, and planning. We expect to publish papers where there is collaboration between academics and practitioners and authors both from inside and outside the United States.

Proposals should be submitted between April 15, 2020 and June 1, 2020 to the following email address: slgrspissue@gmail.com.

The proposals should be double-spaced and include no more than two pages of text. There is no need to include tables or appendices, and references do not count against the two-page limit. All proposals will be subject to editorial review. Please do not send complete papers—if you have a draft of your paper, please note that in the proposal.

Submissions will be evaluated with respect to the following criteria:

• The proposed manuscript should examine a policy area where state and local governments filled a vacuum left by national government inaction. It should investigate the broader implications of the subnational policy activity, not simply describe it.
• The proposal should represent an achievable manuscript project within the tight time constraints outlined below.
• Scope of Interest. Papers of broad interest to scholars and professionals will be preferred.
• Organization and Coherence. The proposal should follow a logical structure, read clearly, and thoroughly represent the available research.
• Insight for Future Work. The proposal should convey important implications for both future research and practice related to local government.

Due to editorial constraints, it is vital for authors to adhere to the following strict timeline. If you have any questions, please contact the Editor at mscicc@ufl.edu or by phone at (352) 846-2874.

Relevant dates* are as follows:

• April 15 – June 1, 2020: Proposals due to the State and Local Government Review to be sent to slgrspissue@gmail.com
• June 15, 2020: Final decision on proposals and initial feedback provided to authors.
• September 15, 2020: Full draft of paper due to State and Local Government Review.
• October 15, 2020: Review and feedback to authors on full paper.
• November 15, 2020: Final paper submitted to State and Local Government Review. Final manuscripts should be no longer than 18 pages of text with standard margins and font size.

*Please note that these are basic guidelines; each paper may require a different number of revisions or timing to make the November 15, 2020 deadline

Feel free to email (ajkarch@umn.edu) me if you have any questions regarding your proposal or manuscript.

References

Orren, Karen, and Stephen Skowronek. The Policy State: An American Predicament. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2017.

Rabe, Barry. 2011. Contested Federalism and American Climate Policy. Publius: The Journal of Federalism 41(3):494-521.

Roberts, Patrick S. 2020. “Never Mind Trump. Coronavirus Shows Why Electing Competent State and Local Officials Is Vital.” The Washington Post. March 8.