Provision of Public Services

Swimming is a popular form of recreation and exercise in the UK and US. Swimming can take place outdoors but, particularly in the UK, largely takes place in designated indoor pools. Existing research tends to focus on ‘public’ or ‘municipal’ pools leaving broader spatial geographies of swimming pool provision under explored. In response to concern about swimming pool closures, this paper draws from extensive archival research into all swimming pools in the City of Glasgow, Scotland, since the first opened in 1804. Formal and informal programmes of pool building and closure were revealed. Rather than decreasing, public provision has remained constant for the last 100 years but become progressively more spread out in relation to the city’s changing size. Broadening exploration beyond the ‘public’ category exposed a vast drop in school pool numbers around the year 2000 due to a Private Finance Initiative project that consolidated the secondary school estate and outsourced school building management. The lessons: researching all types of swimming pool through time greatly enriches understandings of the changing meaning and extent of public service provision.

In 2012/13 London Borough of Newham commissioned a needs assessment for victims of domestic and sexual violence. From this needs assessment it became clear that separate work would need to be undertaken to better understand the needs of LGBT victims in the borough. The Domestic and Sexual Violence Strategic Partnership Board agreed to commission a LGBT violence needs assessment to better understand the needs of DSV LGBT victims, barriers faced by victims in accessing services and recommendations for service improvement.

At the course of 1970s, non-profit sector – that became a significant entity in nation’s economic activity particularly in delivery of public/welfare services- started to attract attentions of economists whom have been trying to understand the emergence of these organizations relying on economic notions. To date, plethora of arguments has been put forward by them inspiring from demand and supply side analysis as well as institutional approaches. Donor motivations, customer attitudes and preferences of entrepreneurs can be stated as the backbone of these aforementioned theoretical explanations. In this paper, firstly, non-profit organizations will be defined and elucidated in economic senses, besides NP sector will be examined concerning microeconomic approaches that articulate the emergence of it. This analysis will be exercised relying on three reference points consisting of demand and supply-side theories in addition to the institutional differences approach. Secondly, Turkish NP sector will be mapped out regarding three fundamental sections: a) historical background, b) legal framework and taxation, c) their role in provision of public services.

The article the duty to provide transport services which lay with local administration units in the Kingdom of Poland (1815-1918) – rural and municipal commune. The research covers two periods in the history of the Kingdom, namely the so-called constitutional period, from the Congress of Vienna to the November Uprising, and then the period of limiting political separateness after the fall of the Uprising, until the end of the Kingdom as a result of World War I. The author draws attention to the essence and nature of commune self-government and public burdens (obligations) which lay on it., putting particular emphasis on the extremely onerous commune burdens that were borne by the population for the benefit of the army and public officials.

Przedmiot niniejszej analizy związany pozostaje z posługami o charakterze transportowym, których obowiązek dostarczania spoczywał na lokalnej jednostce administracji w Królestwie Polskim (1815-1918), jaką była organizacja gminna, zarówno wiejska, jak i miejska. Cezura badań obejmuje dwa okresy w dziejach Królestwa, a mianowicie okres tzw. konstytucyjny, od kongresu wiedeńskiego do powstania listopadowego, a następnie okres ograniczania odrębności ustrojowych po upadku powstania, aż do zakończenia bytu Królestwa wskutek I wojny światowej. Autor niniejszych rozważań zwraca uwagę na istotę i charakter samorządu gminnego i spoczywających na nim ciężarów (powinności) publicznych, kładąc szczególnie akcent analizy na niezwykle uciążliwe ciężary gminne, które świadczone były przez ludność na rzecz wojska i urzędników państwowych.

Why do Islamist parties succeed electorally? Studies addressing this question posit that Islamists’ success stems from the clientelistic context in which they are embedded, and their ability to institutionalize constituent relations to serve marginalized citizens. This paper tests this hypothesis using a survey of 782 Algerians which asked citizens about their constituency service interactions with local, regional, and national legislators. It finds that, compared with other parties, Islamists’ more institutionalized constituency service practices allows them to reach a wider range of citizens they do not personally know and who are more likely to be marginalized from patronage networks (e.g., women). This was particularly the case for local councillors when compared with regional and national-level legislators, suggesting that the electoral benefits of robust constituency service practices at the local level may also support success nationally. By offering evidence for a ‘local Islamist advantage’ and showing Islamists’ effectiveness in reaching female constituents, this study suggests that authoritarian states’ reliance on clientelism leaves them vulnerable to challenges by opposition movements who can mobilize around religion and serve as intermediaries for citizens.

Economics has been criticised for failing to engage with Sustainability Science. The author suggests that these critiques mainly refer to mainstream economics. By contrast, an alternative paradigm exists which combines the analysis of socio-economic phenomena with natural science. Introduced by Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen, the bioeconomic program represents a powerful instrument coherent with political economy. The paper applies the Georgescu-Roegen’s analysis to the case of health care service provision in a rural area in Central Italy. The pa- per shows that the production and the consumption processes require natural resources and produce pollution and wastes. Finally, the author shows that in this case the major environmental and so- cial dimensions are related to the consequences of re-centralization. This result undermines the mainstream economic analysis which usually neglects a thorough observation of externalities. The flow-fund method enhances the assessment of the environme...

A move to encourage partnership funding of Flood Risk Management (FRM) has resulted in current FRM measures providing both public and private benefits. Yet, the scales of service delivery associated with public and private goods are likely to influence the form and extent of public participation in FRM. We assess the range of goods provided by FRM, whether these services are considered to be public in nature by authorities and citizens, and the impact this has upon the level and form of public engagement in FRM. We separate the definitions of public goods into ‘pure’ public goods which demonstrate characteristics of non-rivalry and non-excludability, and public priority goods which are services deemed as essential to public wellbeing regardless of characteristics. We find that English FRM delivers a range of public goods beyond that of reduced water flows, and that when FRM is considered a ‘pure’ public good the emergent form of public participation does not increase public awareness of flood risk or encourage investment in private protection measures. When the benefits of FRM are solely considered public priority goods public awareness of flood risk increases, yet disputes arise regarding service provision and maintenance. Importantly, increased flood risk from climate change or increased runoff could lead to the capacity of the public good provision being exceeded, leading to problems of distribution of that service, and reactionary pressure group formation. We argue that the current preference for public goods which reduce individual costs at the expense of public awareness can discourage adaptation, which may be problematic in ensuring sustainable FRM.

Economics has been criticised for failing to engage with Sustainability Science. The author suggests that these critiques mainly refer to mainstream economics. By contrast, an alternative paradigm exists which combines the analysis of socio-economic phenomena with natural science. Introduced by Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen, the bioeconomic program represents a powerful instrument coherent with political economy.
The paper applies the Georgescu-Roegen’s analysis to the case of health care service provision in a rural area in Central Italy. The pa- per shows that the production and the consumption processes re- quire natural resources and produce pollution and wastes. Finally, the author shows that in this case the major environmental and social dimensions are related to the consequences of re-centralization. This result undermines the mainstream economic analysis which usually neglects a thorough observation of externalities. The flow-fund method enhances the assessment of the environmental and social aspects that play a key role in Sustainability Science.