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Systemic City Governance. Design and application of a generic governance frame (GGF)
Type
fundamental research project
Start Date
01 October 2008
End Date
30 September 2009
Status
completed
Keywords
Governance
social systems
Public Management
Performance Management
Cybernetics
Synergetics.
Description
Today, governments on all levels face accelerating societal changes and instability while at the same time confronting pressures to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of their service delivery. Research is conducted world-wide to find ways and means for coping with these challenges. One of those which is currently being discussed in the scientific community is the CitiStat program of Baltimore, which represents a new kind of reporting procedure and a decision facility. Basically, Baltimore's agency executives are convening regularly and are obliged to answer to the questions of the mayor and his directors. This takes place in a special room for decision-taking with a distinctive setting and presentation equipment. The results achieved from this activity have been excellent which is why Baltimore quickly achieved broad international recognition for the program. However, although Baltimore is a successful case, others have found it difficult to replicate the experiences. To a major part this is due to a lack of understanding of the underlying root causes of Baltimore's success. The existing theories do not help in acquiring a comprehensive understanding of the city governance in its cultural and politico-administrative context.
This project brings together researchers from three different yet complementary backgrounds: public governance, cybernetics and synergetics. The primary objective is to attend to governance from the perspective of fundamental, transdisciplinary principles and formulate a comprehensive notion of governance based on first principles. Thus, we aim to contribute to the field of governance research in the following ways: First of all we will lay the foundation for a generic theory of governance based on first principles of cybernetics and synergetics. That generic theory shall enable a holistic, comprehensive understanding of social systems based on fundamental laws. From that generic theory, a framework will be derived that enables a broad application of the identified principles in different governing contexts. Thus we will provide a theoretical and methodological contribution to the field of governance. Second, we will apply the framework on the case of the mentioned CitiStat program based on existing literature and expert interviews.Thus, we will add to a hot topic of the current scientific discussion in the Public Management scene, i.e. the topic of "Performance measurement in city governments". Third, we will apply the generic governance framework in a second practical case study on the city of Baden's governing structures. Here we will inquire a comprehensive sketch on the cities' established structures and their strengths and weaknesses. These will be depicted in the light of the generic governance framework. Throughout the research process we will document and publish our findings in high-ranking journals of the involved scientific fields. Further, we will finalize a proposal to the Swiss National Fund to acquire financial resources for a subsequent research activity that engages in detailing the generic governance framework and in conducting utilization in previously defined research fields.
This project brings together researchers from three different yet complementary backgrounds: public governance, cybernetics and synergetics. The primary objective is to attend to governance from the perspective of fundamental, transdisciplinary principles and formulate a comprehensive notion of governance based on first principles. Thus, we aim to contribute to the field of governance research in the following ways: First of all we will lay the foundation for a generic theory of governance based on first principles of cybernetics and synergetics. That generic theory shall enable a holistic, comprehensive understanding of social systems based on fundamental laws. From that generic theory, a framework will be derived that enables a broad application of the identified principles in different governing contexts. Thus we will provide a theoretical and methodological contribution to the field of governance. Second, we will apply the framework on the case of the mentioned CitiStat program based on existing literature and expert interviews.Thus, we will add to a hot topic of the current scientific discussion in the Public Management scene, i.e. the topic of "Performance measurement in city governments". Third, we will apply the generic governance framework in a second practical case study on the city of Baden's governing structures. Here we will inquire a comprehensive sketch on the cities' established structures and their strengths and weaknesses. These will be depicted in the light of the generic governance framework. Throughout the research process we will document and publish our findings in high-ranking journals of the involved scientific fields. Further, we will finalize a proposal to the Swiss National Fund to acquire financial resources for a subsequent research activity that engages in detailing the generic governance framework and in conducting utilization in previously defined research fields.
Leader contributor(s)
Member contributor(s)
Eckert, Heiko
Partner(s)
City of Baden (Switzerland)
Funder(s)
Topic(s)
Governance
social systems
Public Management
Performance Management
Cybernetics
Synergetics.
Method(s)
Case Studies
Range
Institute/School
Range (De)
Institut/School
Eprints ID
49375
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PublicationType: conference paper