case Study

LOCAL ADMINISTRATION

LOCAL ADMINISTRATION

Local government and Administration

Abdirahim M Muhumed

Liberty University

Prof: Dr. Tory Weaver

Wed, 06/12/2021

Introduction Comment by Weaver, Tory (Helms School of Government): What is the theory of local government that is being addressed?

Local government structure refers to the existing arrangement and the relations between the various parts/ stakeholders of a given local government. A local government could be a state, municipal, town, or even the county government. Other than the national/federal government, the local governments play a critical role in delivering the services to the people, especially at the grass-root level. To effectively and efficiently execute various services, the state government leadership and statesmanship must fully embrace various leadership skills critical in the local government activities and service delivery. This paper seeks to research such necessary personal skills for local government and the various local government structures and processes. Comment by Weaver, Tory (Helms School of Government): No, a State government is a State government. A local government can be a municipal, town, or county government. This paper was to be about a local government.

Local Government Structures and Processes

As defined above, a local government can be defined as an administration of a given country or even district that has representatives who are elected by those that live in such a place. For effective leadership, the local government comprises a given structure. This paper looks at the local administration of Colorado State. Local government structure can be defined as a system or pattern used in the delegation of power and responsibilities by a given central government to much lower agencies. Such delegation is done to increase the efficiency and the effectiveness of service delivery as well as the various tasks that are undertaken (Amundsen et al., 2018). For effective leadership, the local government of Colorado has two tiers which are the county and the municipality level, and it has a total of 64 counties. The municipalities have various structures as described in the constitution. The various district administrative units of the state are tasked with the provision of functions that are outside those of the county or the municipality, for instance, the schools and fire protection districts of the Colorado state that are tasked with provision and enhancement of knowledge and fire protection services to the people (Narbón‐Perpiñá & De Witte, 2018). Comment by Weaver, Tory (Helms School of Government): Should this be county? Comment by Weaver, Tory (Helms School of Government): This would be State government. Comment by Weaver, Tory (Helms School of Government): State government? Comment by Weaver, Tory (Helms School of Government): State constitution? Comment by Weaver, Tory (Helms School of Government): What is this sentence trying to convey?

In the state, at a much lower level, the municipal government and those of the various towns in the state most have a correspondence to the geographical designations that have been utilized by the US census bureau. The municipalities of the state vary a lot in size, with millions of people, for instance, that dwell in Aspen and Arvada municipalities. In the state, the municipalities are tasked with responsibilities such as park maintenance, police services, and emergency medical services, among others. Other duties of the municipalities include the streets and sewage services to the people. The above underscores the importance of the local government in the administration of any given country (Cepiku, Mussari & Giordano, 2016). Comment by Weaver, Tory (Helms School of Government): What is this sentence trying to convey?

Regarding the processes of the local government, it is important to note that the local government in the state of Colorado only does exercise powers that are given to the local governments above by the state itself. It means that the counties and the municipalities of the state are given powers by the state which they do exercise. The state of Colorado is responsible for the redefinition of roles and the authority of the local government as it deems appropriate. The counties in the states have varying populations, with for instance Alamosa County having about 440,000 people. The counties are responsible for enforcement of the law and record-keeping of critical information. At much smaller units, the townships, the villages, and even special districts provide special services and are engaged in some processes for instance, in housing affairs and water authorities in the country. It is evident that the various levels of the local government offer various services and undertake different processes, all that complement each other, as evidenced above. The complementary nature helps in the improvement of the effectiveness and the efficiency of services and processes in the state of Colorado (Fowler, 2018) Comment by Weaver, Tory (Helms School of Government): What is this trying to convey? Comment by Weaver, Tory (Helms School of Government): Why is this important to the conversation?

Elsewhere, to deliver effective leadership, the various processes in the local government in the state of Colorado are organized and done in some manner. For instance, there are elected officials and leaders in both the country and the municipal levels. For instance, at the municipality there is the council manager who is elected and responsible for legislative affairs of the municipality whereas, the various leaders are responsible for the coordination and correspondences with the state government which in turn coordinates and corresponds with the federal government. Such a hierarchical process and type of administration helps to ensure coordination and mutual coexistence and collaboration between all types of governments that in the long run ensure that the local governments remain to be effective as they are required. Another important example is during these times of the Covid 19 pandemic (Merino & Prats, 2020). Comment by Weaver, Tory (Helms School of Government): What is this sentence trying to convey? Comment by Weaver, Tory (Helms School of Government): County? Comment by Weaver, Tory (Helms School of Government): What is this sentence trying to convey? Comment by Weaver, Tory (Helms School of Government): What is this sentence trying to convey? Comment by Weaver, Tory (Helms School of Government): Fragmented sentence.

The state governments of Colorado, together with the local governments of the state, have worked together in an effective manner that has ensured that as many people have been tested and vaccinated as possible. Additionally, the local governments have been critical in the sensitization of the people regarding the disease and the subsequent need to get vaccinated. A total of approximately 2.75 million people in the state of Colorado have been fully vaccinated by now. It is, therefore, evident that the various structures and processes of the local governments together with the state government of Colorado have helped a lot in the fight against the pandemic in the state (Asencio & Mujkic, 2016) Comment by Weaver, Tory (Helms School of Government): Only one State government per state. Comment by Weaver, Tory (Helms School of Government): Tested and vaccinated for what reason? Comment by Weaver, Tory (Helms School of Government): Out of how many? What percentage?

Personal LeadershipSkillsand Attributes Needed For Effective State Government

To ensure effective state government leadership and statesmanship, there are various personal leadership skills and attributes that are needed. This paper seeks to identify and explain such skills and attributes. Firstly is the aspect of courage and boldness in the leader. It is important that for a state leader to be someone of courage to face the various challenges properly. Courage enables one to avoid panicking and which ensures the stability of a leader and rational decision-making. It even makes a leader be able to show the calmness and can be able to inspire confidence in other employees. For instance, the leader can show the employees, especially the junior officers of how they are to be confident and face the work challenges calmly till they achieve success. From the bile in the book of Deuteronomy 31:6, the bible urges us to be strong and of courage and to avoid being afraid because Almighty God is with us. It, therefore, is evident that for proper leadership to be displayed at the state level, courage is needed (Dunn, 2017). Comment by Weaver, Tory (Helms School of Government): Are these from the course resources? Keep in mind that these are to be from the course sources. Also, be sure to expand on why it is important and how it specifically is outlined in this example.

Secondly is the attribute of patience and perseverance. There is a need for the leadership of the state to show patience, especially with the employees and the projects, before success can be achieved. It is unnatural to anticipate instant success instead of having patience with something. Some of the employees of the state of Colorado, for instance, maybe slow in understanding things, while others require some time to be able to deliver as expected. It is therefore important to understand such employees and be patient with them till they get to their optimal level of productivity. It is the reason why it’s always important to trust the process and be patient till the results are achieved. For instance, in the municipality of Cortez in the state of Colorado, the medical system could have issues that need to be sorted by some huge amounts of money. It is important to be patient till such an amount is allocated, then the problem will be sorted out. From the book of Ecclesiastes 7:8, it evident that “The end of something is better than its beginning, Patience is better than pride.” It is therefore evident that with patience, things get better, while impatience only destroys the better things to come. It is, therefore, important that the leader and even the employees themselves be patient with each other and with the process till the results are achieved (Crumpton et al., 2016). Comment by Weaver, Tory (Helms School of Government): Are these from the course resources? Keep in mind that these are to be from the course sources. Also, be sure to expand on why it is important and how it specifically is outlined in this example.

Elsewhere there is a need for effective communication. Between the different municipalities and counties of Colorado state, effective communication involves various aspects of communication such as communication on time, timely feedback, communicating the correct message, among many attributes that would be key in ensuring coordination and harmony between various levels of the local government. In the state of Colorado and many other states, there is a need for the leadership to have effective communication to foster proper inert personal relationships, to eloquently speak out how and what the employees are to do and what is to be done to deliver the services of the state or any given local government effectively. Comment by Weaver, Tory (Helms School of Government): This seems to be from the course resources. Just be sure that it is applied directly to the example.

Communicationisalsoneeded to ensure that the employees are commended, encouraged, or even corrected. From the above, it is evident that propercommunication helps a lot in various processes in the state because it even helps the employees to inform each other of the various activities and have proper and reliable feedback andcorrespondence systems between the various departments in the state. Ultimately it helps in the achievementof the common goals of the states as wellas any otherobjectives.

Another personal leadership skill or attribute that is important in effective state government leadership and statesmanship is being a team player. It is important to note that no individual is an island. It means that all the employees of the state government need o work as a team and it can only be made possible by leadership that fosters teamwork. Teamwork helps to ensure that the strengths of some employees complement the weaknesses of other employees. Additionally, it motivates the employees and helps the employees to work towards a common goal or objective which becomes easy to achieve (Ebrahimi & Eynali, 2019). Comment by Weaver, Tory (Helms School of Government): Are these from the course resources? Keep in mind that these are to be from the course sources. Also, be sure to expand on why it is important and how it specifically is outlined in this example.

Conclusion

From the above, it is evident that the various personal leadership skills and tributes are important for effective state government leadership and statesmanship, as discussed above from the case study of Colorado State. Additionally, the local government structure and processes are also important, and they work in different ways, as discussed from the same state as above.

References

Amundsen, H., Hovelsrud, G. K., Aall, C., Karlsson, M., & Westskog, H. (2018). Local governments as drivers for societal transformation: Towards the 1.5 C ambition. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 31, 23-29.

Asencio, H., & Mujkic, E. (2016). Leadership behaviors and trust in leaders: Evidence from the US federal government. Public Administration Quarterly, 156-179.

Cepiku, D., Mussari, R., & Giordano, F. (2016). Local governments managing austerity: Approaches, determinants, and impact. Public Administration, 94(1), 223-243.

Crumpton, C. D., Medeiros, J. J., Ferreira, V. D. R. S., Sousa, M. D. M., & Najberg, E. (2016). Evaluation of public policies in Brazil and the United States: a research analysis in the last 10 years. Revista de Administração Pública, 50(6), 981-1001.

Dunn, W. N. (2017). Public policy analysis: An integrated approach. Routledge.

Ebrahimi, S. A., & Eynali, M. (2019). Developing a framework to explain the public policies capture using thematic analysis and interpretive structural modeling (ISM). Journal of Public Administration, 11(3), 403-430.

Fowler, L. (2018). Local managerial perceptions of intergovernmental management. State and Local Government Review, 50(1), 6-14.

Merino, F., & Prats, M. A. (2020). Why do some areas depopulate? The role of economic factors and local governments. Cities, 97, 102506.

Narbón‐Perpiñá, I., & De Witte, K. (2018). Local governments' efficiency: a systematic literature review—part II. International Transactions in Operational Research, 25(4), 1107-1136.

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