Presents a complete and detailed constitutional framework applying the rational self-interest model and market mechanisms to intra and inter- governmental behaviour and collective decisions. In particular, the paper presents an enabling mechanism for the creation, adjustment and dissolution of...

Most countries especially the developing ones around the world are facing external as well as internal pressures to decentralize and are actually becoming part of the trend which if not universal is nonetheless the dominant trend. General causes include systemic forces like democratization and...

Recent experience with disasters and terrorist attacks in the US indicates that state and local governments rely on the federal sector for support after disasters occur. But these same governments invest in infrastructure designed to reduce vulnerability to natural and man-made hazards. We show...

The application of E-government initiative in Jordan had widely spread milestones in terms of achievement, these achievements has changed the means of communication between the government different ministries and directories through websites. This research studied the level of E-government...

This article addresses long-standing challenges in conceptualizing and measuring decentralization in unitary and federal systems. It first outlines a novel conceptualization of decentralization and its relation to the unitary/federal distinction and a/symmetry, from which it derives static and...

Stories abound of public defenders who, overwhelmed with high caseloads, allow defendants to languish in pretrial detention and guilty pleas to be entered without examining the merits of the case. Most defendants cannot afford to hire an attorney, and, thus, have no choice other than to accept...

This paper will present the Modern Money Theory approach to government finance. In short, a national government that chooses its own money of account, imposes a tax in that money of account, and issues currency in that money of account cannot face a financial constraint. It can make all payments...

State preemption laws strictly limit local governments from regulating beyond their borders. Local governments, however, face a broad spectrum of challenges which cannot be confined to municipal borders. These challenges freely flow in and out of many local jurisdictions at the same time. The...

This paper investigates the relationship between devolution and regional disparities by looking at the case of Italy. By integrating the relevant quantitative and qualitative evidence, it attempts to answer two questions. Did the devolutionary process exert a positive influence on regional...

Decentralised experimentation and mutual learning of public policies is seen as one of the important advantages of federal systems (Oates: laboratory federalism). Based upon Hayekian ideas of the advantages of decentralised experimentation (as a discovery procedure), we analyse the long-term...