Thank you.
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Report of the Strategic Directions Taskforce
December, 2014
David Miller, Jered Carr, Barbara McCabe, Paul
Posner
The Chair of the
section appointed the above individuals to serve as a taskforce to
strategically assess the future direction of the section recognizing the
evolving nature of government (federal, state, local) and governments relation
to the broader society of which government is a part. In reviewing both the
section name (Section on Intergovernmental Administration and Management) and the
mission/description of the section, it is our general finding that neither
speaks to the perspectives of emerging scholars and practitioners nor to
fundamental and dynamic changes that have occurred in government/goverance
since the original name and purpose of the section was established. To capture these changes and to more broadly
appeal to the discipline, we present two recommendations that 1) change the
name of the section (Appendix 1 is a list of all ASPA sections) and 2) identify
a new mission statement to guide the section. To aid the process currently
underway to review the bylaws of the section, we also present suggestions on
how those bylaws could be modified to implement our recommendations.
Recommendation 1: The name of the section should be changed
from Section on Intergovernmental Administration and Management (SIAM) to
Section on Governance (SOG).
Recommendation 2: The mission
of the section should be as follows:
The Section on Governance deals with the dynamic, part
collaborative, part competitive environment of governments (national, state,
and local) as they deal with public policy problems and issues that require
cross-boundary participation in order to be resolved. This participation occurs horizontally and
vertically among governments as well as across the governmental, nonprofit, or
public sectors. Much of the focus of the
section is on the metropolitan region and the networks that formally and
informally have been and are being created to address common problems. The section is both theoretical in terms of
understanding the complexity of modern metropolitan regions and
practitioner-based in terms of providing opportunities for those working in
state, local, regional, and nonprofit institutions to better implement
collaborative solutions.
The
American Society for Public Administration recognizes the development of
specialized areas of interest within its membership as important to the
advancement of the aims and purposes of the Society. Accordingly, it has
granted and approved the following Charter and Bylaws for the Section on Governance. These are subject to the
Constitution and Bylaws of the Society and to official Society policies
governing the creation, evaluation, and termination of sections.
ARTICLE I. Name and Purpose
Section
1. Name: This organization shall be known as the Section
on Governance (SOG) of the American Society for Public Administration.
Section
2. Purpose: Within the broad purposes of ASPA, the Section
on Governance deals with the dynamic, part collaborative, part competitive
environment of governments (national, state, and local) as they deal with
public policy problems and issues that require cross-boundary participation in
order to be resolved. This participation
occurs horizontally and vertically among governments as well as across the
governmental, nonprofit, or public sectors.
Specifically, the section will:
1.
Serve as a national focal point and leader in the analysis of governance issues and
the formal and informal networks created to solve common problems.
2.
Provide a national forum for activities, publication and research of
academicians and practitioners addressing
boundary-crossing governance issues and implementing collaborative solutions.
3. Create a national
forum for developing an empirically-grounded understanding of the complex
modern metropolitan environment, the forces of competition and cooperation
within that environment, and the ways in which collaborative responses to
common problems can be forged, implemented, and sustained.
Section
3.
This
Section is organized for the professional and educational purposes of:
exclusively charitable and educational purposes within the meaning of Section
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as now in effect or as may
hereafter be amended ("Code"). Without limiting the generality of the
foregoing, such purposes include the following:
(a)
Advancing the science, processes, and art of public administration.
(b) Advancing the equality of opportunity of all persons through public administration.
(b) Advancing the equality of opportunity of all persons through public administration.
In
furtherance of its exclusively charitable and educational purposes, the Section
shall have all general powers of an unincorporated association, together with
the power to solicit and accept grants and contributions for such purposes.
ARTICLE II. Activities
Section
1. SOG may undertake the following
activities which are not necessarily inclusive or mandatory:
General:
1.
Serve as a recognized national and regional focal point and spokesperson for governance related developments in education,
training and research.
2.
Identify major governance needs, problems,
and opportunities inherent in the dynamic, often
fragmented metropolitan environment and in the structure of the American
federal system.
3.
Identify and promote the use of information sources and material which
constitute the state of the art theory and practice
of collaborative governance.
4.
Provide a forum for the exchange of views, information, and research on governance issues.
5.
Provide a forum for discussion, research, and documentation of challenges and
operations related to governance issues.
6.
Serve as a stimulus for enhancing the effectiveness of collaborative
governance through the exploration, development, and testing of capacity
building models designed to respond to state and local deficiencies and needs.
7.
Formulate program/policy positions on governance issues
and problems
of national, regional, state, or local interest and concern.
of national, regional, state, or local interest and concern.
8.
Encourage and sponsor research on governance and
the implementation of collaborative solutions through
panels/presentations at ASPA, or related professional association, regional and
national conferences.
9.
Cooperate with other ASPA organizational units (sections, chapters) on program
issues of mutual concern related to the governance
system.
Training
and Development:
1.
Develop training packages (papers, reports, manuals, recordings, and video
tapes, etc.) integrating advances in the area of cooperative federal, state,
and local program and technology development and implementation.
2.
Promote the incorporation of governance projects
into on-going training and educational programs at universities and at all
levels of government and in related professional associations.
3.
Sponsor workshops and seminars in cooperation with related ASPA sections on
functional issues where collaborative governance
is key to program effectiveness.
Publications:
1.
Identify topics which should be included in the literature on intergovernmental
coordination, cooperation, and management issues including, but not limited to,
conference papers, articles, and books, and promote and encourage the
publication of these sources.
2.
Promote the publication of the section newsletter, occasional papers, or
symposium of PAR or related journals on management capacity building in the
context of intergovernmental policy management assistance or program
administration and management from an intergovernmental perspective.
Research:
1.
Encourage section member research efforts related to both intergovernmental
administration and management in the federal system
and the theory and practice of metropolitan governance.
2.
Explore and develop research projects for funding by private foundations and governmental
agencies.
3.
Encourage federal, regional, state, and local research on intergovernmental
administrative or management needs and interstate and interlocal concerns as well as on the governance of metropolitan
regions.
4.
Assist in securing public agency funding support for section member research or
special projects in the development and/or testing of systems, administrative
tools or needs assessments, or development of course or curriculum materials
related to the understanding or betterment of the Federal grant-in-aid system
or intergovernmental infrastructure supporting the system.
Section
2. Annual Report:
SOG shall prepare and submit
a written annual report on its activities to the ASPA National Council at the
time of the ASPA National Conference. The report will include information on SOG
achievements in program and budget during the previous year and projected
activities and budget for the following year.
.
Appendix 1 : Current ASPA Sections
