Workpackages

The DeCiDe project is structured around a research line, which is organized in 9 workpackages (WP), with a total duration of 36 months.

The first WP of this project will be a thorough revision of the literature on the main theories and conceptual frameworks related to the three central topics for this research. Besides an academic contribution to consolidate the existent knowledge on the topics to be researched, this meta-analysis exercise has the goal to enable the team to detail the projects theoretical framework, the research questions and the most important variables to be included in data collection processes (WP4 and WP6). Likewise, it will help us to identify studies containing more or less similar analysis for other national (or regional) contexts, something that will enable the comparative analysis in WP2.

This first task will be performed through an inventory of relevant articles from the main journals, followed by a meta-analysis of those. Moreover, the theoretical framework is crucial to map and conceptualize the dependent variables of our research: coordination, capacity and accountability. Therefore, we seek to explore different definitions found in the literature and put forward a comprehensive toolkit to operationalize and measure these variables.

These literature review exercises will lead to the production of a draft paper which will contain a specified theoretical framework of our research project. This draft paper is expected to be discussed in a kick-off meeting which will assembly all team members, as well as the consultants. Considering the different team members have somehow diverse expertise, the activities in this WP will also enable team members to share their expertise with one another.

This WP will lead to the preparation of a systematic literature-review paper based on the draft paper, which can be presented in one international conference (e.g., EGPA; EURA; ECPR; IRSPM; ESPA-Net; ISTR) and later submitted to a peer-reviewed indexed journal.

The whole research team will be involved in this WP, although with different duties and particularly focused in different topics. The WP will be led by the PI, Filipe Teles, who has previously worked on the three topics.


Taking into account the research design proposed, namely the cross-nationally comparative perspective, the first empirical relevant task entails the characterization of the selected countries Portugal, Poland, United Kingdom, Croatia and Greece. As aforementioned, those countries have varying degrees of central government dependence, with different economic outlooks. Finally, these countries also have different national administrative traditions. All of these dimensions can affect the willingness and the extent to which local governments rely on more or less complex governance arrangements.

Before assessing the complexity of local governance arrangements in these countries, a country profile needs to be assessed considering the legal framework regarding local governance arrangements; the existence and inner workings of institutionalized forms of cooperation; the extent of local government independence from central government (by assessing local government revenues and transfers since 2008); the territorial reforms enacted, and mapping all the specific features that impact on local government arrangements (for example, the level of social capital).

This analysis is crucial not only to characterise local government arrangements across the selected countries, but also to have a solid grasp of the key independent variables, before proceeding with an in-depth analysis of the enactment of local government arrangements.

This Task will be headed by T. Ruel, who has a PhD in Political Science, with specialisation in Comparative Politics, and she is currently teaching the MSC course on ‘Trends and Models of Local Governance’, where comparative models of local governance are taught.


Taking into consideration the literature review completed in WP1, WP3 aims to prepare the data collection instruments for the first empirical stage of our research project. This WP includes the following subtasks:

  1. Survey design: this task pertains to the operationalization of the indicators of governance coordination, capacity and accountability. Survey design also includes the tasks related to validating the survey, which will be done both through the assistance of the projects consultants and through a pretest survey. Pre-testing is the opportunity to see what questions work well, to identify problematic words or questions and to revise the survey accordingly, particularly given the diverse national contexts.
  2. Delineate the sample procedures: given the wide heterogeneity both in terms of the number of municipalities and the population covered by different municipalities, a stratified random sampling procedure is expected to be used. With this technique, a higher statistical precision will be attained, as the differences within the subgroups is lower compared to the variations when dealing with the entire population. Municipalities will be divided considering the rural vs urban and the big vs smaller (in terms of population density) divides.

The identify and partition the population into non-overlapping strata is expected to be validated by the consultants, who are local experts.
Preliminary versions of data collection instruments will also be discussed during the kick-off meeting with the complete team and consultants. During the kick-off meeting the sampling and approaching procedures will also be detailed, as well as the division of labour, the research calendar, and the dissemination and management plans.
By the end of this task, the work plans shall be defined and data collection instruments shall be completed. A methodological paper will be prepared, which shall be presented in one international conference (e.g., EGPA; ECPR; EURA; IRSPM; ESPA-Net; ISTR).

This WP will be coordinated by P. Silva and L. Mota, who are experienced researchers on launching and analysing surveys (eg, COCOPS survey which was launched on over 300 public managers in Portugal).


During this WP we will collect information on the wide spectrum of local governance arrangements, while gauging their inner workings in terms of local government coordination, capacity and accountability.

This cross-case comparative analysis will allow us to create a comprehensive database, which will provide the basis for analysing a number of questions, most notably: i) what is the nature of actors involved in local government arrangements?, ii) in which policy domains do we find the lowest and the highest levels of local governance complexity?; iii) Which policy domains entail a more centralized structure (i.e. cases were decision-making processes are concentrated in a single organization), or a more horizontal arrangement?; iv) to what extent does local governance complexity impact on the perception of the effectiveness of coordination mechanisms?

  1. This WP entails several subtasks:
    Operationalization of the survey deliverance: This sub-task encapsulates all the necessary logistical steps for the actual execution of the survey. In a first approach, the survey will be available online and an invitation will be sent to local government representatives to access and fill in the questionnaire. If the rate of response is low, it may be possible to send a printed version of questionnaire.
  2. Building the dataset: an SPSS database is expected to be compiled with the surveys answers. Careful attention will be devoted to data cleaning, especially if responses will be manually inserted. This is a crucial prerequisite for accurate data analysis.
  3. Survey analysis: This task refers to the analysis of gathered data. Through the use of statistical procedures (bivariate and multivariate), this stage of research will be able to produce the first (preliminary) answers to the questions delineated for the first stage of research. This stage of research will also inform the within-case analysis, particularly the selection of cases for in-depth analysis.

This WP encompasses the writing of the first preliminary report on the gathered data, which is expected to be discussed and validated on a second meeting with the complete team. Using the material from data analysis, three to four papers will be presented in conferences (e.g., EGPA; ECPR; EURA; IRSPM; ESPA-Net; ISTR) and submitted to peerreviewed indexed journals.

This WP will be coordinated by Patrícia Silva. She will be directly assisted by Luís Mota, who coordinated the launch of COCOPS executive survey in Portugal, which was sent to all top public managers in Portugal [42], and researcher to be hired.


 

This WP is devoted to preparing the second stage of empirical data gathering. It requires the planning and implementation of three specific steps:

  1. Preparation of a semi-structured interview script: this subtask entails the design of the script, based both on existing literature and on insights from our consultants. This subtask relies on WP1 to identify previous qualitative research on local governance arrangements, not only to ensure comparability with existing research, but also to enhance the international interest in this data.
  2. Selection of target subjects for in-depth analysis: we expect to employ a within-case analysis focused those municipalities located at the Portuguese centre region with highest and lowest levels local governance arrangements according to the results gathered in WP4. Following the strategy used in the sampling procedure defined in WP3, we expect to select both urban and rural municipalities; as well as municipalities with high and low population density.
  3. Establishing a list of pivotal actors to interview: This will be done through a social network analysis. This requires an analysis of the data regarding which actors participate in the provision of local services in the selected territorial domains (i.e., municipalities) and the networks of relationships established between the different stakeholders involved (municipalities, higher levels of government; third sector organizations; or other stakeholders). This enables us to map all the organizations at the local level engaging in local service provision. We expect eight cases to be subject to in-depth analysis, with a minimum of 6 interviews in each case: mayors, third sector organizations managers, and other relevant stakeholders.

This WP will be coordinated by Luís Mota and Sara Moreno Pires. Luís is highly experienced in designing and applying semi-structured interviews. Also, he is preparing his postdoctoral research on the mapping of local governance arrangements in Portugal. Sara has conducted an in-depth work field at the local governance level in Portugal for her PhD and is currently researching the assessment of local governance quality for sustainable development through similar methodologies.


 

Through this WP we aim to assess the reasons why different governance arrangements were entailed and the extent to which the performance of our three dimensions – coordination, capacity and accountability – also explain such differences. This WP is devoted to answering the following research questions: what is the role played by each actor within local governance arrangements? How were responsibilities and resources allocated? What kinds of network patterns or structures are perceive as being most effective in local service delivery? How do participants perceive the coordination of actors and local governance capacity? Which accountability mechanisms are relevant? How do citizens perceive the inner working of local governance arrangements? Which features lead to (un)successful governance arrangements?

This WP requires the planning and implementation of three specific steps:

  1. Execution of interviews: long in-depth semi-structured interviews with specific selected individuals will provide a richer picture of local governance arrangements.
  2. Transcription of personal interviews: Interviews will be recorded whenever an explicit authorization is provided. In order to permit a better analysis of the content, the recorded personal interviews will be transcribed. This will enable us to use context tools and other forms of content analysis to better analyse these interviews.
  3. Data analysis: This task consists of the content analysis of the interviews. This task is divided into three main sub-tasks. First, interviews will be transcribed so as to allow a better treatment of data. Then, taking into account the structure of the dimensions specified in Tasks 1 and 3, a complete coding scheme for analysing data from interview transcripts will be designed, with the main variables being defined. The final subtask is related to the coding of interviews. Data can then be further analysed using quantitative techniques. Considering the nature of the interviews (semi-structured), the large amount of data that is expected to be compiled and the multiple conceptual frameworks at stake (local governance; governance capacity; accountability), the coding process will be always performed by more than one team member for each interview, one of them being the person who conducted the interview.

This WP is expected to generate several papers, which will be discussed during a third team meeting. Using the material from data analysis, three papers will be later presented in conferences (e.g., EGPA; ECPR; EURA;IRSPM; ESPA-Net; ISTR) and submitted to peer-reviewed indexed journals. WP6 is also expected to produce as an output a report with the analysis and main results.
This WP will be coordinated by L. Mota and S. Pires, for the same reasons explained in the previous Task.


After the assessment of local governance arrangements in the Portuguese case, the team will work on framing the Portuguese case on a comparative perspective during WP7. In specific, this WP is aimed at encouraging other countries to perform similar in-depth studies, as the one reported in WPs 5 and 6 (besides the ones involved in this project, we expect: Spain, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Slovenia and Slovakia). This will be carried out by challenging existing research networks – such as the COST Action LocRefs (IS1207) – to conduct empirical studies more or less similar to our own. This challenge is expected to be accepted considering that F. Teles (our PI) is a member of the Management Committee of that Cost-Action and other analogous challenges were previously launched and accepted by other partners.

This WP entails the availability of the project?s instruments to other international scholars and COST members. This is expected to be done through the project?s website, and instruments will be delivered upon request. Cost members are also invited to participate in the final international conference, where they case study results can be presented.

This WP will be led by F. Teles, considering his privileged access to the COST-Action network (see: http://www.uni-potsdam.de/cost-locref/) and also his expertise in Comparative Local Governance studies. He will be assisted by Luís Mota, who is recently devoted to comparative policy analysis [43] and the whole team. The projects’ consultants are also expected to participate in the international conference.


This WP is dedicated to tasks related to the preparation of two important dissemination strategies. As reported in the previous WP, the research team is expected to dedicate considerable amount of time to the production of scientific articles to be submitted to national and international conferences and, ultimately, to peer-reviewed journals and book chapters. These results will also be presented to the wider academic community during a final international conference. This WP8 is, therefore, dedicated to all the necessary logistic tasks related to the preparation of this international conference. Beyond mobilizing the entire research team to present the most significant results, consultants and other experts on local governance arrangements will also be invited to participate. As reported in WP7, the presentation of comparable research will be strongly encouraged, so as to ignite a debate on the differences and similarities when compared with the Portuguese situation. A selection of the resulting papers will be submitted to a special issue of a peer review journal and an edited volume, in which a comparative paper will be also included.

While these are important outputs of this research project, it is also relevant to ensure that results are communicated to leaders, practitioners and professionals working in management and administration. As reported, one of the objectives of this research projects is to enlighten those professionals as to which dimensions – related to local governance arrangements? coordination, capacity, and accountability – mostly need to be strengthened so as to allow intelligent collective choices to be made. To that end, we expect to organize a workshop with policy-makers and relevant regional and local stakeholders. At this stage, the executive summaries of reports produced in WP 4 and 6 will be delivered to participants. Beyond the specific objective of disseminating the results and analytical tools to policy makers, this workshop will also provide important insights as to the way forward, with the definition of important avenues for future research and collaborative endeavours between the academia and local governments.


This WP is dedicated to ensuring the coordination of the team?s endeavours regarding the fulfilment of the research objectives and timely accomplishment of each WPs. Moreover, it entails all the necessary procedures to ensure the fulfilment of all obligations specified in this project, namely in terms of the financial implementation of the project; and in terms of ensuring the timely production and quality of the deliverables and scientific outputs.

To that end, both the PI and Co-PI are expected to promote regular meetings with the entire research team.