Collaborative Research: Integrated City Sustainability: Administrative Apparatus for Overcoming Collective Dilemmas of Agency Fragmentation

意义和重要性的非技术描述地方政府面临着复杂的横切政策问题，这些问题超越了传统的围绕职能组织的行政筒仓。当单一问题或目标跨越多个独立单位时，分散的权威可能会产生集体行动和协调问题。地方可持续发展是一个广泛而复杂的问题，为研究这些组织挑战提供了一个理想的视角。尽管地方政府广泛采用可持续发展目标，但在许多社区缺乏或不一致的行政机构来协调其实施。本研究考察了不同的行政安排对政策努力和结果的影响，并评估了促进地方可持续性努力取得成功所必需的体制结构。单一政府内部的职能协调和集体行动问题类似于大都市地区内分散的政府权力所产生的制度性集体行动问题。在这两种情况下，服务、目标和资源系统的连通性都会产生积极和消极的外部性。解决这些困境需要额外的资源和专门知识，以及发展行政结构以整合决策。这项工作旨在提出一种体制集体行动的一般理论，其中包括组织内部和组织之间的行政困境。它将分两个阶段进行：首先，通过对地方自治团体的调查，收集行政机关的定量数据。其次，将选择八个城市进行深入分析，基于从他们的调查反馈中得出的特征。本文将运用分析叙事方法和社会网络分析来探讨克服地方可持续性中功能性集体行动困境的机制。虽然职能协调一直是公共行政领域关注的问题，但这些问题在当代政策理论中并未得到强调。对于行政机制的设计如何影响组织整合决策和解决功能性集体行动问题的能力，我们知之甚少。对于行政机制如何影响组织层面的政策产出和结果，人们所知甚少。通过对城市可持续发展政策的探索，本研究将开创一种功能性集体行动理论，使制度集体行动研究超越目前对独立政府之间横向和纵向分裂的关注。调查结果将为解决“模糊边界”这一普遍问题提供见解，即在处理复杂政策问题时缺乏明确的责任界限，需要更协调的努力。这项研究将系统地查明与克服功能性集体行动的不同机制有关的优点和缺点，使市政当局能够作出更明智的选择，并尽量减少组织内部和组织之间的行政困境。该分析结果有望对地方政府从业人员具有应用价值。此外，从本研究中收集的实证调查数据将有助于更广泛地研究美国的城市治理和政策，并使研究人员能够更好地研究可持续性和地方政府管理问题。

Nontechnical Description of Significance and ImportanceLocal governments face complex crosscutting policy issues that transcend traditional administrative silos organized around function. When a single issue or objective crosses multiple independent units, collective action and coordination problems can arise from fragmented authority. Local sustainability is a broad and complex issue and provides an ideal lens through which to study these organizational challenges. Despite the widespread adoption of sustainability goals by local governments, an administrative apparatus to coordinate their implementation is lacking or inconsistent in many communities. This research examines the impact that different administrative arrangements have on policy efforts and outcomes and assesses the institutional structures necessary to facilitate the success of local sustainability efforts. Functional coordination and collective action problems within a single government are similar to institutional collective action problems that arise from fragmented governmental authority within metropolitan areas. In both cases, the connectedness of services, objectives, and resource systems produces positive and negative externalities. Resolution of these dilemmas requires additional resources and expertise, as well as the development of administrative structures to integrate decision-making. This work intends to initiate a general theory of institutional collective action that encompasses administrative dilemmas within as well as between organizations. It proceeds in two stages: First, it will collect quantitative data on administrative institutions via surveys administered to local government officials. Second, eight cities will be selected for in-depth analysis based on characterizations developed from their survey responses. An analytic narratives approach and social network analysis will be applied to explore the mechanisms available for overcoming functional collective action dilemmas in local sustainability. Technical DescriptionAlthough functional coordination has long been a concern within public administration, these issues are not emphasized in contemporary policy theories. Little is known about how the design of administrative mechanisms influences organizational ability to integrate decisions and resolve functional collective action problems. Even less is known about how administrative mechanisms affect policy outputs and outcomes at the organizational level. Through an exploration of city sustainability policy, this research will initiate a theory of functional collective action that extends institutional collective action research beyond its current focus on horizontal and vertical fragmentation among independent governments. Findings will provide insight to address the common problem of "fuzzy boundaries," whereby the lack of clear lines of responsibility for tackling complex policy issues necessitates more coordinated efforts. This research will systemically identify the strengths and weaknesses associated with different mechanisms for overcoming functional collective action and enable municipalities to make more informed choices and minimize administrative dilemmas within as well as between organizations. The results of this analysis are expected to be of applied value to local government practitioners. Additionally, the empirical survey data collected from this research will contribute to the broader study of urban governance and policy in the US and enable researchers to better examine sustainability and local government administration questions.