Local Governance Versus Centralization

Connecticut Wetlands Governance as a Model

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4075174
AutoresKatharine Owens, Katharine A Owens (0000-0002-4319-3733, University of Hartford), Carl Zimmerman (Tufts University)
Año2013
Volumen30
Número6
Páginas629-656
Fecha de publicación2013-11-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaReview of Policy Research (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1541-132X • E-ISSN: 1541-1338
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/ropr.12050
OpenAlexW1939578788
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas5
Referencias citadas35

Scholars disagree whether local decision making is inherently more democratic and sustainable than centralized governance structures. While some maintain it is, due to the incorporation of local knowledge, citizen decision makers' closeness to the issues, and the benefits of participatory democracy, others find it as susceptible to issues of corruption and poor implementation as any other scale. We argue that with wetlands, a natural resource with critical local benefits, it is imperative to incorporate local governance, using the U.S. state of Connecticut as an example. Despite the American policy of No Net Loss, the local benefits of wetland resources cannot be aggregated on a national scale. Each local ecosystem needs wetland resources to ensure local ecological benefits such as flood control and pollution remission, as well as the substantial economic benefits of recreation. We illustrate the benefits of local control of wetlands with data from the American state of Connecticut, which consistently surpasses the federal wetland goal of No Net Loss due, we argue, to the governance structure of town-level wetlands commissions. A national policy such as No Net Loss, where wetlands are saved or created in designated areas and destroyed in others, is insufficient when it ignores critical benefits for localities. The Connecticut system using local volunteers and unpaid appointees is a successful method for governing common-pool wetland systems. In the case of Connecticut, we find that local decision making is not a "trap," but instead an effective model of sustainable, democratic local governance

Business · Citizen journalism · Closeness · Corporate governance · Economics · Environmental planning · Environmental resource management · Geography · Local community · Natural resource · Natural resource economics · Political science · Recreation · Wetland · Economic and Environmental Valuation · Environmental Conservation and Management · Land Use and Ecosystem Services · Law · Ecology · Finance