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The story of budgeting practices in Louisiana strongly resembles its political history. The last decade was no exception. The relatively peaceful beginning of the decade was followed by two major natural disasters in 2005 − Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which suddenly changed the economic outlook of the state. The disaster was followed by a global boom in oil prices which benefited Louisiana greatly. Then, of course, the Great Recession hit. The immediate consequence was a projected budget shortfall of $1.6 billion over upcoming fiscal years 2011 and 2012. Such dramatic events create a perfect opportunity for understanding and analyzing Louisianaʼs “innovations” in the area of budgeting and financial management. Furthermore, the analysis of these developments is enhanced by the multiple perspectives of various participants with intimate knowledge of the political processes and mechanisms employed by the state in its dealings with consequences of the Great Recession.

Decentralization has been a continual focus of attention of both scholars and practitioners for more than half a century. Even though there is a general agreement on what decentralization is, there is no consensus about how it should be measured. This article builds on the existing body of literature that specifies three major dimensions of decentralization: political, administrative, and economic. The article offers a measurement model that unifies these dimensions in a meaningful manner that allows for comparison across countries. The proposed model is then empirically tested using confirmatory factor analysis of a data set of 37 countries over the period 2000-2009. This factor analysis reveals that there are, in fact, only two dimensions of the decentralization process. The newly developed modelʼs index illustrates that the conceptually challenging processes of decentralization can be accurately measured and analyzed. The index can be used for hypothesis testing of the causality role of decentralization.

This paper examines trends in local government revenues and current challenges that local governments face in raising revenue. We alsolook into the future in an effort to make recommendations to localgovernments regarding their revenue structure. Important trends that wedocument include a long-term decline in the property tax and an increase inboth state aid and user charges. Recent economic changes present seriouschallenges for local governments due to volatility of sales taxes, decreasesin property values, and threats to state aid. As local governments shape theirrevenue structure, they will need to respond to external economic,technological and demographic changes. Only user charges offer hopefulprospects as a productive revenue source.

In this introductory essay, the authors describe a new public finance characterized by enduring revenue constraints; mounting budgetary claims from accruing liabilities for post-retirement benefits for government employees, rising health care costs, and an aging population; and uncertainty about future budgetary demands and resource limitations. The new public finance is described as a convergence of economic and demographic forces with past practices that increased the fiscal vulnerability of states and local governments. The authors explain that states and local governments will not overcome challenges by relying upon traditional ways of thinking about and conducting business but instead must revamp frameworks for practice. Symposium papers are described as tackling several of the most pressing issues facing governments today with an eye towards rethinking customary approaches.

This study is based on the premise that Soviet civilization represented a concerted effort to harness emotions to an ideological cause, to reshape human affect according to the Communist Party's political agenda. Even though these efforts largely failed, they left deep scars on the Russian psyche. The emotional culture that evolved during some 75 years of Soviet rule continues to persist after the coercive institutions supporting it have broken down, and this inertia greatly complicates the transition to a democratic society in Russia.

Looks at the reasons for the collapse of both regimes and considers the importance of repression with these developments. Contrasts the methods of Imperial Russia with the Bolsheviks looking at Court proceedings, prison conditions, education and propaganda in prison, exile and the secret police. Concludes that whilst social support is usually seen as essential for survival of a system, repression is not regarded as a positive element but can become the method for a system’s survival and stability.

Attempts to discover an internal logic in the high‐speed events taking place in the former Soviet Union. In addressing the problems of the country′s disintegration, examines the issue in its socioeconomic, political and territorial‐administrative aspects. Analyses, for this purpose, the nature of Soviet society prior to Gorbachev′s reforms, its present transitional stage and its probable direction in the near future.