Cooperative governance and local economic development in selected small towns : a case study of the Western Cape Province, South Africa
Date
2021
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Peoples Friendship University of Russia
Abstract
This article reports on a study based on cooperative governance and Local Economic Development (LED) in selected small towns in the Western Cape Province. The dearth of an integrative institutional framework to promote collaborative participation negatively influences local municipalities’ ability to successfully manage LED cooperatively with relevant stakeholders. Promoting such inclusive representation and participation of all relevant stakeholders provides a viable and complementary alternative to the traditional bureaucratic governance mechanism. The study investigated the specific factors involved in designing and implementing cooperative governance for LED in selected, comparable municipalities in the Western Cape. Specifically, the study aims to determine the push and pull factors for the successful functioning of cooperative governance aimed at promoting LED in those municipalities. Data were collected through three data collection instruments, namely, document review, interviews, and focus group discussions. The document review is complemented by data from interviews and focus groups discussion. The study contributes to the body of knowledge on cooperative governance by identifying the specific cooperative governance factors, enabling the efficacy and governance of LED in small towns, aimed at positively influencing municipalities’ ability to successfully manage LED cooperatively with relevant stakeholders. An in-depth understanding of the relationship and dynamics of these variables helps to offer recommendations as to how to improve the management and responsiveness to socio-economic concerns within the municipalities through improved LED governance.
Description
CITATION: Kamara, R. D. 2021. Cooperative governance and local economic development in selected small towns : a case study of the Western Cape Province, South Africa. RUDN Journal of Public Administration, 8(4):405-422, doi:10.22363/2312-8313-2021-8-4-405-422.
The original publication is available at http://journals.rudn.ru
The original publication is available at http://journals.rudn.ru
Keywords
Economic development -- Western Cape (South Africa), Intergovernmental cooperation -- Western Cape (South Africa), Local government -- Western Cape (South Africa), Corporate governance -- Western Cape (South Africa)
Citation
Kamara, R. D. 2021. Cooperative governance and local economic development in selected small towns : a case study of the Western Cape Province, South Africa. RUDN Journal of Public Administration, 8(4):405-422, doi:10.22363/2312-8313-2021-8-4-405-422.