Citation URL: http://www.urban.org/PatDusenbury

The purpose of this report is to identify good practices and lessons learned by states that have moved ahead in governing-for-results and to provide recommendations for improving those efforts. This document is a compilation of findings about the state of the art and the practice of governing-for-results.

The Urban Institute's Governing–for–Results and Accountability Project team conducted extensive discussions and interviews with elected and appointed officials in Florida, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oregon, and Texas, and with a number of agency directors from other states. Additionally, focus groups and small discussion sessions were held with citizens and citizen representatives in all five study states.

Localities are where priorities must be set and solutions owned and implemented. State-initiated efforts need to consciously encourage localities to adopt or adapt statewide measures of progress and to incorporate these measures in their own strategic planning. States have the resources and bear the full burden of accountability; they also have the capacity to resolve policy barriers that may impede local progress. Wherever they are initiated, results-and-indicators frameworks can provide the glue to create—not mandate—equitable state and local partnerships.

Government has adopted the private sector's strategic planning approach to help set priorities and allocate scarce resources in a changing environment. Too often, however, public-sector strategic planning is an event - or worse, just a document. A state's strategic plan is presented with much fanfare and then just fades away. Or an agency prepares a strategic plan to meet executive or legislative mandates but does not use the plan to direct agency activities.

This report details the visit of consultants from the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Urban Institute to Gliwice, Poland, in October 1996 to conduct a preliminary scan of the environment and to assess the potential for supporting the city in three focus areas. The report presents an economic overview of industry sectors, the nonprofit sector, and land and human resources. It also looks at such infrastructure issues as access, industrial sites, environmental facilities, and housing. Included are an overview of the government-business relationship and recommendations for improvement in the focus areas.

This report describes a week-long site visit and assessment of development opportunities in the Nowy Sacz region of Poland. It examines economic development issues facing the region and discusses several areas for improvement such as targeting specific industries as economic development priorities, improving access to the region, dealing with environmental issues, and conducting regional planning.

This report details the visit consultants from the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Urban Institute to Gliwice, Poland, in December 1996 to determine the potential for supporting the city in three focus areas. Included are key findings and recommendations for (1) economic development; (2) public participation; and (3) information exchange. Also included are a comprehensive summary of the December activities, an illustrative economic scan, and a sample strategic, communications-planning model.

The analysis, which serves as the foundation for this report, concentrates on New Hampshire's manufacturing sectors. The report analyzes manufacturing exports of all 10 Northeastern states, concentrating on New Hampshire's recent performance. Through analytical techniques, the state's export sectors are identified, particularly those in which the manufacturers are already outperforming export manufacturers in other states. The most promising export sectors are identified. The report then analyzes the world market for these products—the ones that New Hampshire manufacturers are already good at exporting.

The analysis proffered by this report concentrates on Maine's manufacturing sectors. The report analyzes manufacturing exports of all 10 Northeastern states, concentrating on Maine's recent performance. Through analytical techniques, the state's export sectors are identified, particularly those in which the manufacturers are already outperforming export manufacturers in other states. The most promising export sectors are identified. The report then analyzes the world market for these products—the ones that Maine manufacturers are already good at exporting.

Return to list of authors