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1. Cybersecurity and Local Government

   https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119788317.ch1  

   Norris, Donald F.; Mateczun, Laura K.; Forno; Richard F. (April 2022, Wiley (book))

   CYBERSECURITY AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT Learn to secure your local government’s networks with this one-of-a-kind resource In Cybersecurity and Local Government, a distinguished team of researchers delivers an insightful exploration of cybersecurity at the level of local government. The book makes a compelling argument that every local government official, elected or otherwise, must be reasonably knowledgeable about cybersecurity concepts and provide appropriate support for it within their governments. It also lays out a straightforward roadmap to achieving those objectives, from an overview of cybersecurity definitions to descriptions of the most common security challenges faced by local governments. The accomplished authors specifically address the recent surge in ransomware attacks and how they might affect local governments, along with advice as to how to avoid and respond to these threats. They also discuss the cybersecurity law, cybersecurity policies that local government should adopt, the future of cybersecurity, challenges posed by Internet of Things, and much more. Throughout, the authors provide relevant field examples, case studies of actual local governments, and examples of policies to guide readers in their own application of the concepts discussed within. Cybersecurity and Local Government also offers: A thorough introduction to cybersecurity generally, including definitions of key cybersecurity terms and a high-level overview of the subject for non-technologists. A comprehensive exploration of critical information for local elected and top appointed officials, including the typical frequencies and types of cyberattacks. Practical discussions of the current state of local government cybersecurity, with a review of relevant literature from 2000 to 2021. In-depth examinations of operational cybersecurity policies, procedures and practices, with recommended best practices. Perfect for local elected and top appointed officials and staff as well as local citizens, Cybersecurity and Local Government will also earn a place in the libraries of those studying or working in local government with an interest in cybersecurity. 

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2. Inequality and its strain on local Governments: Do external interventions Help?

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2024.106855  

   Andersson, Krister P; Cook, Nathan J; Trautmann, Mark A; Valdivieso, Patricio (April 2025, World Development)

   Socioeconomic inequalities complicate the local governance process, especially in low- and middle-income countries. With limited public resources and high socioeconomic inequalities, local governments can find themselves in a vicious circle of increasing inequalities, declining ability to address needs, and mounting social problems. Here, we investigate a possible way out of the vicious circle: policy interventions that help reduce the strain of inequality on local government responsiveness. We argue that interventions are effective in dampening the strain when these recognize the leadership role of local government officials. To test our arguments, we analyze longitudinal data on how citizen satisfaction with local governments varies in 56 Chilean territories over a 15-year period. We find that high socioeconomic inequality is associated with lower overall citizen satisfaction with local government performance, but exogenous interventions can dampen this association when local politicians take the lead in planning and implementing the interventions. 

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3. Advancing food democracy: The potential and limits of food policy positions in local government

   https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2021.111.002  

   Berglund, Erika; Hassanein, Neva; Lachapelle, Paul; Stephens, Caroline (January 2021, Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development)

   For several decades, food policy councils (FPCs) have led the effort to place food on local govern­ment policy agendas. While FPCs are making pro­gress in supporting local food systems, they also face institutional and organizational challenges. In recent years, a handful of cities and counties have endeavored to further food system reform with the establishment of full-time government staff posi­tions focused on food policy. As of spring 2020, there were 19 confirmed food policy positions housed in local governments across the United States. While there is considerable literature on FPCs, little research has been published regarding food policy staffing in local governments. Accordingly, this study uses original in-depth inter­views with 11 individuals in municipal or county food policy positions to understand the purpose and function of governmental food policy staff positions and their impact on local food systems. Our findings suggest that these positions help to coordinate and nurture local food programs and policies and have the potential to facilitate mean­ingful participation of individuals and groups in the community in food system reform. We discuss the potential benefits and challenges for governmental food policy positions to support food democracy, and provide the following recom­mendations for communities interested in estab­lishing or strengthening similar positions: (1) iden­tify and coordinate existing opportunities and assets, (2) foster and maintain leadership support, (3) root the work in community, (4) connect with other food policy professionals, and (5) develop a food system vision. 

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4. The relationship between how agencies work together and coordinated outcomes: a configurational analysis

   https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/muad026  

   Roberts, Michael; Milman, Anita (November 2023, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory)

   Abstract Coordination mandates are used to steer collective action between local government agencies. When higher levels of government allow agencies to choose how to work together, the organizational forms and institutional arrangements they adopt likely influences their ability to achieve mandated coordinated outcomes. How group-level interactions influence achievement of coordinated outcomes is not well understood. California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) provides opportunity to shed light on this topic. SGMA is a state-legislative mandate that requires local agencies who share groundwater basins to undertake groundwater sustainability planning. The mandate affords agencies leeway in deciding how they engage with one another so long as they meet multiple requirements for coordinated outcomes. Drawing on institutional theories of collective action and ethnographic data collected from 2018 to 2022, we employ multi-value Qualitative Comparative Analysis to examine how configurations of organizational forms and institutional arrangements adopted by agencies in eighteen groundwater basins influenced their achievement of coordinated outcomes. Our findings highlight the importance of adopting collaborative institutional arrangements. Yet, the specific configuration of collaborative institutional arrangements varies depending on the type of coordinated outcomes agencies are mandated to achieve. These findings point to the need for mandates to require adoption of collaborative institutional arrangements, the specific configurations of which will be dictated by the requirements of the mandate. 

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5. Mending the Fabric: the Contentious, Collaborative Work of Repairing Broadband Maps

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3687003  

   Palacios_Abad, Beatriz; Belding, Elizabeth; Vigil-Hayes, Morgan; Zegura, Ellen (November 2024, Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction)

   In 2011, the United Nations declared Internet access to be a basic human right. Achieving universal Internet access has been a longstanding goal of governments around the world. In the United States (US), provision depends primarily on decisions made by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) driven essentially by commercial market concerns. To encourage deployment in underserved regions, the US federal government has recently allocated unprecedented funding, with distributions guided by the information in broadband maps, spatial representations of current Internet access and quality published by the Federal Communication Commission. Yet, these maps are known to be inaccurate, especially for populations that are marginalized, such as tribal and rural residents. We are interested in the collaborative and contentious efforts to repair the data contained in broadband maps, and particularly by the efforts of citizen groups and local government to counter claims made by ISPs. In this paper, we study these efforts via interviews of 14 individuals involved in various local and regional roles, in policy, IT, advocacy, and research. We draw upon frameworks of repair and of data activism to ask who does this work and why; what tangible and intangible tools are brought to bear; and how the structural context simultaneously empowers and burdens repair workers. In doing so, we make three contributions: (i) we critique the process and system for broadband map repair for the burdens it places on historically marginalized groups to demonstrate how they have been left out of expansion and how their experiences are otherwise silent in official records; (ii) we bring together analytical concepts from repair and data arenas to examine repair work that is substantially shaped by socio, political, and economic context; and (iii) we illustrate how viewing broadband data workers as activists reveals the inadequacy of current tools and the opportunity for better support for their long-term, contextualized, and mediated efforts. 

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