The Future of State and Municipal Administration
| Author | I. Pichardo Pagaza |
| Published date | 01 March 1974 |
| Date | 01 March 1974 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/002085237404000113 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
ii
field.
There
are,
thus,
cooperatives
with
State
participation.
Other
companies
are,
moreover,
classified
among
those
with
State
participation.
This
occurs
when
the
public
authorities
and/or
the
enterprises
with
State
participation
together
hold
at
least
one
half
of
their
capital.
Besides
the
above
methods
of
administrative
action
or
public
initiative,
there
is
the
system
of
public
trusts
whose
machinery
is
derived
from
civil
law
and
forms
the
subject
of
a
special
control.
In
short,
the
basis
of
all
administration
is
respect
for the
principle
of
legality.
The
supreme
head
is
the
President
of the
Republic.
He
is
assisted
or
supported
by
15
secretaries
of
State,
4
administrative
departments,
2
State
counsels’
departments,
2
governments
of
terri-
tories,
2
administrative
courts,
112
decentral-
ized
agencies,
253
enterprises
with
majority
State
participation,
and
56
with
minority
parti-
cipation,
222
coordinating
bodies,
and
184
trusts.
The
Future
of
State
and
Municipal
Administration
I.
PICHARDO
PAGAZA
Mainly
for
historical
reasons,
the
Mexican
federal
system
is
highly
centralized,
in that
the
Federation
wields
immense
economic
and
poli-
tical
power
developed
at
the
expense
of
twenty-
nine
federated
States
and
2,500
municipalities,
to
the
extent
that,
in
1974,
all
those
author-
ities’
budgets
together
represented
only
10
per
cent
of
the
Federal
Budget.
For
some
twenty
years,
however,
the
Federal
Government
has
been
taking
steps
to
give
a
new
impetus
to
the
development
of
regional
and
local
economy.
On
one
hand,
the
Federation
has
undertaken
minimum
rural
and
community
development
programmes
throughout
the
country,
which
could
not
have
been
undertaken
by
either
the
States
or
the
municipalities.
On
the
other
hand,
specialized
regional
organizations
for
specific
areas
have
begun
to
be
set
up
for
the
same
purpose
and
have
produced
practical
results
as
regards
the
country’s
general
devel-
opment.
An
additional
effort
has
been
made
during
the
last
ten
years
to
stimulate
administrative
activity
in
the
principal
States
and
several
of
the
larger
municipalities
by
granting
them
more
funds
for
public
works
or
development
pro-
grammes.
While
the
effort
remains
limited
to
certain
States
and
to
very
few
municipalities,
it
is
a
new
factor
which
should
be
taken
into
consideration.
While
local
administrative
capa-
city
has
obviously
increased,
there
are
still
many
great
difficulties
and
much
has
to
be
accomplished
in
the
field
of
education.
The
efforts
undertaken
and
a
systematic
observation
of
local
administrative
activity
have
made
it
possible
to
identify
a
series
of
critical
factors
or
fundamental
variables
and
to
outline
a
model
of
what
the
administration
of
States
and
municipalities
should
be.
The
following
are
the
most
important
variables
in
the
model:
(a)
Increased
administrative
capacity
which,
with
a
better
qualified
and
trained
staff,
would
permit
greater
activity
and
increased
admin-
istrative
know-how.
This
would
imply
the
integration
of
administrative
techniques,
the
introduction
of
the
merit
system
in
personnel
management,
the
creation
of
an
objective
public
service,
the
introduction
of
budgeting
techni-
ques,
the
use
of
activity
programmes,
element-
ary
planning,
and
computerization.
(b)
Increased
financial
capacity
is
essential.
The
multiplier
effect
of
investments
on
the
State
and
even
more on
the
municipal
level
is
much
greater
than
that
of
Federal
invest-
ments,
i.e.
more
is
obtained
from
the
same
amount.
The
sources
of
revenue
of
the
States
and
municipalities
should
therefore
be
devel-
oped
so
as
to
depend
less
on
the
Federation.
But
to
do
so
would
require
a
certain
degree
of
economic
progress.
(c)
Extended
local
responsibilities.
These
have
already
been
increased,
so
that
activities
of
a
local
character
such
as
water
supply
and
sewerage,
previously
carried
out
by
the
Federa-
tion,
are
now
entrusted
to
the
States
and
muni-
cipalities.
Tasks
such
as
forest
management,
logging,
and
reforestation
have
been
decentral-
ized.
But
further
steps
will
require
to
be
taken
particularly
concerning
administrative
action
in,
for
example,
urban
development
and
the
con-
servation
of
natural
resources.
Though
the
question
of
conservation
of
natural
resources
is
not
of
equal
importance
to
all
the
States
and
municipalities,
it
will
become
vital
to
some
of
them.
In
certain
regions,
the
relationship
be-
tween
concentration
of
population
and
the
waste
and
improper
use
of
national
resources
is
striking :
contamination
of
lakes
and
streams,
air
pollution,
wanton
deforestation
with
its
many
consequences,
etc.
To continue reading
Request your trial