TITLE:
Building Institutional-Based Trust in Regulated Local Government Systems: The Uganda Perspective
AUTHORS:
Stella B. Kyohairwe, Gerald K. Karyeija, James L. Nkata, Roberts K. Muriisa, Alex Nduhura
KEYWORDS:
Institutional-Based Trust, Local Government, Autonomy, Regulation, Power of Initiation, Power of Immunity
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.10 No.4,
April
26,
2022
ABSTRACT: Autonomy and trust are essential ingredients for
local government performance. The trust generated at local level is further
essential in enabling intra- and
inter-organisational relationships, rational decision-making processes and
co-creation. Understanding of centre-local relations within a local government
system reveals ways in which the autonomy that resides with local government
administrative units may be compromised if attention is restrained from
institutional-based trust, a vital ingredient for effective administration. The
study interrogates specific questions on how a regulated 1) political autonomy,
2) financial autonomy and 3) administrative autonomy in the local governments
affects building institutional based trust and undermines good governance.
Based on Uganda’s case, the study suggests a key remedy of increasing central
government institutions trust through, the formalisation of administrative
structures and systems, duty-load and local revenue orchestration, and local
capacity building. These are tenable through effective trust assurances and
situational normality in a regulated local government system environment.