Bedrosian Center Salon Series on Innovative Governance

The goal of the Salon on Innovative Governance is to engage cross-disciplinary discussions of issues related to effective governance and public management. Following are brief descriptions of the five salons conducted in 2005 – 2006 in Los Angeles.
Project Coordinator: Dr. Juliet Musso, Associate Professor

Democracy and Representation in U.S. Local Governments. (September 2005)
Dr. Christine Kelleher, University of Michigan at Dearborn, presented research analyzing the relationship between metropolitan institutions and municipal responsiveness.

Building Organizational Capabilities for E-Government. (January 2006)
Dr. Jon Gant, Syracuse University, discussed the organizational challenges to using information and communication technologies (IT) to deliver government services.

Dark Networks as Governance Problems. (February 2006)
Dr. Brint Milward, of the University of Arizona, at a luncheon salon, made a presentation regarding "Dark Networks as Governance Problems," in which he discussed the implications for policy and management of the growth in "dark networks," illegal networked organizations that may be involved in such criminal activities as drug or human trafficking, arms and diamond smuggling or terrorism. At the dinner salon, he discussed the implications for administrative accountability and control of the increased reliance on third parties (private firms and NGOs) in the design, management and execution of policies.

Coping with Healthcare Spending: The Mother of All Budget Problems. (March 2006)
Dr. Alice Rivlin of The Brookings Institution discussed research in progress on the role that healthcare spending plays in driving budgetary costs and social resource allocation.

Democratic Network Governance. (April 2006)
Drs. Eva Sorenson and Jacob Torfing, University of Roskilde, Denmark, provided an international perspective on the roles of networks in democratic governance.