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AbstractWhen scholars address presidential agenda setting, they focus on how presidents go about getting what they want. We know far less about the prior step: how presidents decide what they want (agenda construction). Moreover, prior work that has dealt with this topic has focused on the external constraints imposed on presidential choice by Congress and public opinion. I contend, by contrast, that presidents have considerable agency in determining their domestic policy priorities. They rely on it to establish who they are and where they want to take the nation, putting forward their own "political projects." I situate this agency in the selection of agenda items and the manner and sequence in which presidents pursue them. Failing to account for this "power of initiative and origination" leaves us with an underspecified understanding of presidential decision making that obscures the consequentiality of leadership in driving important policy outcomes. I develop this argument by exploring three presidential administrations that pose a hard test for my agency thesis: Richard Nixon, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush. These case studies draw from archival records obtained at the associated presidential libraries and interviews with senior administration personnel.

The study examined the internalization of core-values of New Public Management (NPM) among Local Government Units (LGUs) in the Philippines in their effort to reform the management and operation of public markets. Using Public-Private Partnership (PPP) as a framework of NPM for infrastructure development and service delivery, the study assessed the performance of PPP/BOT Public Markets in addressing the perennial problems of public markets in the Philippines. It inquired whether or not PPP as an instrument of reform has improved the management and operation of public markets.To substantiate the assessment, five pioneering PPP public markets in the country were examined, namely; Mandaluyong Public Market in Mandaluyong City, Carmen and Cogon Public Markets in Cagayan de Oro City, Suki Market in Quezon City, and Bocaue Public Market in Bocaue, Bulacan. It used organization and management, the scope of facilities and services, LGU-revenue income and expenditures, and income of market vendors, and client satisfaction on the quality of facilities and services as performance indicators. The data of the study were obtained through combined research methodologies such as case study, content analysis, ocular inspection, and interviews with the city and municipal administrators, market administrators, market vendors, and officers of market vendors associations.The study shows that while PPP has improved the performance of public markets during the early years of operation, these gains and all advances were not sustained by the LGUs when management and operation of public markets were turned over to them from the private project proponent-operators. The study argued that in order to sustain public-private partnerships in the operation of the public market, it is imperative to institutionalize reforms in the structure, processes, mindsets of the leaders, and stakeholders. The institutionalization of NPM's core values can be carried out effectively through localization of PPP as a policy so that the necessary legal and institutional frameworks for PPP will be anchored based on the need, strength, and weaknesses of the LGU concerned.The study makes a positive contribution to the on-going discourse on public sector reform in the Philippines particularly at the local level using PPP as a model. It enriches not only the literature of Public Administration but also provides valuable lessons in the praxis of governance.

Local problems that go beyond jurisdictional boundaries such as; traffic congestions, pollution, garbage collection and disposal, environmental degradation, flooding, criminalities, pandemic, and other public health issues are readily seen and felt in urban areas today. To effectively address these inter-local problems, the establishment of metropolitan organizations has become a necessity. One of the primary functions of metro government is to manage the affairs of urban growth particularly in addressing the problems that go beyond the geographical boundaries of local governments. As a developmental strategy among adjacent local government units, metropolization requires a rules-based approach in order to effectively govern and address inter-local government problems and concerns.The common issues that metro governments deal with include urban growth areas development, controlling urban sprawl and its effects like pollution, solid waste disposal, traffic congestion and others. The rationale behind setting-up a single authority among local government units is to deal with inter-local concerns which cannot be efficiently and effectively addressed by disjointed actions of individual local government.The study looked into the state of inter-local relations among the eight component-local government units of the Metro Vigan Coordinating Council (MVCC). It identifies the common problems that transcend the geographical boundaries of the local government units as well as the common development potentials that can be optimized through inter-local cooperation. It highlighted the legal, institutional, and financial challenges of the Metro-Vigan initiative, and offers recommendation to deepen and broaden the inter-local cooperation.