The Importance Of Intergovernmental Relations

Intergovernmental relations are one of the important factors in creating appropriate strategic perspectives on governance. Intergovernmental relations commonly refers to relations among central, regional and local governments, as well as government agent working in any level for attaining common goals through co-operation (Opeskin, 1988 in Bello, 2014:66). According to Thornhill’s (2002) intergovernmental relations consist of all the actions and transactions of politicians and officials in national, sub-national units of government and state. Adamolekun (1986) defines intergovernmental relations as the interactions that take place among levels of government within a state. Wright (1988) sees intergovernmental relations as an interacting network

The pattern of this relationship depends on the nature of the governmental, political, cultural and administrative contexts. To explore these relationships, respondents were asked, “How does the DCC maintain its relationship with the central government”. In addition, they were asked ‘how and why does government control the DCC’. Though the study received multidimensional responses to the questions, the respondents typically agreed that the DCC government is controlled and subservient for various administrative and political

For Okereka (2015), inter-departmental relations involve a pattern of cooperation among various units of the administrative structures. Contemporary systems theory (Bertalanffy 1966, Schein 1980, Wiener 1967, Mattessich 1978, Easton, 1965) assumes any system is greater than the sum of its parts. The output of the whole organization depends on the output of its parts. According to Schein (1980:14), a system is composed of regularly interrelating or interacting groups of activities. He argues that complex social systems restricts the overall effectiveness of organizations. In the DCC case, the efficiency and success of the organization as a whole depends on the interdepartmental relationship of the units within it. Respondents were asked, ‘how would you describe the interdepartmental relationship of the DCC?’ Responses varied. While all interviewees acknowledged the need for formal relations, they believe it is complex in nature and trust between the DCC and central government is lacking. Higher-level strategic apex members in most cases viewed the relationship as satisfactory and cooperative. Middle line and techno-structure members on the other viewed the relationship in practice as complex and conflicted. Responses were coded into different groups, such as the nature and mode of the relationship, and factors determining said relationship. A detailed