Fricson Vinicio George Tenorio, Dalys Roxana Castro Bustamante, Mario Alfredo Fernández Solís
Local government administrative management faces increasing pressures in fiscal crisis scenarios, particularly in territories where reduced national transfers limit operational capacity and public service delivery. This study analyzes the administrative management models and local governance practices of the Municipal Decentralized Autonomous Government (GAD) of Arenillas, Ecuador, during the 2023–2024 period. Its purpose is to identify the main constraints, assess citizen perceptions of service quality, and propose institutional optimization strategies. A mixed-methods, descriptive, and cross-sectional design was used, integrating citizen surveys, semi-structured interviews with municipal officials, and documentary analysis of regulations, budgets, and institutional processes. Results show intermediate satisfaction levels regarding transparency, citizen participation, and administrative efficiency, alongside persistent bureaucratic practices, weaknesses in institutional communication, and limitations derived from fiscal reductions. Qualitative findings highlight gaps in technological modernization, limited process systematization, and weak alignment between planning and execution. These outcomes are contrasted with contemporary frameworks of New Public Management, digital government, and collaborative governance. The study concludes that strengthening organizational culture, expanding participatory mechanisms, digitalizing procedures, and improving inter-institutional coordination are key to consolidating efficient municipal management. The research provides contextualized evidence to guide local policy actions in settings characterized by fiscal constraints.
This study examines budget management in the Decentralized Autonomous Governments (GADs) at the parish level, emphasizing the importance of transparency in public resource administration as a mechanism to promote accountability and prevent corruption. The main objective was to apply budgetary indicators to the Tacamoros Parish GAD, located in Sozoranga, Loja Province, during the fiscal periods 2021–2022, in order to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of budget allocations. A quantitative and descriptive approach was adopted, employing data collection and analysis tools based on the guidelines of the Organic Code of Territorial Organization, Autonomy, and Decentralization (COOTAD) and the Organic Code of Planning and Public Finance (COPFP). The results reveal that the budget cycle achieved a confidence level of 82.93%, with an associated risk of 17.07%. Likewise, revenue execution compared to the programmed figures reached 49.13% in 2021 and 69.15% in 2022, while expenditure execution was 59.47% in 2021 and 50.33% in 2022. The study concludes that strengthening long-term strategic planning and promoting greater financial autonomy in parish-level GADs are essential to ensure more efficient budget management for the benefit of the community.
The main objective of this study of the Participatory Budget (PB) in the “Gobierno Autónomo Descentralizado del Cantón Ibarra” (Imbabura,Ecuador), (Autonomous and Decentralized Government of the Canton Ibarra) is to evaluate to what extend the PB model implemented in the Ibarra canton meets the objectives of articulation between the cantonal government with the organized society and the redistribution public resources. The geographical category of the territory is the basis of the study; weather for the initial reading of the canton, such as the PB, the institutional organization, socialization or public debate, the redistribution of the public resources. Regarding the institutional organization, it was verified that the change of the 2008 Constitution and the rest of the National Legislation changed the PB process, which was already implemented in the canton since the end of the nineties. For this reason it went from a model of standards and local management with its particularities, to a standardized model by the Central Government of national scale. These modifications introduced by the PB made this process an instrument and more exactly, a competence of the GADs throughout the country, facilitating its application from a single standard. However, some of the characteristics and particularities of the local experience were not taken into account, resulting in a more dependent process of the cantonal government and the Central Government. There was no complementarity between local and national development.