HELLENIC RESOURCES

Hellenic Resources Institute - Hellenic Resources Groups

Vol.1 No.1

Analysis of the Census Organizations in the US (Massachusetts) at the State or Local level and relevance to Greek problems: The purpose of this group is the description of the organizational structure of such state and local institutions (probably in Massachusetts), their interrelationships and, more importantly, the way that they work. (choose subjects, scope of research and population range).

The focus of the research will be institutions that study social problems (unemployment, retraining, absorption of immigration). The approach will be to evaluate the efficiency of their structure and procedures and to attempt a comparative analysis with the Greek reality. The importance of a comprehensive network of such institutions is self-evident; the ability to design policies is based on the knowledge and the magnitude of the addressed problems. The lack of such information provokes inefficient policy initiatives and can even support inaction since the policy makers face limitations on their ability to:

target specific urgent issues,
target specific localities in which the problems are more severe,
target specific parts of the general population with urgent needs,
take advantage of already established policies (especially EC initiatives).

The focus will be on localities because we believe that the problem is much more severe on that level and due to the increasing importance of local authorities as policy making units (current national legislative initiatives and, more importantly, tendency of EC programs to bypass national bureaucracies). An extension of the project should include the experience of other EC countries that are closer to the Greek reality and organized to be compatible to the EC bureaucratic structure.

If you are interested to help, please contact Lambros Pehlivanos at (617) 739-3226.