Texas Homeland Security: Trust, Communication, and Effective Working Relationships Between Regional Coordinators and Local Respondents

Policy implementation and intergovernmental relationships are most often examined from a federal/state perspective. Texas Homeland Security, however, examines the effectiveness of the working relationships between the agencies that actually implement homeland security policies within the State of Texas. Utilizing elite interviews conducted with principal homeland security officials from regional Councils of Government and survey responses from chiefs of police across the state, Ms. Brown examines what environmental, agency, and individual characteristics are associated with effective working relationships between regional and local jurisdictions. Implementation of homeland security policies require effective intergovernmental working relationships. Texas Homeland Security highlights the importance of this and provides insight into the nature and context of these relationships.