我国农村政治信任的历史沿革与现实思考

政治信任作为巩固政治合法性的"软实力",对于推进政治民主、维护政权合法性基础具有重要的意义。对我国农村政治信任在"乡(村)政权""政社合一"以及"乡政村治"模式下演进历程的考察启示我们,现阶段农村的政治信任可从以下角度把握:要合理把握经济发展与政治信任之间的边界;寻求保持政治信任与理性怀疑的合理限度;注意"央强地弱"式政府信任可能隐藏的政治风险;密切党群关系是提升农村政治信任的重要法宝。     

我国利益结构的特征和模式探析

现代民族国家的重构和中国共产党高度的政治权威和资源整合以及社会动员能力为新中国构建新型的社会主义利益结构提供了前提条件。新的利益结构特征和模式包括不同社会阶层在利益格局中呈现全新的方位和“颠覆性”的变化；阶级或阶层的利益关系的同质化和关联性；社会结构简单化、封闭化和“身份”特征的凸显化。这些特征展现了中国共产党的政治权威、计划经济体制和意识形态的价值取向。     

中央集权的国家结构消解自治立法的自治属性——自治立法非自治的一个分析视角

民族自治地方立法自治权的充分行使,是民族区域自治制度的良好运行的基础和前提,然而在现实的政治实践中,自治立法权行使得不尽人意.导致这种状况的根本原因是现实宪政体制下集权的政治理念和行政化的分权体制.因此,必须将行政化的中央与地方权力划分模式转变为立法化的中央与地方分权模式,进一步明确中央与民族自治地方权限,完善中央与民族自治地方畅通的利益表达机制,健全中央与地方权限争议的解决机制.     

政府信任危机的发生机制探析

任何一个政府都需要一定程度的政治信任,公众的信任是政府高效运行的基础和保障。如果政府信任产生危机,公众不再相信政府,公众会倾向于通过非正常的利益表达途径,引发大规模的政治混乱。立足于不同的政治语境与政治生态,产生政府信任危机的原因呈现出不同的层面与维度。纵观历史,从政府与人民二者之间交互关系的本质来考察,政府信任危机仍旧存在着可以追寻其持续性的内在机制,即基于人性审视与现在人权政治发展走向的基本层面,包含着人民生存安全、自我利益损益与思维冲突三个核心架构,因此,不同历史时期的政府信任危机发生机制,都由这三个层面之中的政府与人民之间的博弈关系及由此带来的人民观感所引发。     

论政府信任的复合结构

政府信任是由知、情、意、行四种逻辑要素依次递进、相互融合而形成的复杂的心理结构,是一种和谐的政治关系.政府信任包括微观或个人层面的信任、中观或制度层面的信任与宏观或价值层面的信任,构成多元客体共存的复合性政府信任结构.不同层级政府在国家政治生活中的地位与角色构成不同,表现为不同的行政能力、行为作风、权威性、亲和力,导致产生一种非均衡性分布的“差序政府信任格局”.通过政府信任的解构性分析,可以较为深刻地把握政府信任的合法性来源,正确调整和评估政府的行政行为和政策,以为构建社会主义和谐社会奠定良好的政治基础.     

楚雄彝族村社政治权力的结构及功能分析

随着现代化的逐步深入,楚雄彝族政治权力正呈现出一个重新建构与塑造的过程。在体制内权力不断建构的同时,各种体制外权力依凭技能、传统习俗等权力资源也发挥着独特的影响力。这种政治权力结构将在长时期内存在,并对彝族政治生活产生影响。     

行政利益结构:研究行政权力运行的新视角

本文从利益的本质及内容的矛盾规定性着眼，对当前我国行政利益结构的现状与行政权力运行状况，行政利益结构优化与行政权力运行高效及规范化之间的相互作用的内在机理作了分析。认为均衡态与相关性是行政利益结构状态的基本表征。我国行政利益结构表现出的高非均衡性及高相关性不同程度地造成了行政权力运行低效率及行政权力运行失范。优化体制外利益结构，协调、解决好行政利益结构内部的利益关系和利益矛盾，是实现行政权力运行高效及规范化的有效途径。     

论政府信任的结构:基于于镇的个案调查

政府信任结构主要由建构动力、建构策略和建构模式组成.政府信任的建构动力主要基于两点:一个是熟人社会,另一个是寻利动机.政府信任的建构策略包括了“情感-互动”、编织关系网、运用地方性知识三种.而政府信任的建构模式则主要考虑四种因素:一是纵向结构和横向结构；二是信任范围；三是强关系和弱关系；四是日常监控.     

古德诺的政治行政二分论解读

古德诺认为国家有意志表达和意志执行两种基本职能,即政治功能和行政功能,由此提出政治与行政的二分论,但他的主要研究意向不在于政治与行政的"分离".而是注重政治与行政之间的"协调".协调途径之一是政治对行政的控制,途径之二是行政的适度集权.这种看似矛盾的协调在法定体制内是无法完成的.古德诺考察了美国政治体制.发现这一协调力量来自法定体制之外的政党.政党通过对立法机构成员和执行机构成员的挑选,恢复了被法定体制割断了的立法机构对行政机构的某种有效控制;政党通过对中央行政官员和地方行政官员的挑选,建立起一种必要的行政集权.     

利益结构中的中央与地方政府关系及其法治化

中央与地方政府之间的关系归根到底是两者之间的权力与利益分配关系.中央与地方在利益关系上既存在显性的一致性,又存在隐性的差异性.由于权力划分的不明确与利益竞争的失范,导致中央与地方政府关系呈现出不协调,而唯有法治化才是正确处理中央与地方关系的必然途径与理想模式.     

Elections as a democratic linkage mechanism: How elections boost political trust in a proportional system

Elections offer a privileged moment in representative democracy, when citizens have the opportunity to express their views, both on the track record of the incumbent government, as on the way the country should be governed in the future. Procedural fairness theory assumes that taking part in a decision making procedure that is perceived to be fair, strengthens the legitimacy of the entire process. Most of the empirical research assumes that the attitudinal effects of elections are mainly due to the fact that one's preferred party wins the elections. In multi-party systems, however, such a clear distinction is not always possible and therefore it is hypothesized that the winner-loser-logic is weaker in this kind of party system. In this study we rely on a unique Belgian panel study to ascertain how electoral participation has an effect on political trust. The results show that in a proportional system all voters rise in political trust following their participation in elections. The winner-loser effect is not significant. Furthermore, the analyses suggest that especially the respondents with the initially lowest trust levels gain most by participating in elections. The theoretical implication of this finding is that apparently elections are still considered to be an important and legitimate linkage mechanism between citizens and the political system.     

Downbound spiral? Economic grievances,perceived social protection and political distrust

Abstract

Momentous events in Western democracies have brought renewed attention to how various aspects of government-controlled policy outputs and outcomes affect citizens’ trust in politics. Unlike most previous research, this study uses individual-level panel data to test the link between government performance evaluations and political trust. Moreover, it gauges performance in more policy areas than previous research, including key aspects of government-controlled social services as well as a wide range of economic risks. The study finds that evaluations of government performance affect political trust but that the evidence is stronger for evaluations of social protection than for economic risks. Crucially, the analysis suggests that the relationship between performance evaluations and distrust is reciprocal. The relationship may be described as a ‘downbound spiral’ where dissatisfied groups develop distrust, which in turn makes for a more pessimistic interpretation of economic risks and welfare state performance.     

地方政府信用影响因素及影响机理研究——基于116个县级行政区域的调查

信任危机是最深刻的危机,如何提升政府信用水平,重塑政府公信力是政府和学术界面临的共同问题。在对信用与信任两个概念进行严格区分,并对政府信用内涵进行清晰界定之后,根据以往研究成果,文章提出了公务员素质、政府能力、制度环境及信用文化对地方政府信用影响的四个假设,进而构建了地方政府信用影响机理的概念模型。在对我国116个县级行政区域问卷调查的基础上,运用回归分析和路径分析等方法首次定量考察了公务员素质、政府能力、制度环境及信用文化四个变量对作为公共主体的地方政府的信用水平的影响强度、影响路径。结果表明,制度环境对地方政府信用的影响最强,影响路径最为复杂。信用文化、政府能力、公务员素质对政府信用的影响依次减弱,且公务员素质只能通过政府能力间接影响政府信用。因此,在信用政府建设过程中,需要重点优化地方制度环境并加强信用文化建设,同时也要积极提高政府能力和公务员队伍素质。     

Public Trust in Government in Japan and South Korea: Does the Rise of Critical Citizens Matter?

Based on the Asia Barometer Survey of 2003, 2004, and 2006, government performance, citizen empowerment, and citizen satisfaction with self‐expression values are associated with public trust in government in Japan and South Korea. This study finds, first, that government performance on the economy, controlling political corruption, the quality of public services, crime, and attention to citizen input are significantly associated with broad public trust in government in both Japan and South Korea. Likewise, citizens’ satisfaction with their right to gather and demonstrate and to criticize the government is closely connected to trust in central and local governments in Japan. In South Korea, citizens’ satisfaction with their right to gather and demonstrate is intimately linked to trust in local government. Implications for government leadership to enhance performance, transparency, citizen participation, and public trust in government are analyzed and elaborated upon in this insightful study.     

从GDP锦标赛到二元竞争:中国地方政府行为变迁的逻辑——基于1998—2006年中国省级面板数据的实证研究

在中国经济持续30多年高速发展中,地方政府是发展的主要动力,但从上世纪90年代末以来,地方政府在发展经济中所产生的负面效果越来越明显,中央出台了一系列政策去调整和引导地方政府行为,促使地方政府增加社会保障开支以促进社会公平。采用1998—2006年中国省级面板数据进行定量分析以考察地方政府行为的影响因素和变化。研究显示,地方政府在社会保障的财政开支上主要受当地经济发展状况和中央政府的重视程度影响;地方政府在回应中央政府政策调整的过程中,其行为并不同于"晋升锦标赛"所归纳的以GDP增长为主要目标的一元竞争模式,而是演变为在社会公平和经济发展的双重目标下,地方政府分别参与不同目标竞争的二元竞争模式。在既往对中国地方政府行为考察的政治激励和财政激励基础上提出了影响地方政府行为的激励结构、中央与地方的互动关系和地方所处的社会经济情况的分析框架,通过对地方政府行为变化的分析提出二元竞争模式以弥补"GDP晋升锦标赛模式"对地方政府行为解释力的不足。     

锦标赛体制、晋升博弈与地方剧场政治

政治锦标赛体制是中国政府官员的一种压力性激励范式与不容选择的政治生态。行政发包并进行量化考核、绩效排名与择优提拔,是政治锦标赛体制的主要表现形式。但实地调查表明,基层政府官员晋升往往是前台与台后多重原因作用的结果。派系关系、政治背景、社会网络等后台因素往往能左右基层干部的晋升。文章以一个县级市的乡镇干部为观察对象,检验了官员激励分析范式———锦标赛体制在基层地方官员晋升竞争中的解释力,重点对地方官员晋升博弈研究提供一个初步的描述类型学,认为推选博弈、排名博弈与借势博弈是地方官员晋升博弈的三种基本类型。本文初步提出了一个地方官员晋升决定因素的剧场分析模型,并指出,在政治锦标赛体制下,民主集中制在未来地方官员的选拔、任用中的积极作用将日益凸显。     

The Importance of Trust in Government for Public Administration: The Case of Zoning

Many scholars argue that citizens with higher levels of political trust are more likely to grant bureaucratic discretion to public administrators than citizens with lower levels of trust. Trust, therefore, can relieve the tension between managerial flexibility and political accountability in the modern administrative state. Unfortunately, there is little empirical evidence showing that trust is actually associated with citizens' willingness to cede policy-making power to government. This article tests theories about political trust and citizen competence using the case of zoning. Trust in local government is found to be an important predictor of support for zoning, but trust in state government and trust in national government have no effect. These findings suggest that trust affects policy choice and helps determine how much power citizens grant to local administrators.     

Political Trust, Ideology, and Public Support for Government Spending

This article analyzes the relationship between political trust, ideology, and public support for government spending. We argue that the political trust heuristic is activated when individuals are asked to sacrifice ideological as well as material interests. Aggregate- and individual-level analysis shows that the effects of political trust on support for government spending are moderated by ideology. Consistent with the unbalanced ideological costs imposed by requests for increased government spending, we find that the effects of political trust are significantly more pronounced among conservatives than among liberals. The analysis further demonstrates that ideology conditions the effects of political trust on attitudes toward both distributive and redistributive spending. Our findings suggest that political trust has policy consequences across a much broader range of policy issues than previously thought.     

Polity Size and Local Political Trust: A Quasi‐experiment Using Municipal Mergers in Denmark

This article examines the relationship between polity size and political trust in local government for which two schools of thought offer opposing expectations. The theoretical disagreement has received considerable attention and this article contributes with a dynamic perspective of how changes in polity size affect changes in citizens' political trust on the input‐side of local government. The case examined is the recent municipal mergers in Denmark which were implemented on 1 January 2007. The article reports an analysis of a panel based on a repeated survey of Danish citizens using an untreated control group design with pre‐test and post‐test. A quasi‐experimental difference‐in‐difference identification strategy is used to obtain the effect of municipal size on local political trust. The results show that changes in municipal size negatively affect local political trust, which is consistent with the expectation from the political economy theory that political trust tends to decrease with the size of the polity.     

Party competition and citizens' political attitudes in the American states

Democratic theorists argue that vigorous competition between candidates/parties is essential for democracy to flourish because it engages citizens' political interest and ultimately makes elected officials more accountable to their constituents. Using data on citizens' perceptions of government responsiveness to their political opinions from the American National Election Studies and the Ranney measure of party competition for control of state government, we examine the effects of competition on citizens' political attitudes from 1952 to 2008. Our analysis reveals that citizens feel government is more responsive to them when there is greater competition between the two parties for control of government in their state. However, this relationship is confined only to citizens who identify with the party that controls government in their state. We also find that the relationship between competition and efficacy is strongest among citizens with lower levels of education and income. These results suggest that vigorous competition for control of state government can have important implications for citizens' political attitudes.