刍论政府权力的匡约——一个公民文化的维度

公民如何保持对政府权力的控制,一直以来是民主政治理论研究的一个焦点。在我国,限制政府权力任重而道远,我们不仅要重视宪政的制度建设,同时更需聚焦于深层的公民文化建设。公民文化既是对宪政体制局限性某种程度上的消解,更是对政府权力实现有效制约的软机制。当务之急是以“有限政府”视角,从文化涵化和文化濡化两个维度建构公民文化。     

公民社会：制约政府权力的第三道防线

政府权力是以国家强制力为保障的,对全体公民和组织有约束力的力量。政府权力失控必然造成对公民、法人和其他社会组织的合法权益的侵犯。对政府可能产生的违法行为,必须有健全的机制进行有效的约束。公民社会制约政府权力的具体路径主要有:通过意见表达来监督政府权力;通过直接参与政府决策来监督政府权力;通过舆论监督的方式来监督政府权力;通过大众媒体的曝光和第三部门职能分工也可以监督政府权力。     

论西方宪政的价值维度

宪政是西方政治文明的重要成果,弄清楚宪政的价值诉求,对于正确认识宪政的特质具有重要意义.本文认为,宪政是以保障人权为根本价值目标,以法治为治理基础,以分权制衡和有限政府为主要内容的政治型构观念和相应的制度设计.西方宪政包含人权、法治、权力制衡等四个方面价值要素.其中,人权是宪政的价值核心,法治是宪政的秩序基础.权力制衡和政府"有限"则是宪政的理想愿景.     

试论有限政府的合法性基础

有限政府理论的核心内容是以宪法及相关法律规约政治权力的具体运作.尽管古典宪政理论和新宪政理论在有限政府的权限范围上的观点有所不同,但是二者都强调宪政制度对政治权力界定以及政治权力对这些界定的遵从,这将赋予政治权力以具体运作上的合法性.     

政府与公民关系的组合模式:一种逻辑分析的进路

根据政府与公民在公共事务治理中地位和作用的强弱之别,政府与公民关系也主要体现为强政府—弱公民的精英治理、弱政府—强公民的公民自治和强政府—强公民的平等合作这三种演进模式。哲学王思想是精英治理理论的逻辑起点,强政府—弱公民的特点通过精英治理的几个关键环节体现了出来。市民社会促使了公民自治作为社会治理需求的产生,弱政府—强公民的关系通过公民自治的主要特点体现了出来。法团主义使政府与公民的合作成为一种可能,而且强政府—强公民的平等合作有其内在的要求。     

人性恶假设的宪政思考——自由与权力的平衡

宪政是基于性恶假设的产物,对宪政的研究主要有两个方向,一是对人权的保障,二是强调建立有限政府,强调保障人权和限制政府是宪政理论解决自由主义困境的方法和手段,调和了自由与权力的矛盾,宪政理论在我国的运用主要应体现在三个方面,一是我国的宪法处于名义上的最高地位,二是权力分配不平衡,三是理清党和政府的关系     

限权与规制:非营利组织的宪政解读

非营利组织的兴起是当代社会发展中一个值得关注的现实,这个现实背后的宪政意义更不容低估。非营利组织的宪政功效主要体现在:它能够通过整合社会成员个体的力量,加大市民社会在与政治国家博弈中的份量,强化权利对权力的制约;还能够通过分享公共管理权,以权力的形式来制约权力,从而保障和实现公民的基本权利。我国应当为非营利组织的发展创造制度空间,维护其独立性与自治性,同时也应将其行为纳入司法审查的范围。     

有限政府：多维阐释及其实现

作为一种治理理念,有限政府可以从不同的维度对其进行不同的论述。从政治学来看,有限政府意味着对政府要以“权利制约权力”,发展民主政治,让政府有政治基础;从法学来看,有限政府意味着政府要受宪法和法律的制约,让政府有法律基础;从经济学来看,有限政府意味着市场是实现资源配置的最佳方式,以市场制约权力,发展市场经济是培育有限政府的重要经济基础;从社会学来看,有限政府意味着要以“社会制约权力”,让政府与社会平等,提倡结社自由,发展公民社会,是有限政府的社会条件。虽然各个视角的有限政府在内涵阐释和建构路径上存在差异,但在真正实现有限政府的过程中,他们却是相互联系,互相补充,不可或缺的。     

创建"强化市场型政府"--论我国政府公共管理职能的转变

在现代社会,为市场经济服务是政府的重要职能;“大政府”与“小政府”之争实质上是西方国家问题意识在我国的延续;我国政府职能的根本问题是要在后全能主义政治环境中创建市场经济的运行制度条件;“强化市场型政府”是我国政府改革的理想模式;当前,建设“强化市场型政府”必须进行行政管理制度的改革,发展公民社会以及进行宪政制度改革。     

公民视野下我国法治信仰的构筑与宪政思考

通过宪政实现民主与法治的追求，需要在社会中使公民建立普遍而广泛的法制信仰，我国走上宪政道路仅有30余午，受各方面影响公民还缺乏对法律的普遍信仰，因此从公民视角探讨构筑法制信仰并思考宪政就具有极强的现实意义。     

Hung Parliaments and the Need for Clearer Rules of Government Formation

The general elections of 2017 and 2010 produced hung parliaments in which no single party could command an overall majority; in May 2015 the UK only narrowly avoided that outcome. When a parliament is hung, more than one potential government can be viable, and the constitutional rules that determine who has the first right to form the government can thus have a decisive influence on which government forms. In the past, the UK has applied several potentially contradictory rules (based on conventions and principles), which do not all follow an equally democratic logic. This status quo is problematic because it can generate political controversy and uncertainty, in addition to jeopardising the Monarch's role in the government formation process. A reform that enables parliament to elect the leader who will be tasked with the formation of the next government would resolve these problems and provide constitutional clarity.     

公民社会兴起背景下的政府公信力建设

随着我国公民社会的日益兴起,公众的主体意识、权利意识逐步增强,公共服务需求的内容及层次要求也相应地发生巨大变化,它们构成了政府公信力建设的外部环境与压力。如何将外部环境的要求与压力内化到政府管理制度及成员的行为规范之中,这是我国政府公信力建设需要研究的重要议题。确立以公民和社会为本位的价值理念,构建新型公共治理模式,在政治过程中实现与公民社会良性互动,是提升政府公信力的现实选择。     

电子政务与政府流程再造——兼谈新公共管理

电子政务是信息技术在政府管理的广泛应用的结果,但是,它不仅仅是一种纯粹的技术活动。为了充分发挥信息技术的潜力,降低信息化的投资风险,在实施电子政务过程中进行政府流程再造是必然的选择。结合企业信息化的经验,论述了电子政务实施过程中进行政府流程再造的必要性,以及在不同的电子政务应用层次对政府流程再造的不同要求。但是,随着电子政务应用层次的提高,也对政府管理提出了更高的要求;从新公共管理的角度对电子政务进行了进一步的探讨,研究了新公共管理对我国电子政务的借鉴意义和存在的障碍。     

Reinventing government through on‐line citizen involvement in the developing world: a case study of taipei city mayor's e‐mail box in Taiwan

Since the 1980s, a global administrative reform movement is reshaping the relationship between citizens and state. A major concern is how government can be more responsive to the governed through citizen participation. However, the more citizens participate, the more costly it is to govern. And the application of new information and communication technology (ICT) seems to be a cure for this limitation. In this research, authors take the Taipei City Mayor's e‐mail‐box (TCME) in Taiwan as a case to illustrate the complex relationships among citizen involvement, e‐government and public management. After a series of empirical investigations, the authors show that although ICT can reduce the cost of citizen involvement in governing affairs, it cannot increase citizens' satisfaction with government activities without reforming the bureaucratic organisation, regulatory structure, and managerial capacities of the public sector. The results could be helpful to public managers in planning and evaluating online governmental services in the developing countries. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

信息公开、公众参与和开放型政府建设

传统行政管理组织的不透明性、严格的等级制度等,造成了一系列的政府问题。要解决这些问题就必须建立一种新型的政府,即"开放型政府"。开放型政府是一个信息输入与输出的循环体,公众参与即输入的过程,信息公开则是输出的过程,而"开放"就是由一个输入和输出构成的不断互动的环路。建设开放型政府是全球化和知识产业化的必然要求,是民主的必然要求,是世界各国政府建设的必然趋势,它对中国意义更加重要。目前开放型政府建设还存在诸如信息公开不足、公众参与不够等问题,因此,要加强开放型政府建设应该从这两方面入手:通过转变观念、加强立法等促进信息公开;从扩大基层民主、拓宽公民参与渠道等推动公众参与。     

First‐Hand Experience and Second‐Hand Information: Changing Trust across Three Levels of Government

Little is known about how different sources of information drive citizen trust in government. To address that gap this article compares disaster evacuees to observers, noting how trust differs as attention to media coverage increases. First‐hand experience supplies information to update trust through biological and personal processes and performance assessments, while secondary sources provide information about other people's experiences, filtered through lenses that take an active role in crafting information. These two types of information have varying effects depending on the level of government being trusted. Using surveys administered a year after Hurricane Katrina, I find that Katrina evacuees have the highest trust in federal government, until they start paying attention to media coverage, and that attention to coverage has the most dramatic effect on these evacuees compared to all other groups. I also find that increasing attention to second‐hand information corresponds with higher trust in local officials, and that this effect decreases as the level of government increases. It appears media coverage creates a comparison in the mind of hurricane evacuees, causing them to update their performance assessments based on comparing their own experience to that which they observe, thereby updating their political trust.     

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.     

Digital Government: A Primer and Professional Perspectives

Digital technology is a critical enabler of public administration reforms. It can improve the efficiency and productivity of government agencies and allow citizens to transact with government anytime, anywhere. It can also deepen the democratic process, empowering citizens to participate in policy formulation. In this article Andrew Botros, the director of Expressive Engineering, and Maria Katsonis, from the Department of Premier and Cabinet (Victoria), explore the challenges of the digital world for the public sector. Katsonis presents a primer on digital government tracing its evolution from the e‐government movement of the 1990s to Government 2.0 in the 2000s to today's digital‐by‐default agenda. As technology and its role in public sector reform have progressed, so too have the governance, cultural, and leadership challenges deepened. Botros examines NSW approach to open innovation with the Premier's Innovation Initiative in NSW, the state's open data experience, and Transport for NSW and its management of public transport data. He argues NSW's approach involves a significant innovation trade‐off, requiring fresh thinking in digital‐era collaboration.     

政府诚信:政府执行力研究的新视角

政府执行力是政府组织的核心要素之一,是政府组织生存和发展的决定性因素。政府执行力的强弱,关系到政府职能的实现、政府自身存在合法性、执政效率的高低。当前我国政府缺乏诚信,执行不力对我国社会秩序的正常运转产生了巨大的负面影响。由此拟从政府诚信角度,通过对我国政府执行力现状的阐述,分析了我国政府执行力低的原因,并提出提升我国政府执行力的对策。     

电子政务环境下政府业务流程再造新探

我国电子政务已进入了深度运用阶段,而政府业务流程再造则成为制约其发展的瓶颈。除了发展电子信息技术外,当前再造政府业务流程尤其应注重分门别类、协调相关部门规范化地推行,以及应注重公务员队伍及其文化建设的创新。