Decentralization: The latest fashion in development administration?

There has been a resurgence of interest in decentralization, but decentralization is now somewhat differently conceived from the way it was in the 1960s. With somewhat different objectives, decentralization also take different forms and this calls into question the value of the well established categories of devolution and deconcentration.     

Information transfer implications of development research administration in Nigeria

The study of research utilization and administration has been a growing field, but the emphasis in this field has been on industrialized countries. This article presents the results of a pioneering study of the use of research by senior officials in the Nigerian Federal Government. The article focuses first on Federal Government-sponsored research, it reviews how such research was initiated and conducted, how results were presented and what affected the use of the results. The article then describes expatriate-sponsored research, casts light on the conventional assumption about the amount of such research and points to the fact that there was comparatively less awareness of the results. The article not only provides significant information about the administration of research in Nigeria but emphasizes the need to give attention to this aspect of administration.     

Trends in development administration: The continuing challenge to the efficay of the post-colonial state in the third world

‘Development administration’ has become established and recognized as a distinct enterprise of academic study and practice. This paper visits some of the major themes that have been examined by. the ‘development administration community’ by focusing on common concerns with (1) building effective administrative capacity as part of the development process that is also. (2) responsive and accountable and (3) equitable. It is argued that these persistent themes—amid the diversity of approaches and ideological susceptibilities-constitute a continuing challenge to the efficacy of the post-colonial state in the management of development activities.     

End user computing in Asian countries: Policy lessons for development administration

End user computing requires policy initiatives very different from those needed for computerization in order to deal with the specific issues of initiation, development and institutionalization. Microcomputers provide a service and not goods or savings and require an emphasis on the dynamics of the system, where both strategic issues and operational priorities have to be set. The process is organizational, rather than a technological or a planning exercise. It requires governments to guide the change through deliberate decision making. The objective has to be to obtain the support of users at different levels. In this paper Asian experiences are compared with Western experiences to determine a framework for looking at the process. The limited set of strategies for success have also been identified.     

The administration of development in emergent nations. The problems in the Caribbean

The conduct of development administration in Commonwealth Caribbean countries is hindered by weaknesses in government, and, on the basis of many years experience, Dr. Hope points to four approaches to reform which are currently favoured. Changing the nature of political leadership; reasserting the importance of an independent instrumental administration through greater attention to manpower planning, training and staff development; similarly extending the scope of administrative action by achieving a decentralization of authority from political ministers to local professional administators acting with the public; and participatory democracy with a reduced role for professional administration are four approaches with parallels in other parts of the world. The author points, however, to distinctive features in the Caribbean and argues that the small size of the states creates particular problems and challenges.     

宪政视角下的中国公共行政发展

由于现代国家制度建设尚有待完善,我国公共行政学界在追踪西方学术前沿,致力于进行管理主义和政策主义公共行政研究的同时,有必要继续重视并阐发宪政主义公共行政理论。如果我们立足于从宪政视角完善有限政府的制度框架,公共行政发展将会收到事半功倍的效果;如果一味地依赖于管理主义或政策主义公共行政理论,则会事倍功半、欲速则不达。就宪政视角的公共行政规范看,中国有必要加速推进有限政府、法治政府、分权政府、诚信政府和透明政府的制度建设。     

Crises and continuities in development theory and administration: First and Third World perspectives

‘Development Administration’ as an academic discipline originated in the West and has been dominated by Western thought. This article traces the development of the discipline and outlines its Western theoretical foundations and assumptions. The failure of Development Administration to solve the problems of the Third World is outlined, and the ‘indigenization of underdevelopment’ is discussed. New challenges to the discipline, that have been previously seen as ‘heretical’, are presented as alternatives to Western models that have proven their ineffectiveness. China, Guinea-Bissau, India, Tanzania and Libya are used as examples of countries attempting alternative routes to development and development administration. The article stresses the need for open examination of non-traditional models that may provide valuable clues in the struggle for a viable developmental strategy. It concludes by suggesting four major issues around which a new conceptualization can be built: accountable development administration, the role of values, the emergence of fundamentalist ideologies, and the challenges posed by the Third Development Decade.     

Ideology,local administration and problems of rural development in the Republic of Benin

Administration at the grass-roots level is expected to be a vehicle for local development. This explains why governments in the Third World Countries and even in the industrialized states have always demonstrated their willingness actively to involve their grass-root administrations in promoting rural socio-economic transformation. The Republic of Benin is one of the Third World countries where local administration is involved in promoting rural development. However, the local administration has failed to make a noteworthy contribution to rural development, especially since the inception of the regime of Brigadier Mathieu Kerekou. This paper attempts to explain the minimal contribution of local administration to rural development in Benin. One of the key reasons elaborated is the existence of other institutions charged with the same responsibility of promoting rural development. Finally, attention is drawn to the method used in translating socialist ideology into reality through co-operatives and the mobilization of human resources. This method conflicts with the interests of the masses which are being alienated, thereby limiting the success recorded by the local administrators.     

行政管理中领导失效的心理分析及其对策

在这个全新的转型时期,我国行政管理中最为突出的问题表现为行政领导效率低下,甚至行政领导失效。究其原因,由心理因素造成的行政领导失效是一个重要方面。要想改变我国行政管理中领导失效的现象,必须从心理学的角度就行政管理中决策、选才、用人等环节以及领导者个人的个性修养、行为倾向和领导方式等分析行政领导失效的心理原因,并据此提出相应的对策。     

The U.K. overseas development administration and non-departmental public bodies in the field of educational aid

The educational aid programme sponsored by the U.K. Overseas Development Administration has been conducted using organizations in which substantial changes have been made in the last ten years. This article analyses the changes in the structure of non-departmental agencies and in the relations between the Overseas Development Administration and the agencies, and considers the rationale for these. It draws attention to the contrast between the formal independence of these non-departmental bodies and continuing departmental control, and to the limitations of non-departmental bodies as a means of securing advice and co-operation. The article points to the difficulties in organizational terms of marrying the aim of providing a framework for co-operating with the recipients of aid, and for securing advice, co-operation and support in its administration from bodies outside central government in the U.K., while preserving ministerial responsibility.     

项目管理思想在大型建筑企业物流信息系统开发中的应用

项目管理在日益增多的领域的迅速发展,为其在大型建筑企业信息化建设中的应用提供了机会。本文在从项目管理的基本概念、实施阶段和成功因素等方面分析了项目管理的理论基础;在此基础上,简要介绍了物流信息系统对于大型建筑企业提升核心竞争力发挥的重要作用;最后,重点将项目管理的思想应用于建筑企业物流信息系统开发之中,提高企业信息化的成功率和收益。     

参与式民主与中国政治发展的契合

无论是在价值层面,还是在操作层面,参与武民主与当代中国的政治发展存在很高的契合性。参与武民主理论在对民主实质的理解、民主的范围以及民主的实现形式等方面,与社会主义民主价值观都有共同之处。发展参与武民主、扩大公民政治参与,是新时期党的群众路线的深化和发展。     

论渐进模式对我国行政决策的影响

本文从渐进决策模式思想的形成及其特点出发,在战略性决策、多元的决策结构和连续有限比较的决策方法三个层面上系统阐述渐进决策对行政决策的重要贡献,探讨渐进决策模式在我国行政决策实践中的影响,使之在构建有中国特色社会主义改革之路上发挥积极作用,从而改善我们的决策方法和决策质量。     

No Harm in Checking: Using Factual Manipulation Checks to Assess Attentiveness in Experiments

Manipulation checks are often advisable in experimental studies, yet they rarely appear in practice. This lack of usage may stem from fears of distorting treatment effects and uncertainty regarding which type to use (e.g., instructional manipulation checks [IMCs] or assessments of whether stimuli alter a latent independent variable of interest). Here, we first categorize the main variants and argue that factual manipulation checks (FMCs)—that is, objective questions about key elements of the experiment—can identify individual‐level attentiveness to experimental information and, as a consequence, better enable researchers to diagnose experimental findings. We then find, through four replication studies, little evidence that FMC placement affects treatment effects, and that placing FMCs immediately post‐outcome does not attenuate FMC passage rates. Additionally, FMC and IMC passage rates are only weakly related, suggesting that each technique identifies different sets of attentive subjects. Thus, unlike other methods, FMCs can confirm attentiveness to experimental protocols.     

Improving Partnership Governance: Using a Network Approach to Evaluate Partnerships in Victoria

Partnerships of various kinds are now widespread, but evaluating them is complicated. This article examines the usefulness of a network approach for analysing partnership effectiveness, where the central concern is governance. The approach is based on interviews, and for this evaluation they were conducted with 120 people from 10 different partnerships in Victoria. A detailed examination of network structures uncovers important features of partnerships, yielding crucial information about them as governing entities, and providing feedback to partners on where effort needs to be spent on relationship building. This article adds to the existing knowledge about what makes partnerships effective, and to the toolkit available for evaluating them.     

A planning-centred approach to project evaluation: Women in mainstream development projects

This article describes the process and outcomes of a “planning-centred” approach to three development projects in the Caribbean. A planning-centred approach to research involves the collaboration of planners and researchers in evaluation research, special attention to the dissemination and use of information and the promotion of contact between planners, sector specialists and recipients of development plans. The planning-centred approach to research is also conducive to understanding the role of gender in distributive processes. The paper describes the methodology of this form of project evaluation, alternative evaluation procedures and selected evaluation guidelines used by the agencies involved in the three Caribbean projects. The outcomes of a planning-centred approach are assessed. In the Caribbean projects the approach resulted in the better use of research information, better communication among planners, officials and project participants, greater sensitivity to women's participation in development and improved consciousness of the significance of gender for redistribute development programmes.     

Pathways of democratisation to human development in post‐communist countries

The article investigates the consequences of post‐Cold War regime transitions on human development in the former Soviet bloc. Relying on a mixed‐methods research strategy that combines econometric and qualitative comparative analysis, it proceeds through three consecutive steps. First, there is a discussion of how democratic institutions may solicit governments’ attention toward social issues. Second, the relationship between democratisation and human development in 21 post‐communist countries is tested. Third, democracy in its core attributes is unpacked, and qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) is used to identify a few alternative institutional configurations favouring human development. The analysis reveals that not only full democracies, but also some hybrid regimes, have been successful in this task.