从转变政府职能到优化政府职责体系：中国行政体制改革的视角转换与分析框架

改革开放以来的行政体制改革以政府职能和政府职责体系为核心关注点。转变政府职能旨在持续优化政府与市场和社会的关系。政府与市场关系的改革关注如何有效释放市场活力,政府与社会关系的改革关注打造“共建共治共享”的社会治理格局,政府在协调市场与社会关系中作用的改革关注如何协调市场与社会的发展以促进社会公平。优化政府职责体系旨在基于绩效导向明确政府系统内部各层级和部门的权责分配,包括以打破职责同构为重心的纵向政府间关系改革、以加强部门协作为重心的政府职能部门关系改革、以促进府际协同为重心的横向政府间关系改革。从转变政府职能到优化政府职责体系的视角转换体现了中国行政体制改革的深化趋势,二者共同目标指向提升政府治理效能以支撑国家治理体系和治理能力现代化。行政体制改革作用于政府绩效改进的过程也是绩效观重塑的过程,因此,为了建设人民满意的服务型政府,政府需要树立以人民为中心的绩效观。     

关于我国政府绩效管理立法的思考

随着政府绩效管理的兴起和发展,政府绩效管理立法越来越成为摆在我们面前亟待解决的重大现实问题.政府绩效管理本质上涉及的是行政权的运作、监督和公民权的保护,因而必须用法律形式加以规定.加快政府绩效管理立法,有利于提高政府绩效管理的权威性和规范性,促进政府绩效管理健康有序地发展.政府绩效管理立法必须明确立法宗旨,并在此基础上作整体性建构,以保证政府绩效管理目标的实现.     

Bureaucratic capacity and state-society relations in China

In view of the efforts of post-Mao state-rebuilding, how does bureaucratic capacity affect the pattern of state-society interaction in China, where a robust civil society is still missing? Using the case of China’s population control, we analyze the linkage between bureaucratic capacity and state-society relations. The study demonstrates remarkable resilience of the party-state and its transformative thrust in reformist China. Through a mix of mass mobilization and institutional building, the Chinese state remains puissant in extending social control over its people. Equally important, bureaucratic capacity is a major predictor of state coerciveness. Other things being equal, localities with stronger bureaucratic capacity tend to develop a less antagonist and more cooperative state-society relationship. Bureaucratic capacity can serve as remedy to despotic or authoritarian rule despite the lack of an autonomous civil society. This finding has important implications for the potential of democratization in China.     

Local Government in Tasmania: Reform and Restructuring

Tasmania has a long history of failed attempts at restructuring local government boundaries yet managed a major reform process of 'modernisation' between 1990 and 1993 that incorporated major changes to council operations together with a restructuring of boundaries and a reduction from 46 to 29 councils. This process can be compared with a recent attempt to reduce further the number of local governments. In April 1997 the Liberal Premier announced reforms ('Directions for Tasmania') that led to a further reduction in the number of councils. This process collapsed following legal challenges and the proroguing of parliament prior to the 1998 state election. The defeat of the Liberal government saw the abandonment of the proposed amalgamations and establishment of 'partnerships' between the new ALP state government and councils. This paper compares the 1990–93 and 1997–98 reform processes and evaluates the outcomes of the amalgamations in 1990–93. It argues that the success of amalgamation and reform in local government has been strongly influenced by the degree of local government involvement and support in the reform process, lessons that have wider application.     

官僚式外包:政府购买公共服务中利益相关者的行动逻辑及其对绩效的影响

"官僚式外包"是目前我国推进政府购买公共服务中出现的一种异化现象,既消解了社会组织作为基本公共服务生产主体的能动积极性,也抑制了公众作为基本公共服务享有主体的积极参与。通过对政府购买公共服务中利益相关者的行动逻辑以及对绩效的影响机理透析发现,不仅社会组织与公众被政府行动逻辑裹挟,还改变了政府购买的项目决策、合同过程、绩效控制机制等关键环节,导致官僚目标对公众需求的忽略与替代,行政权力越界甚至挤占了社会的空间,严重抑制了政府购买的绩效。只有缓解官僚目标与公众偏好之间的冲突、加强行政权力规制与社会组织培育,才能不断改进政府购买基本公共服务的绩效。     

中国"入世"与政府职能转变和职能开发

中国加入世贸组织后,最大的挑战是政府自身。特别是中国目前处于社会转型期,社会主义市场经济体制还不完善,政企、政社还没有完全分开。“入世”后,政府对经济的调控能力相对减弱;对社会事务的管理空前复杂。因此,政府应重新定位自身角色与职能,未雨绸缪,迅即进行自身的职能转变与职能开发,以适应中国“入世”以及经济全球化的挑战。     

政府规模扩张:成因及启示

政府规模的决定因素是公共管理前沿研究问题之一.实践层面上,自改革开放以来机构精简一直是国政府改革的一个重点.然而,精简后再膨胀的问题一直无法解决.本文尝试回答如下问题:政府规模扩张是否有一些系统性的因素起作用?基于面板数据分析,用随机效应、固定效应模型和广义矩估计法研究政府规模扩张的决定因素.计量分析结果表明,瓦格纳定律(随着经济发展政府规模将扩张)在中国是不成立的,经济越不发达的行政区域,政府规模反而越大.财政收入端或开支端分权与政府规模存在显著的正相关关系,而县均人口、开放度及外商直接投资与政府规模呈显著的负相关关系.基于实证研究的结果,本文认为,地方政府的考录制度仍然有缺陷;当前的财政分权(支出端分权、收入端集权)很有可能助长了地方政府扩张规模;合并县域或许有助于政府精简.     

Consequences of an Anti-Corruption Experiment for Local Government Performance in Brazil

Decentralization reforms, implemented to improve efficiency and service provision, pose a challenge for federal governments that would like to ensure that federal resources are used appropriately by local governments. To overcome this challenge, some federal governments have implemented costly oversight programs aimed at improving municipal governance. For instance, in 2003, the Brazilian federal government introduced a randomized auditing program with the goal of improving municipal performance by exposing episodes of corruption and mismanagement. Yet, we know little about whether these types of programs actually lead to improvements in local outcomes, especially in terms of service delivery. We argue that audits provide opportunities for learning that should improve performance outcomes. To test this argument, we examine municipal performance in over 5,000 Brazilian municipalities from 2001 to 2012. We utilize the random assignment of audits and estimate difference-in-differences regressions. We find that audited municipalities experience greater improvements in performance overall compared to unaudited municipalities, though the effect size is modest. We also find evidence that the auditing program indirectly improves municipal performance. These results indicate that top-down oversight programs, such as the Brazilian one, are useful not only for improving transparency and accountability, but also for the provision of public services as well.     

我国政府绩效评估的动力机制

关于政府绩效评估的价值取向、内容设计、方法构建等讨论较多,但如果不明确政府绩效评估的动力在哪里,建立起我国政府绩效评估的良性动力机制,科学的政府绩效评估的理念与方法设计将很难发挥作用。分析我国政府绩效评估的动力状况应从内动力和外动力两个层面着手,根据我国市民社会和政府运作模式的特点,建立我国政府绩效评估良性动力机制是可能的,其路径为:内外结合,在政治动员模式中建立强大的政府绩效评估动力源;积极培育非政府组织并让其真正发挥作用;政府绩效立法,形成政府与社会的良性互动。     

More Effective Than We Thought: Accounting for Legislative Hitchhikers Reveals a More Inclusive and Productive Lawmaking Process

For more than half a century, scholars have been studying legislative effectiveness using a single metric—whether the bills a member sponsors progress through the legislative process. We investigate a less orthodox form of effectiveness—bill proposals that become law as provisions of other bills. Counting these “hitchhiker” bills as additional cases of bill sponsorship success reveals a more productive, less hierarchical, and less partisan lawmaking process. We argue that agenda and procedural constraints are central to understanding why lawmakers pursue hitchhiker strategies. We also investigate the legislative vehicles that attract hitchhikers and find, among other things, that more Senate bills are enacted as hitchhikers on House laws than become law on their own.     

Accountability for Performance in Local Government

The nature of accountability for performance in the public sector is explored in this paper by attempting to answer three questions: (1) How important is accountability for performance? (2) Which of the stakeholders consider themselves accountable for organisational performance, including contracts? (3) Does information asymmetry between stakeholders in regard to performance information affect accountability? This paper reports on research undertaken in Victorian local government based on the responses to a questionnaire by councillors and tier one and two managers. The results of the survey indicate that there is an understanding of accountability for performance, that both managers and councillors are considered to be accountable for performance but that information asymmetry and accountability relationships are problematic.     

政府在我国社会保障体制完善中的作用

改革开放30年来,我国在社会保障制度的建设方面作了很多有益的探索,也取得了一些成绩,但存在的问题依然十分突出,主要表现为社会保障制度的覆盖面过小,实施范围过窄;社会化程度低,利益不平等,保障功能差;资金筹措方式不合理,导致资金来源匮乏;立法不完善,没有形成完整体系;政府职能不清、责任不明,管理体制分散;社会保障制度建设缺乏长远规划.在社会保障体制完善的过程中,单纯依靠市场机制本身的作用是不够的,因为市场调节机制有它自身无法克服的一些缺陷.政府基于其自身的特点理应成为完善我国社会保障体制的主体,其作用的发挥主要体现在制定长远规划、完善社保立法、加大社保基金征缴力度和加强执法监督等方面.     

Interpreting Administrative Change: Bureaucratic Self‐Interest and Institutional Inheritance in Government

Between 1946 and 1995, Danish central government had been subject to numerous reorganization initiatives. Based on the assumption of self‐interest motivated and risk‐averse bureaucrats, these initiatives are analyzed in a long‐term historical perspective. It is argued that civil servants both feel a strong incentive to and have good chances of defending the existing organization. This creates a historical bias in favor of whatever organizations were created in the past. Still, the mutual dependence between political executives and their civil servants opens up for bargaining dynamics allowing for mostly incremental change. While ideology has been unimportant in the development of central government organization, broadly shared ideas about reform may account for some instances of radical reform, consistently opposed by Danish civil servants.     

建立我国政府绩效评估制度的基本问题

服务型政府的绩效评估要以结果为本,以政府提供公共服务的效率和质量、以政府对公民需求的回应度和满足程度、以政府行政中公民参与的广度和深度为其评价的标准.     

韩国政府绩效评估及其对中国的借鉴意义

20世纪90年代,韩国政府启动了以创建廉价、高效和服务型政府为目标的行政改革。为推动行政改革和提高政府绩效,韩国政府开展了一系列绩效评估的实践,包括成立政府经营诊断委员会、加强政府绩效审计、推行制度评估和以目标管理为基础的公务员绩效评估制度以及制定实施政府绩效评估框架法案等。韩国政府绩效评估对我国政府绩效评估制度建设有重要的借鉴意义:要把政府绩效评估与行政改革结合起来;提高公民对绩效评估的参与度;要重视对公务员个人的绩效评估;绩效评估要与管理模式相适应;绩效评估要制度化和规范化。     

关于社会转型期工会地位和作用的思考

针对社会转型期对工会工作带来的新情况和新问题,必须正确认识和把握工会的性质、地位和作用,联系实际认真思考做好工会工作的对策和路径,从而充分展示新形势下工会的地位和作用。     

关于我国目前政府绩效评估的现状、问题和政策建议

政府绩效评估作为政府公共管理的一个重要工具近年来受到我国各级政府的高度重视,也得到越来越广泛的应用.但是,由于我国各级政府开展绩效评估工作尚处于起步阶段,很多地方对政府绩效评估的本质与规律认识尚有不足,各地政府在绩效评估的进程上也呈现出较大的差异,因此需要从根本上对我国政府绩效评估工作展开反思和总结.本文在分析了我国政府绩效评估的现状和问题的基础上,提出现阶段改进我国政府绩效评估工作的若干指导性原则和具体政策建议,以对改革和促进我国地方政府绩效评估工作的科学化和规范化起到积极作用.     

Computer-Based Performance Information for Executives in Local Government

Performance information is crucial to effective management. Computer-based information systems (CBIS) now play a significant role in the effective delivery of information to senior managers. Executive information systems (EIS) are emerging as popular tools to assist organisations in their strategic decision-making processes. This trend has spread from the private to the public sector, and is now evident in Australian government organizations
This article draws on the findings of a survey into the uses and benefits of CBIS and EIS, from a sample of Australian local government organisations. The study shows that lessons from the private sector are being heeded by system developers in public organisations, leading to successful EIS projects, or at least improved CBIS. The study indicates that EIS, which were originally developed for profit-oriented private companies, are now seen as appropriate for many public sector organisations, providing effective delivery of information to senior managers. Survey results indicate that improved information systems give executives a more accurate picture of their organisation's performance and so provide support for improved strategic decision-making. In addition, EIS are seen by respondents as offering significant benefits not only to managers but also to the rest of the organization.     

Understanding the Implications of Government Ties for Nonprofit Operations and Functions

This research explores the implications of nonprofit leaders’ government ties for nonprofit operations and functions. Based on 81 survey questionnaires completed by civic environmental NGOs (eNGOs) in China and interviews with executives from 33 eNGOs, the authors examine the personal backgrounds of eNGO leaders and find that most Chinese civic eNGOs are connected with the government in one or more of three ways: political ties, service organization ties, or personal ties. Personal ties, or good guanxi with government officials, are positively associated with a higher level of funding stability and a more developed management system. Environmental NGOs with leaders who are current government officials or legislative body members are more likely to be engaged in policy advocacy. Service organization ties facilitate eNGOs’ efforts to be engaged in legal services and to scale up to work on environmental issues at the national level. Moreover, an eNGO’s policy advocacy engagement is associated with its ties with the nonprofit community.