对我国“省直管县”体制改革的哲学思考

近日,财政部发布《关于推进省直接管理县财政改革的意见》,明确提出2012年底前,力争全国除民族自治区外全面推进省直接管理县财政改革。可以说",省直管县"财政改革虽然仅仅限于财政体制,但它是"省直管县"改革迈出的重要一步,为行政上的"省直管县"体制奠定了基础,创造了条件。这也意味着在中国现行的行政体制将面临着重大的改革,那么将来的"省直管县"行政体制将如何进行,原来的"市直管县"体制将何去何从,如果运用哲学的基本原理分析可能会给我们一个新的视角。     

地方行政体制改革的模式与路径选择

当前地方行政体制改革的一项重要举措是推行"省直管县"改革。然而,"省直管县"改革不仅是减少地方行政层级、推进地方财政体制改革的操作性环节,还涉及中国现代化道路的选择与各地经济增长点的选择。推行"省直管县"改革的基本"条件"需要展开深入研究。通过采用快速聚类分析的方法,在对26个省区分类研究的基础上,提出:不同类型省区的基本条件存在很大差异,应该依据各自的发展阶段与特点,分类指导,分类改革。     

推进陕南秦巴山区“省直管县”改革面临的问题及对策研究

陕南秦巴山区是国务院确定的11个连片特困地区之一,同时它还承载着"南水北调""引汉济渭"等工程水源涵养的重大功能。深入推进陕南秦巴山区"省直管县"改革,是改变区域贫困面貌、丰富秦巴山区改革实践、落实国家扶贫攻坚战略的有益探索。本文在透视陕南秦巴山区经济社会发展现状的基础上,着重分析该区近年来"省直管县"改革的特点,指出了深化改革所面临的突出问题,并据以提出了加快推进"省直管县"改革的思路和对策建议。     

近年来省直管县财政管理体制研究述评

财政的"省直管县"模式是近年地方政府管理研究的重点领域。选取2006—2012年的相关论文,梳理省直管县的研究热点和改革的特点,从研究视角、研究内容和研究方法予以评述。借此扩大研究共识,明晰政府间财政关系、市县关系,探究省直管县改革中的经验和不足,以深化和完善省直管县财政管理体制。     

关于推行“省直管县”改革的调查和思考

"省直管县"改革是在对"市领导县"体制进行反思的基础上提出的,其主要内容包括财政体制改革、事权下放、人事改革等。虽然"省直管县"改革试点取得了一定的成效,但也面临着层级与幅度动态匹配问题、区域增长点选择问题、职责权协调问题、放权与监管平衡问题以及与现行体制配套等问题。所以,"省直管县"改革只能采取积极稳妥的措施,有计划分步骤地适时推进。     

“困境”与“脱困”:“省直管县”体制改革探析

前,"省直管县"体制改革仍然处在一个"摸着石头过河"的试验状态。在改革推进过程中,不仅不会一番坦途,还可能会遭遇种种困境,甚至可能出现一些意料之外的问题。认识不到这一点,"省直管县"体制也将如当初的"市管县"体制一样,昙花一现,甚至很快会成为下一次被改革的对象。基于此,需要对"省直管县"体制改革可能遭遇的困境进行全面预测,并从建立地级市的利益补偿机制、完善地方政府间利益协调机制、理顺"条块关系"、构建公共服务跨域治理体系、摒弃"以级别定规模"的错误观念、合理划分纵向政府间事权关系、构建有限责任的地方政府体系、重建行署制度等方面提前做好应对准备,以此保证"省直管县"体制改革的顺利推进。     

省直管县改革与县级政府财政解困——基于6省面板数据的实证研究

在全国各地普遍试点并推广的省直管县改革被认为是实现县域经济盘活和县级政府财政解困的重要手段,但关于该问题的大样本实证证据却尚未发现。基于6省2004-2009年的面板数据,采用基于自然实验的倍差法模型估计,本文实证分析了省直管县改革对县级政府财政自给能力的实际影响。研究发现省直管县改革的财政政策效应明显,显著提高了县级政府的财政自给率,但其政策效应呈现出边际效益递减的趋势。研究还发现省直管县改革对县级市、富裕县和规模较大的县的政策效应最明显。本文对上述发现进行了讨论,并据此提出省直管县改革通过提高财政自给率而对县级政府财政解困产生积极作用,但在稳步推进省直管县改革的同时需要采取配套措施;省直管县改革在不同规模、经济发展水平和行政单位性质的县产生的政策效应不尽相同,各地在推行省直管县改革时应因地制宜,结合县域经济和财力情况,制定适宜的政策并采取合适的策略。     

省直管县:我国地方行政层级改革的愿景

省直管县是我国地方行政层级改革的愿景.市管县体制具有局限性,这是催生愿景的因素.省直管县具有优越性与可行性,这是开启愿景的依据.改革需要理件,因而在型塑愿景的过程中,必须认清省直管县可能衍生的问题,即省级政府的管理问题、地级政府的裁撤问题、县级政府的发展问题和乡级政府的去留问题;并通过缩省并县、市县分治、强县扩权和逐步撤乡等,谨慎地渐进地实行省直管县体制,实现愿景.     

省直管县改革背景下义乌市政府公共服务能力研究

省直管县体制改革是我国对基层政府改革的一种尝试,也是适应新公共管理理论的一种更为有效的扁平化管理模式。在省直管县这一改革背景下,通过对义乌市公共服务能力建设现状的考察,深入剖析省直管县改革背景下义乌市政府公共服务能力存在的问题,最后从四个纬度全面系统地探讨了提升县级政府公共服务能力的对策建议,以期能够为我国推行省直管县体制改革的各地区县级政府的公共服务能力建设提供参考和借鉴。     

“省直管县”体制下政府的文化职能探析

最初的"省直管县"体制主要包括财政体制和强县扩权,但随着"省直管县"改革带来的成效,逐步扩大了县级单位的经济管理权和社会管理权,使得县域经济发展迅速。物质文明发展的迅速,也提高了对精神文明的需求。文化职能是政府公共服务职能的重要组成部分,发挥政府的公共服务职能显得格外重要。     

Reconciling China with international order

Abstract

The debate about Western policies towards China ('containment’ versus ‘engagement') is intellectually and politically misleading. At issue is not so much the policy blueprint but the ability of Western countries to design and implement coherent and consistent policies towards China, and to coordinate those policies between themselves. This ability has been affected by a trend towards the ‘domestication’ of foreign policies — a trend which is particularly marked in the case of the United States, but clearly visible in France, the UK and Germany as well. If the capacity to design, implement and coordinate effective China policies is to be regained, the problems will have to be recognized and addressed.     

Mozambique and Zimbabwe: potentially converging paths

Mozambique, long favoured by Western donors, to their disapproval has recently shown signs of corruption, instability and poor governance and looked to China for help that may not be forthcoming. Zimbabwe, long disfavoured by Western donors, is cooling to China's commercial and political involvement in its national affairs. Both southern African countries may eventually need to reinvigorate appeals for assistance from Western donors, which would come with relatively stringent governance and economic conditions.     

Corporate political action in China and America: a comparative perspective

• Corporate political action (CPA) is always an interesting topic for management scholars since 1980s. There are a large plenty of literatures from different disciplines focus on this topic. But till now, studies on this topic are almost conducted under the Western culture and taking the Western countries as objective, very few studies are conducted in non‐Western countries, and specifically, the CPA in China is nearly untouched. Due to the differences of culture and political economy between China and the West, CPA in China may be very different from the West's. This article discusses the similarities and differences of CPA in China and America. The result shows that due to the differences in culture and political economical system between China and America, CPA in China is very different from America. This study will help to understand the CPA in China for outsiders, especially for Americans. It also helps multinational enterprises (MNEs) in China to take suitable political actions to support their interests.

Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

从“他山之石”看我国城市公共服务市场化改革

在西方国家大力推行公共服务市场化改革的背景下,我国各地方政府也正尝试公共服务改革的实践,在取得成功经验的同时,也暴露出不少的问题。只有理性看待西方国家公共服务市场化,准确把握公共服务市场化的内涵,结合我国国情的基础上,才能找到城市公共服务市场化正确的改革路径。     

21世纪西欧国家养老金改革述评

近些年来，西欧各国纷纷进行养老金改革以缓解人口老龄化所可能带来的公共养老金体系的可持续性危机。中国与西欧国家在人口老龄化趋势上面临着类似的压力，本文从老龄经济的视角，以德国、法国、英国三个拥有不同模式养老金体系的国家为研究对象，详细介绍上述三国新世纪养老金体系改革的具体措施，分析改革的共同趋势；并展望中国未来养老金体系的发展方向，认为，以税收优惠和灵活制度安排鼓励第二和第三养老保障支柱的发展是德法英三国改革的共同趋势，也是中国未来养老金体系发展的重要方向。     

Exploitation dressed in a suit,shining shoes,and carrying a suitcase full of dollars: What does China want in Africa?

China has provided billions of dollars in loans to African countries with no strings attached compared with Western financial aid. Although the argument that China is exploiting Africa for its resources has often clouded Beijing's continued support for Africa, many African leaders have welcomed China's economic assistance and have begun to see China as a more reliable partner compared with the West. By strictly examining relevant literature on Sino–African relations, this study comprehensively explores the dynamics, implications, and benefits of Chinese investments in Africa. Whether China is indeed exploiting Africa, which will continue to be debated, it is clear that Chinese investments have contributed significantly to the development of Africa and will continue to do so as the West has been replaced by Beijing as Africa's biggest trading partner. African countries are therefore likely to continue strengthening their relationship with China further jeopardising the interests of West in the continent.     

ASEAN and human rights: resisting Western pressure or emulating the West?

Abstract

Observers of Southeast Asian affairs commonly assume that the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are reluctant to pursue liberal agendas, and that their main concern is to resist pressure from Western powers to improve their human rights practice. This article, however, argues that such a conventional view is too simplistic. The Southeast Asian countries have voluntarily been pursuing liberal agendas, and their main concern here is to be identified as ‘Western’ countries – advanced countries with legitimate international status. They have ‘mimetically’ been adopting the norm of human rights which is championed by the advanced industrialized democracies, with the intention of securing ASEAN's identity as a legitimate institution in the community of modern states. Ultimately, they have been pursuing liberal agendas, for the same reason as cash-strapped developing countries have luxurious national airlines and newly-independent countries institute national flags. Yet it should be noted that the progress of ASEAN's liberal reform has been modest. A conventional strategy for facilitating this reform would be to put more pressure on the members of ASEAN; however, the usefulness of such a strategy is diminishing. The development of an East Asian community, the core component of which is the ASEAN–China concord, makes it difficult for the Western powers to exercise influence over the Southeast Asian countries. Hence, as an alternative strategy, this article proposes that ASEAN's external partners should ‘globalize’ the issue of its liberal reform, by openly assessing its human rights record in global settings, with the aim of boosting the concern of its members for ASEAN's international standing.     

Party attachments and political fragmentation in Europe

Abstract. Values and ideologies seem to be changing rapidly in many countries of Western Europe. These developments imply a shift among the adherents of political parties. On the one hand, we expect to see a process of deideologization weakening the traditional ties between parties and their adherents. On the other hand, increasing pluralization is suggested by the ongoing process of individualization. In this study we analyze the orientations of the adherents of the main political parties in 12 Western European countries in the last two decades. We expect to find clear traces of ongoing deideologization as well as pluralization, but this expectation proves to be inaccurate. Neither deideologization nor pluralization can be accepted as a common feature of party adherents in advanced industrial societies. On the contrary. Each of these processes seems to follow a different path of development in distinct countries and in distinct party families. A general 'decline-of-the-party' or an 'end-of-ideology' is not to be found among the adherents of the main parties in Western Europe in the last decades. The processes appear to be more complicated, with divergent developments in different countries.     

The Impact of Political Connections on Donations to Chinese NGOs

ABSTRACT

In this study, we explore the returns to political connections in non-corporate contexts within China, a country transitioning from a planned to market economy. Using China as an empirical case study, we investigate two separate, but related, hypotheses on the financial benefits of political connections for a sample of 1,435 Chinese foundations from 2005–2011. This extends Western donation determinants literature to a Chinese context and political guanxi (social relationships where individuals or organizations exchange future favors or gifts) research to non-corporate contexts. Our empirical results show that there is no relationship between the presence of state employees on an NGO's staff (a measure of political guanxi) and private donations. However, there is a small but positive relationship between the amount of government funding an NGO receives (a signal of legitimacy) and private donations. These findings suggest that, in post-communist countries such as China, donors may not be seeking future favors from their contributions and instead are interested in developing a robust civil society with legitimate, high-quality NGOs. Additionally, the similarity between Western donation determinants research findings and Chinese donation determinants, in this article, requires future comparative studies of both how and why donors make decisions.     

Citizenship in China: a Comparison of Rights with the East and West

After the economic rise of China with the improvement in their standard of living, there have been many changes in the rights of citizens in China. This paper provides a broad survey of rights to see how China compares with the West and some countries in the Far East. This comparison assesses citizenship theory as it might apply to China, and then assesses a number of measures of rights. First, in order to make comparisons, the very different conceptions and theories of citizenship in China must be considered. Chinese citizenship is based on more of a communitarian model than a liberal or social democratic approach mainly due to Confucianism. Despite considerable improvement in citizenship rights, China’s reliance on a more communitarian citizenship theory (rather than liberal or social democratic theories) tends to emphasize obligations over rights. Second, in assessing the level of rights in China in the 21st century, T. H. Marshall provides the classification of legal, political and social rights. Using Freedom House, Fraser Institute and other data, I make cross-national comparisons between China and Western countries (e.g., the US, Canada and select European countries) and East Asian countries or regions (e.g., Japan, Indonesia, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan). I also include Russia since it has made a similar transition from communist rule. The paper argues that citizenship rights for Chinese citizens have improved for many legal and social rights but not so much for political rights. However, all of these rights in China are much lower than in the West and much of East Asia, though in a few instances the levels are quite similar to Russia. I conclude with an estimate of the possible pathways toward greater political rights in China over the next few decades.