Paradigms of public financial administration in the evolution of papua new guinea

In the evolution of Papua New Guinea from dependent territory to independent entity, public financial administration has experienced a series of changes. Each historical group of changes may be represented by a characteristic paradigm which identifies the nature of the underlying concepts and their essential dynamics in the context of the political, economic and social environment. From the early days of Australian settlement, public financial administration was dominated by the colonial paradigm as the two constituent territories—initially separately and then jointly—relied almost exclusively on Canberra for the provision of funds, supply of expertise and formation of policies. More recently, since national independence, legislative and staffing changes have occurred in public financial administration but there have been no infrastructural innovations in response to current needs and priorities. Australian support of the recurrent budget and other foreign aid have not abated, while the forms and institutions involved in public financial administration continue to reflect strong metropolitan influences which militate against the formation of an indigenous paradigm consonant with national aspirations, development goals and cultural values.     

Local Corporatism in Norway*

In several countries changing market conditions and legislation regulating economic activity have led to the emergence of corporalist structures at the local as well as the national level. In Norway these have generated local institutional innovations which have had several important actual and potential consequences, ranging from a growth of neo-mercantilist policies to increased inter-community competition for industrial establishment and aid.     

How Can Deliberative Democracy Get a Grip?

One of the most exciting innovations within ‘practical democratic theory’ in recent years has been the emergence of deliberative democracy, as a theoretically refined ideal with by now some well‐honed mechanisms for its implementation on a small scale. Its greatest remaining challenge is to figure out some way to connect those highly controlled, small‐scale deliberative exercises to the ‘main game’, politically. I sketch some limited and indirect ways in which that might happen in national politics, before going on to propose a more novel way in which such deliberative events might be used literally to make international law of a certain sort.     

Innovations in Human Services Financing

Many funding innovations have developed in the human services field in the last decade. This paper describes some of those innovations, the trends in these innovations, and suggests other potential developments in the area. Funding innovations in four categories have developed - charges for specific services rendered, dedicated fees or charges, earmarked added-on charges, and earmarked portions of traditional, broad-based funding sources. Several trends may be seen in these developments. First, human service managers have developed considerable entrepreneurial skill, placing an emphasis upon a substantive connection between the funding source and the service funded. At the same time, they are exhibiting conservative implementation strategies by deliberately seeking out new funding sources that have been successfully tested elsewhere. Finally, the need for innovations in this area will increase as traditional funding sources continue to fail to keep pace with increased demand for services.     

Challenges to Intergovernmentalism: An Empirical Analysis of EU Treaty Negotiations since Maastricht

During the last 15 years the nature and process of European treaty reforms changed significantly. The underlying reasons comprise enlargement, a shift of the reform agenda beyond economic coordination and procedural innovations, in particular the invocation of the Convention on the Future of Europe. Against this background, the present article revisits two classic propositions of liberal intergovernmentalism: (1) the power of the largest member states; and (2) the irrelevance of procedural constraints. This analysis compares the positions of national governments at Amsterdam, Nice, and the Constitutional IGC along the two most prevalent dimensions of intergovernmental conflict. Locating the EU treaties in this intergovernmental conflict space, it finds that the reforms of Amsterdam and Nice reflect a sequence of equilibrium and disequilibrium. Both treaty reforms are best understood as minimum compromise between all member states, instead of a deal struck between the most powerful members. However, the Constitutional IGC reveals a slightly different picture as the unanimity win-set for reform has been almost empty. The fact that member states nevertheless signed the Constitutional Treaty hints towards the importance of procedural innovations, in particular the Convention method.     

Heritage,semiotics and innovations: architectural space,object-designs,meanings and implications in sustainable development

When matters of sustainable development and innovation are on the table for discussion in Africa, culture is often sidelined. Designs, shapes and sizes of new technological innovations need to integrate African aesthetes as a way to uphold the culture of people represented who often utilize or benefit from the inventions or constructions. Artefactual materials or objects (such as buildings) should appeal to the people of Africa and solve their daily challenges. Using semiotics, this paper cautions innovators, planners, thinkers and producers of “modern” residential homes; that these, as material objects, have other roles they play. Dwellings assume the heritage of a people far removed from the traditionally thought spaces and objects such as drums, museums, songs, literary texts, pieces of cloth and so on. As such, planners have a mandate to deliberately uphold their people’s cultural sensitivity if sustainable development is to mean in Zimbabwe and Africa in general.     

Understanding Ripple Effects: The Cross–National Adoption of Policy Instruments for Bureaucratic Accountability

This article examines different explanations for the cross–national diffusion of three recent innovations in bureaucratic accountability—the institution of the ombudsman, freedom of information legislation and data protection (information privacy) law. The first two explanations are based on the assumption that these innovations are by–products of modernization, either the growth of the state or democratization. The third assumes that policy is shaped through processes of international communication. A combination of methodologies is employed to conclude that while the growth of government and liberal democratic values are necessary conditions for the adoption of all three policy instruments, they are not sufficient conditions. The pattern of adoption observed is best explained by examining how evidence about these respective policies flows from adopting states to non–adopters. In the case of the ombudsman, this process can be characterized as one of lesson–drawing; for freedom of information, evidence is used for legitimation purposes; for data protection, the diffusion is attributable to harmonization through international organizations. Policy transfer is hence a multi–faceted concept that embraces a number of distinct processes of transnational learning and communication.     

Thalidomide, BSE and the single market: An historical-institutionalist approach to regulatory regimes in the European Union

Abstract.  The success of the European Union in regulating the safety of products in the single market differs widely. In the last decade, the regulatory regime for pharmaceuticals has functioned without raising public concerns. The establishment of a European agency for pharmaceuticals in the early 1990s has been evaluated positively by both producers and consumers, and there have been no large scandals so far. At the same time, the food sector was subject to a whole range of crises, of which the BSE scandal was certainly the most significant one. In reaction to this, the regulatory regime for foodstuffs was reformed by setting up the European Food Safety Agency in 2002. This article adopts an historical-institutionalist approach, and thus tries to give an explanation for the striking differences between the two regulatory regimes. Accordingly, the development of supranational regulatory regimes is distinguished by two critical junctures: a crisis of consumer confidence and the establishment of a single market. It is crucial which of these occurred first. If a crisis of consumer confidence leads to the establishment of national regulatory authorities, these authorities act as stakeholders, which could be an obstacle for harmonization, but also ensures a necessary commitment to health and consumer protection once a single market is set up. If national regulatory authorities are missing, it might be easier to set up a single market, but a regulatory deficit is more likely to occur and, in case of a crisis, the whole regulatory regime has to be established at the supranational level.     

Language Policy, Literacy, and Minority Languages

This paper surveys the development of language policy over the last 40 or more years, particularly with respect to linguistic minorities and the attendant problems of illiteracy and lack of access to basic education among these groups. While there are discernible, emerging trends in the area of language policy, we make considerable effort to point out that the evolution of such policy in the past has often been the product of an unpredictable confluence of national and international politics, economics (at all levels), social, cultural, and religious differences, intrigue, historical accident, human perversity, and serendipitous circumstances.     

Policy transfers between governments: The case of administrative reforms

Administrative reform has been a very common activity of governments in almost all industrialised democracies, including those in Western Europe. The frequent contacts among these governments, and the presence of organisations such as the OECD that are spreading the reforms, might be expected to produce widespread diffusion of administrative innovations. That diffusion is not, however, as widespread as might have been expected and there are marked differences among countries as well as among types of reform. Using Boolean algebra, this article analyses the correlates of the diffusion of reform among European countries and the implications of that diffusion for public administration in these countries.     

Explaining national environmental performance: approaches,evidence, and implications

Since environmental problems rose to prominence in the last third of the twentieth century, they have been a major area of policy for national governments. A large body of research has explored the explanations for different levels of environmental policy performance among countries. This article begins with a discussion of approaches to measuring national performance before reviewing and assessing four categories of explanations in the literature, which may be summarized in four questions: (1) What are the relationships between economic growth and environmental protection? (2) Do democratic regimes have advantages over more authoritarian ones in adopting effective policies and reducing harm? (3) Do such institutional characteristics as pluralism or neo-corporatism and federalism affect a nation’s ability to deal with environmental problems? (4) Are there institutional or societal capacities or relationships within or among nations that may explain policy success? By adopting a broad perspective on the literature on national environmental performance, the article is able to explore and compare the principal findings of these categories of research and assess the relationships among them.     

Nonprofit housing development: Status,trends, and prospects

Abstract

This article relies on a national survey of community‐based housing development organizations to profile production levels, spatial coverage, funding sources, and nondevelopmental roles of the nonprofit housing development sector. It also uses Urban Institute case study results and secondary data sources to examine continuing barriers to increased production in the sector and the evolution of institutional responses to those barriers.

Nationwide, about 13 percent of all recent federally supported housing units (excluding public housing) have been sponsored by nonprofit developers. This production is distributed very unevenly; relatively few developers produce the bulk of units, and regional disparities are marked. Long‐standing barriers to efficient production at higher volumes continue: Undercapitalization, high‐risk developments, patchwork systems of finance, and the difficulty of demonstrating the social payoff of community development investments constrain even the most sophisticated portions of the sector. However, the creation of national intermediary institutions over the past decade and the proliferation of similar organizations locally have established the preconditions for sector expansion. And in view of recent local initiatives in participatory, comprehensive neighborhood revitalization, and hints of federal support for like efforts, increased capacity in the sector has taken on new national importance.     

Mononationals,hyphenationals, and shadow-nationals: multiple citizenship as practice

Multiple citizenship has in recent decades moved from an unwanted phenomenon in international relations to a fairly common transnational status. Multiple citizenship has nevertheless so far been studied mainly as a political and juridical status by comparing national legislations. Much less notice has been given to actual dual citizens' citizen participation and construction of citizens' identities. Only when citizenship is studied as these kinds of practices do the hypothetic possibilities and problems associated with the status get their meanings and contents. This paper concentrates on examining dual citizens' identifications to their respective citizenships and how these affiliations transfer into possible citizen participation. Results are based on extensive analysis of survey (n = 335) and interviews (n = 48) carried out among dual citizens living in Finland. Contents and forms of dual citizens' national identification and citizen participation were reviewed through ideal types: resident-mononationals, expatriate-mononationals, hyphenationals, and shadow-nationals.     

Health care expenditures in nine industrialized countries, 1960-76

This article reports the findings of a study developed to compare health care costs in the United States with those of eight other industrially advanced countries over the period 1960-76. All of the countries studied were found to share with the United States the problem of increased health care spending that has outpaced inflation in other sectors of the economy and continues to consume a growing share of national resources. The American growth rate in these expenditures has, in fact, been lower than that of all other coutries. Though U.S. health care expenditures have traditionally been relatively high when measured as a share of gross national product, Canada outspent the United States in this respect during the 1960's. In most recent years, West Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden have devoted a larger share of GNP to health care than has the United States.     

Transitional Justice and ‘National Ownership’: An Assessment of the Institutional Development of the War Crimes Chamber of Bosnia and Herzegovina

In anticipation of its closure in 2014, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia has begun to set out proposals for preserving and promoting its legacy of prosecuting persons responsible for violations of humanitarian law during the conflicts of the 1990s. A key aspect of this legacy has been to support the ‘national ownership’ of the justice systems in the former Yugoslavia that will continue to try war crimes cases in the years to come. This study explores the institutional development of the War Crimes Chamber of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (WCC) to national ownership. In particular, it considers three critical aspects of the WCC's functioning that highlight the challenges that it faces as a mechanism of transitional justice in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). These are the composition of prosecutors and judges, prosecutorial practices and outreach and communication activities. The article shows that the continued difficulties with these areas of legal practice figure as significant obstacles to the WCC's transition to full national ownership by both the legal professionals and local populace of BiH.     

Innovations, externalities and the problem of economic progress

In modern industrial societies innovativeness is seen as a source of economic growth and welfare increases. Following this assessment economic research presently focusses almost exclusively on the question of how to elicit innovations. Yet innovative economic activities have always also meant losses, sometimes even hardship, to some members of society, and incalculable risks. The present paper tries to develop a more balanced picture by acknowledging these less pleasant implications. Whether, and under what conditions, the permissive regime which modern societies have adopted towards innovations can be justified is discussed within the framework of a contractarian approach.     

Priorities,government institutions and foreign assistance in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Russia

This article argues that for a number of reasons, the Russian state has had limited success in tackling the growing problem of HIV/AIDS. It begins with brief discussions of the health context of HIV/AIDS in the Russian Federation and the development of institutions in Russia post‐1991. It then discusses the attempts that have been made thus far to tackle the HIV/AIDS epidemic, both on the part of the federal government and with the aid of international donor funding. It is argued that a number of factors have contributed to Russia's lack of success in tackling HIV/AIDS. Firstly, the infection has been interpreted as a health problem rather than as a phenomenon which impacts on all aspects of public life. Secondly, there have been weak incentives at the federal level, which has resulted in a lack of a coordinated approach to HIV/AIDS at the national level. Thirdly, there have been regional variations in the autonomy and independence from the federal state impacting on the struggle against HIV in the Russian regions. Evidence from research undertaken by DFID is drawn upon to illustrate these variations in tackling HIV/AIDS. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Tullock challenges: happiness, revolutions, and democracy

Gordon Tullock is one of the most important of the founders and contributors to Public Choice. Two innovations are typical ??Tullock Challenges.?? The first relates to method: the measurement of subjective well-being, or happiness. The second relates to digital social networks, such as Facebook, Twitter, and to some extent Google. Both innovations lead to strong incentives by governments to manipulate the policy outcomes. In general, ??What is important will be manipulated by the government.?? To restrain government manipulation, one has to turn to Constitutional Economics and increase the possibilities for direct popular participation and federalism or introduce random mechanisms.     

Politics, Economic Development, and Second-Generation Strain in India's Federal System

Since the late 1960s, India's federal system has experiencedsevere strain in center-state relations. Such strain was almostnonexistent during the first generation of Indian federalism(1950–1966). During the second generation, which followedthe death of Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1966, therise of a powerful leader of the ruling Congress party, IndiraGandhi, and the emergence of dissent inside the party led toa greater emphasis on centralization and regimentation withinthe party and, thereby, the federal system as well. At the sametime, economic development had helped to produce new politicalelites from rural areas who benefited from the "green revolution"of the 1960s. These new elites challenged the professional andindustrial elites who had long controlled the Congress party,the national government, and many state governments. Feelingfrustrated in their efforts to influence national economic policyin a significant way, these new elites have formulated demandsthat call for substantial decentralization, greater state autonomy,and more tolerance for opposition parties whose electoral supportis mainly state-based.     

新中国成立以来我国国家形象建构

国家形象因其复杂、可塑和重要,它的建构已成为现代国家非常重视的课题。国家形象建构是理解、把握新中国成立以来光辉历程不可或缺的维度,因为建构稳定和向好的大国形象是中华人民共和国建国以来重要的内在关切和诉求,我们对此有自觉的认识和努力。新中国成立以来的伟大成就,极大地改变了中国各方面的客观源像,建构了诸如社会主义大国、东方大国、全球性大国等形象,总体上日渐趋好,中国国家形象建构取得很大成绩。国家形象建构和新中国建设、发展之间存在着内在的良性互动关系。也正因为如此,在分析不足的基础上探讨进一步优化国家形象的根本路径,有助于更好地推动中国特色社会主义在新时代健康前行。