'Appropriate' Policy Knowledge, and Institutional and Governance Implications

The papers in this special section of AJPA are the product of a symposium held in Brisbane in February 2003, which was jointly sponsored by the School of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Queensland and the Queensland Department of Premier and Cabinet. Three papers were delivered. David Adams, from the Victorian Public Service, delivered a paper entitled 'Usable knowledge and public policy'. Wayne Parsons, from the University of London, gave a paper 'Not just steering but weaving: Relevant knowledge and the craft of building policy capacity'. Randal Stewart, a policy consultant based in Sydney, gave a paper entitled 'Public sector reform knowledge production'. The purposes of this paper are to highlight salient points from the papers and to assess briefly the institutional and governance implications of taking at last some steps beyond the currently prevailing rationalist approaches to policy and governance.     

制度能力与治理绩效——以上海社区为例

本文考察了社区治理绩效的影响因素.通过对上海45个小区调查数据的统计分析,文章发现居委会的制度能力与社区治理绩效之间存在显著的关系.居委会动员社区外资源的能力有助于提高其服务效率、居委会直选投票率,居委会与物业之间的合作关系也有助于提高直选投票率.该研究发现意味着,随着住房市场化和封闭式小区的出现,传统的基于楼组长动员网络的社区治理技术面临挑战,居委会有必要采取新的社区治理实践和技术来强化其制度能力的建设,从而更好地服务、管理社区.本文将制度能力作为一种分析工具引入城市社区治理的研究,丰富了社区治理研究的理论视角.同时,本文认为今后的研究需要进一步完善居委会制度能力的测量指标,并进一步阐明制度能力影响治理绩效的作用机制.     

治理现代化视野下机关事务管理创新:从制度优势到治理效能

作为保障机关有序运行的重要制度设定,机关事务管理面多事杂任重,创新机关事务管理是实现从“制度优势”转向“治理实效”的重要一环。实现机关事务管理现代化,其本质是从“广度”到“深度”的深刻转变:新时代下的机关事务不再仅仅强调业务广度方面上的面面俱到,更期望其能在强化政府自身建设、优化政府职能等更深层面扮演积极角色。改革开放以来,我国不断推进机关事务领域改革,不仅仅是对其职能的不断调整,其本质在于对宏观行政体制变革的主动回应与渐进调试,是国家治理体系建构中的重要一环,并在此过程中逐渐形成职能现代化、体制法治化、行为职业化、能力智慧化等制度优势。基于行政管理要素构成的分析视角,职能体系、职权范围、管理体制、人力资源都将是创新机关事务管理的必要路径。     

国家现代治理从制度建设到体系建构的发展

党的十九届四中全会标志着中国特色社会主义制度进入了体系建构的发展阶段。党领导推进国家治理现代化的进程体现着从制度建设到体系建构的发展,制度一项项建立起来是体系建构的先决条件,体系建构着眼于制度间的衔接和整合,是制度的整体效能得以彰显的必然要求。中国特色社会主义制度建设伴随新中国的成立而开启,伴随改革开放创新实践而开展,伴随进入新时代而完善。推进国家治理现代化的新时代实践,对中国特色社会主义制度提出了体系建构的新任务。以习近平同志为核心的党中央深刻认识制度体系建构的极端重要性,党的十九届四中全会形成新的思想认识,作出了新的战略部署。全会通过的《决定》从多个方面体现了中国特色社会主义制度体系建构的重大战略思想。     

Technovation in Taiwan: Implications for Industrial Governance

No longer able to compete with China and Southeast Asian economies on the basis of cheap skilled labor, Taiwan has begun to explore new industrial sectors, such as biotechnology and the life sciences more generally, as key areas for development. The notion that biotech has been “targeted” by the government naturally conjures up images of the postwar developmental state and its mechanisms for industrial governance. Indeed, the resiliency of the East Asian developmental state model has been the focus of much recent debate ( Wong 2004 ), which begets the question: Does the developmental state still matter in Taiwan, and if so, specifically what role can it play? The government’s current effort in facilitating biotech industrialization provides an idea case through which to reappraise the developmental state, and specifically its role in leading industrial transformation in this uniquely knowledge‐intensive sector.     

再综合化：常态与应急态协同治理制度体系研究

基于社会形态特征的学理性分析以及常态和应急态下的治理行为特性比较研究发现,协同治理理论框架是实现跨阶段协同的重要基点,需要围绕多主体之间的信息共享、协同决策、协同规则、协同行动、监测评估等过程要素进行系统建设。要做好顶层设计,建立多要素多环节多情景的协同治理结构;深化结构性改革,完善政府组织制度体系;深化放管服改革,以健全机制为抓手加快制度性协同创新;强化制度保障体系建设,为协同治理赋能;建设"五位一体"的社会协同体系。     

Social Capital and Local Governance: Exploring the Institutional Design Variable

This article argues that Robert Putnam's social capital thesis is too society-centred and undervalues state agency and associated political factors. It explores the role of institutional design in explaining how governments can shape the development of social capital and its potential influence upon democratic performance. New Labour's programme of 'democratic renewal' within British local government provides an excellent opportunity to assess the relevance of institutional design to arguments about social capital and democracy. We propose that prospects for the creation and mobilization of social capital may depend as much upon the process as the content of institutional design.     

Organization and Reporting of Public Financial Accounts: Insights and Policy Implications from the Singapore Budget

This paper analyses the Singapore government budget's organization and reporting structure, and draws lessons and policy implications for improving public financial management practices. The paper finds that Singapore's fiscal marksmanship record has been poor with consistent underestimates of revenue and overestimates of expenditure. Second, subtle divergences from international reporting standards limit the information available and constrain the budget's analytical usefulness in international comparisons. Third, current reporting conventions of the budget fail to provide an adequate representation of the government's fiscal position. Fourth, revised estimates of budgetary balances in line with international reporting standards show a considerable increase in the fiscal space available. The policy implications of these findings are discussed, as well as some reporting changes which can help improve the fiscal marksmanship record, increase public sector transparency and accountability, and facilitate better quality discourse among all stakeholders on public financial management.     

Institutional Change in the International Governance of Agriculture: A Revised Account

This article traces the evolution of the international governance of agriculture as a sequential process, in which the negotiation of new trading and enforcement rules interacts with legal disputes over the interpretation of existing rules. The interaction between negotiation and litigation has produced a governance trajectory from vague to precise commitments and a strengthened dispute settlement process. We contest standard histories, which identify the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture as the singular event that established agriculture for the first time under the auspices of the World Trade Organization and which claim this represents the legalization of the agricultural trade regime. The case of agriculture contains important lessons for broader debates on international governance by articulating: (1) dynamic feedback processes, challenging the view that bargaining and enforcement aspects of international agreements are concluded simultaneously, and (2) key mechanisms underlying the greater precision of institutional commitments that tend to emerge over time.     

Policy Entrepreneurship and Institutional Change: Multilevel Governance of Central Banking Reform

Recent studies on institutional theory and the public policy field called for efforts to pry open the black box of institutional and policy change. This article offers a response to this call. It demonstrates that historical and discursive institutionalist approaches are complementary to explain how and why institutional change occurs. In addition, it shows how these approaches can add value to and benefit from the public policy and administration fields that seek to explain policy change and success. In particular, it emphasizes the interactions between structure and agency that contribute to the change. The empirical finding is based on qualitative analysis of central banking reform in Turkey. It suggests that institutional and policy change is more likely to occur when policy entrepreneurs, with joint membership in domestic and transnational policy communities, mediate various ideas and discourse within and among these communities in a punctuated institutional equilibrium.     

构建雄安新区整体性治理的微观基础——来自行为科学的洞见

目前,区域发展的理论根基主要建立在理性主义基础上,在一定程度上忽视了实践中各种非理性因素和环境的制约。雄安新区是千年大计、国家大事,需要在京津冀一体化的框架中去谋划发展,对整体性治理提出更高的要求。整体性治理并不是纯粹技术、组织或制度层面的,还是心理、信心和预期方面的,对个体和组织行为的激励与约束同样重要。以雄安新区为例,探索构建区域整体性治理的微观基础,从决策、投入、执行和绩效等层面引入来自行为科学的洞见,可以为雄安新区这座未来之城的发展提供新的启示和参考。     

论网络空间治理体系与治理能力的现代性制度供给

在当代技术背景下,网络空间治理体系与治理能力现代化建设应该理性选择由现代性与技术二者相互建构而形成的现代性制度供给的路径。在理性选择制度主义路径的理论前提下,网络空间治理体系与治理能力现代性制度供给的逻辑在于遵循由网络空间的开放性、公共性与虚拟现实性共融共生的合规律性,而其所发挥的功能体现在社会动员与政治整合、利益分配以及维持政治和社会秩序稳定等方面。为此,应该科学定位网络空间治理体系与治理能力现代性制度供给的实践:就其过程而言,应不断提升网络空间治理体系与治理能力现代性制度供给的意愿和能力,并努力克服制度供给的滞后性和偏差性;就其供给质量而言,应努力将外在的制度约束转化为人们的内心服从和行动自觉;就其实际操作而言,应力求协调并平衡强制性制度供给与自发性制度供给、特定制度供给和散布性制度供给以及正式制度供给与非正式制度供给之间的关系,确保各类型的制度供给能够相宜相生、相辅相成、相得益彰,以增强制度的效能与效用。     

测量治理：国外的研究及其对中国的启示

对治理的测量是构建经验性治理理论的基础。采用文献分析方法,首先简要介绍了国外,特别是世界银行、联合国人居署等国际组织的学者创建的测定治理的原则及指标体系,并对其获取资料和数据的调查研究方法进行了介绍。在此基础上,就中国地方治理测量指标体系的构建提出了原则性的意见,并初步设计了基层地方政府层次的治理水平测量指标体系,这为今后进一步深入研究乡镇基层地方治理发展变化奠定了基础。认为,治理理论打破了以往"政治-行政"二分法的研究取向,为政治和行政的研究与实践提供了一个更为综合的理论视野。国外学者对治理理论的价值定位和实证角度的获取资料和数据的方法也值得国内学术界借鉴。同时主张,作为一个从西方学术界引进的概念和理论,中国学者在利用这一理论来解释和分析中国的相关社会现象时要意识到其理论和测定概念指标的适用性问题。     

多层次治理视域下的中国实践与未来发展

各国相互联系、相互依存,为全球、地区、国家和社会等不同层次的治理带来新的机遇和挑战,彰显了国内治理与国际治理紧密联结、协调推进的重要价值。在全球化时代,应从“全球—地区—国家—社会”的整体视野理解和解决治理问题。全球治理、地区治理、国家治理和社会治理等多层次治理直面的对象与问题虽然有差异,但仍处于相互影响和作用中。多层次治理的中国实践体现在：在全球治理中贡献了中国智慧;在地区治理中着力“促进多边主义和自由贸易”发展;在国家治理方面,求实有效、成绩显著,铸就了中国自信;在社会治理方面,党建引领、多元互动,建构了中国模式。多层次治理的中国未来发展旨在：倡导人类命运共同体,推动全球治理体系变革;倡导“亲、诚、惠、容”理念,构筑友好交往和务实合作的地区环境;加强党的领导,夯实中国特色的国家治理基础;完善社会治理体系,实现社会治理优质高效。     

Reconstructing Citizens as Consumers: Implications for New Modes of Governance

This article examines the relationship between government and the public within a producer–consumer market exchange. Four conceptual problems are identified in relation to the application of market models to the relationship between government and citizen. These types of models fail to account for the essentially political engagement between government and citizens, the collective responsibilities of government, the absence of markets in many areas of government service delivery and the complexity of relations between government and citizens.     

Institutional preconditions of privatization in market-based political economies: Implications for Jordan

Concepts of privatization have been adopted on a global scale. Yet few studies examine issues other than economic and selected political ones. This article argues, however, that a broad spectrum of institutional considerations must be evaluated in order to assess the viability of any proposed privatization strategy. A further distinction must be made between countries with developed markets and those market-based political economies (MBPEs) whose extant institutional configurations have not reached a level of independence to fully support extensive privatization measures. Jordan, Turkey and Egypt would be examples of such countries. This article contends that the enactment and implementation of privatization policies will achieve its avowed goals only (a) if the state-controlled enterprises (SCEs) are sufficiently independent of their supervising bureaucracies (presumably a ministry, the treasury or development planning organization) prior to their transfer to a private partner and (b) if the government possesses requisite monitoring capacity to ensure the fulfilment of contractual obligations of the privatized entity. An ancillary thesis suggests that the societal and organizational culture must be succinctly separated to warrant a full-scale transfer of SCEs to the private sector. In Jordan, privatization has been discussed for a number of years, but no projects have been attempted so far. The article assesses the likelihood of large-scale privatization occurring soon.     

Steering at a Distance: A New Paradigm of Public Governance in Dutch Higher Education

In the 1980s a new concept of government steering was developed at the Dutch ministry of Education and Sciences, called “steering at a distance.” It is a departure from “classical” government steering by means of legislation, prohibitions and regulations and a move towards more autonomy and self-responsibility for institutions of higher education. This new paradigm of public governance in Dutch higher education represents a drastic change both in a practical sense — the new steering concept has actually been carried out and implemented resulting in major institutional, legal, financial and planning changes — and in the scientific sense. The new concept departs from hierarchical, direct top-down control. Government is only one of the influencing actors in a complex network of many interrelated, more or less autonomous actors. The new concept contributes to the scientific body of knowledge on steering in complex interorganizational networks.     

The New Institutionalism and EC Governance: The Promise and Limits of Institutional Analysis

The "new" institutionalisms" in rational choice and historical analysis are being applied with increasing sophistication and accuracy to the study of European Community governance. The basic premise of such institutional approaches is that EC institutions, once created, "take on a life of their own," acting as independent or intervening variables between the preferences and power of the member governments on the one hand, and the ultimate policy outputs of EC governance on the other. The challenge for institutionalist theory consists in constructing a precise analytical tool-box that will allow us to make specific predictions about the ways in which, and the conditions under which, EC institutions may exert such an independent causal influence. EC institutions matter, I suggest, insofar as they: lend stability to an existing institutional structure; shape any subsequent amendment of those institutions; allow individual member governments to be outvoted by qualified majority; cause member states to lose control of events through lock-ins; and subject member governments to the actions of supranational agents whose behavior they can control only imperfectly.