The new global governors: Globalization,civil society,and the rise of private philanthropic foundations

ABSTRACT

One of the important drivers of change within contemporary global civil society is the growing power and influence of private philanthropic foundations (PPFs). To illustrate this argument, this article considers the cases of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and the Open Society Foundations (OSF), the largest and fourth largest PPFs in the world today by wealth or assets, and, especially, their founders. The article considers their influence within global civil society, within the context of international development, and the consequences of their activities for a range of international actors. This is done in the context of debate within the literature on the activities of PPFs, in which the articles sides with advocates of critical scrutiny. In developing its argument, the article draws on a range of sources including the financial statements and audited accounts of PPFs, of other non-governmental organizations and of selected inter-governmental organizations. It is argued that the BMGF and OSF are engines of neoliberalism and potent symbols of a second distinct ‘gilded age’ and that their influence must be restrained through anti-trust measures and through greater taxation and regulation.     

Citizen participation through mobilization and the rise of political Islam in Indonesia

The idea that populations participate politically outside of the formal mechanisms of a political system and through mass mobilizations is a reasonably accepted part of political science orthodoxy. Since the turn of the last century, in Indonesia, as in other developing countries, populations have mobilized en masse at particular stages of their histories into nation-state building processes, as well as have been mobilized by political authorities seeking to bolster or install their regimes. In the 1960s, Sukarno increasingly sought to mobilize a range of classes and interests behind his presidency and, in 1965–66, Suharto and his military backers organized anti-communist groups behind a systematic campaign to eradicate the Communist Party and remove Sukarno. Throughout the so-called ‘New Order’ period (1966–98), Suharto periodically mobilized groups behind his presidency and against opponents who, in turn, engaged in occasional street demonstrations against the regime. In the mid-to-late 1990s, the opposition leader, Megawati Sukarnoputri became an important rallying point for popular dissent against Suharto and, in 1998, the student movement played a crucial role in street demonstrations which helped bring down the president after three decades of strongman rule. In the post-Suharto period, which has seen the installation of three presidents between 1998 and 2001, mass mobilizations have continued to be a striking feature of the political landscape. President Habibie mobilized pro-government militias against opponents and student demonstrators, who threatened to bring down his regime. The Muslim supporters of Abdurrahman Wahid entered the streets in their thousands to protest the parliamentary impeachment of the president. Radical Muslim groups demonstrated against US military strikes on Afghanistan and against President Megawati Sukarnoputri's initial soft stance on the strikes. Potentially, these kinds of demonstrations could undermine Megawati's presidency. However, parliamentary processes rather than street mobilizations brought the presidencies of Habibie and Abdurrahman to an end while Megawati is still seeing out her term. This article examines the political mobilizations of the late-Suharto and post-Suharto periods and asks whether these mobilizations pose a threat to Indonesia's fragile transition to democracy and to a more stable institutional political process.     

Asia's rise and the politics of Australian aid policy

Abstract The economic rise of developing Asia has given impetus to debates over the geographic orientation, strategy, organisation, and collaborative relationships of the Australian aid programme. This paper examines these debates, Australian government responses, and the politics underlying these responses. It points to, among things, the different ways in which the Labor Party and the Liberal–National Coalition have dealt with these issues, reflecting their different constituencies and foreign policy philosophies. The paper also assesses the future trajectory of Australian aid policy, in particular, the extent to which it is embracing the Chinese model of aid.     

加强政府信用建设的思考

政府信用是信用的基础和源头,政府信用是社会信用体系建设的关键,因此,政府信用的提高对于提升个人信用和社会信用具有十分重要的意义。要提高政府信用,必须重视政府的信用意识,依照诚信原则,做到依法行政,言出有据、言而有信。同时,要进一步转变政府职能,树立服务意识,规范政府行为。本文旨在对政府信用缺失原因的分析,探析如何改善政府与民众之间的信任关系,提高政府信用水平。     

Science governance and the politics of proper talk: governmental bioethics as a new technology of reflexive government

Abstract

The article examines the emergence of governmental bioethics in Great Britain, France and Germany, i.e. bodies, discourses and procedures meant to guide policy-making in terms of ethical considerations. It argues that governmental bioethics, marked by openness, transparency and participation, can be understood as a form of reflexive government in the realm of science governance. It grew out of the problematization of older forms of science governance based on ideas of effectiveness, scientific expertise and system stability, and operates through structuring and managing proper talk rather than intervening in processes of techno-scientific development. Yet, rather than challenging the commitment to techno-scientific ‘progress’, it stabilizes it through mechanisms of inclusion, involvement and mobilization: within the framework of proper ethical talk, participation can be employed to pursue rather than oppose system stability.     

Evolutionary psychology and politics

Like its predecessor sociobiology, evolutionary psychology has distanced itself from political discourse. In so far as evolutionary psychology can contribute towards an understanding of politics, it claims to do so only as a potential explanation for political behaviour. However, I argue that evolutionary psychology - like sociobiology - is itself a political phenomenon. It proceeds from a conception of the political - drawn from the Hobbesian social contract tradition - which crucially informs its theoretical trajectory. A recognition of the political character of evolutionary psychology, in this respect, should be the starting point of its critique.     

The politics of redistribution in local government

Abstract. This paper deals with the politics of redistribution in local government. Traditionally, it has been assumed that redistributive policies are crucial in electoral competition and party politics, both in national and local political systems. From this perspective, differences in local competition and party systems are essential to an explanation of local redistributive efforts. Peterson (1981), however, claims that redistributive policies are excluded from the local agenda because they impair local economic prosperity. These policies are therefore not conceived as instruments in the vote-maximizing strategies of local political parties. In this paper, hypotheses on the impact of party competition and party politics on local redistribution are formulated and tested on data for 342 Dutch municipalities. The results show that, contrary to what would be expected from Peterson's perspective, municipal redistributive efforts were related to electoral competitiveness and the party system. The proposed model, however, proved to be unsatisfactory in accurately predicting the direction of the effects of these explanatory variables. These results suggest that, rather than abandoning the study of local redistribution as a non-issue in subnational politics, an effort should be made to develop a better theoretical understanding of the ways in which competition and party politics shape these policies.     

The politics of government reorganization in Western Europe

The reorganization of governments is crucial for parties to express their policy preferences once they reach office. Yet these activities are not confined to the direct aftermath of general elections or to wide-ranging structural reforms. Instead, governments reorganize and adjust their machinery of government all the time. This paper aims to assess these structural choices with a particular focus at the core of the state, comparing four Western European democracies (Germany, France, the Netherlands, and United Kingdom) from 1980 to 2013. Our empirical analysis shows that stronger shifts in cabinets' ideological profiles in the short- and long-term as well as the units' proximity to political executives yield significant effects. In contrast, Conservative governments, commonly regarded as key promoters of reorganizing governments, are not significant for the likelihood of structural change. We discuss the effects of this politics of government reorganization for different research debates assessing the inner workings of governments.     

Pathological politics: The anatomy of government failure

This essay is a slightly altered version of chapter 4 in Beyond Politics: Markets, Welfare, and the Failure of Bureaucracy.(Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1994). Reprinted by permission from The Independent Institute.     

Building service-oriented government in the theory of good governance under globalization

In order to adapt the increasing need of globalization and domestic social reform, constructing the service-oriented government becomes the best way to reform our government. It becomes an urgent problem to construct the service-oriented government in the concept of good governance under globalization and realize the transformation of our government administrative model from ＂taking the government as standard＂ to ＂taking people as standard＂. This article is to clear about the role localization in constructing the service-oriented government through discussing the value of good governance idea, investigating how to construct the service-oriented government under realistic national condition and the concept of global good governance, and analysis on the service-oriented government construction.     

论西方国家政府诚信制度的构建与演变

在经历了长期发展的过程后，西方国家逐步建立起了较为完善的政府诚信制度。其中，宪政是政府诚信的根本制度保障，此外，还有一系列具体的、操作性强的政府诚信的制度，如选举制度、监督制度、信息公开制度、税收制度等。西方国家的政府诚信制度是西方人民政治智慧的结晶，对于正处于政治文明建设中的国家来说，具有很高的借鉴价值。     

Indigenous institutions and local government in the Torres Strait

The relationships between local governments and Indigenous institutions in Australia are unstudied, despite both being oriented to the local level. Related research focuses on the performance of Indigenous local governments, Indigenous forms of governance and its relation to local government, relations between local governments and Indigenous communities, and the intercultural dynamics of Indigenous and Western governance frameworks in local governments. This article presents the findings of a study that examines relations between local governments and Indigenous institutions in the Torres Strait, a relationship that is framed by s. 9(3) of the Local Government Act 2009 (Qld) (LGA) that allows local governments to ‘take account of Aboriginal tradition and Island custom’. A framework adapted from health-related studies, consisting of three alternative policy approaches—mainstreaming, indigenisation, and hybridisation—is used in this study to characterise relationships between local governments and Indigenous institutions. Kinship and country, two important Indigenous institutions, are marginalised in Queensland's mainstream system of local government, which in turn creates obstacles for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from participating and engaging in local government processes.

Points for practitioners

• Government that does not recognise the institutions which are fundamental to how Indigenous people govern will marginalise them from power.
• Indigenous institutions are legitimate actors whose voice must be considered within mainstreaming discussions.
• Representation within indigenous institutions influences local government relations.

     

A study on the rising of service-oriented government

With the development of the society, governments strengthen their functions and expand the scope of management, as well as administrative agencies and staffing increases, resulting in organization overstaffing, bureaucracy and public expenditure can not survey burden. From the 70s of 20th century, the model of managerialism-based government began inefficient, and appeared fnancial crisis, managing crisis and trust crisis, which led to large-scale administrative reform. In this reform, a lot of theories appeared. To redefine the functions of government and look for the way to achieve the government functions become the requirement of the age and the focus of attention. The paper is to show the defects of traditional managerialism-based mode and the new requirements of people and society, by researching into the rising of service-oriented government, so as to enhance the construction of the service-oriented government in China.     

The rise and decline of new politics and the Greens in Sweden and Germany

Abstract. The failure of the Green parties at recent elections in Sweden and Germany makes it necessary to consider the future of 'new politics' in each country. With reference to modern organisation theory, the goal of this article is to explain the different character of the Green parties in both countries in terms of external political resources. Above all the features of new social movements on the one hand and the different party systems on the other are of particular importance. It is argued that both factors have an impact on the cleavage structure and social change in Sweden and Germany, as well as being important for the organizational survival of Green parties in both countries. The conclusion is that 'new politics' and the Greens have a more promising future in Germany than in Sweden.     

Divided government and US federal rulemaking

Despite paying a great deal of attention to the effects of divided government on legislative outputs, scholars of American politics have surprisingly ignored the potential impact of divided government on bureaucratic regulatory outputs. In this article we argue that divided government should reduce the volume of federal agency rulemaking. We test this hypothesis against a data set covering 21,000 rules from 1983 to 2005. Our study is one of the first to analyze the determinants of federal bureaucratic rulemaking activity across such a long period of time. Our results demonstrate that during periods of divided government, agencies issue fewer rules and fewer substantively significant rules than they do during periods of unified government. These findings suggest that divided government impedes agency rulemaking.     

The politics of local government reform in rural Bangladesh

Several changes have been introduced in the system of local government in rural Bangladesh following the country's independence. Examination reveals that they were changes only in nomenclature, and did not result in significant improvements. The constant effort by the central government to retain control over local bodies, and the tendency of the ruling elite not to disturb the existing local government system, have worked to the detriment of reforms. The existing local government system failed to satisfy the aspirations of the rural Bangladeshis for increased participation in local affairs. After the first change of government in Bangladesh, the new ruling group felt the need for a support base in the rural areas. The formation of a new political party and the necessity of extending it to the grass roots, increased the desire of the people to participate in local affairs, and the realization of the importance of initiating and completing rural development programmes at the lowest level made the government aware of the need for local government institutions based in the villages. The government was impressed by the success of the Swanirvar Bangladesh Andolon, and introduced Swanirvar Gram Sarkar as a major reform in the local government system.     

No direct taxation without new elite representation: Industrialization and the domestic politics of taxation

The nineteenth century marked the founding period of modern public finance. We examine the domestic and non-war related determinants of direct taxation in this early democratic period and in a state building context. We argue that the reasons for the expansion of direct taxation can be found in the political competition between different elite groups in the context of industrialization. Systematically differentiating between economic and political arenas, we show that intra-elite competition in industrializing economies leads to higher levels of direct taxation only if the new economic elites are able to translate their economic power into the political arena, either through the representative system or by extra-parliamentary means. In addition, we demonstrate that these processes are directly linked to public investments in policy areas related to the interests of new economic elites such as public education. Our analysis is based on novel subnational data from the period 1850 to 1910, enabling us to concentrate on the domestic determinants of direct taxation.     

Democracy and the demand for government redistribution: A survey analysis

This article uses survey data to study the impact of democracy on the demand by poor citizens for government redistribution. Taking the well‐known Meltzer‐Richard theory as the point of departure, three arguments are presented as to why such a demand should be stronger in democracies than in autocracies: in democracies low‐income groups are: (1) exposed to elections that can make a policy difference: (2) better informed about the income distribution; and (3) better equipped to process such information. The argument receives empirical support in a Bayesian multilevel analysis which combines 188 World Values Surveys with cross‐sectional and longitudinal macro data from 80 countries.     

政府部门与企业人员招募特征和现状的差异性比较

人员招募工作是组织获取人力资源的首要环节,无论是政府部门还是企业,都要通过招募人员不断充实新生力量。然而由于组织特徵的不同,政府部门和企业的人员招募工作也存在显着差异。本文从政府部门和企业两个组织的特徵分析入手,系统比较了两者人员招募工作的特征和现状的差异,井提出了相互借鉴的建议。