Joining public accountability and performance management: A case study of Lethbridge,Alberta

Abstract: This article presents an in‐depth assessment of how performance measurement, public reporting, and internal performance management have been merged in Lethbridge, Alberta. Business‐unit managers and council members both share the view that performance measurement and reporting are useful and that performance information is credible. This finding contrasts with the more general view that performance information is not used much, despite widespread commitments to collecting it. In Lethbridge, a balance has been struck between performance measurement for management uses and council uses. The current system is driven by managers who share the view that performance measurement and reporting are useful for improving programs and providing information that can be a part of public accountability. If performance measurement is to add value in public‐sector organizations, it needs to have the continued support of managers – they are key to developing the measures, collecting the information and using it, and sustaining such systems. Changes that undermine the trust that is critical to a workable compromise for performance measurement, public reporting and performance management ultimately undermine the integrity of these systems.     

Alternative service delivery in the natural resources sector: An examination of Ontario's forestry compliance self‐inspection system

Abstract: This paper examines the compliance self‐inspection system adopted by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) in relation to the province's forest industry from 1998 onwards. The system is a prominent example of the experiments with alternative service delivery arrangements that took place in the context of the province's application of “new public management” principles to public administration following the 1995 election. Evaluative criteria related to governnance, accountability, and performance are used to assess the self‐inspection system and alternatives to it. The assessment identifies concerns regarding the legal basis for the self‐inspection arrangement, the conflicts of interest inherent in the system, the implications of MNR'S increased dependence on forest licence‐holders for operational functions, the ministry's ability to oversee the inspection system and the capacity of licence‐holders to carry out the functions assigned to them, the impacts on legislative officer and public oversight of forest management activities, differences in the performance of MNR and licence‐holder employed inspectors, and the overall cost‐effectiveness of the system. The restoration of the ministry's compliance inspection functions, or the establishement of an independent profession of forestry compliance inspectors, are identified as the preferred alternatives to the existing self‐inspection system. Sommaire: Le présent article examine le système d'auto‐contrale de la conformité adopté par le ministère des Richesses naturellcs (MRN) de I'Ontario en ce qui con‐cerne l'industrie forestière depuis 1998. Le système est un remarquable exemple d'experiences avec differents modes de prestation des services qui ont eu lieu avec I'application par la province des principes de la « nouvelle gestion publiquc » I'administration publique apres l'election de 1995. Des critères d'Évaluation concer‐nant la gouvernance, l'imputabilité et la performance sont utilisés pour évaluer Ie systeme d'auto‐contrôe et les autres options. L'évaluation fait ressortir des préoccupations concernant le fondement juridique du mode d'auto‐contrôle, les conflits d'intérêt inhérents au systeme, les implications de la dependance accrue du MRN a l'egard des titulaires de permis forestiers pour les fonctions d'exécution, l'aptitude du ministere a superviser le système de contrôle et la capacité des titulaires de permis à exécuter les fonctions qui leur sont assignées, les impacts de la surveillance des activités de gestion forestière sur les fonctionnaires et le public, les différences dans la performance du MRN et des contrôleurs titulaires de permis, et la rentabilité glo‐bale du systeme. Les alternatives préférés au systeme d'auto‐contrôe existant seraient la restauration des fonctions dé contrôle conformees au ministère ou bien l'établissement d'une profession indépendante de contrôleurs de la conformité forestière.     

Workers' compensation in Canada: a case for greater public accountability

Abstract: In this article, the authors argue that workers' compensation policies in Canada should be made more accountable to elected governments. The changing nature of occupational risks has created a range of workplace injuries against which current workers' compensation programs do not adequately insure. The existence of workers' compensation alongside the other components of the social‐safety net may have created significant numbers of individuals who are either not receiving compensation when they should be or are receiving compensation when they should not be. The implication is that other programs bear some of the costs that should be borne by workers' compensation and, conversely, that some of the costs borne by workers' compensation should be borne by other social programs. These “gaps and overlaps” indicate that workers' compensation should be better integrated with the rest of the programs that make up the Canadian social‐safety net. The article concludes with a menu of reforms, including the establishment, through legislation, of a formal reporting relationship; changes to the composition and size of governance structures; the introduction of strategic planning; and the establishment of performance measurement processes. Sommaire: Selon les auteurs de cet article, les politiques concernant les accidents du travail au Canada devraient relever davantage des gouvernements élus. L'évolution des risques professionnels a Créé toute une gamme d'accidents du travail pour lesquels l'assurance des régimes actuels d'indemnisation est inadéquate. L'existence des régimes d'assurance contre les accidents du travail parallèlement aux autres éléments de sécurité sociale aurait pour effet de multiplier le nombre de personnes quisoit ne reçoivent pas de prestations lorsqu'elles devraient en recevoir, soit l'inverse. Par conséquent, d'autres programmes défraient certains des coûts qui incombent au régime des accidents du travail, tandis que ce dernier défraie des coûts imputables a d'autres programmes sociaux. Ces lacunes et chevauchements indiquent que le régime d'assurance contre les accidents du travail devrait être mieux intégré au reste des programmes qui constituent le filet de sécurité sociale au Canada. L'article propose une série de réformes, dont l'adoption légiférée d'une relation formelle de compte rendu, la modification de la composition et de la taille des structures de gouvernance, l'adoption de la planification stratégique, et l'établissement de processus de mesure du rendement.     

When public-sector salaries become public knowledge: Academic salaries and Ontario's Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act

Abstract: The effects of salary disclosure on public-sector compensation have long been a source of controversy in political and academic circles. Some commentators suggest that because of political pressure and closer public scrutiny, salary disclosure is a good thing because it results in pay that is both lower than it would otherwise be and more sensitive to performance. On the other hand, disclosure raises serious privacy considerations and could also have an inflationary effect on salaries unless all elements in a causal chain linking public knowledge and lower pay are firmly in place. In this study, the authors examine the implications of Ontario's Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act with respect to university-sector salaries. The main conclusions are that salary disclosure, in general, and in the academic sector in particular, has never fully accounted for proper comparability issues and has not been updated to reflect adjustments for inflation. The act also raises important questions of privacy that have not been fully addressed. Perhaps most notably, there is no evidence suggesting that salary disclosure has much of an influence in off-setting other factors affecting salary growth.     

Beyond COVID-19: Five commentaries on expert knowledge,executive action,and accountability in governance and public administration

Several Canadian and international scholars offer commentaries on the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for governments and public service institutions, and fruitful directions for public administration research and practice. This first suite of commentaries focuses on the executive branch, variously considering: the challenge for governments to balance demands for accountability and learning while rethinking policy mixes as social solidarity and expert knowledge increasingly get challenged; how the policy-advisory systems of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and United Kingdom were structured and performed in response to the COVID-19 crisis; whether there are better ways to suspend the accountability repertoires of Parliamentary systems than the multiparty agreement struck by the minority Liberal government with several opposition parties; comparing the Canadian government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Global Financial Crisis and how each has brought the challenge of inequality to the fore; and whether the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated or disrupted digital government initiatives, reinforced traditional public administration values or more open government.     

国际卫生法的新使命:全球公共健康治理

世界卫生组织在20世纪通过两个国际规章来控制疾病的跨国传播,本世纪通过了《国际卫生法规（2005）》与《烟草控制条约》。目前面临的最大挑战是能否处理好世界上最贫穷国家、地区和人民的公共健康问题,满足其基本生存需要。建议其与国际组织、国家、企业、基金、民间组织合作,达成全球公共健康框架公约,有效改善穷国的卫生条件,帮助他们进行能力和机构建设,这是世界卫生组织和国际卫生法在新的条件下必须承担的新使命和发展的新契机。     

Institutional design and the accountability paradox: A case study of three Aboriginal accountability regimes in Canada

While academic interest in accountability and transparency mechanisms in Aboriginal governance has risen over the past few years, very few studies have examined how these mechanisms operate in practice. One author, Shin Imai ( 2007 ), argues that Indigenous groups in Canada are faced with an accountability paradox that gives too much power to the federal government to intervene in band affairs, while giving too little power to band members to hold their local officials accountable for their actions. This paper examines the extent to which Aboriginal groups can avoid this paradox by reviewing three experiments in institutional design and self‐government in Aboriginal communities: the Sechelt Indian Band and the Westbank First Nation in British Columbia, and Nunatsiavut in Labrador. While considerable variation exists in terms of how well these communities overcome Imai's paradox, each community's accountability regime is an improvement over the one imposed by the Indian Act. The effectiveness of these regimes depends heavily on the institutional designs chosen by the Indigenous groups.     

浅析网络舆情及应对中存在的问题和改进的建议

网络舆情是民众通过互联网对政府管理以及现实社会中各种现象、问题所表达的政治信念、态度、意见和情绪的总和。网络已经成为反映社会舆情的重要载体之一,随着互联网时代的全面来临,这一趋势还将继续扩大。加强对网络舆情的及时监测、精确研判、有效引导和积极化解,对维护社会稳定具有重要的现实意义。     

Public safety in private hands: A Study of Ontario's Technical Standards and Safety Authority

Abstract: This article examines the experience of Ontario's Technical Standards and Safety Authority (tssa), a not‐for‐profit corporation to which the public‐safety regulation functions of the province's Ministry of Consumer and Commercial Relations (now the Ministry of Consumer and Business Services) were transferred in 1997. The authors place the tssa in the larger context of the restructuring of government functions and responsibilities and the transferring of these activities to non‐governmental actors, as part of what has become known around the world as the “new public management.” The history, rationale, mandate, structure and functions of the tssa are described. In addition, an assessment of the tssa as a model for the delivery of public services against criteria related to governance, political and legal accountability and performance relative to its predecessor is provided. The article concludes that significant gaps remain in the Ministry of Consumer and Business Services' capacity to adequately oversee the tssa and in the accountability framework for the tssa relative to that applicable to a conventionally structured government agency. Improvements in public safety outcomes in Ontario over the past decade are noted, although many of these trends pre‐date the creation of the tssa and may be attributable to factors other than the mccr/tssa transition. Sommaire: Le présent article passe en revue I'expérience de la Technical Standards and Safety Authority (tssa) de I'Ontario, organisme à but non lucratif auquel furent transférées en 1997 les fonctions relatives à la réglementation de la sécurité publique du ministère de la Consommation et du Commerce de la province (devenu le ministère des Services aux consommateurs et aux entreprises). Les auteurs placent la Esa dans le contexte plus vaste de la restructuration des fonctions et responsabilités gouvernementales et du transfert de ces activités à des organismes non gouvemementaux, dans le cadre de ce qui est maintenant connu mondialement sous le nom de « nouvelle gestion publique ». 11s décrivent l'historique, la justification, le mandat, la structure et les fonctions de la tssa. Ils foumissent en outre me évaluation de la Esa en tant que modèle de prestation de services publics selon des critères de gouvemance, d'imputabilité politique et légale et de rendement par rapport à son prédécesseur. L'article conclut qu'il existe encore d'importantes lacunes en ce qui concerne la capacité du ministère des Services aux consommateurs et aux entreprises à superviser adéquatement la tssa et en ce qui concerne le cadre de responsabilité de la tssa par rapport à ce qui s'applique à un organisme gouvernemental de structure conventionnelle. L'article mentionne les améliorations concernant la sécurité publique survenues en Ontario au cours de la dernière décennie, quoique nombre de ces tendances datent d'avant la création de la tssa et pourraient tre attribuables à des facteurs autres que la transition du mcc à la tssa.     

Environmental lobbying and political posturing: the role of environmental groups in Ontario's debate over NAFTA

Abstract: This paper examines the involvement of Ontario-based environmental organizations in the debate over NAFTA and their relationship with various ministries at Queen's Park responsible for developing policy on the agreement. More specifically, this study seeks to explain why and how the Ontario government relied on a select group of environmental organizations to advance its anti-NAFTA campaign. The paper concludes by arguing that while a handful of environmental organizations played an important role in increasing public awareness about the potential environmental implications of NAFTA, these organizations also served as effective vehicles for conveying Ontario's opposition to the agreement. Sommaire: Dans cet article, nous examinons la participation des organismes environ-nementaux de I'Ontario au dkbat concernant l'ALENA ainsi que leur rapport avec divers ministères ontariens chargés d'élaborer les politiques relatives à cet accord. Plus particulièrement, cette étude cherche à expliquer pourquoi et comment le gouvernement de l'Ontario a utilisé divers organismes environnementaux dans sa campagne anti-ALENA. L'article conclut que, si certains organismes environnementaux ont joué un rôle important dans la sensibilisation du public au sujet des répercussions environnementales potentielles de l'ALENA, ils ont aussi, par contre, véhiculé l'opposition de l'Ontario à cet accord.     

Public safety in private hands revisited: The case of Ontario's Technical Standards and Safety Authority

Delegated Administrative Authorities (DAAs) are widely employed for delivering public safety and consumer protection regulatory functions at the provincial level in Canada. Although strongly supported by governments, the model has been subject to considerable criticism from legislative committees and officers, non‐governmental organizations, and the media. This paper examines Ontario's DAA experience through the case of the Technical Standards and Safety Authority (TSSA). It finds that, like other jurisdictions pursuing similar new public management (NPM) reforms, the Ontario government adopted legislation significantly strengthening its oversight and control, indicating substantial concerns about the structure and performance of the TSSA and by implication Ontario's other DAAs. Even with these changes, significant gaps are identified in the TSSA's governance and accountability structures.     

高校绩效评价指标体系设计及应用研究——以教育部直属高校为例

高等教育公共投资的产出具有非盈利性、间接性、多元性等特征。基于导向性、可比性、相对性和可操作性的原则,构建由人才培养、科学研究、社会服务和资源条件4个一级指标及13个二级指标组成的高校绩效评估指标体系。对5所教育部直属财经院校的实证分析表明,对不同高校进行投资所产生的效益与其综合办学水平相一致。如果将评估范围延展至教育部直属的综合类高校和理工类高校。则需要对部分指标的统计口径和权重做相应调整。     

Balancing police budgets and decision making: an experiment in disentanglement

Abstract: In examining the relationship between municipal and provincial government authority over policing in Ontario, this article explores a specific project which has generated a substantial amount of interest, and controversy, around the issue of control of municipal police budgets. It will further scrutinize the process undertaken by the Expert Panel on Municipal Police Services Budgets in developing and advancing its recommendations as an interesting and instructive innovation in government decision making. The article will summarize and elaborate on the work of the Expert Panel, formed in March 1992, as the first enterprise in the disentanglement process embarked on by the Ontario provincial government, in partnership with the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, to review and rationalize a wide spectrum of provincial/local relationships with an aim to achieve greater efficiency, effectiveness, and client service. The issue of financial control over municipal police services is one of considerable importance in Ontario to both the municipal sector and the policing community. By considering the work of the Expert Panel as an exercise in disentanglement, within the context of the “vigilant problem-solving approach” formulated by Irving Jnnis, this article attempts to provide specific insight and guidance to other practitioners in the realm of public policy making, as well as to capture the processes and proceedings of this particular undertaking. Sommaire: Cet article examine le rapport entre les autorités provinciales et municipales qui exercent le contrôle de la police en Ontario; il s'intéresse à un projet particulier qui a suscité discussion et controverse en ce qui concerne le contrôle des budgets municipaux de police. Il examine par ailleurs le processus entrepris par le groupe d'experts en matière de budgets municipaux de services policiers pour formuler ses recommandations, processus qui constitue une innovation intéressante et instructive pour la prise de décisions gouvernementales. L'article résume et analyse le travail du groupe d'experts mis sur pied en mars 1992, première étape du processus de démêlement des rôles entrepris par le gouvernement de l'Ontario, en partenariat avec l'Association des municipalités de l'Ontario, afin d'examiner et de rationaliser une vaste gamme de relations provinciales-locales pour augmenter l'efficacité et améliorer le service à la clientèle. La question du contrôle financier des services policiers municipaux revêt beaucoup d'importance en Ontario, tant pour le secteur municipal que pour la collectivité policière. En considérant le travail du groupe d'experts comme étant un exercice de démêlement des rôles, dans le contexte de “ l'approche vigilante de résolution de problèmes ” formulée par Irving Janis, cet article essaie d'offrir aux autres praticiens de la prise de décisions publiques à la fois des explications et des façons de faire, tout en cernant les processus et méthodes de cet effort particulier.     

略论政治文明与高校工会维权机制建设

新时期高校工会创新工作 ,要从建设社会主义政治文明的高度来认识和构建高校工会维权机制建设 ,使高校工会工作在履行维权的基本职责上实现新的突破。     

试论胡锦涛保持港澳繁荣稳定的政策和制度创新

以胡锦涛为核心的党中央领导集体,为促进港澳地区的繁荣稳定,根据港澳地区的新情况、新问题,提出了一系列新思想,制定了一系列政策制度,巩固和发展了祖国统一的成果。     

浅析公众评价及其在警察评价体系中的地位

公众评价是警察评价体系的一个组成部分,同时也是由评价的主体、标准、方法、途径、保障机制等因素构成的一个相对独立的系统,处于警察评价体系的核心地位。警察工作的评价结果,根本上讲,应该以公众评价的结果为基础。     

Improving legislative surveillance of provincial public expenditures: the performance of the Public Accounts Committees and Auditors General

Abstract. Public disquiet over rapidly rising government expenditures makes control of the public purse a matter of continuous concern. While studies have shown that control improvements are needed at the federal level, the provincial experience has been virtually ignored. This study hopes to fill this void, making several observations on the conjoint roles of the ten provincial Public Accounts Committees and provincial Auditors General. A study of the standing operating procedures of the committees, the role of the Auditors, their inter-relationship, and other factors which affect the ability of the committees to do their job reveals the unevenness of provincial legislative audit surveillance. The rapid expansion in the areas of historic government responsibility and the increasing involvement by government in activities hitherto the responsibility of the private sector raise the crucial question as to whether management audits should be added to conventional financial auditing. The paper concludes that the major participants in the structures of provincial financial administration must ensure that the role of the committees and Auditors does not diminish in relation to those of cabinet and treasury, else the public image of responsible government may become tarnished. A number of reforms to the committees and Auditors may do much to restore the role of the legislatures in the years to come. The paper makes a number of recommendations to this end. Sommaire. L'inquiétude du public devant l'augmentation rapide des dépenses gouvernementales fait du contrǒle du Trésor public une question de preoccupation constante. Des études ont indiqué qu'il fallait améliorer les contrǒles au niveau fédéral, mais elles ont pratiquement laissé de cǒté l'expérience provinciale. Le but de cette étude est de remédier à cette carence en présentant diverses observations sur les roles conjoints des dix comités provinciaux des comptes publics et des auditeurs-généraux provinciaux. Un examen des procedures d'opération en usage, du rǒle des auditeurs, de leurs