Valuing Policy Alternatives: A Generalization

Those interested in political phenomena such as voting havefound random utility models, originally developed for decisionssuch as transportation choice, especially attractive, as theunderlying model can yield a statistical model with a few simple,realistic assumptions. Unfortunately, such models have provendifficult to apply to situations with more than two votes andthree alternatives or an unknown cutpoint. Additionally, aswe show, standard applications of such models to voting, whileproducing consistent parameter estimates, yield standard errorsthat are too small and, due to a failure to employ all relevanttheoretical information, biased ideal point estimates. We specifya general model applicable to any number of votes and alternatives,with correct standard errors and unbiased ideal point estimates.We apply this model to a number of cases studied by previousscholars involving legislative voting over the minimum wage:(1) when there are two votes and two known cutpoints (K. Krehbieland D. Rivers, American Journal of Political Science, 1988,32, 1151–1174); (2) when there are three votes and threeknown cutpoints (J. Wilkerson, American Journal of PoliticalScience, 1991, 35, 613–623); and (3) when there are threevotes but where one cutpoint is unknown given a lack of knowledgeabout the impact of a policy (J. Wilkerson, American Journalof Political Science, 1991, 35, 613–623) or the possibilityof sophisticated voting (C. Volden, Journal of Politics, 1998,60, 149–173). We show that in various contexts our analysisimproves on existing methods, yielding consistent and efficientideal point estimates and a better-fitting model with improvedpredictive accuracy.     

住宅问题:历史唯物主义的空间切片

空间维度并非历史唯物主义话语体系的空场,且在20世纪社会理论中得到进一步深化.作为社会历史发展进程中人类所直面的具体空间实体,住宅蕴含着人类的生存实践与生活体验.工业化以来住宅问题成为最基本的社会问题之一,对此空间生产的资本逻辑具有一定的解释性.透过住宅短缺等问题表象,看到的是社会关系的立体网络结构,从而试图用现实层面的权利话语建构来打破社会改革的实际困境,由此管窥历史唯物主义之于当代的革命意义.     

Municipal Default Patterns: An Historical Study

The incidence of municipal default is closely related to the business cycles in this country. During national depressions nearly all sectors and regions experience defaults, although not with equal severity. Regional borrowing behavior during the boom years preceding depression determines which regions will be most severely affected by national depression. The history of state and local borrowing is briefly surveyed with attention to four major periods of economic expansion and the national depressions that followed. Regional development cycles are then reviewed with a focus on several cases: special district defaults both at the turn of the century and today; Detroit at the beginning of the automobile industry; and Florida in the 1920s. New York City and Cleveland are analyzed in the context of urban crises. Revenue bond defaults, including toll roads and the Washington Public Power and Supply System (WPPSS) are analyzed for special recurring patterns.     

Evaluating Collaboration: The Solution to One Problem Often Causes Another

Collaboration has become the predominant approach to solving complex public problems. This choice, however, often is not driven by demonstrated effectiveness. Collaboration is instead chosen in the hope that a networked arrangement will be more effective than individual organizations working on the issue alone. Questions regarding collaborative effectiveness persist and constitute a significant challenge facing both public management practitioners and public administration scholars. In light of the case study in this issue of Public Administration Review by Maurits Waardenburg and colleagues, this article reviews the current thinking on the measurement of collaborative performance and discusses steps that professionals can take to evaluate the effectiveness of their collaborative endeavors.     

伟大的历史命题:胡锦涛中国当代国家发展模式理论

党的十六大以来,胡锦涛站在人类历史发展的潮头,提出科学发展观、建设和谐社会和创新型国家三位一体战略思想,形成了中国当代国家发展模式的基本理论框架;它揭示了当前中国社会发展的新方向,是指导中国社会主义现代化建设的强大思想武器。胡锦涛中国当代国家发展模式战略思想的创立,是一个伟大的历史命题,是中华民族和中国共产党发展史上第三个里程碑,展示了奔向共产主义伟大理想的新途径,是党的十七大的思想理论基础,具有划时代的意义。     

中国传统社会腐败治理的主要经验、历史局限与现代传承

腐败治理的成效关系着国运兴衰,吏廉则治盛,政清则国强。在中国古代历史发展长河中,腐败治理被高度重视,前人积累了建章立制、突出惩戒、强化监察、重典治吏、完备考绩、涵养官德等丰富经验。这些经验蕴含着治国理政的传统政治智慧,但由于社会历史的局限性而无法发挥其治本功效。中国传统社会的腐败治理经验有着广泛的民众心理基础,又与当前反腐治本之需高度契合,极富文化张力和生命力。对传统社会腐败治理的经验与教训,需要从持续推进高压反腐、不断完善制度法规建设、强化官德教育、创新党政干部管理等方面加以传承和发展。     

当代中国执政党、国家、社会一体化及其原因

执政党、国家、社会一体化是政党、国家、社会关系的一种非常态形式,是执政党结构严密和功能扩张的结果。它是在当代中国政治现代化过程中,在国家和社会能力虚弱的条件下,执政党权力扩张以至控制国家和社会从而三者结合成为一个有机整体的过程或状态。执政党、国家、社会一体化是当代中国政治发展过程中的一个重要政治现象,研究执政党、国家、社会一体化问题对于我们理解中国政治发展的规律具有重要的理论和实践意义。执政党、国家、社会一体化研究为反思“大跃进”和“文化大革命”等政治运动提供了一个崭新的视角。从执政党、国家、社会关系的角度来看,“大跃进”、“文化大革命”与革命社会是连续的历史过程。社会主义思潮、革命经历和现代化危机共同推进了当代中国执政党、国家、社会一体化的形成。     

有效政府:当代行政改革的价值取向

当代行政改革的价值目标是建立一个有效政府,而有效政府除了具备行政效率外,还应具备行政效能及行政行为的有效性.有效政府是有限政府、法治政府、民主政府、服务型政府和学习型政府等多重特性的统一.实现这一目标,必须不断完善民主监督机制和全面推进依法行政,有效促进新的行政文化的建构和公共管理方式的创新.     

Shirking in the Contemporary Congress: A Reappraisal

Michael H. Crespin Department of Political Science, Michigan State University, 303 S. Kedzie Hall, East Lansing, MI 48824 e-mail: e-mail: crespinm{at}msu.edu Jeffery A. Jenkins Department of Political Science, Northwestern University, 601 University Place, Evanston, IL 60208 e-mail: e-mail: j-jenkins3{at}northwestern.edu Ryan J. Vander Wielen Department of Political Science, Washington University in St. Louis, Campus Box 1027, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130 e-mail: e-mail: rjvander{at}artsci.wustl.edu This paper replicates the findings that appeared in the article"Severing the Electoral Connection: Shirking in the ContemporaryCongress," published in the American Journal of Political Science(44:316–325), in which Lawrence Rothenberg and MitchellSanders incorporated a new research design and, contrary toall previous studies, found evidence of ideological shirkingin the U.S. House of Representatives. We investigate the robustnessof their results by reestimating their model with Congress-specificfixed effects and find that their results no longer hold.     

Morality of Public Deficits: A Historical Perspective

This article examines the morality of public deficits through the views of political leaders, economists and public finance experts. It looks at the changing attitude about borrowing for the modern state and examines the ability of current generations to shift the debt burden to future generations. The article also explores whether the adoption of an organic or individualistic concept of the role of the state affects conclusions concerning the morality of public debt.     

中国贫困问题的历史分析与三十年反贫困的社会巨变效应

贫困问题是当今世界最尖锐的社会历史问题之一.中国的贫困问题由来已久,在不同的历史时期,反贫困都具有深远的意义.新中国成立后的第一个30年,我党在反贫困理论与实践的探索中,既有成功经验,又有沉痛教训.改革开放的30年,是我国反贫困理论与反贫困实践不断产生重大突破的30年,也是中国社会发生历史性巨变的30年.中国30年反贫困的伟大成就,为建设全面小康社会奠定了坚实的基础.