Public Administration in a Conflict Situation: The Case of Northern Ireland

This article examines recent developments in the public administrative system in Northern Ireland. The conflict in Northern Ireland has received widespread publicity, Yet government in the region continues. Public services are delivered. The article considers how the public administrative system has played its part in the management by the British government of the conflict. There are many other situations where there is political violence. The Northern Ireland case may offer insights to public administrators and policymakers in managing such situations.     

Principles for Public Management Practice: From Dichotomies to Interdependence

In this essay we explore the relationship between management practices and a basic governance dilemma: how to manage flexibly and accountably. The challenge is both practical and theoretical. Managers must respond flexibly to the changing demands and expectations of the public and the ever-changing nature of public problems, yet they must do so in a manner that provides accountability to the public and political overseers. A dichotomous approach to the study of leadership as management action and the governance structures within which managers operate has inhibited the search for a public management theory that reconciles the dilemma. Emphasis upon managers as leaders typically focuses on the flexible actions managers might take to overcome structural "barriers," while emphasis upon governance structures typically focuses on the essential role of structure in ensuring accountability and restraining or motivating particular management efforts. The practicing manager, however, cannot deal with these aspects of the work separately. Managers must attend to demands for both flexible leadership action and structures that promise accountability. Anecdotal evidence provides illustrations of some of the ways that managers can integrate these demands. We suggest that these efforts point to an alternative theoretical framework that understands action and structure as mutually constitutive, creating a dynamic tension in which attention to one requires attention to the other.     

现代新媒体对公共事件应急管理的挑战

现代新媒体使公共事件传播的速度更快、范围更广,互动性与情绪性都更为突出,这一特点无疑给政府应急管理带来了极大地挑战,因此,必须通过突出＂快＂、立足＂防＂、注重＂细＂、全面＂引＂、提升＂能＂等措施,有效提升政府应对和处理公共事件的能力。     

The Limits to Coercive Consociationalism in Northern Ireland

The merits of consociation as a means of solving the Northern Ireland conflict are presented through contrasting it with other ways of stabilizing highly divided political systems. Why voluntary consociation has been unsuccessful in Northern Ireland and unfortunately is likely to remain so is explained. The signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement (AIA) must be understood against the background of the failure of previous consociational experiments. The AIA partly represented a shift in British strategy from voluntary to coercive consociationalism. The prospects for this coercive consociational strategy and variants on it are evaluated.     

Northern Ireland: At the Crossroads of Political and Administrative Reform

Northern Ireland is at a political and administrative cross-roads. Politically the Good Friday Agreement has paved the way for devolved government, and administratively the system of Direct Rule from Westminster will come to an end. This article examines the major problems of accountability linked to Direct Rule government and sets out a policy agenda for the new Northern Ireland Assembly.     

从国家行政到公共管理——历史视角中的公共行政

20世纪 80年代初期以来 ,许多发达国家公共部门的管理在发生巨大的变化。这不仅仅是一种形式上的变革或管理风格的细微变化 ,而是在政府的社会角色下政府与公民关系方面所进行的改革。本文回顾了公共行政发展演变之路 ,希望能有益于社会转型之中的中国各级政府。     

我国行政管理改革的特殊维度——立足我国国情借鉴“新公共管理“运动的思考

由于社会背景不同,因此,我国的行政管理改革只能借鉴而不能照搬西方的“新公共管理”模式。我们应当在审视自身国情的基础上,把握我国行政管理改革不同于西方“新公共管理”运动的特殊方面。这至少包括:为行政管理改革提供良好的法治环境;突出服务职能,同时强化必要的管制;大力培育非政府组织;有限制地引入市场机制和私营部门的管理方法;在促进规则制度建设的同时逐渐加大结果评价的权重;实现政治与行政的分离而又提升管理者的政治责任感。     

新时代中国公共行政的实践逻辑

随着中国公共治理实践的不断深化,扎根本土治理经验的公共行政概念、话语、理论正逐步生成,学科已逐渐超越知识"拿来主义"的阶段,在理论比较、对话的基础上,进入建构具有中国特色公共行政话语时期。新时代国家治理体系和治理能力现代化的推进,为公共行政学科的发展提供了理论养分和资源。本文以我国新时代政党与政府治理实践及制度安排为基础,从公共行政的管理体制、运行机制和技术治理等三个层面,讨论近年来公共行政实践所显示的重要特征,分析新时代公共行政立足的价值理念,探讨中国公共行政实践的逻辑意涵,致力于提取、概括公共行政理论发展的理论资源。     

Sowing Dragon's Teeth: Public Support for Political Violence and Paramilitarism in Northern Ireland

While much attention has been devoted to political efforts to solve the Northern Ireland problem, less attention has been given to the role of political violence in sustaining the conflict. We argue that one of the reasons for the intractability of the conflict is widespread exposure to political violence among the civil population. By 1998, thirty years after the conflict started, one in seven of the population reported being a victim of violence; one in five had a family member killed or injured; and one in four had been caught up in an explosion. Such widespread exposure to violence exists alongside latent support for paramilitarism among a significant minority of both communities. Using 1998 survey data, we show that exposure to violence serves to enhance public support for paramilitary groups, as well as to reduce support for the decommissioning of para-military weapons. Overall, the results suggest that only a lengthy period without political violence will undermine support for paramilitarism and result in the decommissioning of weapons.     

Bicommunalism in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is a bicommunal society in which Protestantsare numerically dominant; Roman Catholics constitute virtuallyall of the remaining population. On the island as a whole, Protestantsare heavily outnumbered; the Republic of Ireland (the "South")has a population that is about 96 percent Catholic. Social segregationof the two northern communities is relatively distinct, andthere is little crosscutting between groups that might lessenbicommunal conflict. A reciprocal relationship exists betweenthe social system and political structures. Northern Irish politicalinstitutions followed the Westminster model, which facilitatedthe political exclusion of Catholics and impeded social as wellas political integration. The bicommunal social structure hasimpeded the development of more accommodating political structures.Geographic issues and external linkages compound the politicalproblem. Northern Irish politics can be viewed as a "dual dyad"in which the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland arecritical components. Psychological dimensions of Northern Irishbicommunalism further exacerbate the conflict.     

The Media in Northern Ireland: A Stormont Correspondent's View

During the troubles, the role of a Northern Ireland correspondent evolved from ambulance chaser to peace process ‘Kremlinologist’, keeping an eye on the subtle shifts within the political negotiations. Now the interest of the international media has waned and reporters have to generate fresh stories relevant to the local audience, against the backdrop of an adverse economic climate. Some stories may be Northern Ireland specific, dealing with the legacy of the troubles. Others involve economic and social issues common to other areas of the UK or Ireland. Knowledge of the conflict remains a prerequisite for covering Stormont politics, dissident republican attacks, or loyalist violence. However journalists should be mindful of the concerns of a younger generation who increasingly regard the paramilitary ceasefires and peace deals as history.     

The 1998 Northern Ireland Assembly Election

The result of the assembly election in Northern Ireland in June 1998 was a victory for those who support the assembly, but it was not such a triumph for David Trimble and the Ulster Unionist Party. I will examine both the Unionist vote and the Nationalist vote and the consequences.     

整体性治理对我国行政体制改革的启示

整体性治理是西方国家继新公共管理之后政府改革的新理论,是对新公共管理的修正,整体性治理理论以公众的需要为基础,内容包括重新整合与整体性治理方式。＂协同政府＂是英国布莱尔政府在实践中的整体性治理模式,主要围绕统一决策和加强决策部门与执行机构的合作两个目标来进行。其他西方国家根据本国的实践情况,围绕整体政府进行了多元化的行政改革。整体性治理对我国深化行政体制改革的启示主要是：在行政理念上回归公共性;在组织结构上强调协同整合;在公共服务供给方式上允许多元参与;在技术手段上注重数字信息技术的应用。