Changing Relations between Government and Citizen: Administrative Law and the Work of the Australian Commonwealth Ombudsman

This article examines the individual complaint‐taking role of the Australian Commonwealth Ombudsman over a 28 year period between 1977–2005. This study was conceived through a curiosity to determine how a 30 year old administrative law institution is reacting to accommodate a dramatically altered legal, political and economic environment. The suspicion was that, in the absence of legislative amendment to its jurisdiction and role, the Commonwealth Ombudsman must strategically change due to the demands of these external forces. The overall quantitative finding from the data analysis is that the internal strategic direction of the Commonwealth Ombudsman is indeed altering. In terms of dispute resolution it is increasingly using its discretionary powers to turn individual complainants back to government departments/agencies. The data analysis reveals that this administrative law institution is shifting from a reactive individual complaint taker to a proactive standard setter for government administration. This article suggests that this movement may impact upon citizen ‘rights’ or perceptions of their rights to have their individual complaints heard against government. This in turn may have a ripple effect for notions of democratic accountability and the relationship between the citizen and the state.     

Can decision transparency increase citizen trust in regulatory agencies? Evidence from a representative survey experiment

Decision transparency is often proposed as a way to maintain or even increase citizen trust, yet this assumption is still untested in the context of regulatory agencies. We test the effect of transparency of a typical decision tradeoff in regulatory enforcement: granting forbearance or imposing a sanction. We employed a representative survey experiment (n = 1,546) in which we test the effect of transparency in general (providing information about a decision or not) and the effect of specific types of transparency (process or rationale transparency). We do this for agencies supervising financial markets, education, and health care. We find that overall decision transparency significantly increases citizen trust in only two of the three agencies. Rationale transparency has a more pronounced positive effect only for the Education Inspectorate. We conclude that the overall effect of decision transparency is positive but that the nature of the regulatory domain may weaken or strengthen this effect.     

Defining Environmental Justice Communities for Regulatory Enforcement: Implications from a Block‐Group‐Level Analysis of New York State

The absence of a clear definition of environmental justice areas has been cited as one of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's major deficiencies in managing federal environmental justice programs. Several states have explicitly defined potential environmental justice areas and integrated targeted efforts into the policy‐making process. At the block‐group level, this study evaluates the effects of New York State's environmental justice policy, which defines communities of concern in terms of demographic and socioeconomic characteristics as well as mandates supplemental regulatory enforcement activities for these neighborhoods, on the agency's policy implementation practices under the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act. The empirical findings suggest that there is inconclusive evidence regarding race/ethnicity‐ and class‐based environmental inequity. Also, the state's policy intervention is not universally effective. Moreover, task environments of a given community are a consistent determinant of the agency's regulatory compliance monitoring and assurance activities. This study then derives broader implications regarding the adoption of a policy instrument that defines and screens potential environmental justice communities.     

我国执法权配置的法律实证分析

执法权是国家权力体系中最活跃、最重要的一项权力,其行使的得当与否与每个公民的切身利益息息相关。然而,从目前的情况看,我国执法权的行使还存在着令人忧虑的问题:一方面执法权交叉重叠;另一方面执法权又行使不力。造成这一结果的直接原因是我国的法律制度在执法权配置上存在漏洞,即现行立法过多迁就旧的行政管理体制,过于强调部门的利益,执法权被支解,执法主体过多过滥;同时现行法律制度过于注重对执法行为的约束,忽略执法权的科学配置。这些问题都有待于在我国的立法过程中逐步得到解决,即加强与完善我国各级政府的组织立法,规范各级执法权。     

中德社会保障争议处理制度比较研究

中德两国在历史发展过程中逐步形成了各自独特的社会争议处理制度和模式。德国社会法院作为专门审理社会保障争议的特殊行政法院，体现了法律保护的缜密性和司法的高度专业性，适应了社会保障争议多，内容纷繁复杂，技术性、专业性强的现实需要。中国社会保障争议处理法律制度则处于形成发展阶段，因争议种类、主体不同而设置了不同的解决争议的机构，采用了不同的法律制度、程序和处理原则。本文以两国现行社会争议处理法律规定作为比较标准，按照社会争议处理的程序，分别从社会争议的范围界定、行政处理程序和制度、法院处理程序和制度三方面进行了比较研究，为中国社会保障争议处理制度提供借鉴和启示。     

坚持和平发展,果决反制挑衅——对南海问题的一点思考

中国必须坚持和平发展的战略,因为它符合中国的国家战略利益,也符合中国人民和世界人民的根本利益。同时,中国也必须果决反制菲、越的侵略挑衅行为。因为这是捍卫中国国家主权的需要,也是制止侵略行为、防止南海问题进一步复杂化失控化、捍卫南海和平的需要。果决反制挑衅,不仅不与我国的和平发展战略相冲突,反而是对我国和平发展战略的有力维护。     

Think territory politically: the making and escalation of Beijing’s commitment to Sovereignize Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands

In popular narratives, intellectual and media analysts believe the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands dispute between China and Japan is a contestation for potential hydrocarbon reserves and other maritime rights which are per se divisible, but nationalism – particularly on China side – and relative power change between the two competing claimants make these territories increasingly indivisible and the dispute war-prone. Based on a review over People's Daily’s coverage of the disputes and other secondary information, this article reveals a different scenario by highlighting the political meanings of disputed territories for national cohesion and regime self-preservation. It finds, Beijing’s strategic moves in the disputes are influenced by its efforts at different occasions to de-legitimate Republic of China at Taiwan and defend its core interests – namely Taiwan and the \"One-China\" principle, to appease the patriotism in Hong Kong and facilitate the latter’s stable reversion to China in 1990s, and what is more, to rally popular support at home. In addition, Beijing’s Diaoyu/Senkaku strategy did not follow a carefully calculated path, but was mostly reactive to the contingencies and ultimately took shape through the incremental accumulation of previous policies and behaviours.     

What Do We Mean by ‘Rethinking Regulation’?

This article identifies and discusses several different conceptions of regulatory reform. It subsequently looks at available evidence on trends in regulatory burdens and on the results of regulatory reform activity undertaken over the past 30 years. Thirdly, it identifies and briefly discusses the range of tools that are typically employed in implementing regulatory reform policies. It then examines some of the regulatory problems that implementation of the reform agenda has itself brought forth. It concludes with some comments which seek to assess the report of the Better Regulation Taskforce in the context of the broad overview of regulatory reform set out in the preceding sections of the article.     

服务导向与“去警察化”问题初探

现代警务机制建设着力将公安机关角色定位从管理推向服务,在为民服务创新中,警察逐渐丧失了内在刚性,呈现出诸多＂去警察化＂特征。为更加有效地实施执法行为,必须杜绝服务认知的泛化,通过一系列可行性探索回归警察本色。     

Liberalism and Religion: Amplifiers of War between Democratic and Non-Democratic States?

This study tests the association between liberalism and religion on militarized disputes in the politically and religiously similar and mixed state dyads. The analysis (1980–2001) integrates the Correlates of War and World Religion Datasets. The findings suggest that while religious makeup of state dyads does not vitiate the impact of democracy, religious similarity amplifies the impact of liberalism. The results also suggest that Christian–Muslim dyads, especially Christian–Sunni and Christian–Muslim other than Shia and Sunni dyads, are more likely to engage in militarized disputes, and regime differences increase the chances of conflict in the joint Muslim dyads.