当代西方公共行政变革的趋向：管理与治理的统一

当代西方公共行政在对传统官僚行政的变革中,新公共管理和新公共行政两种理论分别从管理与治理两个方面对传统官僚行政的组织管理方式和社会治理方式作出理论上的扬弃,从而导致管理主义与治理主义之争.其实管理与治理对于变革中的当代西方公共行政犹如一枚硬币的两面不可分割,实现管理与治理的统一是当代西方公共行政变革的基本趋向.     

公共行政改革的路径选择

官僚制与新公共管理是西方公共行政发展历程中出现的两种范式,它们各有其利弊,适应不同的社会发展阶段。西方公共行政改革路径演进的实质,是官僚制与新公共管理的正和博弈,而非零和博弈。后工业社会的公共行政形态,是新公共管理与官僚制的融合。这种融合是通过新公共管理扬弃官僚制的方式实现的。当代中国处于由传统农业社会向现代工业社会转型的时期,具有特殊的公共行政环境,因而公共行政的改革应当选择“完善文官制为主,推行新公共管理为辅”的路径。     

经济学视阈中的官僚制研究——解析安东尼·唐斯的官僚经济理论

对理性官僚制理论的解析和反思一直是公共行政学界研究和争论的一大热点.在这些争论中,安东尼·唐斯率先从新政治经济学的角度来透析官僚体制、官僚组织和官僚行为等问题,开创了官僚经济理论研究的独特视角.唐斯对官僚组织的生命周期、官僚的行为以及官僚组织等理论的系统梳理与研究,形成了官僚经济理论,其主要贡献是更加注重寻找官僚组织和官僚整体的内在行为动机,更加注重对现实的解释,更加注重对官僚的行为和心理的研究.     

从现代官僚制到后官僚制人性预设转换的动因分析

现代官僚制是传统公共行政范式,以层级节制、非人格化为特征,是工业社会的产物.随着后工业社会的来临,以企业家精神改造公共部门的新公共管理即后官僚制范式出现了.两种范式管理理念的不同根源于人性预设不同,后官僚制以"理性经济人"取代了"人性恶"的假设.关于人性假设的不同源于行政生态环境不同.     

公共行政的后官僚模式分析

本文通过对传统的官僚行政、经济理性模式和后官僚模式进行比较分析，着重阐述了公共行政的后官僚模式的基本涵义、特征及其作用。     

从"官僚制"的思考框架看公共行政的精神演变

从传统官僚制到现代官僚制,再到后官僚制,体现了公共行政的精神转变.权力分布从官僚主导到势力均衡再到社会主导,体现了行政体系公共性的增强;从倚重权术到尊重规则再到多种治理方式的并重,体现了政府乃至整个社会管理效率和治理能力的提高.从官僚制的思考框架引申出,我国的行政管理体制改革应当是加强民主化与理性化并重;既要重视政府自身的改革,也要改善政府与社会的互动,提高公民社会的自我管理能力.     

当代公共行政的民主范式

本文认为公共行政的传统范式———官僚制自身存在着难以克服的内在矛盾。二战之后 ,西方国家公共行政面临的政治、经济与社会基础都发生了较大变革 :在国家权力体系中行政主导开始取代议会至上 ;后工业时代的来临使知识成为一种重要的政治资源 ;公共领域与私人领域在经历了近代以来的相互分离之后 ,在当代又呈现出相互渗透与融合的趋势。这一切都使传统的官僚制行政范式受到冲击 ,与此同时 ,也呼唤着民主制行政时代的到来。作为一种理念和制度的创新 ,民主制行政的基本构架主要包括建立参与型的公共行政决策架构 ,实施程序化的公共行政管理模式 ,推行竞争性的公共行政服务机制。     

从新公共管理到新公共服务——西方公共行政理论的最新发展

自20世纪80年代以来,新公共管理理论在西方国家“突破官僚制”的行政改革中,逐渐成为主导性的行政范式。但新公共管理理论对经济、效率、效能的片面追求,使得民主、公民权和公共利益等公共行政应有的价值观念丧失殆尽。在此背景下,一种新的公共行政理论———新公共服务理论应运而生了。它在肯定新公共管理理论固有价值的基础上,对其理论与实践中的缺陷进行了批判,努力构建一种以公民权利和公共利益为指向、顺应现代公民社会发展要求的新的公共行政范式。     

知识经济条件下公共行政范式的危机与变革

官僚制范式适应了 1 9世纪以来大工业生产对政府职能和效能所提出的要求 ,成为 1 0 0年来公共行政的主导范式。知识经济的兴起 ,使官僚制范式的内在局限性和不适应性暴露出来 ,公共行政范式的危机表现出来 ,公共行政范式处于变革时期。本文尝试从五种行政改革模式讨论对官僚制范式的调整 ,这些改革模式与实践通过放松官僚制范式的基本原则 ,局部缓和了范式危机 ,但并没有实现公共行政范式由官僚制向民主制的转变     

虚拟社会中屏幕官僚的行为逻辑与控制

当今世界,虚拟社会在各领域不断发展,互联网信息技术为政府、社会和公民生存和发展提供了机遇。政府以此为契机不断满足社会和公众的需求,促进国家治理水平的提升,而这些有赖于在公共行政领域运用互联网技术的公务员——屏幕官僚,他们决定着互联网虚拟社会中公共政策的执行,体现着政府的现代化特点和形象。分析屏幕官僚的行为属性和行为逻辑,提出法律制度的控制、伦理的约束与激励、行政文化的引导和教育培训固化等路径,有助于其更好地在虚拟社会中服务实践国家治理和"互联网+"政务服务的目标。     

Administration of human rights

It is puzzling that although human rights pervade nearly all actions that affect the public, so little attention is devoted to their administration. The absence of books, chapters or even courses describing human rights administration is a silent reproach to our profession. To suggest how such a study might proceed, this article considers three questions: (1) how rights like those outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are converted to policies; (2) how human experiences can suggest priorities in their administration; and (3) how to improve the performance of the ‘virtual bureaucracy’ that is carrying the related administrative responsibilities. Serious studies of human rights administration must deal with three critical problems: their complexity as they infuse other public policy issues; their universality as they interact at all levels of public and private society; and their ubiquity, which renders coherent bureaucratic structures and reforms difficult. Such studies are justified because large‐scale efforts to provide education in rights administration can make important contributions to the realization of human dignity. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Beyond Bureaucracy—Public Administration as Political Integrator and Non‐Weberian Thought in Germany

The political role of public administration holds an ambiguous status in public administration theory. The dominant paradigms of the discipline offer more or less negative perspectives. Max Weber’s notion of bureaucracy conceives public administration as the apolitical tool of government, while the public choice school conceives it as the realm of individual selfishness and rent seeking at taxpayers’ expense. In this unfavorable epistemological environment, positive concepts of what makes public administration “political” can hardly flourish. However, as public authorities may organize clientele participation and consequently co‐opt stakeholders, they provide for symbolic sense making and create patterns of identity. Public administration thus works as a political integrator in its own right. Unfortunately, this subject is not prominent within contemporary scholarly research. German political integration through administration is analyzed here in order to address these and related theoretical questions.     

Knowledge Construction in Public Administration: A Discourse Analysis of Public Value

Public administration is a relatively young field with a growing academic community. Against the background of enduring discussions about theory and increasing research output and diversification within the field, the authors apply the sociology of knowledge approach to discourse that combines discourse theories and a social constructionist tradition to the exemplary case of “public value” research. The authors scrutinize 50 articles from 12 journals over 18 years to trace the development of public value as a concept in public administration research. Drawing from this exemplary case, they develop propositions and propose a framework for knowledge construction that is uniquely characterized as public administration. From the anchor points of manageability, economization, and democratic accountability, the authors develop a framework for analyzing and investigating knowledge development in other concepts such as network governance, representative bureaucracy, and coproduction.     

公共管理的理论源流与变革

通过“新公共管理运动”而从传统公共行政理论范式中分化出来的“公共管理”，体现了一种新的理论范式整合。传统的公共行政，以韦伯的官僚制来破解庇护主义，以政治／行政分开来化解政党分肥，以官制度来建构行政组织的基本规范，以泰勒主义来保证效率行政的主导地位。这种行政改进逐渐变成公共行政中的教条主义。结果，官僚制成了官僚主义的代名词，政治／行政两分成了“两张皮”，官制度变成了族主义，效率主导变成了缺乏效果的效率。求解这些疑难导致了传统公共行政范式向“新公共管理”范式的转移。而突出公共性、现代性和综合性的公共管理的理论建构，就是以公共行政为底色而对新公共管理或管理主义、政策分析以及20世纪80年代兴起的公共治理理论的一次理论整合。     

Administration in a small capitalist state: The Hong Kong experience

This article is primarily concerned with the functions of bureaucracy in a minimal state and with how those functions might change in response to economic growth. It is predicated on the assumption that bureaucracy is necessary for economic growth even in those countries which seek to achieve such growth through the relatively free operation of the economy within the rubric of a capitalist state. Hong Kong is a case in point. Although it has often been taken as the epitome of the benefits which can be derived from keeping government out of the economy, the bureaucracy has in fact played a critical role in support of economic development. Aside from the functions which must be performed by any state, such as the maintenance of law and order, the administration of justice, and the provision of public works, three features of Hong Kong bureaucratic practice appear to have been important in the definition of the bureaucracy's tasks in the economic growth process. These are ‘value for money’ and the constant need to justify government expenditure; effective line implementation; and the ability to manage crises. If these constitute minimal essential requirements for such governments, they may provide useful criteria which small or micro-states, following capital growth models but not yet experiencing rapid economic development, can apply in assessing the capabilities of their own bureaucracies.     

Beyond Weber: Conceptualizing an alternative ideal type of bureaucracy in developing contexts

The study of public administration in developing countries requires that we look beyond the Weberian model as the only ideal type of bureaucracy. When we assume that there exists only one gold standard of public administration, all other organizational forms that do not conform to the Weberian ideal are dismissed as corrupt or failed. Drawing on neo‐institutional economics, I introduce an alternative ideal type of bureaucracy found in contemporary China. This model, which I call bureau‐franchising, combines the hierarchical structure of bureaucracy with the high‐powered incentives of franchising. In this system, public agencies can rightfully claim a share of income earned to finance and reward themselves, like entrepreneurial franchisees. Yet distinct from lawless corruption, this self‐financing (or prebendal) behavior is sanctioned and even deliberately incentivized by state rules. Although such a model violates several Weberian tenets of “good” bureaucracy, it harnesses and regulates the high‐powered incentives of prebendalism to ameliorate budgetary and capacity constraints that are common in developing countries like China.     

Recovering the Craft of Public Administration

Public sector reform has rarely dropped off the political agenda of Western governments, yet the old craft skills of traditional public administration remain of paramount importance. The pendulum has swung too far toward the new and the fashionable reforms associated with New Public Management and the New Public Governance. It needs to swing back toward bureaucracy and the traditional skills of bureaucrats as part of the repertoire of governing. This article discusses the skills of counseling, stewardship, practical wisdom, probity, judgment, diplomacy, and political nous. Although these skills are of wide relevance, the article focuses on their relevance in Australia, Britain, Canada, and New Zealand. It concludes that the next bout of reforms needs to recover the traditional craft skills. It is not a question of traditional skills versus the new skills of New Public Management or New Public Governance; it is a question of what works, of what skills fit in a particular context.     

Assessing the Impact of Bureaucracy Bashing by Electoral Campaigns

The literature on the implications of electoral "bureaucracy bashing" for public management is thin. This is partly because of the difficulty of defining basic terms and measuring results in meaningful ways. Using focus group data, this article explores how senior federal managers perceive campaign bureaucracy bashing and assess its consequences. The participants perceive that candidate-based bashing affects federal management on two levels: one emotional, the other programmatic. The emotional impact is pronounced, producing frustration and hostility from senior managers toward political candidates, political appointees, and the media. Senior managers report that bashing adversely affects policy implementation through low morale, poor recruitment, and training and by fostering an environment of distrust toward bureaucracy. Grounded in a diverse literature relating to public administration, the presidency, campaigns and elections, and political communication, this inquiry finds that senior managers confirm many of the speculations these works raise about how bashing affects public employees and public policy.     

Behavioral Public Administration: Combining Insights from Public Administration and Psychology

Behavioral public administration is the analysis of public administration from the micro‐level perspective of individual behavior and attitudes by drawing on insights from psychology on the behavior of individuals and groups. The authors discuss how scholars in public administration currently draw on theories and methods from psychology and related fields and point to research in public administration that could benefit from further integration. An analysis of public administration topics through a psychological lens can be useful to confirm, add nuance to, or extend classical public administration theories. As such, behavioral public administration complements traditional public administration. Furthermore, it could be a two‐way street for psychologists who want to test the external validity of their theories in a political‐administrative setting. Finally, four principles are proposed to narrow the gap between public administration and psychology.     

Establishing the link between representative bureaucracy and performance: The South African case

Representative bureaucracy is a critical element of modern public administration and governance. Since the advent of nonracial democracy, the South African government has transformed the apartheid bureaucracy into a new public service that closely mirrors the country's diverse population. Questions remain, however, about how this demographic transformation has impacted the public service. Grounded in the theory of representative bureaucracy, we use a mixed methods approach to examine the relationship between representation of historically disadvantaged groups and performance of national departments in South Africa. Analyses of panel data indicate that as national departments become more representative by employing a greater percentage of Blacks, they become more effective at achieving their goals. Interviews with officials in national departments corroborate this and reveal a range of underlying pathways linking representation of historically disadvantaged groups to performance.