Public Information and Regulatory Processes: What the Public Knows and Regulators Decide

Because bureaucratic agencies may be less transparent in their decision processes than legislatures, most states have developed processes to incorporate input from regulated communities and other parties potentially affected by regulations. Administrative agencies may encourage democratic practices to increase legitimacy and accountability of the bureaucracy and improve decision‐making processes. However, rules governing the regulatory process vary by state, with some incorporating more open practices than others. Understanding these dynamics is increasingly important, as the rulemaking process has become central to policymaking over the past several decades, with a large portion of policymaking authority delegated to administrative agencies. Drawing from regulatory documents, rulemaking comments, media coverage, and interviews with regulators in 14 regulatory decision processes across five states, this study finds that while states vary in their approach to providing access to information, there are overriding patterns that reduce the role of citizens and the overall transparency of regulatory processes.     

Remembering and Voting: Theory and Evidence from Amnesic Patients

One of the most prominent claims to emerge from the field of public opinion is that citizens can vote for candidates whose issue positions best reflect their own beliefs even when they cannot remember previously learned stances associated with the candidates. The current experiment provides a unique and powerful examination of this claim by determining whether individuals with profound amnesia, whose severe memory impairments prevent them from remembering specific issue information associated with any particular candidate, can vote for candidates whose issue positions come closest to their own political views. We report here that amnesic patients, despite not being able to remember any issue information, consistently voted for candidates with favored political positions. Thus, sound voting decisions do not require recall or recognition of previously learned associations between candidates and their issue positions. This result supports a multiple memory systems model of political decision making.     

Regulatory Analysis Procedures and Political Influence on Bureaucratic Policymaking

Well‐known theories suggest that administrative procedures may be used as mechanisms of political control of the bureaucracy. This study investigates whether three common regulatory analysis procedures—cost‐benefit analysis, risk assessment, and economic impact analysis—lead to greater influence by political officials on bureaucratic policymaking. Multivariate analyses of data from a unique survey of state administrators indicate that regulatory analysis requirements are associated with decreases in the perceived influence of elected political officials on the content of administrative rules. This association is particularly evident in cases where proposed rules are subjected to a cost–benefit test. These findings contradict prominent theories of administrative procedures, but are consistent with recent research on the political power of administrative agencies.     

建构行政许可注销程序设想

目前,我国尚没有从立法上对行政许可注销程序作出统一的规定,实践中也很不规范,这种状况直接造成了行政许可退出机制的无序状态.按照行政许可注销制度性质、价值的要求,建构我国的行政许可注销程序,应该从行政许可注销提醒预告程序、异议公告程序、清算程序、物品处理程序、公告程序、信息通报程序等方面着手.     

行政主体理论的缺陷与完善

我国行政主体理论存在严重缺陷,这表现在:行政主体概念界定混乱,行政主体范围界定不够清晰,行政违法失职行为的责任追究不明确,行政主体资格与行政诉讼被告资格相等同。完善我国行政主体理论,需重新定位行政主体在行政管理活动中的角色,重新界定行政主体概念和范围,重新建立行政主体资格与行政诉讼被告资格之间的关系。     

Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Practice: The Case of Administrative Policy

The discipline of public administration could play a more constructive role in the field of administrative policy if the gap between empirical-theoretical research and the professional role of political scientists in governments were bridged. This article outlines an instrumental or "action-oriented" model which provides a theoretical framework through which to focus on formal organizational, demographic and physical structures of institutions as the possible instruments, or "steering factors" in organizational design. The model emphasizes empirical observations of the relationships between the instrumental indendent) variables and actual decision behavior (dependent variables). The author draws on studies conducted in the central governments of several countries.     

Balancing Procedures and Outcomes Within Democratic Theory: Core Values and Judicial Review

Democratic theorists often distinguish between two views of democratic procedures. 'Outcomes theorists' emphasize the instrumental nature of these procedures and argue that they are only valuable because they tend to produce good outcomes. In contrast, 'proceduralists' emphasize the intrinsic value of democratic procedures, for instance, on the grounds that they are fair. In this paper. I argue that we should reject pure versions of these two theories in favor of an understanding of the democratic ideal that recognizes a commitment to both intrinsically valuable democratic procedures and democratic outcomes. In instances in which there is a conflict between these two commitments, I suggest they must be balanced. This balancing approach offers a justification of judicial review on the grounds that it potentially limits outcomes that undermine democracy. But judicial review is not justifiable in any instance in which a bad democratic outcome results from democratic procedures. When the loss that would result from overturning a democratic procedure is greater than the gain to democracy that would result from ensuring against an undemocratic outcome; judicial review is not justifiable. Loss or gain to democracy is defined by the negative or positive impact of each action on the core democratic values of equality and autonomy, aspects of the democratic ideal. Even when judicial review is justified, the fact that it overturns intrinsically valuable procedures suggests that such review is never ideal from the standpoint of democracy.     

The Persistence of Corruption and Regulatory Compliance Failures: Theory and Evidence

This paper examines the reasons whycorruption and policy distortions tend toexhibit a high degree of persistence incertain regimes. We identify circumstancesunder which a firm seeks to evaderegulations through (i) bribery of localinspectors, and (ii) by lobbying high-levelgovernment politicians to resist legalreforms designed to improve judicialefficiency (rule of law) and eliminatecorruption. We show that in some casespolitical instability reinforces thesetendencies. The analysis predicts that inpolitically unstable regimes, theinstitutions necessary to monitor andenforce compliance are weak. In suchcountries, corruption therefore is morepervasive, and the compliance withregulations is low. We test thesepredictions using cross-country data. Theempirical results support the predictionsof the model. Political instability reducesjudicial efficiency, which in turnstimulates corruption. Thus, the effect ofpolitical instability on corruption is notdirect, but occurs indirectly via itseffect on the degree of judicialefficiency. Finally, corruption lowers thelevel of regulatory compliance. Thus,political instability indirectly affects compliance, via judicial efficiency andcorruption.     

行政主体理论之我见

我国的行政主体概念于80年代末产生后沿用至今,但随着社会的变迁与公共行政的进一步发展,其外延与内涵均受到了挑战,其在行政诉讼中被告资格的确认问题、实体行政权和行政责任的归属问题等方面均存在着难以解决的缺陷,本文结合行政体制改革,对完善我国行政主体理论提出若干建议。     

Administrative Discretion and Active Representation: An Expansion of the Theory of Representative Bureaucracy

Recent studies of the theory of representative bureaucracy have focused on active representation, whereby administrators in public organizations work to advance the interests of particular groups, achieving policy outcomes that directly address the needs of those groups. The concept of administrative discretion is central to these studies, as an administrator must have the discretion to produce results that reflect the values and beliefs of these groups. While the presence of discretion is often implied in these studies, few have examined it explicitly. Using data from the Farmer's Home Administration, we explore whether administrators who perceive themselves as having more discretion enact policy outcomes that are more representative of minority interests. The results strongly support the conclusion that administrators who perceive themselves as possessing significant discretion and who assume the role of minority representative in their agencies are more likely to enact policy outcomes that favor minority interests.     

公共行政学理论与教学的冲突及其消弭

目前,公共行政学理论发展极为迅速,而公共行政理论的教学则与之不相称。主要表现为理论教学、教材建设和教师教育跟不上理论的发展。其原因是教学法落后于学科范式的转换、理论教学落后于改革实践、教学电子化落后于教学改革。解决理论与教学冲突的措施包括:构建学习型的教师队伍,完善电子化网络教学和完善理论与实践相结合的方法。     

Crossing the Organizational Void: The Limits of Agency Theory in the Analysis of Regulatory Control

This article critically examines the key assumptions of the positive theory of political control. The authors argue that the key assumptions of the theory are flawed and that these flaws seriously limit the importance of much research in the field of regulatory studies. The authors develop a set of new assumptions which would reorient the regulatory studies and force researchers to give greater attention to the role of the bureaucracy in political-bureaucratic relations.     

Book Reviews: The Balance between Forgetting and Remembering

Books reviewed Gary Jonathan Bass, Stay the Hand of Vengeance: The Politics of War Crimes Trials Richard Goldstone, For Humanity: Reflections of a War Crimes Investigator Joanna Van Selm, (ed) Kosovo's Refugees in the European Union Peter Shore, Separate Ways: The Heart of Europe Tommaso Padoa‐Schioppa, The Road to Monetary Union in Europe: The Emperor, the Kings and the Genies Kenneth Dyson, The Politics of the Euro‐Zone: Stability or Breakdown? Stefano Bartolini, The Political Mobilization of the European Left, 1860–1980: The Class Cleavage Alexander Keyssar, The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United States Richard Little and Mark Wickham‐Jones, (eds) New Labour's Foreign Policy: A New Moral Crusade? Thomas Frank, One Market Under God: Extreme Capitalism, Market Populism, and the End of Economic Democracy Fritz W. Scharpf and Vivien A. Schmidt, (eds) Welfare and Work in the Open Economy Fritz W. Scharpf and Vivien A. Schmidt, (eds) From Vulnerability to Competitiveness Fritz W. Scharpf and Vivien A. Schmidt, (eds)Diverse Responses to Common Challenges Andrew Samuels, Politics on the Couch: Citizenship and the Internal Life John B. Thompson, Political Scandal: Power and Visibility in the Media Age Andrew Thorpe, The British Communist Party and Moscow 1920–43     

Woodrow Wilson’s Administrative Thought and German Political Theory

To what extent were Woodrow Wilson’s ideas about public administration informed by German organic political theory? Drawing on the writings of Wilson, Lorenz von Stein, and Johann K. Bluntschli on public administration, and comparing American and German primary sources, the author offers insights into Wilson’s general concept of public administration, as well as his understanding of the politics–administration dichotomy. With regard to current administrative research, this study underscores how the transfer of ideas profoundly contributes to advancing comparative public administration and helps clarify terminological difficulties and conflicting perspectives among diverse administrative science traditions.     

"平衡论"与行政法理基础

行政法治要求有符合我国国情的行政法理论 ,针对行政法理论基础研究出现的各种主张和观点有 :平衡论 ,控权论 ,管理论等。在平衡论者看来 ,行政法平衡是指行政法的行政权与相对方权利配置格局达到了结构性均衡 ,这一主张符合中国社会发展及行政法治建设的现实需要。     

论中西学术交汇中的服务行政理论研究

当前我国行政学最有价值的理论探索是关于服务行政理论的研究,但是,在这种研究中,存在着如何对待西方既有理论成果和实践经验的问题.我们认为,对于西方既有的理论和实践应采取辩证分析的态度,"新公共管理"和"新公共服务"理论可以成为中国服务行政理论研究参考和借鉴的材料,但不能原封照搬.中国的服务行政理论研究,需要从中国的国情出发,进行有针对性的理论创新.     

Measuring the Financial Position of Municipalities: Numbers Do Not Speak for Themselves

There are several challenges facing someone who wants to know if a city's revenue structure is fair and reasonable. There are few generally accepted standards to use as benchmarks of financial condition, and there is no generally accepted methodology to assess relative financial position. This article reviews literature on financial position and condition, and then develops a methodological approach that creates a cohort of similar cities for benchmarking financial position, and then forming a basis for assessing financial condition. Based on a study of the financial position of a medium-sized city, the article offers lessons for practitioners and scholars.