Democratic Governance: Systems and Radical Perspectives

How might we think about democratic governance? This paper distinguishes between system governance and radical democracy. System governance borrows the language of radical democracy while missing its spirit. It advocates increased participation through networks because new institutionalists suggest networks are an efficient means of service delivery. It advocates increased consultation to build consensus because communitarians suggest consensus is needed for effective political institutions. System governance is, then, a top‐down discourse based on the alleged expertise of social scientists. Radical democrats concentrate instead on the self‐government of citizens. Instead of the incorporation of established groups in networks, they promote a pluralism within which aspects of governance are handed over to associations in civil society. And instead of consultation prior to decision making, they promote a dialogue in which citizens play an active role in making and implementing public policy.     

The Democratic Anchorage of Governance Networks

Governance through the negotiated interaction of a plurality of public, semi-public and private actors seems to provide an efficient means for governing our increasingly complex, fragmented and multi-layered societies. However, the big question is whether governance networks also contribute to the democratic governance of society. Governance network theory and post-liberal theories of democracy claim that there are both democratic problems and potentials associated with interactive network governance. In order to be able to assess, and possibly improve, the democratic performance of governance networks, the authors of this article develop and substantiate an analytical model for measuring the democratic anchorage of governance networks in different political constituencies and in an appropriate set of democratic rules and norms. In addition, it is argued that politicians should play a key role in efforts to ensure the democratic anchorage of governance networks.     

Democratic Accountability in Decentralised Governance1

This article develops a conceptual framework for studying democratic accountability in decentralised governance, and discusses critical issues about democratic accountability from a citizen's perspective. First, the concept is discussed and adapted to make it useful for studying democratic accountability in different governance structures. Second, the article scrutinises conditions for democratic accountability in decentralised governance based on three models. Third, democratic accountability is discussed with reference to a case study of public reviewers operating in four municipalities in Sweden. The study indicates that municipal auditors and the local media have the greatest impact on municipal policy. On the whole, auditors improve local governments’ internal control and systems for steering and monitoring municipal policy, whereas the media sometimes alter the policy agenda without changing the policy. Auditors maintain and support an elitist democratic orientation of democratic accountability, and the media maintain this democratic orientation and in addition promote democratic dialogue. Viewed from a citizen's perspective, the traditional accountability system does not work satisfactorily. State inspectors and municipal auditors – two important public reviewers in the current system – could improve their work to make it more useful to citizens’ democratic control. Another way discussed to develop democratic accountability is to promote participatory policy and concrete means of accountability (e.g. on‐site visits, conducted tours and different forms of democratic dialogue). The formal way to improve democratic accountability implies more transparency, monitoring and control, which may also lead to distrust and scapegoat thinking (i.e. a surveillance society), whereas concrete modes of accountability, more associated with participatory and deliberative democracy, imply mutual responsibility and trust building. Strengthening participatory policy, active citizens, collective responsibility and democratic dialogue could be an alternative to the emerging audit society.     

我国行政立法的民主保障和监督控制

行政立法的存在和发展有其合理性和必然性,但行政立法实践中也暴露出种种弊端.为了发挥行政立法的优势而防止其对党政民主、公民的权利和自由的危害,我国一方面基于行政立法的本质,加强了其民主性,使其在民主与效率的价值追求上保持大致的动态平衡,另一方面还建立健全了行政立法监督控制的制度体系,发挥预防和救济的作用.     

The Modern Slaves: Specialized Knowledge and Democratic Governance

This article examines widely held assumptions among scientific elites positing that there is an increasing discrepancy between those with specialized knowledge and laypersons, that governmental policy is increasingly shaped by scientific research and its practitioners, and that these trends pose a threat to representative democracy. This article asserts that modern liberal democratic societies are characterized by enabling structural changes that have expanded the forms of and means for citizen action, and simplified civil society’s access to specialized knowledge.     

Administrative Reforms in Malaysia Toward Enhancing Public Service Performance

This article attempts to define and highlight the concept and context of administrative reform efforts in Malaysia. It describes changes and reforms in the civil service that are on-going processes along with the search for efficiency, effectiveness, economy and accountability that never ends. Reform efforts in Malaysia can be grouped into two phases: the period of rapid economic growth in the 1960s and 1970s which required development administration and institution building, and the period from 1985 to the present which necessitates the consolidation and qualitative upgrading of the machinery of government. The administrative reform experiences are uniquely Malaysian efforts to respond to the Malaysian socio-political environment and needs.     

GIS, Public Service, and the Issue of Democratic Governance

Geographic information systems (GIS) provide unparalleled power to examine social, economic, and political circumstances. As this technology becomes more prominent in the public sector, it brings new challenges to democratic decision making. How we choose to apply this technology will determine the relationship between those who control technology and those who engage in governance. This article provides examples of how GIS is being used for policy implementation and then explores the democratic implications of GIS.     

Administrative Reforms and Their Impact on Training the Public Bureaucracy in Bangladesh

Bangladesh has recently experienced a number of administrative, institutional, structural and policy reforms which have attempted to recast the modalities of the public delivery system and address the perennial issues of "efficiency, effectiveness and productivity" in the public administration system. A number of these reform packages have called for drastic changes in the mode of governmental operations/processes as well as in institutional arrangements.
In this article, the author has reviewed such reform efforts and their impact on the overall public administration training curriculum and academic programs of the training institutions as well as with the universities in Bangladesh. The entry–level training packages have not adequately covered the critical areas that have been highlighted by the different reforms. The article concludes with a suggestion to review all entry–level training programs and identify some thematic areas to make the training programs "practical, pro–active and action–oriented." A close collaboration between the universities and the public administration training institutions is also strongly recommended.     

Big Data and Dahl’s Challenge of Democratic Governance

Big data applications have been acclaimed as potentially transformative for the public sector. But, despite this acclaim, most theory of big data is narrowly focused around technocratic goals. The conceptual frameworks that situate big data within democratic governance systems recognizing the role of citizens are still missing. This paper explores the democratic governance impacts of big data in three policy areas using Robert Dahl’s dimensions of control and autonomy. Key impacts and potential tensions are highlighted. There is evidence of impacts on both dimensions, but the dimensions conflict as well as align in notable ways and focused policy efforts will be needed to find a balance.     

Jurisdictional Integrity, Polycentrism, and the Design of Democratic Governance

Political and managerial processes are creating polycentric networks that transcend the traditional ideas of jurisdictional integrity in state-centric systems. Jurisdictional integrity refers to the political and legal competence of a unit of government to operate within a spatial and functional realm. An intrinsic element of jurisdictional integrity in a democratic system is that citizens are enabled to give consent to and pass judgment on the exercise of authority by that governmental entity. The concept of jurisdictional integrity is shown to apply differentially in relation to the traditional institutions of government in comparison with the emergent complex of quasi-governmental agencies, special purpose bodies and multi-organizational collaborations. Distinctions are drawn between club, agency and polity entities within this emergent organizational field. Problems to be faced in the design of institutions for network governance under conditions of polycentrism are identified and solutions reviewed. The potential of consociationalism to enable collective decision making across a polycentric system is highlighted. Informal norms are shown to be essential in enabling such a system for network governance to operate effectively.     

Performance Measurement in a Direct Democratic Environment: Local Government Reforms in Switzerland

Current international development in public management is characterized by a rare unanimity among countries. Trends in public administration, business administration, applied economics, and public law indicate a stronger emphasis on performance and a weakening of input-oriented analysis and steering. At the foundation of this development is performance measurement (PM). However, the political and administrative circumstance of its implementation differ widely. The following article deals with the implications of Swiss direct democracy for new approaches to public management and, specifically, performance measurement.     

Globalization and Reunification: Administrative Reforms and the China–Hong Kong Convergence Challenge

When Hong Kong reintegrated with China in 1997, one critical issue was whether the flourishing center of economic activity with an efficient administrative framework would lose its advantages and become just another city of the People's Republic of China. This article examines the process of managing transition as socialist China tries to accommodate capitalist Hong Kong. With strong forces of globalization at play, both units have had to embark on administrative reforms to make their systems compatible with the demands of the new circumstances. An overview of the reforms they have undertaken reveals that convergence is possible despite markedly different points of departure. However, while the forces of globalization press for increased convergence, the forces of institutional arrangements and history present a major challenge. The balance of the push and pull of convergent and divergent forces will determine the direction and outcome of administrative reforms in China and Hong Kong.     

The Decline of Democratic Governance: An Analysis and a Modest Proposal

Why has democratic governance declined, at least in the Anglo‐American world? This essay maps the causes. It starts with the major parties, once basic agents of mass mobilisation and representation. It argues that a cascading series of developments, often involving contingent adjustments to immediate exigencies, have, in a longer perspective, created a fundamental gap between the political system and its publics. A second section then sketches paths to democratic renewal. How might this gap be closed? What other changes might be required to make this a reality? Are prospects of change fanciful?     

坚持科学执政、民主执政、依法执政——兼论我国社会主义民主政治建设问题

坚持科学执政、民主执政、依法执政,是发展社会主义民主政治的必然要求和必要条件,也是推进国家治理体系和治理能力现代化的关键所在。为此,要把党的领导方式和执政方式嵌入到社会主义民主和法治的制度框架之中,把科学执政、民主执政、依法执政有机统一起来,把“为人民执政”和“靠人民执政”有机统一起来。其前提是澄清我国民主政治建设的一些重大理论和实践问题,在知行合一的前提下不失时机地推进社会主义民主政治建设。     

行动者:治理转型中的行政主体

管理行政下的行政主体只是主客二分意义上的行政实体,是不具有主体性的行政主体。后工业社会的发育、发展,使行政管理发生深刻变化,促使多元管理主体生成,多元治理主体的生成意味着管理主体自觉性的增强。然而,当众多管理主体的主体性不断增长时,也就意味着行政主体在多元化进程中走向了自己的反面,由此说明需要在后工业社会场景下用行动者来取代行政主体。后工业社会条件下的行动者是充满想象力、具有积极性和主动性的行动者,他们通过自己的行动在建构这个世界。