公务员制度建设的思考

全球化时代的到来,不仅是我国公务员制度建设的机遇,更是挑战。我国公务员制度存在不完善的地方,要清醒认识到我国公务员制度可能存在缺陷,进一步明确我国公务员制度建设的基本原则,推进公务员制度创新,实现公务员制度的战略发展。     

Cleaning up and invigorating the civil service

Reliable quantitative estimates are not available of: (1) the quality of civil service performance and changes therein as the result of development projects, or (2) the importance of civil service performance for various development outcomes. Nonetheless, anecdotal evidence indicates that in some countries government performance has indeed collapsed, with calamitous effects on development. Although poor government performance is theoretically overdetermined—there are many possible causes, which we cannot disentangle in practice—a plausible story can be told based on institutional economics, using such concepts as information, incentives, and credible commitment. This version of both problems and solutions is supported by examples of successful reforms. The article argues that “institutional adjustment’ deserves more consideration as a basis for reforms. Two practical examples are discussed in some detail: improving incentives in the public sector and strategies to combat corruption. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

新公共管理视域下的基本公共服务均等化

基本公共服务均等化是当前的热点问题,也是全面建设小康社会、促进社会协调发展的重要制约因素。本文从新公共管理的视角分析基本公共服务均等化的内在意蕴,剖析当前基本公共服务均等化实现过程中的困点,并在此基础上,对我国基本公共服务均等化实现路径做一些探讨性的研究。     

我国公务员制度改革的十大反思

公务员制度是我国政府的基本人事制度。随着社会的发展进步 ,我国现行的公务员制度逐渐显现出了其不足与缺陷。西方国家在新公共管理运动的影响下 ,纷纷对本国的人事制度进行了相应的改革 ,其主旨就是“用企业家精神来改造政府 ,用市场方式来管理公务人员”。具体措施如权力下放 ,解除规制 ,弹性管理 ,绩效评估等。作为一个有着自己特殊国情的发展中国家 ,我们在借鉴西方国家的经验时 ,必须从正反两方面来进行反思。     

The political economy of voluntary public service

We characterize the voluntary public service policy that minimizes the expected cost of delivering a public service (e.g., jury or military service). We then examine whether a majority rule voting procedure will implement the voluntary public service policy (VPS) whenever it entails lower expected cost than mandatory public service (MPS). We find that majority rule often favors MPS in the sense that majority rule implements MPS when VPS would secure the requisite public service at lower expected cost.

     

The role of civil society in European integration

This paper explores the concept of ‘civic society’ in Western political thought, charting the changing understanding of this concept through history and its manifestation in contemporary political and social life. The paper draws out the inferences for our understanding of the role of government, particularly with the European Union and its relationship with citizens and other representative community‐based and non‐governmental organisations. The paper argues that the fundamental values that are central to civic society underpin the proposed EU Charter on Fundamental Rights and maintains that effective European integration requires responsible participation by Europe's citizens. Copyright © 2001 Henry Stewart Publications     

Improving the organization and management of civil service training in Zambia

This paper describes the first phase (1981-1984) of a programme being carried out by the Government of Zambia to improve the organization and management of in-service training for civil servants. General guidelines for an effective training function are outlined. These are compared to the problems of civil service training in Zambia in 1981, where responsibility was fragmented, co-ordination was poor, work concentrated on routine administration, and the background of training staff was often inappropriate. A set of recommendations was agreed for resolving these problems, including the creation of a central training directorate and a cadre of full-time training staff. The package of proposals was designed to increase accountability, improve co-ordination, improve the quality of training staff, and introduce systematic training procedures. The progress with implementing these changes is evaluated; the greatest progress was in setting up the cadre of training staff, although significant progress was also made in other areas. The paper concludes that the conditions for an effective training function have been created and that a longer-term programme to develop the new training cadre is now required. The Zambian example provides a possible model for any country thinking of introducing similar changes.     

Civil service and democracy: Questions in reforming the civil service in eastern and central Europe

The debate over public service reform is taking place at a time of flux when old models are being challenged everywhere. This article discusses issues of institutional transfer, as between western and east and central Europe, relative to civil service reform and democratisation. It presents several models to describe the place of the civil service in the democratic state and the implications of each for civil service organisation. It argues for a better balance between a legal approach, which tends to dominate advice coming from some continental European countries, and one which emphasises ‘good’ rather than just ‘correct’ relations between administration and citizens. This distinction is fundamental in so far as, under the UK Citizens Charter for example, the citizen is seen as a ‘customer’ rather than a mere ‘user’ of services he has no influence over. The article concludes that, given the differences in culture, political climate and economic situation of ‘recipient’ countries in east and central Europe, each must search for its own reforms, looking for questions rather than answers.     

Salient features of the 1988 civil service reforms in Nigeria

The main provisions of the 1988 civil service reform in Nigeria are discussed, including structural reorganization, professionalization and the enforcement of public accountability. As of the time of the reform, the following defects were associated with the civil service: undue importance accorded the generalists at the expense of the professionals; profligacy among public officers; nonchalant attitude among civil servants to their duties; and corruption. Measures taken to rectify these defects by the reform include: the adoption of a uniform structure for the civil service nationwide; the harmonization of power with responsibility; the streamlining of the span of control of officers to not more than eight units; the expansion of the powers of internal audit units complemented by an audit alarm system; the mandating of chief executives to submit progress reports on their ministry to the president; and the rationalization of promotion criteria for public officers. These provisions are little more than the rehashing of past legislations, which failed to achieve positive results, not because they were faulty in precept but because they were sacrificed to sloppy implementation. Therefore, the 1988 reform may suffer from the same fate because it was simply grafted onto the corrupt system that caused the failure of past reforms before it.     

The changing colours of the post-communist state: The politicisation of the senior civil service in Hungary

Abstract.  This article examines claims that senior civil services in post-communist Europe are subject to instability and politicisation, and that both features are at the centre of what amounts to the emergence of a distinct type of executive governance different from Western traditions. At the conceptual level, the article develops four modes of politicisation that differ with respect to the political control over the making and breaking of bureaucratic careers. Modes of politicisation serve as an analytical tool to assess and classify the politicisation of post-communist senior civil services and to compare them to prevailing modes of politicisation in Western democracies as well as the communist past. At the empirical level, the article examines the politicisation of the senior civil service in post-communist Hungary. It argues that the politicisation of the Hungarian senior civil service is characterised by high turnover, recruitment of outsiders and heavy reliance on the appointment of officials who come and go with their bloc of political parties while bridging the out-of-office period in the private sector, academia or at a political party. The article concludes that the politicisation of the senior civil service in post-communist Hungary has more in common with the communist past than with the prevailing modes of politicisation in Western democracies. The main difference from the communist era lies in the periodically changing political colours of the post-communist state.     

略论检察机关民事公诉权

民事公诉性质案件的客观存在,是建立有中国特色的民事公诉制度的现实基础。在民事公诉制度中,检察机关行使民事公诉权有充分的理论基础。同时,对民事公诉案件范围的探讨及民事公诉若干特殊问题的解析则有其充分的必要性。     

儒家"诚信"思想与政府公务员职业道德建设

“诚信”是儒家伦理道德中的基本规范之一。儒家诚信思想所包含的关于个人立身处世与道德修养 ,人与人的交往的基本准则 ;治理国家的基本原则等思想在当代道德建设中具有重要的参考价值。继承和发扬儒家“诚信”思想中的精髓 ,对于加强以“诚信”为中心的政府公务员职业道德建设 ,具有重要的意义     

城市积水考问政府公共服务能力

城市积水处理是城市基础设施建设的一部分,也是政府公共服务的一部分,更是对政府提供公共服务的能力和水平的考问和检验,面对严竣的积水现状,我国政府唯有强化公共服务能力,完善公共服务体系,才是治理之道。     

Demand for masters of public policy in public service

This piece was written to assist those who lead schools of public policy and administration in evaluating their pedagogies and examining their curricula. The perspectives contained in this piece reflect those of the author, who has spent the last 35 years practicing and leading public policy research and analysis in the Congressional Research Service (CRS)—the public policy agency created by the U.S. Congress for its exclusive use. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of CRS or the Congress.     

A small civil service in transition: the case of Estonia

Although scholars have shown consistent interest in small states in past decades, the Republic of Estonia has not been included in any study of small states owing to its brief history of independent statehood. This article provides an overview of the development of the Estonian civil service, to enable readers to understand the background and scope of reforms in the 1990s. The objective of the study is to test previous findings on small states using empirical research into the Estonian civil service. Interviews with civil servants reveal a few new characteristics attributable to the size of a state such as personalization of units and organizational objectives, and additional sources of organizational instability. However, it is argued that several problems of public administration in developing countries and small states overlap, which creates difficulties in distinguishing between developmental factors and the size of the state as determinants. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.