State of the art called American Government

where he teaches ethics and public policy in addition to American government. He is the co-editor (with Leslie G. Rubin) of The Quest for Justice.     

How a Presidential Primary Debate Changed Attitudes of Audience Members

This article examines the effect of primary season presidential debates on voters' attitudes toward presidential candidates. Employing a pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design, we examine the 1996 Arizona Republican primary debate. We find that the debate led respondents to change their viability and electability assessments of the candidates and produced significant changes in respondents' vote preferences. In addition, we demonstrate that changes in viability, changes in electability, as well as differences between expected and actual debate performance influenced the vote preferences of audience members. We conclude by speculating about the debate's effect on the Arizona Republican primary, and by noting the potentially important differences between the impact of general election and primary debates.     

税改后如何发展农村公益事业

我国农村税费改革开始后,农村公益事业发展出现了新的严重困难,表现为农村公益事业缺乏投入,且无 组织机构管理协调。农村公益事业发展必须寻找新的出路。从社会主义现代化建设的要求看,农村公益事业发展的目标 模式应是城乡公益事业一体化。在现阶段,公共财政应对农村公益事业发展实施重点倾斜的政策,并把农村义务教育和 公共卫生防疫体系建设作为支出重点。同时,要积极探索发展农村公益事业的新机制,多渠道筹措发展资金。     

Divided Government and the Fragmentation of American Law

We investigate institutional explanations for Congress's choice to fragment statutory frameworks for policy implementation. We argue that divided party government, which fuels legislative‐executive conflict over control of the bureaucracy, motivates Congress to fragment implementation power as a strategy to enhance its control over implementation. We develop a novel measure of fragmentation in policy implementation, collect data on it over the period 1947–2008, and test hypotheses linking separation‐of‐powers structures to legislative design of fragmented implementation power. We find that divided party government is powerfully associated with fragmentation in policy implementation, and that this association contributed to the long‐run growth of fragmentation in the postwar United States. We further find that legislative coalitions are more likely to fragment implementation power in the face of greater uncertainty about remaining in the majority.     

如何建设效率政府

建设效率政府,除了要建立公共管理的绩效管理制度,促进政府管理绩效的提高之外,还必须采取具体对策与措施提高政府行政效率。     

论社会资本如何提高政府绩效

提高政府绩效是政府的重要目标之一,社会资本作为一种具有巨大潜在功能的生产性社会资源,在政府绩效的提高中扮演着重要角色。文章在对社会资本及政府绩效的概念进行界定的基础上,从五个方面对社会资本对政府绩效的作用进行了分析。     

Civic Culture and Government Performance in the American States

In a recent study, Robert D. Putnam reported a strong relationshipbetween civic culture and government performance among the newlyempowered regions of Italy. This article extends Putnam's methodologythe American states. Using similar techniques, we constructindices of civic culture and government performance for thestates. When correlated, the results reveal a clear link betweencivicness and performance. States that are more civic lend tohave governments that enact more liberal and innovative policies.This relationship between civicness and performance remainsstrong even after controlling for political culture, ideology,education, and other factors.     

Major Players: Bureaucracies In American Government

For more than 50 years, Herbert Kaufman has been an astute observer of public bureaucracies. In this essay, Kaufman draws on his extensive experience in explaining the role of public bureaucracies in the American political system. Kaufman was motivated to write the essay because of his concern that public bureaucracies are not given adequate attention in American government textbooks. We hope that PAR readers will use the essay to educate students and others about the important role of public bureaucracies in American government.—LDT     

当代美国联邦政府伦理管理探析

美国联邦政府的伦理管理通过多年的实践,在探索有效约束公务员行政行为方面积累了一定的经验.当前美国联邦政府主要着眼于组织结构的合理安排或是通过立法、制定组织规则、设立严格的监督机构等外在制度来督促行政伦理的实现.比较与借鉴美国联邦政府的伦理管理的实践经验,对于进一步实现我国政府管理的行政伦理化有着很强的实践意义.     

降低政府运行成本的对策探讨

政府机构为了维持正常运转在一定时期内付出的费用称为政府运行成本。目前政府运行成本过高的问题很突出,严重影响政府形象,必须按照十六大要求,转变政府职能,改进管理方式,推行电子政务,提高行政效率,降低运行成本。