如何提升政府的透明度:新加坡的做法和启示

提升政府透明度是建设"服务型"政府的要求和目标,有助于预防腐败现象的发生,提高公众的参与程度和满意度。新加坡是世界上政府透明度最高的国家之一,拥有一流的电子政务平台以及最为清廉的公务员队伍。我国与新加坡同处亚洲和儒家文化圈,都是后发展国家,新加坡的经验值得我们学习借鉴。本文首先对政府透明度进行了理论层面的研究,构建了政府透明度理论分析框架。其次,以理论分析框架为指导,从政党和执政者、政策法规、社会文化、公众的素质和能力、平台建设五个方面分析了新加坡提升政府透明度的做法。最后,文章总结了新加坡对我国建设透明政府的启示,即完善信息公开法律,确保法律的执行;培育社会文化,提供隐性支持;鼓励公众参与,提升参与能力;推进电子政务建设,丰富沟通参与渠道。     

Praying for Government: Peasant Disengagement from the Bolivian State*

This article explores peasants' experiences of the state in the Toracari valley, Northern Potosí, suggesting that such an analysis may shed light on the absence of political unrest among substantial segments of Bolivia's indigenous population. So long as Toracari peasants imagine the fetish of a benevolent (national) Government that one cannot fight, they associate local public offices with the small‐scale mestizo landlords who hold these positions, rather than with Government. Recognition of this distinction should caution scholars against employing the concept of ‘State’ as a system that includes all levels of government and state officials. Use of that concept may obstruct serious research into the power of local elites such as the landlords.     

The Missing Fifth Dimension: The Writing of Australian History in Germany*

German historical writing about Australia can be traced back to the early periods of European exploration of Terra incognita. A corpus of German‐Australian literature exists in the historical notes that were part of early travel books, geographic sketches and emigrant guides. Historical fiction provides another element. However an empirical historiography which elevated Australian history from footnotes and established it as the focus of a professional discipline did not develop until later. Australia was too often wrongly viewed as a space without history. This article examines the professional treatment of Australian history in Germany and the difficult path which faced those who sought to establish the history of Australia as an independent research field. It focuses upon three aspects: (a) the historical background of German Overseas Studies; (b) Australian history as topic in Germany's historiography; and (c) the post‐war situation of Australian historical studies in Germany.     

A Footnote to East African History

This article is by a District Officer in Uganda, seconded duringthe War to administration in Somalia. He regards the entry asinteresting because it does not appear in Sir Reginald Coupland'sstandard East Africa and its Invaders.     

Handout or Hand‐up: Ongoing Tensions in the Long History of Government Response to Drought in Australia

In 2014 the Coalition government announced a 320 million dollar package for drought‐hit farmers. In describing this initiative as a “hand‐up” not a “hand out” Prime Minister Tony Abbott encapsulated more than 150 years of tension over whether government drought response should be unconditional limited relief or conditional longer‐term assistance. This paper considers the long history of drought assistance in Australia as seen through government legislation, year books, newspapers and personal papers. It argues that despite changing political and social circumstances, contradictions in the approach to government drought response, as well as in public and personal reactions to those policies, have remained remarkably consistent. We further suggest that lack of consensus over the inherent nature of drought is not sufficient to explain the dilemma.