Investment of Social Security reserves in three countries

The current buildup of the U.S. Social Security Trust Fund has caused speculation about both the potential consequences of the buildup under different policy objectives and the fund's management. As is often the case, the search for precedents under similar circumstances abroad has been quite extensive on the part of legislators and U.S. experts in the field of financial policy. This article summarizes the experiences of Canada, Japan, and Sweden--all of whom have accumulated large trust fund reserves--with a focus on their investment policies. Trust fund investments in the three countries are similar as to types of investments, but the pattern of distribution of these investments varies widely from one country to another.     

National styles of regulation: Child care in three countries

An analysis of child care regulations in Germany, Sweden, and the United States reveals distinctive national policy styles. A ‘social constructionist’ perspective, with its emphasis on variable problem definitions, helps to explain such differences. However, a full understanding of regulatory differences requires attention to regulatory solutions as well. By disaggregating the concept of regulation, we are able to demonstrate rather different rank-orderings of our three countries in their regulatory solutions. We attribute these differences to cultural, institutional, and political characteristics of the three countries.     

Immigration and support for redistribution: survey experiments in three European countries

In times of increasing globalisation scholars put considerable efforts into understanding the consequences of immigration to the welfare state. One important factor in this respect is public support for the welfare state and redistribution. This article presents results from a unique survey experiment and a panel study in three European countries (Norway, Germany and the Netherlands) in order to examine whether and how individuals change their preference for redistribution when faced with immigration. Theoretically, citizens with high incomes should be especially likely to withdraw their support for redistribution because they fear the increased fiscal burden, whereas other types of citizens might ask for more compensation for the increased labour market risks caused by immigration. The empirical evidence reveals that only respondents with high incomes and those who face low labour market competition withdraw support for redistribution when faced with immigration.     

Managing research institutions in developing countries: Test of a model

This article proposes a model for the analysis, management and development of research institutes in developing countries which incorporates four interdependent dimensions: (i) a strategic management dimension concerned with the management of the organisation's internal and external environments and their interrelationships; (ii) a dimension concerned with ‘collaborative institutional arrangements’; (iii) an internal management and supervision dimension; and (iv) a ‘research operations’ dimension. A preliminary corroboration of the model's validity is derived from a review of relevant published literature and summaries of evaluation studies of research institutions in developing countries.     

Public sector personnel management in three African countries: Current problems and possibilities

Following visits to three less developed countries (LDCs) in Sub-Saharan Africa (Tanzania, Kenya and Zimbabwe) to study public sector personnel systems, the author offers a review of personnel practice in Civil Service and parastatal organizations. In the main, despite a recognition that personnel issues were crucial to organizational success and thereby, ultimately, to economic development, the personnel function was found to be a largely reactive administrative operation, often combined with non-personnel ‘housekeeping’ roles and lacking a strategic role within the organization. Reasons for this restricted role are suggested and include a lack of alternative models of best personnel practice, the historical legacy of colonial administration, and the continuing need for administrative controls in the face of favouritism and corruption. Prospects for reform are considered in the light of current conditions and the view is advanced that changes in the personnel practices and policy are most desirable and urgent in the parastatal sector, and that a reformed parastatal sector might serve as a model for selective improvements to personnel management in the Civil Service.     

The role of the public sector in introducing operations research/management science within developing countries

This article examines the role the public sector has played in introducing operations research/ management science (OR/MS) in developing countries. To this end, some of the difficulties in applying OR/MS within the environment of a developing country in general, and within their public sector in particular, are briefly discussed, and the first applications of OR/MS in some such countries are reviewed. In spite of the fact that the application of OR/MS in the public sector is generally more difficult than that in the private sector, it is shown that OR/MS has, in most cases, entered countries through the public sector. Possible reasons for this phenomenon are discussed and an assessment of the contribution of OR/MS to public sector decision-making is made.     

The importance of policy entrepreneurs in developing countries: A systematic review and future research agenda

How and with what effect policy entrepreneurship occurs is a persistent and intriguing question for scholars of public policy and administration and political science. So far, the main interest has been on policy entrepreneurship in developed countries rather than developing countries, which largely remains a black box. Adopting a systematic approach to reviewing the literature, this article aims to fill this void. It investigates when, why, and how policy and institutional reforms in developing countries take place, with special reference to the role of policy entrepreneurs. It reviews selected articles published in the Thomson Reuters Web of Knowledge Social Science Citation Index database from 1984 to 2018. It aims to show the current state of empirical and theoretical knowledge about policy entrepreneurship in developing countries and persistent knowledge gaps. The present review contributes to the body of knowledge on this topic in three main ways. First, we provide a comprehensive review of policy entrepreneurship in developing countries. Second, we consolidate existing research in the political science, public policy and administration, and politicial economy disciplines. Third, we establish connections between fragmented literatures, identify gaps between different research streams, and suggest promising paths for future research on policy entrepreneurship in developing countries.     

西方的政策研究机构:历史、现状及其对中国的启示

政策研究机构是政府决策体制的一个重要组成部分。西方国家的政策研究机构先后经过了萌芽阶段、初创阶段和发展阶段 ,如今已深入西方社会各个领域 ,成了政府决策不可或缺的有力助手。西方的政策研究机构有官方、半官方和民间三种。通过研究西方政策研究机构的历史与现状 ,我们可以从中得到许多有益的启示 ,如 :谋断分离应成为政府决策体制改革的一项重要内容 ,政策研究必须有一定的独立性 ,要大力发展非官方的政策研究机构 ,政策研究机构要充分借用外力 ,政策研究机构内部要有合理的智能结构     

Socialist Pedagogy

Theodore Mills Norton and Bertell Oilman, eds. Studies in Socialist Pedagogy. (New York and London: Monthly Review Press, 1978; $16.50).     

Women's rights in transition: the collision of feminist interest groups,religion and non-governmental organizations in three Latin American countries

This article explores the roles and successes of feminist interest groups, religious interests and non-governmental organizations in promoting or blocking reproductive policies in three Andean countries—Chile, Ecuador and Peru. Access to reproductive services and facilities, such as birth control and elective abortion, in the transitional democracies of Latin America has remained as restricted as under authoritarian regimes. The issue is complicated by the involvement of ideologically driven domestic and foreign interests attempting to influence policy decisions. The political outcomes have significant implications for the nature of democracy and for women's representation across Latin America. The evidence shows that successes have been varied for all women's groups involved in the reproductive rights issue. The primary reason appears to be that, despite advances in political representation in the region, the more established religious interests and other countervailing forces have managed to maintain the status quo in the face of feminist interest group demands. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

"行政三分制"研究综述

"行政三分制"是由中编办提出,深圳市政府试行的政府改革思路,指行政决策、执行和监督三者适度分开.学者们对什么是"行政三分制",即权力三分抑或功能三分还存在异议,并认为行政三分的理论依据可从中西两方探源.他们对"行政三分制"的合理性、自身局限性以及实施的外部制约因素进行了深入剖析,并对如何克服局限和制约因素提出了建言.     

Destructive decision-making in developing countries

In most developing countries strategic decision-making has been largely based on false premises that have led to destructive results. One set of false premises stems from the assumption that development can be dissociated from the destructively exponential growth in developed countries, from the limits on the planet's physical resources and from complex ecological linkages. Another set is grounded on the popular myths of entrenched development economics: particularly, the enshrining of GNP as the overall indicator of progress, and the concomitant withdrawal of attention from poverty and concentrated wealth, unemployment, and the injurious effects of many modern technologies. These destructive premises tend to reinforce the evolving institutions of new-style empire and oligarchy.More successful development requires standing present development policies on their head through development goals calling for (1) a recognition of redistributive and nonmaterial growth possibilities, (2) redistributive, material and nonmaterial growth in developing countries, (3) redistributive, nonmaterial growth in overdeveloped countries, with a major slowing down of material consumption, (4) large-scale employment projects in developing countries, and (5) the fostering and use of more constructive technologies. All such shifts, however, would require—and tend to lead toward—substantial, long-term changes in the sociopolitical structure of developing countries and the world society.This paper is based on and adapted from The Limits of Development Administration, the keynote paper presented in October 1972 at the U.N. Public Administration Division's conference on development administration in Kiev, USSR, and Unemployment: The Snag in Development, prepared at Kiev and published in The Nation, Dec. 11, 1972.     

Socialist Heroes in East German Schoolbooks

Based on examples of socialist heroes from East German schoolbooks and teaching guides designed for elementary school, this essay examines the role of state ideology in primary education. It assesses the German curriculum of the now-defunct German Democratic Republic (GDR) and illuminates distinctions between civic education and political propaganda. It also shows how the curricular emphasis on socialist virtue helped to form “the socialist personality.”

Political participation and three theories of democracy: A research inventory and agenda

Abstract.  This article proposes an agenda for political participation research aimed at providing empirical answers to questions derived from normative political theory. Based on a threefold distinction between responsive, participatory and deliberative models of democracy, the article first distinguishes three conceptions of political participation: as influencing attempts, as direct decision making, and as political discussion. Second, it is argued that each of the three models is associated with different desired consequences of political participation: equal protection of interests, self-development and subjective legitimacy. Third, a procedural standard is identified from which to evaluate the mechanism generating the three types of participation. By analogy with theories of distributive justice, this mechanism should be sensitive to incentives but insensitive to resources. The empirical questions thus implied are finally drawn together into an integrated agenda for future participation studies.     

The use and non-use of policy appraisal tools in public policy making: an analysis of three European countries and the European Union

The increasing complexity of policy problems, coupled with the political desire to base new policies on the foundation of firm evidence, has accelerated the development of policy assessment tools. These range from complex computer models and cost benefit analysis through simple checklists and decision trees. In the last decade, many governments have established formal policy assessment systems to harness these tools in order to facilitate more evidence-based policy making. These tools are potentially widely available, but to what extent are they used by policy makers and what becomes of the evidence that they generate? This paper addresses these questions by studying the empirical patterns of tool use across 37 cases in three European countries and the European Commission. It uses a simple classification of tools into advanced, formal and simple types. It finds that even when tools are embedded in policy assessment systems, their use is differentiated and on the whole very limited, in particular when it comes to more advanced tools. It then explores these patterns from contrasting theoretical perspectives to shed light on why, when and how different policy assessment tools are used in the policy process.