Regulating the Internet infrastructure: A comparative appraisal of the legitimacy of ICANN,ITU, and the WSIS

How to generate legitimate forms of governance beyond the nation state is often considered a central question in contemporary world politics. To proceed in theory‐building, scholars need to systematically assign the theory‐driven assumptions on legitimate forms of governance beyond the nation state with the various, already observable, forms of global governance. This article aims to conduct a comparative appraisal of the legitimatory quality of different patterns of governance by applying a framework of indicators for their assessment. The indicators are selected from the scholarly debate within International Relations on the legitimacy of global governance arrangements and structured by a multidimensional concept of legitimacy (input, throughput, and output dimensions). This framework is then applied to international, transnational, and private forms of global governance in the field of Internet regulation in order to show how each of them tries to produce and maintain legitimacy, which strategies it applies, and in how it interacts with its stakeholders.     

Debt,Development and Intervention in Africa: The Contours of a Sovereign Frontier

Abstract

This paper argues that the concept of the sovereign frontier can help us think about sovereignty and intervention in a way that moves beyond some of the limitations usually associated with the former concept. Focused on a zone of practice, embedded in a broader ‘movement’ of Western expansion, the sovereign frontier highlights political practices of subordination and incorporation that characterize the sway of intervention in contemporary African states. These concepts are sketched out with reference to more concrete practices of intervention in African states – especially ‘governance states’ – and critical commentary is drawn therefrom. The main argument here is that a series of ostensibly less intrusive forms of aid policy-making are enabled by a constitutive inequality within the sovereign frontier and work towards a more profound and effective projection of external power within it. The paper concludes by suggesting that the intrinsic expansiveness of the sovereign frontier offers few possibilities for the attainment of alternative sovereignties to those shaped by Western institutions.     

关于“中国国家治理”研究的方法论

科学考察中国国家治理,必须首先要搞清楚三个相互联系的方法论问题:一是,中国国家治理是处于一定的世界历史时空坐标系上的国家治理,中国现阶段的社会主要矛盾及其在当代世界历史中所处的位置,构成了这一世界历史时空坐标系。脱离开这一世界历史时空坐标系,关于中国国家治理的研究就会走入歧途。二是,新时代的中国国家治理越来越具有双重特性,即:国家作为治理对象和国家作为治理主体。国家作为治理对象与国家作为治理主体的有机统一,彰显了"新时代"中国共产党的领导、依法治国与人民当家作主的有机统一。中国国家治理体系和治理能力现代化的标准就蕴含在其中。三是,中国国家治理与全球治理既有区别又有联系。全面、正确地认识和把握中国国家治理与全球治理间的关系,对于科学考察中国国家治理至关重要。     

Creating the Islamic Republic of Iran: wives and daughters of martyrs,and acts of citizenship

This paper develops a notion of citizenship which accounts for interruptions of, and compliances with, routines in governance. It applies the concept beyond a legal status and electoral practice to decipher how everyday encounters with the state can lead to creative institutional reconfigurations. Focusing on the wives and daughters of martyrs from the Iran–Iraq war (1980–1988), this paper poses ideologically committed contestation and collaborations with national structures of power as acts of citizenship. With particular attention to temporality and constructive uses of memory, this discussion introduces a governing technique created and utilized by women to remake the state as they assert a self-determined citizenry status.     

Institutionalized social skill and the rise of mediating organizations in urban governance: the case of the Cleveland Housing Network

In this paper we build on an expanding literature that attempts to understand the changing organizational and institutional dimensions of contemporary urban governance. We do so by utilizing the Cleveland Housing Network as a lens through which salient characteristics of contemporary governance become visible. Doing so enables us to highlight the distinctive challenges of the multi-institutional nature of contemporary governance arrangements and “heterarchic” governance in particular. These challenges situate mediating organizations as central components of governance arrangements. Finally, by focusing on the distinctive characteristics of the organization's leaders, we demonstrate that mediating organizations are usefully thought of as institutionalized forms of the “social skill” of institutional entrepreneurs.     

Governance, the World Bank and Liberal Theory

We examine the recent debates about governance, focusing particularly on the World Bank and identify certain factors which have in recent years moved the Bank's thinking beyond narrowly economic notions of development. Our account is tentative and we suggest further avenues of research. We try to connect the Bank's thinking systematically with key features of liberal discourse and suggest that thiscan do much to illuminate practice. We illustrate this with a discussion of the growing relationship between the Bank and NGOs, to contribute to forms of analysis which go beyond the ideas vs. interests polarities that still inform so much of contemporary social and political theory.     

国家建设与国家治理

中共十八届三中全会和四中全会所推出的“国家治理现代化”和“依法治国”概念,集中体现了新一届中央领导层治国理念的核心思想,也预示了未来中国政府改革的方向。从“国家建设”和“国家治理”的角度予以解读,并从国家运行“动力系统”和“制动系统”平衡、国家“上层制度”和“基础制度”构建、国家治理“传统方式”向“现代方式”转变的角度,说明国家治理改革的目标和任务,认为把“国家治理现代化”和“依法治国”作为施政理念,表明了执政当局对现代政治文明核心价值的认可,表达了执政党把中国送入法治轨道的意愿和决心。     

Governance-Theorien und Governance-Probleme: Diesseits und jenseits des Steuerungsparadigmas

In recent years, the governance perspective has found a remarkable resonance in political science. Its development has focussed on institutional forms of governing in post-hierarchical contexts. Its popularity has been fuelled by the promise to provide for a practically relevant, design-friendly integration of different disciplines, approaches, and theories. The predominant view of governance is still strongly committed to the idea of political “steering”. It is doubtful, however, that in a post-hierarchical context problems of governing are adequately described as problems of “steering” and its improvement. It is thus argued that we should understand governance in ways which can not be reduced simply to steering. Three such alternatives are presented. Only a pluralistic understanding of governance can help us understand what the practical problems governance research promises to elucidate are actually about.     

Responsible Governance and Problems of Administrative Reform: Experiences of Developing Countries in Asia

In the 1980s many developing and newly industrializing countries in Asia expressed great interest in administrative reform. Compelling reasons for public reform in these nations arise from causes different from those in developed nations. Among Asian developing nations, government reform is intrinsic to and inextricable from crises in governance. Within the context of developing politics, a reliable and competent government is sine qua non of national stability; and, more importantly, this largely decides the tenure of a governing group. Its ability to remain in power will be determined by the efficaciousness of public authority. Against these backgrounds, this article discusses the five conference papers of the Eastern Regional Organization of Public Administration (EROPA) of 1991. It examines both similarities and differences among four countries in their efforts to reform public administration. This review suggests that in developing Asia, the quest for administrative reform emanates from crises in governance. Reform goes beyond exploring ways to improve the quality of public management.     

论“政权党”——以当代俄罗斯和中华民国初年政党政治为例

本文详细考察了当代俄罗斯和中华民国初年的政党政治和政治制度,认为二者都是以政权党为显著特征的政党政治,表现出总统重视政党的作用,善于利用政权党来巩固政治地位但又超越政权党,具有不受任何党派约束的巨大权威;政权党虽然能得到总统的支持,但是无法成为执政党,因而表现出既支持政府又批评政府,既与政府合作又与政府斗争的特征。由此得出结论,政权党是一种在政党与政权关系问题上相对于执政党、在野党之外的又一政党类型,有其特定的历史文化基础。     

Regional Economic Governance: A Technology of Government or Regional Autonomy in New South Wales?

The focus of this paper is on the extent to which emerging forms of regional economic governance may be read as the burgeoning formation of regionally constituted, self-governing communities, and yet, somewhat ambiguously, as a new technology of central government. It begins by considering the distinction between ‘governance’ and ‘government’ and the extent to which current regional economic governance practices in the state of New South Wales, Australia, hold the promise of regional autonomy. With reference to the French philosopher and historian, Michel Foucault, a brief history is sketched of government rationality, indicating how the historically changing aims of government implicate various concomitant technologies. With this in mind, it is argued that contemporary regional economic governance practices in NSW do not so much reveal a new-found regional autonomy but rather a new technology of government.     

A Comparison of State Traditions and the Revival of a Nuclear Power in Four Countries

Abstract

The British, American, French and Finnish governments are seeking to promote investment in a new generation of nuclear power plants. Nuclear power programmes are delivered through networks of international companies through which government must manage. This is consistent with the concept of governance. Governments can advance their policy goals by using a variety of policy instruments to shape and organize governance networks. This is known as metagovernance. The paper considers the extent to which the selection and deployment of the policy instruments used to metagovern is informed by the prevailing tradition of government. The paper examines how the British, American, French and Finnish governments have tried to metagovern. It is shown that whilst governing traditions do inform the selection and deployment of the policy instruments used to metagovern, the composition of the network, and the nature of the policy problem also plays a role in shaping government action.     

Deliberative Politik in transnationalen Räumen — Legitimation und Effektivität in der grenzüberschreitenden Umweltpolitik zwischen Kanada und USA

The article addresses new, horizontal and dialogue-oriented forms of political governance in transnational spaces. A normative-analytical model of deliberative governance will be developed to appraise the democratic potential of transnational structures and actions. The research is guided by the observation that the North American Great Lakes Regime reveals a high democratic-deliberative quality whereas international governance rather tends to de-democratization. This raises a challenging research question: To what extent does the deliberative governance of the Great Lakes Regime provide a model case, which allows drawing conclusions on institutional prerequisites and means how to “democratize” governance in similar issue areas.     

网络空间草根政治运动及其公共治理

网络空间草根政治运动是草根力量以维护其利益为目的,运用网络技术组织的抗争性集体行动。草根政治运动在网络空间兴起是社会转型时期贫富分化的结果,也是网络时代权力重新分配的结果。它的表现形式主要有网络政治动员、网络舆论批评监督、网络政治参与,它有利于国家-市场-社会关系的优化,也有利于国家治理的发展,同时也可能给政治秩序稳定带来极大的难题。因此,对网络空间草根政治治理必须坚持整体性治理原则,引导与规制并举,现实政治与虚拟空间治理并重,使网络空间草根政治运动成为社会主义民主政治的重要建设性力量而非颠覆性力量。     

The dual governing system of the People's Republic of China

The dual governing system of the People's Republic of China has proved to be an effective way to cope with the extraordinary problems of managing a polity on the massive scale of China. Because it is unusual in the world today, perhaps even unique, it is important to clarify how the present order came about and how it functions. Some outsiders may unthinkingly assume that the Chinese government operates as the power governing the country. But in the People's Republic of China, the government is in fact the outward and visible face of the governance system. Behind (and above) the government is the Communist Party of China. The Party now has around 85 million members, between 5% and 6% of the population. This group defines the political class in today's China and functions as a leadership oligarchy. The Party determines policy and oversees appointments at all levels of public service. These officials are in fact in charge, dominating their government counterparts through the dual system of governance. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Toward Participatory and Transparent Governance: Report on the Sixth Global Forum on Reinventing Government:

The Global Forum on Reinventing Government has made government reform and new forms of comparative public administration and politics global issues. Since the forum was initiated in the United States in 1999, it has been held in locations around the world with broad representation. Yet the proceedings of these forums have not been fully reported to the international public administration community. This paper reports on the ideas on reinventing governance that emerged from the Sixth Global Forum. Many of the participants in the forum came from developing countries, so the paper also provides ideas and points of view on governance that are beyond the mainstream literature in this area.     

Metagovernance and Control of Multi-level Governance Frameworks: The Case of the EU Structural Funds Financial Execution

Using as an empirical base the 2006–08 reform of the European Union Structural Funds financial execution, this paper explores control mechanisms of multi-level governance frameworks. The empirical evidence provides a representative case of initial metagovernance deficit and the subsequent, relatively successful, institutional response reinforcing metagovernance. The purpose is to clarify the conceptual dimensions of metagovernance, setting it in a categorical scheme that identifies forms of exercise of political power: government, governance and multi-level governance. Specifically, the paper argues for a conceptualization of metagovernance that highlights a sense of sovereignty by which governmental entities vested with legal legitimacy advance public interests.     

The Contingent Public Value of ‘Good Design’: Regulating the Aesthetics of the Australian Urban Built Environment

The proposition that the urban built environment can, and indeed should, be made more visually attractive is a long‐standing feature of the governance of Australian cities. In this vein, this paper examines how ‘good design’ in terms of visual aesthetics is currently pursued including through the development assessment process and the work of government architects. The paper begins by tracing the background of contemporary regulatory practice from long‐standing ideas around beauty and its value through to the urban design movement of today. Next, it considers in more detail various rationales for aesthetic governance and what might be better forms of regulatory practice. In short, it will be argued that while there can be scope for regulation to deliver superior outcomes, this practice must be sensitive to a high degree of contingency in what the public values and that deliberate empirical inquiry into the latter is desirable.     

Public Sector Corporate Governance Disclosures: An Examination of Annual Reporting Practices in Queensland

In the public sector, corporate governance is an expression that is yet to be explicitly defined. This paper examines the existing public sector literature in order to derive a set of broad principles of corporate governance in the public sector. These principles are then applied through a content analysis of corporate governance disclosures in a group of government‐owned corporations, state government departments, local governments and statutory bodies. The results indicate the set of principles derived is generally applicable to various forms of public entities. However, due to a lack of an established public sector corporate governance framework, the disclosure of corporate governance is piecemeal. Government‐owned corporations achieved better disclosure practices in most principles than other public sector bodies. The paper aims to stimulate debate on public sector corporate governance and provides a basis for a more extensive survey on corporate governance disclosures.     

儒家道德权利与政治权利要义

作为社会身份和政治资格的人权在儒家“孔仁孟义”的思想体系中被表达为“内圣外王”之道,其在“修齐治平”的实现程序之中又以“公私之辨”和“义利之辨”标志出政治伦理原则和“以德限权”的社会治理特色。儒家以“公权利”揭示人的自然权利,以其公平性和自然性引申为人的道德权利;再以道德权利为基础推演出人的政治权利,而“私权力”则仅为政治权利的异化形式,其极端化的结果就是“以权谋私”,后者因其“侵害公权利”的实质,儒家的人提倡以“道德权利”加以限制,故称为“德治”。儒家的道德权利与政治权利不仅影响了中国社会的思想和制度传统,而且其思想特色通过“为人民服务”、“改革开放”、“三个代表”和“三为”等原则亦被创造性地运用于当代中国共产党人的治国理政事业之中。