农村村民选举质量及其影响因素的变化——对4省市68个村选举的跟踪观察和研究

作为对村民委员会选举状况的跟踪调查,本文的分析表明,与前两届相比,第三届村民直选的质量在江西和山西两地均有所提升。在各种社会性影响力中,县乡指导小组和村民选举委员会发挥着主导作用,而宗族的作用力并不明显。宗族对选举的影响,依然主要表现为选民投票的宗族取向。选举对农村社会的影响,正朝着促进和谐、团结的方向迈进。     

我国农村基层党组织领导班子选举问题研究

改革开放以来，我国农村基层党组织建设创新出“两推一选”、“公推直选”、“海选”、“两票制选举”等基层党组织领导班子选举形式。但无论是选举程序还是操作层面都存在亟需解决的问题，如选举程序繁琐导致选举成本高，贿选，宗族、宗派势力影响，富人势力的干扰等。     

乡村选举中的派系政治

对乡村选举中农民分派或有组织性参与选举的现象,学者们使用了"派系"或"派性"概念来加以研究。派系往往是作为一种选举动员方式出现的,但它又明显不同于宗族、政党派别、利益群体等组织形式,它有自己的特性。乡村选举并不是派系产生的主要原因,农村社会结构的性质、社会组织的变迁以及经济的发展才是派系产生的深刻根源。派系在其形成和运作过程中,对乡村选举和选举后的乡村治理都产生了重要的影响,这种影响是复杂的,既有一定的积极作用,也可能带来负面的效果。     

正确认识和处理村民选举中出现的几个问题

民主选举是我国农村村民自治的核心内容,是村民享有的“四个民主”权利之一。然而在村民选举中必须正确认识和处理反选举程序的行为问题,扰乱、破坏选举的行为问题,贿选问题,承诺问题,宗族、派性问题,选民资格问题以及候选人资格问题。只有正确认识和处理这些问题,选举才能健康顺利发展。     

村级民主选举历时态之探析——对一个村委会连续三届选举现场观察的调查报告

自实行村级民主直选以来,直选后对村级民主建设的进程发挥了何种的作用,村民的参与程度如何及其出现的原因是什么?现通过对一个村委会连续三届选举的现场观察调查分析为案例,对上述问题进行了分析和回答。     

改革党内选举制度的着力点

当前和今后一段时间,改革党内选举制度的主要着力点是:改革候选人提名制度,改进候选人介绍办法;改革公推直选制度,逐步扩大党组织直接选举范围;改革差额选举制度,适当扩大差额选举的范围和比例;改革竞争选举制度,提高竞争选举质量;改进选举程序和投票方式,保障党内选举结果的合法性;健全与选举相配套的制度,营造优秀人才脱颖而出的制度环境。     

浅析宗族(家族)对乡村治理的影响

当前,我国社会正处于向市场经济转型的过程,社会转型将乡村治理推向了一个崭新的时代。同时,由于社会环境的历史性变迁,现在宗族已不同于传统的宗族,表现出了新的特征,但其活动在农村经济、社会发展中仍有不容忽视的影响。乡村中,村民选举、村级民主管理等有利于农村民主化、乡村治理的活动往往受到宗族(家族)的影响,部分村民的权益容易被忽视或受到侵     

直选历练之后的村委会选举研究——以江西省T县20个村为例

在经历了直选的历练后,按理村庄社会对村委会选举的积极性应该更高了,但是,现实情况却相反,不少村庄的第二次选举却不如第一次了,而且这种现象具有一定的普遍性,究其原因,主要有两个方面:一是民选村官的村庄治理欠佳影响了村庄社会的选举态度,二是乡镇政府对选举的指导和监督方面比第一次更不足了。     

村委会“贿选”现象的成因及对策探析

目前在我国农村村委会直选中或多或少存在"贿选"现象已是不争的事实,这无疑严重影响了我国农村的政治文明建设。造成"贿选"现象的主要原因集中表现为村民政治素质低下、经济利益诱致、选举机制不完善以及经济能人对政治地位的需求驱动等。为此,必须提高村民整体素质、加强选举宣传教育,理顺利益链,加快立法工作、完善选举程序、健全监督机制,加强对经济能人的政治引导、规范其从政之路。     

城市社区居委会选举失范问题探析

选举失范是选举中的相关主体难以遵从选举规范或遵从选举规范的成本大于收益,或违反规范的行为会带来更大的收益时发生的违反选举规范的行为而产生的社会现象。由于选举程序不够完善,监管体制不够健全等原因,使得当前居委会直选中存在着操纵选举、贿赂选民等一系列失范现象,对选举的公平性、民主性和结果的合法性带来了极大的冲击。这就要通过推动城市管理体制改革、完善社区直选程序、建立监督惩处机制等途径消除这些失范行为,推动选举的规范化。     

再部落化现象:乡村治理的新挑战——基于湖南H村的研究

农村政治生活正面临着再部落化的新挑战。湖南H村的个案研究表明乡村再部落化有如下特点:首先,村民在宗族自然村而不是行政村或更大的政治实体寻求安全、生活和公共服务需求等方面的满足;其次,部落时期的直接互动模式并没有因为现代科技的发展而消失,反而进一步强化了村民的血缘关系,宗族内部甚至家族内部交往成为村民互动的主要形式;最后,基于亲属选择的合作逻辑,宗族自然村取代行政村成为实际上的有效治理单元。这种现象给农村治理带来了新的挑战:一方面是宗族自然村在村委会选举和政治运行上高度对立,引起了乡村社会的进一步分裂;另一方面是这种分裂和对立也导致了乡村信任半径的收缩。这既不利于凝聚人人有责的治理共识,也不利于推进人人尽责的集体行动,更不利于形成人人享有的分配结果。     

Walking the line: Electoral cycles and the shift in legislative priorities among German parliamentarians

This article sheds light on how MPs' priorities change in the course of legislative terms. We purport that members of parliament (MPs) balance a variety of incentives over the electoral cycle. While they emphasize issues that relate to the policy-making agenda of their party right after an election, competition with other parties increasingly gains influence over legislators’ priorities as the next election day approaches. We show supportive evidence for these patterns based on a unique longitudinal dataset combining information on sponsorship of legislative proposals, public opinion, party manifestos, and committee chair positions in Germany between 1990 and 2013. By bringing variation within the electoral cycle to our attention, the results enhance our understanding of the factors that set the incentive structure for MPs and the relationship between party competition and legislative behavior.     

我国城市社区直接选举探究

社区居委会直接选举作为扩大基层民主的有效形式,已经成为全面推进城市基层民主的突破口,受到社会各界越来越多的关注。本文选取社区居委会直接选举中的两个环节进行分析,梳理了社区选举过程中的程序规范及存在问题,以期进一步推进城市社区居委会直接选举的程序化、公平化。     

提升乡村治理绩效的系统思考

提升乡村治理的制度绩效是一项涉及到理念、制度和结构的系统工程,主要包括:改变传统的对立型的国家与社会关系,以先进的"强国家-强社会"互强型国家与社会关系理念来指导乡村治理;改进和完善国家法律法规、省级地方法规、各级地方性执法规定以及村级规约,提高相关制度设计的质量和水平;优化乡村治理的结构,主要着眼点在于规范两委关系、乡村关系,提高村委会选举的质量,拓展村民代表会议的功能等.     

Agency Problems, the 17th Amendment, and Representation in the Senate

A prominent change in American electoral institutions occurred when the 17th Amendment to the Constitution established direct election of U.S. Senators as of 1914. How did this change the political agency relationship between the mass electorate and U.S. Senators? We develop theoretical expectations about the representational effects of direct election by a relatively inexpert mass electorate and indirect election by a relatively expert political intermediary, based on principal‐agent theory. The chief predictions are that the representative will be more responsive to the mass electorate under direct election, but will also have more discretion to pursue his or her own ends. We use the 17th Amendment as a quasi‐experiment to test the predictions of the theory. Statistical models show strong support for both predictions. Moreover, the 17th Amendment is not associated with similar changes in the U.S. House of Representatives—as expected, since the amendment did not change House electoral institutions.     

Does trading votes in national elections change election outcomes?

Although forbidden in democratic states a market for votes could improve efficiency. This paper examines the way trading votes will change the outcome of an election. A two-party model with two phases is presented. In the pre-trading phase the two parties set their agendas consisting of a direct subsidy and an income tax. In the trading phase voters buy and sell votes. On the basis of rational voter behavior and a given income distribution, it is shown that the outcome of the election depends mainly on how the selling voters are distributed among the voters.     

Within‐party Allocation of Committee Seats: Evidence from Danish Local Elections

This article examines two traditional and four new explanations of committee composition. Using survey data on 541 Danish local politicians' pre‐election committee seat preferences and their actual post‐election committee seats, it is found that politicians are more likely to have their committee seat preferences fulfilled the less their preferences for the committees' policy domains differ from those of their fellow party members and the more specialised they are within the jurisdiction area of their preferred committee. Thus, the ex ante control of committee members sometimes observed in the American context is also relevant in the very different institutional setting of Danish local government. Moreover, a number of other explanations are found to be of equal relevance. In particular, individual‐level popular support is important to politicians' committee seat preference fulfilment and seats are distributed among party members in order to assure that everybody, at least to some extent, obtains a post that they find attractive. The findings thus suggest that ex ante control of committee members is but one of many concerns of parties. Accordingly, scholars should broaden their attention to other aspects of committee seat allocation, such as fair share norms and the popular support of politicians.     

Sub-National Election Campaigns: The Danish Local Elections of November 1989*

Electoral campaigning is studied almost without exception at the national level. This article has chosen another road, claiming that electoral campaigning can also be studied at the local election level. Campaigning before the Danish local elections of 21 November 1989 is studied. The design permits comparisons between the two levels (national/local) as well as between different units at the local level. It furthermore provides an opportunity for studying the influence of local party systems as well as local mass media on election campaigning. A substantial part of the article discusses the institutional frameworks surrounding electoral campaigning in the municipalities studied and in general. It is maintained that the electoral system, the mass media structure, and the (local) party system are important contextual factors or frameworks. Given this, it is argued that organization, past performance, and campaign focus as a mix of policy proposals and leader image are paramount in affecting the local election vote. The main conclusions are: local election campaigning differs from national election campaigning; local election campaigning matters, i.e. it has a direct effect on the vote; and the functions of local party organizations in connection with local elections and local performance make them less vulnerable to organizational decline, which most mass membership political parties are experiencing at the national level.     

Elections and the structure of taxation in developing countries

This article analyses the impact of the electoral calendar on the composition of tax revenue (direct versus indirect taxes). It thus represents an extension of traditional political budget-cycle analyses assessing the impact of elections on overall revenue. We appeal to the opportunistic political budget model of Drazen and Eslava (2010) to predict the relationship between taxation structure and elections. Panel data from 56 developing countries over the 1980–2006 period reveals a clear pattern of electorally-related policy interventions. Taking the potential endogeneity of election timing into account, we find robust evidence of lower indirect taxes being applied by incumbent governments in the period just prior to an election. Indirect tax revenue in election years is estimated to be 0.3 GDP percentage points lower than in other years, corresponding to a fall of about 3.4% of the average figure in the sample countries, while there is no such relationship with direct tax revenue.     

政策试点与村民自治的有效实现形式

从2014年到2019年,以村民小组或自然村为基本单元的村民自治试点进入国家的顶层设计但又最终淡出,其背后具有深层次的政策逻辑。实证研究发现,该项政策试点表现出明显的阶段性特征:第一阶段,广东清远进行关于"村民自治重心下移"的地方预先自主试验;第二阶段,中央政府在总结清远经验的基础上进行政策调试和试点铺开,将试点核心内容由"在村民小组或自然村建村民委员会"转向"村民小组或自然村建村民理事会等组织",实现全国性的地区试验扩散;第三阶段,中央政府根据政策试点的反馈以决定政策维系或是中断。研究表明,铺开后的政策试点涌现出一系列的组织性难题,影响着政策创新的治理效能和扩散能力,导致该项政策最终淡出中央的顶层设计。汲取试点经验,应在组织能力建设和组织功能发挥等方面对政策试点不断进行优化,继续深入探索村民自治的有效实现形式。