The Voting Rights Act in North Carolina: An Evaluation

This study evaluates the impact of the Voting Rights Act onthe black electorate in North Carolina. A quasi-experimentalresearch design compares progress made in the forty countiescovered by the act (the experimental counties) with an equivalentgroup not covered by the act (the control counties). The resultsindicate that blacks in the experimental counties have madesignificant gains in registering voters, electing black officials,and improving their social and economic conditions.     

Evaluation in Nonprofit Organizations: An Empirical Analysis

Many factors influence the extent to which nonprofit organizations engage in evaluation. Drawing on organization theory, nonprofit scholarship, and public administration research, we propose a set of hypotheses concerning the interrelationships between organizational characteristics and various aspects of nonprofit evaluation. We test these hypotheses using combined data from an original national survey and IRS Forms 990. Analysis reveals that although higher levels of staff compensation support many aspects of evaluation, higher levels of executive compensation exert negative effects. Additionally, evaluation culture mediates the effects of several variables on evaluation rigor and frequency. Practical implications are discussed for scholars and practitioners.     

Determinants and Evaluation of Local Energy‐Efficiency Initiatives from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

This article examines variation in local‐level energy‐efficiency grants and corresponding initiatives from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) in the United States. The analysis is based upon a hurdle model of counts of energy‐efficiency grants received by 348 local governments that received these grants from 2009 to 2013, as well as 348 matched local governments that did not receive such funds. City‐level characteristics including amount of federal financial support, per capita income, signaling of preferences for sustainability policies, manufacturing, and political influences are shown to be empirically important determinants of variation in local energy‐efficiency initiatives. The evidence suggests that all else held equal, the $21.8 billion in ARRA funds expended with the intent of increasing local energy‐efficiency programs and policies successfully led to this end.     

中国食品安全监管——基于体制变迁与绩效评估的实证研究

自新中国成立以来,中国食品安全管理体制经历了一个怎样的历史变化过程?从历史制度分析的方法论出发,如何从监管者、监管对象以及监管过程三个角度来界定这样的历史变化过程?现行的食品安全监管体制绩效如何?根据不同时期食品安全管理主体、对象以及政策工具的差异,将建国以来我国食品安全管理体制区分为指令型体制、混合型体制与监管型体制三个阶段,同时对不同阶段的发展脉络、具体特征以及体制利弊进行了归纳总结。此外,选择了四个具有代表性的指标,对1990年至今的中国食品安全变化态势进行了测量,发现我国食品安全的形势经历了一个明显的V型曲线发展过程,并据此对这一过程提出自己的解释假设,以此为中国食品安全监管的历史和现状提供一个白描式的描述图景。结合历史制度主义的分析范式,从四个方面综合分析出制约中国食品安全监管绩效优化的四大结构性因素,从而将其监管绩效的现状与历史制度根源联系起来,提出未来中国食品安全监管体制的改革方向。     

Capacity,Guidance, and the Implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

Programs administered by the U.S. Department of Energy under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 were designed to spur investment in clean energy and jump‐start the economy. There was considerable variation, however, in the proportion of obligated funds that states spent during each year. A primary goal of the ARRA was to infuse as much money as possible into the struggling economy; however, there was significant variation in the success with which states implemented these programs. This article draws on and extends the literature on intergovernmental implementation to explain such variation. The authors argue that jurisdictional capacity and federal guidance were important determinants of the rate at which states spent ARRA funds and, more important, that these factors interacted with one another in the implementation process. This assertion is tested using a mixed‐methods approach that includes a regression analysis of state ARRA spending between 2009 and 2012, as well as an evaluation of interviews conducted with 46 state agency representatives responsible for spending ARRA energy funds.     

国家级经济技术开发区综合评价模型实证研究

针对如何建立评价开发区的指标体系以及如何建立开发区的综合评价模型的问题,构建了评价我国国家级经济技术开发区的指标体系,结合商务部评价我国国家级经济技术开发区的评价方法以及所承担研究课题中的实际调研结果,建立了评价开发区的综合指标体系,其中包含8个综合指标、78个二级指标。检验了综合指标之间的相关关系,建立了我国国家级经济技术开发区综合评价模型,并进行了实证检验,结果表明:开发区基础设施的完善程度、社会及环境的优良程度和创新能力的强弱,是评价我国开发区的主要指标;经营成本、人力资源、管理体制、发展与效率和综合经济均是正相关关系,其对开发区的综合经济能力也有较大影响。对实践中我国国家级经济技术开发区的综合指标评价提供了有效的方法。     

Estimating the Effects of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993

Over-time and multivariate cross-sectional analyses of large survey samples are used to estimate the likely effects of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) by examining turnout in those states where procedures comparable to any of the act's provisions were in force in 1992. In contrast to previous studies, we find that most state motor voter programs did not resemble the NVRA provision. We analyze one state program that did, and in addition use election-day registration as a surrogate, because it also provides one-trip voting. Our two approaches lead to estimates of turnout increases due to the motor voter provision of 4.7 and 8.7 percentage points, respectively. The lack of state counterparts to public agency registration prevents estimates of this provision's consequences. Eliminating purging for not voting will increase turnout by as much as 2 percentage points. Universal mail registration will have no effect. The turnout effects will be greatest among the two largest groups of current nonvoters: people under the age of 30 and those who moved within two years of election day. Neither group is politically distinctive, except for young people's weaker identification with the major parties and greater affinity for third-party candidates.     

New Matching Requirements for Housing Programs: Intergovernmental Conflict and the National Affordable Housing Act of 1990

This article describes the surprisingly diverse matching requirements for new federal housing programs that were introduced by the National Affordable Housing Act of 1990 and analyzes their development through the political compromise of the federal legislative process. It explains how the matching requirements reflect the divergent interests of the federal government and state and local governments in the policy outcomes of the new programs.     

Civil Service Reform as National Security: The Homeland Security Act of 2002

The events of 9/11 have influenced policy making in public administration. The Homeland Security Act of 2002, which created the Department of Homeland Security, contained language that empowered the secretary of homeland security and the director of the Office of Personnel Management to establish a personnel management system outside the normal provisions of the federal civil service. Why did civil service reform succeed as part of this legislation when previous attempts at large‐scale reform had failed? A case analysis of the enactment of civil service reform in the Homeland Security Act points to theories of policy emergence and certain models of presidential and congressional policy making. In this case, civil service reform became associated with national security instead of management reform. An assessment of the rhetorical arguments used to frame this policy image offers a powerful explanation for the adoption of the personnel management reforms in the Homeland Security Act. This case has implications for understanding how policy makers might approach future management reform agendas.     

事故调查如何促进风险防范?——基于167份事故调查报告的实证分析

事故调查以促进风险防范和问责为主要目的,是从生产安全事故中汲取教训、预防发生同类事故的重要机制。文章以通过技术调查促进风险防范为切入点,建构了涵盖程序性要素和实质性要素的分析框架,基于167份生产安全事故调查报告,对其中的技术调查进行分析,结果显示：中国采用行政、司法和技术调查相结合的混合模式;调查流程的规范性不足,调查时限相对较短;调查技术的专业性有待提升;调查报告建议的风险防范措施兼顾了短期措施和长效治理的平衡,但缺乏后续的评估和监督;调查报告建议的风险沟通方式高度依赖于行政权威;事故调查促进风险防范的力度高度依赖于事故级别。通过事故调查促进风险防范,需要坚持并发展责任调查和技术调查并重的混合调查模式,加强地方党委和政府领导责任的调查和落实,保持专家组的相对独立性,加大应急管理学科建设力度和科研投入,扩大专家队伍规模,提升事故调查专业性;规范调查流程,适度放宽调查时限,明确事故整改和防范措施落实情况的评估主体和评估结果公开的方式;加强立法工作和制度建设,强化低级别事故调查的程序规范性和实质有效性,推动地方党委和政府牢固树立“生命至上,安全第一”的价值理念,“真正把问题解决在萌芽之时...     

皖江城市带承接产业转移示范区研究——基于宣城市打造承接产业转移示范先行区的实证分析

本文在认真研究国内外产业转移理论及长三角产业转移趋势的基础上,分析影响宣城承接产业选择的因素。实证分析证明,宣城示范区与长三角存在产业发展层次的互补,可以探索打破行政区划和利益协调机制,构建多层次、宽领域、合作与竞争的区域经济合作新机制。     

Strategy Content and Organizational Performance: An Empirical Analysis

This study presents the first empirical test of the proposition that strategy content is a key determinant of organizational performance in the public sector. Strategy content comprises two dimensions: strategic stance (the extent to which an organization is a prospector, defender, or reactor) and strategic actions (the relative emphasis on changes in markets, services, revenues, external relationships, and internal characteristics). Data were drawn from a multiple-informant survey of 119 English local authorities. Measures of strategy content are included in a multivariate model of interauthority variations in performance. The statistical results show that strategy content matters. Organizational performance is positively associated with a prospector stance and negatively with a reactor stance. Furthermore, local authorities that seek new markets for their services are more likely to perform well. These results suggest that measures of strategy content must be included in valid theoretical and empirical models of organizational performance in the public sector.     

Understanding the Clayton Act of 1914: An Analysis of the Interest Group Hypothesis

The trusts issue culminated in the passage of the Clayton Act in1914, which conventional wisdom holds was a response to theperceived ineffectiveness of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890.Using ordered and multinomial logit analysis, we were able todetect economic interest variables that explain the senators'votes. The empirical findings strongly support the wealth transferhypothesis, and the regression results clearly show that senatorsresponded to interest groups. While we also found some support forthe ideological perspective, it is clear that there was much moreto the vote than the conventional story would suggest.     

地方院校专业设置与产业结构吻合度实证分析——以产业结构变革为背景

地方本科院校专业建设没有充分反映地方产业变革要求,导致学生就业压力和地方产业结构调整人才供给不足矛盾日益突出地表现出来。通过测度地方产业结构和地方本科院校专业设置的吻合度,可以定量地掌握地方本科院校专业设置与地方经济发展的差距,从而指导地方本科院校不断进行优化调整,促进学生就业压力和地方产业发展人力资源供给不足矛盾的解决。     

Civic Engagement and Education: An Empirical Test of the Sorting Model

According to the sorting model of education, the impact of education on civic engagement is relative, rather than absolute. Education correlates with greater engagement because it is a marker of social status; the degree of status conferred by your level of education is determined by the average level of education within your environment. This article tests the sorting model by paying strict heed to its assumptions. The analysis confirms the model, but considerably narrows its reach. Sorting applies only to one particular type (electoral activity), only when the educational environment accounts for variation across age and place, and only when one models the interactive relationship between education at the individual and environmental levels. Furthermore, sorting applies more to men than women. The same analytical framework demonstrates that being in a more highly educated environment amplifies the relationship between education and democratic enlightenment (political knowledge and tolerance).     

Encouraging Local Compliance with Federal Civil Rights Laws: Field Experiments with the National Voter Registration Act

Can state officials increase local officials’ compliance with an important federal civil rights law with subtle interventions? The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) requires voter registration services at certain government agencies, but many counties fail to comply with the act. Working with officials in two states, the authors conducted field experiments to determine whether two methods commonly used by state officials increase compliance with the NVRA. Findings show that although the effects of the methods on output were sizable relative to recent performance, agency performance remained poor overall, with many offices continuing their history of registering no voters. The authors also discovered that gains in performance were largest for the offices that had performed best in the past. These findings suggest that while subtle interventions by state officials can produce increased compliance, stronger tactics may be needed to secure implementation of this federal law by local government agents.     

An Empirical Approach to Post-conflict Legitimacy: Victims' Needs and the Everyday

Abstract

An empirical study has been made of victims of conflict in Timor-Leste and Nepal seeking a qualitative understanding of local post-conflict priorities. It allows an appreciation to emerge of how the conflict-affected conceive of legitimacy and quality of governance, with victims emphasizing basic needs, an addressing of issues of marginalization and the incorporation of indigenous understandings of the meaning of peace. The data in this study motivate a victim-centred discussion of both the limitations of liberal approaches to peace and the implications for the legitimacy of post-conflict governance of prioritizing the everyday needs of the conflict-affected, in contrast to universal and institutionally rooted liberal values.     

The Strategic Nature of Compliance: An Empirical Evaluation of Law Implementation in the Central Monitoring System of the European Union

This compliance study models correct and timely implementation of policies in a multilevel system as a strategic game between a central monitoring agency and multiple implementers and evaluates statistically the empirical implications of this model. We test whether compliance is determined by the anticipated enforcement decision of the monitoring agency and whether this agency is responsive to the probability of enforcement success and the potential sanctioning costs produced by noncomplying implementers. Compared to other monitoring systems, the centralized monitoring system of the European Union (EU) is praised for exemplary effectiveness, but our findings reveal that the monitoring agency refrains from enforcing compliance when the probability of success is low, and the sanctioning costs are high. This results in a compliance deficit, even though the selective enforcement activities of the monitoring agency are almost always successful before court.