Beyond COVID-19: Five commentaries on expert knowledge,executive action,and accountability in governance and public administration

Several Canadian and international scholars offer commentaries on the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for governments and public service institutions, and fruitful directions for public administration research and practice. This first suite of commentaries focuses on the executive branch, variously considering: the challenge for governments to balance demands for accountability and learning while rethinking policy mixes as social solidarity and expert knowledge increasingly get challenged; how the policy-advisory systems of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and United Kingdom were structured and performed in response to the COVID-19 crisis; whether there are better ways to suspend the accountability repertoires of Parliamentary systems than the multiparty agreement struck by the minority Liberal government with several opposition parties; comparing the Canadian government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Global Financial Crisis and how each has brought the challenge of inequality to the fore; and whether the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated or disrupted digital government initiatives, reinforced traditional public administration values or more open government.     

新冠肺炎疫情防控与全球卫生治理--以世界卫生组织改革为主线

新冠肺炎疫情是当前国际社会遇到的极为严重的公共卫生安全危机,不但给全球政治经济发展带来前所未有的挑战,也对全球卫生治理机制构成史无前例的压力测试。作为全球卫生治理最重要的多边机制,世界卫生组织积极致力于新冠肺炎疫情防控,成为全球卫生安全命运共同体理念的"推动者"、全球抗疫合作的"协调者"、全球抗疫薄弱环节的"补位者"以及全球抗疫规范和技术的"提供者"。实际上,世界卫生组织一直通过机构改革来适应不断变化的全球卫生安全形势,优化和提升其全球卫生治理功能。特别是在谭德塞担任总干事后,世界卫生组织发起了该组织"历史上最广泛的改革",将项目规划、应急能力建设、对外关系和治理以及组织规范与标准作为其改革的四大支柱,使其全球卫生治理功能得到显著提升。然而,新冠肺炎疫情防控同样也暴露了世界卫生组织全球卫生治理功能的不足和局限。国际社会唯有诉诸通力合作、彰显责任担当,共同为以世界卫生组织为主体的全球卫生治理机制运作创造更有利的国际政治环境,新冠肺炎疫情方能尽快平息,全球卫生治理才能真正进入健康的运行轨道。     

Spending reviews and the Government of Canada: From episodic to institutionalized capabilities and repertoires

Following surges of spending and staff hiring to address the COVID-19 pandemic, the Trudeau government announced a strategic policy review in the 2022 Budget to secure savings of $6 billion. There has been little apparent progress by May 2023 and opaque communications. This is surprising because Canada was once considered an international exemplar for spending reviews, needs to learn from the pandemic experience, has a worrisome medium-to-long-term federal spending trajectory, and the governance and economic context has rapidly evolved. This article identifies different kinds of spending reviews and design considerations, reviews Canada's experience with reviews since the early 1980s, considers recent OECD experience and exemplars, and argues that its spending reviews have become increasingly selective and closed. We suggest the Canadian government should institutionalize annual spending reviews, which can be scaled up or down, and that this points to more fundamental issues for reform and building a new governance culture.     

大数据下政府应对新型冠状病毒肺炎突发公共卫生事件的思考

当下新型冠状病毒肺炎疫情范围不断扩大,构成全球性突发公共卫生事件,世界多国受到新型冠状病毒肺炎疫情肆虐的严重影响.我国政府科学组织有效应对,新型冠状病毒肺炎引发的公共卫生危机基本得以化解.而大数据技术在新型冠状病毒肺炎公共卫生危机应对与化解过程中发挥着技术支撑的关键作用,充分彰显工具理性在公共行政实践中的不可或缺性.大...     

Public Service in Canada post-COVID-19 pandemic: Transitioning to hybrid work and its implementation challenges

The impact of the COVID-19 on the nature of work cannot be overstated. In Canada, following the largest and quickest transition to remote work ever, a significant number of public servants found themselves working from home for most of 2020 and 2021. As governments come out of the pandemic, they begin transitioning to hybrid work arrangements. This article analyzes attitudes and perspectives of public servants in the Public Service of Canada on return to office and transitioning to hybrid work. It also discusses how these can inform research and practice in Canadian public administration.     

What are the challenges of multilevel governance for urban sustainability? Evidence from Ottawa and Canada's national capital region

Urban sustainability is a priority for cities, challenging public administrators to coordinate action on environmental policy, economic development and social policy. Multilevel governance is now a popular theoretical framework but research must illuminate the constraints on local administrators. This case study reviews efforts of public administrators in the City of Ottawa and Canada's national capital region to implement sustainability policies with collaborative governance, but new governance relationships are constrained by traditional intergovernmental relations. Case study research illuminates the challenges of multilevel governance for local governments and provides insights on the pursuit of sustainability with environmental programs, land use, and urban and development by Crown corporations.     

突发公共卫生事件政府治理能力评价——以新冠肺炎为例

优化提升应对突发公共卫生事件时政府综合治理水平是现阶段我国面临的迫切问题。在新型冠状病毒肺炎防控背景下,结合政府治理现状和面临的新挑战,以国家、地方政府和基层为主体视角构建一套政府治理能力评价指标体系,基于模糊综合评价法对政府治理水平和质量进行科学量化,评估其应对此次公共卫生事件的管控效能,提高治理效率,可为实现新时代我国治理体系和治理能力现代化提供有力的理论支撑。     

新冠肺炎突发公共卫生事件应对密码:建设社会治理共同体与发挥“五治”合力

新型冠状病毒肺炎疫情是传染性极强且具有高度不确定性和高度复杂性特征的突发公共卫生事件,是对我国治理体系与治理能力现代化的“大考”。处置传染病突发公共卫生事件要把握预防、管控、救治三个环节,既尊重生命又保护健康,多元治理主体要按照坚定信心、同舟共济、科学防治、精准施策的要求,完善问题导向、科学思维、依法防控的联防联控联保联护机制,提高合作治理效能。党政军群机关和企事业单位等紧急行动、全力奋战。在中国共产党的领导下,各级党委和政府要坚持以人民为中心、紧扣主要矛盾和矛盾主要方面、加快社会治理共同体建设、充分发挥“政治、德治、法治、自治、智治”的合力,共同打响打赢疫情“防—控—治”的人民战争、攻坚战、总体战、阻击战。     

跨界水污染的地方政府合作治理研究——基于区域公共管理视角的考量

跨界水污染的治理并不是单个地方尤其是单个地方政府所能完成的。传统的基于行政区划的“行政区行政”治理方式已经陷入了困境,进而催生了区域公共管理这种崭新的治理制度安排。这种治理方式的变革不是一蹴而就的,需要观念的创新、制度环境的创新及组织安排的创新。各地方政府必须要以公共问题和公共事务为价值导向,积极发挥第三部门的作用,进而建立起地方政府间的合作、协调、伙伴关系、双赢或共赢的治理机制。     

国有企业参与公共危机治理的四重逻辑

将基于利益相关者理论的企业社会责任理论拓展为基于国有企业属性的“属性责任”分析框架，以国网浙江电力参与新冠肺炎疫情防控为例，考察国有企业参与公共危机治理的实践面向与内在逻辑。研究发现，国有企业在新冠肺炎疫情防控中呈现出系统内防控、自愿性公益、执行式参与、主体性治理四类行为，体现了市场属性驱动其履行市场责任的市场逻辑、社会属性驱动其履行社会责任的社会逻辑、政治属性驱动其履行政治责任的政治逻辑、公共属性驱动其履行公共责任的公共逻辑。文章创新了国有企业社会责任理论分析框架，回应了否定国有企业需要履行多重责任的理论质疑，阐明了国有企业需要参与公共危机治理、履行多重责任的内在逻辑，提出了优化国有企业参与公共危机治理制度环境的政策建议。     

Reforming Canada's federal health-care funding arrangements

Federal health-care funding has long been a source of policy debate in this country, a situation exacerbated recently by the COVID-19 pandemic and the premiers' calls for a large expansion of the Canada Health Transfer. In this article, we explore four potential pathways policy-makers might consider in order to improve federal health-care funding. These potential pathways should allow policy-makers to consider how to adapt to changing circumstances while addressing citizens' concerns and the demands of provincial/territorial governments. We do not support one or another of these policy pathways. Instead, we explain what they are and what impact they could have.     

Comparing accountability relationships between governments and non‐state actors in Canadian and European international development policy

This article examines the alignment of different governance arrangements and alternative accountability mechanisms in international development policy making in Canada and the European Union (EU), with a particular focus on relationships between governments and non‐governmental organizations. The Canadian case illustrates an entrepreneurial mode of governance that aligns with fiscal auditing and performance management mechanisms, while the networked governance model of the EU relies more heavily on accountability instruments of public reporting and deliberation. The article concludes that the European accountability regime likely provides policy makers with more opportunities for social policy learning but would be difficult to implement in Canada given the underlying action logic of the federal government.     

国际组织与非传统性公共安全问题的国际治理

本文对全球化背景下的非传统性公共安全问题的属性、特征及其国际治理需求作出了分析,并在此基础上归纳出作为治理主体的国际组织的六项公共安全治理功能:问题提示功能、信息提供功能、标准设置功能、组织协调功能、绩效评估功能和外部监督功能。最后对国际组织在非传统性公共安全治理中的“民主赤字”问题及其消极影响进行了简要的剖析,本文认为,非传统性公共安全治理要达到真正的帕累托最优,有赖于国际组织的责任性问题的解决。     

全球海洋治理与构建海洋命运共同体

当前世界海洋战略形势正发生深刻变革,海洋地缘战略竞争不断加剧,海洋"公地悲剧"日益严峻,在此形势下,中国提出构建海洋命运共同体的倡议。构建海洋命运共同体的内涵十分丰富,主要包括构建海洋安全共同体、海洋发展共同体和海洋责任共同体三方面要旨。构建海洋命运共同体,既是世界海洋文明发展的时代要求,也为解决当前全球海洋治理难题提供了中国方案。然而,构建海洋命运共同体在现实中面临国际认知赤字、海洋二元秩序障碍、海洋地缘战略争夺阻力等严峻挑战。为此,中国应着力完善构建海洋命运共同体的知识话语体系,推动海洋命运共同体的多边主义制度化建设,打造多元参与的协同治理格局。     

Public‐Private Partnerships in Canada: Reflections on twenty years of practice

Across Canada, governments of all level have increasingly embraced public‐private partnerships (PPPs) as their preferred approach to deliver large‐scale public infrastructure. After twenty years of practice, this paper examines the evolving rationales, governance structures and partnership models that have been used to deliver PPPs in Canada. In particular, the analysis highlights common deal structures, types of risks and responsibilities that are transferred to the private sector, and the significant role that public funding continues to have. Outstanding issues facing Canadian PPPs relate to their high upfront costs, limitations placed on meaningful community consultations, and a procurement process that can inhibit design or architectural excellence.     

边界移位与价值重构：关于西方公共部门改革的思考

越来越多的治理模式被引入西方国家公共部门改革之中,这使得政治与行政、公共与私人、国际与国内之间的边界发生移位,从而增加了公共部门的不确定性。寻找合适的关于新公共部门原则与价值的公共话语,已成为当务之急。     

略论全球治理理论对当代国际法的影响与挑战

全球化的加速发展和全球治理理论的兴起给现代国际法理论与实践带来了新的挑战。虽然全球治理的理论模式还不成熟和完善,但它已深刻影响到国际社会未来的发展方向。一方面,国际法作为调节国际社会行为主体之间关系的法律规范和制度,对全球治理的实现起着重要的规范作用;另一方面,国际法也应积极适应全球化的潮流,使其和全球治理理论在交流与互动过程中得到共同发展。中国作为负责任的发展中大国,应更积极地在全球治理进程中扮演维护者和建设者的角色。     

Conscience in public administration: More than just a chirping cricket?

The policy and practice of public administration are caught between two seemingly incommensurate goals. Public servants are expected to be responsible to the oversight and control of democratically elected governments, yet, as the policy space becomes more complex, are forced to exercise more judgment and discretion in their responsibilities. Individual, collective, and professional conscience is motivated across this spectrum of challenges. This article explores the concepts of discretion and conscience in theory and practice in the Canadian context. It offers insights into how conscience can, and perhaps must, be both accommodated and supported more appropriately in the practice of 21^st‐century public administration and service. At root, we argue that an array of strategies and approaches may help to build relational reciprocity to a broader set of norms that are necessary for efficient and effective governance.     

老龄社会新形态下城市老年群体社会治理模式的变革

开启老龄社会新形态之后,推进城市老年群体社会治理模式的变革既是"中国之治"进程中推进新时代国家治理体系和治理能力现代化的必然选择,也是中国应对老龄社会新形态风险与挑战的客观要求.老龄社会新形态下,城市老年群体呈现出与以往明显不同的新变化和新特点,而现有治理模式及制度安排的滞后性使得相应社会治理遭遇困境.积极应对老龄社会...     

Government of Canada's teleworking and hybrid policies in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic

This article analyzes the evolution of teleworking and hybrid work policies in the public sector over the last two decades. It focuses on the Government of Canada, concentrating on the paradigmatic shifts brought about by COVID-19, particularly the impact on the development of teleworking and the transformation of the workplace into a hybrid model. Based on a historical neo-institutionalism approach, this article suggests that the pandemic has propelled the expansion of telework reforms, becoming a key driver in altering the application of both telework and hybrid policies. However, this article argues that, despite the general recognition in the effectiveness of telework and hybrid policies, there are still headways to be made, predominantly because there is still disagreement as to how these policies should be defined and ultimately applied in the federal public sector.