中国特色服务型政府的模式与建构探讨

伴随着改革开放30年的巨变,中国行政管理体制改革取得了突破性进展。回顾前五次的政府机构改革,在精简机构、服务经济方面成绩显著,但却忽视了政府的社会管理与公共服务职能。"大部制"改革意在推动服务型政府的构建。中国的服务型政府建设中存在的主要问题有:同现代市场经济相适应的行政服务理念远未真正形成;政府公职人员的服务意识淡薄;公民参与制度不完善,公民自觉参与意识不强;缺乏相应的制度、法律的保障,存在制度短缺问题;服务型政府建设的理论不足。在加快中国特色服务型政府建设上,必须抓好以下工作要件,即:树立现代政府治理理念,提高政府公共管理的责任感;建立政府与公众之间的互动机制,实行政务公开化;着力解决关系人民群众切身利益的突出问题;建立和健全科学的行政责任制,以提高公务员公共服务的能力;建立广泛的政府绩效评估主体,形成以公共服务为取向的政府绩效评估体系;逐步建立与服务型政府相匹配的公共财政体制。     

论服务型政府与公共服务型政府的区别

服务型政府与公共服务型政府是两个不同的概念,无论是其提出背景还是其研究视角都是有区别的。在这两个概念中,公共服务型政府涉及的仅仅是政府职能结构的调整,而服务型政府才是整个政府管理模式从管制向服务的根本性转型。     

完善公共服务体系 建设服务型政府

党的十七大报告指出：“健全政府职责体系,完善公共服务体系．推行电子政务．强化社会管理和公共服务。”这对在建设服务型政府过程中完善公共服务体系提出了明确的要求。目前,我国的改革面临经济、社会全面转型的挑战,这是一个更为深刻、更为复杂的改革新阶段。伴随着经济社会的全面转型．人民群众日益迫切地要求政府能够为他们提供有保障的公共产品和有效的公共服务,越来越期望建设一个公开,透明和廉洁的政府。因此,完善公共服务体系,     

服务型政府概念研究综述

建设服务型政府是近年来理论界研究的一个重要课题,但对于服务型政府的概念在学术界还存有不少争论.虽说服务型政府一词已被大多数研究者采用,但仍有部分学者对这一提法存有异议,如有人认为它在很大程度上是改革开放后通过引进西方相关学术理论形成的,明显脱离中国实际.与服务型政府同样流行的是公共服务型政府的概念,关于两者的关系主要有这样几种观点:两者是平行关系;两者是等同关系;公共服务型政府优于服务型政府;服务型政府优于公共服务型政府.在研究服务型政府其他政府形态的关系方面,多教学者认为民主、法治、责任、服务、质量和效益等诸多现代政府形态是服务型政府的发展方向.学者对服务型政府概念的界定呈现出"一个概念,各自表述"的局面,主要表现为从价值理念、政府模式、政府职能、实践操作和综合概括等角度来各自界定其内涵.     

论服务型政府建设--兼评南京市政府的服务型政府建设

现代科技的进步、全球化、信息化浪潮促使社会发生了重大变化 ,同时社会公众也对政府提出了更高的要求 ,为了适应这一要求 ,政府需要及时调整自身的职能结构的重心。以社会管理、公共服务为重心的服务型政府逐渐成为我国政府建设的取向 ,并成为大多数地方政府的共识。南京市政府顺应了这一潮流 ,在服务型政府建设方面作出了有益的探索 ,探讨其发展过程是有借鉴意义的。     

准确理解和深刻认识服务型政府建设

服务型政府建设中的认识误区,对服务型政府建设产生十分不利的影响,即导致一些地方没有将服务型政府建设摆在行政体制改革和政府管理创新的重要位置,且忽视服务型政府建设的全面性和全局性、长期性和可持续性,使服务型政府建设与经济社会发展难以协调,与其他改革措施难以配套,服务型政府建设流于形式。服务型政府,是指在以人为本和执政为民的理念指导下,将公共服务职能上升为政府的核心职能,通过优化政府结构、创新政府机制、规范政府行为、提高政府效能,以不断满足城乡居民日益增长的公共需求的政府。其主要特征:在政府职能结构中,公共服务职能成为政府的主要职能或核心职能;在政府组织结构中,公共服务部门成为政府的主要部门或核心部门;在政府财政支出结构中,公共服务支出应成为政府的主要支出;服务型政府同时必须是民主政府、责任政府、法治政府和廉洁政府;服务型政府的运行机制必须规范有序、公开透明、便民高效。正因为服务型政府体现了人民政府的本质,体现了时代发展的要求,代表了我国行政体制改革的根本方向,因此,建设服务型政府是深化行政体制改革的核心和重点。     

服务型政府建设中公众参与问题研究

服务型政府建设是一场涉及政府治理理念和治理模式的全方位改革,它离不开现代行政民主的基本理念和方法.必须让公众更充分表达公共需求和选择公共服务.我国服务型政府建设中公众参与有一定的实践成果,但仍存在诸多观念和制度等方面的障碍,必须不断推进公众参与的机制与制度创新,引导公众参与到政府公共服务过程中来,从而建设一个人民满意的服务型政府.     

改革时期政府间纵向关系的变化

改革时期,工作重心的转移、改革开放和邓小平"职责归位"思想为政府间纵向关系的变化提供了宏观环境、基本动力和指导思想.在此情况下,这一关系的结构性要素获得了适当分开和平衡化、体制性要素更为合理化、调控性要素实现了分权与选择性集权相结合.改革时期政府间纵向关系获得持续改善形成了若干基本经验,但仍然存在一系列问题.     

服务型政府建设：障碍与对策

服务型政府建设是中国行政管理体制改革的方向,各地在建设服务型政府的过程中,取得了一些明显的改革成果,但很多地方出现形式主义、进展太慢等问题,其主要原因有:来自于政治制度的内生动力明显不足,建设进程中公民参与明显缺失,政府的部门利益成为服务型政府建设的严重制约,传统官本位思想导致公共服务意识低,建设成果的制度化法律化工作不足.解决的对策是:通过体制改革增强内生动力;结合大部制改革和阳光工资的推行,消除部门利益的阻扰;实行行政信息公开,鼓励公民参与服务型政府建设;建立充分反映公民服务满意度的政绩考评系统;实现改革成果的法规化,完善后续制度等.     

服务型政府的异化与转型--论建立新公共服务型政府

本文在反思服务型政府建设中可能出现的服务行政的三种异化形态 :差别服务、强制服务、不对称服务的基础上 ,分析了产生这些服务异化的根本原因是服务型政府仍然属于传统公共行政范式的范畴 ,因而提出建设以公民、公民权和公共利益为核心的新公共服务型政府 ,并进一步阐释了建设新公共服务型政府的基本定理。     

City Managers View Intergovernmental Relations

This report presents the findings of a national survey of citymanagers concerning intergovernmental relations. Key aspectsof intergovernmental relations covered in the survey are theadministration of the grant system, effects of federal grantson local government decisionmaking, types of federal aid, imagesof federal administrators, intergovernmental service agreements,comparison of state and federal government, and city managerinvolvement in intergovernmental relations.     

CANADA'S INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS SPECIALISTS*

Abstract: Over the last decade the federal government and each of the ten provincial governments in Canada have put in place in their administrations significant numbers of intergovernmental relations specialists. These specialists are public servants up to departmental head level who work solely on intergovernmental business. They are located in separate departments or as separate units within central agencies, and are responsible for the coordination of relations with other governments and of intergovernmental activities within their own government. Coming at a time of increasing intergovernmental tension within the Canadian federation, these specialists have been subject to a great deal of criticism. The critics have charged that the specialists have exacerbated and even produced intergovernmental conflict. Lately, some scholars have come to their defence, emphasizing the positive functions that the specialists perform, and arguing that their influence has, in any case, been exaggerated. Australia has its own relatively small number of intergovernmental relations specialists at both the federal and state levels. And it is possible that in the future additional positions will be created. The variety of the Canadian experience means that there are a number of models from which each Australian government, of whatever size, can learn.     

Public Sector Reform, Intergovernmental Relations and the Future of Australian Federalism

Recent developments in the reform of intergovernmental relations have been influenced by contemporary models of public sector reform. Their systematic application to intergovernmental administration, in particular the manner in which jointly funded and managed programs are organised, may have profound and unanticipated effects on the federal system. When viewed in the context of a recent history of collaborative policymaking between political executives, the possibility that new forms of intergovernmental joint policy-making and program management might become the norm poses serious challenges to federal traditions of dual government. Arm's length and collaborative forms of joint decision making are contrasted as ideal types, and then used to analyse two case studies in collaborative intergovernmental decision-making — National Competition Policy and the National Training Agreement. It is concluded that the system-wide implications are profound if they are part of a broader trend, but caution is expressed about the powers of inertia and resistance in traditional forms of federal politics.     

Paths and Constraints of Subnational Government Mobilization in East-Central Europe

The article studies the impact of enlargement on subnational governments in the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland. It compares the resources and political constellations of subnational governments and analyses how these variables interact with Europeanization to influence domestic intergovernmental relations, the management of structural funds and the European Union relations of subnational governments. The article argues that stronger regional governments (in Poland and the Czech Republic) have been able to resist attempts to centralize intergovernmental relations. Decentralizing reforms occurred where incumbent governing parties dominated subnational government (Poland). Under ‘vertically divided’ government (Czech Republic), subnational governments sought unmediated access to European Union institutions.     

Mandates and Management Challenges in the Trenches: An Intergovernmental Perspective on Homeland Security

Scholars and practitioners agree that homeland security policy implementation is contingent on a strong system of intergovernmental relations. The responsibilities associated with the homeland security mission, often mandated, cut across federal, state, and local boundaries. Local-level stakeholders are especially important players in the implementation process. This article presents a local perspective on the way intergovernmental relations have changed—and the reasons for those changes—since 9/11. Results of a survey of county and city officials in Florida provide evidence that intergovernmental cooperation has improved as a result of federal and state mandates. These results are refined by an analysis of the effects of specific local characteristics and the quality and quantity of vertical and horizontal networks on intergovernmental cooperation and local preparedness. Homeland security appears to be a policy area in which mandated cooperation and coordination—in a time and place of urgency—have actually strengthened the intergovernmental system.     

Issues of Federalism in Response to Terrorism

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, provoked, among other reactions, considerable commentary about the future of American federalism, particularly predictions of administrative centralization. To assess the potential impact of terrorism on U.S. intergovernmental relations and the ways the federal system should respond, members of the American Political Science Association's Section on Federalism and Intergovernmental Relations were surveyed in late 2001. Generally, these federalism scholars believe the September 11 terrorism will have little effect on intergovernmental relations or on the U.S. Supreme Court's state–friendly jurisprudence, and the surge in public trust and confidence in the federal government will be short–lived. The scholars tend to support a highly federalized response to terrorism, but with intergovernmental cooperation. Partisan differences among the scholars on policy options, however, mirror the party differences in Congress and the resurgence of "politics as usual" less than a year after September 11, 2001.     

Fiscal Decentralization and Provincial-Level Fiscal Disparities in China: A Sino-U.S. Comparative Perspective

Since China's 1994 fiscal reform, increasing concerns have been voiced about fiscal disparities across the country. Can local governments fairly and effectively fulfill basic public services such as primary education, public health, and social welfare? This essay traces the evolution of intergovernmental relations in China since 1978. The fluctuation of provincial level fiscal distribution over time and the underlying factors behind fiscal inequality, as compared to a decentralized American revenue system, are analyzed. The author, Zhirong Jerry Zhao of the University of Minnesota, argues for additional research on alternative measures of local fiscal capacity.     

Intergovernmental Relations in the UK: Time for a Radical Overhaul?

Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic have put relationships between the UK government and its devolved counterparts under growing strain. Tensions generated by both of these developments have exposed the inadequacies of the existing, under-developed system for bringing governments together in the UK. The limitations of the current system include the ad hoc nature of intergovernmental meetings, and their consultative rather than decision-making character. Drawing upon an analysis of how intergovernmental relationships are structured in five other countries, the authors offer a number of suggestions for the reconfiguration of the UK model. They explore different ways of enabling joint decision making by its governments, and argue against the assumption that England can be represented adequately by the UK administration. Without a serious attempt to address this dysfunctional part of the UK’s territorial constitution, there is every prospect that relations between these different governments will continue to deteriorate.     

Understanding recent trends in central-local relations: centralisation in Great Britain and decentralisation in the United States

Abstract. This article starts by noting that, whilst Mrs Thatcher and President Reagan apparently share similar conservative objectives, their policies differ radically with respect to intergovernmental relations. The author briefly reviews the trends towards centralisation and decentralisation in Britain and America respectively and suggests that the difference is because both leaders see 'intergovernmental relations' as a means to an end rather than an end in themselves. Both leaders share the same objectives of reducing tax levels and the amount of government expenditure and of rewarding their supporters: objectives which, at least in part, both have achieved. But both have used different means, reflecting the different structure of government with which both leaders have to work. This view is supported by a brief review of policy on intergovernmental grants in both countries.     

Ukrainian Local Governments’ Finance on the Threshold of a New Millenium: Will Interbudgetary Reform Meet Public Needs?

Since independence, market–oriented reforms have been undertaken in Ukraine. Yet, intergovernmental relations are obsolete, remaining as they were in the Soviet time. In fact, Ukrainian subcentral governments have no significant discretion in revenues and expenditures. First, the article delivers an overview of the current system of intergovernmental finance in Ukraine. Second, the article reveals some negative trends in Ukrainian local governments' fiscal performance through the late 1990s that made a reform of intergovernmental fiscal arrangements timely. Third, the article analyzes recent reform steps as presented by the recent Budget Code, proposing policy options that could strengthen Ukrainian intergovernmental policy.