The Role of Experts in the European Union's Research Policy

This research analyzes the role of experts in the European Union's policy‐making process. Focusing on the field of research policy, this study seeks to probe how expert participation in the Open Method of Coordination informs policy decisions. The paper reports on an analysis of the expert group in the European Internationalization Strategy in Science and Technology. Our analysis reveals the dynamics of expert participation at the micro level, as it identifies who these experts are, how they are appointed, and in what ways expert knowledge gets used in policy making.     

回顾与建议：政府机构改革三十年

经过近30年6轮的机构改革,今天中国的政府机构与编制设置状况以及政府过程本身都已经发生了巨大的变化.在服务市场经济建设、机构改革思路、公务员规模控制、制度化和改革技术细节等方面取得了显著成绩.同时,机构改革也遗留了大量需要解决的问题,主要表现为中央机构改革没有与地方政府机构改革、党群机构改革、事业单位改革、公务员内部结构调整、政府过程完善和行政区划调整等很好地结合起采.因此,应努力通过适当拉大改革周期、重新确定机构改革目标、加强政府职能分类分层次指导等途径,推动政府机构改革向更具实质的阶段发展.     

Border Controls as a Dimension of the European Union's Counter-Terrorism Policy: A Critical Assessment

This article critically examines the use and effectiveness of border controls in the European Union (EU)'s counter-terrorism policy. It shows that the EU has made substantial progress towards achieving the objectives that it had set for itself in this policy area, but has not managed to fulfil all of them, and certainly not by the deadlines originally set. It further argues that, contrary to their usual depiction in EU official documents, these border control measures make a limited contribution to the actual fight against terrorism, whilst having some negative effects. From that viewpoint, the fact that the EU has failed to meet all of its objectives in the use of border controls for counter-terrorist purposes may paradoxically be seen as a positive outcome.     

Agricultural Policy Reform and Policy Convergence: An Actor-Centered Institutionalist Approach

This article examines the entry into the agricultural policy arena of a new market liberal vision. Battles over market liberalism are some of the defining struggles of the present age. The article develops a stylized framework designed to help understand some of these political struggles and some of the underlying dynamics of the complex policy debates that have occurred. It begins with a brief review of the changed economic context for farming that gradually took place in the 1990s and then provides an overview of how market liberal values and norms might be applied to agriculture. Constructing a stylized set of negotiations in a game-theoretic form that might take place in a debate over the merits of a market liberal approach, it shows two different paths for agricultural policy reform. The analysis suggests that policy change is likely to move more in a market-liberal direction under a center-left government than under a conservative one. This model isthen tested by looking at policy change in two sectors (cereal grains, dairy) in three countries (Australia, Canada, and the United States of America). The analysis suggests that the models are more helpful and policy convergence is more pronounced when sectors are open to international competition. In contrast, the models work less well and convergence is lower in highly protected sectors.     

The Ups and Downs of State Budget Process Reform: Experience of Three Decades

From zero-base budgeting to the Government Performance and Results Act, state budgeting systems have been synonymous with budgeting reform for over 30 years. This article examines the trends, both long-term and short-term, which have been identified through analysis of state budgeting office practices. Particular emphasis has been placed on understanding the changes in performance measurement over the period of 1970 to 2000. The findings reveal trends such as changes in the makeup of budget office personnel, a lack of budget offices in moving toward cost accounting, and trends in budget preparation and budget documents. Some budget reforms seem to have plateaued, beginning in the mid-1990s, while other reforms have exhibited "backsliding." It is clear that the states are not all marching in unison in reforming their budget systems. As with earlier phases of this study, the 2000 data raise many questions that will be explored in future research.     

"三农问题":中国革命、改革和建设的重中之重

高度重视并认真解决“三农”问题,是我们党一贯的战略思想。20世纪20年代,党领导人民在农村建立革命根据地,走农村包围城市、武装夺取政权道路,最终取得了革命胜利;十一届三中全会后,改革率先从农村突破,推动了城市改革和社会全面进步;在构建社会主义和谐社会的新时期,中央历史性地提出建设社会主义新农村。历史经验启示我们,新农村建设要坚持党的思想路线,以解放和发展生产力为核心,不断加强和改善党的领导。     

Workforce Policy in the European Sector

Recently, a number of new forecasts have been published pointing out the considerable demographic crisis in the NASA workforce. Although a few years ago there were signs that the problem of an ageing workforce in United States would be less severe than in Europe, we cannot ignore the effects of new developments in the European space sector. Indeed, a number of mergers and a slightly regressive space turnover took place in Europe, and the effects of this on the workforce population have not been re-evaluated.

For this study, a questionnaire was developed to investigate this effect, with a major emphasis on the future requirements of the European space sector's future workforce, in particular the desired hard and soft skills, and the current prevalence of those skills. This questionnaire was distributed amongst human resources departments of space organizations in Europe with help of the European Association for International Space Year (EURISY) network. Preliminary data on planned recruitment and present demographic distribution were collected, and these are presented herein.     

广东职工民主参与三十年

企业职工民主参与是我国基层群众自治的重要组成部分.改革30余年来,广东在职工民主参与方面做出了许多重要努力.广东珠三角地区通过直选企业工会主席、探索区域性行业性职工代表大会、采用ISO9000标准推行厂务公开、在国企改制中试行职工参股、在非公有制企业推行工资集体协商等方式,展现了改革开放排头兵的形象.面对日益复杂的劳动关系,广东省各级工会仍需以改革创新的精神不断推进工会工作的新发展.     

Policy Reform and the Free-Rider Problem

We investigate policy reform in a modelwith both lobbying, which involves afree-rider problem, and ordinary rentseeking, which does not. These activitiesinvolve similar skills, so a reform whichreduces rents shifts labor into lobbying.Also, because of the free-rider problem,the marginal return to the industry fromlobbying may greatly exceed an individualfirm's return to lobbying. Thus, the shiftinto lobbying caused by rent reduction maylead to large increases in transfers to thelobbying industry. Under somecircumstances, a reform which reducesavailable rents increases total rents plustransfers to the industry.     

State‐Building and the European Union's Fight against Corruption in the Southern Caucasus: Why Legitimacy Matters

This article asks under which conditions the state‐building efforts of external actors in areas of limited statehood are likely to be effective. We argue that the legitimacy of the specific norms promoted by external actors among local actors is crucial for their success in strengthening state capacities. International efforts need to resonate with prevalent social norms. To substantiate this argument, we focus on the European Union's (EU) anticorruption programs and their implementation in one of the most corrupt regions in the world, the Southern Caucasus. We show that legitimacy can explain why the EU's fight against corruption helped reduce corruption in Georgia but not in Armenia. In both countries, political elites could selectively use anticorruption programs as an instrument against political opponents, using enhanced state capacities to stabilize the incumbent regime. Only in Georgia, however, was the fight against corruption facilitated by sustained domestic mobilization for anticorruption policies that added pressure on political elites “from below.”     

公共政策绩效损失的实证分析--以G省农业水价综合改革政策为例

绩效管理的核心目的是改进绩效,而绩效损失这一分析视角业已成为审视绩效生产与绩效提升的一个重要维度。以G省农业水价综合改革政策为例,对“治理缺陷型”和“价值偏离型”两类绩效损失的生成机理与影响因素进行分析。研究发现:两类绩效损失是在公共政策组织管理系统和公共价值建构系统中交互形成的,其公共价值因素与组织管理因素相互影响,共同作用于整体绩效损失的生成;其中,社会价值建构缺失构成了整体绩效损失生成的逻辑起点。此外,在绩效损失的生成过程中,经济发展水平和自然区位要素与其他影响因素耦合互动,并对绩效损失产生“放大效应”。未来应进一步开展相关的定量研究以探索绩效损失形成的关键区域,并提出具有针对性与可行性的矫正策略和治理路径。     

Farm Conflict in France and the Europeanisation of Agricultural Policy

This article investigates farm conflict in France from 1958 to the present in relation to the dynamics of Europeanisation. The framework emphasises how institutions shape farm conflict by mediating market forces, structuring the political opportunities of contending groups and shaping their world views. The analysis investigates the relationship between institutional politics and contentious politics at three junctures of the development of the CAP: its formation (1958-69), consolidation (1970-87), and reform (1988 to present). The findings suggest that European institutions have played a significant role in the production and transformation of farm conflict in France.     

Pension Reform and the Fiscal Policy Stance

The increased budget deficit caused by the privatization of a public pension plan does not imply a relaxation of the stance of fiscal policy. The reform's impact on the fiscal stance and national saving depends primarily on its effect on the sum of explicit and implicit public debt and on the postreform payroll tax and private system contribution rates. Its impact also depends on the difference between the rate of interest on implicit and that on explicit public debt, among other influences. Pension privatization, if not offset by fiscal consolidation, can loosen the fiscal stance in some circumstances.     

The Foreign and European Policy of the German Lander

Although the German federal government is responsible underthe Basic Law for foreign affairs, the Länder may, undercertain circumstances, conclude treaties with the consent ofthe federation. The Länder have also become involved directlyand indirectly in other international activities. European integration,especially through the European Communities (EC), presents theLänder with new challenges. The Länder have soughtmeans to influence the federal government and the EC Commissionand Council of Ministers, in order to protect their sphere ofautonomous decisionmaking, but EC procedures and the realitiesof federal government involvement do not place the Länderin a strong negotiating position.     

Strategic Planning and Management in Local Government in Norway: Status after Three Decades

Strategic planning and management was introduced in the public sector more than three decades ago and has become a core component in many new public management reforms. Although strategy has been widely adopted in the public sector, the knowledge base regarding its practices and its impacts remains scarce, particularly outside Anglo‐American countries. This article replicates an American and British survey by analysing the adoption and impacts of strategic planning and management in Norwegian municipalities. The results show that, in 2012, a majority of the Norwegian municipalities used strategic planning and management, and that the respondents viewed the impact positively overall. Municipalities that had chosen the strategic stance of prospector and had financial resources from positive net operating results margin adopted strategic planning and management more than other municipalities. Municipalities with a high degree of strategic management and high stakeholder involvement had better perceived impacts of strategic planning than other municipalities.     

Policy coordination in the European metropolis: A meta-analysis

A major concern of the ongoing metropolitan debate is the growing need for policy coordination in urban areas. By means of a meta-analysis of 17 case studies regarding the integration of urban transport and land use policies in Western Europe, the present article focuses on the institutional conditions for policy coordination in metropolitan areas. For this purpose, hypotheses are derived from the two classic schools of the metropolitan debate: on the one hand the progressive model that stands for direct public service production by centralised and professionalised bureaucracies within consolidated municipalities, and on the other hand the public choice model that stands for a decentralised, non-professional, and politically dependent administration in fragmented urban areas. The results of a Qualitative Comparative Analysis show that well coordinated policy decisions are only implemented in institutional settings that correspond with the progressive model, thus promoting this model rather than the public choice model.     

关于改革开放以来我国农民教育问题的若干思考

“三农”问题的核心是农民问题。我们要加强对农民的教育,努力提高农民的素质。改革开放以来中国农民教育呈现出一定的阶段性特点,也面临着许多挑战,在新的形势下我们应该强化农民教育的相关应对措施。