The implementation of decentralization: A case study of district planning in Agra District,Uttar Pradesh,India

Though the literature on decentralization has clarified some issues, it has left unsettled the question of the administrative structure for its implementation: who should take what decisions, and at what level? There are limits to the conventional methods of classification. where answers have been sought in terms of Western experience, participation and management. and a legal perspective has been adopted with decentralization seen in terms of fully elected local governments. semi-autonomous local governments. or coordinating committees. Rather than stress procedures of participation. the substantive content of decision-making needs to he analysed. A classification of rural development programmes provides an alternative model for the reallocation of functions within the system of government to meet development needs. The case of district planning in Agra District. India. illustrates the process of decentralization. underlines its composite character. and shows the importance of the budget in initiating reform in the political-administrative system. Since decentralization is now motivated by different factors than in the past. the requirements of the anti-poverty programmes will move the decision-making process closer to the cutting edge of the village level, with even greater responsiveness to demands from below.     

亨廷顿的民主巩固理论探析

20世纪后期,随着大量新生的民主国家面临一系列的社会经济问题,民主陷入了不稳定甚至倒退的现实,民主化研究也从最初的转型开始向巩固转变。而亨廷顿的民主巩固理论,正好引导了20世纪90年代西方政治民主研究的潮流。他对民主巩固做了比较系统的阐述。简要地介绍了亨廷顿的民主、民主化、民主巩固等概念,着重介绍了他成功的民主巩固所需要的条件,最后试图对之进行初步的评价。     

Fiscal Consolidation and Australia's Public Debt

Australia has experienced one of the fastest growing public debt levels in the world post‐Global Financial Crisis due to a series of large federal budget deficits driven by high government spending. In this paper we examine the balance sheet implications of this escalating public debt, before proposing some macro‐fiscal objectives for determining its sustainable level. These objectives are to (i) restore the federal government's solvency; (ii) eliminate foreign public debt; and (iii) achieve budgetary balance over the business cycle. Empirically, we first examine how much fiscal consolidation is required for debt stabilisation at current levels, before considering what sized budget balances are needed to achieve the target debt to GDP ratios consistent with the proposed objectives. The results show that no target debt to GDP level consistent with the optimal levels will be met on current fiscal settings in the medium term. This implies significantly greater fiscal consolidation is required to minimise future fiscal risk.     

Incremental Consolidation and Comprehensive Reorganization of American State Executive Branches

Many questions remain about the causes and implications of state government reorganization. Using an original data set on agency consolidation in the states between 1950 and 1992, we show that executive branch restructuring occurs incrementally as well as through better recognized comprehensive reorganization. With continuous state-space modeling we show that these different reform paths are related and driven by distinct political and economic conditions. We also show that, contrary to previous findings, state attempts to alter their administrative organizations do impact long-term employment growth rates. Although smaller in magnitude, incremental as well as comprehensive reforms can enhance administrative efficiency. Further, unlike the Baumgartner and Jones (1993, 2002) punctuated-equilibrium model, we do not find evidence that incrementalism gives way to bursts of nonincremental change. Rather, incremental adjustments to the status quo may be sufficient to reduce the possibility the possibility of comprehensive reorganization at any point in the future.     

Success and Failure of Fiscal Consolidation in the OECD: A Multivariate Analysis

This paper tests five hypotheses explaining thesuccess and failure of fiscal consolidation in amultivariate regression framework. These hypothesesconcern (i) the composition of the consolidationprogramme, (ii) its size and persistence, (iii) thegravity of the debt situation, (iv) the influence ofthe international macroeconomic environment and (v) thecontribution of a preceding devaluation. To testfor composition effects we use cyclically-adjusteddata. Although many conclusions of the existingempirical literature are confirmed, some do notsurvive. A popular hypothesis – that to succeed, consolidationshould rely on cutting the government wagebill – is rejected. A new empirical result is that thecontribution of a devaluation to the success of fiscalconsolidation depends on the composition of theconsolidation programme.     

新型治理:韩国民主进程中的市民组织

近些年来,在以发展型国家著称的韩国,公民参与政策过程的影响不断增强.本文分析了韩国民主巩固进程中市民组织的政治化问题.论文通过分析市民组织在政策过程中的三个政治活动案例,揭示了韩国市民组织的组织特征和政治功能,最后还对韩国市民组织的特征与日本市民组织的特征进行了比较,并对韩国政治中市民组织在新型治理中的作用及其前景进行了评价.     

党的先进性建设与多党合作制度的巩固和发展

先进性建设是中国共产党在新世纪的一项根本性建设,它与中国共产党领导的多党合作和政治协商制度有着密切的关系,关系着这一有中国特色的社会主义政党制度,即我国的基本政治制度能否更加巩固和继续发展,关系着中国共产党的执政地位能否更加巩固和执政地位是否坚强有力。从一定的意义上说,这样认识党的先进性建设问题,党的先进性建设才能确确实实地落在实处,达到通过党自身的先进性建设促进国家和社会发展的目的,实现坚持和发展多党合作和政治协商制度的目的。