Management by Results: Its Origin and Development in the Case of the Swedish State

ABSTRACT

The paper discusses the origin and development of management by results in Swedish state administration. The historical presence and stability of this political institution is analyzed. It is argued that it can be traced to program budgeting, which was introduced in the early 1960s, and that the institution has been marked by a high degree of stability. An attempt is made to explain the constancy of the steering model. The question is brought to the fore by the fact that the learning process has failed in several respects. The course of events is explained from a historical-institutional perspective and different theories of bureaucratic power. It is asserted that different initial decisions made in connection to the introduction of program budgeting created different positive feedbacks, which were to have stabilizing effects on the institution.     

The challenge of combining FDI and regional development in Indonesia

Indonesia has been severely hurt by the recent economic crisis, which has been accompanied by social tensions. For a sustainable long-term recovery, it is essential that Indonesia attracts FDI inflows, and manages to achieve a reasonably equal spatial development. FDI is important since other capital funds are scarce and an equal spatial development is important to avoid social tensions. However, there is a possible contradiction between FDI and even regional development since FDI tends to locate in clusters. This article discusses FDI and an even spatial development in Indonesia, and offers some policy suggestions for a sustainable long-term recovery.     

Trust in Democratic Institutions in Germany: Theory and Evidence Ten Years After Unification

The German welfare state is in crisis. Alarming long-term demographic trends, the still not fully digested consequences of German unification and the current economic downturn in much of the Eurozone have combined to create an urgent need for welfare reform. Yet the constitutional arrangements which govern the German political system, and well-entrenched political practice, mean that any such reform process is a daunting challenge. Thus, the welfare crisis is also a crisis of German-style co-operative federalism. Current empirical evidence makes for uncomfortable reading, and triggers debate on the nature of the German federation: have the two constitutional principles of federalism and establishing equal living conditions throughout the federation become mutually exclusive? However, as much of the welfare state is centred on the best utilisation of scarce financial resources, it is debatable to what extent alterations in the functional distribution of welfare responsibilities among the territorial levels of government can be regarded as a solution for the current problems. The article concludes that in the search for long-term sustainability of the welfare state the territorial dimension is likely to remain a secondary issue.     

Political-economic context and partisan strategies in the German federal elections, 1990–2002

This contribution develops a theory of the impact of differentiation on integration and unity among EU member states and discusses empirical evidence from four policy areas. According to the theory, the centripetal effects of closer co‐operation among willing EU members on initially unwilling non‐participants are strongly influenced by the character of the respective policy area in terms of public goods theory. The eventual participation of initially reluctant member states, which leads to the re‐establishment of long‐run unity despite short run differentiation, is most likely in policy areas involving excludable network effects, and most unlikely in areas dealing with common pool resource problems (the four remaining types of goods ranking in between these two extremes). The theoretical conclusions are supported by empirical evidence from four EU‐related policies: the successful three show strong characteristics of excludable network goods (EMU, Schengen and the Dublin Convention), while the one which has proved extraordinarily difficult so far involves a common pool resource problem (tax harmonisation).     

Steuerung jenseits von Hierarchie

The paper sheds new light on recent debates about governance and approaches contemporary problems of governing from the perspective of contemporary theories of power. The concept of “soft governing” is developed in order to capture horizontal mechanisms of power intentionally used to govern beyond formalised hierarchies characteristic of processes of governance. The paper describes in particular the horizontal forms of governing through discursive practices, argumentation and symbols and the ways in which they interact. The example of campaigns against female genital mutilation is introduced in order to illustrate possible forms of governing beyond hierarchy.     

Keine Sanierung einer materiell unrichtigen Exekutionsbewilligung durch Eintritt des Zessionars in das Exekutionsverfahren

Eine ursprünglich unrichtig erteilte, weil infolge Forderungsabtretung nicht mehr der wahren Rechtslage entsprechende Exekutionsbewilligung kann nicht nachtr?glich dadurch saniert werden, dass der bereits zum Zeitpunkt der Stellung des Exekutionsantrags und der Erlassung der Exekutionsbewilligung wahrhaft Berechtigte anstelle des (materiell schon ursprünglich nicht Berechtigten) in das Exekutionsverfahren eintritt. § 9 EO verfolgt nicht den Zweck, materiell unrichtige Exekutionsbewilligungen dadurch zu sanieren, dass im Wege eines Parteiwechsels der tats?chlich legitimierte Gl?ubiger anstelle des bereits ursprünglich nicht (mehr) Legitimierten in das Exekutionsverfahren eintritt; vielmehr bezweckt § 9 EO, bereits geschaffene Exekutionstitel nicht durch einen nachtr?glichen übergang der dem Exekutionstitel zugrunde liegenden Forderung zunichte zu machen.