The 1998 State Council Organizational Streamlining: Personnel reduction and change of government function

The two goals of the 1998 State Council organizational streamlining were personnel reduction and a change of government functions. It is argued that the methods being used to achieve personnel reduction do not constitute a real reduction but largely involve transferring staff to other public institutions. Real personnel reduction could not be achieved without a major change of government function. Institutional reforms of both the central and local governments since the 1980s have been adaptations to the changing economic structure from a planned to a market economy. Government functions have served both existing economies. Cadres cannot be reduced unless the government function of direct management of state-enterprises is completely severed. The major contents of the 1998 institutional reform are examined and evaluated. The prospects for the success of the reform are also assessed.     

The study of federalism, 1960–99: A content review of several leading Canadian academic journals

Abstract: A number of observers have suggested that there is a decline in the level of “traditional” federalism research undertaken in Canada. They contend that scholarly interest has shifted away from areas like fiscal federalism and the division of powers to newer areas of interest like social movements, identity politics and citizenship issues. An interdisciplinary review of a number of Canadian journals reveals, however, that studies in traditional areas of federalism are not in decline and continue to dominate the field in English‐language federalism scholarship. At the same time, the authors did not find a robust literature on federalism‐related issues in French for the forty‐year period under review. Sommaire: Un certain nombre d'observateurs semblent indiquer que le niveau de la recherche entreprise au Canada sur le féléralisme « traditionnel » a baissé. Us prétendent que les intelleduels se sont détournés des domaines comme le fédéralisme fiscal et la répartition des compétences pour s'orienter vers de nouveaux centres d'intérêt comme les mouvements sociaux, la politique identitaire et les questions relatives à la citoyenneté. Une étude interdisciplinaire d'un grand nombre de revues canadiennes révèle cependant que les études portant sur les secteurs traditionnels du fédéralisme ne sont pas en baisse et que ces secteurs continuent à faire l'objet de la majorité des bourses d'études en langue anglaise sur le fédéralisme. Par contre, nous n'avons pas parallèlement trouvé d'études importantes en langue française sur les questions liées au fédéralisme au cours de la période de 40 ans que nous avons étudiée.     

State Building, Interstate and Intrastate Rivalry: A Study of Post-Colonial Developing Country Extractive Efforts, 1975–2000

This paper seeks to understand the relationship between state building, interstate and intrastate rivalry. Previous studies of state building have focused primarily on the European experience, with selective application to cases in the developing world. Prior studies of interstate rivalry have focused primarily on their effects on interstate relations. This paper seeks to expand the domain of both literatures. First, the paper investigates the applicability of the predatory theory of the state, derived from the European experience, in the context of the postcolonial developing world. Second, the paper expands interstate rivalry research to an examination of the effects of both interstate and intrastate rivals on domestic politics. In particular, the literature derived from the European experience considers decisions about fiscal policy as central to the process of state building and survival. Therefore, this paper examines the effects of internal and external rivals on extractive capacity in the context of state development in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, and Asia from 1975 to 2000. A series of pooled, cross-sectional time-series analyses suggest that external and internal rivals increase the extractive capacity of the state in a manner similar to the experience of early modern Europe.     

Book reviews

John P. Willerton, Patronage and Politics in the USSR. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992, xv+305 pp., $59.95, £40.00.

Michael Ellman & Vladimir Kontorovich, eds, The Disintegration of the Soviet Economic System. London and New York: Routledge, 1992, xv+281 pp., h/b £45.00., p/b £14.99.

Paul R. Josephson, Physics and Politics in Revolutionary Russia. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1991, xix+423 pp., $39.95.

Hélène Carrère D'Encausse, The Great Challenge: Nationalities and the Bolshevik State 1917–1930. Nancy Festinger, Trans., Richard Pipes, Foreword. New York: Holmes & Meier Publishers, 1991, xviii+262 pp., $39.95.

Niels Erik Rosenfeldt, Stalin's Secret Chancellery and the Comintern. University of Copenhagen, Institute of Slavonic and East European Studies, 1991. 116 pp.

Christoph Bluth, Soviet Strategic Arms Policy Before SALT. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992, 317 pp., £40.00.

Roger E. Kanet, Deborah Nutter Miner & Tamara J. Resler, Soviet Foreign Policy in Transition. Cambridge University Press, 1992, xvi+308 pp., £40.00, $59.95.

M. A. Babkina, ed., New Political Parties and Movements in the Soviet Union. Commack, NY: Nova Science Publishers, Inc., 1991, 156 pp., $35.00.

S. Berglund & J. A. Dellenbrandt, eds., The New Democracies in Eastern Europe: Party Systems and Political Cleavages. Aldershot: Edward Elgar, 1991, xii + 237 pp., £39.95.

Gyorgy Csepeli & Antal Örkény, Ideology and Political Beliefs in Hungary: The Twilight of State Socialism. Trans., Brian McLean & Julianna Parti, London: Pinter, 1992, viii+148 pp., £35.00.