Destructive Competition or Competition Destroyed? Regulatory Theory and the History of Irish Road Transportation Legislation

The principal aim of our study is to contribute to the debate over whether regulation is enacted in the interest of consumers, producers, political agents, or some combination of these. We examine the legislative debates and subsequent regulatory bills surrounding road transportation regulation in Ireland in light of the three dominant theories which purport to explain the existence of regulation: the public interest theory and the so-called Chicago and Virginia theories. A unique feature of our study is an attempt to integrate specific rhetorical concepts used in the public policy debates into the theoretical analysis of regulation. One noteworthy conclusion of our study is that theories of economic processes affect the shaping and results of public policy.     

EXPLAINING THE PRIVATIZATION BOOM: PUBLIC CHOICE VERSUS RADICAL APPROACHES

Public choice theories of bureaucracy, especially the budget maximization thesis, have been influential in stimulating the drive towards privatization in Britain and the USA. But these accounts are strangely silent about why changes in state agency practices have come about under'new right' governments. They apparently attribute the scope of change entirely to'virtuous' political direction overcoming previously inherent features of bureaucratic behaviour and democratic politics.
By contrast, a radical reconstruction of instrumental models of bureaucracy explains the privatization boom in terms of the primacy of bureau-shaping motivations in the welfare functions of policy-level bureaucrats. Privatization is seen as a development of earlier strategies (such as the separation of control and line agencies, the creation of'dual state' structures, and automation) by which the class interests of senior bureaucrats have been advanced at the expense of rank and file state workers and service recipients. An examination of divergences in the internal and social costs of public agency functions explains why legislators and policy-level bureaucrats (especially in control agencies) push ahead with the'inappropriate' privatization of public service delivery systems where overall social welfare is reduced.     

An Analysis of U.S.Involvement in the South China Sea Dispute

The U.S. is the largest country outside of the region to involve itself in the South China Sea dispute. U.S. policy on this issue is guided by the principle of containing China＇s rise and this will continue to be the case in the near future. Meanwhile, the U.S. has proposed a new multi-lateral security mechanism, incorporating itself, in the South China Sea. This article will put forward some reflections and suggestions on the above issues.     

把平等贯彻到底论《选举法》的修订

一 正常人是避苦趋乐的。政府的根据或正确目的是最大多数人的最大幸福；但掌权者实际上总把一己私利放在首位，为一己私利牺牲公共利益。人固然不乏恻隐之心，但它却永远屈从于自利心。自利心是人之本性，强制改造人性只会导致更大灾难。要让政府致力于最大多数人的最大幸福，不得不让促进最大幸福的行为也可促进掌权者的私人幸福，不得不让掌权者的官运财运奠基于人民的意志；     

我国慈善事业发展中的政府作用分析——基于中美比较的借鉴与启示

经过多年的发展,我国慈善事业在取得了积极成绩的同时仍面临许多问题。本文从政府在慈善事业发展中的角色定位及作用入手,比较了中美两国慈善事业发展的现状与政府作用。我国慈善事业发展的历程集中体现了政府对慈善事业发展的主导作用,政府充当了慈善事业的组织者、运营者和资助者的角色;美国政府与慈善组织结为"事业伙伴"关系,发挥着倡导者、合作者、管理监督者、法律保障者的作用。由于历史、社会文化、宗教影响、法律环境等因素,中美政府在发展本国慈善事业中采取的措施与发挥的作用既有相似点又存有差异。借鉴美国的成功经验,中国慈善事业发展的核心问题就是要理顺政府与慈善的关系,政府在促进慈善事业发展中的作用应体现在引导、监督和保障方面。