This Time,it's for Real: The Health and Social Care Act 2012

This article examines the Health and Social Care Act 2012 and associated reforms to the National Health Service in England. It focuses on the Act's policy of making the NHS market more ‘real’, by both encouraging and compelling NHS bodies to act as ‘market players’. The article considers whether the reforms are compatible with the constitutional requirements of accountability for the provision of a public service such as the NHS. It argues that the reforms threaten accountability for three reasons: they make the Secretary of State for Health's relationship with the NHS more complex, they create opaque networks of non‐statutory bodies which may influence NHS decision‐making, and (especially in relation to competition) they ‘juridify’ policy choices as matters of law. Taken together, these arguments suggest that there is force in the claim that the reforms will contribute to ‘creeping’ – and thus unaccountable – privatisation of the NHS.     

Restoring the social: offender reintegration in a risky world

How to manage and reintegrate offenders released from prison is a vexing problem for governments. The challenge of reintegration has forced a pendulum shift in corrections toward a more social-psychological understanding of the nature of offender release, after decades of purely psychological paradigm dominance. This article explains how reentry problems and practice encompass the shift in a context of a risk-centric and averse public. New reentry models such as Circles of Support and Accountability demonstrate an approach to reentry that draws upon the tenets of restorative justice and desistance theories. Using qualitative data on reintegration within New Zealand, this article contributes to our understanding of the problems for correctional departments to facilitate reintegration in the context of risk managerialism, and theorizes about the dimensions and implications of “restorative reentry.”     

《行政诉讼法》的大修与小改——关于《行政诉讼法》修改的思考

对《行政诉讼法》实施取得的成绩和存在的问题进行全面的总结和分析,可以发现,《行政诉讼法》既存在制度空白,也存在制度缺陷;既存在法内问题,也存在法外问题。主张修改时应当针对不同情况采取不同的修改策略。修改《行政诉讼法》时应当重点注意一些问题,特别是在立法目的上应当以规范行政诉讼行为为原始目的,其他皆属于派生性目的 ;在破解执行难问题上应当引入问责机制,通过问责突破执行难。     

Coordinating post-disaster humanitarian response: lessons from the 2005 Kashmir earthquake,India

This article is based on a field study carried out in Indian-administered Kashmir after the 2005 earthquake. In this analysis of how non-governmental development organisations (NGDOs) engage and coordinate with one another and with other disaster response agencies during post-disaster relief and rehabilitation operations, it can be concluded that NGDO coordination was ineffective. The research points out that, even though there is coordination among the international and national NGDOs, local NGDOs are seldom engaged in the overall coordination processes. The paper advocates developing coordination among the humanitarian agencies as a pre-disaster initiative for a more effective collaborative humanitarian disaster response.     

责任政府构建的当代主题与基本维度

确责与问责是当代责任政府建设的关键环节。确责与问责构成了当代责任政府构建的主题,也规定了责任政府构建的基本维度。责任政府构建需要在正确定位政府职责、建立有效问责机制的基础上,促进政府对人民认真负责。     

A no-displacement option? Rights,risks and negotiated settlement in development displacement

“Voluntary” land transfer agreements, negotiated directly between “willing buyers and willing sellers”, present a seemingly empowering alternative to the use of legal instruments for land acquisition or transfer which entail forced displacement. Yet asymmetrical bargaining power between the negotiating parties can undermine the fairness of negotiated outcomes and the right of the sellers to a “no-displacement” option. Viewed against a complex background of bourgeoning land transfers in multiple sites, this article examines rights-based and risks-based approaches to negotiated settlements, concluding that measures to address asymmetries in bargaining power must look beyond enhanced negotiation procedures to address underlying social and political dimensions.     

对我国问责制度若干问题的探究

如何建立和完善符合中国国情的问责制度,有诸多的问题需要进一步深入探究。在问责形式方面,应该包括政治问责和行政问责,即异体问责和同体问责两方面的内容。在问责主体方面,重点应确立人民代表大会和广大社会公众的问责主体地位,并以社会公众的知情权加以保障。在问责客体方面,要明确各级党政机关及其工作部门或工作机构领导班子的组成人员为问责的主要客体,并明确问责客体的问责形式和职责划分。在问责范围方面,应明确问责的主要指向应该是政治责任和道义责任,并增加问责范围的透明度。在问责方式方面,应重视公开道歉与引咎辞职的作用,同时避免以政治和道义责任来掩盖和推脱纪律和法律责任现象的发生。     

Challenges to Property Rate Administration in the Offinso South Municipality,Ghana

Decentralized governments in Ghana have not been able to realize optimum benefits from their property tax potentials. The paper investigates the administration of property taxation in Ghana using the Offinso South Municipality (OSM) as a study area. Questionnaires were relied on to garner data from property owners in the municipality. It observed that low coverage and collection ratios, inadequate collection modes, and negative public perceptions have worked against the administration of property tax in the OSM. The paper suggests a complete overhaul of the property rate regime in the OSM if the buoyancy of property tax revenue is to be realized. It argues that the rating authority should purge the system of perceived corruptions. It suggests a revamp of the property rate collection means in order to slump rent seeking behavior of the mobile property rate collectors.     

非营利组织问责类型:一个成本导向的解释

本文根据问责方偏好与组织使命的吻合程度和问责方对负责方的强制程度,为非营利组织问责提供了一个新的分类——自我问责、层级问责、社会问责、法令问责。问责成本可以分为狭义实施成本和机会主义成本,其中实施成本随吻合程度或者强制程度的上升而上升,机会主义成本随吻合程度或者强制程度的上升而下降。问责类型的选择和组合主要是一个成本权衡的问题,不同情境的最优问责有匹配的吻合程度和强制程度。     

Sustainable development in cultural projects: mistakes and challenges

This article reports on research that analysed a number of sustainable development reports by international organisations which consolidate findings from different countries, to produce evidence of the powerful role of culture in sustainable development of various communities. The research looked at reports on sustainable development through cultural activities published between 2010 and 2013, which together provide an overview of about 80 sustainable development projects. Drawing on analysis of the development indicators approaches utilised by the reports’ authors, this article identifies the main challenges that cultural practitioners and policymakers face when trying to measure changes achieved through cultural support in developing communities. The paper illuminates various inconsistencies in the employment of qualitative and quantitative indicators of development, confusions between development indicators and cultural activities, and misunderstandings of cultural sustainability. These key mistakes lead to incorrect measurement of development changes. This article provides recommendations for how to address these problems in order to develop a more robust framework for development evaluations.