The Flypaper Effect Revisited: Intergovernmental Grants and Local Governance

Abstract

Local governance arrangements shape the incentives of local actors, which may in turn influence fiscal choices. By emphasizing the role of local government institutions in local fiscal choices, we seek to bridge between median voter and Leviathan models prevalent in the literature. We then offer some preliminary evidence to support this explanation by empirically testing several propositions regarding the flypaper effect in intergovernmental grants. One limitation of the median voter model is that the model does not consider political institutions and their influences on government expenditures. In this study, we attempt to capture the influence of political dynamics in determining public expenditures by considering institutional variables. Test results show that the political institutional variables could be one of the explanation variables for the flypaper effect.     

Organisational choices in public procurement: what can public management learn from the private sector?

ABSTRACT

In the public context, the efficient and effective management of procurement activities has a crucial impact on the achievement of operational and broader government objectives. In particular, the potential contribution of procurement within local governments has been broadly recognized, and organisational procurement choices represent a strategic aspect that must be managed to contribute to these objectives. Through the analysis of data on 371 Italian municipalities, this paper discusses how to design procurement organisation variables for local governments. Three possible organisational models are identified (i.e., authoritative procurement, silo procurement, and local procurement) and discussed from the perspective of internal and external contingencies that may affect organisational decisions.     

宁波市地方卫生立法的现状研究

宁波市是国务院批准的具有地方立法权的较大的市。近年来为了促进地方卫生事业的发展,保障人民健康权益,宁波市不断推进地方卫生立法工作,取得了较为突出的成效。本文通过对宁波地方卫生立法的类型进行分析,归纳了宁波市地方卫生立法的特点,宁波市地方卫生立法体现了＂以人为本,立法为民＂,体现了前瞻性和创新性,体现了区域特殊性和相对独立性,并且在实施过程中取得了明显的成效。     

地方政权制度设计与地方自治

社会主义制度鼓励人民直接参与公共管理 ,这本身包含着地方应当具有某种相对独立于中央政府的权力 ,但我国的政权设计更多的是一种高度的中央集权的模式。高度的中央集权并不能从根本上保证中央对地方的控制 ,而且有悖于民主化与全球化的浪潮。因此 ,应当摒弃高度中央集权模式 ,着手建立地方自治的制度     

论我国地方政府问责制之建构：问题与对策

我国地方政府问责制之建构和运行正在推进,亟待深化研究加大其力度.审视其现实情境可以看到,在\"谁来问责\"、\"如何问责\"、\"如何定责\"与\"何以为制\"等问题上认识、规制和运作层面还存在诸多问题.这些制约因素对地方政府问责制的完善和运行效度的实现极为不利.因此,提出促进建构与完善我国地方政府问责制,以优化问责资源配置的基本构想与路径选择.     

Organizing teachers in Pennsylvania, 1935–1941

ABSTRACT

By eliminating mandatory agency fees, the US Supreme Court’s Janus decision has created an opportunity for the American teachers’ unions to renew their commitment to organizing teachers. This article returns us to the pre-agency fee era, when on-the-ground organizational work was essential for building teachers’ unions. Drawing from archival documents, it shows how dedicated activists from Philadelphia and Pittsburgh reached out to Pennsylvania’s classroom teachers to draw them into the AFT during the later Depression years. It details the changes in their organizational strategy, the challenges organizers faced in the field, their successes and failures, and the work accomplished by a paid AFT organizer – Vivian Dahl – in 1938. Above all, it documents both the dividends of face-to-face interactions between organizers and prospective unionists and the difficulties of such work in an ideologically polarized political environment, among a group of workers dominated by the hierarchical ethos of professionalism.     

寻求合法性——浅析英国现代警察制度的建立根据

现代警察制度的建立必须有其经过充分论证的合法性根据;对于英国这样一个有着浓厚保守主义传统的国家来说,此项根据必须能够具体涵盖保障公民自由及地方自治。通过帕特里克.柯洪的详细理论阐释以及罗伯特.皮尔所推动通过的《大都市警察法》及其一系列建警、警务原则,现代警察制度的合法性根据得以成功构筑。     

近代中国的政治发展——以中央和地方关系的演变为维度

由外族入侵带来的民族压力促使近代中国开始了自救。在独立民族国家地位丧失的背景之下,近代中国政治发展艰难起步。为了谋求改变,政界和学界引入了大量迥异于传统中国的思想观念和制度模式。中央和地方关系的演变就是这一政治环境下的产物。通过中央和地方关系的演变历程,我们不难发现近代中国政治发展的基本特点：其开启来自外部挑战;其应对过程充满纠结;其发展主题随着社会环境的变化而变化;其总趋势是为了国家统一;其本身对政治现代化起到了推动作用。     

正式制度、基层政府与体制弹性——温岭劳资个案及其启示

文章旨在理解我国体制持续发展中表现出的体制弹性。根据体制持续发展过程中权利结构是否发生演进,把体制的可持续性分解为体制适应性和体制弹性两个方面,明确区别于对适应性体制或弹性体制的笼统提法。在此概念界定的基础上,从温岭劳资个案出发考察体制弹性的过程。温岭劳资个案是劳资冲突逐步激化、地方政府应对挑战维持稳定的过程,是在既有权利结构下应对社会冲突、启动利益表达和实现劳资关系稳定的完整政治过程。案例表现出体制持续发展的弹性方面,而相关正式制度设置和能动的当地政府扮演了重要角色。进一步对个案中获得的认识进行逻辑的一般分析,认为在社会主义基本制度和政府间的行政逐级发包制下,正式制度和基层政府对体制弹性发挥着重要作用。同时,体制弹性对体制的发展具有正反两方面的潜在影响。     

整体治理背景下的法国地方财政制度改革

法国政府在整体治理的大背景下,进行了地方财政制度改革。通过开源节流、强化对地方公共开支的控制,动态评估地方直接税(主要是地产税)的税基、使之更为客观真实反映土地价值,完整补偿取消职业税的代价、保障地方政府事权与财权相一致,限制在同一税基之上的税收重叠、明确各级地方政府的主体税种。法国地方财政制度改革从较为微观的地方税制调整入手,以宪法和法律为根本保障推动地方财政自治,同时进行地方政府组织结构和政府职能等综合配套改革。对法国地方财政制度改革的得失进行检讨和总结,对于完善我国地方财政制度,推进地方财政自主法制保障建设具有一定的借鉴和参考意义。