Political participation and municipal population size: A meta-study

Do municipal amalgamations enforce or do they weaken (local) political participation? This is an important question considering a worldwide tendency for municipalities to merge. This question will be answered using a mixed-method approach based on a literature overview (meta-study) in general and additional quantitative (turnout figures, election studies) and qualitative (interviews) data regarding the situation in The Netherlands in particular. Political participation is consistently measured using indicators that measure behaviour (especially turnout figures) instead of perceptions and opinions such as trust or internal and external political efficacy. Local political participation seems to decrease with an increase in municipal population size.     

The efficiency and effectiveness of municipally owned corporations: a systematic review

Municipally owned corporations (MOCs) are increasingly utilised to provide local public services, but little remains known about their efficiency and effectiveness. In this article, we offer a typology of MOCs, explore the variables that affect their behaviour, and perform a systematic review of public administration articles published between 2001 and 2015 on their efficiency and effectiveness. We find that MOCs are often more efficient than local bureaucracies in the provision of services such as refuse collection, water distribution, and transit services, although they also have high initial failure rates. We conclude that municipally owned corporations are a viable means for delivering some local public services for localities capable of initiating and managing complex contracts. In light of the scarcity of literature on this topic, our conclusions remain tentative, and we encourage additional research into this growing phenomenon.     

Electoral volatility and the dynamics of electoral reform

Recent elections in Europe have shown that a context of increasing citizen distrust towards democratic institutions may lead to very high levels of electoral volatility and to the emergence of new parties. On the other hand, institutional reforms are sometimes presented as a solution to citizens’ discontent with political institutions. Focusing on a specific type of political institution ? electoral systems ? the question addressed in this study is whether high levels of electoral volatility may trigger electoral reforms. The article investigates the conditions under which reforms affecting the electoral system’s degree of openness to new parties were enacted in 25 European countries between 1945 and 2012. The findings demonstrate that volatility due to the emergence of new parties is the most powerful explanation to account for the introduction of electoral reforms, particularly those that hinder the entry of new parties into the system.     

A Charmed Spectacle: England and its Constitutional Imagination

This article argues that the fate of England – a subject of increasing contemporary interest – is inexorably linked to that of its constitution. Englishness is an impression, one that is rooted in its constitutional imagination, a bundle of impression and images, which can be found, not merely in statutes and cases, but in a myriad texts and treatises. The first part of the article concentrates on the constitutional imagination fashioned by the likes of Hooker and Spenser in the wake of the Henrician and Elizabethan settlements. The second part then looks at the frantic efforts of men such as Burke and Wordsworth to reinvest this imagination in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The final part of the article suggests that the`charmed spectacle' of the constitution, as Bagehot terms it, still represents a formidable residual strength against which any mooted constitutional reforms must be measured. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

探讨上海面向21世纪的城市管理思路

“建管并举、加强管理”已经成为上海大都市可持续发展的重要课题。本文对现代化城市管理的若干理论问题进行了讨论、界定和辨析,并对上海城市管理战略提出了若干对策性建议。     

Crucial Decisions By Small Towns and Villages: Why Did Some Municipalities Choose to Merge But Others Did Not During the Nationwide Wave of Municipal Mergers in Japan?

This article focuses on the nationwide wave of municipal consolidations in Japan that took place from 2003 to 2006 and examines why some municipalities merged but others did not. The central government did not legally force consolidations but instead provided municipalities with fiscal incentives. I argue that small municipalities were reluctant to merge because they would lose generous transfers from the central government as well as decision-making powers once they unified with their larger neighbors. Fiscal incentives by the central government significantly raised the cost of remaining intact and induced a large number of fiscally weak municipalities to merge.     

Bureaucratic socialism in reform mode: the changing politics of Cuba’s post-Fidel era

Standard wisdom explains Cuba’s current transformation as one of economic change but political immobility. However, Cuban politics have also undergone a major change since the handing over of power from Fidel to Raúl Castro – even if the rhetoric used has been one of continuity. This article traces this process by looking at four areas: the depersonalisation and re-institutionalisation of the political structures; the diversification of the public sphere, particularly through the use of digital media; the liberalisation of travel and migration, with its transformative impact on state–citizen relations; and the turn to a moderate foreign policy, as highlighted by the rapprochement with the USA, with its implications for legitimising the underpinnings of Cuban socialism. Although the shift has been well below the threshold of a transition to multiparty democracy, Cuba has evolved from the charismatic model of the past to what can be understood as bureaucratic socialism in reform mode.     

论我国法治建设的成就与法治变革的友好型环境

从＂权力＂与＂权利＂之间的关系来看法治演进的轨迹,法治建设主要有三个阶段：＂以权力制约权利＂的法治阶段、＂以权力制约权力＂的法治阶段、＂以权利制约权力＂的法治阶段。作为社会主义国家,我国人民享有广泛的、真实的民主,法治建设适宜＂以权利制约权力＂,以实现人民监督政府与政府服务人民的有机统一。改革开放30多年来,我国法治建设虽然取得了巨大成就,但也存在着诸多不足,而推进法治建设的步伐,必须营造法治变革所需要的友好型环境。     

国际税收制度改革新进程及其影响

针对数字经济税基侵蚀和利润转移的国际税收制度改革于2013年被正式提上议程,并逐渐形成了以双支柱为核心的税改方案。2021年10月,改革取得突破性进展,正式获得大多数改革参与国同意,计划于2023年开始在全球范围内实施。国际税收制度改革未来将对全球税收治理、全球贫富差距、数字经济发展、资本流动和避税型离岸中心等产生持续影响,也将给中国完善税收体制、发挥大国优势、吸引中资跨国数字企业回归、推动自由贸易试验区改革与创新等带来机遇。但国际税收制度改革同时会收紧中资跨国企业的海外投资环境,对香港金融稳定也会造成影响。中国应以本轮国际税收制度改革为契机积极参与,并完善税收征管机制,加快市场化建设和金融开放进程,在自贸区对标高水平国际创新,以及提升香港内生增长动力和稳定性。     

论农村土地承包经营制度发展及其对策

数千年来，中国农村的土地问题一直都是国家社会经济发展的基础和关键所在。随着近几年中央陆续出台的几个“一号文件”，“三农问题”特别是农村土地问题成为了国家农业经济改革的重中之重。为加快农村土地制度的改革完善，越来越多的专家学者将改革目光投向了农村土地流转的改革上，并且2014年发布的“一号文件”，强调农业改革、发展现代农业以及继续将农业视为经济根本的重要性。同时，首次提出了农村土地承包经营权“三权分离”这一概念。本文主要通过理论上的分析，结合当前农村土地承包经营权的发展现状，对“三权分离”实施的可行性进行解读和探究。