If territorial fragmentation is a problem,is amalgamation a solution? – Ten years later

ABSTRACT

Over the last decade, municipal territorial amalgamation has occurred in 15 European countries. The same period has seen spectacular progress in research on the relationship between municipal size and the functioning of local governments, as well as the impacts of territorial reforms on economic performance and local democracy. Quasi-experimental designs treating territorial reforms as specific “research laboratories” have constituted an important part of that trend. However, there are still important gaps in the knowledge and the study results are often inconclusive. These observations call for a research agenda for the future.     

The use of intergovernmental grants to municipalities for electoral purposes by subnational governments

Subnational governments devote a significant share of their financial resources to help municipalities provide local public services to their citizens. Compared to the large number of studies on national governments, little effort has been devoted to the influence of distributive politics on the use of intergovernmental grants by subnational governments. To fill this gap, this study uses a data set covering the period 2001–2011 to verify to what extent the Québec government used conditional grants to municipalities for electoral purposes. The results of this study show that the allocation of grants to municipalities is not exempt from electoral politics as municipalities located in districts held by governing parties or in high electoral competition districts receive more grants than other municipalities. However, the influence of electoral politics decreases substantially when the management of intergovernmental grants is under tight scrutiny by the opposition parties, mass media and the population. These findings suggest that distributive politics can be conceptualised as a political agency problem whose prevalence is seriously constrained by the improvement of the transparency of public policies management.     

Big change,little change? Punctuation,increments and multi-layer institutional change for English local authorities under austerity

This paper draws on new institutionalist theories to consider how we might characterise the process and outcomes of change occurring in English local government as a result of the UK’s austerity policies. It uses national and local empirical data to argue that changes are best understood as multi-layer processes, whereby radical ‘punctuated’ shifts in national funding can be mitigated to incremental adjustments in service delivery at a local level. However, the paper also suggests that the incremental appearance of change may be temporary, and that diminishing institutional resilience and emergent discursive shifts potentially prefigure a paradigm change in local governance.     

朝鲜族乡村社会的集中村建设及其社会共同体的质变

城镇化进程将导致传统村落共同体的解体与巨大社会变迁.引导乡村社区的整合与重构,摸索乡村社会可持续发展模式是必要的.朝鲜族乡村社会在城市化进程中经历了巨大社会变迁.为了克服社会变迁带来的阵痛,朝鲜族社会自发组织起集中村建设运动,通过集中村的形式实现就地城镇化的道路.尊重经济结构形式与社会共同体形式之间关系的规律,成为城镇化背景下乡村社区重构的关键因素.集中村建设经验对于处于社会转型期的中国乡村社会,具有启示性的意义.     

“行政主体间性”——府际关系的渊源与基点

我国中央政府、地方政府和行政部门之间的关系错综复杂,使得府际争议的求解鲜有头绪。行政主体间性的提出基于行政主体范式和主体间性理念,应用于公共行政之府际关系领域。行政主体间性倡导理性、创制规则,尊重多元行政主体的独立性,破除行政级别窠臼以实现多元行政主体间的全方位交流和多元政府间良性互动。     

论中央与地方关系法治化的实践和理论误区

目前,我国中央与地方关系的法治化在立法、司法方面成就与不足并存,在行政方面法治化程度最低。加快中央与地方行政关系的法治化是解决当前我国诸多重大问题的客观需要,是当前我国行政管理体制改革的必然要求。中央与地方关系的法治化问题在实质上就是国家结构形式的完善问题,在推进中央与地方关系法治化的过程中,应当注意走出国家结构形式的几个理论误区:我国的国家结构形式是单一制;联邦制奉行的是"双重主权"原则;单一制与联邦制相比,中央更具权威;完善国家结构形式,我们必须坚持单一制。     

政府辟谣行为可诉性分析

随着社会信息化程度的加深，面对社会公众的质疑和猜忌，政府辟谣行为日益普遍。错误的辟谣信息不仅严重损害政府的公信力，同时也会损害公众的合法权益。依据辟谣行为性质将其分为政府信息公开类、行政指导类和不属于职能范围的一般性辟谣三大类，针对不同类型的行为，尝试在目前法律框架下探究司法救济思路和相关制度的改善。     

地方政府竞争中的制度创新及异化分析

我国地方政府在政府竞争的压力之下,起着政治企业家的作用,进行了诸如产权制度变革、行政审批制度改革以及地方公共物品供给制度改革等制度创新行为。但行政性分权的非制度性和非稳定性,法律约束机制的缺失以及中央政府宏观调控式微等制度安排中的缺陷导致了地方政府制度创新中的悖论,地方政府在政府竞争中以曲解规则、补充文件等异化的制度创新行为和方式来理解和贯彻国家的法律法规和上级要求实施的制度规则,以求满足自身利益的最大化。     

浅谈电子政务建设与政府管理体制创新

电子政务是信息时代的产物,它的出现给政府管理改革带来了深刻的影响与冲击。加快建设电子政务,对推动政府管理体制创新对于提高行政效率、节约行政成本,提升政务管理信息化水平,增强政府反应力和社会回应力等方面都具有十分重要的意义。     

和谐社会构建中地方政府的竞争问题

地方政府作为构建社会主义和谐社会的主体,在建设社会主义和谐社会的系统工程中起着主导作用,是构建社会主义和谐社会治国方略的政策执行者、推进者。