Local Governance under the Coalition Government: Austerity,Localism and the ‘Big Society’

The Coalition between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, formally created on 11^th May 2010, has introduced a range of initiatives which affect local governance, from the announcement of a new Localism Bill through to the abolition of the Audit Commission and the arrival of the ‘Big Society’ agenda. This article reviews the key policy announcements of the Coalition's first year and analyses the underlying themes and trends which are emerging. It argues that the Coalition's reforms do show traces of an ideological commitment to localism and a new understanding of local self-government; there is an ideological agenda which has the potential to deliver a radically different form of local governance. However, the reform process is far from coherent and the potential for radical change is heavily constrained by: conflicts in Conservative thinking and the failure of the Liberal Democrats to assert their own ideology; the political expediency of budget cuts during an era of austerity and; the problems of implementing an apparently radical agenda after 13 years of New Labour.     

Citizens’ Initiatives: How Local Governments Fill their Facilitative Role

In the context of drastic cutbacks many Dutch municipalities consider citizens’ initiatives (CIs) as an attractive alternative for municipal policies aimed at improving the livability and safety in neighbourhoods, simultaneously building responsible citizenship. In this paper we combine different theoretical perspectives to analyse the institutional settings in which CIs are being realised, and how municipalities try to facilitate such initiatives. Municipalities can do this by either trying to structure the relevant networks or by various forms of process management. This analysis sheds light on how municipalities use a variety of instruments to mobilise citizens to participate in CIs. In using such instruments they can influence various factors (like motivations, personal resources, social capital and expected responsiveness; cf. Lowndes et al.’s CLEAR model) that increase the likelihood of civic engagement.     

Anti-Immigrant Parties,Local Presence and Electoral Success

Abstract

Does the local organisational presence of anti-immigrant parties affect their chances for electoral success? In order to answer this question, the article explores the potential of a supply-oriented explanation to anti-immigrant party success by examining the electoral advancements the Sweden Democrats (SD) made in the 2006 and 2010 elections. Our results indicate that traditional demand-side explanations to anti-immigrant party success can be successfully complemented by an ‘internal supply-side argument’ to make the electoral fates of these parties more intelligible. Whether the SD had a local organisational presence had a substantial effect on its results in the national election and on the probability of gaining representation in local councils. Thus, the party’s fate in the national as well as local elections was largely determined by whether or not it had a local organisational presence in Swedish municipalities.     

The Contradictory Effects in Efficiency and Citizens’ Participation when Employing Geo-ICT Apps within Local Government

Abstract

With the increasing use of web-based mapping applications, inter-mediation between public planning agencies and citizens is changing. This article investigates how one form of inter-mediation, geo-ICT-enabled apps (applications on mobile phones and/or internet that use maps or locations as basic references for any functional analysis), influences the degree of efficiency and participation in managing public space. The theoretical assumption here is that such apps encourage information disclosure and therefore have the potential to make a local government more responsive and transparent. Drawing on observation, interviews, and document and web content analysis conducted as part of a case study, this article suggests that the apps have indeed enhanced one municipality’s response and have made citizens more active in uploading their complaints. However, unexpected and contradictory effects include an increase in trivial complaints, which has made the handling of reports less efficient, and the emergence of opportunistic behaviour by third parties on the basis of the complaints, which has made the services less effective. Consequently, the assumed causal relation between enhanced citizen participation and increased transparency and information disclosure requires an adaptation that incorporates such wicked effects.     

Local Public-Services Provision under Public–Private Partnerships: Contractual Design and Contracting Parties Incentives

When deciding to resort to a PPP contract for the provision of a local public service, local governments have to consider the demand risk allocation between the contracting parties. In this article, I investigate the effects of demand risk allocation on the accountability of procuring authorities regarding consumers changing demand, as well as on the cost-reducing effort incentives of the private public-service provider. I show that contracts in which the private provider bears demand risk motivate more the public authority from responding to customer needs. This is due to the fact that consumers are empowered when the private provider bears demand risk, that is, they have the possibility to oust the private provider in case of non-satisfaction with the service provision, which provides procuring authorities with more credibility in side-trading and then more incentives to be responsive. As a consequence, I show that there is a lower matching with consumers’ preferences over time when demand risk is on the public authority rather than on the private provider, and this is corroborated in the light of two famous case studies. However, contracts in which the private provider does not bear demand risk motivate more the private provider from investing in cost-reducing efforts. I highlight then a tradeoff in the allocation of demand risk between productive and allocative efficiency. The striking policy implication of this article for local governments would be that the current trend towards a greater resort to contracts where private providers bear little or no demand risk may not be optimal. Local governments should impose demand risk on private providers within PPP contracts when they expect that consumers’ preferences over the service provision will change over time.     

Visual representation,editorial power,and the dual ‘othering’ of black men in the South African gay press: The case of Gay Pages

Abstract

This article considers some of the ways in which black gay men are marginalised within the queer community and have limited ‘visibility’ in mainstream queer visual culture. The formation of a minority within a minority (or the ‘other’ Other) is ultimately what the article sets out to expose. Thus, we argue that images of black gay men are far less ubiquitous than, for example, those of white, male and middle-class gay men. In order to illustrate this, a purposive sample from the South African gay men's lifestyle magazine Gay Pages is considered and critiqued. We argue that the visual mode of Gay Pages gives the impression of promoting a hegemonic gay male identity. This identity appears to be ‘natural’, but is in fact one-sided and stereotypical, as are most cultural constructions and representations. The narrow and limited representation of gay men endorses an exclusive, homogenous and inaccurate portrait of the queer constituency (in the minds of heterosexual and gay South Africans alike) and suggests the question that leads this investigation: If ‘belonging’ is articulated through the consumption of queer culture, what then of those queers who do not fit the ‘mould’ standardised by mainstream gay print media? This exploration of queer visual media deals not only with that which is frequently represented (white homomasculinity), but also, more significantly, with that which is not (black homomasculinity).     

合同债权转让情形诉讼管辖权归属研究--以受让人与原合同债务人纠纷为视角

目前国内关于合同债权转让情形受让人与原合同债务人间纠纷的诉讼管辖确定规则的理解存在误判。受让人与原合同债务人之间并非合同关系。受让人所取得权利性质上为以合同债权为客体的支配权。受让人与原合同债务人之间的关系为受让人行使该支配权过程中所形成的关系。因此其管辖权的确定不应适用民事诉讼法第23条的规定,而应直接适用法释[2001]12号第2条及第3条所确立的规则。该规则本质上为一个新的、有别于合同纠纷地域管辖规则的特殊地域管辖规则。     

法治中国与公民培育

现代法治之成功依赖公民之政治成熟,而适格公民之造就亦是法治之结果。中国法治进程中出现的一些问题与公民直接相关,例如公民普遍违法,公民对违法行为普遍保持沉默,公民对立法与法律实施影响较弱等等。而法治中国之推进离不开适格公民之参与。因此,亟需对公民进行培育,具体方案包括两个方面内容：一是在中小学阶段加强公民教育以提升其素质,二是有序扩大公民政治参与以提高公民政治实践能力。     

复行为理论下对轮奸“共同正犯说”之反思

我国刑法将轮奸定位为强奸犯罪的加重情节,而非独立的罪名。因强奸犯罪属复行为犯,复行为中的强制行为之上可成立共同正犯,而奸淫行为具有亲手性和排他性,不能成立共同正犯,各犯罪人只能轮流地、各自地实施奸淫行为。轮奸不是典型意义上的共同正犯,而是数个独立意义上的强奸犯罪之叠加,也只能在宏观上被拟制成为"共同正犯",即多犯罪人"在实现各自轮流奸淫被害人的目的支配下"通过参与实施"团体性"强制行为而实现每个犯罪人对被害人的奸淫行为。     

论劳动者的团结权与工会体制改革

由于历史和现实的原因,造成了我国工会组织的行政化、工作内容的娱乐化、工会立场的中间性、代表权利来源和责任机制的虚无化等一系列问题,导致工会的维权作用受到很大削弱。我国工会的发展道路,应是在坚持党的政治领导和社会主义方向的前提下朝着社会化的方向发展。要通过深化改革强化工会的代表性和相对独立性,通过完善法律将维护会员的合法权益作为工会的首要职能,从而加强工会的责任意识。只有这样,才能适应我国当前经济转型、体制转轨时期劳动纠纷多发、群体性事件增多,必须创新社会管理、建立稳定和谐的劳动关系的迫切需要。