Linking context and strategy in donor support for decentralisation: a diagnostic framework

International donors, long‐standing supporters of decentralisation reforms in developing countries, often face the challenge of aligning programme assistance to the great variety of country governance settings in which many operate. This article presents a framework for assessing the implications of governance and institutional context for a range of programming challenges, with particular reference to the challenge of decentralised programming. The framework has three conceptual steps. Country governance and institutional change environments are first described in terms of how enabling governance capacities are for decentralised programming, and how rapid and predictable the rate of institutional change is. Second, these environmental considerations are associated with overall assistance modalities of donors, in areas such as the type of partners sought and interventions selected. Third, a range of options concerning the aims, scope and extent of decentralising programming are reviewed and linked to the diagnostic framework above. The framework is broadly derived from organisational contingency theory, which it is argued has been relatively neglected in the study of development administration due to a preponderance of analysis based on single‐case studies. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

How do interests,ideas, and institutions affect multisectoral governance? The case of tobacco governance in two Pacific small island developing states

Multisectoral governance has been recognized to be vital to regulate harmful commodity industries, yet countries struggle with reaching policy coherence due to government agencies' conflicting mandates and industry interference. Limited empirical evidence is available on how interests, ideas, and institutions intersect and influence multisectoral governance in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in Pacific small island developing states (PSIDS), often exploited by vested industry interests and whose non-communicable disease crisis commands urgent action to regulate harmful commodities. This study assessed the ways interests, ideas, and institutions intersect and shape multisectoral tobacco governance in PSIDS. Interviewee data collected in Fiji and Vanuatu show that the idea of individual responsibility, the limited recognition of commercial determinants of health, the centralization of authority, and the vulnerabilities of small island developing states, (including small population, land, economy, geographic isolation, and status as a developing economy), prevent these states from achieving policy coherence in multisectoral tobacco governance.     

加入WTO:政府需要做什么

随着加入世贸组织时间的日益临近,中国政府如何适应新形势的变化,值得引起人们的重视.本文从五个方面分析了政府所持的态度与应采取的措施:树立正确的入世观;转变与增强政府职能,全面提升政府管理能力;普及WTO专业知识,培养高素质的专业人才;用好反倾销和反倾销应对这两种武器;制订和修改有关法律法规和规章.为适应经济全球化的发展趋势,政府需要把外部的压力转化为内部的动力,积极主动地进行体制变革,提高国家综合国力和竞争力,加快中国现代化建设的进程.     

Nordic Cultural Baselines: Accounting for Domestic Convergence and Foreign Policy Divergence

The five Nordic countries converged remarkably when developing domestic institutions, but they diverged significantly when developing foreign policies. Grid-group theory prescribes four contending cultures—hierarchy, egalitarianism, individualism, and fatalism—and offers a basis for understanding the structure of political coalitions and conflicts. Surveys from the five Nordic countries measuring cultural baselines are used to estimate the degree of convergence and divergence. The countries converge with reference to high agreement with egalitarianism, individualism, and hierarchy, and disagreement with fatalism. This concords with the historically strong regime of social democracy in this region. The five countries diverge with reference to their foreign policy in that they polarize along two dimensions. To the east, there is increasing fatalism associated with countries not being members of NATO; to the north, there is increasing egalitarianism associated with countries not being members of the European Union. Given the importance of popular support through referenda, an eventual accession of Norway and Iceland to the EU cannot happen unless egalitarianism diminishes among their publics.     

中国在东南亚的国家角色构建及面临的角色冲突

根据角色理论,一国国家角色的构建需要在当前国际体系的背景下,通过内部定位与外部预期的互动才能得以实现。在互动的过程中,定位与预期往往会出现偏差,从而导致角色冲突的出现。角色冲突是国家角色构建过程中不可避免的现象,而中国在东南亚的国家角色构建正面临着不同程度的角色冲突,这些冲突不仅为中国推进周边外交带来挑战,也为与东盟国家共建“一带一路”和“命运共同体”带来一些阻碍。鉴于引发角色冲突的原因不仅涉及中国自身角色定位与东盟国家的传统认知思维,还受到来自域外守成国的影响,因此缓解角色冲突需构建一套完善自身角色、照顾他者情绪且能应对“不怀好意”冲击的“组合拳”。     

论国际河流后开发国家的权利与义务

国际河流后开发国家特殊的地理位置使其对国际河流的开发会对先开发国家的既得利益产生重要影响.国家对位于其领土内的国际水资源享有主权是后开发国家对国际河流享有开发利用权最主要的法理基础,“先占主义”理论在国际实践中鲜获支持,国际仲裁、判例进一步确认了后开发国家开发利用国际水资源的权利和义务.故国际河流后开发国家享有开发利用国际河流的权利,同时也应承担相应的国际责任和义务.我国作为大部分国际河流的后开发国家也应受到启示,以实现国际水资源的可持续利用.     

东南亚旅华市场:九十年代回顾与未来对策

在中国海外旅游客源市场中，外国游客的比重和地位都在不断提高，而进入九十年代后一体化进程不断深入的东南亚旅华客源市场在外国旅华客源市场中一直处于第一层次的重要地位。东南亚旅华客源市场还存在着巨大的潜力，应该给予足够的重视。然而对这一市场的研究开发等还存在着许多问题。我们建议，加强东南亚旅华市场调查和研究，进一步开发和完善旅游产品与相关设施，提高促销的效果，组建针对性的市场因应机制，努力形成中国与东南亚旅游的双向良性互动。     

Stewardship and health systems strengthening: An overview

The World Health Organization (WHO) introduced the concept of stewardship to clarify the practical components of governance in the health sector. For the WHO, stewardship concentrated on how government actors take responsibility for the health system and the wellbeing of the population, fulfill health system functions, assure equity, and coordinate interaction with government and society. This article overviews the contents of this special issue, which offers examples of how health stewards in a variety of countries have addressed issues of health security, primary care expansion, family planning, and quality of care. The contributors' articles draw lessons for policy, programs, and management useful for practitioners and scholars. Our overview identifies several themes emerging from the articles: the foundational role of legal frameworks for effective stewardship, the importance of institutional arrangements as enablers, the influence of regional and global entities on national stewardship, the connection between credible decision‐making structures and stewardship, and pathways to sustainable financing and domestic resource mobilization. The discussion concludes with highlighting several gaps in knowledge and practice related to health stewardship.     

Crucial Factors in Implementing Radical Policy Change: A Comparative Longitudinal Study of Nordic Central Agency Relocation Programs

Abstract

Why do public policies succeed or fail? The aim of this article is to contribute to answering this enduring research question in policy research through a comparative study of the variable efforts by Nordic governments to relocate their central agencies from the capital regions over a period of several decades. This was a radical redistributive policy program premised on a policy instrument – coercion – which was very alien to political systems characterized as consensual democracies. Hence, it is no surprise that only two out of seven relocation programs of any substance were successful. The really intriguing research question here is how any relocation program was achievable at all in a policy context where this was very unlikely. A broadly based multi-theoretical analytical framework linking interest groups, institutions, human agency in the form of policy entrepreneurship/design and situational factors is employed to solve this research puzzle. Findings from this study offer important contributions to the following research fields: comparative public policy, radical policy change and most specifically the so-called third generation of public policy implementation research.     

论其他承担行政任务的组织

在现代西方国家,在传统的行政机关之外存在其他承担行政任务的组织,如公法人或公共机构甚至私法组织。在中国,有一些非行政机关或行政机构的事业单位和社会团体,由法律、法规授权或由行政机关委托,也承担一定的管理职能。对行政机关以外的其他承担行政任务的组织进行比较和分析,具有重要意义。