Corporate interests and public affairs: organised business–government relations in EU member states

The internationalisation of economic and political affairs changes the way in which business interests are brought to bear on public policy. This is a global phenomenon but can, in particular, be observed in Europe. The construction of the European Union, the development of the Single Market and the build‐up of the policy institutions to go with it, together change business–government relations profoundly. This paper answers the question of how organised business interests relate to government agencies and political institutions. By using the example of trade associations in the Netherlands and Germany, the paper shows that, despite the internationalisation of public affairs in Europe, the national political level remains strategically important for the representation of business interests. The paper thus argues that changes in European business–government relations are institutionally embedded at both the European and the national level. The implication for future research is that much of the dynamics of economic and political internationalisation materialises within the domestic arrangements of interest politics. Copyright © 2004 Henry Stewart Publications     

Of change,training and public affairs in Europe

European public affairs practitioners need to be increasingly professional in their reactions to an EU undergoing transformational change. The paper offers a comprehensive summary of the subtleties of institutional change in Commission, Parliament and Council in 2004. In particular, the author argues that expansion from 15 member states to 25 has fundamentally changed the nature of the Union's politics and the skills required to influence it. This new EU requires more of practitioners than experience and amateur instinct: to achieve results and avoid restrictive regulation, the public affairs community must adopt effective training strategies, challenging competence targets and regular self‐assessment of its performance and ethics. Copyright © 2004 Henry Stewart Publications     

论当代公共产品的提供方式及其政府的责任

目前,随着对公共产品属性认识的深化,人们提出并论证了私人参与公共产品提供的必要与可能,从而作为重要的理论基础之一,推动了当代世界范围内的政府改革,构成了当代公共产品提供方式由不同的生产方式与提供方式组合构成的丰富内涵,同时提出了政府在这一过程中的基本责任。     

社会稳定问题中的群体性治安事件研究

当前的群体性治安事件,已经成为影响和制约社会稳定和经济发展的重要因素。在多数情况下,经济因素是群体性治安事件的导火线,但是,有时政治因素也起到了推波助澜的作用。群体性治安事件的形成和发展有着复杂的过程,先期处置科学合理,就能够尽快平息事态。     

试论公安决策情报工作

公安决策情报工作是直接服务于公安决策的一项基础性工作,具有目标明确、突出服务、突出应用的特点。它服务公安决策,具有耳目、预测、参谋、反馈、宣传等功能。做好公安决策情报工作,应坚持以马克思主义为指导、坚持实事求是、坚持理论与实践相结合、坚持深入实际、坚持科学真理等原则。     

行政公共信息公开的理论及其实践

人民主权的政治理念、公民知情权的满足和公共信息的自由流动是支撑行政公开的法理基础。内部协调一致的立法架构、先地方后中央的立法进路、非政府组织的大力推动和司法审查机制的有力保障是国外行政公开实践的宝贵经验。为了使我国政务公开改革尽快走上法治化的轨道,必须大力健全不同群体的利益表达机制、构建信息公开法律体系,并充分发挥法院的司法审查功能。     

论建立公安工作和社会治安监测预警机制

公安机关建立公安工作和社会治安监测预警机制,有利于提升公安工作和社会治安问题的信息化、规范化和制度化建设水平;能够经常性掌握公安工作的底数、进度和发展趋势;有利于及时掌握社会治安动向;有利于增强公安机关履行职责的能力。要建立健全公安工作和社会治安监测预警机制,必须要建立健全信息监测系统、评估研判系统、预警控制实施系统和相关的保障支撑系统。     

美国公益诉讼制度及其启示

公益诉讼是一种新型的诉讼模式。作为公益诉讼的创始国,美国已形成健全的公益诉讼制度。我国引进公益诉讼制度时应借鉴和参考美国公益诉讼制度。     

Who Toes the Party Line? Cues, Values, and Individual Differences

This article explores individual differences in citizens’ reliance on cues and values in political thinking. It uses experimental evidence to identify which citizens are likely to engage in heuristic processing and which citizens are likely to engage in systematic processing in developing opinions about a novel issue. The evidence suggests that political awareness crisply distinguishes between heuristic and systematic processors. The less politically aware rely on party cues and not on an issue-relevant value. As political awareness increases, reliance on party cues drops and reliance on an issue-relevant value rises. Need for cognition fails to yield clear results. The results suggest two routes to opinion formation: heuristic processing and systematic processing. Political awareness, not need for cognition, predicts which route citizens will take.     

Livelihood strategies and performance of Ghana's health and education sectors: exploring the connections

The public sector in Africa is riddled with widespread ineffectiveness. Although some countries have implemented various reform programmes with the support of international development agencies, the results so far have been disappointing. One reason for the failure is that the policies have focussed more on achieving macroeconomic stability than making the organisations effective. This article explores a fundamental problem of the policies—the need to focus on the human component of organisational performance. Using education and health organisations in Ghana as examples, the article advances a hypothesis that the livelihood strategies of public sector employees and the performance of their organisations are interconnected. Specifically, it is argued that as public sector employees have become more dependent on multiple sources of income, they have developed multiple social identities, which influence the culture of their organisations. The organisational culture may have encouraged employee effectiveness in some cases, but for most organisations, it has resulted in practices that perpetuate inefficiency and poor performance. To be successful, public sector reform policies must therefore involve deliberate efforts to change organisational cultures. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.