公共政策过程中的公民参与

公民参与公共政策是实现公民政治权利的过程,公民参与在政策的制定、实施、评估、监督和控制各环节中都可实现。有关公民参与公共政策在质量、成本、秩序、条件等方面存在问题的看法是片面的。     

借鉴国外经验完善我国西部大开发的财税政策

西方发达国家在开发落后地区,实现区域经济协调发展的过程中,不但重视运用市场这只“看不见的手”进行调节,而且特别注意采取特殊的有利于缩小地区差距的区域发展财税政策,依靠市场和政府干预的办法加速对边远落后地区的开发,消除区域发展差异。作为借鉴,我国财税政策要适当调整,从而更好地贯彻西部大开发战略。     

反哺农业:代表最广大人民根本利益的重要政策选择

代表农民的利益 ,是代表最广大人民根本利益题中应有之意 ,也是代表广大人民根本利益的决定因素。我国长期以来实行的工业倾斜政策牺牲了农业的发展 ,随着工业的不断发展 ,应停止对农业的剥夺 ,进而实施向农业倾斜的反哺农业政策以促进农业发展。“反哺”要遵循适度、“造血”、效率、循序渐进和“绿箱”的原则。     

面对经济新形势的理性思考

“十五”第一年开局良好 ,扩大内需的战略方针仍需坚持。但扩张型财政政策和货币政策已经出现边际效应递减的势头和政策长期化的危险倾向 ,应当适时把政策的重点转向化解经济风险。     

公共政策中的集团决策模型及在我国的适应性

如何制定出科学有效的、反映各方面利益并为社会所普遍认同的公共政策,是所有现代政府所面临的基本问题以及获得政治合法性的关键所在。通过描述社会政治现象,分析政府行为,探讨集团决策模型的起源、基本内容、主要缺陷及其在我国现实政治中的发展等问题,建立起公共政策决策中的集团决策模型的基本理念和分析框架,可为我国公共政策决策的科学化和民主化提供有益的思路。     

建立农村居民最低生活保障制度及其政策选择

随着社会主义市场经济的发展,必须改革和完善中国农村传统的社会救济制度,建立农村居民最低生活保障制度,这是保障农村社会稳定的"最后一道安全网",是中国农村社会保障体系的基础工程.在建立这项制度时,必须从实际出发,坚持城乡有别,具备自己的特色.     

Federalism, Political Structure, and Public Policy in the United States and Canada

Two of the three large countries on the North American continent—the United States and Canada—share a number of similarities that often make it difficult for the untrained observer to differentiate between the two nations. On the surface, the two are structured similarly as federal systems that, by definition, exhibit shared power between the national government and provincial or state political entities.Although there are other important social and economic characteristics of the two countries that help explain differences in policy processes and outcomes, it is the contention of this article that one gets the clearest sense of what Elazar has called thinking federal by utilizing an analytical approach that joins questions related to federalism with some conceptual frameworks of the public policy field. Two frameworks undergird the argument in this article—the Lowi typology of different types of policies and Deil Wright's typology of different models that describe the American inter-governmental system.In both countries, policies must be sensitive to the greater interdependencies between units of government as well as to linkages between policy areas. The mechanisms or instrumentalities for dealing with policy issues are intrinsically complex. It is also clear that the intergovernmental networks that exist in both the U.S. and Canada are composed of an array of actors. The differing political structures of the systems do impact the types of intergovernmental policies that have emerged in the two countries. The executive dominance so imbedded in Canadian governments has contributed to their ability to adopt and implement certain controversial redistributive policies, such as a national health insurance program. By contrast, the fragmentation of the U.S. system makes redistributive policies more difficult.     

Between Domestic Learning and External Coercion: Budgeting and Fiscal Management Reform in Greece

ABSTRACT

The article examines the interplay between external pressure and domestic learning through a case-study of Greek budgetary and fiscal management reform. Pre-crisis, budgetary management inadequacies were not efficiently addressed, mainly due to lack of awareness of problems, a low uncertainty environment and a strong political propensity to maintain discretionary use of financial resources. In contrast, crisis-era bailout conditionality represented a drastic change in the environment, increasing uncertainty and encouraging domestic openness to reform. The fiscal governance framework was significantly transformed, to a point of paradigm change. While there is no doubt regarding the impact of external pressure, the analysis highlights certain aspects that point to a domestic learning process, though variable in different parts of the political-administrative system.     

Islam and economics in the political sphere: a critical evaluation of the AKP era in Turkey

ABSTRACT

Since Weber’s articulate conceptualisation of the nexus between religion and economics, these phenomena have been examined through various academic viewpoints. While some take religion as a determining factor of economic performance, others argue that it is the economy that influences religiosity. This paper focuses on the manifestation of religion and economics in the political sphere regarding the case of Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP). After discussing the literature on the relations between religion and economics, it scrutinises the AKP period, considering three specific pillars: (a) the early years of the AKP in which Western economic policies were implemented as a continuation of the Kemal Dervi? period; (b) between 2008 and 2015, when the idea ‘we can do as well’ maintained the centre stage; and (c) 2015 and onwards, when the Islamist influence on economic policy became highly apparent, particularly regarding interest rates. This study argues that the AKP changed politically in terms of Islamic influence upon the economic sphere, however this remains at the discursive level for the time being.     

Caring for the orphan in the Philippines:A Policy-Capacity review

Using synthesis and an integrative approach, the article analyzes laws, policies, and institutions that protect the rights and promote the welfare of orphaned children in the Philippines. The article undertakes an exploratory review of the potential and contemporary impacts of colonialism, imperialism, feudalism, and capitalism on child and youth welfare and describes the conditions and difficulties Filipino children face in the current policy environment. To address these conditions and difficulties, the article offers a synthesis of potential and ongoing policy-capacity solutions in orphan and youth care, such as implementing a strong social supporting structure to grandparents as first caregivers, strengthening a mixed welfare system on orphan care, and legislating a national orphan policy.