Governance of Education in the United Kingdom: Convergence or Divergence?

Abstract

This article considers how structures and processes of governance in education have changed in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland over recent years, setting this discussion within the context of debates about the nature of governance and governing in public services more generally. It is argued, firstly, that governance needs to be considered as a comprehensive concept that encompasses both the role of the state and the range of other actors and processes through which educational provision is steered; and secondly, that governance is essentially about power: its distribution and its use. The article draws on these key ideas to explore the similarities and differences between the experiences of the four constituent jurisdictions of the United Kingdom over recent years. It considers whether the approaches in the jurisdictions are converging or diverging, the reasons underlying this, and prospects for the future. It is concluded that, while national histories and cultures have served to maintain very distinctive governance identities among the jurisdictions, international trends, and the ways in which governments respond to these, are putting these identities under considerable pressure.     

Donor leverage: towards more equitable access to essential medicines?

In early 2007, the Indonesian government decided to withhold its samples of the avian influenza (‘bird flu’) virus from WHO's collaborating centres, pending a new global mechanism for virus sharing which would provide better terms for developing countries. The 60^th World Health Assembly held in May 2007 subsequently resolved to establish an international stockpile of avian influenza vaccines, and to formulate mechanisms for equitable access to these vaccines. The article asks whether there are there analogous opportunities for study volunteers or donors of biological materials to exercise corresponding leverage to advance health equity.     

测量治理：国外的研究及其对中国的启示

对治理的测量是构建经验性治理理论的基础。采用文献分析方法,首先简要介绍了国外,特别是世界银行、联合国人居署等国际组织的学者创建的测定治理的原则及指标体系,并对其获取资料和数据的调查研究方法进行了介绍。在此基础上,就中国地方治理测量指标体系的构建提出了原则性的意见,并初步设计了基层地方政府层次的治理水平测量指标体系,这为今后进一步深入研究乡镇基层地方治理发展变化奠定了基础。认为,治理理论打破了以往"政治-行政"二分法的研究取向,为政治和行政的研究与实践提供了一个更为综合的理论视野。国外学者对治理理论的价值定位和实证角度的获取资料和数据的方法也值得国内学术界借鉴。同时主张,作为一个从西方学术界引进的概念和理论,中国学者在利用这一理论来解释和分析中国的相关社会现象时要意识到其理论和测定概念指标的适用性问题。     

论合同治理和关系治理的互补性与有效性

正式的合同治理与非正式的关系治理是互补性的。相关研究通常将关系治理和合同治理看作是可替代性的,因为信任能降低交易成本,也能够替代正式合同的刹手闸作用。研究表明:合同治理不仅不会阻止关系治理的发展或者成为关系性治理的替代者,相反,良好的、详尽的合同实际上会提升交易各方间长期的、合作性的信任关系;良好的合同缩小了与交易相关的风险范畴,并降低了其严重性,因而会鼓励和促进合作与信任关系的发展;良好的合同通过强化对有关交易的风险,如道德风险的惩罚,有助于长期交易关系的发展;关系治理也有助于合作者间发展出有关处理不确定性的柔性规则和程序,当不可预见的事件发生后,有助于合作伙伴间的相互调适,从而维持双方的交易关系,并因此提高交易效率。     

Contract Spirit and Kindness System: Constructing of New Government-society Relationship in Purchase of Services from Good Governance Perspective

As an innovative approach of social governance mechanism under the good governance perspective, purchase of services is currently the necessary requirement of transforming government functions and constructing the new government-society relationship, and it is also the important way of stimulating the vitality of social organization and meeting the public needs. Since China’s purchase of services system is still in its infancy, how to establish a cooperative relations of independent, equality, mutual trust between government and society to promote the achievement of expected effectiveness of purchase of services policy, and it has become currently the core issues of constructing new government-society relationship. This article points out that there exist government being community, the lag of legal system and lack of mutual trust and other multiple characteristics and practical problems in the construction of government-society relationship of purchase of services; and then based on the analysis for its roots and from the perspective of good governance theory, the paper creatively introduces contract spirit and kindness system and seeks the effective ways to construct a new government-society relationship of firmness and flexibility from the structural reform, legal system construction, mutual trust mechanism and other aspects, so that making purchase of services truly become an innovation of social governance mechanism.     

从公司治理结构谈盈余管理

盈余管理是企业经理人在既定制度下的一种理性选择行为。导致盈余管理的影响因素是多方面的,其中一个重要制度因素是公司治理结构。公司内外治理结构均对盈余管理行为产生影响,所以我们要从加快国有股减持、建立约束激励机制、建立经理人市场和独立董事制度几个方面入手,尽量减少盈余管理。     

A rural economic development plan to help the USA win its war on cocaine

Since the 1980s, the USA has fought cocaine in the Andes with carrots and sticks: interdiction and crop eradication wield the sticks, while Alternative Development (AD), which offers economic assistance to farmers who voluntarily abandon illicit cultivation, provides the carrots. Yet cocaine continues to permeate US streets, and rural Andean communities remain isolated from the legitimate economy. Many critics blame US belligerence for compounding the Andean drug war. The underlying problem with the existing strategy, however, might not be the aggressiveness of its military sticks, but the flimsiness of its development carrots. The inability of AD to persuade farmers to abandon coca cultivation may be causing US policy makers to over-apply military solutions – often inflaming rural communities and exacerbating regional instability in so doing. Few legal crops can match the earning power of coca. The article therefore suggests that the US carrot could be made more attractive by adopting a Venture Development model which helps rural farmers to process their legal produce into high-quality finished goods that command premium prices. Such a strategy could conceivably choke the cocaine engine by applying market-based forces to address market-based realities.     

Using technology to deliver social protection: exploring opportunities and risks

Providing cash transfers to vulnerable groups reduces vulnerability and chronic poverty; but delivering cash to remote, rural locations can be expensive and insecure. Alternative delivery systems using technology are thus being piloted. This article uses examples from southern Africa to highlight the opportunities and risks involved in using technology to deliver social protection, with particular focus on two schemes in Malawi. It concludes that there is great potential for the use of technology in delivering social protection, especially if employed at a national scale and taking advantage of the full spectrum of uses to ensure cost-efficiency.     

Hochschulföderalismus zwischen Kooperationszwang und Blockadegefahr: Deutschland und die Schweiz im Vergleich

In diesem Artikel werden jüngere Entwicklungen föderaler Koordinations‐ und Verflechtungsstrukturen in der Hochschulpolitik Deutschlands und der Schweiz untersucht. Seit rund zwanzig Jahren führen politische und funktionale Herausforderungen, beispielsweise die Anbindung nationaler Bildungspolitik an internationale Entwicklungen im Bildungsbereich, zu Anpassungszwängen hochschulpolitischer Governance‐Strukturen. Beide Länder waren aber für strukturelle Reformen relativ schlecht gerüstet: Deutschland litt unter der Schwerfälligkeit seiner föderalen Entscheidungsstrukturen, während die Schweiz gerade in der Hochschulpolitik große Mühe hatte, das Handeln zwischen Bund und Kantonen zu koordinieren. In beiden Länder wurden bis ins Jahr 2006 grundlegende Reformen der Governance‐Strukturen im Föderalismus durchgeführt. Der Artikel untersucht, inwiefern diese Reformen dazu beigetragen haben, die Schwächen in der föderalen Koordination beider Länder zu überwinden. Es wird aufgezeigt, dass sich Deutschland trotz der umfassenden Reformen nur wenig gewandelt hat, während die Schweiz institutionell deutlich verflochtener wird, aber institutionelle Mechanismen etabliert hat, die möglicherweise Entscheidungsblockaden verhindern helfen.     

党的十八大以来我国养老服务政策新进展

党的十八大以来我国养老服务政策密集出台、渐成体系。养老服务政策的进展主要表现在八个方面:理顺政府与市场关系,厘清养老服务供给责任;全面开放养老服务市场,增加养老服务供给;大力发展社区服务,弥补服务体系短板;强化创新驱动,支持新型养老模式发展;推动医养结合,破解养老服务发展困局;加大扶持力度,降低服务供给成本;加强市场监管,提升养老服务质量;开展长期护理保险制度试点,探索护理责任分担新模式。十八大以来养老服务政策变化有四大明显特点:在政策定位上,由单一发展老龄事业转变为老龄事业和产业协同发展;在政策目标上,由保重点人群转变为保基本服务;在政策重点上,由侧重扶持机构转变为促进居家社区机构相协调;在政策内容上,由就养老论养老转变为推动医养康养相结合。下一步养老服务政策取向:一是焦点转移,从顶层设计走向具体落实;二是动能转换,进一步强化创新驱动;三是关口前置,增强老年人自我养老能力;四是重心下沉,继续大力发展社区养老服务;五是重点突破,尽快总结试点经验出台统一的长期护理保险制度。