How Public Officials Gain Policy Influence—Lessons from Local Government in Sweden

That public officials influence public policy is generally agreed upon, but the issue of how individual officials gain this influence is less developed in the literature. Here, the stories and experiences of 10 officials, active in local environmental governing in Sweden, are used to identify, describe, and discuss key strategies for gaining policy influence. The result shows the importance of accessing key politicians; avoiding isolation within the administration; developing long-term strategies; and being skilled in communication, networking, and generating external resources. The way these officials act and think challenges some well-established theoretical notions and adds empirical insights to the democratic dilemma of bureaucratic power.     

Earth Day and Its Precursors: Continuity and Change in the Evolution of Midtwentieth‐Century U.S. Environmental Policy

Earth Day 1970's legacy overshadows two earlier events resulting in popular misconceptions about U.S. environmental politics: that environmental policy began with Earth Day and that Congress and the president were not concerned with the environment until public opinion and interest groups pressured them. These misconceptions increase public opinion ambivalence and frustrate environmental leaders. This paper describes Earth Day 1970, the congressionally established Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission established in 1958, and President Kennedy's Natural Resources Tour of September 1963, arguing the latter two prepared for the convergence of multiple streams of policy change that resulted in the first Earth Day.     

冷战后美欧的对华政策

冷战后美国和欧盟的对华政策明显地拉开了距离 ,他们的对华政策的调整变化是由各自所处的国际环境、经济利益和战略利益所决定的 ,它对美中关系、欧中关系的发展产生了重要的影响。     

气候变化与美国国家安全:美国官方的认知及其影响

气候变化的影响超越它本身所带来的直接环境后果,对美国国家安全提出新挑战。美国官方对这一问题的认知从形成到发展,大体经历了酝酿、萌芽和完善阶段。促成美国对该问题的战略认知与政策实践的原因复杂,涉及国际社会的政治议程、美国国内的科学议程以及国会的影响等因素。当前,美国的安全体系不仅正视气候变化对美国国家安全产生的威胁,而且已经开始制定战略性方针不断将气候变化因素纳入该体系的战略规划和日常实践。在国际层面,美国已经开始谋求与其他国家就气候变化影响国家安全与国际安全的问题达成共识甚至采取行动。本质上,这是美国在全球气候谈判博弈中增加筹码的一个重要抓手,希望以此来影响和主导全球减缓气候变化行动。预计未来美国应对气候变化安全后果的政策走势趋强,将对美国气候政策、对外关系乃至国际格局产生重要影响,同时将给中国特别是中国与发展中国家的合作关系带来挑战。     

气候变化背景下外国投资者与政府争端的解决——以我国双边投资协定为例

我国签订的双边投资协定中一般都规定了投资者与东道国政府间投资争端的解决方式,尤其是晚近我国所签订的双边投资协定多数允许投资者将争端提交国际仲裁。但是,在目前全球应对气候变化背景下,作为温室气体排放大国,我国有义务控制和减少温室气体的排放,采取相应的环境规制措施,这些环境规制措施可能会损害或影响到外国投资者在我国的利益。根据双边投资协定,外国投资者可能会将这些争端提交国际仲裁,我国有可能被国际仲裁庭裁定为此对外国投资者承担相应的赔偿责任。面对新形势,我国必须重新审视双边投资协定中投资者与东道国投资争端解决方式的相关规定。     

People must change before institutions can: a model addressing the challenge from administering to managing the maltese public service

The Maltese public service is currently undergoing major organisational changes to enhance its efficiency and effectiveness in its service delivery. The great majority of these changes have focussed on re‐organising the macro‐level, namely strategy, processes and structures. This is not an easy feat as local external power forces leave their impact in the process. It is argued, however, that one way to circumvent these resisting forces is to empower the real agents of change: the administrators of the public service. For some reason, the micro‐level has been neglected and has been generally absent from the agenda of the major change programme with a few exceptions. This article throws light on this level by proposing an intrapersonal, psychological and pedagogical model for change that may complement and accompany the larger macro changes. The authors suggest that the model can be developed in a practical way to motivate change from within the person and not just push change around the person. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

苏联剧变是信仰危机还是体制危机——兼与杨金华商榷

苏联剧变是20世纪影响世界的大事,其根本原因在于苏共的社会主义实践出了问题。经过70多年的探索,苏共并没有找到适合苏联特点的社会主义建设之路,因此,戈尔巴乔夫的改革发展成改向,在抛弃斯大林模式的同时,也放弃了社会主义道路。这一教训值得共产党人深刻总结,但把苏联剧变的主要原因归为信仰虚无主义危机,是本末倒置。苏联剧变不是信仰虚无主义的问题,是放弃对苏联模式的社会主义的信仰,转而信仰其他选择的问题。发生这一切的根本原因不在于公开性、民主化,而在于原有的信仰空洞无物,未给民众带来实惠。     

社会性别和气候变化

气候变化已经成为一个重要的可持续发展问题和全球问题。已有的研究和事实显示：气候变化使本已存在的性别不平等进一步加剧。在应对气候变化过程中纳入社会性别视角的重要性已得到国际社会的认可和重视．一系列国际公约、宣言、纲领等国际法律和文件中已将社会性别主流化纳入其中。将性别平等纳入应对气候变化政策和行动的重点关切领域包括：适应行动、缓解行动战略、技术发展战略、气候变化筹款机制。当今在全球，社会性别主流化在气候变化和减少灾害风险方面取得了一定进展，这种国际趋势、价值观和良好做法，对于我国应对气候变化、推进性别平等和履行国际责任具有积极的意义。     

权威、权益、权衡：当代中国公民的政策参与

从长远来看,社会和经济的发展会带来公民政策参与的扩大。而从理论与现实考量,不适度的政策参与带来失序和无效,只有适度的公民参与才有利于政策过程的顺利实施。而这种适度的把握来自于公民政策参与,政府权威与公民权益的权衡,权衡的真正本意在于追求公民政策参与的有序性和有效性。     

租:公共政策的意蕴

本文从布坎南关于"租"的论述出发,运用新制度主义方法重新审视"租"的公共政策意蕴,认为公共政策是一种正式制度安排,本质上是关于规定个体和集体选择集的制度安排结构;在制度变迁中,由于不同体制、权利和组织设置而获得的额外收益就是"租",这是公共政策存在的理由;寻租是有成本的,表现为政治交易费用,政府创租和利益集团寻租是不同的两种政治交易过程,表现为公共政策议程;有效率的公共政策选择依赖于制度结构,是制度结构赋予成本和收益以意义。