Political accountability,fiscal conditions and local government performance—cross‐sectional evidence from Indonesia

Why are some local governments more successful than others in managing resources and delivering services? And even more vitally, how can malfunctioning governments be reformed so that they perform their responsibilities more effectively? This article contributes to our understanding of theses overarching questions by exploring the interactions between political institutions and public sector performance in the context of decentralisation and local governance. It shows–both theoretically and empirically–that performance outcomes are determined by the extent to which people can hold their governments accountable through political institutions. The basic hypothesis underlying this research is that political accountability, either by encouraging sanctions upon non‐compliant public agents or simply by reducing the informational gap regarding government activities, will create forceful incentives for elected officials and civil servants to reduce opportunistic behaviour and improve performance. Using a cross‐sectional regression the hypothesis is empirically tested against evidence from newly empowered local governments in Indonesia. The empirical findings broadly support our hypotheses. Improved public services on the ground, both in terms of quantity and quality, require informed and well functioning decision‐making processes that allocate resources to priority areas that meet the demand of the broader community. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

新世纪的公安教育向何处去——谈公安教育模式及改革方向

世界上实行市场经济的国家警察教育都是职业教育而非学历教育,新世纪我国公安教育的模式必须改革:１．公安教育应是一种行业性的职业教育,而应淡化学历教育;２．选拔符合入警条件的大学毕业生到公安院校接受培训,尔后充实公安队伍;３．采用部队培养高学历人才的方法;４．将一些公安院校合并挂靠到普通高校;５．专业教师应到公安机关实习、挂职,解决教师的公安业务及技术技能问题。     

西安非公有制经济参与西部大发展的思路

西部大开发、西安大发展应有新的思路。大力发展非公有制经济是推动西部大开发、西安大发展的一支非常重要的力量,它对国有经济的战略性调整有着十分重要的作用。放手并支持非公有制经济参与国有企业的改革,为其创造宽松的发展环境,无疑会极大地促进西安经济的良性发展。     

Challenging U.S. Policymakers' Image of an Isolationist Public

A persisting question in international studies is whether academic research can have an impact on the making of foreign policy. Much research has shown that policy decisions can be greatly influenced by misperceptions, just as much as by objective factors. The article describes an effort by academic researchers to challenge U.S. policymakers' image of an actor in the U.S. foreign policy process—the American public. The study's focus was a widely held assumption in the U.S. foreign policy community that the American public in the wake of the Cold War was entering a renewed phase of isolationism, similar to the interwar years. The study first interviewed policy practitioners on their perceptions of the public, then performed a comprehensive review of existing polling data, and finally conducted new polls with input from policymakers themselves. The net result of the elite interviews and the analysis of public attitudes revealed a significant gap in all areas, which is presented in synopsis. Interviews with policy practitioners reveal two key dynamics that could well contribute to policymakers' misreading the public: a failure to seek out information about the public and a tendency to assume that the vocal public is representative of the general public. Indications that the study did have some impact on the thinking of policy practitioners are discussed in the conclusion.     

紧紧围绕新世纪公安工作需要培养新型高素质预备警官

适应新世纪警务工作的需要 ,建设高素质公安队伍 ,关键在教育。针对青年的思想实际 ,抓住思想政治工作生命线 ,坚定不移地走政治建校道路 ,培养学生坚定的政治思想素质 ;贴近公安工作实践 ,紧紧瞄准实战需要 ,培养学生过硬的公安业务素质 ;强化警体技能和实战技能训练 ,锻造学生强健的体魄和过硬的自卫擒敌本领 ;加强科学文化素质教育 ,培养具有广博知识面、良好人文精神和博大人文胸怀的新型现代警官     

民事公诉制度质疑

近来不少学者主张在我国应尽快建立民事公诉制度,赋予检察机关在一定范围内的民事起诉权,而从保护社会公益、解决群众性纠纷、保护弱者和加强法律监督四个方面分析,民事公诉制度在理论上存在着误区和在实际运作上可能陷入困境.其不具有存在的合理性、合法性和必要性,解决相关问题应加大行政执法力度,加强检察监督,赋予检察机关民事诉讼参诉权.     

公安思想政治工作需要加强和改进的几个问题

加强和改进公安思想政治工作是新时期的必然要求,是建设强大的公安队伍和强有力的公安工作的客观需要。因此,要正确认识和处理好思想政治工作的长期性和紧迫性的关系;要反对形式主义,转变工作作风,在狠抓落实上下功夫;要增强时代感和针对性,使思想政治工作在加强的过程中改进,在继承的基础上创新;要坚持以人为本,以情感召,力戒以训代教,增强思想政治工作的感召力和凝聚力;要重视领导机关和领导干部的形象和导向作用,不要把群众当成“第一对象”;要重视行政强调和规章制约,不应轻视理论灌输,增强思想政治工作的理论思维;要把思想政治工作与解决实际问题结合起来,既要讲道理又要办实事;要围绕中心选准切入点,把思想政治工作结合、渗透到具体工作之中。     

政策性银行法律地位探析

本文探讨了政策性银行的法律地位问题。政策性银行是我国新出现的一种新型法人 ,具有独立的法人地位 ;我国民法对法人的分类并不能囊括政策性银行这类新出现的法人 ;当前强调公私法的区分和公法人私法人的划分 ,具有重大的理论意义和实践意义 ;我国政策性银行应是公法人 ,具有充分的根据     

论中国利益群体参与公共政策制定存在的问题

处于社会转型期的中国,如何处理利益群体参政问题关乎改革开放的历史进程和社会稳定。中国的渐进式改革路径在保持社会稳定方面发挥了重要的作用,但是这种渐进式改革更多地表现在经济领域,而政治领域的改革,特别是公民参政权的落实则略显迟滞和不够。由此引起的矛盾和问题使人们产生了诸多不满和怨恨,因此探讨中国利益群体在参与公共政策制定上存在的问题,对于进一步完善中国利益群体参政的路径、提高政府的执政能力和管理创新能力,其理论价值和现实意义不言而喻。     

社会资本：农村基层公共服务供给体制创新——以汕头市C村为例

随着税费改革的完成,农村追入後农业税收时代。大多数乡镇基层政府陷入“财空、责大、权小”的治理困境,其提供公共服务能力追一步弱化。因此,如何克服国家制度的有限性,发挥体制外精英提供公共服务的积极性,成了我们研究的课题。汕头市C村农村公共服务的成功做法一政府与社会力量借助社会资本合作互动,增加公共服务供给总量,对其他农村地区公共服务的提升具有借鉴意义。