学杂费免除后我国基础教育的困境与解决思路——以服务行政为视角

基础教育是当之无愧的公共产品，政府具有不可推卸的责任。随着农村全面实行两免一补，城市中小学也实行全免学杂费，这都体现出政府政策的民生取向。然而两免一补可能导致一些意想不到的后果，即教育面临着新的困境，如办学经费越发短缺、教育质量明显下降、甚至好多学校停办、出现新的教育不公平等问题。这需要政府以建设服务型政府为主导，加强对基础教育的转移支付等投入，建立健全各项监督约束机制，以确保国家政策得到有效实施，政策目标得以顺利实现。     

推进我国行政收费的法治化建设

近年来,行政收费问题一直受到社会的广泛关注。通过政府系统内部专项清理、整顿,我国在行政收费规范化方面确实取得了一些进展,但运用政策性文件约束行政收费效果有限,如何将行政收费纳入法治化轨道越来越受到重视。根据我国行政收费领域存在的实际问题及法治化的要求,首先必须贯彻法治行政原则,规范政府的行政收费行为;并通过制定行政收费法,严格限定行政收费的项目与标准;以及进一步完善行政收费监督体系,加强对行政收费的监管。     

Spiralling or Stabilising? The Compensation Culture and Our Propensity to Claim Damages for Personal Injury

The propensity of accident victims in England and Wales to claim compensation through the tort system has generally increased since the 1970s. Contrary to popular belief, however, it has remained relatively stable since 2000, if not since 1997/1998. The upward trend in claims abated, therefore, when no-win no-fee advertising achieved prominence. Whether this long-term increase in our propensity to claim supports the notion that a compensation culture has developed is largely a matter of interpretation. Our understanding of recent trends in our propensity to claim has clearly, however, been distorted through the media. This distorted legal consciousness may not only have affected our views of the tort system but may also have influenced our readiness to use it and thereby contributed to the stabilisation of accident claims in recent years.     

遏制超经济强制惯性增进农民福利

封建制度下存在地主对农民的超经济强制,封建制度消灭后仍存在超经济强制惯性。中国政府通过农业集体化和农村改革不断遏制超经济强制,但超经济强制惯性又不断变换形式影响农民福利,要采取费改税、村民自治等措施加以治理。     

完善行政收费活动的几点思考

行政收费是指国家行政机关凭借国家的行政权力,根据国家和社会公共利益的需要,依法强制被管理的行政相对人无偿缴纳一定费用的具体行政行为。行政收费在实际操作中存在着较多的问题。完善行政收费活动的措施:进一步推行费改税的进程;加强行政收费的立法工作;加大监督的力度,逐步完善对行政收费的监督、制约机制。     

Preview of the IPPR Commission on the Future of Higher Education

Review of a Critical Path Securing the Future of Higher Education in England: the final report of the IPPR Commission on the future of Higher Education. The focus of the review is first on the funding of Higher Education and the options set out by the IPPR which include lower tuition fees, a graduate tax, means tested family contributions and changes to the loan repayment scheme; and second on better ways of widening participation and expanding opportunities for under‐represented groups of students.     

Economic voting in Hungary, 1998–2008

This study investigates retrospective voting and issue voting, and their change over time in a transitioning country. Sociotropic, as well as egocentric economic evaluations, and policy issues of parties are expected to play an increasing role in party preferences of citizens over time. Data consist of 41 Hungarian cross-sectional surveys, between 1998 and 2008. Results of conditional logistic regression models reveal that voters reward incumbent parties when they see improvements in their personal or the national economic situation, and punish them if the economy deteriorates. Distance from a given party on the left–right scale also decreases the chance of voting for that party. Voting behavior is changing during transition. The evaluations of the national economy and personal situation have an increasing impact on party preferences over time. We found educational heterogeneity in the extent of economic voting.     

Low fertility and concurrent birth control policy in China

China’s one-child policy, introduced in the late 1970s, has been in effect for over three decades. This article reviews China’s low fertility rate and the implementation of this stringent birth control policy in the context of low fertility. First, China’s fertility intention, behavior, and low fertility level trend are presented. Then, the official response to the low fertility level and the consequent misguided policy-making are investigated. Next, various obstacles to the abolishment of the strict birth control policy are discussed, including national leaders’ authority, related family planning regulations and laws, the inertia of this basic state policy under the auspices of the common good, the displacement of the family planning systems, and the necessity for social maintenance fees to keep grassroots governments in operation. After discussing the recent reform of this birth control policy in 2013 and the subsequent results, the incentives for a universal two-child policy are elucidated. These include the official acknowledgment of low fertility, the effect of birth control policy on fertility decline, the reactions of the general public, the attitudes of grassroots family planning cadres, the appeal from scholars, international experiences, the merging of population and family planning commissions, and national leaders’ attitudes. The paper concludes with an analysis of the cost of this birth control policy over the past decades.     

Best practices for structuring a family court parenting plan evaluation under the 2022 AFCC Guidelines

Evaluation appointment orders provide enforceable scaffolding for conduct of family court parenting plan evaluations, and use of the evaluator's reports, feedback, file, and testimony. Unlike a contract, a stipulated or adjudicated appointment order is directly enforceable by the family court. It unambiguously positions the evaluator as the family court's appointee – answerable directly to the court and, in some jurisdictions, protected by quasi-judicial immunity from damages claims. A well-crafted appointment order governs the roles and expectations of the court, the evaluator, the parties, the lawyers, and the collateral witnesses. An appointment order mandates the legal duties, rights, powers, and responsibilities of the professionals, the parties, and the collateral witnesses. At minimum, an appointment order articulates the legal basis for the appointment, the purpose and scope of the evaluation, compensation of evaluator, and the duty of the parties to participate in the process. A written evaluation protocol or procedures statement discloses in advance the methods of investigation and assessment that the evaluator intends to use. Together, the appointment order and written protocol help the evaluator, lawyers, parents, and judge manage the complexity of the evaluation process.     

Conditional impact of facebook as an information source on political opinions: the case of political reform in Hong Kong

This study is interested in the impact of Facebook as a source for political information on public opinion during political controversies. In a society where the mainstream media are under heavy influence by the dominant power and yet Internet communication is largely open and free, social media may become particularly important for the transmission of critical information and viewpoints. The social media information environment may exhibit an overall ‘anti-establishment bias.’ However, the impact of social media should vary across individuals depending on the extent and character of user selectivity. Analysis of data collected during the political reform debate in Hong Kong (N?=?3,246) show that reliance on Facebook as an information source relates negatively to support for the government’s reform proposal. But the relationship is strongest for people without a strong political orientation and people who do not name any newspapers as their main information source. General theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.