I don't Agree with Nick: Retrodicting the Conservative–Liberal Democrat Coalition

Insider and journalistic accounts of the formation in May 2010 of the Conservative‐Liberal Democrat coalition actually, although not explicitly, rely on types of explanation familiar to those who study politics. They tell us that structure (or at least the economy) was important. So too, they suggest, were institutions (timing and the rules of the game). They also stress the importance of contingency (‘events, dear boy, events’) and agency (who did and said what to whom). While none of these things were unimportant, they only served to make certain an outcome that anyone with a passing acquaintance with the theory and the practice of coalition formation would have predicted—namely a ‘minimum winning coalition’. The only thing that could have made that outcome uncertain was a fundamental ideological difference between the two parties involved; however, it quickly became apparent—to the surprise of those of us who failed to appreciate how much the Liberal Democrats had changed—that no such difference existed. Indeed, it is possible to argue that the coalition formed was not merely minimum winning but ‘minimum connected winning’. As such, its formation was not so much breathtakingly bold and exciting as pretty much inevitable. In the end, the maths and the physics mattered more than the chemistry. Fortunately for the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats seriously underplayed their hand in the negotiations, with possibly disastrous consequences for them in the long term.     

Scrutiny in English Local Government and the Role of Councillors

Overview and Scrutiny Committees were introduced in England and Wales in the Local Government Act 2000 that ended the role the full council and its committees as the locus of decision‐making for most local authorities. Overview and scrutiny committees composed of councillors not on small decision‐making executives were tasked with holding these to account. The performance of scrutiny committees is variable. Generally they work best where they concentrate on reviews of policy and practice, with recommendations following from well‐researched reports. The paper reviews the difficulties which arise when scrutiny committees endeavour to hold powerful executives to account, and suggests that to strengthen this new legislation is required, in particular to institutionalise scrutiny committees as agencies of the full council, the representative body for the area, comparable to the way in which the select committees at Westminster are the agencies of the Parliament.     

THE INFLUENCE OF E‐GOVERNMENT ON ADMINISTRATIVE DISCRETION: THE CASE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS IN EGYPT

One important but often understudied area of research in public administration is the effect of e‐government on administrative discretion. This article examines e‐government factors that influence administrative discretion through a survey of local governments. The focus of this study is on Egyptian local governments, which are using e‐government to modernise public service delivery. Through a survey of administrative officials in these governments, this study found evidence that e‐government factors of collaboration and organisational change influenced administrative discretion. Other common factors noted in the literature such as size of the local government and demand by citizens for e‐government did not register an effect on administrative discretion. The results of this study imply that local governments should do more to enhance e‐government to reduce administrative discretion, especially in the area of increasing collaboration. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

地方工科院校毕业设计“创新模式和创新能力”的探索与实践

毕业设计对工科院校学生创新能力的培养起着举足轻重的作用,阐述了现有毕业设计的局限性与不足之处,针对如何培养学生的创新能力进行了探讨,分析了在毕业设计类型划分、保障制度以及实施步骤等环节中的创新能力培养的方法,通过开展多种模式的毕业设计以更好地培养学生的创新能力,最后通过建立完整的毕业设计操作规范和切实可行的实施步骤,以达到改革现有毕业设计的目的。     

新时期大学生科技创新精神和创新能力的培养

21世纪国际竞争日益激化,其本质就是创新型人才的竞争。创新教育是创新型人才培养的前提,而高等教育在创新型人才的培养中起着至关重要的作用,必须要从创意性的课堂教学、结合创业教育开展创新教育、依托大学科技园进行大学生科技创新素质的培养等途径,充分发挥高校对大学生科技创新精神和创新能力的培养作用。     

图书馆管理工作与创新服务

图书馆是进行思想道德教育,爱国主义传统教育的重要阵地。作为知识的收藏者、储存者、承载者、中转者和传播者,在当今知识就是力量的社会中起着举足轻重的作用。随着图书馆如雨后春笋般出现,图书馆的管理和服务事务变得越来越繁杂,科技日新月异,社会跨步向前,传统的图书馆管理和服务模式已经不能适应社会发展的需求,即满足不了现在人们对图书馆的需要;为了不断满足人们对图书馆的新要求,同时也是作为为思想教育和科研工作提供服务的信息机构,这就要充分利用现有的技术信息、图书、报刊资料等这一既有的优势,开展形式多样的管理和服务模式。在此,结合平时工作,对图书管理工作与创新服务谈几点体会。     

试论新形势下高校反腐倡廉理论研究工作

加强高校反腐倡廉理论研究,是建立健全惩治和预防腐败体系的重要部分,也是强化高校服务地方职能的重要途径。面对反腐倡廉理论研究的新形势、新问题,从反腐倡廉理论研究的重要意义入手,对反腐倡廉理论研究工作创新平台的作用发挥和机制保障问题进行探讨。     

浅议民间组织对政府管理的影响

随着我国经济体制转轨、社会转型、民主化进程的加快,作为市民社会核心力量的民间组织也呈现出较快较大的发展趋势,对政府管理产生相应的影响,促使其向着良性的、有利于政治民主化的方向发展。     

浅谈党的创新理论：建连育人

中国共产党是以马克思主义为指导的政党。我们党坚持马克思主义与本国国情相结合、与时代发展同进步、与人民群众共命运,形成了党的创新理论。在新时期,党的创新理论就是包括邓小平理论、“三个代表”重要思想以及科学发展观等重大战略思想在内的中国特色社会主义理论体系。这个理论体系,坚持和发展了马克思列宁主义、毛泽东思想,凝结了几代中国共产党人带领人民不懈探索实践的智慧和心血,是马克思主义中国化最新成果,是党最可宝贵的政治和精神财富。     

行政处罚信息公开与隐私权保护

行政执法信息是否公开在目前的《政府信息公开条例》中没有明确的答案,学术界和实务界也众说纷纭",隐私"一词由于在我国公法领域不包含个人身份基本信息,故个人身份基本信息不属于不予公开的范畴,但是由于其特殊性,应该区分情况进行公开。首先,应对行政处罚信息作区分处理,违法行为信息应该主动公开,个人身份信息应该由利害关系人依申请公开,媒体在特殊情况下可以申请公开行政处罚相对人的身份信息,一般情况下,应有所限制。