Federal Dynamics of Changing Governance Arrangements in Education: A Comparative Perspective on Australia,Canada and Germany

Abstract

Education policy is a highly interesting field from the point of view of governance, given the substantial changes that have been made throughout the world to the governance of such policy over the last 30 years or so. Western governments in particular have made significant changes in the governance arrangements of their education policy in order to achieve two fundamental goals: increased efficiency and greater accountability. In this process, the role of governments has changed but not diminished. This paper explores such developments by comparing the trajectories of governance reforms in three federal countries (Australia, Canada and Germany). What emerges is that the role of governments is key to all governance mixes modelled by the reform processes in the three analysed countries, and that there is greater “national” coordination than before, but also significant differences in the strategies adopted and in the content of reform, due to the differing nature of such countries’ federal dynamics.     

Covenant of Mayors: Reasons for Being an Environmentally and Energy Friendly Municipality

The Covenant of Mayors (CM) is the mainstream European movement involving local authorities who voluntarily commit to increase energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy sources within their territories with the aim of reducing CO₂ emissions and meet the European Union objectives by 2020. One country that has a greater number of signatories of this agreement is Spain. This article analyzes which factors influence the decision of Spanish local authorities to join the ever‐growing movement. An empirical model is formulated to describe the behavior of Spanish local governments, this being a binary choice model which is a function of various political, economic, and technical factors. Among the prominent factors that influence this decision are population, availability of renewable energy, fiscal and environmental stress, citizens’ political preference, the contagion effect of neighboring municipalities, the existence of covenant coordinators, and finally, economic motivations.     

建设法治政府的体制性思考

改革行政体制是加强依法行政、建设法治政府的必经之路。我国政府职能的转变应将着力点放在减少行政许可和强化经济调节、市场监管、公共管理、社会服务等四项职能上。机构改革必须以政府职能转变为基础,与政府职能转变同步进行。必须从行政执法、司法两个方面对行政行为体制进行全方位的改革。加强司法监督是建设法治政府的关键问题。     

关于社会主义的世界历史前景的几个重大问题

社会主义代替资本主义是历史发展的必然趋势.战后资本主义的新变化没有改变这一趋势,只是加速了这一趋势;苏联的解体、东欧的剧变不可能否定这一趋势,它只是表明了一种社会主义模式的失败和社会主义必然胜利的曲折性;信息社会的来临也决不意味着资本主义的永世长存,相反,它为社会主义战胜资本主义准备了更为坚实的技术基础,不仅如此,信息社会走向更高级的智能社会的发展趋势,印证着共产主义必然实现的真理性.     

Relational Justice in Organizations: The Group-Value Model and Support for Change

This paper examines the psychological dynamics of the Group-Value Model for a behavioral orientation which has seldom been considered in the social justice literature: acceptance and support for change. A field study was conducted, with 176 participants members of an organization which was undergoing a change process. Participants were asked (a) to think of a specific relevant conflict situation with their supervisor; (b) to evaluate supervisor's behavior in that situation, with respect to relational and distributive justice; (c) to state the justice aspects most valued in conflict situations with their supervisor. A test of the model was conducted through a mediation analysis. According to the Group-Value Model (GVM), respect experienced within the group and pride in the group were mediating variables between justice judgements and orientation toward acceptance and support for change in the organization. Interactional and procedural aspects (relational judgements) were the only ones to predict pride, respect, and behavioral orientation, and were also the ones most valued in general conflict situations with the supervisor. The model was also tested at three different levels of analysis: organization as a whole, department, and work group. This confirmed pride and respect within the group as mediating variables between relational justice judgements and orientation toward acceptance and support for change at the department and workgroup levels.     

论我国执行当事人的变更与追加制度的完善

民事执行程序是为保障主体的民事权利而设的,在整个诉讼程序中具有重要的作用。我国现行法律对执行当事人的规定存在诸多不足。为保障胜诉者的权利,使生效判决不致成为一纸空文,在当前“执行难”问题一直困扰法院的情况下,完善我国执行当事人变更和追加制度显得更加具有意义。     

入世与政府职能的转变

政府职能决定着政府管理的基本方向。过去,由于特殊的产权结构、计划经济管理方式的烙印及法律体系不健全等原因,导致政府职能转变缓慢。入世后,经济全球化和WTO的规则将使政府职能面临严峻的挑战。其影响主要体现在中央与地方、政府与企业、政府与社会、规则与权力、服务与指挥、法律与指示等这些关系的动态变化中。     

新制度学派对后共产主义国家制度变迁的探索

与历史制度主义、社会学制度主义和理性选择等学派有关制度变迁的解释不同,以奥菲、约翰逊等人为代表的部分新制度主义者在详细阐述后共产主义国家特殊政治、经济和社会条件的基础上,提出了制度变迁的路径偶然理论。这一理论认为,在苏东剧变后产生的后共产主义国家,制度变迁的路径选择完全是偶然的。这种偶然性表现在这些国家新掌权者偶然的政策选择上,偶然的政策选择在制度遗产、国家能力和政策顺序等因素的干预作用下,制度变迁以消极型制度设计或积极型制度设计的方式发生。路径偶然理论在一定程度上解释了后共产主义国家制度变迁的方式,也反映了制度变迁研究方法的创新,但同时也存在明显的缺陷。     

日本课征金制度的变革及对我国立法的启示——兼评《中华人民共和国反垄断法草案》相关规定

2005年日本禁止垄断法修改的主要内容之一是课征金制度,扩大了缴纳“课征金”的客体范围,在“课征金”的计算方法、征缴程序方面加入了主观因素,同时引入课征金减免制度,扩大了公正交易委员会裁量权,加强了其在执行禁止垄断法方面的职能。借鉴此立法经验,我国应完善反垄断法执行措施方面的立法。     

刑法的机能和我国刑法的任务

刑法的机能是关系到刑法理论体系以及刑法解释的重要问题。国外有关刑法机能的见解,是他们所主张的法律理念的结果。我国由于法律价值观和刑法规定内容和国外不同,因此,我国刑法的机能也与国外的情况不同。在我国,刑法的首要机能是维持社会秩序,其次是保障人权。