Measuring Progress: Community Indicators and the Quality of Life

Abstract

As communities and local governments increasingly have become concerned about quality‐of‐life issues, community indicators have become a widely used tool to measure the status of the quality of life and progress being made toward improving it. Indicators provide a vehicle for understanding and addressing community issues from a holistic and outcomes‐oriented perspective. They are useful, within the context of an overall community‐improvement process, both as a planning tool, based on a community's vision, and as an evaluation tool to measure progress on steps taken toward improvement. Their usefulness is maximized when they are both directly tied to public‐policy and budget decision making and when the community feels a sense of ownership of the indicators through direct citizen involvement with them. This article briefly describes four major approaches to community‐indicators work, and then in more detail, illustrates one of the approaches called “quality of life.” This approach is illustrated with experiences of the Jacksonville (Florida) Community Council Inc. (JCCI), a pioneer and leader in the community‐indicators movement.     

科学发展观视域下的领导绩效考核体系研究——兼论广东省市厅级党政领导者绩效考核办法

贯彻落实科学发展观,必须建立与之相适应的党政领导者绩效考核体系,明确价值取向,科学设计指标体系,引旱领导者行为走上科学发展轨道。《考核办法》创新发展了现行党政领导者考核体系。     

从“权利规范模式”走向“行为控制模式”的数据信托——数据主体权利保护机制构建的另一种思路

单纯通过立法赋予当事人权利并不能改变"强权即正确"的残酷现实。相比于传统赋权模式,信托机制以信义义务实现了数据控制人与数据主体之间权利义务的不均衡配置,通过凸显隐私保护、降低举证难度、提高数据泄露时公民获得救济的机率,保护了数字时代数据主体的脆弱性,进而发挥私法救济的功效,间接促成信托机制在数据保护与责任规则相互作用下的一次完美嬗变。     

劳动力视角下深度贫困的生成逻辑及治理路径

厘清贫困问题生成逻辑是实施有效贫困治理的前提条件。如今在全国脱贫工作取得巨大成就的同时,少数深度贫困地区却因多种常规扶贫措施均无法奏效而陷入久扶不能脱贫的困境。在对陕西省L县进行实证研究的基础上,发现劳动力因素是导致深度贫困地区致(返)贫最普遍原因之一。据此,按劳动力自我发展意识与可行性能力两大根本属性在不同维度的排列组合,将其区分为生存性劳动力、非自愿生存性劳动力、发展性劳动力与潜在发展性劳动力四种基本类型,进而在"发展意识—可行性能力"这一分析框架下深刻剖析贫困问题生成逻辑。研究发现,劳动力因素对于家庭能否脱离贫困至关重要,生存性劳动力对于脱贫作用有限,脱离贫困主要依靠发展性劳动力,缺乏发展性劳动力则容易致(返)贫。基于此,未来深度贫困地区贫困治理路径则应区分劳动力类型,在做好政策兜底的基础上聚焦于培育发展性劳动力,为脱贫攻坚提供根本动力保障。     

中国古代乡村基层组织建设的史鉴管窥

中国古代是以农立国的农本国家,十分重视基层组织的建设。从周之乡遂到明清保甲,辗转相承,代有兴革,绵延不绝,积累了极其丰富的乡村基层组织建设的实践经验,为确保基层的和谐稳定和实现国家的稳固发展打下了坚实的基础。这些弥足珍贵的实践经验,对中国古代社会巩固基层、维持治安、寓教于民、保障民生、自治自立有着重要的现实意义,也对今天构建共建共治共享的现代基层社会治理新格局和全面推进乡村振兴战略具有重要的史鉴价值。     

Power and dispossession in the neoliberal food regime: oil palm expansion in Guatemala

ABSTRACT

Guatemala’s palm oil production has surged in line with the global demand for biodiesel and vegetable oil production. While corporate land grabs have been a popular concept in agrarian studies, we emphasize the integral roles of the state and racially-charged political power relations, enhanced by the neoliberal food regime. These power relations, with racism at their core, foster land control grabs occurring alongside the rise of the palm oil industry. Their effects extend beyond merely the dispossession of land. The oil palm expansion and related dispossessions mostly benefit the international markets and the wealthy ruling class comprised of creole descendants and affluent ladinos. The soaring industry has given rise to human rights violations and a lack of access to or control of various resources, such as food and water. Based on fieldwork, we show that dispossessed Guatemalans, especially the indigenous, experience rising poverty, domestic food shortages and an influx of foreign foodstuffs as the meagrely paid work in the oil palm sector is only available for the few.     

Governance and youth unemployment in Africa

ABSTRACT

The objective of this study is to identify governance indicators that can reduce youth unemployment in Africa. Thereby, the authors incorporated governance indicators into the growth model. The dynamic panel estimation of the model, based on data from the World Bank, the IMF and UNCTAD for the period 2002–2016 found that some governance indicators such as control of corruption and political stability have a negative influence on youth unemployment in Africa. Moreover, political stability does not reduce youth unemployment in highly corrupt countries which are rich in natural resources. Similarly, other governance indicators such as government effectiveness, regulatory quality, the rule of law, voice and accountability are not yet producing the expected effects in African countries. As a result, political authorities must improve governance indicators, including the control of corruption and political stability.     

警察机构绩效评估及相关制度初探

在新公共管理思潮的影响下,西方国家都非常重视对警察机构进行绩效评估管理制度的建设。作为政府宏观管理的一种新工具,绩效评估有着其独特的功能价值。我国在警察体制改革的过程中,提出警察管理的科学化、现代化,而警察管理的科学化、现代化的一个核心内容就是绩效评估。因此,探讨警察机构绩效的基本内涵以及在国家层次推进警察机构绩效评估的重要性,并在此基础上提出我国未来实施警察机构绩效评估制度的一些思路和建议,在当前显得十分必要。     

执政物理结构与公共绩效分析

提高执政绩效是一个由多重结构构成的多维控制系统。正如考察一个事物,不能忽略其物理结构一样,对于执政绩效的考察,必须看到其结构要素对绩效的制约和影响,如体制结构、层级结构、决策结构、制度结构、机制结构等。任何组织都需要通过某种结构、体制要素,将投入转换为产出。执政组织要将政治投入转化为政治产出,就要对结构关系进行整合,也就是说,提升执政的公共绩效(PublicPerformance),最大限度地实现执政价值和目标,可以在执政物理结构关系上作检测、调适和优化,在它的层级结构、决策结构、技术结构和机制结构等方面下功夫。这也是执政能力建设的一个重要方面。     

国家治理视阈中的“道德承认”原则

中国特色社会主义的依法治国不同于西方资本主义国家的依法治国,其根本区别是:西方资本主义国家的依法治国是以“契约论”为基础,目的是为了保护个体私有财产不受侵犯.而中国特色社会主义的依法治国是立足于公有制经济基础,超越了“资产阶级法权狭隘眼界”,把“道德承认”作为国家治理视阈中的价值原则.“以德治国”具有内在客观性,而“依...