高度重视反腐倡廉这一重大政治任务

反腐倡廉是我党一贯坚持的鲜明政治立场,是人民关注的重大政治问题。当前,我国腐败问题呈现多种特点,其危害性在于：它离间党和人民群众的关系,损毁党的执政基础;破坏社会主义经济体制机制,损害人民群众的利益;干扰依法治国,影响社会稳定;毒化思想道德,败坏社会风气。因此,应进一步加强反腐倡廉的制度建设;加强党员干部反腐倡廉的思想建设;加强党的作风建设;加强党内民主建设强化党内监督机制;进一步发挥人民群众在反腐倡廉建设中的作用。     

公共服务领域中政府与NGO的合作困境及出路

本文就公共服务领域中政府与NGO的合作困境,分析制约政府与NGO合作关系的因素。可以看出,在我国社会转型期,构建政府与NGO之间互动合作关系是必然的发展趋势,但这是一个循序渐进的过程,不是单靠其中的一方就能完成的。所以,公共服务中政府与NGO关系的可持续发展之路在于构建两者的互动合作关系。     

Framing hostage negotiations: analysing the discourse of the US government and the Islamic State

Since August 2014, there has been a marked increase in the violence perpetrated by the Islamic State against Western hostages. Videos released by the Islamic State depicting the brutal executions of hostages have been circulated widely on social media. This has prompted a dialogue about governments’ policies regarding negotiation with terrorist organisations to secure the release of their citizens held overseas. The United States and Britain, two non-negotiating countries, have faced significant criticism for this policy, which has led to the beheadings of several American and British citizens. This article analyses the discourse of two spokesmen – White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest, and British hostage John Cantlie – in framing the issue of hostage negotiations on behalf of their organisations. A grounded theory approach informed by framing analysis is utilised in order to identify dominant discourses employed in White House press briefings and John Cantlie’s videos and articles. This article concludes that, through the deliberate use of discourse, the US government and the Islamic State shape public perception of hostage negotiations in pursuit of distinct policy goals.     

PLANNING AND PARTICIPATION IN CITIES THAT MOVE: IDENTIFYING OBSTACLES TO MUNICIPAL MOBILITY MANAGEMENT

The dual processes of rapidly transforming cities and administrative decentralisation demands that local government address human mobility as a means of countering urban poverty. Despite this imperative, local authorities are often poorly equipped to address the needs of poor and transient residents. Through an examination of four South African municipalities, this article helps to identify three critical factors working against effective responses: poor data and conceptual bias; institutional ambiguities and budgeting processes; and, ironically, participatory planning. Although any one of these could serve as a basis for an article, by taking them together, we better summarise the challenges' scope and outline areas for further research and policy intervention. The article concludes by considering these findings' practical and scholarly implications. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Debt intolerance and the 90 per cent debt threshold: two impossibility theorems

Abstract

Two propositions underpin the retreat from post-crisis fiscal expansion instituted by several G7 governments in the summer of 2010. One is that the threat of debt intolerance is general: the reasoning is that the sharp rise in government debt levels caused by post-crisis fiscal expansion will force investors to abandon government bonds in favour of some other asset class. The other proposition is that there is a one-size debt threshold: the reasoning is that no government, those of the G7 countries included, can escape the serious consequences of debt intolerance and the threat of exit should its debt to GDP ratio reach 90 per cent. This paper argues that neither of these propositions can have credibility at a time of continuing global economic slowdown and consequent contraction in the global supplies of investable assets. At such a time investors cannot possibly hold up the threat of intolerance to core economy governments because they have no choice but to store substantial portions of their wealth in the latter's bonds, a fact which in turn means that the debt thresholds for core economy governments cannot possibly be the same as the average for other governments.     

Resilient subjects: uncertainty,warfare and liberalism

Abstract

While resilience has been recognized as a new strand in the government of security, little attention is paid its associated subjectivities and technologies of the self. One of the key sites for such development has been the military. A principal attribute of traditional military subjects has been fortitude, an assemblage of moral strength, will-power and courage deeply inscribed in the soul. In the new military, fortitude is now seen as of only conditional value to the latest configuration of the ‘liberal way of war’. Instead, resilience is centred as appropriate to ‘warriors’, and resonates with an advanced liberal political environment. Resilience appears as a set of cognitive skills that anyone can develop with correct training. Founded in cognitive behavioural therapy, resilience centres innovativeness, enterprise, responsibility and flexibility. It now takes its place as part of a complex of scientifically grounded techniques of the self necessary to optimize autonomous subjects in an age of high uncertainty.     

Science governance and the politics of proper talk: governmental bioethics as a new technology of reflexive government

Abstract

The article examines the emergence of governmental bioethics in Great Britain, France and Germany, i.e. bodies, discourses and procedures meant to guide policy-making in terms of ethical considerations. It argues that governmental bioethics, marked by openness, transparency and participation, can be understood as a form of reflexive government in the realm of science governance. It grew out of the problematization of older forms of science governance based on ideas of effectiveness, scientific expertise and system stability, and operates through structuring and managing proper talk rather than intervening in processes of techno-scientific development. Yet, rather than challenging the commitment to techno-scientific ‘progress’, it stabilizes it through mechanisms of inclusion, involvement and mobilization: within the framework of proper ethical talk, participation can be employed to pursue rather than oppose system stability.     

A Cautionary Tale: Council Amalgamation in Tasmania and the Deloitte Access Economics Report

Contemporary Australian public policy has come to rely increasingly on technical reports produced by commercial consultants in contrast to the traditional approach, which employed disinterested public servants to generate the specialist information required to inform decision makers. This approach is fraught with problems, not least the fact that ‘hired guns’ have strong incentives to create the ‘answers’ sought by their employers. By way of a ‘cautionary tale’, this paper examines the empirical evidence adduced in favour of radical amalgamation of Tasmanian local authorities in Local Government Structural Reform in Tasmania, produced by Deloitte Access Economics (DAE) (2011), and commissioned by the Property Council of Tasmania. In particular, the paper provides a critical analysis of the econometric modelling undertaken in the DAE (2011) Report. We find that if the DAE model is re‐estimated – employing alternative functional forms – then the empirical evidence in support of Tasmania council merges evaporates.     

Heightening Leadership Effectiveness in Local Governments of Uganda: ‘Challenge the Process’ for Organisational Support

ABSTRACT

Leadership effectiveness is an enviable characteristic in public as well as in private organisations. This article presents a discussion of the leadership practice known as ‘Challenge the Process’; within the context of Bushenyi district local government administration in Uganda. The discussion reveals that the leadership practice of ‘challenge the process’ influences the organisational climate and can be influential in generating change within an organisation. The study also demonstrates that Bushenyi district employees associate the behaviour patterns of their leaders and supervisors with the organisation. Based on data collected, the argument is that the leadership practice of ‘challenge the process’ positively influences employees’ perceived organisational support in Bushenyi local government of Uganda. The conclusions are in agreement with Kouzes and Posner (2002) that leaders who ‘challenge the process’ can achieve extraordinary results and improve employees’ perceived organisational support.

The article recommends that in the current environment of local government administration in Uganda be characterised by a democratic political dispensation and private-public sector initiatives; leaders should consider not merely being mindful of the rules and standing instructions in public administration; must be innovative, willing to take risks, and challenge assumptions about the way things have always been done in order to increase employees’ perceived organisational support. As stressed by Kouzes and Posner (2002), leaders in local governments can promote the resourcefulness of employees at work through the practice of ‘challenge the process’.