A Bibliography About a Changed Federal Government Workplace

Abstract

This bibliography contains more than 130 hand picked sources that address change in the Federal government workplace, including articles and books by academics and practitioners and reports by Federal agencies including the General Accounting Office and the Office of Personnel management, as well as Congress. The introduction to the bibliography draws on the expertise of three well known authorities in the field, as well as the authors' of the bibliography.     

Portfolio Allocation or Policy Horizons? Determinants of Coalition Formation in Danish Local Government

It is widely assumed that policy considerations are important when parties form government coalitions. But if this is so, and if coalitions are negotiated in multi-dimensional policy spaces with no majority parties, then a rapid turn-over of coalitions should be observed, cf. the chaos theorem. However, we rarely witness this. Here we analyse two of the most prominent theories that address this puzzle: Laver and Shepsle's portfolio allocation model; and Warwick's policy horizon hypothesis. We do not analyse the ‘usual suspects’ (i.e. national government formations in Europe), but present a new empirical testing ground: Danish local governments. We rely on Laver and Shepsle's Winset programme to identify ‘strong parties’ in the portfolio allocation model but develop a new measure of Warwick's policy horizons that better deals with problems of multi-dimensionality. In a conditional logit analysis of survey data from 3000 local councillors, we find support for the policy horizons model, but not for the portfolio allocation model.     

Implementing IFRS in Local Government: Institutional Isomorphism as NPM Goes Mad?

Abstract

The impact the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) has on business has been considered by various authors, such as Jones and Higgins (2006 Jones, S. H. and Higgins, A. D. 2006. Australia's switch to international financial reporting standards: a perspective from account preparers'. Accounting and Finance, 46: 629–652. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). However, there has not been the same research conducted with respect to local government. As Australia and New Zealand are leading the world by being the first to introduce IFRS into local government financial reporting, this study is timely in order todetermine the impact of compliance on local government. With the New Public Management (NPM) introduced in the late 1970s, accrual accounting and the desire to enhance transparency became embedded in financial reporting across the world. The paper adds to the growing literature on institutional theory with results of the study suggesting that a form of coercive isomorphism is present in regards to local government compliance with IFRS. It also suggests that the philosophy behind NPM – especially that espousing the benefits of public sector reporting in a private sector vein–may not be as relevant to Australian local government as the policy makers would have us believe. The thrust to implement IFRS may have finally pushed local government into a world they struggle to cope with. For example, findings indicate that there is now, more than ever, a perception in the community that the bottom line is an important indicator of a council's performance. Results reported here determined that the implementation process was time-consuming and costly with, in general, very little perceived benefit. Councils are conforming to the coercive pressure from legislative bodies, but they are not converging as part of the ‘transaction-neutral’ reporting regime.     

The legacies of transition governments: post-transition dynamics in Benin and Togo

This article analyses the transition governments of Benin and Togo and shows how they had a profound impact on post-transition governance, regardless of the success or failure of the transition. It argues that the essential elements of polyarchy – competition and inclusion – were present in the transition government in Benin, and patterns along these two dimensions have been mirrored in post-transition events. In Togo, by contrast, only the principle of competition, not inclusion, was established in the transition period and present-day Togolese politics continues this pattern. This analysis sheds new light on politics in both countries and offers greater scope for understanding post-transition politics by viewing transition outcomes in terms of political development.     

从无锡尚德破产看政府对企业扶持应当注意的问题

大多数文章认为无锡政府的扶持和支持在无锡尚德的破产中起了重要的作用,但是考察尚德电力的发展过程以及与政府的关系,我们发现尚德的破产更多地是企业管理中的经营不善而造成的,政府的扶持和支持在这个过程中只起到了间接作用。这提醒政府在企业扶持中要注意扶持的出发点、扶持过程中应当严守企业和政府的界限、扶持的过程要遵守经济规律、扶持要注意市场变化、扶持不能把所有的资源都放在一家企业上。     

共性技术扩散中的政府行为

自20世纪90年代以来,随着经济的全球化和知识经济的发展,国际间竞争变的越来越激烈,在这种严峻背景下,只有拥有丰富的技术资源才能生存。而新技术的产生才能满足这种需求,共性技术在整个技术创新链中处于重要的地位,它是新技术产生的基础。本文在阐述共性技术扩散概念及其特征的基础上,系统分析了政府在共性技术扩散中的职能,指出政府在共性技术扩散中应发挥着不可替代的重要作用。     

导入ISO9001:2000背景下地方政府绩效考核指标体系述评

地方政府在导入ISO质量管理体系的背景下,其绩效如何考核?国际标准化组织设计了一套完整的指标体系,包括"好政府的制度发展、经济的可持续发展、全面的社会发展和环境的可持续发展"等四个维度。本文对这套指标进行了介绍,并结合中国的具体情况进行了分析,目的在于为地方政府导入ISO质量管理体系进行理论上的指导。文章认为,导入这套指标体系符合我国建设和谐社会和落实科学发展观的要求,有利于促进政府职能转变,有利于解决当前我国的社会问题。因此,它在我国具有相当强的可适用性。     

中美政府人事管理价值的历史演进与比较分析

价值的进路是深入到政府人事管理内核的必由之路。美国政府人事管理价值的历史演进体现了政治回应、道德主义、效率、个人权利、专业的职业化、社会公平等价值,其发展趋势是维护传统理念、加强管理弹性和以结果为本。中国政府人事管理价值的历史演进体现了宗族主义、政治回应、道德主义、公平竞争、分权等价值,其发展趋势主要是法治主义、效率和分权。美国和中国在政府人事管理价值历史演进和发展趋势上呈现了许多共同点和差异。     

以人为本:我国政府的价值定位

强调以人为本,是对政府与社会之间关系的准确解读,也是校正政府价值定位的新起点。本文首先对以人为本的科学内涵进行解读,其次分析了以人为本在我国近现代以来的历史传承,并分析了以人为本理念下的服务型政府建设对全能主义模式下"为人民服务"的继承与超越。本文的结论是,以人为本理念的确立不仅是党和政府服务宗旨的再次张扬,而且是我国制度建设的逻辑起点,为政府行为模式的确定和制度体系的全面建设奠定了基础。     

政府年度工作报告:官员问责机制建设的一个新视角

政府年度工作报告作为系统披露官员政策承诺与业绩报告的重要途径,既是西方发达国家推进官员问责机制建设的最新趋势,也是中国政治制度的潜在优势。与选举、预算、司法审判、独立问责等官员问责机制相比,中国独特的政治架构使得政府年度工作报告在建立公众、政务官以及常任文官之间环环紧扣的问责链,实现汇报与验证、信任与质疑、授权与审查的动态平衡,全面提升信息、激励和约束功能等方面具有明显的优势,并最终有利于提高官员政策承诺的民意遵从度和实现程度,提升治理绩效。因此,以政府年度工作报告为着力点和突破口,完善其运行机制与配套制度应当是推进中国官员问责机制建设的首要途径。