Citizen Participation Models in the Local Government

This research pretends to propose and test a new explanatory model relating to citizen participation, which will help us to implement participatory public policies in the local government scheme, comparing with the models of citizen participation derivatives of structural theories and choice theories. The author refers to the case of Spain and he tests five hypotheses derived from these theories, using structural equations. This study used an open and cross-sectional design. He uses ＂Citizenship, Participation and Democracy Survey＂ from Sociological Research Center of Spain. The model proposed in this study has taken into account both structural variables from the macro context of participation （political opportunity structure） and individual variables （individual resources）, thus considering that the most recent literature on citizen participation tells us that it is necessary to overcome the reductionist perspectives limited to individual factors. Based on the above, we saw the importance of structural variables and individual variables for the participation of people. In line with that, we find that a citizen is involved in participatory policy when they have individual resources such as education, interest in politics, non-political disaffection, civic social norms, personal effectiveness, and community pride. Another find from this research, according to the empirical results, is that structural variables are predictive of citizen participation： resources, mobilization, membership of deprived group, economic deprivation, interpersonal trust, membership of associations, ties to the local community, and membership of an informal network.     

优秀传统民俗文化与推进农村社会治理能力现代化——以江西优秀传统民俗文化为例

当前我国农村社会治理出现了一些新情况、新问题,党中央已经做出了推进国家治理体系和治理能力现代化的重要决策。优秀传统文化是中华民族共有的精神家园,作为中华优秀传统文化重要组成部分的优秀传统民俗文化,根植于绵延数千年的中华民族精神之中,最贴近百姓生活,最具生命活力。在新的形势下推进农村治理能力现代化,必须弘扬优秀传统民俗文化,努力探索我国现代农村社会治理的新途径。     

和谐社会的宪政学解读——关于不断提高我党构建社会主义和谐社会能力的几点思考

中国市民社会发育发展与政治国家的关系决定了和谐社会状态的实现必然地要表现出与西方社会不同的发展路径。市民社会的和谐与政治国家的互动及政治国家的理性运作是社会和谐状态实现的重要前提条件;西方社会中的政治国家是从市民社会中分离出来的,与之不同的是,中国市民社会与政治国家之间的关系却表现为市民社会从政治国家中分离出来;中国封建社会至今的国家高度中央集权、市民社会发育不成熟的客观历史,决定了中国和谐社会的建构进路必然地不同于西方社会,和谐社会的建构进路必然地要表现为伴随着法治国家建设进程的不断深化,采取由执政党政策指导的国家引导型,主要靠政府自律实现社会和谐的实际进路。     

市管县实践的反思:"复合行政"的视角

从制度演变的轨迹看,我国曾经三次大规模地推行市管县体制.由于制度背景的差异,市管县体制所取得的绩效也发生了很大的变化,从推动地方经济发展到各种弊端日益突出.分析市管县体制的各种影响因素,可以看出行政区划变革在促进经济发展中的局限性.要解决区域经济一体化的问题,就应该从治理的角度,寻求有效的地方治理之道,复合行政的理念就提供了这样一种新思路.     

Civil Society and Peace Negotiations: Beyond the Inclusion–Exclusion Dichotomy

Civil society is generally seen as an important actor in peace processes. But when it comes to reaching an agreement during peace negotiations, much of the current debate is centered on the question of including or excluding civil society. Although most researchers argue that civil society participation makes the process more sustainable and democratic, most practitioners emphasize that enhanced civil society participation makes it more difficult to reach a peace agreement. I argue that practitioners and theorists must both move beyond this dichotomy and, instead, focus on the variety of ways in which civil society actors can be included in a given negotiation process. To this end, I present in this article a comprehensive overview of nine models of inclusion, from most to least direct involvement of civil society, supported by illustrative case studies. Analysis of these models suggests that it will be possible to broaden the participation of civil society in peace negotiations without decreasing the negotiations' effectiveness.     

The unfinished village police unit: a contested local development initiative

Community self-help has been the principal strategy for creating social infrastructure in rural Malawi since independence. One rural community in Balaka district, southern Malawi, embarked on a project to construct a police unit as a response to rising incidents of crime. Begun in 1999, the project remains unfinished. There seems to be no interest in completing the work. This paper finds the explanation in the manner the project was initiated and how the village community was involved in its execution.     

Practitioners’ perspectives on in-house versus arm’s-length structures of local economic development delivery in Ontario,Canada

ABSTRACT

The structure for local economic development is an important part of the development process. In recent years, local governments have been switching structures, leading to debates about the most appropriate structure for an effective economic development delivery. Based on in-depth interviews with practitioners of local economic development, the paper examines the strengths and drawbacks of the two primary structures in the Province of Ontario: In-house and Arms-length. In doing so, the paper accomplishes two things: first, it adds to the empirical discussion on organisational approaches to economic development; second, it provides an informed perspective to assist communities that might be considering switching their structures.     

Revitalizing Local Government Performance Management: Further Dissecting the Role of Socioeconomic Status and Social Mobilization Policy

ABSTRACT

This article examines how socio-economic status and social mobilisation are linked to local government performance management in Nepal. As part of local government reform, Nepal adopted a social mobilisation policy in selected local governments to empower communities for their effective participation. Our results show that socio-economic status and social mobilisation have a significant relationship with performance management. Female literacy, for example, is strongly and significantly associated with performance management, while area has a significant positive relationship but population has only a weak positive relationship. In contrast, poverty has a significant negative correlation. More importantly, mobilisation has a significant, though modest, positive association with performance management particularly in participatory planning and budgeting, fiscal discipline, and administrative management. This indicates that improving the socio-economic status of citizens and their mobilisation for empowered collective action can be one important strategy to improve the performance capacity of local government.     

Limitation of religious freedom to conform to the standards of an open and democratic society

One has freedom of religion, not freedom from religion. This claim is common, but it rests on a misunderstanding of what real freedom of religion entails. The most important thing to remember is that freedom of religion, if it is going to apply to everyone, also requires freedom from religion. Why is that？ One does not truly have the freedom to practice one＇s religious belief if one is not also required to adhere to any of the religious beliefs or rules of other religious. Freedom from religion does not mean, as some mistakenly seem to claim, being free from seeing religion in society. No one has the right not to see churches, religious expression, and other examples of religious belief in the nation, and those who advocate freedom of religion do not claim otherwise. What freedom from religion does mean, however, is the freedom from rules and dogmas of other people＇s religious beliefs so that people can be free to follow the demands of their own conscience, whether they take a religious form or not. Thus they have both freedom of religion and freedom from religion because they are two sides of the same coin.     

关注职工心理健康 促进社会和谐发展

当前职工的心理健康状况令人堪忧,极大的影响了构建和谐社会目标的实现。工会组织应从心理学角度深入探讨如何去推动全社会都来关心职工心理健康问题,促进社会和谐健康发展。