WHAT SHAPES CITIZENS' EVALUATIONS OF THEIR PUBLIC OFFICIALS' ACCOUNTABILITY? EVIDENCE FROM LOCAL ETHIOPIA

In this article, we study which institutional factors shape citizens' views of the local accountability of their public officials. Our departing assumption is that evaluations of local accountability reflect not only citizens' poltical attitudes and beliefs but also whether local institutions contribute to an environment of mutual trust, accountability and ultimately democratic legitimacy. Combining public opinion data from a large‐N citizen survey (N = 10 651) with contextual information for 63 local governments in Ethiopia, we look at access to information, participatory planning and the publicness of basic services as potential predictors of citizens' evaluations of local public officials. Our findings suggest that local context matters. Jurisdictions that provide access to information on political decision making are perceived to have more accountable officials. Moreover, when local governments provide public fora that facilitate citizens' stakes in local planning processes, it positively affects citizens' evaluations of the accountability of their officials. Our study adds to the empirical literatrure by showing that establishing local institutions that can foster citizen–government relations at the local level through inclusive processes is crucial for improving public perceptions of accountability. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The political identities of neighbourhood planning in England

The collective empowerment imagined in the government rhetoric of localism bears little resemblance to the market model of aggregative democracy that characterizes much of the practice of participation in spatial planning. This paper explores one of the rare statutory strategies to engage collective participation and to mobilize the neighbourhood as an institution of spatial planning. In a study of neighbourhood planning in England, it investigates the new political identities that emerged and the conflicts and antagonism that accompanied them. Drawing on the work of philosopher Chantal Mouffe, the paper explores the significance of the political practices that resulted for the state strategy of localism.     

法律专业大学生职业生涯规划与就业问题研究

针对近年来法律专业大学生就业率低、就业难的问题,探索切合法律专业特点有针对性地对法律专业大学生进行职业生涯规划教育,有助于法律专业大学生从职业生涯规划入手有的放矢地安排自己的学习、生活,合理地规划未来,增强就业的核心竞争力。法律专业学生应注重提高自身的综合素质,更新就业理念,学校应加强职业生涯规划教育和法学教育模式改革,加强法律专业学生职业生涯规划的层次性与动态性教育。加强法律专业实践课程体系建设。     

试析突发群体性事件应急处置演练之组织与实施

突发群体性事件应急处置演练实质上是对将来可能发生的突发群体性事件进行应急处置的一项前期准备活动。应急处置演练的组织与实施过程可概括为应急处置演练的三个阶段和应急处置演练八项主要工作。当前,突发群体性事件的应急处置演练组织工作还存在不少问题和困难,严重影响演练的效果和作用,应采取针对性措施,以最大限度地发挥应急处置演练的作用。     

论利益保障视域下城市规划中的公众参与——基于德国双层可持续参与制度的启示

随着我国城市化进程的不断深入,城市规划制订中的法治化问题逐渐进入了我们行政法学研究的视野。由于城市规划本身的特殊性使得在规划制订程序中存在着公众参与制度广阔的适用空间,《城乡规划法》已经对城市规划制订中公众参与制度进行了比较原则的规定,但是各地政府在具体实践中存在着诸多的适用困境。我国应借鉴德国城市规划中公众参与制度,确立以保障公众利益、防止公民权益受到过量损害为目标的制度,最终通过完善我国城市规划中公众参与的具体制度,以期实现保障公民利益的目标。     

城市规划编制过程中的听证会设计

听证会是正式的公众参与城市规划编制方式。政府规划部门应作为听证会的一般发起主体和组织者,控制性详细规划地段内的利害关系人应作为特殊提起主体。听证事项应限于对社会公共利益有重大影响的事项,并适当将某些事项排除。对于不同的听证事项可采取不同的听证模式。听证参加人应分为居民代表和专家代表,合理设置人数比例。听证主持人可由同级人民代表大会中具有规划知识背景的工作人员担任,以确保其公正性;听证参加人享有陈述和质询的权利;听证会记录应作为城市规划编制和审批的必备参考。违反听证规则时应追究相关工作人员的责任,但一般不影响城市规划的整体效力,可以补听证和申请国家赔偿方式救济。     

Preventing Homelessness for System‐Involved Youth

Too many youth and young adults find themselves on the streets, couch‐surfing with friends, in emergency shelters or worse, after exiting the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. In some circumstances, youth have had court hearings until their exit from the legal system, but those hearings have not focused on long‐range plans of youth and emergencies youth may encounter. In other circumstances, there has been little or no planning prior to discharge, especially for young people who leave the juvenile justice system. Courts can and should prevent, alleviate or end youth homelessness for youth who appear before them through strategies that are enumerated in the recently‐passed NCJFCJ resolution. This article expounds on three of these strategies – coordinating transition and re‐entry plans, insisting on effective legal representation of youth, and utilizing sound judicial leadership. It also describes the concurrent efforts of the Coalition for Juvenile Justice and the American Bar Association's Homeless Youth Legal Network to remove legal barriers and improve outcomes for youth and young adults experiencing homelessness.     

European Regional Policy and Backward Regions: Implications Towards EU Enlargement

In this paper we show that the success of the EU Regional Policy, in terms of boosting growth in objective 1 regions, will mean a big opportunity for Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) and hence the increases in competition arising from an enlarged European market combined with a suitable regional development policy should in the future boost the growth of those countries. In the last part of the paper we made a simulation for the funding envelope from 2007, based on the 2000–2006 budget. We show that the figures of the Agenda 2000 provide enough financial support for 90% of the total CEEC population and for 75% of current objective 1 population.     

西方土地利用规划中的公众参与和实践模式

西方土地利用规划中的公众参与是建立在广泛而深厚的理论基础之上的,正是在这种理论基础上,诸如美、英、德等西方国家在土地利用规划中也有着非常成熟而有效的公众参与实践模式,这些都十分值得我国学习和借鉴。     

加强城镇建设的整体性规划

城镇建设应加强整体性规划工作 ,以防止盲目发展、重复施工。加强整体性规划工作主要是统筹兼顾 ,有全局观念。合理划分功能区域 ,妥善处理交叉性矛盾 ,处理好分级配套和衔接问题