Making Institutions in Central and Eastern Europe,and the Impact of Europe

The end of communism in Central and Eastern Europe offered the region a unique opportunity for institutional redesign. Thanks to the variety of historical experiences, inherited structures, transition paths and deal sweeteners during the round-table talks, post-communist Europe initially witnessed much institutional diversity. Throughout the course of the past decade, however, there has been a notable convergence of institutional designs across the region. The process of convergence has been, in part, a response to domestic political concerns, but the demands of the European Union have also played a role. This article plots the course of institutional development in the region, outlining some of the major cases of institutional redesign and highlighting both the positive and negative impact of 'Europe' on the process.     

The state and civil society in transition: the role of non-governmental organizations in South Korea

This paper presents a framework of the interdependence of various sectors of society and then investigates the development and current status of the civil society sector, specifically the growth of NGOs in South Korea. Recent years have witnessed an increase in public awareness where civil societies have begun challenging states in addressing public issues. The directive state intervention following the Korean War disallowed for a strong civil society, thus restraining the development of significant non-state actors. The 1987 Democratization Movement marked an increase in the activity of NGOs and also the provision of a pathway for citizens to begin engaging in social activity. The repressive apparatus of the state has weakened allowing Korean NGOs to mature in dealing with diverse social issues in the public domain. They have extended the scope of policy-related activities to ensure an environment conducive to the enlargement of public space and the expansion of citizens’ rights. The results of this study indicate that the growth of NGOs is both the result of the demise of authoritarian regimes and further stimulus to the transition solidifying democracy. The challenges for Korean NGOs will be to ply strategic roles as partners of the state in the transitional period.     

Designing property rights for water: mediating market,government, and corporation failures

Recent decades have seen an acceleration in public concern about the allocation of increasingly scarce water supplies. There are many reasons for this concern, such as growth in urban populations. In this article, we focus on how surface water’s special qualities (the combination of spillovers, rent-seeking behavior, and common pool resources) complicate the assignment of property rights in any legal framework. These characteristics make specific market structures necessary in order to efficiently allocate rights. The state usually designs those structures. Yet, just like markets can fail, so can governments fail to effectively allocate those rights. So designers often turn to quasi-judicial conservancy boards as a second-best solution. We argue that those boards may themselves fail through a form of “corporation failure.” We address these three types of failures, and offer an analysis of two cases that suggests that the likelihood conservancy boards will suffer from corporate failure depends on the actions of the boards and outside stakeholders (like governments).

中国政府改革的过去与未来

30年来,中国经济社会迅速发展和变化,这对于政府改革提出了一系列的要求.在这一背景下,中国政府在职能转变、机构改革以及法治政府建设、监督考核问责制度等方面,进行了持续的变革,并取得了阶段性的成果.今后随着经济和社会的继续发展和变化,政府职能依然需要进一步转变,机构改革需要进一步进行,法治政府和监督考核问责制度也需要进一步努力,并且这些都面临着多方面的挑战.进一步的努力,需要认真对待这些挑战,在理论上和实践上解放思想,都需要有新的突破.     

中国社团管理:制度安排、职能协调与影响力

不同的制度安排会产生不同的制度安排结果。中国社会团体发展的实践表明,双重管理体制和分级管辖体制的制度安排决定着中国社团发展的规模与影响。通过政策性协调与事务性协调,更强化了对中国社团的控制与规范。中国社团管理存在的诸多问题,一方面要求完善双重管理体制和分级管辖体制,另一方面需要大力培育和引导社团自主地发展,从而形成政府、市场与社会三者有机组合的和谐局面,促进中国社会现代化进程。     

从新制度经济学角度看晚清近代警政的创建

中国近代意义上的警政建设与发展已逾百年。近年来,史学界对中国近代警政方面的研究渐趋活跃,内容涉及近代警政建设的各个方面。本文通过对晚清时期中国近代警政建设与发展的历史轨迹的描述,运用新制度经济学的观点,从制度变迁的角度阐述了晚清时期中国近代警政的创建过程。     

当代市民社会发展的自觉与自发

对于一个社会而言,经济、科技的发展是一方面,而促使社会稳定的另一方面就是其伦理道德建设。当代社会发展中的自觉应定位于致力解决经济问题和道德问题的制度伦理上,将一种个人自觉发展为社会自觉,通过全社会的伦理精神来确保社会的稳定、和谐发展。     

美国警察的组织结构和分工

为实现既定目标，并圆满地完成任务，警察必须有一定的组织结构，这样，承担相同任务的警察就可以根据其共同任务进行分组。我们很难一直对所有的组织规定相同的原则、限定同样的结构，为此，在设立组织时应考虑相应的标准。任何一个部门都会产生工作分工问题。在组织一支警察队伍时，应把任务分工置于头等重要的位置，予以高度重视。     

“Ad Hoc Arbitration”的内在含意与中文表述——读书札记

本文引用国际商法、贸易法、投资争端与国际商事仲裁等英文论著中的简短段落,希图勾勒与论证ad hoc arbitration的本质属性与含意,其所谓的“特别”之处就是“临时”;它是与机构仲裁相对共存的一种仲裁方式,无需过分偏重其所谓“特别仲裁”的含意,不应宥于表层的意思与字面的对应,应当以“非机构仲裁”移译之;在专业的层面须有便于交流的统一术语。     

Political Economists and Political Scientists ‐ What Are the Benefits to Economists From Closer Interaction?

This paper discusses how a closer interaction with Political Scientists could impact on Swiss Political Economists by concentrating on four specific hypotheses. The first thesis evaluates how increased interdisciplinary interaction affects the incentives of Swiss Political Economists. It somewhat pessimistically posits that interdisciplinary interaction does not necessarily inseminate the work of Political Economists. The second thesis is more optimistic and discusses some aspects of the politico‐economic process which have been neglected so far in Political Economics but could be integrated thanks to the interaction with Political Scientists. The third thesis proposes that Swiss Political Economists should learn from Political Scientists to be more critical of present Swiss institutions. The fourth thesis proposes that Political Economists and Political Scientists should not only discuss the application of economic reasoning to politics. They should also investigate which governance mechanisms can be transferred from the polity to the economy.