Territorial reforms in Europe: effects on administrative performance and democratic participation

Territorial reform is the most radical and contested reorganisation of local government. A sound evaluation of the outcome of such reforms is hence an important step to ensure the legitimation of any decision on the subject. However, in our view the discourse on the subject appears to be one sided, focusing primarily on overall fiscal effects scrutinised by economists. The contribution of this paper is hence threefold: Firstly, we provide an overview off territorial reforms in Europe, with a special focus on Eastern Germany as a promising case for cross-country comparisons. Secondly, we provide an overview of the analytical classifications of these reforms and context factors to be considered in their evaluation. And thirdly, we analyse the literature on qualitative performance effects of these reforms. The results show that territorial reforms have a significant positive impact on functional performance, while the effects on participation and integration are indeed ambivalent. In doing so, we provide substantial arguments for a broader, more inclusive discussion on the success of territorial reforms.     

Senkt New Public Management die Verwaltungsausgaben in den Schweizer Kantonen? Eine empirische Analyse über zwei Dekaden

In light of the growing public spending in many regions of the world, this study scrutinizes relevant determinants of core public administration expenditure at the cantonal level in Switzerland, focusing particularly on New Public Management (NPM) reforms. The empirical study comprises all 26 cantons in the period from 1993 through 2014 and uses both cross‐sectional and longitudinal analytical methods. In addition to NPM, we control for various variables related to political parties, institutions, socioeconomics and culture. The results show no clear relationship between NPM reforms and expenditure, although such reforms were often intended to cut costs. Our explanation for this finding is that NPM as a concept is rather inconsistent. Various control variables are either positively or negatively related with expenditure. All in all, our findings suggest that public expenditure is still mostly determined by politics and can only be influenced by administrative reforms within certain narrow limits.     

Explaining variation and change in supervisory confidentiality in the European Union

Abstract

Some European Union member states’ financial regulators choose to make some of the data they routinely collect on individual banks publicly available. Others treat this data as confidential. What explains this difference? This paper considers the possible effects of crises, path-dependent legal institutions, and the design of deposit insurance schemes. At the national level, the paper focuses on contrasting German and Dutch cases. After the recent economic crisis, the Dutch released more data while the German authorities maintained strict confidentiality rules. The design of deposit insurance schemes provides a key reason why the level of secrecy varies, with the Dutch move from an ex post to an ex ante scheme where the government served as the ultimate backstop leading to questions about the accounts of individual banks while the German system favoured continued secrecy. The paper also describes the level of transparency at the EU level. Multilevel legal restrictions and bureaucratic capacity tilt EU banking union practices towards member states that treat financial supervisory data as confidential.     

The Politics–Bureaucracy Interface in Developing Countries

The political–bureaucratic interface has been the subject of much academic interest. However, research has tended to focus exclusively on wealthy institutionalized democracies, with little attention given to the political–administrative relationship in developing countries. However, recent evidence from reform processes in poorer nations increasingly highlights the importance of interactions between politicians and bureaucrats. This paper provides a systematic overview of the political–bureaucratic relationship in developing countries and in doing so makes two key contributions. First, it introduces a typology of political–bureaucratic relations based on four models—collaborative, collusive, intrusive, and integrated—discussing examples of each. Second, it analyses the main factors associated with different models of political–bureaucratic relations and considers how countries can move from one model of relations to another. The paper provides a much‐needed entry point for scholars and policymakers to better understanding the relationship between politicians and bureaucrats in developing countries. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

公安交通行政许可中的主要问题与对策探析

公安交通行政许可是公安交通安全管理的一项重要工作。目前,公安交通行政许可工作中存在许可项目不清、行政越权、滥用职权或不作为现象突出、程序违法、不履行监督检查义务、效率及服务水平低下等诸多问题。因此,公安机关交通管理部门必须切实树立依法许可理念,改进管理方式,提高服务效能,使公安交通行政许可走上法治化轨道。     

“行政主体间性”——府际关系的渊源与基点

我国中央政府、地方政府和行政部门之间的关系错综复杂,使得府际争议的求解鲜有头绪。行政主体间性的提出基于行政主体范式和主体间性理念,应用于公共行政之府际关系领域。行政主体间性倡导理性、创制规则,尊重多元行政主体的独立性,破除行政级别窠臼以实现多元行政主体间的全方位交流和多元政府间良性互动。     

民事抗诉制度探析

随着审判制度改革的不断深入,民事诉讼领域中审判权与检察抗诉权之间的冲突已日益彰显,影响了法治目标的实现,因民事抗诉制度的改革势在必行。本文拟在分析和评价当前民事抗诉制度的几种主要说法的基础上．从理论和实践两个方面探讨我国抗诉制度的应有品格,以期为今后民事抗诉制度之立法完善提供认识论基础．     

构造我国多元化的金融监管体系

我国金融监管的历史与发达国家相比还较短,在监管信息的采集、监管法规的建设、监管人才的培养和业务知识的更新等方面都亟待加强和完善.借鉴发达国家金融监管的成功经验,最重要的是构筑立体多元化的金融监管体系,而目前要抓好银行监管观念创新,健全金融监管机制,设置防范金融风险,建立银行内部控制体系,加强国际金融业监管的交流与合作.     

改革开放以来我国行政管理体制改革的巨大成就

: 2 0年来 ,我国行政管理体制改革成就巨大 ,已经基本摆脱了旧计划经济管理体制的束缚 ,适应社会主义市场经济需要的新行政管理体制正在形成。主要成就表现在四个方面 :行政管理的民主化迈出重大步伐 ,行政管理的科学化取得很大进步 ,行政管理的法制化法律体系已经初步形成 ,行政管理的现代化正在逐步推行。