The Impact of Political Leadership on Organisational Performance: Evidence from English Urban Government

Many commentators view the political management reforms of English local government with some scepticism, raising concerns about the desirability of stronger leadership and the efficacy of institutional reform in encouraging stronger leadership. Using data from a five-year evaluation of the impact of the Local Government Act 2000, this paper reports evidence suggesting that institutional variation does influence the way that organisations operate and can have a positive impact on their performance, though the results are mixed with the internal decision-making elements showing most difference, whilst there is less evidence of effects in relation to partnership working and engagement with the public. In hung and balanced authorities an internal focus on managing coalitions and party competitors is judged to impede the role of leaders in partnership working. In the concluding section, the paper develops the concept of facilitative leadership, which will continue to influence reform of local government and the practice of political leadership in local government. Policy-makers, by giving leaders the right mix of resources and incentives, can improve the effectiveness of urban political leadership and encourage the trend towards facilitative leadership.     

Why Play by the Rules? Constitutionalism and Democratic Institutionalization in Ecuador and Uruguay

This article argues that constitutionalism and democratic institutionalization are linked, and that variations in progress towards institutionalized democracy are explained by incentives for political actors to comply with constitutional constraints on their power and to cooperate in governing. The analysis examines the impact of incentives generated by political institutions on Ecuador and Uruguay's contrasting experiences in institutionalizing democracy. Institutions generate incentives for political actors to ‘play by the rules’ when they extend protections, align interest with duty, and encourage negotiation and compromise. Survival provisions, electoral rules, and the nature of parties and the party system are found to generate incentives to cooperate in governing and to comply with constitutional constraints in Uruguay, and disincentives to engage in these behaviours in Ecuador. A new classification of survival provisions is proposed – shared, mixed, and separate – which isolates the impact of these rules on the degree of cooperation in governing. The article's findings clarify the mechanisms by which institutional choices facilitate or obstruct the emergence of constitutionalism and institutionalized democracy.     

百年中国宪法视野中的人民权利研究

百年中国宪法视野中人民权利的发展和变化,经历了异常曲折的道路:从晚清时代的无名无实,到民国时代的有名无实;从新中国初期的名实比较相符但尚在起步,到社会主义曲折发展过程中的名实不符或名实微弱,再到改革开放以来的名实日趋一致并不断巩固扩大.这些发展和变化,留下了重要的经验和启示.中国人民实现和发展自己权利的道路,必将越走越宽广.     

Regional legislatures and national lawmaking

Recent work has noted the supposedly ‘exceptional’ constitutional authority of sub-national legislatures in Mexico to introduce legislative initiatives into the national congress. Rather than a mechanism unique to Mexico, however, this debate article notes other states’ constitutions with similar provisions, drawing on data from the Comparative Constitutions Project, as well as a new dataset on lawmaking in the Russian Federation. The article calls for a new collaborative research agenda to explore the involvement of sub-national legislatures in national-level lawmaking.     

Building a nation: religion and values in the public schools of the USA,Australia, and South Africa

Although the systems of public schools differ among Australia, South Africa and the USA, all three countries recognize that religion plays a significant role in determining values. All three countries have written constitutions but only South Africa and the USA have a Bill of Rights that protects persons’ exercise of religious beliefs. In Australia, the place of religion in education has largely been shaped by state legislatures, administrative regulations and interpretations of the national constitution. In the USA, the long tradition of religious values being represented in public education has been severely restricted over the past 60 years, resulting in artificial judicial lines being drawn between private religious expression and government expression. However, even private expression can be prohibited if it interferes with the educational mission of a school. South Africa had a long tradition of Christian religious practices in government schools under apartheid. However, the post-apartheid 1996 Constitution and 1996 South African Schools Act still give these schools considerable latitude in investing religious values into the educational process. In Australia, values, religion and education have always been a preoccupation of those providing education, although the blurring of public and private education in Australia has resulted in a different direction for the role of religion than in the USA.     

俄罗斯公民宪法权利的文本演变——对1906年根本法、1918年苏俄宪法和1993年联邦宪法的考察

公民权利作为现代宪政的核心主题,是透视俄罗斯宪政问题的一个最为重要的视角。自20世纪以来,俄罗斯社会转型过程中先后出现了三种类型的宪法,公民权利在宪法中从形式到内容发生了历史性的演变,从宪法规范的语言表述、到公民权利规范在宪法文本中的位次、再到具体的权利内容,都发生了根本性的变化。在立宪理念上,专制主义、集体主义和自由主义（个人主义）分别主导着1906年根本法、1918年苏俄宪法和1993年联邦宪法。厘清这种变化对当下俄罗斯公民权利的保障与实现有重要的意义,对透视转型国家的宪政发展有积极的启示。     

论1787年《美国宪法》与1947年《中华民国宪法》之歧异

历史留给后人许多经验和教训 ,也留给人们思考的空间。通过对中美两部宪法在立宪理念、宪法内容、行宪结果及其原因的比较、分析 ,认为契约精神在我国的推广 ,将有助于推动我国宪政的完善与发展。     

从理论向实践的回归——论我国犯罪构成中构成要件的排列顺序

从认识论的角度来说 ,犯罪构成理论应该具有理论和实践的双重功能 ,但我国的犯罪构成却难以发挥其实践功能。对于这个问题 ,笔者认为可以通过重新排列我国犯罪构成中构成要件的顺序来解决。新的犯罪构成应按照犯罪客观方面、犯罪客体、犯罪主观方面、犯罪主体的顺序排列。     

Writing Islamic Constitutions: Lessons from Pakistan

Muslim-majority countries often face the question of how to reconcile the place and role of religion within the framework of the nation state and a modern westernised system of constitutional ordering. And few states have wrangled with the politics of constitutionalising religion as profoundly and persistently as the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. This paper argues that insights drawn from Pakistan are pertinent as much for contemporary debates on Islam within many Muslim-majority countries as they are for wider debates on religion and politics in the modern period. It argues that when contemplating the constitutionalisation of Islam and Islamic provisions: the design and jurisdiction of the courts matter; it may be better to achieve a workable political compromise between competing parties on religious matters than to stall or strive for the realisation of some ideal; the constitution should be free of any sectarian bias; and constitution-makers must take more structural matters such as the separation of powers seriously when considering discussions on religion and politics.