A Comparative Assessment of Elite Policy Recruits in Canada

Recent case studies and large-N survey evidence has confirmed long-suspected shortages of public sector “policy capacity”. Studies have found that government policy workers in various jurisdictions differ considerably with respect to types of policy work they undertake, and have identified uneven capacity for policy workers to access and apply technical and scientific knowledge to public issues. This suggests considerable difficulties for government’s ability to meet contemporary policy and governance challenges. Despite growing attention to these matters, studies have not examined the “elite” policy workers many governments recruit to address these capacity shortages. Using an established survey instrument, this study of two Canadian recruitment programs provides the first comparative analysis of elite policy recruits, as policy workers. Three research questions anchor the study: (1) What is the profile of these actors? (2) What types of policy work do “elite” policy analysts actually engage in? (3) How does their policy work compare by recruitment program? The article provides fresh comparative data on the nature of elite policy work and policy analytical capacity, but, more importantly, a crucial baseline for future comparative study of how elite recruitment may facilitate “supply-side” capacity gains expected from recruitment programs.     

Ethnic diversity and development in Kenya: limitations of ethnicity as a category of analysis

This paper challenges the relevance of ethnic diversity in explaining the development impasse in Africa, using Kenya as a case study and arguing that the neopatrimonial and ethnic diversity theses are contradictory as explanatory variables of Africa's development crisis. The former speaks to homogeneity while the latter implies heterogeneity in the public policy process. This paper singles out the ethnic diversity thesis as the weaker of the two, arguing that ethnic groups lack a collective ethnic agenda that can be flagged as consequential for the political economy of the polity. Ethnic group intervention in the political arena is not determined by innate ethnic characteristics: it is due to the tendency for certain actors in the body politic to exploit institutional failure. With proper institutions, the assumed burden of ethnicity in African development would naturally evaporate. Focusing on supposedly ethnic problems is the wrong target.     

Why are public offices sold in Kyrgyzstan?

Why are public offices for sale in Kyrgyzstan? To address this question, this article attempts to set out a new logic for understanding the motives, nature, and consequences of corruption in the country. Rather than securing access to a single favor through bribery, officials invest in political and administrative posts in order to obtain access to stream of rents associated with an office. Political and administrative corruption is organically linked in this system, and corruption stems not so much from weak monitoring as from being a franchise-like arrangement, where officials are required to pay continuous “fees” to their bosses. The key is to be the public official influencing the redistribution of rents as well as participating in the informal market where “public” goods are privatized and exchanged for informal payments. Thus, instead of control over the pure economic assets of the state, influence over the state's institutional and organizational framework is the dominant strategy for earning and investing in the country.     

Is Russia a militocracy? Conceptual issues and extant findings regarding elite militarization

The dominant paradigm for understanding contemporary Russia holds that Vladimir Putin's tenure in office has been accompanied by a massive influx of former KGB and military personnel – so-called “siloviki” – into positions of power and authority throughout the polity and economy. Claims of extensive elite militarization, however, are largely based on the analyses of only one research program and, moreover, the validity of the estimates produced by that research program is open to question on numerous grounds. In this article, we review existing research on elite militarization in Russia; discuss a series of conceptual and empirical issues that need to be resolved if valid and meaningful estimation of military–security representation is to be achieved; introduce new findings; and evaluate the totality of existing evidence regarding whether the Russian state under Putin deserves to be labeled a militocracy. We find that the most straightforward reading of existing data indicates that the percentage of siloviki in the political elite during Putin's first two terms as president was approximately half of that which has been widely reported in both scholarship and the media, and also declined during the Medvedev presidency. In addition, our analysis of a broader cross section of the elite estimates military–security representation during the Putin presidency to have been lower still. Overall, existing data paint a less alarming picture of the depths to which siloviki have penetrated the corridors of power since 2000 than has been commonly portrayed and thereby cast doubt on Russia's status as an “FSB state.” On the other hand, past trends also provide some basis for expecting that the numbers of siloviki will once again rise during Putin's current presidential term.     

新农村建设中利益和谐的建构——利益驱动原理的导入

利益是关系到人类社会存在和发展的基本问题.农村社会在制度、市场、文化等维度的利益非和谐现象凸现,严重制约着新农村建设的进行,这种现象从根本上说是现行的制度安排扭曲了利益驱动机制.在理论上导入利益基本原理,纠正利益驱动作用,建构双重利益驱动、聚合利益驱动、个体利益驱动等良性利益驱动机制,是构建和谐新农村的新思路.     

我国大众教育存在的问题与路径选择

高等教育大众化是现代工业社会发展的必然要求,也是当代教育的重要发展趋势.伴随着扩招浪潮,我国的高等教育实现了大众化.高等教育大众化自然利于提高全民素质,实行教育公平,但政府硬性推行的结果使得我国高等教育的大众化处境尴尬,并面临着诸多问题.如何走出这种困惑,如何克服大众化发展过程中遇到的困难,借鉴他国大众化教育模式,寻找我国高等教育大众化的发展路径是我们应考虑的问题.     

试述“领导干部人才化“

"十五"计划纲要报告提出了培养"高素质领导人才队伍"的人才战略,要求加速"领导干部人才化",具有极为重要的意义."领导干部"与"领导人才"是两个既相联系又相区别的概念,强调对"领导人才"的培养是对领导干部队伍建设提出的更高要求,适应了当今世界人才竞争面临的新形势和我国现代化建设事业对领导人才需求的客观要求,加速实现"领导干部人才化",需要进一步更新用人观念、改革用人制度、加强全面训练和注重对年轻干部的培养锻炼.     

论加强海关缉毒国际合作

全球性的毒品泛滥愈演愈烈,对人类的生存和社会的发展构成了严重的威胁。尽管各国海关国际缉毒执法合作已取得了很大的成绩,但其中也存在不少问题。面对世界性的毒品危机,必须采取全球性禁毒战略,加强各国政府,尤其是加强海关之间的禁缉毒合作。     

再论大众文化与精英文化

当前，大众文化和精英文化对社会文化的发展都起着重要的作用，二者的消长成为文化研完领域关注的焦点。深刻认识这两种文化及其在社会文化中的地位，实现两种文化的合理建构，形成和谐共生的文化语境，有利于促进整体文化和整个社会的发展。     

庸人政治、偏激取向与民主社会的异化

现代社会民主化进程中往往呈现出两种现象:一是庸人往往占据高位,而那些事变创造性人物则越来越为主流社会所遗弃,导致新思想对社会产生作用的时滞越来越长;二是呈现出强烈的极端性和好斗性,那些拥有权力优势的国家和个人更易于实行机会主义。究其原因,这体现了当今民主体制的缺陷和相关条件的不成熟。一者,如果对民主选举的范围和内容不进行界定,那么多数至上规则中获得优胜的往往是基于影响力原则而不是贤能原则;二者,如果社会大众的教育水平没有达到一定程度,那么集体行动往往会呈现出狂热和非理性。