Craft and Capacity in the Public Service

Over the past 8 years, debates about Australia's public service have evolved from being focused mainly on skills and capacities to being now increasingly concerned about the operating environment for career officials, their ability to fulfil their stewardship obligations, and to practice their ‘craft’. In this article, I track those changes and ask what is the craft of public administration? How should we understand it? Are concerns it is imperilled or has been lost valid or overblown? I draw on the observations of current and former senior officials, and the findings of recent Capability Reviews. My primary focus is on the Australian Public Service, because here is where the debate has been most public and direct. I note that the focus of concern has shifted from public servants towards ministers, who have been largely absent from public sector reform initiatives of the past 40 years.     

广西中越国际河流区水资源承载力评估分析

广西中越国际河流区的水资源开发利用,越来越成为关系到广西边境地区经济社会发展的重要问题,成为关系到中越两国边境和睦与边境和谐的大问题。进行边境地区水资源承载力评估分析,有助于为边境地区水资源的可持续利用、实施水资源安全战略提供参考依据。     

“权利能力平等、不得放弃、不得剥夺”三错论批判——兼论《民法典》第14条的司法解释方向

《民法典》第14条采用的“自然人权利能力一律平等”的命题需要“权利能力不得放弃”和“国家不得剥夺自然人的权利能力”两个命题来支撑。在立法史上,主命题首次出现在1811年的《奥地利普通民法典》中,但它只有消除基于自由身份的不平等的意图,并无消除基于国民身份、宗教身份的不平等的意图。然而,1907年的《瑞士民法典》无视这些...     

Predictors of an Effective Performance Measurement System: Evidence from Municipal Governments in Turkey

The study examines the predictors of effective performance measurement in the context of Turkish municipalities. Theoretical guidance of context-design-performance model has been utilized to examine the contextual and design factors which have influenced the effective use of performance measurement systems in Turkish municipalities. It is hypothesized in the study that external support and organizational support for the use performance measurement, and technical capacity for the performance measurement are associated with quality of performance measures and effectiveness of performance measurement systems in general. The results of the study supported the hypotheses of the study regarding the relationships among organizational support, technical capacity, quality of performance measures, and effectiveness of performance measurement. Although the results confirmed that external support has an indirect effect on effectiveness of performance measurement via technical capacity and quality of performance measures, the hypothesis regarding the direct effect of it on effectiveness of performance measurement was not supported.     

牢记“两个务必” 提高党的执政能力

"两个务必"是执政兴国的重要法宝。中国共产党执政的全部历史表明,只有坚持"两个务必",党才能不负人民重托,铸造执政辉煌。牢记"两个务必",就要重视学习历史,善于总结历史经验;就要牢固树立"执政为民"的意识;就要牢固树立"赶考"意识;就要始终保持旺盛的精神状态。     

从亨廷顿政党适应性理论看新时期我们党的执政能力建设

在大力构建和谐社会的新时期,我们党面临着主流意识形态淡化、社会不公现象凸显、腐败现象屡禁不止等诸多挑战。为此,我们必须从马克思主义执政党生死存亡的高度,密切关注对适应性问题的研究,整合各种政治资源,更加主动地加强党的执政能力建设。     

The early modern origins of contemporary European tax outcomes

What explains variation in tax outcomes between European states? Previous studies emphasise the role played by political institutions, but focus mostly on the input side of politics – how access to power and policy making is structured – and the institutions of relatively recent times. It is argued in this article that output‐side institutions related to the implementation of political decisions also matter and have deep institutional origins. As the classic literature has argued, the early modern period from 1450 to 1800 was formative for the development of fiscal capacity, but European states diverged in the stock of capacity they acquired. This article tests whether these differences still affect contemporary tax outcomes using a novel measure of fiscal capacity, based on the age, extent and quality of state‐administered cadastral records. The empirical analysis shows that, on average, countries with higher early modern fiscal capacity have higher tax revenue today, compared to countries with lower early modern fiscal capacity. This association is robust to different model specifications and alternative measurements. The findings have important policy implications as they indicate how deeply the current fiscal problems of the continent are entrenched, but also point to what needs to be prioritised within ongoing tax reforms.     

Testing the Discourse of Declining Policy Capacity: Rail Policy and the Department of Transport

It has been observed that countries that implemented new public management (NPM) reforms are currently witnessing growing complaints about a decline in the policy capacity of their public services. Australia is a part of this trend with public sector leaders increasingly voicing concern about policy capacity decline within the Australian Public Service (APS). This article sets out to examine whether there is an empirical basis for this discourse and to assess allegations that NPM reforms have contributed to any related shifts. It draws on rail policy and the Department of Transport as its case study. It finds that the reforms transformed role of the department in a way that enhanced strategic policy capacity. However, the reforms also introduced a number of structural impediments that make it difficult for the new role to be effectively executed .     

大力提升警情处置能力之管见

当前,铁路治安形势和安全维稳形势比以往更加复杂,警情发生接连不断,处置难度越来越高,因此,铁路公安机关要立足现实斗争和实战需求,不断更新警情处置理念,始终做好应急准备,规范指挥处置流程,严把重点关键环节,健全应急联动机制,切实做到及时高效处置。     

解读政府竞争力

随着世界经济一体化的日益加剧以及经济全球化的日益深入,20世纪80年代以来,兴起的竞争力理论也日益得到广泛的关注。各国的政府机构、学术界以及企业团体等都尝试通过对该理论的深入研究与实践应用来提高自身在复杂局势面前以及应对未来更为激烈复杂挑战的竞争力水平。本文将从相关概念出发,探讨政府竞争力的实质内涵及其研究价值,旨在通过对政府竞争力的分析解读,为当前政府的改革与发展提供借鉴。