改革开放以来政府机构改革的分析与展望

文章盘点了机构改革“怪圈”循环的原因，指导性地提出了总的大略的对策、建议。     

Die Prämienverbilligung im Krankenversicherungsgesetz: Vollzugsföderalismus und sekundäre Harmonisierung

Subject of the report is the question about factors of influence on the development of a common policy between the cantons in implementing the subsidizing of contributions to health insurance of persons living in modest economic circumstances. It clearly appears that this so‐called secondary harmonization in the first place has been pushed by the concretization of the executive program by the federal administration. Secondly, the influence of various forms of horizontal cooperation is mentioned, which facilitated the exchange of information and reflection between the cantons and promoted the development of a common model for a solution. Thirdly, the paper refers to the role of the evaluation, in which a comparative analysis of the sociopolitical effectiveness of the cantonal implementation systems was made. This studies induced a number of cantons to make adaptations. In spite of all tendencies towards harmonization, however, the cantonal implementation systems still differ greatly also in this public policy. This fact is explained by fundamentally differing policy cores as well as by the varying extent to which information required for the implementation of subsidizing contributions is available in the cantons.     

Is Britain Facing a Crisis of Democracy?

This article contributes to the debate in this journal about the state of British democracy. I criticise the tendency to use a ‘demand–supply’ dichotomy in interpreting the strong distrust experienced by institutions and politicians, and especially the idea that all the blame for current problems is to be attributed to the inadequateness of the British political tradition (BPT). By referring to international data on democracy and to recent British trends in both public attitudes and institutional innovations, a more nuanced picture on the state of democracy emerges. I argue that the BPT is not incompatible with incremental changes that have already introduced innovations in the way politics works in Britain today, and that the task of empowering citizens is one of the most delicate aspects in this process of innovation.     

日本地方议会改革视阙下的议会基本条例研究

由于受各种因素制约,日本地方议会一直面临权力有限、效能不彰、民众观感不佳等问题。地方分权改革为地方议会改革创造了有利条件。20世纪90年代地方政治经济环境的变化,则进一步倒逼议会进行自我革新。议会基本条例是由地方议会制定,对议会基本事务进行规范的地方立法。议会基本条例既是议会改革的重要成果,又为改革擎画出蓝图,提供了法律保障。地方议会依据议会基本条例,不断推动议会改革。     

Who is this we that gives the gift? Native American Political Theory and The Western Tradition

Abstract

The allocation of self-determination rights to minority groups is a highly charged issue around the world, but the difficulties are particularly acute in the case of indigenous peoples within the white settler states. While liberal multiculturalism offers a ‘solution’ to this ‘problem of diversity’ through a system of differentiated citizenship rights, this comes only at the expense of excluding dissenting voices from the intercultural dialogue. Through an engagement with the multi-faceted critique of liberal multiculturalism advanced by Native American political theory, the limits of the recognition paradigm are identified, and the possibilities offered by a reconstructed Proudhonian federalism are described.     

“三个代表”、公共利益与政府改革

本文认为,“三个代表”思想的核心和归宿是代表最广大人民群众的根本利益问题,即公共利益。为实现这个目标,中国共产党作为执政党,通过公共财政、公共政策和公共管理等一系列公共机构的公共服务,政府行为是公共服务的载体,去实现公共利益。最大程度地表达和实现公共利益,是政府行政伦理的根本问题,而完成这个行政伦理的关键,是保证政府行为与公共利益的互动关系。政府改革正是建立和调整这一互动机制的动态变革过程。     

The Eurozone as a Flawed Currency Area

The European single currency system has come under unprecedented strain during the past three years and there is little reason to assume that this will diminish, in any significant way, in the near future. This article briefly explores the background to the current eurozone crisis before outlining a number of potential solutions. Specifically, we discuss how the credit crunch induced recession of 2008 triggered the problems within the eurozone regarding sovereign debt, looking at the issues of spill‐over and free‐rider effects, together with the implementation of EMU fiscal rules. The analysis is then extended by outlining a series of potential remedies. This consists of a critical evaluation of solutions that the EU has already instigated (i.e. moral persuasion, financial relief measures and debt default), together with a series of alternative propositions (i.e. fiscal federalism and a European Clearing Union) and even the collapse of the euro.     

Contesting multiculturalism: ethno-regionalism and contending forms of nationalism in late colonial Nigeria

Is multiculturalism the best way to deal with diversity in an emerging but divided (African) nation-state? Is multiculturalism antithetical to nation-building and mutual recognition of equal value among different ethnic-nationalities within African polities? These were some of the most fundamental questions that Nigeria’s ethno-regional political parties and their leaders confronted in the decolonisation period. Analysing different ethno-regional approaches to the challenges of political unity and nationalism in late colonial Nigeria, this article shows how the adoption of a federal system of government designed to encourage ‘interactive pluralism’ ended up promoting ‘fragmented pluralism’.     

The No‐men of England: The Geordie Revolt that Defeated the Scotland and Wales Bill in 1977

The Scotland and Wales Acts 1978 failed on multiple criteria. Although devolution of powers to Scotland and Wales was a principal policy of the Labour governments in office from 1974 to 1979, it was defeated in a guillotine vote in 1977. That defeat was orchestrated by the leaders of Tyne & Wear County Council, angry that a government of their own party was apparently neglecting their region in favour of Scotland. The project was rescued in two separate bills, but a further rebel amendment inserted a minimum assent condition in the required referendums. The people of Wales rejected the devolution they were offered. The people of Scotland accepted it, but by a margin that failed to cross the threshold. The resulting vote of confidence brought down the Labour government in March 1979. The role of Tyne & Wear County Council in killing the first bill has never been fully acknowledged. The lessons of the story for current devolution policy are explored. If the UK remains a single country, any policy for tax transfers must be fair to the English as well as to the people of the other three territories.