Public Administration Reform in a Challenging Environment: A Review of the Establishment of the Health Economics and Financing Directorate (HEFD) within the Afghanistan Ministry of Public Health

The purpose of this article is to provide an example of recent public administration reform in Afghanistan. In 2003, the Afghan Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) established the Basic Package of Health Services (BPHS) and other health services. To date, service delivery has been conducted largely by NGOs, funded by the main international donors, and managed by the Grant and Contracts Management Unit (GCMU) of the MoPH. Despite these advancements, Afghanistan continues to face significant challenges in health service provision and policy. In 2009, the GCMU was restructured into the Health Economics and Financing Directorate (HEFD), which broadened the scope of the Unit to conduct important economic analyses. This article examines the MoPH's role in health financing as a developing institution engaged in applied health economics and policy analysis. This development will allow the MoPH to build evidence for policy-making and further establish its stewardship role in the health sector.     

Economic cooperation in Northeast Asia: The proposed Tumen River scheme

Abstract

This paper examines a relatively unexplored aspect of the Russo-Japanese territorial dispute: the involvement of subnational actors. It focuses in particular on the sustained campaign of domestic lobbying and paradiplomacy by elites from the Far East region of Sakhalin aimed at preventing the Russian central government from transferring the South Kuril Islands/Northern Territories to Japan during the 1990s. It explores the various responses to the ‘Sakhalin factor’ from federal authorities in Russia, as well as private and public bodies in Japan, highlighting the subsequent localization and pluralization of diplomatic channels. The paper also considers why the ‘Sakhalin factor’ became so prominent, pointing to a synergy of factors that include the high-profile anti-concessionary campaigns of the Sakhalin political elite, the fallout from Russia's troubled attempts at state building and a possible convergence of interests between Boris Yeltsin and regional authorities. The paper concludes with an analysis of how Vladimir Putin's federal reforms, launched in 2000, have diminished Sakhalin's authority over the South Kuril Islands.     

Structural and Textural Dimensions of Territorial State Organisation

In the framework of devolution, British scholars have inquired how to assess the constitutional position of the local government in the UK and its effect for improving or hindering autonomy and democracy at the local level. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the same topic from a more general and comparative perspective, combining conceptual tools of continental public law and political science. To do this the paper proposes to differentiate three concepts of territorial state configuration. These concepts are territorial structure, territorial texture, and vertical diffusion of state authority. This paper asserts that the confusion of these three dimensions has not only impaired an adequate assessment of the constitutional position of local governments, but that the structural dimension has been under-theorised, thus distorting measurements of subnational authority. Moreover, scholars have underestimated structural constraints upon changes in the local government position within the polity. Finally, an operationalisation of the new findings is offered by plotting selected countries in a Cartesian system comparing them from the perspective of territorial structure and vertical authority diffusion.     

Commissioning for Health and Wellbeing: An Introduction

Local government reforms have been carried out in a number of European countries, aiming at both more effective service production and increased citizen participation in local politics. Although extensive research has been carried out analysing the content and background of these reforms, few if any, studies have considered the democratic effects of these reforms at the level of the individual citizen. This article investigates relationship between local government reforms and citizen trust in local government, focusing on individual-level data on local government reforms in Norway in 2008. The analysis shows that it is difficult to find a clear relationship between reform policies and trust in local politicians. These findings parallel other contributions in concluding that it is difficult to find substantial effects from local government re-organisations.     

The Chinese Nationalists and the Great Rear Area : Wartime Szechwan*

Abstract

Kang Youwei’s successive visits to Canada from 1899 initiated a reformist movement among the worldwide Chinese diaspora for over a decade. But his Canadian experience has long been neglected, and the overseas Chinese movement has often been downplayed as an extension or even regression from the abortive 1898 Reform. The rise and fall of the movement have been ascribed respectively to Kang’s reformist mobilization for monarchist patriotism and to the political challenge of the anti-Qing revolutionaries. This article, however, argues that Kang’s diasporic experience, especially his interactions with the Chinese in Canada, greatly radicalized and expanded his reforms. His new program for reform of both China and the Chinese diaspora enabled his movement to spread from Canada to the global arena. This movement also began to decline from Canada around 1909 because of Kang’s clashes with leaders of Canadian Chinatowns. Nonetheless, it caused unprecedented politicization and integration of overseas Chinese.     

Book reviews

The Sources of Democratic Consolidation by Gerard Alexander, reviewer: Eddie Hyland; Towards Holistic Governance by Perri 6, Diana Leach, Kimberly Selzer and Gerry Stoker, reviewer: Peter J. Laugharne; Democracy and War: The End of an Illusion? by Errol A. Henderson, reviewer: Adam Jones; Referendum Democracy: Citizens, Elites and Deliberation in Referendum Campaigns edited by Matthew Mendelsohn and Andrew Parkin, reviewer: Fiachra Kennedy; Mapping the Present: Heidegger, Foucault and the Project of a Spatial History by Stuart Elden, reviewer: Steve Buckler; Citizenship, Labour Markets and Democratization by Louise Haagh, reviewer: Jennifer Holmes; Economic Policy Reform: The Second Stage edited by Anne O. Krueger, reviewer: Carlos Santiso; The Press in Transition: A Comparative Study of Nicaragua, South Africa, Jordan and Russia by Adam Jones, reviewer: Mark Wheeler; Democracy and the Public Space in Latin America by Leonardo Avritzer, reviewer: George Philip; Democratic Control of the Military in Postcommunist Europe: Guarding the Guards edited by Andrew Cottey, Timothy Edmunds and Anthony Forster, reviewer: Bill Mikhail; Regional Russia in Transition: Studies from Yaroslavl edited by Jeffrey W. Hahn, reviewer: Bill Mikhail; Out of the Red. Building Capitalism and Democracy in Postcommunist Europe by Mitchell A. Orenstein, reviewer: Henri Vogt; Explaining Irish Democracy by Bill Kissane, reviewer: Niamh Hardiman; Indira Gandhi, the 'Emergency' and Indian Democracy by P.N. Dhar, reviewer: Vernon Hewitt; Government and Politics in Southeast Asia edited by John Funston, reviewer: Mark R. Thompson; Democratization and Welfare State Development in Taiwan by Christian Aspalter, reviewer: James D. Seymour; Religion and Politics in the Developing World: Explosive Interactions edited by Rolin G. Mainuddin Transforming East Asian Domestic and International Politics. The Impact of Economy and Globalization edited by Robert W. Compton, Jr, reviewer: Jeff Haynes; Beyond State Crisis? Post-Colonial Africa and Post-Soviet Eurasia in Comparative Perspective edited by Mark Beissinger and Crawford Young, reviewer: Ian Taylor; The National Question in Nigeria: Comparative Perspectives edited by Abubakar Momoh and Said Adejumobi, reviewer: Rotimi T. Suberu; A Strategic Vision for Africa: The Kampala Movement by Francis M. Deng and I. William Zartman     

State-based Representation and National Policymaking: The Evolution of the Australian Senate and the Federation

Ostensibly, Australia's constitutional framers designed the upper house as the ‘guardian of states' interests', ensuring that the smaller states were adequately represented in the federation. In recent decades the Senate has positively reinvented itself as a guardian of democracy, and is commonly known as the ‘house of review’. This study examines the changing representative role of senators and the Senate through surveys and interviews of current and former senators. The Senate has also become more of a guardian of the national interest, with proportional representation, larger constituencies and longer terms being the key institutional factors.     

英国执行机构改革及其对我们的启示

英国执行机构改革的国际地位及其当前在我国产生的影响使其备受瞩目。本文对执行机构改革背景及针对的问题、执行机构体现出的组织模式多样化原则、执行机构的管理体制、执行机构的改革趋势等进行系统描述讨论。其目的在于阐明 :执行机构改革的核心理念是机构类型和组织模式的多样化 ,其性质是一场管理革命而非机构的革命。在此基础上 ,就英国执行机构改革对我国的启迪提出一些个人看法。     

侦查学本科专业实习教学的经验与存在的问题

侦查学是一门运用性、实践性极强的学科,因而教师应对侦查专业的学生进行实习教学.从目前来看,实习教学总结出了许多经验,但也反映出大量问题需要在后续教学中进一步改革,譬如实习期间短、课堂教学时缺乏对学生一些基本技能的培训.故为完善侦查学本科专业的实习工作,需要进行合理的改革.     

The Coalition Programme: A New Vision for Britain or Politics as Usual?

The Coalition programme includes restructuring public provision through reforms and cuts which will take public spending in the Britain below that in the US. This article explores whether the Coalition agenda is best understood as a new approach to Britain's deep‐seated economic short‐comings or simply as the normal politics of gaining and retaining power. It analyses the current government's programme, identifies the common features across the range of policies and discusses how they are likely to develop as they encounter set‐backs.