The Dynamics of Local Service Delivery Arrangements and the Role of Nonprofits

This article examines the relationship between “contract failure” (the bringing “in-house” of previously contracted services) and service characteristics. The connection between contract failure and nonprofit and for-profit status is also explored. The analyses are performed using International City/County Management Association data and three service typologies constructed by previous scholars. The findings indicate that: 1) contract failure is more common than anticipated, and is actually relatively more common than privatization; 2) while service characteristics are associated with the frequency of contract failure, the nexus is tenuous; 3) nonprofit entities are less prone to contract failure than their for-profit counterparts.     

Reassessing the Role of Civil Society Organizations in the Transition to Democracy in Spain

Spain's democratization process has mainly been described as a settlement between political elites in which civil society organizations played little part. Yet the literature on Eastern European democratization sets great store by the role of civil society, both for transition and consolidation. Does this different treatment reflect the approach adopted by analysts or the actual contrasting presence of civil society organizations in the relevant periods? The question prompts this re-examination of the role of civil society organizations in the Spanish transition. It finds that the answer depends in part on definitions of civil society, but mainly on the approach taken by authors in presenting their accounts. It finds that the elite settlement perspective silences or removes agency from the Spanish civil society organizations active in the transition.

An alternative view is developed through an in-depth review of the events following the death of the dictator General Franco in 1975 and a textual analysis of Spain's actual definitive settlement, the 1978 Constitution. The research demonstrates that civil society organizations were responsible for disrupting the dictatorship's intention to maintain an authoritarian regime, leaving it no option but to negotiate with civil society organizations such as political parties and trade unions, which were pursuing their own strategic goals towards co-construction of a socially advanced democracy. The article's approach bridges the gulf between top-down and bottom-up accounts of political change in Spain at the end of the Franco regime.     

Interstate conflicts: 1815–1965

This paper reports the creation of a data set of 256 cases of international conflict between 1815 and 1965. These conflicts consisted of (1) international disputes and crises in which the use of force appeared likely, (2) the unreciprocated use of violence, and (3) the reciprocated use of violence. The paper includes some statistics describing patterns in the data and contains an Appendix listing the data set.     

Canadian Police Mothers and the Boys’ Club: Pregnancy,Maternity Leave,and Returning to Work

This article explores police mothers’ perceptions of their workplace experiences during pregnancy and maternity leave and returning to work. Using Charmaz’s (2014 Charmaz, K. (2014). Constructing grounded theory. London, UK: Sage. [Google Scholar]) constructivist grounded theory with a critical feminist lens, qualitative interviews were conducted with 16 police mothers in the province of Ontario, Canada. Our analysis reveals that policewomen work inordinately hard to prove physical and emotional strength in an attempt to be accepted into policing’s boys’ club; encounter negative workplace responses to pregnancy; are often demoted or reassigned during maternity leave; and need to re-prove themselves as officers upon returning to work. Our research aims to enhance retention and foster changes that will best support police mothers, police organizations, and the communities they serve.     

Legitimacy and Social Impact in the Context of Changing Public Cultural Organizations

This article explores an organization's practices, values, and its role in society within a transformed legal status. The article clarifies the role of the organizational form in engagement with society and outlines the connections between different types of legitimacy by elaborating concepts of neo-institutional theory and cultural policy. A conceptual map of the institutional elements, cultural values, and legitimacy is presented. The analysis is based on the Estonian Russian Theater and concludes that an organization can influence the basis of its legitimacy. The management's aspirations to balance values and deal with cognitive legitimacy may lead to rearranging the institutional framework.     

政府与社会组织关系研究——以吉林省为例

合作伙伴关系是政府在认识和解决与社会组织关系问题的一种新视角、新思路,是政府在提供公共物品以及实施公共管理时,与其他社会组织建立的一种相互沟通、协调和协商合作的机制和分担责任、分享收益,实现共赢的一种合作模式,表明政府与社会组织之间不再完全是管理与被管理的关系,而是形成了具有很强契约特点的政府管理的新理念,体现出政府在公共治理中角色的转变及其对自身职能和地位的重新认识。     

谈民间组织发展与政府职能转变的互动关系

民间组织发展和政府职能转变的互动关系构成了市民社会与国家二元互动的一个缩影,也是行政管理体制改革事业有效开展的重要组成部分。政府职能转变为民间组织发展提供了重要契机和必要空间,并将带来政府对民间组织监督和管理方式的相应变化;民间组织的发展也将会从多个方面推动政府职能转变和行政管理体制改革,并成为政府职能转变效果的重要表征和继续改革的信心来源与动力支撑。     

加强农村基层组织建设突出社区化管理特色

在当前农村社会矛盾凸现、利益关系日益复杂的状况下,加强农村基层组织建设刻不容缓,十七届三中全会通过的《中共中央关于推进农村改革发展若干重大问题的决定》第六部分指明了加强农村基层组织建设的目标和方向。贯彻落实《决定》精神,不仅要在现有基础上完善提高,更要改革创新,突出社区化管理特色。     

论农村集体经济组织产权制度改革

对农村集体经济组织进行产权制度改革,建立股份合作制或股份公司等现代农村经济组织形态和现代产权运行机制,其方法是将集体资产合理量化并以股权的方式分配给符合一定条件的农民,使农民由原来抽象地行使集体资产所有权变为具体地行使公司(企业)出资人权益。农村集体资产除了作为农业生产资料外,同时还是广大农民社会保障的物质基础。因此,必须同时着眼于合作社时期的农民投资关系、农民在集体资产中的劳动积累关系和集体资产对农民的社会保障关系,才能保证量化分配的公平性与合理性,使改制工作达到预期效果。