Limits of regulatory responsiveness: Democratic credentials of responsive regulation

Responsiveness and accountability constitute the process of democratic representation, reinforcing each other. Responsiveness asks elected representatives to adopt policies ex ante preferred by citizens, while accountability consists of the people's ex post sanctioning of the representatives based on policy outcomes. However, the regulatory literature tends to interpret responsiveness narrowly between a regulator and regulatees: the regulator is responsive to regulatees’ compliance without considering broader public needs and preferences. Democratic regulatory responsiveness requires that the regulator should be responsive to the people, not just regulatees. We address this theoretical gap by pointing out the perils of regulatory capture and advancing John Braithwaite's idea of tripartism as a remedy. We draw out two conditions of democratic regulatory responsiveness from Philip Selznick – comprehensiveness and proactiveness. We then propose overlapping networked responsiveness based on indirect reciprocity among various stakeholders. This mechanism is the key to connecting regulatory responsiveness with accountability.     

Advocacy Coalitions in Ontario Land Use Policy Development

In 2005, the Ontario government passed the Places to Grow Act and the Greenbelt Act, both major changes in land use policy designed to preserve greenspaces and combat urban sprawl in the Greater Golden Horseshoe, Canada's largest conurbation. This article examines the actors, actor beliefs, and inter‐actor alliances in the southern Ontario land use policy subsystem from the perspective of the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF). Specifically, this paper undertakes an empirical examination of the ACF's Belief Homophily Hypothesis, which holds that inter‐actor alliances form on the basis of shared policy‐relevant beliefs, creating advocacy coalitions. The analysis finds strong evidence of three advocacy coalitions in the policy subsystem—an agricultural coalition, an environmentalist coalition, and a developers' coalition—as predicted by the hypothesis. However, it also finds equally strong evidence of a cross‐coalition coordination network of peak organizations, something not predicted by the Belief Homophily Hypothesis, and in need of explanation within the ACF.     

Competition and switching in public service markets: Can they reduce inequalities?

Regulatory reforms to public infrastructure services across European Union (EU) countries were aimed at increasing consumer welfare by introducing competition and choice into service markets. However, empirical evaluations have questioned whether these reforms have benefitted all consumers, suggesting that vulnerable groups of service users (especially those with lower levels of formal education), might be locked into poorly performing services. We assess the relationship between the level of competition in electricity and fixed telephony markets in EU countries and evaluate the affordability of these services for different socio‐educational layers. Our findings show that – although in countries where there is a relatively high frequency of switching, inequalities between socio‐educational groups are smaller and eventually disappear – competition as such does not play a part. These results suggest that demand‐side regulation that successfully enables consumer switching has the potential to equalize social welfare, thereby reflecting a possible convergence of regulatory instruments and the central aims of the welfare state in this context.     

Understanding the Regulatory Thicket: Interactions Among State Environmental Regulators and Regulatees

Research exploring state-level regulatory interactions in the U.S. often employs survey methodology to ask front-line actors about their experiences. While these efforts are noteworthy, we argue that it is important to investigate these interactions utilizing a different approach. In this exploratory study, we use randomized vignettes, to which a respondent can react without fear of revealing practices or succumbing to social desirability. Our results are in concert with a growing body of literature that suggests cooperation between the regulator and regulatees is essential for future interactions in order to achieve compliance, yet each party’s perceptions may not be completely congruent.     

关于强化城市大气环境管理若干问题的思考

我国城市大气环境质量不容乐观,特别是煤烟加汽车尾气复合型污染是当前急待解决的问题。要强化大气环境管理,应建立有效的大气环境管理运行机制,制定大气污染防治目标和对策,积极推进各种管理手段的改革和深化,坚持科研为管理服务,加强科学研究。     

兽药对生态环境影响的研究进展

综述了兽药对陆生和水生生态环境影响方面的研究进展,探讨了兽药对陆生植物、土壤动物、土壤微生物与原生生物等陆生生态环境的影响及对浮游类生物与微生物、鱼虾与水体甲壳动物等水生生态环境的影响及其生态毒理效应。     

中俄海洋安全合作论析

中俄两国在太平洋、北冰洋等海域存在诸多共同的海洋安全目标和利益,双方的海洋安全合作不仅可以在理论层面丰富发展国家间海洋安全合作的内涵,也可在现实层面改善两国的海洋安全环境,维护两国海洋安全权益,同时为全球海洋安全治理做出贡献。21世纪以来,国际形势的变化和中俄关系的相向而行给中俄海洋安全合作营造了良好的外交环境。中俄两国多层级、多领域的合作机制,为两国海洋安全合作的开展提供了丰富的交流沟通平台。北极地区作为新疆域为中俄海洋安全合作带来了新的机遇。中国“一带一路”倡议和俄罗斯“向东看”发展政策也在不断拓展双方共同的海洋安全利益。与此同时,中俄两国的海洋安全合作也面临着“互信程度有待进一步提高、海上防卫方向不完全重合、世界海洋安全环境的复杂与敏感”等问题。在此情况下,通过加强中俄海洋经济的合作、积极构建海洋安全利益共同体以及合理规划中俄海洋安全合作的重点方向和拓展空间,可有效应对双方海洋安全合作面临的挑战。同时,推动多边海洋安全合作机制的建立不仅可为新时代中俄海洋安全合作的深化保驾护航,也有利于促进全球海洋安全的制度化建设。     

对警察权规制路径的思考

警察权是国家权力的重要组成部分,警察权的运行状态在一定程度上标志着一个国家法制文明的发展水平。在社会主义初级阶段的社会转型时期,警察权的运行状态引起了学术界和公共管理部门的高度重视。警察权的配置是根据国家政治制度和权力组织形式而界定的,研究警察权的治理问题必须基于国家政治制度的框架,坚持从现实社会的需要与可能出发,才能解决问题。