New Public Management and Administrative Reforms in Nigeria

This study examines the Nigerian attempts to implement the New Public Management (NPM) reform. The paper aims at identifying the strand, the extent of progress made and the reason(s) for success/failure recorded. The author finds that the poor success story of the reform is as a result of the preference of the more attractive cost-saving neoliberal economic aspect to the more involving and demanding bureaucratic aspect, the inconsistencies in program implementation, and lack of strong political will common to adopting reform in developing countries. The article recommends that reforms require dealing with the critical challenges of institutionalization, inconsistency and legitimization.     

Public Administration Reform and Its Implications for Foreign Petroleum Companies in Kazakhstan

Since 2000, Kazakhstan has followed the New Public Management reform trajectory in modernizing its public sector and public service delivery. This article employs an actor-centered perspective to examine the effects of the public administration reform and its implications for foreign petroleum companies in Kazakhstan. The study builds on primary sources in the form of 81 semi-structured interviews with public servants, representatives of foreign petroleum companies and experts. The main conclusion is that the reform effects are ambiguous. Despite some success in greater efficiency of public services, many weaknesses remain, with highly varying implications for foreign petroleum companies.     

Urban Regeneration Policy from the Integrated Urban Development Model in the European Union: an Analytical Approach Based on the Study of Spanish Cities

For several years, local governments have been tackling new challenges related to the regeneration of their cities within the physical sphere, as well as in their economic and social aspects. This task is developed in accordance with what has been called the Integrated Urban Development Model, understanding the integrated nature of this approach not only in terms of the spheres of public policy involved, but also in relation to their management. In this paper, this management is analysed in terms of the development of mechanisms for New Local Governance and New Public Management (NPM). Using Spanish municipalities as a case study, this paper develops an analytical tool for the analysis of this model of urban intervention within the European context, paying close attention to the development of mechanisms for New Local Governance from a multilevel perspective, as well as the development of mechanisms for NPM.     

Municipal Mergers in New Zealand: An Empirical Analysis of the Proposed Amalgamation of Hawke’s Bay Councils

Local government policymakers across the developed world have frequently employed municipal amalgamation to improve the operation of local councils, and New Zealand is no exception. This paper empirically examines claims made in Potential Costs and Savings of Local Government Reform in Hawke’s Bay that the merger of the five local authorities in the Hawke’s Bay Region of New Zealand would generate significant cost-savings. We empirically test for the existence of scale economies in a single merged Hawke’s Bay council and find that no cost-savings can be expected. This removes a key argument for a forced Hawke’s Bay amalgamation.     

Lev Gumilev and the European New Right

The striking affinities that have developed between radical-conservative movements in Western Europe and Russia since the end of the Cold War have been widely noted. This essay considers these affinities through the example of the Soviet historian and geographer Lev Nikolaevich Gumilev (1912–1992). It argues that Gumilev and the European New Right developed perspectives that were highly comparable, founded on similar principles, and articulated through similar images and allusions. Yet despite the powerful resonances in terms of basic concepts and theoretical orientation, there were nonetheless deep differences in terms of the conclusions regarding the practical implications for their respective societies that Gumilev and the Europeans deduced from these principles.     

社会主义新农村建设中的社会治安问题研究之一和谐社会建设中的新农村道德建设

和谐社会建设中的新农村建设首先是道德建设。要进行新农村的道德建设,就必须对我国的传统道德进行有效的梳理。国家在对农村进行物质文明建设的同时,更要加大精神文明建设的力度,真正实现自然、人和人类社会的共同、健康的发展。加强新农村的道德建设对传承我国延续几千年的道德文明,摒弃落后的、不健康的东西,重构社会主义的新型道德价值观,稳定社会治安意义重大。     

高校治理体系和治理能力现代化视域下教代会改革创新 ：理论逻辑与实践指向

从党的十八届三中全会到十九届四中全会,国家治理体系和治理能力现代化从理论内涵到实践路径不断得以明确,为高校治理体系和治理能力现代化指明了方向、提出了要求。民主治理是新时期高校治理现代化的重要方面之一,因此,教代会工作的改革创新也就成为了这一目标下的必然要求。本研究在论证教代会改革创新的理论逻辑必然性的基础上,通过重新审视高校教代会的工作现状和改革创新面临的困境,探讨了加强党对教代会工作的全面领导、完善教代会改革创新的运行和保障机制,以及夯实教代会民主治校工作中源头参与的实效举措这三方面的治理实践指向。     

新精神活性物质检验鉴定面临的挑战和对策

新精神活性物质更新快,种类繁多,缺乏国际条约的监管,列入联合国管控目录困难,加之一些国家和国际社会对大麻等毒品管控降低,给我国在新精神活性物质类毒品的监管带来困难.具有成瘾性和社会危害性的新精神活性物质才能成为列管对象,毒物分析技术人员在列管程序中扮演极为重要的角色.我国对新精神活性物质的监管法规规定了相关列管程序,毒...     

社会主义新农村养老保障探析

在新形势下,传统的农村养老体制面临着前所未有的挑战和机遇,因此在巩固传统的家庭养老方式的同时,逐步建立和完善多样化的农村养老保障体系势在必行。在建设社会主义新农村的契机下,有必要探索出一条多层次、灵活多样的农村养老之路;发挥个人、家庭、政府、社会的协力,最终实现“老有所养、老有所医、老有所乐”这一夙愿。     

论当代中国马克思主义政治经济学的新境界

政治经济学与经济学的主要区别在于是否研究生产关系。马克思主义政治经济学用唯物主义的自然史的方法论述经济关系。当代中国马克思主义政治经济学有如下新境界：准确把握中国社会主要矛盾的变化,准确把握中国经济新常态,创新宏观调控思路和方式等。历史发展没有止境,当代中国马克思主义政治经济学新境界的开拓也没有止境。而要不断开拓当代中国马克思主义政治经济学的新境界,需要有科学的方法论和正确的思考方式,既着眼当前又立足长远,做到“六个坚持”,具有批判精神,尤其是必须深入学习马克思主义政治经济学的基本原理和习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想。