Co-opting Good Governance Reform: The Rise of a Not-so-Reformist Leader in Kebumen,Central Java

Challenging the existing literature, which tends to downplay the impact of good governance reform in post-Suharto Indonesia, the article suggests that greater intervention by international donors, combined with the process of decentralisation, has influenced the dynamics of political competition at the local level. It suggests that the increasing availability of international aid has provided local elites with an option to engage in a new form of patronage politics that relies less on old instruments, such as money politics and violence. By selectively committing themselves to good governance reform, Indonesian local elites can now seek a new source of power in the form of support from international donors, with which they can raise their profiles as ‘reformists’ and consolidate power, only to engage in familiar, if less blatant, forms of patronage politics. The article highlights such a dimension of local politics with reference to the case of Kebumen's former regent, Rustriningsih.     

A Comparative Institutional Analysis of Korean and Japanese Clientelism

Clientele networks are differently structured across nations, depending on the political institutional setup and the configuration of political and social forces. The political institutional setup, which is cross-nationally different, determines where clientele networks are formed, how extensive they are and how long they can persist. The configuration of political and social forces, which varies over time, defines who takes the lead in clientele networks and how effective they are for producing policy effects. A comparison of Korean and Japanese clientelism suggests that the Korean case represents a form of national-level, defensive, non-cumulative and high political-risk clientelism, while the Japanese case illustrates a form of local-level, cumulative and low political-risk clientelism. Korean clientelism is not a copy of the Japanese variant. Based on this analysis, the author suggests that not every social organisation is functional for democratic governance. He also points out that the gradual process of disintegrating clientele networks is on the move.     

Asian crisis,transparency and the international media in Singapore

Abstract

The issue of Taiwan and relations across the Taiwan Strait is not only of fundamental interest to China, but also crucial to peace and stability in the Asian Pacific, thereby also making it of key concern to major players such as the United States and Japan. Beijing has faced enormous challenges over how to solve its dilemma. I would like to achieve reunification with Taiwan through a peaceful path, but perceive that it must be prepared for a war scenario if Taiwan insists on breaking from the mainland for its independence. The dilemma facing Beijing in terms of war or peace with Taiwan has become more acute since the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) moved to power in 2000. This article analyses Beijing's dilemma over the above policy choices by examining five stages of Beijing's assessment toward regime change in Taiwan from late 1999 to early 2005. It also illuminates the potential impact on major power relations in East Asia.     

Prospects for future Australian‐United States defence cooperation

Singapore’s governing elite is less bureaucratic and less separated from private interests than commonly thought. The bureaucracy has little independent strength and the political leadership is entwined with leading members of the business community, particularly the financial sector, to the point that the line between public and private is frequently indistinct. Given that democratic or interest-group constraints are minimal, transparency low and the rule of law in doubt, why Singapore’s activist economic policies have not decayed into a search for private rewards is rather puzzling. This article argues that Singapore’s record of sound government rests on informal governing institutions as well as attributes of the formal government sector. The informal institutions encompass nominally public and private actors in a systematized way, structuring the incorporation of private actors to embed the values of performance-based merit and working with, not against, government. The system of government is, however, fragile and may be showing signs of decay.     

Planning and Control System With a Network Approach： Evidence From the Italian Regional Governments

The focus on networks in public administration has grown rapidly in recent years and prompts modifications of traditional planning and control systems of public entities. Public networks have been defined as a response to the criticalities of New Public Management and they represent a recurring approach for policy implementation and service provision in the theoretical framework known as New Public Governance. This article addresses the question whether public entities are aware of being part of a network and whether they have actually changed, as such, their planning and control system. Focus is made on the case of Italian regional governments which are particularly significant for different reasons. First of all, the recent process of administrative devolution and federalism in Italy has reinforced regional governments＇ powers and responsibilities as well as their importance as actors in the political and economic scenario, where they can influence the behaviours of many public and private organizations. Furthermore, Italian regional governments have extensive autonomy and so they can actually modify and integrate traditional documents of their planning and control system. The article proposes a framework for mapping different approaches toward being part of a public network. This framework can support the interpretation of the behaviour of public entities involved in networks and take the initiatives to develop them.     

Multiple Trajectories and “Good Governance” in Asia: An Introduction

Conventional wisdom in the international aid community has been that governance systems and practices in developing countries require reform in order for aid catering to economic development or poverty alleviation to be successful. Despite criticisms, the good governance agenda has remained unscathed in international development policy until the recent economic crisis in the advanced economies. This feature section of this issue provides in-depth analysis of the nuances at the critical linkage between institutional reforms and development, based on empirical case studies of the logic of governance reforms in the Asian context. This introductory essay surveys the intellectual background of discussion over the concepts of governance, good governance and development, and the linkage between governance reforms as process and development as outcome. It highlights the significance of discussing Asian reform experiences for the ongoing reflection over the global institutional agenda. The message is not that we do not need governance reforms, or that international learning is impossible or counterproductive. Reform efforts in developing and advanced economies will benefit, however, from a better understanding of the linkage between reforms and the diverse historical conditions they are embedded in.     

习近平法治思想中的刑事法要义

有关刑事法治的丰富论述是习近平法治思想的重要组成部分,可以将习近平法治思想中的刑事法要义概括为“宽严相济,以发展眼光看问题”的刑事政策论、“完善对违法犯罪行为的惩治和矫正法律”的刑事立法论、“守住防范冤错案件的底线”的刑事司法论、“综合施策、标本兼治”的犯罪治理论。习近平法治思想中的刑事法要义在吸收国际社会刑事法治文明成果的同时,较为集中地体现了对中华法治文明的传承与弘扬。刑事法治建设与刑事法研究必须以习近平刑事法治思想为根本遵循,深刻领悟和把握习近平刑事法治思想的博大精深,避免做西方刑事法治经验与理论的“搬运工”。     

数据价值释放的理论逻辑、实现路径与治理体系

释放数据要素潜能的政策设计需要基于数据要素的经济属性并遵循数据要素价值形成规律。数据要素的非竞争性属性以及价值实现过程显示,开放共享是基础前提,数据驱动的创新是根本驱动力,匹配的治理体系是制度保障。数据价值释放应坚持分类治理的导向和采取多轨并进的路径,以促进多源驱动的数字商业创新。数据价值释放的治理制度体系应重点加强促进数据价值释放的基础性政策供给、创新数据市场化配置与交易机制、完备数据价值释放的治理制度保障。     

协同治理视野下的地方政府与非营利组织之间的良性合作关系

协同治理是一种新的政府治理理论,它强调政府、非营利组织和个体公民等多元社会组织和行为者相互协调合作,共同治理社会公共事务。基于协同治理的视角实现地方政府与非营利组织之间的良性合作,应充分发挥地方政府、非营利组织和个体公民的主体作用。     

城市依法治理的历史路径

北京市依法治理有比较长的历史。在这段历史进程中城市依法治理发生了一系列的变化,立法更趋符合北京的城市特色。在新的历史时期,应该采取相应措施促进北京市依法治理工作的健康发展。