Governing complex societal problems: The impact of private on public regulation through technological change

When addressing complex societal problems, public regulation is increasingly complemented by private regulation. Extant literature has provided valuable insights into the effectiveness of such complex governance structures, with most empirical studies focusing on how public regulation influences private regulation. Conversely, the impact of private on public regulation is less well studied. Here, we investigate this impact with a focus on technological change as possible mechanism. Based on a case study of energy efficiency in buildings in Switzerland, we find evidence of a symbiotic interaction between public and private regulation that leads to ratcheting-up of regulatory stringency. We identify technological change as the mechanism linking private and public regulation. We discuss the relevance of our findings for governance literature and regulators.     

试论警察与媒体建立良性互动关系的途径

警察与媒体建立一种良性互动的共赢关系。是各级公安机关的职责。也是形势发展的必然要求。正确认识媒体、更新观念、创新思维是警察与媒体互动关系的前提和关键,建立完善新闻发言人制度和做好信息管控工作是警察与媒体互动关系的必经之路和必要措施。它不仅可以推动公安机关内部的健康发展。而且在塑造公安机关良好形象上也起着举足轻重的作用。     

Multimodal turn allocation in ESL peer group discussions

This article reports on multimodal practices used by English as a Second Language students as they work to distribute primary speakership within their peer group discussions. Following Goodwin’s participation framework, the focus is on the embodied conducts of the non-talking recipients and their nonvocal displays of emerging speakership in peer discussions. Analyses of the non-primary speakers’ gaze, gestures, touch, and bodily conduct show that the students’ turn allocation practices embody their sensitivity to the spatial and visual field of co-participants, project changing participation frameworks, and achieve incremental coordination of speaker nomination. Explorations of such nonvocal behaviors lead to a detailed understanding of the students’ embodied participation frameworks and the visible processes through which the students claim or avoid speakership during peer group discussions.     

A theory of democratisation through peace-building

Abstract

This contribution presents a theory of democratisation through peace-building. Peace-building is seen as an interactive process between external peace-builders and domestic elites; whether a post-war state develops into a democracy or not depends to a large extent on the outcome of the bargaining process between domestic elites and peace-builders. It is argued that domestic elites typically face many constraints which make adopting democratic reforms a risky and costly proposition. Also, peace-builders usually have much less leverage over domestic elites than one would expect given their resources and man-power. High adoption costs and low leverage explain the outcome of the interaction between peace-builders and domestic elites often results in a peace which is not democratic. The paper uses an analysis of 19 major peace-building missions for exemplifying the theory.     

当代世界文化格局、态势与中国文化发展战略

当代世界文化格局主要由中华、欧美、阿拉伯、印度、俄罗斯及东欧这五大文化区构成。其演变态势,一是互动加剧并趋于良性,二是欧美文化区中的强势国家对其他文化区有扩张、挤压、排斥和利用之举,三是五大文化区之间力量对比和各自内部处在此消彼长和新的分化组合之中,分别显现为“龙虎斗”、“亢龙有悔”、“潜龙勿用”、“见龙在田”。我们要认清自身的文化方位,增强使命感和文化自觉意识,大力将先进文化建设的战略部署落到实处。     

秩序重构与整体协同:巡察村居推进乡村综合治理的运作逻辑

乡村是国家治理的基本单元和重要场域,其治理模式的选择关乎乡村振兴的“最后一公里”。巡察村居以监督下沉的方式形塑地方政府的治理权威,为乡村复杂问题的解决创造条件。乡村综合治理是依据巡察结果展开的一项系统性的治理机制。在乡村复合型治理架构内,治理结构的碎片化和村民利益诉求的多样化导致“乱村”问题长期存在,巡察村居推进乡村综合治理有效运作的内在逻辑在于通过重塑地方政府的权威,为村庄公共秩序建构赢得群众信任,通过部门联动和整体协同的方式推进乡村综合治理工作落到实处。作为地方治理创新的一种有效举措,巡察村居推进乡村综合治理模式是中央顶层设计下地方政府治理创新的产物,旨在丰富“中国之治”理论体系并促进乡村善治的实现。     

中国行政诉讼中的府院互动

近十五年来,府院互动活动在我国行政诉讼实践中的开展,更新了司法权与行政权关系的传统认知,促进了行政审判制度化解纠纷、支持与监督行政等功能的发挥,同时也存在运行规范性欠缺的问题。以审判为中心和实质性化解行政争议观念引领下的个案处理型府院互动,旨在实现纠纷解决的司法目标。合法性底线论和行政过程论观念引领下的法治促进型府院互动,旨在实现政策实施的司法目标。新时代行政诉讼府院互动的继续生长,既反映着人民法院对社会治理政策变迁的回应和优化司法环境的努力,也源于行政任务导向下司法功能适度拓展的需要。行政诉讼中府院互动积极功能的发挥,尚需从完善法解释适用、加强过程公开化和保障救济实效上完成法治建构,把中国特色行政审判制度的优势转化为国家治理效能。     

Local Expenditure Interaction in Italian Municipalities: Do Local Council Partnerships Make a Difference?

This paper investigates interdependence among local councils in Italy in their public spending and distinguishes between possible sources of this interdependence. We find significant positive interaction among neighbouring local councils in regard to both spending at the level of total expenditure and spending on different sub-categories. Attempts to identify the source of this horizontal interaction seem to reject the yardstick competition hypothesis. Addressing the role that local council partnerships may play in internalising fiscal externalities, we suggest that expenditure interaction may be driven by spill-over.     

Some Neglected Aspects of Performance in Field Administration in Bangladesh

Performance of public service personnel does not depend solely upon their qualifications and level of training. Rational organization of activities and division of work with effective work processes are important, and it is necessary to ensure that employees have appropriate qualifications and training for performing the tasks assigned to them. Rules and procedures help facilitate their work and provide flexibility to innovate. Attractive terms and conditions of service, and other intangible rewards such as opportunities for contribution to the mission of the organization, participation in decision-making, and recognition by the employer and the clients of public service are also important. Based on data collected from sub-district level public agencies in Bangladesh, this article argues that performance at the field level is affected by a number of additional organizational, political, and social factors. They include personnel turnover, procedural delays, multiplicity of tasks, decision pattern and behavior, politician-administrator interaction, dual loyalty of officials, inadequate facilities for fulfilling family obligations, and attachment to major urban centers for health and educational services. These elements need to be integrated in the framework for assessing performance of public service personnel in developing countries. It is necessary to look beyond the commonly known causes for dealing with performance problems.     

Does the Prior Application of the Field Kit Bullet Hole Testing Kit 3 on a Suspected Bullet Hole Bias the Analysis of Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry?

Forensic ballistics is the study of bullet trajectory and consists of determining gunshot residue (GSR) to identify bullet holes. Among several highly sensitive methods, atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS) is employed to analyze GSR in the laboratory. However, it is sometimes necessary to identify bullet holes immediately at a crime scene. The purpose of this examination was to determine whether the use of the field test Bullet Hole Testing Kit 3 (BTK3) on a suspected bullet hole would influence the outcome of AAS‐analysis: Three commonly encountered firearms (Glock17, Tokarev, and Colt) were fired at skin, wood, and cloth. AAS‐analysis was performed with and without previous BTK3 application. The results clearly indicate that there is no significant interaction on the grounds of BTK3 use (BTK3 vs. no‐BTK3 [kit_nokit] [Pb: p = 0.1309; Sb: p = 0.9111], material*kit_nokit [Pb: p = 0.5960; Sb: p = 0.9930], distance*kit_nokit [Pb: p = 0.4014; Sb: p = 0.9184], and firearm type*kit_nokit [Pb: p = 0.9662; Sb: p = 0.9885]); hence, applying this field kit does not falsify later AAS outcomes.