Holding parties responsible at election time: Multi-level,multi-party government and electoral accountability

This paper highlights the crucial role played by party-specific responsibility attributions in performance-based voting. Three models of electoral accountability, which make distinct assumptions regarding citizens' ability to attribute responsibility to distinct governing parties, are tested in the challenging Northern Ireland context – an exemplar case of multi-level multi-party government in which expectations of performance based voting are low. The paper demonstrates the operation of party-attribution based electoral accountability, using data from the 2011 Northern Ireland Assembly Election Study. However, the findings are asymmetric: accountability operates in the Protestant/unionist bloc but not in the Catholic/nationalist bloc. This asymmetry may be explained by the absence of clear ethno-national ideological distinctions between the unionist parties (hence providing political space for performance based accountability to operate) but the continued relevance in the nationalist bloc of ethno-national difference (which limits the scope for performance politics). The implications of the findings for our understanding of the role of party-specific responsibility attribution in performance based models of voting, and for our evaluation of the quality of democracy in post-conflict consociational polities, are discussed.     

Termination Theory and National Climate Change Mitigation Programs: The Case of New Zealand

In 2008 New Zealand (NZ) changed from a Labour‐led to a National‐led government, and this resulted in a shift to government's carbon emission mitigation strategy, including the abandonment of the Communities for Climate Protection (CCP) and the Carbon Neutral Public Service (CNPS) programs. Using deLeon's seminal model for program termination, the objective of this research is to determine why NZ's newly elected government discontinued these initiatives. This empirical research is investigative and probing, and comprises a series of semi‐structured interviews with senior managers responsible for the delivery of the respective program within their organization. The architects of each program are also investigated. In the end, this study finds that while economic constraints and programmatic inefficiencies may have played a contributing role, political ideology is the primary rationale for the termination of the CNPS and the CCP‐NZ programs.     

美国大学董事会人事事务的“公私差异”研究

为给我国不同类型的大学借鉴美国大学之法人-董事会制度提供参考，通过分析来自美国15个州的15所著名公立大学和15所著名私立大学董事会人事事务的相关资料和数据，发现美国大学人事事务的“公私差异”主要表现在董事会的成员规模、成员产生方式、成员任期制度及校长和学生“入董”这四个方面。美国大学董事会人事事务的“公私差异”反映了不同类型的大学因为其性质的不同而在其安排最高决策层的人事事务时存在不同的内在逻辑。     

我国公用事业政府监管的文献述评

我国公用事业政府监管的研究总体上可分为两大领域:一是公用事业政府监管的基本理论;二是我国公用事业政府监管的实践研究。其中,公用事业政府监管的基本理论包括公用事业监管的内涵及其原因探究;公用事业政府监管的实践研究则包括"我国相关实践的系统总结与审视"、"国外相关实践经验的介绍与总结"、"构建科学高效的公用事业监管体系"三大部分。     

论转型时期我国地方政府治理模式的创新

地方政府治理模式是否科学有效,不仅直接关系到地方社会的发展和人民群众的切身利益,而且直接影响地方政府的效能和形象。在社会转型时期,利益分化和阶层分化趋势明显,权力寻租和权力腐败现象仍然存在,公民社会力量不断增强,使现有地方政府治理模式面临新的压力与挑战。因此,地方政府治理模式应当引入市场机制,增强政府与社会的合作,强调自上而下的管理和自下而上参与的结合,培养多元管理主体,从而构建起地方政府、市场、社会三维框架下的多中心治理模式。     

Rhetoric in municipal amalgamations: a comparative analysis

ABSTRACT

There is a large literature that seeks to evaluate municipal amalgamations ex post, but a relative dearth of scholarly inquiry into the practical political task of persuading the public to accept amalgamations ex ante. We address this important gap in the literature by conducting a rhetorical analysis to ascertain what types of arguments are believed to be efficacious for persuasion on amalgamation. We find evidence to suggest belief in the efficacy of persuading the public through recourse to various projected dreadful consequences, particularly amongst opponents of amalgamation. We conclude by considering some of the reasons behind the observed rhetorics and briefly outline one possible solution.     

TPP的内容、特点与日本参加的难题

自美国总统奥巴马在2009年11月14日访日时宣布美国将加入泛太平洋战略经济伙伴关系协定(TPP)以来,在一些APEC成员纷纷对TPP采取积极态度的情况下,日本也一直考虑参加TPP的问题。参加TPP有利于日本出口产业扩大出口,而对日本农业却会造成严重的打击。因此,日本国内出现了强烈的反对意见,主张参加者和反对参加者各执一词,争论不休,致使日本政府举棋不定,难下决断。至今尚未取得突破性进展,关键的问题在于日本农业改革的前景不容乐观。     

以人为本推进陕西地方政府转型

转型是经济社会发展到一定程度必经的阶段和过程。近年来,随着经济全球化、市场一体化,地方政府转型已成为当今世界的潮流。为适应我国发展的整体形势和陕西经济社会发展的现实需要,陕西加快了地方政府转型。推进全省各级政府科学合理转型,更好地促进地方经济社会全面、协调、持续、快速发展,实现富民强省的目标,陕西应从实际出发,坚持以人为本,向服务、民主、法治、责任、高效型政府转变。     

从管制型政府升级为服务型政府进程中的思想解放

当前,构建服务型政府已成为中国各级政府的战略目标,但实际过程却显低潮态势,最大阻力源自与管制型政府相适应的传统行政思想及观念。因此,通过解放思想,重塑民本、开放、自主、分权、协调的与服务型政府相适应的思想理念就成为亟待解决的问题。     

创新公共行政文化推进行政审批蛘

创新公共行政文化，是包括行政审批改革在内的行政管理体制改革不断深化的呼唤。现实中，公共行政文化发展存在许多弊端，包括“重人治、轻法治”和“官本位”思想盛行，相对封闭排他的行政文化，重管理、轻服务、轻责任的行政文化等。因此，重塑公共行政文化，深化行政审批改革，必须要树立民主法治的行政文化思想，践行“以人为本”的行政服务文化，强化有所为有所不为、相对开放的行政理念，树立权责统一的行政文化思想，唯此，才能进一步推进政府职能转变。