Politics of exclusion and institutional transformation in Ethiopia

Ethiopia experienced a critical juncture in 1991 with the defeat of the military dictatorship, opening up the possibilities of a new political order. Since then the country underwent social engineering and institutional transformation emerging as a leading reformist state under hegemonic-party rule with high institutional state capacity but also a concentration, and even personalisation, of decision-making power. This approximates to a path of ‘authoritarian institutionalisation’. This article argues that Ethiopia’s institutional trajectory can be explained by the nature of coalition politics in the formative years of transition, specifically the extent to which credible challengers were excluded from transitional processes. The strategy of excluding Pan-Ethiopian parties and sideling the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) set the country on the path of establishing a hegemonic rule by the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). Sustaining hegemonic rule entailed fending off threats from excluded groups in the 1990s but which coalesced into a strong electoral performance in the 2005 elections in whose aftermath the ruling party embarked on aggressive pursuit of state-directed development for political legitimation.     

An Era of Continuing Change: Reflections on Local Government in England 1974–2014

Abstract

This article sets the current position of local government in a longer historical perspective. It begins with a discussion of the 1974 local government reorganisation and argues that many of the principles and assumptions determining the ways of working of local authorities remained unchanged after this reorganisation. However, the next 40 years were ones of continuing change, much of it imposed by central government, and the article discusses the often piecemeal implementation of individual changes and the resulting atmosphere of uncertainty and instability. This is followed by an analysis of the cumulative impact of the changes and identifying key problems, and the article concludes by drawing on this analysis to set out the challenges that have to be met if the full potential of the local government is to be realised in the future.     

The Institutional Settings for the Development of Public Services through State-Owned Enterprises in Brazil

The findings of this study make a timely contribution to the development of public services. Based on the institutional analysis and development (IAD) framework, this study analyzes under which institutional settings state-owned enterprises (SOEs) can be social and financial options for public service provision in Brazil. Applying a multi-case research design, this study’s findings show that SOEs can be a suitable option for Brazilian social and financial development when: markets are weak or noncompetitive; if few decisional players act; if political interference is minimized regarding operational decisions; and if corporate control is effective to avoid mismanagement and corruption. Brazilian SOEs are effective economic and social tools, but they need to peroxide value improve their corporate control (in the case of Petrobras) and strategic centralization decisions (in the case of Eletrobrás) .     

China's economic slowdown: implications for Beijing's institutional power and global governance role

China's spectacular economic growth over the past decades has given rise to a more confident and proactive China in global governance. China is now an institution-builder, with new Chinese-led institutions such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank designed to cement Beijing's central role in global economic governance. What, then, are the potential implications of a slowing economy for China's institutional power and global governance role? This article locates China's economic growth and slowdown in broader discussions about China's global position and questions about responsibility, order and governance. It argues that China's economic slowdown will not result in a drastic impact on Beijing's institutional power as there are key material, historical and ideational drivers at play here. Unless China is confronted with the prospect of an economic collapse, it will continue to pursue an active institutional role, speak the rhetoric of South–South solidarity with emerging economies and seek a leadership role in reforming global economic governance, even with a slowing economy, because this is intrinsically tied to its identity and how China now positions itself in an evolving global order.     

日本地方政府公民行政参与制度化建设的经验与启示——以日本神户市、名古屋市为例

城市的发展和建设,公共政策制定与实施,离不开城市居民的理性参与和支持。本文从思想观念、制度建设、操作手法、监督体制等方面对日本名古屋市和神户市政府推进公民参与城市建设的经验进行了分析。为实现城市更好更快发展,中国需要认真研究、借鉴发达国家经验,建构官民共治（协动）的治理结构,加强制度建设,完善监督体制。     

中国工会:转型期的诉求责难与制度救济

中国工会作为职工权益的法定"代言人",基本职责是维护广大职工的合法权益.但在国家主导下的市场化改革中,其"代言人"资格却饱受职工权益诉求的责难,并不得不接受职工群体性的民意检验.从中国工会独有的责任属性分析,工会虽然成为职工诉求责难的直接对象,但问题的本身仍在国家.所以,基于工会责任属性的多维目标需要,国家层面的制度救济对现实中的中国工会重塑和拓展职工民意基础、巩固国家的执政基础是重要的.但长远看,国家主导下的制度供给,尤其是劳动者权利的完善才是消除职工诉求责难、实现劳动关系和谐、提升工会形象的有效选择.     

对新型城市圈功能内涵和可持续发展的探讨

作为两型社会建设综合试验区的武汉城市圈是一种新型城市圈,这种新型城市圈具有和传统城市圈不同的目标功能定位和功能内涵,并构成区域经济的发展极而不是增长极,两型社会建设是对新型城市圈发展的积极的良性约束。为了保证新型城市圈的可持续发展,需要建立制度化的创新机制,只有制度化的创新才是新型城市圈可持续的活力源泉。     

Rules,institutions and the economic vote: clarifying clarity of responsibility

Abstract

Institutions are thought to matter for vote choice, and work on economic voting is exemplary in this regard. The strength of the economic vote varies considerably cross-nationally and this seems to emanate from differences in the clarity of responsibility. Still, this conceptual frame, dominant in the field, appears to have some cracks. First, almost all work presents analyses of the economic vote in smaller, split samples of low- and high-clarity contexts separately. Second, the literature appears rather dispersed when the conceptual and empirical indicators are examined. The article attempts to overcome these limitations by analysing a large pool of democratic elections with a series of objective indicators. It investigates these indicators separately, and as components within two cumulative indices (institutional rules and power patterns). The results indicate that, even though there are indications of differences in the strength of the economic vote in high- and low-clarity contexts respectively, institutional rules or power patterns fail to significantly deflect the overall electoral impact of economic growth.     

The Japanese consumer finance market and its institutional changes since the 1980s

Abstract

We assert, in this article, that the joint transformation of public perception about households’ over-indebtedness and financial deregulation had important implications on the government decision to reform overall consumer credit between 2005 and 2010. On the one hand, the development of collective actions by groups of lawyers to defend borrowers from moneylenders’ abusive practices represents a source of change in the public opinion about over-indebted individuals in the context of long economic stagnation. A systematic press article analysis from 1977 to 2006 shows that the rising number of these collective actions since the early 1990s may have gradually increased the political salience of social issues related to the unsecure loan market. On the other hand, financial deregulation has been a source of change by allowing banks to enter the consumer finance market since the early 2000s. Banks entry into this market transformed the logic of complementarity among traditional consumer credit actors (Shinpan, credit card companies and sarakin) in a general context of legal consumers’ protection reinforcement. Thus, evolution of Japanese consumer finance's regulation is particularly relevant to illustrate the forces of institutional change and its consequences.     

Formal versus traditional institutions: evidence from Ghana

Citizens in Ghana have a host of options when it comes to local governance provision as a result of the government’s decentralization policies. We undertake to explore and understand how Ghanaians navigate the constellation of local institutions, both formal and traditional, to solve an array of common problems. A four-constituency survey was administered during the summer of 2009 and asked respondents about their experiences interacting with four formal institutions and one traditional institution. We find that formal institutions are by and large working effectively and are enhanced by the presence of a traditional institution. We consider the implications of our results with respect to both democratization and decentralization.