Desired or deserving leadership? A reflection on the leadership exercised in local governments of Uganda

Abstract

The article presents survey findings of the leadership styles exercised in local governments and examines whether leadership influences organisational performance in Uganda's local governments. Based on survey findings from Bushenyi District, both transactional and transformational leadership styles are evidently exercised in Uganda's local governments. The study findings further reveal that leadership behaviours in Bushenyi District are often characterised by idealised influence (behaviour), inspirational motivation, high laissez-faire leadership and high management-by-exception (passive). As a result, there is increasing job insecurity among subordinates, which undermines the internal organisational ability to perform. Four sub-counties in Bushenyi District were selected for the purpose of this research. Using Multifactor Leadership Questionnaires (MLQs), data were derived from 123 respondents (36 leaders and 87 raters).     

The Relationship Between State Government Performance and State Quality of Life

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between government performance and quality of life in the American states. We contend that the management capacity of state governments should have direct, tangible impacts on the overall social and economic well‐being of state citizenry. In order to test this idea, we examine the influence of state management capacity (using the 1999 Government Performance Project grades), alongside other economic and political variables, on two prominent measures of state quality of life—The Morgan Quitno “Most Livable State” Index and State Policy Reports' (SPP) “Camelot Index.” We find that both state economic conditions and governmental policy priorities have significant impacts on state performance levels. But, our results clearly indicate that the management capacity of state governments also contributes directly to improving the overall quality of life for state citizens.     

Measuring the quality of election administration

How do we distinguish between a ‘genuine’, ‘free and fair’, or ‘legitimate’ election and an election that is something less? In this article, we offer an answer to this vexing question: the Election Administration Systems Index (EASI). EASI is a practical, transparent, and sustainable tool for measuring the quality of elections in the developing world. The following pages describe the current limitations in measuring election quality, detail the EASI approach, and provide a comparative analysis of the results of its pilot implementation. EASI scores are drawn from a survey of experts on elections in the target country following a recent nationwide election. The analytical framework is comprised of three electoral dimensions: participation, competition, and integrity of the process. We also divide these dimensions temporally according to the electoral cycle: either pre-election, during the election, or post-election. The final product is a set of six primary scores displayed across dimension and time. By aggregating the survey data in this fashion, we provide for a nuanced assessment of an election by each dimension and across the cycle. As our pilot results demonstrate, EASI is a diagnostic tool for identifying electoral strengths and weaknesses and serves well for comparative assessments.     

“质”的耕耘还是“量”的拓展？——浙江上市公司连锁董事网络对企业绩效的非线性影响

本文用社会网络和统计分析方法对浙江省144家上市公司2009年的连锁董事网络进行了研究分析,发现浙江省连锁董事网络具有幂律分布的特征.在此基础上,通过NLS回归分析发现,浙江上市公司连锁董事网络的“质”中心度与企业绩效正相关,“量”中心度与企业绩效负相关,连锁董事网络的行业趋同度和地域趋同度也与企业绩效负相关,利用OLS回归分析进行稳健性检验,发现这些实证结论依然稳健.基于这些实证结果,本文在理论上的贡献在于：证明了连锁董事网络具有异质性特征;连锁董事网络中心度,在“质”和“量”上对企业的绩效贡献迥异;上市公司要发挥连锁董事网络实质性的绩效贡献,宜强化“质”的耕耘、而非“量”的拓展,力求构建异质网络、避免过度嵌入与趋同.     

导入ISO9001:2000背景下地方政府绩效考核指标体系述评

地方政府在导入ISO质量管理体系的背景下,其绩效如何考核?国际标准化组织设计了一套完整的指标体系,包括"好政府的制度发展、经济的可持续发展、全面的社会发展和环境的可持续发展"等四个维度。本文对这套指标进行了介绍,并结合中国的具体情况进行了分析,目的在于为地方政府导入ISO质量管理体系进行理论上的指导。文章认为,导入这套指标体系符合我国建设和谐社会和落实科学发展观的要求,有利于促进政府职能转变,有利于解决当前我国的社会问题。因此,它在我国具有相当强的可适用性。     

物业费纠纷中服务不到位抗辩的司法认定

当前物业费纠纷的司法实践中,鲜有被告业主获判减付物业费继而胜诉的判例。然而,在这种“一边倒”的现象背后,物业企业确实存在着不同程度的服务不到位问题。通过研究现行的物业相关法律依据,结合发达地区的司法实践先例,可以发现被告业主完全可以通过行使同时履行抗辩权达到减付物业费的目的,而法院应当本着对业主负责同时督促物业企业改善服务的宗旨,针对物业企业部分义务未履行或履行存在瑕疵,导致相应服务目的无法实现的情形,作出相适应的减付物业费的判决。     

我国政府传统预算改革的原因及对策

政府预算是财政资源与政府具体活动的有效结合,是政府实现高效行政的重要保障.然而在社会发展的新形势下,传统预算对于我国政府行政绩效的影响,却越来越明显地走向消极.文章通过对于传统预算的缺陷及其成因的剖析,提出针对性的改革对策.旨在有效提升政府财政资源的使用效率,帮助预算管理真正成为政府高效行政的强劲助力.     

Synthetic Performance Indicators for Residential Housing Agencies

Many public administrations produce and distribute public services through a number of similar local autonomous organizations, or institutions, operating in different parts of the territory assigned to them under a centralized authority. Examples of this are the public residential housing institutions, the institutions for waste disposal, health care institutions, and education institutions. The problem arises regarding the evaluation of the performance of these local organizations and institutions not in absolute but in relative terms, in order to determine what incentives or sanctions should be meted out to them. This study presents the methodological problems, the data analysis, and the initial results of the method adopted by the Lombardy Region to create a system of performance indicators that will permit an automatic ranking of the Residential Housing Agencies in Lombardy （ALER） according to their performance, based on information from their balance sheets. A performance index was devised by rationally combining the results of three different analyses： position analysis, ranking analysis, and scoring analysis. The results allowed the central administration to： （1） motivate the managers of the local units through a system of performance-based incentives; （2） aggregate poorly performing local units or outsource inefficient functions; and （3） create competition among local units and raise overall performance levels.     

中国政府公共产品供给的国际比较研究

中国政府公共产品供给的国际比较研究具有重要的理论与实践意义。进行中国政府公共产品供给的国际比较研究 ,首先要建立科学全面的政府公共产品供给指标体系。根据政府公共产品供给指标体系 ,我们可以对中国政府公共产品供给的状况进行国际比较 ,由此评估中国政府公共产品的现状与不足之处 ,并提出科学的行政改革措施。中国的行政改革应该重在提高政府公共产品水平 ,使政府能以充足优质的公共服务满足社会公共需求。     

Revitalizing Local Government Performance Management: Further Dissecting the Role of Socioeconomic Status and Social Mobilization Policy

ABSTRACT

This article examines how socio-economic status and social mobilisation are linked to local government performance management in Nepal. As part of local government reform, Nepal adopted a social mobilisation policy in selected local governments to empower communities for their effective participation. Our results show that socio-economic status and social mobilisation have a significant relationship with performance management. Female literacy, for example, is strongly and significantly associated with performance management, while area has a significant positive relationship but population has only a weak positive relationship. In contrast, poverty has a significant negative correlation. More importantly, mobilisation has a significant, though modest, positive association with performance management particularly in participatory planning and budgeting, fiscal discipline, and administrative management. This indicates that improving the socio-economic status of citizens and their mobilisation for empowered collective action can be one important strategy to improve the performance capacity of local government.