Comparing Electronic News Media Reports of Potential Bioterrorism-Related Incidents Involving Unknown White Powder to Reports Received by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Federal Bureau of Investigation: U.S.A., 2009–2011

There have been periodic electronic news media reports of potential bioterrorism-related incidents involving unknown substances (often referred to as “white powder”) since the 2001 intentional dissemination of Bacillus anthracis through the U.S. Postal System. This study reviewed the number of unknown “white powder” incidents reported online by the electronic news media and compared them with unknown “white powder” incidents reported to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) during a 2-year period from June 1, 2009 and May 31, 2011. Results identified 297 electronic news media reports, 538 CDC reports, and 384 FBI reports of unknown “white powder.” This study showed different unknown “white powder” incidents captured by each of the three sources. However, the authors could not determine the public health implications of this discordance.     

The Engage programme and the Government Communication Network in the UK, 2006–2010

The Engage programme was launched in April 2006 by the Government Communication Network (GCN) in the UK. As a civil service body supporting those in government working as press officers and in marketing roles, the GCN under the New Labour government in the period 2006–2010 was involved with the extension of the logic of marketisation to government communication. This article charts this process by examining key government policy documents from this period. The rationale for Engage rested on the assumption that government in the UK needed to adapt its communication approach to reach what were perceived as individualised consumers in society. The extension of the logic of marketisation to government communication that happened under Engage is shown to be consistent with the New Public Management approach to public services under New Labour. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

行政执法诱发公共事件的特点及法律对策

我国行政执法不当诱发了诸多公共事件,事件起因的多样性、事件主体的多元性、事件意图的目的性、事件发生的必然性使行政执法转化为公共事件独具个性。行政职权交叉,执法行为利益化;执法主体、执法行为、执法程序缺乏规范性;行政执法人员素质不高;责任追究和监督机制等方面存在的缺陷极易引发公共事件。防范行政执法转化为公共事件,需要在合理配置行政事权和职责的基础上,规范执法行为、程序及执法人员准入制度,提高行政执法人员素质,建立健全行政执法监督、问责、奖励机制。     

公益诉讼原告主体范围之扩张

公益诉讼法律化后的宏大法律图景未能在行动中的实践成为可视的制度实在,公益诉讼法律条款基本处于休眠状态。主要原因在于立法者推崇实用主义和渐进式功利主义的改革路线和利益导向机制,严格限定公益诉讼的主体范围,将大量主体阻隔于法院大门之外,割裂协调有序的公益诉权主体链条,致使公益诉讼无法实效发挥制度机能。公益诉讼的制度化或者再制度化可将权利生成和整体正义作为指引公益诉讼精细化发展和长远性发展的基本功能导向,适当开放公益诉讼通道,建构行政机关、检察院、社会组织和公民个人的多元互补的原告主体体系,并在现有法律框架内务实而理性地探求主体扩张的合理路径。     

服务型政府建设的民主行政维度

服务型政府和民主行政之间有着内在逻辑的一致性。服务型政府建设重要的不在于预设的规范和特定的模式,而在于以公民和社会为本位,体现公共行政的民主价值。在本质上,为人民服务是我国服务型政府的民主行政实质。在实践中,服务型政府建设的民主行政维度主要体现在以追求公共利益为核心理念,实行服务行政、阳光行政、领导行政、法治行政、回应行政。     

Corruption and marketization: Formal and informal rules in Chinese public procurement

The relationship between market liberalization and corruption has attracted scholarly attention in recent years. Conventional wisdom holds that increased economic marketization reduces corruption. China, however, provides evidence to the contrary; corruption has grown as its market‐oriented reforms progress. This paradoxical co‐development of the market and corruption begs the intriguing questions of how corruption has survived marketization and what explains the failure of government regulation. Extending the conceptual framework of institutional theory about formal and informal rules, and using public procurement in China as an example, this article shows that formal tendering rules and regulations may be modified, circumvented, or replaced by informal ones which facilitate corruption. The article identifies four corruption schemes through which procurement actors may distort competition processes and mechanisms under the guise of formal rules. Consequently, public procurement in China displays the structural outlook of market competition, but not its essential substance.     

公共治理视角下的预防腐败体系建构

从权力的角度看,腐败是权力的异化。公共治理具有多元化、网络化、互动性的特征,为建构预防腐败体系提供了新的理论视角。权力、制度、法律和伦理是权力运行过程中对腐败的产生与治理都有着重要影响的四个维度。其中权力与法律侧重于内外互动,制度与伦理侧重于内部整合。四者融汇交织,形成网络式互动,产生对权力运行过程的修正作用。以此建构一套预防腐败体系,是克服传统反腐模式重惩治轻预防、重政治动员轻制度建设等弊端的有力举措。     

For fear of popular politics? Public attention and the delegation of authority to the United States executive branch

Legislators are thought to delegate policymaking authority to administrative actors either to avoid blame for controversial policy or to secure policy outcomes. This study tests these competing perspectives and establishes that public attention to policymaking is a powerful predictor of the extent to which significant United States statutes delegate authority to the executive branch. Consistent with the policy‐concerns perspective, by one calculation statutes dealing with high‐attention issues entail 48 percent fewer delegating provisions than statutes dealing with low‐attention issues – a far stronger relationship than is typically found in the delegation literature. As per the blame‐avoidance perspective, a number of additional analyses yield results consistent with the notion that fears about future public attention motivate statutory delegation if legislative conflict is sufficiently great. Overall, however, the results suggest that conflict typically is not sufficiently great and that legislators are generally more inclined to limit statutory delegation when the public is paying attention.     

网络舆情视域下政府公信力建构

现阶段的网络舆情在公共管理领域尤其是在政府形象塑造方面发挥着巨大的影响力,从而影响着政府公信力。政府应转变行政思维和理念,规范信息公开制度,实行行政问责制,建设责任政府,正确对待网络监督,完善监督体系,使网络舆情能为提高政府公信力服务。     

大数据时代高校网络舆情应对策略的重新定位

大数据时代,网络舆情应对能力成为衡量高校管理水平的重要评价指标,但是高校网络舆情应对策略的研究对于事前应对分析仍然存在不足。高校网络舆情应对策略的重新定位,不仅需要转变思想观念如重视批评与自我批评、正确看待应急预案、正确看待网络舆情、相信并且重视科学;而且需要加强能力建设如重视顶层设计、具备大局观念、利用大数据挖掘技术、加强沟通与合作、挖掘本质根源。