Government and Corruption: Scylla and Charybdis

Using public sector employment and corruption perception data for 72 countries across the world, this article demonstrates that despite common notion countries with “smaller” governments do not tend to have lower corruption. Under general assumptions, one can demonstrate that there is an optimal size of public sector employment corresponding to the highest capital intensity. The model has several implications: lower optimal sizes of governments for labor intensive countries and higher sizes for capital intensive ones, possibility to reduce corruption paying a cost of suboptimal output, and a higher “price” of an oversized government for labor intensive countries.     

官僚制弊病的根源性分析

现代理性的官僚制理论是由德国的社会学家马克斯·韦伯提出的，是一种理想形态的官僚制。这种官僚制依靠自身的优越性在韦伯生活的时代及其以后的一段时期确实发挥了很大的作用。但是，随着官僚制的深入应用，现实中的官僚制正在蜕化，官僚制弊病不断出现。官僚制弊病的产生根源于官僚制自身的缺陷，根除官僚制弊病，需要官僚制理性的回归。     

对现代官僚制度的解读与批判

官僚一直以来都为人们所诟病,它一方面表现为无能、人浮于事和笨拙的无效率,另一方面又表现为咄咄逼人的权力。它在现代政治生活中不可或缺,却又问题百出。厘清官僚、官僚制度等概念,辨明官僚制度的成因、发展及现实运行模式,对防止官僚主义的低效无能,提高公共管理机构的运营效率,具有很重要的现实意义。     

非结构性改革、官僚组织与透明政府建设——基于G市《政府信息公开条例》执行行为的实证分析

行政公开不仅是现代国家行政发展的一个基本方向,而且也是保障公民知情权,预防官僚组织腐败现象发生的治理工具.<政府信息公开条例>的颁布,为政府机构推进行政公开提供了规范性的法律文本.标志着我国政府的行政公开工作取得了重大的突破.然而,法规的具体作用和社会效果取决于实际的执行行为.该项研究从实证的角度出发,以沿海发达地区G市为例,从地方层面分析我国政府推进行政公开取得的成效和存在的问题.研究发现立法的缺陷、官僚的自由裁量权和公民权利救济的障碍,已经成为我国透明政府建设面临的主要挑战.在未来的非结构性行政改革中,只有注重制度建设和公民权利司法保障体系的建设,借鉴西方国家地方治理的经验,增强民众在社会治理过程中的作用,实现以权利制约权力的制度文明理念,才能充分保障公民的知情权,实现建设透明政府的政治理念.     

再论理性“官僚制”

韦伯的理性官僚制模式，是迄今为止在大型组织中运用得极为广泛的组织形式。但官僚制模式在进入后工业社会和信息时代后，受到理论界的猛烈的批判和严峻挑战。然而，从历史唯物主义的角度看，作为一种高度理想化的纯粹的组织机构形式，它所体现的工具理性价值，对现实的公共行政改革仍具有现实借鉴意义。     

规则、权力与行动:韦伯经典科层制模型的三大假设及其内在张力

从韦伯构建社会理论的内在逻辑规则-权力-行动的分析框架上来看,其所设计的以高效率运行为目标的经典科层制模型蕴含着三大基本假设:即完全理性假设、一元制权力支配假设和中立人行动假设。无论从科层制模型的内在逻辑上来分析,还是从哥伦比亚学派和法国组织社会学学派翔实的实证研究上来探讨,科层制理论所蕴含的基本假设内含着三大张力:(1)理性规则的刚性与行动的自主性之间的张力;(2)正式权力的僵化性与行动的策略性之间的张力;(3)单一行动与多元行动之间的张力。这三大张力在现实的科层组织运行中形成了三大削平机制,实现了科层组织的动态平衡与持续发展,从而一方面祛除了科层制理性神话之魅,一方面破灭了极端批判者科层制消亡论的谶言。中国作为官僚制的故乡,西方的理论分析和实证研究为我们认识、理解并发展中国式科层制模式提供了基础与参照。     

Castoriadis and the Modern Political Imaginary—Oligarchy,Representation, Democracy

Abstract

This article examines the link between oligarchy and the notion of representative democracy, which for Castoriadis also implies the bureaucratisation of society. However, in an argument with and against Castoriadis, one has to decipher modern oligarchies before launching into a radical critique of the principle of representation. There is a diversity of representative democracies, and the complexity of modernity comes from a mixture of oligarchy, representation and democracy. Even though the idea of democracy has evolved, we do not live under representative democracies but under liberal oligarchies. Direct democratic procedures and representative elements can sometimes be gathered in order to create new forms of political commitment. The main problem is avoiding a concentration of powers, which cannot create the conditions for the emergence of democratic institutions.     

How responsible is 'responsive' government?

The work of John Rohr focuses primarily upon the constitutional dimension of the work of public servants, most particularly, but not exclusively, career civil servants employed in central government. In stressing public service ethics as a form of constitutional practice Rohr's aim is to help reinforce the legitimate role of career public servants in government and to remind practising public bureaucrats (and academics and politicians) of the nobility of the 'administrative vocation' of state service, a somewhat daunting task in today's political climate. In this article I examine Rohr's work to see what ethical light it might throw upon recent and ongoing political attempts to make the British public administration more 'responsive'. I do so, first, by outlining the main themes of Rohr's work and their location within the US constitutional tradition. I then proceed to discuss the extent to which they translate into other constitutional contexts. Finally, I attempt to put Rohr's work to use in discussing aspects of civil service reform in Britain under recent Conservative administrations and that of the present New Labour government.     

Bangladesh Politics: Confrontation,Monopoly and Crisis in Governance

Despite the restoration of parliamentary democracy in Bangladesh since 1991, political governance of the country is still mired by innumerable ills. It broadly features a wide array of confrontation, competition, monopolization of state institutions and resources by the party in power. This trend of politics has tremendously weakened the formal accountability mechanisms and put governance in crisis. This article depicts the nature of confrontational politics in Bangladesh, its causes and impacts on governance with supportive evidence from both primary and secondary sources. As case examples, it shows how bureaucracy and local government institutions are grossly politicized as a result of confrontational politics and their impact on governance.     

现代官僚制的重构:中国干部制度改革的回顾与展望

改革开放以来,中国干部体制的改革经历了一个从革命性集团到现代官僚制的转型。经济体制的巨大变革和原有政治体制的相对稳定使得中国的干部体制呈现了一种新旧体制共存的双重特征,这是一种具有中国特色的官僚制度。向现代官僚制的进一步转型有赖于市场经济的进展以及在此基础上的政治体制改革。