A new tool for urban governance or just rhetoric? The case of participatory budgeting in Taipei City

Increasing interest in participatory budgeting has been observed in local governments around the world. This paper stresses direct citizen participation in the budgeting process leads to good governance, deepens democracy and improves social justice, while also highlighting some challenges in its efficiency and effectiveness. Unlike participatory budgeting, the Sub-borough Chiefs Forum is a community-based representative democratic mechanism; it could be regarded as a form of participatory budgeting in a broad sense. If so, then did the Taipei programme simply duplicate the goals of the Forum or lead to a better governance by making up for the inadequacies of the Chiefs Forum? To find out whether the Taipei participatory budgeting programme made a difference, we carried out qualitative and quantitative comparisons of projects passed under the participatory budgeting process and at the Forum. We also interviewed several participatory budgeting participants and sub-borough chiefs. The findings suggested that participatory budgeting and the Forum generated different proposals and budget requests, and the Taipei programme supplemented the shortcomings of the Forum and therefore led to deeper civic engagement and better urban governance.     

从分税制到项目制:制度演进和组织机制

分税制改革以后，中国随之进行了公共预算体制改革，由此形成了一种新的国家治理体制——项目制。地方政府的项目支出主要有三种类型：上级专项转移支付、上级非补助性项目支出和本级项目支出。三类项目支出在地方得以汇聚和重组，在很大程度上形塑了基层政府的财政结构。项目制本质上不是对科层制的一种摆脱或超越，而是国家主动对政府科层体系的一次完善和补充，是近代国家政权建设在新时期的延续与拓展。项目制的直接目的是“硬化”预算约束，深层目的是增强政府的回应能力，二者在实践中呈现一定张力，政府治理的理性化和技术化并不必然增强其对公共需求的回应能力，甚至可能形成反向效应。     

欧美企业克服传统预算管理缺陷的最新实践

由于传统预算管理存在缺乏灵活性、缺乏效率等缺陷,欧美企业采取了一系列的改进措施,如广泛运用信息一体化技术、注重预算与战略的结合、运用一体化的预测模型等方法和手段提高预算的灵活性和效率,取得了良好的效果.     

How to Make the Law Work? Budgetary Implications of Domestic Violence Laws in Latin America,Central America,and the Caribbean

SUMMARY

This study focuses on budgetary implications of domestic violence (DV) laws in the Latin American, Central American, and Caribbean (LAC) region. It is based on a survey of literature and data on DV legislation, literature reviews on the social and economic costs of DV, and an analysis of policies on DV in the region based on a survey of nonprofits working on DV in the region. The study shows DV is not being mainstreamed into ministerial budget line items as would be expected following the passage of law. There is clearly a difference between what is ratified in laws and the implementation of activities that follows those decisions. Funding for DV programs is insufficient to reach the entire target population and address the magnitude of the problem. Even after laws were passed, major sources of funding for DV services have continued to be discretionary funds from the ministries' budgets and international donor funds.     

公共预算中的政治:对权力与民主的审视

公共预算作为一种国家活动,在本质上是政治性的,预算过程中的各种冲突实质上就是政治冲突。权力作为政治学的核心概念,是影响公共预算资源分配的关键变量。在资源配置过程中,权力被广泛地运用。预算过程分配着决策权力,预算是权力的体现,预算过程中做出的资源配置实际上反映了政治权力的分配、运用与控制。预算是配置资源的公共权力在不同主体之间的分配,是一个制衡结构,本身就是一个民主政治程序。当前中国公共预算的民主性明显不足,为了达到政治民主化这个目的,就必须进行预算改革,推进预算民主。实行预算民主有助于实现社会公平,促进权力与社会的良性互动,同时也有助于增进国家政权的合法性。     

韩国国民大会的预算权力

韩国现行宪法将立法权和预算权等赋予了民选的国民大会。但由于韩国宪法的几经变迁,韩国国民大会预算权力的一些基本原则和具体制度也在不断发生改变。但从《宪法》、《国会法》和《预算会计法》三部主要的法律来看,韩国国会在预算审批、执行和决算几个环节中起着决定性的作用,原则上刚性,细节上具体,是韩国预算立法的基本特征。     

建立我国科学的政府预算编制方法的初步探讨

系统回顾了我国政府预算编制方法的演进过程，探讨了建立科学的政府预算编制方法的具体要求，并进而提出了在我国建立科学的政府预算方法的对策与途径。     

部门预算改革与高校部门预算编制管理

部门预算是公共预算编制的主要形式 ,也是市场经济国家普遍采用的编制方法 ,我国的部门预算改革已在全国推行。高等学校的部门预算编制改革是财政公共支出管理改革的重要组成部分 ,对改革中的制度完善、计划组织、推进策略等作了研究     

探析高校财务预算存在的问题及对策

随着教育体制改革的不断深化,作为高校核心工作的预算管理模式发生很大变革。本文从加强高校财务预算管理的必要性、编制高校财务预算中存在的问题及具体的对策等三个方面进行探讨。     

Two phase parametric and probabilistic NPV calculations, with possible deferral of disposal of UK nuclear waste as an example

This paper illustrates the value of several particular features of a first phase parametric approach to discounted cash flow (DCF) decision analysis when significant uncertainty is involved. It also illustrates the value of second phase probabilistic approaches to selected parameters for five quite different example reasons. The most controversial example reason concerns the discount rate. The particular example used to illustrate both phases may stimulate general interest because of the important issues involved, but it is argued that the two phase approach as a whole has a wide range of applications for decisions large and small.