论政府在城镇基础设施建设中的角色定位

自公共物品理论提出以来,城镇基础设施就一直被认为是典型的"公共物品"。而传统的不区分"政府生产"和"政府供给"的"公共物品政府提供"意识已使我国现阶段城镇基础设施供需矛盾日益突出:在需求迅速增加的同时,供给存在着投资意识薄弱、投资主体单一、资金缺乏和市场有效竞争不足等缺陷。为此,必须重新定位政府在城镇基础设施行业中的角色作用,转变和创新政府职能,尤其是进行制度创新,确保城镇基础设施最终得以供应的同时,引入有效的市场竞争机制。     

The social inclusion policy agenda in Australia: a case of old wine,new bottles?

The election of an Australian Labor Government in Australia in 2007 saw ‘social inclusion’ emerge as the official and overarching social policy agenda. Being ‘included’ was subsequently defined by the ALP Government as being able to ‘have the resources, opportunities and capabilities needed to learn, work, engage and have a voice‘. Various researchers in Australia demonstrated an interest in social inclusion, as it enabled them to construct a multi‐dimensional framework for measuring disadvantage. This research program resulted in various forms of statistical modelling based on some agreement about what it means to be included in society. The multi‐dimensional approach taken by academic researchers, however, did not necessarily translate to a new model of social policy development or implementation. We argue that, similar to the experience of the UK, Australia's social inclusion policy agenda was for the most part narrowly and individually defined by politicians and policy makers, particularly in terms of equating being employed with being included. We conclude with discussion about the need to strengthen the social inclusion framework by adopting an understanding of social inequality and social justice that is more relational and less categorical.     

Social inclusion under Labor in South Australia

Social inclusion policies were championed by the former Rann Labor government in South Australia from 2002 to 2011. In 2011 the Social Inclusion Unit was dissolved by the South Australian government. It is argued that the relatively narrow focus of the former SIU on ‘problem’ communities limited its capacity to provide more than residual solutions. The diminishing political returns on social inclusion also encouraged the South Australian government to abandon this initiative. In 2014 this government has had to grapple with the end of car making in Australia and a declining manufacturing labour force, traditionally a ‘mainstream’ constituency of the Labor Party. The return to ‘mainstreaming’ social policy in South Australia might offer limited space for realignment of social policy with the concept of social citizenship. It might also represent a move away from the functionalist morality of social inclusion. Social inclusion as practiced in South Australia has limited capacity to address generalised social disadvantage. The latter is likely to concern a re‐elected Labor minority government grappling with significant job losses and a declining local economy.     

Feeling motivated yet? Long‐term unemployed people's perspectives on the implementation of workfare in Australia

A key thrust of labour market policy in Australia and many other western countries is that long‐term unemployed people lack the personal motivation to engage proactively and successfully in the search for paid employment. In this paper we argue that the implementation of what are experienced as paternal workfare programs are counter‐productive to achieving the official policy goal of improving self‐efficacy and gaining paid employment. The empirical discussion presented in the paper is based on a semi‐longitudinal study that tracked 75 long‐term unemployed people in three different labour markets in Australia between 2005–2007. The study was funded by the Australian Research Council and Jobs Australia.     

On the determinants of public infrastructure spending in Chinese cities: A spatial econometric perspective

In the context of fiscal decentralization, we use cross-sectional data of 242 Chinese cities in 2005 to explore the major factors contributing to the decline of public investment. The main finding is that a city government appears to reduce its own infrastructure spending as a response to the rise of infrastructure spending of its neighboring cities, revealing evidence of positive spillover effects of public infrastructure expenditure. This paper contributes to the existing literature by providing a new perspective for understanding the decline in public investment. In addition, this paper sheds some light on the ongoing debate on the nature of government competition in China and has important implications for policy makers in making fiscal arrangements among government tiers in a decentralized economy.     

A RATHER INHUMANE ARRANGEMENT: SOUTHEAST ASIAN SETTLEMENT ASSISTANCE INITIATIVES IN MELBOURNE

Due to its specific historical context and unique sociopolitical milieu, Australia has developed a relatively distinctive Southeast Asian settlement assistance model. This article explores the adequacy of the pattern of service delivery that has evolved in Melbourne in response to the settlement needs of the Southeast Asian community. The research finds that the Australian Indochinese aid initiative is high on principle and rhetoric and low on practical solutions. Despite compassionate public pronouncements, assistance institutions increasingly operate in a harsh social, economic, and political context wherein there are few forced migrant-specific provisions. A devolution policy has also engendered an inefficient patchwork service setup rather than a benevolent resettlement arrangement. Without a more genuine official orientation and a more appropriate overall approach, many Australian Southeast Asians are destined to continue a protracted struggle against disadvantage and neglect.     

(De)familialization and (De)genderization – Competing or Complementary Perspectives in Comparative Policy Analysis?

This article critically engages with Saxonberg's proposal (2013) to replace the (de)familialization perspective with the (de)genderization approach in comparative family policy/regime studies. It argues: (1) there is a need to refine the term ‘(de)familialization’ and to bring in the child's and elderly's perspective; (2) the ‘(de)familialization’ and ‘(de)genderization’ perspectives are mutually irreplaceable; and (3) there is a need to conceptualize the theoretical relationship between these two perspectives. The article further proposes to use the theoretical framework of Amartya Sen's Capability Approach (CA) to reinterpret both analytical perspectives with a dual advantage using that approach would lend. It first conceptualizes the de‐familializing and de‐genderizing policies as ‘means’ designed to increase peoples' ‘capabilities’ to achieve ‘valued functionings’ and not ultimate goals of policies that aim to change people's ‘functionings’. Thus, it addresses the criticism of de‐familialization and de‐genderization as policy strategies that enforce certain, potentially controversial ideals of societal and familial relations. Second, by using crucial CA concepts, i.e. ‘means’, ‘capabilities’ and ‘functionings’, it refines the interpretation of policy‐, regime‐ and outcome‐oriented analyses (typologies). As a result, it clarifies the distinction between these types of analyses and highlights the advantages of both a policy approach and a redefined regime approach.     

Australia’s national urban policy: The smart cities agenda in perspective

The Australian Government's attempts at national urban policy have been sporadic and inconsistent, under the constraints of constitutional, financial, ideological and political factors. This paper concerns the recent resurgence of national urban policy under the rubric of “smart cities” adopted by the Turnbull Government and carried on by the incumbent Morrison Government. It investigates how this round of smart cities agenda articulates with Australia's political tradition of national urban policy to seek continuity and change, through comparing historical policies, unpacking major smart cities programmes, identifying explanatory factors and critically commenting on its innovation and legacy. Drawing upon these analyses, this paper argues that understanding the smart cities agenda needs to move beyond the political, ideological “to-and-fro” pendulum to national urban policy observed in history. Rather, it resonates with a globalised policy norm established upon the city-based global integration and competition, driven by an imperative of transitioning to a knowledge economy and pursuing innovation capacity. It is too early to judge whether the smart cities agenda will bring changes to Australian cities in the way it wishes, since it involves long-term infrastructure investment and urban development projects. However, a comprehensive and consistent national urban policy to govern the Australian system of cities and towns has not been established yet.     

Understanding media constructions of volunteering: an Australian perspective

This paper explores the Australian public's understanding of volunteering from a media perspective. A content analysis of 137 news articles published in The Australian newspaper revealed that volunteering in Australia is framed in terms of eight perspectives by nine claim makers. Since media-led images of volunteering tend to influence peoples' decision to volunteer, the findings have several implications for organizers of social development projects involving volunteers.     

The ambiguity of social return policies in the Netherlands

Social procurement policies, which aim to create employment opportunities for vulnerable groups, such as the long‐term unemployed and the disabled, have become increasingly popular in recent years. Despite their growing popularity, empirical research on this topic is limited. Combining insights from the social policy and public administration literatures, we explore the development and implementation of “social return” policies by the Dutch government. These policies are a form of social procurement that require private employers to spend a percentage of public tenders to hire individuals far removed from the labor market. Social procurement appears, by definition, to be a form of social investment. However, our analysis of the ideas underlying its use in the Netherlands suggests that significant contradictions exist, with evidence of neoliberal New Public Management tendencies, social investment, and the more recent form of public administration, New Public Service. Using extensive document analysis of parliamentary documents, discussions and evaluative reports from 2008 to 2014, we reveal the tensions inherent in the Dutch approach and discuss possible implications for our understanding of social policy and administration as well as social protection.     

Garbage‐can Policy‐making Meets Neo‐liberal Ideology: Twenty Five Years of Redundant Reform of the English National Health Service

The garbage‐can theory of decision‐making (Cohen et al. 1972), has been adapted into a perspective on policy‐making, with adaptations of the approach placing notable emphasis upon the health sector (Kingdon 2006; Paton 2006). This article creates an adapted ‘garbage‐can’ framework to help explain each stage of the reform of the English National Health Service (NHS) over the last 25 years. The emergence of the key idea and resultant policy at each stage of reform of the English NHS has been arational and indeed sometimes irrational. Policy has reflected advocacy by policy‐salesmen (Kingdon 2002), proffering ‘solutions’ to ill‐defined problems and answers to unasked questions, and politicians' short‐termist responses at each decision‐point. Yet the garbage‐can alone is not enough: if arationality rules in policy‐making day to day, this does not mean that there is not an overall ideological context, trend or bias in reform. The article also posits that ‘market reform’ has derived from the ideological hegemony of a naive anti‐statism (hostility to a misleadingly defined and often mythological ‘centralist state’) in public services and enthusiasm for market competition rather than any evidence‐based application of pro‐market ideas to health policy. A question arises: how are these two approaches (short‐term arationality and longer‐term ideological bias) combined in explanation of how policy over time is biased in a particular direction while seemingly arbitrary and directionless at each messy decision‐point. The article attempts to combine the insights of a garbage‐can approach with wider explanations of ideological hegemony.     

The Australian Social Inclusion Agenda: A New Approach to Social Policy?

The Social Inclusion Agenda (‘SIA’) was introduced by the Australian Labor Party (‘ALP’) in the lead up to the 2007 federal election. The rhetoric was hopeful, proposing to reframe the government's approach to disadvantage. Rhetoric aside, what the then opposition meant when it talked of building social inclusion (‘SI’) was less clear than may have immediately met the eye. This paper offers an introductory analysis and review of the SIA. It first considers why Australia might benefit from a readjustment in its social policy direction, reflecting on the concepts of poverty and Amartya Sen's ‘capabilities approach‘. Second, it offers a critical overview of the main conceptions of SI/Social Exclusion. Third, it applies these first two parts of analysis to developments to date with the SIA. This part, whilst limited in scope and preliminary at best, offers some general comments as to the possibilities and pitfalls of the SIA and proposes the way forward from an analytical perspective in terms of guiding the SIA in a desirable direction.     

A CAUTIONARY NOTE ON ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS

Environmental questions have become a permanent feature of the political landscape in contemporary Australia and now play a significant role in election campaigns at both state and federal levels. Indeed, one of the most significant policy debates in the 1996 Federal election focussed on the environmental policy proposed by the Liberal/National Party coalition, which sought to fund a host of environmental programs from the proceeds of a part privatisation of Telstra. The trade-offs involved in this policy have generated substantial opposition to it and served to underline the prominence of environmental questions in Australian politics. Despite the importance of ‘the environment’ in popular thought, public debate is still typically characterised by ‘feel good’ policy announcements by politicians, sensationalist media reporting and deceptive claims by some environmental interest groups. Whilst progress has undoubtedly been made, the result has often been a plethora of inchoate and frequently conflicting policies. Not surprisingly this ‘muddle through’ approach has produced numerous instances of government intervention not only failing to meet its planned objectives but also generating unintended consequences.     

Conditionality in the context of housing-led homelessness policy: Comparing Australia’s Housing First agenda to Scotland’s “rights-based” approach

Homelessness services and policy have historically tended to be organised by an explicitly conditional logic, wherein people experiencing homelessness must prove their “housing readiness” before accessing settled housing. This model has been robustly challenged in recent decades by “housing-led” approaches that ostensibly eschew conditionality and prioritise the rapid rehousing of people experiencing homelessness. Various countries now include housing-led approaches in the national policy frameworks, including Australia, which overhauled its approach to homelessness in 2008, and Scotland, where a housing-led approach is supported by a legal right to housing for homeless households. Notwithstanding this policy shift, conditionality remains an enduring feature of responses to homelessness in both jurisdictions. This paper sheds light on this phenomenon by comparing the Australian experience with that of Scotland. We demonstrate how conditionality remains a feature of both jurisdictions; however, there is greater effort in Scotland to identify and minimise conditionality, whereas in Australia it is able to persist relatively unchallenged. We conclude with some reflections on what Australia can learn from Scotland’s relative success, highlighting the importance of a national-level policy framework and an adequate affordable housing supply.     

A comparison of systems and outcomes for safeguarding children in Australia and Norway

Using aggregated national data, this paper compares outcomes of Australian ‘child protection’ (CP) and Norwegian ‘child welfare services’ (CWS). We highlight each nation's context and key elements of their CP/CWS organizations, with emphasis on policy and programme orientation. System outcomes are examined along with the implications of their different approaches. The main policy focus in Australia is protection and risk, while Norway's systemic approach stresses prevention, early intervention and support. These differences influence practitioner's intervention strategies and how the needs of children and parents are met. In Norway, approximately 80% of the children in the CWS receive some sort of supportive services. In contrast, Australian services for supporting families are narrowly targeted. Both countries share the ‘best interest of the child’ principle and an increased focus on children's rights, and have experienced increased service demands and rates of children in out‐of‐home care. The paper explores the relative merits of these systems.     

Third Way Social Governance: Where is the State?

The ‘Third Way’ politics of Blair's New Labour government of the United Kingdom has popularised a number of policy reforms centred on a supposedly new discourse of ‘devolution’, ‘inclusion’, ‘partnerships’ and ‘community’. These notions reflect a re‐emergence of the ideas and values of civil society, participation and localism. Key drivers of this discourse are: new conceptions of citizenship; a retreat from the social state to a politics of community; and a questioning of both ‘big‐state’ interventionist and competitive market approaches to public policy. These trends have resonance in the Australian context. The welfare reform agenda of the Australian Commonwealth government together with community building and engagement initiatives of State governments have been sites for these policy directions. Much of the debate surrounding these policies excludes or minimises the fundamental role of an active state by focusing on an uncritical conception of community. Drawing on the notion of network governance, an alternative framework for re‐conceptualising state‐community relations and delivering improved community outcomes is posited. The paper concludes by suggesting possible social governance methodologies for actioning this framework.     

Neoliberalism,Inequality and Politics: The Changing Face of Australia

Since the early 1980s Australian public policy has undergone the most major transformation since Federation. This transformation has been underwritten by two key principles: liberalism – the view that citizens are autonomous individual actors whose interests are best served when they are free from coercive government interventions into individual action; and marketisation – the belief that free markets are arenas which best enable individual autonomy and produce efficient economic outcomes. These principles define ‘neoliberalism’ or ‘hard liberalism‘. After summarising the major policy changes identified with neoliberalism in Australia, the paper introduces a new research project that examines its impact on socioeconomic inequality, gender inequality and politics and culture. Inspection of relevant data indicates that there are important trends in inequality, public opinion and political behaviour that warrant this investigation.     

Audit of advertised housing and support vacancies for people with disabilities in Australia

The introduction of Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has changed the way housing and support are delivered to Scheme participants. NDIS policy reform focuses on coordinated housing and support responses. These responses are guided by the Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) Rule, Framework and pricing and Supported Independent Living payments. To date, the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) has only released limited data to understand SDA demand or inform market development. To understand changing housing and support approaches and the impact of NDIS housing policy on market responses, this research had three aims: (1) to examine the locations and characteristics of housing and support vacancies advertised for people with disability; (2) to investigate funding sources for, and providers of, these supported housing options; and (3) to examine the proportion and source of government, nonprofit and private sector funding for housing and support developments advertised. An audit was undertaken of all advertisements on the two main non‐government organisation Websites that list Australian supported housing vacancies. A total of 562 property adverts were reviewed in March 2019. Audit findings are considered in relation to the current NDIS policy context. Possible housing futures and market gaps for people with significant and permanent disability in Australia are discussed.     

The influence of governance on public sector efficiency: A cross-country analysis

This paper examines whether governance quality affects public sector efficiency in the policy areas of administration, education, infrastructure, and stability. Using cross-country evidence, we find that a country's measures of governance quality are positively and significantly associated with public sector efficiency in the policy areas of administration, infrastructure, and stability. However, regression results suggest that a country's governance quality cannot affect efficiency in the policy area of education, even after controlling for some explanatory variables.     

Forced cooperation from above: the case of Sweden's establishment reform

In December 2010, significant parts of Swedish integration policy were changed. Through the ‘establishment reform’, a centralization was implemented in which the national level overtook the responsibility of municipalities for the establishment of newly arrived immigrants. In today's system, the responsibility is shared between several authorities, the municipalities, and publicly financed private actors. Recent governmental reports have described the current situation as being characterized by coordination problems and shortcomings in accountability. This policy creates an institutional landscape that spans both vertical and horizontal dimensions, reflecting several levels of the public administration and actors that originate from several sectors. The purpose of this article is to explore the governance of Swedish integration policy, with a theoretical focus derived from the ideal types of hierarchy, market, and network. We examine one Swedish region in which parts of the establishment reform were applied as a pilot project before being applied to the rest of Sweden. The theoretically driven results are unexpected in that they reveal traits of governance steering but also of top-down perspectives and restrictions for involved actors in a way that counteracts theoretical logics.