National Governance Quotient: The Foundation of Big Data-based National Governance

A nation’s rise or fall hinges, to some extent, upon its national governance quotient. National governance quotient, or NGQ, is a quantitative indicator measuring the governance level of a country in quotient form. Its value is the ratio of the national governance system and capacity to national governance costs, and its nature is that of an amalgam of national governance ideas and techniques quantified on the basis of the figures. It is advanced because its inner core lies in logic and computation, and it is scientific because it is guaranteed by technology platforms such as big data and cloud computing. The formulation of NGQ provides technical support and a basis for the transformation from experiential or experimental governance to quantitative, scientific governance, and it thus has great theoretical and practical significance for the modernization of national governance system and capacity. As well as being used to provide quantitative management of national governance modernization, NGQ can also be used as a measurement standard and key symbol for evaluating the modernization of China’s national governance by 2020. Furthermore, it can be used to compile a World NGQ Report with the aim of taking hold of international governance discourse, as well as to compile China local NGQ reports to improve local governance in China.     

Co‐production,governance and practice: The dynamics and effects of User Voice Prison Councils

Drawing on Bevir's (2013) decentered theory of governance, and Donati's (2016) theory of the relational subject, this article explores how User Voice Prison Councils in England have contributed to shifts in aspects of prison governance and practice. It discusses the cultural and policy context in which the Councils emerged and operate before exploring their perceived purposes, dynamics, and effects. User Voice Prison Councils represent an important example of different actors co‐producing alternative patterns of governance through innovations in democratic participation. Interviews with Prison Council participants, User Voice and prison staff revealed that the development of such “bottom–up” participatory governance practices require and restore interpersonal trust, the mechanisms of which are interactions underpinned by a distinct manner of relating and the establishment of a network of relations oriented to the common good. The effects include enhanced institutional legitimacy; improvements in prison officer‐prisoner relations; and greater quality of life for prisoners. Revealing the “how” of co‐production, from the “inside”, the argument advanced here is that while the effects of co‐production may be more ameliorative than transformative, such collaborative and dialogic approaches can enable differently situated people to forge new norms of interactions and forms of democratic participation to achieve collective goals.     

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.     

金融全球化与“股东导向型”公司治理制度的跨国传播——对中国公司治理改革的社会学分析

自20世纪80年代以来,由于金融全球化和美式“股东资本主义”的兴起,“股东导向型”公司治理制度在全世界的影响越来越大,被誉为最佳公司治理模式或“国际惯例”。它不但影响了德、日等发达国家,也影响了中国等发展中国家和转型国家的公司治理改革。本文认为,“股东导向型”公司治理制度在中国的传播主要由内生性和外生性两大动机驱动,经过两个阶段和通过三种机制完成。第一阶段是在跨国层面,“模仿性同构”机制和“规范性同构”机制发挥了重要作用;第二阶段是在国内企业层面,政府通过法律法规和政策等手段要求企业采用新的公司治理模式,即“强制性同构”机制发挥了主导作用。对中国公司治理改革的社会学分析有助于我们从一个不同于经济学和管理学的新视角加深对中国金融市场和上市公司的理解,对于反思西方新自由主义企业制度,构建具有中国特色的现代企业制度具有较为重要的理论和现实意义。     

Effective local governance assisting vulnerable groups: The case of youth not in employment,education or training (NEETs) in Sweden

Youth not in employment, education or training (NEETs) have been analyzed from either individual or macro-structural perspectives, while policy discussions have emphasized national policy. This disregards (i) the substantial variation in NEET rates within countries, and (ii) the importance of local governance for this variation. We examine these issues in Sweden through the lens of interactive governance. Theoretically, four aspects of collective action are highlighted: identification of local NEET subgroups, perceptions of problems and of solutions, and stakeholder relationships. Empirically, an initial multi-level regression analysis of all 290 Swedish municipalities provided the basis for semi-structured interviews regarding local work with NEETs in 20 strategically selected municipalities. The qualitative data are here analyzed using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis. The results suggest that municipalities where local governance combines three of the four aspects, namely identifying NEET subgroups and sharing perceptions of problems and of solutions, have lower NEET shares than predicted.     

Corporate Governance and Firm Performance： A Sociological Analysis Based on Chinese Experience

基于676家上市公司1997-2007年问的面板数据及对上市公司高管、独立董事、基金经理和证券分析师等的深度访谈资料,分析公司治理和企业绩效之间的关系,揭示在中国制度背景下与代理理论的预测颇为不问的公司治理与企业绩效的关系模式。而所谓的“最佳”公司治理做法是在特定社会、政治、文化等制度环境下各种复杂社会力量和利益群体进行“建构”的结果,其作用的发挥在很大程度上取决于是否契合所在的制度环境,因此,并不存在普适的“最佳”公司治理模式。基于中国经验的社会学实证研究,为解构这一世界性公司治理迷思提供了新视角和证据。     

The Rule of Law Model of Internet Governance*

The rule of law is the basic form of national governance and the rule of law model is the necessary direction for the governance of online society. Online society is in essence a new pattern of social relationships and structural forms comprising relationships among citizens, legal persons, organizational bodies, etc., formed and brought together on the basis of Internet technology; and also a reflection, expansion and expression, singly or in synthesis, of various relationships in the fields of the real economy, politics, culture, society and the environment. The rule of law model of Internet governance refers to governance theories, systems and practices that employ rule of law thinking and the rule of law model to bring the elements, structures, procedures and functions of Internet governance into the scope of the rule of law and its operational track. Reviewing the tortuous course of the development of rule of law Internet governance in China, summarizing useful experience in the construction of rule of law Internet governance, and reflecting on existing legislative, law enforcement and judicial dilemmas will enable us to build up a rule of law system of online governance with comprehensive norms, effective implementation, strict supervision and strong guarantees. This will be marked by Chinese characteristics and will ensure the application of rule of law thinking and the rule of law model in governing, operating, using and safeguarding the Internet, thus achieving sound and orderly Internet operation and development along the path of the rule of law and advancing the modernization of the Internet governance system and governance capability.     

民营企业的公共行为与地方治理——以浙江民营企业调查为基础的分析

民营企业是改革开放以来伴随着生产资料所有制关系重大调整而崛起的企业形式。民营企业家的自利性和公共性的统一构成了民营企业公共行为的内在根据。民营企业的公共行为同经营行为的相关性是其公共行为的根本动力。民营企业的公共行为是促进地方治理的重要力量。它有利于地方治理中公共产品和公共服务的供给,有利于民主政治建设,有利于弘扬公共精神,有利于公民社会的发育,有利于维护社会的稳定。民营企业的公共行为还需要进一步扩大范围和提升层次,以便在地方治理中发挥更大的作用。这不仅需要提高民营企业家自身的素质,更重要的是依赖于地方治理的改进。     

Strengthening urban community governance through geographical information systems and participation: An evaluation of my Google Map and service coordination

It is increasingly common for urban planners and local policymakers to adopt interactive technologies, such as geographical information systems (GISs), to inform their decision making and to enhance performance. This paper aimed to assess the role that interactive technology can play in enhancing urban governance to meet social needs by improving local organisations’ capacities, client access, and service effectiveness and responsiveness, as well as community building. Using the previous research framework on mapping community capacity developed by Brudney et al. (Community Development Journal, 2016, 52, 354) and Çöltekin et al. (Cartography and Geographic Information Science, 2009, 36, 5–17), we examined a simulated online interactive map for service provision in Hong Kong and interviewed around 20 local community organisations and 100 local residents about their user experience, their willingness to support its long-term adoption and their challenges. Our findings reveal that local residents find the interactive map helpful, particularly in improving service access, whereas local organisations are more reluctant to adopt such technology due to high maintenance costs. The implications of our study include the need to develop incentives to encourage technology adoption, to improve the capacity of local organisations and to establish better links between community organisations and local residents to identify sustainable financing (through crowdsourcing) for GIS applications to improve urban community governance.     

The Global Governance of Terrorism: An Assessment of Different Regimes*

Breakthroughs in the global governance of terrorism depend mainly on the development on the part of the international community of thorough and effective mechanisms. At present, global governance targets terrorism via four regimes: hegemonic governance; governance by international organizations; hybrid governance; and coordinated governance by major powers. These strategies have made a contribution to counter-terrorism, but they do have shortcomings. We start with the judgment that governance entities should adhere to the logic of consequences, the logic of appropriateness, the logic of emotion and the logic of habitus, and on this basis make a preliminary assessment of the global governance of terrorism. Present terrorism governance regimes tend to be based on the thinking of the logic of consequences with only partial implementation of the logic of appropriateness and no use, so far, of counterterrorism measures based on the logic of emotion and the logic of habitus. To address both the symptoms and root causes of terrorism, international society should encourage governance strategies that implement counter-terrorism measures based on the four types of logic above and should promote coordination and cooperation based on this platform. In this course, China could promote a more significant role in global terrorism governance for such counter-terrorism platforms as the United Nations, including the Security Council, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.     

Mobility,migration and rights in the European Union: critical reflections on policy and practice

This article assesses developments in European Union (EU) migration policy and practice and their implications for rights regulation in the Union, as revealed in this special issue and the wider literature. It identifies how rights are constituted in the complex and multivalent policy-making field of the EU. The article views rights as constituted in the process of migration governance. This governance analysis puts centre stage an assessment of the links between policy, policy-making and policy's social and political ordering effects. The article argues that the significance of the Union needs to be analysed against different aspects of rights regulation. The article adopts an analytical framework which discriminates between the discursive framing of migrants' rights, the specification of such rights in Union and member state policy, and the shaping of rights by actors in context at the local level. The article concludes that, first, the Union has begun to play a significant role in regulating mobility rights across its territory in ways which can undermine the substantive or normative rights accessible to migrants in practice. Second, its policy and legal role are politically significant as it asserts the role of the EU as a source of regulatory authority over the distribution of rights for citizens and non-citizens within its territory.     

Effectiveness of Local Governance: Interactions Between Social Capital and Institutional Structures

This paper critically evaluates the debate on what makes local governments more effective, higher social capital (such as trust, reciprocity, and informal social networks) or stronger institutional structures (such as democratic processes, ombudsman, and social audits). Empirical analysis of a decentralized welfare scheme in India, the Andhra Pradesh Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (APREGS), using the latent variable path analysis modeling approach reveals that creation of formal democratic institutional channels in itself does not impact governance performance. Rather, it is mediated by complex institutional and social capital issues. For example, formal information dissemination activates social capital, leading to effective local governance. However, this (higher social capital and better institutions) does not automatically lead to empowerment or trust in the local government. The influence of the economically and politically powerful mediates this relationship. These and other results, cumulatively, highlight the complexity involved in the effectiveness of government empowerment initiatives. The paper calls for a fresh and wider debate on decision‐making dynamics in rural India, especially the interaction between government institutions, social capital, and the historical societal dynamics.     

Nonprofit Governance Quality: Concept and Measurement

ABSTRACT

A nonprofit “governance quality index” was developed to enable verification and falsification of contemporary theoretical insights on social service organizations. Indicators were generated based on an extensive qualitative exploration. For the quantitative validation, a data set was composed of 526 respondents from 52 organizations. Five subdimensions of governance quality are introduced and are recommended to be used as separate scales, rather than combined into a single score on governance quality. Furthermore, the recommendation is made to rely on multiple raters per organization to assess governance quality or related concepts, given the substantial within-organization variance found.     

技术治理的悖论:一项民意调查的政治过程及其结果

技术治理的逻辑是通过识别和处理源源不断的问题进而把社会呈现在国家面前。它能够完成其使命吗？本文以S市C街道2014年至2016年的连续民意调查为经验对象,系统阐述民意调查为何表面上是一个统计学过程,实质却是由权力运行支配的政治过程。分析表明,在将复杂民意化简成民调数据时,技术只能保证化简程序的严谨性,化简方向则由操作者决定。民调项目的规定性源自基层权力结构,又被转移到对复杂民意的筛选、压缩和量化过程之中,生成指标体系。据此,本文揭示了技术治理的悖论--国家通过技术之眼观察社会时,看到的可能是自己的影子。     

社会信任与基层社区治理效应的因果机制

本文尝试回答社会信任对基层社区治理效应产生影响的具体机制。本文认为,社会信任通过具体的中间传输机制影响基层社区治理效应。根据以往理论和实证发现,本研究选取并检验了选举质量、大众参与和非政府组织等三个具体的中间机制。结果表明,社会信任虽然对社区治理有着重要影响,但其影响并非直接的,而是借由中间机制实现的;普遍信任对选举质量产生显著的正面影响,即对社区居委会的治理效应产生积极影响;特殊信任对选举质量和业委会建立产生显著的负面影响,进而对社区居委会的治理效应产生消极影响。     

市场治理结构与注册会计师审计的独立性

市场治理结构是市场公平、有序交易顺利实现的一种制度安排,在市场治理结构中,注册会计师制度属信誉机制的一部分。注册会计师的独立性是市场治理结构对注册会计师审计职业活动的约束和限定,是注册会计师审计活动的定义域,是注册会计师理性地观察到自身地位后形成独立意见的内在自由状态,这种自由状态与社会公共利益的要求相一致。独立性并不能自发实现,它要受市场治理结构和注册会计师理性认识的制约。     

Impact of municipal amalgamation on stakeholder collaboration: the case of Auckland,New Zealand

Local councils governing Auckland, New Zealand, underwent restructuring in 2010, amalgamating eight local authorities and establishing the Auckland Council as a unitary authority. Key objectives for Auckland’s amalgamation included achieving reform and a single direction in governance, facilitating democratic representation of local communities, overcoming prevalent problems of fragmentation in governance and addressing lack of engagement from local communities. Qualitative interviews with key public and private sector stakeholders suggest the amalgamation effected changes to collaborative practices in anticipation of the restructure and after the amalgamation occurred. The creation of one council eased many collaborative processes. At the same time, the amalgamation strained collaboration in several ways.     

A social stakeholder model

Corporate governance is a concept that attracted the attention of jurists and economists in the US in the 1970s and 1980s. The concept then became widespread on the European continent in the 1990s. More recently, corporate governance elements have turned up in other fields as well. When applied to social institutions, this model is referred to as 'social governance'. The (corporate) governance concept can be valuable in the social area. The debate on corporate governance is much more fundamental than the debate on the relationship between shareholders and management or between minority and majority shareholders. The essence of corporate governance can be found in the pursuit of a situation of 'checks and balances', which gives the stakeholders the possibility to complement and control each other. This article analyses the different stakeholders in the social area, their legitimisation as stakeholders and the practicability of a social stakeholder model.     

Are good governance principles institutionalised with policy transfer? An examination of public–private partnerships policy promotion in China

This article explores the following question: To what extent are good governance principles being institutionalised in China as a result of public–private partnerships (PPP) policy transfer? Since 2013, China has been pursuing PPP and applying aspects of related good governance drawing from Western experience despite its radically different fragmented authoritarian regime. This makes China a unique case to observe the extent to which good governance principles can be institutionalised in very different contexts. This article assesses the degree of institutionalisation of three good governance principles that guide PPP policy elsewhere: transparency and accountability, willingness to collaborate and equity between partners. It argues that while the PPP policies have been applied extensively in recent years, these good governance principles have been institutionalised to varying degrees as they have had to be adapted and compromised to fit with existing power relations in authoritarian China. The findings aim to add value to the literature regarding PPP policy transfer and good governance, by revealing the challenges of institutionalising good governance principles through PPP policy transfer in an alien context.     

Creative placemaking and the NEA: unpacking a multi-level governance

The role of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in shaping the arts and cultural sector is not well understood. In this paper, I focus on the development of the governance of the creative placemaking policy to unpack the complexity of the role of the NEA. Governance is used to refer to collective action designed to achieve a general interest through different actors from both the government and civic society. I use intergovernmental relations theory to capture governance dynamics in creative placemaking. In particular, I focus on three main tools developed by the NEA to spur a multi-level governance: research, grants, and partnerships. What emerges is that the role of the NEA in the development of the creative placemaking policy is multifaceted as it includes offering and leveraging funding, shaping the conversation, providing insights, and spurring collaborations. These actions create a multi-level governance based on a dynamic exchange between national and local governments, and the involvement of a variety of actors from civil society.