从体制改革到治道改革——美国大都市区管理模式研究重心的转变

From Government to Governance: Shifts in the Scholarship on Local Governments in the United States

美国大都市区内地方政府数目庞杂、权力分散,与大都市区一体化发展的客观需求相去甚远,这自然成为美国学术界普遍关注的研究课题。持续近一个世纪之久的理论探讨与改革实践,成效不显,重大问题远未达成共识。但在以“新”、“老”区域主义及“公共选择”学派为代表的重大学术交锋过程中,研究重点从推崇构建大都市区政府的体制改革转变为注重地方政府管理结构的治道改革,体现了向地方政府发展客观现实倾斜的理论选择。

The large number, aggravated by the fragmentation, of the local governments in the metropolitan areas of the United States has created problems for the integrated development of big cities. The century-long exploration in theory and practice over this controversial issue within the American academic community, however, has not reached consensus on some key issues. But exchanges among Old Regionalism, New Regionalism and Public Choice schools, on the other hand, have helped shift the focus of research from reforming metropolitan government to metropolitan governance, which reflects the recognition of the status of the local governments.