Abstract:

The administrative division is the spatial basis of national governance. Its reform practice reshapes the regional political and economic landscape, a critical issue of common concern for domestic and foreign practitioners and academics. This issue is worthy of mutual reference. However, the domestic academic community has paid little attention to the reform of foreign administrative divisions. Based on ordering the English literature, this article reviewed the practical process and research progress of administrative division reform in foreign countries. We find that merger and splitting are the two main foreign administrative division reform models. Three aspects, the reform motivation, the reform's influencing factors, and the reform performance, are the core issues of the existing research. Besides, accurately assessing reform performance and expanding research perspectives are the key directions of future research. The foreign administrative reform practice can also provide a possible reference for the current administrative division reform in China.

Key words: foreign administrative division reform, splitting, merger, research review

摘要：

行政区划是国家治理的空间基础，其改革实践则重塑区域政治经济格局，是国内外实务界与学术界共同关注的重要议题。但国内学界对国外行政区划改革的关注却相对不足。基于对英文文献的梳理，评述国外行政区划改革的实践进程与研究进展。研究发现，合并与拆分是国外行政区划改革的两种主要模式，改革的动因研究、影响因素及绩效研究是现有研究的三个核心议题，而精确评估改革绩效、扩展研究视角是未来研究的重点方向，同时国外行政区划改革的实践也可为当前中国的行政区划改革提供一定的参考。

关键词: 国外行政区划改革, 合并, 拆分, 研究评述