WorldWideScience

Sample records for policy making form

  1. How Different Forms of Policy Learning Influence Each Other: Case Studies from Austrian Innovation Policy-Making

    OpenAIRE

    Biegelbauer, Peter

    2016-01-01

    This paper investigates the question whether different forms of policy learning influence each other. The focus is on relationships between different forms of policy learning, which are explored on the basis of case study research in the field of research, technology and innovation policy-making in Austria. Methods utilised are expert interviews and document analysis besides literature and media recherché. With the goal to better understand the mechanisms behind learning processes, different ...

  2. Making Policy in the Classroom

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hohmann, Ulrike

    2016-01-01

    The concept of street-level bureaucracy (Lipsky, 1980, 2010) examines the form and extent discretion takes in teachers' and other public policy enactors' work and how they negotiate their way through sometimes contradictory policy imperatives. It provides a framework for straddling top-down and bottom-up perspectives on policy making. In this…

  3. The Europeanization of German energy and climate policies. New forms of policy-making and EU multi-level-governance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fischer, Severin

    2015-01-01

    The Energy Transition (''Energiewende'') is one of the hot topics of the political debate in Germany for some years. As a consequence of ongoing European integration, EU level politics have gained growing importance. The focus of this study is on the interaction of German and EU energy and climate policies. How have German actors influenced EU policy-making processes and in how far are EU policies relevant for national policy-making in Germany? Three case studies look at processes in the fields of electricity market regulation, renewable energy policy and climate protection between 2007 and 2013.

  4. Dissolving decision making? : Models and their roles in decision-making processes and policy at large

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zeiss, Ragna; van Egmond, S.

    2014-01-01

    This article studies the roles three science-based models play in Dutch policy and decision making processes. Key is the interaction between model construction and environment. Their political and scientific environments form contexts that shape the roles of models in policy decision making.

  5. Science communication in policy making

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Coumou, Hilde; van der Werf Kulichova, Z.; Wehrmann, C.

    2014-01-01

    Policy making regarding application of agricultural biotechnology has been controversial. This study investigates what determines the motivation of European biotech scientists to actively participate in policy making. To do this, a conceptual framework was developed based on the Theory of Planned...... Behavior. The framework was operationalized in semi-structured interviews with 17 European biotech scientists to collect data about their motivation to involve in GMO policy making. The results of this qualitative study suggest that the attitude of the scientists towards active participation in policy...... making is dependent on their view of the way science and decision making relate to each other. The respondents who are currently active in policy making seem to be driven by commitment to the public good. However, many respondents feel social pressure from environmental NGOs to withdraw from engagement...

  6. Maritime Governance and Policy-Making

    CERN Document Server

    Roe, Michael

    2013-01-01

    A close analysis of the framework of existing governance and the existing jurisdictional arrangements for shipping and ports reveals that while policy-making is characterized by national considerations through flags, institutional representation at all jurisdictions and the inviolability of the state, the commercial, financial, legal and operational environment of the sector is almost wholly global. This governance mismatch means that in practice the maritime industry can avoid policies which it dislikes by trading nations off against one another, while enjoying the freedoms and benefits of a globalized economy. A Post-modern interpretation of this globalized society prompts suggestions for change in maritime policy-making so that the governance of the sector better matches more closely the environment in which shipping and ports operate. Maritime Governance and Policy-Making is a controversial commentary on the record of policy-making in the maritime sector and assesses whether the reason for continued polic...

  7. Democratic cultural policy : democratic forms and policy consequences

    OpenAIRE

    Gray, Clive

    2012-01-01

    The forms that are adopted to give practical meaning to democracy are assessed to identify what their implications are for the production of public policies in general and cultural policies in particular. A comparison of direct, representative, democratic elitist and deliberative versions of democracy identifies clear differences between them in terms of policy form and democratic practice. Further elaboration of these differences and their consequences are identified as areas for further res...

  8. Policies and place-making for competitive cities

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Musterd, S.; Kovács, Z.; Musterd, S.; Kovács, Z.

    2013-01-01

    Policy-makers are making efforts to strengthen the competitiveness of their cities and urban regions. This book is about these policies and their implications for place-making and competitive cities. Policies driven by ‘classic’ location theory, cluster policies, ‘creative class’ policies aimed at

  9. Federal and European Union Policy Making

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dosenrode, Søren

    By using the policy cycle approach, this paper compares the policy-process in a number of Anglo-Saxon type federations with the policy-process in continental-European style federations from within the European Union (EU) area.  The comparison would reveal: a) distinct different styles of policy...... making in European style federations in relation with the Anglo-Saxon ones. b) that the policy-process in the EU resembles that of the European style federations, and c) the Constitutional Treaty (CT) or a possible CT-light would strengthen the federal policy-making characteristics already present...

  10. Policy-making in the European Union

    CERN Document Server

    Pollack, Mark A; Young, Alasadair R

    2015-01-01

    Constantly evolving, and with far-reaching implications, European Union policy-making is of central importance to the politics of the European Union. From defining the processes, institutions and modes through which policy-making operates, the text moves on to situate individual policies within these modes, detail their content, and analyse how they are implemented, navigating policy in all its complexities. The first part of the text examines processes, institutions, and the theoretical and analytical underpinnings of policy-making, while the second part considers a wide range of policy areas, from economics to the environment, and security to the single market. Throughout the text, theoretical approaches sit side by side with the reality of key events in the EU, including enlargement, the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, and the financial crisis and resulting euro area crisis, exploring what determines how policies are made and implemented. In the final part, the editors consider trends in EU policy-makin...

  11. Strategic Delegation of Environmental Policy Making

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Roelfsema, H. [Utrecht University, Utrecht School of Economics, Vredenburg 138, 3511 BG Utrecht (Netherlands)

    2004-04-15

    A common claim is that nations should cooperate in environmental policy making. However, there is little empirical support that noncooperative decision making results in too low environmental standards and taxes. We develop a theoretical model and show that if the median voter cares sufficiently for the environment, she has an incentive to delegate policy making to a politician that cares more for the environment than she does herself. By doing so, she mitigates the 'race to the bottom' in environmental taxes. In contrast, if environmental policies are determined cooperatively with other countries, the median voter has an incentive to delegate policy making to a politician that cares less for the environment than she does herself, so as to free ride on international environmental agreements.

  12. Public values for energy futures: Framing, indeterminacy and policy making

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Butler, C.; Demski, C.; Parkhill, K.; Pidgeon, N.; Spence, A.

    2015-01-01

    In the UK there are strong policy imperatives to transition toward low carbon energy systems but how and in what ways such transitional processes might be realised remains highly uncertain. One key area of uncertainty pertains to public attitudes and acceptability. Though there is wide-ranging research relevant to public acceptability, very little work has unpacked the multiple questions concerning how policy-makers can grapple with and mitigate related uncertainties in efforts to enact energy systems change. In this paper, public acceptability is identified as an indeterminate form of uncertainty that presents particular challenges for policy making. We build on our existing research into public values for energy system change to explore how the outcomes of the project can be applied in thinking through the uncertainties associated with public acceptability. Notably, we illustrate how the public values identified through our research bring into view alternative and quite different problem and solution framings to those currently evident within UK policy. We argue that engagement with a wide range of different framings can offer a basis for better understanding and anticipating public responses to energy system change, ultimately aiding in managing the complex set of uncertainties associated with public acceptability. - Highlights: • We argue that public acceptability represents an indeterminate form of uncertainty. • This means alternative approaches to decision-making are required. • We introduce a public value set for energy system change. • We use this as a basis for interrogating current UK policy approaches to transitions. • Incorporating public values in policy can help tackle uncertainty about acceptability.

  13. Governance and Youth Participation in local policy making

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Eklund Karlsson, Leena; Haaber Pettersen, Charlotte Louise; Aro, Arja R.

    2016-01-01

    research strategy was applied to examine these two case studies. Data was collected under the REPOPA Project (Research into Policy to enhance Physical Activity) though semi-structures interviews (N=11), analysed through content analysis and supported by analysis of 123 background documents. Results: Youth...... was involved in policy making only through adult representation. These adult stakeholders became part of participatory governance in developing the healthy public policies in both Odense and Esbjerg municipalities. Conclusion: Youth participation in local HEPA policy making in Esbjerg and Odense did not meet...... the Danish principle of participatory policy process and good health system governance. Main messages: Mechanisms to facilitate youth participation in policy making in the study communities were lacking. The Danish goal of improved participatory policy making at the local level was not met....

  14. Improving policy making through government-industry policy learning: The case of a novel Swedish policy framework

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stigson, Peter; Dotzauer, Erik; Yan Jinyue

    2009-01-01

    Climate change poses an unprecedented challenge for policy makers. This paper analyzes how industry sector policy expertise can contribute to improved policy making processes. Previous research has identified that policy making benefit by including non-governmental policy analysts in learning processes. Recent climate and energy policy developments, including amendments and the introduction of new initiatives, have rendered current policy regimes as novel to both governments and the industry. This increases business investment risk perceptions and may thus reduce the effectiveness and efficiency of the policy framework. In order to explore how government-industry policy learning can improve policy making in this context, this article studied the Swedish case. A literature survey analyzed how policy learning had been previously addressed, identifying that the current situation regarding novel policies had been overlooked. Interviews provided how industrial actors view Swedish policy implementation processes and participatory aspects thereof. The authors conclude that an increased involvement of the industry sector in policy design and management processes can be an important measure to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of climate and energy policies

  15. Public Policy-Making in Contemporary Ethiopia | Abebe | Africa Insight

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This article draws attention to the perennial problems and salient features of public policy-making in contemporary Ethiopia, namely, the imbalance between policy-making institutions and policy benefi ciaries, and how these have infl uenced policy formulation and implementation from 1991 to 2004. Drawing from interviews ...

  16. Environmental policy and environment-saving technologies. Economic aspects of policy making under uncertainty

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ossokina, I.

    2003-07-01

    It is generally known that natural environment is profoundly influenced by technological change. The direction and the size of this influence are, however, surrounded by uncertainties, which substantially complicate environmental policy making. This dissertation uses game-theoretical models to study policy making under uncertainty about (a) the costs of technological advances in pollution control, (b) the preferences of the policy maker and the voters, and (c) the consequences of policy measures. From a positive point of view the analysis provides explanations for environmental policies in modern democracies. From a normative point of view it gives a number of recommendations to improve environmental policies.

  17. Persistent misunderstandings about evidence-based (sorry: informed!) policy-making.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bédard, Pierre-Olivier; Ouimet, Mathieu

    2016-01-01

    The field of research on knowledge mobilization and evidence-informed policy-making has seen enduring debates related to various fundamental assumptions such as the definition of 'evidence', the relative validity of various research methods, the actual role of evidence to inform policy-making, etc. In many cases, these discussions serve a useful purpose, but they also stem from serious disagreement on methodological and epistemological issues. This essay reviews the rationale for evidence-informed policy-making by examining some of the common claims made about the aims and practices of this perspective on public policy. Supplementing the existing justifications for evidence-based policy making, we argue in favor of a greater inclusion of research evidence in the policy process but in a structured fashion, based on methodological considerations. In this respect, we present an overview of the intricate relation between policy questions and appropriate research designs. By closely examining the relation between research questions and research designs, we claim that the usual points of disagreement are mitigated. For instance, when focusing on the variety of research designs that can answer a range of policy questions, the common critical claim about 'RCT-based policy-making' seems to lose some, if not all of its grip.

  18. Big Data for Public Health Policy-Making: Policy Empowerment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mählmann, Laura; Reumann, Matthias; Evangelatos, Nikolaos; Brand, Angela

    2018-04-04

    Digitization is considered to radically transform healthcare. As such, with seemingly unlimited opportunities to collect data, it will play an important role in the public health policy-making process. In this context, health data cooperatives (HDC) are a key component and core element for public health policy-making and for exploiting the potential of all the existing and rapidly emerging data sources. Being able to leverage all the data requires overcoming the computational, algorithmic, and technological challenges that characterize today's highly heterogeneous data landscape, as well as a host of diverse regulatory, normative, governance, and policy constraints. The full potential of big data can only be realized if data are being made accessible and shared. Treating research data as a public good, creating HDC to empower citizens through citizen-owned health data, and allowing data access for research and the development of new diagnostics, therapies, and public health policies will yield the transformative impact of digital health. The HDC model for data governance is an arrangement, based on moral codes, that encourages citizens to participate in the improvement of their own health. This then enables public health institutions and policymakers to monitor policy changes and evaluate their impact and risk on a population level. © 2018 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  19. Education Policies and Policy Making in Arizona: Report on a Survey of Education Policy Actors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lawton, Stephen B.

    2011-01-01

    This study provides an objective look at the education policies adopted by the State of Arizona since 2000, describes participants in the policy-making process, and identifies policy options for the future. The framework of the study uses a typology of educational policies with seven categories: school building and facilities, curriculum…

  20. Integrated assessment and environmental policy making. In pursuit of usefulness

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Parson, E.A.

    1995-01-01

    Current integrated assessment projects primarily seek end to end integration through formal models at a national to global scale, and show three significant representational weaknesses: determinants of decadal-scale emissions trends; valuing impacts and adaptive response; and the formation and effects of policies. Meeting the needs of policy audiences may require other forms of integration; may require integration by formal modeling or by other means; and may require representing decisions of other actors through political and negotiating processes. While rational global environmental policy making requires integrated assessment, current practice admits no single vision of how to do it, so understanding will be best advanced by a diverse collection of projects pursuing distinct methods and approaches. Further practice may yield some consensus on best practice, possibly including generic assessment skills generalizable across issues. (Author)

  1. Education Policy: Explaining, Framing and Forming

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adams, Paul

    2016-01-01

    This paper presents a new heuristic device for the analysis of educational policy. Through an examination of the Evaluative State and the work of Brian Fay, the paper considers the way in which educational policy is subject to rational and linear forms of policy action and implementation. To counter this, positioning theory is deployed to consider…

  2. European Union Climate Change Policy: in the nexus of internal policy-making and itnernational negotiations

    OpenAIRE

    Cao, Hui

    2012-01-01

    The aim of the dissertation is to examine the European Union s climate policy in the nexus of domestic policy-making and international negotiations. I firstly test the EU s internal climate policy-making by applying the rational choice institutionalism on the model of institution and preference affect EU s policy outcomes and conclude that: as the EU has a convergent preference, the EU s unique decision-making procedure, the entrepreneurship and EU s membership had been driving EU s climate...

  3. Conflict within the Turkish foreign policy decision making mechanism:

    OpenAIRE

    Oğuz, Mustafa; Oguz, Mustafa

    2005-01-01

    This thesis presents an analysis of Turkish foreign policy decision making in a theoretical model and argues that Turkish foreign policy is a product of negotiation and compromises among various foreign policy making actors. Theoretical foundation is built on decision units framework advanced by Margaret G. Herman. It applies this framework to two cases and four decision occasions to investigate who made foreign policy decisions and how this influenced foreign policy of Turkey. The first case...

  4. Health policy making for street children: challenges and strategies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abdi, Fatemeh; Saeieh, Sara Esmaelzadeh; Roozbeh, Nasibeh; Yazdkhasti, Mansoureh

    2017-08-17

    Background The phenomenon of street children is a bio-psychological and social issue that not only harms children, but also endangers the health of a society. In line with the national programs for the development and promotion of street children's health in Iran, health policy making and essential strategies for this group of children will be presented in this paper. This paper will discuss the main issues and challenges of street children's health and, also, health policy and guidelines for this population. Methods In this review study, the keywords; street children, health, challenges, policy, and health policy making were searched through PubMed, SID, Iranmedex, World Health Organization (WHO), Emro, the Cochran Library, Medline and Google scholar to collect data. The search resulted in 84 related resources from which 48 cases that were more relevant to this research and covered the issue more comprehensively, were used. All data published during 2002-2015 have been included in this paper. Results Key concepts including street children and their health, health policy, strategies to improve the health of street children, health policy approaches for street children, the WHO's strategies, and social support program for street children must be considered in the health policy making processes for street children, as precise identification of the relevant information makes planning more effective in health policy making for this group of children. Conclusion The phenomenon of street children is a growing problem in the world and it has turned into a serious concern in many countries including Iran. The findings of this study can be used for identifying necessary measures in order to use research outcomes more effectively in policy making processes and reforming street children's health policies in Iran.

  5. The tension between research of policy and research for policy in an era of transnational education policy-making

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Desjardins, Richard; Rubenson, Kjell

    2009-01-01

    of implications for education policy-making processes and not least it has had an impact on who conducts policy studies and how. This book brings together a variety of contributions which explore recent political economic changes affecting education policy-making processes including the ascension of neo-liberalism......As national governments reform their educational systems to meet the challenges of living in a globalised world, the agenda setting power of transnational organizations like the OECD and the EU have become more transparent in the last decade. The phenomenon of globalization has a number...... and the transnationalization of education policy-making, as well as the tension between research of policy and research for policy. Working from different perspectives, the authors help to provide a better understanding of these two important sets of issues which the field of education must contend with today....

  6. 46 CFR 308.409 - Standard form of War Risk Builder's Risk Insurance Policy, Form MA-283.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... Policy, Form MA-283. 308.409 Section 308.409 Shipping MARITIME ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF... of War Risk Builder's Risk Insurance Policy, Form MA-283. The standard form of War Risk Builder's Risk Insurance Policy, Form MA-283 may be obtained from the American War Risk Agency or MARAD. ...

  7. Application of HTA research on policy decision-making.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Youngkong, Sitaporn

    2014-05-01

    This article provides an overview of the potential uses of health technology assessment (HTA) in health technology or health intervention-related policy decision-making. It summarises the role of HTA in policy planning, health system investment, price negotiation, development of clinical practice guidelines, and communication with health professionals. While the multifaceted nature of HTA means that some aspects of the data can result in conflicting conclusions, the comprehensive approach of HTA is still recommended. To help minimise the potential conflicts within HTA data, a multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) approach is recommended as a way to assess a number of decision criteria simultaneously. A combination of HTA with MCDA allows policy decision-making to be undertaken in an empirically rigorous and rational way. This combination can be used to support policy decision-makers in Thailand and help them prioritise topics for assessment and make informed health benefit package coverage decisions. This approach enhances the legitimacy of policy decisions by increasing the transparency, systematic nature, and inclusiveness of the process.

  8. 46 CFR 308.545 - Facultative cargo policy, Form MA-316.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 46 Shipping 8 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Facultative cargo policy, Form MA-316. 308.545 Section 308.545 Shipping MARITIME ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION EMERGENCY OPERATIONS WAR RISK... policy, Form MA-316. The standard form of War Risk Facultative Cargo Policy, Form MA-316, may be obtained...

  9. Between Policy-Making and Planning SEA and Strategic Decision-Making in the Danish Energy Sector

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lyhne, Ivar

    2011-01-01

    This article deals with the challenge of approaching decision-making processes through strategic environmental assessment (SEA). It is argued that the interaction between policy-making and planning in strategic decision-making processes is a neglected reason for problems with applying SEA......, as legislation and guidance on SEA primarily approach either the policy or plan level. To substantiate the argument, the extent of interaction is empirically investigated. Four contemporary decision-making processes in the Danish energy sector are mapped as a series of choices. Fundamental changes...... with considerable environmental impacts are decided these years, often without preceding SEA processes. The mapping shows a profound interaction between policy-making and planning. In this interaction, public consultation, systematic environmental analyses, and transparency on alternatives are primarily related...

  10. Public participation and environmental impact assessment: Purposes, implications, and lessons for public policy making

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    O'Faircheallaigh, Ciaran

    2010-01-01

    In recent years the need to enhance public participation in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), and the efficacy of alternative mechanisms in achieving this goal, have been central themes in the EIA literature. The benefits of public participation are often taken for granted, and partly for this reason the underlying rationale for greater public participation is sometimes poorly articulated, making it more difficult to determine how to pursue it effectively. The reasons for seeking public participation are also highly diverse and not always mutually consistent. There has been limited analysis of the implications of different forms and degrees of public participation for public decision making based on EIA, and little discussion of how experience with public participation in EIA relates to debates about participation in policy making generally. This paper distinguishes various purposes for public participation in EIA, and discusses their implications for decision making. It then draws on some general models of public participation in policy making to consider how approaches to participation in EIA can be interpreted and valued, and asks what EIA experience reveals about the utility of these models. It argues that the models pay insufficient attention to the interaction that can occur between different forms of public participation; and to the fact that public participation raises issues regarding control over decision making that are not subject to resolution, but must be managed through ongoing processes of negotiation.

  11. Models of policy-making and their relevance for drug research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ritter, Alison; Bammer, Gabriele

    2010-07-01

    Researchers are often frustrated by their inability to influence policy. We describe models of policy-making to provide new insights and a more realistic assessment of research impacts on policy. We describe five prominent models of policy-making and illustrate them with examples from the alcohol and drugs field, before drawing lessons for researchers. Policy-making is a complex and messy process, with different models describing different elements. We start with the incrementalist model, which highlights small amendments to policy, as occurs in school-based drug education. A technical/rational approach then outlines the key steps in a policy process from identification of problems and their causes, through to examination and choice of response options, and subsequent implementation and evaluation. There is a clear role for research, as we illustrate with the introduction of new medications, but this model largely ignores the dominant political aspects of policy-making. Such political aspects include the influence of interest groups, and we describe models about power and pressure groups, as well as advocacy coalitions, and the challenges they pose for researchers. These are illustrated with reference to the alcohol industry, and interest group conflicts in establishing a Medically Supervised Injecting Centre. Finally, we describe the multiple streams framework, which alerts researchers to 'windows of opportunity', and we show how these were effectively exploited in policy for cannabis law reform in Western Australia. Understanding models of policy-making can help researchers maximise the uptake of their work and advance evidence-informed policy.

  12. 20 CFR 703.110 - Other forms of endorsements and policies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Other forms of endorsements and policies. 703... Insurance Carriers § 703.110 Other forms of endorsements and policies. Where the form of endorsement prescribed by § 703.109 is not appropriate when used in conjunction with a form of policy approved for use by...

  13. 46 CFR 308.517 - Open Cargo Policy, Form MA-300.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 46 Shipping 8 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Open Cargo Policy, Form MA-300. 308.517 Section 308.517... Risk Cargo Insurance Ii-Open Policy War Risk Cargo Insurance § 308.517 Open Cargo Policy, Form MA-300. The standard form of War Risk Open Cargo, Form MA-300, may be obtained from the American War Risk...

  14. Pathways of undue influence in health policy-making: a main actor's perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hernández-Aguado, Ildefonso; Chilet-Rosell, Elisa

    2018-02-01

    It is crucial to know the extent to which influences lead to policy capture-by which the policy-making process is shifted away from the public interest towards narrow private interests. Using the case study of Spain, our aim was to identify interactions between public administration, civil society and private companies that could influence health policies. 54 semistructured interviews with key actors related to health policy. The interviews were used to gather information on main policy actors as well as on direct and subtle influences that could modify health policies. The analysis identified and described, from the interviewed persons' experiences, both the inappropriate influences exerted on the actors and those that they exerted. Inappropriate influences were identified at all levels of administration and policy. They included actions for personal benefits, pressure for blocking health policies and pressure from high levels of government in favour of private corporations. The private sector played a significant role in these strategies through bribery, personal gifts, revolving doors, negative campaigns and by blocking unfavourable political positions or determining the knowledge agenda. The interviewees reported subtle forms of influence (social events, offers of technical support, invitations, etc) that contributed to the intellectual and cultural capture of health officials. The health policy decision-making processes in Spain are subject to influences by stakeholders that determine a degree of policy capture, which is avoidable. The private sector uses different strategies, from subtle influences to outright corruption, taking advantage in many cases of flexible legislation. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

  15. Enhancing the contribution of research to health care policy-making: a case study of the Dutch Health Care Performance Report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hegger, Ingrid; Marks, Lisanne K; Janssen, Susan W J; Schuit, Albertine J; van Oers, Hans A M

    2016-01-01

    The Dutch Health Care Performance Report, issued by the National Institute of Public Health and the Environment, aims to monitor health care performance in The Netherlands. Both the National Institute and the Ministry of Health wish to increase the contribution of the Report to health care policy-making. Our aim was to identify ways to achieve that. We used contribution mapping as a theoretical framework that recognizes alignment of research as crucial to managing contributions to policy-making. To investigate which areas need alignment efforts by researchers and/or policy-makers, we interviewed National Institute researchers and policy-makers from the Ministry of Health and assessed the process for developing the 2010 Report. We identified six areas where alignment is specifically relevant for enhancing the contributions of future versions of the Dutch Health Care Performance Report: well-balanced information for different ministerial directorates; backstage work; double role actors; reports of other knowledge institutes; data collection/generation and presentation forms. The contribution of health care performance reporting to policy-making is complex and requires continuous alignment efforts between researchers and policy-makers. These efforts should form an inseparable part of health care performance reporting and although this demands considerable resources, it is worth considering since it may pay back in better contributions to policy-making. © The Author(s) 2015.

  16. Processes of local alcohol policy-making in England: Does the theory of policy transfer provide useful insights into public health decision-making?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gavens, Lucy; Holmes, John; Buykx, Penny; de Vocht, Frank; Egan, Matt; Grace, Daniel; Lock, Karen; Mooney, John D; Brennan, Alan

    2017-06-13

    Recent years have seen a rise in new and innovative policies to reduce alcohol consumption and related harm in England, which can be implemented by local, as opposed to national, policy-makers. The aim of this paper is to explore the processes that underpin the adoption of these alcohol policies within local authorities. In particular, it aims to assess whether the concept of policy transfer (i.e. a process through which knowledge about policies in one place is used in the development of policies in another time or place) provides a useful model for understanding local alcohol policy-making. Qualitative data generated through in-depth interviews and focus groups from five case study sites across England were used to explore stakeholder experiences of alcohol policy transfer between local authorities. The purposive sample of policy actors included representatives from the police, trading standards, public health, licensing, and commissioning. Thematic analysis was used inductively to identify key features in the data. Themes from the policy transfer literature identified in the data were: policy copying, emulating, hybridization, and inspiration. Participants described a multitude of ways in which learning was shared between places, ranging from formal academic evaluation to opportunistic conversations in informal settings. Participants also described facilitators and constraints to policy transfer, such as the historical policy context and the local cultural, economic, and bureaucratic context, which influenced whether or not a policy that was perceived to work in one place might be transferred successfully to another context. Theories of policy transfer provide a promising framework for characterising processes of local alcohol policy-making in England, extending beyond debates regarding evidence-informed policy to account for a much wider range of considerations. Applying a policy transfer lens enables us to move beyond simple (but still important) questions of

  17. Knowledge and power in policy-making for child survival in Niger.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dalglish, Sarah L; Rodríguez, Daniela C; Harouna, Abdoutan; Surkan, Pamela J

    2017-03-01

    Calls to enhance the use of scientific evidence in international health and development policy have increased in recent years; however, analytic frameworks for understanding evidence use focus narrowly on scientific research and were created using data and observations nearly exclusively from Western countries. We examine processes of health policy development in a case study of Niger, a low-income West African country that adopted integrated community case management of childhood illness (iCCM) beginning in 2007, resulting in measurable declines in child mortality. Data collection included in-depth interviews with policy actors in Niger (N = 32), document review (N = 103) and direct observation of policy forums (N = 3). Data analysis used process tracing methodology and applied an Aristotelian definition of "knowledge" as 1) episteme (facts), 2) techne (skills) and 3) phronesis (practical wisdom), while also using a critical perspective to understand issues of power. We found sharp differentials in policy-makers' possession and use of codified forms of knowledge (episteme), with Nigerien policy officers' access highly mediated by actors at international agencies. Government policy-makers possessed skills and capacities (techne) to negotiate with donors and deliberate and weigh conflicting considerations; however they lacked capacity and resources to formally evaluate and document programs and thus reliably draw lessons from them. Practical wisdom (phronesis) emerged as key to the iCCM policy enterprise, particularly among Nigerien government actors, who used logical and ethical arguments to make decisions later found to be critical to iCCM's success. While codified knowledge confers power on members of policy discussions who can access it, this represents only one form of knowledge used in the policy process and perhaps not the most important. Future research on evidence-based policy should use broader definitions of evidence or knowledge, examine on how

  18. Policy Making as Bricolage

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cartel, Melodie; Boxenbaum, Eva; Aggeri, Franck

    The making of environmental policies is a multi-stakeholders process where actors often hold antagonistic interests. The paper explores how institutional compromises are reached by the mechanism of collective bricolage. Recent studies are developing a view on institutional innovation as bricolage......, but the conditions under which bricolage occurs and succeeds in relation to institutional innovation are still unknown. Drawing on the notion of platform developed in the context of economics performativity, we study their role in bricolage mechanisms. We hold an empirical case study of the GETS platform...... that was instrumental in developing the European carbon market as a corner-stone of European climate policy. Based on the GETS case study, we find three modalities in which platforms stimulate institutional bricolage: catalyzing combinations, managing learning, fostering compromise. These findings draw on, and extend...

  19. Integrating research evidence and physical activity policy making

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Aro, Arja R.; Bertram, Maja; Hämäläinen, Riitta-Maija

    2016-01-01

    Evidence shows that regular physical activity is enhanced by supporting environment. Studies are needed to integrate research evidence into health enhancing, cross-sector physical activity (HEPA) policy making. This article presents the rationale, study design, measurement procedures...... and the initial results of the first phase of six European countries in a five-year research project (2011-2016), REsearch into POlicy to enhance Physical Activity (REPOPA). REPOPA is programmatic research; it consists of linked studies; the first phase studied the use of evidence in 21 policies in implementation...... to learn more in depth from the policy making process and carried out 86 qualitative stakeholder interviews. The second, ongoing phase builds on the central findings of the first phase in each country; it consists of two sets of interventions: game simulations to study cross-sector collaboration...

  20. Making multiple 'online counsellings' through policy and practice: an evidence-making intervention approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Savic, Michael; Dilkes-Frayne, Ella; Carter, Adrian; Kokanovic, Renata; Manning, Victoria; Rodda, Simone N; Lubman, Dan I

    2018-03-01

    Online counselling services for a range of health conditions have proliferated in recent years. However, there is ambiguity and tension around their role and function. It is often unclear whether online counselling services are intended to provide only a brief intervention, the provision of information or referral, or constitute an alternative to face-to-face treatment. In line with recent analyses of alcohol and other drug (AOD) policy and interventions that draw on a critical social science perspective, we take an evidence-making intervention approach to examine how online counselling in the AOD field is made in policy and through processes of local implementation. In this article, we analyse how online AOD counselling interventions and knowledges are enacted in Australia's AOD policy, and compare these enactments with an analysis of information about Australia's national online AOD counselling service, Counselling Online, and transcripts of counselling sessions with clients of Counselling Online. We suggest that while the policy enacts online counselling as a brief intervention targeting AOD use, and as an avenue to facilitate referral to face-to-face treatment services, in its implementation in practice online counselling is enacted in more varied ways. These include online counselling as attempting to attend to AOD use and interconnected psychosocial concerns, as a potential form of treatment in its own right, and as supplementing face-to-face AOD treatment services. Rather than viewing online counselling as a singular and stable intervention object, we suggest that multiple 'online counsellings' emerge in practice through local implementation practices and knowledges. We argue that the frictions that arise between policy and practice enactments need to be considered by policy makers, funders, clinicians and researchers as they affect how the concerns of those targeted by the intervention are attended to. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Transport policy-making and planning Javanese cities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dimitriou, H.

    1995-12-31

    Based on findings of field studies in five Javanese cities in Indonesia, this paper looks at a hierarchy of settlements and investigates what aspects of urban development and the transport sector most influences transport policy-making and planning in the country. The paper highlights the presence of a community hierarchy within these settlements with consonant trip-making patterns and the widespread mis-use of certain transport modes. The paper cross-relates observed transport problems and policy issues diagnosed from the five Javanese cities with an earlier prepared national agenda of urban transport policy issues and problems. This is done with a view to arriving at more sensitive policy and planning responses nationwide for cities of different kinds in Indonesia. The paper commences with an explanation of the settlement hierarchy and community structure employed by Indonesian government planners. An attempt is then made to relate this hierarchy and structure to the five cities studied. Within this context, factors affecting urban transport are discussed and tabulated against the above cities settlement hierarchy. These include aspects of: settlement size, structure and area; settlement development policy, urban for, density and topography; and travel and transport characteristics. An attempt is made to match this settlement hierarchy (and its constituent community structure) with a conceptualized hierarchy of transport modes, simultaneously investigating: the relationship between urban communities and assigned road hierarchies; community-based travel demand and trip-making characteristics; and the relationship between travel, speed and distance. From this an assessment is made of the performance and current use and mis-use of such transport modes.

  2. A study on the role of influence group in public policy making

    OpenAIRE

    Abbas Monavarian; Mojtaba Amiri; Narges Sadat Razavimehr

    2014-01-01

    Nowadays, learning more about influence groups on public policy making is one of most important subjects of management science. Governments are the primary sources for public policy making but influenced groups participate indirectly and while they remain out of power, they put pressure on many decisions. Some of participants in public policy making are not influenced groups but mostly, due to their participation in policy public making matter are called influenced groups. This research, from...

  3. Health Policy Making System in Islamic Republic of Iran: Review an Experience

    OpenAIRE

    B Larijani; A Delavari; B Damari; A Vosoogh Moghadam; R Majdzadeh

    2009-01-01

    "nIn Iran, the policy making process still has room for improvement. These include the opportunities for better co-ordina­tion of policies on medical education, health research and service provision; improvement of decision making mecha­nisms; a more evidence-based policy making process, and more involvement of stakeholders; reducing fragmentation of policy making foci; and establishing a qualified institution for system analyses and progress monitoring. The Health Pol&am...

  4. [Public policy-making on breast cancer in Latin America].

    Science.gov (United States)

    González-Robledo, M C; González-Robledo, L M; Nigenda, G

    2013-03-01

    To understand the public policy-making process as it relates to breast cancer care in five Latin American countries. An exploratory-evaluative study was conducted in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela in 2010, with the selection of countries based on convenience sampling. Sixty-five semi-structured interviews were conducted with government officials, academics, and representatives of trade associations and civil society organizations. A content analysis of secondary sources was performed. Information sources, data, and informants were mixed using the triangulation method for purposes of analysis. The countries that have made the most progress in public policy-making related to breast cancer are Brazil and Mexico. Although Argentina, Colombia, and Venezuela do not have policies, they do have breast cancer care programs and activities. Two perspectives on the development of public policies became evident: the first includes the broad participation of both governmental and nongovernmental sectors, whereas the second, more narrow approach involves government authorities alone. The results point to significant differences in public policy-making related to breast cancer in the Region. They also show that greater progress has been made in countries where policies have been developed through inclusive participation processes.

  5. Policy dialogues - the "bolts and joints" of policy-making: experiences from Cabo Verde, Chad and Mali.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dovlo, Delanyo; Nabyonga-Orem, Juliet; Estrelli, Yolanda; Mwisongo, Aziza

    2016-07-18

    Policy processes that yield good outcomes are inherently complex, requiring interactions of stakeholders in problem identification, generation of political will and selection of practical solutions. To make policy processes rational, policy dialogues are increasingly being used as a policy-making tool. Despite their increasing use for policy-making in Africa, evidence is limited on how they have evolved and are being used on the continent or in low and middle income countries elsewhere. This was an exploratory study using qualitative methods. It utilised data related to policy dialogues for three specific policies and strategies to understand the interplay between policy dialogue and policy-making in Cabo Verde, Chad and Mali. The specific methods used to gather data were key informant interviews and document review. Data were analysed inductively and deductively using thematic content analysis. Participation in the policy dialogues was inclusive, and in some instances bottom-up participatory approaches were used. The respondents felt that the execution of the policy dialogues had been seamless, and the few divergent views expressed often were resolved in a unanimous manner. The policies and strategies developed were seen by all stakeholders as relating to priority issues. Other specific process factors that contributed to the success of the dialogues included the use of innovative approaches, good facilitation, availability of resources for the dialogues, good communication, and consideration of the different opinions. Among the barriers were contextual issues, delays in decision-making and conflicting coordination roles and mandates. Policy dialogues have proved to be an effective tool in health sector management and could be a crucial component of the governance dynamics of the sector. The policy dialogue process needs to be institutionalised for continuity and maintenance of institutional intelligence. Other essential influencing factors include building

  6. The Europeanization of German energy and climate policies. New forms of policy-making and EU multi-level-governance; Die Europaeisierung der deutschen Energie- und Klimapolitik. Neue Formen der Politikgestaltung und Steuerung im EU-Mehrebenensystem

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fischer, Severin

    2015-01-23

    The Energy Transition (''Energiewende'') is one of the hot topics of the political debate in Germany for some years. As a consequence of ongoing European integration, EU level politics have gained growing importance. The focus of this study is on the interaction of German and EU energy and climate policies. How have German actors influenced EU policy-making processes and in how far are EU policies relevant for national policy-making in Germany? Three case studies look at processes in the fields of electricity market regulation, renewable energy policy and climate protection between 2007 and 2013.

  7. Creating Adaptive Policies: A Guide for Policy-making in an ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    2009-01-01

    Jan 1, 2009 ... This is an essential toolkit for those in the business of making, recommending, ... Policies that cannot perform effectively under today's complex, dynamic, and ... Suruchi Bhadwal is an Area Convener of the Centre for Global ...

  8. Developing a DSR-HNS policy making framework for electric energy systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Meyar-Naimi, H.; Vaez-Zadeh, S.

    2012-01-01

    Sustainable Development (SD) has played a major role as a foundation of several policy making frameworks developed mainly by international organizations. In this paper, some critical points regarding the origination and formulation of the SD concept are discussed. It is argued that the SD concerns with selected sectors and regions rather than the whole society and all regions of the world. To tackle these shortcomings, the conventional definition of SD is extended in this paper according to a broad philosophy of harmonizing key aspects of human, nature and systems performances over generations. Based on this extended definition, an improved Driving Force–State–Response (DSR-HNS) policy making framework is introduced. The main contribution is the modeling of the state block by human, nature and systems components to design overall and coherent policies. A procedure using the framework is also elaborated to monitor the current policies and design new ones, which provides a dynamic, nonlinear, feedback controlled policy making practice, not accommodated by existing policy making frameworks. Finally, a case study is presented to evaluate the effectiveness of the modified framework and the proposed model. The study assesses Iran's electric power generation system from sustainability point of view and develops new policies. - Highlights: ► Some critical points regarding the Sustainable Development (SD) concept are discussed. ► Based on this extended definition, a policy making framework is introduced. ► A policy making procedure based on the framework is elaborated. ► A case study is presented to evaluate the effectiveness of the modified framework. ► New policies are developed for Iran's power generation system.

  9. A study on the role of influence group in public policy making

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abbas Monavarian

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Nowadays, learning more about influence groups on public policy making is one of most important subjects of management science. Governments are the primary sources for public policy making but influenced groups participate indirectly and while they remain out of power, they put pressure on many decisions. Some of participants in public policy making are not influenced groups but mostly, due to their participation in policy public making matter are called influenced groups. This research, from practical research purpose and method view, is a descriptive research and survey branch. The study investigates the effect of university based Iranian Sociological Association on public policy making. The study designs a questionnaire in Likert scale and distributes it among some experts. The results of our survey indicate that that Iranian Sociological Association could influence on public policy making through elite and prominent leaders, self-knowledge and information, elective campaigns, stimulation and connecting with people and other groups.

  10. Do Strategic Foresight and Policy Making Go Hand in Hand?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Chloupkova, Jarka; Svendsen, Gert Tinggaard; Zdechovský, Tomáš

    2016-01-01

    Policy making is a complex issue, as numerous factors should be taken aboard before a political decision is made. To ensure a more holistic approach to policy making, the authors propose to use the tool of foresight to capture the multitude of variables. Using the framework of rational choice...... the use of the foresight tool. Such a vision for Europe could further improve future policy making to the benefit of all EU citizens. The success of foresight and stake- holders’ groups for making sound decisions where best to invest tax-payers’ money, was already piloted in European Commission...... and coordinated joint policy decisions. This would aid in establishing the optimal amount of public goods for which tax-payers’ money is to be invested. Currently, Europe stands at an important cross-road as to what its future will be. Some political decisions have been made, and some are still to be made...

  11. Parliament and the making of Indian foreign policy: a study of nuclear policy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Paranjpe, Shrikant

    1997-01-01

    This book is a study that attempts to look at the emerging role design that the Indian Parliament has come to acquire in the exercise of its functions of participating in the formulation of foreign policy. The choice of the case study of nuclear policy is deliberate in that it evokes responses in all the three important dimensions of the role of the parliament: policy-making, representational activity, and system maintenance activity. The executive and the legislature are closely associated in the process of policy-making in the Indian parliamentary set-up. The representational activities focuses on the role perception of a parliamentarian and his interest in the area of foreign policy. The system maintenance activity includes support for the regime and political system essentially ensuring continuation of policy. This book also brings out the policies as they developed and the role played by the Parliament in terms of participation in the formulation of the policies. The issue areas covered includes the scientific and technological aspects of atomic energy policy; the debate on the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty; peaceful nuclear explosions; and the question of the nuclear weapons option. The essential sources of the study have been parliamentary debates, published reports and other statements dealing with the topic and interviews with legislators and officials involved in the issue. Most of the recommendations and concluding observations have been based on the interviews conducted

  12. Making parks make a difference: poor alignment of policy, planning and management with protected-area impact, and ways forward.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pressey, Robert L; Visconti, Piero; Ferraro, Paul J

    2015-11-05

    Policy and practice around protected areas are poorly aligned with the basic purpose of protection, which is to make a difference. The difference made by protected areas is their impact, defined in program evaluation as the outcomes arising from protection relative to the counterfactual of no protection or a different form of protection. Although impact evaluation of programs is well established in fields such as medicine, education and development aid, it is rare in nature conservation. We show that the present weak alignment with impact of policy targets and operational objectives for protected areas involves a great risk: targets and objectives can be achieved while making little difference to the conservation of biodiversity. We also review potential ways of increasing the difference made by protected areas, finding a poor evidence base for the use of planning and management 'levers' to better achieve impact. We propose a dual strategy for making protected areas more effective in their basic role of saving nature, outlining ways of developing targets and objectives focused on impact while also improving the evidence for effective planning and management. © 2015 The Authors.

  13. Making robust policy decisions using global biodiversity indicators.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emily Nicholson

    Full Text Available In order to influence global policy effectively, conservation scientists need to be able to provide robust predictions of the impact of alternative policies on biodiversity and measure progress towards goals using reliable indicators. We present a framework for using biodiversity indicators predictively to inform policy choices at a global level. The approach is illustrated with two case studies in which we project forwards the impacts of feasible policies on trends in biodiversity and in relevant indicators. The policies are based on targets agreed at the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD meeting in Nagoya in October 2010. The first case study compares protected area policies for African mammals, assessed using the Red List Index; the second example uses the Living Planet Index to assess the impact of a complete halt, versus a reduction, in bottom trawling. In the protected areas example, we find that the indicator can aid in decision-making because it is able to differentiate between the impacts of the different policies. In the bottom trawling example, the indicator exhibits some counter-intuitive behaviour, due to over-representation of some taxonomic and functional groups in the indicator, and contrasting impacts of the policies on different groups caused by trophic interactions. Our results support the need for further research on how to use predictive models and indicators to credibly track trends and inform policy. To be useful and relevant, scientists must make testable predictions about the impact of global policy on biodiversity to ensure that targets such as those set at Nagoya catalyse effective and measurable change.

  14. On the influence of institutional design on monetary policy making

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Raes, L.B.D.

    2014-01-01

    This thesis consists of a collection of essays on monetary policy making. These essays focus on institutional aspects which impact monetary policy making. Two chapters focus on analyzing voting records of central banks. A method is proposed to use the observed votes to infer the preferences of

  15. Civil Society Participation in EU Gender Policy-Making

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Agustin, Lise Rolandsen

    2008-01-01

    The participation of transnational advocacy networks (TANs) in the policy processes of the European Union (EU) is a potential site of substantial representation of women (SRW). In the article, it is argued that the institutional context can both enable and constrain civil society actors’ claims......-making. TANs employ framing strategies to make their claims resonate with or challenge the dominant discourse of the EU policies. The institutions use contested frames to constitute legitimate claims-makers, by recognising certain claims as more valid than others. The possibilities of SRW are delimited, since...

  16. Controlling equine influenza: policy networks and decision-making during the 2007 Australian equine influenza outbreak.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schemann, K; Gillespie, J A; Toribio, J-A L M L; Ward, M P; Dhand, N K

    2014-10-01

    Rapid, evidence-based decision-making is critical during a disease outbreak response; however, compliance by stakeholders is necessary to ensure that such decisions are effective - especially if the response depends on voluntary action. This mixed method study evaluated technical policy decision-making processes during the 2007 outbreak of equine influenza in Australia by identifying and analysing the stakeholder network involved and the factors driving policy decision-making. The study started with a review of the outbreak literature and published policy documents. This identified six policy issues regarding policy modifications or differing interpretations by different state agencies. Data on factors influencing the decision-making process for these six issues and on stakeholder interaction were collected using a pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 24 individuals representing 12 industry and government organizations. Quantitative data were analysed using social network analysis. Qualitative data were coded and patterns matched to test a pre-determined general theory using a method called theory-oriented process-tracing. Results revealed that technical policy decisions were framed by social, political, financial, strategic and operational considerations. Industry stakeholders had influence through formal pre-existing channels, yet specific gaps in stakeholder interaction were overcome by reactive alliances formed during the outbreak response but outside the established system. Overall, the crisis management system and response were seen as positive, and 75-100% of individuals interviewed were supportive of, had interest in and considered the outcome as good for the majority of policy decisions, yet only 46-75% of those interviewed considered that they had influence on these decisions. Training to increase awareness and knowledge of emergency animal diseases (EADs) and response systems will improve stakeholder

  17. Making Policy with "Good Ideas": Policy Networks and the "Intellectuals" of New Labour

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ball, Stephen J.; Exley, Sonia

    2010-01-01

    The proliferation of policy think tanks and more broadly the rise of "policy networks" can be viewed as indicative of important global transformations in the nature of the state. That is, the emergence of new state modalities, with a shift away from government towards forms of polycentric governance, where policy is produced through…

  18. Regime change and public policy: the political and macro-economic decision-making of Spanish energy policy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lancaster, T.D.

    1983-01-01

    This dissertation examines the effects of peaceful regime change on public policy-making. Spain's National Energy Plan (PEN) in particular, and energy planning in general, constitute a critical policy issue which permits direct comparison of decision-making across regime change from the Franco dictatorship to the present constitutional monarchy. The research reveals that the nature of the political coalition underlying Spain's regime change accounts of the lack of significant change in policy-making processes in this particular policy issue. This thesis develops a two-pronged argument to explain the absence of significant policy change. The first is based on a general view of the Franco regime's and the democratic system's coalitional support. In each, three major political forces are seen as central: the military, business, and labor. One of these, business, is seen as being pivotal in the regime transition. Business' pivotal position, it is argued, has permitted a defence of a national energy policy beneficial to its economic interests in energy. The argument's second part focuses on the binding constraint on policy outcomes imposed by private interests in state planning and the generally non-binding nature of oppositional party policy proposals and public opinion.

  19. Private sector involvement in science and innovation policy-making in Hungary

    OpenAIRE

    Annamária Inzelt

    2008-01-01

    The overall thrust of this paper is that policy learning is enhanced by the participation of private business. It is assumed that business involvement would suggest abundant opportunities for policy learning and transfer. The empirical part of this paper investigates private sector involvement in science, technology and innovation (STI) policy-making in a transition economy (Hungary). Private sector involvement in Hungarian STI policy-making is investigated in terms of the stages and types of...

  20. Governance and political consumerism in Finnish energy policy-making

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ruostetsaari, Ilkka

    2009-01-01

    The research task in the study was, firstly, to analyse citizens' perceptions of the power structure underlying Finnish energy policy-making. Secondly, we analysed the role of civil society in the energy sector, addressing the question whether Finns feel that they can influence energy policy-making as citizens through general elections (civic participation) or as consumers via their own consumption choices (political consumerism). Methodologically, the study was based on postal survey conducted in 2007 among a random sample representing 18-75-year-old Finns (N=4000). According to the views expressed, the innermost core of the influence structure of Finland's energy policy-making today comprises only the Cabinet and Parliament, while the second circle is composed of energy-producer firms and big firms. The European Union, the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Trade and Industry belong to the third circle of influence. The power relations in Finland's energy sector have continued particularly stable since the late 1980s despite the liberalization and globalization of the energy markets. In order to influence energy policy-making, citizens consider their own consumption choices more useful than voting in elections or contacts with MPs, authorities and energy-producing companies. The least useful devices are radical environmental activism and participation in mass demonstrations

  1. IVF policy and global/local politics: the making of multiple-embryo transfer regulation in Taiwan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Chia-Ling

    2012-08-01

    This paper analyzes the regulatory trajectory of multiple-embryo transfer in in-vitro fertilization (IVF) in Taiwan. Taking a latecomer to policy-making as the case, it argues the importance of conceptualizing the global/local dynamics in policy-making for assisted reproductive technology (ART). The conceptual framework is built upon recent literature on standardization, science policy, and global assemblage. I propose three interrelated features that reveal the "global in the local": (1) the power relationships among stakeholders, (2) the selected global form that involved actors drew upon, and (3) the re-contextualized assemblage made of local networks. Data included archives, interviews, and participant observation. In different historical periods the specific stakeholders selected different preferred global forms for Taiwan, such as Britain's code of ethics in the 1990s, the American guideline in the early 2000s, and the European trend in the mid-2000s. The global is heterogeneous. The failure to transfer the British regulation, the revision of the American guideline by adding one more embryo than it specified, and the gap between the cited European trend and the "no more than four" in Taiwan's 2007 Human Reproduction Law all show that the local network further transforms the selected global form, confining it to rhetoric only or tailoring it to local needs. Overall, Taiwanese practitioners successfully maintained their medical autonomy to build a 'flexible standardization'. Multiple pregnancy remains the most common health risk of IVF in Taiwan. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. WOMEN’S AUTONOMY AND THE FAMILY IN RECENT ROMANIAN POLICY-MAKING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    ALICE IANCU

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available In my paper I aim to provide an analysis of the relation between women’s autonomy and the family in Romanian recent policy-making. I will focus primarily on policies developed by the Romanian state after Romania’s integration in the European Union with regards to the family and family-related policy domains. My analysis will focus on several variables: 1. the theoretical instruments available for analyzing women’s autonomy in relation to state policies 2. the understanding of the family in Romanian policy-making 3. the interplay between women’s autonomy and the family and how policy-making influences the relation between the two. The analysis will take into consideration the specific Romanian socio-political context in terms of economic conditions, ideological influences and gender relations. Political theory is no stranger to the issue of individual autonomy. In my paper I will focus on recent feminist political theories on gendered accounts of autonomy. These accounts modify the understanding of autonomy and focus on conditions and aspects of autonomy relevant to women’s lives and experiences. The current financial crisis and recent developments in Romanian policy-making will be analyzed in terms of how they affect women’s autonomy. Since much of Romanian policy-making still avoids including gender and gender relations into its explicit justifications, provisions and evaluation, referring to the family as a basic social unit, the gendered consequences for women’s autonomy of such an approach need to be understood and acknowledged. In my analysis I will use both Romanian and European recent policy papers, as well as recent data obtained through social research.

  3. 46 CFR 308.521 - Application for Open Cargo Policy, Form MA-301.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 46 Shipping 8 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Application for Open Cargo Policy, Form MA-301. 308.521... RISK INSURANCE War Risk Cargo Insurance Ii-Open Policy War Risk Cargo Insurance § 308.521 Application for Open Cargo Policy, Form MA-301. The standard form of application for a War Risk Open Cargo Policy...

  4. Social Cost Benefit Analysis for Environmental Policy-Making

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    De Zeeuw, A.; In t Veld, R.; Van Soest, D.; Meuleman, L.; Hoogewoning, P.

    2008-01-01

    Review of the theoretical literature and the current debate on the valuation of environmental goods and services, on the discounting of future benefits and costs, and on how social cost benefit analysis (SCBAs) can be integrated in the policy and decision making process. It is concluded that SCBA can be a good decision support method in environmental policy-making if it is transparent and if all impacts are taken into account. Furthermore, the SCBA process should be participative, and politicians must be prepared to take responsibility for the assumptions behind the SCBA, including the assumptions on valuation and on the discount rate. Such a political role makes each SCBA a unique product of a politically responsible actor, and makes it possible for other stakeholders to have calculated an alternative SCBA based on their own assumptions. This Background Study also contains the proceedings of the international SCBA conference organised by RMNO on 16-17 January 2008

  5. Assessing Patient Participation in Health Policy Decision-Making in Cyprus

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kyriakos Souliotis

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Although the importance of patient participation in the design and evaluation of health programs and services is well-documented, there is scarcity of research with regard to patient association (PA participation in health policy decision-making processes. To this end, the present study aimed to validate further a previously developed instrument as well as to investigate the degree of PA participation in health policy decision-making in Cyprus. A convenient sample of 114 patients-members of patients associations took part in the study. Participants were recruited from an umbrella organization, the Pancyprian Federation of Patient Associations and Friends (PFPA. PA participation in health policy decision-making was assessed with the Health Democracy Index (HDI, an original 8-item tool. To explore its psychometric properties, Cronbach α was computed as regards to its internal consistency, while its convergent validity was tested against a self-rated question enquiring about the degree of PA participation in health policy decision-making. The findings revealed that the HDI has good internal consistency and convergent validity. Furthermore, PAs were found to participate more in consultations in health-related organizations and the Ministry of Health (MoH as well as in reforms or crucial decisions in health policy. Lower levels were documented with regard to participation in hospital boards, ethics committees in clinical trials and health technology assessment (HTA procedures. Overall, PA participation levels were found to be lower than the mid-point of the scale. Targeted interventions aiming to facilitate patients’ involvement in health policy decision-making processes and to increase its impact are greatly needed in Cyprus.

  6. Assessing Patient Participation in Health Policy Decision-Making in Cyprus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Souliotis, Kyriakos; Agapidaki, Eirini; Peppou, Lily Evangelia; Tzavara, Chara; Samoutis, George; Theodorou, Mamas

    2016-06-20

    Although the importance of patient participation in the design and evaluation of health programs and services is well-documented, there is scarcity of research with regard to patient association (PA) participation in health policy decision-making processes. To this end, the present study aimed to validate further a previously developed instrument as well as to investigate the degree of PA participation in health policy decision-making in Cyprus. A convenient sample of 114 patients-members of patients associations took part in the study. Participants were recruited from an umbrella organization, the Pancyprian Federation of Patient Associations and Friends (PFPA). PA participation in health policy decision-making was assessed with the Health Democracy Index (HDI), an original 8-item tool. To explore its psychometric properties, Cronbach α was computed as regards to its internal consistency, while its convergent validity was tested against a self-rated question enquiring about the degree of PA participation in health policy decision-making. The findings revealed that the HDI has good internal consistency and convergent validity. Furthermore, PAs were found to participate more in consultations in health-related organizations and the Ministry of Health (MoH) as well as in reforms or crucial decisions in health policy. Lower levels were documented with regard to participation in hospital boards, ethics committees in clinical trials and health technology assessment (HTA) procedures. Overall, PA participation levels were found to be lower than the mid-point of the scale. Targeted interventions aiming to facilitate patients' involvement in health policy decision-making processes and to increase its impact are greatly needed in Cyprus. © 2016 by Kerman University of Medical Sciences.

  7. 46 CFR 308.306 - Second Seamen's War Risk Policy, Form MA-242.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 46 Shipping 8 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Second Seamen's War Risk Policy, Form MA-242. 308.306... RISK INSURANCE Second Seamen's War Risk Insurance § 308.306 Second Seamen's War Risk Policy, Form MA-242. (a) The standard form of Second Seamen's War Risk Policy Form MA-242, may be obtained from the...

  8. The Practices and Politics of Making Policy: Irrigation Management Transfer in Mexico

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rap, E.R.; Wester, P.

    2013-01-01

    This article argues that policy making is an interactive and ongoing process that transcends the spatio-temporal boundaries drawn by a linear, rational or instrumental model of policy. We construct this argument by analysing the making of the Irrigation Management Transfer (IMT) policy in Mexico in

  9. Energy agreements in Italian foreign policy making

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Puri Purini, A.

    1992-01-01

    The growing complexity of international relations, involving nations with vastly diverse political and socio-economic frameworks, levels of technology, geography, and environmental policies, are necessitating new Italian government policies which favour multilateral as opposed to conventional bilateral cooperation, especially in that which regards energy agreements. This paper makes this point in examining Italy's vulnerable energy supply and demand situation, the current directions being taken in this nation's foreign policies, and in assessing the key political and socio-economic factors now influencing this nation's world competitiveness in light of pending European unification and the opening up, on a wide scale, of Russian markets to Western nations and Japan

  10. Governance and political consumerism in Finnish energy policy-making

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ruostetsaari, Ilkka [University of Turku, Turku (Finland)

    2009-01-15

    The research task in the study was, firstly, to analyse citizens' perceptions of the power structure underlying Finnish energy policy-making. Secondly, we analysed the role of civil society in the energy sector, addressing the question whether Finns feel that they can influence energy policy-making as citizens through general elections (civic participation) or as consumers via their own consumption choices (political consumerism). Methodologically, the study was based on postal survey conducted in 2007 among a random sample representing 18-75-year-old Finns (N=4000). According to the views expressed, the innermost core of the influence structure of Finland's energy policy-making today comprises only the Cabinet and Parliament, while the second circle is composed of energy-producer firms and big firms. The European Union, the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Trade and Industry belong to the third circle of influence. The power relations in Finland's energy sector have continued particularly stable since the late 1980s despite the liberalization and globalization of the energy markets. In order to influence energy policy-making, citizens consider their own consumption choices more useful than voting in elections or contacts with MPs, authorities and energy-producing companies. The least useful devices are radical environmental activism and participation in mass demonstrations. (author)

  11. Cultural Requirements of Policy Making System for Hijab and Dignity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shahla Bagheri

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available Policy making and policy measures is important in the social system. occurs. Policy maker aimed to achieve cultural requirements of policy making system by interaction stale and society. After the Islamic Revolution of Iran. the strengths and weaknesses of the different levels of the system politically has been accompanied in the field of moral and sexual dignity and chastity, aside from the basic necessity of building systems - Iranian, coordination and harmony of the system was not relevant. That is in the realm of theoretical ideas and goals are expressed in practice, the relationship between logical and measurable programs are executed with the goals and policies have been developed. measures to improve processes, motivate and educate individuals and groups, and to monitor the development of information systems.

  12. National platforms for evidence-informed physical activity policy making

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rus, Diana; Bozdog, Elena; Loncarevic, Natasa

    Evidence-informed policy making in physical activity calls for inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary collaboration. To facilitate the exchange of knowledge, experiences and ideas across practice, policy and research, as part of the REPOPA Project and dissemination work, it was encouraged...

  13. People, Processes, and Policy-Making in Canadian Post-secondary Education, 1990-2000

    Science.gov (United States)

    Axelrod, Paul; Desai-Trilokekar, Roopa; Shanahan, Theresa; Wellen, Richard

    2011-01-01

    Policy-making in Canadian post-secondary education is rarely the subject of intensive, systematic study. This paper seeks to identify the distinctive ways in which Canadian post-secondary education policy decisions were constructed and implemented, and to posit an analytical framework for interpreting policy-making process in post-secondary…

  14. Situating School District Resource Decision Making in Policy Context

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spain, Angeline K.

    2016-01-01

    Decentralization and deregulation policies assume that local educational leaders make better resource decisions than state policy makers do. Conceptual models drawn from organizational theory, however, offer competing predictions about how district central office administrators are likely to leverage their professional expertise in devolved…

  15. Knowledge to Policy: Making the Most of Development Research ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    5 avr. 2009 ... A major contribution to an understudied, poorly understood, but critical aspect of development. — John Young, Director of Programmes, Research and Policy in Development Group (RAPID), Overseas Development Institute, London. Does research influence public policy and decision-making and, if so, ...

  16. Applying policy network theory to policy-making in China: the case of urban health insurance reform.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zheng, Haitao; de Jong, Martin; Koppenjan, Joop

    2010-01-01

    In this article, we explore whether policy network theory can be applied in the People's Republic of China (PRC). We carried out a literature review of how this approach has already been dealt with in the Chinese policy sciences thus far. We then present the key concepts and research approach in policy networks theory in the Western literature and try these on a Chinese case to see the fit. We follow this with a description and analysis of the policy-making process regarding the health insurance reform in China from 1998 until the present. Based on this case study, we argue that this body of theory is useful to describe and explain policy-making processes in the Chinese context. However, limitations in the generic model appear in capturing the fundamentally different political and administrative systems, crucially different cultural values in the applicability of some research methods common in Western countries. Finally, we address which political and cultural aspects turn out to be different in the PRC and how they affect methodological and practical problems that PRC researchers will encounter when studying decision-making processes.

  17. Making the Climate Count: Climate Policy Integration and Coherence in Finland

    OpenAIRE

    Kivimaa, Paula; Mickwitz, Per

    2009-01-01

    Tackling climate change in Finland and other industrialised countries requires major changes in production processes and consumption patterns. These changes will not take place unless climate change becomes a crucial factor in general and sector-specific policy-making. In this report climate policy integration in Finland is studied at different levels of policy-making: at the national level, regionally in Kymenlakso and the Metropolitan Area, as well as in the city of Helsinki and the town of...

  18. The Policy-Making Process of the State University System of Florida.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sullivan, Sandra M.

    The policy-making process of the State University System of Florida is described using David Easton's model of a political system as the conceptual framwork. Two models describing the policy-making process were developed from personal interviews with the primary participants in the governance structure and from three case studies of policy…

  19. Artificial intelligence and foreign policy decision-making

    OpenAIRE

    Berkoff, Russ H.

    1997-01-01

    Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited With the advent of a global information society, the US will seek to tap the potential of advanced computing capability to enhance its ability to conduct foreign policy decision making. This thesis explores the potential for improving individual and organizational decision making capabilities by means of artificial intelligence (AI). The use of AI will allow us to take advantage of the plethora of information available to obtain an edg...

  20. HIV/AIDS Policy-Making in Iran: Part 2- from Formulation to Evaluation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rahim Khodayari Zarnaq

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Background and Objectives: Achieving an appropriate policy needs an in-depth and comprehensive understanding of policy-making process. This study aimed to analyze HIV/AIDS policy-making process in Iran. Material and Methods: This is a qualitative/exploratory study. Data were collected through document review and semi-structured interview. Non-probability sampling was used for selecting documents and research participants. We used framework analysis approach assisted by MAXQDA for analyzing qualitative data. Results: AIDS policy is formulated in two specific ways within national work group in the format of national strategic plan and drug damage reduction committee. The main problem of the policy process is fragmentation and lack of comprehensiveness. Country approach of the policy implementation is top-down. The main duty of country committee and its sub-committees facing with some challenges is generating interaction between the relevant organizations. Despite the specific structure of evaluation process, it suffers from challenges such as lack of required implementation power, lack of resource anticipation, weakness in systematic and comprehensiveness evaluation and not-enough cooperation among plan’s stakeholders. Conclusion: It is obvious that policy-making in this area is completely governmental and the role of non-governmental organizations and civil servants is neglected. It seems that reform in AIDS policy-making structure and process can solve most of the problems of implementation, monitoring and evaluation.

  1. 20 CFR 703.111 - Submission of new forms of policies for approval; other endorsements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Submission of new forms of policies for... INSURANCE REGULATIONS Authorization of Insurance Carriers § 703.111 Submission of new forms of policies for approval; other endorsements. No new forms of policies or modification of existing forms of policies shall...

  2. Administration and Policy-Making in Education: The Contemporary Predicament.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Housego, Ian E.

    This paper is based on the assumption that the educational administrator is the mediator in policy development. The author sees the administrator as caught between two conflicting approaches to policy-making--one characterized as "rational" and the other as "political." In attempting to deal with this dilemma and with the dilemma of shrinking…

  3. Environmental policy-making networks and the future of the Amazon

    OpenAIRE

    Lemos, Maria Carmen; Roberts, J. Timmons

    2008-01-01

    This article examines four periods of environmental policy-making in the Amazonian region of Brazil. It specifically analyses the role of pro-environment and pro-development policy networks in affecting policy design and implementation. It argues that the efforts of environmentalist networks trying to advocate or block relative developmentalist policies in the Amazon depend on three critical factors - whether they are able to attract the support of elites (or at least block their developmenta...

  4. Implementation research evidence uptake and use for policy-making

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Panisset Ulysses

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract A major obstacle to the progress of the Millennium Development Goals has been the inability of health systems in many low- and middle-income countries to effectively implement evidence-informed interventions. This article discusses the relationships between implementation research and knowledge translation and identifies the role of implementation research in the design and execution of evidence-informed policy. After a discussion of the benefits and synergies needed to translate implementation research into action, the article discusses how implementation research can be used along the entire continuum of the use of evidence to inform policy. It provides specific examples of the use of implementation research in national level programmes by looking at the scale up of zinc for the treatment of childhood diarrhoea in Bangladesh and the scaling up of malaria treatment in Burkina Faso. A number of tested strategies to support the transfer of implementation research results into policy-making are provided to help meet the standards that are increasingly expected from evidence-informed policy-making practices.

  5. The African diaspora’s public participation in policy-making concerning Africa

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Norglo, Benhardt Edem Kofi; Goris, Margriet; Lie, Rico; Ong’ayo, Antony Otieno

    2016-01-01

    This paper examines the involvement of African diaspora organizations in Dutch and European policy-making concerning Africa. It addresses the extent to which their inclusion or exclusion in public policy processes in their destination countries is likely to impact (development) policies relating to

  6. What factors in the policy-making process determine the priority given to a policy issue?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Erisa Xhixho

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Agenda setting is the process by which problems and alternative solutions gain or lose public attention (Birkland T. (2007, p.63; Werner J. and Wegrich K. (2007, p.46.. The main factor that determine an issue that it could become a priority, drawing the attention of decision makers, the public, reaching for it to become part of the agenda are: “Window of Opportunity”, which is a strategy used by less powerful groups, which are benefiting from the fact that powerful groups in certain situations may lose control of the agenda, they manage this circumstances to make their case to the priority. Another factor are the “Focus Event” that emphasizes the fact that unexpected events that shock the public opinion, as were the cases of corruption of officials, case “Snowden” or 11 September in the USA, affecting an issue that directly lead the decision-making agenda. Advocacy coalitions, is a form that use less powerful groups by joining on the basis of certain principles, values, beliefs they have about a particular issue. This alliance of values, resources and coordination of actions helps to advance the issue becoming a priority. “Venue shop” as a factor that aims to reach groups through institutions, be heard, be able to attract the attention of decision makers, also using the media as a very important factor nowadays for sensitizing public opinion on the issue and influence in order to become a priority issue. “Policy network” has come as a need of developing a relationship between government and the private sector, thus forming a power dependency relationship mainly the exchange of resources and thereby influencing the political agenda on particular issues. Therefore in this article I will try to argue that these factors affect in various ways becoming determinant that the issue be the priority on the decision agenda. Also, I can say that after the development of the analysis, I think that the two factors have a greater influence

  7. Decision making in energy policies with conflicting interests

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Renn, O.

    1988-01-01

    After the accident in Chernobyl policy making and implementation of energy decisions have become more difficult than ever. On the one hand the public reacts with fear and opposition to a possible extention of nuclear power, on the other hand the economic prosperity of a country depends on an inexpensive and non-exhaustive energy source like nuclear energy. The paper describes a concept of energy planning developed by a study group of the Nuclear Research Centre in Julich (FRG). The concept is based on the idea that in a pluralistic society different social groups should participate in the policy formulation process and that the values of the public should be incorporated in the weighting process to make choices between given options. As reference theory the basic framework of decision analysis is used. (orig./DG)

  8. Environmental Pollution Control Policy-Making: An Analysis of Elite Perceptions and Preferences

    Science.gov (United States)

    Althoff, Phillip; Greig, William H.

    1974-01-01

    This article is based on an analysis of the perceptions and preferences of elite groups concerning environmental pollution control policy making. Results showed that although the groups agreed that present methods were inadequate, they were, nevertheless, unable to agree upon the nature of a future policy-making system. (MA)

  9. Experiences and attitudes towards evidence-informed policy-making among research and policy stakeholders in the Canadian agri-food public health sector.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Young, I; Gropp, K; Pintar, K; Waddell, L; Marshall, B; Thomas, K; McEwen, S A; Rajić, A

    2014-12-01

    Policy-makers working at the interface of agri-food and public health often deal with complex and cross-cutting issues that have broad health impacts and socio-economic implications. They have a responsibility to ensure that policy-making based on these issues is accountable and informed by the best available scientific evidence. We conducted a qualitative descriptive study of agri-food public health policy-makers and research and policy analysts in Ontario, Canada, to understand their perspectives on how the policy-making process is currently informed by scientific evidence and how to facilitate this process. Five focus groups of 3-7 participants and five-one-to-one interviews were held in 2012 with participants from federal and provincial government departments and industry organizations in the agri-food public health sector. We conducted a thematic analysis of the focus group and interview transcripts to identify overarching themes. Participants indicated that the following six key principles are necessary to enable and demonstrate evidence-informed policy-making (EIPM) in this sector: (i) establish and clarify the policy objectives and context; (ii) support policy-making with credible scientific evidence from different sources; (iii) integrate scientific evidence with other diverse policy inputs (e.g. economics, local applicability and stakeholder interests); (iv) ensure that scientific evidence is communicated by research and policy stakeholders in relevant and user-friendly formats; (V) create and foster interdisciplinary relationships and networks across research and policy communities; and (VI) enhance organizational capacity and individual skills for EIPM. Ongoing and planned efforts in these areas, a supportive culture, and additional education and training in both research and policy realms are important to facilitate evidence-informed policy-making in this sector. Future research should explore these findings further in other countries and contexts.

  10. Evidence-based policy: implications for nursing and policy involvement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hewison, Alistair

    2008-11-01

    Evidence-based policy making is espoused as a central feature of government in the United Kingdom. However, an expectation that this will improve the quality of policy produced and provide a path to increased involvement of nurses in the policy process is misplaced. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that the emphasis on evidence-based policy is problematic and cannot be regarded as a "new model" of policy making. Also, it could deflect attention from more practical approaches to policy involvement on the part of nurses. Policy development activities, acquisition of skills in policy analysis, and other forms of involvement are needed if nurses are to move along the continuum from policy literacy, through policy acumen, to policy competence. This involves taking a critical stance on the notion of evidence-based policy.

  11. Sustainable development based energy policy making frameworks, a critical review

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Meyar-Naimi, H.; Vaez-Zadeh, S.

    2012-01-01

    This paper, in the first step, presents an overview of the origination and formulation of sustainable development (SD) concept and the related policy making frameworks. The frameworks include Pressure–State–Response (PSR), Driving Force–State–Response (DSR), Driving Force–Pressure–State–Impact–Response (DPSIR), Driving Force–Pressure–State–Effect–Action (DPSEA) and Driving Force-Pressure-State-Exposure-Effect-Action (DPSEEA). In this regard, 40 case studies using the reviewed frameworks reported during 1994–2011 are surveyed. Then, their application area and application intensity are investigated. It is concluded that PSR, and DPSEA and DPSEEA have the higher and lower application intensities, respectively. Moreover, using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) with a set of criteria, it is shown that PSR and DPSIR have the highest and lowest priorities. Finally, the shortcomings of frameworks applications are discussed. The paper is helpful in selecting appropriate policy making frameworks and presents some hints for future research in the area for developing more comprehensive models especially for sustainable electric energy policy making. - Highlights: ► The origination and formulation of sustainable development (SD) concept is reviewed. ► SD based frameworks (PSR, DSR, DPSIR, DPSEA and DPSEEA) are also reviewed. ► Then, the frameworks application area and intensity in recent years are investigated. ► Finally, the SD concept and the SD based frameworks are criticized. ► It will be helpful for developing more comprehensive energy policy making models.

  12. Making longevity in an aging society: linking Medicare policy and the new ethical field.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaufman, Sharon R

    2010-01-01

    Life-extending interventions for older persons are changing medical knowledge and societal expectations about longevity. Today's consciousness about growing older is partly shaped by a new form of ethics, constituted by and enabled through the routines and institutions that comprise ordinary clinical care. Unlike bioethics, whose emphasis is on clinical decision-making in individual situations, this new form of ethics is exceptionally diffuse and can be characterized as an ethical field. It is located in and shaped by health-care policies, standard technologies, and clinical evidence, and it emerges in what patients and families come to need and want. Three developments illustrate this ethical field at work: the changing nature of disease, especially the ascent of risk awareness and risk-based strategies for life extension; the role of technology in reshaping the ends of medicine; and the role of Medicare policy in creating need and ethical necessity. Medicare's expanding criteria for payment coverage of liver transplantation and implantable cardiac devices illustrate the pervasive logic of this new form of ethics. The powerful connection between the technological imperative and its ethical necessity is rarely mentioned in Medicare reform debates.

  13. Make Projects Small Form Factor PCs

    CERN Document Server

    Wessels, Duane

    2006-01-01

    Shoebox sized and smaller, small-form-factor PCs can pack as much computing muscle as a full-sized desktop computer. They consumer less power, have few or no moving parts, and are very quiet. Whether you plan to use one as a standalone PC or want to embed it in your next hacking project, a small-form-factor PC can be a lot of fun to build. Make Projects: Small Form Factor PCs is the only book available that shows you how to build small-form-factor PCs -- from kits and from scratch -- that are more interesting and more personalized than what a full-sized PC can give you. Included in the book

  14. 46 CFR 308.524 - Application for cancellation of Open Cargo Policy, Form MA-304.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 46 Shipping 8 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Application for cancellation of Open Cargo Policy, Form... § 308.524 Application for cancellation of Open Cargo Policy, Form MA-304. The standard form of application for cancellation of an Open Cargo Policy Form MA-304 may be obtained from the American War Risk...

  15. Rationality versus reality: the challenges of evidence-based decision making for health policy makers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCaughey, Deirdre; Bruning, Nealia S

    2010-05-26

    Current healthcare systems have extended the evidence-based medicine (EBM) approach to health policy and delivery decisions, such as access-to-care, healthcare funding and health program continuance, through attempts to integrate valid and reliable evidence into the decision making process. These policy decisions have major impacts on society and have high personal and financial costs associated with those decisions. Decision models such as these function under a shared assumption of rational choice and utility maximization in the decision-making process. We contend that health policy decision makers are generally unable to attain the basic goals of evidence-based decision making (EBDM) and evidence-based policy making (EBPM) because humans make decisions with their naturally limited, faulty, and biased decision-making processes. A cognitive information processing framework is presented to support this argument, and subtle cognitive processing mechanisms are introduced to support the focal thesis: health policy makers' decisions are influenced by the subjective manner in which they individually process decision-relevant information rather than on the objective merits of the evidence alone. As such, subsequent health policy decisions do not necessarily achieve the goals of evidence-based policy making, such as maximizing health outcomes for society based on valid and reliable research evidence. In this era of increasing adoption of evidence-based healthcare models, the rational choice, utility maximizing assumptions in EBDM and EBPM, must be critically evaluated to ensure effective and high-quality health policy decisions. The cognitive information processing framework presented here will aid health policy decision makers by identifying how their decisions might be subtly influenced by non-rational factors. In this paper, we identify some of the biases and potential intervention points and provide some initial suggestions about how the EBDM/EBPM process can be

  16. Rationality versus reality: the challenges of evidence-based decision making for health policy makers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bruning Nealia S

    2010-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Current healthcare systems have extended the evidence-based medicine (EBM approach to health policy and delivery decisions, such as access-to-care, healthcare funding and health program continuance, through attempts to integrate valid and reliable evidence into the decision making process. These policy decisions have major impacts on society and have high personal and financial costs associated with those decisions. Decision models such as these function under a shared assumption of rational choice and utility maximization in the decision-making process. Discussion We contend that health policy decision makers are generally unable to attain the basic goals of evidence-based decision making (EBDM and evidence-based policy making (EBPM because humans make decisions with their naturally limited, faulty, and biased decision-making processes. A cognitive information processing framework is presented to support this argument, and subtle cognitive processing mechanisms are introduced to support the focal thesis: health policy makers' decisions are influenced by the subjective manner in which they individually process decision-relevant information rather than on the objective merits of the evidence alone. As such, subsequent health policy decisions do not necessarily achieve the goals of evidence-based policy making, such as maximizing health outcomes for society based on valid and reliable research evidence. Summary In this era of increasing adoption of evidence-based healthcare models, the rational choice, utility maximizing assumptions in EBDM and EBPM, must be critically evaluated to ensure effective and high-quality health policy decisions. The cognitive information processing framework presented here will aid health policy decision makers by identifying how their decisions might be subtly influenced by non-rational factors. In this paper, we identify some of the biases and potential intervention points and provide some initial

  17. Rationality versus reality: the challenges of evidence-based decision making for health policy makers

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    Background Current healthcare systems have extended the evidence-based medicine (EBM) approach to health policy and delivery decisions, such as access-to-care, healthcare funding and health program continuance, through attempts to integrate valid and reliable evidence into the decision making process. These policy decisions have major impacts on society and have high personal and financial costs associated with those decisions. Decision models such as these function under a shared assumption of rational choice and utility maximization in the decision-making process. Discussion We contend that health policy decision makers are generally unable to attain the basic goals of evidence-based decision making (EBDM) and evidence-based policy making (EBPM) because humans make decisions with their naturally limited, faulty, and biased decision-making processes. A cognitive information processing framework is presented to support this argument, and subtle cognitive processing mechanisms are introduced to support the focal thesis: health policy makers' decisions are influenced by the subjective manner in which they individually process decision-relevant information rather than on the objective merits of the evidence alone. As such, subsequent health policy decisions do not necessarily achieve the goals of evidence-based policy making, such as maximizing health outcomes for society based on valid and reliable research evidence. Summary In this era of increasing adoption of evidence-based healthcare models, the rational choice, utility maximizing assumptions in EBDM and EBPM, must be critically evaluated to ensure effective and high-quality health policy decisions. The cognitive information processing framework presented here will aid health policy decision makers by identifying how their decisions might be subtly influenced by non-rational factors. In this paper, we identify some of the biases and potential intervention points and provide some initial suggestions about how the

  18. Foreign Policy Involvement Matters: Towards an Analytical Framework Examining the Role of the Media in the Making of Foreign Policy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kerstin Schulz

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available Foreign policy processes have long played a minor role in the study of political communication. There is a broad consensus that the media is the central mediating actor and primary conduit between political decision-makers and the public. However, the media’s influence on foreign policy remains contingent across various processes and phases of foreign policy making; it is dynamic and multi-directional. Considering that the public sphere is essential for the legitimacy of foreign policy making, there is a demand for further research on the media’s performance in the making of foreign policy. Based on secondary research, this paper proposes an analytical framework for the systematic analysis of media–foreign policy relations by integrating foreign-policy context conditions as a research variable. The framework is based on the assumption that the role of the media varies across diverse foreign policy contexts depending on the intensity of governmental involvement in foreign affairs. The intensity is distinguished according to three dimensions: no involvement, indirect involvement and direct involvement. Finally, a case study is suggested in order to demonstrate the framework’s explanatory power: the German media coverage of Russia.

  19. An overview of the United States government's space and science policy-making process

    CERN Multimedia

    CERN. Geneva

    2008-01-01

    A brief overview of the basic elements of the US space and science policy-making apparatus will be presented, focussing on insights into the interactions among the principal organizations, policy-making bodies and individual participants and their respective impact on policy outcomes. Several specific examples will be provided to illustrate the points made, and in the conclusion there will be some observations on current events in the US that may shape the outcome for the near-term future of US space and science policy in several areas.

  20. Uncertainty in macroeconomic policy-making: art or science?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aikman, David; Barrett, Philip; Kapadia, Sujit; King, Mervyn; Proudman, James; Taylor, Tim; de Weymarn, Iain; Yates, Tony

    2011-12-13

    Uncertainty is pervasive in economic policy-making. Modern economies share similarities with other complex systems in their unpredictability. But economic systems also differ from those in the natural sciences because outcomes are affected by the state of beliefs of the systems' participants. The dynamics of beliefs and how they interact with economic outcomes can be rich and unpredictable. This paper relates these ideas to the recent crisis, which has reminded us that we need a financial system that is resilient in the face of the unpredictable and extreme. It also highlights how such uncertainty puts a premium on sound communication strategies by policy-makers. This creates challenges in informing others about the uncertainties in the economy, and how policy is set in the face of those uncertainties. We show how the Bank of England tries to deal with some of these challenges in its communications about monetary policy.

  1. 20 CFR 703.105 - Copies of forms of policies to be submitted with application.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Copies of forms of policies to be submitted... REGULATIONS Authorization of Insurance Carriers § 703.105 Copies of forms of policies to be submitted with... of the Office copies of the forms of policies which the applicant proposes to issue in writing...

  2. Strategic information for industrial policy-making in developing countries; Information strategique pour le policy-making industriel dans les pays en developpement

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gonod, P F

    1990-05-01

    The practice shows that many crucial decisions for industrialization in developing countries have been taken based on incomplete information. For strategic decisions an incomplete information may have catastrophic consequences. The function of policy-making is defined as the process by which the information generated/or used in a particular context is reevaluated in a different context in order to formulate/or execute a policy of alternative decisions. It follows that the industrial information must be presented in such a manner to allow a reevaluation and alternative decisions. 30 notes.

  3. Using media to impact health policy-making: an integrative systematic review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bou-Karroum, Lama; El-Jardali, Fadi; Hemadi, Nour; Faraj, Yasmine; Ojha, Utkarsh; Shahrour, Maher; Darzi, Andrea; Ali, Maha; Doumit, Carine; Langlois, Etienne V; Melki, Jad; AbouHaidar, Gladys Honein; Akl, Elie A

    2017-04-18

    Media interventions can potentially play a major role in influencing health policies. This integrative systematic review aimed to assess the effects of planned media interventions-including social media-on the health policy-making process. Eligible study designs included randomized and non-randomized designs, economic studies, process evaluation studies, stakeholder analyses, qualitative methods, and case studies. We electronically searched Medline, EMBASE, Communication and Mass Media Complete, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and the WHO Global Health Library. We followed standard systematic review methodology for study selection, data abstraction, and risk of bias assessment. Twenty-one studies met our eligibility criteria: 10 evaluation studies using either quantitative (n = 7) or qualitative (n = 3) designs and 11 case studies. None of the evaluation studies were on social media. The findings of the evaluation studies suggest that media interventions may have a positive impact when used as accountability tools leading to prioritizing and initiating policy discussions, as tools to increase policymakers' awareness, as tools to influence policy formulation, as awareness tools leading to policy adoption, and as awareness tools to improve compliance with laws and regulations. In one study, media-generated attention had a negative effect on policy advocacy as it mobilized opponents who defeated the passage of the bills that the media intervention advocated for. We judged the confidence in the available evidence as limited due to the risk of bias in the included studies and the indirectness of the evidence. There is currently a lack of reliable evidence to guide decisions on the use of media interventions to influence health policy-making. Additional and better-designed, conducted, and reported primary research is needed to better understand the effects of media interventions, particularly social media, on health policy-making processes, and

  4. A dual justification for science-based policy-making

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, David Budtz

    2014-01-01

    Science-based policy-making has grown ever more important in recent years, in parallel with the dramatic increase in the complexity and uncertainty of the ways in which science and technology interact with society and economy at the national, regional and global level. Installing a proper framewo...

  5. Impact of stakeholders' interests on financial accounting policy-making : the case of Lithuania

    OpenAIRE

    Rudžionienė, Kristina

    2006-01-01

    This paper analyses the expectations of particular stakeholder groups’ impact on corporate financial accounting policy-making in Lithuanian enterprises from Stakeholder theory perspective. Companies should seek to present a true and fair view of their financial performance and results while making financial accounting policy because stakeholders need informative and truthful accounting data for making right decisions. On the basis of empirical results it could be stated that the impact of dif...

  6. 46 CFR 308.523 - Application for revision of Open Cargo Policy, Form MA-303.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 46 Shipping 8 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Application for revision of Open Cargo Policy, Form MA... Application for revision of Open Cargo Policy, Form MA-303. An application for the revision of an Open Cargo Policy shall be filed in duplicate with the Underwriting Agent on a form which may be obtained from the...

  7. Modeling decision making as a support tool for policy making on renewable energy development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cannemi, Marco; García-Melón, Mónica; Aragonés-Beltrán, Pablo; Gómez-Navarro, Tomás

    2014-01-01

    This paper presents the findings of a study on decision making models for the analysis of capital-risk investors’ preferences on biomass power plants projects. The aim of the work is to improve the support tools for policy makers in the field of renewable energy development. Analytic Network Process (ANP) helps to better understand capital-risk investors preferences towards different kinds of biomass fueled power plants. The results of the research allow public administration to better foresee the investors’ reaction to the incentive system, or to modify the incentive system to better drive investors’ decisions. Changing the incentive system is seen as major risk by investors. Therefore, public administration must design better and longer-term incentive systems, forecasting market reactions. For that, two scenarios have been designed, one showing a typical decision making process and another proposing an improved decision making scenario. A case study conducted in Italy has revealed that ANP allows understanding how capital-risk investors interpret the situation and make decisions when investing on biomass power plants; the differences between the interests of public administrations’s and promoters’, how decision making could be influenced by adding new decision criteria, and which case would be ranked best according to the decision models. - Highlights: • We applied ANP to the investors’ preferences on biomass power plants projects. • The aim is to improve the advising tools for renewable energy policy making. • A case study has been carried out with the help of two experts. • We designed two scenarios: decision making as it is and how could it be improved. • Results prove ANP is a fruitful tool enhancing participation and transparency

  8. Openness in participation, assessment, and policy making upon issues of environment and environmental health: a review of literature and recent project results.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pohjola, Mikko V; Tuomisto, Jouni T

    2011-06-16

    Issues of environment and environmental health involve multiple interests regarding e.g. political, societal, economical, and public concerns represented by different kinds of organizations and individuals. Not surprisingly, stakeholder and public participation has become a major issue in environmental and environmental health policy and assessment. The need for participation has been discussed and reasoned by many, including environmental legislators around the world. In principle, participation is generally considered as desirable and the focus of most scholars and practitioners is on carrying out participation, and making participation more effective. In practice also doubts regarding the effectiveness and importance of participation exist among policy makers, assessors, and public, leading even to undermining participatory practices in policy making and assessment.There are many possible purposes for participation, and different possible models of interaction between assessment and policy. A solid conceptual understanding of the interrelations between participation, assessment, and policy making is necessary in order to design and implement effective participatory practices. In this paper we ask, do current common conceptions of assessment, policy making and participation provide a sufficient framework for achieving effective participation? This question is addresses by reviewing the range of approaches to participation in assessment and policy making upon issues of environment and environmental health and some related insights from recent research projects, INTARESE and BENERIS.Openness, considered e.g. in terms of a) scope of participation, b) access to information, c) scope of contribution, d) timing of openness, and e) impact of contribution, provides a new perspective to the relationships between participation, assessment and policy making. Participation, assessment, and policy making form an inherently intertwined complex with interrelated objectives and

  9. Inclusive research: making a difference to policy and legislation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Kelley; Minogue, Gerard; Hopklins, Rob

    2014-01-01

    While inclusive research has become an important stream in research with people with intellectual disabilities, there is a tension between the possibly empowering research process and the strength of the research itself to make social change happen. In this paper, we explore the contribution of two inclusive qualitative research studies in Australia and the Republic of Ireland to change in policy and legislation. Both studies used qualitative methods including life stories and focus groups to explore the issue of sexuality and relationships. In both studies, people with intellectual disabilities were actively involved in undertaking the research. Both studies revealed that it was difficult for people with intellectual disabilities to express their sexuality openly or to form adult relationships. Both studies were used by people with intellectual disabilities and their supporters to promote change in which they had a heard voice. This paper is about how people with intellectual disabilities and their supporters can use research which they have done to change policies and laws that affect them. When people with intellectual disabilities are doing research it is called inclusive research.We write about two research studies which were about the sexual lives and relationships of people with intellectual disabilities. One research study was in Australia and one was in the Republic of Ireland.In the Australian study, Living Safer Sexual Lives, 25 people with intellectual disabilities told their life stories and talked about sexuality and relationships.In the Irish study people with intellectual disabilities told life stories and talked with other people with intellectual disabilities about their sexuality and relationships in groups. These are called focus groups.In this paper we explore 4 questions that arose from these studies. Question 1. What impact does doing research have on the people who are involved in it? People with intellectual disabilities in Australia were

  10. Trade policy and health: from conflicting interests to policy coherence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blouin, Chantal

    2007-03-01

    Policy incoherence at the interface between trade policy and health can take many forms, such as international trade commitments that strengthen protection of pharmaceutical patents, or promotion of health tourism that exacerbates the shortage of physicians in rural areas. Focusing on the national policy-making process, we make recommendations regarding five conditions that are necessary, but not sufficient, to ensure that international trade policies are coherent with national health objectives. These conditions are: space for dialogue and joint fact-finding; leadership by ministries of health; institutional mechanisms for coordination; meaningful engagement with stakeholders; and a strong evidence base.

  11. Factors affecting evidence-use in food policy-making processes in health and agriculture in Fiji.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Waqa, Gade; Bell, Colin; Snowdon, Wendy; Moodie, Marj

    2017-01-09

    There is limited research on the use of evidence to inform policy-making in the Pacific. This study aims to identify and describe factors that facilitate or limit the use of evidence in food-related policy-making in the Health and Agriculture Ministries in Fiji. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with selected policy-makers in two government ministries that were instrumental in the development of food-related policies in Fiji designed to prevent Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs). Snowball sampling was used to recruit, as key informants, senior policy-makers in management positions such as national advisors and directors who were based at either the national headquarters or equivalent. Interviewees were asked about their experiences in developing food-related or other policies, barriers or facilitators encountered in the policy development and implementation process and the use of evidence. Each interview lasted approximately 45-60 minutes, and was conducted in English. Audio-recorded interviews were transcribed, thematically coded and analyzed using N-Vivo 8.0 software. Thirty-one policy-makers from the Ministry of Health and Medical Services (MoHMS n = 18) and the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA n = 13) in Fiji participated in the study. Whilst evidence is sometimes used in food-related policy-making in both the Health and Agriculture Ministries (including formal evidence such as published research and informal evidence such as personal experiences and opinions), it is not yet embedded as an essential part of the process. Participants indicated that a lack of resources, poor technical support in terms of training, the absence of clear strategies for improving competent use of evidence, procedures regarding engagement with other stakeholders across sectors, varying support from senior managers and limited consultation across sectors were barriers to evidence use. The willingness of organizations to create a culture of using evidence was

  12. In-situ burning policy development for California: A consensus approach to policy and decision-making

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Addassi, Y. N.

    1997-01-01

    Current efforts by the California State Dept. of Fish and Game to develop an in-situ burning policy for oil spills in the open-water marine environments of the State were described. The differing perspectives and mandates of the various agency representatives on working groups and the frequent necessity of consensus solutions was highlighted. It was stated that the consensus approach requires more time and energy, however, it is off-set by the benefits of developing good working relationships that will ultimately facilitate decision-making. Current projected timelines for the completed in-situ burning policy, pertinent sections of the draft policy, plans for dealing with negative public reactions to the policy and outreach and public education programs were outlined. 12 refs

  13. Teacher Unions' Participation in Policy Making: A South African Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Govender, Logan

    2015-01-01

    This article contends that teacher unions' participation in policy making during South Africa's political transition was characterised by assertion of ideological identity (unionism and professionalism) and the cultivation of policy networks and alliances. It is argued that, historically, while teacher unions were divided along political and…

  14. Data-Based Decision Making at the Policy, Research, and Practice Levels

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schildkamp, Kim; Ebbeler, J.

    2015-01-01

    Data-based decision making (DBDM) can lead to school improvement. However, schools struggle with the implementation of DBDM. In this symposium, we will discuss research and the implementation of DBDM at the national and regional policy level and the classroom level. We will discuss policy issues

  15. Negotiated complexity in ecostystem services science and policy making

    OpenAIRE

    Keune, Hans; Dendoncker, Nicolas

    2014-01-01

    Abstract: Its a long way from scientific knowledge to concrete policy action. Along the way many decisions have to be made. A lot of these decisions relate to setting priorities. With regard to policy uptake of scientific knowledge on ecosystem services, the need for an integrated decision-making framework is crucial. Framing complexity is a crucial aspect of any ecosystem services approach: How do we deal with ecological and social complexity? The complexity to be taken into account and the ...

  16. Democratic energy policy making

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tronconi, P.A.

    1991-01-01

    The author stresses the need for greater public participation, in particular, by organized labour in the role of organizer-coordinator, in the creation and implementation of local and regional clean energy-environmental protection programs. These would conform to innovative national strategies which would adapt the traditional short-sighted economic growth-energy use models still used by many industrialized countries, to current global requirements - that of harmonized global development and environmental protection to satisfy present needs without compromising the capacity of future generations, of developing, as well as, developed countries, to satisfy their own needs. With reference energy policies of Italy, heavily dependent on oil and gas imports, the author points out the strategic importance and technical-economic feasibility of energy conservation. He then makes suggestions on how to overcome past failures, due primarily to excessive bureaucracy and scarce investment, in the realization of effective energy conservation programs

  17. Strengthening capacity to apply health research evidence in policy making: experience from four countries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hawkes, Sarah; K Aulakh, Bhupinder; Jadeja, Nidhee; Jimenez, Michelle; Buse, Kent; Anwar, Iqbal; Barge, Sandhya; Odubanjo, M Oladoyin; Shukla, Abhay; Ghaffar, Abdul; Whitworth, Jimmy

    2016-01-01

    Increasing the use of evidence in policy making means strengthening capacity on both the supply and demand sides of evidence production. However, little experience of strengthening the capacity of policy makers in low- and middle- income countries has been published to date. We describe the experiences of five projects (in Bangladesh, Gambia, India and Nigeria), where collaborative teams of researchers and policy makers/policy influencers worked to strengthen policy maker capacity to increase the use of evidence in policy. Activities were focused on three (interlinked) levels of capacity building: individual, organizational and, occasionally, institutional. Interventions included increasing access to research/data, promoting frequent interactions between researchers and members of the policy communities, and increasing the receptivity towards research/data in policy making or policy-implementing organizations. Teams were successful in building the capacity of individuals to access, understand and use evidence/data. Strengthening organizational capacity generally involved support to infrastructure (e.g. through information technology resources) and was also deemed to be successful. There was less appetite to address the need to strengthen institutional capacity—although this was acknowledged to be fundamental to promoting sustainable use of evidence, it was also recognized as requiring resources, legitimacy and regulatory support from policy makers. Evaluation across the three spheres of capacity building was made more challenging by the lack of agreed upon evaluation frameworks. In this article, we propose a new framework for assessing the impact of capacity strengthening activities to promote the use of evidence/data in policy making. Our evaluation concluded that strengthening the capacity of individuals and organizations is an important but likely insufficient step in ensuring the use of evidence/data in policy-cycles. Sustainability of evidence

  18. Methods of forming and realization of assortment policy of retail business enterprises

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kudenko Kiril

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Within the framework of the article systematisation of methods of forming and realisation of assortment policy of enterprises of retail business is done. Recommendations concerning the priority of the use of separate methods of forming and realisation of assortment policy with different purposes, taking into account their content, advantages and disadvantages are developed.

  19. Beyond the usual suspects: using political science to enhance public health policy making.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fafard, Patrick

    2015-11-01

    That public health policy and practice should be evidence based is a seemingly uncontroversial claim. Yet governments and citizens routinely reject the best available evidence and prefer policies that reflect other considerations and concerns. The most common explanations of this paradox emphasise scientific disagreement, the power of 'politics', or the belief that scientists and policymakers live in two separate communities that do not communicate. However, another explanation may lie in the limits of the very notion of evidence-based policy making. In fact, the social science discipline of political science offers a rich body of theory and empirical evidence to explain the apparent gap between evidence and policy. This essay introduces this literature with a particular emphasis on a recent book by Katherine Smith, Beyond evidence-based policy in public health: the interplay of ideas. As the title suggests, Smith argues that what matters for public health policy is less scientific evidence and much more a more complex set of ideas. Based on detailed case studies of UK tobacco and health inequality policy, Smith offers a richly textured alternative account of what matters for policy making. This excellent book is part of a small but growing body of political science research on public health policy that draws on contemporary theories of policy change and governance more generally. This essay provides a window on this research, describes some examples, but emphasises that public health scholars and practitioners too often retain a narrow if not naive view of the policy-making process. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

  20. Policy-Making Theory as an Analytical Framework in Policy Analysis: Implications for Research Design and Professional Advocacy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sheldon, Michael R

    2016-01-01

    Policy studies are a recent addition to the American Physical Therapy Association's Research Agenda and are critical to our understanding of various federal, state, local, and organizational policies on the provision of physical therapist services across the continuum of care. Policy analyses that help to advance the profession's various policy agendas will require relevant theoretical frameworks to be credible. The purpose of this perspective article is to: (1) demonstrate the use of a policy-making theory as an analytical framework in a policy analysis and (2) discuss how sound policy analysis can assist physical therapists in becoming more effective change agents, policy advocates, and partners with other relevant stakeholder groups. An exploratory study of state agency policy responses to address work-related musculoskeletal disorders is provided as a contemporary example to illustrate key points and to demonstrate the importance of selecting a relevant analytical framework based on the context of the policy issue under investigation. © 2016 American Physical Therapy Association.

  1. Is Educational Policy Making Rational--and What Would that Mean, Anyway?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bredo, Eric

    2009-01-01

    In "Moderating the Debate: Rationality and the Promise of American Education," Michael Feuer raises concerns about the consequences of basing educational policy on the model of rational choice drawn from economics. Policy making would be better and more realistic, he suggests, if it were based on a newer procedural model drawn from cognitive…

  2. Renewable energy support policy in Spain : An analysis of the decision-making process (1994-2014)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Leston, D.

    2014-01-01

    In this paper, the decision-making process behind the RE support policy will be explored in order to answer the following research questions: “why has the policy-making process been revised so many times?” and “how can such a drastic change on the RE support policy be explained?” The answer is found

  3. Policy, practice and decision making for zoonotic disease management: water and Cryptosporidium.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Austin, Zoë; Alcock, Ruth E; Christley, Robert M; Haygarth, Philip M; Heathwaite, A Louise; Latham, Sophia M; Mort, Maggie; Oliver, David M; Pickup, Roger; Wastling, Jonathan M; Wynne, Brian

    2012-04-01

    Decision making for zoonotic disease management should be based on many forms of appropriate data and sources of evidence. However, the criteria and timing for policy response and the resulting management decisions are often altered when a disease outbreak occurs and captures full media attention. In the case of waterborne disease, such as the robust protozoa, Cryptosporidium spp, exposure can cause significant human health risks and preventing exposure by maintaining high standards of biological and chemical water quality remains a priority for water companies in the UK. Little has been documented on how knowledge and information is translated between the many stakeholders involved in the management of Cryptosporidium, which is surprising given the different drivers that have shaped management decisions. Such information, coupled with the uncertainties that surround these data is essential for improving future management strategies that minimise disease outbreaks. Here, we examine the interplay between scientific information, the media, and emergent government and company policies to examine these issues using qualitative and quantitative data relating to Cryptosporidium management decisions by a water company in the North West of England. Our results show that political and media influences are powerful drivers of management decisions if fuelled by high profile outbreaks. Furthermore, the strength of the scientific evidence is often constrained by uncertainties in the data, and in the way knowledge is translated between policy levels during established risk management procedures. In particular, under or over-estimating risk during risk assessment procedures together with uncertainty regarding risk factors within the wider environment, was found to restrict the knowledge-base for decision-making in Cryptosporidium management. Our findings highlight some key current and future challenges facing the management of such diseases that are widely applicable to other

  4. The Invisible Hand or What Makes the Bureaucracy Indispensable? A Short Theoretical Inquiry Into the Bureaucracy's Role in the Policy Making Process

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cristina HARUŢA

    2010-02-01

    Full Text Available In the study of public bureaucracy, an intrinsic preoccupation arises concerning the balance of policy making authority between politicians and bureaucrats. In this paper we attempt to show from a theoretical point of view that bureaucracies enjoy some degree of discretion over policy making via implementation, rulemaking and enforcement activities. According to many authors it appears that the bureaucrats are entitled as well to play the role of both partners and contributors in the public policy formulation process, even if sometimes their policy preferences do not overlap all the times with the preferences of their elected overseers.

  5. Twenty-First Century Energy Policy Making in New Hampshire: Lessons for Collaboration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herndon, Henry Phillip

    In this thesis I investigate the organizational field that is New Hampshire's energy policy-making community as it engages with the state regulatory institution, the Public Utilities Commission, to grapple the challenges of designing a 21st century electricity marketplace. The Public Utilities Commission structure and function are evolving. Historically, the Commission has used adjudicative proceedings to carry out a ratemaking function for monopoly utilities. The Commission's adjudicative process is evolving to become increasingly collaborative as it begins to carry out its new function of 21st century electricity market design. I analyze both the new structure (collaboration) and the new function (21 st century electricity market design) of the Commission through three in-depth case studies of dockets (policy-making processes): Energy Efficiency Resource Standard, Electric Grid Modernization, and Net Metering. My findings identify ways in which the Public Utilities Commission structure for making energy policy decisions is flexible and may be shaped by stakeholders engaging in policy processes. Stakeholders have the power to collectively design regulatory proceedings to incorporate greater opportunities for collaboration to better suit the challenges posed by a 21st century electricity sector. I provide recommendations on how that redesign should occur.

  6. Strategic information for industrial policy-making in developing countries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gonod, P.F.

    1990-05-01

    The practice shows that many crucial decisions for industrialization in developing countries have been taken based on incomplete information. For strategic decisions an incomplete information may have catastrophic consequences. The function of policy-making is defined as the process by which the information generated/or used in a particular context is reevaluated in a different context in order to formulate/or execute a policy of alternative decisions. It follows that the industrial information must be presented in such a manner to allow a reevaluation and alternative decisions. 30 notes

  7. European Market Making and Policy Duplication

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Frankel, Christian

    2013-01-01

    This paper argues that private regulation has been essential to the making of the common European market. The distinction between negative and positive integration, usually used to understand the making of the common European market, only gives us part of the picture, as it focuses on public...... authorities and the regulation issued by them, and tends to ignore private authorities. A focus on private regulation is suggested to enlarge the focus on positive and negative integration, and this is used in an analysis of EU's removal of barriers to trade from 1958 to 2000. The paper shows that private...... regulation in the form of technical standardisation has become essential to European market making....

  8. Contestations and complexities of nurses’ participation in policy-making in South Africa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Prudence Ditlopo

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Background: There has been increased emphasis globally on nurses’ involvement in health policy and systems development. However, there has been limited scholarly attention on nurses’ participation in policy-making in South Africa. Objective: This paper analyses the dynamics, strengths, and weaknesses of nurses’ participation in four national health workforce policies: the 2008 Nursing Strategy, revision of the Scope of Practice for nurses, the new Framework for Nursing Qualifications, and the Occupation-Specific Dispensation (OSD remuneration policy. Design: Using a policy analysis framework, we conducted in-depth interviews with 28 key informants and 73 frontline nurses in four South African provinces. Thematic content analysis was done using the Atlas.ti software. Results: The study found that nurses’ participation in policy-making is both contested and complex. The contestation relates to the extent and nature of nurses’ participation in nursing policies. There was a disjuncture between nursing leadership and frontline nurses in their levels of awareness of the four policies. The latter group was generally unaware of these policies with the exception of the OSD remuneration policy as it affected them directly. There was also limited consensus on which nursing group legitimately represented nursing issues in the policy arena. Shifting power relationships influenced who participated, how the participation happened, and the degree to which nurses’ views and inputs were considered and incorporated. Conclusions: The South African health system presents major opportunities for nurses to influence and direct policies that affect them. This will require a combination of proactive leadership, health policy capacity and skills development among nurses, and strong support from the national nursing association.

  9. Technocracy in Economic Policy-Making in Malaysia

    OpenAIRE

    Khadijah Md Khalid; Mahani Zainal Abidin

    2014-01-01

    This article looks at the role of the technocracy in economic policy-making in Malaysia. The analysis was conducted across two phases, namely the period before and after the 1997-98 economic and financial crises, and during the premiership of four prime ministers namely Tun Razak, Dr Mahathir, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, and Najib Razak. It is claimed that the technocrats played an important role in helping the political leadership achieve their objectives. The article traces the changing fortunes...

  10. Mitigating Evidentiary Bias in Planning and Policy-Making; Comment on “Reflective Practice: How the World Bank Explored Its Own Biases?”

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Justin Parkhurst

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available The field of cognitive psychology has increasingly provided scientific insights to explore how humans are subject to unconscious sources of evidentiary bias, leading to errors that can affect judgement and decision-making. Increasingly these insights are being applied outside the realm of individual decision-making to the collective arena of policy-making as well. A recent editorial in this journal has particularly lauded the work of the World Bank for undertaking an open and critical reflection on sources of unconscious bias in its own expert staff that could undermine achievement of its key goals. The World Bank case indeed serves as a remarkable case of a global policy-making agency making its own critical reflections transparent for all to see. Yet the recognition that humans are prone to cognitive errors has been known for centuries, and the scientific exploration of such biases provided by cognitive psychology is now well-established. What still remains to be developed, however, is a widespread body of work that can inform efforts to institutionalise strategies to mitigate the multiple sources and forms of evidentiary bias arising within administrative and policy-making environments. Addressing this gap will require a programme of conceptual and empirical work that supports robust development and evaluation of institutional bias mitigation strategies. The cognitive sciences provides a scientific basis on which to proceed, but a critical priority will now be the application of that science to improve policy-making within those agencies taking responsibility for social welfare and development programmes.

  11. Engaging Actors for Integrating Health Policy and Systems Research into Policy Making: Case Study from Haryana State in India

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shankar Prinja

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Background & objective: Good examples of evidence generation using Health Policy and Systems Research (HPSR in low and middle income countries (LMIC; and its application in policy making are scarce. In this paper, we describe the experience of establishing a system of HPSR from the Haryana state in India, outline how the HPSR is being utilized for policy making and programmatic decision making, and analyse the key factors which have been critical to the implementation and uptake of HPSR. Methods: Multiple methods are employed in this case study, ranging from unstructured in-depth interviews, review of the program and policy documents, and participatory notes from the meetings. The steps towards creation of a knowledge partnership between stakeholders are outlined. Four case studies i.e. development of a plan for universal health care (UHC, nutrition policy, centralized drug procurement system and use of RAPID appraisal method highlight the use of research evidence in agenda setting, policy formulation and policy implementation respectively. Results: Our analysis shows that the most important factor which contributed to Haryana model of HPSR was the presence of a dedicated and motivated team in National Rural Health Mission (NRHM at state level, many of whom were researchers by previous training. Overall, we conclude by highlighting the need for establishing an institutional mechanism at Central and State level where health service administrators and managers, academicians and researchers working in the field of health system from medical colleges, public health schools, management and technology institutions and social science universities can identify health system research priorities. Increased budgetary allocation for HPSR is required.

  12. Engaging Actors for Integrating Health Policy and Systems Research into Policy Making: Case Study from Haryana State in India

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shankar Prinja

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Background & objective: Good examples of evidence generation using Health Policy and Systems Research (HPSR in low and middle income countries (LMIC; and its application in policy making are scarce. In this paper, we describe the experience of establishing a system of HPSR from the Haryana state in India, outline how the HPSR is being utilized for policy making and programmatic decision making, and analyse the key factors which have been critical to the implementation and uptake of HPSR. Methods: Multiple methods are employed in this case study, ranging from unstructured in-depth interviews, review of the program and policy documents, and participatory notes from the meetings. The steps towards creation of a knowledge partnership between stakeholders are outlined. Four case studies i.e. development of a plan for universal health care (UHC, nutrition policy, centralized drug procurement system and use of RAPID appraisal method highlight the use of research evidence in agenda setting, policy formulation and policy implementation respectively. Results: Our analysis shows that the most important factor which contributed to Haryana model of HPSR was the presence of a dedicated and motivated team in National Rural Health Mission (NRHM at state level, many of whom were researchers by previous training. Overall, we conclude by highlighting the need for establishing an institutional mechanism at Central and State level where health service administrators and managers, academicians and researchers working in the field of health system from medical colleges, public health schools, management and technology institutions and social science universities can identify health system research priorities. Increased budgetary allocation for HPSR is required.

  13. Citizen participation in local policy making: design and democracy

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Michels, A.M.B.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/11124501X

    2012-01-01

    Embedding democratic innovations that increase and deepen citizen participation in decision making has become a common policy of local governments in many countries. This article focuses on the role of the design of these innovations and seeks to establish the effects of their design on democracy.

  14. The Politics of Local Tax Policy-Making in Poland

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Swianiewicz Paweł

    2016-06-01

    To what extent is tax policy an important item of the local political agenda in Polish municipalities ? Is it a subject of intense debates at city hall and local councils or is it accepted as a routine exercise ? The results suggest that the issues related to local taxes play a relatively marginal role compared to issues such as the location of major investments. However, the importance of taxes in local debates increases in those local communities in which the tax yields collected are larger and in the case of those taxes which are paid by a wider group of tax payers.Who governs in local tax-policy-making ? According to local provisions the proposal of tax resolution is submitted by the mayor, and the local council makes the final decision. But empirical findings suggest that the practice follows the “strong mayor” model, in which the local political leader, supporter by his staff of the financial department, is more influential than the councilors.

  15. Structural analysis of health-relevant policy-making information exchange networks in Canada.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Contandriopoulos, Damien; Benoît, François; Bryant-Lukosius, Denise; Carrier, Annie; Carter, Nancy; Deber, Raisa; Duhoux, Arnaud; Greenhalgh, Trisha; Larouche, Catherine; Leclerc, Bernard-Simon; Levy, Adrian; Martin-Misener, Ruth; Maximova, Katerina; McGrail, Kimberlyn; Nykiforuk, Candace; Roos, Noralou; Schwartz, Robert; Valente, Thomas W; Wong, Sabrina; Lindquist, Evert; Pullen, Carolyn; Lardeux, Anne; Perroux, Melanie

    2017-09-20

    Health systems worldwide struggle to identify, adopt, and implement in a timely and system-wide manner the best-evidence-informed-policy-level practices. Yet, there is still only limited evidence about individual and institutional best practices for fostering the use of scientific evidence in policy-making processes The present project is the first national-level attempt to (1) map and structurally analyze-quantitatively-health-relevant policy-making networks that connect evidence production, synthesis, interpretation, and use; (2) qualitatively investigate the interaction patterns of a subsample of actors with high centrality metrics within these networks to develop an in-depth understanding of evidence circulation processes; and (3) combine these findings in order to assess a policy network's "absorptive capacity" regarding scientific evidence and integrate them into a conceptually sound and empirically grounded framework. The project is divided into two research components. The first component is based on quantitative analysis of ties (relationships) that link nodes (participants) in a network. Network data will be collected through a multi-step snowball sampling strategy. Data will be analyzed structurally using social network mapping and analysis methods. The second component is based on qualitative interviews with a subsample of the Web survey participants having central, bridging, or atypical positions in the network. Interviews will focus on the process through which evidence circulates and enters practice. Results from both components will then be integrated through an assessment of the network's and subnetwork's effectiveness in identifying, capturing, interpreting, sharing, reframing, and recodifying scientific evidence in policy-making processes. Knowledge developed from this project has the potential both to strengthen the scientific understanding of how policy-level knowledge transfer and exchange functions and to provide significantly improved advice

  16. Accessing the digital environment: making policy in academic libraries

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Accessing the digital environment: making policy in academic libraries. Dorette Snyman. Abstract. No Abstract Available Innovation No.23 2001: 13-18. Full Text: EMAIL FULL TEXT EMAIL FULL TEXT · DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT · AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL... for Researchers ...

  17. Design Concepts and Design Practices in Policy-Making and Public Management

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Junginger, Sabine

    2012-01-01

    National governments around the globe are actively seeking new ways to engage in social innovation and are investing in innovation labs and innovation centers where methods and principles of design are now being explored and applied to problems of transforming and innovating the public sector (cf...... governments but they also pose new challenges for policy-makers and public administrators who are not yet familiar with design concepts, principles and methods beyond problem-solving. Despite the many linkages between and among design, designing, policy-making and policy implementation, we have yet to clarify...

  18. The Role of Higher Education in National Quality Infrastructure Policy-Making

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jelena Ruso

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the paper is to raise awareness of the importance of the policy makers’ knowledge and expertise about quality infrastructure (QI for the successful policy-making. This article, which addresses the role of higher education in Serbian quality infrastructure policy-making, is an analysis of QI related contents of higher education institution curriculum. The target institutions are public faculties from whose official websites the data were collected. Depending on the keywords, the analysis was performed in order to classify the faculties into three categories. After reviewing the 307 subject titles and descriptions of undergraduate courses, the results show that the concepts of QI are widely recognized as an important and popular topic. The analysis of the QI adoption and diffusion indicates that although some of the faculties might be ‘leaders’ in a particular dimension, they still do not necessarily fall into the ‘leader’ category. JEL Classification:I21, I23, H54, L15

  19. Politics of oil in Venezuela: A decision-making analysis of PDVSA's internationalisation policy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baena, Cesar E.

    The high degree of international vertical integration achieved by the Venezuelan state oil enterprise, Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), has placed it among the most important oil multinationals (MNs). The policy of creating downstream outlets through the establishment of foreign direct investments (FDIs) in the form of refinery assets was given the term of 'internationalisation'. By analysing PDVSA's internationalisation policy, the thesis explores the difficulties encountered by a major state-owned enterprise (SOE) from a developing country in its efforts to grow beyond national borders. The study focuses on the impact of democratic bargaining on the process of oil policymaking in Venezuela, stressing the constraints posed by politics on PDVSA's efforts to expand its foreign operations. Specifically, the study examines the intricate policymaking process that shaped the origins and the development of PDVSA's internationalisation policy, underlying the events and factors that influenced each one of its three distinguishable phases: adoption, formulation, and implementation. The tensions between politics and corporate strategy are highlighted at the core of the policymaking process. The study also looks at the relationship between the oil industry and the other two key decision-making centres involved in the oil policymaking process: the executive and Congress. In exploring the ways in which each one of them sought to influence policy outcome, the study attempts to gain insight into the main factors that prompted the tensions among the policy actors involved. Three environments, or pressure-generating centres, constantly exert influence on the oil industry: the oil market, the political context and the government's financial situation. By seeking to determine the industry's response to their pervasive influence on policy formulation and implementation, this research ascertains the extent to which these variables influenced the decision-making process that

  20. Designing Dynamic Adaptive Policy Pathways using Many-Objective Robust Decision Making

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kwakkel, Jan; Haasnoot, Marjolijn

    2017-04-01

    Dealing with climate risks in water management requires confronting a wide variety of deeply uncertain factors, while navigating a many dimensional space of trade-offs amongst objectives. There is an emerging body of literature on supporting this type of decision problem, under the label of decision making under deep uncertainty. Two approaches within this literature are Many-Objective Robust Decision Making, and Dynamic Adaptive Policy Pathways. In recent work, these approaches have been compared. One of the main conclusions of this comparison was that they are highly complementary. Many-Objective Robust Decision Making is a model based decision support approach, while Dynamic Adaptive Policy Pathways is primarily a conceptual framework for the design of flexible strategies that can be adapted over time in response to how the future is actually unfolding. In this research we explore this complementarity in more detail. Specifically, we demonstrate how Many-Objective Robust Decision Making can be used to design adaptation pathways. We demonstrate this combined approach using a water management problem, in the Netherlands. The water level of Lake IJselmeer, the main fresh water resource of the Netherlands, is currently managed through discharge by gravity. Due to climate change, this won't be possible in the future, unless water levels are changed. Changing the water level has undesirable flood risk and spatial planning consequences. The challenge is to find promising adaptation pathways that balance objectives related to fresh water supply, flood risk, and spatial issues, while accounting for uncertain climatic and land use change. We conclude that the combination of Many-Objective Robust Decision Making and Dynamic Adaptive Policy Pathways is particularly suited for dealing with deeply uncertain climate risks.

  1. Integrating research evidence and physical activity policy making-REPOPA project

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Aro, A.R.; Bertram, M.; Hamalainen, R.-M.; van de Goor, L.A.M.; Skovgaard, T.; Valente, A.; Castellani, T.; Chereches, R.; Edwards, N.

    2016-01-01

    Evidence shows that regular physical activity is enhanced by supporting environment. Studies are needed to integrate research evidence into health enhancing, cross-sector physical activity (HEPA) policy making. This article presents the rationale, study design, measurement procedures and the initial

  2. Policy Making Processes with Respect to Teacher Education in Finland and Norway

    Science.gov (United States)

    Afdal, Hilde Wagsas

    2013-01-01

    This article examines policy making processes in the area of teacher education (TE) in Finland and Norway. Particular attention is given to the roles different actors play in these processes and the potential effects of their involvement on the TE programs in the two countries. Contemporary policy processes are analyzed through a set of interviews…

  3. The role of policy-making and planning cultures for sustainable transport?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Carsten Jahn

    2011-01-01

    for underlying sets of values and norms to enter the policy process more freely and explicitly. However, do we then have the cultures and moral force to build effective sustainable transport policies and plans? The article therefore also looks into a range of overlapping approaches that may potentially aid...... in rethinking and rebuilding transport policy-making and planning processes in terms of cultural learning processes. Finally, the role of the planner as a ‘cultural entrepreneur’ and ‘cultural story-teller’ is presented as potential tool to push through new agendas or ideas, such as more sustainable transport...

  4. How much participation makes a participatory process legitimate? Observations from participants in forestry policy-making and nuclear weapons complex management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tuler, S.

    1997-01-01

    Public participation has received increasing attention as a means for improving research, policy-making, and decision-making in a variety of contexts. Regulators have experimented with a variety of participatory approaches to improve the legitimacy of outcomes in the eyes of diverse publics. In this paper the authors will explore how participants (as opposed to planners) perceived legitimacy of both processes and outcomes in planning processes. Data from two case studies will be presented: (1) a forestry planning process in the northeastern US and (2) environmental health, waste management, and clean-up activities in the US nuclear weapons complex. The data reveal that judgments about the appropriateness of particular forms of participation and about the quality of participation can be a critical factor in perceived legitimacy of processes and outcomes, and that judgments of appropriateness and quality are grounded in the experiences of individual participants. In addition, linkages between judgments about the adequacy of participation and legitimacy can be mediated by historical interactions and judgments of trust. Implications for the design of participatory processes will be discussed

  5. Research-Based Knowledge: Researchers' Contribution to Evidence-Based Practice and Policy Making in Career Guidance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haug, Erik Hagaseth; Plant, Peter

    2016-01-01

    To present evidence for the outcomes of career guidance is increasingly seen as pivotal for a further professionalization of policy making and service provision. This paper puts an emphasis on researchers' contribution to evidence-based practice and policy making in career guidance. We argue for a broader and more pluralistic research strategy to…

  6. Legitimacy and institutional response strategies of public participation in nuclear policy-making

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, J. H.; Ahn, S. K.; Yun, Y. J.

    2004-01-01

    This paper proposes that the approach to nuclear policy system should be changed to the participatory and resilient way from the managerial and anticipatory way. This change is surely reasonable in the point that, firstly, the managerial and anticipatory approach contains the internal weakness of not allowing trials and errors due to its centralized decision making and, secondly, active participation of general public can give a great contribution to the course of decision-making in science and technology as well. However, the expansion of public participation has the risk of falling into the deadlock of unreasonable populism, so the course and procedures of public participation need to be included in the process of decision making in the matter of science and technology systematically. Accordingly, this paper shows the research result on the process of public participation in Europe and suggests the possibility that there can be a balanced and effective system of public participation in nuclear policy making

  7. People adopt optimal policies in simple decision-making, after practice and guidance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Evans, Nathan J; Brown, Scott D

    2017-04-01

    Organisms making repeated simple decisions are faced with a tradeoff between urgent and cautious strategies. While animals can adopt a statistically optimal policy for this tradeoff, findings about human decision-makers have been mixed. Some studies have shown that people can optimize this "speed-accuracy tradeoff", while others have identified a systematic bias towards excessive caution. These issues have driven theoretical development and spurred debate about the nature of human decision-making. We investigated a potential resolution to the debate, based on two factors that routinely differ between human and animal studies of decision-making: the effects of practice, and of longer-term feedback. Our study replicated the finding that most people, by default, are overly cautious. When given both practice and detailed feedback, people moved rapidly towards the optimal policy, with many participants reaching optimality with less than 1 h of practice. Our findings have theoretical implications for cognitive and neural models of simple decision-making, as well as methodological implications.

  8. Environmental economics and policy making in developing countries. Current issues

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Motta, R.S. da

    2001-01-01

    In developing countries, where growth expectations are high, least-cost environmental policies are crucial since they can reduce the conflict between economic growth and the environment. In view of this, policymakers in these economies must be very aware of the relationship between economic and environmental issues to offer policy initiatives which can increase efficiency and improve equity. The authors provide a comprehensive analysis of topics varying from the general problems of growth and conservation to specific applications such as; pollution costs, environmental taxation, deforestation and climate change. This volume also offers policymakers a comprehensive view of the challenges they face, and the legacies they leave, in order to convert environmental policy making into an actual programme of welfare improvement. (author)

  9. Public Participation in the Energy-Related Public Policy Making

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bozicevic Vrhovcak, M.; Rodik, D.; Zmijarevic, Z.; Jaksic, D.

    2011-01-01

    This paper provides an overview of possibilities for public participation in proposing legal acts and other energy related documents in the Republic of Croatia and gives author assessment of the Croatian public participation level in the processes carried out. The ways how public has participated in the making of a few officially accepted documents have been analysed and potential benefits of inclusion of a wider circle of interested public have been stated. A comparison of the degree of public involvement in the decision making processes in Croatia and the European Union has been made, with specific emphasis on the adoption of the Third package of energy laws. Several national and EU funded projects aiming at enhancing the Croatian public participation in public decision making processes have been presented and their results given. Finally, possibilities for the improvement of the public participation in the Croatian energy policy making processes are proposed. (author)

  10. Policy Making While Paradigms Shift: Understanding the Development of Policy Drought in the U.S. Congress 1981-2013

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCurdy, K. M.

    2013-12-01

    Ronald Reagan famously announced in his 1981 inaugural address that 'government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.' For the scientific community and Members of Congress of that time, who were partners in working within the scientific management policy paradigm and the meritocracy on which its technical expertise depended, these words were outside their paradigm of good public service. Despite this announcement of a new paradigm by the incoming President, their policy world continued undisturbed, finding points of agreement to make incremental improvements in policy. Executive branch actions in Reagan's two terms as president were dismissed as peculiar, although they were the beginnings of realizing a policy goal of reducing the size and influence of the federal government. The important parameters influencing policy making in the U.S. Congress, which party holds the majority that sets the agenda and schedules votes, seniority that determines leadership positions in the conference and caucus, specialization on policy by committee jurisdictions, vary little annually and thereby were treated as constants by participants and observers alike. But member replacement has policy consequences that are infrequently noted. Members die in office, retire, and lose re-election bids, while the new members replacing them do not replicate any of their institutional characteristics. The policy process continues seemingly unchanged, but there are changes that become apparent with time. By 2013, scientists are no longer unquestioning partners in shaping federal public policy. They have been ridiculed in congressional hearings and in media attacks. Meanwhile new legislative strategies are being tried, e.g. shutting down government, increasing the use of earmarks instead of peer review, filibuster threats, and repeated attempts to repeal laws are now common tactics in Congress. Science and Congress no longer seem to act as partners in policy making, but as

  11. Heuristic and optimal policy computations in the human brain during sequential decision-making.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Korn, Christoph W; Bach, Dominik R

    2018-01-23

    Optimal decisions across extended time horizons require value calculations over multiple probabilistic future states. Humans may circumvent such complex computations by resorting to easy-to-compute heuristics that approximate optimal solutions. To probe the potential interplay between heuristic and optimal computations, we develop a novel sequential decision-making task, framed as virtual foraging in which participants have to avoid virtual starvation. Rewards depend only on final outcomes over five-trial blocks, necessitating planning over five sequential decisions and probabilistic outcomes. Here, we report model comparisons demonstrating that participants primarily rely on the best available heuristic but also use the normatively optimal policy. FMRI signals in medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) relate to heuristic and optimal policies and associated choice uncertainties. Crucially, reaction times and dorsal MPFC activity scale with discrepancies between heuristic and optimal policies. Thus, sequential decision-making in humans may emerge from integration between heuristic and optimal policies, implemented by controllers in MPFC.

  12. Make way for the climate. National adaptation strategy. The policy paper

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2007-11-01

    The policy paper is a background document of the interdepartmental memorandum 'Make way for climate', in which the outline is described for a national strategy for adaptation to the consequences of climate change. [mk] [nl

  13. The role of migration-specific and migration-relevant policies in migrant decision-making in transit

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kuschminder - de Guerre, Katie; Koser, Khalid

    2017-01-01

    This paper examines the role of migration-specific and migration-relevant policies in migrant decision-making factors for onwards migration or stay in Greece and Turkey. In this paper we distinguish migration-specific policies from migration-relevant policies in transit and destination countries,

  14. Making sense of the global health crisis: policy narratives, conflict, and global health governance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ney, Steven

    2012-04-01

    Health has become a policy issue of global concern. Worried that the unstructured, polycentric, and pluralist nature of global health governance is undermining the ability to serve emergent global public health interests, some commentators are calling for a more systematic institutional response to the "global health crisis." Yet global health is a complex and uncertain policy issue. This article uses narrative analysis to explore how actors deal with these complexities and how uncertainties affect global health governance. By comparing three narratives in terms of their basic assumptions, the way they define problems as well as the solutions they propose, the analysis shows how the unstructured pluralism of global health policy making creates a wide scope of policy conflict over the global health crisis. This wide scope of conflict enables effective policy-oriented learning about global health issues. The article also shows how exclusionary patterns of cooperation and competition are emerging in health policy making at the global level. These patterns threaten effective learning by risking both polarization of the policy debate and unanticipated consequences of health policy. Avoiding these pitfalls, the analysis suggests, means creating global health governance regimes that promote openness and responsiveness in deliberation about the global health crisis.

  15. Is welfare all that matters? A discussion of what should be included in policy-making regarding animals

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Yeates, J.W.; Röcklinsberg, H.; Gjerris, Mickey

    2011-01-01

    Policy-making concerned with animals often includes human interests, such as economy, trade, environmental protection, disease control, species conservation etc. When it comes to the interests of the animals, such policy-making often makes use of the results of animal welfare science to provide...... assessments of ethically relevant concerns for animals. This has provided a scientific rigour that has helped to overcome controversies and allowed debates to move forward according to generally agreed methodologies. However, this focus can lead to policies leaving out other important issues relevant...... to animals. This can be considered as a problem of what is included in welfare science, or of what is included in policy. This suggests two possible solutions: expanding animal welfare science to address all ethical concerns about animals’ interests or widening the perspective considered in policy...

  16. Scientists as lobbyists? How science can make its voice heard in the South African policy-making arena

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Funke, Nicola S

    2011-11-01

    Full Text Available This paper examines the complexity of the South African policy-making context and its official and non-official actors and investigates the challenges that scientists face when trying to exert their influence here in order to strengthen the science...

  17. 10 CFR 140.92 - Appendix B-Form of indemnity agreement with licensees furnishing insurance policies as proof of...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... specified in Item 2 of the Attachment and in the form of the nuclear energy liability insurance policy... limits of liability of all other nuclear energy liability insurance policies (facility form) applicable... liability insurance policies (facility form) applicable to such common occurrence and issued by Mutual...

  18. As CMS makes another policy change, policy makers distinguish between different forms of care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-10-01

    As observation care continues to draw fire from critics who charge that the designation ends up costing hospitals money while also sticking patients with exorbitant fees, the medical directors of dedicated observation units counter that the kind of care delivered by their specialized units actually saves money and gets patients out of the hospital sooner. They note that the problem is that only about one-third of hospitals actually have dedicated observation units, so patients placed on observation typically wind up in inpatient beds, where they may only be evaluated once a day. CMS has just released a new policy rule on observation that should help patients avoid excessive charges, but many experts would like to see the agency take steps to incentivize the kind of quality care that is delivered in dedicated units. The new CMS rule for 2014 caps observation stays at 48 hours. Patients who remain in the hospital beyond this point become inpatients, as long as they meet inpatient criteria. Proponents of observation care contend that the average length-of-stay in a dedicated observation unit is just 15 hours--typically much shorter than the LOS of patients who are placed on observation in inpatient beds. Care in a dedicated observation unit is generally driven by protocol in an emergency medicine environment where there is continuous rounding. Discharges can occur at any time of the day or night. Experts note that observation patients account for the largest portion of both misdiagnoses and malpractice lawsuits stemming from emergency settings.

  19. Provincial prenatal record revision: a multiple case study of evidence-based decision-making at the population-policy level

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olson Joanne

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background There is a significant gap in the knowledge translation literature related to how research evidence actually contributes to health care decision-making. Decisions around what care to provide at the population (rather than individual level are particularly complex, involving considerations such as feasibility, cost, and population needs in addition to scientific evidence. One example of decision-making at this "population-policy" level involves what screening questions and intervention guides to include on standardized provincial prenatal records. As mandatory medical reporting forms, prenatal records are potentially powerful vehicles for promoting population-wide evidence-based care. However, the extent to which Canadian prenatal records reflect best-practice recommendations for the assessment of well-known risk factors such as maternal smoking and alcohol consumption varies markedly across Canadian provinces and territories. The goal of this study is to better understand the interaction of contextual factors and research evidence on decision-making at the population-policy level, by examining the processes by which provincial prenatal records are reviewed and revised. Methods Guided by Dobrow et al.'s (2004 conceptual model for context-based evidence-based decision-making, this study will use a multiple case study design with embedded units of analysis to examine contextual factors influencing the prenatal record revision process in different Canadian provinces and territories. Data will be collected using multiple methods to construct detailed case descriptions for each province/territory. Using qualitative data analysis techniques, decision-making processes involving prenatal record content specifically related to maternal smoking and alcohol use will be compared both within and across each case, to identify key contextual factors influencing the uptake and application of research evidence by prenatal record review

  20. Science and environmental policy-making : bias-proofing the assessment process

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McKitrick, R.

    2005-01-01

    Politicians and policy-makers appeal to the concept of peer-reviewed research as a foundation for decision-making. However, peer review does not typically guarantee that data and methods are open to scrutiny or that results are reproducible. This paper argued that additional checks and balances are needed for scientific assessment reports when they are being used to justify major policy investments. The need for such mechanisms was examined with reference to the debate in climate change, which allowed the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to downplay fundamental scientific uncertainties in research in order to claim that the 1990s were the warmest decade of the millennium. Two mechanisms were proposed to address biases in expert assessment panels. The creation of a scientific audit or permanent agency was recommended that would act independently of assessment panels to identify key studies influencing panel decisions to ensure that data are publicly available and that statistical methods are fully described and correctly implemented. The creation of a counterweight panel was also advised, which would then be convened to prepare the strongest possible counter argument to the conclusions of an assessment panel. It was concluded that, given the far-reaching implications of policy decisions that are based on expert assessments, audits and counterweight panels should be integrated into the process by which science is used to guide decision-making. 17 refs., 4 figs

  1. A novel method for feasibility testing urban sustainable development policies

    OpenAIRE

    O’Doherty Travis; Fitzgerald Brian G.; Moles Richard; O’Regan Bernadette

    2013-01-01

    Policy making to promote more sustainable development is a complex task due in part to the large number of both stakeholders and potential policies. Policy feasibility testing provides a guide to the viability and practicality of policy implementation and forms an important part of an evidence based policy making process. An extensive literature review has identified no standardized approach to feasibility testing. This paper addresses this knowledge gap by...

  2. Making drug policy together: reflections on evidence, engagement and participation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roberts, Marcus

    2014-09-01

    This commentary considers the relationship between evidence, engagement and participation in drug policy governance. It argues that the use of various forms of evidence (for example, statistical data and service user narratives) is critical for meaningful stakeholder engagement and public participation in drug policy, as well as effective policy design and implementation. The respective roles of these different kinds of evidence in consultation processes need to be better understood. It discusses the limits of evidence, which it suggests is rarely conclusive or decisive for drug policy. This is partly because of the incompleteness of most research agendas and the lack of consensus among researchers, but also because issues in drug policy are inherently contestable, involving considerations that lie outside the competency of drug policy specialist as such. In particular, this is because they involve normative and evaluative issues that are properly political (for example, about the relative weight to be accorded to different kinds of harm and benefit). It concludes by supporting calls for a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between evidence, engagement and politics than is implicit in the term 'evidence based policy'. It also argues that we should view the inherent contestability of drug policy not as something that can or should be resolved by 'objective' evidence, but as a source of vitality and creativity in policy development and evaluation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. The Impact of Irish Policy and Legislation on How Adults with Learning Disabilities Make Choices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carey, Eileen; Griffiths, Colin

    2016-01-01

    This paper reflects the impact of policy and legislation in the context of how adults with learning disabilities make choices. Following an overview of policies which have improved choice for people with learning disability in the United Kingdom, this paper reviews "choice" in current Irish policy and legislation. This paper, while…

  4. External factors affecting decision-making and use of evidence in an Australian public health policy environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zardo, Pauline; Collie, Alex; Livingstone, Charles

    2014-05-01

    This study examined external factors affecting policy and program decision-making in a specific public health policy context: injury prevention and rehabilitation compensation in the Australian state of Victoria. The aim was twofold: identify external factors that affect policy and program decision-making in this specific context; use this evidence to inform targeting of interventions aimed at increasing research use in this context. Qualitative interviews were undertaken from June 2011 to January 2012 with 33 employees from two state government agencies. Key factors identified were stakeholder feedback and action, government and ministerial input, legal feedback and action, injured persons and the media. The identified external factors were able to significantly influence policy and program decision-making processes: acting as both barriers and facilitators, depending on the particular issue at hand. The factors with the most influence were the Minister and government, lawyers, and agency stakeholders, particularly health providers, trade unions and employer groups. This research revealed that interventions aimed at increasing use of research in this context must target and harness the influence of these groups. This research provides critical insights for researchers seeking to design interventions to increase use of research in policy environments and influence decision-making in Victorian injury prevention and rehabilitation compensation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. A multicriteria decision making approach applied to improving maintenance policies in healthcare organizations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carnero, María Carmen; Gómez, Andrés

    2016-04-23

    Healthcare organizations have far greater maintenance needs for their medical equipment than other organization, as many are used directly with patients. However, the literature on asset management in healthcare organizations is very limited. The aim of this research is to provide more rational application of maintenance policies, leading to an increase in quality of care. This article describes a multicriteria decision-making approach which integrates Markov chains with the multicriteria Measuring Attractiveness by a Categorical Based Evaluation Technique (MACBETH), to facilitate the best choice of combination of maintenance policies by using the judgements of a multi-disciplinary decision group. The proposed approach takes into account the level of acceptance that a given alternative would have among professionals. It also takes into account criteria related to cost, quality of care and impact of care cover. This multicriteria approach is applied to four dialysis subsystems: patients infected with hepatitis C, infected with hepatitis B, acute and chronic; in all cases, the maintenance strategy obtained consists of applying corrective and preventive maintenance plus two reserve machines. The added value in decision-making practices from this research comes from: (i) integrating the use of Markov chains to obtain the alternatives to be assessed by a multicriteria methodology; (ii) proposing the use of MACBETH to make rational decisions on asset management in healthcare organizations; (iii) applying the multicriteria approach to select a set or combination of maintenance policies in four dialysis subsystems of a health care organization. In the multicriteria decision making approach proposed, economic criteria have been used, related to the quality of care which is desired for patients (availability), and the acceptance that each alternative would have considering the maintenance and healthcare resources which exist in the organization, with the inclusion of a

  6. Analysis of the decision-support function of policy assessment in real-world policy making in the field of poverty and social inequalities. Case study on migrant integration policies in the Brussels-Capital Region

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Feyaerts, Gille; Deguerry, Murielle; Deboosere, Patrick; De Spiegelaere, Myriam

    2017-01-01

    Despite its high potential to support decision-making, the role of policy assessment in real-world policy making in the field of poverty and social inequalities remains largely questioned. In this study, we analyse policy assessment's role in a context of real-world policymaking, by means of a case study on a legislative proposal on integration policy for immigrant newcomers in the Brussels-Capital Region, for which we evaluate the potential effects on poverty and social inequalities. We first analyse the policy process surrounding the policy proposal – a process that is often treated as a black box within policy assessment research. Understanding the factors that influence and determine the decision-making process, enables us to gain insight into the potential decision-support function(s). Second, we develop an approach to policy assessment that aims to fully exploit its potential to contribute to the functions of both instrumental and conceptual learning. For this purpose, we propose to introduce the approach of realist evaluation and to focus on evaluating the underlying policy intervention theory from the perspective of poverty and social inequalities. Finally, we illustrate this new approach and its added value by applying it to the legislative proposal on integration policy and analyse its contribution to policy-oriented learning. - Highlights: •The field of policy assessment should draw on insights from policy studies. •We unpacked the policymaking black-box to identify the mechanisms of policy change. •The policy process is driven by an interaction of ideas, interests and institutions. •Policy assessment's potential lies in both instrumental and conceptual learning. •We propose to integrate realist evaluation's logic of inquiry within policy assessment.

  7. The EVOTION Decision Support System: Utilizing It for Public Health Policy-Making in Hearing Loss.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Katrakazas, Panagiotis; Trenkova, Lyubov; Milas, Josip; Brdaric, Dario; Koutsouris, Dimitris

    2017-01-01

    As Decision Support Systems start to play a significant role in decision making, especially in the field of public-health policy making, we present an initial attempt to formulate such a system in the concept of public health policy making for hearing loss related problems. Justification for the system's conceptual architecture and its key functionalities are presented. The introduction of the EVOTION DSS sets a key innovation and a basis for paradigm shift in policymaking, by incorporating relevant models, big data analytics and generic demographic data. Expected outcomes for this joint effort are discussed from a public-health point of view.

  8. 20 CFR 726.205 - Other forms of endorsement and policies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Other forms of endorsement and policies. 726.205 Section 726.205 Employees' Benefits EMPLOYMENT STANDARDS ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR FEDERAL COAL MINE HEALTH AND SAFETY ACT OF 1969, AS AMENDED BLACK LUNG BENEFITS; REQUIREMENTS FOR COAL...

  9. Participatory approaches to environmental policy-making. The European Commission Climate Policy Process as a case study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Van den Hove, S.

    2000-01-01

    The paper investigates the relevance of participatory approaches to environmental policy-making when sustainable development is taken as the encompassing normative basis for environmental governance. In the first section, we illustrate the frequent references to participatory approaches in environmental decision-making. We then look at environmental issue attributes as determinants of the problem-solving requirements for environmental decision-making. We conclude the section by investigating whether and how participatory approaches could answer some of these requirements. In the second section, an illustration is proposed with the presentation of a participatory process that took place in 1997, during the last phase of the international negotiations that led to the Kyoto Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, and in 1998 in the preparation of the post-Kyoto phase. The process, organised by the European Commission, consisted of a series of workshops whose objective was to furnish timely inputs responding to the European Commission's information needs for climate policy formation in the pre- and post-Kyoto periods. This was to be achieved through the establishment of interfaces between: (1) the research community; (2) the EC Climate negotiation team and through it the EU Member States representatives; (3) other Commission interests (the 'inside stakeholders'); (4) a range of 'outside' stakeholders including industry, finance and commerce, employment, environment, consumer and citizen interests. We reflect on the participatory nature of the process and show how the process met some of the decision-making requirements identified in the first section. 27 refs

  10. Public Demand and Climate Change Policy Making in OECD Countries – From Dynamics of the Demand to Policy Responsiveness

    OpenAIRE

    Bianca Oehl

    2015-01-01

    Climate change is one of today’s major political challenges. The Kyoto Protocol assigned national emission reduction goals for the developed countries however national governments in these countries have implemented policies varying widely in range and ambition over time and across countries to meet their goals. Can this variation in policy making be explained by dierences in the typically taken for granted – but empirically often neglected – influence of public demand for climate protection?...

  11. UTILIZATION OF EVALUATION RESULTS IN LEGAL POLICY-MAKING AND ADMINISTRATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hellmut Wollmann

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The article is devoted to the analysis of evaluation method and its impact on legal policy development in governance, including in the area of law enforcement.The author outlines the importance of question whether, when and how the evaluation results of public policies, programs and measures has been utilized (or not utilized in policy making and policy implementation.In the pursuit of this guiding question the article will come in five steps.First, major variants of evaluation will be briefly presented particularly with an eye on their respective “utilization potential”.Second, different concepts will be sketched that have been forwarded to capture the utilization of social science generated knowledge by political, administrative and social actors. The author outlines a detailed description of types of evaluations: a retrospective, prelimi-nary, ongoing, interactive, – as well as existing concepts of application of its results.Third, looking at Germany, Switzerland and the European Union as “cases in point” perti-ent research findings will be discussed. The article also subjected to a detailed analysis of the experience of Germany, Switzerland and the European Union in the field of utilization of evaluation results.Fourth, a summary and conclusion will be given.Fifth, some remarks on pertinent research needs will be made.The author comes to the conclusion that that the rate of the utilization of evaluation-generated knowledge has so far turned out be, by and large, scarce. The author says that re-garding the politically crucial decisions the political rationality and its underlying political will of the decision-makers prevail while concerning less important decisions evaluation-generated evidence does show some effect and, hence, a dose of scientific rationality comes to the fore.There is also a need for further research on the subject of how should (and should not use assessment results when making legal and political decisions.

  12. Single Policy Study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kronsell, Annica; Manners, Ian James

    2015-01-01

    Single policy studies are the most common form of European Union (EU) research. Single policy studies are widely used to understand the role of the EU in a wide variety of sectors, together with their development over time, and often offer public policy prescriptions. This chapter discusses...... the relevance of single policy studies in EU research and give examples of how such research can be designed and carried out. The chapter reviews three examples of single policy studies using different methods based on EU environmental policy, the EU biofuels directive, and the EU Common Security and Defence...... Policy (CSDP). The examples are illustrative of how single policy studies can be designed to use different approaches in the analysis: multiple streams approach to policy-making; a comparative hypothesis testing; and feminist institutional theory....

  13. Re-thinking the relevance of philosophy of education for educational policy making

    OpenAIRE

    Griffiths, Morwenna

    2014-01-01

    The overall question addressed in this article is,‘What kind of philosophy of education is relevant to educational policy makers?’ The article focuses on the following four themes: The meanings attached to the term philosophy (of education) by philosophers themselves; the meanings attached to the term philosophy (of education) by policy makers; the difference place and time makes to these meanings; how these different meanings affect the possibility of philosophy (of education) influencing po...

  14. How Qualitative Research Informs Clinical and Policy Decision Making in Transplantation: A Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tong, Allison; Morton, Rachael L; Webster, Angela C

    2016-09-01

    Patient-centered care is no longer just a buzzword. It is now widely touted as a cornerstone in delivering quality care across all fields of medicine. However, patient-centered strategies and interventions necessitate evidence about patients' decision-making processes, values, priorities, and needs. Qualitative research is particularly well suited to understanding the experience and perspective of patients, donors, clinicians, and policy makers on a wide range of transplantation-related topics including organ donation and allocation, adherence to prescribed therapy, pretransplant and posttransplant care, implementation of clinical guidelines, and doctor-patient communication. In transplantation, evidence derived from qualitative research has been integrated into strategies for shared decision-making, patient educational resources, process evaluations of trials, clinical guidelines, and policies. The aim of this article is to outline key concepts and methods used in qualitative research, guide the appraisal of qualitative studies, and assist clinicians to understand how qualitative research may inform their practice and policy.

  15. Impact of the decision-making environment on policy responses to road worker fatality in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pankratz, Curt J

    2018-01-22

    Fatal accidents often lead to policy changes. However, the existing decision-making environment is critical to policy responses. This study compares the policy responses to similar events in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The key question explores the extent to which the policy decisions in each province differ despite the similarity of the events. Key documents were examined. Provincial court rulings, workplace health & safety incident investigation reports, court transcripts and police reports were used to compare resulting policy changes as well as the socio-political and economic decision-making context. Relevant clauses in resulting legislation were also compared to assess the specific changes that were made in each province. In each province, a young, female highway construction worker was killed. However, the provinces responded in very different ways. In Saskatchewan, the Premier called for recommendations to improve worker safety, initiating an in-depth governmental study and the development of a broad safety strategy. In Manitoba, political and social pressures shifted the decision-making environment and contributed to the rushed passing of a bill focused on traffic fine increases that resulted in record-breaking traffic fine revenue while failing to include broader safety measures. Different decision-making contexts can lead to vastly different policy outcomes even when responding to very similar events. Key differences included time constraints, access to information and the nature of the political process invoked.

  16. Ingredients for Good Health Policy-Making: Incorporating Power and Politics into the Mix

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yusra Shawar

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Eggs, flour, sugar, butter, baking soda, milk, and vanilla extract—all ingredients necessary to make a delicious cake. Similarly, good health policy-making can only be successfully pursued and understood by accounting for all of its basic ingredients, including the role of politics and power. Otherwise, the result is simply not good.

  17. Making the Most of Obesity Research: Developing Research and Policy Objectives through Evidence Triangulation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oliver, Kathryn; Aicken, Catherine; Arai, Lisa

    2013-01-01

    Drawing lessons from research can help policy makers make better decisions. If a large and methodologically varied body of research exists, as with childhood obesity, this is challenging. We present new research and policy objectives for child obesity developed by triangulating user involvement data with a mapping study of interventions aimed at…

  18. Three essays on decision-making in energy policy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wendling, Zachary Ann

    This dissertation examines three issues surrounding decision-making in energy policy. Over the past decade, technological advances in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing have allowed the economical extraction of natural gas and petroleum from shale basins. Thus far, natural gas has been produced from shale at a commercial scale only in certain American States and Canadian Provinces, though potential shale plays exist elsewhere in North America and the world. Whether, how, and to what extent SGD diffuses to new shale basins and jurisdictions will depend on several questions about energy policy. The first chapter examines the potential for SGD in the European Union. Among EU institutions, the European Parliament has been the strongest proponent for regulation of SGD, preferring a balance between environmental protection and opportunities for economic development, energy security, and climate mitigation. Analysis of roll call voting on SGD in the Seventh European Parliament shows that ideological preferences are the primary explanation of voting behavior, followed by national interests in decarbonization. Prospects for further regulatory action are discussed. ? The second chapter takes a closer look at the potential of shale gas to facilitate decarbonization in the electricity sector. Proponents of SGD have claimed that high carbon fossil fuels can be immediately phased out and replaced in the short term by power plants that burn cheap, abundant natural gas, which emits half the greenhouse gasses over a well-to-wire life cycle. A value of information analysis examines the conditions under which this may be so and quantifies how valuable it would be to have perfect information about uncertain parameters in a cost function characterizing the global electricity sector. The third chapter is describes a new tool of policy analysis, the Indiana Scalable Energy-Economy Model (IN-SEEM). State and local governments have played an increasing role in energy and climate

  19. Influence of institutional culture and policies on do-not-resuscitate decision making at the end of life.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dzeng, Elizabeth; Colaianni, Alessandra; Roland, Martin; Chander, Geetanjali; Smith, Thomas J; Kelly, Michael P; Barclay, Stephen; Levine, David

    2015-05-01

    Controversy exists regarding whether the decision to pursue a do-not-resuscitate (DNR) order should be grounded in an ethic of patient autonomy or in the obligation to act in the patient's best interest (beneficence). To explore how physicians' approaches to DNR decision making at the end of life are shaped by institutional cultures and policies surrounding patient autonomy. We performed semistructured in-depth qualitative interviews of 58 internal medicine physicians from 4 academic medical centers (3 in the United States and 1 in the United Kingdom) by years of experience and medical subspecialty from March 7, 2013, through January 8, 2014. Hospitals were selected based on expected differences in hospital culture and variations in hospital policies regarding prioritization of autonomy vs best interest. This study identified the key influences of institutional culture and policies on physicians' attitudes toward patient autonomy in DNR decision making at the end of life. A hospital's prioritization of autonomy vs best interest as reflected in institutional culture and policy appeared to influence the way that physician trainees conceptualized patient autonomy. This finding may have influenced the degree of choice and recommendations physician trainees were willing to offer regarding DNR decision making. Trainees at hospitals where policies and culture prioritized autonomy-focused approaches appeared to have an unreflective deference to autonomy and felt compelled to offer the choice of resuscitation neutrally in all situations regardless of whether they believed resuscitation to be clinically appropriate. In contrast, trainees at hospitals where policies and culture prioritized best-interest-focused approaches appeared to be more comfortable recommending against resuscitation in situations where survival was unlikely. Experienced physicians at all sites similarly did not exclusively allow their actions to be defined by policies and institutional culture and were

  20. The power of science economic research and European decision-making : the case of energy and environment policies

    CERN Document Server

    Rossetti di Valdalbero, Domenico

    2010-01-01

    This book highlights the interaction between science and politics and between research in economics and European Union policy-making. It focuses on the use of Quantitative tools, Top-down and Bottom-up models in up-stream European decision-making process through five EU policy case studies: energy taxation, climate change, energy efficiency, renewable energy, and internalisation of external costs.

  1. Policy implications with regard to controllable forms of natural background radiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heijningen, R.J.J. van; Bartels, J.H.M.; Ackers, J.G.; Hogeweg, B.; Rijn, H.T.U. de; Walle, F.B. de

    1988-04-01

    The RENA (Regulable forms of Natural Background radiation) has started in order to broaden the technical-scientific insights in the domain of the natural background radiation and to continue the SAWORA-study. With regard to the policy implications it has appeared to be desirable to define more detailed the environment-protectional economical and governmental aspects and to consider their mutual relationships in order to prepare a coherent programme which is directed at policy actions to be undertaken as well as at the supporting study needed. (author). 34 refs.; 3 figs.; 11 tabs

  2. Nuclear power hazard control policy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chicken, J C

    1982-01-01

    This study presents an analysis of the factors that appear to have influenced the formation and form of nuclear power hazard control policy in Britain. A simple account is given of the technical nature of nuclear hazards and of the legal and administrative framework that has been constructed to control them. The subsequent analysis concentrates primarily on the influence exerted by social and political factors. Particular attention is directed to those political groups which have developed a special interest in the problems of nuclear power, and to the interplay between organised groupings and public opinion generally. The metamorphosis of these groupings is traced from the origins of the nuclear industry in the Second World War to their prominent role during the Windscale Inquiry. Attention is given to the policy constraint imposed by increased expectations in the form of demands for higher standards of living, and improvements in the quality of the environment. The study is concerned with both policy-making and with policy implementation; with interest articulation as well as with the functioning of formal institutions. The evolution of policy takes place in an atmosphere of keen economic debate and conflicting moral perceptions. A model of the policy-making system is postulated.

  3. Nuclear power hazard control policy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chicken, J.C.

    1982-01-01

    This study presents an analysis of the factors that appear to have influenced the formation and form of nuclear power hazard control policy in Britain. A simple account is given of the technical nature of nuclear hazards and of the legal and administrative framework that has been constructed to control them. The subsequent analysis concentrates primarily on the influence exerted by social and political factors. Particular attention is directed to those political groups which have developed a special interest in the problems of nuclear power, and to the interplay between organised groupings and public opinion generally. The metamorphosis of these groupings is traced from the origins of the nuclear industry in the Second World War to their prominent role during the Windscale Inquiry. Attention is given to the policy constraint imposed by increased expectations in the form of demands for higher standards of living, and improvements in the quality of the environment. The study is concerned with both policy-making and with policy implementation; with interest articulation as well as with the functioning of formal institutions. The evolution of policy takes place in an atmosphere of keen economic debate and conflicting moral perceptions. A model of the policy-making system is postulated. (author)

  4. Understanding Public Policy Making through the Work of Committees: Utilizing a Student-Led Congressional Hearing Simulation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rinfret, Sara R.; Pautz, Michelle C.

    2015-01-01

    In an effort to help students better understand the complexity of making environmental policy and the role of policy actors in this process, we developed a mock congressional hearing simulation. In this congressional hearing, students in two environmental policy courses take on the roles of members of Congress and various interest groups to…

  5. At the Crossroads : ICT Policy Making in East Africa | CRDI - Centre ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    At the Crossroads : ICT Policy Making in East Africa. Couverture du livre At the Crossroads : ICT Policymaking in East Africa. Directeur(s) : Florence Etta et Laurent Elder. Maison(s) d'édition : East African Educational Publishers, CRDI. 1 janvier 2005. ISBN : 9966254390. 336 pages. e-ISBN : 1552502198. Téléchargez le ...

  6. Determinants of knowledge translation from health technology assessment to policy-making in China: From the perspective of researchers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Wenbin; Shi, Lizheng; Pong, Raymond W.; Dong, Hengjin; Mao, Yiwei; Tang, Meng; Chen, Yingyao

    2018-01-01

    Background For health technology assessment (HTA) to be more policy relevant and for health technology-related decision-making to be truly evidence-based, promoting knowledge translation (KT) is of vital importance. Although some research has focused on KT of HTA, there is a dearth of literature on KT determinants and the situation in developing countries and transitional societies remains largely unknown. Objective To investigate the determinants of HTA KT from research to health policy-making from the perspective of researchers in China. Design Cross-sectional study. Methods A structured questionnaire which focused on KT was distributed to HTA researchers in China. KT activity levels in various fields of HTA research were compared, using one-way ANOVA. Principal component analysis was performed to provide a basis to combine similar variables. To investigate the determinants of KT level, multiple linear regression analysis was performed. Results Based on a survey of 382 HTA researchers, it was found that HTA KT wasn’t widespread in China. Furthermore, results showed that no significant differences existed between the various HTA research fields. Factors, such as attitudes of researchers toward HTA and evidence utilization, academic ranks and linkages between researchers and policy-makers, had significant impact on HTA KT (p-valuespolicy-makers, policy-relevance of HTA research, practicality of HTA outcomes and making HTA reports easier to understand also contributed to predicting KT level. However, academic nature of HTA research was negatively associated with KT level. Conclusion KT from HTA to policy-making was influenced by many factors. Of particular importance were collaborations between researchers and policy-makers, ensuring policy relevance of HTA and making HTA evidence easier to understand by potential users. PMID:29300753

  7. Is climate change-centrism an optimal policy making strategy to set national electricity mixes?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vázquez-Rowe, Ian; Reyna, Janet L.; García-Torres, Samy; Kahhat, Ramzy

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • The impact of climate-centric policies on other environmental impacts is uncertain. • Analysis of changing electricity grids of Peru and Spain in the period 1989–2013. • Life Cycle Assessment was the selected sustainability method to conduct the study. • Policies targeting GHG reductions also reduce air pollution and toxicity. • Resource usage, especially water, does not show the same trends as GHG emissions. - Abstract: In order to combat the threat of climate change, countries have begun to implement policies which restrict GHG emissions in the electricity sector. However, the development of national electricity mixes should also be sensitive to resource availability, geo-political forces, human health impacts, and social equity concerns. Policy focused on GHG goals could potentially lead to adverse consequences in other areas. To explore the impact of “climate-centric” policy making on long-term electricity mix changes, we develop two cases for Peru and Spain analyzing their changing electricity grids in the period 1989–2013. We perform a Life Cycle Assessment of annual electricity production to catalogue the improvements in GHG emissions relative to other environmental impacts. We conclude that policies targeting GHG reductions might have the co-benefit of also reducing air pollution and toxicity at the expense of other important environmental performance indicators such as water depletion. Moreover, as of 2013, both countries generate approximately equal GHG emissions per kWh, and relatively low emission rates of other pollutants compared to nations of similar development levels. Although climate-centric policy can lead to some positive environmental outcomes in certain areas, energy policy-making should be holistic and include other aspects of sustainability and vulnerability.

  8. The nuclear controversy: unequal competition in public policy-making

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sanderson, I.

    1980-05-01

    The subject is discussed under the headings: introduction; some epistemological problems; energy policy-making and the energy crisis; the nuclear controversy - substantive issues (the need for nuclear power; the desirability of nuclear power (safety of nuclear power; cost of nuclear power; nuclear power and weapons proliferation; nuclear power and civil liberties; some other aspects of nuclear power development); conclusion); the dominance of pro-nuclear thinking; conclusion and prospects. Appendix A describes the structure of the UK nuclear industry and its European connections. (U.K.)

  9. An Adaptable System to Support Provenance Management for the Public Policy-Making Process in Smart Cities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Barkha Javed

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Government policies aim to address public issues and problems and therefore play a pivotal role in people’s lives. The creation of public policies, however, is complex given the perspective of large and diverse stakeholders’ involvement, considerable human participation, lengthy processes, complex task specification and the non-deterministic nature of the process. The inherent complexities of the policy process impart challenges for designing a computing system that assists in supporting and automating the business process pertaining to policy setup, which also raises concerns for setting up a tracking service in the policy-making environment. A tracking service informs how decisions have been taken during policy creation and can provide useful and intrinsic information regarding the policy process. At present, there exists no computing system that assists in tracking the complete process that has been employed for policy creation. To design such a system, it is important to consider the policy environment challenges; for this a novel network and goal based approach has been framed and is covered in detail in this paper. Furthermore, smart governance objectives that include stakeholders’ participation and citizens’ involvement have been considered. Thus, the proposed approach has been devised by considering smart governance principles and the knowledge environment of policy making where tasks are largely dependent on policy makers’ decisions and on individual policy objectives. Our approach reckons the human dimension for deciding and defining autonomous process activities at run time. Furthermore, with the network-based approach, so-called provenance data tracking is employed which enables the capture of policy process.

  10. Mediating Education Policy: Making up the "Anti-Politics" of Third-Sector Participation in Public Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williamson, Ben

    2014-01-01

    This article examines the participation of "third-sector" organisations in public education in England. These organisations act as a cross-sectoral policy network made up of new kinds of policy experts: mediators and brokers with entrepreneurial careers in ideas. They have sought to make education reform thinkable, intelligible and…

  11. Judicial policy-making and Europeanization

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Martinsen, Dorte Sindbjerg

    2011-01-01

    been cautious to apply the principle beyond economic law, it no longer treads as reluctantly, instead generally limiting the inner core of national policy control, i.e. the capacity of the national executive to detail, condition and administer national policies in almost all domains....

  12. Use of evidence in policy making in South Africa: An exploratory study of attitudes of senior government officials

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gemma Paine Cronin

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available This paper outlines a 2011 study commissioned by the Presidency’s Programme to Support Pro-Poor Policy Development (PSPPD which promotes evidence-based policy making (EBPM in South Africa. EBPM refers to norms, initiatives and methods aimed at improving evidence-based policy in countries from which South Africa traditionally borrows public service reforms, particularly the UK and Canada. The study provides a descriptive snapshot of attitudes to evidence-use in policy making. All 54 senior government officials interviewed felt that evidence-use is too limited to ensure relevant, effective policy responses. This includes policies on which complex results depend and those with long-term and high-resource implications. Although all respondents regarded EBPM as self-evidently desirable, there were different views on practical application. Examples provided suggest that, where evidence was used, it was very often related to a borrowed international policy without a prior evidencedrivenanalysis of successes and failures or its relevance and feasibility in terms of local issuesand context. Policy makers generally know they should be making optimal use of availableevidence, but highlighted systemic barriers beyond the influence of individual managersto resolve. The study suggests that improved use of evidence throughout the policy cycle,particularly in analysing problems and needs, is a requirement for learning through evidencebased policy development. It suggests that political and administrative leadership will need to agree on norms, ways of dealing with the barriers to effective use of evidence and on the role of each throughout the policy cycle in ensuring appropriate evidence is available and used.

  13. Making health policy: networks in research and policy after 1945.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berridge, Virginia

    2005-01-01

    Science and policy in health and medicine have interacted in new ways in Britain since 1945. The relationship between research and policy has a history. The changing role of social medicine, the rise of health services research and "customer contractor" policies in government have been important. The relationship between research and policy has been analysed by different schools of thought. This chapter categorises them as several groups: "evidence-based", "journalism", "sociology of scientific knowledge" and "science policy studies". The chapters in the book illuminate aspects of these changing relationships. The role of chronic disease epidemiology, of new networks in public health, of media-focussed activism, and of health technology and its advocates have been more important than political interest.

  14. Rosneft, Gazprom and the Government: the Decision-Making Triangle on Russia's Energy Policy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baev, Pavel

    2014-03-01

    Russia finds itself exposed to many risks in the fast-moving global revolution in energy affairs, and cannot avail of its opportunities despite its unique combination of natural resources and experience in their exploitation. It has entered the phase of economic stagnation, and the under-performance of the energy sector is one of the key determinants of the durability of this trend. Energy export can no longer be wielded as a heavy-impact instrument of foreign policy, and the squabbles for shrinking oil and gas revenues form a key driver of the evolving crisis of the petro-authoritarian regime built by President Vladimir Putin. Escalating problems in the Russian energy sector are caused by the system of decision-making on oil and gas matters, in which Putin acts as a supreme arbiter in the flexible triangle formed by the government and two super-large state companies-Gazprom and Rosneft. It is the imperative of checking the decline of budget revenues that determines the priority in government policy of greater confiscation of profits and heavier taxation of the energy business. This squeeze on the interests of energy 'oligarchs' provokes them to appeal to Putin for tax breaks, which he is increasingly reluctant to grant, given the need to pursue an active social policy. The constant flow of insoluble issues makes Putin irritable and generally less engaged with the energy business than he used to be. Gazprom's notorious inefficiency in its core business emboldens competitors to capture greater shares of the domestic market and to demand exemptions from its export monopoly. Putin is loath to carry this political liability but remains reluctant to contemplate reforms that would amount to un-bundling of this conglomerate. Rosneft under the control of Igor Sechin has become the champion of the Russian oil industry, executing a series of acquisitions and signing a series of deals with Western 'majors'. Putin's benevolence is the key to the

  15. Participation, public policy-making, and legitimacy in the EU Voluntary Partnership Agreement process

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wodschow, Astrid; Nathan, Iben; Cerutti, Paolo

    2016-01-01

    This paper discusses how participatory policy-making processes such as the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) negotiations are and should be organised to foster political legitimacy and support. The VPAs are bilateral agreements between the European Union (EU) and timber producing countries....... VPAs constitute a cornerstone in EU's Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) programme, the most important tool for the EU to address illegal logging problems. The EU requires that national VPA negotiations include participation by the relevant stakeholders. Based on primary data, we...... compare the VPA negotiations in Cameroon (2006–2009) with three different ‘ideal’ models of participatory policy-making: the rationalist, the communicative incremental and the mixed model, which we expect have different implications for legitimacy. We conclude that the Cameroonian process is closest...

  16. Making medicine; producing pleasure: A critical examination of medicinal cannabis policy and law in Victoria, Australia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lancaster, Kari; Seear, Kate; Ritter, Alison

    2017-11-01

    Several jurisdictions around the world have introduced policies and laws allowing for the legal use of cannabis for therapeutic purposes. However, there has been little critical discussion of how the object of 'medicinal cannabis' is enacted in policy and practice. Informed by Carol Bacchi's poststructuralist approach to policy analysis and the work of science and technology studies scholars, this paper seeks to problematise the object of 'medicinal cannabis' and examine how it is constituted through governing practices. In particular, we consider how the making of the object of 'medicinal cannabis' might constrain or enact discourses of pleasure. As a case example, we take the Victorian Law Reform Commission's review of law reform options to allow people in the Australian state of Victoria to be treated with medicinal cannabis. Through analysis of this case example, we find that although 'medicinal cannabis' is constituted as a thoroughly medical object, it is also constituted as unique. We argue that medicinal cannabis is enacted in part through the production of another object (so-called 'recreational cannabis') and the social and political meanings attached to both. Although both 'substances' are constituted as distinct, 'medicinal cannabis' relies on the 'absent presence' of 'recreational cannabis' to define and shape what it is. However, we find that contained within this rendering of 'medicinal cannabis' are complex enactments of health and wellbeing, which open up discourses of pleasure. 'Medicinal cannabis' appears to challenge the idea that the effects of 'medicine' cannot be understood in terms of pleasure. As such, the making of 'medicinal cannabis' as a medical object, and its invocation of broad notions of health and wellbeing, expand the ways in which drug effects can be acknowledged, including pleasurable and desirable effects, helping us to think differently about both medicine and other forms of drug use. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights

  17. A Biological Security Motivation System for Potential Threats: Are There Implications for Policy-Making?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Erik Z Woody

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Research indicates that there is a specially adapted, hard-wired brain circuit, the security motivation system, which evolved to manage potential threats, such as the possibility of contamination or predation. The existence of this system may have important implications for policy-making related to security. The system is sensitive to partial, uncertain cues of potential danger, detection of which activates a persistent, potent motivational state of wariness or anxiety. This state motivates behaviours to probe the potential danger, such as checking, and to correct for it, such as washing. Engagement in these behaviours serves as the terminating feedback for the activation of the system. Because security motivation theory makes predictions about what kinds of stimuli activate security motivation and what conditions terminate it, the theory may have applications both in understanding how policy-makers can best influence others, such as the public, and also in understanding the behavior of policy-makers themselves.

  18. A Proposal for a UK Ethics Council for Animal Policy: The Case for Putting Ethics Back into Policy Making.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCulloch, Steven P; Reiss, Michael J

    2018-06-07

    Substantial controversy is a consistent feature of UK animal health and welfare policy. BSE, foot and mouth disease, bovine TB and badger culling, large indoor dairies, and wild animals in circuses are examples. Such policy issues are inherently normative; they include a substantial moral dimension. This paper reviews UK animal welfare advisory bodies such as the Animal Health and Welfare Board of England, the Farm Animal Welfare Council and the Animals in Science Committee. These bodies play a key advisory role, but do not have adequate expertise in ethics to inform the moral dimension of policy. We propose an "Ethics Council for Animal Policy" to inform the UK government on policy that significantly impacts sentient species. We review existing Councils (e.g., the Nuffield Council on Bioethics and The Netherlands Council on Animal Affairs) and examine some widely used ethical frameworks (e.g., Banner's principles and the ethical matrix). The Ethics Council for Animal Policy should be independent from government and members should have substantial expertise in ethics and related disciplines. A pluralistic six-stage ethical framework is proposed: (i) Problematisation of the policy issue, (ii) utilitarian analysis, (iii) animal rights analysis, (iv) virtue-based analysis, (v) animal welfare ethic analysis, and (vi) integrated ethical analysis. The paper concludes that an Ethics Council for Animal Policy is necessary for just and democratic policy making in all societies that use sentient nonhuman species.

  19. The Relevance of Theories of the Policy Process to Educational Decision-Making.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ryan, R. J.

    1985-01-01

    Two case studies of educational decision making are used to test the utility of some current theories of the policy-formation process; a framework for the application of these theories is proposed; and the merits of applying existing theories before seeking new paradigms are stressed. (MSE)

  20. Assessment of policy makers' individual and organizational capacity to acquire, assess, adapt and apply research evidence for maternal and child health policy making in Nigeria: a cross-sectional quantitative survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uneke, Chigozie Jesse; Sombie, Issiaka; Keita, Namoudou; Lokossou, Virgil; Johnson, Ermel; Ongolo-Zogo, Pierre; Uro-Chukwu, Henry Chukwuemeka

    2017-09-01

    Throughout the world, there is increasing awareness and acknowledgement of the value of research evidence in the development of effective health policy and in quality health care practice and administration. Among the major challenges associated with the lack of uptake of research evidence into policy and practice in Nigeria is the capacity constraints of policymakers to use research evidence in policy making. To assess the capacity of maternal and child health policy makers to acquire, access, adapt and apply available research evidence. This cross-sectional quantitative survey was conducted at a national maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) stakeholders' engagement event. An evidence to policy self-assessment questionnaire was used to assess the capacity of forty MNCH policy makers to acquire, assess, adapt and apply research evidence for policy making. Low mean ratings were observed ranging from 2.68-3.53 on a scale of 5 for knowledge about initiating/conducting research and capacity to assess authenticity, validity, reliability, relevance and applicability of research evidence and for organizational capacity for promoting and using of research for policy making. There is need to institute policy makers' capacity development programmes to improve evidence-informed policymaking.

  1. What Policy Actors Seek for: Reciprocal Misunderstanding of Objectives of Participatory Decision Making

    OpenAIRE

    Birutė PITRĖNAITĖ-ŽILĖNIENĖ; Birutė MIKULSKIENĖ

    2013-01-01

    The goal of this research is to explore different policy actors’ attitudes towards participation in public decision making. The paper examines objectives of external participants’ involvement and compares various participants’ judgements on the process and results of participation. We screened operation of formal networks of participatory decision making at the Lithuanian Ministries of Health and Education & Science. The research revealed the willingness of decision makers to allow different ...

  2. 31 CFR 50.17 - Use of model forms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... PROGRAM Disclosures as Conditions for Federal Payment § 50.17 Use of model forms. (a) Policies in force on... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Use of model forms. 50.17 Section 50... requirement if it uses NAIC Model Disclosure Form No. 2. (2) An insurer that is required to make the...

  3. Large Spatial and Temporal Separations of Cause and Effect in Policy Making - Dealing with Non-linear Effects

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCaskill, John

    There can be large spatial and temporal separation of cause and effect in policy making. Determining the correct linkage between policy inputs and outcomes can be highly impractical in the complex environments faced by policy makers. In attempting to see and plan for the probable outcomes, standard linear models often overlook, ignore, or are unable to predict catastrophic events that only seem improbable due to the issue of multiple feedback loops. There are several issues with the makeup and behaviors of complex systems that explain the difficulty many mathematical models (factor analysis/structural equation modeling) have in dealing with non-linear effects in complex systems. This chapter highlights those problem issues and offers insights to the usefulness of ABM in dealing with non-linear effects in complex policy making environments.

  4. A Proposal for a UK Ethics Council for Animal Policy: The Case for Putting Ethics Back into Policy Making

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Steven P. McCulloch

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available Substantial controversy is a consistent feature of UK animal health and welfare policy. BSE,~foot and mouth disease, bovine TB and badger culling, large indoor dairies, and wild animals in circuses are examples. Such policy issues are inherently normative; they include a substantial moral dimension. This paper reviews UK animal welfare advisory bodies such as the Animal Health and Welfare Board of England, the Farm Animal Welfare Committee and the Animals in Science Committee. These bodies play a key advisory role, but do not have adequate expertise in ethics to inform the moral dimension of policy. We propose an “Ethics Council for Animal Policy” to inform the UK government on policy that significantly impacts sentient species. We review existing Councils (e.g., the Nuffield Council on Bioethics and The Netherlands Council on Animal Affairs and examine some widely used ethical frameworks (e.g., Banner’s principles and the ethical matrix. The Ethics Council for Animal Policy should be independent from government and members should have substantial expertise in ethics and related disciplines. A pluralistic six-stage ethical framework is proposed: (i Problematisation of the policy issue, (ii utilitarian analysis, (iii animal rights analysis, (iv virtue-based analysis, (v animal welfare ethic analysis, and (vi integrated ethical analysis. The~paper concludes that an Ethics Council for Animal Policy is necessary for just and democratic policy making in all societies that use sentient nonhuman species.

  5. [Influenza A from the rational choice theory: proposals for decision making in prevention policies].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peña, Francisco Garrido; Fernández, Luís Andrés López; García, Eugenia Gil

    2009-01-01

    This article is a reflection on the social uncertainty caused by Influenza A and on the consequences that it can have on decision making in health promotion policies. We use concepts and metaphors of the Rational Choice Theory, among them, the "in gratitude effect" or the "distrust effect", as we analyse how these can become obstacles for the efficiency of prevention policies. Then, we focus on the information asymmetry of the principal-agent relationship, and we propose measures to diminish the "moral risk" that they cause. We finish by advancing some proposals for designing lines and strategies of action in health promotion policies.

  6. Public management, policy capacity, innovation and development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Erkki Karo

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available In this paper we discuss the question of what factors in development policy create specific forms of policy capacity and under what circumstances developmentoriented complementarities or mismatches between the public and private sectors emerge. We argue that specific forms of policy capacity emerge from three interlinked policy choices, each fundamentally evolutionary in nature: policy choices on understanding the nature and sources of technical change and innovation; on the ways of financing economic growth, in particular technical change; and on the nature of public management to deliver and implement both previous sets of policy choices. Thus, policy capacity is not so much a continuum of abilities (from less to more, but rather a variety of modes of making policy that originate from co-evolutionary processes in capitalist development. To illustrate, we briefly reflect upon how the East Asian developmental states of the 1960s-1980s and Eastern European transition policies since the 1990s led to almost opposite institutional systems for financing, designing and managing development strategies, and how this led, through co-evolutionary processes, to different forms of policy capacity.

  7. The Public Health Service guidelines. Governing research involving human subjects: An analysis of the policy-making process

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frankel, M. S.

    1972-01-01

    The policy making process which led to development of the Public Health Service Guidelines governing research involving human subjects is outlined. Part 1 examines the evolution of PHS Guidelines, tracing (1) evolution of thought and legal interpretation regarding research using human subjects; (2) initial involvement of the Federal government; (3) development of the government's research program; (4) the social-political environment in which formal government policy was developed; and (5) various policy statements issued by the government. Part 2 analyzes the process by which PHS Guidelines were developed and examines the values and other underlying factors which contributed to their development. It was concluded that the evolution of the Guidelines is best understood within the context of a mixed-scanning strategy. In such a strategy, policy makers make fundamental decisions regarding the basic direction of policy and subsequent decisions are made incrementally and within the contexts set by the original fundamental decisions.

  8. A glossary of policy frameworks: the many forms of 'universalism' and policy 'targeting'.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carey, Gemma; Crammond, Brad

    2017-03-01

    The recognition that certain characteristics (such as poverty, disadvantage or membership of marginalised social or cultural groups) can make individuals more susceptible to illness has reignited interest in how to combine universal programmes and policies with ones targeted at specific groups. However, 'universalism' and 'targeting' are used in different ways for different purposes. In this glossary, we define different types and approaches to universalism and targeting. We anticipate that greater clarity in relation to what is meant by 'universalism' and 'targeting' will lead to a more nuanced debate and practice in this area. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

  9. Innovative Forms of Regional Structural Policy in Europe: the Role of Dominant Concepts and Knowledge Flows

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lagendijk, A.

    1999-01-01

    The last decade has witnessed a revival of regional structural policy in the Western world. The new style of policy-making which has emerged differs markedly from the top-down distributional models that dominated the post-war period, but is also more pro-active than the hands-off approach of the

  10. Meaning Making Through Minimal Linguistic Forms in Computer-Mediated Communication

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Muhammad Shaban Rafi

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to investigate the linguistic forms, which commonly constitute meanings in the digital environment. The data were sampled from 200 Bachelor of Science (BS students (who had Urdu as their primary language of communication and English as one of the academic languages or the most prestigious second language of five universities situated in Lahore, Pakistan. The procedure for analysis was conceived within much related theoretical work on text analysis. The study reveals that cyber-language is organized through patterns of use, which can be broadly classified into minimal linguistic forms constituting a meaning-making resource. In addition, the expression of syntactic mood, and discourse roles the participants technically assume tend to contribute to the theory of meaning in the digital environment. It is hoped that the study would make some contribution to the growing literature on multilingual computer-mediated communication (CMC.

  11. 47 CFR 0.409 - Commission policy on private printing of FCC forms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... ORGANIZATION General Information General § 0.409 Commission policy on private printing of FCC forms. The... in quality to the original document, without change to the page size, image size, configuration of... Managing Director. [53 FR 27861, July 25, 1988] Printed Publications ...

  12. Community energy policy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Redondo Melchor, N.; Redondo Quintela, F.

    1994-01-01

    The twelve Member states of the European Union will attempt to make their national energy policies converge. Nevertheless the basis of the so called ''Community Energy Policy'' is not this convergence but rather the achievement of a new internal market, the Energy Market, where sources and forms of energy may circulate freely between countries. This aim derives from a change of orientation, dating back some years, when market integration was attempted instead of continuing with the mere unification of national policies. In this paper we summarize the most relevant aspects of the liberalization process and give some of its internal and external repercussions on the European Union. (Author)

  13. Big Data: transforming drug development and health policy decision making.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alemayehu, Demissie; Berger, Marc L

    The explosion of data sources, accompanied by the evolution of technology and analytical techniques, has created considerable challenges and opportunities for drug development and healthcare resource utilization. We present a systematic overview these phenomena, and suggest measures to be taken for effective integration of the new developments in the traditional medical research paradigm and health policy decision making. Special attention is paid to pertinent issues in emerging areas, including rare disease drug development, personalized medicine, Comparative Effectiveness Research, and privacy and confidentiality concerns.

  14. Mapping ecosystem services for policy support and decision making in the European Union

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Maes, J.; Egoh, B.; Willemen, L.; Liquete, C.; Vihervaara, P.; Schägner, J.P.; Grizzetti, B.; Drakou, E.G.; Notte, La A.; Zulian, G.; Bouraoui, F.; Parcchini, M.L.; Braat, L.C.

    2012-01-01

    Mainstreaming ecosystem services into policy and decision making is dependent on the availability of spatially explicit information on the state and trends of ecosystems and their services. In particular, the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 addresses the need to account for ecosystem services

  15. Forms Management Policy

    Science.gov (United States)

    To establish EPA’s Forms Management Program; to describe the requisite roles, responsibilities, and procedures necessary for the successful management of EPA forms; and to more clearly fulfill EPA’s obligations in this regard.

  16. The application of system dynamics modelling to environmental health decision-making and policy - a scoping review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Currie, Danielle J; Smith, Carl; Jagals, Paul

    2018-03-27

    Policy and decision-making processes are routinely challenged by the complex and dynamic nature of environmental health problems. System dynamics modelling has demonstrated considerable value across a number of different fields to help decision-makers understand and predict the dynamic behaviour of complex systems in support the development of effective policy actions. In this scoping review we investigate if, and in what contexts, system dynamics modelling is being used to inform policy or decision-making processes related to environmental health. Four electronic databases and the grey literature were systematically searched to identify studies that intersect the areas environmental health, system dynamics modelling, and decision-making. Studies identified in the initial screening were further screened for their contextual, methodological and application-related relevancy. Studies deemed 'relevant' or 'highly relevant' according to all three criteria were included in this review. Key themes related to the rationale, impact and limitation of using system dynamics in the context of environmental health decision-making and policy were analysed. We identified a limited number of relevant studies (n = 15), two-thirds of which were conducted between 2011 and 2016. The majority of applications occurred in non-health related sectors (n = 9) including transportation, public utilities, water, housing, food, agriculture, and urban and regional planning. Applications were primarily targeted at micro-level (local, community or grassroots) decision-making processes (n = 9), with macro-level (national or international) decision-making to a lesser degree. There was significant heterogeneity in the stated rationales for using system dynamics and the intended impact of the system dynamics model on decision-making processes. A series of user-related, technical and application-related limitations and challenges were identified. None of the reported limitations or challenges

  17. Educational Policy-Making as Power Struggle in a Multi-Cultural Society: The Malaysian Case. Revised Draft.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsu, Philip, Jr.

    This essay demonstrates how politics affected educational policy making at the national level in Malaysia. A historical and social overview describes the country's ethnic diversity and the passage of legislation that was designed to promote universal access to education. The government's higher education policies are evaluated, based on a process…

  18. The Montreal Protocol treaty and its illuminating history of science-policy decision-making

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grady, C.

    2017-12-01

    The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, hailed as one of the most effective environmental treaties of all time, has a thirty year history of science-policy decision-making. The partnership between Parties to the Montreal Protocol and its technical assessment panels serve as a basis for understanding successes and evaluating stumbles of global environmental decision-making. Real-world environmental treaty negotiations can be highly time-sensitive, politically motivated, and resource constrained thus scientists and policymakers alike are often unable to confront the uncertainties associated with the multitude of choices. The science-policy relationship built within the framework of the Montreal Protocol has helped constrain uncertainty and inform policy decisions but has also highlighted the limitations of the use of scientific understanding in political decision-making. This talk will describe the evolution of the scientist-policymaker relationship over the history of the Montreal Protocol. Examples will illustrate how the Montreal Protocol's technical panels inform decisions of the country governments and will characterize different approaches pursued by different countries with a particular focus on the recently adopted Kigali Amendment. In addition, this talk will take a deeper dive with an analysis of the historic technical panel assessments on estimating financial resources necessary to enable compliance to the Montreal Protocol compared to the political financial decisions made through the Protocol's Multilateral Fund replenishment negotiation process. Finally, this talk will describe the useful lessons and challenges from these interactions and how they may be applicable in other environmental management frameworks across multiple scales under changing climatic conditions.

  19. Tools to Help Society in Decision Making: Legal and Policy Trends. Proceedings of a Topical Session

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vari, Anna; Caddy, Joanne; ); Kotra, Janet P.; Pancher, Bertrand; Tromans, Stephan

    2009-01-01

    As part of its programme of work the OECD/NEA Forum on Stakeholder Confidence continues to investigate the theme of 'Tools and Processes to Help Society in Decision Making'. Following a presentation in June 2007 of environmental law and its implications for stakeholder involvement in decision making, the FSC decided to take a look at a variety of legal and policy issues. In particular, interest was expressed in seeing how law and policy may define which stakeholders must be consulted or engaged, and to consider when and whether that is helpful. A topical session was held on June 5, 2008 during the FSC's ninth regular meeting. Case studies were presented from the US, the UK, and France. An international survey of means for open and inclusive policy making was presented by the OECD Government directorate. The results of a questionnaire filled by FSC members served as the basis of the introductory presentation. Two sub-groups retired to discuss the material and a Rapporteur from each delivered feedback in plenary. These proceedings include a summary of the findings and discussions (Anna Vari), and the slides (some with accompanying text) provided for each case study: 1 - Open and Inclusive Policy Making: Emerging Practice in OECD Countries (Joanne Caddy); 2 - Deciding Whether to Authorized Construction at Yucca Mountain Explaining NRC's Process (Janet P. Kotra); 3 - Rights and Obligations under International Conventions (Stephan Tromans); 4 - Setting Criteria for the Representativeness of NGO/CSOs: Report on Hearings at the Request of France's Prime Minister (Bertrand Pancher)

  20. Facilitating participatory processes for policy change in natural ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Mo

    an open and participatory policy and decision -making at the lower .... people who are open minded and who believe in the success of change ..... Figure 3: Policy Task Force Critical Triangle. Source: Adapted form Catacutan et al. (2001). Farmers and local organisations. R&D Facilitators. Decentralized local government.

  1. Holding Government Accountable: Tobacco Policy Making in California, 1995-1997

    OpenAIRE

    Balbach, Edith D. Ph.D.; Monardi, Fred M. Ph.D.; Fox, Brion J. J.D.; Glantz, Stanton A. Ph.D.

    1997-01-01

    January 1, 1996 through May 31, 1997 was an active period for tobacco policy making in California. The fight in Spring, 1996, over the allocation of Proposition 99 revenues was more public and aggressive than it had been in the past, an increased level of public scrutiny was brought to bear on the implementation of the media campaign, the state of California’s failure to sue the tobacco industry for recovery of medical costs became a political issue, and the tobacco industry continued to give...

  2. Tobacco Industry interference in TAPS policy making in Bulgaria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pavel P Antonov

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Tobacco industry (TI has a powerful grasp of politics and the media in Bulgaria, but there is limited knowledge of its methods and communication messages. To explore and analyse them, we are using a recent case from the policy advocacy practice of the Smoke-free Life Coalition, ENSP member in Bulgaria. A mixed social research methodology was employed, involving: a case study; qualitative content analysis of documented communication; ethnographic participant observation; and semi-structured interviews with TAPS advocacy campaigners, policy makers and TI representatives, in the action research tradition. The case study analyses TI reaction to a surprising proposal for a complete ban of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, submitted to Bulgaria’s Parliament in November 2016 – and consecutively withdrawn. Being involved in all stages of the case and present at meetings between TI and MPs enables the researchers to gather rich information and analyse it, to cast light on: the methods for successful interference with democratic decision making, applied by industry representatives; the specific communication messages and arguments they employ to suppress smoke-free legislation. The paper observes how TI speculates with the interests of different groups, affected by and involved in its operations, to successfully contradict health concerns voiced by MPs. Democratically elected representatives appear unable to uphold the social and health interests of their voters and succumb to TI priorities. The paper concludes that a pro-industry discourse, which favours corporate incomes over concerns for people’s health and life, dominates democratic decision making mechanisms in Bulgaria’s post-socialist political landscape. Funding The Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases

  3. Moving towards tangible decision-making tools for policy makers: Measuring and monitoring energy access provision

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bhanot, Jaya; Jha, Vivek

    2012-01-01

    Access to energy services has been recognised as central to achieving economic growth and sustainable development. However, almost 1.3 billion people in the world still lack access to electricity and 2.7 billion lack access to clean cooking facilities. In this backdrop, the issue of energy access is receiving more interest than ever before and this has brought to the fore, the need for a robust decision support tool for policy makers to measure the progress of energy access provision and also to provide direction for future policy making. The paper studies existing definitions of energy access and identifies the key requirements for an appropriate decision-making tool to measure and monitor energy access provision. In this context the paper assesses the strengths and weaknesses of the metrics currently being used to measure energy access in policy, as well as of contemporary monitoring and evaluation frameworks being used in other sectors. Based on these insights, a dashboard of indicators is proposed as an alternate decision support tool for policy makers to measure energy access. The paper concludes with a discussion on what is needed to operationalise this proposed framework. - Highlights: ► No one indicator or metric can successfully capture progress on energy access. ► A service oriented approach is necessary to measure energy access. ► Socio-economic and political contexts influence success of energy access policies.

  4. Reimbursement decisions in health policy--extending our understanding of the elements of decision-making.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wirtz, Veronika; Cribb, Alan; Barber, Nick

    2005-09-08

    Previous theoretical and empirical work on health policy decisions about reimbursement focuses on specific rationales such as effectiveness, economic considerations and equal access for equal needs. As reimbursement decisions take place in a social and political context we propose that the analysis of decision-making should incorporate factors, which go beyond those commonly discussed. As an example we chose three health technologies (sildenafil, rivastigmine and statins) to investigate how decisions about reimbursement of medicines are made in the United Kingdom National Health Service and what factors influence these decisions. From face-to-face, in-depth interviews with a purposive sample of 20 regional and national policy makers and stakeholders we identified two dimensions of decision-making, which extend beyond the rationales conventionally cited. The first dimension relates to the role of 'subjectivity' or 'the personal' in the decisions, including personal experiences of the condition and excitement about the novelty or potential benefit of the technology-these factors affect what counts as evidence, or how evidence is interpreted, in practice. The second dimension relates to the social and political function of decision-making and broadens what counts as the relevant ends of decision-making to include such things as maintaining relationships, avoiding organisational burden, generating politically and legally defensible decisions and demonstrating the willingness to care. More importantly, we will argue that these factors should not be treated as contaminants of an otherwise rational decision-making. On the contrary we suggest that they seem relevant, reasonable and also of substantial importance in considering in decision-making. Complementing the analysis of decision-making about reimbursement by incorporating these factors could increase our understanding and potentially improve decision-making.

  5. Pharmaceutical expenditure forecast model to support health policy decision making.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rémuzat, Cécile; Urbinati, Duccio; Kornfeld, Åsa; Vataire, Anne-Lise; Cetinsoy, Laurent; Aballéa, Samuel; Mzoughi, Olfa; Toumi, Mondher

    2014-01-01

    generics had a major impact on savings. However, very aggressive pricing of generic and biosimilar products might make this market unattractive and can be counterproductive. Worth noting, delaying time to access innovative products was also identified as an effective leverage to increase savings but might not be a desirable policy for breakthrough products. Increasing patient financial contributions, either directly or indirectly via their private insurances, is a more likely scenario rather than expanding the national pharmaceutical expenditure coverage.

  6. Educational Policy Making in the State Legislature: Legislator as Policy Expert.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weaver, Sue Wells; Geske, Terry G.

    1997-01-01

    Examines the legislator's role as education policy expert in the legislative policymaking process. In a study of Louisiana state legislators, analysis of variance was used to determine expert legislators' degree of influence in formulating educational policy, given differences in policy types, information sources, and legislators' work roles.…

  7. Chaos: Challenges from and to socio-spatial form and policy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dimitrios S. Dendrinos

    1997-01-01

    Full Text Available A brief assessment is given of the major accomplishments made through the mathematics of chaos to the understanding of socio-spatial dynamics to date. Certain shortfalls are also presented, mostly associated with model testing and falsifiability which transcend socio-spatial dynamics. Beyond such shortcomings, lie an array of challenges for chaotic dynamics involving specifically socio-spatial form and policy. A few directions on meeting these challenges are suggested including the case of limited chaos.

  8. Insights into the government's role in food system policy making: improving access to healthy, local food alongside other priorities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wegener, Jessica; Raine, Kim D; Hanning, Rhona M

    2012-11-12

    Government actors have an important role to play in creating healthy public policies and supportive environments to facilitate access to safe, affordable, nutritious food. The purpose of this research was to examine Waterloo Region (Ontario, Canada) as a case study for "what works" with respect to facilitating access to healthy, local food through regional food system policy making. Policy and planning approaches were explored through multi-sectoral perspectives of: (a) the development and adoption of food policies as part of the comprehensive planning process; (b) barriers to food system planning; and (c) the role and motivation of the Region's public health and planning departments in food system policy making. Forty-seven in-depth interviews with decision makers, experts in public health and planning, and local food system stakeholders provided rich insight into strategic government actions, as well as the local and historical context within which food system policies were developed. Grounded theory methods were used to identify key overarching themes including: "strategic positioning", "partnerships" and "knowledge transfer" and related sub-themes ("aligned agendas", "issue framing", "visioning" and "legitimacy"). A conceptual framework to illustrate the process and features of food system policy making is presented and can be used as a starting point to  engage multi-sectoral stakeholders in plans and actions to facilitate access to healthy food.

  9. The role of civil society in health policy making in South Africa: a review of the strategies adopted by the Treatment Action Campaign.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sabi, Stella C; Rieker, Mark

    2017-03-01

    The diagnosis of AIDS in 1982 in South Africa was followed by a rapid rise in the number of people living with the virus and dying from AIDS-related illnesses. The 2016 report by the Statistics South Africa indicated that about 7.03 million South Africans were infected with HIV/AIDS - the highest rate in the world. Despite the emergence of effective drugs in the mid-1990s, medical treatment remained unavailable in South Africa, particularly in public hospitals. This prompted civil society groups to establish platforms to discuss health policy change in South Africa. Prominent among these was the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), formed in 1998, which aimed to advocate for improved HIV/AIDS health service delivery. The efforts succeeded in shaping the current HIV/AIDS policy through various initiatives such as the use of constitutional law in legal action against profiteering drug companies. This paper examines the role of civil society, and particularly the TAC engagement with the state in health policy making, and the subsequent implementation of health policy on HIV/AIDS in post-apartheid South Africa.

  10. Lexical Complexity of Decision-Making Writing Tasks: Form-focused Guided Strategic Planning

    OpenAIRE

    Mahdavirad, Fatemeh

    2016-01-01

    The present study is an attempt to investigate the effect of form-focused guided strategic planning on lexical complexity of learners’ performance in writing tasks. The twenty intermediate level participants of the study performed an unplanned and then a planned decision-making task. In the planned task condition, the participants were provided with form-focused guided strategic planning which contained detailed instructions about how to plan, by being instructed to focus on form. The guidanc...

  11. Power and Politics in the Global Health Landscape: Beliefs, Competition and Negotiation Among Global Advocacy Coalitions in the Policy-Making Process

    Science.gov (United States)

    McDougall, Lori

    2016-01-01

    Background: Advocacy coalitions play an increasingly prominent role within the global health landscape, linking actors and institutions to attract political attention and resources. This paper examines how coalitions negotiate among themselves and exercise hidden forms of power to produce policy on the basis of their beliefs and strategic interests. Methods: This paper examines the beliefs and behaviours of health advocacy coalitions using Sabatier’s Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) as an informal theoretical lens. Coalitions are further explored in relation to the concept of transnational advocacy networks (Keck and Sikkink) and of productive power (Shiffman). The ACF focuses on explaining how policy change takes place when there is conflict concerning goals and technical approaches among different actors. This study uses participant observation methods, self-reported survey results and semi-structured qualitative interviews to trace how a major policy project of the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) era, the Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health, was constructed through negotiations among maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) advocacy coalitions. Results: The Global Strategy represented a new opportunity for high-level political attention. Despite differing policy beliefs, MNCH and SRHR actors collaborated to produce this strategy because of anticipated gains in political attention. While core beliefs did not shift fundamentally and collaboration was primarily a short-term tactical response to a time-bound opportunity, MNCH actors began to focus more on human rights perspectives and SRHR actors adopted greater use of quantifiable indicators and economic argumentation. This shift emphasises the inherent importance of SRHR to maternal and child health survival. Conclusion: As opportunities arise, coalitions respond based on principles and policy beliefs, as well as to perceptions of

  12. Power and Politics in the Global Health Landscape: Beliefs, Competition and Negotiation Among Global Advocacy Coalitions in the Policy-Making Process

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lori McDougall

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Background Advocacy coalitions play an increasingly prominent role within the global health landscape, linking actors and institutions to attract political attention and resources. This paper examines how coalitions negotiate among themselves and exercise hidden forms of power to produce policy on the basis of their beliefs and strategic interests. Methods This paper examines the beliefs and behaviours of health advocacy coalitions using Sabatier’s Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF as an informal theoretical lens. Coalitions are further explored in relation to the concept of transnational advocacy networks (Keck and Sikkink and of productive power (Shiffman. The ACF focuses on explaining how policy change takes place when there is conflict concerning goals and technical approaches among different actors. This study uses participant observation methods, self-reported survey results and semistructured qualitative interviews to trace how a major policy project of the Millennium Development Goal (MDG era, the Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health, was constructed through negotiations among maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR advocacy coalitions. Results The Global Strategy represented a new opportunity for high-level political attention. Despite differing policy beliefs, MNCH and SRHR actors collaborated to produce this strategy because of anticipated gains in political attention. While core beliefs did not shift fundamentally and collaboration was primarily a short-term tactical response to a time-bound opportunity, MNCH actors began to focus more on human rights perspectives and SRHR actors adopted greater use of quantifiable indicators and economic argumentation. This shift emphasises the inherent importance of SRHR to maternal and child health survival. Conclusion As opportunities arise, coalitions respond based on principles and policy beliefs, as well as to perceptions

  13. Power and Politics in the Global Health Landscape: Beliefs, Competition and Negotiation Among Global Advocacy Coalitions in the Policy-Making Process.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McDougall, Lori

    2016-01-30

    Advocacy coalitions play an increasingly prominent role within the global health landscape, linking actors and institutions to attract political attention and resources. This paper examines how coalitions negotiate among themselves and exercise hidden forms of power to produce policy on the basis of their beliefs and strategic interests. This paper examines the beliefs and behaviours of health advocacy coalitions using Sabatier's Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) as an informal theoretical lens. Coalitions are further explored in relation to the concept of transnational advocacy networks (Keck and Sikkink) and of productive power (Shiffman). The ACF focuses on explaining how policy change takes place when there is conflict concerning goals and technical approaches among different actors. This study uses participant observation methods, self-reported survey results and semi-structured qualitative interviews to trace how a major policy project of the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) era, the Global Strategy for Women's and Children's Health, was constructed through negotiations among maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) advocacy coalitions. The Global Strategy represented a new opportunity for high-level political attention. Despite differing policy beliefs, MNCH and SRHR actors collaborated to produce this strategy because of anticipated gains in political attention. While core beliefs did not shift fundamentally and collaboration was primarily a short-term tactical response to a time-bound opportunity, MNCH actors began to focus more on human rights perspectives and SRHR actors adopted greater use of quantifiable indicators and economic argumentation. This shift emphasises the inherent importance of SRHR to maternal and child health survival. As opportunities arise, coalitions respond based on principles and policy beliefs, as well as to perceptions of advantage. Global health policy-making is an arena of

  14. A novel method for feasibility testing urban sustainable development policies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    O’Doherty Travis

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Policy making to promote more sustainable development is a complex task due in part to the large number of both stakeholders and potential policies. Policy feasibility testing provides a guide to the viability and practicality of policy implementation and forms an important part of an evidence based policy making process. An extensive literature review has identified no standardized approach to feasibility testing. This paper addresses this knowledge gap by describing a novel method using Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA for feasibility testing of policies aimed at increasing the sustainability of towns and villages in Ireland. Feasibility results are provided for 40 frequently cited policy interventions tested for 18 settlements in Ireland. Policies were selected in the arenas of transport, food, housing and urban form, energy, waste and water. Policies are feasibility tested through analysis of operational evidence from both quantitative and qualitative data sources. Following testing, policies are ranked in terms of feasibility. This research examines the effectiveness of local and national level policies and the importance of both local community involvement and central government regulation in policy success. The inter-settlement variation in feasibility testing scores prioritises policy selection and aims to reduce cherry-picking of policies to support the viewpoints of the decision maker. Although developed for an Irish urban context the methods described here may have applicability elsewhere.

  15. Lexical Complexity of Decision-Making Writing Tasks: Form-focused Guided Strategic Planning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fatemeh Mahdavirad

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available The present study is an attempt to investigate the effect of form-focused guided strategic planning on lexical complexity of learners’ performance in writing tasks. The twenty intermediate level participants of the study performed an unplanned and then a planned decision-making task. In the planned task condition, the participants were provided with form-focused guided strategic planning which contained detailed instructions about how to plan, by being instructed to focus on form. The guidance included an explanation of the necessary structural and lexical patterns employed to express the learners’ views while developing a comparison-and-contrast paragraph in each task. The results of the statistical analysis indicated that the participants produced a written product with a greater lexical complexity in their performance of the task in the form-focused strategic planning condition. The findings emphasize the importance of guided strategic planning as a task condition in syllabus design for task-based language teaching and the necessity of incorporating this task feature for accomplishing lexical complexity in decision-making writing tasks.

  16. Design of coordinated energy and environmental policies: use of multi-criteria decision-making

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Greening, L.A.; Bernow, Steve

    2004-01-01

    Conventional economic modeling tools that depend upon one criterion to select among possible alternatives for inclusion in an energy or environmental policy have limitations. Formulation of both sets of policies involves large numbers of stakeholders with differing views and preferences. Those views and preferences cannot always be determined in advance or with certainty since many of the attributes of these policy alternatives are non-market valued. The use of multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods in an integrated assessment (IA) framework offers a far better alternative to cost/benefit and similar methods. To facilitate understanding of MCDM methods, we offer a typology for this broad class of models, suggest some of the types of problems that may be analyzed with these methods, and recommend the implementation of several MCDM methods in currently evolving IA frameworks. Depending upon the choice of method from this family of methods, a wide range of attributes associated with multi-pollutant reduction and energy system development strategies, and a diversity of stakeholder preferences may be incorporated into the analysis. The resulting policy space can then provide a basis for comparison and selection of policy alternatives in a political or negotiated process

  17. Understanding farmers' strategic decision-making processes and the implications for biodiversity conservation policy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farmar-Bowers, Quentin; Lane, Ruth

    2009-02-01

    The conservation of biodiversity is an important issue world wide and in Australia the maintenance of native biodiversity on farms makes an important contribution to overall conservation objectives. This paper seeks to explain Australian farmers' rationale for maintaining biodiversity on their farms for personal as opposed to business reasons by developing a decision-systems theory from in-depth interviews. This difference has implications for policy development. The decision-systems theory is divided into two main sections. The first section contains five parts. (1) A hierarchy of motivation stories, (2) the concept of suitability and availability of opportunities, (3) a hierarchy of three decision-systems, (4) the concept of personal career paths, (5) the concept of Lenses. The second section contains one part, a policy classification system called 'boxes of influence' that suggests how policy developers can use the information in the first section to develop new biodiversity conservation policy. The paper suggests that decision-systems theory could be used to shed new light on current trends in agriculture and become an important investigative tool for policy development concerning the conservation of biodiversity on farms.

  18. The Embargo of 1807: A Study in Policy-Making. Teacher and Student Manuals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beebe, Ralph K.

    Focusing on the controversy which surrounded Thomas Jefferson and the Embargo of 1807, this social studies unit examines the numerous factors which affect presidential policy-making and leadership. The unit presents newspaper accounts of the boarding of the American frigate "Chesapeake" by the English in 1807 and enumerates the factors…

  19. Indigenous Languages and the Racial Hierarchisation of Language Policy in Canada

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haque, Eve; Patrick, Donna

    2015-01-01

    This paper addresses language policy and policy-making in Canada as forms of discourse produced and reproduced within systems of power and racial hierarchies. The analysis of indigenous language policy to be addressed here focuses on the historical, political and legal processes stemming from the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism…

  20. Characteristics of Teachers; A Survey Tool for Policy Making. A Descriptive Study in Liberia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reed, Rodney J.

    This study examines the usefulness of survey instruments in educational policy making in Liberia, a developing country. The chapter, "Liberia, an Overview," summarizes available background information about Liberian education and introduces the complex issues facing educational planners. "Procedures," discusses the general…

  1. Of risks and regulations: how leading U.S. nanoscientists form policy stances about nanotechnology

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Corley, Elizabeth A., E-mail: elizabeth.corley@asu.ed [Arizona State University, School of Public Affairs (United States); Scheufele, Dietram A. [University of Wisconsin, Department of Life Sciences Communication (United States); Hu Qian [Arizona State University, School of Public Affairs (United States)

    2009-10-15

    Even though there is a high degree of scientific uncertainty about the risks of nanotechnology, many scholars have argued that policy-making cannot be placed on hold until risk assessments are complete (Faunce, Med J Aust 186(4):189-191, 2007; Kuzma, J Nanopart Res 9(1):165-182, 2007; O'Brien and Cummins, Hum Ecol Risk Assess 14(3):568-592, 2008; Powell et al., Environ Manag 42(3):426-443, 2008). In the absence of risk assessment data, decision makers often rely on scientists' input about risks and regulation to make policy decisions. The research we present here goes beyond the earlier descriptive studies about nanotechnology regulation to explore the heuristics that the leading U.S. nanoscientists use when they make policy decisions about regulating nanotechnology. In particular, we explore the relationship between nanoscientists' risk and benefit perceptions and their support for nanotech regulation. We conclude that nanoscientists are more supportive of regulating nanotechnology when they perceive higher levels of risks; yet, their perceived benefits about nanotechnology do not significantly impact their support for nanotech regulation. We also find some gender and disciplinary differences among the nanoscientists. Males are less supportive of nanotech regulation than their female peers and materials scientists are more supportive of nanotechnology regulation than scientists in other fields. Lastly, our findings illustrate that the leading U.S. nanoscientists see the areas of surveillance/privacy, human enhancement, medicine, and environment as the nanotech application areas that are most in need of new regulations.

  2. Of risks and regulations: how leading U.S. nanoscientists form policy stances about nanotechnology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scheufele, Dietram A.; Hu, Qian

    2009-01-01

    Even though there is a high degree of scientific uncertainty about the risks of nanotechnology, many scholars have argued that policy-making cannot be placed on hold until risk assessments are complete (Faunce, Med J Aust 186(4):189–191, 2007; Kuzma, J Nanopart Res 9(1):165–182, 2007; O’Brien and Cummins, Hum Ecol Risk Assess 14(3):568–592, 2008; Powell et al., Environ Manag 42(3):426–443, 2008). In the absence of risk assessment data, decision makers often rely on scientists’ input about risks and regulation to make policy decisions. The research we present here goes beyond the earlier descriptive studies about nanotechnology regulation to explore the heuristics that the leading U.S. nanoscientists use when they make policy decisions about regulating nanotechnology. In particular, we explore the relationship between nanoscientists’ risk and benefit perceptions and their support for nanotech regulation. We conclude that nanoscientists are more supportive of regulating nanotechnology when they perceive higher levels of risks; yet, their perceived benefits about nanotechnology do not significantly impact their support for nanotech regulation. We also find some gender and disciplinary differences among the nanoscientists. Males are less supportive of nanotech regulation than their female peers and materials scientists are more supportive of nanotechnology regulation than scientists in other fields. Lastly, our findings illustrate that the leading U.S. nanoscientists see the areas of surveillance/privacy, human enhancement, medicine, and environment as the nanotech application areas that are most in need of new regulations. PMID:21170136

  3. Of risks and regulations: how leading U.S. nanoscientists form policy stances about nanotechnology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Corley, Elizabeth A.; Scheufele, Dietram A.; Hu Qian

    2009-01-01

    Even though there is a high degree of scientific uncertainty about the risks of nanotechnology, many scholars have argued that policy-making cannot be placed on hold until risk assessments are complete (Faunce, Med J Aust 186(4):189-191, 2007; Kuzma, J Nanopart Res 9(1):165-182, 2007; O'Brien and Cummins, Hum Ecol Risk Assess 14(3):568-592, 2008; Powell et al., Environ Manag 42(3):426-443, 2008). In the absence of risk assessment data, decision makers often rely on scientists' input about risks and regulation to make policy decisions. The research we present here goes beyond the earlier descriptive studies about nanotechnology regulation to explore the heuristics that the leading U.S. nanoscientists use when they make policy decisions about regulating nanotechnology. In particular, we explore the relationship between nanoscientists' risk and benefit perceptions and their support for nanotech regulation. We conclude that nanoscientists are more supportive of regulating nanotechnology when they perceive higher levels of risks; yet, their perceived benefits about nanotechnology do not significantly impact their support for nanotech regulation. We also find some gender and disciplinary differences among the nanoscientists. Males are less supportive of nanotech regulation than their female peers and materials scientists are more supportive of nanotechnology regulation than scientists in other fields. Lastly, our findings illustrate that the leading U.S. nanoscientists see the areas of surveillance/privacy, human enhancement, medicine, and environment as the nanotech application areas that are most in need of new regulations.

  4. Sites of institutional racism in public health policy making in New Zealand.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Came, Heather

    2014-04-01

    Although New Zealanders have historically prided ourselves on being a country where everyone has a 'fair go', the systemic and longstanding existence of health inequities between Māori and non-Māori suggests something isn't working. This paper informed by critical race theory, asks the reader to consider the counter narrative viewpoints of Māori health leaders; that suggest institutional racism has permeated public health policy making in New Zealand and is a contributor to health inequities alongside colonisation and uneven access to the determinants of health. Using a mixed methods approach and critical anti-racism scholarship this paper identifies five specific sites of institutional racism. These sites are: majoritarian decision making, the misuse of evidence, deficiencies in both cultural competencies and consultation processes and the impact of Crown filters. These findings suggest the failure of quality assurance systems, existing anti-racism initiatives and health sector leadership to detect and eliminate racism. The author calls for institutional racism to be urgently addressed within New Zealand and this paper serves as a reminder to policy makers operating within other colonial contexts to be vigilant for such racism. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Fuzziness and fuzzy modelling in Bulgaria's energy policy decision-making dilemma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Xingquan

    2006-01-01

    The decision complexity resulting from imprecision in decision variables and parameters, a major difficulty for conventional decision analysis methods, can be relevantly analysed and modelled by fuzzy logic. Bulgaria's nuclear policy decision-making process implicates such complexity of imprecise nature: stakeholders, criteria, measurement, etc. Given the suitable applicability of fuzzy logic in this case, this article tries to offer a concrete fuzzy paradigm including delimitation of decision space, quantification of imprecise variables, and, of course, parameterisation. (author)

  6. Policy making and energy infrastructure change: A Nigerian case study of energy governance in the electricity sector

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Edomah, Norbert; Foulds, Chris; Jones, Aled

    2017-01-01

    This paper focusses on investigating the underlying mechanisms and influences of the policy decision making process and how it affects and impacts the governance of the Nigerian energy industry, and energy infrastructure provisions. In-depth semi-structured interviews were used; all interviewees had been involved, directly or indirectly, in energy infrastructure policy decisions in Nigeria. Five key themes subsequently emerged as salient intra-country induced influences that were affecting the governance and performance of the Nigerian energy sector: (1) competencies – i.e. practical knowledge of energy policy making; (2) expectations – i.e. past, present, and forecasted future expectations from the energy industry; (3) legislation – i.e. institutionalized (and unwritten) rules/procedures; (4) future visions – i.e. future vision of the energy industry/energy market; (5) recruiting experts – i.e. recruiting new energy and public policy makers. In addition, three major inter-country induced influences were also identified: (1) the changing dynamics of international and foreign aid; (2) the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals; and (3) the Paris Agreements on Climate Change. The paper concludes by highlighting the policy implications of these influences, and the consequences for policy makers in the governance of the energy industry in ensuring a secured energy future. - Highlights: • Unclear energy policies pose a business risk to current and future investors. • Our energy future is threatened by unsystematic recruitment into the policy space. • Some energy governance challenges reflect incompetence in energy legislation. • Nigerian energy transition was shaped by historical policy dynamics and structures.

  7. The Impact of Global Institutions on National Health HIV/AIDS Policy Making in Developing Countries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhanat Mokushev

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available This article explores the relationship of global institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organization, World Bank, and individual developing countries in social health policy making in terms of HIV and AIDS. We examine the role of IGOs and NGOs in regarding to HIV/AIDS issues then analyse the TRIPs agreement as a tool for developing countries to negotiate with International organisations in global health policy decisions.

  8. Financing Postsecondary Education: Policy Development and Decision Making. A Series of Conferences. Conference Handbook.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Education Commission of the States, Denver, CO.

    This handbook attempts to improve policy development and decision making relative to financing postsecondary education. Sections cover: (1) descriptions and comparisons of selected reports relative to recommendations for postsecondary financing; (2) position statements and/or comments on postsecondary financing from certain cooperative sponsoring…

  9. Youth, Privacy and Online Media: Framing the right to privacy in public policy-making

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hasselbalch, Gry; Jørgensen, Rikke Frank

    2015-01-01

    debate. It presents the results of a qualitative study amongst 68 Danish high school students concerning how they perceive, negotiate and control their private sphere when using social media and builds a case for utilizing the results of studies as this to inform the ongoing policy discourses concerning...... policy making that the right to privacy is challenged in new ways in a structurally transformed online public sphere, the way in which it has been framed does not seem to acknowledge this transformation. This paper therefore argues for a reformulation of “online privacy” in the current global policy......The right to privacy is a fundamental human right defined in international and regional human rights instruments. As such it has been included as a core component of key legislature and policy proceedings throughout the brief history of the World Wide Web. While it is generally recognized in public...

  10. Building a maintenance policy through a multi-criterion decision-making model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Faghihinia, Elahe; Mollaverdi, Naser

    2012-08-01

    A major competitive advantage of production and service systems is establishing a proper maintenance policy. Therefore, maintenance managers should make maintenance decisions that best fit their systems. Multi-criterion decision-making methods can take into account a number of aspects associated with the competitiveness factors of a system. This paper presents a multi-criterion decision-aided maintenance model with three criteria that have more influence on decision making: reliability, maintenance cost, and maintenance downtime. The Bayesian approach has been applied to confront maintenance failure data shortage. Therefore, the model seeks to make the best compromise between these three criteria and establish replacement intervals using Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluation (PROMETHEE II), integrating the Bayesian approach with regard to the preference of the decision maker to the problem. Finally, using a numerical application, the model has been illustrated, and for a visual realization and an illustrative sensitivity analysis, PROMETHEE GAIA (the visual interactive module) has been used. Use of PROMETHEE II and PROMETHEE GAIA has been made with Decision Lab software. A sensitivity analysis has been made to verify the robustness of certain parameters of the model.

  11. Pharmaceutical expenditure forecast model to support health policy decision making

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rémuzat, Cécile; Urbinati, Duccio; Kornfeld, Åsa; Vataire, Anne-Lise; Cetinsoy, Laurent; Aballéa, Samuel; Mzoughi, Olfa; Toumi, Mondher

    2014-01-01

    , and distribution. Reducing, even slightly, the prices of generics had a major impact on savings. However, very aggressive pricing of generic and biosimilar products might make this market unattractive and can be counterproductive. Worth noting, delaying time to access innovative products was also identified as an effective leverage to increase savings but might not be a desirable policy for breakthrough products. Increasing patient financial contributions, either directly or indirectly via their private insurances, is a more likely scenario rather than expanding the national pharmaceutical expenditure coverage. PMID:27226830

  12. Soft regulations in pharmaceutical policy making : an overview of current approaches and their consequences

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wettermark, B.; Godman, B.; Jacobsson, B.; Haaijer-Ruskamp, F.M.

    2009-01-01

    It is a challenge to improve public health within limited resources. Pharmaceutical policy making is a greater challenge due to conflicting interests between key stakeholder groups. This paper reviews current and future strategies to help improve the quality and efficiency of care, with special

  13. Making Sense of Music Education Policy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Forari, Antonia

    2007-01-01

    This article looks at the way music education policy is realised in three curriculum contexts: the formation of the official music curriculum, its implementation by music teachers and its reception by students. Working from within the field of education policy studies, I have collected data on music education in Cyprus in order to explore what…

  14. Insights into the Government’s Role in Food System Policy Making: Improving Access to Healthy, Local Food Alongside Other Priorities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kim D. Raine

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available Government actors have an important role to play in creating healthy public policies and supportive environments to facilitate access to safe, affordable, nutritious food. The purpose of this research was to examine Waterloo Region (Ontario, Canada as a case study for “what works” with respect to facilitating access to healthy, local food through regional food system policy making. Policy and planning approaches were explored through multi-sectoral perspectives of: (a the development and adoption of food policies as part of the comprehensive planning process; (b barriers to food system planning; and (c the role and motivation of the Region’s public health and planning departments in food system policy making. Forty-seven in-depth interviews with decision makers, experts in public health and planning, and local food system stakeholders provided rich insight into strategic government actions, as well as the local and historical context within which food system policies were developed. Grounded theory methods were used to identify key overarching themes including: “strategic positioning”, “partnerships” and “knowledge transfer” and related sub-themes (“aligned agendas”, “issue framing”, “visioning” and “legitimacy”. A conceptual framework to illustrate the process and features of food system policy making is presented and can be used as a starting point to  engage multi-sectoral stakeholders in plans and actions to facilitate access to healthy food.

  15. Insights into the Government’s Role in Food System Policy Making: Improving Access to Healthy, Local Food Alongside Other Priorities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wegener, Jessica; Raine, Kim D.; Hanning, Rhona M.

    2012-01-01

    Government actors have an important role to play in creating healthy public policies and supportive environments to facilitate access to safe, affordable, nutritious food. The purpose of this research was to examine Waterloo Region (Ontario, Canada) as a case study for “what works” with respect to facilitating access to healthy, local food through regional food system policy making. Policy and planning approaches were explored through multi-sectoral perspectives of: (a) the development and adoption of food policies as part of the comprehensive planning process; (b) barriers to food system planning; and (c) the role and motivation of the Region’s public health and planning departments in food system policy making. Forty-seven in-depth interviews with decision makers, experts in public health and planning, and local food system stakeholders provided rich insight into strategic government actions, as well as the local and historical context within which food system policies were developed. Grounded theory methods were used to identify key overarching themes including: “strategic positioning”, “partnerships” and “knowledge transfer” and related sub-themes (“aligned agendas”, “issue framing”, “visioning” and “legitimacy”). A conceptual framework to illustrate the process and features of food system policy making is presented and can be used as a starting point to engage multi-sectoral stakeholders in plans and actions to facilitate access to healthy food. PMID:23202834

  16. Psychosocial Risks: Is Risk Management Strategic Enough in Business and Policy Making?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Langenhan, Melissa K.; Leka, Stavroula; Jain, Aditya

    2013-01-01

    Background In times of continuous change and volatile markets, organizations are increasingly characterized by downsizing, work intensification, and resource rationalization. This has resulted in diversification, and the emergence of new risks within the field of occupational health and safety, with an important impact. This paper focuses on one such type of risk in the modern workplace—psychosocial risks. The current study aimed to explore stakeholder perspectives, regarding the extent to which psychosocial risks are incorporated into strategic risk management practices, at both the business and policy level. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 professionals, representing employer, expert, policy maker, and trade union stakeholder perspectives. Results It was found that the majority of organizations do not sufficiently, if at all, understand and incorporate psychosocial risks into strategic decision making, whereby the key barrier related to practical difficulties of not knowing how to manage psychosocial risks adequately. Conclusion The study found that there is a need to close the gap between policy and practice on a number of levels. Future recommendations comprise a policy framework and infrastructure underpinned by educational initiatives, partnerships, and networks to drive a shift in attitudes toward recognizing the duality of the concept of risk (including both potential negative and positive outcomes) and moving beyond simple regulatory compliance. PMID:23961331

  17. Psychosocial risks: is risk management strategic enough in business and policy making?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Langenhan, Melissa K; Leka, Stavroula; Jain, Aditya

    2013-06-01

    In times of continuous change and volatile markets, organizations are increasingly characterized by downsizing, work intensification, and resource rationalization. This has resulted in diversification, and the emergence of new risks within the field of occupational health and safety, with an important impact. This paper focuses on one such type of risk in the modern workplace-psychosocial risks. The current study aimed to explore stakeholder perspectives, regarding the extent to which psychosocial risks are incorporated into strategic risk management practices, at both the business and policy level. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 professionals, representing employer, expert, policy maker, and trade union stakeholder perspectives. It was found that the majority of organizations do not sufficiently, if at all, understand and incorporate psychosocial risks into strategic decision making, whereby the key barrier related to practical difficulties of not knowing how to manage psychosocial risks adequately. The study found that there is a need to close the gap between policy and practice on a number of levels. Future recommendations comprise a policy framework and infrastructure underpinned by educational initiatives, partnerships, and networks to drive a shift in attitudes toward recognizing the duality of the concept of risk (including both potential negative and positive outcomes) and moving beyond simple regulatory compliance.

  18. Foxes, hedgehogs, and greenhouse governance: Knowledge, uncertainty, and international policy-making in a warming World

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Michel, David

    2009-01-01

    Global environmental challenges like greenhouse warming are characterized by profound uncertainties about the workings of complex systems, high stakes as to the costs and benefits of various possible actions, and important differences concerning the values that should shape public choices, confounding ready resolution by conventional decision-making procedures. So-called adaptive or reflexive governance strategies provide policy-makers an alternative framework for tackling the greenhouse problem. Adaptive governance employs deliberate experimentation and continuous learning-by-doing to test and adjust ongoing policy responses. Yet pursuing such approaches poses particular challenges to global climate cooperation. In an increasingly interdependent world, coordinating multiple parties experimentally adopting different climate measures could prove contentious. Unequivocal policy lessons may be difficult to draw and apply. Timely collective revisions to ongoing policies may prove more difficult still to define and agree. Advocates must engage these issues directly and develop means of addressing them if adaptive governance approaches are to allow policy-makers to formulate better strategies for combating climate change. (author)

  19. Evidence based policy making in the European Union. The role of the scientific community

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Majcen, Spela [Euro-Mediterranean Univ. (EMUNI), Portoroz (Slovenia)

    2017-03-15

    In the times when the acquis of the European Union (EU) has developed so far as to reach a high level of technical complexity, in particular in certain policy fields such as environmental legislation, it is important to look at what kind of information and data policy decisions are based on. This position paper looks at the extent to which evidence-based decision-making process is being considered in the EU institutions when it comes to adopting legislation in the field of environment at the EU level. The paper calls for closer collaboration between scientists and decision-makers in view of ensuring that correct data is understood and taken into consideration when drafting, amending, negotiating and adopting new legal texts at all levels of the EU decision-making process. It concludes that better awareness of the need for such collaboration among the decision-makers as well as the scientific community would benefit the process and quality of the final outcomes (legislation).

  20. Evidence based policy making in the European Union: the role of the scientific community.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Majcen, Špela

    2017-03-01

    In the times when the acquis of the European Union (EU) has developed so far as to reach a high level of technical complexity, in particular in certain policy fields such as environmental legislation, it is important to look at what kind of information and data policy decisions are based on. This position paper looks at the extent to which evidence-based decision-making process is being considered in the EU institutions when it comes to adopting legislation in the field of environment at the EU level. The paper calls for closer collaboration between scientists and decision-makers in view of ensuring that correct data is understood and taken into consideration when drafting, amending, negotiating and adopting new legal texts at all levels of the EU decision-making process. It concludes that better awareness of the need for such collaboration among the decision-makers as well as the scientific community would benefit the process and quality of the final outcomes (legislation).

  1. Evidence based policy making in the European Union. The role of the scientific community

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Majcen, Spela

    2017-01-01

    In the times when the acquis of the European Union (EU) has developed so far as to reach a high level of technical complexity, in particular in certain policy fields such as environmental legislation, it is important to look at what kind of information and data policy decisions are based on. This position paper looks at the extent to which evidence-based decision-making process is being considered in the EU institutions when it comes to adopting legislation in the field of environment at the EU level. The paper calls for closer collaboration between scientists and decision-makers in view of ensuring that correct data is understood and taken into consideration when drafting, amending, negotiating and adopting new legal texts at all levels of the EU decision-making process. It concludes that better awareness of the need for such collaboration among the decision-makers as well as the scientific community would benefit the process and quality of the final outcomes (legislation).

  2. The many meanings of evidence: a comparative analysis of the forms and roles of evidence within three health policy processes in Cambodia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walls, Helen; Liverani, Marco; Chheng, Kannarath; Parkhurst, Justin

    2017-11-10

    Discussions within the health community routinely emphasise the importance of evidence in informing policy formulation and implementation. Much of the support for the evidence-based policy movement draws from concern that policy decisions are often based on inadequate engagement with high-quality evidence. In many such discussions, evidence is treated as differing only in quality, and assumed to improve decisions if it can only be used more. In contrast, political science scholars have described this as an overly simplistic view of the policy-making process, noting that research 'use' can mean a variety of things and relies on nuanced aspects of political systems. An approach more in recognition of how policy-making systems operate in practice can be to consider how institutions and ideas influence which pieces of evidence appear to be relevant for, and are used within, different policy processes. Drawing on in-depth interviews undertaken in 2015-2016 with key health sector stakeholders in Cambodia, we investigate the evidence perceived to be relevant to policy decisions for three contrasting health policy examples, namely tobacco control, HIV/AIDS and performance-based salary incentives. These cases allow us to examine the ways that policy-relevant evidence may differ given the framing of the issue and the broader institutional context in which evidence is considered. The three health issues show few similarities in how pieces of evidence were used in various aspects of policy-making, despite all being discussed within a broad policy environment in which evidence-based policy-making is rhetorically championed. Instead, we find that evidence use can be better understood by mapping how these health policy issues differ in terms of the issue characteristics, and also in terms of the stakeholders structurally established as having a dominant influence for each issue. Both of these have important implications for evidence use. Contrasting concerns of key stakeholders

  3. Positioning women's and children's health in African union policy-making: a policy analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Toure Kadidiatou

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background With limited time to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, progress towards improving women's and children's health needs to be accelerated. With Africa accounting for over half of the world's maternal and child deaths, the African Union (AU has a critical role in prioritizing related policies and catalysing required investments and action. In this paper, the authors assess the evolution of African Union policies related to women's and children's health, and analyze how these policies are prioritized and framed. Methods The main method used in this policy analysis was a document review of all African Union policies developed from 1963 to 2010, focusing specifically on policies that explicitly mention health. The findings from this document review were discussed with key actors to identify policy implications. Results With over 220 policies in total, peace and security is the most common AU policy topic. Social affairs and other development issues became more prominent in the 1990s. The number of policies that mentioned health rose steadily over the years (with 1 policy mentioning health in 1963 to 7 in 2010. This change was catalysed by factors such as: a favourable shift in AU priorities and systems towards development issues, spurred by the transition from the Organization of African Unity to the African Union; the mandate of the African Commission on Human and People's Rights; health-related advocacy initiatives, such as the Campaign for the Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa (CARMMA; action and accountability requirements arising from international human rights treaties, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs, and new health-funding mechanisms, such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Prioritization of women's and children's health issues in AU policies has been framed primarily by human rights, advocacy and accountability considerations, more by economic and health frames

  4. Positioning women's and children's health in African union policy-making: a policy analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Toure, Kadidiatou; Sankore, Rotimi; Kuruvilla, Shyama; Scolaro, Elisa; Bustreo, Flavia; Osotimehin, Babatunde

    2012-02-16

    With limited time to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, progress towards improving women's and children's health needs to be accelerated. With Africa accounting for over half of the world's maternal and child deaths, the African Union (AU) has a critical role in prioritizing related policies and catalysing required investments and action. In this paper, the authors assess the evolution of African Union policies related to women's and children's health, and analyze how these policies are prioritized and framed. The main method used in this policy analysis was a document review of all African Union policies developed from 1963 to 2010, focusing specifically on policies that explicitly mention health. The findings from this document review were discussed with key actors to identify policy implications. With over 220 policies in total, peace and security is the most common AU policy topic. Social affairs and other development issues became more prominent in the 1990s. The number of policies that mentioned health rose steadily over the years (with 1 policy mentioning health in 1963 to 7 in 2010).This change was catalysed by factors such as: a favourable shift in AU priorities and systems towards development issues, spurred by the transition from the Organization of African Unity to the African Union; the mandate of the African Commission on Human and People's Rights; health-related advocacy initiatives, such as the Campaign for the Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa (CARMMA); action and accountability requirements arising from international human rights treaties, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and new health-funding mechanisms, such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.Prioritization of women's and children's health issues in AU policies has been framed primarily by human rights, advocacy and accountability considerations, more by economic and health frames looking at investments and impact. AU policies related

  5. A Review of Patti Lather's "Engaging Science Policy from the Side of the Messy"

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rosser, Sue V.

    2011-01-01

    In "Engaging Science Policy from the Side of the Messy," Patti Lather explores the relationship between science and policy. In this review Rosser explores how Lather argues for the use of all forms of research to make policy that is democratic, complex and messy.

  6. Human cloning laws, human dignity and the poverty of the policy making dialogue.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caulfield, Timothy

    2003-07-29

    The regulation of human cloning continues to be a significant national and international policy issue. Despite years of intense academic and public debate, there is little clarity as to the philosophical foundations for many of the emerging policy choices. The notion of "human dignity" is commonly used to justify cloning laws. The basis for this justification is that reproductive human cloning necessarily infringes notions of human dignity. The author critiques one of the most commonly used ethical justifications for cloning laws - the idea that reproductive cloning necessarily infringes notions of human dignity. He points out that there is, in fact, little consensus on point and that the counter arguments are rarely reflected in formal policy. Rarely do domestic or international instruments provide an operational definition of human dignity and there is rarely an explanation of how, exactly, dignity is infringed in the context reproductive cloning. It is the author's position that the lack of thoughtful analysis of the role of human dignity hurts the broader public debate about reproductive cloning, trivializes the value of human dignity as a normative principle and makes it nearly impossible to critique the actual justifications behind many of the proposed policies.

  7. Evidence-based policy-making in the NHS: exploring the interface between research and the commissioning process.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harries, U; Elliott, H; Higgins, A

    1999-03-01

    The UK National Health Service (NHS) R&D strategy acknowledges the importance of developing an NHS where practice and policy is more evidence-based. This paper is based on a qualitative study which aimed to identify factors which facilitate or impede evidence-based policy-making at a local level in the NHS. The study involved a literature review and case studies of social research projects which were initiated by NHS health authority managers or general practitioner (GP) fundholders in one region of the NHS. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with lead policy-makers, GPs and researchers working on each of the case studies and analysis of project documentation. An over-arching theme from the analysis was that of the complexity of R&D in purchasing. The two worlds of research and health services management often sit uncomfortably together. For this reason it was not possible to describe a 'blueprint' for successful R&D, although several important issues emerged. These include sharing an appropriate model for research utilization, the importance of relationships in shaping R&D, the importance of influence and commitment in facilitating evidence-based change, and the resourcing of R&D in purchasing. These issues have important implications for the strategic development of R&D as well as for individual project application. Moving beyond the rhetoric of evidence-based policy-making is more likely if both policy-makers and researchers openly acknowledge this complexity and give due concern to the issues outlined.

  8. Governing irrationality, or a more than rational government? Reflections on the rescientisation of decision making in British public policy

    OpenAIRE

    Mark Whitehead; Rhys Jones; Jessica Pykett

    2011-01-01

    It appears that recent debates within human geography, and the broader social sciences, concerning the more-than-rational constitution of human decision making are now being paralleled by changes in the ways in which public policy makers are conceiving of and addressing human behaviour. This paper focuses on the rise of so-called Behaviour Change policies in public policy in the UK. Behaviour Change policies draw on the behavioural insights being developed within the neurosciences, behavioura...

  9. Perturbations in different forms of cost/benefit decision making induced by repeated amphetamine exposure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Floresco, Stan B; Whelan, Jennifer M

    2009-08-01

    Psychostimulant abuse has been linked to impairments in cost-benefit decision making. We assessed the effects of repeated amphetamine (AMPH) treatment in rodents on two distinct forms of decision making. Separate groups of rats were trained for 26 days on either a probabilistic (risk) or effort-discounting task, each consisting of four discrete blocks of ten choice trials. One lever always delivered a smaller reward (one or two pellets), whereas another lever delivered a four-pellet reward. For risk-discounting, the probability of receiving the larger reward decreased across trial blocks (100-12.5%), whereas on the effort task, four pellets could be obtained after a ratio of presses that increased across blocks (2-20). After training, rats received 15 saline or AMPH injections (escalating from 1 to 5 mg/kg) and were then retested during acute and long-term withdrawal. Repeated AMPH administration increased risky choice 2-3 weeks after drug exposure, whereas these treatments did not alter effort-based decision making in a separate group of animals. However, prior AMPH exposure sensitized the effects of acute AMPH on both forms of decision making, whereby lower doses were effective at inducing "risky" and "lazy" patterns of choice. Repeated AMPH exposure leads to relatively long-lasting increases in risky choice, as well as sensitization to the effects of acute AMPH on different forms of cost/benefit decision making. These findings suggest that maladaptive decision-making processes exhibited by psychostimulant abusers may be caused in part by repeated drug exposure.

  10. Windscale inquiry and policy-making procedures

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Von Moltke, K

    1978-07-01

    Policy decisions on the development and installation of nuclear facilities often strain both the time and human resources of a country, some countries having taken steps to involve the national government in specific siting decisions and shifting the constitutional balance in response to popular dissent. Challenges to nuclear facilities could be met by limiting the scope of intervenors and the use of judicial review. The 100-day Windscale Inquiry in the United Kingdom represents the most costly review any country has had of a specific nuclear policy and has international implications. A chronology of the inquiry illustrates how the debate evolved into a vote on whether nuclear energy should be developed at all and effectively cut off other avenues of recourse. The traditional procedures for planning are shown to be inadequate for setting nuclear energy policy without the intervention of Parliament. 18 references.

  11. Environmental policy-making in a difficult context: motorized two-wheeled vehicle emissions in India

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Badami, Madhav G.

    2004-01-01

    Motor vehicle activity is growing rapidly in India and other less-industrialized countries in Asia. This growth is contributing to serious health and welfare effects due to vehicle emissions, and energy insecurity, acidification and climate change. This paper applies the problem-structuring tools of 'value-focused thinking' to inform policy-making and implementation related to this complex problem in a difficult context, with specific reference to motorized two-wheeled vehicles, which play an important role in transport air pollution but also provide affordable mobility to millions with few other attractive options. The paper describes the process used to elicit and structure objectives and measures, based on interviews conducted by the author, and demonstrates how the objectives and measures can be used to more effectively characterize policy impacts, and create policy packages that have a better chance of long-term success

  12. The Making of a Policy Regime: Canada's Post-Secondary Student Finance System since 1994

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wellen, Richard; Axelrod, Paul; Desai-Trilokekar, Roopa; Shanahan, Theresa

    2012-01-01

    This paper examines the pattern of decision-making, lobbying, and influence that led to the landmark series of federal student assistance policies introduced by Jean Chretien's Liberal government in the late 1990s. The package of new initiatives--dubbed the Canada Opportunities Strategy--not only partially reversed an earlier period of fiscal…

  13. Lessons learned from applying external input to DOE policy decision making

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Imholz, R.M.; Hindman, T.B. Jr.; Brubaker, D.M.

    1990-01-01

    Our nation has entered an era in which the public is demanding clean up and restoration of its environment, understandable information, and participation in decision making. The US Department of Energy's (DOE's) culture, which grew out of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) culture of classification, compartmentalization, and strict-need-to-know dissemination of information, was in direct conflict with this demand for public involvement. The DOE recognized this and committed to changing their culture into one of openness and public involvement in decision making and policy direction. This paper reports that as a result, DOE created a number of external review groups, one of them being the State and Tribal Government Working Group (STGWG). The STGWG was created to review the first Environmental Restoration and Waste Management Five-Year Plan. The Five-Year Plan establishes an agenda for compliance and cleanup of DOE installations against which progress can be measured

  14. E-PR as an instrument of forming the foreign policy image of Ukraine

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tereshchuk Vitaliy Ivanovych

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The article discusses the role of the Internet as a global communication tool in the PR-support of the implementation of Ukraine's foreign policy. The article pays particular attention to the features of the websites of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and diplomatic missions of Ukraine as an image-forming tool.

  15. Considering economic analyses in the revision of the preventive vaccination law: a new direction for health policy-making in Japan?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akazawa, Manabu; Yongue, Julia; Ikeda, Shunya; Satoh, Toshihiko

    2014-10-01

    Evidence of a significant vaccine policy shift can be witnessed not only in the number of new vaccines available in Japan but also in the way that vaccine policy is being formulated. In 2010, policy makers decided for the first time ever to commission economic analyses as a reference in their consideration of subsidy allocation. This research offers a first hand account of the recent changes in vaccine policies by examining the decision-making process from the perspective of the researchers commissioned to perform the economic evaluations. In order to understand the vaccine policy-making process, a review was made of all the documents that were distributed and discussed during the government committee meetings from February 2010 when the revision of the Preventive Vaccination Law was initially proposed to May 2012 when the final recommendations were made. Economic evaluations were conducted for seven vaccines under consideration in the routine immunization program (Haemophilus influenzae type b or Hib, pneumococcal disease for children and adults, human papillomavirus, varicella, mumps, and hepatitis B). All were cost-effective options, except the Hib and hepatitis B vaccines. Nonetheless, all the vaccines were recommended equally for inclusion in the routine immunization program. While it is significant that policy-makers decided to commission economic assessments at all, various issues remain regarding the influence of external pressure, the choice of evaluation methods and the implications of using cost-effectiveness analyses on the future of Japanese health policy-making. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Improvements of the Penalty Avoiding Rational Policy Making Algorithm and an Application to the Othello Game

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miyazaki, Kazuteru; Tsuboi, Sougo; Kobayashi, Shigenobu

    The purpose of reinforcement learning is to learn an optimal policy in general. However, in 2-players games such as the othello game, it is important to acquire a penalty avoiding policy. In this paper, we focus on formation of a penalty avoiding policy based on the Penalty Avoiding Rational Policy Making algorithm [Miyazaki 01]. In applying it to large-scale problems, we are confronted with the curse of dimensionality. We introduce several ideas and heuristics to overcome the combinational explosion in large-scale problems. First, we propose an algorithm to save the memory by calculation of state transition. Second, we describe how to restrict exploration by two type knowledge; KIFU database and evaluation funcion. We show that our learning player can always defeat against the well-known othello game program KITTY.

  17. What Policy Actors Seek for: Reciprocal Misunderstanding of Objectives of Participatory Decision Making

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Birutė PITRĖNAITĖ-ŽILĖNIENĖ

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available The goal of this research is to explore different policy actors’ attitudes towards participation in public decision making. The paper examines objectives of external participants’ involvement and compares various participants’ judgements on the process and results of participation. We screened operation of formal networks of participatory decision making at the Lithuanian Ministries of Health and Education & Science. The research revealed the willingness of decision makers to allow different stakeholders to contribute to the solution of problems of diverse character. The results of interviews manifested reciprocal miscommunication towards objectives and results of participatory decision making. Public administrators demonstrated their high willingness to acquire expertise, while external participants sought to present specific interests and got them implemented as well. However, it has to be admitted that decision makers are not committed to the results generated by stakeholders.

  18. Acting discursively: the development of UK organic food and farming policy networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    TOMLINSON, Isobel Jane

    2010-01-01

    This paper documents the early evolution of UK organic food and farming policy networks and locates this empirical focus in a theoretical context concerned with understanding the contemporary policy-making process. While policy networks have emerged as a widely acknowledged empirical manifestation of governance, debate continues as to the concept's explanatory utility and usefulness in situations of network and policy transformation since, historically, policy networks have been applied to "static" circumstances. Recognizing this criticism, and in drawing on an interpretivist perspective, this paper sees policy networks as enacted by individual actors whose beliefs and actions construct the nature of the network. It seeks to make links between the characteristics of the policy network and the policy outcomes through the identification of discursively constructed "storylines" that form a tool for consensus building in networks. This study analyses the functioning of the organic policy networks through the discursive actions of policy-network actors.

  19. A lexicographic approach to language policy and recommendations for future dictionaries

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tarp, Sven; Gouws, Rufus H.

    2008-01-01

    Language policy prevails at different levels and its formulation typically results in a prescriptive presentation of data. In their dictionaries, lexicographers have to respond to the deci­sions of language policy makers. In this regard dictionaries can adhere to a strict prescriptive policy...... by including only the prescribed forms. Dictionaries can also give a descriptive account of lan­guage use without making any recommendations or claims of correctness. Thirdly, dictionaries can be proscriptive by recommending certain forms, even if such a recommendation goes against the prescribed forms....... This article offers an overview of different levels of language policy and the prin­ciples of prescription, description and proscription. Examples are given to illustrate certain lexico­graphic applications of prescription. It is emphasised that access to relevant data is important to dictionary users...

  20. Interdisciplinary Approach to the Study of Evolution of Humanities : Reviewing The History of Translation Movement in the Context of Public Policy-making

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. M. Shah Abadi

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available It is about forty years that some of Iran’s policy makers and experts in social and human sciences are of the opinion that there should be an evolution in humanities. They are of the view that principles and basic assumptions of current humanities are in conflict with Islamic framework and consequently these doctrines are not appropriate to address local issues of Islamic countries. Since the Islamic Revolution of Iran of 1979, any change in these doctrines has been a matter of debate. But we need a new plan for making a change in our policies. Applying interdisciplinary approach permit us to find a new way for policy making in society. History is full of lessons to guide us in our present situations. Therefore, by taking into account, the sociology of science and issues of policy-making, we study the Translation Movement. This article shows the transfer and transformation of Greek philosophy to Islamic philosophy in 7- 10 A.D. in Islamic civilization and also proposes an alternative approach for the policy makers. We identify actors of transferring knowledge, scientific translators and the Abbasid State. Research model of this paper has been chosen from the sociology of science and also makes use of "Implication Research Methodology” with regard to history. Our suggestion is "Transformational Translation (Transforlation " that includes selecting best texts, translations, correction, explanation, criticism and innovation. Accordingly, policies should be revised after identifying discipline on Transforlation Chain and structures and human resources have to be formalized on the basis of revised policies.

  1. [The role of the state and society relationship in the foreign policy making process : arvustus] / Hiski Haukkala

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Haukkala, Hiski

    2013-01-01

    Arvustus: Maria Groeneveld. The role of the state and society relationship in the foreign policy making process. Tartu : Tartu University Press, 2012. ( Dissertationes rerum politicarum Universitatis Tartuensis ; 7)

  2. Building policy-making capacity in the Ministry of Health: the Kazakhstan experience.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chanturidze, Tata; Adams, Orvill; Tokezhanov, Bolat; Naylor, Mike; Richardson, Erica

    2015-01-20

    Recent economic growth in Kazakhstan has been accompanied by slower improvements in population health and this has renewed impetus for health system reform. Strengthening strategic planning and policy-making capacity in the Ministry of Health has been identified as an important priority, particularly as the Ministry of Health is leading the health system reform process. The intervention was informed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) framework for capacity building which views capacity building as an ongoing process embedded in local institutions and practices. In response to local needs extra elements were included in the framework to tailor the capacity building programme according to the existing policy and budget cycles and respective competence requirements, and link it with transparent career development structures of the Ministry of Health. This aspect of the programme was informed by the institutional capability assessment model used by the United Kingdom National Health Service (NHS) which was adapted to examine the specific organizational and individual competences of the Ministry of Health in Kazakhstan. There were clear successes in building capacity for policy making and strategic planning within the Ministry of Health in Kazakhstan, including better planned, more timely and in-depth responses to policy assignments. Embedding career development as a part of this process was more challenging. This case study highlights the importance of strong political will and high level support for capacity building in ensuring the sustainability of programmes. It also shows that capacity-building programmes need to ensure full engagement with all local stakeholders, or where this is not possible, programmes need to be targeted narrowly to those stakeholders who will benefit most, for the greatest impact to be achieved. In sum, high quality tailor-made capacity development programmes should be based on thorough needs assessment of individual and

  3. Risk perception as a factor in policy and decision making

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sjoberg, L.

    2004-01-01

    Risk perception is often believed to be an important factor in policy decision making, when it comes to the management of hazardous technology. Research on risk perception by the public since the 1970's has purportedly shown that such perception is emotional and based on ignorance. Experts, on the other hand, have been claimed to be objective and correct in their risk assessments. The present paper reviews a large body of research which has led to a quite different conclusions, viz. that emotions play only a marginal role in risk perception, which is mainly driven by ideological concerns and attitudes. The methodological shortcomings of the prevailing view of risk perception as emotional and simply misinformed are described. (author)

  4. Human cloning laws, human dignity and the poverty of the policy making dialogue

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Caulfield Timothy

    2003-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The regulation of human cloning continues to be a significant national and international policy issue. Despite years of intense academic and public debate, there is little clarity as to the philosophical foundations for many of the emerging policy choices. The notion of "human dignity" is commonly used to justify cloning laws. The basis for this justification is that reproductive human cloning necessarily infringes notions of human dignity. Discussion The author critiques one of the most commonly used ethical justifications for cloning laws – the idea that reproductive cloning necessarily infringes notions of human dignity. He points out that there is, in fact, little consensus on point and that the counter arguments are rarely reflected in formal policy. Rarely do domestic or international instruments provide an operational definition of human dignity and there is rarely an explanation of how, exactly, dignity is infringed in the context reproductive cloning. Summary It is the author's position that the lack of thoughtful analysis of the role of human dignity hurts the broader public debate about reproductive cloning, trivializes the value of human dignity as a normative principle and makes it nearly impossible to critique the actual justifications behind many of the proposed policies.

  5. Human cloning laws, human dignity and the poverty of the policy making dialogue

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caulfield, Timothy

    2003-01-01

    Background The regulation of human cloning continues to be a significant national and international policy issue. Despite years of intense academic and public debate, there is little clarity as to the philosophical foundations for many of the emerging policy choices. The notion of "human dignity" is commonly used to justify cloning laws. The basis for this justification is that reproductive human cloning necessarily infringes notions of human dignity. Discussion The author critiques one of the most commonly used ethical justifications for cloning laws – the idea that reproductive cloning necessarily infringes notions of human dignity. He points out that there is, in fact, little consensus on point and that the counter arguments are rarely reflected in formal policy. Rarely do domestic or international instruments provide an operational definition of human dignity and there is rarely an explanation of how, exactly, dignity is infringed in the context reproductive cloning. Summary It is the author's position that the lack of thoughtful analysis of the role of human dignity hurts the broader public debate about reproductive cloning, trivializes the value of human dignity as a normative principle and makes it nearly impossible to critique the actual justifications behind many of the proposed policies. PMID:12887735

  6. Including values in evidence-based policy making for breast screening: An empirically grounded tool to assist expert decision makers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parker, Lisa

    2017-07-01

    Values are an important part of evidence-based decision making for health policy: they guide the type of evidence that is collected, how it is interpreted, and how important the conclusions are considered to be. Experts in breast screening (including clinicians, researchers, consumer advocates and senior administrators) hold differing values in relation to what is important in breast screening policy and practice, and committees may find it difficult to incorporate the complexity and variety of values into policy decisions. The decision making tool provided here is intended to assist with this process. The tool is modified from more general frameworks that are intended to assist with ethical decision making in public health, and informed by data drawn from previous empirical studies on values amongst Australian breast screening experts. It provides a structured format for breast screening committees to consider and discuss the values of themselves and others, suggests relevant topics for further inquiry and highlights areas of need for future research into the values of the public. It enables committees to publicly explain and justify their decisions with reference to values, improving transparency and accountability. It is intended to act alongside practices that seek to accommodate the values of individual women in the informed decision making process for personal decision making about participation in breast screening. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  7. "Black Magic" and "Gold Dust": The Epistemic and Political Uses of Evidence Tools in Public Health Policy Making

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stewart, Ellen; Smith, Katherine E.

    2015-01-01

    Concerns about the limited influence of research on decision making have prompted the development of tools intended to mediate evidence for policy audiences. This article focuses on three examples, prominent in public health: impact assessments; systematic reviews; and economic decision-making tools (cost-benefit analysis and scenario modelling).…

  8. Using Butler to Understand the Multiplicity and Variability of Policy Reception

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gowlett, Christina; Keddie, Amanda; Mills, Martin; Renshaw, Peter; Christie, Pam; Geelan, David; Monk, Sue

    2015-01-01

    Understanding how teachers make sense of education policy is important. We argue that an exploration of teacher reactions to policy requires an engagement with theory focused on the formation of "the subject" since this form of theorisation addresses the creation of a seemingly coherent identity and attitude while acknowledging variation…

  9. Discourses, Decisions, Designs: "Special" Education Policy-Making in New South Wales, Scotland, Finland and Malaysia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chong, Pei Wen; Graham, Linda J.

    2017-01-01

    This comparative analysis investigates the influence of neo-liberal and inclusive discourses in "special" education policy-making in New South Wales, Scotland, Finland and Malaysia. The centrality of competition, selectivity and accountability in the discourses used in New South Wales and Malaysia suggests a system preference for…

  10. Bridging the gap between evidence and policy for infectious diseases: How models can aid public health decision-making

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gwenan M. Knight

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The dominant approach to decision-making in public health policy for infectious diseases relies heavily on expert opinion, which often applies empirical evidence to policy questions in a manner that is neither systematic nor transparent. Although systematic reviews are frequently commissioned to inform specific components of policy (such as efficacy, the same process is rarely applied to the full decision-making process. Mathematical models provide a mechanism through which empirical evidence can be methodically and transparently integrated to address such questions. However, such models are often considered difficult to interpret. In addition, models provide estimates that need to be iteratively re-evaluated as new data or considerations arise. Using the case study of a novel diagnostic for tuberculosis, a framework for improved collaboration between public health decision-makers and mathematical modellers that could lead to more transparent and evidence-driven policy decisions for infectious diseases in the future is proposed. The framework proposes that policymakers should establish long-term collaborations with modellers to address key questions, and that modellers should strive to provide clear explanations of the uncertainty of model structure and outputs. Doing so will improve the applicability of models and clarify their limitations when used to inform real-world public health policy decisions.

  11. 10 CFR 140.91 - Appendix A-Form of nuclear energy liability policy for facilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Appendix A-Form of nuclear energy liability policy for facilities. 140.91 Section 140.91 Energy NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION (CONTINUED) FINANCIAL PROTECTION... other matter not within the Commission's statutory jurisdiction under the Atomic Energy Act. Nuclear...

  12. Does climate policy make the EU economy more resilient to oil price rises? A CGE analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maisonnave, Hélène; Pycroft, Jonathan; Saveyn, Bert; Ciscar, Juan-Carlos

    2012-01-01

    The European Union has committed itself to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 20% in 2020 compared with 1990 levels. This paper investigates whether this policy has an additional benefit in terms of economic resilience by protecting the EU from the macroeconomic consequences due to an oil price rise. We use the GEM-E3 computable general equilibrium model to analyse the results of three scenarios. The first one refers to the impact of an increase in the oil price. The second scenario analyses the European climate policy and the third scenario analyses the oil price rise when the European climate policy is implemented. Unilateral EU climate policy implies a cost on the EU of around 1.0% of GDP. An oil price rise in the presence of EU climate policy does imply an additional cost on the EU of 1.5% of GDP (making a total loss of 2.5% of GDP), but this is less than the 2.2% of GDP that the EU would lose from the oil price rise in the absence of climate policy. This is evidence that even unilateral climate policy does offer some economic protection for the EU.

  13. An integrated DEA-COLS-SFA algorithm for optimization and policy making of electricity distribution units

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Azadeh, A.; Ghaderi, S.F.; Omrani, H.; Eivazy, H.

    2009-01-01

    This paper presents an integrated data envelopment analysis (DEA)-corrected ordinary least squares (COLS)-stochastic frontier analysis (SFA)-principal component analysis (PCA)-numerical taxonomy (NT) algorithm for performance assessment, optimization and policy making of electricity distribution units. Previous studies have generally used input-output DEA models for benchmarking and evaluation of electricity distribution units. However, this study proposes an integrated flexible approach to measure the rank and choose the best version of the DEA method for optimization and policy making purposes. It covers both static and dynamic aspects of information environment due to involvement of SFA which is finally compared with the best DEA model through the Spearman correlation technique. The integrated approach would yield in improved ranking and optimization of electricity distribution systems. To illustrate the usability and reliability of the proposed algorithm, 38 electricity distribution units in Iran have been considered, ranked and optimized by the proposed algorithm of this study.

  14. Policy voting, projection, and persuasion: an application of balance theory to electoral behavior

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Visser, Max; Visser, Max

    1994-01-01

    In this article differences between rational, policy-based, and rationalized voting are discussed, and it is argued that these forms of electoral decision making are not properly analyzed in existing electoral studies. Policy voting, persuasion, and projection are then redefined as three possible

  15. The Boardroom Perspective: How Does Energy Efficiency Policy Influence Decision Making in Industry?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2011-07-01

    This report delves into the major factors or driving forces that decision makers within a large industrial company take into account when deciding to make new investments - the so-called {sup b}oardroom perspective{sup .} The rationale for an individual company making an investment that will reduce energy consumption varies considerably and depends on a range of factors. This report explores those factors that influence companies to invest in energy savings and proposes a methodology to evaluate the effectiveness of a country's energy efficiency and greenhouse gas mitigation policies mix from this boardroom perspective. This paper is the product of collaboration between the IEA and the Institute of Industrial Productivity (IIP).

  16. An endogenous Taylor condition in an endogenous growth monetary policy model

    OpenAIRE

    Le, Mai Vo; Gillman, Max; Minford, Patrick

    2007-01-01

    The paper derives a Taylor condition as part of the agent's equilibrium behavior in an endogenous growth monetary economy. It shows the assumptions necessary to make it almost identical to the original Taylor rule, and that it can interchangably take a money supply growth rate form. From the money supply form, simple policy experiments are conducted. A full central bank policy model is derived that includes the Taylor condition along with equations comparable to the standard aggregate-demand/...

  17. Development and case study of a science-based software platform to support policy making on air quality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Yun; Lao, Yanwen; Jang, Carey; Lin, Chen-Jen; Xing, Jia; Wang, Shuxiao; Fu, Joshua S; Deng, Shuang; Xie, Junping; Long, Shicheng

    2015-01-01

    This article describes the development and implementations of a novel software platform that supports real-time, science-based policy making on air quality through a user-friendly interface. The software, RSM-VAT, uses a response surface modeling (RSM) methodology and serves as a visualization and analysis tool (VAT) for three-dimensional air quality data obtained by atmospheric models. The software features a number of powerful and intuitive data visualization functions for illustrating the complex nonlinear relationship between emission reductions and air quality benefits. The case study of contiguous U.S. demonstrates that the enhanced RSM-VAT is capable of reproducing the air quality model results with Normalized Mean Bias quality policy making in near real time. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  18. Public Marketing: An Alternative Policy Decision-Making Idea for Small Cities. Community Development Research Series.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meyers, James; And Others

    The concept of public marketing presents a strategy for the systems approach to community development that would facilitate the community decision making process via improved communication. Basic aspects of the social marketing process include: (1) product policy; (2) channels of distribution; (3) pricing (perceived price vs quality and quantity…

  19. Demographic Information Sources and Utilization as Determinants of Educational Policy Making in South Western Nigeria

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gbadamosi, Belau Olatunde

    2013-01-01

    The paper examines demographic information sources and utilization as determinants of educational policy making in South West Nigeria. Using validated and structured questionnaire, the study population of 398 officers in the ministries of education in the affected states were enumerated. The study establishes population census, vital registration,…

  20. Considerations of net present value in policy making regarding diagnostic and therapeutic technologies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Califf, Robert M; Rasiel, Emma B; Schulman, Kevin A

    2008-11-01

    The pharmaceutical and medical device industries function in a business environment in which shareholders expect companies to optimize profit within legal and ethical standards. A fundamental tool used to optimize decision making is the net present value calculation, which estimates the current value of cash flows relating to an investment. We examined 3 prototypical research investment decisions that have been the source of public scrutiny to illustrate how policy decisions can be better understood when their impact on societally desirable investments by industry are viewed from the standpoint of their impact on net present value. In the case of direct, comparative clinical trials, a simple net present value calculation provides insight into why companies eschew such investments. In the case of pediatric clinical trials, the Pediatric Extension Rule changed the net present value calculation from unattractive to potentially very attractive by allowing patent extensions; thus, the dramatic increase in pediatric clinical trials can be explained by the financial return on investment. In the case of products for small markets, the fixed costs of development make this option financially unattractive. Policy decisions can be better understood when their impact on societally desirable investments by the pharmaceutical and medical device industries are viewed from the standpoint of their impact on net present value.

  1. A qualitative study of nulliparous women's decision making on mode of delivery under China's two-child policy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gu, Chunyi; Zhu, Xinli; Ding, Yan; Setterberg Simone; Wang, Xiaojiao; Tao, Hua; Zhang, Yu

    2018-07-01

    To explore nulliparous women's perceptions of decision making regarding mode of delivery under China's two-child policy. Qualitative descriptive design with in-depth semi-structured interviews. Postnatal wards at a tertiary specialized women's hospital in Shanghai, China. 21 nulliparous women 2-3 days postpartum were purposively sampled until data saturation. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted between October 8th, 2015 and January 31st, 2016. Two overarching descriptive categories were identified: (1) women's decision-making process: stability versus variability, and (2) factors affecting decision making: variety versus interactivity. Four key themes emerged from each category: (1) initial decision making with certainty: anticipated trial of labour, failed trial of labour, 'shy away' and compromise, anticipated caesarean delivery; (2) initial decision making with uncertainty: anticipated trial of labour, failed trial of labour, 'shy away' and compromise; (3) internal factors affecting decision making: knowledge and attitude, and childbirth self-efficacy; and (4) external factors affecting decision making: social support, and the situational environment. At the initial period of China's two-child policy, nulliparous women have perceived their decision-making process regarding mode of delivery as one with complexity and uncertainty, influenced by both internal and external factors. This may have implications for the obstetric setting to develop a well-designed decision support system for pregnant women during the entire pregnancy periods. And it is recommended that care providers should assess women's preferences for mode of delivery from early pregnancy and provide adequate perinatal support and continuity of care for them. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. The didn't pilot the Welfare State: on evidence and temporality in policy-making

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vohnsen, Nina Holm

    for a discussion a key civil servants lament that “they did not pilot the welfare state” the paper moves on to argue that the real potential of a pilot lies not in its capacity to predict and prepare for policy outcome but in its capacity to prototype political alliances which might eventually do other work.......This paper examines the early stages of planning for a possible pilot on Universal Basic Income in Fife, Scotland. It builds on interviews with key stakeholders in the process and a number of internal and public documents related to the case. It focuses the analysis on a particular moment...... in the development of the pilot and discusses the idea of ‘piloting’, which in today’s policy-making seems to be an indispensable stage preceding radically new policy. Yet it seems there is a fundamental mismatch between ‘a pilot’ and the innovative work such are often called upon to do. Taking as is starting point...

  3. The New Cannabis Policy Taxonomy on APIS: Making Sense of the Cannabis Policy Universe.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klitzner, Michael D; Thomas, Sue; Schuler, Jonathan; Hilton, Michael; Mosher, James

    2017-06-01

    The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism's Alcohol Policy Information System (APIS) is, for the first time, adding legal data pertaining to recreational cannabis use to its current offerings on alcohol policy. Now that Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and the District of Columbia have legalized aspects of recreational cannabis, and more states are considering it, there is an urgency to provide high-quality, multi-dimensional legal data to the public health community. This article introduces the Cannabis Policy Taxonomy recently posted on APIS, and explores its theoretical and empirical contributions to the substance abuse literature and its potential for use in policy research. We also present results of interviews with public health experts in alcohol and cannabis policy, which sought to determine the most important variables to address in the initial release of cannabis policy data. From this process, we found that pricing controls emerged as the variable singled out by the largest number of experts. This analysis points to a host of vital policies that are of increasing importance to public health policy scholars and their current and future research.

  4. EU internal energy market policy: new dynamics in the Brussels policy game?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Eikeland, Per Ove

    2008-11-15

    The paper analyses the September 2007 European Commission proposal for a third internal energy policy package. It asks if the proposal reflected fundamental changes in the Brussels policy game from 2003, when the existing legislation had been adopted. A multi-level governance approach has inspired this check of alternative propositions. We find that the proposal was primarily the result of greater will on the part of the Commission to pressure unwilling member-state governments. There is also strong evidence that the Commission pursued a new form of multi-level game, pressing non-state agents directly to change the political game at the national level. Our study finally discusses whether different network approaches would add explanatory power to our study, acknowledging that agents working in larger networks could have greater thrust on the Commission. The main conclusion is that EU policy networks have become less stable and more issue-specific, making policy predictions less certain than before. (author).refs.,tab

  5. PRESENTATION OF STATE SUPPORT (GRANTS IN ACCOUNTING POLICY OF POLAND

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    K. Zuk

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Since admission of Poland to the European Union Polish enterprises can make use of the state support in various forms including support in investments, investigations and developments, consulting, higher qualification, financing of exhibition participation, salary additional payments for invalid workers, repayment of loan portions. The purpose of the given publication is to make an analysis of accounting method for state support which is granted for an organization within the frameworks of the accounting policy depending on the obtained grants.Enterprises must select themselves a grant accounting form as in account books so while presenting financial reporting and these accounting and reporting forms must be reflected in the enterprise policy of accounting. The enterprise accounting policy indicates principles for creation of reserves and conditional obligations related with grants. Enterprises can use some simplifications and they can exclude creation of reserves and withhold conditional obligations concerning the grants if these measures are considered as insignificant.In accordance with the enterprise accounting policy account books must contain recordings on grant provision when a grant is transferred to the bank account or when an enterprise receives a written notice confirming final decision about payments from a financing institution. The accounting policy must determine principles of bank operation break-up on grant accounts and security system of data and files including accounting documents, accounts and other documents related to the obtained grant and the required archivation term

  6. Towards Agents for Policy Making

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dignum, F.P.M.; Dignum, V.; Jonker, C.M.

    2008-01-01

    The process of introducing new public policies is a complex one in the sense that the behavior of society at the macro-level depends directly on the individual behavior of the people in that society and ongoing dynamics of the environment. It is at the micro-level that change is initiated, that

  7. Making the link: climate policy and the reform of the UK construction industry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sorrell, Steve

    2003-01-01

    This paper explores the barriers to energy efficiency in the construction of non-domestic buildings in the UK. The source of the barriers is argued to lie in the organisation of the construction industry, including the linear design process, the reliance on cost-based competitive tendering and the incentives placed upon different actors. The consequences include oversizing of equipment, reduced quality, neglect of whole life costs and lack of integrated design. Each of these problems can usefully be interpreted using concepts from the new institutional economics. While the barriers are well known to construction industry specialists, they are relatively neglected in the academic literature on energy policy. Furthermore, conventional policy measures such as building regulations leave these barriers largely untouched. The UK construction industry is currently undergoing a series of reforms which aim to change the relationship between different actors and to achieve improvements in product quality and productivity. While these reforms have the potential to address many of the barriers, the reform agenda makes practically no reference to sustainability. This paper argues that climate policy objectives must be integrated into the reform agenda if the UK is to begin the transition to a low carbon built environment

  8. An Examination of the Perceived Importance and Skills Related to Policies and Policy Making Among State Public Health Injury Prevention Staff.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liller, Karen D; Chapple-McGruder, Theresa; Castrucci, Brian; Wingate, Martha Slay; Hilson, Renata; Mendez, Dara; Cilenti, Dorothy; Raskind, Ilana

    The purpose of this research is to use the Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey to assess in greater detail state injury prevention staff perceptions of policy development and related skills and their awareness and perception of "Health in All Policies" (HiAP). The Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey gauged public health practitioners' perspectives on workplace environment, job satisfaction, national trends, and training needs, and gathered demographics on the workforce. This study utilizes data from the state health agency frame only, focusing solely on those permanently employed, central office staff in injury prevention. Respondents were sampled from 5 paired Health and Human Services regions. Approximately 25 000 invitations were sent to central office employees. The response rate was 46% (n = 10 246). The analysis in this article includes only injury prevention employees with programmatic roles, excluding clerical and custodial staff, providing us with a total of 97 respondents. When weighted, this resulted in a weighted population size of 365 injury prevention workers. The main outcome measures include demographics, responses to understanding of and skill levels related to policy development, and perceptions of HiAP public health trend. State injury prevention workers reported lower policy-making skill but had an overall appreciation of the importance of policies. In general, state injury prevention workers heard of HiAP, thought there should be more emphasis on it, but did not think that HiAP would have an impact on their day-to-day work. Efforts are needed for all state injury prevention workers to become better skilled in policy development, implementation, and evaluation in order to become stronger injury prevention advocates and role models.

  9. Policy Implementation Of Poverty Reduction In The District Kutai Kartanegara In East Kalimantan Province

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Saipul

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT In the implementation of poverty reduction policies of Kutai Kartanegara regency factual research communication in the form of co-ordination Unit SKPD with the Local Government and Regional Work Unit is not maximized so that the Governments poverty reduction of Kutai Kartanegara Regency gives not optimal result as a concept in policy implementation by Goggin 1990 the similarity perception in implementing the policy is an essential condition for the successful implementation of the policy along with the division of functions and roles in the bureaucratic structure that implements public policy should be run and the executor implementor implementation of government policies either parallel or multilevel should make shapes patterns of certain communications in order to facilitate in making the relationship of the parties involved in the implementation of government policy.

  10. Policy-Making in Unemployment Services:

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Caswell, Dorte; Høybye-Mortensen, Matilde

    The development of paternalist policies, such as the increase of punitive methods in welfare services, has been identified and analysed internationally (Mead, 1998; Soss et al., 2011a). The combination of these with an emphasis on instruments such as competition and performance measurement has be...... are categorised as having problems besides unemployment (Caswell et al., 2011)....

  11. Drug policy constellations: A Habermasian approach for understanding English drug policy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stevens, Alex; Zampini, Giulia Federica

    2018-07-01

    It is increasingly accepted that a view of policy as a rational process of fitting evidence-based means to rationally justified ends is inadequate for understanding the actual processes of drug policy making. We aim to provide a better description and explanation of recent English drug policy decisions. We develop the policy constellation concept from the work of Habermas, in dialogue with data from two contemporary debates in English policy; on decriminalisation of drug possession and on recovery in drug treatment. We collect data on these debates through long-term participant observation, stakeholder interviews (n = 15) and documentary analysis. We show the importance of social asymmetries in power in enabling structurally advantaged groups to achieve the institutionalisation of their moral preferences as well as the reproduction of their social and economic power through the deployment of policies that reflect their material interests and normative beliefs. The most influential actors in English drug policy come together in a 'medico-penal constellation', in which the aims and practices of public health and social control overlap. Formal decriminalisation of possession has not occurred, despite the efforts of members of a challenging constellation which supports it. Recovery was put forward as the aim of drug treatment by members of a more powerfully connected constellation. It has been absorbed into the practice of 'recovery-oriented' drug treatment in a way that maintains the power of public health professionals to determine the form of treatment. Actors who share interests and norms come together in policy constellations. Strategic action within and between constellations creates policies that may not take the form that was intended by any individual actor. These policies do not result from purely rational deliberation, but are produced through 'systematically distorted communication'. They enable the most structurally favoured actors to institutionalise

  12. Presentation and Persuasion: The Meaning of Evidence in Irish Green Infrastructure Policy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lennon, Mick

    2014-01-01

    This paper examines how meaning making influences the content and currency of the evidence used to shape and support policy proposals. It does this by answering three linked questions: (1) How does context influence the forms of evidence employed in policy advocacy? (2) What practices are initiated by reference to the perceived need for evidence…

  13. Policy framework and legal forms of social enterprise in Central and Eastern Europe

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Staicu Daniela

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available In Central and Eastern European countries, the transition to a market economy stimulated civil society initiatives that in the past had been either discouraged or had become part of the Communist state system, and opened new pathways to entrepreneurial initiatives. The 1990s was an open window to the creation of a significant number of non-profit organizations, including the pioneering establishment of the first social enterprises. When these countries became members of the European Union, the process of legal institutionalization of social enterprises started to be discussed and has taken place at various stages. The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive overview of the policy frameworks and the legal forms and of social enterprises in eight countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia. The research seeks to determine the extent to which the development of national policy frameworks influences the development of legal forms under which social enterprises operate. For the purpose of this analysis, data were collected from relevant to this subject country reports, studies, laws released between 2009 and 2016. The research shows that European social enterprises are often ‘hidden’ among existing legal forms either as associations and foundations with commercial activities, cooperatives serving general or collective interests and mainstream enterprises pursuing an explicit and primary social aim. Further research needs to be done to determine the potential for growth of entities operating as associations and foundations with commercial activities. Furthermore, the research concluded that the countries with specific laws on social entrepreneurship generate 61 % of the social economy activity in Central and Eastern European countries. Further research needs to be done to determine if introducing a social enterprise specific legal form, will stimulate the development of the

  14. GM ethical decision making in practice

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Donald Bruce

    2002-09-01

    Full Text Available Celia Deane-Drummond's case for wisdom as an approach to ethical decision making and her doubts about case-oriented methodology are critiqued with reference to the SRT Project's Engineering Genesis study. Its approach is explored in practical decisions on various real life examples of genetic modification in crops and animals. It involved both intrinsic and consequential approaches, and identified key value positions behind different policies and stakeholders. The paper also clarifies the relationship between reactive (cost-benefit and precautionary risk assessment, explaining their strengths and limitations, and the role of underlying values in both forms of risk decision making.

  15. A tool for rapid assessment of erosion risk to support decision-making and policy development at the Ngenge watershed in Uganda

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mutekanga, F.P.; Visser, S.M.; Stroosnijder, L.

    2010-01-01

    This study tests a rapid, user-friendly method for assessing changes in erosion risk, which yields information to aid policy development and decision-making for sustainable natural resources management. There is currently a lack of timely, up-to-date and current information to support policy

  16. Women's shelters in Turkey: a qualitative study on shortcomings of policy making and implementation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diner, Cagla; Toktaş, Şule

    2013-03-01

    Despite a long history of women's movements and policy-making efforts to ameliorate women's status in Turkey, the number and quality of women's shelters are far from sufficient. This article aims to reveal the shortcomings of shelter policy through the lens of those "at work" on this important social issue using a qualitative research design. Forty semistructured in-depth interviews were conducted with municipal administrative officials, state social workers, and employees of civil society organizations that run shelters. The research findings reveal that there is a lack of effective authority that has the willpower to combat violence against women, and that it is difficult to keep shelters secure in a patriarchal society away from the male gaze. Furthermore, results indicate that there has been an erosion of social services provided by the state.

  17. U.S. Trade and Investment Policy Making Process

    Science.gov (United States)

    Overall, EPA’s trade and environment policy organization is designed to create a flexible and collaborative mechanism so that EPA can participate fully and effectively in the development and implementation of U.S. trade and environment policy.

  18. Designing evaluation studies to optimally inform policy: what factors do policy-makers in China consider when making resource allocation decisions on healthcare worker training programmes?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Shishi; Legido-Quigley, Helena; Spencer, Julia; Coker, Richard James; Khan, Mishal Sameer

    2018-02-23

    In light of the gap in evidence to inform future resource allocation decisions about healthcare provider (HCP) training in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and the considerable donor investments being made towards training interventions, evaluation studies that are optimally designed to inform local policy-makers are needed. The aim of our study is to understand what features of HCP training evaluation studies are important for decision-making by policy-makers in LMICs. We investigate the extent to which evaluations based on the widely used Kirkpatrick model - focusing on direct outcomes of training, namely reaction of trainees, learning, behaviour change and improvements in programmatic health indicators - align with policy-makers' evidence needs for resource allocation decisions. We use China as a case study where resource allocation decisions about potential scale-up (using domestic funding) are being made about an externally funded pilot HCP training programme. Qualitative data were collected from high-level officials involved in resource allocation at the national and provincial level in China through ten face-to-face, in-depth interviews and two focus group discussions consisting of ten participants each. Data were analysed manually using an interpretive thematic analysis approach. Our study indicates that Chinese officials not only consider information about the direct outcomes of a training programme, as captured in the Kirkpatrick model, but also need information on the resources required to implement the training, the wider or indirect impacts of training, and the sustainability and scalability to other settings within the country. In addition to considering findings presented in evaluation studies, we found that Chinese policy-makers pay close attention to whether the evaluations were robust and to the composition of the evaluation team. Our qualitative study indicates that training programme evaluations that focus narrowly on direct training

  19. The Academic Game. A Simulation of Policy-Making in a University For 8 to 20 Players.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jaques, David

    The Academic Game, considered a valuable exercise for academics and administrators in investigating some of the problems of decision-making and possible ways of facilitating organizational decisions, is described. The major objective of the game is to achieve on agreed promotion policy. The roles and organization structure are designed to ensure…

  20. Forces for Failure and Genocide: The Plantation Model of Urban Educational Policy Making in St. Louis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, Bruce Anthony

    2005-01-01

    This article is about policy decision making and racial politics in the St. Louis, Missouri, school district. From a research standpoint, traditional policymaking models are inadequate for explaining the evolution of school reform events in St. Louis over the past year. Teachers, principals, school staff, and parents perceive themselves to be…

  1. Forming Social Partnership Policy in Vocational Training of Service Sector Specialists in Germany and Austria

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kredenets, Nadiya

    2016-01-01

    The article deals with the problem of forming social partnership policy in vocational training of service sector specialists in Germany and Austria. The foreign and domestic pedagogical experience in establishing an effective system of social partnership in vocational education has been analyzed. The author has considered main factors of social…

  2. Is Shared Decision Making for End-of-Life Decisions Associated With Better Outcomes as Compared to Other Forms of Decision Making? A Systematic Literature Review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Negin Hajizadeh MD, MPH

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Background: Whether shared decision making (SDM has been evaluated for end-of-life (EOL decisions as compared to other forms of decision making has not been studied. Purpose: To summarize the evidence on SDM being associated with better outcomes for EOL decision making, as compared to other forms of decision making. Data Sources: PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and CINAHL databases were searched through April 2014. Study Selection: Studies were selected that evaluated SDM, compared to any other decision making style, for an EOL decision. Data Extraction: Components of SDM tested, comparators to SDM, EOL decision being assessed, and outcomes measured. Data Synthesis: Seven studies met the inclusion criteria (three experimental and four observational studies. Results were analyzed using narrative synthesis. All three experimental studies compared SDM interventions to usual care. The four observational studies compared SDM to doctor-controlled decision making, or reported the correlation between level of SDM and outcomes. Components of SDM specified in each study differed widely, but the component most frequently included was presenting information on the risks/benefits of treatment choices (five of seven studies. The outcome most frequently measured was communication, although with different measurement tools. Other outcomes included decisional conflict, trust, satisfaction, and “quality of dying.” Limitations: We could not analyze the strength of evidence for a given outcome due to heterogeneity in the outcomes reported and measurement tools. Conclusions: There is insufficient evidence supporting SDM being associated with improved outcomes for EOL decisions as opposed to other forms of decision making. Future studies should describe which components of SDM are being tested, outline the comparator decision making style, and use validated tools to measure outcomes.

  3. Economic development, climate and values: making policy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stern, Nicholas

    2015-08-07

    The two defining challenges of this century are overcoming poverty and managing the risks of climate change. Over the past 10 years, we have learned much about how to tackle them together from ideas on economic development and public policy. My own work in these areas over four decades as an academic and as a policy adviser in universities and international financial institutions has focused on how the investment environment and the empowerment of people can change lives and livelihoods. The application of insights from economic development and public policy to climate change requires rigorous analysis of issues such as discounting, modelling the risks of unmanaged climate change, climate policy targets and estimates of the costs of mitigation. The latest research and results show that the case for avoiding the risks of dangerous climate change through the transition to low-carbon economic development and growth is still stronger than when the Stern Review was published. This is partly because of evidence that some of the impacts of climate change are happening more quickly than originally expected, and because of remarkable advances in technologies, such as solar power. Nevertheless, significant hurdles remain in securing the international cooperation required to avoid dangerous climate change, not least because of disagreements and misunderstandings about key issues, such as ethics and equity. © 2015 The Author(s).

  4. Social Science Research Findings and Educational Policy Dilemmas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Steven I. Miller

    2000-01-01

    Full Text Available The article attempts to raise several distinctions regarding the presumed relationship of social science research findings to social policy making. The distinctions are made using Glymour's critique of the Bell Curve. An argument is made that (1 social science models and research findings are largely irrelevant to the actual concerns of policy makers and (2 what is relevant, but overlooked by Glymour, is how ideological factors mediate the process. The forms that ideological mediation may take are indicated.

  5. Economic development, climate and values: making policy

    OpenAIRE

    Stern, Nicholas

    2015-01-01

    The two defining challenges of this century are overcoming poverty and managing the risks of climate change. Over the past 10 years, we have learned much about how to tackle them together from ideas on economic development and public policy. My own work in these areas over four decades as an academic and as a policy adviser in universities and international financial institutions has focused on how the investment environment and the empowerment of people can change lives and livelihoods. The ...

  6. CBA and Precaution: Policy-Making about Emerging Technologies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaebnick, Gregory E; Gusmano, Michael K

    2018-01-01

    In the technology assessment literature, the leading alternative to CBA-like methods is usually held to be precaution, which is understood in various ways but is always about making decisions under conditions of uncertainty. Under such conditions, proponents of precaution commonly hold, a straightforward tallying of potential outcomes does not seem possible. Since CBA aims to tally up outcomes to determine which outcome would produce the greatest public benefit, precaution begins to look like, not just an alternative to CBA, but an incompatible alternative. Nonetheless, some of the better-known formulations of a precautionary principle expressly call for combining precaution with assessment of costs and benefits. This essay examines the possible intersection of precaution and CBA. It argues that a moderate kind of CBA is a necessary part of a moderate kind of precaution. The existing proposals for integrating CBA and precaution start with an assumption that the integrative task consists in combining decision tools that generate (contrasting) substantive guidance. An alternative approach, explored here, starts with the idea that precaution is not a decision-generating tool. Rather, it is a way of organizing the thinking that leads eventually to substantive conclusions. The appropriate policy response is reached not by applying a principle but by studying the situation-the proposed action and the problem it is meant to address-and developing recommendations tailored to it. What makes the thinking precautionary is that it emphasizes certain questions-about risk, uncertainty, and values-that CBA tends to suppress. So understood, precaution may well slow the science but is not intrinsically opposed to science or innovation. It can be understood, in fact, as continuous with the science because the contextual understanding of the science and the problems it is meant to address would emerge-in part-from a close engagement with the science. © 2018 The Hastings Center.

  7. How Instructional Coaches Support Data-Driven Decision Making: Policy Implementation and Effects in Florida Middle Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marsh, Julie A.; McCombs, Jennifer Sloan; Martorell, Francisco

    2010-01-01

    This article examines the convergence of two popular school improvement policies: instructional coaching and data-driven decision making (DDDM). Drawing on a mixed methods study of a statewide reading coach program in Florida middle schools, the article examines how coaches support DDDM and how this support relates to student and teacher outcomes.…

  8. Policy processes and decision making of environmental policy in Great Britain and France. Vol. 1

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schreiber, H.

    1991-01-01

    Research of central aspects of British environmental policy. This report concentrates on the role of the constitutional system of environmental policy, on the evaluation of a growing of 'Green Policy' in Great Britain, on the central problems of environmental policy and finally on the role of international environmental policy for Great Britain and Great Britain's role in international environmental activities. Beyond that this report contains a presentation of the state of the British environment (Pollution: Air, Water, Waste, Soil; Radioactivity and Noise). (orig.) With 205 refs., 18 tabs., 14 figs [de

  9. The Australian government's review of positron emission tomography: evidence-based policy-making in action.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ware, Robert E; Francis, Hilton W; Read, Kenneth E

    2004-06-21

    The Commonwealth Government constituted the Medicare Services Advisory Committee (MSAC) to implement its commitment to entrench the principles of evidence-based medicine in Australian clinical practice. With its recent review of positron emission tomography (PETReview), the Commonwealth intervened in an established MSAC process, and sanctioned the stated objective to restrict expenditure on the technology. In our opinion: The evaluation of evidence by PETReview was fundamentally compromised by a failure to meet the terms of reference, poor science, poor process and unique decision-making benchmarks. By accepting the recommendations of PETReview, the Commonwealth is propagating information which is not of the highest quality. The use of inferior-quality information for decision-making by doctors, patients and policy-makers is likely to harm rather than enhance healthcare outcomes.

  10. The Negative Impact of Legislation Pitfalls on Meaningful Public Participation, Efficient Policy-Making and Effective Governance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Oana ALMĂȘAN

    2009-02-01

    Full Text Available This article focuses on emphasizing howa variety of apparently irrelevant legislationimperfections may induce significant misunderstandingsregarding the real spirit of democraticgovernance, corrupting the practice of activecitizenship in the policy-making processes anddepriving the Romanian public administration ofan important and valuable instrument for efficientgovernance and implementation of sustainabledecisions. The authors chose to analyze aspectsof the related legislation, as it represents afundamental element needed for the developmentof active citizenship. This article is the result of alarger on-going research on the phenomena ofpublic participation and policy dialogue that aimsto provide a more accurate understanding ofactive citizenship mechanisms and to investigatethe existence of a deliberative conscience at thelevel of the Romanian society.

  11. Make in India and Challenges before Education Policy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Misra, Satya Narayan; Ghadai, Sanjaya Ku.

    2015-01-01

    Economic development, inclusive growth and high employability are significantly linked to education policy of a country. Beginning with Kothari Commission (1966) with its emphasis on science & technology and research to National Policy on Education (1986), several committees during the last decade have advocated for greater foreign…

  12. Dial D for Distraction: The Making and Breaking of Cell Phone Policies in the College Classroom

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berry, Michael J.; Westfall, Aubrey

    2015-01-01

    Cell phones are nearly ubiquitous in the college classroom. This study asks two primary questions regarding the making and breaking of in-class cell phone policies. In what manner are students using their phones and how can faculty members minimize the potential for phone-related distractions? To answer these questions we analyze original survey…

  13. The influence of knowledge on the public policy making process: the case of renewable energies in Midi Pyrenees

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Behar, L.

    2012-01-01

    Even though energy policy makers were novices when wind power was introduced in the Midi Pyrenees region, the situation had changed when the photovoltaic was implemented. The new challenges policy makers experimented about the wind power and their opponents, the wood energy and the primacy of the wood's industrials, the photovoltaic and the preservation of the agricultural lands, fostered their learning and gradually lead them to change their perception of inherent issues. The coalitions forged between technical experts and policy makers unbind along the progressive empowerment of the formers. Shared between different forms of knowledge, however, the resources needed to implement renewable energies projects cannot be reduced to the technical dimension. Local knowledge and engineering knowledge increasingly compete with expert knowledge. This evolution corresponds to a policy arrangement change. Since the dynamic but also the elements that compose this political system change, a new reality gradually emerges. This whole process will be the main concern of this thesis. We will finally notice that there are some differences between the implementation of these renewable energies among the territories but also among the three forms of renewable energies we analyze. This means that although renewable energy policy are based on interactions between actors' resources, discourse and rules, they also emerge from the action of intermediates actors, and from the characteristic of each territories in which they are implemented. (author)

  14. Health policy making under information constraints: an evaluation of the policy responses to the economic crisis in Greece.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goranitis, Ilias; Siskou, Olga; Liaropoulos, Lycourgos

    2014-09-01

    Cost consolidation in the highly fragmented and inefficient Greek health care system was necessary. However, policies introduced were partly formed in a context of insufficient information. Expenditure data from a consumption point of view were lacking and the depth of the political and structural problems was of unknown magnitude to the supervisory authorities. Drawing upon relevant literature and evidence from the newly implemented OECD System of Health Accounts, the paper evaluates the health policy responses to the economic crisis in Greece. The discussion and recommendations are also of interest to other countries where data sources are not reliable or decisions are based on preliminary data and projections. Between 2009 and 2012, across-the-board cuts have resulted in a decline in public health expenditure for inpatient care by 8.6%, for pharmaceuticals by 42.3% and for outpatient care by 34.6%. Further cuts are expected from the ongoing reforms but more structural changes are needed. Cost-containment was not well targeted and expenditure cuts were not always addressed to the real reasons of the pre-crisis cost explosion. Policy responses were restricted to quick and easy fiscal adjustment, ignoring the need for substantial structural reforms or individuals' right to access health care irrespective of their financial capacity. Developing appropriate information infrastructure, restructuring and consolidating the hospital sector and moving toward a tax-based national health insurance could offer valuable benefits to the system. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Children's Participation in Decision-Making in the Philippines: Understanding the Attitudes of Policy-Makers and Service Providers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bessell, Sharon

    2009-01-01

    This article explores the ideas about children's participation in decision-making held by government officials and non-government representatives engaged in promoting children's participation in the Philippines. It suggests that the ideas that policy-makers and service deliverers hold about children's participation are heterogeneous, diverse and…

  16. Energy policies of IEA countries. Sweden 1996 review

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1996-01-01

    This IEA report provides a comprehensive, in-depth assessment of the energy policies of Sweden, including recommendations on future policy developments. Electricity is a focal point of Sweden's energy policy. After a shift in the energy mix to favour electricity in the early 1970's, nuclear and hydro power each make up about half of the electricity supply. Two key events have occurred since then: the 1980 referendum, which calls for the phase-out of all nuclear plants by 2010; the recent restructuring and liberalization of the electricity sector with the creation of a Nordic electricity market. In this context, the report argues the case for making a decision now on the nuclear issue to clarify Sweden's electricity future. Other key issues highlighted in the report include Sweden's use of economic policy instruments such as a carbon tax to achieve energy and environment goals, and the adequacy and effectiveness of government efforts to promote biofuels and energy efficiency. This report forms part of a series of periodic in-depth reviews conducted and discussed by the IEA Member countries on a four-year cycle. Short reviews of energy policy developments in all twenty-three Member countries are published annually in Energy Policies of IEA Countries. (author). 13 figs., 9 tabs., 4 appends

  17. Comparison of not for resuscitation (NFR) forms across five Victorian health services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Levinson, M; Mills, A; Hutchinson, A M; Heriot, G; Stephenson, G; Gellie, A

    2014-07-01

    Within Australian hospitals, cardiac and respiratory arrests result in a resuscitation attempt unless the patient is documented as not for resuscitation. To examine the consistency of policies and documentation for withholding in-hospital resuscitation across health services. An observational, qualitative review of hospital policy and documentation was conducted in June 2013 in three public and two private sector hospitals in metropolitan Melbourne. Not for resuscitation (NFR) forms were evaluated for physical characteristics, content, authorisation and decision-making. Hospital policies were coded for alerts, definition of futility and burden of treatment and management of discussions and dissent. There was a lack of standardisation, with each site using its own unique NFR form and accompanying site-specific policies. Differences were found in who could authorise the decision, what was included on the form, the role of patients and families, and how discussions were managed and dissent resolved. Futility and burden of treatment were not defined independently. These inconsistencies across sites contribute to a lack of clarity regarding the decision to withhold resuscitation, and have implications for staff employed across multiple hospitals. NFR forms should be reviewed and standardised so as to be clear, uniform and consistent with the legislative framework. We propose a two-stage process of documentation. Stage 1 facilitates discussion of patient-specific goals of care and consideration of limitations of treatment. Stage 2 serves to communicate a NFR order. Decisions to withhold resuscitation are inherently complex but could be aided by separating the decision-making process from the communication of the decision, resulting in improved end-of-life care. © 2014 The Authors; Internal Medicine Journal © 2014 Royal Australasian College of Physicians.

  18. Sustainability Policy and Environmental Policy

    OpenAIRE

    John C. V. Pezzey

    2001-01-01

    A theoretical, representative agent economy with a depletable resource stock, polluting emissions and productive capital is used to contrast environmental policy, which internalises externalised environmental values, with sustainability policy, which achieves some form of intergenerational equity. The obvious environmental policy comprises an emissions tax and a resource stock subsidy, each equal to the respective external cost or benefit. Sustainability policy comprises an incentive affectin...

  19. Embedding health policy and systems research into decision-making processes in low- and middle-income countries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koon, Adam D; Rao, Krishna D; Tran, Nhan T; Ghaffar, Abdul

    2013-08-08

    Attention is increasingly directed to bridging the gap between the production of knowledge and its use for health decision-making in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). An important and underdeveloped area of health policy and systems research (HPSR) is the organization of this process. Drawing from an interdisciplinary conception of embeddedness, a literature review was conducted to identify examples of embedded HPSR used to inform decision-making in LMICs. The results of the literature review were organized according to the World Health Organization's Building Blocks Framework. Next, a conceptual model was created to illustrate the arrangement of organizations that produce embedded HPSR and the characteristics that facilitate its uptake into the arena of decision-making. We found that multiple forces converge to create context-specific pathways through which evidence enters into decision-making. Depending on the decision under consideration, the literature indicates that decision-makers may call upon an intricate combination of actors for sourcing HPSR. While proximity to decision-making does have advantages, it is not the position of the organization within the network, but rather the qualities the organization possesses, that enable it to be embedded. Our findings suggest that four qualities influence embeddedness: reputation, capacity, quality of connections to decision-makers, and quantity of connections to decision-makers and others. In addition to this, the policy environment (e.g. the presence of legislation governing the use of HPSR, presence of strong civil society, etc.) strongly influences uptake. Through this conceptual model, we can understand which conditions are likely to enhance uptake of HPSR in LMIC health systems. This raises several important considerations for decision-makers and researchers about the arrangement and interaction of evidence-generating organizations in health systems.

  20. Developing a closed-form cost expression for an (R,s,nQ) policy where the demand process is compound generalized Erlang

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsen, Christian; Kiesmüller, Gudrun P.

    We derive a closed-form cost expression for an (R,s,nQ) inventory control policy where all replenishment orders have a constant lead-time, unfilled demand is backlogged and inter-arrival times of order requests are generalized Erlang distributed.......We derive a closed-form cost expression for an (R,s,nQ) inventory control policy where all replenishment orders have a constant lead-time, unfilled demand is backlogged and inter-arrival times of order requests are generalized Erlang distributed....

  1. 42 CFR 403.205 - Medicare supplemental policy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... Medicare. (b) The term policy includes both policy form and policy as specified in paragraphs (b)(1) and (b)(2) of this section. (1) Policy form. Policy form is the form of health insurance contract that is... contract— (i) Issued under the policy form; and (ii) Held by the policy holder. (c) If the policy otherwise...

  2. Business Council's position paper on domestic greenhouse policy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1995-01-01

    The views of business on government policy issues relating to greenhouse gas abatement are outlined in this paper. While recognizing the need for Australia to make an effective and equitable contribution to global greenhouse gas abatement, it does not believe that acceptance of the targets and timetables implied in the Climate Change Convention will necessarily lead to Australia making an equitable contribution. The feeling is that Australia should adopt a 'no-regrets' approach in line with other OECD countries. This approach includes micro economic reform policies such as emission reduction in energy transport, land management and sink enhancement. Programs fostering relevant research and development in these areas should be adopted. Business is opposed to any form of carbon tax or environmental levy, or any reduction in the diesel fuel rebate. It is believed that the potential of no-regrets measures will be most effectively achieved through a policy package involving mutually supportive government and industry actions. 1 photo

  3. Conflictive management of small mammals considered as pests: A long way to evidence-based policy making

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Catarina FERREIRA; Miguel DELIBES-MATEOS

    2012-01-01

    This paper discusses the controversial management decisions made by policy-makers worldwide regarding poisoning campaigns aimed to control small mammal populations,often considered harmful economic pests.Aside from considerations regarding the biological consequences of these campaigns,we argue that when society rejects all values of science and expertise then only badly supported and negligent decisions will be made about conservation and management issues.The extermination of small mammal species,some of which play crucial ecological roles in several regions of the world,is just an example of such discredit and misinformation.Without a strong commitment towards evidence-based policy-making,economic investments in research and development could be entirely compromised [Current Zoology 58 (2):353-357,2012].

  4. The capital structure impact on forming company’s accounting policy

    OpenAIRE

    Česnavičiūtė, Giedrė

    2011-01-01

    KEWORDS: Accounting policy, accounting policy choice, disclosure of accounting policies, capital structure, financial leverage, legitimacy theory, agency theory, signal theory, stakeholder theory. The optimal structure of the capital has a huge impact assuring its goals and financial stability. The company’s appropriate situation of financial condition depends on the accounting policies formation as well. In this paper there was made the investigation of correlation of company’s capital struc...

  5. Emission taxes versus other environmental policies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hoel, Michael

    1997-06-01

    In most countries, various forms of quotas and direct regulation play a more important role in environmental policy than environmental taxes. This report discusses four arguments often given against emission taxes. Three of the arguments, which are related to information asymmetries and non-convexities, are valid arguments in the sense that they point at complications which make the use of environmental taxes less straightforward than what elementary textbooks would suggest. The fourth argument is related to the employment effects of different types of environmental policies in economies with unemployment. This is perhaps the argument most often used by politicians against environmental taxes. The analysis did not justify this type of argument. On the contrary: In the model used, employment is higher with environmental taxes than with non revenue-raising environmental policies. 18 refs., 6 figs.

  6. Institutional Design, Macroeconomic Policy Coordination and Implications for the Financial Sector in the UK

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nasir Muhammad Ali

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available This study has analysed the implications of institutional design of macroeconomic policy making institutions for the macroeconomic policy interaction and financial sector in the United Kingdom. Employing a Vector Error Correction (VEC model and using monthly data from January 1985 to August 2008 we found that the changes in institutional arrangement and design of policy making authorities appeared to be a major contributing factor in dynamics of association between policy coordination/combination and financial sector. It was also found that the independence of the Bank of England (BoE and withdrawal from the Exchange Rate Mechanism led to the increase in macroeconomic policy maker’s ability to coordinate and restore financial stability. The results imply that although institutional autonomy in the form of instrument independence (monetary policy decisions could bring financial stability, there is a strong necessity for coordination, even in Post-MPC (Monetary Policy Committee and the BoE independence.

  7. User Information Needs for Environmental Opinion-forming and Decision-making in Link-enriched Video

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    A.C. Palumbo; L. Hardman (Lynda)

    2013-01-01

    htmlabstractLink-enriched video can support users in informative processes of environmental opinion-forming and decision-making. To enable this, we need to specify the information that should be captured in an annotation schema for describing the video. We conducted expert interviews to elicit

  8. Making peace with nature. Practical natural philosophy for a better environmental policy. Wege zum Frieden mit der Natur. Praktische Naturphilosophie fuer die Umweltpolitik

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mayer-Abich, K M

    1986-01-01

    The publication abstracted points out a way of making peace with nature by reasonable policies. The discussion is based on the author's criticism of the anthropocentric conception of the world typical of the industrial society. He urges upon a correction of a conception making man the center of the world and leading to inadequate environmental policies. The still valid anthropocentric conception of the world should be replaced by a physiocentric view with the environment as an integral part of the world. The author juxtaposes philosophical analyses based on a practical natural philosophy and political concepts. He gives an outline of a policy which based on the present social, political and moral conditions in the Federal Republic of Germany concedes an autonomous status to nature and theenvironment. The conditions of peace developed imply the omnipresence of the changed view in all spheres of life, i.e. from fundamental research through environmental policy.

  9. ACCOUNTING POLICIES OF COMPANIES IN THE FRAMEWORK OF IFRS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    B. Zasadnyi

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available The article investigates the nature of the accounting policies as a set of principles, approaches, methods, forms and procedures used for the purpose of accounting and reporting. Accounting policies are an important step in the organization of accounting, where the subject is the management of a company and the object is the system of accounting and reporting, and are designed to provide users with information needed to make effective managerial decisions. For resident companies applying IFRS for financial reporting, we suggest the structure for a document on accounting policies, which allows to take into account all the key points of accounting policy and, if necessary, can be expanded. In addition, we define the main factors that influence the development of accounting policies in the framework of IFRS.

  10. 12 CFR 225.175 - What risk management, record keeping and reporting policies are required to make merchant banking...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false What risk management, record keeping and... risk management, record keeping and reporting policies are required to make merchant banking... conduct, monitor and manage such investment activities and the risks associated with such investment...

  11. Appropriating Public Private Partnership in Senior High School Program: A Socio-Cultural Approach to Policy Making

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Peter G. Romerosa

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available The implementation of the Senior High School program in the Philippines illuminates the State’s response to the changing landscape of the global market economy. Its salient features focus on the additional two year-senior high school program which highlights the development of middle level skills for national development and global competitiveness. In order to concretize the implementation of the program, the State entered into collaboration with the private schools which is commonly known as Public Private Partnership (PPP. In this collaboration, the government provides the guidelines and financing while the private educational institutions provide the academic service. Framed from a socio-cultural approach to policy making in education, this study aimed to unpack a particular implementation of PPP of a private institution in an urban area, examine the institutional policies that were created in response to PPP, and interrogate the impacts of these policies on micro social processes. Using interviews and focus group discussions for methodology, the researcher drew narratives and insights from on-the-ground actors. Further, the investigation looked into how authorized policy actors (school administrators and nonauthorized policy actors (teachers, parents, and students are appropriating policies within the operational framework of the PPP in the implementation of the senior high school program. The results demonstrated that multi- layered appropriation and exercise of the agency were explicitly and implicitly deployed in diverse social spaces by actors as a pragmatic and creative response to the new educational arrangement. The paper provides a lens to further develop under-standing on how policy appropriation and production from the local context can inform institutional approaches in facilitating relevant student experience within the realm of PPP in education.

  12. Who makes European Cohesion Policy: a practitioners’ learning perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fanny Sbaraglia

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Through the European Social Fund (ESF, the European Union subsidizes social inclusion and occupational trainee projects. This policy instrument is formulated by European Union institutions and implemented by regions through a call for projects which requires innovative actions and a result-oriented strategy. It is a key vantage point to observe sub-national implementation of an European Union policy instrument in a sub-national practitioner’s perspective, a topic under-investigated in the literature. For a project to receive funding, sub-national practitioners must take the European Union requirements (accounting standards, evidence of innovation etc. and their social needs into account. Against this backdrop, this research tackles an original question: how can local practitioners adapt their policy actions to fit with European Union requirements? Taking the region of Wallonia in Belgium as a case study, the ESF implementation is considered as a specific policy process in sub-national policy sectors. Adopting an in-depth qualitative perspective, this research contends that it depends on practitioners’ learning, practices and experience of past applications, their specific socio-economic context and income maximization.

  13. The policy structure of the Dutch nuclear energy sector

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zijlstra, G.J.

    1982-01-01

    The main objective of this study has been to indicate the principle structures through which much of governmental nuclear policy is formed and to develop a model for the analysis of policy communication networks. The first chapter begins with a general outline of the international development of nuclear energy and gives an impression of the Dutch nuclear energy sector with special emphasis on the institutional aspects. In chapter II the author elaborates on the place of structural analysis in public policy analysis and argues that it is one of the indispensable elements of public policy analysis. Relations are treated in chapter III. Personal interlocks are given special attention because these are interrelated with financial, informational and other dependency relations and have a special communicative function in public policy-making. The different functions of the interlocks are 'translated' in graph theoretical concepts. Chapter IV introduces a method derived from graph analysis to analyse public policy networks. Several structural configurations are distinguished. In the same chapter an outline of the empirical research on the nuclear energy network will be given. In chapters V and VI the nuclear energy network is analysed, and in chapter VII the decision-making concerning some nuclear items is described in a general way. (Auth.)

  14. 'When you use the term 'long term', how long is that term'. Risk, Exclusion, and the Politics of Knowledge Production in Canadian Nuclear Fuel Waste Management Policy Making

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stanley, Anna

    2006-01-01

    Risk operates within Canadian Nuclear Fuel Waste (NFW) management policy making as a heuristic for knowledge production about its effects which reconciles the knowledge of the nuclear industry with the outcomes of the NFW management process. In so doing it marginalizes the present and historical experiences of Aboriginal peoples with the nuclear industry, and removes from view the ways in which they have been implicated in the geography and political economy of the nuclear industry. Risk is a discursive form that protects a particular group's claims about the effects of NFW by providing it a universalizing epistemological structure with which to obscure its connection to context. Further risk discourse provides the nuclear industry with a conceptual vocabulary that deliberately casts all competing knowledge as perceptions, values, or as an object of inquiry. The arguments of Aboriginal peoples about the residual effects of radiation in their lands which hosted nuclear activities, such as uranium mining and disposal, have no representation in how the discourse of risk defines and represents knowledge, and thus no purchase in the policy debate. As a result the challenge they present to the nuclear industry's claims are contained. The arrangements which permit the unloading of the negative effects of nuclear power generation onto Aboriginal peoples are thus reproduced (both materially and conceptually), but not shown, by the policy making process and likely, its outcome. In order to raise critical questions about the democratic abilities of risk, this paper has examined the role of 'risk' in Canadian NFW policy making. I have shown how when the politics of knowledge production within the philosophy of risk is analyzed, and the use and role of the notion of risk are interrogated, difficult questions are posed for the democratic potential of risk. I have suggested, through an analysis of the NWMO's representations of Aboriginal content in their process, that in this

  15. Promoting evidence informed policy making for maternal and child health in Nigeria: lessons from a knowledge translation workshop

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chigozie Jesse Uneke

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Knowledge translation (KT is a process that ensures that research evidence gets translated into policy and practice. In Nigeria, reports indicate that research evidence rarely gets into policy making process. A major factor responsible for this is lack of KT capacity enhancement mechanisms. The objective of this study was to improve KT competence of an implementation research team (IRT, policymakers and stakeholders in maternal and child health to enhance evidence-informed policy making. Methods: This study employed a "before and after" design, modified as an intervention study. The study was conducted in Bauchi, north-eastern Nigeria. A three-day KT training workshop was organized and 15 modules were covered including integrated and end-of-grant KT; KT models,measures, tools and strategies; priority setting; managing political interference; advocacy and consensus building/negotiations; inter-sectoral collaboration; policy analysis, contextualization and legislation. A 4-point Likert scale pre-/post-workshop questionnaires were administered to evaluate the impact of the training, it was designed in terms of extent of adequacy; with "grossly inadequate" representing 1 point, and "very adequate" representing 4 points.Results: A total of 45 participants attended the workshop. There was a noteworthy improvement in the participants’ understanding of KT processes and strategies. The range of the praiseworthiness of participants knowledge of modules taught was from 2.04-2.94, the range for the post workshop mean was from 3.10–3.70 on the 4-point Likert scale. The range of percentage increase in mean for participants’ knowledge at the end of the workshop was from 13.3%–55.2%.Conclusion: The outcome of this study suggests that using a KT capacity building programme e.g., workshop, health researchers, policymakers and other stakeholders can acquire capacity and skill that will facilitate evidence-to-policy link.

  16. Review of life-cycle approaches coupled with data envelopment analysis: launching the CFP + DEA method for energy policy making.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vázquez-Rowe, Ian; Iribarren, Diego

    2015-01-01

    Life-cycle (LC) approaches play a significant role in energy policy making to determine the environmental impacts associated with the choice of energy source. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) can be combined with LC approaches to provide quantitative benchmarks that orientate the performance of energy systems towards environmental sustainability, with different implications depending on the selected LC + DEA method. The present paper examines currently available LC + DEA methods and develops a novel method combining carbon footprinting (CFP) and DEA. Thus, the CFP + DEA method is proposed, a five-step structure including data collection for multiple homogenous entities, calculation of target operating points, evaluation of current and target carbon footprints, and result interpretation. As the current context for energy policy implies an anthropocentric perspective with focus on the global warming impact of energy systems, the CFP + DEA method is foreseen to be the most consistent LC + DEA approach to provide benchmarks for energy policy making. The fact that this method relies on the definition of operating points with optimised resource intensity helps to moderate the concerns about the omission of other environmental impacts. Moreover, the CFP + DEA method benefits from CFP specifications in terms of flexibility, understanding, and reporting.

  17. Management challenges at the intersection of public policy environments and strategic decision making in public hospitals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Longest, Beaufort B

    2012-01-01

    Hospitals in the United States are heavily impacted by public policies that affect them. For example, Medicare and Medicaid programs account for more than half the revenue in most of the nation's almost 5,000 community hospitals, including the almost 1,100 public hospitals controlled by state and local governments (American Hospital Association, 2012). The public hospitals are especially closely aligned with and controlled by governmental entities compared with hospitals with other kinds of sponsorship. This article addresses the management challenges at the intersection of the strategic management of public hospitals and their public policy environments. Public hospitals are complicated entities designed not only to provide health services but also in many cases to play key roles in health-related research and education and to play important general economic development roles in their communities. The multi-faceted strategic decision making in these organizations is as heavily affected by their public policy environments as by their business, demographic, technological or other external environments. Effectively managing the intersection of their public policy environments and their strategic management is indeed vital for contemporary public hospitals. This article is intended to clarify certain aspects of this intersection through a description and model of the strategic activity in public hospitals and the connection between this activity and their external environments. Specific attention is focused on the concept of public policy environments and their features. Attention is also given to how managers can assess public policy environments and incorporate the results into strategic activities.

  18. What defines 'enough' information? How policy workers make judgements and decisions during information seeking: preliminary results from an exploratory study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J.M. Berryman

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available Introduction. Reports findings from research in progress investigating judgment and decision making during information seeking in the workplace, in particular, the assessment of enough information. Characteristics of this judgment and the role of context in shaping it are framed against theories of human judgment and decision making. Method. Thirty-three semi-structured interviews were conducted with public sector policy workers in Australia. Two interviews were carried out, the first with individual participants and the second, a joint interview with two participants. Interviews were taped and transcribed and inductive data analysis carried out. Findings. Findings discussed in this paper focus on contextual factors that frame policy workers' judgment and decision making while information seeking, factors including ill-structured problems, shifting goals, time stress and action-feedback loops. Also revealed was the importance of developing a framework, against which the judgment of enough information can be made, and the fluid and iterative nature of these judgments. Conclusion. The contextual factors reported show similarities with those identified by naturalistic decision making researchers, suggesting this new field of decision theory has much to offer researchers into information seeking in context.

  19. Making the Connection between Environmental Science and Decision Making

    Science.gov (United States)

    Woodhouse, C. A.; Crimmins, M.; Ferguson, D. B.; Garfin, G. M.; Scott, C. A.

    2011-12-01

    As society is confronted with population growth, limited resources, and the impacts of climate variability and change, it is vital that institutions of higher education promote the development of professionals who can work with decision-makers to incorporate scientific information into environmental planning and management. Skills for the communication of science are essential, but equally important is the ability to understand decision-making contexts and engage with resource managers and policy makers. It is increasingly being recognized that people who understand the linkages between science and decision making are crucial if science is to better support planning and policy. A new graduate-level seminar, "Making the Connection between Environmental Science and Decision Making," is a core course for a new post-baccalaureate certificate program, Connecting Environmental Science and Decision Making at the University of Arizona. The goal of the course is to provide students with a basic understanding of the dynamics between scientists and decision makers that result in scientific information being incorporated into environmental planning, policy, and management decisions. Through readings from the environmental and social sciences, policy, and planning literature, the course explores concepts including scientific information supply and demand, boundary organizations, co-production of knowledge, platforms for engagement, and knowledge networks. Visiting speakers help students understand some of the challenges of incorporating scientific information into planning and decision making within institutional and political contexts. The course also includes practical aspects of two-way communication via written, oral, and graphical presentations as well as through the interview process to facilitate the transfer of scientific information to decision makers as well as to broader audiences. We aspire to help students develop techniques that improve communication and

  20. Rational decision-making in mental health: the role of systematic reviews.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gilbody, Simon M.; Petticrew, Mark

    1999-09-01

    BACKGROUND: "Systematic reviews" have come to be recognized as the most rigorous method of summarizing confusing and often contradictory primary research in a transparent and reproducible manner. Their greatest impact has been in the summarization of epidemiological literature - particularly that relating to clinical effectiveness. Systematic reviews also have a potential to inform rational decision-making in healthcare policy and to form a component of economic evaluation. AIMS OF THE STUDY: This article aims to introduce the rationale behind systematic reviews and, using examples from mental health, to introduce the strengths and limitations of systematic reviews, particularly in informing mental health policy and economic evaluation. METHODS: Examples are selected from recent controversies surrounding the introduction of new psychiatric drugs (anti-depressants and anti-schizophrenia drugs) and methods of delivering psychiatric care in the community (case management and assertive community treatment). The potential for systematic reviews to (i) produce best estimates of clinical efficacy and effectiveness, (ii) aid economic evaluation and policy decision-making and (iii) highlight gaps in the primary research knowledge base are discussed. Lastly examples are selected from outside mental health to show how systematic reviews have a potential to be explicitly used in economic and health policy evaluation. RESULTS: Systematic reviews produce the best estimates of clinical efficacy, which can form an important component of economic evaluation. Importantly, serious methodological flaws and areas of uncertainty in the primary research literature are identified within an explicit framework. Summary indices of clinical effectiveness can be produced, but it is difficult to produce such summary indices of cost effectiveness by pooling economic data from primary studies. Modelling is commonly used in economic and policy evaluation. Here, systematic reviews can provide the

  1. Energy Saving by Firms. Decision-Making, Barriers and Policies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    De Groot, H.L.F.; Verhoef, E.T.; Nijkamp, P. [Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (Netherlands)

    1999-04-01

    Promoting investments in energy saving technologies is an important means for achieving environmental goals. Unfortunately, the empirical evidence on success conditions of policies is scarce. Based on a survey among Dutch firms, this paper sets out to identify the factors that determine the investment behaviour of firms, their attitude towards various types of energy policy, and their responsiveness to changes in environmental policy in the Netherlands. On the basis of discrete choice models, this paper aims to investigate empirically whether (and how) these strategic features vary over firm characteristics and over sectors. 15 refs.

  2. Energy saving by firms. Decision-making, barriers and policies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    De Groot, H.L.F.; Verhoef, E.T.; Nijkamp, P. [Department of Spatial Economics and Tinbergen Institute, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1105, 1081 HV Amsterdam (Netherlands)

    2001-11-01

    Promoting investments in energy-saving technologies is an important means for achieving environmental goals. Empirical evidence on success conditions of associated policies, however, is scarce. Based on a survey among Dutch firms, this paper sets out to identify the factors that determine the investment behaviour of firms, their attitude towards various types of energy policy, and their responsiveness to changes in environmental policy in the Netherlands. On the basis of discrete choice models, this paper aims to investigate empirically, whether (and how) these strategic features vary over firm characteristics and over sectors.

  3. Energy saving by firms. Decision-making, barriers and policies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    De Groot, H.L.F.; Verhoef, E.T.; Nijkamp, P.

    2001-01-01

    Promoting investments in energy-saving technologies is an important means for achieving environmental goals. Empirical evidence on success conditions of associated policies, however, is scarce. Based on a survey among Dutch firms, this paper sets out to identify the factors that determine the investment behaviour of firms, their attitude towards various types of energy policy, and their responsiveness to changes in environmental policy in the Netherlands. On the basis of discrete choice models, this paper aims to investigate empirically, whether (and how) these strategic features vary over firm characteristics and over sectors

  4. Local government and climate policy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Burger, H.; Menkveld, M.; Coenen, F.H.J.M.

    2000-01-01

    Local government in the Netherlands could play a greater role than they currently do in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the country. This fact formed the motivation for initiating the research project on Local Government and Climate Policy. Many local climate options are known in theory. Options for reduction that lie within the sphere of influence of Dutch local government are, for example, sustainable building or encouraging the utilisation of sustainable energy. But actual practice turns out to be rather refractory. If such options are to be implemented, then one has to overcome institutional barriers, such as the co-operation between different departments in the same local authority. The objective of this research is to improve the contribution that local government makes to climate policy

  5. Dark Matter: The "Gravitational Pull" of Maternalist Discourses on Politicians' Decision Making for Early Childhood Policy in Australia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bown, Kathryn; Sumsion, Jennifer; Press, Frances

    2011-01-01

    The article reports on a study investigating influences on Australian politicians' decision making for early childhood education and care (ECEC) policy. The astronomical concept of dark matter is utilised as a metaphor for considering normalising, and therefore frequently difficult to detect and disrupt, influences implicated in politicians'…

  6. Overweight and obesity in primary-school children: a surveillance system for policy-making in Europe from 2007 onwards

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wijnhoven, T.M.A.

    2015-01-01

    Trudy M.A. Wijnhoven

    Overweight and obesity in primary-school children: a surveillance system for policy-making in Europe from 2007 onwards.

    Background

    As a follow-up to the European Ministerial Conference on

  7. 12 CFR 1500.6 - What risk management, record keeping and reporting policies are required to make merchant banking...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 7 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false What risk management, record keeping and... Banking DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY GENERAL PROVISIONS MERCHANT BANKING INVESTMENTS § 1500.6 What risk management, record keeping and reporting policies are required to make merchant banking investments? (a) What...

  8. Macro-environmental policy: Principles and design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huppes, G.

    1993-01-01

    The central theme of this book is how macro-environmental policy can be developed, which does not prescribe or suggest specific technologies and products bu realizes the environmental quality desired by changing the general context. The publication is composed of four main parts. The framework for analysis and the normative principles for policy design and evaluation, the first two parts, form the analytic core. The framework for analysis gives a classification of instruments in terms of permutations of a limited number of defining elements. The normative principles guide choices in instrument design and, as the flexible response strategy, guide their application in specific policies. Detailing two main new instruments (the standard method for life cycle analysis and the substance deposit, and applying the instrument strategy as developed to the cases make up the next two parts

  9. Veto player theory and reform making in Western Europe.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Angelova, Mariyana; Bäck, Hanna; Müller, Wolfgang C; Strobl, Daniel

    2018-05-01

    Veto player theory generates predictions about governments' capacity for policy change. Due to the difficulty of identifying significant laws needed to change the policy status quo, evidence about governments' ability to change policy has been mostly provided for a limited number of reforms and single-country studies. To evaluate the predictive power of veto player theory for policy making across time, policy areas and countries, a dataset was gathered that incorporates about 5,600 important government reform measures in the areas of social, labour, economic and taxation policy undertaken in 13 Western European countries from the mid-1980s until the mid-2000s. Veto player theory is applied in a combined model with other central theoretical expectations on policy change derived from political economy (crisis-driven policy change) and partisan theory (ideology-driven policy change). Robust support is found that governments introduce more reform measures when economic conditions are poor and when the government is positioned further away from the policy status quo. No empirical support is found for predictions of veto player theory in its pure form, where no differentiation between government types is made. However, the findings provide support for the veto player theory in the special case of minimal winning cabinets, where the support of all government parties is sufficient (in contrast to minority cabinets) and necessary (in contrast to oversized cabinets) for policy change. In particular, it is found that in minimal winning cabinets the ideological distance between the extreme government parties significantly decreases the government's ability to introduce reforms. These findings improve our understanding of reform making in parliamentary democracies and highlight important issues and open questions for future applications and tests of the veto player theory.

  10. Agricultural price and income policy in the EC : alternative policies and their implications

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Meester, G.

    1980-01-01

    Alternative forms of income policy without direct supply control. Alternative forms of income policy with direct supply control: quota arrangements. The influence of EC policy on the world market prices of agricultural produce

  11. Is jurisdiction ousting policy-making

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fuerst, W.

    1981-01-01

    This report was given by the President of the Federal Administrative Court at a meeting of the Rechts- und Staatswissenschaftliche Vereinigung (Jurisprudence and Political Science Association) held at Duesseldorf in April 1979. It points out problems arising with the administration of justice in the field of administrative law as well as the limits set to it. If parliaments avoid to take political responsibility, the solving of political conflicts will be shifted to the other two powers. In case of controversy, jurisdiction in the field of administrative law would then have to make the final decision. It is for the legislator to preserve the function of judicial power, i.e., to exact from judges to make political, especially socio-political decisions. (HSCH) [de

  12. Investigation towards link-enriched video: user information needs for environmental opinion-forming and decision-making

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    A.C. Palumbo

    2012-01-01

    htmlabstractLink-enriched video can support users in processes of environmental opinion-forming and decision-making. For this, audiovisual content must be represented and annotated to enable automatic link generation and computer manipulation. Given the time and budget constraints of

  13. [Social participation in mental health: space of construction of citizenship, policy formulation and decision making].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guimarães, José Maria Ximenes; Jorge, Maria Salete Bessa; Maia, Regina Claudia Furtado; de Oliveira, Lucia Conde; Morais, Ana Patrícia Pereira; Lima, Marcos Paulo de Oliveira; Assis, Marluce Maria Araújo; dos Santos, Adriano Maia

    2010-07-01

    The article approaches the comprehension of professionals that act in the mental health area about the movement of construction of social participation in the health system of Fortaleza, Ceará State. The methodology adopted is based upon qualitative approach. The study was developed with semi-structured interviews with 17 mental health professionals of the city above mentioned. The empirical data was analyzed through the technique of thematic content analysis, where it was identified three cores of analysis: social participation as space of citizenship and policy formulation; oriented to attention of collective needs; and decision taking. The study reveals that social participation represents a possibility of amplifying X the relations between the Civil Society and the State, which makes possible the social intervention in proposals of the health policies. It is highlighted the right to health linked to the consolidation of democracy in the attention to the needs and collective edification.

  14. Special interest in decision making in entrepreneurship policy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bager, Torben; Klyver, Kim; Schou Nielsen, Pia

    2015-01-01

    The study investigates the role of the special interests of key decision makers in entrepreneurship policy formation at the national level. An ethnographic method is applied to analyse in depth the 2005 decision by the Danish Government to shift from volume oriented to growth oriented...... entrepreneurship policy. The theoretical value of this paper is its challenge to the widespread rationality view in the entrepreneurship field and a deepened understanding of how the pursuit of special interests is related to ambiguous evidence and system-level rationality....

  15. Does Age Matter in HR Decision Making? Four Types of Age Policies in Finnish Work Organizations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anna Pärnänen

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available The extension of work careers is one of the key targets of social policy in the EU as well as in Finnish national policy-making. But how is this objective of lengthened work life received at the workplace level? This study examines the aim of extending working careers at an organizational level. The data comprise interviews with human resources managers, shop stewards, and employees reaching the end of their working life, conducted in ten Finnish work organizations. Four different age policy lines can be distinguished from the data. First, the age policy practices of manufacturing enterprises are very much alike in that a clear turn has occurred from favoring the unemployment pension path in the case of dismissals to extending working careers. Second, the age policy of public sector organizations encourages investment in extending the working careers of older employees, though young people are clearly preferred in recruitment. The third line can be found in private service sector enterprises that utilize age segmentation based on the age of their customers – young waiters for young customers, for example – while the fourth can be described by the words ‘situation-specific’ and ‘passive’. No input is made into extending working careers and the unemployment route is used as the means of dismissal where needed. The study reveals that the organizations’ age policies are strategic in nature: longer working careers are supported and older people are hired only if it is strategically sound. It can be said that workplaces currently determine the boundaries of who and at what age people are fit for work and of ‘working age’.

  16. Environmental policy in the Federal Republic of Germany

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Simonis, U.E.

    1991-12-31

    After a short description of the basic aims of environmental policy the general development of environmental policy in the FRG is gone into. Here above all the sectors air pollution, water pollution, noise pollution and waste materials are dealt with. Finally the most important elements of the decision-making processes are explained and a short history of environmental policy in the FRG is given. (UA). [Deutsch] Nach einer kurzen Erlaeuterung der Grundziele der Umweltpolitik wird in kurzer Form auf die allgemeine Entwicklung der Umweltpolitik in der BRD eingegangen. Dabei werden insbesondere die Bereiche Luftverschmutzung, Wasserverschmutzung, Laermbelaestigung und Abfallmaterialien behandelt. Abschliessend werden die wichtigsten Grundzuege des Entscheidungs-Findungs-Prozesses erlaeutert, und es wird die historische Entwicklung der Umweltpolitik in der BRD skizziert. (UA).

  17. Policy-Making for Australian Schooling: The New Corporate Federalism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lingard, Bob

    1991-01-01

    The corporate federalism concept illustrates the way a national approach to policy development for Australian schooling has been utilized by the Hawke Labor government. Negotiated consensus at the Australian Education Council has been used to arrive at these policies and to circumvent politically the constitutional and financial realities of…

  18. Emergency river storage in the Ooij polder - A bridge too far? Forms of participation in flood preparedness policy

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Warner, J.F.

    2008-01-01

    Disaster policy tends to be in the domain of top-down security governance. However, international organizations are calling for more 'horizontal', participatory forms of planning for flood preparedness together with local stakeholders. But what modality of public involvement do they mean? A case

  19. Policy-Led Comparative Environmental Risk Assessment of Genetically Modified Crops: Testing for Increased Risk Rather Than Profiling Phenotypes Leads to Predictable and Transparent Decision-Making

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alan Raybould

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available We describe two contrasting methods of comparative environmental risk assessment for genetically modified (GM crops. Both are science-based, in the sense that they use science to help make decisions, but they differ in the relationship between science and policy. Policy-led comparative risk assessment begins by defining what would be regarded as unacceptable changes when the use a particular GM crop replaces an accepted use of another crop. Hypotheses that these changes will not occur are tested using existing or new data, and corroboration or falsification of the hypotheses is used to inform decision-making. Science-led comparative risk assessment, on the other hand, tends to test null hypotheses of no difference between a GM crop and a comparator. The variables that are compared may have little or no relevance to any previously stated policy objective and hence decision-making tends to be ad hoc in response to possibly spurious statistical significance. We argue that policy-led comparative risk assessment is the far more effective method. With this in mind, we caution that phenotypic profiling of GM crops, particularly with omics methods, is potentially detrimental to risk assessment.

  20. Education for Y'All: Global Neoliberalism and the Case for a Politics of Scale in Sustainability Education Policy

    Science.gov (United States)

    McKenzie, Marcia

    2012-01-01

    This article addresses the effects of neoliberalism as it operates through global and local educational policy, and in particular in relation to the United Nations' Education for Sustainable Development initiatives. It examines how a politics of scale is necessary in enabling critique and in rearticulating forms of education policy-making and…

  1. Reassessing policy paradigms: A comparison of the global tobacco and alcohol industries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hawkins, Benjamin; Holden, Chris; Eckhardt, Jappe; Lee, Kelley

    2018-01-01

    Tobacco is widely considered to be a uniquely harmful product for human health. Since the mid-1990s, the strategies of transnational tobacco corporations to undermine effective tobacco control policy has been extensively documented through internal industry documents. Consequently, the sale, use and marketing of tobacco products are subject to extensive regulation and formal measures to exclude the industry from policy-making have been adopted in the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. In contrast to tobacco, alcohol is subject to less stringent forms of regulation, and the alcohol industry continues to play a central role in policy-making in many countries and at the global level. This article examines whether there is a sufficient rationale for such different regulatory approaches, through a comparative analysis of the political economy of the tobacco and alcohol industries including the structure of the industries, and the market and political strategies they pursue. Despite some important differences, the extensive similarities which exist between the tobacco and alcohol industries in terms of market structure and strategy, and political strategy, call into question the rationale for both the relatively weak regulatory approach taken towards alcohol, and the continued participation of alcohol corporations in policy-making processes.

  2. Cynical or Deliberative? An Analysis of the European Commission’s Public Communication on Its Use of Expertise in Policy-Making

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cathrine Holst

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available The European Commission has faced increasing criticism that its use of expertise in policy-making is undemocratic and politicized. In response to critics, the Commission has produced a number of publicly available documents where its expert policies and practices are outlined and discussed. Cynics view public communications of this nature with skepticism, as organizations tend to adopt “smooth talk” and cosmetic rhetoric designed to placate critics and create a façade of compliance aimed at decreasing external pressure. An alternative deliberative approach, would expect the Commission to engage in a relatively open, reflective and reason-based interchange. The article’s main aim is to assess the relative merits of these two approaches in capturing the Commission’s framing of its public communication. Cynical expectations, prevalent among Commission critics, are confirmed by the Commission’s silence on unpleasant topics including the undemocratic nature of existing expertise arrangements and the strategic uses of knowledge in EU policy-making. However, firm regulatory initiatives and the Commission’s critical engagement with democratization demands and possible goal conflicts within their critics’ agenda give significant leverage to a deliberative approach.

  3. Nordic cultural policies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Duelund, Peter

    2008-01-01

    A critical view on Nordic Cultural Policy 1961-2008 - Aims, measures, forms of organisation, state og national identity......A critical view on Nordic Cultural Policy 1961-2008 - Aims, measures, forms of organisation, state og national identity...

  4. Changing policy and practice: making sense of national guidelines for osteoarthritis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ong, Bie Nio; Morden, Andrew; Brooks, Lauren; Porcheret, Mark; Edwards, John J; Sanders, Tom; Jinks, Clare; Dziedzic, Krysia

    2014-04-01

    Understanding uptake of complex interventions is an increasingly prominent area of research. The interplay of macro (such as changing health policy), meso (re-organisation of professional work) and micro (rationalisation of clinical care) factors upon uptake of complex interventions has rarely been explored. This study focuses on how English General Practitioners and practice nurses make sense of a complex intervention for the management of osteoarthritis, using the macro-meso-micro contextual approach and Normalisation Process Theory (NPT), specifically the construct of coherence. It is embedded in a cluster RCT comprising four control practices and four intervention practices. In order to study sense-making by professionals introduction and planning meetings (N = 14) between researchers and the practices were observed. Three group interviews were carried out with 10 GPs and 5 practice nurses after they had received training in the intervention. Transcripts were thematically analysed before comparison with NPT constructs. We found that: first, most GPs and all nurses distinguished the intervention from current ways of working. Second, from the introduction meeting to the completion of the training the purpose of the intervention increased in clarity. Third, GPs varied in their understanding of their remit, while the practice nurses felt that the intervention builds on their holistic care approach. Fourth, the intervention was valued by practice nurses as it strengthened their expert status. GPs saw its value as work substitution, but felt that a positive conceptualisation of OA enhanced the consultation. When introducing new interventions in healthcare settings the interaction between macro, meso and micro factors, as well as the means of engaging new clinical practices and their sense-making by clinicians needs to be considered. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  5. Statutory Regulation of Traditional Medicine Practitioners and Practices: The Need for Distinct Policy Making Guidelines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ijaz, Nadine; Boon, Heather

    2018-04-01

    The World Health Organization (WHO) has called for the increased statutory regulation of traditional and complementary medicine practitioners and practices, currently implemented in about half of nations surveyed. According to recent WHO data, however, the absence of policy guidelines in this area represents a significant barrier to implementation of such professional regulations. This commentary reviews several key challenges that distinguish the statutory regulation of traditional medicine practitioners and practices from biomedical professional regulation, providing a foundation for the development of policy making parameters in this area. Foremost in this regard are the ongoing impacts of the European colonial encounter, which reinforce biomedicine's disproportionate political dominance across the globe despite traditional medicine's ongoing widespread use (particularly in the global South). In this light, the authors discuss the conceptual and historical underpinnings of contemporary professional regulatory structures, the tensions between institutional and informal traditional medicine training pathways, and the policy challenges presented by the prospect of standardizing internally diverse indigenous healing approaches. Epistemic and evidentiary tensions, as well as the policy complexities surrounding the intersection of cultural and clinical considerations, present additional challenges to regulators. Conceptualizing professional regulation as an intellectual property claim under the law, the authors further consider what it means to protect traditional knowledge and prevent misappropriation in this context. Overall, the authors propose that innovative professional regulatory approaches are needed in this area to address safety, quality of care, and accessibility as key public interest concerns, while prioritizing the redress of historical inequities, protection of diverse indigenous knowledges, and delivery of care to underserved populations.

  6. Pharmaceutical expenditure forecast model to support health policy decision making

    OpenAIRE

    R?muzat, C?cile; Urbinati, Duccio; Kornfeld, ?sa; Vataire, Anne-Lise; Cetinsoy, Laurent; Aball?a, Samuel; Mzoughi, Olfa; Toumi, Mondher

    2014-01-01

    Background and objective: With constant incentives for healthcare payers to contain their pharmaceutical budgets, modelling policy decision impact became critical. The objective of this project was to test the impact of various policy decisions on pharmaceutical budget (developed for the European Commission for the project ‘European Union (EU) Pharmaceutical expenditure forecast’ – http://ec.europa.eu/health/healthcare/key_documents/index_en.htm).Methods: A model was built to assess policy sc...

  7. International Organisations and Transnational Education Policy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Moutsios, Stavros

    2009-01-01

    This paper focuses on the World Bank/IMF (International Monetary Fund), the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) and the WTO (World Trade Organisation) as institutions of transnational policy making. They are all at present making education policies which are decisively...... shaping current directions and developments in national education systems. The paper reviews the enhanced role of these institutions in producing education policies and investigates the ideological basis as well as the processes through which these policies are made. It is argued that decisions are taken...... the transnationalisation of education policy making but also the full submission of education to the pursuits of global economy....

  8. Risk in Public Policy Making: A Neglected Issue in Australia

    OpenAIRE

    Hardaker, J. Brian; Fleming, Euan M.; Lien, Gudbrand D.

    2008-01-01

    We argue for greater recognition of the risky nature of most policy decisions. In this context we discuss the gulf between public risk perceptions and attitudes and those of 'experts'. Public views of risk are often inconsistent and seemingly irrational. They nevertheless influence policy choices in a democracy. On the other hand, experts often claim unjustifiable levels of confidence in their predictions of policy choice outcomes, creating a lack of public faith in their recommendations. Whi...

  9. Making the most of our land

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schulte, Rogier Patrick Olaf; Bampa, Francesca; Bardy, Marion

    2015-01-01

    The challenges of achieving both food security and environmental sustainability have resulted in a confluence of demands on land within the European Union (EU): we expect our land to provide food, fiber and fuel, to purify water, to sequester carbon, and provide a home to biodiversity as well...... as external nutrients in the form of waste from humans and intensive livestock enterprises. All soils can perform all of these five functions, but some soils are better at supplying selective functions. Functional Land Management is a framework for policy-making aimed at meeting these demands by incentivizing...... land use and soil management practices that selectively augment specific soil functions, where required. Here, we explore how the demands for contrasting soil functions, as framed by EU policies, may apply to very different spatial scales, from local to continental scales. At the same time, using...

  10. Energy saving and energy efficiency concepts for policy making

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oikonomou, V.; Becchis, F.; Steg, L.; Russolillo, D.

    2009-01-01

    Departing from the concept of rational use of energy, the paper outlines the microeconomics of end-use energy saving as a result of frugality or efficiency measures. Frugality refers to the behaviour that is aimed at energy conservation, and with efficiency we refer to the technical ratio between energy input and output services that can be modified with technical improvements (e.g. technology substitution). Changing behaviour from one side and technology from the other are key issues for public energy policy. In this paper, we attempt to identify the effects of parameters that determine energy saving behaviour with the use of the microeconomic theory. The role of these parameters is crucial and can determine the outcome of energy efficiency policies; therefore policymakers should properly address them when designing policies.

  11. Energy saving and energy efficiency concepts for policy making

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Oikonomou, V. [SOM, University of Groningen, PO Box 800, 9700 AV Groningen (Netherlands); Becchis, F. [POLIS Department, University of East Piedmont, via Duomo, 6-13100 Vercelli (Italy); Steg, L. [Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences, University of Groningen, P.O. Box 72 9700 AB (Netherlands); Russolillo, D. [Fondazione per l' Ambiente ' T. Fenoglio' , Via Gaudenzio Ferrari 1, I-10124 Torino (Italy)

    2009-11-15

    Departing from the concept of rational use of energy, the paper outlines the microeconomics of end-use energy saving as a result of frugality or efficiency measures. Frugality refers to the behaviour that is aimed at energy conservation, and with efficiency we refer to the technical ratio between energy input and output services that can be modified with technical improvements (e.g. technology substitution). Changing behaviour from one side and technology from the other are key issues for public energy policy. In this paper, we attempt to identify the effects of parameters that determine energy saving behaviour with the use of the microeconomic theory. The role of these parameters is crucial and can determine the outcome of energy efficiency policies; therefore policymakers should properly address them when designing policies. (author)

  12. The Foreign Policies of European Union Member States

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Foreign Policies of EU Member States provides a clear and current overview of the motivations and outcomes of EU Member States regarding their foreign policy-making within and beyond the EU. It provides an in-depth analysis of intra-EU policy-making and sheds light, in an innovative and understan......Foreign Policies of EU Member States provides a clear and current overview of the motivations and outcomes of EU Member States regarding their foreign policy-making within and beyond the EU. It provides an in-depth analysis of intra-EU policy-making and sheds light, in an innovative...... prerogative exercised by all EU Member States is to construct their own foreign policies on everything from trade and defence with the rest of the world. This combination of clarity, thematic structure and empirical case studies make this an ideal textbook for all upper-level students of European foreign...

  13. Young Women, Sexual Behaviour and Sexual Decision-Making

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lesley Hoggart

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper considers young people's sexual decision-making in the context of New Labour's policies on teenage pregnancy. In 1999, the newly formed Social Exclusion Unit sought to understand why the UK had the highest number of teenage conceptions in Europe (SEU 1999. One of the conclusions was that young people in the UK are engaging in "risky" rather than "safe" sex. Although New Labour has since developed policies designed to help young people avoid what is seen as risky sexual activity, there is a tension in sexual health policy between the overall aim of providing young people with the knowledge and confidence to practice "safe sex", and an underlying belief amongst many in the undesirability of "underage sex". This is partly a legacy of disagreements evident in the 1980s and 1990s when some organisations argued against sex education and contraceptive provision for young people on the grounds that it encouraged promiscuous and risky behaviour. The paper shows how alternative meanings of risk and responsibility are present in young mothers' own representations of their sexual decision-making. It does this through an analysis of two research projects on Young Women, Sex and Choices. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0601283

  14. People, Process, and Policy: Case Studies in National Security Advising, the National Security Council, and Presidential Decision Making

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-06-01

    confirmation of Lake’s concerns with the administration’s public relations failures, David Gergen, the president’s communications advisor, increased... Public Affairs: 389-395. 75 these positions, he did not openly object too them during the campaign. Additionally, as this case study shows, he...PEOPLE, PROCESS, AND POLICY: CASE STUDIES IN NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISING, THE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL, AND PRESIDENTIAL DECISION MAKING

  15. Do evidence summaries increase policy-makers' use of evidence from systematic reviews: A systematic review protocol.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Petkovic, Jennifer; Welch, Vivian; Tugwell, Peter

    2015-09-28

    Systematic reviews are important for decision-makers. They offer many potential benefits but are often written in technical language, are too long, and do not contain contextual details which makes them hard to use for decision-making. There are many organizations that develop and disseminate derivative products, such as evidence summaries, from systematic reviews for different populations or subsets of decision-makers. This systematic review will assess the effectiveness of systematic review summaries on increasing policymakers' use of systematic review evidence and to identify the components or features of these summaries that are most effective. We will include studies of policy-makers at all levels as well as health-system managers. We will include studies examining any type of "evidence summary," "policy brief," or other products derived from systematic reviews that present evidence in a summarized form. The primary outcomes are the following: (1) use of systematic review summaries decision-making (e.g., self-reported use of the evidence in policy-making, decision-making) and (2) policy-maker understanding, knowledge, and/or beliefs (e.g., changes in knowledge scores about the topic included in the summary). We will conduct a systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs), non-randomized controlled trials (NRCTs), controlled before-after studies (CBA), and interrupted time series (ITS) studies. The results of this review will inform the development of future systematic review summaries to ensure that systematic review evidence is accessible to and used by policy-makers making health-related decisions.

  16. Analysis of nuclear issue and development of policy alternatives

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Won, Byungchool; Lee, Youngjoon; Yun, Sungwon; Yun, Keehwan; Ko, Wonil

    2012-08-01

    ? Promoted amicably passing a resolution on a general meeting of Atomic Energy Promotion Commission through the preliminary review and opinion gathering ? Mutual understanding and forming a social consensus on nuclear related issues through R and D reporting about the SMART, Decommission and Dis, Future Nuclear System etc Ο Promoted strengthening the work related to the nuclear policy through discovering the 8 policy initiatives prioritized Ο Analyzed the policy process as well as previous research results related to spent fuel for establishment of spent-fuel policy and presented the methods for legislation Ο Suggested the establishment and multi-step implementation strategies of 'Nuclear educational hurb center' Ο Germany, Switzerland, Belgium returned to their former phase-out strategies, except for these three countries, did not change nuclear promotion policies Ο Democratic United Party is currently taking the opposite stance on NPP but it is necessary to make an effort to analyze current domestic energy circumstances on objective and rational grounds

  17. Energy policies of IEA countries. Canada 1996 review

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1996-01-01

    This IEA report provides a comprehensive, in-depth assessment of the energy policies of Canada, including recommendations on future policy developments. The report acknowledges the marked shift of federal energy policy in the last decade away from heavy intervention to a more market-based approach. This has increased the strength and competitive position of Canada's energy producers, especially in oil and gas, and has provided more choice for consumers. Electricity, however, is an area that could benefit from a more market-based policy orientation. Federal provincial co-ordination is of fundamental importance. Other key issues highlighted in the review include the opportunities and challenges of international agreements on the environment, which increasingly drive energy policy decision-making; the adequacy and effectiveness of programmes to promote energy efficiency; and the balance and direction of energy research and development efforts. This report forms part of a series of periodic in-depth reviews conducted and discussed by the IEA Member countries on a four-year cycle. Short reviews of energy policy developments in all twenty-three Member countries are published annually in Energy Policies of IEA Countries. (author)

  18. Optimising reverse logistics network to support policy-making in the case of Electrical and Electronic Equipment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Achillas, Ch; Vlachokostas, Ch; Aidonis, D; Moussiopoulos, N; Iakovou, E; Banias, G

    2010-12-01

    Due to the rapid growth of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) volumes, as well as the hazardousness of obsolete electr(on)ic goods, this type of waste is now recognised as a priority stream in the developed countries. Policy-making related to the development of the necessary infrastructure and the coordination of all relevant stakeholders is crucial for the efficient management and viability of individually collected waste. This paper presents a decision support tool for policy-makers and regulators to optimise electr(on)ic products' reverse logistics network. To that effect, a Mixed Integer Linear Programming mathematical model is formulated taking into account existing infrastructure of collection points and recycling facilities. The applicability of the developed model is demonstrated employing a real-world case study for the Region of Central Macedonia, Greece. The paper concludes with presenting relevant obtained managerial insights. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Policy making opportunities in the United States Senate and House of Representatives: an examination of seniority and gridlock

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCurdy, K. M.

    2017-12-01

    and lampooned throughout the world. Yet gridlock and its antecedents are important to furthering our understanding of the policy process and perhaps allowing us to establish causality in legislative decision making models.

  20. The rationale for energy efficiency policy: Assessing the recognition of the multiple benefits of energy efficiency retrofit policy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kerr, Niall; Gouldson, Andy; Barrett, John

    2017-01-01

    The rationale for energy efficiency policy can be framed in terms of a variety of different benefits. This paper considers how different benefits have been used within the overall rationale for energy efficient retrofit policy in different contexts. We posit that different rationales may be used for the same policy response, and that the form of rationale used may affect the design, delivery or the level of policy support, with different rationales making it easier to account for different results. Considering retrofit policy in the contexts of the UK, Germany, New Zealand and Ireland, we characterise policy rationale in each case, assessing what the key perceived benefits have been, and whether they have changed over time. The analysis identifies some marked differences between cases with the recognition of benefits and the ensuing policy rationale resulting from a complex mix of political, social and economic influences. We find that recognition of multiple benefits may not equate with multiplied policy support, and instead it is more likely that different rationales will have relevance at different times, for different audiences. The findings highlight that, alongside evidence for policy, it is important to also consider how the overall rationale for policy is eventually framed. - Highlights: • Energy efficiency as a policy issue with perceived multiple benefits. • Assessment of the influence of different benefits on rationale for energy efficient retrofit policy. • How does the rationale for retrofit policy differ in different national policy contexts. • To what extent are the perceived multiple benefits of policy recognised. • What influence does eventual rationale for policy have on the policy implemented.

  1. Efficiency of Administrative and Policy-Making Structures

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Donoghue, M.; And Others

    1978-01-01

    A research program at Trinity College in Ireland is reported that focused on the decision-making process, particularly the committee structure. Described are the role of individuals within committees, centralized versus decentralized decision-making, costs, sources of rigidity, and problems of the concentration of power. (Author/LBH)

  2. Rational Risk-Benefit Decision-Making in the Setting of Military Mefloquine Policy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nevin, Remington L

    2015-01-01

    Mefloquine is an antimalarial drug that has been commonly used in military settings since its development by the US military in the late 1980s. Owing to the drug's neuropsychiatric contraindications and its high rate of inducing neuropsychiatric symptoms, which are contraindications to the drug's continued use, the routine prescribing of mefloquine in military settings may be problematic. Due to these considerations and to recent concerns of chronic and potentially permanent psychiatric and neurological sequelae arising from drug toxicity, military prescribing of mefloquine has recently decreased. In settings where mefloquine remains available, policies governing prescribing should reflect risk-benefit decision-making informed by the drug's perceived benefits and by consideration both of the risks identified in the drug's labeling and of specific military risks associated with its use. In this review, these risks are identified and recommendations are made for the rational prescribing of the drug in light of current evidence.

  3. Biotechnology and Consumer Decision-Making.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sax, Joanna K

    Society is facing major challenges in climate change, health care and overall quality of life. Scientific advances to address these areas continue to grow, with overwhelming evidence that the application of highly tested forms of biotechnology is safe and effective. Despite scientific consensus in these areas, consumers appear reluctant to support their use. Research that helps to understand consumer decision-making and the public’s resistance to biotechnologies such as vaccines, fluoridated water programs and genetically engineered food, will provide great social value. This article is forward-thinking in that it suggests that important research in behavioral decision-making, specifically affect and ambiguity, can be used to help consumers make informed choices about major applications of biotechnology. This article highlights some of the most controversial examples: vaccinations, genetically engineered food, rbST treated dairy cows, fluoridated water, and embryonic stem cell research. In many of these areas, consumers perceive the risks as high, but the experts calculate the risks as low. Four major thematic approaches are proposed to create a roadmap for policymakers to consider for policy design and implementation in controversial areas of biotechnology. This article articulates future directions for studies that implement decision-making research to allow consumers to appropriately assign risk to their options and make informed decisions.

  4. Intelligent policy making? Key actors' perspectives on the development and implementation of an early years' initiative in Scotland's public health arena.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deas, L; Mattu, L; Gnich, W

    2013-11-01

    Increased political enthusiasm for evidence-based policy and action has re-ignited interest in the use of evidence within political and practitioner networks. Theories of evidence-based policy making and practice are being re-considered in an attempt to better understand the processes through which knowledge translation occurs. Understanding how policy develops, and practice results, has the potential to facilitate effective evidence use. Further knowledge of the factors which shape healthcare delivery and their influence in different contexts is needed. This paper explores the processes involved in the development of a complex intervention in Scotland's National Health Service (NHS). It uses a national oral health programme for children (Childsmile) as a case study, drawing upon key actors' perceptions of the influence of different drivers (research evidence, practitioner knowledge and values, policy, and political and local context) to programme development. Framework analysis is used to analyse stakeholder accounts from in-depth interviews. Documentary review is also undertaken. Findings suggest that Childsmile can be described as an 'evidence-informed' intervention, blending available research evidence with knowledge from practitioner experience and continual learning through evaluation, to plan delivery. The importance of context was underscored, in terms of the need to align with prevailing political ideology and in the facilitative strength of networks within the relatively small public health community in Scotland. Respondents' perceptions support several existing theoretical models of translation, however no single theory offered a comprehensive framework covering all aspects of the complex processes reported. Childsmile's use of best available evidence and on-going contribution to knowledge suggest that the programme is an example of intelligent policy making with international relevance. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Environmental and sustainability education policy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    The volume draws on a wide range of policy studies and syntheses to provide readers with insights into the international genealogy and priorities of ESE policy. Editors and contributors call for renewed attention to the possibilities for future directions in light of previously published work and......, ideological orthodoxy and critique, curriculum making and educational theory, globalisation and neoliberalism, climate change and environmental worldviews, and much more....... and innovations in scholarship. They also offer critical commentary on the evolution of research trends, approaches and findings. Including a wide range of examples of ESE policy and policy research, the book draws on studies of educational initiatives and legislation, policy making processes and rhetoric...

  6. Evidence for the credibility of health economic models for health policy decision-making

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Søgaard, Rikke; Lindholt, Jes S.

    2012-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether the credibility of health economic models of screening for abdominal aortic aneurysms for health policy decision-making has improved since 2005 when a systematic review by Campbell et al. concluded that reporting standards were poor and there was divergence between...... benefited from general advances in health economic modelling and some improvements in reporting were noted. However, the low level of agreement between studies in model structures and assumptions, and difficulty in justifying these (convergent validity), remain a threat to the credibility of health economic...... models. Decision-makers should not accept the results of a modelling study if the methods are not fully transparent and justified. Modellers should, whenever relevant, supplement a primary report of results with a technical report detailing and discussing the methodological choices made....

  7. 'When you use the term 'long term', how long is that term'. Risk, Exclusion, and the Politics of Knowledge Production in Canadian Nuclear Fuel Waste Management Policy Making

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stanley, Anna [Univ. of Guelph (Canada). Dept. of Geography

    2006-09-15

    Risk operates within Canadian Nuclear Fuel Waste (NFW) management policy making as a heuristic for knowledge production about its effects which reconciles the knowledge of the nuclear industry with the outcomes of the NFW management process. In so doing it marginalizes the present and historical experiences of Aboriginal peoples with the nuclear industry, and removes from view the ways in which they have been implicated in the geography and political economy of the nuclear industry. Risk is a discursive form that protects a particular group's claims about the effects of NFW by providing it a universalizing epistemological structure with which to obscure its connection to context. Further risk discourse provides the nuclear industry with a conceptual vocabulary that deliberately casts all competing knowledge as perceptions, values, or as an object of inquiry. The arguments of Aboriginal peoples about the residual effects of radiation in their lands which hosted nuclear activities, such as uranium mining and disposal, have no representation in how the discourse of risk defines and represents knowledge, and thus no purchase in the policy debate. As a result the challenge they present to the nuclear industry's claims are contained. The arrangements which permit the unloading of the negative effects of nuclear power generation onto Aboriginal peoples are thus reproduced (both materially and conceptually), but not shown, by the policy making process and likely, its outcome. In order to raise critical questions about the democratic abilities of risk, this paper has examined the role of 'risk' in Canadian NFW policy making. I have shown how when the politics of knowledge production within the philosophy of risk is analyzed, and the use and role of the notion of risk are interrogated, difficult questions are posed for the democratic potential of risk. I have suggested, through an analysis of the NWMO's representations of Aboriginal content in their

  8. Policy Learning and Organizational Capacities in Innovation Policies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Borrás, Susana

    2011-01-01

    Bengt-Åke Lundvall’s work has underlined the importance of policy learning for inducing innovation systems’ adaptability. In spite of his efforts and of the general interest in this topic, studies of policy learning in innovation policy continue to be scarce. Elaborating from recent theoretical...... advances, the paper identifies three levels of policy learning and argues that their effects on innovation systems are related to specific capacities of the relevant organizations implementing change. This analytical framework is used in the study of trans-national policy learning in Europe in the area...... of science–industry relations, showing the importance of capacities (or lack thereof). This calls for the practical need of addressing organizational capacity-building, in particular of analytical capacity, for truly strategic innovation policy-making....

  9. Making Homes Part of the Climate Solution: Policy Options To Promote Energy Efficiency

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brown, Dr. Marilyn Ann [Georgia Institute of Technology; Chandler, Jess [Georgia Institute of Technology; Lapsa, Melissa Voss [ORNL; Ally, Moonis [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)

    2009-06-01

    In the area of energy efficiency, advanced technologies combined with best practices appear to afford not only large, but also cost-effective options to conserve energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions (McKinsey & Company, 2007). In practice, however, the realization of this potential has often proven difficult. Progress appears to require large numbers of individuals to act knowledgeably, and each individual must often act with enabling assistance from others. Even when consumer education is effective and social norms are supportive, the actions of individuals and businesses can be impeded by a broad range of barriers, many of which are non-technical in nature. Title XVI of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 included a mandate to examine barriers to progress and make recommendations in this regard. A detailed report on barriers as well as the National strategy for overcoming barriers met this requirement (Brown et al, 2008; CCCSTI, 2009). Following up on this mandate, the U.S. Climate Change Technology Program (CCTP) chose to focus next on the development of policy options to improve energy efficiency in residential buildings, with supporting analysis of pros and cons, informed in part by behavioral research. While this work is sponsored by CCTP, it has been undertaken in coordination with DOE's Building Technologies Program and Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability.

  10. Exploring the science–policy interface on climate change: The role of the IPCC in informing local decision-making in the UK

    OpenAIRE

    Candice Howarth; James Painter

    2016-01-01

    Building on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) review of\\ud how to make its Assessment Reports (ARs) more accessible in the future, the research\\ud reported here assesses the extent to which the ARs are a useful tool through which scientific\\ud advice informs local decision-making on climate change in the United Kingdom. Results from\\ud interviews with local policy representatives and three workshops with UK academics, practitioners\\ud and local decision makers are present...

  11. Teachers' Grading Decision Making

    Science.gov (United States)

    Isnawati, Ida; Saukah, Ali

    2017-01-01

    This study investigated teachers' grading decision making, focusing on their beliefs underlying their grading decision making, their grading practices and assessment types, and factors they considered in grading decision making. Two teachers from two junior high schools applying different curriculum policies in grade reporting in Indonesian…

  12. NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS REPRESENTING THE INTERESTS OF PATIENTS’ ENGAGEMENT IN HEALH POLICY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gintarė Petronytė

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available This article focuses on engagement in health policy of non-governmental organizations representing the interests of patients (NGOs. A qualitative study using a semi-structured interview method was performed in July–October 2015, involving nine representatives of NGOs from Vilnius and Kaunas. NGOs’ engagement in health policy was evaluated by applying the framework of the theoretical stakeholder participation ladder, which was developed by Arnstein and later extended by Friedman and Miles. NGOs’ engagement in health policy could be attributed to the levels of consultation and involvement, considering their collaboration with governmental institutions and political involvement. Their engagement in health policy could not be attributed to the level of delegated power (shared influence and responsibility when involved into the processes of decision formulation and decision-making. NGOs are involved in health policy by working groups and other working bodies established by governmental institutions. Financing, close interinstitutional collaboration, competencies of NGOs and their active participation are required for NGOs’ engagement in health policy. The main collaboration form between NGOs and the Ministry of Health is the Lithuanian patients’ forum, however, constant information, involvement in decision making processes and the initiation of collaboration are the key prerequisites for the development of closer collaboration. Internal and external barriers limit NGOs’ engagement in health policy: hierarchical relationships, the lack of equal collaboration and dialogue with governmental institutions, limited financial, time and human resources.

  13. Knowledge mobilisation for policy development: implementing systems approaches through participatory dynamic simulation modelling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Freebairn, Louise; Rychetnik, Lucie; Atkinson, Jo-An; Kelly, Paul; McDonnell, Geoff; Roberts, Nick; Whittall, Christine; Redman, Sally

    2017-10-02

    Evidence-based decision-making is an important foundation for health policy and service planning decisions, yet there remain challenges in ensuring that the many forms of available evidence are considered when decisions are being made. Mobilising knowledge for policy and practice is an emergent process, and one that is highly relational, often messy and profoundly context dependent. Systems approaches, such as dynamic simulation modelling can be used to examine both complex health issues and the context in which they are embedded, and to develop decision support tools. This paper reports on the novel use of participatory simulation modelling as a knowledge mobilisation tool in Australian real-world policy settings. We describe how this approach combined systems science methodology and some of the core elements of knowledge mobilisation best practice. We describe the strategies adopted in three case studies to address both technical and socio-political issues, and compile the experiential lessons derived. Finally, we consider the implications of these knowledge mobilisation case studies and provide evidence for the feasibility of this approach in policy development settings. Participatory dynamic simulation modelling builds on contemporary knowledge mobilisation approaches for health stakeholders to collaborate and explore policy and health service scenarios for priority public health topics. The participatory methods place the decision-maker at the centre of the process and embed deliberative methods and co-production of knowledge. The simulation models function as health policy and programme dynamic decision support tools that integrate diverse forms of evidence, including research evidence, expert knowledge and localised contextual information. Further research is underway to determine the impact of these methods on health service decision-making.

  14. A touch of post-truth: the roles of narratives in urban policy mobilities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T. Honeck

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available This paper characterizes different types of policy narratives that influence the trans-local motion of urban policies and elaborates on their relations. The paper first introduces conceptual and methodological recommendations from policy narrative literature to debates on policy mobility. In an empirical section, it then analyzes narratives that support policies on temporary use of vacant lands and buildings in the German cities of Berlin and Stuttgart. Based on semi-structured interviews with experts and document reviews, the paper finds different, partly competing narratives on temporary use in both case study cities. It identifies their typical elements, categorising them by form and content. Referential narratives are understood as connecters between different cities and influencers of policy mobility. Finally, the paper shows how narratives work with association as well as imagination and thus emphasize the non-factual, yet inherent aspects of relational policy making.

  15. Curriculum Policy Implementation: How Schools Respond to Government's "Soft" Policy in the Curriculum Reform

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chan, Jacqueline K. S.

    2012-01-01

    "Soft" policy has newly emerged as a policy implementation concept in relation to governance. Non-binding in character, "soft" policy is designed for multi-level systems of governance in which there is relative autonomy at different levels of collective decision-making. "Soft" policy has gained attention since the…

  16. Coal production forecast and low carbon policies in China

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Jianzhou; Dong Yao; Wu Jie; Mu Ren; Jiang He

    2011-01-01

    With rapid economic growth and industrial expansion, China consumes more coal than any other nation. Therefore, it is particularly crucial to forecast China's coal production to help managers make strategic decisions concerning China's policies intended to reduce carbon emissions and concerning the country's future needs for domestic and imported coal. Such decisions, which must consider results from forecasts, will have important national and international effects. This article proposes three improved forecasting models based on grey systems theory: the Discrete Grey Model (DGM), the Rolling DGM (RDGM), and the p value RDGM. We use the statistical data of coal production in China from 1949 to 2005 to validate the effectiveness of these improved models to forecast the data from 2006 to 2010. The performance of the models demonstrates that the p value RDGM has the best forecasting behaviour over this historical time period. Furthermore, this paper forecasts coal production from 2011 to 2015 and suggests some policies for reducing carbon and other emissions that accompany the rise in forecasted coal production. - Highlights: → Improved forecasting models make full use of the advantages of individual model. → Proposed models create commendable improvements for current research. → Proposed models do not make complicated decisions about the explicit form. → We forecast coal production of China from 2011 to 2015. → We suggest some policies for reducing carbon emissions.

  17. Coal production forecast and low carbon policies in China

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wang Jianzhou [School of Mathematics and Statistics, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000 (China); Dong Yao, E-mail: dongyao20051987@yahoo.cn [School of Mathematics and Statistics, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000 (China); Wu Jie; Mu Ren; Jiang He [School of Mathematics and Statistics, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000 (China)

    2011-10-15

    With rapid economic growth and industrial expansion, China consumes more coal than any other nation. Therefore, it is particularly crucial to forecast China's coal production to help managers make strategic decisions concerning China's policies intended to reduce carbon emissions and concerning the country's future needs for domestic and imported coal. Such decisions, which must consider results from forecasts, will have important national and international effects. This article proposes three improved forecasting models based on grey systems theory: the Discrete Grey Model (DGM), the Rolling DGM (RDGM), and the p value RDGM. We use the statistical data of coal production in China from 1949 to 2005 to validate the effectiveness of these improved models to forecast the data from 2006 to 2010. The performance of the models demonstrates that the p value RDGM has the best forecasting behaviour over this historical time period. Furthermore, this paper forecasts coal production from 2011 to 2015 and suggests some policies for reducing carbon and other emissions that accompany the rise in forecasted coal production. - Highlights: > Improved forecasting models make full use of the advantages of individual model. > Proposed models create commendable improvements for current research. > Proposed models do not make complicated decisions about the explicit form. > We forecast coal production of China from 2011 to 2015. > We suggest some policies for reducing carbon emissions.

  18. Public health policy research: making the case for a political science approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bernier, Nicole F; Clavier, Carole

    2011-03-01

    The past few years have seen the emergence of claims that the political determinants of health do not get due consideration and a growing demand for better insights into public policy analysis in the health research field. Several public health and health promotion researchers are calling for better training and a stronger research culture in health policy. The development of these studies tends to be more advanced in health promotion than in other areas of public health research, but researchers are still commonly caught in a naïve, idealistic and narrow view of public policy. This article argues that the political science discipline has developed a specific approach to public policy analysis that can help to open up unexplored levers of influence for public health research and practice and that can contribute to a better understanding of public policy as a determinant of health. It describes and critiques the public health model of policy analysis, analyzes political science's specific approach to public policy analysis, and discusses how the politics of research provides opportunities and barriers to the integration of political science's distinctive contributions to policy analysis in health promotion.

  19. A Policy Analysis Perspective on Ecological Restoration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Susan Baker

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available Using a simple stages model of the policy process, we explore the politics of ecological restoration using an array of examples drawn across sector, different size and scale, and from different countries. A policy analysis perspective reveals how, at both the program and project levels, ecological restoration operates within a complex and dynamic interplay between technical decision making, ideologies, and interest politics. Viewed through the stages model, restoration policy involves negotiating nature across stages in the policy making process, including agenda setting, policy formulation, implementation, and evaluation. The stages model is a useful heuristic devise; however, this linear model assumes that policy makers approach the issue rationally. In practice, ecological restoration policy takes place in the context of different distributions of power between the various public and private actors involved at the different stages of restoration policy making. This allows us to reiterate the point that ecological restoration is best seen not only as a technical task but as a social and political project.

  20. Policy-making under uncertainty: commentary upon the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Haar, L.N.

    2006-01-01

    The authors undertake a critical assessment of the intellectual foundations supporting the new European Union (EU) Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS, or the Scheme), the cornerstone of polices designed to achieve the targets of the Kyoto Agreement of reducing emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG). Despite its considerable scope, the authors found that officially sponsored research and academic efforts in support of ETS were surprisingly limited. Importantly, in advance of implementation, a definitive consensus on both the potential economic impact and the usefulness of the Scheme in reducing the GHG emissions had not been reached. Reviewing the literature, the authors encountered varying and, at times, conflicting viewpoints, officially and in academic research, on the potential economic impact of the Scheme. These included attempts to quantify its benefits and costs, raising concern that this huge and encompassing multi-national policy initiative may have been launched with inadequate intellectual ground-work. According to the authors consistency between the ETS and other EU policies, such as those relating to energy, should have been a key concern, but such aspects have received only minimal attention in both official and academic research. The European Commission has promoted open and competitive markets for gas and power across member states, but the record in achieving such conditions is relatively poor and the authors argue that, as a result, the environmental objectives of the EU Scheme may not be thwarted. In addition, continuing disagreement over the Kyoto Agreement itself-especially with regard to its potential costs and benefits-further frustrates efforts to rigorously justify a policy in support of reducing GHG emissions. The authors argue that, given the scope of the EU Scheme, the paucity of research evidencing that it is likely to succeed in reducing GHG emissions in the form of CO 2 is surprising and should be of concern to those affected by it along with

  1. Policy-making under uncertainty: Commentary upon the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Haar, Laura N.; Haar, Lawrence

    2006-01-01

    The authors undertake a critical assessment of the intellectual foundations supporting the new European Union (EU) Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS, or the Scheme), the cornerstone of polices designed to achieve the targets of the Kyoto Agreement of reducing emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG). Despite its considerable scope, the authors found that officially sponsored research and academic efforts in support of ETS were surprisingly limited. Importantly, in advance of implementation, a definitive consensus on both the potential economic impact and the usefulness of the Scheme in reducing the GHG emissions had not been reached. Reviewing the literature, the authors encountered varying and, at times, conflicting viewpoints, officially and in academic research, on the potential economic impact of the Scheme. These included attempts to quantify its benefits and costs, raising concern that this huge and encompassing multi-national policy initiative may have been launched with inadequate intellectual ground-work. According to the authors consistency between the ETS and other EU policies, such as those relating to energy, should have been a key concern, but such aspects have received only minimal attention in both official and academic research. The European Commission has promoted open and competitive markets for gas and power across member states, but the record in achieving such conditions is relatively poor and the authors argue that, as a result, the environmental objectives of the EU Scheme may not be thwarted. In addition, continuing disagreement over the Kyoto Agreement itself-especially with regard to its potential costs and benefits-further frustrates efforts to rigorously justify a policy in support of reducing GHG emissions. The authors argue that, given the scope of the EU Scheme, the paucity of research evidencing that it is likely to succeed in reducing GHG emissions in the form of CO 2 is surprising and should be of concern to those affected by it along with

  2. (Nuclear) energy policy in future

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1982-01-01

    With this report the German Federal Diet submits the final results of the opinion-forming and decision-making process concerning the recommendations made by the investigation committee 'Future Nuclear Energy Policy' in June 1980. By means of this report it is intended to point out to an interested public the difficult and time-consuming process of parliamentary decision-making. This report is also to be seen as the final opinion delivered on the recommendations made by the investigation committee. The recommendations were to continue to pursue the peaceful use of nuclear energy, the necessity and technical justifiability of which had basically been approved by all parliamentary groups. In view of the import of the subject and in recognition of the work done by the investigation committee, the German Parliament has thoroughly discussed the report and has reviewed the analyses and recommendations in conjunction with other political fields to be considered. One part of the recommendations was taken up almost unanimously. As far as the safety of nuclear installations is concerned, the investigation committee could not submit any new findings which would give reasons for modifying the hitherto positive assessment of the safety of nuclear installations. The recommendations of the investigation committee mainly referred to the decision-making process in the field of energy policy which will effect the next decade. What fundamental decisions are to be made until when was pointed out as well as the findings and experience to be made until then. (orig./HP) [de

  3. THE STRUCTURAL SPECIFICITIES OF THE US CONGRESS’ WHICH INFLUENCE THE POLICY DECISION-MAKING PROCESS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    O A. Frolova

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available The U.S. Congress plays an important role in the decision-making process at the system of American political management. First of all, it applies to formulation and coordination of different interests through the law passing process. The article examines the Congress’ structure and the different aspects of its functioning. Those aspects often play a key role in lawmaking process and later affect the forming of the US political vector. The author comes to conclusion that the existing system of subcommittees doesn’t allow the U.S. Legislature to consider many bills completely and that fact negatively impacts on political decision-making process.Purchase on Elibrary.ru > Buy now

  4. Plan prediction which policy is preferred by which people?

    CERN Document Server

    Wyatt, Ray

    2017-01-01

    This book develops an innovative system, in the form of an "app", that harnesses the power of the internet to predict which sorts of people will prefer which policy in ANY planning situation. It chronicles the accumulated research wisdom behind the system’s reasoning, along with several less successful approaches to policy making that have been found wanting in the past – including the myth, usually peddled by strategic planners, that it is possible to find a "best" plan which optimally satisfies everybody. The book lays out an entirely new kind of Planning Support System (PSS). It will facilitate decision-making that is far more community-sensitive than previously, and it will drastically improve the performance of anyone who needs to plan within socially-sensitive contexts – which is all of us. A standout feature of the system is its commitment to “scientific rigour”, as shown by its predicted plan scores always being graphically presented within error margins so that true statistical significance...

  5. Strategies to enhance the impact of research on human resources for health on policy making

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Taghreed Adam

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available Despite global recognition of the importance of human resources for health (HRH in achieving health system goals, very little is known about what works, for whom and under what circumstances, especially for low-income and middleincome countries. Several important events and reports have called for increased funding and capacity for HRH research in recent years and several initiatives have started as a result. Progress has been slow, however. The following strategies can be most valuable in ensuring the relevance of the generated evidence for decision making and its contribution to stronger health systems. The first is to promote national processes to set priorities for HRH research with active participation from decision makers. The second is to make conscious efforts to scale up primary research to address priority questions and to develop sustainable mechanisms to evaluate the impact of current or new HRH strategies to feed into the policy making process. The third is to invest in the development of systematic reviews to synthesize available evidence and in the adaptation of the underlying methods to make them more responsive to the type of questions and the nature of research involving HRH issues. The fourth and most important is to consistently use a systems approach in framing and addressing research questions. While a narrow approach may be more attractive and simple, health systems and the problems facing them are not. Increasing the body of evidence that takes into account the complexity of health systems, and particularly human resources for health, will advance knowledge in this area and will make big strides in the quality and usefulness of the generated evidence.

  6. Gender Equality a case study of Sweden : Gender Equality Gender Equity and policies of combating inequality at workplace to make the society equal.

    OpenAIRE

    Sultan, Tipu

    2010-01-01

    The paper analyses Gender Equality, Gender Equity and policies of combating inequality at workplace to make the society equal as a case study of Sweden. The aim of paper is see the gender equality, gender equity, discrimination against women at workplace and to describe the policies combating inequality in the welfare state of Sweden. This work highlights the gender equality in terms of institutionalizing gender equality, gender equity, gender and pay gap, parental leave, gender and the pensi...

  7. Completion of Limitation of Medical Treatment forms by junior doctors for patients with dementia: clinical, medicolegal and education perspectives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoong, Jaclyn; MacPhail, Aleece; Trytel, Gael; Rajendram, Prashanti Yalini; Winbolt, Margaret; Ibrahim, Joseph E

    2017-10-01

    Objective Limitation of Medical Treatment (LMT) forms are an essential element of end-of-life care. Decision making around LMT is complex and often involves patients with dementia. Despite the complexity, junior doctors frequently play a central role in completing LMT forms. The present study sought perspectives from a range of stakeholders (hospital clinicians, medical education personnel, legal and advocacy staff) about junior doctors' roles in completing LMT forms in general and for patients with dementia. Methods Qualitative data were gathered in semi-structured interviews (SSI) and theoretical concepts were explored in roundtable discussion (RD). Participants were recruited through purposive and convenience sampling drawing on healthcare and legal personnel employed in the public hospital and aged care systems, selected from major metropolitan hospitals, healthcare and legal professional bodies and advocacy organisations in Victoria, Australia. The contents of the SSIs and RD were subject to thematic analysis using a framework approach. Data were indexed according to the topics established in the study aim; categories were systematically scrutinised, from which key themes were distilled. Results Stakeholders reported that completing LMT forms was difficult for junior doctors because of a lack of medical and legal knowledge, as well as clinical inexperience and inadequate training. Healthcare organisations (HCOs) either lacked policies about the role of junior doctors or had practices that were discordant with policy. In this process, there were substantial gaps pertaining to patients with dementia. Recommendations made by the study participants included the provision of supervised clinical exposure and additional training for junior doctors, strengthening HCO policies and explicit consideration of the needs of patients with dementia. Conclusions LMT forms should be designed for clarity and consistency across HCOs. Enhancing patient care requires appropriate

  8. Emission-dependent supply chain and environment-policy-making in the ‘cap-and-trade’ system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Du, Shaofu; Zhu, Lili; Liang, Liang; Ma, Fang

    2013-01-01

    The paper focuses on a so-called emission-dependent supply chain consisting of one single emission-dependent manufacturer and one single emission permit supplier in the ‘cap-and-trade’ system, where emission permit becomes requisite for production. We consider the emission cap of emission-dependent manufacturer allocated by the government as a kind of environmental policy and formally investigate its influence on decision-makings within the concerned emission-dependent supply chain as well as distribution fairness in social welfare. It is proved that the system-wide and the manufacturer's profits increase with the emission cap while the permit supplier's decreases. There is room for manufacturer and permit supplier to coordinate the supply chain to get more profit in a certain condition. - Highlights: ► We model an emission-dependent supply chain with a permit supplier and a firm. ► We game-theoretically analyze their optimal decisions in a ‘cap-and-trade' system. ► It is possible to coordinate the supply chain in a certain condition. ► The effect of emission cap as an environment policy is considered. ► Bernoulli–Nash Social Welfare Function is employed to analyze the optimal cap

  9. Understanding tobacco control policy at the national level: bridging the gap between public policy and tobacco control advocacy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marc C. Willemsen

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Background While some countries have advanced tobacco control policies, other countries struggle to adopt and implement FCTC's measures. This presentation uncovers the main factors that explain such variations, taking insights from public policy and political science as a starting point for a case study. Methods A case study of tobacco control policy making in the Netherlands, covering the period from the 1960s until the present. The study consisted of a systematic search and analysis of documents and proceedings of parliamentary debates on tobacco policy, supplemented with 22 interviews with key informants from the government, health organisations, politicians, and the tobacco industry. In addition, documents from the Truth Tobacco Industry Documents database, pertaining to the influence of the tobacco industry on Dutch policy making, were analysed. Results The Dutch government started relatively late to regulate tobacco. The choices in tobacco control policy making at the national level and the tempo in which they are made are explained by the interaction of the five main elements of the tobacco control policy making process: Relatively stable context factors (constitutional structures, 'rules of the policy making game', national cultural values Relatively dynamic context factors (regime changes, EU regulation and FCTC guidelines, changing social norms, public support Transfer of ideas (availability and interpretation of scientific evidence Pro and anti-tobacco control networks and coalitions (their organisational and lobby strength Agenda-setting (changes in problem definition, issue framing, media advocacy Conclusions Despite worldwide convergence of tobacco control policies, accelerated by the ratification of the FCTC treaty by most nations, governments develop approaches to tobacco control in line with cultural values, ideological preferences and specific national institutional arrangements. There is no one-size-fits-all approach. The

  10. Agricultural policy, food policy, and communicable disease policy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grant, Wyn

    2012-12-01

    Food and agricultural policy is an essential element of a communicable disease policy. The European Union has developed a more systematic and broadly based interest in questions of food safety and animal health and welfare linked to modernization of the Common Agricultural Policy, reflected in a new treaty obligation on animal welfare. Following the bovine spongiform encephalopathy crisis, moves were made to create a European competency, but implementation and enforcement resources reside with the member states. The European Animal Health Strategy is meant to lead to an EU animal health law, but this has already been constrained by fiscal austerity. The development of such a law may lead to a lowest common denominator formula that does little to enhance consumer protection or improve animal welfare. This is an inherent risk with top-down forms of Europeanization; more attention should be paid to lessons to be learned from bottom-up initiatives of the type used to counteract the bovine diarrhea virus. There will always be a tension among what is good policy for reducing the incidence of communicable disease, policy that is popular with EU citizens, and policy that is acceptable to member states.

  11. Energy policy decision making and public opinion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gerstein, L.

    1989-09-01

    By the example of nuclear the author demonstrates the interactions of short-term fluctuations on the world energy market, energy forecasts, specific events and discussions on energy policy both within political parties and in the general public, and draws conclusions which are valid beyond the Federal Republic of Germany: An analysis of the general public's attitude towards nuclear energy shows two initial phases, i.e. euphoria and scepticism/ideology/agitation. The early eighties, then, led to a third phase - realism. Up to 1983 a consensus prevailed between the leading political parties in Germany regarding the basic energy-policy objective of minimizing the supply risk by providing for a well-balanced use of all available energy sources. The resulting attitude had a positive bearing on the public opinion: more than two thirds of the population were in favour of nuclear. In the mid-eighties, the development of nuclear was by and large completed in the Federal Republic of Germany as well as in the United States and other western industrialized countries and the capacity of nuclear power plants is considered sufficient for the years to come. In addition, abundant long-term reserves of domestic lignite and hardcoal are available: this also should have furnished a good reason to envisage calmly the issues of power supply. Instead, we are again facing emotional discussions on the acceptance of nuclear. Public opinion in the Federal Republic of Germany has changed since the Social Democrats followed the example of the Ecologists and advocated a rapid withdrawal from nuclear. In a recent poll four-fifths of the persons asked did not rule out the possibility of a major accident in a German power station. The wish to ignore today's energy supply problems by escaping into a supposedly safe but yet distant and vague future is part of every public debate. Technical and scientific issues are examined no longer in this global context. Predictions of experts and counter

  12. Government Accountability Reports and Public Education Policy: Studying Political Actors' Decision-Making

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salazar, Timothy Ross

    2013-01-01

    This study asks how government accountability reports are used to influence public education policy. Government accountability reports, called "audits" in Utah, prove to be useful tools for examining education policy. Using a collective case study design examining Utah's Class Size Reduction (CSR) policy, government accountability…

  13. A problem solving model for regulatory policy making

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Boer, A.; van Engers, T.; Sileno, G.; Wyner, A.; Benn, N.

    2011-01-01

    In this paper we discuss how the interests and field theory promoted by public administration as a stakeholder in policy argumentation, directly arise from its problem solving activities, using the framework for public administration problem solving we proposed in [1,2]. We propose that calls for

  14. Structuring injustice: partisan politics in the making and unmaking of James Madison University's equal opportunity policy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robinson, Christine M; Spivey, Sue E

    2011-01-01

    This analysis contributes to LGBT campus climate research on the quality of campus life in higher education in the United States. We argue that public education institutions in different states face divergent impediments to improving campus climate, and that more research is needed identifying structural factors affecting campus climate. Using a social systems analysis of policymaking at one university as a case study, we illustrate how partisan politics and state regulation make Virginia colleges and universities more vulnerable to political scrutiny and control. Finally, we propose a social justice-oriented policy agenda to address structural inequalities.

  15. The making of nursing practice law in Lebanon: a policy analysis case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    El-Jardali, Fadi; Hammoud, Rawan; Younan, Lina; Nuwayhid, Helen Samaha; Abdallah, Nadine; Alameddine, Mohammad; Bou-Karroum, Lama; Salman, Lana

    2014-09-05

    Evidence-informed decisions can strengthen health systems, improve health, and reduce health inequities. Despite the Beijing, Montreux, and Bamako calls for action, literature shows that research evidence is underemployed in policymaking, especially in the East Mediterranean region (EMR). Selecting the draft nursing practice law as a case study, this policy analysis exercise aims at generating in-depth insights on the public policymaking process, identifying the factors that influence policymaking and assessing to what extent evidence is used in this process. This study utilized a qualitative research design using a case study approach and was conducted in two phases: data collection and analysis, and validation. In the first phase, data was collected through key informant interviews that covered 17 stakeholders. In the second phase, a panel discussion was organized to validate the findings, identify any gaps, and gain insights and feedback of the panelists. Thematic analysis was conducted and guided by the Walt & Gilson's "Policy Triangle Framework" as themes were categorized into content, actors, process, and context. Findings shed light on the complex nature of health policymaking and the unstructured approach of decision making. This study uncovered the barriers that hindered the progress of the draft nursing law and the main barriers against the use of evidence in policymaking. Findings also uncovered the risk involved in the use of international recommendations without the involvement of stakeholders and without accounting for contextual factors and implementation barriers. Findings were interpreted within the context of the Lebanese political environment and the power play between stakeholders, taking into account equity considerations. This policy analysis exercise presents findings that are helpful for policymakers and all other stakeholders and can feed into revising the draft nursing law to reach an effective alternative that is feasible in Lebanon. Our

  16. Green electricity policies in the Netherlands: an analysis of policy decisions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rooijen, Sascha N.M. van; Wees, Mark T. van

    2006-01-01

    Over the last decades, fundamental changes can be observed in both market conditions and the national policy framework for green electricity in the Netherlands. The Dutch Government has regularly intervened in markets, demonstrating fundamental shifts in policy and approach. This study aims to analyse the developments in renewable energy policy making in the Netherlands. It assesses changes in the choice of policy instruments and target groups, the role of stakeholders, and offers explanations behind policy successes and failures. Dutch green electricity policy over the last decade can be characterised roughly by three phases: in the early 1990s, the government negotiated voluntary agreements with the energy distribution sector on targets for green electricity sales, which were never met. In the second half of the 1990s, a regulatory energy tax was introduced, from which customers of green electricity were exempt. This led to a substantial increase in demand, which was largely met by green electricity imports, and did not lead to additional domestic renewable energy capacity. Finally, a change in policy has taken place recently (2003) shifting the focus from promotion of demand to the promotion of supply through a system of regulated feed-in tariffs. Despite the renewable energy policies, growth of the renewable energy market in the Netherlands has been small and targets have not been fully met. The Dutch government has not yet succeeded in substantially reducing market uncertainties and in building confidence among market parties, because the policies have not been stable and policy objectives have frequently been partly ambiguous. In addition, the influence of stakeholders in renewable energy policy making has been small which has the early acceptance and implementation of alternative policies

  17. Pay-for-performance policy and data-driven decision making within nursing homes: a qualitative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abrahamson, Kathleen; Miech, Edward; Davila, Heather Wood; Mueller, Christine; Cooke, Valerie; Arling, Greg

    2015-05-01

    Health systems globally and within the USA have introduced nursing home pay-for-performance (P4P) programmes in response to the need for improved nursing home quality. Central to the challenge of administering effective P4P is the availability of accurate, timely and clinically appropriate data for decision making. We aimed to explore ways in which data were collected, thought about and used as a result of participation in a P4P programme. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 232 nursing home employees from within 70 nursing homes that participated in P4P-sponsored quality improvement (QI) projects. Interview data were analysed to identify themes surrounding collecting, thinking about and using data for QI decision making. The term 'data' appeared 247 times in the interviews, and over 92% of these instances (228/247) were spontaneous references by nursing home staff. Overall, 34% of respondents (79/232) referred directly to 'data' in their interviews. Nursing home leadership more frequently discussed data use than direct care staff. Emergent themes included using data to identify a QI problem, gathering data in new ways at the local level, and measuring outcomes in response to P4P participation. Alterations in data use as a result of policy change were theoretically consistent with the revised version of the Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services framework, which posits that successful implementation is a function of evidence, context and facilitation. Providing a reimbursement context that facilitates the collection and use of reliable local evidence may be an important consideration to others contemplating the adaptation of P4P policies. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

  18. When Regional Innovation Policies Meet Policy Rationales and Evidence:

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Borrás, Susana; Jordana, Jacint

    regions, and to understand how rationales and evidence can be translated into policy-making. To this purpose, this paper develops a framework to study the extent to which regional innovation policies have changed during the past few years. Since the mid-2000s there has been an important development......In spite of recent advancements regarding regional innovation policy rationales and evidence, there are few analyses about the actual features of existing regional innovation policies. Nevertheless, a policy analysis perspective is important in order to recognise their distinctive patterns across...... of innovation policy rationales, advocating for more specialisation; likewise, greater data availability at the regional level has allowed more sophisticated assessment of innovation performance. Finally, the crisis since 2008 has had ravaging effects in some regions, with job losses and severe economic...

  19. When Regional Innovation Policies Meet Policy Rationales and Evidence

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Borrás, Susana; Jordana, Jacint

    2016-01-01

    regions, and to understand how rationales and evidence can be translated into policy-making. To this purpose, this paper develops a framework to study the extent to which regional innovation policies have changed during the past few years. Since the mid-2000s, there has been an important development......In spite of recent advancements regarding regional innovation policy rationales and evidence, there are few analyses about the actual features of existing regional innovation policies. Nevertheless, a policy analysis perspective is important in order to recognize their distinctive patterns across...... of innovation policy rationales, advocating for more specialization; likewise, greater data availability at the regional level has allowed more sophisticated assessment of innovation performance. Finally, the crisis since 2008 has had ravaging effects in some regions, with job losses and severe economic...

  20. Pain Relief: Make Consistency the Cornerstone of Your Policy on Grading.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Kenneth E.; Wendel, Frederick C.

    1988-01-01

    An effective school board policy on grading needs to include the following six components: (1) philosophy; (2) definition of terms; (3) line of responsibility; (4) legal review; (5) academic achievement and behavioral skills reported separately; and (6) policy review. (MLF)

  1. Fiscal Challenge: An Experiential Exercise in Policy Making

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aguilar, Mike; Soques, Daniel

    2015-01-01

    In this article, the authors introduce a pedagogical innovation that is designed to enhance students' understanding of fiscal policy in general, and the national debt and deficit in particular. The innovation leverages the educational advantages offered through a competitive environment by pitting teams of students against one another with the…

  2. Cartographic Communication and Information Policy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van de Waal, E. Hans

    Trends in information policy are discussed as they impact on cartographic information, stressing particularly the relationships between cartographic communication, documentation, and policy making. Distinction is made between cartographic communication as a subject for information policy and cartographic communication as an expedient in public…

  3. Anti-corruption policy in the system of legal measures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tatyana Viktorovna Filonenko

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Objective to determine the scientificmethodological foundations of anticorruption policy. Methods dialectical approach to cognition of social phenomena allows to explore the combination of objective and subjective factors influencing the formation and implementation of anticorruption policy. The author39s model of anticorruption policy is based on the wide range of logical methods of information processing modeling abstraction analysis analogy. Scientific hypothesis and formal legal analysis were also used. Results basing on comparison of the recent theoreticallegal criminallegal and criminological research in the field of legal and anticorruption policy the scientificmethodological foundations of anticorruption policy are disclosed. The authors attempt to systematize the scientific interpretation of anticorruption policy. The concept of legal policy its forms tools subjects and typesare discussed. As a result it becomes possible to describe the current anticorruption policy using terminology from the theory of legal policy. This approach can increase the effectiveness of modern anticorruption policy as it allows to clearly see the gaps and shortcomings in lawmaking and law enforcement during the anticorruption policy implementation. Scientific novelty the article makes an attempt to describe the current anticorruption policy with the use of terminology and models developed in the theoretical and legal research for the characterization of legal policy and its particular directions. Practical significance the main provisions and conclusions of the article can be used in scientific and pedagogical work when considering questions about the nature and trends of the modern anticorruption policy development. The applied approach allows to bring together criminal law criminology and theoreticallegal research of anticorruption policy. nbsp

  4. The Impact of the New Nationalism and Identity Politics on Cultural Policy-Making In Europe and Beyond

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Duelund, Peter

    2016-01-01

    Fuelled by factors such as globalisation, European integration and migration, there is evidence of a resurgence of nationalism in Europe and beyond. This trend is being increasingly revitalised in national and regional cultural policy-making, often linked to a new focus on politics of national...... identity. At worst a future scenario of Europe might be an internationalization of nationalism which tends to colonize art, culture and "the whole way of life". To change this cultural lens requires a new narrative of Europe. It requires scientific cultural research, knowledge and insight, if the ghosts...

  5. International Organisations and Transnational Education Policy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moutsios, Stavros

    2009-01-01

    This paper focuses on the World Bank/IMF (International Monetary Fund), the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) and the WTO (World Trade Organisation) as institutions of transnational policy making. They are all at present making education policies which are decisively shaping current directions and developments in…

  6. Smart Grid as Multi-layer Interacting System for Complex Decision Makings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bompard, Ettore; Han, Bei; Masera, Marcelo; Pons, Enrico

    This chapter presents an approach to the analysis of Smart Grids based on a multi-layer representation of their technical, cyber, social and decision-making aspects, as well as the related environmental constraints. In the Smart Grid paradigm, self-interested active customers (prosumers), system operators and market players interact among themselves making use of an extensive cyber infrastructure. In addition, policy decision makers define regulations, incentives and constraints to drive the behavior of the competing operators and prosumers, with the objective of ensuring the global desired performance (e.g. system stability, fair prices). For these reasons, the policy decision making is more complicated than in traditional power systems, and needs proper modeling and simulation tools for assessing "in vitro" and ex-ante the possible impacts of the decisions assumed. In this chapter, we consider the smart grids as multi-layered interacting complex systems. The intricacy of the framework, characterized by several interacting layers, cannot be captured by closed-form mathematical models. Therefore, a new approach using Multi Agent Simulation is described. With case studies we provide some indications about how to develop agent-based simulation tools presenting some preliminary examples.

  7. Form of silicon and method of making the same

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strobel, Timothy A.; Kim, Duck Young; Kurakevych, Oleksandr O.

    2017-07-04

    The invention relates to a new phase of silicon, Si.sub.24, and a method of making the same. Si.sub.24 has a quasi-direct band gap, with a direct gap value of 1.34 eV and an indirect gap value of 1.3 eV. The invention also relates to a compound of the formula Na.sub.4Si.sub.24 and a method of making the same. N.sub.a4Si.sub.24 may be used as a precursor to make Si.sub.24.

  8. Funding Us Higher Education: Policy Making Theories Reviewed

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cooley, Asya

    2015-01-01

    Higher education policy and politics in the United States (US) has been an issue of studies for several decades. Since the 1960s, researchers have been attempting to understand, explain and extrapolate on the relationships between higher education funding and political institutions. This review attempts to assess recent studies concerned with US…

  9. Music and dance make me feel alive: from Mandela's prison songs and dances to public policy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buis, Johann S

    2013-01-01

    How is it possible for song and dance to exist in political incarceration and manifest itself later as public policy responding to apartheid atrocities? Examining the body of songs, oral history accounts, and eye-witness reports provided by fellow-prisoners of Mandela on Robben Island prison, I uncover a psychological environment mediated through music and dance--within the confines of a political prison. This source of prison music-making by political prisoners in detention, provide us with the artistic expressions of revolutionary songs, parody songs, praise songs, laments, etc. These music genres reflect ontologies embedded in Mandela's juristic imagination. My framework for explaining these ontologies is a theoretical framework I call an aesthetic of function: internal ontologies that speak to the African cultural ground against which external ontologies are expressed in the jurisprudential redress to apartheid atrocities. Examining his external (jurisprudential) ontologies through song and dance, one realizes that the best way for him to have solved the unprecedented public redress of apartheid atrocities is evident in the songs he sang in Robben Island prison. Retribution could have been a logical solution for him. Instead, he turned to truth-telling and reconciliation as public policy. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission's unprecedented breaking of social and jurisprudential boundaries, the claim of agency for both victims and perpetrators, and public policy of South Africa's first democratically elected black president, lie deeply embedded in cultural practices he testified to in his autobiography, "The Long Walk to Freedom". These cultural practices in prison were singing and dancing. This paper complements the music-as-torture trope: here music in detention carries ontological agency. Musical evidence of stylistic features, text, and contextual analyses, and related literary criticism devices, expose Mandela's embedded internal and external

  10. Why do policies change? Institutions, interests, ideas and networks in three cases of policy reform.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shearer, Jessica C; Abelson, Julia; Kouyaté, Bocar; Lavis, John N; Walt, Gill

    2016-11-01

    Policy researchers have used various categories of variables to explain why policies change, including those related to institutions, interests and ideas. Recent research has paid growing attention to the role of policy networks-the actors involved in policy-making, their relationships with each other, and the structure formed by those relationships-in policy reform across settings and issues; however, this literature has largely ignored the theoretical integration of networks with other policy theories, including the '3Is' of institutions, interests and ideas. This article proposes a conceptual framework integrating these variables and tests it on three cases of policy change in Burkina Faso, addressing the need for theoretical integration with networks as well as the broader aim of theory-driven health policy analysis research in low- and middle-income countries. We use historical process tracing, a type of comparative case study, to interpret and compare documents and in-depth interview data within and between cases. We found that while network changes were indeed associated with policy reform, this relationship was mediated by one or more of institutions, interests and ideas. In a context of high donor dependency, new donor rules affected the composition and structure of actors in the networks, which enabled the entry and dissemination of new ideas and shifts in the overall balance of interest power ultimately leading to policy change. The case of strategic networking occurred in only one case, by civil society actors, suggesting that network change is rarely the spark that initiates the process towards policy change. This analysis highlights the important role of changes in institutions and ideas to drive policymaking, but hints that network change is a necessary intermediate step in these processes. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. All rights reserved. For

  11. Management of carbon across sectors and scales: Insights from land use decision making

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dilling, L.; Failey, E. L.

    2008-12-01

    Carbon management is increasingly becoming a topic of interest among policy circles and business entrepreneurs alike. In the United States, while no binding regulatory framework exists, carbon management is nonetheless being pursued both by voluntary actions at a variety of levels, from the individual to the national level, and through mandatory policies at state and local levels. Controlling the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere for climate purposes will ultimately require a form of governance that will ensure that the actions taken and being rewarded financially are indeed effective with respect to the global atmosphere on long time scales. Moreover, this new system of governance will need to interface with existing governance structures and decision criteria that have been established to arbitrate among various societal values and priorities. These existing institutions and expressed values will need to be examined against those proposed for effective carbon governance, such as the permanence of carbon storage, the additionality of credited activities, and the prevention of leakage, or displacement of prohibited activities to another region outside the governance boundary. The latter issue suggests that interactions among scales of decision making and governance will be extremely important in determining the ultimate success of any future system of carbon governance. The goal of our study is to understand the current context of land use decision making in different sectors and examine the potential for future carbon policy to be effective given this context. This study examined land use decision making in the U.S. state of Colorado from a variety of ownership perspectives, including US Federal land managers, individual private owners, and policy makers involved in land use at a number of different scales. This paper will report on the results of interviews with land managers and provide insight into the policy context for carbon management through land

  12. Rethinking immigration policy theory beyond 'Western liberal democracies'.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Natter, Katharina

    2018-01-01

    How do political systems shape immigration policy-making? Explicitly or implicitly, comparative politics and migration policy theories suggest a 'regime effect' that links specific dynamics of immigration policy to liberal democracy. The literature's dominant focus on so-called 'Western liberal democracies', however, has left the 'regime effect' largely untested and research on variations and similarities in immigration policymaking across political systems strikingly undertheorized. This paper challenges the theoretical usefulness of essentialist, dichotomous categories such as Western/non-Western or democratic/autocratic and calls for a more nuanced theorizing of immigration policy-making. It proposes a two-dimensional classification of immigration policy theories, distinguishing between 'issue-specific' theories that capture immigration policy processes regardless of the political system in place and 'regime-specific' theories whose insights are tied to the characteristics of a political system. The paper also advances the 'illiberal paradox' hypothesis to explain why illiberal, autocratic states may enact liberal immigration policies. This theoretical expansion beyond the 'Western' and 'liberal' bubble is illustrated by an analysis of immigration policy-making in 21st century Morocco and Tunisia. Showing how domestic and international institutions, interests, and ideas shape immigration policy-making in Morocco's monarchy and Tunisia's democratic transition, the paper investigates the broader role of political systems in immigration politics and herewith seeks to contribute to a more general and global theorization of immigration policies.

  13. Methodology for Participatory Policy Analysis

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Geurts, J.L.A.; Joldersma, F.

    2001-01-01

    In the course of time it has become clear that policy analysts who use traditional formal modeling techniques have limited impact on policy making regarding complex policy problems. These kinds of problems require the analyst to combine scientific insights with subjective knowledge resources and to

  14. Strengthening political leadership and policy innovation through the expansion of collaborative forms of governance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Torfing, Jacob; Ansell, Christopher

    2017-01-01

    This article explores how political leadership and policy innovation can be enhanced through collaborative governance. The main findings are that while wicked and unruly problems create an urgent need for policy innovation, politicians are badly positioned to initiate, drive and lead...... this innovation. They are either locked into a dependency on policy advice from senior civil servants or locked out of more inclusive policy networks. In either case, they are insulated from fresh ideas and ultimately reduced to ‘policy-takers’ with limited engagement in policy innovation. Collaborative policy...

  15. Economics and obesity policy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lusk, J L

    2017-06-01

    This paper elucidates the challenges surrounding the economics of some popular obesity-related policy proposals. Solid economic justifications for anti-obesity policies are often lacking, and evidence suggests policies like fat and soda taxes or restrictions on food stamp spending are unlikely to substantively affect obesity prevalence. In short, many of the same factors that make obesity such a complicated and multifaceted issue extend to the economic analysis of public health policies.

  16. Policy Design and Non-Design: Towards a Spectrum of Policy Formulation Types

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael Howlett

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available Public policies are the result of efforts made by governments to alter aspects of behaviour—both that of their own agents and of society at large—in order to carry out some end or purpose. They are comprised of arrangements of policy goals and policy means matched through some decision-making process. These policy-making efforts can be more, or less, systematic in attempting to match ends and means in a logical fashion or can result from much less systematic processes. “Policy design” implies a knowledge-based process in which the choice of means or mechanisms through which policy goals are given effect follows a logical process of inference from known or learned relationships between means and outcomes. This includes both design in which means are selected in accordance with experience and knowledge and that in which principles and relationships are incorrectly or only partially articulated or understood. Policy decisions can be careful and deliberate in attempting to best resolve a problem or can be highly contingent and driven by situational logics. Decisions stemming from bargaining or opportunism can also be distinguished from those which result from careful analysis and assessment. This article considers both modes and formulates a spectrum of policy formulation types between “design” and “non-design” which helps clarify the nature of each type and the likelihood of each unfolding.

  17. International Organisations and Transnational Education Policy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Moutsios, Stavros

    2009-01-01

    This paper focuses on the World Bank/IMF (International Monetary Fund), the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) and the WTO (World Trade Organisation) as institutions of transnational policy making. They are all at present making education policies which are decisively...... shaping current directions and developments in national education systems. The paper reviews the enhanced role of these institutions in producing education policies and investigates the ideological basis as well as the processes through which these policies are made. It is argued that decisions are taken...... largely through asymmetric, non-democratic and opaque procedures. It is also argued that the proposed policies purport to serve the principles of relentless economic competition. Taking into account similar policies and initiatives, the paper concludes that we are experiencing not only...

  18. Descriptive analysis of immunization policy decision making in the Americas Análisis descriptivo de la toma de decisión sobre políticas de vacunación en las Américas

    OpenAIRE

    Julianne E. Burns; Rachel C. Mitrovich; Barbara Jauregui; Cuauhtémoc Ruiz Matus; Jon K. Andrus

    2009-01-01

    OBJECTIVES: Reducing and eliminating vaccine-preventable diseases requires evidence-based and informed policy decision making. Critical to determining the functionality of the decision-making process for introduction of a new vaccine is understanding the role of the national immunization technical advisory group (ITAG) in each country. The aim of this study is to document the current situation of national level immunization policy decision making for use in the Pan American Health Organizatio...

  19. COLLABORATIVE POLICY-MAKING, LAW STUDENTS, AND ACCESS TO JUSTICE: THE REWARDS OF DESTABILIZING INSTITUTIONAL PATTERNS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brea Lowenberger

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Heightened concerns and dialogue about access to justice have infused the law school setting in Saskatchewan and, to varying degrees, across the country. If there ever were a time to approach social justice reform differently – to upset traditional parameters around decision making and step around older hierarchies for input and design – it would be now. This article describes the Dean’s Forum on Dispute Resolution and Access to Justice (colloquially known as the Dean’s Forum as a platform for genuine student engagement in the development of public policy in this important area. We offer our combined reflections, gathered inside our “teaching team,” about the unique pedagogical features of our experiment and its challenges. As we continue to grow with the project, we offer this Saskatchewan story as one example of institutional collaboration in a quickly evolving educational and social policy landscape.   L’accès à la justice est une préoccupation croissante et un thème de plus en plus récurrent dans les facultés de droit de la Saskatchewan et, à différents degrés, de l’ensemble du pays. Le temps est venu, semble-t-il, d’aborder la réforme de la justice sociale différemment, de bouleverser les paramètres traditionnels gravitant autour de la prise de décisions et de contourner les hiérarchies plus anciennes en ce qui concerne les données et les concepts. Cet article porte sur le forum du doyen concernant le règlement des conflits et l’accès à la justice (familièrement appelé le Dean’s Forum (forum du doyen comme plateforme pour la participation des étudiants à l’élaboration des politiques publiques dans cet important domaine. Nous présentons l’ensemble des réflexions de notre équipe d’enseignants au sujet des éléments pédagogiques uniques de notre expérience et des difficultés connexes. Nous continuons à grandir avec notre projet, mais nous souhaitions décrire dès maintenant cette

  20. Relating Actor Analysis Methods to Policy Problems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Van der Lei, T.E.

    2009-01-01

    For a policy analyst the policy problem is the starting point for the policy analysis process. During this process the policy analyst structures the policy problem and makes a choice for an appropriate set of methods or techniques to analyze the problem (Goeller 1984). The methods of the policy

  1. Role of ideas and ideologies in evidence-based health policy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prinja, S

    2010-01-01

    Policy making in health is largely thought to be driven by three 'I's namely ideas, interests and institutions. Recent years have seen a shift in approach with increasing reliance being placed on role of evidence for policy making. The present article ascertains the role of ideas and ideologies in shaping evidence which is used to aid in policy decisions. The article discusses different theories of research-policy interface and the relative freedom of research-based evidence from the influence of ideas. Examples from developed and developed countries are cited to illustrate the contentions made. The article highlights the complexity of the process of evidence-based policy making, in a world driven by existing political, social and cultural ideologies. Consideration of this knowledge is paramount where more efforts are being made to bridge the gap between the 'two worlds' of researchers and policy makers to make evidence-based policy as also for policy analysts.

  2. Transformation of Croatian Disabled Policy: Analysis of Policy Goals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ana Petek

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available The article is based on the idea of transformation of the policy-making mode of Croatian disabled policy, from the medical model, through the social model to the human rights model. The paper highlights 7 elements according to which these models differ, and which are structured into categories of problem-definition, goal-determination and then implementation of disabled policy. The analysis is focused on the goals of Croatian disabled policy, and is based on an interdisciplinary research project of political science, special education and social work. Empirical data were collected by document analysis, by interviewing relevant policy actors and by a survey with the members of representative bodies on all government levels. With the discourse analysis of documents, open coding of interviews and statistical analysis of data collected in the survey, the paper attempts, through the indicator of activity of persons with disability, to answer to what extent Croatian disabled policy is transformed into human rights policy.

  3. Technocrats and nuclear politics. The influence of professional experts in policy-making

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Massey, Andrew

    1988-01-01

    The role of technical experts, especially scientists and engineers, in the development of Britain's civil nuclear energy policy is analysed. It is proposed that civil initiatives came from the integration of technical professions within the bureaucracy of government and quasi-governmental organisations involved in the formulation and implementation of policy. Organisational logic and professional motivation encouraged policies which would lead to occupational autonomy. The first three chapters develop the concept of technical professionalism, Chapters 4-7 then focus on the technocrat's role in providing a spur from their positions within the policy community's bureaucracies that drives top-level policy decisions. These functions are examined in more detail using two case studies, the first concerned with the evolution of British Nuclear Fuels Ltd., the second with the Inquiry (in 1977) into the proposal by BNFL to extend its Windscale site (now known as Sellafield) to build the Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant. (U.K.)

  4. Trade policy-making in a model of legislative bargaining

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Celik, Levent; Karabay, B.; McLaren, J.

    2013-01-01

    Roč. 91, č. 2 (2013), s. 179-190 ISSN 0022-1996 Institutional support: RVO:67985998 Keywords : trade policy * multilateral legislative bargaining * political economy Subject RIV: AH - Economics Impact factor: 2.443, year: 2013

  5. Are new industry policies precautionary?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Galland, Daniel; McDaniels, Timothy L

    2008-01-01

    . The paper finally argues that, although in practice, policy makers generally tend to make incremental choices that are reactive to diverse issues, new industries could adopt more precautionary policies based on processes of public negotiation, analytical decision making and regional planning based......This paper argues that regulatory processes and outcomes in the context of a new industry could respond to mechanisms and factors that shape governmental agendas, illustrating how policy can behave reactively rather than in a precautionary manner. In the case of salmon aquaculture, an emerging...... industry characterized by risks, uncertainties, exponential growth, economic significance and environmental controversy, the outcomes of such reactive policies are generally reflected in siting criteria that yield implicit environmental and socio-economic disadvantages and trade-offs. This paper proposes...

  6. Cyber security policy guidebook

    CERN Document Server

    Bayuk, nifer L; Rohmeyer, l; Sachs, cus; Schmidt, frey; Weiss, eph

    2012-01-01

    This book is a taxonomy and thesaurus of current cybersecurity policy issues, including a thorough description of each issue and a corresponding list of pros and cons with respect to identified stances on each issue. It documents policy alternatives for the sake of clarity with respect to policy alone, and dives into organizational implementation issues. Without using technical jargon, the book emphasizes the importance of critical and analytical thinking when making policy decisions.  It also equips the reader with descriptions of the impact of specific policy ch

  7. [The role of science in policy making--EuSANH-ISA project, framework for science advice for health].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cianciara, Dorota; Piotrowicz, Maria; Bielska-Lasota, Magdalena; Wysocki, Mirosław J

    2012-01-01

    Governments and other authorities (including MPs) should be well informed on issues of science and technology. This is particularly important in the era of evidence-based practice. This implies the need to get expert advice. The process by which scientific knowledge is transmitted, along with proposals how to solve the problem, is called science advice. The main aim of the article is to discuss the issue of science advice--definitions, interaction between science and policymaking, and its position in contemporary policies. The second aim is to present European Science Advisory Network for Health (EuSANH), EuSANH-ISA project, and framework for science advice for health which was developed by participants. Furthermore, the role of civil society in decision-making process and science advice is also discussed. Interaction between scientists and policy-makers are described in terms of science-push approach (technocratic model), policy-pull (decisionistic) and simultaneous push-pull approach (pragmatic). The position of science advice is described in historical perspective from the 50s, especially in the last two decades. Description relies to USA, Canada and UK. Principles of scientific advice to government (Government Office for Science, UK) are quoted. Some important documents related to science advice in EU and UN are mentioned. EuSANH network is described as well as EuSANH-ISA project, with its objectives and outcomes. According to findings of this project, the process of science advice for health should follow some steps: framing the issue to be covered; planning entire process leading to the conclusion; drafting the report; reviewing the report and revision; publishing report and assessing the impact on policy.

  8. Integrating policy, disintegrating practice: water resources management in Botswana

    Science.gov (United States)

    Swatuk, Larry A.; Rahm, Dianne

    Botswana is generally regarded as an African ‘success story’. Nearly four decades of unabated economic growth, multi-party democracy, conservative decision-making and low-levels of corruption have made Botswana the darling of the international donor community. One consequence of rapid and sustained economic development is that water resources use and demands have risen dramatically in a primarily arid/semi-arid environment. Policy makers recognize that supply is limited and that deliberate steps must be taken to manage demand. To this end, and in line with other members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), Botswana devised a National Water Master Plan (NWMP) and undertook a series of institutional and legal reforms throughout the 1990s so as to make water resources use more equitable, efficient and sustainable. In other words, the stated goal is to work toward Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in both policy and practice. However, policy measures have had limited impact on de facto practice. This paper reflects our efforts to understand the disjuncture between policy and practice. The information presented here combines a review of primary and secondary literatures with key informant interviews. It is our view that a number of constraints-cultural, power political, managerial-combine to hinder efforts toward sustainable forms of water resources use. If IWRM is to be realized in the country, these constraints must be overcome. This, however, is no small task.

  9. The use of economic evaluations in NHS decision-making: a review and empirical investigation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williams, I; McIver, S; Moore, D; Bryan, S

    2008-04-01

    To determine the extent to which health economic information is used in health policy decision-making in the UK, and to consider factors associated with the utilisation of such research findings. Major electronic databases were searched up to 2004. A systematic review of existing reviews on the use of economic evaluations in policy decision-making, of health and non-health literature on the use of economic analyses in policy making and of studies identifying actual or perceived barriers to the use of economic evaluations was undertaken. Five UK case studies of committees from four local and one national organisation [the Technology Appraisal Committee of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)] were conducted. Local case studies were augmented by documentary analysis of new technology request forms and by workshop discussions with members of local decision-making committees. The systematic review demonstrated few previous systematic reviews of evidence in the area. At the local level in the NHS, it was an exception for economic evaluation to inform technology coverage decisions. Local decision-making focused primarily on evidence of clinical benefit and cost implications. And whilst information on implementation was frequently requested, cost-effectiveness information was rarely accessed. A number of features of the decision-making environment appeared to militate against emphasis on cost-effectiveness analysis. Constraints on the capacity to generate, access and interpret information, led to a minor role for cost-effectiveness analysis in the local decision-making process. At the national policy level in the UK, economic analysis was found to be highly integrated into NICE's technology appraisal programme. Attitudes to economic evaluation varied between committee members with some significant disagreement and extraneous factors diluted the health economics analysis available to the committee. There was strong evidence of an ordinal

  10. How to Do Language Policy with Dictionaries

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    rbr

    policy to make suggestions for the lexicographical presentation and treatment of a number of ... phers of the last 250 years have underrated themselves. ... item policy as stem, e.g. educational policy, children's policy, women's policy, envi- .... Page 5 ... In the domain of language policy one in reality finds, with the exception of.

  11. Judicialization of Health Policy in the Definition of Access to Public Goods: Individual Rights versus Collective Rights

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Telma Maria Gonçalves Menicucci

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available The article analyses a form of judicialization of public policies in the health field. It has as its object lawsuits initiated against Belo Horizonte Municipality arguing for the provision of services or the acquisition of inputs not obtained in the public system via institutional access routes. The argument is that the individualized quest for the guarantee of the right to healthcare via the judicial path is a form of reproduction of the tensions produced in democratic societies between the social and the individual conceptions of citizenship. By ensuring access to goods by means of individual suits, the Judiciary interferes in the making of public choices taken on by public-sector managers, thus regulating opportunities for consumption according to a concentrating logic. And so the assertion of a constitutional right superposes the political right of the majority, represented by the Executive, to make choices as to the goods that are the object of public policies, with a relatively significant financial and budgetary impact.

  12. The role of organizational culture in policy mobilities – the case of South Korean climate change adaptation policies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Schäfer

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available The conceptualization of policies as mobile and mutable knowledge is the key feature of the recent debate on policy mobilities. Policy mobility studies have focused on the movement and translation of policies as well as on the impact of mobile policies on policy-making processes and governed spaces. Given that policy mobilities have mainly been examined in comparable institutional contexts, the current debate has neglected the role of organizational culture in the translation of policies. Organizational culture is understood as a set of shared assumptions that guide what happens in organizations by defining appropriate practices of policy making. The case study, South Korean adaptation policy, illustrates that organizational culture has a significant impact on the translation of mobile adaptation policy. Besides the claim to consider organizational culture more prominently in the field of policy mobility studies, this paper illustrates the translation process of adaptation policy in the South Korean political system. The practices in South Korean political institutions dealing with climate change adaptation are highly characterized by the avoidance of risks. The propensity to avoid risks leads policy makers to focus on technical solutions to climate change adaptation and to neglect the participation of civil society.

  13. Corporate coalitions and policy making in the European Union: how and why British American Tobacco promoted "Better Regulation".

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Katherine Elizabeth; Fooks, Gary; Gilmore, Anna B; Collin, Jeff; Weishaar, Heide

    2015-04-01

    Over the past fifteen years, an interconnected set of regulatory reforms, known as Better Regulation, has been adopted across Europe, marking a significant shift in the way that European Union policies are developed. There has been little exploration of the origins of these reforms, which include mandatory ex ante impact assessment. Drawing on documentary and interview data, this article discusses how and why large corporations, notably British American Tobacco (BAT), worked to influence and promote these reforms. Our analysis highlights (1) how policy entrepreneurs with sufficient resources (such as large corporations) can shape the membership and direction of advocacy coalitions; (2) the extent to which "think tanks" may be prepared to lobby on behalf of commercial clients; and (3) why regulated industries (including tobacco) may favor the use of "evidence tools," such as impact assessments, in policy making. We argue that a key aspect of BAT's ability to shape regulatory reform involved the deliberate construction of a vaguely defined idea that could be strategically adapted to appeal to diverse constituencies. We discuss the theoretical implications of this finding for the Advocacy Coalition Framework, as well as the practical implications of the findings for efforts to promote transparency and public health in the European Union. Copyright © 2015 by Duke University Press.

  14. School Sun-Protection Policies--Does Being SunSmart Make a Difference?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Turner, Denise; Harrison, Simone L.; Buettner, Petra; Nowak, Madeleine

    2014-01-01

    Evaluate the comprehensiveness of primary school sun-protection policies in tropical North Queensland, Australia. Pre-determined criteria were used to assess publicly available sun-protection policies from primary schools in Townsville (latitude 19.3°S; n = 43), Cairns (16.9°S; n = 46) and the Atherton Tablelands (17.3°S; n = 23) during 2009-2012.…

  15. Advanced method for making vitreous waste forms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pope, J.M.; Harrison, D.E.

    1980-01-01

    A process is described for making waste glass that circumvents the problems of dissolving nuclear waste in molten glass at high temperatures. Because the reactive mixing process is independent of the inherent viscosity of the melt, any glass composition can be prepared with equal facility. Separation of the mixing and melting operations permits novel glass fabrication methods to be employed

  16. The impact of management science on political decision making

    Science.gov (United States)

    White, M. J.

    1971-01-01

    The possible impact on public policy and organizational decision making of operations research/management science (OR/MS) is discussed. Criticisms based on the assumption that OR/MS will have influence on decision making and criticisms based on the assumption that it will have no influence are described. New directions in the analysis of analysis and in thinking about policy making are also considered.

  17. Biomass gasification in district heating systems - The effect of economic energy policies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wetterlund, Elisabeth; Soederstroem, Mats

    2010-01-01

    Biomass gasification is considered a key technology in reaching targets for renewable energy and CO 2 emissions reduction. This study evaluates policy instruments affecting the profitability of biomass gasification applications integrated in a Swedish district heating (DH) system for the medium-term future (around year 2025). Two polygeneration applications based on gasification technology are considered in this paper: (1) a biorefinery plant co-producing synthetic natural gas (SNG) and district heat; (2) a combined heat and power (CHP) plant using integrated gasification combined cycle technology. Using an optimisation model we identify the levels of policy support, here assumed to be in the form of tradable certificates, required to make biofuel production competitive to biomass based electricity generation under various energy market conditions. Similarly, the tradable green electricity certificate levels necessary to make gasification based electricity generation competitive to conventional steam cycle technology, are identified. The results show that in order for investment in the SNG biorefinery to be competitive to investment in electricity production in the DH system, biofuel certificates in the range of 24-42 EUR/MWh are needed. Electricity certificates are not a prerequisite for investment in gasification based CHP to be competitive to investment in conventional steam cycle CHP, given sufficiently high electricity prices. While the required biofuel policy support is relatively insensitive to variations in capital cost, the required electricity certificates show high sensitivity to variations in investment costs. It is concluded that the large capital commitment and strong dependency on policy instruments makes it necessary that DH suppliers believe in the long-sightedness of future support policies, in order for investments in large-scale biomass gasification in DH systems to be realised.

  18. Organisational Factors Affecting Policy and Programme Decision Making in a Public Health Policy Environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zardo, Pauline; Collie, Alex; Livingstone, Charles

    2015-01-01

    Organisational factors can affect the success of interventions aimed at increasing research use. Research is needed to identify organisational factors affecting research use in specific public health policy contexts. Qualitative interviews with decision makers from a specific public health context identified a range of organisational factors that…

  19. When the private sphere goes public: exploring the issues facing family caregiver organizations in the development of long-term care policies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rozario, Philip A; Palley, Elizabeth

    2008-01-01

    Though family caregiving forms the backbone of the long-term care system in the United States, long-term care policies have traditionally focused on paid services that frail older people and people with disabilities utilize for their day-to-day functioning. Part of the exclusion of family caregiving from the long-term care discourse stems from the traditional separation of the private sphere, where family caregiving occurs, from the public sphere of policy making. However, the passage of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the National Family Caregiver Support Program (NFCSP) and Medicaid waiver legislation may reflect recent changes in the government's position on their role in addressing issues related to the "private spheres." In this article, we explore the nature of family caregiving in the United States, the divide between the public and private spheres and provide an overview of family caregiving-related policies and programs in the U.S. In our review, we examine the provisions in the FMLA, NFCSP, and Medicaid waiver legislation that support family caregiving efforts. We also examine the roles of family caregiver organizations in making family caregiving an important element of long-term care policy and influencing policy-making.

  20. Marginalization and challenge: the production of knowledge and landscape in Canadian nuclear waste management policy making

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stanley, A.E.

    2006-01-01

    Aboriginal peoples have recently become politically significant in Canadian nuclear fuel waste (NFW) management policy making. Their newfound significance comes on the heels of an important challenge to the knowledge and authority of the nuclear industry with respect to its plans for NFW lead by a number of public groups and Aboriginal peoples from across Canada, including the Serpent River First Nation. This dissertation examines the relationships between the discourses of the Serpent River First Nation (SRFN) about their experiences of the nuclear fuel chain and the discourses of the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) about the management of NFW. Two trends are found to characterize these relationships: marginalization and challenge. The discourses of the NWMO marginalize the SRFN, excluding their experiences of the nuclear fuel chain, radioactivity, and the effects of nuclear industries from the policy making process. The discourses of the SRFN challenge the claims of the NWMO about the effects of nuclear wastes and radioactivity, as well as about the safe and beneficial development of the nuclear fuel chain. I identify discourses of 'modern risk' and 'citizenship' found in the work of the NWMO as instrumental for maintaining the nuclear industry's control over the production of knowledge about NFW and its effects and subjugating the knowledge of the SRFN. I also identify discourses of identity, oppression, and 'situated knowledge' as important challenges to the content, method and premises of the claims of the nuclear industry about the management of NFW. While I conclude that the NWMO's discourses of risk and citizenship constitute a colonial politics of exclusion, I note that their discourses are contingent on the exclusion of the experiences of the SRFN with the fuel chain. For their accounts to be coherent, the NWMO need to maintain a strategic silence on the overwhelming implication Aboriginal peoples, as a category, in the nuclear fuel chain

  1. Problems, policies and politics: making the case for better assistive technology provision in Australia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Layton, Natasha

    2015-05-01

    Substantial evidence supports assistive technology and environmental adaptations as key enablers to participation. In order to realise the potential of these interventions, they need to be both recognised in policy, and resourced in practice. This paper uses political theory to understand the complexities of assistive technology (AT) policy reform in Australia. AT research will not be influential in improving AT policy without consideration of political drivers. Theories of policy formation are considered, with Kingdon's (2003) theory of multiple streams identified as a useful lens through which to understand government actions. This theory is applied to the case of current AT policy reformulation in Australia. The convergence model of problem identification, policy formulation and political will is found to be an applicable construct with which to evaluate contemporary policy changes. This paper illustrates the cogency of this theory for the field of AT, in the case of Australia's recent disability and aged care reforms. Political theory provides a way of conceptualising the difficulties of consumers and AT practitioners experience in getting therapeutically valid solutions into public policy, and then getting policies prioritised and funded. It is suggested that AT practitioners must comprehend and consider political factors in working towards effective policies to support their practice. AT practitioners generally lack political awareness or an understanding of the drivers of policy. The effectiveness of AT practitioners at a systemic level will remain limited without consideration of policy drivers. AT practitioners must comprehend and consider political factors in working towards effective policies to support their practice.

  2. Focused Science Delivery makes science make sense.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rachel W. Scheuering; Jamie. Barbour

    2004-01-01

    Science does not exist in a vacuum, but reading scientific publications might make you think it does. Although the policy and management implications of their findings could often touch a much wider audience, many scientists write only for the few people in the world who share their area of expertise. In addition, most scientific publications provide information that...

  3. Strengthening the Assessment Trajectory: Engaging Educators in the Policy Process. Making a Measurable Difference: Case Studies from the High-Quality Assessment Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    McClellan, Catherine; Snyder, Rebecca; Woods-Murphy, Maryann; Basset, Katherine

    2018-01-01

    Great teachers recognize great assessments. As policy and education leaders work to make sure state tests are measuring the problem-solving, writing, and critical-thinking skills students need for success, they should convene and rely on teachers to review test quality and help answer the question: Do the questions on our state test reflect…

  4. Policy stability and democratic change

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lancaster, T.D.

    1989-01-01

    This book examines the effects of peaceful regime change on public policy making. Spain's National Energy Plan (PEN) in particular illustrates a situation in which a critical policy issue permits direct comparison of decision making across regime change, that being from the Franco dictatorship to the present liberal democracy. Energy policy in Spain is revealing not only because the Spanish state plays a central role in this fundamental economic area but also because the first PEN was caught up in the politics of the transition; it was written in 1977 but not approved by the Cortes until 1979, and its revision was published in early 1982.

  5. Participation in policy discourse: new form of exclusion for seniors with disabilities?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raymond, Émilie; Grenier, Amanda

    2013-06-01

    Recent discourses on aging emphasize the value of older people's social participation. How participation is defined in policy, however, may not correspond with seniors' realities. This article reports on the results of a critical discourse analysis conducted on aging policy in Quebec between 2005 and 2011. Results indicate that participation definitions can be problematic recommendations, standards, and expectations. Over time, participation increasingly came to be defined as productivity. The participation context also changed from collective responsibility to community adjustment and personal choice. Finally, policy texts reflected a polarization between activity and a loss of autonomy that linked participation with health status. Results suggest that, although innovative in the Canadian context, articulation of participation in Quebec's recent policies on aging lacks the politics from which to discuss difference, otherness, and access to participative opportunities. The case of older people's aging with disabilities illustrates the challenges of the new participatory agenda.

  6. Enhancing the Capacity of Policy-Makers to Develop Evidence-Informed Policy Brief on Infectious Diseases of Poverty in Nigeria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chigozie Jesse Uneke

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Background The lack of effective use of research evidence in policy-making is a major challenge in most low- and middle-income countries (LMICs. There is need to package research data into effective policy tools that will help policy-makers to make evidence-informed policy regarding infectious diseases of poverty (IDP. The objective of this study was to assess the usefulness of training workshops and mentoring to enhance the capacity of Nigerian health policy-makers to develop evidence-informed policy brief on the control of IDP. Methods A modified “before and after” intervention study design was used in which outcomes were measured on the target participants both before the intervention is implemented and after. A 4-point Likert scale according to the degree of adequacy; 1 = “grossly inadequate,” 4 = “very adequate” was employed. The main parameter measured was participants’ perceptions of their own knowledge/understanding. This study was conducted at subnational level and the participants were the career health policy-makers drawn from Ebonyi State in the South-Eastern Nigeria. A oneday evidence-to-policy workshop was organized to enhance the participants’ capacity to develop evidence-informed policy brief on IDP in Ebonyi State. Topics covered included collaborative initiative; preparation and use of policy briefs; policy dialogue; ethics in health policy-making; and health policy and politics. Results The preworkshop mean of knowledge and capacity ranged from 2.49-3.03, while the postworkshop mean ranged from 3.42–3.78 on 4-point scale. The percentage increase in mean of knowledge and capacity at the end of the workshop ranged from 20.10%–45%. Participants were divided into 3 IDP mentorship groups (malaria, schistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis [LF] and were mentored to identify potential policy options/recommendations for control of the diseases for the policy briefs. These policy options were subjected to research

  7. Enhancing the Capacity of Policy-Makers to Develop Evidence-Informed Policy Brief on Infectious Diseases of Poverty in Nigeria

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uneke, Chigozie Jesse; Ezeoha, Abel Ebeh; Uro-Chukwu, Henry; Ezeonu, Chinonyelum Thecla; Ogbu, Ogbonnaya; Onwe, Friday; Edoga, Chima

    2015-01-01

    Background: The lack of effective use of research evidence in policy-making is a major challenge in most low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). There is need to package research data into effective policy tools that will help policy-makers to make evidence-informed policy regarding infectious diseases of poverty (IDP). The objective of this study was to assess the usefulness of training workshops and mentoring to enhance the capacity of Nigerian health policy-makers to develop evidence-informed policy brief on the control of IDP. Methods: A modified "before and after" intervention study design was used in which outcomes were measured on the target participants both before the intervention is implemented and after. A 4-point Likert scale according to the degree of adequacy; 1 = "grossly inadequate," 4 = "very adequate" was employed. The main parameter measured was participants’ perceptions of their own knowledge/understanding. This study was conducted at subnational level and the participants were the career health policy-makers drawn from Ebonyi State in the South-Eastern Nigeria. A one-day evidence-to-policy workshop was organized to enhance the participants’ capacity to develop evidence-informed policy brief on IDP in Ebonyi State. Topics covered included collaborative initiative; preparation and use of policy briefs; policy dialogue; ethics in health policy-making; and health policy and politics. Results: The preworkshop mean of knowledge and capacity ranged from 2.49-3.03, while the postworkshop mean ranged from 3.42–3.78 on 4-point scale. The percentage increase in mean of knowledge and capacity at the end of the workshop ranged from 20.10%–45%. Participants were divided into 3 IDP mentorship groups (malaria, schistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis [LF]) and were mentored to identify potential policy options/recommendations for control of the diseases for the policy briefs. These policy options were subjected to research evidence synthesis by each

  8. Entrepreneurship Policies: Principles, Problems and Opportunities

    OpenAIRE

    Karlsson, Charlie; Andersson, Martin

    2009-01-01

    In this paper, we discuss the current status of the literature on entrepreneurship policy. The purpose is to discuss and assess several fundamental questions pertaining to entrepreneurship policies, such as “What is the optimal rate of entrepreneurship?” and “What entrepreneurship policies to pursue to remedy market failures and to avoid policy failures?”. In the entrepreneurship policies literature several contributors make distinctions between five types of entrepreneurship policy: governme...

  9. Energy saving by firms: decision making, barriers and policies

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Groot, H.L.F.; Verhoef, E.T.; Nijkamp, P.

    2001-01-01

    Promoting investments in energy-saving technologies is an important means for achieving environmental goals. Empirical evidence on success conditions of associated policies, however, is scarce. Based on a survey among Dutch firms, this paper sets out to identify the factors that determine the

  10. French energy policy for the 1980s

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Balaceanu, J.C.

    1982-01-01

    There are three main objectives in the French energy policy: to promote energy conservation; to make greater use of alternate forms of energy such as nuclear energy, coal and renewable resources; and to reduce France's oil vulnerability by prospecting for hydrocarbons at home, mastering oil technology, and improving relations with producing countries. France's energy production is expected to double over the next 10 years, while consumption is expected to increase by only 2.1% per year. The energy-consumption pattern will be different: nuclear will increase 7%; coal and gas will remain stable; renewable resources will rise; and the share of oil will be reduced from 56 to 30%. Application of France's energy-conservation policy in the transportation, residential, and industrial sectors is discussed. Energy savings in 1990 will be approximately 60 million tons (Mt) of oil compared with 18 Mt in 1979. 17 figures, 8 tables

  11. Developing a closed-form cost expression for an (R, s, nQ) policy where the demand process is compound generalized Erlang

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsen, Christian; Kiesmüller, G.P

    2007-01-01

    We derive a closed-form cost expression for an (R,s,nQ) inventory control policy where all replenishment orders have a constant lead-time, unfilled demand is back-logged and inter-arrival times of order requests are generalized Erlang distributed. For given values of Q and R we show how to compute...

  12. Economics of climate policy and collective decision making

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Buergenmeier, B.; Ferrier, C.; Ingold, K.; Perret, S.; Baranzini, A.; Germond-Duret, C.; Kypreos, S.; Wokaun, A.; Rafaj, P.

    2006-01-01

    This paper explores the reasons why economic instruments of climate change are reluctantly applied and stresses the need for interdisciplinary research linking economic theory and empirical testing to deliberative political procedures. It is divided in three parts. The first one recalls the main issues in implementing Cost-Benefit Analysis such as information problems, uncertainties, discounting the future and irreversibilities. The second part shows how these issues can be treated in integrated assessment and techno-economic models and presents a case study, which shows that (1) The chosen scenario tends to stabilize atmospheric CO2 concentration at around 550 ppm in the long run; (2) Exclusion of possibility to trade CO2 emission permits under a cap regime would increase the cost of emission abatement for OECD countries; and (3) Combining different flexibility instruments might lead to significant gains in the overall cost of climate policy. The third part presents results of a survey conducted among the main economic and environmental associations in Switzerland. The survey reveals conflicting views on economic instruments. It shows how the social acceptability of these instruments can be improved in taking explicitly into account these opposing views of special interest groups. Therefore, policy scenarios should be selected in combining techno-economic models with empirical studies about their political and normative context

  13. Assessing views about gun violence reduction policy: a look at type of violence and expected effectiveness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sorenson, Susan B

    2015-10-01

    Public opinion polling about gun policy is routinely conducted and often disregarded. The purpose of this research is to explore ways in which surveys can be made more useful to policy makers, researchers, and the general public. A stratified random sample of 1000 undergraduates at a private, urban university was recruited for an online survey about proposed gun policies. A total of 51.7% answered the questions analyzed herein. Including but going beyond typical assessments of agreement, the survey elicited respondent evaluations of the effectiveness of seven gun policies under two randomly assigned conditions: the type of gun violence (e.g., homicide, suicide, violent crime) and its magnitude. Participants were asked to estimate the effectiveness of each policy, including the possibility of making things worse. Participants indicated strong support for all policies and expected each to be effective with one exception - a policy designed to increase the number of guns on the scene, that is, putting armed police in schools. Persons who did not support other policies, on average, did not expect them to make things worse. Telling participants about the scope of the violence did not but the type of gun violence did affect effectiveness ratings. Asking about expected effectiveness of (vs. general support for) a policy might identify some optimism: Even people who don't support a policy sometimes think it will be effective. Findings suggest that surveys about the effectiveness of gun violence policies likely assess views that exclude suicide, the most common form of gun-related mortality. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. Policy making structures in the EU and participating countries. Deliverable D2

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Andersson, Kjell; Lidberg, Maria; Falck, Eberhard

    2008-10-01

    The point of departure for the ARGONA project is that participation and transparency are key elements of effective risk governance. The acronym ARGONA stands for 'Arenas for Risk Governance' and the project investigates how approaches of transparency and deliberation relate to each other and also how they relate to the political system in which decisions, for example on the final disposal of nuclear waste, are ultimately taken. The project then turns to study the role played by mediators, who facilitate public engagement with nuclear waste management issues, and the 'conduct of the conduct' of public consultations. By the latter is meant the communication of models used for deliberation and transparency. Furthermore, the project investigates how good risk communication can be organized taking cultural aspects and different arenas into account. In a central part of the project major efforts are made to test and apply approaches to transparency and participation by making explicit what it would mean to use the RISCOM model and other approaches within different cultural and organizational settings. Finally, the ARGONA partners develop guidelines for the application of novel approaches that will enhance real progress in nuclear waste management programmes. The project consists of six work packages that logically starts with a description of the policy making structures that exist within the EU and in the participating countries, including EU Directives, such as Strategic Environmental Assessment and Environmental Impact Assessment Directives, as well as national nuclear safety and environmental legislation. This work package (WP 1) forms the point of departure for the project, in determining the framework within which new arenas can be formed and within which the mediators are acting. A questionnaire was issued and sent to key organizations at national and local levels. The intention was that the work package should be focused on issues that set the scene for e.g. site

  15. Beyond policy networks: policy framing and the politics of expertise in the 2001 Foot and Mouth Disease crisis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilkinson, Katy; Lowe, Philip; Donaldson, Andrew

    2010-01-01

    For the past decade, the policy community/issue network typology of pressure group interaction has been used to explain policy outcomes and the policy-making process. To re-examine the validity of this typology, the paper focuses on the UK government's response to the 2001 Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) crisis, and in particular the decision to pursue contiguous culling rather than vaccination to overcome the epidemic. Rather than illustrating the emergence of an issue network in agricultural policy, the decision-making process of the FMD outbreak demonstrates continuity with prior crises. In addition, the politicization of scientific expertise is identified as an emerging trend in crisis management. Policy framing is used to explain the impetus behind the contiguous cull decision, concluding that the legacy of previous policy choices conditioned the crisis response to a far greater degree than contemporaneous pressure group action.

  16. Australian internet policy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Angela Daly

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available This special issue focussing on internet policy in Australia provides a snapshot of developments on various topics (access, privacy, censorship as a means of understanding better the state of play in Australia, and also how this compares to internet policy in other parts of the world, especially Europe and North America. Given changing geopolitics, the influence of internet policy in the rest of the Asia Pacific through vehicles such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP may become increasingly important in Australia in the coming years. This leaves Australia, and its internet policy, at a crossroads, which may reflect broader dynamics in internet policy internationally, and makes this an interesting time in which to explore what is happening in this particular country.

  17. Theoretical Substantiation of Formation of Integration Forms of Interaction of Enterprises when Developing the Innovation Policy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Manoylenko Oleksandr V.

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The article considers issues, connected with activation of innovation activity of engineering enterprises on the basis of application of integration forms of interaction. It justifies a necessity of formation of infrastructure of interaction of an enterprise when introducing innovation models of development with consideration of realisation of goals of all interested parties. The article offers a generalised scheme of organisational interaction of an enterprise in external environment and a matrix of functional provision of the integration process. The theoretical approach that is considered in the article allows increase of innovation activity of engineering enterprises and minimisation of expenditures of own resources when realising innovation policy of an enterprise.

  18. The Role of Science in Advising the Decision Making Process: A Pathway for Building Effective Climate Change Mitigation Policies in Mexico at the Local Level.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barraza, Roberto; Velazquez-Angulo, Gilberto; Flores-Tavizón, Edith; Romero-González, Jaime; Huertas-Cardozo, José Ignacio

    2016-04-27

    This study examines a pathway for building urban climate change mitigation policies by presenting a multi-dimensional and transdisciplinary approach in which technical, economic, environmental, social, and political dimensions interact. Now, more than ever, the gap between science and policymaking needs to be bridged; this will enable judicious choices to be made in regarding energy and climate change mitigation strategies, leading to positive social impacts, in particular for the populations at-risk at the local level. Through a case study in Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, we propose a multidimensional and transdisciplinary approach with the role of scientist as policy advisers to improve the role of science in decision-making on mitigation policies at the local level in Mexico.

  19. At the Crossroads: ICT Policy Making in East Africa

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    Integrating ICT in Teacher Training: Reflections on Practice and Policy ...... It was this framework, complete with principles, guidelines and a powerful .... new term for constructive comparison, juxtaposes the Kenyan experience with Malaysian, ...... Why should the government agree to remove taxes or offer incentives in the ...

  20. Basic orientation of current enterprise technological policy

    OpenAIRE

    Lapteva, V.

    2008-01-01

    The article reviews the factors stimulating industrials to intensification of technological policy; quick analysis of possible sources for investment of technological policy; problems of transition to active technological policy; outline of basic forms of fixed capital stock reproduction. The article indicates necessity of keeping of optimum relationship between all forms of fixed capital stock reproduction.