Government Agenda Research Articles

The politics of medical expertise and substance control: WHO consultants for addiction rehabilitation and pharmacy education in Thailand and India during the Cold War.

This paper explores the role of World Health Organization (WHO) medical experts in ambitious projects for substance control during the Cold War in Thailand and India. The circumstances surrounding opium production in these two nations were very different, as were the reasons for requesting expert assistance from the United Nations. Whereas the Thai military regime was concerned with controlling illicit traffic to secure its borders, the Indian government wanted to direct its opium raw materials towards domestic pharmaceutical production. Overlapping and sometimes competing agendas of country governments and international agencies converged upon each project, complicating the consultants' work and requiring careful navigation. In both cases, medicine as a science concerned with human health and well-being was subordinated to more pressing agendas. At the same time, the article argues that WHO consultants left an important impact, though not necessarily due to their skills and training in medicine. Instead, they provided exemplars of sound governance and delivery of public health in a politically stable and economically developed country.

Crisis as inflection point in the urban governance of domestic migration in India: a policy frames analysis

The exodus of millions of domestic migrants from Indian cities during COVID-19 highlighted the failure of urban governance to address their vulnerabilities and reconfirmed that migrant integration is an intractable policy problem, where actors take oppositional and irresolvable positions. Drawing on frame analysis, which outlines agenda-setting aspects of complex policy issues, this paper explores the ideas, perceptions and beliefs of diverse governance actors – politicians, bureaucrats and civil society members – and questions whether the COVID-19 migrant crisis generated new directions in the urban governance of migration. Results show that the COVID-19 crisis generated framing contests around the role of cities in migrant inclusion that shaped new governance agendas regarding improving urban services and welfare delivery. However, owing to a persistent belief in rural sedentarism, COVID-19 failed to act as a tipping point for definitive policy towards improved urban governance of migration. The findings suggest that deeper analysis of policy frames can enrich literature on the governance of domestic migration and encourage theoretical convergences between domestic and international migration.

Slum upgrading and participation: Insights from a marginalized neighbourhood in Buenos Aires

This paper rethinks participation in slum upgrading beyond a well-established dichotomy of “top-down” and “bottom-up” processes and instead proposes a relational and strategic approach to urban transformation. Based on qualitative research with a small informal settlement, Barrio Saldías, in Buenos Aires, that fell off the city government's agenda, this paper explores the role of participation in promoting upgrading from the margins. It argues that Saldías differs from instances of community-led upgrading due to the central role of party brokers and political representatives (especially from the local state) alongside residents, all of whom participate together in a political climate dominated by the discourses of citizen participation and slum upgrading. Rather than collapsing these experiences into the logic of clientelism, participation is centred as the articulatory logic based on a shared desire and commitment to transforming urban space, towards multiple political ends. Participatory upgrading in Saldías exceeds the narrow focus of project-centric approaches and draws on a wider trajectory of participation in Buenos Aires. It demonstrates this through an analysis of three moments of participatory upgrading in Saldías.

Alignment, negation, and androcentricity: representation of bride price by Chinese state media

ABSTRACT Bride price in China, the groom-to-bride monetary transfer, generally falls into realms of sociology and cultural studies, with the media perspective less explored, particularly when it concerns the state media which steers China's media system. In light of this, this study collected state media Weibo posts and made a content analysis of the representation of bride price with Wodak's discourse-historical approach. The social underpinnings and implications of such representation are also examined. Results reveal a general negation of the practice. It is linked to crimes and categorized as an outmoded custom that burdens men, and low/no bride price is advocated. These representations, although in alignment with Beijing's anti-high-bride-price agenda, remain androcentric. The study helps unravel the interplay among state power, gender ideology, and media representation in contemporary China, and offers insights on how patriarchy is perpetuated in official discourse. It also illuminates how government agendas are legitimized and strengthened in everyday texts on social media in the Chinese sociopolitical matrix.

A practitioner-led research agenda for local government

ABSTRACT The last 50 years of local government studies have documented extraordinary changes: economic transformations, international democratisation, the digital revolution and the rise of the internet have transformed local government. Looking forward to the next 50 years: climate change, ageing populations, financial pressure, populist politics, will all come home to roost in the day-to-day work of local government. This paper makes the case for building a research agenda around the practical experiences of local policy practitioners. Using our experience from a series of interviews with over sixty local government chief executives, and the example of two research projects built around LGIU’s local authority members network in England, the paper describes the valuable opportunities that come from engaging with local government practitioners for developing and directing research.

What lies in store from a Labour government?

Fiona Shuttleworth, parliamentary veterinary intern to Lord Trees, discusses what may be on the new government's agenda - despite the omission of animal health and welfare from both its manifesto and introductory King's speech.

Интеграционная повестка в деятельности органов Союзного государства Беларуси и России

The internal contradictions in the development of the Union State of Belarus and Russia that had accumulated by the end of 2010s called into question the possibility of realizing the Treaty on the Creation of the Union State. In 2020s, however, external threats to the sovereignty and safety of both countries aggravated to a degree when the integration agenda gained newfound relevance in such areas of interaction as economy, defense, society, etc. The article describes the problems and prospects of the integration of Russia and Belarus from September 2021 to May 2024. The author used discursive, systemic, qualitative, and formalized analyses to study the integration agenda of both governments and the integration measures they implemented. The concept of the Union State presupposes a shared economic, defense, information, and migration environment that will eventually result in a socio-political integration of citizens, thus erasing the borders between the concepts of a citizen of the Russian Federation and a citizen of the Republic of Belarus. The article concentrates on industrial programs adopted in November 2021, as well as on conceptual and strategic documents developed and approved in 2021–2024.

Athafnafólk í opinberri stefnumótun á óvissutímum: Hvernig hugmyndin um notendastýrða persónulega aðstoð varð að veruleika á Íslandi

Þessi rannsókn leitast við að útskýra tímamótaákvörðun í þjónustu við fatlað fólk á Íslandi. Opinber stefnumótun hefur löngum einkennst af hægfara breytingum, sem gerast í smáum skrefum. Stundum bregður þó svo við að meiriháttar breytingar verða og stefnumál, sem verið hefur baráttumál hagsmunahópa um margra ára skeið, ná fram að ganga. Dagskrárkenningar leitast við að útskýra meiriháttar stefnubreytingar með því m.a. að beina athyglinni að því hvernig og hvers vegna tiltekin málefni koma til kasta stjórnvalda á hverju tíma. Bandaríski stjórnmálafræðingurinn, John W. Kingdon, setti fyrst fram kenningu sína um straumana þrjá og glugga tækifæranna fyrir rúmum 30 árum. Nýlegar rannsóknir evrópskra stjórnmálafræðinga halda því nú fram að nálgun Kingdons geti varpað ljósi á það hvernig það pólitíska kerfi sem stefnumótunin fer fram í virkar og hvernig hegðun og aðferðir þátttakenda í ferlinu hafa áhrif. Í þessari eigindlegu rannsókn er skoðað hvernig hugmyndin um notendastýrða persónulega aðstoð (NPA) varð að veruleika á Íslandi. Rannsóknin byggir á fyrirliggjandi gögnum og viðtölum við lykilfólk um þá framvindu mála sem leiddi til ákvörðunar um að innleiða NPA hér á landi. Rannsóknin lýsir því hvernig og undir hvaða kringumstæðum NPA komst á dagskrá stjórnvalda. Niðurstöðurnar sýna hvernig breytingar á verkaskiptingu milli ríkis og sveitarfélaga gáfu tækifæri fyrir nýja hugmyndafræði sem nýttist bæði notendum, viðskiptahagsmunum og pólitískum hagsmunum. Niðurstöðurnar benda til þess að þar hafi ekki aðeins verið réttur maður á réttum stað á réttum tíma, heldur varpa þær fræðilegu ljósi á það hvað einkennir athafnafólk í opinberri stefnumótun og hvernig og hvers vegna það skiptir máli á óvissutímum í stjórnmálum.

The politics of accountability in global sustainable commodity governance: Dilemmas of institutional competition and convergence

AbstractThe accountability of market‐driven sustainability governance has long been controversial, reflecting the deeply political processes through which accountability contests shape governance transformations. Drawing on illustrative examples from internationally traded agro‐commodity sectors in the critical case of Indonesia, this paper examines the contested processes of accountability that have accompanied a recent period of institutional change in sustainability governance. Amidst rising critiques of global certification, there has been a parallel expansion of governance approaches that prioritise capability development over regulatory enforcement and engage more intensively with governments in commodity‐producing countries. As alternative governance models gain influence, tensions between competing governance stakeholders and agendas are mirrored and amplified through parallel accountability contests, in which distributional conflicts between global and local stakeholders are intensified by pressures to adopt contentious systems of compliance verification. While accountability gaps associated with contrasting institutional models produce strong pressures for partial institutional convergence, such convergence coexists with new forms of institutional fragmentation, as competition between global and national certification expands to encompass competition with localised capacity‐building and jurisdictional approaches. Analysis highlights the often‐neglected role of accountability politics in shaping institutional change, while raising pressing questions about the distributional implications of contemporary shifts away from global certification governance models.

East Asian Authoritarian Developmentalism in the Digital Era

This article examines the evolution of the authoritarian developmental state model in the digital era amid intensified global power dynamics, focusing empirically on China. It introduces the concept of the techno-developmental state to illustrate how this evolved state emphasizes digital technologies for both economic growth and social governance. I assert that this evolution is driven by the state’s enhanced capacity to foster high-tech industries amid heightened competition among major powers, alongside bolstered social governance through advanced digital tools. Emphasizing its crucial role in sustaining authoritarian developmentalism, the article analyzes the emergence of the Chinese techno-developmental state amid escalating US–China technological rivalry. It also scrutinizes the New Infrastructure initiative of the early 2020s as the state’s key initiative to drive its economic and governance agendas.

Official visits and stock price crash risk

Against the backdrop of continuous stock price crashes, preventing stock price crash risk has become an increasingly important item on the Chinese government's agenda in recent years. Using a unique dataset on official visits manually collected from news reports posted on corporate websites during the 2010–2020 period, we examine the impact of official visits on the stock price crash risk of visited companies. We find that official visits contribute to a reduction in stock price crash risk. This effect is more pronounced among privately controlled companies, information-opaque companies, and financially constrained companies. Taking the political rankings of visiting officials into consideration, we find that municipal officials have a more significant influence on stock price crash risk. We further establish the underlying mechanisms and find that official visits reduce crash risk through the provision of more preferential resources, such as government subsidies and bank loans, and by attracting more public attention, such as media and analyst coverage. Overall, our research provides evidence on how officials can prevent stock price crash risk.

Has ‘the great moving right show’ stopped?

How will the new Labour government compare to its New Labour predecessors? This article revisits ‘New Labour’s Double Shuffle’, the critique of the New Labour government that Stuart Hall wrote in 2003, to see how this might provide guidance in understanding the conjuncture of the Labour government elected in July 2024. Hall???s article had followed on from his pre-election analysis of the Thatcher project in ‘The Great Moving Right Show’, in 1978. His argument was that the dominant agenda of the New Labour governments was one of subordination to pressures emanating from capital, with the demands of Labour’s supporters being subordinated to this. It is proposed that the relations between the dominant and subordinate elements in these structures should be seen in dialectical terms, as an ongoing struggle between conflicting social forces. The question is raised of whether the current Labour government is essentially a continuation of the New Labour project, or whether it might be something different. The argument is made that to achieve a favourable outcome in a new struggle for hegemony it is essential that Labour remain in office for several parliamentary terms, and that there be a critical engagement with what its government does.

Why has IPSAS been set as an agenda but not adopted in Myanmar?

IMPACT This article provides evidence regarding the efforts of the government of Myanmar to adopt the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS), as well as analysing the interactions among the engaged stakeholders who have participated in Myanmar’s IPSAS agenda-setting and adoption process. The results, which are identified based on multiple streams theory, indicate that the issue of IPSAS adoption reached government agenda status only when all the problem, policy and politics streams were unified (i.e. full coupling). The results of this research explain why governmental inaction or non-decision with regard to public sector accounting reforms occurs and highlight the importance of the presence of a political support in the official adoption of IPSAS.

From Transformative Hope to Political Reality. A Conceptual Analysis of Post-Pandemic Government Agendas in Europe

From Transformative Hope to Political Reality. A Conceptual Analysis of Post-Pandemic Government Agendas in Europe

La felicidad social como fundamento en el diseño de políticas públicas :Una revisión sistemática

This paper examines the literature on social happiness as a basis for designing public policies. The systematic review initiated with a Scopus search using Boolean criteria, covering the period from 2013 to 2023. 49 out of 943 articles were selected through inclusion and exclusion criteria using RAYYAN software for data management and extraction, and the PRISMA model as a guide to ensure the replicability of the research. The descriptive findings reveal that most publications are from Latin America, showing a consistent increase in scientific output over the years, with 2021 being the peak year for related publications. This paper identifies debates on the viability of using happiness as a foundation in public policy design, importance of impact evaluation, and experimental methods. The document categorizes the macroeconomic, institutional and governmental, sociodemographic, psychological, and environmental and sustainability variables that interrelate with happiness, including factors such as income, economic stability, wealth distribution, state intervention, among other relevant factors. The literature reveals gaps, such as the lack of a universally accepted definition of social happiness and a shortage of longitudinal and experimental studies. Recommendations include a multidimensional approach, consideration of cultural and socioeconomic context, use of experimental methodologies, citizen participation, and incorporating happiness into the political agenda. Final reflections underscore transformative potential of integrating subjective well-being into the government agenda and the associated challenges, such as resistance to change and the lack of consensus on how to define and measure social happiness.

The EU’s twin transitions towards sustainability and digital leadership: a coherent or fragmented policy field?

ABSTRACT In order to achieve the goal of climate neutrality, while also enhancing Europe’s industrial competitiveness on the global stage, the acceleration of the twin – green and digital – transitions has been among the top priorities for the European Union (EU). Given the multiplicity of policy areas involved in these twin transitions as well as the nature of the EU as a multilevel organisation, coherence is the key requirement for the twin transitions to be successful. Drawing on the concept of coherence, this article explores whether the EU can be considered a coherent actor when pursuing the twin transitions. It understands coherence as a process to reduce contradictions across different policy domains rather than as a status where no contradictions exist. It also challenges previous views centred solely on coherence during policy implementation, and proposes a broader assessment that begins by framing different policy domains as mutually beneficial and aligned towards common goals. This perspective introduces two dimensions of coherence – conceptual and operational – along horizontal and vertical levels. By examining how policies are framed and interconnected across different levels of governance and policy agendas, this study reveals that while the link between the green and digital transitions and the need for coordination across different governance levels has been widely accepted, conceptual coherence varies across governance levels and policy areas. Furthermore, the study argues that operational coherence – putting ideas into practice – lags behind conceptual coherence, which highlights the challenges of implementing the twin transitions effectively.

How can we halve food waste by 2030 in a consumerist world?

The United Nations’ target for halving Food Waste (FW) and the related actions required by the 2030 Agenda should be achieved in just six years, and there is a lot to be done. Considering that FW worldwide is causing 8% to 10% of GHG, the phenomenon has become a preoccupation for the European Union (EU). As a member state, Romania is aligned with the EU policy lines regarding environment and sustainable development. Bearing in mind the consumption-based economic model, the governmental approaches, and challenges regarding environmental and sustainable development issues, a robust civil society is needed to influence the adoption of efficacious and improved public policies regarding FW and to contribute to maintaining green topics on the public agenda. This paper aims to identify the factors that explain civil society's ability to influence public policies on FW and keep these green topics on the governmental agenda. In this sense, I have carried out a literature review to identify the current situation and the levers available to Romanian civil society and data analysis. Data was gathered via 11 semi-structured in-depth interviews with representatives of central public authorities, HoReCa, civil society, and Romanian consumers conducted in the spring of 2022 for my dissertation paper. The interviews revealed that civil society as a soft power can influence Romanian public policies regarding FW and has a crucial role in covering the critical areas of education, communication, awareness, and changing consumer behavior. Moreover, the data underlines that, second to the central authorities, civil society is the next stakeholder responsible for taking action to reduce FW. The development and evolution of a solid and vigilant civil society is essential for influencing the adoption of effective and improved public policies regarding FW and contributes to maintaining green topics on the public agenda to achieve the ambitious goals set by the international community, which aim at the well-being of people, and the Planet, but also of the future generations.

Chemical Processing Development for Radioactive Minerals Processing Facility: A Circular Economy Model

The minerals and metals industries are vital in the world’s economy, yet their use of resources and waste generation pose considerable issues. The circular economy is a concept that establishes the foundation for economic operations that are carried out to run sustainably and to promote economic welfare, which in turn leads to an improvement in environmental quality. This paper offers a comprehensive literature analysis on the principles and efficacy of circular economy in mineral processing, specifically focusing on radioactive minerals. This research aims to develop a circular economy model that preserves resources, reduces waste production, and complies with regulatory rules on radioactive waste management. The study outlines a clear and structured circular economy model consisting of four modules: sample preparation, decomposition, partial extraction, and total precipitation. Each module integrates energy efficiency, heat recovery, renewable energy, water reuse, and chemical recycling. The validated model provides a roadmap for implementing circular economy principles in processing radioactive materials, contributing to achieving sustainable development goals. The government's agenda in pursuit of the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) can be aided by this model. This study suggests that reducing resource use and the volume of material, energy, and waste generated by technological processes can be achieved while still maintaining quality. That concept brings about a change in the mindset of designing a mineral processing installation. Based on the result of this study, further study may be focused on implementing strategies for each module of the studied object.

Government Intervention in Innovation

There are powerful imperatives on governments to support innovation, which have only grown more urgent amid slowing growth in the developed world and a rapidly changing climate. In this review, I describe the important role that economics and finance play in rigorously evaluating innovation policy. I organize government intervention in innovation into arenas, agendas, and instruments. The arenas are firms, financial intermediaries, universities, and government laboratories. The key agendas are entrepreneurship, defense, climate, health, and education. The instruments fall into three categories: supply-push, demand-pull, and legal. I provide theoretical rationales for government intervention in innovation and discuss how they intersect with government agendas and empirical evidence in practice. One takeaway is that the government has a key role to play in the type of failure-tolerant, open-ended research that yields breakthrough inventions. In contrast, there is less evidence that subsidizing financial intermediaries is useful.

THEORETICAL ISSUES OF THE STUDY OF A NEW MODEL OF PUBLIC MANAGEMENT

The purpose of the theoretical paper is to present and discuss the evolution of the adoption of a New Public Governance agenda improving management, accountability, transparency, public participation, integrity and quality of public services. Based on the literature, the debate on the adoption of a new public administration program appears to be original and relevant for understanding the changes taking place in public administration. The results of the discussions show that the evolution of public sector management is directly related to public demands for improved governance, transparency, accountability, wider public participation and the quality of public services. The findings of the study show that new public management manifests promises in meeting public policy and service needs in a more democratic and transparent manner at a lower cost. These changes impact the functioning of government and public administration, which opens the chances to new ideas in public management theories and public sector management strategies.