Policy Studies Research Articles

De dependencias y prohibiciones alcohólicas: un análisis previo y durante la covid-19 en Yucatán

We propose analyzing the link between social knowledge about the consequences of alcohol consumption, with the alcoholic prohibitions implemented in Yucatán during covid-19; this ethnographic study took place in the state municipality of Cuzamá from 2016 to 2017 from a critical medical anthropological stance with a relational approach. The information on prohibitions and their effects was documented during 2020. This ethnographical study shows a culture ambivalent toward alcohol and its health consequences, along with a preference for collective consumption and a de-pendence that exceeds the biomedical-individual criteria. Alcoholic prohibitions confirm the tensión between positivity and negativity, between the ideal and the reality of consumption. Despite the questions that remain, such as going further in depth regarding“collective dependence”, we consider this article to be an important contribution due to its approaches, and a valuable input for the analysis of public policies for alcohol consumption in Mexico.

Public Policy Analysis on Watershed Governance in Indonesia

This paper, which is focused on evaluating the policies and institutional control of the Brantas River Basin, East Java, Indonesia, aims to review government regulations on watershed governance in Indonesia. A qualitative approach to content analysis is used to explain and layout government regulations regarding planning, implementation, coordination, monitoring, evaluation, and accountability of the central and local governments in managing the Brantas watershed, East Java, Indonesia. Nvivo 12 Plus software is used to map, analyze, and create data visualization to answer research questions. This study reveals that the management regulations of the Brantas watershed, East Java, Indonesia, are based on a centralized system, which places the central government as an actor who plays an essential role in the formulation, implementation, and accountability of the Brantas watershed management. In contrast, East Java Province’s regional government only plays a role in implementing and evaluating policies. The central government previously formulated the Brantas watershed. This research contributes to strengthening the management and institutional arrangement of the central government and local governments that support the realization of good governance of the Brantas watershed. Future research needs to apply a survey research approach that focuses on evaluating the capacity of the central government and local governments in supporting good management of the Brantas watershed.

Theoretical principles and components of public policy

Theoretical principles and components of public policy

Age specific trends in mortality disparities by socio-economic deprivation in small geographical areas of England, 2002-2018: A retrospective registry study.

SummaryBackgroundDisparities in mortality rates according to socioeconomic position (SEP) have been rising in England. We describe the association between recent changes in socioeconomic inequality and trends in mortality disparities for different age and sex groups at small-area level in England.MethodsVital registration data from the Office for National Statistics on resident population size and number of deaths in each Lower Super Output Area (LSOA) in England from 2002 to 2018 were stratified by sex and 5-year age group. We grouped LSOA into ventiles of the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD), our indicator of SEP. We examined time trends in smoothed mortality rates, using 3 year moving averages for the period 2003-2017, by age across the IMD distribution. We measured mortality inequalities using the ratio of mortality rates between different deprivation groups. We calculated mortality rate ratios between the most and the least deprived 10% of areas (Total Inequality) and between the median and least deprived (Lower Inequality) 10% of areas by year, gender and age group, to examine where in the distribution of deprivation trends in mortality inequality arose.FindingsAmong <1 year olds, the inequality in mortality rates between the poorest 10% of LSOAs and the richest 10% of LSOAs fell between 2003 and 2017 by 22•7% for men and 22•8% for women. The largest inequalities were observed among 40 to 54 year olds. This inequality increased over the study period – from 3•2 times higher mortality rates for men in the most as opposed to the least deprived 10% of LSOAs in 2003 to 3•3 times in 2017. The rise was from 2•4 to 2•6 for women. Age groups ≥65 years, who experience the highest mortality risk, had low but rising inequality. Men and women aged 65 to 79 living in the most deprived LSOAs had a mortality rate 1•9 times higher than the least deprived in 2003 but this had increased to 2•2 times higher for women and 2•3 times higher for men by 2017. This was due to rising inequality in both halves of the distribution – between the top 10% of LSOA and the middle, and between the middle and the bottom 10% of LSOA.InterpretationOverall mortality inequality rose in England but there were substantial differences in the trends for specific age and sex groups. Infant and child mortality inequality fell. At older ages, mortality inequality rose across cohorts, although in different ways, as each cohort's exposure to life-course to labour market inequality has differed. Policy goals of reducing mortality inequality will be best met by a focus on the risk factors that are specific to particular age and deprivation groups.FundingEconomic and Social Research Council, through the ESRC Centre for the Microeconomic Analysis of Public Policy at the IFS. We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Nuffield Foundation, grant reference WEL/43603. The project has been funded by the Nuffield Foundation, but the views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily the Foundation. Visit www.nuffieldfoundation.org. Research at UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health is supported by the NIHR Great Ormond Street Hospital Biomedical Research Centre.

Progress stories and the contested making of minerals in Greenland and northern Québec

The aim of this article is to go beyond progress stories presented in and about the North by industry and governmental bodies. By pursuing event ethnography and public policy analysis, progress stories are analyzed and contextualized, drawing on recent insights from participant-observations at mining conferences and conventions (e.g. PDAC), field visits (organized by REXSAC and the MinErAL Network) to Greenland and Quebec. Quebec has a long history of mining, and in Greenland substantial profit from mining has also been possible (before the Greenland Self-Government authorities took over the responsibility for the mineral resource area). Northern communities are in many ways co-investors of mining projects and promised to benefit from the extractive activities. However, with a (2014) mining strategy preparing Greenland for something that never really happened. Mining in Greenland is still carried out, but the making of minerals there is contested. Around the same time, Québec launched Plan Nord and initiatives mostly aimed at fostering mining investment and development in Northern Québec. The analysis illustrates that development of the mining industry in praxis is much more modest than envisioned, but still the progress stories do have an impact on local politics, the understanding of history, and relationships between North and South.

Naives Bayes Algorithm for Twitter Sentiment Analysis

On 2 March 2020, the Indonesian government, through President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo, announced the first two cases of COVID-19 in Indonesia. This is the first case of COVID-19 officially confirmed in that country. Several cases have continued to increase since then. President Jokowi began issuing policies on the spread of this virus. This is different from other countries, such as Malaysia and Singapore, which responded from the previous month when the Indonesian government still stated that coronavirus does not exist in Indonesia. Our case study is to find a public opinion through social network analysis of Indonesian public policy during the beginning of the Indonesian COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. This research implements text mining and document-based sentiments on Twitter data that is reprocessed through machine learning techniques using the Naïve Bayes method. We found negative opinions in the period more dominant by 46%, while that was 35% positive sentiment and 20% neutral. This research shows that anticipation, sadness, and anger are very dominant in the emotional analysis.

Comparative Analysis of State Level Health Policy Support for Opioid Abuse Mitigation in Rural America

In rural America, opioid use disorder (OUD) continues to adversely impacted familial, public, and economic systems, creating extraordinary societal and financial burden. This comparative analysis of state-level public health policy and practices in rural opioid use abatement promotes the development and implementation of contextualized evidence-based comprehensive policy initiatives. Policy analysis across select highly affected states (Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, and West Virginia) and exemplar OUD policy response states (Colorado, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Vermont) was performed using a systematic review of literature, legislation, plans, and policies. Findings included close alignment between states’ OUD policies and public health best practice standards; minimized differences between exemplar and highly affected states policy responses; and resource driven gaps in opioid epidemic legislation, regulation, guidelines, strategic plans, and initiatives. Furthermore, it is advocated that public and private stakeholders committed to health equity must seek reductions in opioid related disease and mortality through increased resource allocation.

The role of food gardening in addressing urban sustainability – A new framework for analysing policy approaches

In recent years, urban gardens have received increased interest from urban citizens as well as urban planners as a tool to promote sustainable urban development. The increased demand by citizens and planners for different forms of garden areas, however, is at odds with a densifying city and the loss of green spaces. Urban planners are therefore faced with the challenge of rethinking the functions and objectives of city gardens and, in turn, adapting the governance mechanisms with regard to sustainable urban development. The aim of this paper is to develop a new framework to analyse governance mechanisms, expressed as policy approaches to urban food garden development, which can serve as an analytical tool to enable comparison of cities and to analyse their efforts to achieve urban sustainability. The framework is based on case study analysis of public policies towards urban food gardening in the Swiss cities Berne, Lausanne and Zurich. We identified three core dimensions to characterise policy approaches in cities for the further development of city gardening: frames, level of institutionalisation, and policy-society relationship. Frames refer to the perception of gardening which is expressed by the objectives set by the city policy and the contributions gardening should fulfil in urban development. Level of institutionalisation provides information on the extent to which garden support is anchored in urban policy. Policy-society relationship refers to the type of leadership by city politics and the possibility for non-political actors to participate. For the further development of urban food gardening, the challenge for urban planners is to find the best possible combination of the three elements for their cities, adapted to the respective city context, the dominant sustainability goals and the social actors involved.

E-Learning Integrated STEM Education Center (eLISE) in Asia: A Reflection Case Study of Taiwan and Vietnam Research Project

Objective:This article describes the implementation plan, advance and future directions of the academic and educational research center eLISE (e-Learning Integrated STEM Education Center) whose foundation intends to narrow the collaboration between Taiwan and Vietnam in e-Learning and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) in the framework of the New Southbound Policy[1], a long-term project announced by the Taiwanese government to strengthen the partnership with South Asian countries.&#x0D; Originality / contribution:This article contributes to the reflection about the promotion of international cooperation in innovation, scientific and technological research as well as the analysis of public policies guided towards e-Learning and STEM innovation.&#x0D; Information collection method / strategies: The stages of the research and innovation process were (1) Innovation e-Learning and STEM Instruction teaching material and module: test application, teacher workshops and interviews (2) Innovation e-Learning and STEM assessment through CloudClassRoom observation with Gamified Electronic Audio Response System and Google Bert. &#x0D; Conclusions: The description of the implementation of eLISE, the explanation of the development of innovative curriculums and teacher workshops, as well as the talent exchange and the cooperation between industry and academy, highlights the importance of cultivate talents and workforces educated through STEM and e-Learning, seeking regional development and prosperity for both, Taiwan and Vietnam.&#x0D; &#x0D; [1] Office of Trade Negotiations, executive Yuan, Bureau of Foreign Trade, T. M. of E. A. New Southbound Policy Guidelines and Action Plan. (Taipei, 2017).&#x0D;

Dilemas y disputas al interior de una política de memoria: el caso del Museo de la Memoria de Rosario

ABSTRACT Memory studies tend to opt for two clear paths. Either they focus on the contestation of two antagonistic narratives, each with its selection of facts, symbols and dates. Or they analyse how a memory is represented in various devices or artefacts of the dominant and/or subaltern culture. This article proposes a third path based on the combination of both options with an articulation of political science and public policy analysis. The article will analyse the historical, political and aesthetic processes within the same narrative in order to understand, on the one hand, how these narratives are formed and, on the other, why they are represented in a certain way and not in other ways. To this end, the Rosario's Memory Museum in Argentina will be taken as the object of study.

Media Relations in Implementing Law No. 2 of 2018 on MD3

Law No. 2 of 2018 on MD3 (MPR, DPR, DPRD, and DPD), caused plenty of controversy in public and a lawsuit to the Constitutional Court, due to several problematic articles. Like Article 122k, Article 73, Article 245, and several other articles on the addition of legislative leaders. It indicated the DPR’s inability to formulate and explain the regulations before the media and the public. As such, effective communication management was needed to build public trust in the DPR through media relations. The objective of this study was to review the media relations between the DPR and the journalists in the implementation process of the MD3 Law, as well as how a policy communication process was formed based on the Randall B. Ripley Policy Analysis unit. Researchers used a qualitative method with two analysis models, which were the Randall B. Ripley model of public policy analysis and the media relation concept. The results of the study showed that the formation and implementation of the MD3 Law did not run smoothly from the start, due to the high political interests and the DPR’s poor communication. The role of the DPR News Bureau as the DPR’s Media Relations Officer (MRO) was not optimal. It was encumbered by the normative-administrative work system, the overlapping media relations tasks with the DPR members, and the domination of the Pressroom (parliamentary journalist).

Are Essential Women's Healthcare Services Fully Covered? A Comparative Analysis of Policy Documents in Shanghai and New York City from 1978-2017.

This study aimed to analyze the changes in the 10 major categories of women’s healthcare services (WHSs) in Shanghai (SH) and New York City (NYC) from 1978 to 2017, and examine the relationship between these changes and maternal mortality ratio (MMR). Content analysis of available public policy documents concerning women’s health was conducted. Two indicators were designed to represent the delivery of WHSs: The essential women’s healthcare service coverage rate (ESCR) and the assessable essential healthcare service coverage rate (AESCR). Spearman correlation was used to analyze the relationship between the two indicators and MMR. In SH, the ESCR increased from 10% to 90%, AESCR increased from 0% to 90%, and MMR decreased from 24.0/100,000 to 1.01/100,000. In NYC, the ESCR increased from 0% to 80%, the AESCR increased from 0% to 60%, and the MMR decreased from 24.7/100,000 to 21.4/100,000. The MMR significantly decreased as both indicators increased (p < 0.01). Major advances have been made in women’s healthcare in both cities, with SH having a better improvement effect. A common shortcoming for both was the lack of menopausal health service provision. The promotion of women’s health still needs to receive continuous attention from governments of SH and NYC. The experiences of the two cities showed that placing WHSs among policy priorities is effective in improving service status.

Políticas públicas para una economía creativa en Jalisco y el área metropolitana de Guadalajara

Objetivo: analizar el surgimiento y los tipos de políticas públicas que impulsan el desarrollo de las industrias culturales y creativas en Jalisco, México, con incidencia en el área metropolitana de Guadalajara. Metodología: es descriptiva y propone una tipología para el análisis de las políticas públicas con orientación a la economía creativa y sus impactos. Resultados: se hallaron 15 programas gubernamentales en los que las políticas sistémicas sobresalen en el fomento económico. Entre ellas, se encuentran el proyecto de Ciudad Creativa Digital y las políticas de oferta mediante financiamiento directo. La concentración y la especialización en las actividades creativas y culturales de Guadalajara y Zapopan han propiciado que se les reconozca como territorios creativos, con lo que se ha alentado la creación de políticas públicas de oferta y demanda, y de programas de formación de capital humano. Limitaciones: la información es insuficiente para valorar el impacto de las políticas públicas en los municipios. Valor: la investigación describe la forma en que las políticas públicas locales fomentan el desarrollo de la economía creativa en el espacio local. Conclusiones: el planteamiento de políticas públicas orientadas a la economía creativa tiene un trasfondo estructural y coyuntural, e impone retos para la disposición y la continuidad de recursos presupuestales, el desarrollo de capacidades empresariales e innovadoras y la consolidación de comunidades creativas.

Analysis of Public Policies on Development Sports in Ngawi District

This research aims to analyze the public policies implemented by Ngawi district government in sports development for the 2016-2021 period. This research is a descriptive qualitative research to analyze the policy documents of ngawi district in sports development by using public policy content analysis. The analysis of this research discusses the description and analysis of documents as well as discussion of the results. The results showed that Ngawi district policies were in the form of formal policies that used written decisions and were passed by the Regent, Legislative Assembly, and related agencies. Ngawi Regency has a policy direction in sports development in fostering human resources and infrastructure to increase the quantity of achievement. The Ngawi district development policy contains sports development through coaching and development programs with a system that stimulates development in order to increase regional achievement. The results show that Ngawi district's policy documents on sports development are sufficient to qualify as public policy documents, even though the district is focused on development in other areas and is a little unsustainable. As a policy document, the development documents of Ngawi district already have targets with general programs and achievements every year, but there needs to be additions to the program implementation guidelines and performance guidelines. By fixing and complementing existing deficiencies, hopefully the Ngawi district government policies in sports development can serve as guidelines and hopes for the entire Ngawi district sports community in improving the management, coaching and achievements of regional sports.

Using evidence in shaping disability policy in Romania: the case of sheltered workshops

Background: The importance of using evidence to inform the policymaking process has been well established in the literature and practice. In Western countries evidence-based policy (EBP) is already accepted and implemented in many policy areas, including disability policy. In Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) the interest in EBP (evidence-based policy) is new and limited, hampered in many aspects by the regional specificity of the public administration and welfare services reform. Aims and objectives: The present article aims to explore the development of evidence-based disability employment policy in Romania, in a specific area of work integration: sheltered workshops. Methods: The article draws on the findings of extensive research on sheltered workshops that included multiple research methods, such as public policy analysis, social documents analysis, and secondary data analysis of quantitative and qualitative data. Findings: A number of issues concerning the implementation of evidence-based disability policy in Romania have been identified. Some of these issues are related to the administrative and policy capacity of the government. Others are linked to the limitation of the advocacy capacity of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) active in the disability area, or to the weak presence of the academic/research community in the disability policy forum. Discussion and conclusions:There is a limited knowledge of how evidence-based disability policy is developed in CEE countries. This article will emphasise the role of the sheltered workshops in shaping the policy solutions in the area of work integration for persons with disabilities. The article will contribute to better understanding of the disability policy reform, looking closely at how the evidence is built and used within the disability policy process.

Pragmatic model for sustainable energy policy: Networking between the government and key players in Bahrain

To fill the current literature gap, this paper strives to empirically determine the networking process between the government of Bahrain and the key players in the formulation and implementation of sustainable energy policy. The literature review divulges that policy network approach represents a useful tool for the analysis of public policy, since this approach permits a thorough explanation of the interaction between the network’s members. A questionnaire was distributed to key decision-makers involved in the elaboration of sustainable energy policy in Bahrain. The results of this paper revealed that the government of Bahrain has adopted successful policies of sustainable energy in reaching the intended results. Nevertheless, the current structure of networking might be described as a “Clientelist Network”. This paper proposed a pragmatic model for sustainable energy policy to reinforce the networking process between the government and the key players into a rational approach of “Pluralistic networks”. In this network, formal associations have to be established to embrace the industry, energy and environmental sectors. Accordingly, this type of networking will ensure direct and strong frequent ties. Also, this pluralistic network will provide further comparative advantages in terms of the power of control over resources and the flow of information among all key actors.

Analysis of public policies and programmes towards water security in post-apartheid South Africa

AbstractMany countries in the world, including South Africa, are water-stressed with increasing pressure on their water resources due to population growth, climate change, and inadequate funding. Post-independence in 1994, many policies and programmes were introduced by the government with the aim of promoting water management. While these policies and strategies achieved much in terms of water provision to communities and households, they failed to establish a water-conscious country with sufficient knowledge and expertise in water management. In addition, these policies and programmes are outdated, compartmentalised, complex, and lack robust water governance with resilient stakeholder partnerships that advance the more explicit second phase of the National Development Plan (NDP) to achieve water security under the threat of climate change. Using data collection tools inspired by the traditional method of participatory research, this paper analyses the structural and systematic factors hindering the implementation of comprehensive policies to achieve water security in South Africa. There is, therefore, an urgent need for South Africa to establish an independent water regulator to ensure coordination between different government departments, including the National Treasury, to strengthen weak governance capacity and to make it independent to attract private equity into the sector and to recover fiscal deficits in the water sector.

Applying risk tolerance and socio-technical dynamics for more realistic energy transition pathways

Many energy systems models have sought to develop pathways for deep decarbonization of the global energy system. Most often, these pathways minimize system costs or greenhouse gas emissions; with few exceptions, they ignore the constraints imposed by political, social, and economic factors that slow transition processes, making them prone to producing implausible decarbonization pathways. This paper integrates a key socio-technical factor—social acceptance of low-carbon nuclear power—into an energy systems model to illustrate how it alters the optimal energy generation mix. The United States was chosen as the example, but the approach itself is designed to be general and applicable to any region of interest. An empirically grounded risk tolerance model is developed to characterize acceptance of nuclear power and estimate an upper-bound deployment limit for the technology. Illustrative scenarios are presented to improve our understanding of how the socio-technical constraints that exist in the real world can alter deep decarbonization pathways. The cost-optimal generation portfolio to achieve net zero CO2 emissions by 2050 primarily relies on nuclear power. If risk tolerance concerns constrain nuclear deployment to socially acceptable levels, deep decarbonization scenarios are up to 11% more expensive than the reference scenario and require low-carbon options to be available and replace the reduced nuclear share. Results from this novel framework improve our representation of the effect of social acceptance on the adoption and diffusion of energy technologies. They also contribute to a growing literature that seeks to firmly embed the social sciences in climate and energy policy.

Comparative Public Policy Analysis of COVID-19 as a Naturally Occurring Experiment

This collection presents an effort to draw on the COVID-19 global pandemic, as a rare “naturally occurring experiment”, to advance the comparative public policy scholarship and disseminate knowledge on international policy approaches to this extreme crisis situation. From a comparative lens, these articles reveal how factors such as partisan politics, intergovernmental relationships, culture, and state capacity shape crisis policy responses in contrast to normal policymaking. This collection also provides important lesson drawing: national–local coordination, social safety nets, and a well-organized sector of community workers are all part of a society’s capacity and resilience in a time of crisis.

Right to health: the clinical examination of the judicialization of public health in the face of mistanasia

The present work has as its study the analysis of public policies, regarding access to the right to public health, as well as the difficulties, the neglect of the provision and the length of the concession. The difficult way for doctors to exercise their profession, excessive shifts, lack of specialists, medicines and beds, lack of fair remuneration and various problems; the analysis of the judicialization of public health and the institutes that medicine calls: Euthanasia, Orthothanasia, Dysthanasia and Mistanasia. The methodology used was the tool: bibliographic. At the end of this article, there will be an examination of the studies analysed, and the effectiveness of the judicialization of public health.