Political Science Approach Research Articles

Политические технологии убеждающей коммуникации (на примере кино и социальных сетей)

Informatization and digitalization of society lead to the emergence of new political technologies of persuasive communication. Impact technologies are regularly improved and do not stop working even when a person is resting. The author pays special attention to the study of cinema and social networks as the main tools of persuasive communication. The purpose of the study is to analyze modern political technologies of persuasive communication using the example of the film industry and social networks, and develop protective measures against manipulative and destructive influence. The main research method is a comparative political science approach. In addition, the Case Study method is used. The author is convinced that media technology allows you to participate in the communication process, rather than remain a passive recipient of information. In the course of studying the problem, it was established that the Internet is socializing when the use of communication platforms allows you to influence social and political processes. The work offers a new look at the political manipulation of mass consciousness during the organization of leisure, which provides an opportunity to take a fresh look at the already existing theoretical positions in the field of persuasive communication. From a practical point of view, a scientific article can be applied in the implementation of projects involving an information and communication impact on the consciousness of the recipient or the mass consciousness. The study of political technologies of persuasive communication is interdisciplinary in nature and deserves attention from political scientists, sociologists, psychologists and educators.

Use of Incident Command System in Health Emergency Management for FDMN’s in Bangladesh: a Qualitative Study

Background: Bangladesh bears the double burden of extreme exposure and high vulnerability to both natural and man-made disasters. In 2017, an enormous influx of Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals from Myanmar to Bangladesh created massive humanitarian crisis due to geopolitical conflicts.
 Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the FDMN’s health situation and to work with the district health office facing the emergency. Another objective was to introduce a proper Incident Command System (ICS) approach in order to achieve system efficiencies and improve management capabilities of the district health office.
 Materials and Methods: This qualitative, exploratory study was conducted at three Upazilas and two disaster prone coastal civil surgeon offices in Bangladesh over a period of one year from May, 2017 to April, 2018. The target population of the study was FDMN’s, local inhabitants, health care providers, public health managers and administrators at different level. Using non-probability purposive sampling method as data collection procedure, 50 semi-structured interviews were carried out.
 Results: A rapid field assessment was done followed by detailed field assessment. In rapid field assessment it was observed that gaps in proper leadership created confusion and for that some participants were overlooked, while others were underutilized. There was gap in coordination between different actors in the field. It was observed that in crisis situation, challenges associated with coordination and delegations were almost similar. Interview was taken based on concepts from political and social science approaches. Under each approach emergency health management issues, gaps and constrain were discussed along with proposed solutions. In order to conduct a detailed field assessment incident command system approach were broken down to five major categories. Two ICS orientation workshop were done in Cox’s Bazar and Chittagong civil surgeon office. It was evident that CS offices would not have the entire workforce as ICS structure demand but identifying existing stuffs that could fill in all those roles in ICS structure with how to work and go in operation was done.
 Conclusion: The study advocates that with limited resources utmost priority should be given to train the existing workforce for emergency preparedness, planning and response. Evidence-based incident command system deployment would be beneficial for health emergency management for vulnerable people in Bangladesh.
 JOPSOM 2019; 38(2): 53-62

THE BEGINNING OF A LARGE-SCALE POLITICAL REFORM IN RUSSIA: A NEW TURN IN 2020

The subject. The article is devoted to the analysis of the draft political and constitutional reform that was announced in the last Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly at January 15, 2020.
 The purpose of the article is to try to predict the positive and negative consequences of changing the legal status of the highest Russian authorities. 
 The methodology of the study includes analysis and interpretation of Presidential Ad-dresses to the Federal Assembly and Russian Constitution as well as dialectical approach and methods of political science. 
 The main results and scope of their application. For a long time there was a clear request for changes in the government, and various expert platforms discussed issues related to changing the Constitution of the Russian Federation, which was adopted at a national referendum in December 1993. 
 On January 15, 2020, Vladimir Putin addressed his 16th message to the Parliament. In ac-cordance with the Constitution, the President of Russia annually addresses the Federal Assembly with a message on the situation in the country and on the main directions of domestic and foreign policy. The last address turned out to be a landmark and historical one, as it announced the main provisions of the upcoming large-scale political and consti-tutional reform in Russia. Heads of constituent entities, members of the State Duma and the Federation Council, Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Ministers, Federal Ministers, heads of Fed-
 
 
 eral bodies, judges will no longer be able to have foreign citizenship or a foreign resi-dence permit. He proposed even more stringent requirements for a candidate for the post of President: no foreign citizenship or residence permit even in the past, as well as per-manent residence in Russia for at least 25 years. The position of the State Council is being strengthened and it is reflected in the Constitution of the Russian Federation as an insti-tution of power in the country. The position of the Federal Assembly is strengthened by the fact that the Parliament is given the right to approve the candidacy of the Prime Min-ister, as well as all Deputy Prime Ministers and Federal Ministers. The status of local self-government and the role of governors in the regions is being raised.
 The main reason for the reform is the desire to reduce the powers of the President and transfer part of them to the Parliament, so that the next President is no longer endowed with virtually absolute power, and, in turn, can not initiate another reform without the approval of all branches of government.
 The author of the article identifies the reasons for the political reform and gives forecasts for the future after its implementation.
 Conclusions. The author links these changes to the upcoming transfer of presidential power after 2024. The reform does not mean the transition of the Russian Federation to a parliamentary republic, since the head of state retains the status of a key figure in the po-litical system, and it is he who has concentrated key functions. Fixing a number of social obligations in the Constitution in terms of salaries and pensions will not have a significant impact on the socio-economic situation.

Межэтническое согласие: концептуальные рамки осмысления понятия

The paper discusses the formation and development of the conceptual understanding of the notion “consent”. The semantic content of the term is re-vealed from the perspective of its philosophical, sociological and political science approaches. The importance of the communicative process in all considered interpretations of the term is empha-sized. It is noted that communication, as an inherent feature of social interaction, is also relevant to the sphere of interethnic relations. Based on the con-sensus approach, the author defines the concept of “interethnic consent”, reveals its correlation with such concepts as harmony, consensus and solidari-ty. The research substantiates the relevance of the study of interethnic consent in a multi-ethnic Rus-sian society, the importance of understanding it both in the scientific community and in the socio-political sphere. A range of questions, which high-light the discussion on the ways of establishing the national identity of Russian society, is determined. In this regard, a spectrum of concepts that must be operationalized in the future in the context of the interethnic consent study is highlighted.

FEATURES OF THE NEW CONSTITUTION OF CUBA IN 2019 AND THE CONCEPT OF A SOCIALIST STATE BASED ON THE RULE OF LAW

The article is devoted to the peculiarities of the development of modern Cuban society and the means of managing its affairs based on the analysis of the main conceptual provisions of the new Constitution of the Cuban Republic in 2019. The author analyzes the features of formation of a separate constitutional concepts and categories, examines the essence of the concept of the rule of law in a socialist path of development of Cuban society, studying features of diverse forms of ownership in Cuba and the importance of the organizing role of the Communist party of Cuba in matters of governance. The author states that it is necessary to make changes to the current Cuban legislation based on the prospects for new forms of participation of citizens in the management of society and the state. The article is of considerable interest to Russian lawyers, since it is presented from the position of a synergetic approach of philosophy, political science and jurisprudence to the forms and ways of existence of ideological legal systems of the modern world (on the example of Cuba of the XXI century).

Paradigmality in modern political science research: from interdisciplinarity to author conceptuality

The article discusses the discourse on the methodological foundations of political science research and the need to outline the existing paradigms of political science research, both in the temporal-retrospective dimension and in the dimension of the subject area. It is emphasized that the determinants of defining the value of paradigm in modern political science research is the prospect of acquiring scientific novelty at the stage of determining the research topic. The focus is on the need for a more thorough consideration of specific paradigmatic means of determining the methodological design of contemporary political science research. It is noted that on the basis of linguistic analysis of subject aspects of political science, one can easily see the multivariate interpretation of many essential concepts of the modern political sphere. It is argued that one can also see expansive interpretations of particular concepts and processes from a non-professional perspective. The importance of interdisciplinary natural science paradigms has been established. Attention is paid to identifying the possibility of forming a new conceptual apparatus, taking into account the concepts that have become widespread in the scientific environment. The role of the concept of "paradigm approach in modern political science" is revealed, which is aimed at understanding the peculiarities of considering political science subject within other scientific disciplines. It is proved that the leading task of paradigm as a discipline of political science is the formation of paradigmatic choice of young researcher. The peculiarities of searching for a scientist’s own «paradigm face» have been found. The ability to use the task of defining scientific novelty is emphasized to some extent. The specificity of choosing a paradigm vector of a researcher-political scientist with consideration of the requirements of interdisciplinarity is considered. The purpose of the article is to identify paradigm in political studies as a factor in the formation of authorial conceptualism against the backdrop of interdisciplinary imperatives. The purpose of the article is to highlight the main directions of paradigm and their correlation with modern political theories. It is proved that the choice of the paradigm vector of the researcher-political scientist is confronted with interdisciplinary, first of all philosophical meanings of cognition as a form of social activity. The idea that choosing one’s own paraligmal vector for a specialist political scientist is presented is important because of the need to overcome the Soviet and post-Soviet paradigmatic provinces. It turned out that the formation of the national paradigm of political science, which should be carried out only on condition that the fullest representation of all paradigm directions. The situation of paradigm choices and orientation of political scientist researcher in the world paradigm mainstream is revealed. The necessity of finding a researcher in the environment of those paradigms that give the most significant scientific result is proved. The article establishes that the combination of the universality of interdisciplinary paradigms and the optionality of paradigms for a particular political science study is carried out on the basis of a conceptual and categorical apparatus of political epistemology. It is argued that on the basis of the notion of "scientific truth (episteme)", the formation of the author’s own attitude to the subject of research and the prospect of solving his problem is carried out.

What Is “Labor” About Labor State Governments In Australia?

What Is “Labor” About Labor State Governments In Australia?

Pensando la inmigración desde las instituciones de la ciudad

This paper conducts a bibliographic review of the main theoretical formulations that make migration processes dialogue with urban dynamics. From this, two records of academic literature arise. The first one, from a sociological approach, problematizes not only the modalities of gradual integration of immigrants into urban space but also the challenges resulting from the forms of occupation and transformation of the social, economic, cultural, and symbolic spaces of the city. The second one has a political science approach that explores the new analytical perspectives that reconstruct and reformulates the problems of the urban management of immigration, examining the different scenarios and factors that influence and shape the governance of immigration and cultural diversity in cities. These two approaches are significantly useful and have undeniable heuristic value to construct a modern immigration theory in the urban context.

Экономический потенциал крупных муниципальных образований: теоретические и методологические подходы к анализу

The article considers approaches in order to study large municipal entities and their economic potential. The authors specify that large municipal entities in modern conditions have a multifunctional structure, so they propose an interdisciplinary approach to their study. The article discusses such approaches to analyzing large municipalities as: philosophical; research from the perspective of social sciences and the humanities (political science, sociological, psychological, historiographic and ethnographic approaches). The authors analyze large municipalities from the perspective of the geographical approach; urban theory; urban planning and architecture. The problem of studying large municipalities in the legal sciences is separately investigated. With the help of the economic approach the authors show that at the core of urbanization and the emergence of large municipalities there are three effects: comparative advantage, concentration effect, and localization effect. The authors give classification of large municipalities. The authors propose a systematic approach to analyzing large cities, representing the unity of the functional approach, open systems methodology and the factor approach. Under the latter, it is proposed to understand the economic potential of the city, which presupposes the possibility of efficient use of available resources and their maximum inclusion in social reproduction in order to meet the needs of the municipality population. The authors substantiate the classification of the economic potential of a large municipal formation, which consists of: the resource (basic and used), innovative and infrastructural potentials.

Legal, Political Science and Economics Approaches to Measuring Malapportionment: The U.S. House, the Senate and the Electoral College 1790–2010

Legal, Political Science and Economics Approaches to Measuring Malapportionment: The U.S. House, the Senate and the Electoral College 1790–2010

The Musical Bridge—Intercultural Regionalism and the Immigration Challenge in Contemporary Andalusia

The ideals of tolerance and cultural exchange associated with the interfaith past of Muslim Spain (al-Andalus) have become a symbol for Andalusian regionalism and for the integration of Moroccan communities. Nowhere is this more keenly felt than in the context of music. In cities such as Granada, Moroccan and Spanish musicians actively promote the ideals of intercultural dialogue through the performance of repertoires such as flamenco and Arab-Andalusian music that allegedly possess a shared cultural history. In this article, we examine the interrelationship between music and ‘intercultural regionalism’, focusing on how music is used by public institutions to ground social integration in the discourse of regionalism. Against a backdrop of rising Islamophobia and the mobilization of right-wing populist and anti-immigration rhetoric both within Spain and internationally, the authors consider how music can be used to promote social integration, to overcome Islamophobia and to tackle radicalization. We advance two arguments. First, we argue that the musical interculturalism promoted by a variety of institutions needs to be understood within the wider project of Andalusian regionalism. Here, we note that musical integration of Spain’s cultural and historical ‘Other’ (Moroccans) into Andalusian society is promoted as a model for how Europe can overcome the alleged ‘death of multiculturalism’. The preferential way to achieve this objective is through ‘intercultural regionalism’, envisioned as the combination of regional identity-building and intercultural interactions between communities that share a common cultural heritage. Second, we assess some of the criticism of the efficacy of al-Andalus as a model for contemporary intercultural exchange. Combining approaches in political science and ethnomusicology, we focus on one case study, the Fundación Tres Culturas (FTC). Through interviews with figures within the FTC, we examine why this model has become partly insufficient and how it is borne out in the sorts of musical activities programmed by FTC that seek to move beyond the ‘andalusí’ myth. We conclude by recognizing the continuing regional and international importance of this myth but we question its integrating capacity at a time of radical political, economic and environmental upheaval.

Politik Hijrah Kartosuwiryo; Menuju Negara Islam Indonesia

Penelitian ini membahas tentang Politik Hijrah Sekarmadji Maridjan Kartosuwiryo. Sosok yang mewarisi keahlian narasi dari tokoh kebangkitan Islam di Indonesia yakni HOS Cokroaminoto sekaligus pendiri PSII (Partai Syarikat Islam Indonesia) pada periode selanjutnya speninggal HOS Cokroaminoto, Kartosuwiryo muncul dengan melanjutkan perjuangan Islam di Indonesia melalui konsep Politik Hijrah.
 Pokok masalah dalam peneitian ini adalah mengenai awal kemunculan politik hijrah, konsep politik hijrah, dan fungsi politik hijrah yang diusung oleh S.M. Kartosuwiryo. Oleh karena itu batasan penelitian ini adalah mengenai politik hijrah Kartosuwiryo yang problematikanya terjadi pada rentang tahun 1931 sampai 1962. Ditulis dengan menggunakan pendekatan ilmu politik, penelitian ini bertujuan menggali informasi seputar kondisi Bangsa Indonesia Menjelang Kemerdekaan, Riwayat dan Perjuangan Kartosuwiryo, dan mengapa politik hijrah ini dilakukan.
 Dari Penelitian ini setidaknya penulis memperoleh informasi bahwa setidaknya terdapat berbagai kelompok maupun organisasi yang membentuk partai politik, ada semacam persaingan antara kelompok nasionalis dan islamis, maka dari dua kondisi berbeda ini masing-masing membuat kelompoknya masing-masing dengan membentuk partai politiknya masing-masing sesuai arah perjuangan kelompoknya. Dilihat dari metode perjuangannya ada yang kooperatif dengan Hindia Belanda, ada juga yang memilih non kooperatif. Kartosuwiryo memilih jalan non kooperatif melalui ide Politik Hijrahnya dengan memproklamirkan berdirinya Negara Islam Indonesia.

When Voting Becomes Protest: Mapping Determinants of Collective Action Onto Voting Behavior

Do people signal protest by bringing out a protest vote when they feel they have been collectively disadvantaged? Political scientists have been interested in “protest voting” yet theoretical understanding is limited. Social psychologists have studied other forms of collective protest extensively. The present study integrates insights from the political science approach to protest voting and the social psychological approach to protest behavior to study how a context of perceived collective disadvantage influences voting for protest parties. We conducted a field study with a quasi-experimental design. This allowed us to study effects of a plausibly exogenous variable—the presence versus absence of societal disadvantage (the experience of man-made earthquakes)—on both determinants of and on subsequent protest voting. Results reveal that the presence of earthquakes affects levels of protest voting via (national) trust, regional identification, and perceptions of efficacy.

The Court of Justice of the European Union, conflicts of sovereignty and the EMU crisis

ABSTRACTThe aim of this article is to analyse the position of the Court of Justice of the EU with regard to the conflicts of sovereignty that emerged during and in the aftermath of the EMU crisis. The economic and financial crisis increased legal integration and therefore led to more rule of law. This context opened the possibility for plaintiffs to call upon the CJEU. The aim of this article is to analyse the Court rulings on this matter since the beginning of the economic and financial crisis in 2008: does the Court defend supranational sovereignty or does it take national sovereignty concerns into account? To what extent do the Court’s rulings reflect parliamentary and popular sovereignty? Based on a conceptual framework combining a legal and a political science approach, the aim is to analyse which type of sovereignty the Court defends and when.

Putin v. The People: The Perilous Politics of a Divided Russia by Samuel A. Greene (review)

REVIEWS 793 turnout in 2016 (p. 129), and the crackdown, and de-liberalization programme, launched by the Kremlin following the 2011–12 protests when discussing the 2016 election (p. 250). Readers’ reactions will likely be conditioned by whether they are more sympathetic to the ‘“electoral authoritarian” approach or the “comparative political science approach” to the study of elections noted by Hutcheson in the final paragraph of the book. At points, Hutcheson’s attempt to blend these two approaches is tricky. For example, he writes that ‘it can be contended that the primary reason that Putin and the presidential administration spent significant energy upon obtaining a pro-presidential majority in the State Duma, and modifying the selection processes for the Federation Council, has not been that of constructing an authoritarian regime, but rather to bring stability to the process of legislation and to their security of power’ (p. 46). But many will consider efforts to ‘bring stability’ to the incumbents’ ‘security of power’ to be precisely a key feature of an authoritarian regime. This book will be of interest to scholars of Russian politics, electoral politics, legislative politics and authoritarianism. By virtue of its breadth and depth, it will be a key resource in understanding an important dimension of the construction of the modern-day Russian political system by a scholar with unmatched knowledge of the intricacies of the Russian electoral system. UCL SSEES B. H. Noble Greene, Samuel A. and Robertson, Graeme B. Putin v. The People: The Perilous Politics of a Divided Russia. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT and London, 2019. vii + 287 pp. Dramatis personae. Notes. Index. £20.00. The narrative of Vladimir Putin as puppet master, as tsar, as evil supervillain has long been prevailing in Western academic and non-academic discourses on the Russian Federation. He is the ‘dictator with an iron first’ who rules ‘despite the masses, who, given the opportunity, would gladly kick them out of office’ (p. 2). Samuel A. Greene and Graeme B. Robertson’s publication, like Mark Galeotti’s recent We Need to Talk About Putin: Why the West Gets Him Wrong, and how to Get Him Right (London, 2019), marks a new turn in the literature on the region, one that challenges the Putin-centric focus in the study of Russian politics and writes the citizens into the narrative. This book is therefore revolutionary in its analysis of the power of autocracies: it chooses not to analyse it from the conventional top-down approach, but rather as a coconstructed phenomenon, investigating ‘the role of Russian society in building SEER, 97, 4, OCTOBER 2019 794 Putin’s power’ (p. 2). It thus depicts a power structure that is much more fragile and unstable than Putin and his ‘cronies’ would like the world to believe. Incorporating polling data, surveys, interviews and social media traffic, the book tracks the driving factors behind the politics of Putin’s third and fourth terms. At the start of his third term, support for Putin was wavering, and the weaponization of key issues, religion and sexuality, was essential in order to siphon off some of the opposition’s support and widen the divide between Putin and the opposition. Russian politician Leonid Volkov described the invasion of Crimea and annexation of Eastern Ukraine as the ‘magic bean’ (p. 88) that galvanized a limp political system, the moment at which the Kremlin managed to seize back the political agenda. Putin became the symbol around which the country united, and the population became more emotionally-invested in politics and its leader, the object of Russian ‘pride, hope and trust’ (p. 107). The euphoria over the invasion sparked a peak in approval ratings and the future looked brighter, in spite of economic sanctions. The Kremlin is acutely aware of its need for popularity amongst the Russian masses, frequently conducting surveys, polls and focus groups in order to ‘identify how to win and retain that support’ (p. 200), and Greene and Robertson’s book presents the Russian citizens as the everyday enforcers of the regime. Most, including Natalya and Maxim, partake in ordinary, daily interactions that support the administration, e.g. in schools, workplaces, churches. Only a minority of Russian citizens...

W kierunku instytucjonalnej teorii kryzysu

This paper aims to compare the approach of political science and that of the economy to the phenomenon of crisis. The author focuses on the analysis on the following issues: (1) the developmental challenge; (2) the structural challenge; (3) crisis management; and (4) the political legitimacy of anti-crisis measures. The major case studies analysed in the paper include the Eurozone crisis and the Asian crisis between 1997 and 1998.

Influence in the International Competition Network (Icn): Who Seeks It, How Do They Do This and Why?

Influence in the International Competition Network (Icn): Who Seeks It, How Do They Do This and Why?

Transformacja kultury wyborczej na Ukrainie: od praktyk autorytarnych do modelu demokratycznego

<p>Autorzy przeprowadzają analizę transformacji kultury wyborczej na Ukrainie od praktyk autorytarnych do modelu demokratycznego. Korzystanie z reguł metodologicznych współczesnej nauki politycznej, ukształtowanych w angielsko-amerykańskim dyskursie politologicznym, umożliwiły uzasadnienie tego, że zmiany w kulturze wyborczej Ukrainy w kierunku demokratyzacji stały się możliwe w latach 2014–2018. W tym procesie istotną rolę pełniły również czynniki o charakterze cywilizacyjnym. Europejskie stałe cywilizacyjne w postaci tradycji historycznych, wartości kulturowe oraz cechy mentalności mają istotny wpływ na preferencje elektoralne wyborców. Właśnie one kształtują wybór określonego rodzaju narodowego lidera politycznego, który współcześnie ostatecznie uzyskał cechy polityka europejskiego. Jednocześnie pewne archetypy świadomości politycznej Ukraińców – etatyzm, kolektywizm, radykalizm polityczny, uwidoczniają się w ich kulturze wyborczej w postaci orientacji na partię władzy, które z pewnym stopniu hamują ostatecznie zadomowienie się modelu demokratycznego kultury wyborczej na Ukrainie.</p>

How do Topics Emerge in Planning Studies?

To which topics planning studies attach attention is subject to dynamic change. Issues such as sustainability, socially integrative cities or metropolitan regions played prominent roles at different times. Against this background, it is noteworthy that within planning studies so far only few studies focus on the fundamental question of why certain topics arise at a certain time in planning research and later subside again. There are no models that could explain why a planning topic receives particular attention. While there is no doubt that topics as those mentioned above are fundamental for planning thought, we cannot explain the timing and causation of their emergence on top of the agenda. This article explores the question of how attention is constituted and developed for a topic in planning studies. Building on political science and communication sociology approaches, an issue-attention cycle is conceptualized as the socially determined development process of an issue. Using the cases of 'climate change' and 'shrinking cities', issue-attention cycles in planning studies are examined exemplarily on the basis of a phase heuristic. Taking a sociology of science perspective, orientations of actions by planning scholars are revealed. A network analysis identifies and explores key actors, their publications, and crucial events for the development of both topics. In addition, a lexicometric discourse analysis examines contents and conceptual contexts. Finally, a qualitative survey explores how and why scientists pick certain topics as part of their individual research biographies. The article concludes with a plea to consider issue-attention cycles as an integral part of planning studies since they strongly affect the prioritization of problems, aims and policies within the scientific realm and beyond.

Sport entrepreneurship and public policy: future trends and research developments

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to overcome the traditional general approach to sport policy by taking an entrepreneurial perspective. This helps link the fragmented literatures of entrepreneurship, public policy and sport entrepreneurship in order to develop a new perspective of sport entrepreneurship and public policy. Design/methodology/approach A literature review is conducted that highlights the need for public policy to focus on entrepreneurship in sports contexts. Findings In the past, sport policy focused more on governance and political elements but these can be embedded into a policy entrepreneurship perspective regarding sport. This helps to redefine and bridge the literature on sport entrepreneurship and public policy. Originality/value Most sport policy research has tended to take a more organizational behavior or political science approach. Thus, this paper takes a new perspective by incorporating the nascent sport entrepreneurship literature into public policy debates. This is helpful to public policy planners but also sports managers who need to work together to build better policy initiatives.