Critical Policy Issues Research Articles

School District Discourse Coalitions and Equity-Focused Policy Innovations in Oakland, California 2020–2021

Purpose: To better understand how district leaders at urban school districts innovate and design policies, this study investigated how actors in one district, Oakland Unified School District, discussed ways to improve their education system at school board meetings during 2020 and 2021. Approach: The research used a case study approach to develop a process of inquiry, drawing on theoretical literature on innovation in social fields, empirical work on urban education reforms, and methodological considerations from critical social analysis techniques. It used a variety of qualitative methods to identify critical policy issues and policy innovations, and examined the way actors in two coalitions, each with a different approach to change, used discourse to convey their ideologies about racial equity and justice. Findings: District actors collaboratively designed and passed five innovative policies: school safety, remote learning, climate change, Black reparations, and mental health. While one group, the incumbent discourse coalition, focused attention on fiscal stability and closing underperforming schools, another, the challenger discourse coalition, conveyed strategies on improving schools and surrounding communities through new education policies. Though unexpected crises expedited innovation, the perspectives of the dominant culture were most privileged in the final designs of resolutions. Implications: By using broad theories and generalizable concepts this study shows how discourse in policymaking can be examined in other settings and illustrates ways similar school districts may innovate in their systems.

The political logic of just transition policies

ABSTRACT A ‘just transition’ calls for compensations to fossil fuel workers whose jobs will be lost because of the clean energy transition. The ethical case for a just transition acknowledges the hardship of vulnerable workers. In contrast, I examine the political case for a just transition. The logic of such a case remains hazy and under-theorized. I draw on the insights of ultimatum games to understand the strategic dimension of the relation between governments and fossil fuel workers. In a successful just transition, the government compensates workers in exchange for their exit from the fossil fuel industry. This ensures a faster clean energy transition. Yet the prospects of such an agreement depend on several parameters: the quality of outside options available to workers, their cost of mobilization, and the climatic benefits that the government obtain from a fossil fuel phaseout. I show that a government's credibility is also critical. This theoretical exercise helps make sense of several otherwise puzzling patterns in just transition policies and offers guidance on critical policy issues. Key policy insights Just transition policies can break the carbon deadlock by incentivizing the exit of fossil fuel workers. The ability of the government to induce the exit of labour depends on climatic benefits, fossil fuel wages, outside option wages, and anti-government mobilization costs. Lack of government credibility, which can be caused by political risks, capacity constraints, or low trust, reduce the prospects of phaseouts and increase their cost. Unions play an ambiguous role: they increase wages and reduce mobilization costs, but can improve outside options, solve coordination failures, and reduce transaction costs. Fossil fuel firms can and do use financial and non-financial strategies to reduce the mobility of their workers.

Capping Study Permits: Evaluating the Impact of International Students on Real Rent Growth in Canada

Housing affordability has become a critical policy issue in Canada as shelter costs have dramatically increased. This study examines the impact of international students on the growth of real rents in Canadian census metropolitan areas (CMAs) from 2004 to 2018. Using study permit data as a proxy for international student numbers, we establish a causal link between the influx of international students and real rent growth. To address endogeneity and control for CMA-specific factors, we employ an Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) model and a shift-share instrument. Our OLS estimates suggest that international student growth accounts for 1.15 percent of real rent growth. Further, using a two-stage least-squares (2SLS) model for robustness, we find that a 1 percent increase in per capita study permit growth (“dppr”) leads to a 1.31 percent increase in real rent growth (“grr”). These findings are significant for policy discussions on housing affordability and the potential impact of the 2024 study permit cap.

Community-University Partnerships: The Benefits of Collaboration in Measuring Public Support for a Community Recreation Center

Community recreation centers (CRCs) are gaining popularity across the country. While many support the argument that CRCs improve quality of life by building social capital and improving the physical health of residents, that support does not necessarily translate into community support for the funding and construction of CRCs. Some communities undertake surveys to try to gauge the support for CRCs but have had mixed results on the insights provided by those surveys. Furthermore, public perceptions about the accuracy and usefulness of survey data could lead to stakeholder disregard for the data produced by them. This case study focuses on the benefits of a robust partnership between a local community and a regional university in developing a survey research project to analyze support for building a CRC. In this paper, we emphasize the value of producing trusted data and provide lessons on how community-university partnerships can achieve similar objectives. The first lesson is that community-university partnerships, by emphasizing local connections, can help foster trust in survey research projects. Second, strategic community-university partnerships can derive additional benefits such as division of labor, expertise, and cost savings. Third, by embracing the above two benefits, collaboration is not only possible, but can produce tailored survey research projects that provide stakeholders insights into critical questions. Finally, community-university partnerships that are structured around shared values can help communities solve critical policy issues effectively and efficiently. This case study details these lessons through an examination of a robust community-university partnership that led to the passage of a ballot referendum to build a CRC. This community-university model of collaboration provides a framework for communities and universities to work together to serve the public good.

Crisis coordination in complex intergovernmental systems: The case of Australia

AbstractAs the scale and intensity of disasters and crises continue to increase, planning and managing crises have become a critical policy and governance issue. Of particular importance to this topic is crisis coordination, as effective response and recovery support the continuity of operations of governments and businesses, and are essential to the economy, health, and public safety. This paper applies a network governance perspective to explore the practical application of intergovernmental crisis coordination in Australia with reference to the COVID‐19 crisis contributing to a better understanding of the role of governing bodies in dealing with major crises in a coordinated manner. This paper also highlights the need to leverage collaborative leadership, organizational capacity, and a culture of collaboration to develop robust and connected networks in addressing crisis coordination within Australia's complex federal system.

Hybrid housing models for older Australians: institutional framework and policy challenges

Older people seeking affordable housing in the mainstream housing tenures such as home ownership, private renting and social housing face increasing difficulties in accessing and remaining in appropriate housing. The mainstream housing tenures face pressure due to widening housing affordability problems in home ownership and the private rental sector in many advanced economies, exacerbated by declining investment in social housing. Hybrid housing models are often promoted as affordable and sometimes appropriate and adequate housing options for older people. These models combine aspects of ownership and renting in diverse ways, often posing challenges for tenure-based housing policies. Drawing on the case of Australia, the paper presents the findings of an institutional review of the production, consumption, management, and exchange of land lease communities, often marketed as a more affordable form of housing for older people compared to the more established hybrid form of retirement villages. Noting difficulties in scoping the size and significance of the land lease community sector from current data collections, we find (a) entry of large institutional investors risks undermining the relative affordability of the sector for older people; (b) security of occupancy is a critical policy issue and (c) concentration in rural areas raises concerns around risk of natural disasters and access to aged care and other services. These issues are often overlooked in housing policy and pose challenges for other policy domains including income support, social care, and health services.

Mobilising strategic alliances with community organisations to address work-related mental injury: a qualitative study guided by collaboration theory

BackgroundA critical policy issue in Australia and worldwide is the escalating rates of work-related mental injury that have been linked to the lack of help-seeking behaviours of at-risk workers. Strategic alliances between community organisations, statutory bodies, and mental health service providers could expand the efficacy and reach of mental health literacy and peer support initiatives that can encourage help-seeking, however, there is limited evidence to support the development of such approaches. This study used a qualitative design based on collaboration theory to explore the factors influencing community organisation leaders’ decisions to provide such initiatives through collaboration with relevant third parties.MethodsRepositories of submissions into mental health reviews and publicly available registers in Australia were used to identify twenty-two participant organisations (n = 22), which were categorised according to the International Classification of Non-Profit Organisations (Culture & Recreation, Social Services, and Development & Housing). Eleven of these organisations demonstrated an interest in collaborating with third parties and extending efforts to deliver work-related mental health initiatives through contributions to mental health reviews. Leaders were interviewed to understand differences in perspectives on potential collaborations.ResultsOrganisations that did not make submissions were reluctant to engage in such efforts due to limitations in expertise/capacity, and perceived mission misalignment. Third-party support from statutory bodies and mental health service providers addressing these perceived limitations may improve their confidence, and willingness to engage. Regardless of their category, all considered the benefit of such collaboration included improving the acceptability, approachability, availability, and efficacy of work-related mental health initiatives. Equity was seen as supporting decision-making/leadership, while power imbalance was a barrier. Third-party contributions that could facilitate collaboration included expert support/credibility, administration, formal structures, supportive policy, and joining networks, however, red tape was a challenge. Shared values, vision, practice, and networking were identified as supporting positive communication and interpersonal relations.ConclusionThe study establishes that, adequately supported and resourced, community organisations are willing to align strategically with statutory bodies and mental health service providers to use their unique position in the community to deliver work-related mental health literacy and peer support programmes for at-risk workers to improve help-seeking behaviours.

The association between social integration and utilization of primary health care among migrants in China: a nationwide cross-sectional study

BackgroundMigrants is a large population in China. To improve the health and wellbeing of migrants is a critical policy and social issue in China, and to enhance the utilization of primary health care by migrants is one of the most important approaches in promoting equity in health. However, there exists little research about the association between social integration and the utilization of primary health care. To address the research gap, this research aims at exploring the relation between social integration and the utilization of primary health care among migrants in China.MethodsUsing the national data from China Migrants Dynamic Survey (CMDS) in 2017, 169,989 migrants were included in this study. Social integration was measured by social communication, acculturation and self-identity, with 8 indicators. The utilization of primary health care was measured by the receiving of health education on infectious diseases (ID) and noncommunicable diseases (NCD) as well as the first visit institution when migrants were sick. After the descriptive statistical analysis, binary logistic regression was employed to evaluate the association between social integration and the utilization of primary health care.Results65.99% of the migrants received health education on infectious diseases (ID), 40.11% of the migrants received health education on noncommunicable diseases (NCD) and 8.48% of the migrants chose to go to Community Health Center (CHC) seeking for health services. There was a positive effect of social organization participation, the influence of hometown customs, differences of hygiene habits between migrants and local people, integration willingness and evaluation of identity on the receiving of health education on ID and NCD, as well as a positive effect of civil activities engagement and differences of hygiene habits between migrants and local people on the utilization of CHC after getting sick.ConclusionsSocial integration was associated with the utilization of primary health care among migrants in China. Generally speaking, greater social integration was associated with higher possibility of receiving health education on ID and NCD. However, the effect of social integration on the utilization of CHC was more complex among different indicators. There should be more policy interventions to improve the social integration of migrant which help them to get familiar with the health resource available, as well as improve the capacity of CHC.

The importance of recruitment and retention in Heliophysics: it’s not just a pipeline problem

A major obstacle in cultivating a robust Heliophysics (and broader scientific) community is the lack of diversity throughout science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. For many years, this has been understood as a “leaky pipeline” analogy, in which predominately minority students initially interested in STEM gradually fall (or are pushed) out of the field on their way to a scientific research position. However, this ignores critical structural and policy issues which drive even later career Ph.D.s out of a career in Heliophysics. We identify here several systemic problems that inhibit many from participating fully in the Heliophysics community, including soft money pressure, lack of accessibility and equity, power imbalances, lack of accountability, friction in collaboration, and difficulties in forming mentorship bonds. We present several recommendations to empower research-supporting organizations to help create a culture of inclusion, openness, and innovative science.

Let's Match: Making Cannabis Policy Guided by Research

PurposeThe growth and increasing sophistication of the legal cannabis industry necessitates further scientific inquiry to establish an evidence-based policy path forward. However, policymakers must balance public demand for cannabis reform with the lack of scientific consensus on key issues. This Commentary discusses Massachusetts’ statutory provisions supporting cannabis research, advances in social equity driven by data, and critical policy issues, which invite questions without clear scientific answers. FindingsAlthough the full breadth of inquiry needed cannot possibly be contained in a single article, this Commentary poses questions in 2 pertinent issue areas that affect adult and medical use. First, we discuss the current limitations on determining the scope and severity of cannabis-impaired driving and detecting impairment at any one point in time. Although experimental studies have found varying levels of impairment on driving ability, observational data have been inconclusive regarding the extent of traffic incidents involving cannabis impairment. A precise threshold for impairment and manner of detection must be established to develop just enforcement measures. Second, we discuss the lack of clinical standardization in medical cannabis use. In the absence of a consistent clinical framework, medical cannabis patients face undue burdens that limit access to treatment. A more well-defined clinical structure is needed to enhance use of and access to therapeutic cannabis treatment models. ImplicationsCannabis policy reform has gone forward at the will of voters despite the status of cannabis as a Schedule I controlled substance at the federal level, which has limited opportunities to research cannabis because it is commercially available. The implication of such limitations is realized by states leading cannabis reform, where unanswered questions present an opportunity for the scientific community to inform an evidence-based path forward in cannabis policy.

Beyond Purchasing Power: The Association Between Sense of Community Belongingness and Food Insecurity Among Older Adults in Canada

ABSTRACT Food is a basic human need, yet a significant proportion of older Canadian adults are vulnerable to food insecurity. The health risks associated with aging make food insecurity among this subgroup a critical policy issue. In Canada, policy solutions to food insecurity are however skewed toward the provision of income support to vulnerable groups. While these income support programs are timely, little emphasis is placed on social factors such as sense of community belongingness. This is despite evidence that food insecurity is a socially mediated experience that goes beyond the ability to purchase food. Drawing data from the Canadian Community Health Survey (n = 24,546) and using negative log–log regression, we examined the association between sense of community belongingness and food insecurity among older adults. Findings show that older adults with a “very weak” (odds ratio [OR] = 1.40, p < .001) and “somewhat weak” (OR = 1.23, p < .01) sense of community belongingness were significantly more likely to be food insecure compared to those with a “very strong” sense of belongingness. This study contributes to a growing body of the literature that demonstrates the need for an integrated approach to addressing food insecurity – one that goes beyond income support to include consideration of social factors like sense of community belonging.

Evaluation Steering and Strategy Performance of Local NGOs in Uganda

This article interrogates the contextual relevance and application of evaluation steering in a strategy implementation discourse by local NGOs in Uganda. The study hinges on the assumption that evaluation outputs from local NGOs are often less utilized due to inept leadership, yet critical programmatic and policy issues of strategic relevance can best be utilized through a steering score. The study’s main purpose was to examine the relationship between evaluation steering and the strategy performance of local NGOs. The study drew findings from a cross-sectional study conducted using quantitative methods. In total, 349 participants comprising of field workers, mid-level staff, and executives from local NGOs from all parts of Uganda, were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Results of the study showed that there was a positive correlation between evaluation steering and strategy performance constructs of fund stability (r = .243**), community satisfaction (r = .201**), and timeliness (r=.134**). The study concludes that evaluation steering has a high potential to improve fund stability, community satisfaction, and timeliness despite a weaker level of positive correlations. The national NGO bureau and NGO associations should establish executive capacity-building initiatives to support local NGOs to overcome the weakness in the current evaluation steering process. Consultants, volunteers, and NGO forums should advocate for donor resources to deepen organizational development, which supports an effective steering process. Keywords: Evaluation steering, Localization, Strategy performance.

Local news monopolies increase misperceptions about immigration

ABSTRACT We examine how local news monopolies affect misperceptions about the size of the immigrant population in Germany. We propose a theoretical framework in which het- erogeneous information from different local news outlets diffuses through social interactions. We posit that indirect exposure to information from multiple sources leads to more accurate beliefs in competitive markets. To causally identify the effect of local news monopolies on misperceptions, we exploit overlapping newspaper coverage areas as a source of exogenous variation in the number of available outlets. We estimate that local news monopolies increase misperceptions about the size of the local immigrant population by about four percentage points. We demonstrate that the effect of media monopolies hinges on social interactions. For individuals with fewer close social contacts, misperceptions remain unaffected by local news monopolies. Our results suggest that consolidation in the market for news decreases constituents’ knowledge about critical policy issues.

Building urban infrastructure resilience through network governance

As the scale and intensity of disasters continue to increase, building and enhancing resilience to disasters has become a critical policy and governance issue. This topic is crucial to urban infrastructure resilience because infrastructure systems support the continuity of operations of governments and businesses, and are essential to the economy, health, and public safety. This paper proposes and applies a network governance perspective to examine interdependent infrastructure systems, such as water (wastewater), electric power, transportation, and telecommunication. The paper contributes to a better understanding of the role of interdependent infrastructure systems in enhancing urban infrastructure resilience to disasters. The paper also highlights the need to leverage collaborative leadership and organizational capacity to develop robust and connected community networks to enhance urban infrastructure resilience to disasters.

MaCuDE IS Task Force: Final Report and Recommendations

This Phase III report of the Management Curriculum for the Digital Era (MaCuDE) disciplinary task force on information systems (IS) synthesizes the main findings of the project’s two earlier phases. Based on the synthesis, this report formulates the task force’s recommendations (Phase III) for future IS curricula and graduate competencies associated with Big Data Analytics (BDA) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). During the MaCuDE project, the task force—collaborating with the Association for Information Systems leadership on education—first (Phase I) surveyed a sample of representative universities to examine the status of IS education in the digital era. During the next phase (Phase II), the task force interviewed industry leaders regarding their information systems education needs with a focus on emerging BDA and AI needs. This report builds on Phase I and Phase II results and associated feedback from project stakeholders and outlines an IS curriculum framework that identifies projected competency levels for key IS competency areas (both new and changing) within the main IS program types related to BDA and AI education (undergraduate and graduate programs; IS programs, other business programs, and non-business programs) in the coming decade. The report also highlights critical policy issues that need to be resolved to successfully implement the proposed IS curricula changes addressing BDA and AI needs.

Potency of Fiscal Variables in Inf lation Variations in Sri Lanka

Although the monetary policy impact on inflation is deliberated intensively in economic literature, the fiscal policy impact has not gained much interest, particularly in the developing countries. The later issue is theorised as the fiscal theory of price level. This article examines the potency of fiscal factors relative to the money growth in inflation in Sri Lanka for an extended period 1965–2018, and also for the post-reform period 1977–2018. The inflationary impacts of public debt, budget deficit and public expenditure, in association with money growth and a few control variables are assessed rigorously. The results of the vector autoregression model estimations involving different combinations of these variables reveal that fiscal policy instruments are, in general, inflationary while no significant impact of money growth on inflation is found. Besides, the analyses of impulse response functions and variance decomposition of inflation corroborate that the external debt, budget deficit and public expenditure are potent factors amplifying inflation. The impacts of money and control variables are trivial. These findings are invariant over the samples and justify that an active fiscal and a passive monetary policy are operative. Managing the budget deficit and growing dependence on public debt is a critical policy issue in Sri Lanka.JEL Codes: E31, H63, C32

Russian-Iranian Ties: Strategic Alliance, Strategic Coalition, or Strategic Alignment (Partnership)

Abstract One of the most critical foreign policy issues of middle – power states is how to mold attitudes towards major powers. Since 1979, Iran has changed the nature of its relations with major powers. Although the Iranian Revolution adopted the ‘Neither East, Nor West’ motto as a macro guide to its foreign policy, since the late 1980s Iran and the Soviet Union – now Russia, have advanced their bilateral relations. Despite Iran and Russia sharing convergent views on many international issues, they have not promoted their ties to a strategic alliance. The present paper addresses the question of what conceptual model represents Iran-Russia relations and what challenges the two countries face in expanding their strategic partnership in the 2020s. This research addresses these problems at three levels: inter-state, regional, and global, and was conducted through a descriptive-analytical method. It is hypothesized that current Iran-Russia relations could be referred to as a ‘strategic alignment’.

Food and Nutrition Public Policies in Brazil: From Malnutrition to Obesity.

“Nutrition transition” describes the shifts in dietary consumption and energy expenditure influenced by economic, demographic, and epidemiological changes at a population level. This phenomenon has been associated with rising obesity rates worldwide, especially in developed countries. In Brazil, the historical analysis of temporal trends between malnutrition and obesity characterized the nutrition transition in the country and interweaved it with the formulation and implementation of public food and nutrition policies. Such analysis is crucial for understanding certain principles in each context. Thus, this review contextualized the consolidation of obesity as a critical health and public policy issue in Brazil. Our review suggested that the country may still be at the initial stage of care for obesity, and more efforts are needed to contain the advance of the disease in Brazil.

The domestic politics of climate change in the Pacific Islands

Much scholarly attention has been paid to the issue of climate change in the Pacific Islands, in terms of its geopolitical implications, and through the lens of mitigation and adaptation policies and strategies. Comparatively little focus has been given to the domestic politics of climate change in the region: How a changing climate is affecting internal political dynamics. This article traces the boundaries of a new research agenda on the impacts of climate change within Pacific states as an animating political dynamic. It considers climate change as a possible source of political change and contestation; as a critical domestic policy issue; and as a driver of political participation and organisation. Climate change is an existential threat to the Pacific Islands, yet it has unique power as a mass mobilising factor in the largely localised and fragmented politics of the region. We conclude with some reflections on the potential of climate change as a key political driver in the region, and fruitful avenues for future research.

Strengthening Canada’s Food System by Reducing Food Waste

Canada’s food system has evolved under pressure to constantly produce more and do so more efficiently. However, the drive for increased productivity has also led to rising levels of food loss and waste. In Canada, over half of our annual food supply is discarded. Wasted resources, economic costs, pollution and growing numbers of citizens who are food insecure underline the importance of tackling this critical public policy issue. The aim of this paper is to better understand food loss and waste in Canada’s food system and offer suggestions for policy action. Canada’s food system is interconnected and food loss and waste occur at every level of the supply chain. They are the result of multiple and cumulative activities and the economic, social and environmental impacts are considerable. Consumers and businesses fail to adequately measure and account for the costs of waste and this is a reflection of how our society values food. There has been a general disregard for food loss and waste in the pursuit of maximizing output/economic growth, meeting market demands and keeping food prices low. COVID-19’s impact has shed light on the strengths and vulnerabilities of Canada’s food system. Disruptions in our supply chains garnered media attention and food security concerns became top of mind for many Canadians. Diverting food can help alleviate food insecurity but it can also serve an important role in reducing food waste. However, there are key challenges to facilitating food rescue that have been highlighted and exacerbated over the last year, including lack of infrastructure and co-ordination, misconceptions about food safety and worries related to cost and liability. Reducing the problem of food loss and waste in Canada’s food system will require a unified strategy and committed leadership. Policy action should be directed at enhancing measurement, education, innovation and policy reform. Reducing avoidable loss and waste through policy measures that enable prevention and diversion will ultimately strengthen our food system by wasting fewer resources, finding new economic opportunities, preventing environmental damage and alleviating food insecurity.