Democratic Control Research Articles

Analysis of Legal Verbiage in State Legislation for Insurer Coverage of Early Eyedrop Refills in the United States

State laws on early eyedrop refills, implemented to help patients obtain their medications when they run out early, have many inconsistencies possibly impacting their efficacy and functionality. This study sought to examine different state laws and elucidate unique features and commonalities that may influence their effectiveness. A review of all state legislation to date regarding early eyedrop refills was performed. All 50 states were included, with an in-depth review of the 33 states that had early eyedrop refill legislation. The law database Nexis Uni (formerly LexisNexis) and each state's individual law code site were used to identify relevant laws (or proposed legislation) using keywords such as "eyedrop," "eye," "refill," and "early." Political data based on the year these laws were passed was obtained from the National Governor's Association and National Conference of State Legislatures. This data was aggregated and analyzed using descriptive statistics. State law wording was analyzed for percentage of dosage period passed, days passed, and other requirements. Of the 33 states with early eyedrop refill laws, 14 were only days based, 8 were only percentage based, 4 had both, 4 had neither percentage nor days criteria, and 3 had neither but cited CMS guidelines. These laws were passed between 2009-2023, with a notable increase from 2014-2018, rising from 10 to 29 states. Regionally, the Northeast had the highest adoption rate (88%), followed by the West (77%), the South (56%), and the Midwest (50%). Political climates varied: 14 states had Republican control, 2 had Democratic control, and 17 had mixed party control. Of the 17 states without an early eyedrop refill law 4 attempted passage but were not put into law for various reasons with the other 13 not appearing to have had any attempts at law passage. State laws providing coverage for early eyedrop refills vary in terms of verbiage and requirements necessary to obtain a covered early eyedrop refill. Region, political climate, and year appear to play minor roles in early eyedrop refill verbiage and passage.

Strategic coupling of administrative rationality and cultural imaginaries in municipal amalgamations

Municipal amalgamations are widely applied interventions for enhancing policy delivery in a political-economic context of devolution, austerity, and decentralization of welfare states. This paper studies how public stakeholders in the Netherlands walked the tightrope between ‘hard’ political-administrative logic and ‘soft’ cultural-historical discourse to justify, institutionalize, and legitimize municipal amalgamations. It uses a theoretical approach that combines literature on the rescaling of state governance and cultural political economy. Based on a discourse analysis of amalgamation reports, the paper traces the constructed political-economic and cultural imaginaries of the 26 municipal amalgamations that took place in the country between 2018 and 2023. Imaginaries underpinning the Dutch decentralization discourse were purely political-administrative in content, both regarding the necessity to act and the solutions (i.e., municipal amalgamations). Alternative, relational forms of spatial decision-making were covered by an imaginary of inefficiency and limited democratic control. Cultural imaginaries were locally mobilized to retain the top-down political-administrative logic, and to allow the municipalities to position themselves in between the citizens and the state. The amalgamation reports reflected a sometimes-difficult discursive negotiation between administrative efficiency and culture, future and past, vigour and softness, and external and internal visibility of the new municipalities. The paper concludes that the spaces of territorially bounded ways of policymaking, including municipal mergers, are intrinsically relational, jointly material-discursive/symbolic, and fluid (i.e., process-based). The cultural political economy framework provides a useful interpretative framework for debates on politics of scale, state rescaling, and (re)territorialization.

Bit Despotism

In this review of Bit Tyrants by Rob Larson, Mateo Crossa finds and expands on how the powerful actors of Silicon Valley have fashioned themselves into the new, unapologetic robber barons, operating in the shadows of political lobbying to maintain their monopolistic practices in the Global North while shamelessly engaging in the naked exploitation of the workers in the Global South. Crossa echoes Larson's call for liberation from these tyrants, bringing attention to the necessity of socialism—both on- and offline—to agitate for democratic control over the technology and Internet platforms that increasingly penetrate our daily lives.

Democratic Control of Security Policy and Armed Forces

Democratic Control of Security Policy and Armed Forces

Where is democracy nestled? Reflections on organizational degeneration based on an artists’ cooperative

PurposeThis article presents a compelling case study of a workers’ cooperative in the cultural sector. It offers a unique opportunity to delve into the tensions between managerial and democratic control, particularly in the context of heightened artistic claims. The pivotal role of an accountant in management for nearly two decades sparks a thought-provoking question about the potential for cooperative degeneration.Design/methodology/approachOur research employs a rigorous qualitative method, utilizing semi-structured interviews of six key members and a comprehensive analysis of legal, accounting and other media documents.FindingsOur findings offer a significant perspective, refuting any indications of organizational degeneration. The decision-making processes continue to uphold democratic principles. While the manager and his administrative staff wield substantial authority, this is justified by their duty to preserve the collective. This duty is executed under democratic control, facilitated by information transparency. The low level of democratic participation poses a challenge, but the manager’s initiatives are aimed at addressing this. The effectiveness of this control, however, relies on the active participation of the members, which acts as a strong deterrent against organizational degeneration.Originality/valueThe originality of our contribution lies in our reference to Chester Barnard whose reflections on industrial democracy have been forgotten, reflections linked to his conception of managerial authority. We also highlight the importance of empowering individual members, which leads them to consider the consequences of their actions. As a result, the manager is not placed in a situation where he has to decide alone, as the scope of his unilateral powers is de facto delimited.

Legal integrity of public authorities

This article is devoted to the study of the state of management activity of public authorities in Ukraine, as well as to the disclosure of such a social and legal phenomenon as the term “integrity of public authorities”, providing its legal definition, and revealing its meaning. It was noted that the first steps on the way to fundamentally reforming the old system of public power with the support of our European allies, starting in 2014, were carried out in Ukraine through the initiation of relevant reforms, of which 18 are key reforms. In order to implement the aforementioned, appropriate amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine and relevant laws were drafted. Thus, the movement towards the specified goal, the implementation of the aforementioned reforms by the public authorities of Ukraine depends entirely on its capacity, integrity, primarily in the field of law, in the spheres of lawmaking and law application, i.e. ensuring the supremacy of law over state arbitrariness. The article reveals the concept of “integrity” as a psychological factor, which is based on the tendency to be organized, responsible and hardworking, and also notes its connection with the law, and the legal category “legal integrity”, which is closely related to professional ethics. Related to legal integrity is legal ethics, which plays a certain role and importance of moral principles in the sphere of justice and law enforcement, as well as in other human activities related to law. Attention is focused on the fact that the analysis of the state of implementation of the planned reforms by the public authorities of Ukraine indicates a very slow progress in the fulfillment of the corresponding obligations regarding democratic transformations in the state, since a certain part of them have not been implemented so far. At the same time, new challenges have appeared during the wartime period, the implementation of which largely depends on the “legal integrity of the public authorities”, which, in turn, can affect the speed of military aid to Ukraine from our allies. First of all, this concerns the need to complete the planned reforms. It is emphasized that one of the negative dynamics, which is surprisingly important for Ukraine, is the slowing down of reforms in the security and defense sector. This is one of the most important public administration reforms, the purpose of which is to strengthen the quality of security sector management (SSC) by means of effective and efficient security provision under conditions of democratic supervision and control. In parallel with it, the reform of the defense industry should be carried out. One of the reasons for the mentioned shortcomings is the absence of a state personnel policy, which leads to the occurrence of grave consequences for national security, to the occurrence of acts of corruption, theft of state funds, and state treason. It was established that the confirmation of the above is only a fragmentary involvement of public authorities of civil society in the normative regulation of public life, regarding the regulation of social relations in the relevant spheres of life, as well as the involvement of citizens in the development and adoption of management decisions, which does not correspond to the provisions of Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Evidence of ignoring the rights and interests of citizens on the part of the public authorities is the legislative, regulatory “deterioration” of the pension legislation in 2018 regarding persons released from military service, which was performed without involving citizens in the discussion; the veteran movement of the security and defense sector was split by the authorities. A significant shortcoming of the functioning of public authorities is that in their activities they often do not perceive the modern European democratic principle of orienting authorities to the fulfillment of social requests of society regarding its further development, but instead act on the contrary – offer and lobby their personal vision of directions for the further development of society, which often does not coincide with society’s aspirations and leads to the emergence of social conflicts. And therefore, only in the case of sharpening attention to emerging social problems, in compliance with the obligations assumed to adhere to European democratic principles, the public authorities have the opportunity to jointly solve existing problems with civil society, thereby consolidating society and increasing the efficiency of public administration.

Democratic civilian control within the framework of building military justice in Ukraine

On the basis of the analysis of the Constitution of Ukraine, the laws of Ukraine “On National Security of Ukraine”,“On operational and investigative activities”, “On counter-intelligence activities”, “On the Prosecutor's Office”, “On intelligence”, a conclusion was made about the need to expand the system of democratic civilian control by prosecutorial control, within the framework of building the Military Justice of Ukraine, in the field of compliance with the requirements of the Constitution and laws of Ukraine in the activities of security and defense sector bodies, preventing their use for usurpation of power, violation of human and citizen rights and freedoms and the state of law and order in security and defense sector bodies, as defined in the quality of the subject of democratic civilian control in the fourth part of Article 4 of the Law of Ukraine “On the National Security of Ukraine” and will be a logical step in the normalization of the provisions of the Constitution of Ukraine and the Law of Ukraine “On the National Security of Ukraine”, based on the powers of the prosecutor's office to supervise operative investigative activities and counterintelligence activities subjects of the security and defense sector defined by Article 7 of the Law of Ukraine “On Counterintelligence Activities”, Article 2 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Prosecutor's Office”, Article 14 of the Law of Ukraine “On Operative and Investigative Activities”, the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine.

Science as public service

The problem this paper addresses is that scientists have to take normatively charged decisions which can have a significant impact on individual members of the public or the public as a whole. And yet mechanisms to exercise democratic control over them are often absent. Given the normative nature of these choices, this is often perceived to be at odds with basic democratic principles. I show that this problem applies in similar ways to civil service institutions and draw on political philosophy literature on the civil service (e.g. Rosanvallon, 2011; Heath, 2022) to discuss when such normative judgements can nevertheless be said to be democratically legitimate. Concretely, I seek to show that normative judgements in research need not be democratically legitimated in order for science to be democratically legitimate. Indeed, it can be democratically legitimate for scientists to go against the expressed views of the public or political representatives if this is justified in light of, firstly, the role science has been asked to fulfil and, secondly, when it is in line with public institutions’ key principles. This is a counter-position to views currently held in the values in science debate (e.g. by Kitcher, 2011; Intemann, 2015; Schroeder, 2021; Lusk, 2021) which argue that value-laden judgements in science are legitimate if they are aligned with the public’s views or directly decided by public.

In Palantir we trust? Regulation of data analysis platforms in public security

Organizations increasingly rely on digital technologies to perform tasks. To do so, they have to integrate data banks to make the data usable. We argue that there is a growing, academically underexplored market consisting of data integration and analysis platforms. We explain that, especially in the public sector, the regulatory implications of data integration and analysis must be studied because they affect vulnerable citizens and because it is not just a matter of state agencies overseeing technology companies but also of the state overseeing itself. We propose a platform-theory-based conceptual approach that directs our attention towards the specific characteristics of platforms—such as datafication, modularity, and multilaterality and the associated regulatory challenges. Due to a scarcity of empirical analyses about how public sector platforms are regulated, we undertake an in-depth case study of a data integration and analysis platform operated by Palantir Technologies in the German federal state of Hesse. Our analysis of the regulatory activities and conflicts uncovers many obstacles to effective platform regulation. Drawing on recent initiatives to improve intermediary liability, we ultimately point to additional paths for regulating public sector platforms. Our findings also highlight the importance of political factors in platform regulation-as-a-practice. We conclude that platform regulation in the public sector is not only about technology-specific regulation but also about general mechanisms of democratic control, such as the separation of power, public transparency, and civil rights.

ЕФЕКТИВНЕ ДЕРЖАВНЕ УПРАВЛІННЯ І НАЦІОНАЛЬНА БЕЗПЕКА В КОНТЕКСТІ DEEP STATE

The article explores the concept of the «deep state» as a key element of ensuring sustainable public administration and national security in war and peace. The author examines global and regional development trends that affect the formation of national security and analyses the mechanisms of power and governance in different countries. Particular attention is paid to the role of informal and closed networks in influencing official policy, which allows for a deeper understanding of the sources of information wars and manipulation of public opinion. The relevance of the study is driven by the need to build a transparent, fair and democratic society, as well as to strengthen democratic institutions and protect the rights and freedoms of citizens. The analysis of the deep state allows us to identify the interconnections between state institutions, the military, intelligence services and big business, which often remain outside democratic control. The author notes that the study of the deep state is important for the protection of democratic values, increasing transparency, accountability and efficiency of governance. Particular attention is paid to the influence of the deep state on the information space and the mechanisms of manipulating public opinion through the media. Understanding these processes contributes to the development of critical thinking and the protection of citizens' rights and freedoms. In the context of globalisation, the concept of the deep state is seen as an important factor influencing international relations, trade policies and economic alliances. The study of this phenomenon helps to predict changes in global politics and the economy, which is important for the development of long-term national security strategies. The term «deep state» is used to describe a network of influential individuals or organisations that can exert significant influence on public policy beyond democratic control. This concept is actively discussed in political debates, causing controversy over its role and influence on political processes.

Is the rule of law really a European concern? Mediatized rule of law conflicts and the contestation of the independence of the judiciary in France and Italy

ABSTRACT The rule of law is considered a foundational value of the EU, yet its validity and implementation remain heavily contested. The article investigates the Europeanisation of rule of law conflicts related to the independence of the Judiciary in Italy and France. Through a claims-making analysis of a representative sample of French and Italian legacy media and Facebook news coverage, the selective salience of the 2018–2023 conflicts over the independence of the judiciary in Poland and Hungary in relation to the application of EU sanctioning mechanisms can be established. Journalists reaffirm their traditional role as guardians of democracy, focusing on monitoring rule of law compliance and detecting violations. However, judicial independence remains primarily a domestic issue, with limited Europeanisation. Public contestation of the EU’s rule of law conflicts with Poland and Hungary is driven primarily by the populist right, not by centre and left parties or the French and Italian governments. There is thus a tendency to instrumentalise EU rule of law conflicts in order to reclaim sovereignty at the expense of debates on democratic control and the protection of the independence of the judiciary.

교육감의 권한에 관한 민주적 통제장치 방안에 관한 소고

The purpose of this study is to provide a basic foundation for realizing theactualization of educational autonomy through the maturation of local educational autonomy inKorea. This study seeks to strengthen the education policy of the superintendent electedthrough a direct election system and seeks for democratic control measures regarding the legalmeaning of direct election system for the superintendent, Board of Education, andrepresentativeness and the authority of the superintendent, to prevent clashes and conflicts from occurring when the superintendent's views on education policy or ideology are differentfrom those of the Minister of Education and the heads of local governments. Democraticcontrol measures include reviving an independent Board of Education and revitalizing theresident recall system through electronic voting using blockchain. As the Board of Educationwas integrated into the standing committee of the local council, the members of the Board ofEducation are formed from it, and due to the absence of qualification standards such ascertain educational and educational administration experience, it is difficult for them to fulfilltheir role as a check on the superintendent, which violates the constitutional principle ofprofessionalism in education. Therefore, I believe that the current government shouldre-institutionalize the constitutional independent Board of Education system.

The Politics of School Funding: How State Political Ideology is Associated With the Allocation of Revenue to School Districts

States diverge widely when it comes to education funding choices, leading to substantial differences in how much states spend on schooling, the role of local versus state revenue sources, and relative differences among districts in funding levels. Prior studies have documented that Democratic party control of state governments appears to be associated with higher levels of spending on K-12 education, but beyond that we know little about how political ideology is related to patterns of education funding allocation by states. This study examines this question using a nationwide dataset of school district expenditures from 1999 to 2015. The results indicate that states that are more politically liberal tend to provide more funds (per pupil) to local districts. More liberal states also provide relatively more favorable distributions to districts that are more urban and have larger Black student populations, in addition to perhaps rewarding districts with higher local property tax rates.

Big Tech, Algorithmic Power, and Democratic Control

Big Tech, Algorithmic Power, and Democratic Control

Controlul civil democratic asupra Forțelor Armate ale Republicii Moldova în contextul aspirațiilor de aderare la Uniunea Europeană

Based on the experience of other countries, in the current context of regional security, the enhanced relations with NATO, and the status of candidate country for EU membership, the Republic of Moldova has to pay increased attention to its security and defence. It includes not only increasing budget allocations for the defence sector, professionalizing the armed forces or participating with troops alongside other European countries in various theatres of operations, but also ensuring institutional transparency and rigorous implementation of EU standards of civilian democratic control over the armed forces. The effectiveness of democratic civilian control will contribute to enhancing national security and will bring the Republic of Moldova closer to the European community. This article briefly discusses the evolution of democratic civilian control over the armed forces of the Republic of Moldova from a theoretical and practical point of view and sets up some recommendations.

Democratic Civilian Control over the Armed Forces in the Context of the Aspirations of the Republic of Moldova to Join the European Union

Based on the experience of other countries, in the current context of regional security, the enhanced relations with NATO, and the status of candidate country for EU membership, the Republic of Moldova has to pay increased attention to its security and defence. It includes not only increasing budget allocations for the defence sector, professionalizing the armed forces or participating with troops alongside other European countries in various theatres of operations, but also ensuring institutional transparency and rigorous implementation of EU standards of civilian democratic control over the armed forces. The effectiveness of democratic civilian control will contribute to enhancing national security and will bring the Republic of Moldova closer to the European community. This article briefly discusses the evolution of democratic civilian control over the armed forces of the Republic of Moldova from a theoretical and practical point of view and sets up some recommendations.

Cryptocurrency: Still a Cause for Concern

The article presents an original critique of cryptocurrencies, contesting claims made by the originators and many supporters of cryptocurrencies that they are future and that future is liberating, and contesting arguments made by opponents which downplay cryptocurrencies’ significance. While unlikely to simply replace the existing money of leading states, cryptocurrencies are likely to become enduringly important within complex monetary hierarchies, further removing money from critical scrutiny and democratic control. Following a brief summary of the claims of libertarian supporters, the article considers critics’ arguments and warns of too easy a dismissal of the social threat posed by cryptocurrency. Monetary outcomes are ultimately determined by social power not by the requirements of an abstract economic rationality. The shortcomings of monetary forms need not preclude their extension. Powerful backers resource cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies and it is likely that applications will continue to grow within complex, hierarchical and ever-changing monetary systems.

Compliance or Complicity? An Analysis of the EU-Tunisia Deal in the Context of the Externalisation of Migration Control

On 23 July 2023, the European Commission concluded a ‘Memorandum of Understanding on a Strategic and Global Partnership with Tunisia’ (MoU), mainly aimed at stemming migration in exchange for strengthened cooperation in other policy areas. The MoU was met with strong criticism from both civil society and institutional bodies such as the European Parliament, the European Ombudsman, and several Member States. Critics fear complicity in the fundamental rights violations of migrants and denounced the informal and opaque approach by the European Commission, while formal avenues were at hand. This article reassesses the conclusion of the MoU and draws an analysis of the MoU from the perspective of human rights compliance as well as democratic and judicial control, while also examining compliance with the European Commission’s obligations. Furthermore, the article puts the MoU in the context of the EU policy trend of externalising migration control through partnerships with third countries.

How to achieve fair and efficient cooperative vehicle routing?

A cooperative is a business entity with the primary objective of providing benefits, services, and goods to its members, who both own and exercise democratic control over it. In the context of a cooperative, a fleet typically consists of vehicles owned by self-concerned individually rational owners who prioritize their own efficiency and the fairness of the system. This fairness refers to how their individual gain aligns with the gain of others. In this paper, we focus on the routing of such cooperative fleets. Considering only the fleet’s efficiency in terms of minimising its overall cost, the studied problem corresponds to the multiple Traveling Salesman Problem (mTSP). However, our interest lies in finding both efficient and fair solutions, so we propose two new variants of this problem that integrate and maximise the fleet’s egalitarian and elitist social welfare. Additionally, to enhance the balance between fleet efficiency and fairness, we propose the systematic elitist and systematic egalitarian social welfare optimisation algorithm. Through simulation results, we observe a wide diversity of routes depending on the approach considered. Therefore, a cooperative may choose a model that best balances its fleet’s efficiency and fairness based on its specific requirements.

Expertise, policy advice, and policy advisory systems in an open, participatory, and populist era: New challenges to research and practice

AbstractThis article examines the themes of policy advice, expertise, and policy advisory systems. It argues that persistent challenges and more emergent trends involving their intersection can be effectively understood through the lenses of instrumentality, authority, and adaptability. In the wake of renewed questions about the continued viability of longstanding public administration advisory arrangements, these themes help locate new pressures on those arrangement such as those linked to technological developments, shifting conceptions of expertise, and growing recognition of the challenges of managing systems of advice. These themes help facilitate continued engagement with persistent challenges linked to adequate policy capacity, the role of the public service advice, and question of rigour, legitimacy, and the democratic contexts of policy advising.Points for practitioners Technological innovations and turbulent governance arrangements have renewed debates around technocracy, democratic control and participation, the role of evidence, and normative and ethical considerations inherent in the generation and use of policy advice. Policy capacity remains important for well‐functioning policy advisory systems. It has itself become multifaceted reflecting not only important differences in types of expertise and policy advice, but also concerns around its management and deployment in varying governance contexts. The competencies required for policy workers inside and outside of government should reflect changes in the role of expertise and evolving systems of policy advice.