Government Action Research Articles

Reasons for Increasing the Number of Members of the Great Khural of Mongolia and Its Impact Over the Next 10 Years

During their term of office, members of parliament are responsible for passing laws, monitoring government activities, and approving the budget to ensure the legitimacy of parliament while representing the interests of citizens. However, in recent years, the ability of parliamentarians to effectively represent citizens has weakened, with growing concerns about their accountability and ethics. This highlights the need for a study on the negative impacts of these issues. The concept of the "optimal size of parliaments" explores the capacity of parliaments to fully perform their duties. The aim of this research is to determine the appropriate number of members for the Mongolian parliament, ensuring it remains at an optimal size. Specifically, the effectiveness of the parliament is linked to its size, as the ability to maintain ethical standards and properly implement laws that benefit society is connected to the number of representatives. The size of parliament affects its capacity to represent citizens, the workload it can manage, and its overall efficiency during the term of elected members. The research results suggest that the optimal number of members in the Mongolian parliament could range between 114, 151, and 155, considering factors such as traditions, geography, administrative divisions, and the electoral system. As a result of this study, the Constitution was amended in 2023 to increase the number of members to 126, which reflects the findings of this research.

Multipurpose territorial cadastre and collaborative participation as tools for smart urban governance: An analysis considering the pandemic’s effect in the São Paulo Metropolitan Region, Brazil

The society lives in a dynamic, complex and contradictory urban system, seeking to reach a balance between urban development and environmental preservation. For this purpose, there is a need to perform an efficient urban management integrated with the information and communication technologies. From this integration, emerges the smart cities concept, which is composed of smart governance strategies and actions. In this sense, the present article aims to understand and discuss the contributions, potentials and public values of the multipurpose territorial cadastre and the collaborative participation as tools for smart governance. In order to validate the theoretical essay, a case study was performed to analyze urban governance in the São Paulo metropolitan region, Brazil, according to the use of information and geoinformation resources applied to cities’ management, pre- and post-pandemics. The results have shown that some practices of municipal governments have already been established aligned with the dimensions of smart governance. However, mainly, as for spatial activation in the use of geoinformation, as well as in the use of multipurpose territorial cadastre, it still has much to move forward and, therefore, to qualify with public value the strategies and actions of governance that a smart city requires.

Public vs Private: Winning the Education Race in Tamil Nadu

With a mixed-methods approach, this research delves into the variables that contribute to the educational achievement gap between pupils in Tamil Nadu's public and private schools. Along with quantitative data, such as standardized test results, attendance records, and statistics on resource allocation, qualitative insights from student surveys and interviews were also considered. Private schools often provide better infrastructure, higher-quality teaching, and greater parental participation, resulting to improved student outcomes; the findings show substantial disparities in academic achievement, resource availability, and socio-economic backgrounds. To battle these inequalities and advance educational fairness, the report stresses the importance of focused governmental actions. In addition to adding to the larger conversation about educational inequality, the results give concrete suggestions for how educators and representatives might raise the bar in public school classrooms.

(Re) framing the politics of climate change: resilience, reparative critique and affective life in situations of extreme heat

ABSTRACT One of the ways we know climate change is through the emergencies that make it present. But how does the connection between singular events (emergencies) and a meta-stable condition (climate change) become perceivable to us? Through what knowledges? And with what political implications? In this paper I apply these questions to deepen critical understanding of government-orchestrated efforts to enhance climate resilience. Pursuing an alternative pathway to critiques that reduce resilience to neoliberalism, I bring resilience into dialogue with Lauren Berlant’s concept of situations. The importance of situations rests in its ability to diversify our understanding of the emergencies to which resilience responds. Initially, situations prompt us to explore emergencies fundamentally as ruptures in people’s ongoing affective encounter with the world. They also capture how our experience of emergencies is colored by the broader historical significance they hold as critical events that change collective life. And, as with all events read through affect, situations are also an object of mediation. Thinking with situations, I demonstrate how, through resilience, government actors mediate our sense of the relationship between emergencies, on one hand, and climate change as an epochal condition, on the other. By distributing responsibility, resilience allows a wide catalogue of voices to influence common perceptions of this relationship and, consequently, evidences potential to integrate what Eve Kosofsky-Sedgwick calls reparative critique into climate consciousness by highlighting the ramifications climate-related emergencies have on specific communities because of environmental harms visited upon them over time and orienting future action towards attending to these harms. I make this argument through research into the US’ Environmental Protection Agency’s attempts to raise situational awareness of extreme heat risk. While seeking to mobilize people’s embodied knowledges in sensing imminent danger, these practices push concurrently for understanding, and acting upon, climate change vulnerability by its entanglement with violent processes that underpinned the modernization projects fundamental to American life now.

An Innovative, Collaborative, and Transformative Program to Enhance Off-Campus Clinical Faculty Engagement.

Off-campus (volunteer, community-based) clinical faculty, upon whom medical schools heavily depend, are an integral component of medical education. However, challenges hinder their involvement in medical school governance and other activities, including inadequate communication, lack of recognition, high clinical demands that may preclude teaching, and time-consuming non-clinical tasks. While faculty appointments offer benefits like free CME, access to library resources, and email communications, faculty often prioritize potential contributions to their teaching roles over these benefits. Our medical school launched a new initiative to tackle these issues head-on. We established an Office of Faculty Engagement (OFE) that leverages engagement strategies to enhance communication, broaden access to campus resources, and provide tailored rewards for clinicians. We rebranded volunteer clinical faculty as Off-Campus Faculty (OCF) to foster a more interactive relationship and innovative measures, including personalized welcome emails, a dedicated point of contact for OCF, a user-friendly website, regular orientations, faculty development programs, recognition and appreciation events, and exclusive awards. From August 2021 to December 2023, we contacted 587 OCF members; 85 faculty members experienced improved communication. This innovative approach streamlines and personalizes interactions with OCF, enhances their satisfaction, and represents a transformative opportunity to engage and involve OCF in medical education.

Modeling inter-organizational business process governance in the age of collaborative networks

Collaborative networks require inter-organizational business process governance (IO-BPG) mechanisms to define ownership over shared resources and activities, accountability over operations, inter-organizational roles and responsibilities, and strategic partner alignment. We developed an IO-BPG modeling approach aiming to incorporate (1) IT governance activities (e.g., IT performance measurement), (2) data governance activities (e.g., data strategy management), and (3) “shadow” parallel governance-related operations. Resulting from a design science research project, our contributions include the building blocks (domain attributes, ontology, and requirements) of a novel BPMN extension, its demonstration in logistics operations, its evaluation, and design principles to guide IO-BPG modeling. Suggestions for the development and evaluation of future BPMN extensions are also highlighted based on the lessons learned in this project. For practitioners, our contribution can improve accountability reports over data assets and operations, identify dataset ownership, assist in the coordination of governance activities in networked businesses, and comply with regulations and strategic partnership agreements.

Identifying Cultural Diplomacy and Sustainable Development in Sister Province Cooperation of Bali, Indonesia

While States have traditionally formed the focus of International Relations studies, the contributions of local government actors have become increasingly important in both influencing and responding to the forces of global politics, including in the Global South. In this vein, this preliminary study explores the practice of the local government in initiating sister province cooperation in Bali, Indonesia. This study uses three conceptual frameworks: paradiplomacy, sustainable development, and critical discourse analysis. Primary data were collected through interviews with relevant local government officials in Bali and secondary data were gathered from academic articles, official websites, and online news items. This paper identified two most prominent sectors of this cooperation, namely: tourism and culture. These two areas align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While clearly connected with governmental and international goals, challenges remain in implementing sister province cooperation, achieving continuity among the parties involved, and dealing with funding limitations.

When spies go public! Lessons learnt from the instrumentalization of intelligence for strategic communication in the run-up to the Russian-Ukrainian war

ABSTRACT Timely warning to policy-makers and the general public about the planned Russian invasion of Ukraine is hailed as an intelligence and strategic communication success. It has resulted in increased confidence in US and UK intelligence services and in revigorated involvement in strategic communication in security and defence. Decision-makers at all levels seem to have understood that employing intelligence in strategic communication in a timely and transparent manner can lead to enhanced public understanding of ongoing security challenges and support for measures that could affect their own well-being, as well as to restore confidence in government actions. The current research analyzes how intelligence was integrated into the strategic communications of the US, UK, NATO and the EU in the months preceding the Russian invasion in Ukraine. The objective of the research is to draw lessons learned during this period to better understand how, to what extent and in what circumstances traditionally classified intelligence products can be integrated in decision-makers’ strategic communication and what limitations need to be imposed.

Addressing the COVID-induced healthcare backlog: How can we balance the interests of people and nature?

The COVID-19 pandemic created healthcare backlogs of routine primary and preventive care, elective procedures, dental care, and mental healthcare appointments across the world. So far, governments are responding by enacting pandemic recovery policies that expand their healthcare sector activity, without much, if any, consideration of its effects on the environmental crisis that is (among other things) worsening human health and health equity. This study argues that, as a matter of health and social justice, governments have an ethical responsibility to equitably reduce the backlog with minimal environmental damage. To do so, a first key action is to give priority to policy options that minimise negative human impacts on the environment. Yet these policies alone will not be sufficient to address the backlog, particularly in relation to elective procedures. The study therefore contends that a second key action for governments is to enact the policy options that are best able to equitably reduce the remainder of the backlog, while accelerating the transition to sustainable health care in ways that are best able to reduce the specific environmental costs of those policy options. It concludes by considering whether limits apply to governments' ethical responsibilities that ultimately mean accelerating the transition to sustainable health care is not required when addressing the backlog.

Tata Kelola Sumber Daya Alam Vanili di Kabupaten Sikka

This study aims to explain the design of vanilla natural resource governance in Sikka Regency, explain the configuration and roles of actors in vanilla natural resource governance in Sikka Regency and explain the implications of vanilla natural resource governance design in Sikka Regency on farmers' welfare. The benefit of this research is as a reference material for the government, entrepreneurs and farmers as actors in vanilla natural resource governance in Sikka Regency in vanilla management. This research uses a qualitative approach with descriptive method with observation, interview and documentation study techniques. The results showed that vanilla governance design in the form of production, distribution and benefits currently implemented in Sikka Regency has not yet obtained optimal results and there are actors who have their respective positions and roles in governance that still need to be coordinated to optimize the benefits of governance. In addition, the design of vanilla governance in Sikka Regency has not been able to improve the welfare of vanilla farmers in Sikka Regency.

KESENJANGAN DALAM PEMBANGUNAN EKONOMI ISLAM

This research aims to reveal how inequality exists in developing countries, as well as government actions and Islamic views regarding the problem of inequality in economic development. The research method used a descriptive qualitative approach using primary and secondary data. The research results show that economic inequality is indicated by unequal growth in expenditure between community groups, while non-economic inequality is indicated by inequality in access to basic services, namely health, education, water and sanitation, and other basic services. The government played an active role by developing the economy in an inclusive manner, increasing worker-intensive investment, giving special attention to micro and small businesses, expanding the rural economy and developing the agricultural sector, guaranteeing social protection for all workers, continuing poverty reduction programs. In Islam, regarding the issue of inequality, there must be consistency in terms of economic growth and equality due to creating a fair situation.

Enhancing global support to address complex sustainable development policy challenges: Learning from success in cross‐sectoral nutrition policy

AbstractMalnutrition is hampering achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDGs), and requires policy approaches that address food system drivers. However, this will require the adoption of cross‐sectoral policy measures for nutrition, which has proved challenging in practice. This qualitative co‐designed study drew on theories of policy learning to examine the roles of global organisations in fostering and supporting effective cross‐sectoral policy action to improve nutrition. Forty‐three in‐depth interviews were conducted with government actors at global, regional and national level. Key roles of global institutions to support scaling up of effective cross‐sectoral policy for nutrition included the development of best‐practice guidance, provision of operational and other forms of support, convening to enable political awareness and commitment and coordination to create shared vision. Opportunities to improve global support included improving global coordination, developing incentives to use global guidance and rethinking processes and strategies to support contextual adaptation of global guidance.

Power and coordination: Governance in the poultry regional value chain in Southern Africa

ABSTRACT There is a growing body of literature exploring governance in regional value chains (RVCs) in Africa. Agro-processing RVCs are of particular interest, as this is where the manufacturing capabilities of most African countries lie. The research on RVCs in Africa highlights governance by lead firms and government actors as an important aspect in determining the structure and outcomes within these RVCs. Using the global value chain (GVC) analytical framework, this article analyses governance in the poultry RVC in South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The paper finds that the poultry RVC is a bilateral oligopoly, where the lead firms are supermarkets and large poultry producers with exclusive rights to multi-territorial breeding rights. The article highlights that both large producers and the supermarkets play an important role in the formation and structure of the poultry RVC, with important implications for regional integration and industrialisation.

Economia azul sustentável: não podemos perder mais tempo

The Blue Economy was formulated with the aim of surviving the challenge of time, as well as orientating and supporting the needs of the planet, in order to effectively address the critical challenges for this growth. Considering that the blue economy has diverse components, the strategy centres on five critical vectors: i. Fishing, aquaculture and ecosystem conservation; ii. Maritime transport and trade; iii. Sustainable energy, extractive minerals, gas, innovative industries; iv. Environmental sustainability, climate change and coastal infrastructure; v. Governance, institutions and social action. The ocean plays a crucial role in the well-being of humanity, as it contains multiple properties that are essential for the survival of all living beings. However, with successive technological advances, phenomena have emerged that have stimulated the overuse of its potential, calling into question the sustainability of its resources. Based on this premise, we address the issue of the Blue Economy, which emerges as an economy that brings together a range of sectors that make it possible to valorise the riches of the sea in a sustainable and balanced way.

The EU as Active and Passive Political Determinant of Forced Migrants’ Health: Insights from the Case of Germany

Context: This article examines the EU's function as a political determinant of health (PDoH) in national-level regulation of forced migrants’ access to health(care), with a focus on Germany. It sheds light on the role the EU has come to play—and has been assigned—in national policy making under the impact of different crises. Methods: By applying the concepts of claims and frames/framing, the article examines in a document analysis how and to what end(s) the EU as a polity and specific EU legislation were invoked in German draft legislation. Findings: Increasing Europeanization in the areas of health and migration has not only forced national legislators to adapt legislation to abide by EU rules and standards, it has also prompted governmental actors to shift responsibility for policy reforms to the EU—even in cases where not all of these reforms were legally required. Conclusions: The EU's role as a PDoH must be considered from two angles: the EU's active potential to determine public health through its policies and laws, and its passive—to some extent involuntary—potential to do so through the strategic invoking of EU norms, rules, and (in)competences by actors across the EU multilevel governance system.

Ground ozone rise during the 2022 shanghai lockdown caused by the unfavorable emission reduction ratio of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds

Ground-level ozone (O3) pollution has shifted from a scientific issue to a key focus of governmental action in China. In recent years, the concentration of NO2 in Shanghai has shown a decreasing trend of 3.7% annually, but ozone concentrations have exhibited significant interannual variability, particularly with a noticeable increase in 2022. This study focuses on investigating the mechanisms behind the increase in ozone concentration during the COVID-19 pandemic control period in 2022 in Shanghai, utilizing a combination of ground observation data, observation-based models, and chemical transport models for analysis. The results indicate that during the lockdown period, the mean values of daily maximum 8-h average O3 concentrations (MDA8 O3) in Shanghai increased by 17 μg/m³, with emission-related factors contributing 65.3%, primarily due to a blanket reduction in VOCs and NOx emissions during the lockdown, with a reduction ratio close to 1:1. However, this reduction ratio and intensity are not sufficiently reasonable to alleviate ozone pollution. Meanwhile, adverse meteorological conditions further exacerbated this effect, contributing 34.7%, with temperature rise having the greatest impact. Results from the chemical transport model show that with the total reduction in NOx and VOCs emissions unchanged, the greater the reduction in VOC emissions and the better the reduction effect on ozone pollution, reducing MDA8 O3 by approximately 10 μg/m³, especially for the control of reactive compounds such as alkenes, aromatics, and OVOCs. However, if the reduction ratio of NOx is greater than that of VOCs, ozone concentrations may not decrease but instead increase. This indicates that ozone concentration is influenced not only by the intensity of emissions reduction but also by the ratio of emissions reduction between NOx and VOCs. Our study emphasizes the critical role of carefully designed strategies, focusing on controlling the ratio of VOCs to NOx and increasing the intensity of VOCs reduction, to effectively alleviate ozone pollution in urban areas.

Contradictions, dilemmas, views and motivations of volunteers in two community food support schemes in two London boroughs

The voluntary and charitable sector is responsible for much food support in the UK, in the absence of direct government action. A rise in food insecurity (FI) places additional importance on the work of unpaid volunteers, instrumental in food support schemes. Their perceptions, views and experiences are essential contributors to maintaining and enhancing such provision. Semi-structured interviews were held with 51 volunteers at two food support schemes in neighbouring London boroughs. Most volunteers were white and middle-aged and almost half were in paid work. Generally high levels of empathy towards clients were expressed, although some were concerned about possible abuse of the support. Contradictory views were expressed in relation to both personal responsibility for FI and the pay-as-you-feel model; training on both is needed. Major motivators for involvement in volunteering were the perceived value of the work and alignment of projects with personal interests, skills and beliefs. Benefits were viewed as wider than solely nutritional. Ethical difficulties described included the appropriateness of using surplus food to address FI, allowing supermarkets to effectively ‘greenwash’ and failing to address underlying drivers of both FI and food overproduction. Volunteers were also concerned that their involvement allowed the government to abdicate responsibility.

Food is Medicine National Summit: Transforming Health Care

Food is Medicine (FIM) interventions reflect the critical links between food security, nutrition security, health, and health equity, integrated into health care delivery. They comprise programs that provide nutritionally tailored food, free of charge or at a discount, to support disease management, disease prevention, or optimal health, linked to the health care system as part of a patient’s treatment plan. Such programs often prioritize health equity. On 26–27 April, 2023, Tufts University’s Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and Food & Nutrition Innovation Institute held a 2-day National Food is Medicine Summit with leaders, practitioners, and individuals with diverse lived experiences in health care, research, government, advocacy, philanthropy, and the private sector to identify challenges and opportunities to sustainably incorporate FIM services into the health care system and at scale. This report of a meeting describes key themes of the Summit, based on presentations and discussions on momentum around FIM, incorporating FIM in health care, tradeoffs and unintended consequences of various FIM models, scaling of programs, financing and payment mechanisms, educating and engaging the health care workforce, and federal and state government actions and opportunities on FIM. Speakers highlighted examples of recent public and private sector actions on FIM and innovative cross-sector partnerships, including state Medicaid waivers, academic and philanthropic research initiatives, health care system screenings and interventions, and collaborations including community-based organizations and/or entities outside of the food and health care sectors. Challenges and opportunities to broader implementation and scaling of FIM programs identified include incorporating FIM into health care business models, educating the health care workforce, and sustainably scaling FIM programs while leveraging the local connections of community-based organizations. This meeting report highlights recent advances, best practices, challenges, and opportunities discussed at the National Summit to inform future actions on FIM.

How do nuclear energy consumption, environmental taxes, and trade globalization impact ecological footprints? Novel policy insight from nuclear power countries

Energy systems should grab the opportunity to adopt clean energy sources and technologies to mitigate environmental impacts. This work explores the influence of nuclear energy consumption on reducing the ecological footprint, considering environmental taxes and trade globalization in five nuclear-powered economies from 1990 to 2021. This study employed several econometric models, including the preliminary analysis, the CS-ARDL test for long-run forecasting and the Dumitrescu-Hurlin causality test. The long-run findings revealed that nuclear energy usage and environmental taxes support reducing environmental costs by lowering the ecological footprint. However, trade globalization raises environmental costs by increasing the ecological footprint. Additionally, causality test outcomes show that a one-way causal link exists among nuclear energy and the ecological footprint. The results highlight government actions prioritizing investment in nuclear energy consumption projects and encouraging nuclear energy efficiency to mitigate ecological degradation and lead to a low-carbon future. This viewpoint also encourages policymakers to make well-informed decisions to uphold ecological sustainability.

FINANCIAL CRISIS AND INSTABILITY

Financial crises and instability are common occurrences in the world economy, and they have significant effects on both developed and developing nations. The numerous causes of financial crises and the ensuing instability in the financial markets are thoroughly examined. It explains the theoretical foundations of financial crises, going over important ideas including market bubbles, excessive leverage, and regulatory shortcomings The paper also looks into how regulations and governmental actions can either exacerbate or lessen financial crises, how financial institutions contribute to systemic risk propagation and how interconnected they are. It looks at how the spread of crises across borders and asset classes can aggravate their severity through the contagion effect. It also covers the socio-economic fallout from financial crises, such as social unrest, income inequality, and unemployment. The summary concludes by highlighting how crucial it is to have strong regulatory control and proactive risk management to avert and lessen future financial disasters. It promotes a comprehensive strategy that blends international collaboration, regulatory changes, and responsible risk-taking to promote long-term economic growth and stability in a global financial system that is becoming more linked.