Policy Agenda Of Government Research Articles

Introductory note: The Planning Education Commission's report

Planning education is about to enter a period of radical change. At its July 2003 meeting, the RTPI Council agreed plans for a comprehensive programme of reforms embracing initial planning education, continuing professional development and the whole system of professional accreditation of planning courses. The proposals stem from the recommendations of the Planning Education Commission which reported earlier this year. The changes will begin to take effect almost immediately as planning schools are invited to submit proposals for the new twelve-month postgraduate courses, due to start in September 2004. Subsequently there will be major changes to the content and delivery of undergraduate courses and a more systematic approach to lifelong learning. When the reforms are complete in 2007, planning education will have changed fundamentally from the pattern that has developed over the last thirty or forty years. The need to restructure planning education is a logical consequence of the changes that are affecting planning practice and the RTPI's role as a professional body. In recent years, the boundaries of planning have become blurred. The emergence of urban regeneration has meant more inter-professional collaboration, the growth of partnerships including, but extending beyond, traditional local government departments and a much wider range of planning activity, including economic development and social planning, as well as physical planning. A large component of this work takes place outside the statutory planning framework, and increased importance is now attached to more specialised Relds such as transport planning, conservation, environmental planning and management, and urban design. A new Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill heralds signiRcant changes to the planning system and the framework of development plans. These changes in the nature of planning have prompted debate within the planning profession about the scope and focus of the RTPI itself. Two years ago, the RTPI published a manifesto, A New Vision for Planning, setting out proposals for modernising the Institute with the aim of making it attractive to a wider professional membership. The New Vision redeRnes the RTPI's focus of activity as Spatial Planning, a much broader concept than Town and Country Planning. Spatial Planning is intended to concentrate on the location and quantity of social, economic and environmental change, and can be applied at a variety of different scales, including large-scale national and regional strategies as well as more local policies and plans for towns, villages and neighbourhoods. In line with the Blair government policy agenda, the watchwords of Spatial Planning are sustainable, integrative, inclusive, value-driven, and actionoriented. …

Nurse Prescribing, 2nd edition

Nurse Prescribing, 2nd edition

Teachers’ union activism for gender equity: Social movements and policy processes

This article documents the contribution of teacher union activists in their campaigns to put gender issues on government policy agendas in the 1970s and 1980s in Australia. The collective accounts document the way the activists forged new relationships and alliances, based on common goals and shared feminist values, and worked strategically with femocrats in state bureaucracies. But the effectiveness of the activists depended also on a particular set of political and cultural factors which were present in Australia at the time. Such contextual factors were also significant in the later marginalisation of gender equity issues in education in the 1990s.

Reconnecting the Long Term Unemployed to Labour Market Opportunity: The Case for a ‘Local Active Labour Market Policy'

CAMPBELL M. (2000) Reconnecting the long term unemployed to labour market opportunity: the case for a 'local active labour market policy', Reg. Studies 34, 655-668. This paper argues that the development of a 'local active labour market policy' can make a valuable contribution to reconnecting the long term unemployed to labour market opportunities. Such an approach is broadly consistent with the evolving EU and UK government policy agendas but, it is argued, the content and nature of local action needs to be informed by a sound understanding of the causes of long term unemployment and the lessons that can be learnt from studies of the effectiveness of previous active labour market policy interventions at national and local level. A strategic framework is proposed which can be used as a means of examining current policy and as an approach to developing local policy. CAMPBELL M. (2000) Réintégrer les chômeurs de longue durée dans le marchédu travail: pour une 'politique en faveur d'un marchédu travail actif local', Reg. Studies 34, 655-668. Cet article affirme que le développement d'une 'politique en faveur d'un marchédu travail actif local' a un rôle utilèa jouer afin de réintégrer les chômeurs de longue durée dans le marchédu travail. Une telle approche correspond dans une large mesure aux programmes élaborés dans la Ue et le R-U. Toujours est-il que le fond et la forme de l'action locale devraient être guidés par une bonne compréhension des causes du chômage de longue durée et des leçons que l'on peut tirer des études àpropos de l'efficacitédes mesures actives antérieures en faveur de l'emploi sur le plan national et au niveau local. Un cadre stratégique se voit proposer dont on peut se servir afin d'examiner la politique en vigueur et mettre au point une politique locale. CAMPBELL M. (2000) Wiederverbindung der langfristig Arbeitslosen mit offenen Stellen auf dem Arbeitsmarkt: das Argument für eine 'örtlich aktive Arbeitsmarktpolitik', Reg. Studies 34, 655-668. Dieser Aufsatz tritt dafür ein, daß die Entwicklung einer 'örtlich aktiven Arbeitsmarktploitik' einen wertvollen Beitrag zur Wiederverbindung langfristig Arbeitsloser mit offenen Stellen auf dem Arbeitsmarkt leistet. Diese Art des Ansatzes ist im Großen und Ganzen mit dem in Entwicklung befindlichen Programm der Regierungspolitik der EU und des UK vereinbar, doch wird die Behauptung aufgestellt, daß Inhalt und Natur örtlichen Vorgehens von fundiertem Verständnis der Ursachen langfristiger Arbeitslosigkeit geleitet werden muß, und den Lehren, die vom Studium der Wirksamkeit früherer aktiver Arbeitsmarktpolitik auf Landes- und auf Ortsebene gelernt werden können. Es wird eine strategische Grundstruktur vorgeschlagen, die als Mittel zur überprüfung aktueller Politik und als Ansatz zur Entwicklung einer Ortspolitik benutzt werden können.

The Hazards of Implementing Renewables Portfolio Standards

At the turn of the millennium, common themes on government policy agendas include electricity industry liberalisation and climate change mitigation. The “Renewables Portfolio Standard” (RPS), a policy concept also known as a “tradable green certificate obligation,” is likewise frequently discussed because it aims to use markets to promote carbonless renewable energy in the electric sector. In this article, experience in RPS implementation in several U.S. states is reviewed. As of April 2000, seven U.S. states – Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, Texas, and Wisconsin – had adopted RPS laws within the past three years. A closer look reveals, however, that six of these state RPSs are missing one or more of the elements of the original concept that are thought necessary to create competitive renewables markets that will support new projects. Indeed, without Texas, it would be easy to write off the RPS as an ineffective policy. That Texas is now by far the largest U.S. market for renewable energy is evidence that the RPS concept can live up to its potential to advance renewable resources at least cost. Though most of these state laws are formally or informally referred to as “Renewables Portfolio Standards,” they differ in important respects from the policy that was originally put forth by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) in 1995. (See Table 1: RPS Essentials). Likewise, in Europe, the RPS and its various synonyms are being bantered about without any commonly accepted definition. But the details are critical, as the uncertain – and in some cases useless – results in six U.S. states make clear: • Maine’s law holds no hope of supporting new renewables development of any kind, and will do little to support currently operating projects.

Reconciliation in troubled waters? Australian oceans policy and offshore native title rights

In Australia, responsibility for sustainable management of the surrounding oceans and for reconciliation with Indigenous people are currently both high on government policy agendas. This paper critically evaluates how these two related areas of policy development interact in Australia's offshore zone. 1998 saw the passage of the Native Title Amendment Act as well as the publication of a series of discussion papers outlining a framework for an emerging oceans policy. International developments at the interface between Indigenous rights and sustainable development are discussed as is the current “backlash” against demands from Indigenous groups for native title in the offshore zone. Comparisons with recent developments in Canada are highlighted.

Health sector reform and the interpretation of policy context

Health sector reform is on the policy agenda of national governments and international agencies. This paper focuses on the policy process of health sector reform and, more specifically, the policy context. The importance of understanding policy context is emphasised and the elements of policy context are discussed. These are: demographic and epidemiological change; processes of social and economic change; economic and financial policy; politics and the political regime; ideology, public policy and the public sector. The paper then discusses the means for, and methods of, interpretation of the policy context. Particular emphasis is placed on linking policy context with an overall understanding of the policy process, the ‘messiness’ of policy-making, the interrelationship between the contextual factors, the contextual factors interpreted by policy actors, the use of analytical categories in the policy analysis. The paper concludes on the importance of strengthening policy analysis for effective health sector reform.

Rational Choice Theory and the Evaluation of Public Policy

The dominance of rational choice‐inspired models of policy development, implementation, and evaluation has grown dramatically over the years as a challenge to traditional, pluralist politics. In this article, we analyze the theoretical foundations of the rational choice perspective and its criticism of pluralist politics. We explore the values inherent in the rational choice perspective and suggest that they feed into growing public cynicism about government and lead to a conservative policy agenda of less government. We then develop an unusual argument that the very tools of rational choice analysis and its values actually produce far more government involvement than expected. by examining school voucher programs. We conclude by making a case for pluralist politics as a more appropriate means for addressing the concerns of classical liberals and others about excessive government intrusion.

Traditional land use and occupancy studies and their impact on forest planning and management in Alberta

Canada is an international leader in the methodology of traditional land use and occupancy mapping as a result of the negotiation process for settling comprehensive land claims in the North. Since the early 1980s this methodology has found increasing application in the Canadian mid-North, especially in the context of forest planning and management in the northern Alberta Forest Management Agreement (FMA) areas. The goals of traditional land use and occupancy mapping in these FMAs include collection and preservation of traditional environmental knowledge, integration of this knowledge into forest planning and management and, for the Aboriginal communities, active participation in decision-making processes in order to attain sustainable forest management. While the first goal is often met in mapping projects, goals two and three are proving harder to achieve because of conflicting government policy agendas, differing paradigms of community development in society at large, and the lack of recognition and legal protection for Treaty and Aboriginal rights. Key words: traditional land use and occupancy studies, traditional environmental knowledge, bush economy, co-management

Niche Diplomacy as Canadian Foreign Policy

Few observers of Canadian foreign policy would deny that the number and complexity of foreign policy issues is increasing, yet the resources available to manage them are decreasing.(f.1) If we assume that 'old' foreign policy concerns -- non-proliferation, economic diplomacy, alliance politics, and multilateralism -- will continue to be important, Canada is left with three choices: increase the foreign policy budget to reflect the expanding agenda, do more things less well, or assign a lower priority to some issue-areas. This last choice implies a shift in Ottawa's focus away from some traditional functional concerns and geographic areas and towards those areas in which there is a clear and identifiable Canadian interest and where Canada's international policy decisions and programmes can have a maximum impact. The operative term here is maximum impact because the millions of public dollars spent to keep Canadian peacekeepers in the former Yugoslavia may have satisfied the criterion of identifiable interest but have surely fallen short of maximum impact. In this article I argue that to maximize its influence in an era of fiscal austerity, Canada will have to be more selective about the many international spheres in which it plays. In the search for niches, Ottawa must not only use its resources more efficiently; it must look increasingly to the under-utilized and under-appreciated non-governmental and philanthropic sectors. Moreover, Canada's pent-up 'soft' power that comes from knowledge and ideas, and the information technologies that transmit them further, faster, and with greater effect around the world, must be allowed to flourish.(f.2) A greater exercise of such power -- in effect, energizing the cultural pillar of the foreign policy agenda of Jean Chretien's government rather than, for example, trying to achieve a greater naval presence in the Pacific in support of Canada's commercial interests in the region (as the 1994 defence white paper advocates(f.3)) -- is consistent with niche diplomacy. Foreign policy reviews over the past two years have emphasized that Canada's national interests dictate a global rather than a regional foreign policy and hence a widespread and effective diplomatic presence. At the same time, the various debates leading up to the Canada 21 report, the first two National Forums on Canada's International Relations (1994 & 1995), the final parliamentary foreign policy and defence reports, and Ottawa's programme reviews (I and II), all resonated with the need to 'make hard choices.' Growing domestic fiscal pressures have highlighted a fundamental tension in the conduct of Canada's international relations between a more engaged global player in an age of globalization and interdependence and a more disengaged actor. Despite the conclusions of the parliamentary reviews, this debate is not likely to abate. On the one hand, some (notably members of the Reform party) have questioned how long Canada can enhance its prestige in a number of expensive spheres of influence -- the United Nations, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Commonwealth, la francophonie, Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC), and the Group of Seven (G-7), to name just a few simultaneously.(f.4) On the other hand, powerful forces reinforce this internationalism. As noted by the minister of foreign affairs, Lloyd Axworthy, before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade in April 1969,(f.5) it is anachronistic to try to draw a clear distinction between international and domestic. Because of economic and post-Cold War security globalization, problems are no longer East-West or North-South in scope. For example, unemployment, transportable diseases (for example, HIV), environmental degradation (for example, global warming) affect both South and North. As nation-states realize that they cannot respond to these challenges alone, increased multilateralism appears to be the only answer. From a narrower Canadian perspective, one need look no further than Canada's growing economic dependence on the rest of the world: in 1995 exports accounted for 37 per cent of national income compared to 17 per cent in 1960. …

Working with Survivors of Torture and Trauma: The Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture in Perspective

The health and welfare needs of refugee survivors of torture and trauma have in recent years belatedly found a prominent place on the policy agendas of Federal and State Governments. The development of a statewide service to meet these needs provides an opportunity to illustrate some of the general issues in developing a model specialist community health service, as well as the specific and complex elements involved in the care and resettlement of refugee survivors of torture and trauma. The early experience of the Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture is described and some descriptive data presented. Unresolved issues are highlighted, particularly the difficulty in providing skilled psychotherapeutic assistance to relatively large numbers of traumatised refugees.

The current educational research and policy hiatus: Where is the expertise to meet the challenge?

Persistent calls for closer relations between research and policy from the educational research community in Australia and elsewhere, reflect growing concerns about a perceived lack of impact which educational research has on educational policy formulation and implementation. Rarely, however, is there any systematic attempt on the part of those expressing such concerns to explicate source reasons for the obvious hiatus existing between research and policy. Though not possibly accepted by the prevailing wisdom, several reasons particularly germane to the Australian context are proposed and discussed. The central theme underlying the paper is that there is an acute shortage of researchers (both staff and postgraduate students) in Australian tertiary schools and faculties of education with the training, skills and experience to meet either the current or emerging educational policy agendas of State and Federal governments. The paper argues that this state of affairs, seriously militates against the academic research community’s present and future capacity to make relevant contributions towards government policy requirements for research, unless radical steps are taken to redress these shortages.