Policy Ideas Research Articles

Liberal‐democratic Values and Secondary School: The Case of Georgia

The paper focuses on studying the liberal-democratic values in the general education of Georgia. Based on the social interaction approach of political socialization, the article assesses pupils’ and teachers’ positions towards the liberal and democratic principles and values that have been declared policy goals of Georgia since 2004. Using DAP (Democracy-Autocracy Preference), DPE (Democratic Performance Evolution), and initially tested Lib-Dem (Liberal-Democratic) scales, 297 students and 121 teachers were surveyed. Results show that teachers demonstrate more liberal-democratic positions than pupils. Also, girls tend to be less supportive of authoritarian governments and share more liberal approaches than boys. A similar trend is observed comparing students from private and public schools. The type of school correlates to teachers’ results in supporting liberal and democratic positions. However, the more liberal-democratic positions the respondents share, the more likely they believe that “Georgian” and “Liberal” are incompatible. Also, respondents who see Georgia as a democratic country and are more proud to be members of Georgian society share less liberal and democratic principles and vice versa. The study shows how liberal and democratic declared and policy ideas are supported among respondents and what it means to Georgia and its education system. Based on the results and discussion, new research questions are articulated dealing with gender, the generation gap, and the importance of the type of school that needs to be examined more carefully using the social interaction approach and qualitative methods and techniques, as well.

Subnational policy innovation: The birth of social pensions in Mexico

AbstractThe re‐emergence of universalistic social policy in Latin America in the 2000s, led to the implementation of non‐contributory and unconditional old‐pensions programmes in the region. Unlike other Latin American countries, these programmes originated at the subnational level in Mexico. In 2001, Mexico City's government implemented the first universal programme of social pensions in the country. This work seeks to explain why and how this policy innovation emerged and became a social right in Mexico City, in spite of the dominance of a neoliberal policy paradigm at the national level. This analysis shows the decisive role of the struggle of key actors over policy ideas in the creation of social pensions in Mexico, as well as its interaction with other economic, political and institutional factors, in a federal context.

Comparative assessment of US and India’s exchange traded funds (ETFs): Performance evaluation of tailwinds and headwinds recommendations

Long-term worldwide investment trends show that exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are becoming popular for passive investing. Nifty Bees established in 2001 was the first ETF to follow passive equities assets in India. Here, we will take a closer look at the Indian ETF market, as well as key policy considerations, and how to proceed. To put things in perspective, given the maturity of the US ETF market, the study compares the Indian ETF market to the US wherever possible on both a qualitative and quantitative basis. That’s how the paper’s laid out. After a quick introduction to ETFs and their history in India, the study looks in detail at how the market is structured and who the major players in the market in detail. These two sections outline the industry’s tailwinds and headwinds. There are certain policy ideas that might help the business grow further. The findings of the study stated that US ETF are more traded in volume in comparison to Indian ETF.

Integration of renewable energy and technological innovation in realizing environmental sustainability: the role of human capital in EKC framework.

For the purpose of this study, the role of technological innovation is examined. Few studies have examined empirically and theoretically the relationship between technological innovation and ecological footprint in conjunction with other factors, such as the human capital index and renewable energy sources, such as biofuels and nuclear power. This study examines the impact of technological innovation on G-7 countries' ecological footprints from 1990 to 2020. A cross-sectionally augmented autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL) model is used in the study. The results of the study show that technological innovation minimizes the ecological footprint. A lower ecological footprint is also associated with increased usage of human capital and renewable energy. Depletion of the natural environment is a short-term and long-term consequence of increased GDP growth. Our results confirm that ecologically sustainable technology enhances the quality of the environment. Consistent panel causality results were achieved. In the context of the G-7 countries, our study's results could support the idea that there are new policy ideas that could help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, and 13).

The impact of industrial robots application on air pollution in China: Mechanisms of energy use efficiency and green technological innovation.

The battle against air pollution in China persists, and haze remains over cities. Whether industrial robots, as the core technology of intelligent manufacturing, can improve city air quality in the process of production has not been determined. Using the International Federation of Robotics data and Chinese city air pollution data (2013-2018), this study finds that industrial robots significantly reduce city air pollution levels (PM2.5, PM10, and SO2), which remains robust after addressing endogeneity. The mechanism of action lies in the synergistic benefits of industrial robots in reducing city air pollution levels by effectively improving energy use efficiency and promoting green technological innovation. Heterogeneity analysis suggests that industrial robots, as the incarnation of green technology, can be an effective alternative tool to green policies, such as low-carbon piloting, resource planning, and environmental regulation. This study empirically confirms that industrial robots are environment-friendly technologies that can provide new policy ideas to promote air pollution prevention and control in the industrialization process.

Turf Wars in Foreign Policy Bureaucracy: Rivalry between the Government and the Bureaucracy in Turkish Foreign Policy

Abstract This paper, using examples from Turkish foreign policy between 2002 and 2014, argues that the fragmentation in foreign policymaking due to adopting different foreign policy ideas, that is, ideas of the elected leadership and the bureaucracy, is likely to generate competition between the state agencies that constitute the foreign policy bureaucracy. If there is backlash in the bureaucracy to realize the government's revisionist foreign policy goals, then the government aims to transform the bureaucracy by empowering certain small bureaucratic units, that is, missionary agencies. Once the degree of conflict between the government and the bureaucracy becomes severe, then the elected officials opt to work with the established bureaucratic agencies to speed up the decision-making processes. The analysis based on a series of interviews conducted with sixty-one Turkish foreign policymakers shows that the turf war in the foreign policy bureaucracy is a conceptual framework for comprehending how elected officials use bureaucratic tactics to undermine the involvement of bureaucrats in decision-making processes. Finally, the study contributes to current debates on populism and the presidentialization of foreign policy by showing that the foreign policy bureaucracy is not immune from the anti-elite, anti-establishment rhetoric of governments.

Legislative Highlight: Indiana House Bill 1003

In fewer than 10 days, Indiana House Bill 1003 (2022) had crossed its first legislative chamber and was barreling toward the Indiana Senate. House Bill 1003, titled “Nursing Indiana Back to Health,” was marketed by supporting lawmakers and stakeholders as a comprehensive package to strengthen the nursing workforce in the state. The bill moved quickly through the legislative process and contained changes to both the licensure and education processes for nurses. As states look to each other for policy ideas and solutions in the present workforce-focused climate, the comprehensive bill, now law, is worth analyzing in depth.

Transatlantic cooperation in flux: Europe’s small and cautious steps towards “strategic autonomy”

ABSTRACT The existing, liberal world order is under pressure and transatlantic cooperation on security is challenged. The paper raises the question, why have the European steps and policy initiatives towards addressing the new international threats and challenges to Europe been so limited and cautious. The first argument states it is because the European decision-makers were unable to agree when it came to implementing salient and concrete policies addressing new security threats and building strategic autonomy. The second argument states that the European decision-makers were only able to reach agreement on diffuse and symbolic policy ideas like building “strategic autonomy” for the European Union. The third argument states that the Europeans were able to address some of the new security challenges if it took place within NATO. The analysis shows that the European responses and reactions to the increasing tensions in the Indo-Pacific were subdued. The Europeans were unable to launch any concrete reactions to the American unilateral abrogation of the Iranian nuclear deal, to the unilateral American policy initiatives in the Israel-Palestine conflict or to the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. However, the Europeans increased the level of their defense spending and they also cooperated closely with their transatlantic partner to counter the assertive Russian foreign policy behavior.

Identifying the contradiction between the cultivated land fragmentation and the construction land expansion from the perspective of urban-rural differences

Land use contradictions and conflicts between arable and construction land areas have long been major topics in the field of land use research. However, few studies have explored the impact of differences in development between urban and rural areas on the amount and landscape level of arable land. In this study, two decades of data were combined to classify the Yangtze River Delta mega-city cluster area, where urbanization has been evident in China, into urban and rural areas. Based on this, we analyzed the differences in the changes in the amount of arable land caused by the expansion of urban and rural construction land. In this study, a comprehensive framework of arable land fragmentation indicators was constructed and the geographically weighted regression model was introduced to detect spatial and temporal dynamic change patterns of arable land fragmentation caused by different urbanization processes in urban and rural areas. The results show the following: (a) The expansion of urban and rural construction land caused arable land loss, and both contributed non-negligibly to arable land loss. (b) The distribution of the arable land fragmentation index showed obvious spatial heterogeneity, and its low-value area corresponded to a lower level of urban/rural construction land development. However, its high-value area did not show a stable dependence on the level of urban/rural construction land development. (c) Changes in urban and rural built-up land were the driving factors for changes in the degree of arable land fragmentation. In general, the expansion of the urban fringe increased the fragmentation of arable land, and the intensive expansion of urban centers curbed the fragmentation of arable land. However, rural construction land exhibited a stronger and more widespread impact than urban areas as a whole. This study contributes new ideas for arable land conservation policies under the growing mechanization of agriculture, especially in areas with large differences in development between urban and rural areas. Additionally, it emphasizes the need for rational planning of construction land in rural areas. The results of this study can provide references for urban-rural development planning, rural revitalization, and implementation of arable land protection.

The policy idea of ‘the teacher assistant’: Construction and legitimation through a discursive institutionalist lens

Transnational policy discourses shape teacher professionalism through discursive patterns in policy initiatives from the global policy actor, OECD. The policy idea of ‘the teacher assistant’ has emerged through discourses on teacher professionalism, spurring ambiguities regarding what the policy idea is and ought to be in Sweden. The aim of this article is to critically examine the construction and legitimation of the policy idea of ‘the teacher assistant’, in relation to teachers and the educational institution, through the lens of discursive institutionalism and strands in Curriculum Theory. The focus is a critical understanding of the interplay between ideas, discourses, actors and institutional context. The analysis of policy documents shows how the policy idea is constructed and legitimised through actors’ coordinative and communicative discourses at the national level, influenced by the OECD at the transnational level. The policy idea is intertwined with ideas and discourses on teachers’ professional development through a national professional programme and institutional conditions for goal attainment in schools. Tensions emerge regarding underlying assumptions about teacher quality, highlighting ideas of what teachers are and ought to be, within comprehensive reform strategies. Tensions entail emerging ideas of standardisation and differentiation and ambiguities regarding the policy idea of ‘the teacher assistant’.

Reducing Sugar Intake in South Africa: Learnings from a Multilevel Policy Analysis on Diet and Noncommunicable Disease Prevention.

High sugar intake contributes to diet-related excess weight and obesity and is a key determinant for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The World Health Organization (WHO) gives specific advice on limiting sugar intake in adults and children. Yet, to what extent have policy ideas on sugar intake reduction originating at the global level found expression at lower levels of policymaking? A systematic policy document analysis identified policies issued at the African regional, South African national and Western Cape provincial levels between 2000 and 2020 using search terms related to sugar, sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), and NCDs. Forty-eight policy documents were included in the review, most were global and national policies and thus the focus of analysis. A policy transfer conceptual framework was applied. Global recommendations for effectively tackling unhealthy diets and NCDs advise implementing a mix of cost-effective policy options that employ a multisectoral approach. South African country-level policy action has followed the explicit global guidance, and ideas on reducing sugar intake have found expression in sectors outside of health, to a limited extent. As proposed in this paper, with the adoption of the SSB health tax and other policy measures, South Africa’s experience offers several learnings for other LMICs.

Monitoring and evaluating the CAP: a (post-) exceptionalist policy arrangement?

ABSTRACT In this article, we contribute to the literature on (post-)exceptionalism by analysing and explaining the development of a specific policy sub-arrangement of the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP): its monitoring and evaluation (M&E) arrangement. As M&E have become common in many policy sectors, this arrangement seems an example of common policy being integrated in the CAP, reflecting non-exceptionalism. To answer the question to what extent M&E policy ideas are indeed integrated in the CAP we adopt a policy arrangement approach and analyse the interaction of institutions and ideas found in the broader EU M&E and CAP policy arrangements during two reforms of the CAP. We conclude that general ideas on M&E have been incorporated in the CAP M&E arrangement, but only to a limited extent. Existing institutions (and resulting interests) of the broader CAP arrangement prevent a full integration of these ideas. This leads to the general conclusion that the M&E sub-arrangement in the CAP is characterized by post-exceptionalism.

The power of folk ideas in economic policy and the central bank–commercial bank analogy

ABSTRACT This article argues that policy-makers’ non-expert or ‘folk’ ideas can affect policy outcomes in a way that challenges the assumption of economic policy-making being guided by expert ideas emanating from the realm of economics and other sciences. To substantiate this argument, the article invokes literatures on audience costs as well as on economic folk theories to highlight the power of analogies and fallacies in the formulation of policy. While political economists have focused exclusively on the power of the ‘household analogy’ in the area of fiscal policy, much less is known about its monetary policy equivalent, which the article introduces as the ‘bank analogy’. Empirically, the analogy is assessed in the context of what is arguably a least likely case for the power of folk ideas to hold: the European Central Bank's governance of its balance sheet, the most powerful balance sheet in Europe.

A Tax Credit Proposal for Profit Moderation and Social Mission Maximization in Long-Term Residential Care Businesses

Abstract This policy brief proposes a tax credit with related qualifying conditions that address the serious deficiencies related to abuse and neglect found in the current for-profit long-term care space. It also seeks to address the lack of government accountability for huge outlays of taxpayer dollars in the form of Medicare and Medicaid payments to these facilities, much of which results in maximizing profits for wealthy investors at the expense of vulnerable individuals with limited voice. Our proposed policy arrangement alters the organizational DNA of the for-profit organization, including the moderation of profit, to circumvent the existing financial incentives that are driving the mistreatment and malpractice so evident in the system. It aims to achieve this through four policy components including social financing, a sliding dividend cap, employee-ownership, and limits on complex corporate structures which are tied to a tax credit. This multi-faceted policy idea is intended to start the discussion around a possible path forward.

Education policy governance and the power of ideas in constructing the new European Education Area

Twenty ye ars after the Lisbon strategy, education policy in the European Union (EU) is at a critical juncture, with a new set of strategic goals endorsed for the 2021–2030 decade. This article examines the complex interplay of ideas, institutions and actors, in articulating education policy priorities in the new European Education Area (EEA). Drawing on documentary reviews and interviews with policy actors in the European Commission and the Council of the European Union, we trace the rise and fall of policy ideas in the new framework. The negotiations over the definition of EEA reveal new tensions between and within European institutions over specific policy ideas, with “lifelong learning” and “gender” as the most controversial ones. Continuing, longstanding tensions between the education and employment fields remain, and present a difficulty for the construction of a comprehensive and cohesive education policy program.

Constellation of trajectories and fast policy worlds: A spatiotemporal reading of experts’ positions and social encounters in Finland’s and Norway’s recent curriculum reforms

ABSTRACT As evidence has become the predominant requirement for decision-making on policy in modern democracies, the importance of experts has increased tremendously. Education reforms are no exception. International organizations have gained power globally in national education policy and politics, particularly through the data they produce and the policy discourses they advocate. However, nationally appointed experts participate in the production of these discourses and advocate for policy ideas in their national context. This article examines the interplay of national and international through a spatiotemporal reading of eleven interviews with experts involved in Finland’s and Norway’s recent curriculum reforms. In their social encounters, experts exchange knowledge that does not show up in the written recommendations for reform but influences their content and focus. The author identifies three positions of experts as translators of policy knowledge that reflect the complexity of education policymaking processes which are rooted nationally, but increasingly influenced by international power structures and transnational social encounters. The author asserts that international organizations derive power not only from the data they produce but the meeting places they facilitate. Who is invited is partly a matter of geopolitics. However, the most exclusive places might only open for those ´at the forefront´ of education reforms.

The policy and political consequences of the B-Mincome pilot project

The idea of universal basic income is recieving increasing attention in the political, media and public agendas. This policy proposal constitutes a radical departure from the orthodox welfare rationale of giving to those in need, or attaching conditions to welfare support. Given the permutation that a UBI presents, many pilot projects and field experiments are being carried out globally to test the effects of this novel policy idea. Key questions arise from these developments: are the lessons learned from these experiments being fed back into the policy process? Are the pilot project results guiding and informing policymakers? Overall, can we observe any political effects of such scientific efforts? I address these questions through a qualitative case study analysis of the B-Mincome project. Through an in-depth analysis of this pilot, some of the key factors influencing the (limited) policy and political effects of the pilot project have been identified. The B-Mincome case study shows that the barriers to policy change were in place well before the pilot, and evidently, remained unaltered by it. The political landscape in Barcelona's City Council, its economic powers and institutional context were unchanged by the pilot, and in fact shaped the pilot design, moving it away from the UBI proposal. The B-Mincome experience illustrates the need to accommodate the pilot design to the politics and economics of the experiment, and shows the unintended consequences that such an adaptation of the pilot design may have in relation to its original objectives. In the case of Barcelona, this has meant a move away from a UBI-style pilot design, resulting in very limited effects on the debate or policy design of cash transfers, having a greater policy impact on active polices instead. However, by taking a broader look at Spanish and Catalan politics, our analysis has shown that unexpected factors may end up triggering a debate much more effectively than a pilot project.

농산어촌 소규모학교 통폐합·육성정책의 변동 과정과 원인 분석

In this study, the process of changing the policy of 'integration' of rural small schools to 'Fostering' policy was described, and the cause of policy change was analyzed. The government-level consolidation and fostering policy change process was restructured and described as a consolidation policy promotion period from 1982 to 2009, a consolidation and fostering policy mixing period from 2010 to 2015, and a fostering policy promotion period from 2016 to the present. It was confirmed that the policy of fostering small schools at the level of the metropolitan and provincial offices of education was promoted as a self-rescue measure to prevent the devastation and extinction of many small schools. As a result of analyzing policy changes, it was found that "internal factors" due to the limitations of the consolidation policy, "policy ideas" on efficiency and equity, "interest relations" of policy participants composed of government, teachers, civic groups, and progressive superintendents. As a conclusion on the policy of rural small schools, it was suggested that the policy should first consider guaranteeing student learning rights and high-quality educational experiences, and specific examples of unit school-oriented movements should be made in order to expand the policy.

Surgical smoke: how an issue in healthcare fits a planetary health framework.

The smoke generated from electrocautery machines may be harmful to health. Healthcare in general, and surgery in particular, has a large environmental footprint. The aims of this study were to discover what healthcare workers thought about the problem of electrocautery smoke, the idea of a surgical smoke-free policy, and to formulate ideas on how the matter could be approached in an environmentally and socially responsible way. Operating room personnel in a tertiary referral hospital were invited to complete a survey about electrocautery smoke: perceived risks, current exposure, and measures to minimise exposure. Quantitative data were analysed in a generalised linear model, and qualitative data by reflexive thematic analysis within a constructivist theoretical framework. The survey response rate was 463/1234 (38%). Most supported a smoke-free policy (89%). Support for a policy was positively correlated with the perceived risk of electrocautery smoke (p<0.001. Support was lower amongst males (p<0.05). Themes from the qualitative analysis developed around nature, society and technology. A framework was developed consisting of earth and its ecosystems, human health, governance, economics, society, and the interconnected of these systems. Although smoke-free policies form part of the solution to electrocautery smoke, they are not the whole solution. Healthcare issues, in this case the issue of electrocautery smoke, could be tackled within a planetary health healthcare framework, promoting a systems approach. Applicability of the framework requires confirmation by further research.

How does the Belt and Road policy affect the level of green development? A quasi-natural experimental study considering the CO2 emission intensity of construction enterprises

The ‘Belt and Road’ (B&R) Initiative has received attention from environmental researchers. However, there are no studies explaining the impact of the B&R policy on the green development (GD) of construction enterprises. We aim to find a mechanism for how the B&R policy impacts the GD level of construction enterprises. Consequently, on the basis of a fixed effects model, we consider the B&R policy and the background of GD in the construction industry and construct a model of the GD level of construction enterprises. Meanwhile, we use panel data for 28 provincial administrative regions of the Chinese government from 2010 to 2020 and analyse the implications of the B&R policy on the GD level of construction enterprises using Stata 16.0. The main conclusions are as follows. (1) A positive promotion effect is evident in the planned focus areas of the B&R policy on construction enterprises’ GD levels. (2) Research and development (R&D), regional development, education, labour productivity and investment in sewage treatment significantly affect the intensity of CO2 emissions of regional construction enterprises, thus increasing and hindering the GD of construction enterprises. Taking the findings of this study into account, this study contributes to the econometrics of construction enterprises in the area of sustainable development. Additionally, it provides policy ideas for the government to further build a green B&R.