Influence Policy Change Research Articles

Leadership of Political Policy Entrepreneurs: a Comparison of Transactional and Transformational Styles

Policy changes owe its allegiance to both transactional and transformational styles of leadership of policy entrepreneurs; putting a question, which style brings better result. To do so, overall policy changes in India during NDA rule of 2014–2019 was taken into study scope, focusing only on political policy entrepreneurs. Multiple stream framework was used in this study. The qualitative data helped in designing the questionnaire, which consequently got filled by 158 respondents. The results established the positive and significant relationship of both the styles with policy changes. However, the transformational leadership behavior is more preferable to transactional in influencing policy changes.

The Gray Legion: Information Warfare Within Our Gates

The information environment, once viewed as an unassailed common for human knowledge, has revealed itself to be a vector for malicious narratives in the ongoing battle for global hegemony. Since 2014, the United States has been under siege from information attacks on multiple fronts, from cyber infrastructure and goods to the cognitive outlooks of its citizenry. Disinformation as a social media tool represents a novel and grave danger to democracy; it serves as a means for sowing unrest and influencing policy changes while enabling conventional conflict or—in the best case for those who would exploit and manipulate narratives—avoiding it entirely. In this article, we identify the harbinger of a dire threat that circles outside, and now inside, the United States' walls by exploring the theoretical dynamics of foreign, state-sponsored disinformation in democracies throughout the West. We examine the mechanisms through which this approach operates and why it is Russia’s preferred course of action.

Advancing Health Equity by Translating Lessons Learned from NICU Family Visitations During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

* Abbreviations: BIPOC: : black, indigenous, people of color COVID-19: : novel coronavirus 2019 Since its emergence in December 2019, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, also referred to as the novel coronavirus 2019 or COVID-19, has created a global pandemic. To date, there are over 39 million confirmed cases worldwide and over 8 million confirmed cases in the United States. (1) Although many questions regarding children affected by the virus are unanswered, the pandemic has highlighted inequities in the US health care system and has demonstrated the potential of advocacy to influence policy changes. Although the pandemic remains a tremendous challenge, we present a perspective on how lessons we have learned during this pandemic may translate to further advocacy for equity in neonatal care. As new data on COVID-19 are collected on both the national and international levels, guidance and policy changes have been rapidly developed and evolving. Though this disease appears to be affecting children more mildly than adults, its rapid spread and disruption of the social infrastructure has influenced advocacy and protective efforts for children worldwide. For example, policies on visitation in the NICU have varied widely in the United States and have continued to evolve throughout the pandemic. Although these visitation policies were implemented based on concerns for the safety of patients, families, and health care workers, the implications of these policies and the evidence to support them have been questioned by clinicians and family advocates. Although this advocacy has led to positive change, it brings to light the disparities that may be exacerbated by such efforts. We provide some recommendations on how to navigate these lessons learned with a centering on the social determinants of health and encourage others to critically examine further opportunities for change. As hospitals and NICUs around the world began to confront the growing pandemic, restrictive visitation policies were implemented to protect patients, families, …

SURVEY OF PEDESTRIANS AND CAR DRIVERS' ATTITUDES AT THE AREA OF PEDESTRIAN CROSSINGS OVER PERIOD OF TIME

This article presents the newest trends among pedestrians’ and car drivers’ attitudes from a survey performed at a roadside at the area of zebra crossings in Poland in 2018. Trends in road users’ attitudes and performance allow an understanding of the causes of road safety crashes to decrease deaths and injuries. Surveys of attitudes from questionnaires help gauge knowledge of road traffic laws and risky behaviours regarding road safety issues at crosswalks. Data of 800 questionnaires collected in 2018 according to the methodology first adopted in 2015 were analyzed and compared. Reliable and comparable results from 2018 published for the first time show changes in car drivers’ and pedestrians’ attitudes. Over the last three years, there have been changes in car drivers’ declared attitudes and performance towards 4 different road traffic situations at the crosswalks (when a pedestrian is approaching, waiting, entering, crossing). Before and after survey at the zebra crossings showed in 2015 according to questionnaire 88% car drivers declared giving way to pedestrians (in fact during observations on road only 20% car drivers gave way), in 2018 declared 85% car drivers and 78% already gave way to pedestrians on crosswalks. Drivers and pedestrians know the law, but do not always follow them in traffic. According to drivers’ opinions, both pedestrians and drivers display risky behaviours. 78% of pedestrians and 72% of car drivers favored more restrictive laws for car drivers to ensure that they slow down before approaching a crossing to allow pedestrians to cross. Risky pedestrian behaviour was mentioned by 76% of car drivers and pointed out as the main problem at crosswalks. In self-declared questionnaires, 90% of pedestrians stated that they must be extremely careful when crossing. The presented results influenced policy changes for implementation of more safety for pedestrians not only at zebra crossing but also when approaching it in Poland since 2021. The aim of the changes is to reduce pedestrians’ risk while crossing the road.

Beyond the boundaries. Migration discourse in EU parliamentary debates

Immigration has emerged as a prevalent political issue throughout the entire European Union over the past few years. Hardly a day goes by without news stories of people fleeing the Middle East and Northern Africa to reach the shores of Europe, or without an act of violence, the emergence of a new association or political party, or debates on policy initiatives taken by EU Member States. In this respect, and in ways which were almost completely ‘unexpected’ some years ago, nearly every single aspect of political discussion has been affected by the issue of immigration. In every European country new movements have emerged, anti-immigrant political parties have obtained electoral advances and have altered the balance of political forces. This new balance has influenced policy changes in the EU as Members States have attempted to deal with the challenges that threaten understandings, agreements, social policy and the political and social construction of Europe itself. By adopting CDA (Fairclough 1995, 2013; van Dijk 1984; Wodak 1997) and Zapata-Barrero’s distinction between re-active and pro-active discourse (2007), this work analyses a corpus of EU parliamentary debates on migration. The aim was to ascertain whether and to what extent the interventions taken into consideration negatively react against the process of integration and multiculturalism resulting from the arrival of migrants or whether they instead positively accompany the process and consider it a historic opportunity and not a threat. The ad hoc corpus, which covers a time span of three years – from 2016 to 2018 – will be investigated both quantitatively and qualitatively in order to identify the most frequent lexemes and their co-occurring patterns of usage along with the most recurrent or relevant phraseology in the verbatim reports. The interventions under scrutiny deal with migration issues, such as the flow of migrants legally or illegally entering the EU, asylum seekers, undocumented residents, borders and boundaries, thus allowing for the exploration of re-active and pro-active discourse constructions and of the strategies of legitimation used by MPs who try to demonstrate that their policies and actions towards immigration are legitimate, and executed within the boundaries and barriers of moral order and correct procedures (van Leeuwen, Wodak 1999; van Leeuwen 2007).

Do social protests affect housing and land-use policies? The case of the Israeli social protests of 2011 and their impact on statutory reforms

This paper examines the effect of social protests on planning and housing policies by looking at the case of Israel’s 2011 J14 social protests and subsequent governmental policy reforms. We investigate whether there is a link between the demands of the protesters and reforms put in place in between 2011 and 2017. We also examine whether the policy reforms met the demands of protesters, and to what degree the protests influenced policy changes. We establish a strong connection between the protesters’ demands and the measures the government adopted following the protests. The policies put in place did reflect the government’s willingness to adopt the protesters’ demands, even going so far as to absorb financial losses. However, the government only entertained these demands up to a certain degree. It was not prepared to radically alter its neoliberal, pro-free market outlook in the long term, nor revert to its former role as a social welfare provider.

Restorative Justice, Crime Victims and Penal Welfarism. Mapping and Contextualising Restorative Justice Policy in Scotland

While the criminological literature is abundant in studies on the functioning and effectiveness of restorative justice, there is a lack of engagement with policy on this subject, in spite of the increasing incorporation of restorative justice into policy frameworks. This paper contributes towards addressing this gap by mapping and discussing Scottish policy on restorative justice. The focus is placed on how policy frames restorative justice around certain problems, subjects and objects, reconstructing their underlying assumptions. Additionally, the paper analyses the cultural and political context within which those representations have emerged. From this perspective, it enhances the legibility of the particularly slow and fragmentary development of restorative justice in Scotland, compared to the rest of the UK. More generally, the paper provides an original (and relevant beyond British borders) case study on the interplay between cross-national and local, cultural and political factors in influencing policy change.

Perceptions of medical college academics on intercalated MBBS/BSc dual degree program in Nigeria

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions of academics on the acceptability of the intercalated medical degree program in an attempt to proffer solutions to breach the gaps in manpower shortages in the medical profession.Methodology: This is a descriptive cross sectional survey. Randomly selected 150 academic staff of various medical colleges spread across Nigeria, who attended an educational programme in Abuja Nigeria in September 2018 completed semi structured questionnaires after consenting to participate in the study. Data from the retrieved questionnaires were collated, entered into Microsoft excel and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Most of the analyzed data were represented in percentages for ease of comparison.Findings: Sixty five percent of the respondents were aware of the intercalated (dual) Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS)/ Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) degree programme, offer it in their institutions and believe it is worthwhile. The merits of the dual degree programme from this study were an additional degree, more experienced medical doctors in terms of research and exit strategy for some medical students who may change their minds half way into the medical programme. The disadvantages reported were prolonged study period and increased cost of study. Majority of the respondents, who were academic staff of medical colleges were aware of, and favoured the establishment of intercalated MBBS degree programme in more Nigerian medical colleges.Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: There is scarcity of literature on the intercalated degree programme in Nigeria. This research may influence policy change that will improve medical education. From the results of the study, it is recommended that the stakeholders in medical education should consider giving accreditation to more medical colleges that have the capacity to commence intercalated medical degree programs in Nigerian Universities as an option to interested medical students with good potentials.

“Our Stories Are Powerful”: The Use of Youth Storytelling in Policy Advocacy to Combat the School-to-Prison Pipeline

The use of narratives and storytelling has become an increasingly common strategy in grassroots organizing and advocacy efforts to influence policy change. Drawing on qualitative interviews and observations, Jeffrey Moyer, Mark Warren, and Andrew King present a case study of the successful campaign by Voices of Youth in Chicago Education (VOYCE) to pass SB100, a progressive Illinois law aimed at ending the school-to-prison pipeline. The authors show that personal storytelling, when combined with other approaches, constitutes an effective strategy for youth organizing groups in low-income communities of color to achieve racial equity and educational justice policy goals. In this case, youth leaders involved in VOYCE told legislators their personal stories of the harm done to them and their friends by zero-tolerance school discipline and spoke to the racial inequities they faced. In doing so, they countered previously held narratives of youth of color as troublemakers and violence-prone and created a moral urgency for legislators to act. Youth leaders used storytelling and data to build a larger alliance of supporters, which contributed to the passage of a bill that limited harsh discipline, promoted restorative justice alternatives, and took steps to close racial gaps in suspensions and expulsions.

Integrative policy development for healthier people and ecosystems: A European case analysis

There is growing evidence of the inter‐relationships between ecosystems and public health. This creates opportunities for the development of cross‐sectoral policies and interventions that provide dual benefits to public health and to the natural environment. These benefits are increasingly articulated in strategy documents at national and regional level, yet implementation of integrative policies on the ground remains limited and fragmented. Here, we use a workshop approach to identify some features of this evidence–implementation gap based on policy and practice within a number of western European countries. The driving forces behind some recent moves towards more integrative policy development and implementation show important differences between countries, reflecting the non‐linear and complex nature of the policy‐making process. We use these case studies to illustrate some of the key barriers to greater integrative policy development identified in the policy analysis literature. Specific barriers we identify include: institutional barriers; differing time perspectives in public health and ecosystem management; contrasting historical development of public health and natural environment disciplinary policy agendas; an incomplete evidence base relating investment in the natural environment to benefits for public health; a lack of appropriate outcome measures including benefit–cost trade‐offs; and finally a lack of integrative policy frameworks across the health and natural environment sectors. We also identify opportunities for greater policy integration and examples of good practice from different countries. However, we note there is no single mechanism that will deliver integrative policy for healthier people and ecosystems in all countries and situations. National governments, national public agencies, local governments, research institutions, and professional bodies all share a responsibility to identify and seize opportunities for influencing policy change, whether incremental or abrupt, to ensure that ecosystems and the health of society are managed so that the interests of future generations, as well as present generations, can be protected.

Using action learning to tackle food insecurity in Scotland

ABSTRACTIn the context of a dramatic rise in food bank use in Scotland, the A Menu for Change project, delivered by Oxfam Scotland, Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland, Nourish Scotland and The Poverty Alliance, aimed to reduce the need for emergency food aid by improving local responses to food insecurity. Between 2017 and 2019, project officers worked with key stakeholders in Dundee City, East Ayrshire and Fife to identify and address challenges that people experiencing acute food insecurity face in accessing all the financial support and advice to which they are entitled. The project employed a cross-sectoral and multi-level approach in these three local authority areas. This account reviews the way action learning was used by the A Menu for Change project in Scotland, including an example of how one presentation led to practical changes in local referral patterns. The project demonstrated that action learning can be a useful approach for creating, supporting and developing relationships across complex systems and a mechanism for establishing the groundwork for social change. Facilitators learned that there is a need to work closely with stakeholders inside and outside the set to ensure the benefits of reflective learning influence policy and practice change.

Regional shrinkage and planning policy change in Europe: the case of Asturias

ABSTRACT Shrinkage requires planners to move away from growth-oriented planning towards an adaptive approach. It is puzzling that even after decades of shrinkage, planners can still be stuck with a growth mindset that results in wasted resources and little gain. Existing research has done little to comprehend why planning policy adapts so slowly to shrinkage. The article revolves around the question: What shapes planning policy in shrinking regions? This question is addressed through a case study conducted in the Spanish region of Asturias. The study makes a first analysis of how ideas, interests and institutions influence policy change in shrinking regions. It finds that institutional structures and local interests can be serious obstacles to the adoption of adaptive planning approaches.

Empowering Students and Influencing Policy Change Through Experiential Public Health Advocacy Education.

Public health advocacy is central to the work of many health professionals, including nurses. Although deemed to be a core competency for public health practitioners, courses described in the literature often lack a focus on experiential learning, which is an essential component to acquiring public health advocacy skills. This article describes an innovative, 12-week graduate course that provides students with a combination of theory and experiential learning through an opportunity to engage in political advocacy, community mobilization, and media engagement on a current public health issue. An advocacy campaign undertaken by students to increase community access to the overdose reversal medication naloxone is described in light of the current North American overdose epidemic. Key considerations for teaching public health advocacy to facilitate development of nursing courses elsewhere are highlighted. Public health advocacy education is important and needs to be expanded both within the nursing profession and across all disciplines. [J Nurs Educ. 2019;58(12):698-703.].

HOW PUBLIC OPINION SHAPES TAIWAN'S SUNFLOWER MOVEMENT

AbstractThe 2014 Sunflower Movement succeeded in blocking Taiwan's Congress from ratifying the Cross-Strait Services Trade Agreement (CSSTA), a bill that proposed to liberalize trade with China. Since most of the participants in this movement were students and NGO members, they had limited economic and political resources to influence policy change, which makes their success in stopping a trade deal remarkable. Many attribute this important success to an elite alliance with politicians inside the government, fueled by a personal rivalry between political elites. However, I argue that changing public opinion is the more important force behind the creation of the alliance. With original data from interviews with political elites, their staff members, and activists in Taiwan, in addition to secondary information, I confirm public opinion to be the major reason for the political alliance. This case illustrates that in some circumstances, public opinion outweighs the importance of elite rivalry in influencing political elite decision-making, and it could represent a key mechanism of democratic policy-making.

Can the dual identity of policy entrepreneur and policy implementer promote successful policy adoption? Vertical greening policymaking in Shanghai, China

ABSTRACTBoth policy entrepreneur and policy implementer play critical roles in the policy process. Little attention has been devoted to how the identity overlap may influence policy change. This paper addresses this gap using a case-study approach and explores the vertical-greening policymaking in Shanghai (1992–2016), China. Three conclusions are advanced. The identity of policy implementer prompts entrepreneurial tactics to remove the implementation barriers. The discrepancy in perception of the policy-goal ambiguity between the policy implementer and policymaker may compromise policy adoption. The dual identity does not prevent the policy entrepreneur from accepting compromises in order to have the policy passed.

Collective Action, Civil Society, and Public Policy in Turkey

Understanding policy change mechanisms has been a key question for scholars of public policy and collective action. However, policy scholarship mostly ignores civil society-based explanations of policy processes. In order to address this gap, this study combines the Advocacy Coalition Framework with networked collective action perspectives and analyzes a successful case of mobilization of women’s rights organizations in Turkey to reverse a bill on child marriage. Study findings suggest that advocacy coalitions are not static entities. When different issues in a policy subsystem are invoked, the structure of inter-coalition networks can change substantially and these variations in inter-coalition interactions may have consequences for influencing policy change. Moreover, this paper argues that extensive street protests and online campaigns by civil society organizations have the capacity to boost the bargaining power of minority coalitions, especially in contexts that lack multiple formal venues for making policy claims.

Understanding the psychological mechanisms that constrain the transfer of dialogue effects

An intrinsic component of evaluating the success of a dialogue programme is the concept of transfer. This refers to the means by which the effects of dialogue extend beyond the immediate participants to their wider social groups and go on to influence broader societal and policy change. In this paper I am interested in exploring, from a psychological perspective, why positive dialogue effects at an individual level (i.e., the micro level) sometimes fail to motivate future positive behaviour in the local social milieu (i.e., the meso level). This failure of dialogue effects to permeate beyond the immediate group can mean that transfer is limited, thus raising questions about the effectiveness of dialogue interventions. Drawing on psychological research that looks at mechanisms of indirect contact (whereby positive effects of contact with an out-group member spread beyond the immediate setting) I propose that a factor which might hinder the process of transfer is a cognitive bias called vicarious moral licensing. I propose that by understanding the psychological mechanisms that stymie the transfer of individual attitudinal change in to group behavioural outcomes, one can better address the crucial question of how to maximise the degree of transfer following from dialogue

Complementaries and Contradictions: National Security and Privacy Risks in U.S. Federal Policy, 1968–2018

How does the U.S. balance privacy with national security? This article analyzes how the three regulatory regimes of information collection for criminal investigations, foreign intelligence gathering, and cybersecurity have balanced privacy with national security over a 50‐year period. A longitudinal, arena‐based analysis is conducted of policies (N = 63) introduced between 1968 and 2018 to determine how policy processes harm, compromise, or complement privacy and national security. The study considers the roles of context, process, actor variance, and commercial interests in these policy constructions. Analysis over time reveals that policy actors’ instrumental use of technological contexts and invocations of security crises and privacy scandals have influenced policy changes. Analysis across policy arenas shows that actor variance and levels of transparency in the process shape policy outcomes and highlights the conflicting roles of commercial interests in favor of and in opposition to privacy safeguards. While the existing literature does address these relationships, it mostly focuses on one of the three regulatory regimes over a limited period. Considering these regimes together, the article uses a comparative process‐tracing analysis to show how and explain why policy processes dynamically construct different kinds of relationships across time and space.

The Role of Childhood Cancer Civil Society on Cancer Control on Low-Income Countries

Background and context: Over 250,000 new pediatric cancer cases are diagnosed yearly worldwide. In the developing countries, the childhood cancer burden is estimated to increase even more. Rwanda Children's Cancer Relief (RCCR) is a nonprofit organization with a mission to ensure that children with cancers access high standards of treatment and support. After realizing that majority in our community lack information on childhood cancers, our efforts since 2014 has been concentrated on raising awareness of childhood cancers. Aim: Raise awareness on childhood cancer among community members. Strategy/Tactics: During a massive walk, trained volunteers with informative brochures, posters in both local and international languages comprising information on early symptoms of childhood cancers, ways to navigate referral system among others are used during community outreaches. These activities are aired on national radios and TVs, newspapers and social media are also used to spread information. Program/Policy process: Many activities are carried out in September during the RCCR Annual Childhood Cancers Awareness Month. We involve community health workers, private sectors and academic institutions. We focus on talks, community outreaches and childhood cancers awareness activities. Outcomes: 2017 campaign included the aforementioned activities and was concluded by a walk dubbed (#KidsCancerWalk2016) which attracted more than 600 participants. Two local TVs, 6 radios and 7 online diaries covered the campaign in its different phases. More than 1000 posters, 1100 brochures and 500 flyers were distributed followed by intensive online campaign with more than 100 Facebook posts, 350 Tweets, and 700 Retweets. Strong partnerships with private, public sectors were created and Ministry of Health approved September as the national childhood cancer awareness month following RCCR campaigns. What was learned: Childhood cancers are fatal when left untreated but treatable when they are detected at an early stage. Activities that RCCR carry out on annual basis increase the general population knowledge about childhood cancers. Civil societies like RCCR play a crucial role in addressing the growing burden of childhood cancers and the disparities in access to and quality of care. They can also influence policy changes and address the specific patients' and community needs.

The ‘(party) politics of attention.’ Party competition and decentralist reforms: the Italian case

AbstractThis paper sheds light on the role played by political parties in influencing policy change, by connecting literature on party competition and agenda-setting and focusing on a single-issue domain, namely decentralization in Italy from 1948 to 2013. The article argues that major decentralist reforms usually followed electoral campaigns in which most parties focused attention on the issue. Such shifts in attention are caused by, among other things, the issue entrepreneurship activity undertaken by individual parties that are trying to influence the party system agenda and obtain electoral, office, or policy advantage. Contrary to the expectations of the issue entrepreneurship model, however, the analyses reveal that the entrepreneurship role on decentralization in Italy was not played by those parties that can be classified as ‘political losers’ in the party system; rather, in the case of the policy of decentralization in Italy, issue entrepreneurship activity is mostly explained by strategic considerations other than purely electoral ones.