Lesson Drawing Research Articles

Health Care System Change and the Cross-Border Transfer of Ideas: Influence of the Dutch Model on the 2007 German Health Reform

To increase understanding of the cross-border transfer of ideas through a case study of the 2007 German health reform, this article draws on Kingdon's approach of streams and follows two main objectives: first, to understand the extent to which the German health reform was actually influenced by the Dutch model and, second, in theoretical terms, to inform inductively on how ideas from abroad enter government agendas. The results show that the streams of problem recognition and policy proposals have not been predominantly influenced by the cross-border transfer of ideas from the Netherlands to Germany. The Dutch experience was taken into consideration only after a policy window opened by a shift in politics in the third, the political, stream: the change of government in 2005. In many respects, the way Germany learned from the Netherlands in this case sharply contrasts with an image of solving policy problems by either lesson drawing or transnational deliberation. Instead, the process was dominated by problem solving in the sphere of politics, that is, finding a way to prove the grand coalition was capable of acting.

Monte Carlo Modelling of Increasing Void Fraction in 100% MOX ABWR: Lessons Drawn from the FUBILA Program

The French Atomic Energy Commission CEA and the Japanese Incorporated Administrative Agency JNES (Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organisation) have undertaken first-of-a-kind full MOX core physics experiments, FUBILA, in the EOLE critical facility of the CEA Cadarache Centre. The experiments have been designed to obtain core physics data under high-burn-up 9 × 9 and 10 × 10 BWR MOX assemblies operating conditions. The experimental program, consisting of eight different core configurations, started in January 2005 and ended on September 1, 2006. The analysis of the void increase part of the experimental data between 0 and 70% void has been carried out using the French TRIPOLI-4.5 continuous-energy Monte Carlo calculation code with the newly released JEFF3.1.1 nuclear data library. The average C/E discrepancies obtained on critical masses, reactivity worth, and pin-by-pin power distributions enable us to estimate all the integral and local parameters with uncertainties largely within the target uncertainties, demonstrating the capability of the code to treat complex geometries with a high degree of accuracy. Additional keff calculations performed with the latest ENDF/B-VII evaluation exhibit a clear tendency to overestimate the keff by about 500 to 650 pcm and the void worth by more than 4%, showing that the JEFF3.1.1 library is more precise for MOX lattices.

Policy Transfer and Learning From the West: Elite Basketball Development in the People’s Republic of China

The article examines the engagement of the People’s Republic of China with global sport using basketball as an example. Following a discussion of the priority given to national elite team sport success in contemporary China, the article explores the range of mechanisms that facilitate sport globalization and focuses particularly on evaluating the utility of the concepts of policy transfer and lesson drawing. The examination of the concepts is achieved through the exploration of a series of questions relating to recent developments in basketball in China, including how the need for reform of the domestic system was recognized and articulated, who was instrumental in transferring policy, which countries were identified as suitable exemplars, and which policies were transferred. The article draws on data collected from a number of sources, including official government documents, news media, and a series of interviews with Chinese officials from key governmental organizations. The article concludes that the concepts of policy transfer and lesson drawing provide significant insight into the process of China’s engagement in basketball, and identifies a series of tensions arising from the process that affect contemporary sport policy.

Monte Carlo Modelling of Increasing Void Fraction in 100% MOX ABWR: Lessons Drawn from the FUBILA Program

Monte Carlo Modelling of Increasing Void Fraction in 100% MOX ABWR: Lessons Drawn from the FUBILA Program

Constitution-making, constitutional conventions and conflict resolution: lesson drawing for Cyprus

Constitution-making, constitutional conventions and conflict resolution: lesson drawing for Cyprus

Transnational Learning and Environmental Policy Advice: Theory Vs. Practice

In this paper, we seek to clarify further the processes of internationalization on environmental policy convergence by focussing narrowly on transnational communication as a mechanism for policy learning mediated by a country’s policy analytical capacity. We argue that without significant policy analytical capacity, it is unlikely for transnational communication as a source of lesson drawing to translate into environmental policy convergence. Based on a survey of Canadian provincial public servants, we find that policy analysts in the environmental policy sector do not engage in significant interaction or training outside of their own jurisdictions and are therefore unlikely to engage in extensive trans-national or international learning. This paper clarifies an important finding of Holzinger, Knill and Sommerer (2008) that while transnational communication leads to harmonization in the presence of policy, it does not result in convergence around particular policy instruments or their settings.

Muslim claims-making in context

The aim of this article is to investigate through a comparison of the Danish and the Swedish Muhammad cartoons controversies (1) why only the Danish controversy escalated into a conflict of global dimensions; and (2) what accounts for the differences in level and form of local Muslim claims-making in the two cases. The article takes advantage of the initial similarities of the two controversies in making a paired comparison, which provides an opportunity to evaluate the importance of context-specific particularities and of specific events/actions taken in the two cases. Despite several initial similarities, why did the two controversies produce such different outcomes? The article argues that the answer should be found in the interplay between distant contextual characteristics such as dominant elite discourses about Islam/Muslims, different styles of institutionalization of Islam in the two countries, and more situational circumstances of how the publications were initially framed by the relevant newspapers, the contingent choices of action by the political elites and cross-context lesson drawing.

The contribution of ineffective urban planning practices to disaster and disaster risks accumulation in urban areas: the case of former Kunduchi quarry site in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

This study examined the link between urban planning practices and disaster risks. The study used the former Kunduchi Quarry Site within the City of Dar es Salaam to demonstrate how laxity in enforcing the laid down planning rules, regulations and procedures facilitates the accumulation and occurrence of disaster risks and disasters in urban areas. This undermines one of the central roles of urban planning, which is to protect the lives of people from disaster risks and disasters. In exploring this, the study specifically focused on understanding the rules, regulations and procedures of planning in Tanzania; the extent to which they are followed and, where they are not followed, their implications for disaster risks and disasters; the coping initiatives adopted by local communities to reduce risks and their level of success or failure; and finally the drawing of lessons and recommendations for disaster risk reduction in urban areas. Strongly emerging from this study is the finding that although planning rules and regulations do exist, they are not enforced. As a result urban communities suffer from disaster risks and disasters caused by unregulated activities. The study analyzed the coping initiatives that urban communities apply to reduce disaster risks in their areas. It noted that, while a range of “coping” responses could be observed, these are not lasting solutions to the disaster risks being faced. Sustainable solutions seem to be known by the local community but they are not adopted for fear of compromising or undermining their existing livelihood strategies.

Learning from the Disease: Lessons Drawn from Adolescents Having a Grandparent Suffering Dementia

The objective of this study was to explore what adolescent grandchildren have learned from having a grandparent who suffers dementia and what coping strategies they might recommend for other adolescents in similar situations. We also present information on background factors influencing lessons learned and coping strategies. Adolescent grandchildren living in Barcelona, Spain participated in the study (N = 138). Qualitative analysis was conducted on responses to 2 open-ended questions regarding lessons learned from having a grandparent with dementia and advice to other grandchildren facing similar situations. Five learning and 4 coping strategies emerged from the analysis. Adolescents reported about the value of life, the complexity of the life-span, and changes in personal characteristics such as patience and responsibility as a result of the experience. Advice to other adolescents primarily focused on accepting the dementia as well as acquiring behavioral coping strategies. Binary logistic regression analysis revealed that type of care grandparent receives--day center versus nursing home--and age of the adolescent influenced lessons learned and coping strategies. Implications for the developmental tasks of the grandchild during adolescence are discussed.

Lesson Drawing: The Congruence of Policy Transfer and Benchmarking

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 This paper attempts to examine the concepts of policy transfer and benchmarking. It provides a critical review of the underpinnings of both concepts and tries to demonstrate similarities between them. Political scientists define policy transfer as a process of learning in which government policy makers (of various kinds) across the globe observe the responses of their counterparts to similar problems. Policy transfer encompasses various activities through which knowledge is used in the development of policy anywhere in time or space. In marketing, benchmarking is defined as searching for best practices that lead to better or even excellent performance. In other words, it is a structured procedure that analyzes a process to find improvement opportunities. Based on empirical studies of the privatization of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and marketing excellence in the Malaysian small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the authors attempt to discuss similarities between policy transfer and benchmarking and identify basic criteria that underpin them.

Integration Strategies in Mental Health Care: Lessons Drawn From a Pilot Project

This study evaluates the implementation and impact of a pilot project aimed at establishing an integrated service network for adults with severe mental disorders in an urban area in the province of Quebec. Post-implementation evaluation shows that the project helped improve the perceived integration and quality of services. However, the implementation of a true integrated service network in mental health necessitates involvement of all providers who play a significant role in mental health, including general practitioners and intersectoral resources, a sufficient pool of diversified resources, strong governance, and the development of a complete set of coherent clinical and administrative integration strategies.

Central Bank Response to the 2007-08 Financial Market Turbulence: Experiences and Lessons Drawn

The paper reviews the policy response of major central banks during the 2007-08 financial market turbulence and suggests that there is scope for convergence among central bank operational frameworks through the adoption of those elements that proved most instrumental in calming markets. These include (i) rapid liquidity provision to a broad range of counterparties; (ii) a congruence of collateral policies with market developments; (iii) an ability to increase the average maturity of liquidity provision; and (iv) central bank cooperation to facilitate the use of cross-border collateral. Flexible use of open market operations was needed to avoid the stigma associated with traditional standing facilities, and allowed central banks to maintain at least basic market functioning. Having a flexible framework, however, requires careful consideration of the desirable limits to market intervention.

Central Bank Response to the 2007-08 Financial Market Turbulence: Experiences and Lessons Drawn

The paper reviews the policy response of major central banks during the 2007–08 financial market turbulence and suggests that there is scope for convergence among central bank operational frameworks through the adoption of those elements that proved most instrumental in calming markets. These include (i) rapid liquidity provision to a broad range of counterparties; (ii) a congruence of collateral policies with market developments; (iii) an ability to increase the average maturity of liquidity provision; and (iv) central bank cooperation to facilitate the use of cross-border collateral. Flexible use of open market operations was needed to avoid the stigma associated with traditional standing facilities, and allowed central banks to maintain at least basic market functioning. Having a flexible framework, however, requires careful consideration of the desirable limits to market intervention.

Protecting Endangered Species in the US and Canada: The Role of Negative Lesson Drawing

Abstract.Although the US and Canada share ecosystems, with many species ranging freely across the border, the two countries have taken very different approaches to protecting endangered species. The USEndangered Species Act, adopted in 1973, relies primarily on regulation, thus imposing the costs of protecting biodiversity on the private sector. In contrast, Canada'sSpecies at Risk Act, adopted in 2002, relies primarily on public expenditures to support stewardship programs. We argue that this difference is best explained by negative lesson drawing from the US experience. In particular, awareness of the costs of species protection in the US led Canadian business to present stronger opposition to regulation than had their American counterparts decades earlier. We use the case of the CanadianSpecies at Risk Actto theorize about conditions under which negative lesson drawing is likely to be most influential.Résumé.Bien que les États-Unis et le Canada partagent les mêmes écosystèmes, les deux pays ont adopté des approches très différentes en matière de protection des espèces en péril. La Loi américaine sur les espèces en péril (US Endangered Species Act), adoptée en 1973, porte essentiellement sur la régulation, et de ce fait impose les coûts de la protection de la biodiversité au secteur privé. En revanche, la Loi canadienne sur les espèces en péril, adoptée en 2002, fait principalement retomber les coûts des programmes de gestion au secteur public. Nous démontrons que cette différence s'explique principalement par le rôle des leçons négatives apprises de l'expérience des États-Unis. La prise de conscience des coûts liés à la protection des espèces en péril aux États-Unis a notamment amené les milieux d'affaires canadiens à présenter une plus forte opposition à la régulation que leurs homologues américains l'avaient fait des années plus tôt. En s'appuyant sur le cas de la Loi canadienne sur les espèces en péril, nous visons à théoriser les conditions selon lesquelles l'acquisition de connaissance par leçons négatives (“ negative lesson drawing ”) est susceptible d'être le plus concluant.

Comparing elected mayors

PurposeThe paper aims to compare the office of directly elected mayor in England, Germany and the USA. Proposing and applying a conceptual model of government, governance and allegiance, it assesses the leadership role of the elected mayor in the three countries.Design/methodology/approachQualitative interviews were conducted with a sample of mayors in each country over a period of 11 years. These formed part of the authors' continuing research into local leadership and political management, which has also included interviews with ex‐mayors, elected representatives and senior officials.FindingsThe operation and success of the elected mayor in specific countries is influenced by formal variables (e.g. state constitutions, formal requirements) and informal relationships (e.g. with officials), represented in the distinction between structure and agency. The role of the individual mayor also varied in the light of local party affiliations. The paper considers the impact of these variables on the government, governance and allegiance functions of the elected mayor.Research limitations/implicationsIn providing an analytical framework and in the discussion of original research, a basis is provided for the further study of the office of elected mayor in different national contexts. This is likely to prove valuable as the future of sub‐national government is subject to continuity scrutiny.Practical implicationsThe adoption and growth of the elected mayoral system may be considered as an example of lesson drawing. This has both positive and negative implications. Positively, much can be learned from comparative experience. Mayoral systems have resulted in quicker decision making. The mayor provides a very visible form of local leadership and accountability. However, dangers lie in the over‐concentration of powers in the office of mayor and, in England especially, the failure of the mayoral system to enhance public engagement in local government.Originality/valueThe discussion will be of value to practitioners, policy‐makers and academic researchers who are concerned with the future of the elected local state and its office holders.

Governance, Democracy and Poverty Reduction: Lessons Drawn from Household Surveys in Sub‐Saharan Africa and Latin America

Summary Public statistics face quite a challenge when it comes to measuring new dimensions of development (institutions, governance, and social and political participation). To take up this challenge, modules on Governance, Democracy and Multiple Dimensions of Poverty have been appended to household surveys by National Statistics Institutes in twelve African and Latin American developing countries. This paper presents the issues addressed and the methodological lessons learnt along with a selection of findings to illustrate this innovative approach and demonstrate its analytic potential. We investigate, for instance, the population's support for democratic principles, the respect for civil and political rights and the trust in the political class; the ‘need for the State’, particularly of the poorest; the extent of petty corruption; the reliability of expert surveys on governance; the perception of decentralization policies at local level; the level and vitality of social and political participation, etc. The conclusive appraisal made opens up prospects for the national statistical information systems in the developing countries. The measurement and tracking of this new set of objective and subjective public policy monitoring indicators would benefit from being made systematic.

Policy transfer, lesson drawing and perspectives on elite sport development systems

Over the past 40 years at least, governments have shown a considerable willingness to devote significant sums of public or government controlled money (e.g. national lotteries) to the maintenance or improvement of elite (Olympic) sporting success. With a focus on the relationship between the UK and Australia, this paper explores the salience of the concepts of policy transfer and lesson drawing in an analysis of the development of elite sport systems. The evidence suggests that sport policymakers and bureaucrats in the UK have drawn lessons from Australia but primarily in the form of policy ideas or generalised discourses that legitimise and prioritise elite objectives. A 'dominant' elite sport discourse has potential ramifications for the design, implementation and evaluation of sport programmes. The conclusions therefore draw attention to some of the (potentially) deleterious consequences for sport management practice in the light of this dominant policy discourse.

Responsibility Incorporated

Responsibility Incorporated

The Europeanization of Central and Eastern Europe by Frank Schimmelfennig, and: Europeanization and Regionalization in the EU's Enlargement to Central and Eastern Europe: The Myth of Conditionality by James Hughes and Gwendolyn Sasse (review)

784 SEER, 84, 4, 2oo6 Schimmelfennig, Frank and Sedelmeier Ulrich (eds). 7The Europeanization of Central andEastern Europe. Cornell Studies in Political Economy. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY and London, 2005. x + 256 pp. Tables. Notes. Bibliography.Index. $22.50: f12.50 (paperback). Hughes, James, Sasse, Gwendolyn and Gordon, Claire. Europeanization and Regionalization in the EU's Enlargement to Central and EasternEurope:The Myth of Conditionaliy. One Europe or Several? Palgrave MacMillan, Basingstokeand New York, 2004. xiv + 23I pp. Maps. Figures.Tables. Notes. Bibliography.Appendix. Index. f48.oo. To what extent has the European Union caused changes in Central and EasternEurope (CEE)in the past decade and a half?Some of the more sinmplistic accounts from the extremistwing of the Europeanizationbrigade have tended to view the CEE states as little more than passive recipients duly implementing the dictates of Brussels.The reality, however, has been very different.Thanks to a number of superb studiespublished recently including Milada Anna Vachudova'sEurope Undivided (Oxford,2005) and WadeJacoby's Orderingfrom theMenu(Cambridge,2004) we now have a much more sophisticated understanding of when, why and how the EU shaped, directed and occasionally determined change in CEE. Both Hughes et al.'s Europeanization and Regionalization in the EU's Enlargement to Centraland EasternEuropeand Schimmelfennigand Sedelmeier'sexcellent edited volume, TheEuropeanization of Central andEastern Europe, contribute to this burgeoning body of literature, but in very different ways. Whereas the former is a highly detailed study of one policy area, the latter is a collection of theoreticallyinformed essays exploring a range of policy areas and countries. In order to assess the impact of the EU, Schimmelfennigand Sedelmeier suggest three models: lesson-drawing,social learning and external incentives. According to the lesson drawing model states adopt EU rules because they 'judge them as effective remedies to inherently domestic needs and policy challenges, rather than out of considerations about the incentives the EU might offer for rule adoption' (p. io). Social learning, in contrast,is linked in with notions of identity,proposingthat rule adoption is more likelywhere the target government and society identify with the organization which established the rules. The external incentivesmodel, however, is based on a hardheaded calculation:a government will adopt EU rules if the benefits of the rewards granted by the EU exceed the domestic adoption costs. Although acknowledgingthe utility of the first two of these models, particularlyin t;he early I99OS before membershipwas on the EU's agenda, the contributorsto The Europeanization of Central and EasternEuropefind the external incentives model to be the most helpful explanatoryframework. Schimmelfenning et al., however, also develop the external incentives model. As they correctlyassert,the potency of externalincentivesdepends on a number of factors.Chief among these are the clarityof the ruleswhich need to be adhered to, the credibilityof the organizationissuingthe demands, the size and speed of reformsand the existence of domestic veto players. As the I99OS progressed the EU increasinglyclarified its requirementsof countries that wished to join. Initially states were asked to meet the Copenhagen criteria,but these ratherbroad demands were then fleshed out at the Madrid REVIEWS 785 European Council in I995 and in the numerousCommission reportscharting the aspirantstates'progress(or lack of). More critically, however, what mattered was the credibility of the EU's offer of membership. The Luxembourg European Council in 1997 passed judgment on the former Communist states of CEE. Estonia, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia and the Czech Republic were deemed to have met the criteria and were invited to begin accession negotiations.This willingnessto open the negotiation doors, therefore,seemed to demonstratethat the EU's offerof membershipwas genuine which provided a clear signal for those left out that enacting the changes requiredby the EU could yield the much sought after reward. As Schimmelfennig, Engert and Knobel's chapter argues, however, 'even if credibilityis high, rule adoption will depend on the size of governmental adoption costs' (p.33). Slovakia under the leadership of Vladimir Meciar provides the clearestexample illustratingthis point. Despite the huge potential benefits of joining the club and the government'sstated declaration of joining the EU, the I994-98 government was not willing to make the necessarysacrifices.The domestic adaptationcosts were too high. Nevertheless,Schimmelfenninget al. demonstratethat the EU could bring about changes even in...

Novel Effector Molecules in Type 2 Inflammation: Lessons Drawn from Helminth Infection and Allergy

Type 2 cytokine-induced inflammatory responses are critical components of the mucosal immune response required for host defense against helminth infection and are also responsible for the pathogenesis of many debilitating diseases including asthma, allergy, and forms of inflammatory bowel disease.