State Government Levels Research Articles

Effect of COVID-19 Pandemic on Food Systems and Determinants of Resilience in Indigenous Communities of Jharkhand State, India: A Serial Cross-Sectional Study.

The COVID-19 pandemic has globally jeopardized food security, with heightened threats for the most vulnerable including smallholder farmers as well as rural, indigenous populations. A serial cross-sectional study was conducted to document effect of COVID-19 pandemic on food environment, agricultural practices, diets and food security, along with potential determinants of food systems resilience, among vulnerable smallholder farmer households in indigenous communities of Santhal, Munda, and Sauria Paharia of Jharkhand state, India. Telephonic household surveys were conducted in two phases i.e., lockdown and unlock phase to assess the impact of the pandemic on their food systems and agricultural practices. Market surveys were conducted during the unlock phase, to understand the impact on local informal markets. Secondary data on state and district level food production and Government food security programs were also reviewed. For data analysis purpose, a conceptual framework was developed which delineated possible pathways of impact of COVID-19 pandemic on food environment, food security and food consumption patterns along with factors that may offer resilience. Our findings revealed adverse effects on food production and access among all three communities, due to restrictions in movement of farm labor and supplies, along with disruptions in food supply chains and other food-related logistics and services associated with the pandemic and mitigation measures. The pandemic significantly impacted the livelihoods and incomes among all three indigenous communities during both lockdown and unlock phases, which were attributed to a reduction in sale of agricultural produce, distress selling at lower prices and reduced opportunity for daily wage laboring. A significant proportion of respondents also experienced changes in dietary intake patterns. Key determinants of resilience were identified; these included accessibility to agricultural inputs like indigenous seeds, labor available at household level due to back migration and access to diverse food environments, specifically the wild food environment. There is a need for programs and interventions to conserve and revitalize the bio-cultural resources available within these vulnerable indigenous communities and build resilient food systems that depend on shorter food supply chains and utilize indigenous knowledge systems and associated resources, thereby supporting healthy, equitable and sustainable food systems for all.

The politics of police violence: Political competition and police killings in Brazil

ABSTRACT What affects police killings of denizens in the cities of developing democracies? Brazil is one of the countries with the most casualties from police lethality, yet deaths from police interventions vary greatly across its cities, as well as over time. Since most of its police forces are formally responsive to state-level governments, the political dynamics at this government tier are essential to comprehend urban policing—and its resort to deadly violence. I argue that subnational political competition explains whether state-level governments can implement reforms to reduce police lethality. I illustrate this argument through a within-case, cross-case comparison of the city-states of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro since re-democratization in the 1980s. While lower fragmentation and partisan continuity at the state-level government enabled and consolidated reforms that mitigated police violence in São Paulo, higher fragmentation and turnover inhibited reforms and increased police lethality in Rio. Building on interviews with subnational politicians and police officers as well as statistics on police killings, this paper helps spark an urgent conversation in urban studies on police violence in the urban Global South and expands the police reform literature by developing a theory of how politics influences police violence.

States of inequality: Politics, labor, and rising income inequality in the U.S. States since 1950

This paper uses power resource theory to investigate the determinants of rising income inequality in the U.S. states from 1951–2018. Specifically, we analyze how political party control of national- and state-level government, presidential and gubernatorial election cycles, union strength and state right-to-work laws affect the Gini index and the Theil index—two measures that tap middle-class and upper-tail income inequality. A major contribution is to probe more deeply than previous research the historical and regional contingency of these processes by examining contrasting patterns between the Keynesian (1951–1980) and neoliberal (1981–2018) periods and between the Non- South and the South. We conduct three primary analyses. First, we explore the effects of these determinants over the entire period, net of other covariates. Second, we explore historical contingency by investigating how these effects differ during the Keynesian and neoliberal periods. Third, we explore regional contingency by examining differences in effects between the Non-Southern and Southern regions of the country. We find consistent evidence that political and labor power resources matter in the determination of income inequality; moreover, how they matter differs in substantively and theoretically important ways across period and region. We conclude with a discussion of what the results suggest for future developments in U.S. income inequality.

Understanding State-Level Advocacy: A Guide for Hearing Healthcare Professionals.

Advocacy is a core component of moving the hearing healthcare environment forward to optimize patient care and allow providers to work to the full extent of their scope of practice. Despite its importance, advocacy, particularly at the level of state governments, can present to many as a daunting, sometimes futile, task. The purpose of this article is to describe advocating at the state level for hearing healthcare service providers. This article will discuss considerations for audiology practitioners interested in state-level advocacy, including variations in state government organization, benefits and barriers to state advocacy, and state-level issues that affect practitioners.

Risk analysis in social housing delivery: A public–private partnerships approach

AbstractFaced with fiscal pressure and concerns over bureaucratic inefficiency, policymakers at Australia's state government level are evaluating instruments to improve social housing services. A public–private partnerships (PPPs) procurement approach is one such instrument for increasing housing supply to address housing affordability in Australia. To determine the value of pursuing a project through a PPP delivery versus a traditional procurement approach, public administrators need to determine discount rates for comparing different cash flows streams on a consistent basis. Additionally, they must estimate public sector comparator (PSC) to determine public sector's risk exposure in social housing delivery and allocating constrained housing budgets. This research assesses the discount rates and estimates the risk profile of social housing delivery faced by public agencies. Three case studies were utilised to present project estimate probability distributions for gaining insight into risk exposure in social housing delivery and helping housing budget allocation at the state government level. The findings recommend the use of an estimated 30‐year treasury bond rate (3.14%) as the PSC discount rate for social infrastructure. Additionally, the results suggest the use of a PPP discount rate for social housing of 6.01%, given a risk‐free rate of 3.14% and a systematic risk premium of 2.87%.

Electoral Violence in Nigerian Polity: Causes and Consequences

Nigerian polity over the years has witnessed several electoral processes and elections which have been characterized by various forms of violence. These have equally resulted into negative indices such as political apathy among the electorates, loss of lives and properties, low economic growth, poor standard of living and stunted political development. The paper examines electoral violence and its prevalence in Nigerian polity. The paper focuses on the factors behind the continuous occurrences of electoral violence in almost all the elections conducted in Nigeria at the federal, state and local government levels since independence. The study is a qualitative research which relied on secondary sources of information and anchored on elite theory as its theoretical framework of analysis. The paper finds that poverty, unemployment, financial inducement of elective positions, bad governance and loose security architecture among others are the causes of electoral violence in Nigeria. The paper further reveals that electoral violence creates fear among the electorates and some interested candidates which hinders their political participation and interests resulting in political apathy. The paper posits that electoral violence is an obstacle to good governance, peaceful coexistence and political development in Nigeria. The paper therefore recommends among others, that political education, public enlightenment, eradication of poverty through people oriented government policies and creation of jobs for the idle youths will help to ameliorate the occurrences of electoral violence in Nigeria polity.

Explaining Borderlands Local Government Administrators’ Perceived Responsibility to Aid Asylum-Seeking Migrants

ABSTRACT In the first eight months of 2019, 33,084 unaccompanied children and 205,290 family unit asylum-seeking migrants were apprehended and released into South Texas border cities. The migrant crisis is a case of “high profile” policy making for local government officials who must balance values of political neutrality and policy responsiveness in order to respond to this “crisis.” This study presents data from a survey of 61 local government officials in Texas border cities and interviews with six senior local government administrators. This survey finds that officials who perceive fewer negative policy impacts associated with asylum-seeking migrants and acknowledge tradeoffs between human and national security are more likely to express a responsibility to act and provide humanitarian aid despite political polarization on the issue at the federal, state, and local government levels.

Cancer Burden in Nigeria; Possibility of a New Hope in a New Political Dispensation

Nigeria looks forward to the emergence of another political dispensation. National elections are soon to take place with resultant political changes in ministerial leadership positions across the nation at federal, state, and local government levels’ including the ministry of health; however, in this article, the concern was with the general health care in Nigeria and with a focus on the prevailing situation of Cancer health care in Nigeria. Statistics showed that there is a rising global cancer epidemic in Nigeria. The level of Cancer incidence and mortality counts in Nigeria as of 2012 and still counting’ was severely high amongst women– 64709 (63%) and 40647(57%) compared to men 37370(36.6%) and 30924(43%), respectively. The emergence of a new political dispensation in 2023 ushers in a possibility and awakening of new hope in general health care. Therefore, this article highlighted the observed challenges and proffered solutions for the purpose of informed decisions. Based on staff and patient perspective interviews and discussion, the following major aspects, including a critical review of health governing boards, administration, technology, specialty expansion via partnership, quality assurance, health funding, were identified, addressed and solutions proffered.

One State, Two Entities, Three Constituent Peoples: BiH’s Failed attempt at Interethnic Peace

After the 1992-1995 Bosnian genocide, citizens of all ethnicities pleaded for peace, yearning for a new beginning. Attempting to establish a more unified country, the highly unstructured government scrambled to piece together the broken country, resulting in a system referred to as “one state, two entities, three constituent peoples.” This approach to state unification recognizes the tiered governmental structure with the existence of state and entity (quasi-state) governments, which represent the one state and two entities, respectively. These governments are disproportionately influenced by people belonging to the three dominant ethnic groups, the Bosniaks, Croats, and Serbs, who represent the three constituent peoples. Nearing thirty years after the end of the genocide, with few effective improvements made to Bosnia’s haphazardly-made governmental system, Bosnia has struggled to ensure long-lasting peace. Despite attempts to ameliorate interethnic relations through changes in the state and entity level governments, the structural makeup and consequent actions of these governments face Bosnian citizens with genocide-era tensions and unimpaired ethnopolitical enclaves that threaten the stability of the country.

Dual Problem of FPTP Electoral Systems: Evidence from the Indian States


 Democracy across the world has witnessed the evolution of the electoral system. First-Past-The-Post (FPTP), practiced in India has certain disadvantages in terms of disproportionate representation. This paper aims to construct the Gallagher Index, Gini Coefficient, and Generalized Entropy Index to measure and analyse the political concentration and inefficiency that characterise such disproportionate representation. The Gallagher Index measures the disproportionality between seat share and vote share; as it captures the disproportionality between votes received and seats won in the house. This can be viewed as a measure of inefficiency in representing the population, inasmuch as parties with a low vote share can have a high seat share. In other words, even though voters are not preferring the particular party or set of parties, these parties can still get enough seats to govern the particular state. Further, this paper tries to build the association between inefficient representation and concentration of power. We show that the high level of inefficiency in representation observed in the Indian State Assemblies is associated with the concentration of power at the state government level. We suggest that since FPTP in Indian democracy is associated with the dual problems of inefficiency and concentration, alternatives to FPTP should be considered.

Patterns of rice production and yields in south eastern Nigeria

This study assessed the patterns of rice production and yields in South Eastern Nigeria. The study focused on clusters of production systems and estimation of rice yields. The study adopted a questionnaire survey design. The instrument was subjected to face and content validation by three experts and the reliability of the instrument was determined with an internal consistency of 0.79. Four states, three Local Government Areas (LGAs) from each of the selected states were purposively selected, while two communities were randomly selected from each of the twelve LGAs making a total of twenty four communities. Twenty farm households were randomly selected from each of the two communities making a total of forty farm households per LGA. In all, a total of four hundred and eighty farm households were sampled. Data were collected on the rice types, patterns and yields in South Eastern Nigeria. Data generated were analysed using descriptive statistics, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Pearson correlation with STATA software. The results on the patterns of rice production showed that rain-fed dry upland and shallow fadama rice systems were the most widespread rice production systems across the states in the study area. Valley bottoms or ‘deep fadama’ are practiced in Anambra, Enugu and Ebonyi States. The preferred rice type in Anambra, Enugu and Ebonyi States is MAS 2401, while IR 1416 is the chief variety at Uzo-Uwani LGA of Enugu States and FARO 16 is the most preferred rice type in Abia State. The null hypothesis indicates that there exists a statistically significant variation in the patterns of rice production across the study areas. The mean yield estimation curve identified that Ebonyi State recorded the highest mean estimation production value of (7,805kg/ha) in rice production. The Pearson correlation results indicate that a very high (0.91) relationship exists between rice production patterns and yields in the study area. Based on these findings, it was concluded that the variations in the patterns of rice production across the study had resultant effect on the rice yields. It was recommended that policy makers should address the needs of local rice farmers by providing agricultural interventions at State and Local Government levels through improved agronomic practices, better inputs management and efficient water management to boost production and enable Nigeria attain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on food security [25].

Investing in Public Health Infrastructure to Address the Complexities of Homelessness.

Homelessness is now recognized as a significant public health problem in North America and throughout advanced economies of the world. The causes of homelessness are complex but the lack of affordable housing, unemployment, poverty, addiction, and mental illness all contribute to the risk for homelessness. We argue that homelessness is increasingly exacerbated by system-wide infrastructure failures occurring at the municipal, state, and federal government levels and whose catastrophic impacts on population health and the response to the COVID-19 pandemic are the consequence of the decades-long devolution of government and neglect to invest in public infrastructure, including a modern public health system.

Personal Income Tax Revenue and Nigeria's Aggregate Earnings

The contribution of personal income tax to gross national income is assessed in this study. Over the years, tax revenue has been an important government source of income to finance public goods and services. In Nigeria, the tax structure includes personal income tax (PIT) as well as other direct and indirect taxes. There is PIT collection by both the state and federal governments. This study examines the influence of PIT on aggregate income of the country from 2011 to 2020 using ordinary least squares method. The dependent variable is the gross national earnings while the independent variable is the personal income tax collected at the federal government level in Nigeria. The study finds corruption and inflation as two useful control variables that have direct influence and link with individuals' tax compliance in Nigeria. The data sources include the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for PIT figures, Transparency International (TI) for Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) data and World Bank Economic Indicators for Gross National Income (GNI) and inflation statistics. The empirical findings reveal that PIT has a significant positive influence on the gross national income. The moderating variables applied are not significant and could not explain the vicissitudes in the gross national earnings. The study recommends improvement in the PIT administration to boost tax revenue collections and remittances to the government treasury. Further suggestion by this study is that corruption and inflation should be minimized to enhance PIT collection at both federal and state government levels.

Legal frameworks for urban agriculture: Sydney case study

Purpose This paper aims to examine the planning policy and legal framework governing the creation and operation of urban agriculture in Sydney, Australia’s global city. All levels of urban agriculture are considered – from domestic and small community gardens to large agribusiness – as all make an important contribution to agricultural production in an urban context. Design/methodology/approach Using the Australian State of New South Wales and its capital Sydney, as a focus, the study examines the recent trend of the recognition and re-establishment of agriculture as a desired land use in cities. Three examples are selected for closer scrutiny – Horsley Park Urban Agriculture Precinct, located in the Western Sydney Parklands; City of Sydney’s City Farm, located in the inner suburb of St Peters; and the Western Sydney Aerotropolis Agribusiness Precinct, located at a new airport on the fringe of Sydney. Findings As more city-dwellers embrace urban food production and as city authorities seek to encourage and facilitate farming activities, it is clear that regulatory structures which allow it to happen should be incorporated into urban planning legislation at (in the Australian context) state government level. If cities want to encourage urban agriculture, planning legislation needs to be part of the broader legal framework for enabling it to germinate and thrive. Originality/value This paper explores the emergence of two new types of urban agriculture: first, the multi-functional, small-scale urban farming operation, situated conceptually between a community garden and a full-scale commercial agricultural enterprise, and located spatially in the midst of built-up urban form; and second, the intensive, high tech export-oriented model exemplified by the Aerotropolis Agribusiness Precinct.

Protecting the Public's Health in Pandemics: Reflections on Policy Deliberation and the Role of Civil Society in Democracy.

The COVID-19 pandemic (“the pandemic”) has magnified the critical importance of public policy deliberation in public health emergency circumstances when normal health care operations are disrupted, and crisis conditions prevail. Adopting the lens of syndemic theory, the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on vulnerable older adults suggests that the pandemic has heightened pre-existing precarities and racial inequities across diverse older adult populations, underlining the urgency of needed policy reforms. While the pandemic has called attention to systemic failures in U.S. public health emergency planning at both federal and state levels of government, the important role of civil society in influencing policy decision making and advocating for legal and ethics reforms and social change in a democracy calls for more open dialogue in aging, public health and legal communities and constituencies. To foster this dialogue, one public health lawyer, who is also a bioethicist and gerontological social work researcher and served as chair of the New York State Bar Association Health Law Section COVID Task Force in 2020 (“Task Force”), shares her first-person perspectives on the process of leading the development of a statewide bar's recommendations for policy reforms, including the challenges and conflicts encountered. A hospital-based attorney and clinical bioethicist brings a clinical ethics perspective to the discussions. This first-person contribution discusses the power of constituencies to influence policy deliberation in a democracy, and the implications of the Task Force recommendations for future aging and public health policy, particularly in view of the high suffering burdens and trauma older persons and older people of color have borne during the pandemic.

Issues of distribution of tax powers between different levels of government and administration

The solution of the tasks of allocating expenditures between the different levels of government and administration is accompanied by the need to make decisions on the redistribution of tax powers between the levels of state government. A study of international experience in building a vertical structure of tax authorities shows that there is no prevailing strategy for assigning this or that revenue to certain levels of government.

Policy processes leading to the adoption of 'Jamie's Ministry of Food' programme in Victoria, Australia.

This study investigated the policy processes related to the 2012 adoption of the Jamie's Ministry of Food programme by the Victorian Government in Australia. The aim was to provide insight into obesity prevention policy change processes to help strengthen future health promotion action. State-level government policy processes were examined through key informant interviews and a review of relevant documentation. Data were analysed using the Multiple Streams Theory and the Advocacy Coalition Framework in order to understand influences on relevant policy processes and strategies used by policy advocates to facilitate policy adoption. We found that policy adoption was facilitated by dedicated national funding for preventive health at that time, the relatively small number of stakeholders involved in the policy development process and the anticipated support for the programme by the general public due to the association with celebrity chef, Jamie Oliver. We identified that policy brokers aligned the policy with decision-maker ideologies and broader government objectives, and proactively managed potential criticisms. Evidence of intervention effectiveness was not a major driver of policy adoption. We conclude that, iven the complexity of policy processes for obesity prevention, multiple, reinforcing strategies are likely to be needed to facilitate policy change. Support for the adoption of obesity prevention policies is likely to increase when framing of policy options aligns with decision-maker values and has broad public appeal.

Recognizing the Un-Recognized: A Brief on Gender-Disparity in Labor Force Participation in India

Lower rate of Labour Force Participation rate by women in India plays a key role in rising gender disparity in income, education, health and other development indicators. Several studies say that gender disparity brings down the rate of economic growth. At the Union and State Government level, some initiatives have been taken to improve the gender parity. However, some more aggressive policies need to be adopted to stop the disparity momentum. The present piece uses information from India Data Portal to explain the existing Gender Disparity in India.

Europe’s Secessionist Movements and Covid-19

AbstractFor three European states in particular, the Covid-19 pandemic has served to catalyze pre-existing territorial disputes. While the United Kingdom, Spain, and Belgium have all had very different responses to the pandemic, in all three cases the actions of central and regional government have put existing structures of regional autonomy under strain. In Spain, the pandemic response has become intertwined with the Catalan independence debate (especially in disputes between pro-independence parties), and elsewhere in the country it has cemented co-operative relationships between moderate nationalists and the statewide left. In Belgium, the pandemic has accentuated territorial disputes and further complicated government formation. And in the UK diverging responses to the pandemic have helped boost nationalist movements in the devolved nations; particularly the cause of the Scottish National Party (SNP) and their ambitions to create an independent Scottish state. While the year has been highly significant for secessionist movements in all three states, only in the UK does a decisive shift towards state-breakup seem to have occurred. The article argues that whether or not a secessionist movement benefits from the pandemic is highly contingent on contextual factors, including the performance of state-level governments in responding to the pandemic and the relative autonomy of regional governments during the response.

Using a co-design process to develop an integrated model of care for delivering self-management intervention to multi-morbid COPD people in rural Nepal

BackgroundPeople with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Nepal are not receiving adequate support to self-manage their chronic conditions, and primary health care can play a key role in the effective management of these. In this study, we aimed to develop a model of care, using a co-design approach, for delivering evidence-based biomedical and psycho-social care to support self-management for people with multi-morbid COPD in rural Nepal.MethodsA co-design approach, guided by the five stages of the design thinking model, was used for this study. Layering on “empathize” and “define” phases, we ideated a model of care that was further refined in a “prototype” stage, which included a series of consultative meetings and a 1-day co-design workshop with stakeholders. This co-design process involved a wide range of stakeholders from Nepal, including people with COPD and their families, community representatives, local government representatives, primary care practitioners, community health workers, policymakers, state-level government representatives and academics.ResultsThrough our co-design approach, a model of integrated care for delivering evidence-based biomedical and psycho-social care to support self-management for people with multi-morbid COPD was designed. The integrated model of care included: screening of the community members aged > 40 years or exhibiting symptoms for COPD and management of symptomatic patients within primary health care, establishing referral pathways for severe cases to and from secondary/tertiary-level health care and establishing a community-based support system. It involved specific roles for community health workers, patients and their caregivers and community representatives. It was built on existing services and programmes linking primary health care centres and tertiary-level health facilities.ConclusionThe co-design approach is different from the currently dominant approach of rolling out models of care, which were designed elsewhere with minimal community engagement. In our study, the co-design approach was found to be effective in engaging various stakeholders and in developing a model of care for rural Nepal. This grassroots approach is more likely to be acceptable, effective and sustainable in rural Nepal. Further research is required to test the effectiveness of an integrated model of care in delivering self-management support for people with multi-morbid COPD in rural Nepal.