Negotiated Consensus Research Articles

Collective Impunity for Transition? Consenso and the International Travels of a Spanish Paradigm

Abstract: Before South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation , there was the Spanish consenso . The idea of negotiated and peaceful consensus it embodied, as a way to overcome violent pasts after the end of dictatorship, was forged in the work of Communists, Socialists, Christian Democrats and human rights organisations both internationally and in Spain from the late 1950s onwards. Following the death of Franco and Spain's successful democratization from the late 1970s, it would then become an influential approach that travelled internationally for two decades. This article highlights the role of left politicians and organisations such as the Socialist International in the deradicalization of visions of post-dictatorial justice and in the circulation of this paradigm across Latin America and Eastern Europe. It concludes by tracing the way in which, in the twenty-first century, consenso-type settlements have been attacked for, variously, their acceptance of impunity; avoidance of questions of economic and structural justice; and incapacity to effect a revolutionary break sufficient to protect societies from corruption, inequality and a return to authoritarianism. Shorter Abstract: Before South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation , there was the Spanish consenso , understood not only as a commitment to a peaceful democratic exit from dictatorship, but also a way of forging an end to, and not falling back into, civil war. This article explores in particular the contribution of an international and domestic left in not only building the consenso in Spain, but also exporting its deradicalized vision of post-dictatorial justice across Latin America and Eastern Europe. It concludes by analysing why consenso-type settlements fell out of fashion after the Cold War and have been attacked in the twenty-first century.

‘Are they walking their talk?’: alignment of teachers’ professed beliefs and enacted practices for teaching through dialogic argumentation

ABSTRACT This exploratory multiple-case study investigated the belief systems (professed and enacted) of four secondary school biology teachers towards teaching through dialogic argumentation. The constant comparison method was used to iteratively assess the qualitative data, which included classroom observations, field notes, transcripts of the formal and informal interviews and teachers’ reflections, and classroom video and audio recordings. Three themes emerged to represent the teachers’ belief systems for teaching through dialogic argumentation: 1) using ‘inter-language’; 2) scaffolding the negotiated consensus; and 3) ‘taking up’ and ‘referring back’ to students’ ideas. Moreover, two other interesting results were revealed. First, the study corroborates previous results which state that teachers’ intentions or predispositions in addition to their eagerness and willingness to use reform-based strategies pushed them towards successful implementation of their strategies for teaching through dialogic argumentation. Second, the strategies they implemented somehow revealed how they view dialogic argumentation as an approach to the co-construction of knowledge in science teaching and learning. The study offers implications for future professional development in terms of improving other aspects, such as teachers’ understanding of the advantages of reform-based strategies and constant mentoring which may also influence their intentions to achieve the curriculum goals.

Using Scenario Building and Participatory Mapping to Negotiate Conservation-Development Trade-Offs in Northern Ghana

In multifunctional landscapes, expanding economic activities jeopardise the integrity of biodiverse ecosystems, generating conservation-development trade-offs that require multi-stakeholder dialogue and tools to negotiate conflicting objectives. Despite the rich literature on participatory mapping and other tools to reveal different stakeholder perspectives, there is limited evidence on the application of such tools in landscape-scale negotiations. This paper addresses this gap by analysing a participatory mapping process in Ghana’s Western Wildlife Corridor, where a community-based landscape governance system called the community resource management area (CREMA) exists. Data from three participatory mapping workshops and focus group discussions with community and institutional actors reveal that increasing demand for food and natural resources and climate change impacts are drivers of landscape degradation, resulting in declining faunal and floral biodiversity and reduced ecosystem services. Meanwhile, community actors prioritise the expansion of farming land, while institutional actors prioritise forest conservation. However, scenario building and participatory mapping helped communicate each other’s aims and reach a negotiated consensus. Finally, power relations, cultural and traditional rules, and differences in knowledge affected deliberations and decision-making. We conclude that scenario building and participatory mapping can contribute to an inclusive landscape approach, provided that well-functioning multi-stakeholder platforms are in place and facilitators adequately navigate power imbalances and recognise different kinds and degrees of knowledge.

On Awangarda: Tradition and Modernity in Postwar Polish Music by Lisa Cooper Vest

Awangarda: Tradition and Modernity in Postwar Polish Music (University of California Press, 2020) by Lisa Cooper Vest traces discourses of tradition, modernity, and progress in Polish new music composition between 1930 and 1965. Drawing on an extensive body of archival materials, Cooper Vest demonstrates ideas, interests, and stakes that were at play for different actors invested in the shifting musical milieu in mid-century Poland. This essay offers an overview of the book’s main arguments–including its new approach to the history of the Polish School–while highlighting the ways in which Cooper Vest’s work is compelling to Polish audiences. Rather than retreading the worn narrative of Polish post-war music culture as an extension of the broader East-West ideological conflict, Cooper Vest emphasizes the local Polish context. Mid-century musical discourse relied on a consensus that Poland had fallen behind on a fixed path of development. This idea of backwardness takes the form of two discursive gestures: lag and lack. Tracing the return of the nineteenth-century Romantic ideas about compositional genius, attributed first to Witold Lutosławski and later to a new group of young composers, Cooper Vest demonstrates that the Polish School phenomenon was a negotiated consensus, rather than a group that emerged organically. At the same time, the author documents the rise and fall of Bogusław Schaeffer and his individual vision for avant-garde composition. This unique contribution to the field of musicology also poses broader questions about mobilizing history and memory to consolidate a sense of national identity through music composition.

"Faces on a screen": A qualitative study of the virtual and in-person conference experience.

The strengths and weaknesses of virtual and in-person formats within continuing professional development (CPD) are incompletely understood. This study sought to explore attendees' perspectives across multiple specialties regarding benefits and limitations of conference formats and strategies for successful virtual and hybrid (i.e., in-person conferences with a virtual option) conferences. From December 2020 to January 2021, semistructured interviews were conducted with participants who attended both virtual and in-person CPD conferences. Purposive sampling was utilized to ensure diverse representation of gender, years in practice, location, academic rank, specialty, and practice type. Multiple specialties were intentionally sought to better understand the broader experience among physicians in general, rather than among a specific specialty. Using modified grounded theory approach with a constructivist-interpretivist paradigm, two investigators independently analyzed all interview transcripts. Discrepancies were resolved by in-depth discussion and negotiated consensus. Twenty-six individuals across 16 different specialties were interviewed. We identified three overarching concepts: motivations to attend conferences, benefits and limitations of different conference formats, and strategies to optimize virtual and hybrid conferences. Specific motivators included both professional and personal factors. Benefits of in person included networking/community, immersion, and wellness, while the major limitation was integration with personal life. Benefits of virtual were flexibility, accessibility, and incorporation of technology, while limitations included technical challenges, distractions, limitations for tactile learning, and communication/connection. Benefits of hybrid included more options for access, while limitations included challenges with synchrony of formats and dilution of experiences. Strategies to improve virtual/hybrid conferences included optimizing technology/production, facilitating networking and engagement, and deliberate selection of content. This study identified several benefits and limitations of each medium as well as strategies to optimize virtual and hybrid CPD conferences. This may help inform future CPD conference planning for both attendees and conference planners alike.

"Not just a checkbox": A qualitative study of the resident scholarly experience.

Scholarship is a requirement of residency training; however, the scholarly productivity of trainees is highly variable. The purpose of this study was to explore the perspectives of residents who have been highly productive in scholarship. We performed a qualitative study using a constructivist-interpretivist paradigm and conducted semistructured interviews at seven Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-accredited emergency medicine residency programs in the United States. We included sites of diverse locations and training formats (PGY-1 to -4 vs. PGY-1 to -3). Program leadership identified residents with high levels of scholarly productivity at their institutions. We used purposive sampling to seek out residents with diversity in gender and PGY level. Two researchers independently performed a thematic analysis of interview transcripts. Discrepancies were resolved through in-depth discussion and negotiated consensus. We invited 14 residents and all consented to be interviewed. Residents felt scholarship enhanced their knowledge and skills, grew collaborative networks, and provided personal fulfillment and external rewards. Scholarship positively impacted their careers by focusing their professional interests and informing career decisions. Participants identified individual and institutional facilitators of success including personal prior knowledge and skills, project management skills, mindset, protected time, mentorship, and leadership support. Challenges to conducting scholarship included lack of time, expertise, and resources. Participants acknowledged that participating in scholarly activities was hard work and recommended that residents seek out quality mentorship, work on projects that they are passionate, start early, and be persistent in their efforts. Participants' advice to faculty supporting resident scholarship included recommendations to allow resident autonomy of projects, provide scholarly opportunities, and be responsive to trainee needs. Participants in this study highlighted benefits of participating in scholarly activity as well as challenges and strategies for success. These results can inform residencies seeking to enhance the scholarly experience of trainees.

The politics of women’s lives: gendered re-presentations in Bangladesh’s climate change adaptation regime

ABSTRACT Bangladesh is transitioning into a middle-income country but remains at risk from the negative impacts of climate change. Consequently, development efforts are gradually being replaced by climate change adaptation. In this article, I investigate how ‘gender’ is understood and conceptualized in climate change adaptation in Bangladesh, and what this means for how gender considerations are included in adaptation efforts. I build on qualitative interviews with representatives of what Kasia Paprocki has coined the ‘climate change adaptation regime’ in Dhaka, as well as participant observation at conferences, seminars, and meetings on issues relevant to gender and climate change adaptation in Bangladesh. Understanding adaptation to be political and contested, I argue that established representations of women in development and disaster thinking are now re-presented to fit with the politically negotiated consensus of what adaptation in Bangladesh should look like, and that gender mainstreaming initiatives which go beyond the understanding of adaptation as negotiated by this consensus are excluded. This may lead to increased responsibilities for women, feminizing the responsibility to adapt to climate change.

Veterans' experiences with and perspectives on insomnia treatment: A qualitative study.

Qualitative interviews were conducted with veterans to understand their experiences and perceptions about insomnia and its treatment, with a focus on cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) and brief behavioral treatment for insomnia (BBTI). There is a lack of knowledge about veterans' understanding of this prevalent disorder, yet their experiences and perceptions can influence treatment delivery and treatment outcomes. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) can improve insomnia care by considering and responding to this valuable information from veteran stakeholders. Twenty veterans with an insomnia diagnosis or complaint were interviewed about their experiences with insomnia, its treatment, and their preferences for care. Transcripts from the audio-recorded interviews were independently analyzed by 2 coders using content analysis, and discrepancies were resolved through negotiated consensus. The 20 veterans were mostly male (85%), older (60.4 years ± 9.0), and white (60%). Experiences with insomnia and perspectives regarding treatment focused on (a) insomnia symptoms, (b) comorbid symptoms, (c) seeking treatment, (d) intervention experiences, (e) intervention preferences and expectations, and (f) patient attributes. Barriers to care included a lack of knowledge about treatment and a lack of options that fit veterans' preference for delivery. These results provide insight into veterans' experiences with and perspectives on insomnia treatment that is crucial to the support, development, and implementation of interventions. A focus on increasing knowledge of, and expectations for, insomnia treatments as well as offering multiple delivery options has the potential to improve utilization and access to quality insomnia care. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

The revised Approved Instructional Resources score: An improved quality evaluation tool for online educational resources.

Free Open-Access Medical education (FOAM) use among residents continues to rise. However, it often lacks quality assurance processes and residents receive little guidance on quality assessment. The Academic Life in Emergency Medicine Approved Instructional Resources tool (AAT) was created for FOAM appraisal by and for expert educators and has demonstrated validity in this context. It has yet to be evaluated in other populations. We assessed the AAT's usability in a diverse population of practicing emergency medicine (EM) physicians, residents, and medical students; solicited feedback; and developed a revised tool. As part of the Medical Education Translational Resources: Impact and Quality (METRIQ) study, we recruited medical students, EM residents, and EM attendings to evaluate five FOAM posts with the AAT and provide quantitative and qualitative feedback via an online survey. Two independent analysts performed a qualitative thematic analysis with discrepancies resolved through discussion and negotiated consensus. This analysis informed development of an initial revised AAT, which was then further refined after pilot testing among the author group. The final tool was reassessed for reliability. Of 330 recruited international participants, 309 completed all ratings. The Best Evidence in Emergency Medicine (BEEM) score was the component most frequently reported as difficult to use. Several themes emerged from the qualitative analysis: for ease of use-understandable, logically structured, concise, and aligned with educational value. Limitations include deviation from questionnaire best practices, validity concerns, and challenges assessing evidence-based medicine. Themes supporting its use include evaluative utility and usability. The author group pilot tested the initial revised AAT, revealing a total score average measure intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of moderate reliability (ICC=0.68, 95% confidence interval [CI]=0 to 0.962). The final AAT's average measure ICC was 0.88 (95% CI= 0.77 to 0.95). We developed the final revised AAT from usability feedback. The new score has significantly increased usability, but will need to be reassessed for reliability in a broad population.

Corporate Restructuring under Relative and Absolute Priority Default Rules: A Comparative Assessment

The European Union recently adopted a Restructuring Directive intended to facilitate the reorganization of insolvent and other financially troubled firms. Although the central goal of the Directive parallels that of Chapter 11 of U.S. bankruptcy law — to protect and maximize the value of financially distressed but economically viable enterprises by consensually reorganizing their capital structure — the Directive introduces an innovative but controversial option: that EU Member States can decree that reorganization negotiations should be subject to a relative priority default rule, in contrast to the type of absolute priority default rule used by Chapter 11. EU officials argue that relative priority is not only fair but also provides the flexibility that is needed pragmatically to restructure a troubled firm. This article explains why relative priority inadvertently can undermine the incentives needed to achieve a successful restructuring, and why absolute priority provides a more effective default rule for reaching a negotiated consensus. Additionally, the article illustrates why the Directive’s standard not only may be unfair to creditors but also might discourage debt investments in the European Union.

Student Pharmacists’ Use of Patient-Centered Communication Skills During an Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience

Objective. To assess how Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) students use patient-centered communication (PCC) during a community pharmacy introductory pharmacy practice experience (IPPE). Methods. All first-year student pharmacists at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences completed a required course in patient-centered communication that included training in motivational interviewing. After subsequently completing their first IPPE, the students submitted written reflections on their use of PCC during the experience. The reflections were de-identified and template analysis was conducted. With this method, predetermined codes are established, and a constant comparison method is used to finalize overarching themes. The students' overall level of reflection was assessed and each reflection was coded. Discrepancies were resolved through in-depth discussion and negotiated consensus. Results. Of the 116 student reflections submitted, 951 codes were applied. Six overarching themes were identified: acknowledgement of motivational interviewing skills/components; philosophy of patient-centeredness; barriers to using PCC or motivational interviewing; benefits from use of PCC; demonstration of good general communication skills; and perceptions of patient encounters. Approximately 46% of students reflected at a level three or higher (ie, personal insight or intended behavior change). Conclusion. First-year student pharmacists successfully used PCC skills during their IPPE. These findings demonstrate the impact that a PCC course can have on students' overall patient-centeredness and highlights barriers that students struggle to overcome. Other pharmacy schools may benefit from implementing a similar PCC course. Activities that reiterate these skills and provide additional opportunities to practice PCC are necessary throughout the curriculum.

Translating the Patient Dignity Inventory.

The Patient Dignity Inventory (PDI) is based on an empirically-driven dignity model that has been developed and used for clinically assessing the various sources of dignity-related distress. In a recent review, it received the highest score as a useful instrument in both practice and research in palliative care. The PDI has been adapted to and validated for use in various countries, but not yet Sweden. To translate the PDI into Swedish, including cultural adaptation for clinical use. A multi-step process of translation, negotiated consensus, expert group discussion (n=7: four invited experts and three researchers) and cognitive interviewing (n=7: persons with palliative care needs). Discussion, by the expert reviewers, of both linguistic and cultural issues regarding the content and readability of the translated Swedish version resulted in revisions of items and response alternatives, focusing mainly on semantic, conceptual, and experiential equivalence. A pilot version for cognitive interviews was produced. The analysis of data showed that most of the items were judged to be relevant by the persons with palliative care needs. The process of translation and adaptation added clarity and consistency. The Swedish version of the PDI can be used in assessing dignity-related distress. The next step will be to test this Swedish version for psychometric properties in a larger group of patients with palliative care needs before use in research.

The SDGs Indicators: A Challenging Task for the International Statistical Community

AbstractThe papers in this Special Issue raise a number of relevant and important questions, of which three particularly deserve comment. Are indicators reductionist? They might be indeed, both regarding the process of defining them and in their use, which is why it is essential that each be based on a deep and sufficient knowledge of the phenomenon concerned. The human development index illustrates both the pitfalls and potential of global indicators. Are there dark forces behind the selection of indicators? The agreement of the 2030 Agenda was the outcome of a political process that led to a negotiated consensus accomplished by the Open Working Group. In determining the indicators, the Inter‐Agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators (IAEG SDG) was asked for a simple and robust framework which would not affect the political equilibrium reached in the Open Working Group (OWG); no easy task. Is the IAEG SDG an arcane bureaucratic entity? In the face of this immensely challenging task, it has sought a balance between what is feasible in the short term and what is required in the long term. The IAEG SDG has become a space for open and constructive dialog between national statistical offices and international agencies.

Integrating Effort in Emerging Pluralistic Organizations

This study investigates how organizations that emerge in pluralistic settings can integrate effort to achieve a collective end. In this form of organizing, independent actors with discordant preferences share decision-making power over interdependent choices. Our insights are grounded in the planning of a new railway network in the UK, the High-Speed 2 project. Using an organization design lens, we encounter two mechanisms to integrate effort after a designated leader manipulates the structure of direct participation in decision-making. Resolving the coordination problem is up to technical working groups through voluntary information provision and processing. Their work uses rationalistic criteria to whittle the solution space down to a short list of options. As trade-offs emerge, organizational leaders must cooperate to build a negotiated consensus within the coordinated solution space. We reveal variance in the interplay between coordination and cooperation contingent on goal congruence and urgency to build consensus. We conclude by discussing logic linking pluralistic organizing structure to organizational performance.

Child marriage in Nigeria: (Il)legal and (un)constitutional?

The article refers to a recent article on child marriage in Nigeria, published in this Journal, as a broad context to examine two issues. The first is the statutory elaboration of the constitutional protection of children, and the second is the suggestion that religious marriages trump children's rights in Nigeria's constitutional jurisprudence. These issues are discussed together in the context of the belief that the absence of statutory protection of children is not fatal to their human rights protection, and that neither an Islamic nor any other religious marriage trumps the rights of children in Nigeria. The article recommends a negotiated consensus in determining the minimum age for child marriage, given Nigeria's plural and religious constituents.

Implementing clinical guidelines in low-income settings: A review of literature

The use of clinical guidelines has been shown to confer benefits for care delivery in high-income settings, but little is known about their implementation in low-income settings. We conducted a systematic literature review on the implementation of World Health Organisation (WHO) clinical guidelines for hospital care in low-income settings. We searched Medline, Global Health and Scopus for articles describing the implementation of clinical guidelines issued by the WHO for hospitals in low-income countries. Each article in the final sample was reviewed independently by two reviewers who harmonised their findings to identify key factors affecting the implementation process, which were grouped into thematic categories through negotiated consensus among project team members. Seventeen studies met the inclusion criteria. Factors affecting the guideline implementation process in low-income countries were (1) degree of support from facility management and Ministry of Health, (2) credibility and acceptability of clinical guidelines from the perspective of health care providers, (3) efforts to adapt clinical guidelines to local circumstances and (4) use of guides and checklists for implementation. These four factors consistently emerged in our review and should be considered when designing future strategies to implement clinical guidelines in low-income countries.

Paradoxes of rationality in road safety policy

Rationality is an ideal for transport safety policy. As developed within normative welfare economics, rationality denotes the efficient use of safety measures based on cost–benefit analyses that include all relevant impacts of the measures. Efficiency in the technical sense of the term provides a perfectly clear and precise guideline for policy priorities. Nevertheless, some choices that are guided by cost–benefit analysis may strike us as paradoxical or counterintuitive. A paradox of rationality refers to any situation in which conflicting choices can both be defended as rational. This paper discusses a number of choices that may seem paradoxical. The first involves the choice between options that have identical impacts on safety, but in which these impacts are valued differently. The second deals with the tendency for preference reversals to occur when preferences for the provision of safety are aggregated. The third discusses the inability of conventional measures of willingness-to-pay to reflect the intensity of preferences. The fourth concerns the tendency for policy choice to favour the rich at the expense of the poor when willingness-to-pay is not adjusted for the marginal utility of money. A fifth situation refers to the fact that a policy option that looks attractive ex ante may fail an ex post compensation test because utility functions depend on health state. There is a potential conflict between individual and collective rationality with respect to the costs and benefits of some road safety measures. When developing a road safety programme, a set of road safety measures whose benefits exceed the costs when considered as stand-alone measures could have benefits smaller than cost when combined in a programme consisting of all the measures. Finally, there is a potential conflict between efficiency and negotiated consensus as mechanisms of resource allocation in the public sector. The sources of the paradoxes and ways of avoiding them are discussed. Some of the paradoxes can be avoided if changes in risk are valued in terms of a fixed price per unit of risk rather than according to a non-linear demand function.

Design principles for social‐ecological transformation toward sustainability: lessons from New Zealand sense of place

As society seeks to meet the needs of a growing human population and rising aspirations for consumption, many of the ecosystem services on which society depends have declined in the global aggregate. Although some local societies sustainably manage their natural resources for long time periods, the more frequent pattern is overuse of renewable resources and a trajectory toward degradation. How can this degradation be reversed? In this paper we draw on four New Zealand examples and the literature to posit a set of design principles and recommendations to foster transformation from social‐ecological degradation toward more sustainable pathways. These include a strong sense of place, prioritizing long‐term solutions over short‐term benefits, collective engagement of all key stakeholders and willingness to compromise, right to organize and manage, negotiated consensus on sustainability goals, formal and informal monitoring, flexibility to renegotiate goals and adapt, and guidance by a skilled facilitator. We also identify guidelines that foster consensus‐building in the face of contested solutions. Examples from New Zealand and the literature suggest that local social‐ecological systems can self‐organize to shift toward more sustainable trajectories and that society can foster conditions that increase the likelihood of favorable transformations.

Safeguarding children in places of religious instruction…the madressah project

IntroductionChildren often receive religious and other instruction in venues run by religious institutions such us churches, temples and mosques. Madressahs are complementary schools providing basic Islamic education, Quraan memorisation, Islamic...

She's Upright: Sexuality and Obscenity in Islam

AbstractThis paper explores the concepts of sexuality and obscenity in Islamic traditions and the way cultures and society shape the value systems that judge beauty, propriety, and legality. I conclude that societal values are preserved in emerging religious teachings—by way of expanding categories for acts, rules, and values and by relying on practice-based consensus; not on negotiated consensus. As such, in Islam, obscenity and profanity become nuisances that disturb individuals' spiritual balance and unwanted variables that destabilize social equilibrium.