Non-governmental Actors Research Articles

From Human Rights to Citizens' Rights? Democratic Framing Contests and Refugee Politics in South Korea

In 2018, the South Korean government denied refugee status to all but two of the almost 500 Yemenis who, fleeing civil war in their home country, had arrived earlier in the year on the resort island of Jeju. This decision was made in the context of a short-lived but intense public backlash, even though the overall number of refugees has remained consistently low. Three years later, nearly 400 Afghans were evacuated to South Korea with government support and little controversy. What explains these different patterns of refugee politicization in South Korea? I argue that the 2018 episode of anti-refugee activism in South Korea does not follow the typical script in immigration politics which pits "natives" against "outsiders"; rather, it is a reflection of internal political divisions. In this article, I focus on political framing contests involving governmental and non-governmental actors that draw upon prior rhetorical frames of political mobilization which had developed in a broader context of state-building, development, and democratization. The 2018 Jeju "crisis" was partially a reaction against state-led multiculturalism (damunhwa), which had gained momentum since the 2000s. It also signalled a political backlash against previous decades of social and political movements that framed labour rights, migrant workers' rights, and other minority rights as a necessary expansion of human rights befitting a responsible "advanced nation." At the same time, the varied responses to the arrival of Yemenis in 2018 and Afghans in 2021 show that the coherence and resonance of competing political frames during key moments can help explain the type and degree of political mobilization on refugee policy. Furthermore, these comparative case studies show that South Korean attitudes toward refugees have not settled into stable political-economic coalitions and remain contested and in flux.

Mapping creative territories with actors, partnerships, innovations, and regulatory mechanisms based on literature review

Creative territories are geographic spaces of collaboration between different social actors, driving innovations and requiring regulatory mechanisms for sustainability and growth. This paper aims to synthesize available evidence on creative territories through a systematic literature review to analyze the significant actors in creative territories, the type of partnerships between them, the kind of innovations in creative territories, and the regulatory mechanisms for supporting these territories. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed to ensure a transparent and systematic approach. A comprehensive search in the Scopus database, employing predefined search terms and inclusion criteria, included 86 articles. The findings revealed several key topics within the existing academic literature on creative territories, including i) the individual social players in creative territories and partnerships and collaborations among them, ii) the various innovations in these territories and sectors, iii) the regulatory mechanisms applied by government and non-government actors. These topics or aspects were further analyzed and categorized to provide a comprehensive overview of the research landscape. The discussion section presents a critical analysis and synthesis of the findings, highlighting that the government supports creative territories through 16 regulatory mechanisms, while the literature highlights at least 5 levels of government intervention. Additionally, private social actors can positively impact creative territories through various regulatory mechanisms, including firm self-regulation, industry self-regulation, and civil regulation, with at least 21 social actors classified into 5 groups collaborating through six types/forms of collaboration. Furthermore, several circumstances and factors should be available to prosper in a particular partnership/collaboration like a clear definition of responsibilities, well-defined rules, mutual benefits, equal collaboration, and solid authority. The findings underscore the importance of creative territories and serve as a valuable resource for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers, offering insights and directions for future research endeavors.

SME’s export intensity: enhancers, inhibitors and firm characteristics

This study aims to investigate the factors explaining the variation in SMEs’ degree of internationalization, measured by export intensity (i.e. the share of export revenue in total revenue). Primary data were collected through survey administered using questionnaire in seven provinces in Indonesia, yielding 497 usable responses. Principal component analysis was used to solve dimensionality issues of perceptual variables while Generalized Linear Model (fractional logit regression) and the Ordinary Least Square regression were used in the estimation. The findings show that SMEs’ export expansion is positively affected by firm characteristics namely firm age and total employees, as well as some exhibiting factors namely owners’ international work experience, central government assistance, network relationships with non-government actors, location, export market of choices and years of exporting. By contrast, SMEs’ export continuation is adversely affected by perceived difficulties in overcoming informational and human resources barriers, distribution, logistics and promotional barriers, financial barriers, foreign government barriers, procedural barriers and price barriers. The findings suggest that post-export assistance is as important as creating new exporters. Further, the findings provide insights on specific types of assistances required by exporting SMEs to exploit their export-exhibiting factors while also overcoming the export-inhibiting factors.

Conceptualizations of Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation: A Case Study of the Daniel Boone National Forest

The Daniel Boone National Forest (DBNF) contains numerous abandoned mine sites left over from eastern Kentucky’s history of coal mining, many of which are leaching contaminants into the environment. The United States Forest Service is acting to reclaim these sites to mitigate negative impacts. There are several other governmental and non-governmental actors in Appalachia with different conceptualizations of reclamation’s purpose. This research examines the mine land reclamation process on a protected area within a region with a history of resource extraction and builds on previous work to understand different conceptualizations of abandoned mine land reclamation in Appalachia. Content analysis was conducted on DBNF project documentation, interviews, and documentation from state and federal agencies, and NGOs. These documents indicate that government entities tend to conceptualize reclamation and its purpose in a siloed manner. This research also reveals that non-governmental actors tend to conceptualize reclamation in a holistic manner but are less able to exert control over an area. The DBNF largely conceptualizes the purpose of reclamation as achieving ecosystem restoration but may benefit from working more closely with NGOs and adopting a similarly holistic approach. Opening a dialogue between these actors could help address the knowledge gap present at the DBNF’s sites

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and its contribution to the development of Humanitarian Diplomacy

This article deals with the role of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in the development of humanitarian diplomacy. As one of the largest humanitarian organizations in the world, the IFRC plays a key role in coordinating and providing assistance in emergencies, as well as in strengthening international cooperation and advocacy. The article analyses the main areas of IFRC activities, including its efforts to provide humanitarian assistance in areas of armed conflict, natural disasters and other crisis situations. The mechanisms of the Federation's interaction with state structures, international organizations and non-governmental actors are considered, and their effectiveness is assessed. Special attention is paid to such aspects as resource mobilization, development and implementation of emergency preparedness programs, and support and protection of vulnerable groups. The author provides a detailed analysis of key initiatives and programs implemented by the IFRC, such as the “More Than Aid” strategy, the “Time for Humanitarian Action” initiative and climate change programs. The article uses general scientific methods and the method of situation analysis, which made it possible to determine the scope of scientific research and clarify the basic concepts and categories associated with the formation and development of the phenomenon of humanitarian diplomacy. In the process of preparing the article, such general scientific methods of cognition as analysis, synthesis, deduction, induction, comparison, analogy, abstraction and generalization were used. A comprehensive and systematic study of the topic of the article is missing in the science of international relations. The article concludes on the relevance of the IFRC's activities for the development of humanitarian diplomacy and gives recommendations for strengthening its role in the future. The author proposes strategic directions to improve the IFRC's engagement with various actors in the international arena and to coordinate humanitarian efforts better globally.

Policy Actors' Perceptions of Conflicts of Interest and Alcohol Industry Engagement in UK Policy Processes.

Alcohol industry organisations occupy a prominent position in UK alcohol policy, but their involvement has been contested by public health bodies on the basis that a conflict of interest (COI) exists between their economic objectives and those of public health. There are ongoing debates in the research literature about how to conceptualise COI and mitigate this in health research and practise. However, less attention has been paid to these issues in relation to the alcohol industry specifically. This article explores similarities and differences in beliefs among alcohol policy actors regarding COI and the implications of engagement with the alcohol industry in the context of UK public health policy. Semi-structured interviews with a range of policy actors (n=26) including medical professionals, parliamentarians, civil servants, academic researchers, health campaigners, and alcohol industry representatives. Interviews with alcohol industry representatives were supplemented with an analysis of industry responses to a public consultation. All data was thematically coded using NVivo software. Two competing "coalitions" were identified, expressing beliefs about COI linked to alcohol industry engagement. Both divergent and convergent beliefs were expressed by the two coalitions in relation to the type of industry actor, form of engagement, the policy issue under discussion and the stage of policy process. Alcohol policy is a complex and contested space in which policy actors have differing, nuanced and contingent understandings of COI and identify varying risks associated with alcohol industry engagement. In identifying the areas of convergence and diversion in both understanding and evaluation of COI in alcohol-specific settings, these findings will assist both decision-makers and non-governmental actors in developing policies and guidelines to manage potential COI in future.

Community forestry in the Czech Republic – A historical throwback or a step forward?

The rising level of complexity and uncertainty in environmental governance highlights the interplay between governmental and non-governmental actors producing various forms of sustainable forest management, including community-based forestry, in which the relevance of small-scale private forest owners follows. In urban peripheries, community forestry principles shape small-scale private forest owners' activities. On an analytical level of small-scale private forest owners in Mladá Boleslav urban area, this paper uses the assumptions of the pluralist theory of democracy and resource mobilization theory in the context of community-based forestry to investigate the perceptions of the mobilization of material, human, and socio-organizational resources. It is in line with the policy objectives in the State Conception of Forest Policy 2035 issued by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic. Its methodology is based on qualitative semi-structured interviews to gain in-depth results. The results showed that most small-scale private forest owners in urban areas perceived resource mobilization as a potentially beneficial mechanism for reaching a consensus and collective action. However, a functioning model for forest communities in urban areas is missing in the Czech Republic. This situation stems from the historical experience with socialism and the country's short tradition with a market economy. It implies historical prejudices and anthropocentric values among small-scale private forest owners. Lacking confidence in public policy processes and placing emphasis on interpersonal trust were also noticed during the research. The results open future avenues for discussion about the pathways for implementing community-based forestry models in urban areas in the Czech Republic.

Generating Political Priority for the Health Needs of the 21st Century: A Qualitative Policy Analysis on the Prioritization of Rehabilitation Services in Uganda.

Few low- or middle-income countries (LMICs) have prioritized the expansion of rehabilitation services. Existing scholarship has identified that problem definition, governance, and structural factors are influential in the prioritization of rehabilitation. The objective of this study was to identify the factors influencing the prioritization and implementation of rehabilitation services in Uganda. A case study design was utilized. The Prioritization of Rehabilitation in National Health Systems framework guided the study. Data sources included 33 key informant interviews (KIIs) with governmental and non-governmental stakeholders and peer-reviewed and grey literature on rehabilitation in Uganda. A thematic content analysis and concept map were conducted to analyze the data. Rehabilitation is an unfunded priority in Uganda, garnering political attention but failing to receive adequate financial or human resource allocation. The national legacy of rehabilitation as a social program, instead of a health program, has influenced its present-day prioritization trajectory. These include a fragmented governance system, a weak advocacy coalition without a unified objective or champion, and a lack of integration into existing health systems structures that makes it challenging to scale-up service provision. Our findings highlight the interactive influences of structural, governance, and framing factors on prioritization and the importance of historical context in understanding both prioritization and implementation. Our findings demonstrate challenges in prioritizing emerging, multi-sectoral health areas like rehabilitation. Strategic considerations for elevating rehabilitation on Uganda's policy agenda include generating credible indicators to quantify the nature and extent of the population's need and uniting governmental and non-governmental actors around a common vision for rehabilitation's expansion. We present opportunities for strengthening rehabilitation, both in Uganda and in similar contexts grappling with many health sector priorities and limited resources.

Dinâmica Política da Formulação da Política de Acesso à Informação no Brasil

Abstract Freedom of information (FOI) policymaking in Brazil is portrayed as a “successful story.” Data on adherence of the Brazilian legislation to international standards indicates its FOI institutions are in the top-ten group in the substantive dimension of FOI but are the last when it comes to the procedural dimension. What mechanism has driven this process to produce such ambivalence? This study assumes that FOI policymaking in Brazil represented an ambiguous legitimacy-based emulation process, oriented toward homogenization to the international field, but without breaking the governmental control over information. It draws on theoretical work on policy diffusion focusing on emulation and uses theories on conflicts and negotiation for power as drivers of policymaking. The results suggest this process was forged by political dynamics of disputes and compromises, and its outcomes derived from political trade-offs between key actors on controversial issues. Thus, the results materialized the preferences of non-governmental actors for a larger scope and no “eternal secrecy” and assured government offices’ prerogatives on implementation and their final decision on appeals. This case may represent a broader phenomenon, considering that comparative data indicates that this ambivalence in adherence between substantive and procedural dimensions is more significant in Latin America than in other regions.

Assessing decentralized groundwater governance performance in the lower Mekong region: The case of Khon Kaen province, Thailand

Decentralized groundwater management has been implemented in various forms in the Lower Mekong Region (LMR) aiming to improve the sustainability and equity of groundwater (GW) management. However, fragmented implementation and unclear delegation of responsibilities have hindered the success of these approaches. The Royal Thai government has been a pioneer in introducing comprehensive groundwater policies and has implemented formal measures for GW management for over five decades, including the decentralized GW management model introduced in 2011. This study examined the performance of GW governance (GWG) in the LMR through the case of Khon Kaen province, Thailand, and using the OECD water framework with contextualized indicators. Sen's slope estimation and the Mann-Kendal test were also utilized to look into the patterns of groundwater extraction data in the study area from 2000 to 2019 in relation to the policy timeline analysis.The findings revealed a significant increase in GW extraction for business usage after the implementation of decentralization, driven by urbanization, and economic and tourist development. The research also found that the rise of new water actors with divergent interests, marginalization, the absence of non-governmental actors, and a lack of scientific and technical capacities prevent the effective GWG. However, the study discovered that the majority of GWG principles are favorably related to one another, with regulatory frameworks, defined roles and duties, and coherent policy being closely associated with most GWG principles. On the other hand, trade-offs across sectors and users were seen to have a detrimental effect on other GWG principles. The findings contribute to evolving the GWG Theory of Change (TOC), centering on GW users. This challenges the conventional idea of addressing water shortage solely through increased infrastructure, emphasizes institutional pluralism and scientific evidence for market-based mechanisms, and addresses GW use disparities.

New Perspectives for the Making of Space Law: UNIDROIT’s Cape Town Approach Compared with Traditional UNCOPUOS Law-Making

The United Nations Committee for the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN and UNCOPUOS) drafted the five outer space treaties in little more than a decade and created a completely new specialisation in international law. This, of course, happened when states and state agencies were the only participants in the use and exploration of outer space. Since then, new non-governmental actors have entered the space market, aspects of which were privatised and commercialised. Yet, despite the pressing need for international legislation, since 1979 UNCOPUOS has proved incapable of producing another treaty on space law. The author examines why the UNCOPUOS, established to make international law of outer space, stopped making outer space treaties and how the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (Institute International pour l’unification du Droit Privé or UNIDROIT), a non-UN entity established to unify private law, created its 2012 Protocol to the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment on Matters Specific to Space Assets (Space Protocol), what is allegedly the first outer space treaty in (then) thirty-two years. The UNCOPUOS system of public international law treaty-making is compared with the UNIDROIT private international law one, and the question of whether UNIDROIT has created a new method of treaty-making is addressed. The conclusions are that a functioning space law regime exists, hard law is preferable to non-binding soft law, UNCOPUOS cannot produce any further outer space treaties, the Space Protocol can only form part of space law if one accepts a fourth stage of development of space law as part of a redefining of space law sensu lato, UNIDROIT’s Cape Town Approach is more suitable to modern space law treaty-making, and treaty-drafting is a special art of the international lawyer.

Uptake and availability of new outpatient cancer medicines in 2010–2021 in Nordic countries – survey of competent authorities

BackgroundNordic countries excel in cancer care, but studies on uptake, costs, or managed entry agreements of cancer medicines have not been conducted recently. The aim of this study was to examine the uptake and availability of orally administered new cancer medicines in Nordic countries. Orally administered cancer medicines enable and are used in the community as part of outpatient care. Firstly, we studied the distribution, costs and adoption of managed entry agreements of these medicines, and secondly, uptake of and managed entry agreements for cancer medicines used in outpatient care that were granted marketing authorization in Europe in 2010–2021.MethodsAn E-mail survey of competent authorities, meaning pharmaceutical service organizers, payers or other government or non-government actors developing pharmaceutical service operations, in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden in April-June 2022. The data were analysed using frequencies and percentages for descriptive analysis.ResultsThe distribution of cancer medicines has similarities in Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, where cancer medicines can be distributed both via hospitals or hospital pharmacies for inpatient use, and via community pharmacies for outpatient use. In Denmark, cancer medicines are predominantly distributed via publicly funded hospitals. In all countries that provided data on the costs, the costs of cancer medicines had notably gone up from 2010 to 2021. The number of reimbursable medicines out of new cancer medicines varied from 36 products in Denmark and Iceland to 51 products in Sweden, out of 67 studied products. Managed entry agreements, often with confidential discounts, were in use in all Nordic countries. The number of agreements and the cancer types for which agreements were most often made varied from three agreements made in Iceland to 35 agreements made in Finland, out of 67 studied products. Average days from authorization to reimbursement of new cancer medicines varied from an average of 416 to 895 days.ConclusionsNordic countries share similar characteristics but also differ in terms of the details in distribution, adopted managed entry agreements, market entry, and availability of new orally administered cancer medicines used in the outpatient care. The costs of cancer medicines have increased in all Nordic countries during the last decade. Due to differences in health care and because orally administered cancer medicines can be dispensed at community and hospital pharmacies in all studied countries other than Denmark, the number of reimbursable medicines and managed entry agreements vary between countries. However, Nordic countries show good agreement for 2010 to 2021 in entry and reimbursement decisions of novel cancer medicines.

Setting the Agenda on the United Kingdom's Policy towards the European Community: Miriam Camps at Chatham House

Historical analysis of the UK government's policy towards European integration is mostly confined to the ‘official’ sphere, that is government, civil service and professional diplomacy. Non-governmental actors within the wider field of para-diplomacy such as policy entrepreneurs or elite foreign policy think tanks have not yet been systematically incorporated in this history. This article explores when and under what circumstances such diplomatic actors can influence government foreign policy formulation. The case explored here is that of Miriam Camps (1916–94), a scholar, former US diplomat and senior researcher at Chatham House. Camps utilised her Chatham House contacts, including key Foreign Office officials as well as her wider transnational network, to influence the Foreign Office's stance on the so-called ‘empty chair’ crisis of the European Economic Community in 1965/6. The article argues that during the crisis Camps acted as a policy entrepreneur with the aim of advancing her own ideas and changing the UK government's position towards the European Economic Community. Besides demonstrating the influence of unofficial diplomats on policy formulation, the article also contributes to the growing literature on the varied roles of women in international relations and diplomacy.

Institutionalisation of public participation in China's urban regeneration from the perspective of historical institutionalism: Three-stage cases in Guangzhou

Research into public participation in urban regeneration holds a significant position in global urban research, with a considerable body of literature describing the practices of multiple stakeholders' participation in diverse institutional contexts. In the centralised dynamic context for China's urban regeneration, the institutional arrangements and practices of public participation and the evolution processes between them still remain “black boxes”. This paper aims to clarify the institutionalisation process of public participation in China's urban regeneration. Using the historical institutionalism perspective, this research adapts the institutionalisation framework proposed by Burns and Scapens (2000) to the analysis of participatory governance in China's planning context. It analyses three phases of urban regeneration in Guangzhou and provides corresponding case studies for an in-depth analysis. The findings reveal that the success of public participation in urban regeneration varies across phases, mainly due to the degree of government power sharing and the inclusion of non-governmental actors in decision-making through genuinely participative interactions. This research develops an institutionalisation analysis framework and notes that the proposed institutionalisation path only partially applies to public participation in China's urban regeneration. The institutionalisation of public participation from the institutional realm to the realm of action in China's regeneration practices departs from hysteresis, which is the opposite of synchronisation in historical institutionalism. The root cause of this inefficient institutionalisation and its separation from practice is the imbalance in the allocation of power resources. These findings provide institutionalisation insights into the interrelationships between the evolution of policy and practices of public participation.

Range-wide trends in tiger conservation landscapes, 2001 - 2020

Of all the ways human beings have modified the planet over the last 10,000 years, habitat loss is the most important for other species. To address this most critical threat to biodiversity, governments, non-governmental actors, and the public need to know, in near real-time, where and when habitat loss is occurring. Here we present an integrated habitat modelling system at the range-wide scale for the tiger (Panthera tigris) to measure and monitor changes in tiger habitat at range-wide, national, biome, and landscape scales, as often as the underlying inputs change. We find that after nearly 150 years of decline, effective potential habitat for the tiger seems to have stabilized at around 16% of its indigenous extent (1.817 million km2). As of the 1st of January 2020, there were 63 Tiger Conservation Landscapes in the world, covering 911,920 km2 shared across ten of the 30 modern countries which once harbored tiger populations. Over the last 20 years, the total area of Tiger Conservation Landscapes (TCLs) declined from 1.025 million km2 in 2001, a range-wide loss of 11%, with the greatest losses in Southeast Asia and southern China. Meanwhile, we documented expansions of modelled TCL area in India, Nepal, Bhutan, northern China, and southeastern Russia. We find significant potential for restoring tigers to existing habitats, identified here in 226 Restoration Landscapes. If these habitats had sufficient prey and were tigers able to find them, the occupied land base for tigers might increase by 50%. Our analytical system, incorporating Earth observations, in situ biological data, and a conservation-oriented modelling framework, provides the information the countries need to protect tigers and enhance habitat, including dynamic, spatially explicit maps and results, updated as often as the underlying data change. Our work builds on nearly 30 years of tiger conservation research and provides an accessible way for countries to measure progress and report outcomes. This work serves as a model for objective, range-wide, habitat monitoring as countries work to achieve the goals laid out in the Sustainable Development Goals, the 30×30 Agenda, and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

Instagram as a Publication and Archiving Media for the General Election Supervisory Agency

An organized documentation process with good archival management is very important for any institution, including the General Election Supervisory Body. In the current era of Industrial Revolution 4.0, archiving media is not only through physical filing but also through digital media, one of which is through the use of Instagram. This research aims to analyze the model for utilizing Instagram accounts as archiving media for the General Election Supervisory Agency using the analysis knife theory, namely politics and archiving. The method in this research is a descriptive method with a qualitative approach. Furthermore, the data that has been collected through the literature study is then interpreted so that a deeper and broader meaning and meaning can be obtained regarding the results of the research carried out. Based on the research results, it is known that the model for utilizing Instagram accounts as archiving media for the General Election Supervisory Agency is implemented based on a good governance perspective with its relevance in the development of the Industrial Revolution 4.0 towards achieving a Smart City. This utilization is carried out with government innovation in archiving to support Smart City via social media Instagram in a tri-s synergistic manner, namely from government actors, non-government actors, and community actors.

Decision making processes and power dynamics in timber production co-management: A comparative analysis of seven Brazilian Amazonian community-based projects

Power asymmetries are a major obstacle to inclusive and robust decision making in collaborative management (or co-management), whereby multiple actors, principally government and local communities, jointly make decisions to achieve natural resource management goals. We compared seven community-based timber projects under different co-management arrangements within three Brazilian Amazonian extractive reserves to illuminate how decision making was organized (structure) and how it actually operated (function) with respect to power dynamics among multiple actors. Over a 15-month field season, we conducted participant observation and 52 semistructured interviews, systematically analyzed over 30 key timber management decision-making meetings, and employed Q-methodology to ascertain diverse actor perspectives of power dynamics. Our overall analysis revealed that decisions across all seven timber projects were gradually made through multiple meetings at community, extractive reserve, and beyond extractive reserve levels – a positive approach that can lead to continuous problem-solving. The 16 Q-sorters perceived decision making in these meetings to be participative, respectful of all actors' rights to speak, and allowed for some knowledge exchange, suggesting that unequal power dynamics (as observed in our study) does not necessarily prevent the opportunity to voice one's opinion. This participation also decentralized decision-making processes, boosting chances that community-level actors used their crucial local knowledge and advocated for their interests. Still, in one reserve, community members were ill prepared to make informed decisions, lacking sufficient technical training and trusted long-term support from non-governmental external actors. Furthermore, some Q-sorters noted insufficient community-level actors in decision-making processes, because deliberative spaces were beyond their physical reach. Yet in two reserves, innovative logistical strategies were developed to compensate and accommodate this challenge. In the third reserve, however, in the absence of intentional and creative solutions to geographical and cultural distances, there were limited interactions among the communities and external actors, giving rise to minimal information flow and weakened representation of community interests in decision making. We also demonstrated that actors in power (government forest administration officers) or those with perceived power (financial or forest technical providers, community leaders), sometimes acted strategically over other actors, particularly those perceived as without power (community residents), to alter their behavior, constrain their choices, and influence their expectations regarding decision outcomes. We conclude that power asymmetries can be overcome in natural resource co-management decision making, using deliberate, thoughtful, and creative participatory approaches.

How governments influence autonomous vehicle (AV) innovation

While autonomous vehicle (AV) technology is forecast to widely disrupt transport systems, governments’ roles in influencing this innovation have not been examined holistically. This empirical study analyses the perceptions of 34 professionals from government and non-government actors in the U.K. and Australia. Our findings identify three main categories of government roles: regulator, facilitator and participator and illustrate how different policy mechanisms align within this framework to shape AV innovation. The paper discusses the implications of the interrelationships between these roles within each context, as well as how governments can apply them to pursue transport policy goals. This research provides an important contribution to understanding how local policy environments around the world might shape the development and eventual implementation of AV technologies.

Legal basis of international agricultural organizations

Contractual relations between various agricultural producers and other legal entities act as one of the priority areas in research carried out in the field of agro-industrial legislation. The study of specific areas of their activities, the goals they set for them- selves, the array of documentation developed by them, the effectiveness of their work, the presence or absence of interaction with other international structures. There is a detailed analysis of those trends that have generated the need for interstate cooperation and interaction in the field of countering the problems that have arisen in the agricultural sector of the world economy, as well as a set of methods by which these problems are solved. The information that will be presented in this article is applicable as reference, additional information at the state and interstate level of cer- tain activities that are aimed at forming a policy for interaction with both state and non-governmental actors of the world community in the agricultural, agricultural sector.

Scales of ideational policy influence: A multi-level, actor-centric, and institutionalist perspective on the role of ideas in African social policy

AbstractAlthough there is a growing literature on transnational ideational processes in sub-Saharan Africa, the linkages between local, national, and transnational actors and ideas in African social policy would gain from more systematic mapping. In this paper, we explore what we call the “scales of ideational policy influence” by sketching a multi-level, actor-centric, and institutionalist perspective on ideational policy influence at the local, national, and transnational scales. This discussion leads to analysis of how these scales interact in terms of specific ideas and how both governmental and non-governmental actors seek to impact social policy decisions in sub-Saharan Africa. To illustrate the three scales of ideational influence and their interaction, the paper turns to the making of poverty reduction policies in Ghana. We show how policy ideas move from the global level to a national and subnational level using ideational mechanisms aided by the institutional position of actors and material factors.