Policy Domains Research Articles

A bibliometric analysis of the of cybersecurity policy research

The cybersecurity policy is a fundamental framework for developing a robust defense strategy for an organization's digital landscape. It involves various critical steps, including classifying information based on sensitivity, implementing strict access control, encrypting data in transit and at rest, continuous security awareness training, an incident response plan for addressing security breaches, deploying network security measures such as firewalls and intrusion detection systems, and physical security protocols to protect data centers and infrastructure. The purpose of this study is to answer the following questions: How are articles on Cybersecurity Policy classified? What are the latest study trends in Cybersecurity Policy analysis? What are the most frequently published research topics? What are the potential areas for future research in Cybersecurity Policy analysis? This research used a quantitative-descriptive technique. This bibliometric analysis explores the extensive and dynamic domain of cybersecurity policy, examining academic outputs from various dimensions. Utilizing standardized methodologies, including Mendeley software, VOSviewer, and PoP, this study navigates the complex terrain of academic literature. The findings reveal major topics such as 'Cybersecurity policy,' 'Network security policy,' and 'Cybersecurity' emerge, illuminating both well-explored areas and less developed fields such as 'National cybersecurity' and 'Cyberspace.' These unexplored aspects present intriguing avenues for future research.

Codified and reflexive policy coordination: how successful are Dhaka City’s policies for a successful sustainable passenger transport transition?

Abstract Critical to achieving the global net zero objective, transport transitions require multi-domain policies to coordinate and cohere. Different policy domains involve actors with diverse priorities and perspectives, complicating coordination. Policy coordination is particularly challenging for the Global South governments given their dependence for external financial and technological resources, and weaker institutions. Drawing on transport transition and policy coordination literature, this research studied the low-emission transport policies of Dhaka City, Bangladesh from 2000 to 2021. The study found that policy frameworks and institutional arrangements were established to enable local and global actors (development partners) to coordinate to support transport transitions. The development partners were engaged in mobilizing resources, transferring low-emission transport technologies and local capacity development. However, these policies were focused on politically prioritized supply-side solutions (e.g. metro-rail), without sufficient coherence with land use and housing policies. Also, they did not adequately consider local need-based low-emission transport alternatives such as walking and cycling; unintended policy effects and boundary-spanning challenges. Based on the findings, we propose codified and reflexive policy coordination concepts to describe discrete but mutually reinforcing mechanisms to support effective policy coordination. Codified coordination is enacted by formal policy frameworks and institutional arrangements and reflexive coordination is by formal evaluation of policy interventions. This framework proposes a new approach to examine coordination between multi-domain policies that are required to cohere to advance transport transitions. In practice, it can potentially guide the adoption of coordinated policies to drive transport transitions.

Mainstreaming immigrant integration in Labour Market Support: policy index and alternative policy frameworks

ABSTRACT In many Western European countries, governments have increasingly accepted the strategies of enhancing equality between immigrants and EU nationals in major policy domains. One of the latest trends in integration policy framework is mainstreaming – the practice of bringing the needs and priorities of vulnerable groups such as immigrants to the centre of attention in more generic policies (e.g. employment support, education) as opposed to responding to the specific concerns of these groups through separate policy interventions. To examine and categorise the scope of mainstreaming and the level of access to mainstreamed policies for various groups of immigrants, I develop a Policy Index of Mainstreaming in Labour Market Support that covers data from 2006 to 2016 across 25 EU/EEA countries. The paper explores the policy patterns revealed by the Index. It argues that while mainstreaming as a theory challenges existing integration approaches, differences in political ideology do not necessarily lead to radical institutional change. This finding contributes to the historical-institutionalist argument on policy compatibility through institutional change mechanisms.

Organizational Overlap and Bureaucratic Actors: How EU–NATO Relations Empower the European Commission

AbstractOrganizational overlap is a ubiquitous feature in regional governance. Most studies have focused on member states, demonstrating that overlap enables states differently. We still know little about whether and how overlapping organizations impact international bureaucracies and how this shapes the relationship between bureaucratic actors within organizations. We argue that overlap can empower international bureaucrats, but not equally. Those with autonomous resources from member states are the most attractive interlocuters for bureaucrats from other organizations and, hence, likely to become most empowered. Substantive expertise and formal competence are less consequential in this context. We unpack this argument by looking at a policy domain understood to be heavily guarded by member states, security and defence policy. Based on primary documents and interviews, we show that the European Union (EU)–North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) overlap has enabled the European Commission to leverage its position within the EU to its advantage and further encroach on the EU's security and defence activities.

Voter support for bond referenda: Does it matter if costs are presented as aggregate vs. personal costs?

AbstractWe explore whether voters' willingness to approve government spending in bond elections is affected by how costs are presented. Using an original survey experiment, we examine willingness to approve bonds, randomizing both the total cost of the bond and the framing of the cost as either a personal cost or an aggregate amount. We find that respondents are less supportive of bonds when the bond is framed as a personal expense and that respondents are more cost‐responsive when they see personal costs. There is also substantial heterogeneity based on the respondent's partisanship and the policy domain of the bond.

“They need more programs for the kids:” Low‐income mothers' views of government amidst economic precarity and burdensome programs

AbstractPolicy feedback scholars argue that experiences with government shape political participation. Administrative burden scholars posit that burdensome bureaucratic encounters deter political participation. Related quantitative studies take a top‐down, deductive approach and test effects of single policies, yet people engage multiple programs, and all policies may not be equally salient in how they view the state. Using qualitative interviews, our inductive, “bottom‐up” approach examines the most prominent policy domains in views of government shared across mothers with low incomes in the United States (n = 80). Mothers experienced a wide range of policies, and they detailed related administrative burdens, but this was not the focus in most of their views of the government. Many raised issue areas that hit close to home, such as affordable child care or children's recreation programs. They often drew on a sense of collective motherhood in their view of government, including how it could facilitate efforts to raise children.

‘Dual Carbon Goals’ enhances policy integration: analysing recent changes in China’s national climate policy

ABSTRACT China recently set out to achieve the goal of reaching carbon peaking by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060, the so-called ‘Dual Carbon Goals’ (DCGs), making climate change enjoy the highest-ever political salience. The DCGs entail a new policymaking paradigm under which climate goals are required to be integrated into all relevant sectors. Based on a quantitative content analysis of policy documents enacted by 41 national governmental agencies, we found that the DCGs has led to significant increase in the level of climate policy integration (CPI). Despite the overall rise of CPI, our findings revealed notable differences in CPI among governmental agencies. We proposed a three-factor framework to explain what drives the variance in CPI. Through a chronological analysis, this study examined the evolution of China’s national climate policy portfolios across 12 policy domains. Our results showed that China’s sectoral climate policy has experienced dramatic changes in both scope and scale. This study provided an in-depth understanding of Chinese climate policy mix to mitigate climate change and contributed to existing literature by filling a research gap – the lack of empirical analysis on whether, how, and to what extent CPI occurs in Chinese context.

The moral, the political and social licence in digitally‐driven family policy and intervention: Parents negotiating experiential knowledge and ‘other’ families

AbstractThe article provides a conceptually informed empirical critique of the pursuit of social licence as a warrant for data linkage and predictive analytics in the field of family policy intervention. It draws on research focusing on parental views of digitally‐driven family governance in the United Kingdom. We identify the notion of consensus that undergirds the concept of social licence that acts to obscure inequalities and silence conflict, and to reframe digital surveillance and prediction as a moral rather than political issue. Using focus group and individual interview material, we show how parents assert professional or lay experiential knowledges in making judgements about the legitimacy of and trust in operational data technologies, involving struggles between positionings as parents like ‘us’ and ‘other’ parents. We demonstrate how parents have different leverages from these unequal and morally charged social locations. Inevitably, the application of social licence in the domain of digital family policy and intervention is fractured by entrenched social divisions and inequalities.

Preliminary evidence for counterproductive work behavior as a workplace manifestation of science skepticism

Although media has called attention to overly skeptical attitudes towards science in public policy, medicine, and other domains, the effects of science skepticism in the workplace are largely unexplored. Consequently, we investigated whether science skepticism correlated with counterproductive workplace behaviors (CWB). Data from 120 self-reports and 57 supervisor-subordinate dyads shows that some forms of science skepticism relate to self- and supervisor-rated CWB, even controlling for negative affectivity. Furthermore, the MODE model supports the involvement of individual differences in the activation of an attitude, so we also tested if hostile attributional style and learning goal orientation moderated this relationship. Data from 148 participants recruited from an online panel shows a positive relationship between science skepticism and CWB, and that this relationship was strengthened when participants held hostile attribution styles. This moderation was weakened by learning goal orientation. Altogether, our two small online studies provide initial evidence for detrimental workplace outcomes associated with science skepticism and are intended to invigorate future research on this topic.

A ‘fair go’ values framework for public policy

AbstractThere is a growing interest in how policy processes can better incorporate the values of the communities they serve, yet policymakers face numerous challenges when they seek to embed values into policies. This paper builds on existing values research to develop a bespoke policy values framework for Australia, based on the popular notion of a ‘fair go’. While the fair go is often associated with a narrow set of equality and procedural justice values, we show that it has a much wider range of historical and contemporary meanings, which taken together provide a useful starting point for understanding policy values important to Australians. We apply our framework to two policy domains—housing and immigration—to show that it offers an effective heuristic to help policymakers understand key value priorities and conflicts in these policy areas. The paper provides theoretical insights regarding the role of values in policymaking and offers a practical tool for use when designing, implementing, and evaluating policies.Points for practitioners Community values should inform public policy decision‐making in a democracy. However, incorporating values into policy is difficult because of the wide range of different values to consider, the need to manage tensions and conflicts between values, and the time pressures often faced by policymakers. The popular and enduring notion of the ‘fair go’ embodies multiple value positions, which cover a range of different values that matter to Australians, making it a good basis for an Australian policy values framework. Our fair go values framework is designed to serve as a heuristic for policymakers when designing and evaluating public policies. It is not intended as a comprehensive guide to value debates in all policy areas, but offers a starting point for quickly appreciating the key value priorities and conflicts in relation to a policy issue. Policymakers should wherever possible follow up with detailed research to understand the complex value debates of different policy issue areas.

Artificial intelligence in biology and medicine, and radioprotection research: perspectives from Jerusalem.

While AI is widely used in biomedical research and medical practice, its use is constrained to few specific practical areas, e.g., radiomics. Participants of the workshop on "Artificial Intelligence in Biology and Medicine" (Jerusalem, Feb 14-15, 2023), both researchers and practitioners, aimed to build a holistic picture by exploring AI advancements, challenges and perspectives, as well as to suggest new fields for AI applications. Presentations showcased the potential of large language models (LLMs) in generating molecular structures, predicting protein-ligand interactions, and promoting democratization of AI development. Ethical concerns in medical decision making were also addressed. In biological applications, AI integration of multi-omics and clinical data elucidated the health relevant effects of low doses of ionizing radiation. Bayesian latent modeling identified statistical associations between unobserved variables. Medical applications highlighted liquid biopsy methods for non-invasive diagnostics, routine laboratory tests to identify overlooked illnesses, and AI's role in oral and maxillofacial imaging. Explainable AI and diverse image processing tools improved diagnostics, while text classification detected anorexic behavior in blog posts. The workshop fostered knowledge sharing, discussions, and emphasized the need for further AI development in radioprotection research in support of emerging public health issues. The organizers plan to continue the initiative as an annual event, promoting collaboration and addressing issues and perspectives in AI applications with a focus on low-dose radioprotection research. Researchers involved in radioprotection research and experts in relevant public policy domains are invited to explore the utility of AI in low-dose radiation research at the next workshop.

Bridging and breaking silos: Transformational governance of the migration-sustainability nexus.

Sustainability and migration are typically treated as discrete policy spheres in international, national, and local fora, separated in governance structures and institutions. This results in policy incoherence that hinders just transitions toward more sustainable societies cognizant of mobile realities. This explorative effort identifies the (dis)connections between policy domains using data collected on how the sustainability-migration nexus is governed in four countries with a special emphasis on urban areas: Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United States. Results of 73 interviews show that migration and sustainability actors find it challenging to see how they could be working together and that migrants are rarely conceived of as sustainability actors and/or targeted populations of sustainability policy. Despite the cross-sectoral nature of sustainability, it appears that migration and sustainability are sequestered into silos that hinder collaborative actions. Lamenting the existence of silos is not enough to encourage new lines of thinking or practice in how sustainability is governed; therefore, we examine the evidence to ascertain current barriers blocking synergetic governance and the opportunities for change perceived by respondents via three critical elements of transformations toward sustainability: structural, systemic, and enabling conditions. We argue that for sustainability transitions to happen, a wider set of societal actors needs to be included from policy intention to action, but that this transformation may require more than policy integration via horizontal coordination. It demands reflexivity and pluralistic pathways that close vertical gaps between national and municipal levels and diminish structural inequalities as they intersect with migration type and status.

Policy integration for brownfield regeneration: An analytical tool

Fragmentation of policymaking within government structures and hierarchies can often impede the formulation and implementation of sustainable urban policy. This fragmentation is apparent in complex issues such as the remediation and redevelopment of brownfields. This paper addresses integration across multiple policy domains using brownfield regeneration as a vehicle. Building on the logic and principles of Environmental Policy Integration (EPI), we present a structured analytical tool (namely Policy Integration for Brownfields- PIB) to aid in a systematic analysis of brownfield policy across different regimes at different stages of policy development. We demonstrate the utility of PIB with examples from the USA, Europe, UK, Japan, and China to highlight the critical factors essential to ensure brownfield regeneration meets the overarching aim of making cities more sustainable. The findings suggest a need for balance between often conflicting environmental and non-environmental goals in multiple phases of brownfield policymaking and practice, both between levels of government (horizontally) and across sectoral interests (vertically).

Policy Domains in Water Management: Assessing the Influence of Finance in Environmental Governance

This article examines how public officials in the field of water supply governance navigate overlapping policy domains. Drawing lessons from Daly’s critique of the dominant economic paradigm of our time, this study focuses on the intractable tension between growth and dwindling environmental resources. Using data from interviews and participant observations, I seek to understand the work of environmental governance officials in a region that seems to be firmly committed to pro-growth policy regimes, despite increasing stress on water supplies. I identify five policy domains as analytic categories to study the various events and actions in water governance. The domains are Political, Financial, Technological, Environmental, and Developmental. The analysis suggests that regulatory compliance and finance-oriented objectives are central drivers that shape water management. The data show that aside from times of legal compulsion—that is, regulatory compliance—financial considerations tend to take precedence, as other matters are filtered through a lens of financial costs and benefits. Building on previous research, I suggest that the centrality of financial aims in this setting is consistent with the financialization of society in general. Consequently, we can expect the presence of positive and negative financial feedbacks rooted in the funding structures of contemporary urban governance. These contribute to advantages for municipalities with wealthier tax bases and systematic marginalization of places with less economic resources. In closing, I suggest that the negative financial feedback can be conceptualized as the financial pathology of institutions, and I underscore promising avenues for lasting and socially equitable environmental reform.

Policy Networks and Relationship between Multiple Streams Approach and Implementation of Road Safety Policy Measures in Kenyan Counties

Policymakers and policy practitioners have pointed out the use of policy networks in the development and execution of road safety policy measures as a suitable strategy for addressing road safety. Governments at all levels—national, state, and local—have moved from single- to multi-agency approaches to handle the execution of road safety policy measures. Previous research on policy networks in road safety has concentrated on the role that organizational networks play in this policy domain. This study aimed to investigate the moderating influence on the relationship between the multiple streams approach and the implementation of key road safety policy initiatives in Kisii and Kisumu counties. The study adopted descriptive survey and explanatory designs. The study adopted pragmatism and phenomenology research philosophies. The Multiple Streams Framework and Punctuated Equilibrium Model served as the study’s foundation. The sample size of the study was 347 of the target population. Quantitative data was examined using multi-linear regression approaches and Pearson correlation analysis. Stepwise regression was used to analyze the moderating variable. Thematic analysis was used to assess qualitative data. The results of the study demonstrated that policy networks influenced the relationship between the MSF and the enforcement of road safety policy measures, which explains 6.5% of the variances in implementation. The study concludes that the execution of road safety rules is a collaborative effort that ought to include policy networks and other pertinent players in the transport industry.

When Decentralization Reduces Regional Disparity: Analyzing Access to College in China

The relationship between decentralization and inequality remains puzzling. The primary objective of this paper is to study the effects of decentralization on regional education inequality in China where national higher education policies systematically prioritize large cities. We apply the Gini coefficient and the econometric model of regional convergence (i.e., Barro regressions) to study original provincial college admission data in China from 2005 to 2013. We discover that the provincial Gini coefficients have been declining throughout the period. The Barro regression results also suggest that the provincial-level college-going rates have been converging. We further demonstrate that the convergence is driven by provincial rather than national universities. Access to elite national universities remained unequal across provinces and still favored super cities. We conclude that decentralization helps to drive down the regional inequality of access to higher education that is due to national polices. It is not yet clear whether our conclusion is applicable to other policy domains or other countries.

Primary care nurse practitioners' perceptions and experiences communicating with adults about adverse childhood experiences.

Clinical communication focused on childhood adversity has not been well described in the extant literature. There is a wealth of knowledge about patient-centered communication, including patient-centered communication techniques involving the discussion of health risks in primary care. However, there remain gaps in our understanding of the role that communication plays in exploring adverse childhood experience (ACE) exposure among adults in the clinical context. To better understand factors that influence how nurse practitioners (NPs) communicate with adults about ACEs in the context of primary care while simultaneously exploring NPs' perceptions and experiences of their ability to communicate with adults about ACE exposure. Guided by the Patient-to-Provider Communication of Adverse Childhood Experiences in Primary Care (PPC-ACE) Model, an exploratory, qualitative, descriptive study was conducted among 15 US-based primary care NPs. Nurse practitioner's participated in semistructured interviews, which were recorded and transcribed. Transcripts were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. Atlas.ti provided supplemental data visualization. Demographic data, practice characteristics, and baseline ACEs knowledge were collected by means of Qualtrics. Key themes described communication approaches and perceived barriers and facilitators to ACE-related conversations. Scope of practice, provider biases, diversity in practice models, and secondary trauma were factors NPs' perceived as positively or negatively influencing ACE-related communication in primary care. Outcomes from this study provided deeper insights into the various influencers of NP-perceived, ACE-related, patient-centered communication among adults in primary care. Findings will inform future research focused on ACE-related communication in primary care in the domains of NP education, practice, and health policy.

Foreign Relations Law as a Method of Private International Law's Theoretical Self-Reflection and Critique

In this essay, I think with Karen Knop about the heuristic and critical potential of the framework of Foreign Relations Law (FRL) for Private International Law (PrIL). I apply the framework of FRL to the recognition of foreign marriages in Denmark to study how PrIL is operationalized by domestic authorities. FRL helps us see how PrIL's operationalization engages a wide array of legal fields, including Public International Law (PIL), domestic administrative law, and immigration law, as well as the domains of foreign service and foreign policy. In doing so, PrIL in this context draws upon all these fields’ rationales and implicit assumptions. I argue that a FRL perspective not only contributes to PrIL's theoretical self-reflection, but also enhances PrIL's capacity for subversiveness—“its ability to unsettle by showing a given legal system's assumptions and approaches to be a matter of choice rather than simply common sense.”1

The Relationship Between Public Policy in the Domain of Public Economic Law Policy

The objective of this research was to analyze the relationship between public policy in the domain of public economic law policy. The primary policymakers in the field of public economics, in light of ethical schools of thought, aim to distinguish between the current state and desired goals. They strive to bridge the gap between what is and what should be by utilizing various tools. On the other hand, the successful implementation of these processes depends on the continuous evaluation of all components of these two main and significant factors, which is typically carried out based on various elements such as the governing principles of public law and economic policy. Muslim jurists generally extract these principles by referring to numerous Quranic verses and Hadiths or by utilizing different jurisprudential approaches. In addition to these legal discussions, various economic schools have also structured their systems of policy evaluation using their own targeted and diverse criteria regarding moral valuation. The findings indicate that choosing any of the approaches—deontology, virtue ethics, or ethical economics—has specific implications for evaluating the policies of different legal and economic schools. Muslim economists, as well, have proposed other methods, aside from normative ethical theories, to derive the governing principles of Islamic economic policies. They have adopted frameworks of Islamic economic value systems based on referencing Quranic verses, Hadiths, or employing jurisprudential approaches to extract these principles.

Paths and Challenges of Green Collaborative Innovation from the Perspective of High-Quality Development

This paper initiates with an overview of the prevailing landscape of green collaborative innovation, encompassing the viewpoints of policy-makers, enterprises, and academic and research institutions. A comprehensive analysis is conducted on the specific execution strategies of green collaborative innovation, which include policy formulation and guidance, technological innovation and advancement, optimization of energy structures and the promotion of multi-energy synergy, enhancement and innovation of market mechanisms, as well as the facilitation of international cooperation and open knowledge exchange. Simultaneously, the paper identifies the challenges inherent to this developmental paradigm, spanning across policy, technological, industrial, and market domains. In conclusion, the paper presents pertinent strategies and recommendations aimed at informing governmental policy-making, guiding corporate practices, and enriching scholarly research. These insights are intended to collectively steer the energy sector towards a trajectory characterized by enhanced greenness, reduced carbon footprint, and improved efficiency.