Policy Formulation Stage Research Articles

DESAFIOS DA DISSEMINAÇÃO INTERESTADUAL DE POLÍTICAS EDUCACIONAIS NA FEDERAÇÃO BRASILEIRA

Based on the scenario of a low degree of national coordination in the educational policy of the Brazilian federation, the article aims to identify and discuss the challenges, mechanisms and contexts that motivated, in 2016, the decision by the government of Espírito Santo to adopt and institutionalize the Pact for Learning (PAES) inspired by the collaborative regime program of the state of Ceará. To achieve the proposed objective, this case study was based on exploratory research with qualitative bibliographic and documentary studies, linked to the concept of public policy diffusion. The results showed that the adoption of the program was consolidated through cooperation and learning mechanisms and that the policy adopted had, in its conception, a certain structural rigidity that disregarded local contexts and factors. The discussions emphasized the central role played by the National Council of Education Secretaries and third sector institutions in fostering a network of horizontal interaction that encouraged the spread of ideas and successful public policy models. It was concluded that the adoption of the program was an isolated government decision and that social protagonism was not taken into account in the policy formulation and construction stages. Finally, it was inferred that the lack of a National Education System compromises articulation and cooperation between education systems.

Agenda Setting for Food Estate Policy in Multiple Stream Frameworks (MSF) Perspective: Case in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia

Agenda setting is critical to public policy due to impacts on subsequent policy processes. In 2020, The Indonesian government has issued a food estate policy in response to FAO's warning of a food crisis due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This policy has also been included in the National Strategic Project (PSN) as stipulated through Presidential Regulation No. 109/2020. This policy aims to create new paddy fields in order to maintain national food stock needs, especially rice, by prioritizing intensification and extensification of paddy fields. Now this program has received serious attention and is considered to have failed. The failure of food estates can often be attributed to the lack of community involvement in the planning and implementation of such projects. Applying the multiple streams framework, this study found two agenda setting failures, namely failure to define the problem from policy entrepreneurs and skipping the policy formulation stage. The study recommends revisiting agenda setting and adding participation streams to open up space for deliberation in decision-making through the participation of Dayak customary council institutions through their local wisdom and knowledge.

The implementation process of decentralization of health services: a qualitative perspective from Sudan.

Health system reform initiatives have increasingly embraced decentralization as a key trend. The implementation process and its outcomes are influenced by a myriad of factors, including economic forces, political dynamics, and ideological factors. Comprehending and carefully examining the implementation phase of decentralization and its consequences to achieve desired outcomes is crucial. Notably, this phase is often considered the weakest aspect of policy reforms, especially in developing countries. Therefore, this study aimed to explore and analyze the implementation phase of decentralization and its implications as essentials for achieving intended goals. The study objectives evolved around examining the entire decentralization as a multifaceted social and political process in Khartoum State, Sudan, from its early stages of decision-making, policy formulation, and implementation process and the influencing contextual factors. This study was an exploratory qualitative study that employed in-depth interviews to gather perspectives of healthcare providers and policymakers, semi-structured observations, and thematic analysis. The study utilized Grindle's framework for analysis. This study revealed a political nature of decision-making, with a top-down approach to the implementation, which also lacked stakeholder involvement. It showed a lack of transparency, official documentation, and proper handover procedures from the Ministry of Health to the devolved hospitals during the implementation process. A conflict of interest between the federal and the state level was also reported. It is important to note that this process occurred within the context of structural adjustment program (SAP) schemes, which had already empowered the private sector in Sudan. This study documented the implementation process of decentralization of health services and its influencing factors. The study recommended reforming the decentralization policy through consultative stakeholder involvement and by implementing a concurrent responsibility paradigm that divides authority between the federal and state levels.

Sustainable Stormwater Management for Different Types of Water-Scarce Cities: Environmental Policy Effect of Sponge City Projects in China

With high-speed urbanization, ecological space is seriously shrinking, and lagging drainage facilities contradict the ecological needs of citizens. In particular, water-scarce cities are faced with frequent stormwater disasters, such as excessive accumulation of rainwater, peak runoff and water pollution, which threaten the safety of the urban water ecological environment. This paper combined the actual construction content of the sponge city project with a whole process policy evaluation framework to examine whether the projects solve these problems and to find different approaches to the results. Utilizing entropy fuzzy comprehensive evaluation provides a systematic standard for the evaluation system. The research shows that the sponge city project can achieve a good governance effect, including constructing a suitable scheme for urban hydrological characteristics, effectively improving the rainwater treatment level of different types of water-scarce cities, and alleviating the ecological contradiction of urban water environment. The stages of policy formulation, policy implementation and policy results achieve a good degree of completion. On one hand, sponge city projects transform the infrastructure at key locations, aiming at improving the rainwater interception capacity of the streets; on the other hand, restoring original natural waters improves the capacity of water conservation and forms a sustainable ecosystem between the city and nature.

Implementation of Child Friendly Village Regulations in Sumbawa Regency

This reseach aims to find out how the child-friendly village program is evaluated and what are the inhibiting factors that influence te implementation of the child-friendly village program that has been estabilished in Poto village. In this research itself qualitative methods are used, where data collection uses three strages, namely, observation, interviews, and documentation as reinforcement.The results obtained in this research are knowing the process of policy formulation stages which include problem formulation, policy agenda, slection of policy alternatives, and policy determination. And also fulfilling the indicator components of the public policy sytem.

Data justice in the “twin objective” of market and risk: How discrimination is formulated in EU's AI policy

AbstractBased on a focus on artificial intelligence (AI) policy in the European Union (EU), we explore the dominant approach taken to data justice in policy. More specifically, we ask how the particular issue of discrimination is translated into policy goals and measures as a way to address prominent concerns about AI. Looking at the stage of policy formulation, we provide an analysis of the way (non) discrimination is currently pursued within the EU's AI policy debate through the study of relevant policy documents and public consultations between 2017 and 2023. We argue that whilst the issue of discrimination has moved from the margins to the mainstream in policy debate, it has done so based on an understanding of discrimination as an inevitable risk of AI; such risk is specific to particular situations and the technological features of AI; the nature of this risk can be assessed and managed through a set of procedural safeguards; and such safeguards can be supported by the creation of a trustworthy AI market. Whilst this translation of justice is very important for contending with some of the critique surrounding the advancement of AI, it may also serve to contain and neutralize such critique in the interest of marketization.

Language Policies Towards Spanish in Trinidad & Tobago and the Philippines: An Exploratory Study

The small Caribbean republic of Trinidad and Tobago and the much larger southeast Asian republic of the Philippines shared colonial rule first by Spain and then by a major English-speaking power (the United Kingdom, in the case of Trinidad & Tobago, and the United States, in the case of the Philippines). Recent years have seen a distinct resurgence in interest towards the Spanish language and culture in the two island nations. Applying a cyclical five-stage language policy framework, this comparative exploratory analysis foregrounds the political, educational, and sociocultural developments regarding Spanish as a foreign language through the prism of the model’s stages of language policy emergence, agenda setting, formulation, implementation, and evaluation. This is achieved through desk-based analysis, thereby enabling a deeper understanding of the policy-related factors underpinning approaches to Spanish in the two case studies, whilst also noting the importance of relevant geopolitical factors. Finally, further suggestions are given to expand the scope of the analysis in the future. The model applied could be extended to include other Caribbean and southeast Asian countries, thereby enriching wider discussions on policies relating to the role and status of Spanish in the regional and international contexts.

Convergence or Divergence: A Computational Text Analysis of Stakeholder Concerns on Manufacturing Upgrading in China

Stakeholder participation is essential to the reasonable design and smooth implementation of industrial policies. Discourse analysis can be employed as a valuable methodology to decode stakeholder (dis)agreements. Following stakeholder theory, we examine four stakeholder groups, namely the government, enterprises, media, and academia, to analyze the public focus of industrial upgrading in China. We adopt a computational text analysis approach (keyword frequency calculation, word collocation analysis, and theme identification) to understand the divergent and convergent stakeholders’ concerns toward manufacturing upgrading in China from 2015 to 2020, which is widely considered as a manufacturing upgrading policy formulation stage. Our results show that stakeholders mainly focus on innovation capability and digital transformation for China's manufacturing upgrading. There, industrial planning is the major issue for government and academia. Contradistinctively, enterprises’ main concern is servitization. Enterprise internationalization is more frequently mentioned than manufacturing upgrading in the media industry. Policymakers should engage in various tactics to make the policies endorsed by other stakeholders. Most importantly, the government should fully integrate the views of entrepreneurs in the policy initiation stage. We provide practical implications for the Chinese government to implement better the Made in China 2025 plan.

Evidence – Informed Policy Formulation and Implementation: A case study of ‘Clean Air Policy’ in Punjab, Pakistan

Background: There has been an accelerating momentum globally, for the use of scientific research evidence to support public health policy formulation and implementation. Policymakers, nonetheless use a variety of information over and above research evidence in the process. A case study of ‘the Clean Air policy’ was undertaken to explore the Policy makers practices related to Evidence Informed Policy in Punjab, Pakistan. Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate policy makers’ perceptions regarding ‘evidence’ and how it is gathered and used in policy formulation and implementation processes Methods: The empirical data was collected by qualitative research techniques. Document review and semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 87 purposively selected policymakers between December’22-October’23. Data Analysis was guided by principals of grounded theory. A conceptual model for Evidence Informed Policy Formulation and Implementation (derived from the Frameworks of Bowen and Zwi and Dodson et al.) was experientially applied to organize the data. Results: The case study of the ‘Clean Air Policy’ of the Govt. of Punjab highlighted that the policy had been formulated in a structured manner with incorporation of relevant evidence (research and other) at all stages of policy formulation. Policy makers considered ‘evidence’ as an expansive concept not limited to research evidence. Overall, the use of evidence for policy-making and implementation is rooted in complexities inherent to the local context, policymakers understanding and organizational culture and processes. Conclusion: The study contributed to understanding the arena of Evidence Informed policy practices in Pakistan. Addressing the highlighted challenges can inform strategies for enhancing evidence use in policy processes for improving health system performance.

Policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in West Africa: a scoping review protocol

IntroductionFour years after the devastating Ebola outbreak, governments in West Africa were quick to implement non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) in response to the rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2. The NPIs implemented included...

Strategic Foresight and Policy Evaluation: Insights for an Integrated Approach

AbstractGrand challenges are shaping twenty-first-century politics. Threats connected to health, climate, demographics and welfare are increasingly intruding on the lives of citizens. Still, governments are often found off-guard, and policymakers need strategies grounded in longer-term perspectives. Strategic foresight (SF) helps us to design and shape policies to prepare to withstand shocks, anticipating and adapting to changes. However, as governments work towards embedding SF into their policymaking processes, the empirical evidence suggests that applications are still piecemeal and predominantly limited to the agenda-settings and policy formulation stages. In this article, we argue that to drive anticipatory governance, foresight needs to be applied at all stages of the policy cycle, including in evaluating policies to draw lessons for future interventions. We maintain that considering SF systemically throughout the policymaking cycle, from agenda setting to evaluation, strengthens anticipatory governance.

Lobbying Across Policy Stages: Different Tales of Interest Group Success

AbstractThis article examines interest groups' lobbying success across the agenda‐setting and policy formulation stages of the European Union's policy process. On the basis of its exclusive right of initiative, the European Commission plays a pivotal role in both stages. I argue that interest groups relying mostly on pressure politics are more likely to achieve agenda‐setting success because the Commission primarily seeks to assess the level of political support when setting its policy priorities. Conversely, organisations focusing predominantly on expertise‐based lobbying are anticipated to be more likely to secure policy success as the Commission mainly requires expert knowledge when designing its policy proposals. An illustrative case study of the Commission's proposal on deforestation‐free products demonstrates the plausibility of the theoretical argument. Overall, this research shows that distinct policy stages provide interest groups with unique opportunities for attaining lobbying success.

Collaborative-Participatory Model in Education Policy during a Pandemic: Building Collaboration to Bridge the Gap

The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted various aspects of life. Economy and education are the two sectors of life most affected. This article aims to analyze education policy in Indonesia in facing the global pandemic. This research uses a qualitative method with a literature study approach. Data was obtained through public policy documentation techniques in the education sector. The data obtained was then analyzed using the public policy theory content analysis method. Analysis of this study found that in the education policy formulation stage, the government, through the Ministry of Education (Kemendikbud), collaborated with various parties (multi-stakeholders) to guarantee the community's fundamental rights to access education. However, it was found that the policies that had been realized still needed to be revised in society. Thus, many people still do not have the right to a good education. For example, regarding quota distribution policies, areas with minimal signal, the ability to operate media, and other digital infrastructure. Realizing this, Indonesia's education policy in the education sector during the pandemic used a collaborative-participatory model. The Ministry of Education collaborates with other ministries or agencies to ensure that education implementation regulations are implemented in the public domain evenly and fairly.

Political Sociology Meets Public Policy

The uplift of a governance paradigm opened the door for different non-formal ‎actors to join the policy-making process. This proliferation of actors posed‎ some new questions about the relationship between them. One of the aspects ‎of this relationship is the power of actors. The paper seeks to contribute to ‎public policy literature in a way to explore if a policy formulation stage of a decision-‎making process can be used as an arena for assessing the power of the ‎aforementioned actors. The argument this paper suggests is that policy formulation‎ as a stage where the confrontation of actors is most visible and prominent ‎is in fact an appropriate place for studying actors’ dynamics and should be taken ‎into consideration when discussing the power of policy actors.‎

Participation of Nurses in National Politics and Health Policy Development at Meru Level 5 General Hospital

The nurses in Kenya have the numerical power because they form the highest population of the health care system in Kenya. Despite this, they have been unable to have a strong voice to champion their rights and influence health policy formulation at policy tables. In the hospital management and at national level, the nurses hold mostly subordinate roles compared to medical counterparts. No record exists for nurses who have made it to the Kenyan National Parliament and Senate. Literature on the participation of Nurses in national politics and health policy in Kenya is scanty. This makes the situation wanting because without nurses’ participation at legislative arena the nursing profession will retrogress. The purpose of the study therefore aims at determining the participation of nurses in national politics and health care policy development. The specific focus was to find out the knowledge, perception and participation in health policy development and national politics and health policy development. The study adopted a descriptive cross- sectional study design. Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect data. The sample size was 49 registered nurses. Simple random sampling was used to select the respondents. Knowledge and perception were assessed using a set of questions that were scored on a Likert scale. Data was analyzed using Microsoft Excel 2007. The findings revealed that nurses at Meru Level 5 General Hospital had limited participation in national politics and healthcare policy development, with political participation majorly limited to voting in the general elections and health policy implementation respectively. Very few nurses were engaged in agenda setting, policy formulation and policy evaluation stages. 92% reported that politics was good for the profession, with 65% expressing that political discussions have a direct impact on their salaries and working conditions. All participants (100%) reported that nurses have a responsibility to engage in health policy development because they are knowledgeable and direct healthcare providers. Keywords: Advocacy, Health care policy, Health policy development process, Participation, Politics, Policy.

Quantitative Study on Improved Budyko-Based Separation of Climate and Ecological Restoration of Runoff and Sediment Yield in Nandong Underground River System

Serious soil and water loss affects the economy and the living quality of the population in faulted basins. Since 2002, China has carried out large-scale ecological restoration projects in karst areas. However, the karst faulted basins have experienced complex climatic changes, which makes it difficult to assess the ecological restoration effects quantitatively. Using the improved Budyko model, basin factor (n) and sediment content factor (C) were divided into climate influence and ecological restoration influence by second-order approximation, and the change ratio of climate influence and ecological restoration on sediment yield and loss was quantitatively calculated in the representative basin of the Nandong Underground River System (NURS). This was carried out in order to effectively distinguish the effects of climate change and ecological restoration on runoff and sediment change in the NURS. Furthermore, this study sought to understand the mechanism of runoff and sediment change and to evaluate the ecological restoration in the faulted basin to provide a scientific basis for the next stage of soil and water conservation policy formulation. The results showed that: (1) Using Pettitt to test the abrupt change of water and sediment in the NURS from 1987 to 2018, we found that 2002 was the abrupt change year of water and sediment in the basin. Before and after the mutation, the runoff and sediment yield decreased significantly, with the change rates of −15.5% and −51.8%, respectively. The decrease in precipitation and the increase in E0 were not significant, which were −4.5% and 1.4% respectively. (2) By calculating the correlation coefficient and the double logarithm function, it was found that the maximum temperature is the main climatic factor affecting the underlying surface factor n, and precipitation is the main climatic factor affecting the sediment concentration c. (3) Climate change reduced runoff by 77.6%. Ecological restoration has reduced sediment by 51.3 percent. The sensitivity of runoff to maximum temperature was 3.61. The sensitivity of grain yield to precipitation and NDVI was 5.37 and 3.26, respectively. The results show that climate is the main factor of runoff reduction, and ecological restoration is the main factor of sediment reduction. Ecological restoration has greatly reduced sediment production, and ecological engineering has made remarkable progress. However, the reduction of runoff caused by climate change should be paid more attention. The results of these studies will help to better formulate land use management policies for soil and water conservation.

Negotiating gender-equal inheritance rights: the rise of Islamic politics and the global feminist landscape in Bangladesh

ABSTRACT Inheritance rights in Bangladesh are a highly contested issue. These are interpreted differently in the two major religions in Bangladesh, Islam and Hinduism. Using the concepts of ‘legal pluralism’ and ‘feminist institutionalism’, we aim to understand different contestations and debates and the multiplicity of practices in these religions on this issue. Such contestation challenges the formulation of gender-equal inheritance policies in Bangladesh. In this article, we identify the major actors involved in policy formulation and investigate the key factors and events that led the state to formulate such policy and, later, to withdraw it. Based on a qualitative case-study method, we observe that gender-equal inheritance rights provision depends on multiple political factors and events. On the one hand, the international mandate of ensuring gender equality coupled with local and international donors’ support influenced the formulation of equal inheritance rights provision in the National Women’s Development Policy (NWDP). On the other hand, opposition from Islamic fundamentalist parties created tension in formulating such policy and, in the face of violent opposition, the government feared being framed as ‘anti-Islamic’ and withdrew the equal inheritance rights policy in Bangladesh in the policy formulation stage.

Study on policy synergy strategy of the central government and local governments in the process of coal de-capacity: Based on a two-stage evolutionary game method

In recent years, the Chinese government has intensively introduced a series of measures to solve the problem of overcapacity in the coal industry, but the effect is not ideal. Policy synergy between the central government (CG) and local governments (LGs) can effectively reduce overcapacity and promote energy transition. Based on China's fragmented administrative management system and public policy process attributes, this study investigates the CG-LGs’ policy synergy strategy choice and influencing factors in the process of coal de-capacity in China using a two-stage evolutionary game model. The results show that: first, in the policy formulation stage, reducing policy formulation costs and increasing public credit losses can prompt the CG to consider provincial heterogeneity, while reducing policy formulation costs and increasing political gains and administrative penalties can prompt LGs to actively negotiate with the CG to develop policies. Second, in the policy implementation stage, the positive net income of LGs can result in an ideal situation (i.e., the CG chooses the loose supervision strategy, but LGs still adopt the strict enforcement strategy). Reducing implementation costs, enhancing environmental quality, and establishing reasonable reward and punishment mechanisms prompt LGs to implement a de-capacity policy. Third, the CG's strategic choice in the policy formulation stage impacts the evolution of the strategies of the two subjects in the policy implementation stage. The above results promote policy synergy between CG and LGs and provide insights for policymakers for designing an effective coal production capacity governance model.

Policy making for sharks and the role and contribution of non-governmental organisations in the fulfilment of international legal obligations

We propose a policy cycle for elasmobranch conservation and management and assessed the role and contribution of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) within this cycle on a case study basis for the Mediterranean region. Following a review of shark-related and relevant legal obligations under international and regional instruments, we classified them into ten focus areas: Capacity building, Conservation measures, Cooperation, Education and Awareness, Monitoring, Policy development and integration, Regulation, Reporting, Research, and Sustainable Management. Based on surveys and a supplementary, web-based research, we found that NGOs contribute substantially to the implementation stage of the proposed policy cycle and fulfil obligations under various legal instruments in relation to data collection, bycatch mitigation, species monitoring, identification of important areas, education and awareness. Furthermore, but to a lesser extent, NGOs are involved in the policy formulation stage as they support the development of new policies within the region. The range and extent of projects and programmes implemented varies among countries, with Spanish organisations currently implementing 25 such initiatives, followed by Bosnia and Herzegovina (14), Greece (14), and France (11), Albania (7), Croatia (6), Cyprus (6), Italy (6), Malta (5), Slovenia (4), Israel (3), Libya (3), Turkey (3), Tunisia (2), and Morocco (1).

Strategi Perencanaan Komunikasi Sebagai Upaya Pengembangan Kapasitas dan Potensi Wisata di Desa Wisata Pipitan

Capacity building is needed as an effort to increase the capacity of community-based tourism actors. Community-based tourism is one of the alternative tourist destinations amid the many popular tourist destinations, especially in Indonesia. Problems that arise in community-based tourism management can be solved by means of communication. This research aims to find out the communication planning carried out by the Pipitan Tourism Conscious Group in increasing its capacity. This research uses Philip Lesly's communication planning model with four stages, namely research and analysis, policy formulation, communication planning and communication activities. This research data collection technique uses in-depth interviews with case study research methods. The results of the study explained in stages of analysis and research of the managers of Pipitan Tourism Village exploring tourism potential and getting some tourism potential such as Situ Ciwaka natural tourism, Blohok vegetable culinary tourism, religious tourism KH. Syuhari’s tomb and Pepetan wewe cultural tourism and debus. The stages of policy formulation for the tourism development program are submitted to the forum and decided during the deliberation of the work program at the beginning of each month. The stages of program planning divide the program by gender and age. The program for youth is a promotion on social media and for mothers, namely making handicrafts such as painting with cutting boards and frying pans. Finally, communication activities are Sunday night programs with the community, promotions on social media and also in collaboration with the Serang City Tourism Office for tourism promotion.
 Keywords: communication planning, capacity building, community-based tourism (cbt), pipitan tourism village banten.