Policy-making Practices Research Articles

Health Inequity and Institutional Ethnography: Mapping the Problem of Policy Change

Health equity (HE) is a central concern across multiple disciplines and sectors, including nursing. However, the proliferation of the term has not resulted in corresponding policymaking that leads to a clear reduction of health inequities. The goal of this paper is to use institutional ethnographic methods to map the social organization of HE policy discourses in Canada, a process that serves to reproduce existing relations of power that stymie substantive change in policy aimed at reducing health inequity. In nursing, institutional ethnography (IE) is described as a method of inquiry for taking sides in order to expose socially organized practices of power. Starting from the standpoints of HE policy advocates we explain the methods of IE, focusing on a stepwise description of theoretical and practical applications in the area of policymaking. Results are discussed in the context of three thematic areas: 1) bounding HE talk within biomedical imperialism, 2) situating racialization and marginalization as a subaltern space in HE discourses, and 3) activating HE texts as ruling relations. We conclude with key points about our insights into the methodological and theoretical potential of critical policy research using IE to analyze the social organization of power in HE policy narratives. This paper contributes to critical nursing discourse in the area of HE, demonstrating how IE can be applied to disrupt socially organized neoliberal and colonialist narratives that recycle and redeploy oppressive policymaking practices within and beyond nursing.

Risk-Informed Decision-Making for Predisaster Risk Mitigation Planning of Interdependent Infrastructure Systems: Case Study of Jamaica

Hazards cause huge social disruptions and economic losses each year. Community disaster resilience relies on the capacity of critical infrastructure systems to maintain acceptable levels of functionality during a disruptive event and to recover promptly after the event. A proper predisaster risk mitigation planning framework can aid communities by working in advance to understand the preexisting local needs, identify the leaders, form partnerships, establish resources, and seize opportunities to increase community disaster resilience. Although numerous theoretical studies exist on developing models to support infrastructure predisaster risk mitigation, these models have not been properly incorporated into the decision-making process in existing studies. This lack of incorporation impedes the transfer of theoretical knowledge to practical policymaking. High-level predisaster infrastructure risk mitigation decisions for multiple infrastructure systems are especially in need of such an illustration due to the complexity introduced by the scale. This paper defines the interdependent infrastructure risk mitigation (IIRM) problem in a risk-informed decision-making framework and illustrates the entire decision-making process using a case study on predisaster risk mitigation planning of the interdependent critical infrastructure systems in Jamaica. This region is vulnerable to natural hazards but has received little attention in the literature.

Rigorous Policy-Making Amid COVID-19 and Beyond: Literature Review and Critical Insights.

Policies shape society. Public health policies are of particular importance, as they often dictate matters in life and death. Accumulating evidence indicates that good-intentioned COVID-19 policies, such as shelter-in-place measures, can often result in unintended consequences among vulnerable populations such as nursing home residents and domestic violence victims. Thus, to shed light on the issue, this study aimed to identify policy-making processes that have the potential of developing policies that could induce optimal desirable outcomes with limited to no unintended consequences amid the pandemic and beyond. Methods: A literature review was conducted in PubMed, PsycINFO, and Scopus to answer the research question. To better structure the review and the subsequent analysis, theoretical frameworks such as the social ecological model were adopted to guide the process. Results: The findings suggested that: (1) people-centered; (2) artificial intelligence (AI)-powered; (3) data-driven, and (4) supervision-enhanced policy-making processes could help society develop policies that have the potential to yield desirable outcomes with limited unintended consequences. To leverage these strategies’ interconnectedness, the people-centered, AI-powered, data-driven, and supervision-enhanced (PADS) model of policy making was subsequently developed. Conclusions: The PADS model can develop policies that have the potential to induce optimal outcomes and limit or eliminate unintended consequences amid COVID-19 and beyond. Rather than serving as a definitive answer to problematic COVID-19 policy-making practices, the PADS model could be best understood as one of many promising frameworks that could bring the pandemic policy-making process more in line with the interests of societies at large; in other words, more cost-effectively, and consistently anti-COVID and pro-human.

Investigation of the Relationship between the Perceived Public Transport Service Quality and Satisfaction: A PLS-SEM Technique

Public transportation (PT) service quality is recognized as a cornerstone of infrastructure development in many countries. Understanding the satisfaction level of public transport users towards provided service quality is vital. However, there is still a lack of research to identify the specific relationship between the experience of service quality and private vehicle (PV) users’ satisfaction. Therefore, this paper aimed to examine the different satisfaction attributes of PV users due to the COVID-19 pandemic and to make possible suggestions to policymakers on how to adapt to these changed attitudes. The paper highlights that some satisfaction issues became more significant, while the importance of others was mitigated due to the unusual circumstances. In this study, variance-based Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was applied to test the proposed hypotheses. Further, Partial Least Squares Multi-Group Analysis (PLS-MGA) was conducted for investigating the perception of age and gender groups on the basis of gap analysis. An online panel and printed questionnaire survey were used to collect data in Budapest, Hungary in October and November 2020 during COVID-19 from the perception of 100 PV users. The findings show that perceived service quality and accessibility are statistically significant in the formation of PV users’ satisfaction but safety and security were not significantly related to satisfaction. Additionally, results from PLS-MGA reveal that there was a significant difference among gender and age groups in achieving satisfaction associated with safety and security. The conclusions of this study are not only beneficial for the theory of this field but also contribute to practice for policymakers in terms of providing better service with specific identification of how to encourage more private vehicle users to use public transportation.

Examining the Status of English as a Medium of Instruction in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Comparative Study of Botswana and Nigeria

This paper examines the status of English as a medium of instruction in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) by comparing how it is taught and learned in Botswana and Nigeria. The paper’s argument is based on the premise that learners acquire literacy skills in a familiar language (Williams, 2011). The English language is an official language in the two countries and has been linked to their social, economic and political development (Cholakova, 2015). The aim of the study is to compare the status of English as a medium of instruction in Botswana and Nigeria, identify and examine the implications for its use, and recommend best practice for policymakers in the field. Based on a systematic review of research between 2000 and 2021, the paper identifies several key findings affecting both countries: the insufficient acquisition of literacy skills in English, the need for a language policy review in Botswana, and the need for a thorough review of teacher quality by the governments of both countries if United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4.c is to be achieved by the deadline of 2030. The implications of the review for both countries are that pupils drop out of school as a result of their lack of understanding of English; a non-credit pass in English at the secondary level can hinder students’ career progression; English remains parents’ educationally preferred language; and policy makers need to have a strategic awareness of how English and other languages are used in their communities for educational purposes.

\u201cSharp downward, blunt upward\u201d: district maternal death audits\u2019 challenges to formulate evidence-based recommendations in Indonesia - a qualitative study

BackgroundIndonesia, the largest archipelago globally with a decentralized health system, faces a stagnant high maternal mortality ratio (MMR). The disparity factors among regions and inequities in access have deterred the local assessments in preventing similar maternal deaths. This study explored the challenges of district maternal death audit (MDA) committees to provide evidence-based recommendations for local adaptive practices in reducing maternal mortality.MethodsA qualitative study was conducted with four focus-group discussions in Central Java, Indonesia, between July and October 2019. Purposive sampling was used to select 7–8 members of each district audit committee. Data were analyzed using the thematic analysis approach. Triangulation was done by member checking, peer debriefing, and reviewing audit documentation.ResultsThe district audit committees had significant challenges to develop appropriate recommendations and action plans, involving: 1) non-informative audit tool provides unreliable data for review; 2) unstandardized clinical indicators and the practice of “sharp downward, blunt upward”; 3) unaccountable hospital support and lack of leadership commitment, and 4) blaming culture, minimal training, and insufficient MDA committee’ skills. The district audit committees tended to associated maternal death in lower and higher-level health facilities (hospitals) with mismanagement and unavoidable cause, respectively. These unfavorable cultures discourage transparency and prevent continuing improvement, leading to failure in addressing maternal death’s local avoidable factors.ConclusionA productive MDA is required to provide an evidence-based recommendation. A strong partnership between the key hospital decision-makers and district health officers is needed for quality evidence-based policymaking and adaptive practice to prevent maternal death.

A wide environmental analysis of beekeeping systems through life cycle assessment: key contributing activities and influence of operation scale

ABSTRACT Agri-food has become an economic sector under increasing pressure in order to support food demand and decrease environmental impacts. One valuable methodology to evaluate environmental impacts is life cycle assessment (LCA), which has been employed in different economic sectors, however, beekeeping has been scarcely explored. In this context, this article investigates the environmental profile of 31 Chilean beekeeping systems reporting 15 environmental impact categories with a cradle to gate approach. In this way, this study identifies key contributing activities, variability in the environmental impacts, differences among operation scales, and provided efficient management practices for policy-makers. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that conducts a wide environmental analysis of beekeeping systems through LCA. The results show that feeding is the most impacting activity in all categories, followed by hives transport. Otherwise, medication, consumption of disposable inputs and honey extraction contribute less than 5% in average across all categories. Regarding the operation scale, the results suggest that small-scale beekeepers have the lowest environmental performance. Otherwise, medium-scale beekeepers have better environmental performance than the large-scale ones, depending on the environmental impact category evaluated. Finally, managerial practices in order to achieve sustainable honey production are provided.

The British Defence Reviews of the 1990s and Their Legacy

This working paper examines the British defence reviews of the 1990s (namely the 1990, 1994 and 1998 reviews) from the standpoint of the 2020s and argues that those reviews essentially established the country's post-Cold War position, as evident in both succeeding planning documents, and practical policymaking with regard to perceived threats, priorities and the budgeting, sizing and equipment of British forces. Dominated by the need for cost savings, and a focus on non-state threats with British forces oriented to interventions outside the West European area rather than state threats and conventional, interstate warfare, this only began to change in the 2010s, when resourcing was little changed and the emphasis on out-of-area operations endured (and indeed, grew with concern for Global Britain), but a renewed concern for interstate warfare became apparent (particularly in regard to Russia, but also China). The paper finally concludes with an examination of all this in light of the most recent, 2021 review documents confirming that shift.

Harnessing Behavioral Science to Design Disposable Shopping Bag Regulations

Policies to curb the use of disposable shopping bags take two main forms: (a) They provide market-based incentives, imposing fees or taxes on disposable shopping bags or offering rewards for bringing reusable bags from home, or (b) they impose command -and -control policies, which ban certain types of disposable shopping bags altogether. In this article, we review evidence on the effectiveness of these policy design choices through a behavioral economics lens and highlight best practices for policymakers considering similar legislation.

Problematising concepts of transit-oriented development in South African cities

Transit-oriented development (TOD) is generally defined as planned high-density development containing a mixture of residential, retail, commercial and community uses around a transit hub and surrounded by a high-quality urban realm that prioritises the pedestrian (and more recently the cyclist) over the automobile. This article analyses the steps taken in Cape Town and Johannesburg to develop TOD schemes. In so doing, it problematises both the concept of TOD as a universal mechanism in which all cities apply a similar set of guidelines as well as the specific planning practices in South African cities. Drawing on the policy mobilities literature and specifically the emerging discussions of policy mobilities failure, I note the challenges and delays in implementing TOD in South Africa. It is not so much that TOD has been applied incorrectly as that it has been unable to stick in the local context. Rather than furthering the debate on whether a city should or should not promote TOD, viewing their planning through a policy mobilities lens highlights the urban politics of policymaking. Accordingly, the article presents a fine-tuned analysis of TOD as both a conceptual framework as well as a process for actually doing transport planning. Such a critical reading of the intertwined and overlapping practices of policymaking provides insights into the process of urban development and spatial transformation in (South/ern) Africa as well as across cities of the global south.

A multi-level governance response to the Covid-19 crisis in public transport

This paper examines the Dutch policy reaction to the financial crisis in the public transport sector caused by Covid-19. Using the multi-level governance theory complemented with the notion of informal governance, the analysis explains the decision-making that defined a State-aid scheme to public transport operators following a process of consultation and concertation between state and non-state actors across governance tiers. To agree on a financial rescue package, these actors engage in front-stage and back-stage political interactions, constrained and enabled by formal and informal governance structures and practices. By analyzing how the interplay between the political mobilization of actors, policy-making arrangements, and existing polity structures shapes political alignment around the financial support scheme, the paper concludes that the crisis did not change customary governance and policy-making practices. Stakeholders sought their usual partners and followed existing routines in path-dependent ways to address the policy challenge brought by Covid-19. Despite being triggered by a major exogenous shock, the policy response to the crisis was driven mainly by endogenous forces; the decision-making mechanism remained the same and the network of actors did not shrink or expand.

From University to School—Experiences of Teaching Practice in Three Countries

Teaching practice plays an important role in preparing future teachers. More and more countries pay attention to teaching practice in teacher education and take measures to improve the system of teaching practice. This paper examines the characteristics of teaching practice through the perspective of comparative analysis, comparing the situations in China, the UK and the USA. The different characteristics are presented, particularly in the goal of teaching practice, the duration of the internship and the cooperation system among education administration departments, universities, and schools. Some suggestions are proposed to improve teaching practice generally based on experience of these three countries. As such, it provides insight into practice for policymakers and academics in the field of teacher education.

Avoiding a Panglossian Policy Science: The Need to Deal with the Darkside of Policy-Maker and Policy-Taker Behaviour

Current work on policy design typically views policy-making as an activity on the part of well-intentioned governments desiring to serve the public interest by marshaling accurate evidence in a dispassionate, technical way in the attempt to address and resolve public problems. Even those studies which do note the political and power-based nature of many aspects and instances of policy-making still hold out hope that these “distortions” can be corrected and effective policy solutions emerge from policy deliberations. While this optimism is laudable, such thinking does a disservice to policy design and policy studies by failing to address head-on the possibilities, often observed in policy-making practice, that policy-makers may be driven by malicious or venal motivations rather than socially beneficial or disinterested ones and that policy targets also have proclivities and tendencies towards activities such as gaming, free-ridership and rent-seeking that must be curbed if even well-intentioned policies are to achieve their aims. This paper addresses both these issues and the state of the policy design literature on the causes, consequences and correctives for such behaviour. It proposes a new research agenda dealing with this “dark side” of policy behaviour and the manner in which policy designs can include procedural policy tools in order to deal with these problems.

Evidence-based Policy in India: Crossing the Long, Uphill Bridge

The evidence-based-policy ecosystem, and its arsenal of approaches and techniques need course-correction to adequately respond to complex and practical policymaking contexts. Experimental findings do not resonate in scale implementation, particularly in large and diverse contexts like India’s. Causal empiricism leaves out investigation of complex pathways and impact mechanisms, while ‘evidence’ often disengages political economy considerations. Surmounting the methodological constrictions—which limit the utility and uptake of such evidence for a decisionmaker—requires being able to sufficiently account for institutional factors, social norms, politics, and stakeholder incentives among other related influences in policymaking. This may be possible through robust use of qualitative nuances, and integration of political economy analysis towards adopting a realist approach in evidence generation. It is important to acknowledge that measurement alone should qualify as neither evaluation or research. The state of research, its guiding principles, approaches and methods are often directed by current influences and preferences of stakeholders who are in a position to shape discourse. Interjections by more stakeholders are urgently needed to orient evidence generation to ‘real world’ realities and respond to the non-linear complexities of developmental change pathways.

Riders Who Avoided Public Transit During COVID-19

Problem, research strategy, and findings Millions of North Americans stopped riding public transit in response to COVID-19. We treat this crisis as a natural experiment to illustrate the importance of public transit in riders’ abilities to access essential destinations. We measured the impacts of riders forgoing transit through a survey of transportation barriers completed by more than 4,000 transit riders in Toronto and Vancouver (Canada). We used Heckman selection models to predict six dimensions of transport disadvantage and transport-related social exclusions captured in our survey. We then complemented model results with an analysis of survey comments describing barriers that individuals faced. Lack of access to alternative modes is the strongest predictor of a former rider experiencing transport disadvantage, particularly neighborhood walkability and vehicle ownership. Groups at risk of transport disadvantage before COVID-19, particularly women and people in poorer health, were also more likely to report difficulties while avoiding public transit. Barriers described by respondents included former supports no longer offering rides, gendered household car use dynamics, and lack of culturally specific or specialized amenities within walking distance. Takeaway for practice Policymakers should plan for a level of redundancy in transportation systems that enables residents to access essential destinations when unexpected service losses occur. Designing communities that enable residents to walk to those essential destinations will help reduce the burdens faced by transit riders during crises that render transit unfeasible. At the same time, planners championing active travel as an alternative to transit during such crises also need to devise solutions for former transit riders for whom active travel is ill suited, for example, due to physical challenges with carrying groceries or needing to chaperone children.

Trust gaps in energy transitions: Japan’s National Deliberative Poll after Fukushima

A global decline in public trust has created a strong need for governments worldwide to engage citizens in order to enhance policy legitimacy and ensure effective post-Fukushima energy transitions. Deliberative policy-making – an advanced form of participatory policy-making that emphasises dialogue and debate – is widely regarded as an intervention that can enhance trust and subsequently legitimacy of energy transitions policies. However, the potential and limits of deliberative policy-making remain the subject of debate. This paper contributes to this debate by exploring deliberative policy-making from a trust perspective. We develop a trust-based systems framework of deliberative policy-making in the energy transitions context to understand, examine, and conceptualise the quality of such policy-making processes. Our framework is tested and applied to a case study of a national deliberative poll (DP) on energy held in Japan in 2012. This study draws on qualitative and quantitative data derived from the DP, in particular from a two-day deliberative forum involving 285 citizens. The findings indicate that the existence of a trust gap may jeopardise the quality of deliberative processes where citizen participation is considered as an input and enhanced policy legitimacy as an output of a policy-making system. We also show that the trust gap is a complicated concept consisting of three dimensions (trust in information, motives, and competence) and three types of directional dynamics (vertical, horizontal, and temporal). Our study identifies the context of public distrust as well as the broader political environment as two critical contextual conditions that may inhibit the closure of the trust gap. Our study contains rich insights on deliberative policy-making in the energy context, arguing that it carries no guarantee of enhanced policy legitimacy. Policy-makers in the energy transitions field need to focus attention on creating the conditions to build public trust in order to enhance policy legitimacy and thus realise the potential benefits of deliberative practices of policy-making.

Survival stories as access to society. People with history of a crime as experts by experience

ABSTRACT In recent years, experts by experience have participated in the practices of social work and policy-making in increasing numbers. At the core of expert-by-experience training is the idea of constructing a story based on one’s own experiences. This study looks at how empowerment is manifested in the descriptions experts by experience with a history of crime and substance abuse give of their narratives and what kind of relationship to society is constructed in them. For the purpose of this study, 19 individuals who had undergone the expert-by-experience educational programme aimed at ex-offenders and recovering addicts were interviewed. The results show that one’s own narrative was identified as an empowerment resource and, by sharing their story, people became part of social networks and gained a better understanding of their situation. Their relationship to society was constructed in both individual processes and encounters with professionals. The participants’ attitudes towards authorities became more positive. The shared narratives revealed gaps in the social welfare system and this increased the participants’ critical consciousness of society’s ability to take care of its most vulnerable. Authorized by their background, the participants were able to represent their reference groups on a broader scale and remove stigma attached to them.

Experimental Governance and Urban Planning Futures: Five Strategic Functions for Municipalities in Local Innovation

Experimental governance is increasingly being implemented in cities around the world through laboratories, testbeds, platforms, and innovation districts to address a wide range of complex sustainability challenges. Experiments often involve public-private partnerships and triple helix collaborations with the municipality as a key stakeholder. This stretches the responsibilities of local authorities beyond conventional practices of policymaking and regulation to engage in more applied, collaborative, and recursive forms of planning. In this article, we examine how local authorities are involved in experimental governance and how this is influencing their approach to urban development. We are specifically interested in the multiple strategic functions that municipalities play in experimental governance and the broader implications to existing urban planning practices and norms. We begin the article by developing an analytic framework of the most common strategic functions of municipalities in experimental governance and then apply this framework to Stockholm, a city that has embraced experimental governance as a means to realise its sustainability ambitions. Our findings reveal how the strategic functions of visioning, facilitating, supporting, amplifying, and guarding are producing new opportunities and challenges to urban planning practices in twenty-first century cities.

Workplace romance and sexual favoritism in the #MeToo workplace: legal and practical considerations for management

PurposeThe advent of the #MeToo movement has brought forth increased national and global attention to sexual assault, abuse, misconduct, discrimination and harassment in the workplace, especially by prominent executives against subordinate female employees. Accordingly, in this article, we are thoroughly analyzing one aspect of office romance and sexual conduct in the workplace, mainly sexual favoritism in the era of the #MeToo movement.Design/methodology/approachThis is a legal and case-based human resource policies paper. It reviews actual workplace romance cases, policies and court-based decisions to create practical recommendations that can be used by managers, entrepreneurs and corporations for their organizations. One delimitation of this paper is the fact that it focuses on the US context. Another is that, while organizational behavior researchers have empirically studied various workplace romance policies and practices, the paper is a case-by-case analysis of sexual favoritism. “Specifically, the legal research for this article was conducted on the law database, Nexis Uni Legal, in the Cases (both federal and state) and Law Reviews and Journals sub-databases, using the direct key words in quotations “workplace romance,” “office romance,” “sexual favoritism,” and/or “paramour preference,” as well as the indirect key words “appearance discrimination, “preferring the pretty,” and/or “lookism.” As the authors' intent was to examine the legal and practical consequences emanating from the #MeToo Movement, the authors concentrated their search on cases and law reviews from 2012 to February 2021.FindingsResearch shows that about 35–42% of women have experienced some form of sexual harassment or sex discrimination at work. Many of the high-profile sexual cases that generated the #MeToo movement involved powerful executives asserting that their romantic relationships with subordinates in the workplace were “merely” consensual office romance or sexual favoritism. As a result of the #MeToo movement, employers have been compelled to reconsider how they should respond to sexual discrimination, sexual harassment, office romance and sexual favoritism in the workplace. This article offers best practices for policymakers and human resources professionals.Research limitations/implicationsThis article's recommendations are limited to workplaces in the US and may not be relevant in other countries as the local laws might vary.Practical implicationsThere are policy and behavioral implications for companies, managers and employees regarding workplace romance and sexual favoritism. As such, we provide policy recommendations to human resources department and management on how to provide a healthy work environment for all employees and avoid liability for sexual harassment cases pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.Social implicationsThe awareness of policies and laws regulating office romance can help educate managers and employees in local communities as to their rights regarding relationships with coworkers and those who report to them. When people are able to date whomever they desire outside of the workplace, employers can regulate some aspects of sexual relationships in the workplace.Originality/valueThis is an original paper by the authors.

Expansive Learning in Inter-Institutional Communities of Practice for Teacher Educators and Policymakers

The current study deals with participation in inter-institutional Communities of Practice (CoP) (Wenger, 1998) as a form of professional learning for experienced teacher educators who hold leadership positions in their institutions. In these CoPs, collaboration between teacher educators and policymakers resulted in expansive learning, which is the creation of new practical and theoretical knowledge, and a change of practice rather than adoption of knowledge constructed elsewhere. The current study describes three such communities, the expansive learning cycles that each of them triggered, and shared characteristics that may have contributed to these outcomes. The multiple case study methodology was employed. Data sources were interviews with thirteen participants (coordinators, Ministry of Education representatives and additional members from each CoP), and documents (such as meeting minutes and research papers) that were produced in each CoP. The findings show that expansive learning occurred due to a shared vision, reflective and critical dialogue, trusting relationship, and mutual support among participants. Furthermore, the inter-institutional composition of the CoPs, and the influential position of the participants within their respective organizations enabled them to introduce coordinated changes that transformed their practice at the individual, organizational and national levels.