Policy Problems Research Articles

Deep Reinforcement Learning-Driven Mitigation of Adverse Effects of Cyber-Attacks on Electric Vehicle Charging Station

An electric vehicle charging station (EVCS) infrastructure is the backbone of transportation electrification; however, the EVCS has various vulnerabilities in software, hardware, supply chain, and incumbent legacy technologies such as network, communication, and control. These standalone or networked EVCSs open up large attack surfaces for local or state-funded adversaries. The state-of-the-art approaches are not agile and intelligent enough to defend against and mitigate advanced persistent threats (APT). We propose data-driven model-free digital clones based on multiple independent agents deep reinforcement learning (IADRL) that uses the Twin Delayed Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (TD3) to efficiently learn the control policy to mitigate the cyberattacks on the controllers of EVCS. Also, the proposed digital clones trained with TD3 are compared against the benchmark Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (DDPG) agent. The attack model considers the APT designed to malfunction the duty cycles of the EVCS controllers with Type-I low-frequency attacks and Type-II constant attacks. The proposed model restores the EVCS operation under threat incidence in any/all controllers by correcting the control signals generated by the legacy controllers. Our experiments verify the superior control policies and actions of TD3-based clones compared to the DDPG-based clones. Also, the TD3-based controller clones solve the problem of incremental bias, suboptimal policy, and hyperparameter sensitivity of the benchmark DDPG-based digital clones, enforcing the efficient mitigation of the impact of cyberattacks on EVCS controllers.

Epistemic injustice in educational policy: an account of structural contributory injustice

Abstract In this paper, I introduce a special case of epistemic injustice that I call ‘structural contributory injustice’. This conception aims to capture some dimensions of how policy—separately from individual agential interactions—can generate epistemic injustice at a group level. I first locate the case within Kristie Dotson’s original conception of contributory injustice. I then consider one potential case of structural contributory injustice—namely, the policy problem of significant financial risk burden on students considering university in the USA. Finally, I consider potential policy reforms in response to this injustice.

Dark Sky Parks: public policy that turns off the lights

Dark skies are culturally, ecologically, and economically valuable natural resources but little has been written on how dark sky conservation is being enacted through environmental policy and legislation. Using the Multiple Streams Framework and qualitative data from over 300 policy documents, we characterize the problems, policy solutions, and politics around protecting night sky resources. We find that the core public policy problem of diminishing night skies is perceived by stakeholders to be light pollution produced from surrounding urban development. To address this problem, decision-makers enact policy solutions of creating Dark Sky Parks on protected landscapes with rigorous and scientific processes. These technical ideas for creating Dark Sky Parks are transmitted to decision-makers at park and landscape scales. Dark sky conservation is a political process as well, which attracts bipartisan support from policy-makers from different political parties due to the economic potential of astrotourism. Our work has general applications for the role of managers and NGOs in creating science policy, engaging the public, and enacting policy change, as was seen in the context of the International Dark Sky Association providing resources, technical information, and support for managers and other stakeholders to encourage actions at various scales to protect rapidly-disappearing dark skies.

Wicked policy problems and COVID‐19 in small island developing states: The cases of Mauritius and Seychelles

AbstractThe COVID‐19 pandemic represented one of the most significant wicked policy problems in modern history. Global policy efforts to combat the pandemic reflect a diverse set of approaches, with varying underlying goals and values driving the policy choices. This article studies the pandemic response of two small island developing states, Mauritius and Seychelles, to better understand the policy landscape in this understudied African region. Evidence from these two island nations provides important insights into the opportunities and constraints faced by island developing states. Using in‐depth qualitative interviews with policy actors and reviews of official policy documents, this article studies the policy landscape of these two small island developing states. Findings from this research offer insights for scholars and practitioners interested in the intersection of wicked problems and policy.Related ArticlesOnyango, Gedion, and Japheth Otieno Ondiek. 2022. “Open Innovation during the COVID‐19 Pandemic Policy Responses in South Africa and Kenya.” Politics & Policy 50(5): 1008–31. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12490.Vince, Joanna. 2023. “A Creeping Crisis When an Urgent Crisis Arises: The Reprioritization of Plastic Pollution Issues during COVID‐19.” Politics & Policy 51(1): 26–40. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12512.Kinyondo, Abel, and Riccardo Pelizzo. 2013. “Strengthening Legislatures: Some Lessons from the Pacific Region.” Politics & Policy 41(3): 420–46. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12020.

Optimal order-[formula omitted] routing policy for adaptive routing in real road networks

In uncertain traffic networks, adaptive routing mechanism is essential in adapting to dynamic traffic changes and making effective routing decisions. Most previous work on adaptive routing commonly ignores the realistic requirement of drivers to select and enter a right lane before intersections, and this would lead to urgent lane changing at intersections that not only violates traffic rules but even causes traffic accidents. This paper redefines the adaptive routing problem in real road networks as an optimal order-k routing policy problem by proposing a novel order-k routing policy. It is a routing mechanism that selects the next k arcs at each decision intersection and the first m arcs are the same with the last m arcs of the k arcs selected at the last decision intersection, which are defined as an m-arc-constrained order-k link. This routing mechanism gives sufficient preparation time for lane changing. We develop a two-phase methodology to handle this problem. To address complex spatio-temporal correlations in real road networks, instead of using the random sampling method, we use a copula-based scenario generation method to generate high-quality scenarios for improving solution performances. A two-stage algorithm integrating the enumeration of m-arc-constrained order-k links and the construction of the optimal routing policy is developed to find the optimal order-k routing policy based on the scenarios generated. Extensive numerical experiments demonstrate the superiority of the optimal order-k routing policy to simultaneously obtain good performances and meet the realistic requirement of drivers’ lane changing.

3.B. Round table: Learning from the pandemic and implementing lessons learned: moving past the rhetoric

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic put enormous pressure on our health systems, revealing how we were unprepared for such a global threat. We have gained many insights and learned valuable lessons about what went wrong and how we should prepare for the next pandemic. These lessons are set out in a series on national and international reports. Building Back Better is a concept at the core of many of these recommendations, arguing that we should make our health systems strong, sustainable and resilient. Although calls to learn from the past are commendable and a prerequisite for transparent and evidence-informed health policymaking, we run the risk of them becoming no more than good intentions and rhetoric. It is quite astounding to see how quickly we seem to have forgotten the profound impact of the pandemic on our societies. This does not only apply to citizens, but also to policymakers. There are many other complex and urgent policy problems that require attention - including climate change, migration, the war in Ukraine, and the cost-of-living crisis. It is therefore not difficult to imagine policymakers getting distracted by the immediate political pressures, paying less attention to - seemingly - less pressing issues that require a longer-term strategy, such as implementing the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, building back better may be a catchy phrase, but as with many things, it is easier said than done, as there are huge societal challenges that need to be overcome when we want to really strengthen our health systems. Think, for example, about shortages of health workers, which will only increase due to ageing populations. Or competing budgetary pressures, with healthcare only one of many policy areas in dire need of investment. All in all, we have seen the paramount importance of building back better, but there are many challenges in practice. This roundtable will focus on how we can make sure that these lessons learned from the pandemic are actually implemented in our public health and wider health systems. The panelists will represent different perspectives and reflect on: what does the evidence tell us and what is needed at the system-level, the policy-level, and the level of the public health professional? Workshop participants will gain an understanding of what it will take to move from mere buzzwords to action, creating more resilient health systems, a fit-for-purpose and flexible health workforce, and equal access to vaccines and medicines, and what the role of different stakeholders in this could and should be. Key messages • Although we have seen the paramount importance of building our health systems back better, there are many challenges in practice. • Public health leadership, a longer-term vision and an evidence-informed approach are indispensable for realizing strong and resilient health systems. Speakers/Panelists Martin McKee LSHTM, London, UK Natasha Azzopardi Muscat WHO, Copenhagen, Denmark Dineke Zeegers Paget EUPHA Ton Coenen GGD GHOR Nederland, Utrecht, Netherlands

Like high cholesterol, population decline is a problem, but not in the way you might think...

The prospect of population decline in Europe is commonly understood to be an important policy problem. Discussions and research typically focus on the level and the trend of demographic indicators. Can policies be designed which, by targeting the constrained optimisation of rational individuals, cause the indicators to change in the right direction? In this intervention, I argue that like a surrogate marker in medicine, a demographic indicator is not a meaningful endpoint: something that is a direct measure of health or, analogously, a healthy society. Treating population indicators as meaningful endpoints can, as history has shown, lead to great harm. In my view, it is this misconception that makes population decline a truly serious and terrifying problem. So yes, population decline is a problem, but not in the way you, or the people who pose this sort of question, might think.

«Green» function of tax law

The article discusses the ecological functions of tax law and the “green” possibilities of legal regulation. Particular attention is paid to the problems of state policy in the field of environmental development of the Russian Federation and the issues of “greening” of Russian legislation on taxes and fees. The author notes that the greening of legislation is a long-established trend in the development of the Russian legal system. Its main directions are the active use of various tax instruments, including incentive tax benefits. The article shows that tax benefits are the basic tools for greening tax law and therefore act as the main way of influencing tax law to ensure environmental safety. They are aimed at encouraging the taxpayer to environmentally responsible lawful behavior. It is noted that the environmental function of taxation is implemented, as a rule, within the framework of the regulatory function of law. The article examines the environmental potential of some taxes and fees, presents the main tools for greening legislation on taxes and fees.

People in the North: Guidelines for Social Policy of the Soviet State in the Arctic (1920s — 1930s)

The article examines the social problems of the development of the Arctic in the early Soviet period. The features of the social policy of the Soviet state in relation to the indigenous peoples of the northern territories are shown. The contradiction between the desire of the Soviet state to introduce the principles of socialism into the daily life of aborigines and the real level of socio-economic development of the indigenous peoples of the North is revealed. The living conditions of the non-indigenous population in the territories adjacent to the Northern Sea Route are considered. It is concluded that the solution of the problems of the social policy of the Soviet state in the process of developing the Arctic was subordinated to the main task of launching and operating the Northern Sea Route.

What Were You Thinking? A Constructive Epistemology of Nonprofit Policy Development

This paper examines the challenges of teaching management policy development in nonprofit organizations through a pan-disciplinary “constructive epistemology.” The elements of the epistemology encompass sequential elements that go beyond problem-solving heuristics, and apply well to managerial policy development in nonprofit organizations. Those elements include Issue Identification, Stakeholder Recognition, Normative Desires, Conceptual Framing, Empirical Observation, Scenario Envisioning and Prescriptive Recommendation. I argue that each of these helps to frame policy problems, and together they provide a firm basis for developing policy and for reviewing its effects. The constructive epistemology is illustrated with a discussion of how nonprofits might develop policy around the prospect of receiving donations from morally suspect sources, the so-called “dirty money” problem.

Research networks focused on critical problems of education policy and practice (ED)

Research networks focused on critical problems of education policy and practice (ED)

INOVASI ADMINISTRASI PUBLIK

The ability to innovate, especially policy innovation supported by bureaucratic creativity, is very important.Innovation in Indonesia has developed rapidly but is still carried out relatively partially. It is said to bepartial because an innovation is not automatically connected to other innovations. In the perspective of thepublic sector, innovation creates new policies in overcoming public policy problems. an innovation in publicadministration is an effective, creative and unique answer to a new problem against an old one. Innovationis applied by local governments in order to improve public services. Through this breakthrough, it is hopedthat it can support the creation of services that are faster, easier, smarter, more comfortable, better andcheaper. This step is at the same time to accelerate the achievement of Indonesia’s vision and mission goals,as well as to strengthen the synergy between the central government and local governments.

Evaluating punctuated equilibrium dynamics within a crisis context

The theoretical evolution of punctuated equilibrium theory (PET) and empirical expansion of its research agenda to non-democratic countries, demonstrate that democratic nations feature less punctuated policymaking than autocracies, owing to informational advantages. However, can these differences be identified cross-sectionally across numerous political systems facing a common policy problem? To assess this, we present a broad and robust empirical analysis of PET dynamics across 166 countries over three years for a single policy issue that affected all nations: the COVID-19 pandemic. First, we theoretically link PET with the concepts of policy learning and bounded emulation and propose the emergence of mini cycles of punctuated equilibrium during a crisis. Then, using weekly data, we examine univariate distributions of COVID-19-related policy changes to better understand how punctuated policy dynamics have differed between political systems. Using multiple approaches, we demonstrate (1) the emergence of PET mini cycles during crises and (2) an absence of macro-level differences in PET dynamics across democratic, partially democratic and autocratic countries. Our evaluation of policy change distributions across a wide range of political systems in a crisis context offers notable insights into the generalisability of PET dynamics. Thus, our article offers novel advancements to PET scholarship both theoretically and empirically.

Passive Franchise as an Innovation in the Development of Cooperative-Based Retail Networks

Background: Franchising is a choice in developing a business network. One of the rampant franchise businesses in Indonesia is the development of retail store networks. Unfortunately, the presence of modern store-based retail stores is feared to threaten local businesses in the area such as the case in Kulon Progo. TOMIRA is seen as the best solution that mediates the interests of the private sector as retail owners, cooperatives, and local governments with the main goal of improving community welfare. Aim: This paper aims to reveal TOMIRA policy problems that occur and explore innovations in management strategies needed in the form of passive franchises. Method: Through a qualitative approach, this paper is able to present the results and policy problems of multi-actors, namely the government, private sector, cooperatives, and SMEs. Findings: Passive franchising is seen as a form of mitigation of policy problems in TOMIRA because it is able to provide a delegation system for cooperatives and the merger process with a temporary credit fund facilitating cooperatives while having an impact on increasing profits for both cooperatives and SMEs. The success of passive franchise implementation depends on the role and involvement of local governments, retail policies themselves, human resources, and management.

IDI기법을 통한 군 주거지원에 대한 사회적 인식 연구

This study aims to obtain the direction of military housing policy by studying various social perceptions of military residences through IDI(In-depth Interview). The purpose of this study was to identify the difference in perception of the military housing policy from a new perspective between the supplier and consumer of the military housing policy, to identify the problems of the military residence policy, and also to explore tasks to improve the military housing policy. As a result of in-depth interviews, it was found that there is a specific difference in social perception of military residences among various social classes. First of all, it was confirmed that the overall perception of the military residence in Korean society was higher in negative than positive. Second, in the case of policy providers (for example politician, public officials, also ordinary people) who plan and implement the military residence policy, they perceive military residences negatively. In addition, double feelings (they feel bad on the inside but pretending to be good on the outside regarding the policy) are also found for the military official. Third, in the case of policy consumers (for example soldiers and family) who benefit from the military residence policy, they perceive military residences relatively positively, but there are also many negative recognitions. Soldiers and families recognized military residences as one of their basic housing rights.

Alcohol policy framing in South Africa during the early stages of COVID-19: using extraordinary times to make an argument for a new normal

IntroductionPublic health and alcohol industry actors compete to frame alcohol policy problems and solutions. Little is known about how sudden shifts in the political context provide moments for policy actors to re-frame alcohol-related issues. South Africa’s temporary bans on alcohol sales during the COVID-19 pandemic offered an opportunity to study this phenomenon.MethodsWe identified Professor Charles Parry from the South African Medical Research Council as a key policy actor. Parry uses a Twitter account primarily to comment on alcohol-related issues in South Africa. We harvested his tweets posted from March 18 to August 31, 2020, coinciding with the first two alcohol sales bans. We conducted a thematic analysis of the tweets to understand how Parry framed alcohol policy evidence and issues during these ‘extraordinary times.’ResultsParry underlined the extent of alcohol-related harm during ‘normal times’ with scientific evidence and contested industry actors’ efforts to re-frame relevant evidence in a coherent and well-constructed argument. Parry used the temporary sales restrictions to highlight the magnitude of the health and social harms resulting from alcohol consumption, particularly trauma, rather than the COVID-19 transmission risks. Parry portrayed the sales ban as a policy learning opportunity (or ‘experiment’) for South Africa and beyond.ConclusionsCrisis conditions can provide new openings for public health (and industry) actors to make salient particular features of alcohol and alcohol policy evidence.

Policy Communities and Natural Disasters: Cyclone Eline and Idai in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe is vulnerable to natural disaster of various kinds including earthquakes but the most common and destructive have been cyclones which appear to be more frequent and aggressive in recent years. This paper seeks to explore the heuristic value of the concept of policy community in understanding how cyclones are dealt with throughout the natural disaster cyclone. As such, the paper`s ambition is not so much to understand cyclones as natural disasters - admittedly an important subject on its own - but to dissect how policy stakeholders i.e those who are affected and want to affect the policy problem respond to cyclones that ravage Zimbabwe, especially the eastern part of the country.

THE EUROPEAN UNION’S ENLARGEMENT POLICY CHANGES IN THE LAST DECADE – A SUCCESSFUL INTERNATIONAL PRACTICE OR DYSFUNCTIONAL TRANSFORMATION?

Since 2004, the European Union’s (EU) transformation and integration potential has been evident and limited. An unusual pattern of perceived threats and challenges precluded the EU’s enlargement. One country from the Western Balkans’ (WB) fold was found suitable over the last ten years to join the EU. The rest of the WB are still queuing in front of the gates of the EU family. The purpose of this paper is to assess how recent changes in the international arena, including suffering on Ukraine’s soil and providing candidate status for Ukraine at the same time, affected the EU “red lines” in the enlargement process, together with the lessons learned from the considerable enlargement in 2004. Does the EU enlargement policy as primarily part of the EU foreign policy still have the effect of a “screwdriver,” or has it eventually become a “hammer” of hard power and force by hitting suddenly foreign policy problems that look like nails (Kagan, 2003), as it seems in Ukraine’s example? Did the Lisbon Treaty bring profound transformation to enlargement policy, and is it still one of the EU’s successful stories? This article aims to answer these questions. The assessment method is based on the International practice theory approach and Christian Bueger’s and Frank Gadinger’s definition and determinants of practice known as the Commitments of International Practice Theory (relying on elements of practice defined by Emanuel Adler and Vincent Pouliot). This approach judges whether or not the EU is a global actor that fulfills all inquiries of creating international practice from the enlargement policy. Based on the results, it is confirmed that the EU is a worldwide actor surviving in times of global transformations and that the enlargement policy is a valuable international practice. However, changes in the conditionality policy in the EU accession process could lead to several scenarios, and one of them is the loss of interest in some of the candidate countries, which could cause perceiving the enlargement policy as a dysfunctional transformation in the future.

Defying boundaries: The problem of demarcation in Norwegian refugee services

Abstract This article discusses how professionals’ efforts to reach policy goals engender boundary work. Analyses of interviews with service professionals in three welfare services in Norway which collaborate to implement the Introduction Program for refugees show how conflicting logics in services pose dilemmas for service professionals, and that political ideals of collaborative governance and integrated services are hard to put into practice. Service professionals resolve these dilemmas by engaging in various forms of boundary work, and the scope for boundary work is conditioned by the different service logics they operate under. Welfare service professionals collaborate to reach three policy goals—qualification of refugees, empowerment of users, and providing equity in services. The analysis shows that conflicting service logics result in boundary work practices that make coordination of, and collaboration between, services difficult, as services do not agree on how to interpret, and share responsibility for enacting, policy goals. The outcome of boundary work practices is a reshuffling of responsibilities—and a redelegation of tasks—which in principle should be shared, onto specific services. Different interpretations of policy goals instigate boundary work among welfare service professionals, which not only involves struggles over jurisdictional boundaries, but also negotiations over whom owns a policy problem, and over how to define and represent the problem. The findings from this study encourage researchers to further explore how policy goals are used as boundary objects in professionals’ negotiations over jurisdictional boundaries, in order to further understand what triggers and shapes boundary work among professionals.

Diversity Problems in Students' Educational Backgrounds and Learning Program Policies of Arabic Language Education

The aim of this article is to analyze the problems of diversity in students' educational backgrounds and the policies of the UIN Datokarama Palu Arabic Language Education (PBA) learning program. The type of research used in this research is qualitative field research. Meanwhile, the data analysis technique uses the Huberman and Miles method. The results of the research show that the Arabic language learning problems faced by students of the Arabic Language Study Program (PBA) at UIN Datokarama Palu consist of language proficiency problems, psychological problems, and intellectual problems. The Arabic language study program policy is to manage these problems through the application of various learning methods and models, the provision of scholarships, and the formation of Arabic study groups. Through the application of various learning methods and models, language proficiency problems faced by students can be overcome. Meanwhile, providing scholarships is effective in overcoming the psychological problems faced by students. The formation of an Arabic study group is effective in overcoming language proficiency problems and intellectual problems.