Production Of Public Policies Research Articles

Immigration policy, public libraries and the social practice of exclusion in Canada

AbstractCanada's immigration policies have historically constituted a social practice of exclusion that privileges the hegemonic project of one social identity over that of another, namely the capitalist state over other social relations in society. Using critical discourse analysis, this doctoral dissertation project examines the ways in which the state's constitution of immigrant communities and their relationships with state institutions, such as the public library, represents one site where such hegemonic struggles unfold. This research addresses the question: As an institute of the state and product of public policy, what role has the public library played in constituting immigrants to Canada and in what ways have these practices contributed to the inclusion or exclusion of immigrants in Canadian society?

Em nome da "cultura": porta-vozes, mediação e referenciais de políticas públicas no Maranhão

O artigo analisa um conjunto de práticas, recursos e representações ativadas por porta-vozes da "cultura" no Maranhão. Mediante a análise dos repertórios de mobilização, dos espaços de inserção e dos perfis sociais de agentes que disputam a autoridade legítima para definir o que é a "cultura" no estado, pretende-se revelar alguns dos condicionantes sociais que incidem no exercício da mediação cultural e no trabalho de produção de políticas públicas.

Fish Habitat Degradation in U.S. Reservoirs

As the median age of the thousands of large reservoirs (> 200 ha) in the United States tops 50, many are showing various signs of fish habitat degradation. Our goal was to identify major factors degrading fish habitat in reservoirs across the country, and to explore regional degradation patterns. An online survey including 14 metrics was scored on a 0 (no degradation) to 5 (high degradation) point scale by 221 fisheries scientists (92% response rate) to describe degradation in 482 reservoirs randomly distributed throughout the continental United States. The highest scored sources of degradation were lack of aquatic macrophytes (41% of the reservoirs scored as 4–5), lack or loss of woody debris (35% scored 4–5), mistimed water level fluctuations (34% scored 4–5), and sedimentation (31% scored 4–5). Factor analysis identified five primary degradation factors that accounted for most of the variability in the 14 degradation metrics. The factors reflected siltation, structural habitat, eutrophication, water regime, and aquatic plants. Three degradation factors were driven principally by in‐reservoir processes, whereas the other two were driven by inputs from the watershed. A comparison across U.S. regions indicated significant geographical differences in degradation relative to the factors emphasized by each region. Reservoirs sometimes have been dismissed as unnatural and disruptive, but they are a product of public policy, a critical feature of landscapes, and they cannot be overlooked if managers are to effectively conserve river systems. Protection and restoration of reservoir habitats may be enhanced with a broader perspective that includes watershed management, in addition to in reservoir activities.

O debate parlamentar na tramitação da lei 10.639/2003: interrogando o papel da escola na construção da edentidade cultural e étnica no Brasil

O texto propõe uma reflexão sobre a Lei 10.639/03, considerando a ausência do debate parlamentar sobre o significado da educação escolar na construção da identidade cultural e étnica no Brasil. O objetivo é problematizar a inserção do ensino da História e da Cultura Afro-Brasileira no currículo do ensino fundamental e médio como estratégia de luta pela inclusão social do negro. O texto contribui para esclarecer os lugares de fala dos sujeitos envolvidos nesse debate e permite contextualizar os desafios na produção de políticas públicas voltadas para a correção das desigualdades sociais, no cenário brasileiro.

The mayor in action: Urban government and the production of public policy. Michel Delebarre in Dunkerque

The mayor in action: Urban government and the production of public policy. Michel Delebarre in Dunkerque

The democratic problems and potentials of network governance

Governance networks play a central role in the production of public policy. While governance network theorists have discussed and analysed their importance for governance efficiency they have not given the same amount of attention to the democratic implications of governance networks. It is not possible to make a meaningful assessment of the democratic problems and potentials on the basis of a traditional liberal approach to democracy. What is called for is the development of a post-liberal model for the democratic anchorage of governance networks that combines representative democracy with other forms of democratic anchorage.

Urban Geography, Relevance, and Resistance to the "Policy Turn"

Disquiet about urban geography's alleged lack of policy substance and practical relevance has resurfaced in a range of recent writings. While useful, much of the debate tends to "blame the victim," in this instance, urban geography and geographers, for the inability to generate research of relevance and interest to policy. As the paper will argue, urban geography and geographers are not "free-floating" or able to determine, without constraint, the relevance of urban geographical research to the production of public policy. Urban geographers, and geographers more generally, are, therefore, advised to resist aspects of the "new turn" to policy and practice.

Amateur Legislators -- Professional Politicians: The Consequences of Party-Centered Electoral Rules in a Federal System

The Argentine Congress plays a limited role in the production of public policy and is a relatively ineffective check on the Argentine Executive Branch. We argue this is the combined result of incentives created by several features of Argentine political institutions. In this article we emphasize the role of the country's electoral rules, which place the legislator re? election decision not in the hands of the voters, but rather in the hands of the provincial govemor/party boss(es). These rules limit legislators' ability to develop a professional legis? lative career and reduce their incen?

Historical Archaeology in the Next Millennium: A view from CRM

In the article "Historical Archaeology in the Next Millennium: A Forum," Donald L. Hardesty outlines his views on the future of his torical archaeological research and professional development. Upon reading the article, I discov ered much that I could agree with, several top ics that I had not previously thought about, and a few points on which my opinions differ signifi cantly. Also, I have my own observations about the future of historical archaeology that were not discussed in Hardesty's article. Most impor tantly, I was somewhat disappointed that he did not expand his article to include his views con cerning the role of public policy in shaping the future of historical archaeology. I agree that cultural resource management (CRM) will con tinue to play a pivotal role in the evolution of our discipline, especially in the United States, but also in other parts of the world, and because CRM is, by its nature, a product of public policy, I cannot divorce the role of policy from my own observations about professionalism and research in the archaeological community. I will try to limit my remarks, however, to the opin ions professed in Hardesty's article, and will only invoke comments about the role of policy in the future development of the profession when nec essary. I agree with Hardesty in his assessment that environmental studies in historical archaeology could and should be one of the foremost research topics of the new millennium. Prehistoric ar chaeologists have most often looked at the lim its placed on culture change by the environment, as well as ways that culture has adapted to en vironmental limits and/or changes. Historical archaeologists, on the other hand, have a poten tially rich source of research topics in the ways by which the environment has been affected by modern technology and culture. Hardesty has listed a few of these events (fires, floods, defor estation, etc.) and processes (climatic cycles) by which environmental change has been spurred by human intervention. I would add to this list the study of environmental change resulting from terraforming, consumerism, and, more basically, the environmental changes that have been associ ated with a rapidly increasing population during the modern period. As Hardesty so aptly points out, landscapes are a prime source of data about modern human interactions with the environment. Unfortunately, a potential problem affecting an increase in land scape studies within the historical archaeology of the next millennium lies in the way archaeology is now conducted. Especially in the United States and Canada, but increasingly in other ar eas of the world, field investigations of archaeo logical sites are conducted primarily within the confines of CRM, or its equivalents. By its na ture, the CRM currently being conducted in the United States as a response to the demands of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) is inherently particularistic. Only that portion of the landscape affected by a pro posed undertaking is generally available for study. Within that "area of potential effect," archaeological sites are identified, evaluated, and, if determined to be significant, more thoroughly i vestigated on the bases of their own merits than in their relationships with the larger whole, i.e., the landscape. Only in certain circum stances, when a project covers a large area, is it possible to use the relationships between the en vironment and the humans occupying it as a ba sis for a research agenda. In the 1994 "Save the Past for the Future II" Conference, held in Breckenridge, Colorado, a significant topic of discussion within the Inte grated Resource Management Workshop was the policy of "ecosystem management" within United States federal land-holding agencies (Nick els 1995:41-46). Traditionally, this approach has ignored the relationship between humans and the environment, or at most, has viewed humans as