Policy Propositions Research Articles

Evaluating the Governance Ability of Urban Public Health Using EM-AHP-TOPSIS Method: A Case Study in China.

Evaluating the governance capacity of urban public health is the key to improving the level of urban public health. We aimed to evaluate the governance ability of urban public health. An index system of governance ability of urban public health was established. The governance ability of urban public health was evaluated, and major constraints against the ability improvement were analyzed through the EM (Entropy Method)-AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process)-TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution) model and data of urban agglomeration in Yangtze River Delta, China in 2023. Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Suzhou, and Ningbo rank top 5 in terms of governance ability of public health, and they are in the first echelon. Hefei, Yancheng, Wuxi, Taizhou and Shaoxing rank 6-10, and they are in the second echelon. The remaining 17 cities are in the third echelon. Major sources of governance ability of urban public health and major factors that decrease governance ability are Medical Facility (A12), Health Improvement (A33), Medical Staff (A13), Government Ability (A11), and Health Loss (A34). For urban agglomeration in Yangtze River Delta, China, public health foundations, environmental exposure risks, public health performance, and public health emergencies all can influence the governance ability of public health. Accurate evaluation of the governance ability of urban public health can provide guidance and policy propositions to improve the governance system of public health and improve the emergency coordination ability of the government.

What Smallholders Want: Effective Strategies for Rural Poverty Reduction

Since poverty is particularly concentrated amongst smallholder farmers, development programs intend to support rural livelihoods and agricultural entrepreneurship. The final impact of these programs remains, however, rather limited due to insufficient understanding of key challenges that smallholder families are facing. Many well-intended initiatives for reinforcing smallholder production systems and for strengthening their commercial relationships meet conceptual and practical limitations that reduce their effectiveness. Smallholder livelihoods are most constrained because behavioural drivers for adopting innovations and for upgrading value-chain relationships are not well understood and are frequently overlooked. This article discusses the analytical linkages between the key causes of smallholder poverty, the constraints that limit the effectiveness of ongoing rural development initiatives, and the prospects for alternative strategies to support behavioural change. A better understanding of what smallholders want and need may lead to fundamentally new policy propositions. It is argued that technological change in smallholder production or integration into market systems will only take place if embedded in behavioural change mechanisms that are complemented by appropriate institutions and governance regimes. This asks for coordinated structural reforms in farm and community organisation, value chain integration and more effective public-private cooperation.

Assessing shared auto-rickshaws adoption by intra-city commuters as part of the public transport system: The influence of negative encounters on passenger satisfaction

Emerging research has highlighted the significant role auto-rickshaws play in travel services, and yet, compared to other transport modes, they have received relatively less attention in research. No study has investigated travel behaviour and negative encounters in shared auto-rickshaws. The assumption that negative encounters deter users from utilising shared auto-rickshaws has not yet been validated. Moreover, previous studies have focused on adopting auto-rickshaws and travel behaviour, neglecting the specific dynamics of shared services within the public transport landscape. Here, we investigate the determinants influencing shared auto-rickshaw usage as a distinct mode in Ghana. We also identify negative attributes by drawing the link between negative user encounters and their impact on satisfaction, loyalty, and openness to policy propositions. The study deployed structural equation modelling, which is generally preferred in transport research. We discovered that ‘Availability’ is the most significant factor in predicting the adoption of shared auto-rickshaws. The estimated model established that negative encounters substantially impact users’ satisfaction, and users’ satisfaction was impacted by discomfort with seating arrangement, driver conduct, fleecing of users, and long travel time, among others. Older commuters reported higher levels of satisfaction than younger commuters, whereas commuters with higher levels of education tend to report lower levels of satisfaction. This research expands the limited understanding of shared auto-rickshaw usage by advancing our theoretical grasp of how negative encounters influence satisfaction and loyalty from a user-centric perspective. These insights can aid policymakers, service providers, and transport authorities in crafting legislation that prioritises user needs, enhances service quality, and creates a positive commuting experience. Furthermore, this study discusses managerial implications for transport authorities and policymakers.

Core socialist values and curriculum policy in China: A study of the curriculum standard for Chinese language

AbstractThis study employs Bernstein's concept of recontextualization and Rata's theorization of the Curriculum Design Coherence [CDC] model as theoretical tools to analyse the Curriculum Standard for Chinese Language [Standard] (The Standard, the Guidance, the Plan and all the quotations from the three policies were translated by me because the official English versions of them are unavailable.) which is part of a new approach to curriculum policy development in China. The study aims to identify and explain the mechanisms through which the Chinese government has recontextualized its ascendant political ideals of the core socialist values into the country's education system via curriculum policymaking. The study reveals that the Standard contains features embedding the core socialist values. This is achieved through three distinct mechanisms of recontextualization: policy propositions, subject competencies and subject concepts and content which operate from a sociocultural knowledge orientation. This sociocultural knowledge orientation aligns with the government's strong will to cultivate the core socialist values within the young generation so they become qualified builders and successors of the country's great socialist cause.

Macro-determinants of current account balance performance in selected African countries

AbstractMost African countries are open to international trade as shown by their signatories to various trade agreements such as the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the EU, and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). However, these countries face persistent current account deficits and institutional underdevelopment. The existing literature investigates the underlying factors at country-specific levels while ignoring the role of institutions. Meanwhile, African countries are also rapidly transitioning towards economic integration with the establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AFCFTA) to deepen intra-Africa trade. Therefore, for unionized policy proposition, this study controls for the effects of institutions and investigates the macro-determinants of the current account balance (CAB) performance using panel data from 2002 to 2020 for 20 African countries. To account for cross-country correlation and country-level heteroscedasticity, the study employed panel-corrected standard errors (PCSE) and feasible generalized least squares (FGLS) techniques for the governance indicators-related step-wise estimations. The results show that after controlling for the effects of institutions, income, trade openness, the price level, the interplay between manufacturing and financial sector development, and the money supply are the significant macro-determinants of the CAB performance in Africa. Further, the marginal info-graphics show that the predictive effects of value addition and financial development on the CAB increase positively with good governance and that improved governance could reverse any negative effects of trade openness on the CAB performance. Based on the findings, the study recommends inter alia that African countries pursue value-addition-oriented trade, zero Central Bank budgetary financing, and institutional quality improvement to enhance the performance of their CABs.

Climate bonds toward achieving net zero emissions and carbon neutrality: Evidence from machine learning technique

The Conference of the Parties (COP26 and 27) placed significant emphasis on climate financing policies with the objective of achieving net zero emissions and carbon neutrality. However, studies on the implementation of this policy proposition are limited. To address this gap in the literature, this study employs machine learning techniques, specifically natural language processing (NLP), to examine 77 climate bond (CB) policies from 32 countries within the context of climate financing. The findings indicate that “sustainability” and “carbon emissions control” are the most outlined policy objectives in these CB policies. Additionally, the study highlights that most CB funds are invested toward energy projects (i.e., renewable, clean, and efficient initiatives). However, there has been a notable shift in the allocation of CB funds from climate-friendly energy projects to the construction sector between 2015 and 2019. This shift raises concerns about the potential redirection of funds from climate-focused investments to the real estate industry, potentially leading to the greenwashing of climate funds. Furthermore, policy sentiment analysis revealed that a minority of policies hold skeptical views on climate change, which may negatively influence climate actions. Thus, the findings highlight that the effective implementation of CB policies depends on policy goals, objectives, and sentiments. Finally, this study contributes to the literature by employing NLP techniques to understand policy sentiments in climate financing.

Why do democratic societies tolerate undemocratic laws? Sorting public support for the National Security Act in South Korea

ABSTRACT This study investigates why anti-democratic laws persist in democratic societies, focusing on South Korea's National Security Act (NSA). Enacted in 1948, the NSA restricts freedom of expression and movement to deter pro-North Korea behaviour. Despite being at odds with the tenets of liberal democracy, the act remains in place. Existing public opinion data indicates modest to strong support for the law, but measurement concerns leave much to be desired. Using a choice-based conjoint, we test the impact of democratic norms and national security rationales on various policy propositions related to the NSA, including its abolition. Results show widespread support for the Act, driven by both democratic norms and security concerns. Progressives are more likely to support revisions limiting the scope of the Act on the basis that it safeguards democracy, but they agree with conservatives that it should not be abolished. This research contributes to understanding South Korea's post-democratic transition and the balance between national security and democracy more broadly.

The Paradigm of the Creative Industries: Cultural Policy in the Neoliberal Welfare State

In this article, Strandberg analyses the development of Swedish cultural policy during the last decades. In contradistinction to the first policy proposition from 1974, which emphasised the importance of counteracting the negative impact of the market, the cultural policies that have been in place for the last twenty to thirty years consider the forces of the market to be conducive to the freedom of culture and the arts. This has entailed a paradigm shift in Swedish culture that has opened up the field of cultural policy for the so-called creative industries, equated culture with creativity, and collapsed the distinction between culture and creative forms of entrepreneurship. When analysing this, Strandberg relates the modern history of Swedish cultural policy to the wider international development that has given rise to the paradigm of the creative industries and discusses how the equation of culture with creativity has made the autonomy of culture and the arts more and more difficult to uphold.

Right to Development Governance: A Policy Proposition for the Kingdom of Lesotho

Abstract In this article, we advance a right to development governance policy proposition for the Kingdom of Lesotho. Contrary to the grim realities that portray Lesotho as landlocked and least developed, the country presents enormous potential, which with the correct policy choices, can radically transform the development landscape across the country. To harness Lesotho’s multiple development futures with strategic foresight entails blending futures analysis with scenario development modelling, absent which is bound to produce ambiguities in policy formulation. From a blend of perspectives in law, economics and political science, we inquire whether an alternative model could produce transformative development deliverables in Lesotho. Drawing from the modelling of three development scenarios, we argue in favour of the right to development governance model, which we find more pragmatic, with the potential to respond to Lesotho’s situational realities.

Measuring the impact of long-haul low-cost carriers on lowering fares: A quasi-experimental design to assess the pre-COVID market

This paper aims to investigate the impact of the introduction of the long-haul low cost carrier in the North Atlantic market to present the competitive situation before the COVID-19. There are a number of challenges in estimating the incremental effect of LH LCC. Therefore, several strategies were taken. Firstly, a difference in differences estimation and propensity score matched methods were employed using six major routes in the North Atlantic market with IATA's ticket sale data from January 2015 to December 2019; a granulated data to present the characteristics of flight and economy class fares. The outcomes indicate that a 17.2–20.6% fare reduction in average on the routes where Norwegian operated during 2015 and 2019 after Norwegian's entry, compared to what it would have happened if they didn't operate. It implies the LH LCC entry lowered fares significantly, and the level of fare competition in the North Atlantic market before the COVID-19 was high. In addition, a certain level of viability as an LH LCC has been implicated. This output can be used for the airline's strategic implication and the policy proposition, particularly when LCC expands the longer routes after the COVID recovery. Frequent and specific (detailed) assessments by market and period are imperative.

COVID-19, food insecurity and dietary diversity of households: Survey evidence from Nigeria.

The policy measures of the government of Nigeria to restrain the spread of COVID-19, particularly in the initial three months (April – June 2020) led to significant disruptions to household livelihoods and food security. We investigate the effects of COVID-19 on food security and dietary diversity of households; focusing on the pathways through which income loss, endowments of wealth, social capital, and safety net programs moderate the severity of households’ food security and dietary diversity. Primary data obtained from a telephone survey of 1,031 Nigerian households were analyzed using ordered logit and negative binomial models. Our results show that income losses due to the COVID-19 restrictive measures had pushed households into a more severe food insecurity and less diverse nutritional outcomes. Regarding wealth effects, livestock ownership significantly cushioned households from falling into a more severe food insecurity amid the pandemic. We found that because of the pandemic’s indiscriminate effect across communities, the potential of social capital as an informal support mechanism might have been eroded to enable households to cope with shocks. Furthermore, safety net programs by the government and NGOs did not provide significant protection to households from falling into severe food insecurity and malnutrition amid the pandemic. We suggest three policy propositions – prioritize investment in local job creation to curb income loss; build the wealth base of households (e.g., land tenure security or livestock) to enhance resilience to shocks; and target safety nets and other social support programs spatially, temporally, and across social groups to enhance the effectiveness of such programs amid shocks.

Needs must? Fair allocation of personal carbon allowances in mobility

Personal carbon allowances have been of considerable interest in environmental research in the last decade, yet no policy implementations have been adopted, partly due to uncertainty around the political acceptability of equal allowances. We tackled this issue by surveying public perceptions of fairness in carbon allowance allocation in urban mobility. Qualitative and quantitative inquiry data of 304 respondents were analysed statistically and thematically. Three distributive principles according to equity perceptions of equality, equity by capability, and equity by responsibility, were examined. The distribution of personal carbon allowances, which is sensitive to differing needs and capabilities, was perceived fairer than the other proposed options. The allocation preference differed according to isolationist and integrationist approaches, where both equity by capability and equity by responsibility evoked talk of benefits and burdens that could be produced by emission rights, while those who alluded to equality were interested in the distribution of emission rights as such. Prioritising needs and capabilities demonstrated that questions of managing the daily life still edge ahead of climate questions in many citizens eyes. Therefore, policy propositions should focus more on the shared mobility practices of everyday life and how they could be supported and incentivised towards sustainability. We concluded that due to the lack of absolute distributive consensus, policies gain legitimacy by procedural equity, and including citizens in decision making.

Media policy attitudes and political attitudes: the politization of media policy and the support for the ‘media welfare state’

ABSTRACT Previous research has neglected media audiences’ and citizens’ opinions on how the media should be organized, how they should function in society and what individual, corporate and state responsibilities should be in regard to these questions. In an attempt to understand the relationship between citizens’ broader political attitudes and their attitudes on media-related politics and responsibilities, this study uses a survey (n = 2003) of the adult Swedish population to investigate the distribution of a range of media political attitudes in the contemporary space of political positions. The results reveal overlaps between the space of media political attitudes and the broader political space, where support for a Nordic ‘media welfare state’ corresponds to leftist and GAL-oriented values, while TAN-oriented and right-wing attitudes link to scepticism towards state interventionism in the media landscape. A small but highly opinionated right-wing and TAN-oriented segment displays laissez-faire views on media policy that are reflected in current policy propositions from right-wing political parties in parliament.

NEP, 2020: CHALLENGES AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN INDIA

Since independence, policymakers in India exhibited their increasing tendency to use vocational education and training (VET) as a catchall solution to the problem of unemployment and as a result kept it alive as an important policy tool even today. Recently, National Education Policy, (NEP, 2020) envisioned that at least 50% of our students should receive VET by 2025, and to achieve this target and in comprehension to address different challenges of VET, the policy made several propositions and proposed for different structural changes. A critical question arises how far these policy propositions and structural changes could prove helpful in addressing the challenges of VET and in achieving the desired objectives. The present review study made an attempt to examine thoroughly the approach to VET manifested in the policy. Backed up with in-depth desktop analysis of a considerable amount of literature and the web portals of VET related institutions, the study identified different needs necessarily required for overcoming the challenges of VET, for achieving the desired objectives as envisioned in the policy, and finally for the future development process of VET in India.

Work as Enterprise in an Age of Robots

This paper aims to expound and develop the idea of work as enterprise in response to the challenges of the fourth industrial revolution and to demonstrate that Christian theology provides a conceptual framework which helps locate work within an understanding of purpose and human dignity. This paper defines enterprise, considers the purpose of work, and reflects on themes from the common Christian theological tradition which give meaning to the idea of work as enterprise. Further, this article considers the challenge of technology, the place of the market and ethics, the role of innovation and creativity, questions of freedom and regulation, the central place for the development of skills and education, and the transformational nature of work. In addition, this paper has three policy propositions and some practical advice. Work matters because it is at root an expression of our humanity. Technological advance poses both perils and opportunities. The development of the idea of work as enterprise within a framework of Christian theology places entrepreneurship, creativity, and innovation at the heart of our collective response to the fourth industrial revolution.

Reaching the Uninterested by Referring to Valence Traits during Electoral Campaigns

Successful communication requires the sender of the message to adjust its content to the cognitive abilities of the receiver. Messages that are too complex or not interesting can be easily ignored. Failing to reach the voters with a message during a campaign is troubling for the parties competing in the election. In this study, I explore whether parties in countries in which the voters are less politically sophisticated are more inclined to emphasize their valence traits during campaigns – as these are deemed to be more cognitively accessible – at the expense of discussions of their policy propositions. The results obtained using data collected in ten European democracies show that parties in countries where the general public is less interested in politics tend to devote more attention to exhibiting their valence traits, especially honesty. The level of education of the electorate is not relevant to the relative salience of valence.

Tree-based machine learning algorithms in the Internet of Things environment for multivariate flood status prediction

Abstract Floods are one of the most common natural disasters in the world that affect all aspects of life, including human beings, agriculture, industry, and education. Research for developing models of flood predictions has been ongoing for the past few years. These models are proposed and built-in proportion for risk reduction, policy proposition, loss of human lives, and property damages associated with floods. However, flood status prediction is a complex process and demands extensive analyses on the factors leading to the occurrence of flooding. Consequently, this research proposes an Internet of Things-based flood status prediction (IoT-FSP) model that is used to facilitate the prediction of the rivers flood situation. The IoT-FSP model applies the Internet of Things architecture to facilitate the flood data acquisition process and three machine learning (ML) algorithms, which are Decision Tree (DT), Decision Jungle, and Random Forest, for the flood prediction process. The IoT-FSP model is implemented in MATLAB and Simulink as development platforms. The results show that the IoT-FSP model successfully performs the data acquisition and prediction tasks and achieves an average accuracy of 85.72% for the three-fold cross-validation results. The research finding shows that the DT scores the highest accuracy of 93.22%, precision of 92.85, and recall of 92.81 among the three ML algorithms. The ability of the ML algorithm to handle multivariate outputs of 13 different flood textual statuses provides the means of manifesting explainable artificial intelligence and enables the IoT-FSP model to act as an early warning and flood monitoring system.

When Evaluative Adjectives Prevent Contradiction in a Debate

This paper argues that some words are so highly charged with meaning by a community that they may prevent a discussion during which each participant is on an equal footing. These words are indeed either unanimously accepted or rejected. The presence of these adjectival groups pushes the antagonist to find rhetorical strategies to circumvent them. The main idea we want to develop is that some propositions are not easily debatable in context because of some specific value-bearing words (VBWs), and one of the goals of this paper is to build a methodological tool for finding and classifying these VBWs (with a focus on evaluative adjectives). Our study echoes the importance of “cultural keywords” (as reported by Wierzbicka, Understanding cultures through their key words: English, Russian, Polish, German, and Japanese, 1997) in argument (as reported by Rigotti & Rocci, Argumentation in practice, 2005), but is rather based on a German approach developed by (as reported by Dieckmann, Sprache in der Politik: Einführung in die Pragmatik und Semantik der politischen, 1975), (as reported by Strauss and Zifonun, Der politische Wortschatz, 1986), and (as reported by Girnth, Sprache und Sprachverwendung in der Politik: Eine Einführung in die linguistische Analyse öffentlich-politischer Kommunikation, 2015) about “Miranda” and “Anti-Miranda” words that is expanded and refined here. In particular, our study tries to understand why some statements, fueled by appreciative (Tseronis, 2014) or evaluative adjectives, have such rhetorical effects on a pragmatic level in the particular context of a vote on the Swiss popular initiative called “for more affordable housing”. This context is fruitful since two parties offer reasons for two opposing policy claims: namely, to accept or to reject an initiative. When one party uses arguments containing such universally unassailable adjectival groups to defend a “yes” vote (in our example, pleading for more affordable housing rents), the opposing party cannot use a symmetrical antonym while pleading for the “no” vote. The methodological tool that is proposed here could shed light on the use of certain rhetorical and referential strategies in conflicting policy proposition contexts.

Declining Public Universities: Patterns and Lessons for Public Policy and Administration: A Russian Case Study

ABSTRACT This paper examines the patterns, and possible causes and consequences of public universities decline across nations in general and Russian Federation in particular. It is argued that decline in public higher education systems is a common feature across the Western and developing nations as well as Russia. It is further argued that this global decline was, and still is to a great extent, triggered by a worldwide marketization of the higher education systems, sweeping privatization, and ideological conservative economic theory of market supremacy that led to the major shrinkage of public sectors’ resources and even deinstitutionalization of public institutions. The purpose of the study is to elaborate on the background and possible causes and consequences of declining public universities, and to reveal basic patterns of the decline with a particular reference to the Russian public higher education institutions (HEIs). The theoretical framework with related literature is drawn from the perspectives on organization theory (e.g., organizational decline, cutback management, organizational resource interdependency theory), public choice economic theory, bureaucratic politics, and political economy of public expenditures theory. An analytical approach is proposed and applied for evaluating the dynamics and potential outcomes, using a four-step analysis that covers (1) universities’ resource base dynamics indexes to calculate and to single out the group of declining organizations; (2) a cluster analysis of dynamic characteristics of declining public universities and their performances; (3)two sample t-tests were performed for declining universities; and (4) analysis of a series of semi-structured interviews with the top-management of seven particular declining Russian universities. Findings reveal that there are common causes for public universities decline, classified as intra-organizational, contextual, and technological factors. It is also illustrated that the dynamics of the performance characteristics of the declining public universities with statistically significant scores differ for the worse as compared to the control group. The findings allowed making a series of propositions for public policy and university leadership lesson-drawing, with several policy and administration implications for public higher education institutions across other nations worldwide.

Political economy and the pursuit of universal health coverage in Ghana: a case study of the National Health Insurance Scheme.

The road to universal health coverage depends on resources committed to the health sector. In many cases, the political structure and strength of advocacy play an important role in setting budgets for health. However, this has, until recently, not been of interest to health system researchers and policymakers. In this study, we document the political path to the establishment of the Ghana National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) as well as continuous political interest in the scheme. To achieve our objectives, we used qualitative data from interviews with key stakeholders. These include stakeholders instrumental in the design and establishment of the NHIS. We also reviewed party manifestoes from the two main political parties in the country. Promises relating to the NHIS were extracted from the various manifestos and analysed. Other documents that account for the design and implementation of the scheme were reviewed. We found that the establishment of the NHIS was down to political commitment and effective engagement with relevant stakeholders. It was considered a solution to the political promise to remove user fees and make healthcare accessible to all. A review of the manifestos shows that in almost every election year after the NHIS was established, there has been some promise related to improving the scheme. There were several policy propositions repeated in different election years. The findings imply that advocacy to get health financing on the political agenda is crucial. This should start from the development of party manifestos. It is important to also ensure that proposed party policies are consistent with national priorities in the medium to long term.