Public Decision-making Processes Research Articles

Diplomats, Soldiers, and Armed Conflict Databases: Another French Exception?

Abstract Contemporary governments are awash in quantification, as numbers and algorithms play an ever-greater role in public decision-making processes. In the field of defense and diplomacy, the development of armed conflict databases holds out the promise of improved predictive capacities and early warning systems. While this dynamic can be witnessed across a range of European countries, notably Germany and the Netherlands, it appears to be much less present in France. Diplomats and militaries make only marginal use of the available databases, judged both inadequate in their own right and ill-adapted to strategic analysis. This article proposes two explanatory variables to explain this specific appreciation: not only is a relatively limited training in quantitative methods offered to French diplomats and militaries, which leads to a specific use of numbers, but there is also a broader picture link to the will of protecting “digital sovereignty” in the international realm.

The Role of Locality in Public Service Management of Ecuador

The Ecuadorian Government with the aim of planning and making decisions in real time should include the perspective of a new city model in function of the new social needs and the construction of an image for its own country and the international arena. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) should be a fundamental support for these to provide jobs for youths and the ability to generate new businesses. Nowadays, there are public decision-making processes to influence public policy. The author seeks to reflect on local governments and their current perspective regarding the provision of services. Indeed, public management plays a fundamental role in the development of different programs in the field of the digitalisation of services to generate viable solutions and try to improve the quality of life of its inhabitants. Methodology: secondary sources were used for content analysis based on the overview of relevant literature written in English and Spanish.

Performance measurement in urban development: unfolding a case of sustainability KPIs reporting

PurposeThis study aims to explore the potential dynamics between performance measurement at the organisational level and emerging urban development projects at the macro-institutional field level of sustainability governance and accountability.Design/methodology/approachUsing a theoretical triangulation between three theories, namely contingency theory, institutional theory and social cognitive theory, this study investigates not only the macro-micro dynamics, but also the (recursive) micro-macro dynamics between performance measurement and urban development. Using an Egyptian public sector urban development organisation and its sustainable energy project as an empirical example, interviews, documents and observations were collected.FindingsThe dynamics emerged between field urban development projects and the (unintended) organisational implementation of the performance measurement system, the sustainability key performance indicators (KPIs) reporting system. Contributing to previous literature, these dynamics have been institutionalised through (three) interrelated levels: the (macro-field) urban development contingencies and pressures for sustainability KPIs reporting, the (organisational) institutionalisation of the urban development performance measurement system and then the (micro-organisational) cognitive role of sustainability KPIs reports in (re)making political urban development decisions.Research limitations/implicationsThis study faced some limitations that paved the way for future research axes. For political and security reasons, difficulties were encountered in conducting interviews with government actors in the sustainable energy project under study. Also, due to the practical separation of the environmental sustainability system from the sustainability KPIs reporting system in this case study, environmental sustainability is outside the scope.Practical implicationsSustainability reports may influence public sector decision-making processes in a specific urban development context. These KPIs reports may also increase public sector management opportunities for urban auditing, transparency, accountability and sustainability governance. These KPIs may also guide public sector management to lower prices in poor villages to increase smart energy consumption and improve community health.Social implicationsSustainability reports may increase decision-makers' understanding of consumer behaviours and societal changes. This may help in making appropriate political decisions to improve their welfare and regular smart energy consumption. Not only urban citizens, but this social advantage may also extend to urban development employees through employees' promotion, training and access to government-funded academic and professional scholarships.Originality/valueThis study is an attempt to develop current public sector performance measurement analyses in the emerging urban development field using a triadic analytical approach. This study also fed the literature with an extended case study that clarified the (multi-level) and (two-way) dynamics between performance measurement and urban development.

Citizen Perception and Ex Ante Acceptance of a Low-Emission Zone Implementation in a Medium-Sized Spanish City

The public decision-making process at the municipal level becomes extremely complicated for government managers when unpopular measures must be adopted. In this sense, citizen participation processes become a tool of undoubted added value that allows municipalities to adapt their policies to the needs and feelings of their inhabitants. The aim of this research was to focus on addressing the point of view of the citizens of a medium-sized Spanish city in the face of the imminent implementation of a low-emission zone, in order to identify which aspects were of concern to citizens. The methodology used in the research was based on a declared preferences survey that allowed us to determine the daily behaviour of the user in terms of urban mobility and to anticipate the citizen’s reaction to the implementation of socially unacceptable initiatives, such as restrictions on access, circulation, and the parking of vehicles. The results obtained in relation to the consultation on alternative measures to tackle pollution, noise and traffic jams showed that citizens are receptive to improvements in universal accessibility, subsidies for public transport, increased road safety for PMV’s infrastructure, subsidies for the purchase of environmentally friendly vehicles and PMV, and the promotion of pedestrianisation. However, there are undoubted threats to the implementation of the LEZ, such as the lack of acceptance of the measure. Therefore, it is considered imperative for public administrations to work on the search for sustainable actions that contribute to improving the degree of compliance with the measure, while at the same time making an effort to disseminate the advantages of the LEZ for the quality of life and health of citizens (through information campaigns). There is a knowledge gap in scientific research on the ex ante assessment of the effects of possible transport measures to improve air quality in city centres and consultation through citizen participation. It is estimated that the resolution of this research gap could contribute to a more feasible, reasonable, and effective implementation of various urban mobility policies in medium-sized Spanish cities.

Forest dieback reframed and revisited? Forests (re)negotiated in the German media between forestry and nature conservation

In Germany, the impacts of drought, heat and related bark beetle outbreaks on forests have shed light on the ongoing conflict between forestry and nature conservation approaches to forest management. The current forest damages sparked a nationwide debate about the role of forests and their adaptation to climate change. Echoing back to the debate on the German forest dieback in the 1980s, the current situation is commonly framed as forest dieback 2.0. As mass media possess discursive power in attributing specific meaning to topics, it influences public opinion and decision-making processes. Therefore, we conducted a frame analysis of newspaper articles on the impact of the drought years between 2018 and 2020 on forests. The aim was to identify the dominant actors in the debate and how they frame the current damages to German forests. Our results show that the forestry sector, politicians and journalists dominate the debate. Despite the low standing of nature conservationists in the debate, we observed a balanced, yet polarized presentation of forest and nature conservation frames. Whereas environmental factors are depicted as the main cause of forest damages, nature conservationists also blame the forestry sector. At the same time, forests are presented as the main affected as well as the most important factor to solve the crisis in relation to its climate mitigation potential. Forest management practices are identified as key instruments contributing to those solutions. In this regard, actors in the debate instrumentalize forests through dominant climate change discourses in order to legitimize their perspectives. In contrast, the societal responsibility and consequences of the forest damages are neglected.

Preference change in stakeholder group-decision processes in the public sector: Extent, causes and implications

Public decisions are typically related to large investments leaving long legacies. We should therefore strive for wide societal agreement regarding such decisions, which meet the diversity of preferences between stakeholders and over time. But if, how and why do stakeholder preferences change over time? In decision analysis, these questions received little attention. We explored them using three real-world public decision processes, based on Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA). We used repeatedly elicited ranking of objectives over time. These were obtained during three to five moderated workshops we organised several months apart (total N = 200 questionnaires, and 100 stakeholders). We analysed individual and aggregated (group) preferences, their changes and potential drivers including demographic and experience variables. We also analysed the effect of preference evolution on the performance of decision-alternatives with MCDA over time. We found that stakeholder preferences often changed over time, both on an individual and group level. These changes did not systematically diminish over time, but some convergence of preferences was observed for stakeholders who repeatedly participated in workshops. High-ranking objectives were relatively stable and similar between stakeholders. While preference changes could not be explained by demographics and personal experiences, repeated interaction with the decision problem might play a role. Neither the observed disagreement between stakeholders, nor the preference changes over time affected the best and worst performing alternatives in our decision problems. Thus, despite changing stakeholder preferences over time, public decision-makers can contrive robust solutions to complex public decision problems in the present.

Public Transportation Decision-Making: A Case Analysis of the Memphis Light Rail Corridor and Route Selection with Analytic Hierarchy Process

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) New Starts process involves multiple criteria to assess funding eligibility for local public transit investments. In this article a multicriteria method–Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP)—is used to assess light rail transit (LRT) corridor and route alternatives. Although the focus is on the current LRT corridor and route selection process in Memphis, Tennessee, the AHP-aided procedure is intended to facilitate the public transportation decision-making process generically, reflective of federal New Starts guidelines as well as local priorities and preferences. Each alternative corridor and route is assessed functionally with respect to site-specific ratings of the criteria and subcriteria in a unified framework. This framework contains the goal, participant groups, criteria, subcriteria, and alternatives as various elements of a public transportation decision process with relative influence on the outcome. The best corridor and route alignment alternative is identified by a composite score on the AHP ratio scale. Finally, with sensitivity analysis, it is shown how a change on the importance of the criteria or participant group priority influences the trade-offs among the criteria and the outcome. The article concludes with a retrospective, reflective discussion of the planning process as a whole.

An innovative climate adaptation planning process: iDEAL project.

Climate change triggers increasing stresses on urban settlements and coastal areas. The intensification of climate-connected impacts requires municipalities and communities to undertake adaptation measures and plans. These interventions should be capable of reducing negative climatic effects on human habitat and regional bioregions. On the one hand, the international scientific community recognized the supported adaptation planning approach as the more suitable to cope with local needs and criticalities. On the other hand, there is a lack of practical guidelines and examples that can be used to implement the theory. From a perspective of growth of global awareness and sensitivity to the climatic emergency, it is necessary to develop a practical methodology able to link together impacts perception and public decision process at the local scale. The paper aims to fill the gap between the theoretical approach and the practice, through a replicable experience of integration among climate change adaptation concepts and decision-making processes. The proposed methodology is described in a 4-step process to support decision-makers in selecting tailored adaptation policies and measures. The article is based on the experience developed within the Interreg It-Hr project "iDEAL - Decision support for Adaptation pLan" project. The research combines a quantitative and qualitative methodology in local participation processes. The approach is tested on five Mediterranean coastal cities and allowed to support the development of tailored adaptation measures. Furthermore, the interaction with local actors during the process led to an acceptance of the implemented measures, designing each measure to stakeholders' ambitions and expectations.

Towards Knowledge Governance in Public Administration

Today´s public administration is increasingly dealing with wicked problems, involving high levels of complexity and uncertainty. Wicked problems, such as combating climate change, ask for multistakeholder approaches and the interweaving of diverse types of knowledge. Currently, however, public administration mainly works with Knowledge Management (KM): effectively using and producing in-house knowledge and developing organizational competences. To improve governmental responses to wicked problems, this paper proposes a shift in the public sector towards Knowledge Governance (KG), thereby expanding the practices of KM. The transdisciplinary field of KG focuses on structures and techniques that influence the processes of sharing and creating knowledge and the implications of types of knowledge on policy. A KG approach has proven to be more effective for addressing wicked problems through multilevel governance and system innovation. The objective of this paper is threefold. First, to summarize the state-of-the-art scholarship on KM and KG in a comparative perspective. Second, to showcase boundary organizations in public administration as an example of KG. And third, to discuss three critical factors for successful KG in public administration: 1. Establishing an institutional culture focused on system thinking and knowledge creation; 2. Reconceptualizing the concept of knowledge and address its inherit power imbalances; and 3. Enhancing active and meaningful multi-actor participation in public decision-making processes. In conclusion, we recommend boundary organizations, working on the knowledge-policy interface, for dealing with wicked problems and enhancing a paradigm shift towards KG.

Thirty years of research on physical activity, mental health, and wellbeing: A scientometric analysis of hotspots and trends.

The sheer volume of research publications on physical activity, mental health, and wellbeing is overwhelming. The aim of this study was to perform a broad-ranging scientometric analysis to evaluate key themes and trends over the past decades, informing future lines of research. We searched the Web of Science Core Collection from inception until December 7, 2021, using the appropriate search terms such as “physical activity” or “mental health,” with no limitation of language or time. Eligible studies were articles, reviews, editorial material, and proceeding papers. We retrieved 55,353 documents published between 1905 and 2021. The annual scientific production is exponential with a mean annual growth rate of 6.8% since 1989. The 1988–2021 co-cited reference network identified 50 distinct clusters that presented significant modularity and silhouette scores indicating highly credible clusters (Q = 0.848, S = 0.939). This network identified 6 major research trends on physical activity, namely cardiovascular diseases, somatic disorders, cognitive decline/dementia, mental illness, athletes' performance, related health issues, and eating disorders, and the COVID-19 pandemic. A focus on the latest research trends found that greenness/urbanicity (2014), concussion/chronic traumatic encephalopathy (2015), and COVID-19 (2019) were the most active clusters of research. The USA research network was the most central, and the Chinese research network, although important in size, was relatively isolated. Our results strengthen and expand the central role of physical activity in public health, calling for the systematic involvement of physical activity professionals as stakeholders in public health decision-making process.

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES IN ROMANIA: INFOMEDIARY, LINK BETWEEN GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS AND THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

In many fields of activity of the national economy, the legislative basis is one that is constantly changing, being numerous situations in which the impact of legislative initiatives is unfavorable for business environment, and not only that. In this context, the representatives of the business environment, directly affected, can express their opinion by participating in public debates, thus appearing, in their case and for others, the real need for correct, complete, and real-time information in relation to the various events/debates organized by the various public bodies. At this stage, infomediaries intervene providing monitoring, collection, analysis, and synthesis services of data of interest, from different fields of activity, from multiple formal and informal sources found in the virtual environment, offering real support in the involvement of interested parties in the public decision-making process. The article wants, starting from the existing theoretical support in the literature, to highlight the particularities of the specific market in Romania, the emphasis being on identifying the attractiveness of this field of activity and, implicitly, the competitiveness of the active units of the profile.

Citizen Participation in the Public Decision-Making Process at the Level of the Local Public Administration

Through citizen participation in public decision-making, the real needs of the community are and should be included in decisions that cover those needs and are thus publicly supported. From such a direction, this micro-research aims to examine the concrete situation regarding the participation of citizens in the decision-making process by interpreting the perceptions of residents and local public administration staff in Dărmăneşti commune, to highlight the effectiveness of citizen participation in adopting an administrative decision. The approach showed that both the majority of workers in the city hall and most of the locals in the commune, who provided us with answers in the survey, appreciate that the involvement of citizens in the public decision-making process is key to democracy. Most of both respondents categories states that the main arguments for consulting the public in the process of making a public decision are: the right of citizens, ensuring the effective adoption and implementation of decisions, the decisions taken are accepted/supported by society, promoting the transparency of the decision-making process. Expressing own choice, submitting requests to the local public administration, submitting written suggestions, informal discussions tend to be considered by both the surveyed staff and the responding residents as effectve and very effective ways. On the other hand, we have found that opinion polls are one of the least effective ways for citizens to participate, with most opinions, in the case of both categories of respondents, being recorded for the small and very small response varieties.

Author Correction: Special Issue on The Scientization of Public Decision-Making Processes – the Relevance for the Handling of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Author Correction: Special Issue on The Scientization of Public Decision-Making Processes – the Relevance for the Handling of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Big Data and Artificial Intelligence in Policy Making: A Mini-Review Approach

The digitization era in public affairs is increasingly disrupting Indonesia. Governance in Indonesia is forced to implement aspects of digitalization in its public services. Big data and artificial intelligence have been used in other scientific activities that provide colour to governance with various scientific disciplines. This study discusses the use of big data and artificial intelligence in policymaking in Indonesia by focusing on the ability of policymakers in policymaking. The method used in this paper is qualitative research with a literature study approach. We reviewed articles with related themes as many as 25 articles published in the last five years from ScienceDirect. The result of this research is that the dynamics that exist in the implementation of public services require appropriate and fast decision-making, considering that this is a community demand. Therefore, public leaders need to disrupt themselves in public services so that these services can be served quickly by enriching skills in big data and artificial intelligence. In conclusion, the critical aspect of the public policy decision-making process is similar to that of any other stage in the policymaking process. Like the preceding steps in the public policy process, the decision-making stage differs depending on the nature of the policy subsystems involved and the degree of consensus faced by decision-makers. The presence of big data in the public sector cannot be disputed as an intriguing approach, particularly during the policy formation cycle. Also, big data and artificial intelligence can help public leaders make decisions to deliver the best policies.

Challenges to the Implementation and Enforcement of Data Protection in Nigeria

The formation of laws that contain the order of social, national and state life is part of the public decision-making process. Public decisions in the form of this law will be binding and apply to all people in a country. Its formation must provide a public space for the wider community to participate in the process of its formation. Pancasila as the root of the legal ideals of the Indonesian nation has the consequence that in the dynamics of the life of the nation and state, as a view of life adopted will provide coherence and direction (direction) to thoughts and actions. Reform of national law is directed at realizing laws based on the will of the people (democratic), then laws which are part of the national legal system in the process of their formation must reflect democratic values which are characterized by actively and comprehensively involving all levels of society in order to participate. inside it. Keywords : Formation of Laws, Renewal of National Laws and the Era of Democracy DOI: 10.7176/JLPG/121-07 Publication date: June 30 th 2022

Special Issue on The Scientization of Public Decision-Making Processes – the Relevance for the Handling of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Special Issue on The Scientization of Public Decision-Making Processes – the Relevance for the Handling of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Halo-A Universal Fluorescence Reader Based Threat Agent Detection Platform-A Proof of Concept Study Using SARS-CoV-2 Assays.

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) remains the gold standard in disease diagnostics due to its extreme sensitivity and specificity. However, PCR tests are expensive and complex, require skilled personnel and specialized equipment to conduct the tests, and have long turnaround times. On the other hand, lateral flow immunoassay-based antigen tests are rapid, relatively inexpensive, and can be performed by untrained personnel at the point of care or even in the home. However, rapid antigen tests are less sensitive than PCR since they lack the inherent target amplification of PCR. It has been argued that rapid antigen tests are better indicators of infection in public health decision-making processes to test, trace, and isolate infected people to curtail further transmission. Hence, there is a critical need to increase the sensitivity of rapid antigen tests and create innovative solutions to achieve that goal. Herein, we report the development of a low-cost diagnostic platform, enabling rapid detection of SARS-CoV-2 under field or at-home conditions. This platform (Halo™) is a small, highly accurate, consumer-friendly diagnostic reader paired with fluorescently labeled lateral flow assays and custom software for collection and reporting of results. The focus of this study is to compare the analytical performance of HaloTM against comparable tests that use either colloidal gold nanoparticles or fluorescence-based reporters in simulated nasal matrix and not in clinical samples. Live virus data has demonstrated limit of detection performance of 1.9 TCID50/test in simulated nasal matrix for the delta variant, suggesting that single-assay detection of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections may be feasible. Performance of the system against all tested SARS CoV-2 virus variants showed comparable sensitivities indicating mutations in SARS-CoV-2 variants do not negatively impact the assay.

Innovative Expert Methods in Strategic Decision Making

Purpose: This study introduces managerial techniques applied for the first time in the high-level strategic public policy decision-making process in Slovakia with an aim to assess the strategic decision-making of groups of experts in a methodologically supported environment. It compares groups of internal analysts and external specialists and should demonstrate the extent to which these two groups are able to process problems analytically and suppress intuition. Methodology/Approach: Multi-criteria decision methods are used when deciding on complex problems. One of the most popular and most frequently used is the Analytic Hierarchy Process. Application of this method enables measurement of preference consistency, and its relationship with cognitive reflection. Findings: Consistency of judgement was very similar in both groups. The prioritisation of measures resulted in a similar set of priorities determined by both groups. The assumed relationship of consistency and cognitive reflection score and/or overconfidence was not detected, and decision makers proved to be well calibrated. Research Limitation/Implication: The main limitation of our research was the small sample size of decision makers, which complied with the requirements of the decision method, but was not sufficient to confirm the statistical validity. Originality/Value of paper: The introduction of the multi-criteria decision method into decision-making for public policy strategies combines practical policy exercises with scientific research on high-stakes decisions and enables to carry out participatory decision-making process with relevant stakeholders.

“Best of Both World”: The Amalgamation of Fuzzy Delphi Method with Nominal Group Technique for Dengue Risk Prioritisation Decision-Making

Introduction. Dengue remains a public health threat. Clarifying the characteristics of future threats and prioritising intervention towards the highest risk potential can help to control and prevent dengue outbreaks. However, obtaining a consensus from panels of experts is certainly challenging due to the relative subjectivity of experience. Therefore, this article incorporates the fuzzy Delphi method (FDM) within a nominal group technique (NGT) as a multicriteria decision-making tool for (1) describing the characteristics of socioecological attributes (SEAs) with a high risk of causing dengue outbreak and (2) ranking those SEAs as priorities for intervention. Material and Methods. Experts were recruited using a purposive sampling technique. Informed consent was obtained before the start of the study. The NGT process began with an introductory presentation of dengue SEA by the moderator, followed by “silent generation.” Next, each participant provided information in a round-robin fashion. Ideas were collected by the moderator and displayed publicly. All experts were given ample time and space to contribute and justify their ideas without interruption during the discussion step to yield agreeable SEA characteristics. Ultimately, FDM was incorporated in the voting step to ensure rigorous analysis. The study was approved by an ethical committee before its commencement. Results. A total of 10 field experts participated in the study, with a median experience of 7.5 years working on a dengue team. The common characteristics of SEA prone to cause dengue outbreaks were the presence of human-made containers, in high quantities, left unattended, and covered from direct sunlight. Apart from that, all eight SEAs passed the triangulation of fuzzy numbers and defuzzification processes. The average fuzzy numbers ranged between 0.500 and 0.780, and the threshold value ( d ) ranged from 0.055 to 0.196. Of the potential risk factors identified, experts ranked illegal dumping sites as the most important, followed by old and unused items and construction sites. Conclusion. The NGT process successfully helped to obtain a consensus among the expert panels in describing SEA characteristics. Nevertheless, the integration of FDM offered a robust analysis that validated their ranking in dengue risk prioritisation. Therefore, we strongly recommend the application of FDM to be incorporated in any public health decision-making process.

A theoretical framework to evaluate ICT disparities and digital divides: Challenges and implications for e-government development

Abstract Understanding and using ICT is critical for increasing effectiveness of the public sector, improving access to public services, enhancing transparency and engagement of various stakeholders in public decision-making processes. At the same time, utilization of new emerging technologies such as cloud computing, big data analytics, open data, social media, or Internet of Things has become more commonplace in recent years. This study aims to understand what determines ICT disparities and digital divides in the context of new technologies and digital world shifts. For this purpose, a theoretical framework of ICT-related indicators elucidating differences between the traditional and new approach is proposed. These ICT indicators were identified through the decomposition of related ICT and e-government indices together with explanatory factors derived from the literature. The European Union Member States were chosen as a sample for the exploratory analysis because of the availability of relevant indicators. More specifically, correlation, factor, regression, and cluster analyses were employed as empirical strategies to carry out this study. The Human Development Index together with research and development expenditure are the most important explanatory factors for the new approach, while the traditional set of indicators is still mostly correlated with the gross domestic product per capita. Finally, five clusters of Member States were identified and their implications for improving the use of ICT in the public sector are described.