Public Inquiry Research Articles

INTERNATIONAL LIBRARY COOPERATION – IMPORTANT COMPONENT OF STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS

The adaptive nature of libraries’ activities, their ability to respond adequately to the challenges of time, such as enrichment of the range of services and services, work on anticipation of public inquiry, multi-component demand, make it possible to be prominent among other information institutions and transform their role in the information and communication system. The effective combination of the most topicaldirections of international cooperation of national scientific libraries as an important component of strategic communications opens new opportunities, in particular, in the formation of the system of spiritual and cultural values in the country and the stable image of Ukrainian science in the world information space and the positive positioningof the state in international relations. International cooperation for libraries of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine network envisages the development of these libraries as a tool for internationalcultural exchange and interaction. Among the priority areas of international library cooperation, the most effective is international book-sharing and receiving foreign literature as gifts. The organization of international book exchange, establishment of contacts with related foreign scientific institutions is facilitated by the active publishingactivity of scientific institutions of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Libraries of scientific institutions of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine receive assistance from foreign organizations, cooperate with societies engaged in the search and sale of scientific books. Today, the first place in interlibrary document exchangeis the electronic document delivery service, which is included in the interlibrary loan service as one of its modern forms. Formation of open and equal cooperation of national libraries with libraries of othercountries, which is an integral part of their information and communication activities and carried out on the principles of independence, equality and mutual benefit, in the conditions of digitalization – an important component of strategic communicationsfor the expansion of interstate and intercultural exchange social experience and the promotion of universal values, the development of world cultures and civilization as a whole.

Legitimation crises, public inquiries and boundary construction: the Or Commission and the Green Line paradox

ABSTRACT This article examines the Or Commission of Inquiry and the discursive invention of the ‘October 2000 disturbances’ by offering a reconceptualisation of the Green Line function in the context of the Israeli state ideology (mamlachtiut). The commission presents an interesting case of a State Commission of Inquiry working under unprecedented lack of public and political legitimacy and of government support. By applying a sociopolitical perspective, the article analyzes the Or Commission not simply as a neutral administrative instrument but as a political actor that sought to enhance its legitimacy and influence public opinion and decision-makers by deviating considerably from its official mandate.

Power relations in the production of historical context in disaster inquiry reporting

PurposeThis study aims to examine the textual performance of the Ocean Ranger Disaster inquiry, thus responding to recent calls to “practice context” in historical writing. This study goes beyond the epistemological assumptions about the grounds for knowing about the past as the authors explore how history is produced in the context of power relations.Design/methodology/approachThis paper imagines history-making as a storytelling performance. The authors combine critical historiography and critical sensemaking because these qualitative perspectives help us to understand the composition of the Ocean Ranger Royal Commission Report.FindingsThis case study makes a contribution within the genre of disaster inquiry reporting. The study explains how a formal historical record (the public inquiry report) may be created and how the report is related to aspects of power embedded in a writer’s sense of reality.Social implicationsThe Ocean Ranger Disaster continues to be of tremendous importance to the people of Newfoundland, Canada. There have been numerous studies of the disaster, but these have been overwhelmingly focused on technical matters. To authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to consider the inquiry from an historical context perspective.Originality/valueThe study site enables reflection on a question not often asked in the management history literature: How can we critically understand the composition of an official disaster inquiry report in the context of its power relations?

Advocacy coalitions and flood insurance: Power and policies in the Australian Natural Disaster Insurance Review

Insurance against flooding creates households and places that are protected against financial harm in the form of catastrophic losses. Contested here are questions surrounding the availability and affordability of private insurance cover, significantly affecting the lives of people in at-risk geographies by imposing costs either as insurance premiums or episodic flood damages. Policy choices and decisions (‘political/economic’) about such controversial place-based environmental/risk issues (‘spatial’) are often made “behind closed doors”. A public inquiry opens those doors, albeit briefly, so we can see “what goes on”. The Natural Disaster Insurance Review (NDIR), a public inquiry after the 2010/2011 Australian floods, was a major forum of debate about Australian flood insurance policy. We explore the intricate politics of the key advocacy coalitions involved, to understand the NDIR’s role and outcomes. Our case study methodology uses content analysis of c. 100 NDIR submissions and reports, media coverage, and insurance industry and government statements, supported by in-depth interviews with people directly involved. We show that a well-resourced and powerful coalition of insurers was the dominant advocacy coalition in the NDIR and that consumers and their at-risk communities were represented by a relatively under-resourced coalition. The primary role of the inquiry as a problem-solving process was ultimately overridden during the post-inquiry implementation phase, during which the insurance coalition was dominant. Major NDIR recommendations were not implemented, and hence key spatial/political issues that the inquiry was established to address for the benefit of those at risk remained unresolved.

Peaks in online inquiries into pharyngitis-related symptoms correspond with annual incidence rates

ObjectiveTo assess whether web-based public inquiries into pharyngitis-related search terms follow annual incidence peaks of acute pharyngitis in various countries from both hemispheres.MethodsGoogle Trends (GT) was utilized for systematic acquisition of pharyngitis-related search terms (sore throat, cough, fever, cold). Six countries from both hemispheres including four English (United Kingdom, United States, Canada, and Australia) and two non-English speaking countries (Austria and Germany) were selected for further analysis. Time series data on relative search interest for pharyngitis-related search terms, covering a timeframe between 2004 and 2019 were extracted. Following reliability analysis using the intra-class correlation coefficient, the cosinor time series analysis was utilized to determine annual peaks in public-inquiries.ResultsThe extracted datasets of GT proved to be highly reliable with correlation coefficients ranging from 0.83 to 1.0. Graphical visualization showed annual seasonal peaks for pharyngitis-related search terms in all included countries. The cosinor time series analysis revealed these peaks to be statistically significant during winter months (all p < 0.001).ConclusionOur study revealed seasonal variations for pharyngitis-related terms which corresponded to winter incidence peaks of acute pharyngitis. These results highlight the need for easily accessible information on diagnosis, therapy, and red-flag symptoms for this common disease. Accurately informed patients might contribute to a reduction of unnecessary clinic visits and potentially cutback the futile antibiotic overuse.

Law, Narrative and Critique in Contemporary Verbatim Theatre

Abstract The present article undertakes an interdisciplinary inquiry into contemporary British verbatim theatre as a site of interplay between law, art and politics. Focusing on the example of Matt Woodhead and Richard Norton-Taylor’s 2016 play Chilcot, documenting the public inquiry into the UK’s role in the 2003 Iraq war, the authors explore the work as a space of legal and political critique, and ask how the specific theatrical and narrative affordances of the verbatim form shape its critical substance.

Covid-19: statutory means of scrutinizing workers' deaths and disease.

BackgroundBy law, covid-19 disease and deaths in workers may lead to coroners’ inquests and/or Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigations.AimsThis study assesses the adequacy of these statutory means to yield recommendations for prevention of acquiring covid-19 infection from work.MethodsCovid-19 guidance from the chief coroner and the HSE was appraised, including using Office for National Statistics (ONS) data. Practitioners were asked to estimate the likelihood that covid-19 disease may have arisen from ‘near-miss’ scenarios. Data from the judiciary and the HSE were analysed.ResultsThe coroners’ guidance allowed a wider range of reports of death than did the HSE and conformed better with ONS data on covid-19 mortality by occupation. In the practitioner survey, 62 respondents considered a higher likelihood that reported covid-19 cases would have arisen from the scenario deemed unreportable as a ‘dangerous occurrence’ by HSE than the reportable scenario (P < 0.001). On average there was only one coroner’s report to prevent future death from occupational disease every year in England and Wales. The HSE dealt with a yearly average of 1611 reports of work-related disease including 104 on biological agents, but has received about 9000 covid-19 reports.ConclusionsCurrent HSE guidance for reporting work-related covid-19 may miss many thousands of cases and needs further iteration. Coroners have very limited experience of inquiry into occupational disease caused by biological agents compared with the HSE. Concerns regarding national policy such as on protective equipment warrant a full public inquiry.

Discrimination and the Private Law in Canada: Reflections on Spence v. BMO Trust Co.

Discrimination has long been identified as detrimental to the basic functioning of multicultural countries like Canada. While governments have adopted constitutional law and passed human rights legislation to combat and control discrimination, these laws are inapplicable to a significant portion of Canadian law. Areas of private law, such as wills and trusts are therefore more vulnerable to use by individuals seeking to perpetuate discrimination.&#x0D; The main way that courts in Canada have dealt with this issue is through the use of the doctrine of public policy. As early as the 19th century, private law provisions viewed as restraining another’s freedom of religion or perpetuating discrimination on grounds such as race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation have been found contrary to public policy by Canadian courts and voided accordingly.&#x0D; While the uniquely Canadian jurisprudence in this area continues to evolve, until quite recently, its trajectory appeared to be one of expansion. However, the latest appellate level decision in this area,Spence v. BMO Trust Co., appears to have changed the course of this jurisprudence. In Spence, the Ontario Court of Appeal found that certain testamentary clauses, no matter how discriminatory in nature, can never be subject to a public policy review. &#x0D; This article argues that while the result of Spence was likely correct on its particular facts, the reasoning of that decision goes too far in its attempt to limit the doctrine’s applicability with respect to discrimination in the private law. Parts of the decision in Spence ignore the key message of past decisions in this area concerning the danger of uncensored discrimination in Canadian society. &#x0D; While reasonable people may disagree on the outcome of any given public policy inquiry, a point that should attract consensus is that the private law should never be an unexamined and impenetrable shelter for discrimination. However, Spence effectively creates an area of the private law immune to legal scrutiny by precluding the use of the common law doctrine that has been used to directly confront and censure discrimination in Canadian private law.

Impression management and Big Four auditors: Scrutiny at a public inquiry

To examine how Big Four auditors react to public scrutiny, we explore their evidence at a public inquiry on the Irish banking crisis. We use impression management theory to make sense of this evidence. By extending Goffman to a contemporary auditing context, we mobilize less-researched aspects of his dramaturgical framework. Drawing upon the prior literature, we develop a typology for examining how Big Four auditors impression-manage on a ‘frontstage’. Using meaning-oriented content analysis, we apply our typology to Big Four auditors’ public-inquiry evidence. Our findings indicate that Big Four auditors convey the following four impressions: (1) their hands are clean (i.e., they are not to blame for audit failure); (2) their hands were tied (i.e., they were powerless to prevent audit failure); (3) their work was good; and (4) their intentions are good. We conclude the paper by linking these four impressions to the professional beancounter character, and by considering whether the Big Four’s impression management succeeded in influencing their audience. Identifying impression management by Big Four auditors provides insights into their beliefs, ambitions and concerns, and on how they regard clients, regulators and the general public.

Psychological Operations in Digital Political Campaigns: Assessing Cambridge Analytica's Psychographic Profiling and Targeting

This paper explores whether psychographic profiling and targeting married with big data and deployed in digital political campaigns is a form of psychological operations (‘psy-ops’). Informed by studies on deception, coercion and influence activities from propaganda, persuasion, policy making, cognitive psychology, information and marketing scholarship, this proposition is examined and historically grounded in a politically important case study: the actions of now defunct political data analytics and behaviour change company, Cambridge Analytica, in the UK’s 2016 referendum campaign on leaving the European Union. Based on qualitative analysis of documentation in the UK and USA from public inquiries, regulatory investigations, legal proceedings and investigative journalists, as well as on revelations from digital political campaigners and Cambridge Analytica itself, this paper assesses the coercive and deceptive nature of Cambridge Analytica’s psychographic profiling and targeting, concluding that it is a form of psy-ops. Observing the social unacceptability of such digital campaigning practices (ascertained from national surveys in the US, UK and globally), this paper discusses the adequacy of measures since put in place to eliminate the risk of further psy-ops in digital political campaigning. It ends by elucidating areas in urgent need of further research.

A health impact assessment (HIA) on a new motorway bypass in Strasbourg, France

Abstract Issue In 2018-2019, HIA was carried out on a projected 24-km north-south motorway bypass in a rural area west of Strasbourg, intended to alleviate pressure on a pre-existing motorway that cuts through the city centre. Although transport is a major source of impacts on health, HIA is rarely performed on new road construction projects, globally. Description The HIA included the screening, scoping, assessment and recommendations phases. Assessed health determinants were outdoor air quality, noise, mobility/access to health services, road safety, urban planning and the living environment. Methods included a literature review, the AirQ+ air pollution model, cartography and an NVivo analysis of answers to a public enquiry. Results Noise was set to increase for 1-4% of the population in the study area, but impacts related to air pollution appeared to be negligible and road safety did not change substantially. Mobility and access to health services were to improve, with strong local differences (inequalities): some areas benefitted from access to the new motorway without being affected by noise or traffic, while for others it was the opposite. Stakeholders who participated in the public enquiry were concerned about the loss of agriculturally and environmentally valuable land, viewed as a collective cultural asset. Those living in the vicinity of the bypass expressed anger at the reduction of the quantity and quality of green areas, which was experienced as an injustice given their choice to live in a rural area. Our recommendations related mainly to the pre-existing urban motorway, where reducing traffic volumes and speeds, as well as diverting trucks onto the new bypass, had the most promising effects on health. Lessons Due to its rural localization, the new road had limited health effects through air pollution, which is the focus of many transport-related HIAs. Through the analysis of the public enquiry, the HIA showed that the project generated anger and distress. Key messages The substantial investment represented by the new bypass did not solve pre-existing problems related to environmental health but generated new ones linked to social and mental health issues. Many HIAs miss out on valuable qualitative information because interviews or focus groups cannot be carried out with local stakeholders. Secondary analysis of public consultations can fill this gap.

The discursive production of public inquiries: The case of Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

Since the turn of the century, public inquiries into the perpetration and concealment of child sexual abuse within religious institutions have proliferated throughout Europe, North America and Australasia. This article examines the role that news media discourses might play in supporting this trend. Taking Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse as a case study, I compare how news media constructed its precipitating issue of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church at two different points in time: the period surrounding the announcement of the Royal Commission and a period 10 years earlier when calls were made for a Royal Commission that were not actualised. I find that in the decade before the Royal Commission’s establishment news media deemed the Church capable of and responsible for delivering justice, and as such licensed it to respond to allegations of abuse internally. In the period surrounding the Royal Commission’s establishment, however, the Church was rendered complicit and had lost its authority to manage the issue internally, while the State had become marked as responsible for recourse instead. This suggests that the emergence of the Royal Commission was imbricated in broader discursive shifts regarding which institution was attributed the right and responsibility to respond. These findings both indicate that news media discourses may play a role in facilitating or inhibiting the emergence of public inquiries and also raise critical questions about the consequences of a discursive shift that centres the State as responsible for and capable of delivering justice in the aftermath of institutional child sexual abuse.

Australia’s wish list of exotic pets: biosecurity and conservation implications of desired alien and illegal pet species

Globalisation of the live pet trade facilitates major pathways for the transport and introduction of invasive alien species across longer distances and at higher frequencies than previously possible. Moreover, the unsustainable trade of species is a major driver for the over-exploitation of wild populations. Australia minimises the biosecurity and conservation risk of the international pet trade by implementing highly stringent regulations on the live import and keeping of alien pets beyond its international CITES obligations. However, the public desire to possess prohibited alien pets has never been quantified and represents a number of species that could be acquired illegally or legally under different future legislative conditions. As such, highly desirable species represent an ongoing conservation threat and biosecurity risk via the pet-release invasion pathway. We aimed to characterise the Australian desire for illegal alien pets and investigate potential sources of external information that can be utilised to predict future desire. Using public live import enquiry records from the Australian Commonwealth Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment as a proxy for alien pet desire, we tested for differences in the proportion of species with threatened listings and records of invasions, after accounting for taxonomy. Additionally, we used a United States of America (U.S.) live imports dataset to infer pet demand in another Western market with less stringent regulations and determined whether species highly desired in Australia had higher U.S. trade demand than would be expected by chance. The Australian public desire for alien pets is heavily and significantly biased towards species threatened with extinction, species popular in the U.S. trade and species with a history of successful invasions. Not only does this indicate the potential impacts of pet desire on invasion risk and the conservation of threatened species, but we also highlight the potential role of the U.S. trade as an effective predictor for Australian desire. Our research emphasises the value of novel datasets in building predictive capacity for improved biosecurity awareness.

An experimental study of public trust in AI chatbots in the public sector

This study investigates the public's initial trust in so-called “artificial intelligence” (AI) chatbots about to be introduced into use in the public sector. While the societal impacts of AI are widely speculated about, empirical testing remains rare. To narrow this gap, this study builds on theories of operators' trust in machines in industrial settings and proposes that initial public trust in chatbot responses depends on (i) the area of enquiry, since expectations about a chatbot's performance vary with the topic, and (ii) the purposes that governments communicate to the public for introducing the use of chatbots. Analyses based on an experimental online survey in Japan generated results indicating that, if a government were to announce its intention to use “AI” chatbots to answer public enquiries, the public's initial trust in their responses would be lower in the area of parental support than in the area of waste separation, with a moderate effect size. Communicating purposes that would directly benefit citizens, such as achieving uniformity in response quality and timeliness in responding, would enhance public trust in chatbots. Although the effect sizes are small, communicating these purposes might be still worthwhile, as it would be an inexpensive measure for a government to take.

Theorizing Organizational Hubris and Imagination Failures: Reflections on the Twentieth Anniversary

This article addresses this year’s AOM theme, “20/20: Broadening our Sight”, by making the invisible ‘visible’ in a study of the causes of September 11th, 2001 (9/11). The aim is to advance the psychodynamic understanding of imagination failures by analyzing the findings of the US government’s public inquiry in The 9/11 Report. In this study, I distinguish between narcissistic and hubristic organizations, theorizing that two forms of organizational hubris—America’s ‘hubris of empire-building’ and Al Qaeda’s ‘hubris-nemesis complex’— amalgamated in a uniquely generative manner leading to 9/11. Previous studies of public inquiries demonstrate that inquiry reports are monological story-telling performances used to create sense-making narratives that function hegemonically to impose a simplified version of reality to assign blame, depoliticize events, and facilitate closure after shocking events. In contrast, findings here suggest that by constructing a critical narrative, The 9/11 Report may serve as a new type of public inquiry report that invites analysis of the complex factors that underpin crisis. The article concludes by identifying fruitful areas of future research and ways to theorize further about the psychodynamics of organizational hubris and the factors that contribute to imagination failures.

Struggling to Make Sense of it All: The Emotional Process Of Sensemaking in Scrutinized Occupations

This paper examines the practice world of practitioners working in ‘scrutinized’ occupations through a qualitative study of emergency management practitioners who were involved in a major bushfire incident, participated in the subsequent public inquiry, and were responsible for the implementation of the inquiry’s recommendations. We show how such practitioners engage with their practice world through three different ‘modes of involvement’ as a result of a cycle of scrutiny that flows from the incident, through the inquiry, to implementation. We also explore the different emotions experienced by these practitioners during this process and draw attention to the important role of one particular emotion – anxiety – which takes different forms depending on the particular mode of involvement. Our findings indicate that anxiety helps practitioners deal with scrutiny by facilitating sensemaking and developing knowledge, allowing us to develop a general model of sensemaking and emotion in scrutinized occupations more broadly.

Moving Knowledge to Action: How Can We Optimally Support Different Healthcare Settings to Reach Their IPAC Goals?

<h3>Background</h3> The Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) department at Public Health Ontario (PHO) provides support to health care settings to enable consistent adoption of IPAC best practices. The IPAC Regional Support unit plays a role in dissemination, knowledge exchange, and capacity building. To effectively prioritize supports, it is essential to understand the needs of our stakeholders. <h3>Methods</h3> A needs assessment of IPAC professionals was conducted in all health care sectors in PHO's Central West region. The project was framed by the Knowledge to Action Cycle to support exploration of gaps, priorities, barriers, facilitators, and strategies. The objectives were to identify practices gaps, barriers influencing change, gaps in knowledge and skills, and stakeholders preferences for supports. Multiple data sources were used to collect information from IPAC stakeholders in several sectors. Data sources includes an online survey (April 1 to June 30, 2019), consultation with public health units (PHU), stakeholder inquiries, and evaluations of previous educational sessions (April 2017 to March 2019). <h3>Results</h3> Information was collected from eighteen PHU representatives and 135 survey respondents, 56% from long-term care and retirement homes. The needs assessment identified the importance of tailoring supports and priority areas for learning by sector, as well as preferred modalities for learning. Across sectors, stakeholders face barriers to practice improvement due to the physical environment and resources (17%), as well as motivation (40%). There was a strong interest in skill development around techniques to motivate and inspire colleagues and secure buy-in. <h3>Conclusions</h3> The needs assessment was supported by multiple sources, and gathered information about challenges to improving IPAC practices that can be applied beyond the Central West Region. The needs assessment has provided information that can be used to prioritize areas of focus for the exploration of strategies to improve practice gaps.

Contextualising missed care in two healthcare inquiries using a socio-ecological systems approach.

To examine missed care within two patient safety public inquiries using a socio-ecological model. Missed care is a care which has been omitted or rendered incomplete. Possible outcomes of missed care have been identified including poor patient outcomes such as higher mortality rates, reduced care quality and lower patient satisfaction, job dissatisfaction, staff burnout and higher attrition rates. A qualitative design, specifically document analysis, was used to review two serious case reviews. Between August-December 2018, two public patient safety inquiries were examined using a document analysis method. Both inquiries are based in acute hospital care settings of nursing (UK) and midwifery (Ireland). The Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research checklist provided a framework to report the study methods, context, findings, analysis and interpretation. Findings highlighted instances of missed care related to practice which contributed to poor patient outcomes. Missed care was located within contingency factors, such as unintended negative patient health and safety outcomes in multiple system levels which resulted in care deficits. A socio-ecological model enabled consideration of how multi-system deficits combine to impact nursing and midwifery care delivery. To tackle current and future practice challenges, broader contextual issues that influence front-line cases should be identified and addressed before they create conditions which result in substandard care. This paper adds to the scholarship on missed care by incorporating a greater contextual lens. Findings suggest that some factors contributing to missed care events may be systemic in origin. Practice, policy, research and education should foster nurses' and midwives' review of the totality of influencing factors impacting missed care and care deficits. Consequently, early warning signs and proactive responses at a system level should be inherent in all settings that nurses' and midwives' practice.

The Use of Public Inquiries in Rooting Out Corruption and Collusion – The Canadian Experience

A public commission of inquiry is an administrative tool used exceptionally by governments to inquire into and report on controversies of significant public importance. Such inquiries allow the public to better understand the complexities of a scandal or tragedy, but provide no ultimate accountability when criminal activity is at play. In Canada, the use of public commissions of inquiry to investigate corruption and collusion poses significant legal challenges from a constitutional division of powers perspective (between the federal and provincial levels of government) and with regards to the protection of the rights of the accused under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Typically, when criminal conduct is at the heart of the controversy, governments will wait for the completion of all investigations and prosecutions before launching a public inquiry into any remaining matter of public importance. However, the scale of a corruption scandal and the growing public demand for answers may be such that a government is left with no option but to launch a public inquiry immediately, even if there are serious risks of compromising criminal investigations and prosecutions. This paper discusses the legal difficulties associated with the creation and operation of public commission of inquiry into crime, corruption and collusion in particular, and presents a way forward in analysing the various measures that may be adopted at the onset and susbsequently at the operational level to minimize legal risks.

Safeguarding Children and Young People During the COVID‐19 Pandemic

Safeguarding Children and Young People During the COVID‐19 Pandemic