Reform Debate Research Articles

Why China Never Wanted Shock Therapy and Thus Needed No Escaping from It: A Critique of Isabella M. Weber’s Argument

This article reviews Isabella M. Weber’s book How China Escaped Shock Therapy: The Market Reform Debate. While in many ways a brilliant book, it can nonetheless be misleading and, in certain areas, misinformed. First, China has never really attempted shock therapy: it has almost always followed a gradual approach to reforms more akin to “acupuncture” rather than a “shock” therapy. Second, the definition of shock therapy that the book uses is deceptive, because it meant different things in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), Russia and China. Third, the importance of the 1980s debates seems to be exaggerated: China has never implemented shock therapy largely because of more fundamental forces, and not due to the fact that “dual-track reformers” had “saved” China. Fourth, while China, with its “gradualist” approach in reforms, has become the world’s growth champion, most CEE countries that underwent shock therapy did not fare badly either.

The Function of Literature in Psychological Science

The recent reform debates in psychological science, prompted by a widespread crisis of confidence, have exposed and destabilized the so-called myth of self-correction, that is, the problem that most scientists perceive their disciplines as self-correcting without engaging in actual practices that correct the scientific record. In this paper, building on the idea of self-correction as a myth, I propose another myth common to psychological science: the myth of self-organization. The myth of self-organization is the idea that scientific literature will organize itself into something the community adding to it would recognize as systematic knowledge; while the actual members of those communities do not engage in effective ways of organizing it. I argue for the existence of the myth self-organization by taking a historical look at how the scientific literature was construed by psychologists during the 20th century. In my view, the literature, and behaviors of scientists related to it, becomes a social institution exerting influence over the science it belongs to. I conclude with a critical discussion of self-organization through the debates about preregistration and theory formalization in psychology’s reform movement.

How China Escaped Shock Therapy: The Market Reform Debate, by Isabella M. Weber. Oxon: Routledge, 2021. xvi+342 pp. £108.00 (cloth), £23.99 (paper), £23.99 (e-book).

<i>How China Escaped Shock Therapy: The Market Reform Debate</i>, by Isabella M. Weber. Oxon: Routledge, 2021. xvi+342 pp. £108.00 (cloth), £23.99 (paper), £23.99 (e-book).

Democracy, Terror, and Utopia in Dickens'sA Tale of Two Cities

This essay reads Charles Dickens'sA Tale of Two Cities(1859) as a previously unrecognized contribution to Victorian discourses around democracy. Approaching the novel through the parliamentary reform debate of the late 1850s and through Dickens's earlier writings about American democracy, I argue that this historical narrative of the French Revolution elaborates Victorian liberals’ fears that democracy will, on one hand, devalue individuality and produce a world of sameness or, on the other, overvalue individual sovereignty, giving way to isolating difference and social fragmentation. Despite his deep ambivalence about democratic reform, Dickens uses the novel to imagine alternative forms of political representation. The motif of “echoing footsteps” is one key example of the utopian democratic fantasy that the novel develops. In the “echoing footsteps” passages, Dickens appropriates the theories of Charles Babbage for political purposes, proposing that the earth's atmosphere is a medium that contains a complete democratic record of all the sounds made by every individual in existence. In this respect, the novel anticipates a concept of democracy as individual expression that today increasingly threatens democratic institutions.

Distributional Issues in Natural Capital Accounting: An Application to Land Ownership and Ecosystem Services in Scotland

Accounting for ecosystems is increasingly central to natural capital accounting. What is missing from this, however, is an answer to questions about how natural capital is distributed. That is, who consumes ecosystem services and who owns or manages the underlying asset(s) that give rise to ecosystem services. In this paper, we examine the significance of the ownership of land on which ecosystem assets (or ecosystem types) is located in the context of natural capital accounting. We illustrate this in an empirical application to two ecosystem services and a range of ecosystem types and land ownership in Scotland, a context in which land reform debates are longstanding. Our results indicate the relative importance of private land in ecosystem service supply, rather than land held by the public sector. We find relative concentration of ownership for land providing comparatively high amounts of carbon sequestration. For air pollution removal, however, the role of smaller to medium sized, mostly privately owned, land holdings closer to urban settlements becomes more prominent. The contributions in this paper, we argue, represent important first steps in anticipating distributional impacts of natural capital (and related) policy in natural capital accounts as well as connecting these frameworks to broader concerns about wealth disparities across and within countries.

Dying with Assistance: The Call for an Inquiry, the Power of a declaration, the role of evidence.

ABSTRACT The article analyses recent legal challenges of the prohibition of assisted suicide in England and Wales to review where we are in the debate for reform, and where we can go. The article, principally, advocates for an evidence-based new governmental inquiry. Aside the fact that this is widely-supported by various interested parties, this argument stems from the approach recently attempted by claimants in English courts in challenging the prohibition of assisted suicide, and that is, an evidence-based approach to judicial review. As this article discusses, the review of ‘the available evidence’ is unlikely to be done by English courts, but what this new legal strategy does is to send a strong message to Parliament and the government that there is a need to identify and examine the evidence. The findings of a fresh governmental inquiry, will allow Parliament to engage in a careful, informed review of the law and practice on assisted suicide and decide whether there is another way to protect the vulnerable, while respecting individual choice. The benefits of this inquiry go beyond England and Wales; an English (or indeed UK-wide) inquiry will inform discussions currently taking place elsewhere, and vice versa.

Women and Children First: Appropriated Fiction in the Ten Hours’ Advocate

This article examines interclass strategies to bring about reform in mid-nineteenth century England. It specifically explores the way the Ten Hours’ Advocate, a paper written for the working classes, looked to present itself as a middle-class periodical in order to further the argument for factory reform. In reproducing fiction filched from middle-class periodicals, the Advocate performed its argument for the Factory Bill: that the Bill would ease social tensions, dissipate the Chartist or radical threat, and ensure a “return” to traditional gender roles. The appropriated fiction is mild, rather bland; the non-fictional argument for reform is direct and unapologetic. That the Advocate was opportunistic in the way it made the case for reform is an example of the advantages provided to reformers by the absence of strict copyright laws and by Victorian periodical culture in general. But it also contextualises the debate over the family-wage argument and the working-class role in hardening the Victorian sexual division of labour.

Impact of the intra-party democracy on political parties' reactions to the electoral defeats - a case study of the selected political groupings in Poland

An electoral defeat usually marks a significant turning point in the life of political parties. It is often the beginning of the changes taking place within them (Harmel, Janda 1994; Gauja 2016: p. 50–51). Existing research suggest that the desire to improve the electoral outcome is the main argument for reform within political parties (Janda 1990; Harmel et al. 1995). This article looks at a relationship between the reactions of political parties to electoral defeat and one factor found to be important in this respect – i.e. the level of intra-party democracy (IPD) analysed at the organisational level. The study uses the IPD measurement model developed by Benjamin von dem Berge and his team (see: von dem Berge et al. 2013). The article provides the analysis of the level of intra-party democracy of the selected four Polish political parties (on the basis of their statutes) continuously present on the Polish political scene after 2001 and its impact on changes within political groupings after electoral defeats. The author examined the statutes of the Law and Justice (PiS), the Civic Platform (PO), the Polish People’s Party (PSL) and the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD). These parties suffered defeats either in the 2011 or 2015 elections. The main research problem is to determine how the level of IPD of the examined parties influences their reactions after electoral defeats. The research hypothesis is: political parties with a higher level of IPD should change under the influence of electoral defeats more than parties with a lower level of this indicator. The study used also the methodology of data analysis (party’s statutes and other documents) and 21 structured in-depth interviews with representatives of party elites. Based on the results, the index of change after defeat in political parties is created.

Are there still shared values to sustain multilateralism? Discourse in World Trade Organization reform debates

What is the role of values and principles in sustaining and reforming trade multilateralism? After several years of crisis and gridlock, by the end of 2018 the reform process became a central issue at World Trade Organization (WTO) discussions. Whereas members agreed on the idea that WTO reform was a necessary condition for the preservation of trade multilateralism, whether and how that reform is still possible is uncertain. While the discrepancies in the positions among the proposals have been considered in several papers, the role of the values and principles behind them has been overlooked. In this paper, recalling Ruggie’s theory on multilateralism, I propose to identify whether in the reform debates countries still share a core of principles and values that could sustain trade multilateralism and move the WTO beyond its current paralysis. To do so, I use evidence based on a data set of coded statements of WTO members at the General Council meetings in the period 2019–2020. The paper shows that, although sharing a willingness to support multilateralism, members diverge in the values and principles that give meaning and shape to this type of international cooperation, challenging the capacity of the WTO to find its way through the reform.

Zones of Nonbeing: Abjection, White Accumulation, and Neoliberal School Reform

Background/Context: Jean Anyon’s work provides a powerful intervention in the study of education with her attention to political economy and the social contexts of education. Mainstream neoliberal charter reform arguments often counter Anyon’s work by suggesting a “no excuse” ideology, which often ignores structural realities facing youth. Over the decades, charter schools have garnered bipartisan interest and expanded significantly. Following Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans was one such site where the expansion and experimentation with charter schools has taken place. Utilizing the restructuring of New Orleans after Katrina as a site for examination, this article builds from a larger yearlong qualitative critical race case study on the reproduction of White dominance via the charter school authorization and application process. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: Utilizing the educational restructuring of New Orleans post-Katrina, this article aims to illustrate the interconnectedness of political economy and race. Extending Anyon’s analysis of political economy, the article focuses on the neoliberal restructuring of New Orleans education after Hurricane Katrina to illustrate how the notions of abjection and zones of nonbeing form a guiding constellation for the accumulation and solidification of White power and capital. Research Design/Data Collection and Analysis: This article builds off a larger yearlong qualitative critical race case study on the reproduction of White racial educational dominance in post-Katrina New Orleans. Interviews and student artifacts are the central data. Conclusion/Recommendations: The author recommends the grounding of youth voice in educational policy analysis, conceptualization, and implementation; the consideration of how race impacts education; and continued research on the inter-imbrication of race and political economy.

EU Governments Must not Return to Their Dysfunctional Fiscal Rules

Abstract Fiscal rules such as the European Stability and Growth Pact and the German debt brake have been suspended in the Covid19-pandemic in order to provide emergency measures and to overcome the crisis. Now, the controversial debate is back again: When should governments return to fiscal rules? Should they return to fiscal rules, at all? This article argues that it is not so much a question whether governments should return to fiscal rules at all, but to which kind of rules they should return. Following the deficit bias argument and the need for fiscal policy coordination in a monetary union some kind of limitation for government debt and some kind of fiscal rules may easily be justified. However, that does not mean that governments should return exactly to the previously existing rules, because these are economically flawed. Recently the argument for reform has become even stronger due to new empirical evidence about the macroeconomic effectivity of fiscal policy, the experience of the dysfunctionality of the existing rules during the Euro crisis and the fact that the cost of public debt has been reduced dramatically because of persistently low if not negative nominal interest rates.

Externalisations in the Portuguese parliament: analysing power struggles and (de-)legitimation with Multiple Streams Approach

ABSTRACT International organisations’ importance in education policy has been growing in recent years. They have been able to promote their role by providing data and interpreting it through international assessments and guidance, and by highlighting some countries or regions as benchmarks for global improvement, performance, and efficiency. International organisations’ output feeds policy reform arguments in national and regional contexts. We analyse debates on education policy in the Portuguese parliament with the aim of understanding the roles of external references to international organisations, their instruments, and associated countries. We understand the agenda-setting process through political, problem, and policy streams as described by the Multiple Streams Approach. Our analysis shows that external references play a key role in the three streams as extra sources of authority used by policymakers in the attempt to open new policy windows and couple the three streams, resulting in policy change.

Some Passing Reflections on the Building Bridges Initiative

This paper is a product of general reflections on the ongoing Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) process. The first part introduces the BBI process and explores its role in the ongoing constitutional reform debates. The second part examines some of the central weaknesses of the process in view of constitutional theory and highlights their deleterious effect on any gains that the process may seek to achieve. The third part examines some positive elements of the process and highlights the role of depoliticisation in the achievement of the BBI committee’s objectives.

Satisfaction with the Police in Chile: The Importance of Legitimacy and Fair Treatment

ABSTRACTThis study addresses a void in the literature on public attitudes toward police in Latin America. It integrates three theoretical models of the determinants of citizen satisfaction with police work in Chile: demographic, quality of life in the neighborhood, and experiential. The study tested the integrated model using a novel random sample of 996 individuals living in the Metropolitan Region of Santiago. The results underscore the importance of legitimacy centered on fair treatment, respect for human rights, and the perception that the police represent society. The findings are also significant for the Chilean institutional political process and for the Latin American police reform debate.

Students First: Equity, Access, and Opportunity in Higher Education

Students First: Equity, Access, and Opportunity in Higher Education

Steady Habits in the Constitution State: Connecticut's Inequitable System of Representation, 1639–1965

Steady Habits in the Constitution State: Connecticut's Inequitable System of Representation, 1639–1965

‘Populist Constitutionalism’ and the Unionist Party during the 1911 House of Lords’ Crisis

AbstractThis article reassesses the revolt against the 1911 Parliament Act by the ‘ditchers’ – the measure's diehard opponents in the house of lords. It shows that the ditchers had a clear and coherent platform on the constitution – referred to here as ‘populist constitutionalism’ – which sought to relegitimise aristocratic political power through the adoption of constitutional reforms including the introduction of referenda. This platform had evolved naturally from Lord Salisbury's ‘mandate theory’ that utilised the Unionist predominance in the second chamber to reject unpopular Liberal legislation. Where Salisbury had adopted a tactical, opportunistic perspective, however, populist constitutionalism was more programmatic. In contrast, Arthur Balfour, as Unionist leader, adopted a more cautious approach and avoided reform until his hand was forced by the constitutional crises of 1909–11. The ditchers, as part of the Edwardian ‘radical right’, were often frustrated with Balfour's refusal to advocate measures such as the referendum. This frustration reflected similar radical right criticisms of Balfour's leadership during the tariff reform debate. Hence the ditcher revolt represented the culmination of a decade of Unionist division over the Unionist platform, Balfour's leadership, and indeed the philosophical idea of Toryism itself.

Deconstructing the tobacco tax reform debate in Indonesia utilizing discourse network analysis

Deconstructing the tobacco tax reform debate in Indonesia utilizing discourse network analysis

1490Activist and Epidemiologist: Collision or Synergy?

Focus of PresentationIn this presentation, I discuss how activism and lived experience can enhance epidemiological research. I argue that my lived experience of disability and activism, enhance my research because I: have understanding of the contexts in which disabled people live, I focus on what is relevant to disabled people, and have the impetus to interrogate government knowledge claims. I illustrate this through two research/activism scenarios: COVID-19 pandemic proposed reforms to Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) – which provides individual budgets for nearly 500,000 Australians with disability.FindingsDuring the COVID-19, I spearheaded ‘calls to action’ for governments to respond to the specific risks faced by people with disability. I led a research demonstrating the risks to disability support workers. My expert witness testimonies at the Disability Royal Commission were central to the Commission’s recommendations. And my work changed government policies relating to managing outbreaks in disability settings and vaccination. In relation to the NDIS, I have critiqued the research government conducts, and the data they use, to support their arguments for reform.Conclusions/ImplicationsBeing an activist with lived experience requires reflexivity to ensure individual biases are not reinforced, but it also offers opportunities. Research is contextualised and the pathway to change more easily charted. Epidemiology should foster the careers of researchers with lived experience who maybe activists as well.Key messagesLived experience researchers and activists can enhance epidemiological research bringing unique insights and new opportunities for change.

Public Money Talks Too: How Public Campaign Financing Degrades Representation

AbstractDoes public campaign financing improve representation by reducing politicians' reliance on wealthy donors as advocates claim, or does it worsen representation by expanding the candidate marketplace to give extreme and nonrepresentative candidates an electoral boost? We conduct a novel analysis of public financing programs in Arizona, Connecticut, and Maine to causally identify the effect of a legislator's funding status on how closely she represents constituent preferences. Using multiple identification strategies, we show that candidates who exclusively use public campaign financing are more extreme and less representative of their districts than nonpublicly financed candidates. Our findings add new evidence to the electoral reform debate by demonstrating how replacing private campaign donations with public financing can actually damage substantive representation. We also advance the scholarship on how institutions affect substantive representation and candidate positioning as they respond to new campaign financing structures.