Scientific Public Policy Research Articles

Navigating complexity: a pattern language approach for behavioral science in public policy

Abstract When aiming to change behavior, policymakers confront the challenge of implementing behavioral interventions across contexts. However, the effectiveness of behavioral solutions often hinges on context, posing a significant hurdle to scaling interventions. This study explores the application of a behavioral pattern language approach as a means to enhance intervention efficacy and support policymakers and practitioners who seek to solve problems at scales that cross diverse contexts. The study demonstrates how a pattern language can inform contextually aware solutions, fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing among stakeholders. Additionally, the research finds practitioners deploy multiple solutions within complex systems to achieve more difficult behavioral change goals. Despite challenges related to replicability and evolving methodologies, the findings suggest that pattern languages offer a promising avenue for systematically generating and disseminating behavioral insights. This research contributes to advancing applied behavioral science by providing a structured approach for collaborative policymaking and research endeavors that are contextually relevant and effective.

Analysis of ICT policies for the social appropriation of knowledge in research groups at the University of La Guajira

Globally, a transformation in the concept of Social Appropriation of Knowledge has been observed due to the implementation of public policies and advances in science, technology and innovation. This concept has been widely disseminated in recent years thanks to public policy instruments that promote the relationship between science and society. In addition, investment in research has been recognized as a crucial factor for the growth and advancement of science and technology, as well as for the promotion of innovation, generating a direct impact on the development and projection of higher education in Colombia. In this context, the research seeks to establish an essential connection between public policies in science, technology and innovation and the promotion of research in the research groups of the University of La Guajira. For this purpose, it has been based on theoretical contributions of several authors such as Albornoz, Escobar Ortiz and Daza-Caicedo. The research adopts a descriptive, non-experimental, field and cross-sectional approach. The results indicate that there is an effective policy to promote the social appropriation of knowledge, which contributes significantly to improve the quality and relevance of the research developed by the research groups at the University of La Guajira

Formation of Approaches to Determining the Social Effectiveness of Scientific Activity of Libraries

The problem of evaluating the effectiveness of scientific activity as applied to the humanitarian and library sphere is analyzed. Research conducted in libraries contributes to the development of libraries themselves, as well as to the study and disclosure of cultural heritage. The question of the effectiveness of the conducted research is of fundamental importance. An analysis of the evolution of approaches to the evaluation of effectiveness is presented. In the last quarter of the 20th century, the fundamental principle of scientific policy was the position “science is the direct productive force of society”, which focused on the implementation of the findings of research activities and the formation of ideas about the mandatory material form of the results. This attitude is not applicable in the social sciences and humanities. In the Soviet period, the task of practical connection of science with production for a long time established the position that any scientific result should be practically tangible and economically effective, and every research should end with a document containing certain conclusions and a list of measures, or with an act on the implementation of research results.Currently, to assess not only the performance of individual scientists and organizations, but also in the formation of public science policy, the use of scientometric methods — quantitative measurements of information characteristics of published results of scientific work — is widely used. However, the scientometric approach continues to be debated.In the last decade the theoretical problem of social effectiveness of science, which, unlike economic, is not direct and specific and difficult to measure, has been increasingly discussed. Research conducted in the field of scientific support of library development has been proven to have a pronounced impact on library work (e. g., in the form of developed concepts, strategies, programs, etc.). Research of historical and cultural character influences the formation of public and individual consciousness, value system and contributes to the solution of the most important strategic state tasks.Determining the social effectiveness of research activities of libraries is becoming increasingly important.

Interdisciplinary knowledge integration in public affairs scholarship: An empirical analysis of the contributions of public administration, policy sciences, and nonprofit studies

ABSTRACT The multidisciplinary fields of public administration (PA), public policy sciences (PP), and nonprofit studies (Nonprofit) contribute in different ways to interdisciplinary knowledge integration in public affairs. At the field and topic level, we examine the variety and coherence of the disciplinary knowledge that each field draws upon when conducting research. Our analyses focus on citations from articles published between 2009–2020 in PA, PP, and Nonprofit journals indexed in Web of Science (n = 991,627). The contributions of each field are shaped by their distinct disciplinary origins. PA is more insular than PP and Nonprofit, in part due to its need to adopt new paradigms because of rapid, substantial shifts in public administration practice. Although Nonprofit achieves relatively more interdisciplinary knowledge integration, public affairs is heavily influenced by knowledge integration in PP. We identify variation in interdisciplinary knowledge integration across research topics and discuss possible explanations for the observed patterns.

Public Administration Policy Innovation Towards the Realization of Good Public Policy Governance

The use of public policy to balance the interests of the public and government has not always worked well. The government's tendency to change or cancel some policies points to overlapping policies, a lack of innovation among public officers, and a low motivation to innovate. Consequently, a novel strategy that might offer significant support in resolving societal issues is needed. Describe and analyze policy innovation in public administration approach and policy innovation toward effective public policy governance was the aim of the research. The first qualitative approach was the methodology used. An academic literature review on public policy science was the method used to gather ideas pertinent to the study of public policy innovation. The collection of data was conducted by means of an examination of many sources and literature, including government records, printed and electronic media, journals, and publications pertaining to public administration and policy innovation. Policy innovation application is modeled by the use of NPS to apply innovative concepts. A method that allows the public the room to cooperate and be focused on performance development views the public in a holistic, compassionate, and humanist manner. 1) Support type; 2) Innovation management; and 3) Qualities in value application will lead to the realization of good public policy governance.

Preliminary evidence for counterproductive work behavior as a workplace manifestation of science skepticism

Preliminary evidence for counterproductive work behavior as a workplace manifestation of science skepticism

Understanding political learning by scientific experts: a case of EU climate policy

ABSTRACT Research often explores the role of scientific expertise in policymaking from an externalised perspective, mostly focusing on how policymakers use and abuse scientific expertise through political learning. However, very little is known about political learning by scientific experts. What strategies do they use to maintain and advance their access to, and influence on policymaking? Using process tracing, we illustrate how scientific experts’ access to policymaking is challenged as a policy issue develops. We explore how this nudges scientific experts to engage in political learning and employ political advocacy strategies to enhance science’s role in policy making, corresponding to evolving political opportunity structures. We empirically trace this using the case of EU climate policy development between 1990 and 2022. We identify three main sets of advocacy strategies used by scientific experts: Narrative and semantic (policy issue-oriented), Socialisation (Actors-oriented), and Governance (systems and structures-oriented). In doing so, this article illustrates the political actorness and agency of scientific experts and provides a supplementary understanding to the role of science in public policy and policy change, not only as a function of policymaker’s instrumentalization of science, but also as a function of how scientific experts actively advocate for science’s role in public policy.

International co-authored publications: The effect of joining the European Union or being part of the European Research Area

Abstract The paper investigates the increasing number of international co-authored publications, comparing countries that accessed the European Union (EU) in 2004 (EU04) against other Central-Eastern European Countries (othEast-ERA), adopting a scientometric approach. This comparison looks at whether to be part of the EU is different from being part of the European Research Area (ERA) – given that both entities aim at fostering more international collaborations. The hypothesis is that EU might convey more opportunities for the sake of international publications, although ERA assures access to European funding schemes anyway. Analysing the census of internationally co-authored publications from 1995 to 2015, difference-in-differences regressions show that Countries that joined EU in 2004 performed better than other Central-Eastern ones. Implications for the public policies in science are discussed.

Cultural evolutionary behavioural science in public policy

Abstract Interventions are to the social sciences what inventions are to the physical sciences – an application of science as technology. Behavioural science has emerged as a powerful toolkit for developing public policy interventions for changing behaviour. However, the translation from principles to practice is often moderated by contextual factors – such as culture – that thwart attempts to generalize past successes. Here, we discuss cultural evolution as a framework for addressing this contextual gap. We describe the history of behavioural science and the role that cultural evolution plays as a natural next step. We review research that may be considered cultural evolutionary behavioural science in public policy, and the promise and challenges to designing cultural evolution informed interventions. Finally, we discuss the value of applied research as a crucial test of basic science: if theories, laboratory and field experiments do not work in the real world, they do not work at all.

The Evolution of Behavioural Science in Public Policy

Interventions are to the social sciences what inventions are to the physical sciences—an application of science as technology. Behavioural science has emerged as a powerful toolkit for developing policy interventions and public programs for changing behaviour. Such behavioural change intervention can support societies in creating a better world together. However, the translation from principles to practice is often moderated by contextual factors—such as culture—that thwart attempts to generalize past successes. Here we discuss cultural evolution as a framework for addressing this contextual gap. We describe the history of behavioural science in public organisations and the role that cultural evolution plays as a natural next step. We review research that may be considered cultural evolutionary behavioural science in public policy, illustrating concrete applications in fields such as public health, corruption, and sustainable development. We synthesize the promises and challenges for designing cultural evolution informed interventions and assess their impact. Finally, we discuss the value of applied research as a crucial test of basic science: if theories, lab, and field experiments don’t work in the real world, they don’t work at all.

Use of science in public policy: Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic efforts to ‘Follow the Science’

Abstract The paper asks: ‘What can we learn from COVID-19 pandemic about effective use of scientific and technical information (STI) in policymaking and how might the lessons be put to use?’ The paper employs the political rhetoric of ‘follow the science’ as a lens for examining contemporary concerns in the use of STI, including (1) ‘Breadth of Science Products’, the necessity of a broader concept of STI that includes by-products science, (2) ‘Science Dynamism’, emphasizing the uncertainty and impeachability of science, (3) ‘STI Urgency’ suggesting that STI use during widespread calamities differs from more routine applications, and (4) ‘Hyper-politicization of Science’, arguing that a step-change in the contentiousness of politics affects uses and misuses of STI. The paper concludes with a discussion, STI Curation, as a possible ingredient to improving effective use. With more attention to credibility and trust of STI and to the institutional legitimacy of curators, it should prove possible to improve the effective use of STI in public policy.

Cultural Evolutionary Behavioural Science in Public Policy

Cultural Evolutionary Behavioural Science in Public Policy

Legitimacy of the Communist Party of Vietnam’s Leadership Role in Developing Public Policies

The leadership role of the ruling political party in the state and society is an important issue in each political regime. In Vietnam, the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) takes a leadership role in the state and society (including the public policy that is seen as a product of the process of performing that role), which is both historical and constitutionalized. From the interdisciplinary approach of politics and public policy science, this article analyzes and discusses the legitimacy of the CPV’s leardership role in the state’s pulic policy system, which has rarely been duscussed in the two above-named scientific areas. By analyzing the CPV’s objectives, mission and nature, this article shows the legitimacy of the party’s leardership role in the public policy system through 3 main aspects: (i) History - political belief; (ii) Political-legal basis; and (iii) The capacity, prestige and morality of the Party and party members. Therefrom, the article affirms that the Party’s leading role in the public policy is inevitable, necessary, both principled and lofty, as well as a way to further strengthen the people and society’s belief in the continuing of the Party’s leadership mission in the current period.

Be Happy: Navigating Normative Issues in Behavioral and Well-Being Public Policy

Psychological science is increasingly influencing public policy. Behavioral public policy (BPP) was a milestone in this regard because it influenced many areas of policy in a general way. Well-being public policy (WPP) is emerging as a second domain of psychological science with general applicability. However, advocacy for WPP is criticized on ethical and political grounds. These criticisms are reminiscent of those directed at BPP over the past decade. This déjà vu suggests the need for interdisciplinary work that establishes normative principles for applying psychological science in public policy. We try to distill such principles for WPP from the normative debates over BPP. We argue that the uptake of BPP by governments was a function of its relatively strong normative and epistemic foundations in libertarian paternalism, or nudging, for short. We explain why the nudge framework is inappropriate for WPP. We then analyze how boosts offer a strict but feasible alternative framework for substantiating the legitimacy of well-being and behavioral policies. We illuminate how some WPPs could be fruitfully promoted as boosts and how they might fall short of the associated criteria.

Вироблення державної політики відкритої науки в країнах Прибалтики (приклад Латвії та Литви).

Problem setting. One of the modern common directions for the development of the European Research Area is the introduction of a new approach to scientific research. The basis of this approach is the paradigm "Open innovation, Open science, Open to the world". The full implementation of this paradigm within the European Research Area is possible only if the implementation of open science policy at the level of individual countries is ensured.In view of the fact that Article 375 (2) of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union for the involvement of Ukraine to the European Research Area, it is possible to state that the research of existing practices of the establishment and implementation of public policy of open science, in particular in the post-Soviet countries, which have had membership in the European Union, it is an urgent challenge today.Recent research and publications analysis. Ukrainian and foreign scientists like Corrall S., Pinfield S., Vicente-Saez R., Martinez-Fuentes C., McKiernan E., Bourne Ph., Kuchma I., Schmidt B., Brui O., Karpenko O., Nazarovets S. et al. have done some scientific research on open science. Also background information on open access development as part of open science in various countries, including Latvia and Lithuania, has been published by UNESCO.However, despite active scientific explorations, no universal approach has been found to establish public policy in open science.The paper objective. Consideration of examples of the establishment and implementation of public policy of open science in the post-Soviet countries that are members of the European Union and European Research Area, with the possibility of further use of such examples in the formation of public policy of open science in Ukraine.The paper main body. The article describes the process of the establishment and implementation of the new modern public science policy in post-soviet countries. The examples of Latvia and Lithuania demonstate the application of the open science paradigm at the state level. The legislative prerequisites for the establishment and implementation of the public open science policy in Latvia and Lithuania are considered. The role of individual higher education institutions in the implementation of the principles of openness in carrying out research activities is noted. The link between the existing open science normative documents in Latvia and Lithuania with the existing imperative and advisory documents of the European Union is demonstrated. The role of e-infrastructures, in particular repositories of scientific data and academic texts, in the implementation of open science policy at the state and institutional levels is shown.Conclusions of the research. The legal prerequisites for public policy in open science in Latvia and Lithuania were laid down in 2005 and 2009, respectively, by the adoption of relevant laws. The main area of open science that is developing in these countries is open access to scientific publications and research data.Despite the fact that the formation of the principles of public policy of open science in Latvia and Lithuania is centralized with the definition of responsible state bodies (for example, in Lithuania, this area of public policy is guarded by the Research Council), its actual implementation takes place in higher education institutions, which, taking into account existing practices, regulations at national and European Union level, independently set the rules and conditions for dealing with scientific publications and research data.This approach justifies itself only partially. On the one hand, it gives scientific institutions some autonomy to pursue an open science policy and allows it to be applied on its own merits, but for the most part, openness as such is advisory rather than compulsory, which obviously affects the activity of actual admission scientists to its application. In addition, a full-fledged mechanism for stimulating (in particular, financial) scholars to openness is being developed, which is also being signaled.Prospects for further exploration include the need to study the processes of formation and implementation of public policy of open science in other countries of the post-Soviet space in order to analyze the features of local approaches.

Does educational quality drive ecological performance? Case of high and low developed countries

The study attempts to assess the impact of the educational level of the country’s population, the level of science and technology development on the general environmental environment. The aim of this article is to assess the impact of educational level and level of science development on individual elements that reflect the state of the environment. To receive the obtained results is being used the package of statistical programs STATISTICA. The intense connection between educational level and aggregated evaluation of Environment Performance Index has been established. The significant correlation was found between the education index and the ecological conditions in countries with a very high, medium and low level of Human Development Index. The significant correlation between the processes of implementation of educational and science public policy and a set of environment’s criteria was found. The obtained models have been proved that for underdeveloped countries investment in education and science has a more significant impact on the ecological situation than in highly developed countries. Finally, this study concluded that public policy in the area of science and education, aimed at improving the ecological situation in the country, should be differentiated depending on the level of country development.

Applying design science in public policy and administration research

There is increasing debate about the role that public policy research can play in identifying solutions to complex policy challenges. Most studies focus on describing and explaining how governance systems operate. However, some scholars argue that because current institutions are often not up to the task, researchers need to rethink this ‘bystander’ approach and engage in experimentation and interventions that can help to change and improve governance systems. This paper contributes to this discourse by developing a design science framework that integrates retrospective research (scientific validation) and prospective research (creative design). It illustrates the merits and challenges of doing this through two case studies in the Netherlands and concludes that a design science framework provides a way of integrating traditional validation-oriented research with intervention-oriented design approaches. We argue that working at the interface between them will create new opportunities for these complementary modes of public policy research to achieve impact.

Punctuating the equilibrium: A lens to understand energy and environmental policy changes

Punctuating the equilibrium: A lens to understand energy and environmental policy changes

Scientific collaboration in LSRIs: Collaboration types and policy implications (WITHDRAWN)

Over the past decades, Large Scale Research Infrastructures (LSRIs) serving as user-oriented experimental platforms have come to play a central role in public science policy. Collaborations between (permanent) instrument scientists and users are at the core of these organisations, yet knowledge about the nature of such collaborations and their development over time is scarce. Based on a qualitative study of scientists and their collaborations at Institut Laue-Langevin, a world-leading neutron source, we identify four ideal-typical collaboration patterns, which reflect particular configurations of (dis)similarity between instrument scientists and users. Our findings suggest that the co-existence of multiple collaboration types is important for the long-term success of LSRIs. Our study contributes to previous research by focusing on the process of science collaboration, by looking at collaboration in context, and by addressing a previously under-researched organisational context for collaborative science.

Транскордонна співпраця України та Польщі в енергетичній сфері

Обґрунтовано теоретичні засади транскордонної співпраці країн у сучасних умовах. Основою для подальшого окреслення стратегічних напрямів розвитку співпраці визначено підходи, сформульовані у Європейській рамковій конвенції про транскордонне співробітництво між територіальними громадами. Розкрито зміст та особливості проектів, реалізованих у рамках транскордонної співпраці України і Польщі у сфері енергетики. Проведено SWOT-аналіз сильних та слабких сторін у транскордонному співробітництві між Україною та Польщею в енергетиці. Обґрунтовано потенційні можливості та загрози його розвитку у стратегічній перспективі. Аргументовано, що врахування окреслених на основі проведеного аналізу можливостей України й Польщі на базі використання сильних сторін має бути підґрунтям для налагодження українсько-польського співробітництва в енергетичній сфері у контексті нових його реалій після активізації євроінтеграції. Узагальнено чинні нормативно-правові основи транскордонної співпраці та визначено потенціал реалізації стратегій підвищення її ефективності. Доведено, що важливим завданням для інтенсифікації транскордонної співпраці має бути активна співпраця між органами місцевої влади Польщі та України. Запропоновано напрями інституційно-організаційного забезпечення вирішення назрілих проблем та пріоритети стимулювання співпраці між Україною та Польщею в енергетичній сфері.