Successful Legislation Research Articles

658 Adolescent-Targeted Organ Donation Education to Improve the Impact of Opt-Out Legislation

Abstract Aim Opt-out organ donation legislation in the UK has not led to sustained improvements in donation rates. Given poor familial authorisation rates (66% in 2021-2022) in the soft opt-out model, altering public perceptions of organ donation, through means including engaging young people and promoting family discussion, are prerequisites for successful legislation changes. We explore the impact of an educational intervention on organ donation, family discussions and knowledge of the opt-out law. Method We delivered a 15-minute educational presentation, along with an optional questionnaire, to UK secondary schools across five counties between Jan-May 2022. Results 616 students aged 11-18 years (mean 14.6±1.9) completed the survey. Following the intervention, the proportion of individuals on/planning to join the ODR increased from 9% to 31%. Of the remaining students, 48% said they would consider joining. Pre-intervention, 58% of adolescents agreed they had knowledge of organ donation, which increased to 85% post-intervention. Originally, 28% knew about the opt-out law, this increased to 77% post-intervention. The proportion of students that expressed knowledge of issues relating to organ donation in Black, Asian and ethnic minority communities, increased from 27% to 72% post-intervention. 28% had previously discussed organ donation with family, whilst 70% intended to do so post-intervention. 91% of responders would or would consider recommending the presentation to their peers. Conclusions Educational intervention increased adolescent understanding of organ donation, opt-out legislation, and intention to join the ODR and discuss donation with family. Through promoting wider public discussions, adolescent educational interventions can positively impact public perceptions of organ donation.

Possibility of Legislating an Exclusive Nursing Law in Korea: Based on a Comparative Analysis of Korean Medical Law, Korean Nursing Law Proposed in 2022, and Article 139, Nursing, Education Law of New York State

Purpose: This research was conducted to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of Korean medical law, the Korean nursing law newly proposed in May 2022, and Article 139, Nursing, Education Law of New York State as well as to identify the standpoints of opposing interest groups. Methods: This is a historical qualitative study analyzing three major laws and various archives based on the categories of the historical background of legislation, description of nurses’ roles, education and qualification for nursing, and securing a nursing workforce and the improvement of nursing labor conditions. Results: Korean medical law is intertwined with the values of the 1960s, when it was legislated and thus, cannot reflect current issues associated with the expanded and specialized roles of nurses. Nurses’ roles, education, and qualification for nursing described in proposed Korean nursing law are essentially the same as those depicted in current medical law. This is the greatest weakness of the two laws compared to Article 139, Nursing, Education Law of New York State. Conversely, the addition of securing a nursing workforce and the improvement of nursing labor conditions is the strength of proposed Korean nursing law. The standpoints of opposing groups mostly consist in defensive reactions to anticipated threats based on the expanded roles of nurses. Conclusion: For the successful legislation of exclusive nursing law in Korea, it is necessary to comprise the law’s contents that are more systematically reflecting its historical meaning and the expanded roles of nurses, to persistently communicate with the leaders of opposing groups and policymakers, and to continuously raise public awareness.

Youthfulness and Rousseau’s Anti-Pluralist Realism about Political Pluralism

Rousseau’s attitude toward political pluralism is receiving renewed attention. Against the traditional portrayal of the utopian, anti-pluralist Rousseau, scholars today either explore how his theory of peoplehood supports an agonistic and pluralist vision of democracy or defend his realist willingness to accommodate the plurality of factions within a polity. Challenging both interpretations, I explore the oft-ignored relationship between legislation and what I call youthfulness in Rousseau’s work. The youthfulness of a people is the subconscious and unsophisticated national bond among its members. It is an outcome of their spontaneous interactions rather than an artificial creation. Unlike other conditions of legislation, which only determine how legislation should be carried out, youthfulness is the essential precondition for successful legislation. It determines if legislation can be carried out and thus sets limit to the Legislator’s creativity. This relationship between youthfulness and legislation reveals Rousseau’s anti-pluralist realism. It not only confirms that inevitable political pluralism need not undermine the unity of a society, but also questions our capability of sustaining the peoplehood of a society whose members refuse to recognize one another as compatriots.

Effects of the German Renewable Energy Sources Act and environmental, social and economic factors on biogas plant adoption and agricultural land use change

BackgroundThe German energy transition strategy calls for a reform of the German energy sector. As a result, the German Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) passed in 2000 is widely regarded as successful legislation for promoting bioenergy development. More than 1000 biogas plants were constructed in Central Germany (CG) between 2000 and 2014. Despite this, few studies have been conducted for this period, which systematically investigate how environmental, social and economic factors, as well as various EEG amendments have impacted biogas production or what the environmental consequences of biogas production development in CG have been.MethodsThe impacts of environmental, social and economic factors and different EEG amendments on biogas production decisions in CG were quantified using a multivariate linear regression model and the event study econometric technique. A GIS-based spatial analysis was also conducted to provide insight into the changes to agricultural land use that resulted from the development of biogas plants during the EEG period.ResultsThe main finding was that the income diversification effect resulting from biogas production was the most important factor in a farmer’s decision to adopt biogas production. In addition, all of the EEG amendments had a significant influence on the adoption of biogas production; however, EEG III and IV, which tried to promote small-scale plants, were unable to reduce the average size of the plants constructed in these two amendment periods. From a landscape perspective, there was a striking increase in the cultivation of silage maize in CG from 2000 to 2014. Silage maize was intensively cultivated in regions with a high installed biogas plant capacity. Since the first EEG amendment, permanent grassland area slightly increased while arable land area declined in CG.ConclusionsThe adoption of biogas production in CG was strongly driven by economic incentives for the farmers, more precisely, by the incentive to diversify their income sources. In addition to increase the subsidy, future EEG amendments should find new measures to encourage the adoption of small-scale biogas plants, which had been unsuccessful in EEG amendments III and IV.

The Effect of Changes in Regulation and Technology on Capital Investments

Uncertainties in regulation could affect the decision to invest in irreversible capital projects. We use the geometric Brownian motion to analyze the effect of a stochastic carbon tax on the cash flows expected from investments and the value of the investments. Successful legislation on carbon tax may trigger changes in technology. Our results show that carbon tax accompanied by the adoption of a new technology could affect the value of an irreversible investment. Also the decision to invest depends on whether the cash flows exceed a pre-determined critical cash flow.

Technology and risk considerations in shaping future drone legislation

The global aviation industry has decades-old and highly successful legislation enforcing safety in conventional manned aerospace. This framework has been evolved gradually around a set of mature technologies with particular goals and implementations, and legislators are now struggling to integrate the profoundly different implications of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology into this regulatory environment. This paper seeks to inform future UAV policy by highlighting its technological and distinctiveness from conventional aviation and making recommendations for future legislation, based on these observations.

Technology and risk considerations in shaping future drone legislation

The global aviation industry has decades-old and highly successful legislation enforcing safety in conventional manned aerospace. This framework has been evolved gradually around a set of mature technologies with particular goals and implementations, and legislators are now struggling to integrate the profoundly different implications of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology into this regulatory environment. This paper seeks to inform future UAV policy by highlighting its technological and distinctiveness from conventional aviation and making recommendations for future legislation, based on these observations.

Women Rising

The California Legislative Women’s Caucus has been a strong bipartisan and bicameral advocate for women and children since its founding in 1985. In 2020, more women have been elected at one time than ever before, making up 31.6 percent of the legislature, and they are working to increase the representation of women and advocate on their behalf. The Caucus has fought, and continues to fight, for change in policy areas such as childcare and prison reform, and on behalf of survivors of domestic violence, sexual harassment, and sexual assault. The Legislative Women’s Caucus has passed successful legislation that protects women at home and in the workplace. It has focused on helping women shatter glass ceilings and worked to create equitable employment environments for women and girls—working continuously to ensure that the state attends to matters that are important to California.

The Double Edge of Professional Agency: The Contradictory Roles of Human Resource Professionals in the Implementation of the Parental Leave Policy in South Korea

Why do organizations respond differently to social policies? This is an important question because it gives us a clue as to why social progress is often slow even with successful legislation. We argue that HR professionals’ conflicting roles within organizations affect modes of organizations’ compliance with a law because HR professionals are expected to adjust legal pressure to business interests when translating external requirements into internal policies. How they manage this challenge depends on variation in the development of different dimensions of their professional agency: formalization and substantive empowerment. We demonstrate empirically this argument by taking the case of South Korea’s parental leave policy. Using workplace-level data, we find that the presence of formal HR structures predicts that minimal compliance is more likely than is noncompliance, but is less likely than is maximal compliance, and that substantively empowered HR professionals contribute to making both compliance and maximal compliance more probable.

Besteuerung digitaler Unternehmen – die schwierige Suche nach einem europäischen Ansatz

In March 2018, the European Commission introduced two Directive proposals to target tax challenges in the era of digitalization. The first Directive proposal suggests to introduce a digital services tax of 3 percent on gross revenues from digital services as an interim measure. The second one proposes as a long-term solution to extend the permanent establishment concept to create a virtual permanent establishment if a corporation has a “significant digital presence” in a country. So far, a lack of consensus among the member states of the European Union has made successful legislation on the European level unlikely. Despite the absence of an intra-community agreement, several member states have implemented the Directive proposal of a digital services tax with various adaptions unilaterally. These actions contradict the efforts to develop agreeable tax reforms on a multilateral level. The article at hand critically evaluates the current European reform proposals.

Plural justice: Indonesian norm entrepreneurs and models of justice

ABSTRACTSettling past human rights abuses is an ongoing process in Indonesia. In addition to the existing human rights court system, the government has recently put forward new proposals for reconciliation and harmony. These proposals all build on earlier models of justice imported by Indonesian human rights activists in the short period following Suharto’s fall. In this article, I discuss the indispensable role played by Indonesian activists in promoting norms, models and repertoires of collective action related to transitional justice. The campaigns eventually led to successful legislation, although ‘decoupling’ between norms and practices has since been observed. While Indonesian activists used direct links with international experts and agencies, they also relied on indirect channels of diffusion such as reading books, which were as effective as direct channels. The diversity of channels through which ideas were disseminated further encouraged the plurality of transitional justice models, leading to contestation over desirable mechanisms between like-minded human rights groups. The major models that I discuss in this article are enforced disappearances and the Argentine model, an international criminal justice model, and a truth and reconciliation commission with amnesty, introduced by Indonesian human rights groups such as Kontras and Elsam.

The threat of monument designation as a technique for successful wilderness legislation: Using the Antiquities Act as a carrot or a stick

Congress provides the highest level of federal lands protection when it creates wilderness using the Wilderness Act. There are times, however, when Congress refuses or seems unwilling or unable to take such environmental policy action. In a handful of instances, presidents have strategically used the threat of or actual unilateral monument designation under the Antiquities Act to get Congress to create new wilderness under the Wilderness Act. Under the Antiquities Act presidents may, without stakeholder or congressional input or approval, unilaterally create national monuments covering public lands that fall within the parameters of its provisions, including lands that would be considered wilderness. This strategy may be used by future presidents that wish to encourage Congress to enact environmental policy protecting remaining pristine federal lands with a wilderness designation. This article analyzes three instances where this strategy was successfully used and identifies specific steps taken in each situation that ultimately led to congressional action creating new wilderness.

How Formal Parliamentary Negotiation Affects Policy-Making: Evidence from Taiwan

Abstract Does parliamentary negotiation help facilitate legislation? This article applies propensity score matching to empirically investigate the effect of a unique formal negotiation mechanism in Taiwan’s parliament. The analysis of legislative initiatives between 2012 and 2015 shows that the so-called Party Negotiation Mechanism, while being invented to revive legislation amid stalemates, substantially reduces the chance of successful legislation. By extension, the undercut probability of legislative success under Taiwan’s majoritarian system implies that the conventional majoritarian–consensus framework has overlooked a crucial parameter that directly shapes the patterns of policy-making—the internal organisation of a parliament.

Documenting the process of developing the Victorian voluntary assisted dying legislation.

Many countries across the world have legislated for their constituents to have control over their death. Commonalities and differences can be found in the regulations surrounding the shape and practices of voluntary assisted dying (VAD) and euthanasia, including an individual's eligibility and access, role of health professions and the reporting. In Australia there have been perennial debates across the country to attempt legislative change in assisting a terminally ill person to control the ending of their life. In 2017, Victoria became the first state to successfully legislate for VAD. In describing the Victorian process that led to the passage of legislation for VAD, this paper examines the social change process. The particular focus of the paper is on the vital role played by a multidisciplinary ministerial advisory panel to develop recommendations for the successful legislation, and is written from their perspective.

Policy Process Lessons from the Orphan Drug Act: Applications for Health Policy Advocates

The Orphan Drug Act has provided the pharmaceutical industry with incentives to research and develop drugs for orphan diseases: rare diseases with little profit potential. It is considered very successful legislation by legal scholars, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and orphan drug activists. The policy process of the Act provides an important model of the policy process for future incentive-based pharmaceutical legislation. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the important incentives of the Act and the historical events leading up to the Act. The paper applies three different theoretical models of the public policy process to understand the emergence of the Orphan Drug Act: Kingdon’s Multiple Streams Model, the Advocacy Coalition Framework, and Social Constructionism Theory. The paper then synthesizes the public policy process lessons from each perspective and provides four recommendations for other social activists seeking to propel incentive-based pharmaceutical legislation for under-researched diseases.

Policy process lessons from the Orphan Drug Act: applications for health policy advocates

Purpose– The Orphan Drug Act has provided the pharmaceutical industry with incentives to research and develop drugs for orphan diseases: rare diseases with little profit potential. It is considered very successful legislation by legal scholars, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and orphan drug activists. The policy process of the Act provides an important model of the policy process for future incentive-based pharmaceutical legislation. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the important incentives of the Act and the historical events leading up to the Act. The paper applies three different theoretical models of the public policy process to understand the emergence of the Orphan Drug Act: Kingdon’s Multiple Streams Model, the Advocacy Coalition Framework, and Social Constructionism Theory. The paper then synthesizes the public policy process lessons from each perspective and provides four recommendations for other social activists seeking to propel incentive-based pharmaceutical legislation for under-researched diseases.Design/methodology/approach– The author analyzes the history of the Orphan Drug Act based on publicly available scholarly research, government documents, and interest group publications. The author then applies three public policy theories to the history of the Orphan Drug Act to explain the emergence of the Act and to extract policy process lessons for future disease activists.Findings– Regardless of which theoretical perspective the Orphan Drug Act is analyzed from, some common themes of the policy process emerge. First, focussing events are instrumental in capturing the public’s sympathy and Congress’s attention. Second, in its activities and proposed legislation, a coalition should provide a role for all relevant and important actors. Third, the target groups of the legislation were construed positively, increasing the pressure for Congressmen to pass some kind of bill. Finally, the proper construction of “the problem” is instrumental to passing effective legislation as a “solution.”Originality/value– The Orphan Drug Act is widely considered successful incentive-based pharmaceutical legislation. However, because it was originally passed in 1983 and has not had public attention since the early 1990s (when it was amended), it has rarely been written about in recent years. However, its lessons are still highly relevant to policy activists, especially disease activists. Furthermore, existing articles focus on the impact of the legislation and ways to amend it, rather than on the passage of the Act.

Marriage of Necessity: Same-Sex Marriage and Religious Liberty Protections

Since the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Hollingsworth v. Perry and U.S. v. Windsor, the number of states recognizing same-sex marriage has exploded. Even though the Supreme Court “stopped short of deciding whether the Constitution guaranteed a right to same-sex marriage,” the Court’s basic newly enacted legislation as well as judicial decisions recognizing same-sex marriage. The net effect has been to erase a boundary that had largely confined same-sex marriage to the Northeast. In jurisdictions that voluntarily enacted same-sex marriage, religious liberty protections for religious objectors who adhere to a heterosexual view of marriage — exempting them from requirements to facilitate marriages inconsistent with their religious beliefs, by providing a reception hall, for example — proved vital to the legislation’s success. In many Enacting Jurisdictions, more robust protections resulted in successful legislation where a bill with thinner or nonexistent protections had failed just years before. Even though same-sex marriage recognition in the Enacting Jurisdictions has thus far been yoked to religious liberty protections — delivering important gains to supporters and opponents alike — prominent voices on each side now caution against compromise. Buoyed by their recent judicial victories, some supporters have hardened against compromise. With the recent spate of favorable judicial decisions, compromise may simply appear increasingly unnecessary. Opponents are hardening in their stance, too. Far from folding in the face of the momentum carrying same-sex marriage across the country, some thought-leaders urge opponents to double down on their opposition. These opponents see only one way forward: fighting to the bitter end. This Essay contends that we stand at a critical moment in the same-sex marriage movement. A clear-eyed examination of the marriage movement’s success — and the challenges facing it going forward — reveals that both sides will benefit from remaining at the bargaining table, although the gains to each will be different. For same-sex couples, voluntary recognition of same-sex marriage by legislation delivers the benefits and security of marriage today. True, many believe that the juggernaut of lower court decisions requiring same-sex marriage will lead in the near term to a favorable Supreme Court decision. Although that result is increasingly likely, it is nonetheless not assured. Moreover, the unanimity of decisions striking marriage bans may, ironically, delay an ultimate resolution by the Supreme Court, which often declines review until a meaningful circuit split arises. For marriage equality opponents, the voluntary embrace of same-sex marriage permits legislators to consider competing considerations, including concrete ways to permit those who adhere to a traditional view of marriage to continue to do so without facing civil lawsuits or government penalty. Part I shows that same-sex marriage has spread across America through three different avenues: judicial decisions, state laws enacting same-sex marriage, and ballot initiatives — with judicial decisions being fraught with risk for religious dissenters while legislative or popular enactments offer important, if flawed, protections to religious organizations and individuals. Parts II and III document that a “perfect storm” of characteristics favoring marriage equality in jurisdictions that voluntarily embraced same-sex marriage, together with extensive bargaining around religious liberty, nudged same-sex marriage legislation over the finish line. Even with these favorable conditions, marriage equality bills just barely squeaked over the line to enactment, helped by religious liberty exemptions. That advantageous political terrain is now nearly exhausted, as Part IV documents. Going forward, one would reasonably expect more robust religious liberty protections to play a central part in any legislative compromises over same-sex marriage, at least for the near term. Part V evaluates the impulse of some opponents of same-sex marriage to dig in, resisting same-sex marriage at all costs. In part, opponents rely on constitutional bans against same-sex marriage. Constitutional bans may well not survive judicial challenge. However, even without court action striking a ban, constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage do not provide the bulwark against change that some assume since many can be repealed almost as easily as enacting ordinary legislation. Part VI concludes that, in the tougher political terrain that looms, those who care about marriage equality can continue to sew up legislative victories — but the price tag in the short term will be to agree to robust religious liberty protections for dissenters. Those who wish to protect religious objectors from the unintended consequences of same-sex marriage should act with all deliberate speed to lock in robust religious liberty protections, because the window for securing them is almost certainly closing.

Legislative initiatives can speed PPPM innovation in medicine

Predictive, Preventive and Personalized Medicine (PPPM) not only offers reduced patient suffering, but also a reduction in the proportion of GNP needed for healthcare. Yet there is little public pressure for PPPM. Presses announcements continue to convince patients that the cures they have been promised are just around the corner, and the industry is happy to see things continue this way. Clearly, legislators need to take the lead if there is ever to be any serious exploration of PPPM in Medicine. For example, a decade ago, I and my colleagues developed a detailed understanding of how the Human Microbiome causes chronic disease, especially those diagnoses thought to be ‘autoimmune’. We also retargeted an approved, widely available pharmaceutical to prevent that autoimmune disease from getting worse, and in many case to actually reverse it. Our collaborating physicians have demonstrated success with hundreds of patients - yet some of them have been savagely attacked by their peers. For example, a complaint was laid with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia against one of my Canadian colleagues, a coauthor of our peer-reviewed papers, alleging that he wasn’t adhering to “standard of care” during his successful science-based treatment of a patient with refractory, idiopathic, disease. In this case ‘the system’ worked, and his College determined that the physician had properly used a “rationale for the knowledge base and guidelines, accessible in peer-reviewed medical literature, including two papers, from the prestigious “Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.” However, an essentially identical complaint was laid against a physician in Washington State, who was only able to retain her license by promising never to use this new science again, and to have her prescribing activities supervised by a Preceptor. Worse, in Arizona, a practitioner was arrested and charged with “Criminal Child and Vulnerable Adult Abuse.” She has lost her license, and is waiting to hear if she will go to jail. This on substantially the same accusation and evidentiary base as was dismissed in Canada. How are our Universities to focus on ingenious and imaginative scientific solutions when Police are tasked to enforce ‘the standard of care’? Legislators have a responsibility to determine public priorities, and make sure that Industry – all industries, even the Healthcare Industry – are attentive to them. In 2006, California passed simple (and successful) legislation to ensure that a physician or surgeon will not be subject to discipline for suggesting innovative therapies if he/she makes sure the patient is aware of ‘the standard of care’ and gives informed consent. The preamble notes that “it can take up to 17 years for a new best practice to reach the average physician and surgeon, it is prudent to give attention to new developments.” Europe is not immune from the pressures working against innovation, encouragement of pharmacists to second-guess the judgement of physicians has been particularly damaging to the adoption of new therapeutic modalities. Yet the California experience makes it clear that change in Medicine can be promoted with enlightened legislation. Changing the current healthcare focus to one of PPPM will require leadership, and the EU is in the box seat to provide that leadership.

Integrating Research, Legal Technical Assistance, and Advocacy to Inform Shared Use Legislation in Mississippi

The purpose of this article was to describe the process by which research findings informed the successful passage of legislation designed to increase opportunities for physical activity in Mississippi, and discuss implications and lessons learned from this process. The article is descriptive and conceptual, and addresses the collaborative process by which research, legal technical assistance, and advocacy informed and shaped shared use legislation in Mississippi. Collaborators informing this article were an Active Living Research grantee, a staff attorney with the Public Health Law Center, the American Heart Association Mississippi Government Relations Director, and community partners. The American Heart Association and Public Health Law Center developed policy guidance in the form of sample language for legislation as a starting point for states in determining policy needed to eliminate or reduce barriers to the shared use of school recreational facilities. The policy guidance was informed by evidence from Active Living Research-funded research studies. The American Heart Association, supporting a bill shaped by the policy guidance, led the effort to advocate for successful shared use legislation in Mississippi. Research should be policy relevant and properly translated and disseminated. Legal technical assistance should involve collaboration with both researchers and advocates so that policymakers have the information to make evidence-based decisions. Government relations directors should collaborate with legal technical staff to obtain and understand policy guidance relevant to their advocacy efforts. Effective collaborations, with an evidence-based approach, can lead to informed, successful policy change.

Korea's Refugee Act: A Critical Evaluation under International Law

On December 29, 2011, the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea passed the Law on the Status and Treatment of Refugees, which went into effect on July 1, 2013. The law was the culmination of years of effort by the government, NGOs, UNHCR and the lawmakers. It has been widely praised by civil society groups in Korea. However, there has been little critical analysis of its provisions whether it will truly be a successful legislation. This research critically evaluates whether the new law is likely to promote Korean compliance with international legal standards, namely, the 1951 Refugee Convention and major human rights treaties. It finds that while the law represents a significant improvement over current practices, it possesses problematic provisions related to detention, refugee determination, economic and social rights of asylum-seekers, and the treatment of recognized refugees. This essay will conclude by highlighting four outstanding implementation questions that could impact compliance with international standards.