Stream Theory Research Articles

Policy processes leading to the adoption of 'Jamie's Ministry of Food' programme in Victoria, Australia.

This study investigated the policy processes related to the 2012 adoption of the Jamie's Ministry of Food programme by the Victorian Government in Australia. The aim was to provide insight into obesity prevention policy change processes to help strengthen future health promotion action. State-level government policy processes were examined through key informant interviews and a review of relevant documentation. Data were analysed using the Multiple Streams Theory and the Advocacy Coalition Framework in order to understand influences on relevant policy processes and strategies used by policy advocates to facilitate policy adoption. We found that policy adoption was facilitated by dedicated national funding for preventive health at that time, the relatively small number of stakeholders involved in the policy development process and the anticipated support for the programme by the general public due to the association with celebrity chef, Jamie Oliver. We identified that policy brokers aligned the policy with decision-maker ideologies and broader government objectives, and proactively managed potential criticisms. Evidence of intervention effectiveness was not a major driver of policy adoption. We conclude that, iven the complexity of policy processes for obesity prevention, multiple, reinforcing strategies are likely to be needed to facilitate policy change. Support for the adoption of obesity prevention policies is likely to increase when framing of policy options aligns with decision-maker values and has broad public appeal.

A scoping review of theories and conceptual frameworks used to analyse health financing policy processes in sub-Saharan Africa.

Health financing policies are critical policy instruments to achieve Universal Health Coverage, and they constitute a key area in policy analysis literature for the health policy and systems research (HPSR) field. Previous reviews have shown that analyses of policy change in low- and middle-income countries are under-theorised. This study aims to explore which theories and conceptual frameworks have been used in research on policy processes of health financing policy in sub-Saharan Africa and to identify challenges and lessons learned from their use. We conducted a scoping review of literature published in English and French between 2000 and 2017. We analysed 23 papers selected as studies of health financing policies in sub-Saharan African countries using policy process or health policy-related theory or conceptual framework ex ante. Theories and frameworks used alone were from political science (35%), economics (9%) and HPSR field (17%). Thirty-five per cent of authors adopted a 'do-it-yourself' (bricolage) approach combining theories and frameworks from within political science or between political science and HPSR. Kingdon's multiple streams theory (22%), Grindle and Thomas' arenas of conflict (26%) and Walt and Gilson's policy triangle (30%) were the most used. Authors select theories for their empirical relevance, methodological rational (e.g. comparison), availability of examples in literature, accessibility and consensus. Authors cite few operational and analytical challenges in using theory. The hybridisation, diversification and expansion of mid-range policy theories and conceptual frameworks used deductively in health financing policy reform research are issues for HPSR to consider. We make three recommendations for researchers in the HPSR field. Future research on health financing policy change processes in sub-Saharan Africa should include reflection on learning and challenges for using policy theories and frameworks in the context of HPSR.

Relations of Imperfect Repairs to Critical Infrastructure Maintenance Costs

This article presents an analysis of maintenance costs and maintenance policy of critical infrastructure systems, considering the case of imperfect repair. The maintenance costs of the systems, considering a multistate approach and imperfect repairs, are analyzed with reference to the renewal stream and renewal process theory. Availability characteristics of repairable critical infrastructure systems with non-negligible renovation time, necessary for the cost analysis, are determined based on classical renewal theory. We assume that the system is renewed after exceeding its critical reliability state. The multistate approach proposed to availability analysis, including imperfect repairs, allows considering various configurations of the system’s renewals. The procedure for determining the total cost of maintenance up to certain point in time is proposed. Furthermore, the procedure comparing the costs of repair and operation of the system until a certain moment for different configurations of the number of repairs to various reliability states is put forward and its exemplary application is presented. Conducting perfect renewals of infrastructure to the state of entire availability seems to be the most profitable in the case study analyzed in the article. The exception is when imperfect repairs are much cheaper than perfect repairs (they are up to half of the perfect repair cost), or when costs of an infrastructure’s renewals are considered in the short period of its exploitation (up to one year). The summary provides a conclusion on maintenance policy based on the proposed procedure analysis and a comparison of maintenance costs for various configurations of perfect and imperfect repairs.

Ventral & Dorsal Stream Theory based Zero-Shot Action Recognition

Most Zero-Shot Action Recognition (ZSAR) methods establish visual-semantic joint embedding space, which is based on commonly used visual features and semantic embeddings, to learn the correlation between actions. Nevertheless, extracting visual features without structural guidance would lead to sparse video features, which reflect the correlation of actions, fall into oblivion. Based on the Ventral & Dorsal Stream Theory (VD), we propose a VD-ZSAR method to extract irredundant visual feature, which can relieve relation ambiguity caused by redundant visual feature. And a visual-semantic joint embedding space is learned by combining nonredundant visual space with semantic space. Specifically, visual space is constructed by the motion cues perceived by Dorsal Stream, and the object cues perceived by Ventral Stream. Semantic space is constructed by sentence-to-vector generator. The visual-semantic joint embedding space is built by a nonlinear similarity metric learning mechanism, which can better implicitly reflect the correlation between actions. Extensive experiments on the Olympic, HDMB51 and UCF101 datasets validate the favorable performance of our proposed approach.

Multiple streams theory: Insight into the global compact on migration

Multiple streams theory: Insight into the global compact on migration

An Analysis of the Adoption and Implementation of A Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Tax in South Africa: A Multiple Streams Approach

ABSTRACT This paper describes a case study of the adoption and implementation of the sugar-sweetened beverage tax in South Africa, termed the Health Promotion Levy. Qualitative data extraction and analysis of institutional documents, such as policy proposals and parliamentary debate records, stakeholder submissions to Parliament and media reports, were guided by the Kingdon Multiple Streams Theory as adapted to study agenda setting, policy adoption, and implementation. We present the following key findings: First, consistent messaging from policy entrepreneurs, consisting of advocacy groups, health organizations, and research entities, was key to ensuring that a tax policy solution was proposed and passed. Second, the continuity of certain key policymakers contributed to the relatively expedient passage of the tax policy. Third, the use of an excise tax was, amongst others, an appealing policy solution because of its revenue-raising potential; however, uncertainty regarding the purpose of the tax negatively impacted public attitudes toward it. Fourth, industry arguments, relating to unemployment, were effective in restructuring the tax in favor of industry actors. Finally, regulatory action by sectors outside of finance and health impacted stakeholder perceptions of the tax and possibly obstructed regular annual adjustments for inflation.

Formation of security culture in individual subjects from the perspective of the three pillars of security culture

Security has become a major object of research for multiple disciplines in the course of the last several decades. This is due to the interdisciplinary nature of the security sciences, in addition to the fact that our reality is undergoing rapid change due to globalisation, and that man attempts to stay abreast of these changes. However, security should never be taken for granted. Ensuring security is a constant process which requires the security subject to continue to act in multiple areas and in multiple dimensions. In the course of this process, the security subject collects impulses which enable it to develop, and rejects those which could potentially pose a threat. This paper is an attempt at presenting the process of security culture formation in individual human security subjects from the perspective of the three-energy stream (three-pillar) theory of security culture.

Double multiple stream tube theory coupled with dynamic stall and wake correction for aerodynamic investigation of vertical axis wind turbine

This study describes an effectively analytic methodology to investigate the aerodynamic performance of H vertical axis wind turbine (H-VAWT). An in-house code based on double multiple stream tube theory (DMST) coupled with dynamic stall and wake correction is implemented to estimate the power coefficient. Design optimization of airfoil shape is conducted to study the influences of the dynamic stall and turbulent wakes. Airfoil shape is universally investigated by using the Class/Shape function transformation method. The airfoil study shows that the upper curve tends to be less convex than the lower curve in order to extract more energy of the wind upstream and generate less drag of the blade downstream. The optimal results show that the power coefficient increases by 6.5% with the new airfoil shape.

Scaling up population health interventions from decision to sustainability \u2013 a window of opportunity? A qualitative view from policy-makers

BackgroundWhile known efficacious preventive health interventions exist, the current capacity to scale up these interventions is limited. In recent years, much attention has focussed on developing frameworks and methods for scale-up yet, in practice, the pathway for scale-up is seldom linear and may be highly dependent on contextual circumstances. Few studies have examined the process of scaling up from decision to implementation nor examined the sustainability of scaled-up interventions. This study explores decision-makers’ perceptions from real-world scaled-up case studies to examine how scale-up decisions were made and describe enablers of successful scale-up and sustainability.MethodsThis qualitative study included 29 interviews conducted with purposively sampled key Australian policy-makers, practitioners and researchers experienced in scale-up. Semi-structured interview questions obtained information regarding case studies of scaled-up interventions. The Framework Analysis method was used as the primary method of analysis of the interview data to inductively generate common and divergent themes within qualitative data across cases.ResultsA total of 31 case studies of public health interventions were described by interview respondents based on their experiences. According to the interviewees’ perceptions, decisions to scale up commonly occurred either opportunistically, when funding became available, or when a deliberate decision was made and funding allocated. The latter scenario was more common when the intervention aligned with specific political or strategic goals. Decisions to scale up were driven by a variety of key actors such as politicians, senior policy-makers and practitioners in the health system. Drivers of a successful scale-up process included good governance, clear leadership, and adequate resourcing and expertise. Establishing accountability structures and appropriate engagement mechanisms to encourage the uptake of interventions were also key enablers. Sustainability was influenced by evidence of impact as well as good acceptability among the general or target population.ConclusionsMuch like Kingdon’s Multiple Streams Theory of ‘policy windows’, there is a conceptually similar ‘window for scale-up’, driven by a complex interplay of factors such as political need, strategic context, funding and key actors. Researchers and policy-makers need to consider scalability from the outset and prepare for when the window for scale-up opens. Decision-makers need to provide longer term funding for scale-up to facilitate longer term sustainability and build on the resources already invested for the scale-up process.

The politics of sport funding in Brazil: a multiple streams analysis

ABSTRACT Since the earliest State interventions in sports, the Brazilian State has assumed the role of overseeing and financing the nation’s organised sport systems. The significant relationship between the State and sport, established over decades, contributed to sport being influenced by the country’s political agenda, influencing the implementation of sport funding policies. In order to understand more about how this relationship developed, this article applies the multiple streams theory of policy change to examine the Brazilian high-performance sport policy domain. Policy analysis and media analysis are combined to examine the ways in which the political context, problem framing and policy solutions were brought together by a range of policy entrepreneurs. The study examines how the Brazilian Olympic Committee (BOC) lobby effort acted to expand investment possibilities, and how policymakers acted swiftly to seize the window of opportunity and implement policies that stimulated Brazilian preparation for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2016. The article suggests that while other countries have also developed policies for elite sport to boost Olympic preparation, Brazilian policy decisions and changes were tardy, in some cases fleeting, and only expanded existing policies that had weaknesses in resource distribution criteria.

One Village One Brand for Sustainable Rural Economic Development: A Three Stream Perspective

Brand is the concrete form to encourage the intellectual property right (IPR) awareness. IPR becomes key to promote the product abroad. However, there is still a little awareness about how to protect the IPR, in the rural business area particularly. Thus, it becomes necessary to create a brand in a village, which will cover all the rural masterpieces to encourage the rural economy and protect its potential. This strategy is called as one village one brand. OVOB “One Village One Brand” is initiated by APEC project of Korea Institute of intellectual property and this program supports the economic growth and development in the Asia Pacific region. This study focused on the Agenda Setting stage. This study aims to find out how the Agenda Setting process of One Village One brand (OVOB) program in Kediri Regency. This research uses descriptive-qualitative approach with data collection techniques in the form of literature review, observation, and documentation. The result found that the BUMDES “Karya Mandiri” OVOB Program Setting Agenda uses the Quick Decision Analysis method. Meanwhile, the Public Problem Priority Preparation Technique is used through the priority process of public problems, evaluating by stakeholders on policy alternatives, and inferring priority issues. The Agenda Setting process correspond to Three Stream Theory, that is, in terms of the Problem Stream, it is known that problem mapping is done by the rural government. By the Policy Stream, the single-issue background is the issue of lack of skills and infrastructure which is then reviewed and produces the OVOB program. According to Politics Stream, this program will get support from the village government and the budget is included in the APBD that supports what is then included in the village government work program and BUMDES.

The Politics of Taxes for Health: An Analysis of the Passage of the Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Tax in Mexico

ABSTRACT This article explores the politics of passage of the sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) tax in Mexico, using published documents, media articles, and interviews with key stakeholders. The article examines first the period of agenda setting when the tax was included in the President’s fiscal reform package; and second, the period of legislative passage, when the bill was introduced in Congress and was passed. The analysis uses Kingdon’s three streams theory of agenda setting, to explain how the tax emerged on the agenda and how agenda setting shaped and enabled legislative passage. The article offers five lessons related to the politics of passing the SSB tax in Mexico. First, passing an SSB tax was difficult and required high-level organization, cooperation, planning, and effort. Second, supporters needed an understanding of how to manage the political and economic context, facilitated by a grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies. Third, framing the tax as generating revenue helped get the proposal onto the policy agenda and enabled buy-in from the powerful Ministry of Finance (Hacienda). Fourth, forming networks within the legislature early on allowed tax proponents to have a network of allies within Congress ready when the SSB tax was introduced as a bill. Finally, early public relations campaigns helped shape public perception that Mexico’s obesity epidemic was driven in part by SSB consumption. This is the first paper that uses political science theory and primary data collection and interviews with a broad range of stakeholders, to explain how Mexico passed an SSB tax despite opposition from a strong national SSB industry.

Exploring practitioner and policymaker perspectives on public health approaches to address Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) in South Carolina

ObjectiveWe examined the perspectives of child and family-serving professionals (CFSP) and state policymakers on protective factors to develop policy and program recommendations including current and needed approaches for addressing ACEs. MethodsIn 2018, we conducted semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 23 CFSP and 24 state policymakers in South Carolina. Data were analyzed applying the Multiple Streams Theory using thematic analyses. ResultsCFSPs and policymakers had varying opinions on state government involvement and primary prevention for ACEs. Three protective factors emerged from their perspectives: 1) loving, trusting, and nurturing relationships; 2) safe home environments; and 3) opportunities to thrive. For each of these protective factors, participants suggested policy options that support existing community efforts, attempt to alleviate poverty, and improve child and family serving systems. ConclusionThis study suggests that CFSPs and policymakers recognize the importance of protective factors in a child’s life to buffer the effect of ACEs. More awareness is needed about the feasibility and significance of primary prevention of ACEs. The study’s findings can be used to strengthen advocacy priorities for a wide range of public health outcomes associated with ACEs and help further bridge the gap between research and policy.

Why and How Have Korean Cities Embraced the World Health Organization’s Age-Friendly Cities and Communities Model?

ABSTRACT This study examined forces leading Korean cities to join the WHO Global Network of Age-Friendly Cities and Communities (AFCC) and implement the WHO guidelines, from the perspectives of multiple streams theory and policy transfer theory. We conducted interviews with stakeholders from six member cities and identified relevant themes using directed content analysis. Political motivation was the strongest factor in seeking Network membership, but the lack of political motivations after gaining membership resulted in lackluster local implementation efforts. The national capital cities may need to take a stronger leadership role to encourage the expansion of the WHO AFCC Network in Asia.

Does a Competing Policy Solution Seen as Inevitable Open a Window in the Policy Stream? The Case of Idaho’s Boulder–White Cloud Mountains

ABSTRACT The Multiple Streams Theory literature identifies mechanisms to open policy windows in the problem and political streams. A proposed policy deemed inevitable by stakeholders appears to open a policy window in the policy stream allowing policy entrepreneurs to successfully position the inevitable competing policy as the lesser of two evils. For over a decade, U.S. Representative Mike Simpson (R-ID) unsuccessfully introduced legislation to create additional wilderness, solidify existing recreational uses, provide local economic relief, and provide relief for ranchers in the Boulder–White Cloud Mountains area in central Idaho. The Obama administration’s proposal of a competing policy, the unilateral creation of a national monument pursuant to the Antiquities Act, appears to have opened a policy window that allowed Simpson to successfully propose his policy solution as the lesser of two evils. Policy entrepreneurs may use this method when faced with a policy proposal seen as inevitable but not necessarily best.

Performance-Based Financing (PBF) in Mali: is it legitimate to speak of the emergence of a public health policy?

Performance-based financing (PBF) is just one of a number of recent experiments implemented in Mali to improve maternal and child health indicators. This article presents a qualitative study based on Kingdon’s (1984) multiple streams theory and an approach inspired by development anthropology. The aim was to describe the forms of national ownership of PBF and to determine whether it is possible to speak of the emergence of a PBF public policy in Mali at this stage. The contribution of this study is both theoretical (understanding the emergence of a policy) and empirical (roles of local and international actors). The data came from 33 qualitative interviews conducted with individuals representing various institutions, notably the Ministère de la Santé. The results suggest there has been no emergence of a PBF public policy in Mali due to a myriad of constraints, including an insufficient number of political entrepreneurs, windows of opportunity and funding partners as well as the short duration of the pilot projects.

Investigating menu kilojoule labelling policy adoption from a political science perspective

Implementation of internationally recommended policy options for obesity prevention has generally been slow and inadequate globally, and, as such, it is important to understand barriers and enablers to policy action in the area. This study aimed to apply political science theories to understand influences on the adoption of Menu Kilojoule Labelling Legislation in Victoria, Australia over the period 2009–2017. Data collection included 13 in-depth semi-structured interviews with participants of the policy development and decision-making processes, analysis of 68 policy documents, and field note observations. Data were analysed using established political science theories: the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) and the Multiple Streams Theory (MST). There were numerous and interrelating factors that influenced the Menu Kilojoule Labelling Legislative policy processes. Barriers to policy reform included electoral turnover, a dominance of neoliberal ideology, and policy maker concerns regarding potential food industry backlash. Key enablers to eventual policy change included the accumulation of evidence on policy effectiveness and feasibility of implementation, increased recognition of the importance of tackling the issue, as well as reductions in political risks achieved, in part, through relatively long consultation and negotiation processes. Findings highlight several tactics that can be used to secure similar policy change in future, including generation, dissemination and translation of implementation evidence, effective mobilisation of supporters, and negotiation and consultation processes that can reduce the degree of opposition to proposed policies.

Development and implementation of nutrition labelling in Iran: A retrospective policy analysis.

Nutrition labelling is a strategy to promote healthy eating and combat non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The present study aimed to provide an analysis of the nutrition labelling policy and its opportunities to improve in Iran. Data were collected by 1) reviewing relevant documents and 2) semi-structured interviews with stakeholders through purposive and snowball sampling, continued until data saturation was achieved. A deductive content analysis was used by applying the policy triangulation framework and the Kingdon multiple stream theory. MAXQDA software was used to manage data analysis. Iran, is the first country in the Eastern Mediterranean region which has accomplished to implement nutrition traffic light labelling. The main contextual factors that affected nutrition labelling policy to become a national included health, political commitment, and international factors. Poor involvement of media for public awareness of nutrition traffic labeling, the inconsistency of nutrition traffic light color ranking using food standard guidelines, lack of consistency between nutrition traffic light colors and the healthy/unhealthy nature of some food products and the absence of a comprehensive evaluation plan were among the policy challenges identified. Strengthening the governance for a healthy food environment is recommended to improve the program. Also, establishing national portion sizes for food labelling, initiating public awareness campaigns, evaluation of the policy effect and public perception of the labels and their application are recommended.

Conditions influencing the adoption of a soda tax for public health: Analysis of the French case (2005–2012)

Although over 40 jurisdictions have adopted a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) for public health worldwide, it is still debated in many places. Policy processes can influence the prospect of an SSB tax, its design and its public health benefits. To get an insight into such processes, we undertook a case study of the soda tax enacted in France on the 1st of January 2012. Newspaper articles (2003–2013) and institutional documents (2007–2012) were identified using keywords and search engines. Qualitative data extraction and analyses were performed on a thematic and chronological basis, with guidance from Kingdon’s multiple streams theory (MST). Triangulation was enhanced by using complementary sources. This study shows that in August 2011, the French government surprisingly announced a €3.58 cent/L excise tax on SSBs, excluding juices with no added sugars and non-calorically sweetened beverages (NCSBs). As part of a large budgetary plan, the proposal aimed to reduce SSB consumption and raise revenue that was earmarked for health care. Several conditions contributed to opening a policy window: The announcement occurred in the context of severe budgetary deficits; soda tax scenarios had already been discussed at a high level; and the bill was supported by convinced political leaders. Subsequently, the tax successfully passed through the legislative process due to a series of unexpected events, but its public health rationale and design were weakened. The first event was the disorganised reaction by the food industry, despite their sharp opposition to the tax. The next event was the support of the soda tax that came from a majority of Deputies, provided that the revenues would serve another purpose: relieving wage costs in the farming sector. Finally, policy entrepreneurs favoured a compromise to make the tax politically acceptable and legally viable: The tax rate doubled, the scope was extended to NCSBs and revenues were split between health care and agriculture. This study sheds light on influence factors that could be taken into account by public health actors willing to influence soda tax policy processes.

Three-Dimensional Tolerance Analysis Modelling of Variation Propagation in Multi-stage Machining Processes for General Shape Workpieces

The quality control of general shape workpieces has become one of research hotspots because of the increasing diversity of products. The theory of stream of variation (SoV) for machining processes is a successful method in researching variation propagation rule. However, with the consideration of all key elements in manufacturing system, there is no unified and integrated model for workpieces in different kinds of shapes. In this paper, a new variation propagation model in multi-stage machining processes for general shape workpieces is established. It visually demonstrates the variation propagation chain and expands the universality of current SoV models. The connection of all key elements in manufacturing system is defined as an assembly chain, in which the variations are defined and propagated by modified three-dimensional tolerance analysis method. The equivalent conversion of the connection between workpiece and fixture realizes the modelling of general shape workpiece regardless of its machining method and locating scheme. Real experiments validate the effectiveness and accuracy of the new SoV model for different shape workpieces. This model has great potential to be applied toward multi-scale variation modelling, process control, and fault diagnosis for general shape workpieces.