Political Window Of Opportunity Research Articles

Local councils as movement resource: Post-anti-extradition movement district councils in Hong Kong

ABSTRACT This paper studies the short-lived reform experiment on grassroot democracy by the District Councils of Hong Kong in 2020–2021, following the landslide victory of candidates who supported the 2019 Anti-Extradition Movement of Hong Kong. It argues that the institutional positions and resources of local elections can serve as movement resources to support social and political movements, promote civic participation and community-building, and strengthen civil society. By a study of meeting documents and in-depth interviews with 50 pro-movement councillors, this paper recounted how movement activists made use of the local councils to support the movement, change funding allocation to counter clientelism, encourage grassroot participation and network with civil society. The window of political opportunity was quickly shut down with the imposition of the National Security Law for Hong Kong, but it showed the possibility of using local councils to further movement causes and grassroot democracy in a much-constrained non-democratic institutional setting.

Context-led capacity building in time of crisis: fostering non-communicable diseases (NCD) research skills in the Mediterranean Middle East and North Africa

ABSTRACTBackground: This paper examines one EC-funded multinational project (RESCAP-MED), with a focus on research capacity building (RCB) concerning non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the Mediterranean Middle East and North Africa. By the project’s end (2015), the entire region was engulfed in crisis.Objective: Designed before this crisis developed in 2011, the primary purpose of RESCAP-MED was to foster methodological skills needed to conduct multi-disciplinary research on NCDs and their social determinants. RESCAP-MED also sought to consolidate regional networks for future collaboration, and to boost existing regional policy engagement in the region on the NCD challenge. This analysis examines the scope and sustainability of RCB conducted in a context of intensifying political turmoil.Methods: RESCAP-MED linked two sets of activities. The first was a framework for training early- and mid-career researchers through discipline-based and writing workshops, plus short fellowships for sustained mentoring. The second integrated public-facing activities designed to raise the profile of the NCD burden in the region, and its implications for policymakers at national level. Key to this were two conferences to showcase regional research on NCDs, and the development of an e-learning resource (NETPH).Results: Seven discipline-based workshops (with 113 participants) and 6 workshops to develop writing skills (84 participants) were held, with 18 fellowship visits. The 2 symposia in Istanbul and Beirut attracted 280 participants. Yet the developing political crisis tagged each activity with a series of logistical challenges, none of which was initially envisaged. The immediacy of the crisis inevitably deflected from policy attention to the challenges of NCDs.Conclusions: This programme to strengthen research capacity for one priority area of global public health took place as a narrow window of political opportunity was closing. The key lessons concern issues of sustainability and the paramount importance of responsively shaping a context-driven RCB.

‘One Does Not Sell the Land Upon Which the People Walk’: Land Grabbing, Transnational Rural Social Movements, and Global Governance

Defending their access to land has always been a major motivation for rural people to mobilize locally, nationally, and, more recently, in global struggles against land grabbing. I analyze how rural social movements have built up their capacities as global mobilizers and policy players over the past decade. I assess the success with which they are exploiting the current window of political opportunity opened up by interlinked global food, fuel, climate, and financial crises, accompanied by the highly publicized phenomenon of land grabbing. Particular attention is given to the newly reformed Committee on World Food Security, as the only global policy forum in the UN system in which these actors intervene as full participants, and to the recent negotiation of Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Land, Fisheries and Forests. The conclusion identifies challenges that need to be addressed in order for rural social movements to consolidate the gains made. Defender su acceso a la tierra ha sido una de las mayores motivaciones de las poblaciones rurales para movilizarse local, nacionalmente y más recientemente, en las luchas globales contra el acaparamiento de tierras. Analizo cómo los movimientos sociales rurales han construido sus capacidades como activistas globales y actores de la política en la última década. Evalúo el éxito con el cual están explotando la ventana actual de oportunidad política abierta por la interrelación de alimento, combustible, clima y crisis financieras, acompañadas por un fenómeno altamente publicitado, del acaparamiento de tierras. Se presta especial atención al nuevo Comité de seguridad alimentaria mundial reformado, como el único fórum de política global en el sistema de las Naciones Unidas, en el cual estos actores intervienen como participantes de pleno derecho, y a la reciente negociación de las Directrices voluntarias para una gobernanza responsable en la tenencia de la tierra, la pesca y los bosques. La conclusión identifica los retos que se necesitan abordar para que los movimientos sociales rurales consoliden los logros obtenidos. 捍卫接近土地的权利一直是农村人民在当地、在国内，甚至在全球行动起来反对土地掠夺的主要动机。笔者分析了在过去的几十年农村社会运动如何积蓄作为全球行动者与政策形成者的能力。我评估他们利用由全球粮食、燃料、气候和金融危机相互连接而打开的当前政治机遇之窗，以及伴随着土地掠夺这一广为人知的现象而获得的成功。特别关注的是新近改革了的世界粮食安全委员会，该委员会是联合国系统唯一的全球政策论坛，在此系统中这些行为体为完全意义上的参加者；最近关于《土地、渔业和森林等领域的责任治理自愿准则》的谈判也被给予了特殊关注。在结论部分，本文指出了为农村社会运动巩固已获成果而需要解决的挑战。 كان دفاع سكان المناطق الريفية عن حقهم في الحصول على الأرض حافزاً رئيسياً لتعبئتهم على المستويين المحلي والوطني، بل وعلى المستوى العالمي كما تبلور مؤخراً في النضالات ضد عمليات الاستيلاء على الأراضي. وفي هذه المقالة، أحلل كيفية قيام الحركات الاجتماعية الريفية ببناء قدراتها في التعبئة العالمية وفي التأثير السياسي خلال العقد الماضي، فأقيّم مدى نجاح هذه الحركات في استغلال نافذة الفرصة السياسية التي فتحتها الأزمات العالمية المتداخلة في الغذاء والوقود والمناخ والمال، مصحوبة بظاهرة الاستيلاء على الأراضي التي باتت واضحة جداً. وأولي اهتماماً خاصاً للجنة الأمن الغذائي العالمي التي أُعيد تشكيلها مؤخراً، باعتبارها منتدى السياسات العالمية الوحيد في منظومة الأمم المتحدة، حيث يُمثَّل فيها الجميع كمشاركين كاملين، كما أهتم بالمفاوضات الأخيرة حول "المبادئ التوجيهية الطوعية بشأن الحوكمة المسؤولة للأرض والمصايد والغابات". وفي الاستخلاصات أحدد التحديات التي يجب معالجتها من أجل تمكين الحركات الاجتماعية الريفية من توطيد المكاسب التي حققتها. 토지에 대한 접근을 옹호하는 것은 항상 농촌 사람들이 토지 점유에 반대해서 지역적으로, 국가적으로, 최근에는 전 지구적인 투쟁의 형태로 집결하는 주된 동기였다. 나는 농촌 사회운동이 지난 10 년 동안 어떻게 지구적 동원가와 정책 행위자로서의 능력을 키웠는지를 분석한다. 토지 점유라는 대단히 공개된 현상과 더불어 서로 연계되어 있는 지구적 식량, 연료, 기후와 금융위기에 의해서 만들어 진 정치적 기회구조를 성공적으로 활용하고 있는 것을 평가한다. 특별히 행위자들이 참여하고 있는 새롭게 개혁된UN 내 유일한 정책 포럼인 <세계 식량안보 위원회>(Committee on World Food Security)와 <토지, 어업과 삼림에 대한 책임있는 거버너스에 대한 자발적인 가이드라인>을 둘러싼 최근의 협상에 특별히 관심이 주어질 것이다. 결론은 농촌 사회운동이 얻은 것을 공고히 하기 위해서 다루어야 할 필요가 있는 도전과제를 다룬다. Защита доступа к земле всегда была главной мотивацией для крестьян, чтобы мобилизовать в местном, национальном и, совсем недавно, в глобальном масштабе на борьбу против захвата земель. Я анализирую, как за прошлое десятилетие сельские общественные движения накопили потенциал глобальных мобилизаторов и стратегических игроков. Я оцениваю успех, с которым они эксплуатируют текущие рамки политических возможностей, открываемые связанными глобальной продовольственной системой: топливом, климатом и финансовыми кризисами, которые сопровождаются громкими захватами земель. Особое внимание обращено на недавно реформированный Комитет по Всемирной продовольственной безопасности как единственный глобальный стратегический форум в системе ООН, в который эти субъекты вмешиваются как полноправные участники; и к недавним переговорам о Добровольных руководящих принципах ответственного управления земельными ресурсами, рыбным и лесным хозяйством. В заключение определим задачи, которые должны быть решены сельскими общественными движениями, для того чтобы объединить достигнутые успехи.

Homeland Security and the U.S. Public Management Policy Agenda

The U.S. has been described as an “uninteresting laggard” in comparative public management policy. The passage of the Homeland Security Act in 2002 demands a reevaluation of this label. The Act created the Department of Homeland Security, but also marked a dramatic shift toward greater public personnel flexibility, both for the new Department and the entire federal government. It is tempting to suggest that the Act is an effort to “catch up” with the New Public Management benchmark countries. However, such an argument is overly simplistic and misleading. This article argues that the Act represents a triumph of a preexisting management agenda that was successfully tied to the issue of security during a political window of opportunity. The management agenda of the Bush administration pursues many of the concerns of the Clinton era, but does so with a more top‐down and centralized interpretation of flexibility, reflecting an executive‐centered philosophy toward government and a willingness to tackle the dominant stakeholder in this area, public service unions.

The skeptic's guide to a movement for universal health insurance.

The social movement has become institutionalized as a form of political action. The aim of this article is to evaluate the possibilities presented by this form as a strategy to bring about universal health insurance in the United States. I draw on the work of social movement theorists, on the substantial body of empirical research on health-related social movements, and on relevant comparative work from Canada to develop a template for this evaluation. Using that template I compare the failed campaign for President Bill Clinton's health insurance plan with a recent, more successful campaign in the state of New York. I conclude that the keys to success are, first, a broad-based coalition that combines an ideologically and/or grievance-motivated grass roots with financially and politically well-endowed mainstream organizations; second, a "master frame" that resonates with the American people; and, third, a political window of opportunity. The prospects for such a conjunction are not hopeless, but they are not high.

Israel and the Palestinians: Fifty Years of Wars and Turning Points

In 1947, Israel accepted the U.N. partition plan while the Palestinians rejected it and tried to prevent its realization by force. The result was catastrophic for the Palestinians. Following the Six Day War, Israel withdrew from its liberal occupation policy and from its intention to avoid any changes in the administered territories prior to the political negotiations. This created a new reality that made any future political agreement extremely difficult. The 1982 war in Lebanon removed the last territorial base that allowed a Palestinian armed struggle against Israel, while the intifada ripened the necessary conditions for the opening of political negotiations and reaching the Oslo Declaration of Principles. The progress made so far is no guarantee that a settlement can be reached in the foreseeable future. It is now the Israelis who reject a territorial compromise. The political window of opportunity that had been opened in Oslo in 1993 has a limited time frame, which raises serious questions about the next phase of the conflict.