Institutions and Organizations: The Role of Institutional Actors

2017 ◽  
pp. 17-30
Author(s):  
Maria Carmela Annosi ◽  
Federica Brunetta
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Actors

scholarly journals Exploring legitimization strategies for contested uses of citizen-generated data for policy

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 74-102
Author(s):  
Anna Berti Suman ◽  
◽  
Sven Schade ◽  
Yasuhito Abe ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Social Protest ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
Environmental Decisions ◽  
Future Research Agenda ◽  
Policy Interventions ◽  
Scant Attention ◽  
Institutional Actors

In this article, we investigate how citizens use data they gather as a rhetorical resource for demanding environmental policy interventions and advancing environmental justice claims. While producing citizen-generated data (CGD) can be regarded as a form of ‘social protest’, citizens and interested institutional actors still have to ‘justify’ the role of lay people in producing data on environmental issues. Such actors adopt a variety of arguments to persuade public authorities to recognize CGD as a legitimate resource for policy making and regulation. So far, scant attention has been devoted to inspecting the different legitimization strategies adopted to push for institutional use of CGD. In order to fill this knowledge gap, we examine which distinctive strategies are adopted by interested actors: existing legitimization arguments are clustered, and strategies are outlined, based on a literature review and exemplary cases. We explore the conceivable effects of these strategies on targeted policy uses. Two threads emerge from the research, entailing two complementary arguments: namely that listening to CGD is a governmental obligation and that including CGD is ultimately beneficial for making environmental decisions. We conclude that the most used strategies include showing the scientific strength and contributory potential of CGD, whereas environmental rights and democracy-based strategies are still rare. We discuss why we consider this result to be problematic and outline a future research agenda.

scholarly journals Interdisciplinarity master programs in Greek universities: Οrganization and cognitive conditions

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 85
Author(s):  
Georgios Stamelos ◽  
Georgios Aggelopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Sociology Of Science ◽  
Master's Programs ◽  
The Public ◽  
Interdisciplinary Programs ◽  
Internal Relations ◽  
Institutional Funding ◽  
The One ◽  
The University ◽  
Institutional Actors

This paper focuses on the development of interdisciplinarityin the Master’s programs in Greek universities. For our analysis, we searched for tools from the Sociology of Organisations (Mayntz) and the Sociology of Science (Whitley). We argue that the University and its keyactors have adopted interdisciplinarity, firstly, as a means to increase institutional funding, and secondly, with care so as not to disturb theinternal institutional structure and the power relations between the key actors in the University. Indeed, on the one hand, universities, responding to the public calls for interdisciplinary programs, took advantage of the European support program for Greece in order to enrich their infrastructures. On the other hand, the new structures and functions (interdisciplinary Master’s programs) remain loose and weak. So the central role of the Department and laboratories remains intact. As a consequence, the internal relations of the institutional actors are protected. Thus, interdisciplinarity seems to be a low priority issue. However, it is interesting to consider that more than 10 years after theend of European funding, the majority of these programs remains active.

Return Migration Around the World: An Integrated Agenda for Future Research

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 533-552 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Maria Hagan ◽  
Joshua Thomas Wassink
Keyword(s):  
Return Migration ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Emigration And Immigration ◽  
Resource Mobilization ◽  
Future Research ◽  
The Political ◽  
Market Opportunities ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Institutional Actors

Currently, two distinct bodies of scholarship address the increased volume and diversity of global return migration since the mid-1990s. The economic sociology of return, which assumes that return is voluntary, investigates how time living and working abroad affects returnees’ labor market opportunities and the resulting implications for economic development. A second scholarship, the political sociology of return, recognizing the increasing role of both emigration and immigration states in controlling and managing migration, examines how state and institutional actors in countries of origin shape the reintegration experiences of deportees, rejected asylum seekers, and nonadmitted migrants forced home. We review these literatures independently, examining their research questions, methodologies, and findings, while also noting limitations and areas where additional research is needed. We then engage these literatures to provide an integrated path forward for researching and theorizing return migration—a synergized resource mobilization framework.

scholarly journals Understanding Variation in Processes of Institutional Formation

2017 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 226-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vivien Lowndes ◽  
Maximilian Lemprière
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Design ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Institutional Reforms ◽  
Institutional Formation ◽  
City Regions ◽  
Institutional Contexts ◽  
Historical Trajectory ◽  
Institutional Actors

The article asks why institutional reforms work in one place and not another and why old ways of doing things can prove so resilient. It argues in favour of a concept of institutional formation, which is different from ‘institutional design’ as a time-limited event or ‘institutional change’ as an open-ended historical trajectory. Institutional formation is conceptualised as an animated, nested and embedded process. A multi-level framework is developed that specifies the links between institutional actors, institutional rules and institutional contexts. The model is elaborated with reference to a case study of local government reform in England, specifically the devolution of responsibilities from central government to voluntary collaborations of elected local authorities (‘combined authorities’). The model is used to explain variation in the process of institutional formation in two different city-regions, focusing on the role of leaders, legacies and localities.

scholarly journals When and why is the forgotten past recovered? The Battle of Warsaw, 1920 and the role of local actors in the production of memory

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 176-190
Author(s):  
Ewa Ochman
Keyword(s):  
Social Memory ◽  
Rapid Change ◽  
Collective Memories ◽  
Long Period ◽  
The Past ◽  
Local Actors ◽  
History Of ◽  
Institutional Actors

Memory scholars mostly agree that although social memory is culturally constructed, political and institutional actors encounter various constraints when adapting the past to their group’s needs and values. The aim of this article is to revisit this old question of the malleability and persistence of the past but in the context of the intensive memory production that emerged during a period of rapid change in post-communist transitional states. First, the article probes the question why some collective memories re-emerge after a long period of suppression while others do not. And second, it examines the conditions under which local rather than national actors become more successful in recovering the forgotten past. The focus is on Poland; its distinct history of frequent ruptures in the continuity of commemorative tradition not only opens up opportunities for less constrained work of remembrance but also for repositioning the standing of national and local agents of memory production.

scholarly journals Transparency in EU Trade Policy: A Comprehensive Assessment of Current Achievements

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 261-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Axel Marx ◽  
Guillaume Van der Loo
Keyword(s):  
Trade Policy ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Public Access ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Implementation Phase ◽  
The Public ◽  
Institutional Actors ◽  
The Eu

<p>The EU trade policy is increasingly confronted with demands for more transparency. This article aims to investigate how transparency takes shape in EU trade policy. First, we operationalize the concept of transparency along two dimensions: a process dimension and an actor dimension. We then apply this framework to analysis of EU Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). After analyzing transparency in relation to FTAs from the perspective of the institutional actors (Commission, Council and Parliament), the different instruments and policies that grant the public actors (civil society and citizens) access to information and documents about EU FTAs are explored by discussing Regulation 1049/2001, which provides for public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents, and the role of the European Ombudsman. The article is based on an analysis of official documents, assessments in the academic literature and case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union. The ultimate aim is to assess current initiatives and identify relevant gaps in the EU’s transparency policies. This article argues that the EU has made significant progress in fostering transparency in the negotiation phase of FTAs, but less in the implementation phase.</p>

scholarly journals Help the Poor, Help Ourselves

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Zappa
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Aid ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Official Discourse ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Public Debates ◽  
Foreign Ministers ◽  
Institutional Actors ◽  
Modes Of Thought ◽  
Shed Light

Japanese ODA has attracted much attention in the last three decades. This paper aims to shed light on the intellectual evolution of the official discourse on Japanese ODA based on the analysis of two main ‘modes of thought’ at the foundation of it, namely national interest and international affiliation. Based on a detailed content analysis of official documents and public debates, the paper will take the role of institutional actors – Japanese political leaders, foreign ministers and intellectuals – into consideration. The role of such “entrepreneurs” has been crucial for shaping the current official discourse on Japanese foreign aid. The paper will argue, in fact, that the official discourse is a juxtaposition of two clashing ideas carefully shaped to enlarge the consensus (both domestic and external) toward the Japanese government’s policies.

scholarly journals Saving us from the Digital Dark Age: the Austrian perspective

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martina Trognitz
Keyword(s):  
Open Science ◽  
Digital Data ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Archaeological Excavation ◽  
Legislative Framework ◽  
Digital Methods ◽  
Institutional Actors ◽  
Long Term Preservation

In Austria, archaeological research and excavation practice is shaped by a legislative framework and institutional actors. Besides the institutions, the role of private archaeological contractors has grown in the last decade and recently non-commercial associations have been founded. According to the Austrian Monument Protection Act, the Federal Monuments Authority issues permits for any archaeological excavation or survey activity. Documentation and preservation of physical material are regulated by the Monument Protection Act as well as by dedicated guidelines published by the Federal Monuments Authority. With the recent increased use of digital methods, the importance of preserving and disseminating digital data has risen. Although the Austrian government pursues a digitisation agenda including the promotion of Open Science, the availability of repositories suitable for long-term preservation of digital data does not meet the requirements arising from the ever-increasing amount of data.

The Activist Company: Examining a Company’s Pursuit of Societal Change Through Corporate Activism Using an Institutional Theoretical Lens

2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 461-476 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meike Eilert ◽  
Abigail Nappier Cherup
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Environment ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Societal Change ◽  
Change Strategies ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Attitudes And Behaviors ◽  
And Behaviors ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
Institutional Actors

Companies are more frequently taking public stands on often controversial social, political, economic, and environmental issues. Despite the importance of the topic, research on understanding the role of companies in societal change through activism is scarce. Using institutional theory, this article defines corporate activism as a company’s willingness to take a stand on social, political, economic, and environmental issues to create societal change by influencing the attitudes and behaviors of actors in its institutional environment. This framework conceptualizes corporate activism as a response to barriers that hinder the solution of an issue. These barriers stem from institutional actors’ attitudes and behaviors toward the issue, and corporate activism can address these barriers through influence and change strategies that can target the institutional environment “top-down” or “bottom-up.” This framework further investigates how the identity orientation of the company facilitates corporate activism. This research has important implications for managers, policy makers, and any other agents that aim to facilitate social change.

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