scholarly journals Toxic Chemical Governance Failure in the United States: Key Lessons and Paths Forward

BioScience ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 69 (8) ◽  
pp. 615-630 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ariana M Chiapella ◽  
Zbigniew J Grabowski ◽  
Mary Ann Rozance ◽  
Ashlie D Denton ◽  
Manar A Alattar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
The United States ◽  
Toxic Chemicals ◽  
Toxic Chemical ◽  
Social Actors ◽  
Path Dependencies ◽  
Production Policy ◽  
Monitoring And Enforcement ◽  
Over 40 Years

AbstractOver 40 years of regulations in the United States have failed to protect human and environmental health. We contend that these failures result from the flawed governance over the continued production, use, and disposal of toxic chemicals. To address this failure, we need to identify the broader social, political, and technological processes producing, knowing, and regulating toxic chemicals, collectively referred to as toxic chemical governance. To do so, we create a conceptual framework covering five key domains of governance: knowledge production, policy design, monitoring and enforcement, evaluation, and adjudication. Within each domain, social actors of varying power negotiate what constitutes acceptable risk, creating longer-term path dependencies in how they are addressed (or not). Using existing literature and five case studies, we discuss four paths for improving governance: evolving paradigms of harm, addressing bias in the knowledge base, making governance more equitable, and overcoming path dependency.

The Niagara Labyrinth — The Human Ecology of Producing Organochlorine Chemicals

1985 ◽  
Vol 42 (10) ◽  
pp. 1681-1692 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Gilbertson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Human Ecology ◽  
The United States ◽  
Toxic Chemicals ◽  
Toxic Chemical ◽  
Chemical Production ◽  
Critical Pathway ◽  
Niagara River ◽  
Analysis Methodology ◽  
St Lawrence River

Organochlorine chemical production, by United States chemical manufacturers, has resulted in severe contamination of the Niagara River, Lake Ontario, and the St. Lawrence River and of Canadian resources by transboundary pollution. In 1978, Canada and the United States signed the second Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement which was designed to overcome toxic chemical as well as eutrophication problems. This paper is a review of the effectiveness of the implementation of the provisions of the 1978 Agreement concerning toxic chemicals. To aid with organization of the material the sociological framework of human ecology has been employed. To focus the discussion on the more important facets, the critical pathway analysis methodology, developed for radiation protection, has been used.

Style, stance, and social meaning in mock white girl

2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 541-567 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tyanna Slobe
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Significant Variation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Meaning ◽  
Teenage Girl ◽  
White Girl ◽  
Social Actors ◽  
White Girls ◽  
Social Entity ◽  
The Us

AbstractMock white girl(MWG) performances parody a linguistic and embodied style associated with contemporary middle class white girls in the United States. The article identifies bundles of semiotic resources in the stylization of the white girl persona—for example, creaky voice, uptalk, blondeness, and Starbucks—in three genres of MWG:Savior,Shit white girls say, andTeenage girl problems. While semiotic variables used to index the white girl persona are consistent across performances, there is significant variation in performers’ ideological stances relative to the mocked figure of personhood: white girls in the US are not ‘heard’ in any one way by all social actors. Contextualizing MWG performances through analysis of stance reveals critical variation in how the white girl is interpreted, evaluated, and produced as a meaningful social entity by diverse segments of the population. (Gender, mock, race, parody, persona, stance, style)*

Religion and Progressive Activism—Introducing and Mapping the Field

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Todd Nicholas Fuist ◽  
Ruth Braunstein ◽  
Rhys H. Williams
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Movements ◽  
The United States ◽  
Democratic Politics ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Social Actors ◽  
Theories Of Religion ◽  
Religious Activism ◽  
Progressive Religion

This chapter introduces readers to the often-overlooked field of progressive religious activism in the United States, and maps its contours. First, it traces the history and continued relevance of progressive religious activism in American political life. Second, it argues that progressive religion should not be conceptualized as a category of social actors, but rather as a field of action defined by participants’ commitment to progressive action, progressive values, progressive identities, and/or progressive theology, as well as through participants’ efforts to distinguish themselves from the activities of religious conservatives and/or secular progressives. Finally, it assesses the varied ways that attention to progressive religion challenges common political binaries (like Right/Left and progress/tradition), and prompts a reconsideration of long accepted theories of religion and social movements as well as the role of faith in democratic politics and civic life.

scholarly journals Using implementation science to mitigate worsening health inequities in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tyler A. Jacobson ◽  
Lauren E. Smith ◽  
Lisa R. Hirschhorn ◽  
Mark D. Huffman
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Community Engagement ◽  
Implementation Research ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Contextual Factors ◽  
Health Inequities ◽  
The United States ◽  
Audit And Feedback ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Social Distancing

Abstract With the threat of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) enduring in the United States, effectively and equitably implementing testing, tracing, and self-isolation as key prevention and detection strategies remain critical to safely re-opening communities. As testing and tracing capacities increase, frameworks are needed to inform design and delivery to ensure their effective implementation and equitable distribution, and to strengthen community engagement in slowing and eventually stopping Covid-19 transmission. In this commentary, we highlight opportunities for integrating implementation research into planned and employed strategies in the United States to accelerate reach and effectiveness of interventions to more safely relax social distancing policies and open economies, schools, and other institutions. Implementation strategies, such as adapting evidence-based interventions based on contextual factors, promoting community engagement, and providing data audit and feedback on implementation outcomes, can support the translation of policies on testing, tracing, social distancing, and public mask use into reality. These data can demonstrate how interventions are put into practice and where adaptation in policy or practice is needed to respond to the needs of specific communities and socially vulnerable populations. Incorporating implementation research into Covid-19 policy design and translation into practice is urgently needed to mitigate the worsening health inequities in the pandemic toll and response. Applying rigorous implementation research frameworks and evaluation systems to the implementation of evidence-based interventions which are adapted to contextual factors can promote effective and equitable pandemic response and accelerate learning both among local stakeholders as well as between states to further inform their varied experiences and responses to the pandemic.

From the Beginning: The 40 Year History of NOAA’s Emergency Response Division

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 (1) ◽  
pp. 2408-2431
Author(s):  
Mark Dix ◽  
Alan Mearns
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Emergency Response ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
The United States ◽  
Outer Continental Shelf ◽  
The People ◽  
History Of ◽  
Oil Spill Response ◽  
Over 40 Years

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Emergency Response Division’s success over 40 years draws on the nascent and sustained vision of its founders and the people that dedicated themselves to providing state of the art science in combatting oil spills and hazardous material releases. Lessons in research, development, partnership, reinvention, reorganization, and adaptation season the story that describes what is now the scientific touchstone in the United States’ maritime spill response vanguard. But the voyage to present day was (and is) not all smooth sailing. The scientists who built the unit and staffed it for decades recall the best, worst, and in between history of a small but highly influential division in the Federal government that helped pioneer spill science in the United States and internationally by responding to over 4,000 incidents. This retrospective highlights the genesis and growth of the 1970’s Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Assessment Program (OCSEAP) and its evolution through Hazardous Materials Response Division (HMRD) to the now Emergency Response Division (ERD). The paper concludes with the vision of what growth areas lie ahead for the Division and oil spill response.

scholarly journals Citizenship and structured dependency: the implications of policy design for senior political power

2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 229-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
GEMMA M. CARNEY
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Older People ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Theoretical Work ◽  
The United States ◽  
Power Politics ◽  
Target Populations ◽  
The Republic

ABSTRACTThis paper argues that the structured dependency thesis must be extended to incorporate political power. It outlines a political framework of analysis with which to identify who gains and who loses from social policy. I argue that public policy for older people is a product not only of social structures but also of political decision-making. The Schneider and Ingram (1993) ‘target populations’ model is used to investigate how the social construction of groups as dependent equates with lower levels of influence on policy making. In United Kingdom and European research, older people are identified as politically quiescent, but conversely in the United States seniors are viewed as one of the most influential and cohesive interest groups in the political culture. Why are American seniors perceived as politically powerful, while older people in Europe are viewed as dependent and politically weak? This paper applies the ‘target populations’ model to senior policy in the Republic of Ireland to investigate how theoretical work in the United States may be used to identify the significance of senior power in policy development. I conclude that research must recognise the connections between power, politics and social constructions to investigate how state policies can influence the likelihood that seniors will resist structured dependency using political means.

Personal Information Policies in the United States and Britain: The Dilemma of Implementation Considerations

1984 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Priscilla M. Regan
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Policy Implementation ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Personal Information ◽  
The United States ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Implementation Framework ◽  
Policy Analysts ◽  
Implementation Stage

ABSTRACTThis article examines how issues of policy implementation affected the formulation and adoption of personal information policies in the United States and Britain. The analysis suggests that when implementation questions are raised during policy formulation, programmatic goals will be compromised to the interests bureaucracies have in implementation. In this case, the goal of protecting the privacy of personal information was sacrified to an implementation framework that protected bureaucratic needs. This poses a dilemma for policy analysts: when implementation questions are left unresolved in policy design, bureaucratic concerns dominate the implementation stage; yet, when implementation questions are resolved in policy design, bureaucratic concerns dominate the formulation stage.

The punitive consequences of organizational structures in England, France and the United States

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 303-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
DANIEL J. D'AMICO ◽  
CLAUDIA WILLIAMSON
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
The United States ◽  
Rent Seeking ◽  
Legal Institutions ◽  
Commercial Law ◽  
Path Dependencies ◽  
Legal Structures

AbstractWe develop a framework for understanding how legal structures relate to imprisonment. We hypothesize that relatively more hierarchy within criminal justice institutions, compared to commercial law, fosters higher rates of incarceration. Our framework predicts that incarceration reflects asymmetric opportunities for rent seeking across differently organized legal institutions. Instead of comparing criminal justice institutions across nations in absolute terms, we investigate the relative degrees of institutional centralization across legal spheres. To provide support, we document the separate historical experiences that shaped divergent organizations across England and France. Within each country, criminal legal institutions developed inverse organizational traits from commercial legal processes. As a result, the contrasting organizations created asymmetric opportunities for rent seeking. Divergent contemporary outcomes can be understood by recognizing these initial organizational choices, the relative opportunities they created, and their subsequent path dependencies. We document contemporary England, France, and the United States’ incarceration trends and penal outcomes to provide empirical support.

scholarly journals Unidentical twins: recent social policy developments in Canada and the United States

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Béland ◽  
Alex Waddan
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Fiscal Federalism ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
The United States ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
National Differences ◽  
Key Characteristics ◽  
Family Benefits ◽  
International Social

AbstractThere is a vast social policy literature on how Canada and the United States share key characteristics associated with the liberal welfare regime such as significant reliance on both social assistance and tax-subsidized private benefits and services. Yet, a closer look at these two countries points to key differences in areas such as fiscal federalism, health care, old-age pensions, and family benefits. This special issue of the Journal of Comparative and International Social Policy looks at recent social policy developments in Canada and the United States in ways that further illustrate the broad similarities, but also the key cross-national differences in policy design and real-world consequences, between these two countries. This Introduction explains why Canada and the United States are “unidentical twins” in social policy before discussing the contributions comprising this special issue.

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