Mandate matters: evaluating the effects of electoral mandates in Western Europe

2021 ◽  
pp. 113-141
Author(s):  
Emiliano Grossman ◽  
Isabelle Guinaudeau
Keyword(s):  
Agenda Setting ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Negative Binomial ◽  
Party Manifestos ◽  
Legislative Agenda ◽  
Clarity Of Responsibility ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Government Coalition

This chapter explores the implications of mandate theories of democracy through the lens of agenda-setting, looking at the impact of priorities emphasized in party manifestos on the legislative agenda. It examines the respective impact of the priorities in the manifesto of the party of the prime minister, the parties in the government coalition (where applicable), and all parliamentary parties (systemic attention). Using panel negative binomial regressions of legislative and electoral priorities, the conclusion is that mandate priorities do affect government policies to a greater extent than scholarship has so far acknowledged. And this does not seem to have changed over time. The agenda-setting impact of mandates is supported by qualitative observations on promises and policy in France and Germany. The only exception to this effect is the UK, which is surprising in view of arguments on institutional capacity, clarity of responsibility, and enhanced accountability in majoritarian systems—a paradox examined in Chapter 7.

scholarly journals CoMix: Changes in social contacts as measured by the contact survey during the 1 COVID-19 pandemic in England between March 2020 and March 2021

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Gimma ◽  
James D Munday ◽  
Kerry LM Wong ◽  
Pietro Coletti ◽  
Kevin van Zandvoort ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Negative Binomial ◽  
Virus Transmission ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Social Contacts ◽  
Contact Patterns ◽  
The Mean ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the UK government imposed public health policies in England to reduce social contacts in hopes of curbing virus transmission. We measured contact patterns weekly from March 2020 to March 2021 to estimate the impact of these policies, covering three national lockdowns interspersed by periods of lower restrictions. Methods: Data were collected using online surveys of representative samples of the UK population by age and gender. We calculated the mean daily contacts reported using a (clustered) bootstrap and fitted a censored negative binomial model to estimate age-stratified contact matrices and estimate proportional changes to the basic reproduction number under controlled conditions using the change in contacts as a scaling factor. Results: The survey recorded 101,350 observations from 19,914 participants who reported 466,710 contacts over 53 weeks. Contact patterns changed over time and by participants' age, personal risk factors, and perception of risk. The mean of reported contacts among adults have reduced compared to previous surveys with adults aged 18 to 59 reporting a mean of 2.39 (95% CI 2.20 - 2.60) contacts to 4.93 (95% CI 4.65 - 5.19) contacts, and the mean contacts for school-age children was 3.07 (95% CI 2.89 - 3.27) to 15.11 (95% CI 13.87 - 16.41). The use of face coverings outside the home has remained high since the government mandated use in some settings in July 2020. Conclusions: The CoMix survey provides a unique longitudinal data set for a full year since the first lockdown for use in statistical analyses and mathematical modelling of COVID-19 and other diseases. Recorded contacts reduced dramatically compared to pre-pandemic levels, with changes correlated to government interventions throughout the pandemic. Despite easing of restrictions in the summer of 2020, mean reported contacts only returned to about half of that observed pre-pandemic.

The RUMA Alliance targets: an overview

Livestock ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 176-179
Author(s):  
Chris Lloyd
Keyword(s):  
Task Force ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Antibiotic Use ◽  
Codes Of Practice ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Ongoing Support ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Roll Out

The Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture Alliance (RUMA) was established to promote the highest standards of food safety, animal health and animal welfare in the British livestock industry. It has a current focus to deliver on the Government objective of identifying sector-specific targets for the reduction, refinement or replacement of antibiotics in animal agriculture. The creation and roll out of sector specific targets in 2017 through the RUMA Targets Task Force, has helped focus activity across the UK livestock sectors to achieve a 50% reduction in antibiotic use since 2014. This has been realised principally through voluntary multi-sector collaboration, cross sector initiatives, codes of practice, industry body support and farm assurance schemes. This article provides an overview of RUMA's work to date providing insight into the methods used to create the targets, why they are so important, the impact they are having and how ongoing support and robust data are vital components in achieving the latest set of targets.

scholarly journals Differential research impact in cancer practice guidelines’ evidence base: lessons from ESMO, NICE and SIGN

ESMO Open ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. e000258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Pallari ◽  
Anthony W Fox ◽  
Grant Lewison
Keyword(s):  
Practice Guidelines ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Statistical Tests ◽  
Geographic Location ◽  
Basic Research ◽  
Research Impact ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Effective Decision Making ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

BackgroundThis is an appraisal of the impact of cited research evidence underpinning the development of cancer clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) by the professional bodies of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN).MethodsA total of 101 CPGs were identified from ESMO, NICE and SIGN websites across 13 cancer sites. Their 9486 cited references were downloaded from the Web of Science Clarivate Group database, analysed on Excel (2016) using Visual Basic Application macros and imported onto SPSS (V.24.0) for statistical tests.ResultsESMO CPGs mostly cited research from Western Europe, while the NICE and SIGN ones from the UK, Canada, Australia and Scandinavian countries. The ESMO CPGs cited more recent and basic research (eg, drugs treatment), in comparison with NICE and SIGN CPGs where older and more clinical research (eg, surgery) papers were referenced. This chronological difference in the evidence base is also in line with that ESMO has a shorter gap between the publication of the research and its citation on the CPGs. It was demonstrated that ESMO CPGs report more chemotherapy research, while the NICE and SIGN CPGs report more surgery, with the results being statistically significant.ConclusionsWe showed that ESMO, NICE and SIGN differ in their evidence base of CPGs. Healthcare professionals should be aware of this heterogeneity in effective decision-making of tailored treatments to patients, irrespective of geographic location across Europe.

scholarly journals You Win Some, You Lose Some: Pension Reform in Bachelet’s First and Second Administrations

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 204-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Borzutzky
Keyword(s):  
Political Ideology ◽  
Pension System ◽  
Pension Reform ◽  
Presidential Power ◽  
Pension Policy ◽  
The Will ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Government Coalition

This article analyses and compares President Bachelet’s successful efforts to reform the Chilean pension system in 2008 and her failure to achieve the same objective in 2017. The article addresses the impact of electoral promises, policy legacies, policy ideology, presidential power, the role of the private sector, and the role that the government coalitions had in the process of pension reform during the Bachelet administrations. We argue that the 2008 reform was possible because of Bachelet’s personal commitment to reform and the presence of a stable governing coalition that had the will and capacity to legislate. In the second administration, although the policy legacies and ideology had remained the same, the reform did not materialise due to intense conflict within the administration and within the government coalition, as well as conflict between the administration and the coalition. These conflicts, in turn, generated a vicious cycle responsible for Bachelet’s declining popularity, limited political capital, and reduced support for reform. A stagnant economy further undermined these efforts. In brief, this article argues that when assessing success and failure in pension policy reform it is important to analyse not only policy legacies and political ideology but also the strength of the executive, the cohesion of the governing coalition, and the country’s economic performance.

UK Fiscal Prospects

2010 ◽  
Vol 213 ◽  
pp. F66-F70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ray Barrell ◽  
Simon Kirby
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Radical Change ◽  
Policy Framework ◽  
Budget Process ◽  
Spare Capacity ◽  
Intention To Move ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

The UK is restructuring the fiscal policy framework once again, with an intention to move toward independent assessment and forecasting in the budget process. At the same time a large-scale, if delayed, fiscal consolidation is planned at a time when there is significant spare capacity in the economy. Economic growth is also projected to be below trend, at least this year and perhaps next. It is unusual to see a fiscal tightening when the output gap appears to be widening. These policy settings should be seen in the context of the most radical change in the nature of the relationship between the government and the economy for at least thirty years. This note assesses the impact of the new programme on the economy as well as setting out a projection for the medium-term public finances.

scholarly journals Anxious and Angry: Emotional and Political Motives for Approving of and Complying with Hygiene Measures related to the COVID-19 Pandemic

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Abadi ◽  
Irene Arnaldo ◽  
Agneta Fischer
Keyword(s):  
Online Survey ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Infection Age ◽  
Political Beliefs ◽  
Political Implications ◽  
Hygiene Measures ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

The current COVID-19 pandemic elicits a vast amount of collective anxiety, which may also have broader societal and political implications. In the current study, we investigate the individual and social impact of this anxiety. We conducted an online survey in four different countries (Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK; N=2031), examining whether anxiety about the Coronavirus leads to more approval of and compliance with hygiene measures deployed in those countries, and what role political beliefs play at this. We found significant differences between the four countries, with Spain marking highest anxiety as well as approval of and compliance with hygiene measures. Furthermore, three linear regressions showed that one’s anxiety is not only predicted by proximity to sources of infection (age, country, oneself or friends being infected), but also by political views (populist attitudes, anger at the government). Importantly, people who are anxious are also angry, at transgressors of hygiene rules or at their government. Thus, anger does not reduce one’s fear, but fear leads to more anger, especially in countries with the highest infection rates. Anxiety also leads to more approval of and compliance with hygiene measures, but again anger and political beliefs play a role in this relation. Whereas behavioral compliance is more predicted by fear and anger at others who transgress the rules, approval of the measures is better predicted by anxiety about the impact of Coronavirus and anger at the government.

Evaluate the UK Construction Project Impact and Response Strategies during the Epidemic through Malaysia and China

2020 ◽  
Vol 07 (3&4) ◽  
pp. 17-26
Author(s):  
Abdussalam Shibani ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Construction Projects ◽  
Experimental Result ◽  
Prevention Measures ◽  
Management Measures ◽  
The Government ◽  
Under Construction ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

2020 is a special year, this year the world’s economy has become extremely unstable because of the arrival of COVID-19. Idiosyncratic shocks have hit the global economy. The stock market has suspended, companies have closed, unemployment has soared, every industry has faced the biggest crisis since the Second World War. The British construction industry is certainly no exception. This time it will be the victim of this epidemic and the financial crisis. Compared with the European and American countries, the impact of the epidemic in Asia (Malaysia and China) is relatively light. The development of the epidemic situation in these countries has been controlled relatively effectively and strictly controlled. They are inextricably linked. However, the impact of construction projects in any area under the epidemic, the countermeasures adopted by the government, the epidemic prevention measures adopted by the company and the risk prevention strategy are very different. Therefore, under different circumstances, whether it is from the construction industry managers themselves or government policymakers, it is essential to apply correct and valid management measures to face the projects under construction under the epidemic actively. Simultaneously, collect statistics from questionnaire surveys of three countries in the region, then get an experimental result. Besides, different countries have different policies and forms of epidemic development. So, this research will summarize the corresponding policies and coping strategies of the project. It based on statistics of Malaysia and Chinese construction Projects, surveys for five projects to make comparisons than do statistics to the survey result.

Fifty years of the UK Misuse of Drugs Act 1971: the legislative contexts

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Blaine Stothard
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
People Who Use Drugs ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Before And After ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the history of relevant legislation before and after the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act (MDA). Design/methodology/approach A chronological narrative of laws and reports with concluding discussion. Findings That UK legislators have not made use of the evidence base available to them and have favoured enforcement rather than treatment approaches. That current UK practice has exacerbated not contain the use of and harms caused by illegal drugs. Research limitations/implications The paper does not cover all relevant documents, especially those from non-governmental sources. Practical implications The practical implications centre on the failure of consecutive governments to reflect on and review the impact of current legislation, especially on people who use drugs. Social implications That the situations of people who use drugs are currently ignored by the government and those proven responses which save lives and reduce harm are rejected. Originality/value The paper attempts to show the historical contexts of control and dangerousness of which the MDA is one instrument.

scholarly journals Changing the transmission belt: the programme-to-policy link in Italy between the First and Second Republic

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 275-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcello Carammia ◽  
Enrico Borghetto ◽  
Shaun Bevan
Keyword(s):  
Data Sets ◽  
Second Republic ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Electoral Campaigns ◽  
Party Manifestos ◽  
Legislative Agenda ◽  
Setting Approach ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Institutional Feature ◽  
Issue Content

AbstractThis article analyses the transmission of policy priorities from electoral campaigns to legislative outputs under different institutional configurations. Taking an agenda-setting approach, the article tests whether a mandate effect exists, if incumbents also uptake the priorities of their competitors, and whether and how the introduction of alternation in government impacts on these dynamics. The analysis relies on data sets of the Italian Agendas Project recording the issue content of party manifestos and laws and covering the period 1983–2012. The results of time series cross-sectional models lend support to the presence of a mandate effect in Italy, a mechanism which was strengthened after the introduction of alternation in government. Opposition priorities may have an impact on the legislative agenda, but mostly when considering the legislation initiated in Parliament. Our findings have important implications for the understanding of the impact of government alternation, an institutional feature underlying – with varying intensity – most democracies, on the functioning of democratic representation.

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