Measuring Governance

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark A. Kayser
Keyword(s):  
Policy Design ◽  
Theory Testing ◽  
Governance Indicator ◽  
Governance Indicators ◽  
Effective Policy ◽  
Societal Problems ◽  
Indicator Systems ◽  
Different Sources

The field of governance indicators boasts a wide and sometimes confusing abundance of competing indicators derived from different sources and methodologies. This chapter connects the arguments posed throughout this volume, delineates the frontiers of the indicators field, and identifies key challenges ahead, particularly for researchers and indicator developers. Throughout the chapter, it becomes clear that the most fruitful distinction among governance indicator systems is their purpose: indicators intended to raise public and government awareness of societal problems require distinctly different designs and standards than those intended for theory testing and effective policy design.

scholarly journals Climate Challenges, Ecological Modernization, and Technological Forcing: Policy Lessons from a Comparative US-EU Analysis

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 87-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Szarka
Keyword(s):  
Policy Design ◽  
Ecological Modernization ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Industrial Sectors ◽  
Climate Policies ◽  
Emissions Trading Scheme ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Effective Policy ◽  
Technical Proficiency ◽  
Trading Scheme

The practice of “technological forcing,” understood as policy designed to accelerate technological innovation for the purposes of environmental protection, was pioneered in the USA during the 1970s and continued in Europe with feed-in tariffs for renewable energy and the emissions trading scheme. In order to draw lessons for climate policy, the article tests the capacity of “technological forcing” to translate ecological modernization theory into effective policy and practice, by providing analysis of three case studies. It argues that ambitious climate policies require not only technical proficiency in policy design, but also greater acknowledgment of the need to achieve structural change in major industrial sectors. It concludes that technology-based policies need to be accompanied by economic and political strategies to counteract incumbent resistance, and delineates potential means to do so.

scholarly journals The G.I. Bill: A Case Study in Behavioral Economics

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 42-54
Author(s):  
Amanda (Swanson) Goff
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Economics ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
College Completion ◽  
Completion Rates ◽  
Educational Benefits ◽  
Us Military ◽  
College Completion Rates ◽  
Effective Policy ◽  
Desirable Behavior

In pursuit of public welfare, the federal government supports a range of programs designed to encourage desirable behavior. Though for centuries lawmakers have strived to account for irrational actors and ultimately produce effective policy, behavioral economics has only entered the discussion recently as a means to accomplish these ends. The G.I. Bill provides a unique opportunity to examine behavioral economic principles as they relate to a long-standing, well-developed program. Introduced in 1944, the G.I. Bill provides tuition assistance and other educational benefits to support US military veterans pursuing a postsecondary credential. Benefit usage rates remain high and relatively stable in the decades since the legislation’s enactment, suggesting that educational incentives may serve as powerful motivators for veterans continuing their education. However, low college completion rates amongst veterans that choose to use G.I. Bill benefits limit the program’s true effectiveness. This case illustrates both the benefits and the limitations of applying behavioral economics concepts in policy design, particularly as demands on the G.I. Bill program continue to evolve.

RETHINKING ENVIRONMENTAL FEDERALISM IN A WARMING WORLD

2012 ◽  
Vol 03 (04) ◽  
pp. 1250018 ◽  
Author(s):  
WILLIAM M. SHOBE ◽  
DALLAS BURTRAW
Keyword(s):  
Policy Design ◽  
Climate Change Policy ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Climate Policies ◽  
Change Policy ◽  
Unitary Model ◽  
Effective Policy ◽  
Pass Through ◽  
Warming World ◽  
Federal Structure

Climate change policy analysis has focused almost exclusively on national policy and even on harmonizing climate policies across countries, implicitly assuming that harmonization of climate policies at the subnational level would be mandated or guaranteed. We argue that the design and implementation of climate policy in a federal union will diverge in important ways from policy design in a unitary government. National climate policies built on the assumption of a unitary model of governance are unlikely to achieve the expected outcome because of interactions with policy choices made at the subnational level. In a federal system, the information and incentives generated by a national policy must pass through various levels of subnational fiscal and regulatory policy. Effective policy design must recognize both the constraints and the opportunities presented by a federal structure of government. Furthermore, policies that take advantage of the federal structure of government can improve climate governance outcomes.

scholarly journals Responsible and sustainable farm business: Contextual duality as the moderating influence on entrepreneurial orientation

2020 ◽  
pp. 146575032094470 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne MJ Smith ◽  
Peter Duncan ◽  
David Edgar ◽  
Julie McColl
Keyword(s):  
Entrepreneurial Orientation ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Agricultural Industry ◽  
Grass Roots ◽  
Effective Policy ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Rural Ecosystem ◽  
Farm Business

Tackling poverty and injustices, protecting the environment and ensuring equality, all underpin ideas of being a responsible business. There are many arbitrators of what constitutes a responsible business and rethinking the United Kingdom’s farm business, post BREXIT, post COVID-19 and in relation to the entrepreneurial orientation (EO) of farmers is timely and essential to tackle crisis, uncertainty and sustain a healthy rural ecosystem. This is an ethnographic study into contextual dualities. Data from one case farm are presented, and findings are triangulated through a grounded thematic data analysis of five in-depth interviews with other farms from the same community. An empirically informed framework is constructed explaining how, through duality, EO is moderated across six themes. The contributions to policy and practice are intertwined. Through identification of moderators of (and for) duality, the rural ecosystem can be better managed through effective policy design and responsible practice at grass roots. Accelerated professionalisation in the agricultural industry involves combining the rich, irreplaceable knowledge of older generations with shaping the values and behaviours of new generations. By synthesising EO with farmer mentality, we theorise and inform how to re-educate future generations in responsible and sustainable farm businesses.

scholarly journals The determinants of recent soybean expansion in Mato Grosso, Brazil

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-191
Author(s):  
Otávio Lemos de Melo Celidonio ◽  
Liane S. Werner ◽  
Juliana Dias Bernardes Gil
Keyword(s):  
Policy Design ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Statistical Modelling ◽  
Environmental Conservation ◽  
Mato Grosso ◽  
Agricultural Growth ◽  
High Conservation ◽  
Effective Policy ◽  
Agricultural Producer

Understanding what drives, catalyzes or constraints land use change in the Brazilian agricultural frontier is a condition for effective policy design at the local level, which in turn might have implications for food production, environmental conservation and greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. We analyzed the process of agricultural expansion observed in the state of Mato Grosso, the country’s largest agricultural producer, by mapping and quantifying the incorporation of new farming areas and the conversion of existing ones into mechanized soybean fields at the farm-level. Through statistical modelling we also investigated the influence of key economic, biophysical, environmental and logistics variables on this process while accounting for recent changes in the Brazilian environmental legislation. We found that the area converted to soybean production increased almost 1.5 million hectares between 2009 and 2013, more than 70% of which in farms that already had some soybean in previous years. By comparing the explanatory power of eight regression models involving different groups of variables, we found that soybean expansion is strongly associated with the presence of other soybean fields and warehouses within 50-100 km. The model with the largest explanatory power suggests that soybean expansion is also likely to occur in areas of high conservation value. Finally, the sensitivity of soybean expansion to soybean prices indicated the potential for further agricultural growth in Mato Grosso while highlighting how crucial smart logistics investments are for regional development with environmental protection.

scholarly journals Reforms in Times of Crisis: Notes on the Greek Policy Making from Bankruptcy to COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (31) ◽  
pp. 33
Author(s):  
Ioannis Balampanidis ◽  
Sotiria Liakaki
Keyword(s):  
Policy Making ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Quality Criteria ◽  
Legislative Process ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Public Health Crisis ◽  
Better Regulation ◽  
Effective Policy ◽  
The One ◽  
Objective Being

In this paper, an in-depth quantitative and qualitative analysis of the “emergency” regulation in Greece over the years of acute economic crisis and up to the COVID-19 public health crisis is performed, to examine if this kind of regulation has been too extended and whether it undermined any effective policy design. According to our working hypothesis, the “fast-track” legislation highlights the fragmented and somewhat erratic way of policymaking in Greece, while it also affirms the country’s limited capacity to properly initiate and implement reforms. Thus, the paper focuses on the collection and evaluation of the legislative corpus during the 2009-2021 period; its objective being, on the one hand, to evaluate whether and how much each government resorted to the invocation of urgency and on the other hand to examine the documentation and description of the legislative process vis-àvis the imperatives and quality criteria of Better Regulation and EvidenceBased Policy Making. At the same time, the article focuses on legislative texts of the 2020-2021 COVID-19 health crisis period. It will showcase the latter as an additional trigger aggravating the “urgency” element of regulation, transforming it into a persistent feature of Greek policymaking. Ergo, we examine methods and practices at the international level, focusing especially on the Evidence-Based Policy Making paradigm. Based on the analysis of the crisis regulation and international EBPM best practices, the paper concludes with key recommendations for an effective policymaking procedure, dependent on the establishment of an integrated Center of Government in Greece.

scholarly journals Social determinants of health related to stay-at-home order adherence and social distancing attitudes among a diverse Deep South population

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Lemacks ◽  
Tammy Greer ◽  
Sermin Aras ◽  
Laurie Abbott ◽  
Darlene Willis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Medical Care ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Social Values ◽  
Life Stage ◽  
Deep South ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Number Of Children ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Effective Policy ◽  
At Home

Abstract Objective To describe COVID-19 related symptoms and medical care experienced in the first six months of the pandemic as well as stay-at-home order adherence, and attitudes related to COVID-19 risk and social distancing among a diverse sample of adults in the Deep South. Methods Survey data were collected from 411 Louisiana and Mississippi residents for three weeks in June 2020 through social media. Results Over half (52.5%) of participants who experienced COVID-19 related symptoms (with 41.5% experiencing at least one symptom) did not feel the severity of symptoms warranted seeking medical care. 91.6% of the Deep South adults visited certain places or did activities where visiting or gathering with other people was involved during stay-at-home mandates. Religiosity/spirituality, age, education, number of children in the home, attitudes related to COVID-19 risk of complications and social distancing were related to the greater/lesser likelihood of stay-at-home order adherence. Conclusions Various cultural and contextual factors were related to stay-at-home order adherence. Understanding how social values, life stage, socioeconomic, and geographic factors influence stay-at-home order adherence would lead to more effective policy design to improve population adherence.

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