scholarly journals Dealing With Conflicting Values in Policy Experiments: A New Pragmatist Approach

2022 ◽  
pp. 009539972110693
Author(s):  
Lieke Oldenhof ◽  
Rik Wehrens ◽  
Roland Bal
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Value Conflicts ◽  
Policy Experiments ◽  
Multiple Value ◽  
Over Time

Despite the “turn to values” in Public Administration, there is still a lack of empirical research in situ that investigates how various stakeholders in interaction develop strategies to deal with conflicting values over time. By using a new pragmatist approach, this article fills in this gap by investigating policy experiments in Dutch healthcare. The results show how professionals, citizens, and policymakers differently valued the worth of policy experiments, which manifested itself in multiple value conflicts. To deal with these conflicts, stakeholders adopted different strategies: colonization, compromising, prioritization, short-cutting, organizational enmeshing, and pilotification. The results show a shift from exclusive top-down strategies to inclusive multi-value strategies over time.

scholarly journals Ordering global governance complexes: The evolution of the governance complex for international civil aviation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mette Eilstrup-Sangiovanni
Keyword(s):  
Global Governance ◽  
International Institutions ◽  
Historical Data ◽  
Civil Aviation ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Governance Systems ◽  
Governance Effectiveness ◽  
Political Agents ◽  
Over Time

AbstractMany observers worry that growing numbers of international institutions with overlapping functions undermine governance effectiveness via duplication, inconsistency and conflict. Such pessimistic assessments may undervalue the mechanisms available to states and other political agents to reduce conflictual overlap and enhance inter-institutional synergy. Drawing on historical data I examine how states can mitigate conflict within Global Governance Complexes (GGCs) by dissolving or merging existing institutions or by re-configuring their mandates. I further explore how “order in complexity” can emerge through bottom-up processes of adaptation in lieu of state-led reform. My analysis supports three theoretical claims: (1) states frequently refashion governance complexes “top-down” in order to reduce conflictual overlap; (2) “top-down” restructuring and “bottom-up” adaptation present alternative mechanisms for ordering relations among component institutions of GGCs; (3) these twin mechanisms ensure that GGCs tend to (re)produce elements of order over time–albeit often temporarily. Rather than evolving towards ever-greater fragmentation and disorder, complex governance systems thus tend to fluctuate between greater or lesser integration and (dis)order.

scholarly journals Influence of Hydrogeochemistry on Tunnel Drainage in Evaporitic Formations: El Regajal Tunnel Case Study (Aranjuez, Spain)

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1505
Author(s):  
Ignacio Menéndez Pidal ◽  
Jose Antonio Mancebo Piqueras ◽  
Eugenio Sanz Pérez ◽  
Clemente Sáenz Sanz
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Civil Engineering ◽  
Saturation Index ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Under Construction ◽  
Underground Flow ◽  
Very High ◽  
Over Time

Many of the large number of underground works constructed or under construction in recent years are in unfavorable terrains facing unusual situations and construction conditions. This is the case of the subject under study in this paper: a tunnel excavated in evaporitic rocks that experienced significant karstification problems very quickly over time. As a result of this situation, the causes that may underlie this rapid karstification are investigated and a novel methodology is presented in civil engineering where the use of saturation indices for the different mineral specimens present has been crucial. The drainage of the rock massif of El Regajal (Madrid-Toledo, Spain, in the Madrid-Valencia high-speed train line) was studied and permitted the in-situ study of the hydrogeochemical evolution of water flow in the Miocene evaporitic materials of the Tajo Basin as a full-scale testing laboratory, that are conforms as a whole, a single aquifer. The work provides a novel methodology based on the calculation of activities through the hydrogeochemical study of water samples in different piezometers, estimating the saturation index of different saline materials and the dissolution capacity of the brine, which is surprisingly very high despite the high electrical conductivity. The circulating brine appears unsaturated with respect to thenardite, mirabilite, epsomite, glauberite, and halite. The alteration of the underground flow and the consequent renewal of the water of the aquifer by the infiltration water of rain and irrigation is the cause of the hydrogeochemical imbalance and the modification of the characteristics of the massif. These modifications include very important loss of material by dissolution, altering the resistance of the terrain and the increase of the porosity. Simultaneously, different expansive and recrystallization processes that decrease the porosity of the massif were identified in the present work. The hydrogeochemical study allows the evolution of these phenomena to be followed over time, and this, in turn, may facilitate the implementation of preventive works in civil engineering.

scholarly journals Does the Arc of Science Bend Towards Impact? Four Decades of Empirical Research Published in JADD Since the DSM-III

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Doehring
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Research ◽  
Research Funding ◽  
Basic Research ◽  
Intervention Research ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Community Impact ◽  
Population Impact ◽  
Community Based Programs ◽  
Over 40 Years ◽  
Over Time

AbstractThe present study explored the shift from understanding to intervention to population impact in the empirical research published in this journal at five points of time over 40 years since the release of DSM-III. Two-thirds of the more than 600 original studies identified involved basic research, a pattern that is consistent with previous analyses of research funding allocations and that did not change over time. One of every eight studies involved intervention research, which occurred in community-based programs only about one-quarter of the time. These gaps in intervention research and community impact did not improve over time. The findings underscore the need to broaden the training and experience of researchers, and to re-consider priorities for research funding and publication.

scholarly journals In Situ Production of Zoospores by Five Species of Phytophthora in Aqueous Environments for Use as Inocula

Plant Disease ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 98 (4) ◽  
pp. 551-558 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. A. Ridge ◽  
S. N. Jeffers ◽  
W. C. Bridges ◽  
S. A. White
Keyword(s):  
Laboratory Experiment ◽  
Constructed Wetlands ◽  
Aquatic Plant ◽  
Phytophthora Cinnamomi ◽  
Soil Extract ◽  
Greenhouse Experiment ◽  
Zoospore Release ◽  
Aqueous Environments ◽  
Over Time

The goal of this study was to develop a procedure that could be used to evaluate the potential susceptibility of aquatic plants used in constructed wetlands to species of Phytophthora commonly found in nurseries. V8 agar plugs from actively growing cultures of three or four isolates of Phytophthora cinnamomi, P. citrophthora, P. cryptogea, P. nicotianae, and P. palmivora were used to produce inocula. In a laboratory experiment, plugs were placed in plastic cups and covered with 1.5% nonsterile soil extract solution (SES) for 29 days, and zoospore presence and activity in the solution were monitored at 2- or 3-day intervals with a rhododendron leaf disk baiting bioassay. In a greenhouse experiment, plugs of each species of Phytophthora were placed in plastic pots and covered with either SES or Milli-Q water for 13 days during both summer and winter months, and zoospore presence in the solutions were monitored at 3-day intervals with the baiting bioassay and by filtration. Zoospores were present in solutions throughout the 29-day and 13-day experimental periods but consistency of zoospore release varied by species. In the laboratory experiment, colonization of leaf baits decreased over time for some species and often varied among isolates within a species. In the greenhouse experiment, bait colonization decreased over time in both summer and winter, varied among species of Phytophthora in the winter, and was better in Milli-Q water. Zoospore densities in solutions were greater in the summer than in the winter. Decreased zoospore activities for some species of Phytophthora were associated with prolonged temperatures below 13 or above 30°C in the greenhouse. Zoospores from plugs were released consistently in aqueous solutions for at least 13 days. This procedure can be used to provide in situ inocula for the five species of Phytophthora used in this study so that aquatic plant species can be evaluated for potential susceptibility.

scholarly journals Identifying Spatial and Temporal Variations in Concrete Bridges with Ground Penetrating Radar Attributes

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 1846
Author(s):  
Vivek Kumar ◽  
Isabel M. Morris ◽  
Santiago A. Lopez ◽  
Branko Glisic
Keyword(s):  
Compressive Strength ◽  
Ground Penetrating Radar ◽  
Material Properties ◽  
Temporal Variations ◽  
Concrete Bridges ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Variation ◽  
Reflected Waves ◽  
Ground Penetrating ◽  
Over Time

Estimating variations in material properties over space and time is essential for the purposes of structural health monitoring (SHM), mandated inspection, and insurance of civil infrastructure. Properties such as compressive strength evolve over time and are reflective of the overall condition of the aging infrastructure. Concrete structures pose an additional challenge due to the inherent spatial variability of material properties over large length scales. In recent years, nondestructive approaches such as rebound hammer and ultrasonic velocity have been used to determine the in situ material properties of concrete with a focus on the compressive strength. However, these methods require personnel expertise, careful data collection, and high investment. This paper presents a novel approach using ground penetrating radar (GPR) to estimate the variability of in situ material properties over time and space for assessment of concrete bridges. The results show that attributes (or features) of the GPR data such as raw average amplitudes can be used to identify differences in compressive strength across the deck of a concrete bridge. Attributes such as instantaneous amplitudes and intensity of reflected waves are useful in predicting the material properties such as compressive strength, porosity, and density. For compressive strength, one alternative approach of the Maturity Index (MI) was used to estimate the present values and compare with GPR estimated values. The results show that GPR attributes could be successfully used for identifying spatial and temporal variation of concrete properties. Finally, discussions are presented regarding their suitability and limitations for field applications.

Precarity Unbound

2007 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 319-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy Ettlinger
Keyword(s):  
Everyday Life ◽  
Final Section ◽  
Multiple Scales ◽  
Bush Administration ◽  
Radical Democracy ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Hardt And Negri ◽  
Global Events ◽  
Time Periods ◽  
Over Time

Departing from tendencies to bound precarity in particular time periods and world regions, this article develops an expansive view of precarity over time and across space. Beyond effects of specific global events and macroscale structures, precarity inhabits the microspaces of everyday life. However, people attempt to disengage the stress of precarious life by constructing the illusion of certainty. Reflexive denial of precarious life entails essentialist strategies that implicitly or explicitly classify and homogenize people and phenomena, legitimize the constructed boundaries, and in the process aim at eliminating difference and possibilities for negotiation; the tension between these goals and material realities helps explain misrepresentations that can be catastrophic at multiple scales, re-creating precarity. Reactions to 9/11 by the Bush administration represent a case in point of reflexive denial of precarity through strategies that created illusions of certainty with deleterious results. Normatively, the paradox of precarious life and reflexive denials prompts questions as to how urges for certainty in the context of precarity might be constructively channeled. the author approaches this challenge in the final section by drawing from a nexus of concerns about post-Habermasian radical democracy, individual thought and feeling, and network dynamics. Whereas Hardt and Negri reverse the direction of the Foucauldian concept of biopower from top-down to bottom-up, the author draws from Foucault's concept of governmentality in relation to resistance to imagine a cooperative politics operating within as well as across scales.

scholarly journals Material efficiency: from top-down steering to tailor-made governance

2013 ◽  
Vol 371 (1986) ◽  
pp. 20110564 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Cramer
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Implementation Process ◽  
System Change ◽  
First Century ◽  
Transition Management ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Material Efficiency ◽  
The Government ◽  
Role Of The Government

Material efficiency is one of the major challenges facing our society in the twenty-first century. Research can help to understand how we can make the transition towards a material-efficient society. This study focuses on the role of the government in such transition processes. Use is made of literature in the field of public administration and innovation literature, particularly transition management. On the basis of three Dutch examples (plastics, e-waste and bio-energy), the complex system change towards a material-efficient society will be reflected upon. These case studies underline the need for a tailor-made governance approach instead of a top-down government approach to enhance material efficiency in practice. The role of the government is not restricted to formulating policies and then leaving it up to other actors to implement these policies. Instead, it is a continuous interplay between the different actors during the whole implementation process. As such, the government's role is to steer the development in the desired direction and orchestrate the process from beginning to end. In order to govern with a better compass, scientifically underpinned guiding principles and indicators are needed. This is a challenge for researchers both in public administration and in transition management.

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