scholarly journals State–Voluntary Relations in Contemporary Welfare Systems: New Politics or Voluntary Action as Usual?

2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (4_suppl) ◽  
pp. 139S-158S
Author(s):  
Tracey M. Coule ◽  
Ellen Bennett

In this article, we analyze two landmark reviews of British voluntary action to cast a critical gaze on the recurrent claim that voluntarism is facing a new era of ever more turbulent welfare systems and dramatic changes in state–voluntary relations. Rather than representing a new era, we find the current climate may be more accurately considered a collage of past relations. By this, we mean a composition of reality that assembles different aspects of past realities to create a seemingly new era. This suggests that conventional discursive institutional accounts of policy change, which downplay the interrelated dynamics of stability and change, are inadequate for explaining the evolution of state–voluntary relations specifically and policy reform more broadly. Debates about public policy and the role to be played by voluntary action among scholarly and practitioner communities would be better served by greater understanding of the historical experience that has formed today’s institutions.

Author(s):  
Simone Baglioni ◽  
Stephen Sinclair

The introductory chapter outlines some of the major social changes (e.g. in demography, employment and labour markets) which pose significant challenges to established social welfare systems. It discusses how and why social innovation has emerged and been promoted as a response to these challenges. The chapter clarifies the meaning of social innovation by considering how it has been defined, and explains how it relates to innovation in technology and business, and how it differs from social enterprise. Examples of social innovations are provided which illustrate the wide range of activities and diverse forms they take. A typology is provided to classify these variants. The nature of innovation within public organisations is discussed (i.e. intrepreneurialism). The chapter concludes by setting out some of the questions which should be asked of social innovation in relation to social and public policy reform.


2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (14) ◽  
pp. 2643-2653 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Cullerton ◽  
Timothy Donnet ◽  
Amanda Lee ◽  
Danielle Gallegos

AbstractObjectiveTo progress nutrition policy change and develop more effective advocates, it is useful to consider real-world factors and practical experiences of past advocacy efforts to determine the key barriers to and enablers of nutrition policy change. The present review aimed to identify and synthesize the enablers of and barriers to public policy change within the field of nutrition.DesignElectronic databases were searched systematically for studies examining policy making in public health nutrition. An interpretive synthesis was undertaken.SettingInternational, national, state and local government jurisdictions within high-income, democratic countries.ResultsSixty-three studies were selected for inclusion. Numerous themes were identified explaining the barriers to and enablers of policy change, all of which fell under the overarching category of ‘political will’, underpinned by a second major category, ‘public will’. Sub-themes, including pressure from industry, neoliberal ideology, use of emotions and values, and being visible, were prevalent in describing links between public will, political will and policy change.ConclusionsThe frustration around lack of public policy change in nutrition frequently stems from a belief that policy making is a rational process in which evidence is used to assess the relative costs and benefits of options. The findings from the present review confirm that evidence is only one component of influencing policy change. For policy change to occur there needs to be the political will, and often the public will, for the proposed policy problem and solution. The review presents a suite of enablers which can assist health professionals to influence political and public will in future advocacy efforts.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniella Rahamim-Cohen ◽  
Sivan Gazit ◽  
Galit Perez ◽  
Barak Nada ◽  
Shay Ben Moshe ◽  
...  

Following the widespread vaccination program for COVID-19 carried out in Israel, a survey was conducted to preliminarily assess behavior changes in the vaccinated population, prior to the expected upcoming policy change as to mask wearing and social distancing regulation in Israel. 200 people answered at least one question pertaining to preventive behaviour. Among the respondents, 21.1% reported a decrease in mask wearing compared to 47.3% who reported a decrease in social distancing. There was no difference in these measures between the sexes. However, people under the age of 50 were more likely to decrease mask wearing (28.1%) and decrease social distancing (56.1%), as compared with people over the age of 50 (17.2% and 41.8%, respectively). Among health care workers, there was a minimal decrease in mask wearing (1/23 people) compared to a more widespread decrease in social distancing (10/23). These data suggest that preventive attitudes change following COVID-19 vaccination, with less adherence to social distancing as compared to mask wearing, and should be taken into account when planning public policy in the future.


Author(s):  
Ian Marsh

The starting point for this chapter is that Australia is a high-cost economy with a fading resources boom and a diminished domestic manufacturing sector. The chapter explores the fresh challenge that these structural developments present to public policy. It argues that this requires a shift from the dominant neo-classical policy paradigm, which has to date provided the intellectual muscle for a transformation of Australia's political economy. The chapter makes the case for policies framed to foster innovation and knowledge as the approach needed for Australia to succeed in an environment characterised by the new international distribution of manufacturing, the impact of new technologies, and the prevalence of global supply chains. To realise innovation-based economic renewal requires capacities for much more targeted interventions that engage business at cluster, sectoral, and/or regional levels. The chapter concludes by considering the obstacles to, and the possibilities for, policy change.


2020 ◽  
Vol 97 ◽  
pp. 104754 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mengyuan Jia ◽  
Yan Liu ◽  
Scott N. Lieske ◽  
Tian Chen

1982 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 375-384
Author(s):  
Patricia A. Hurley

If one were asked to describe the process of policy change in the United States in one word, that word would surely be ‘incremental’. Students of the Congressional process can point to a number of factors which account for delay in changes of policy; it is only recently that they have begun to examine the occasional departures from Congressional intractability in matter of public policy. This paper seeks to further our understanding of how internal legislative conditions can produce or inhibit policy change. While the first scholars to call attention to this phenomenon noted that policy changes followed critical realignments, others have made a more general case for the ability of Congress to pass important legislation, arguing that Congressional potential for policy change depends largely upon the interactive effects of both majority and minority size and unity. Policy changes have been enacted by those Congresses with large and/or cohesive majorities and small and/or disorganized minorities. These conditions often follow realigning elections, but occur at other times as well.


2006 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 739-766 ◽  
Author(s):  
JULIO RIOS-FIGUEROA ◽  
MATTHEW M. TAYLOR

This article offers a comparative perspective on judicial involvement in policy change in Latin America during the last decade and a half. Drawing on the literature on new institutionalism and the judicialisation of politics, and on case studies from Latin America's two largest countries, we propose a comparative framework for analysing the judicialisation of policy in the region. On the basis of this framework, we argue that institutional structure is a primary determinant of patterns of the judicialisation of policy. In particular, institutional characteristics of the legal system affect the way political actors fight to achieve their policy objectives and the kinds of public justifications used to defend policy reform.


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