Agenda Setting and Political Control in India’s Sanitation Policy Subsystem

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 188-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.C. Martel
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Agenda Setting ◽  
Governance Structure ◽  
Political Freedom ◽  
Policy Preferences ◽  
Political Control ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Policy Subsystem

India has the worst sanitation situation in the world. Over the past century, Indian political leaders have made public statements expressing the intensity of the problem, deeming sanitation more important than political freedom, independence and religion. Recently, two prominent political parties—National Congress and Bharatiya Janata—argued about who deserves credit for improving India’s cleanliness. In response, this article is guided by the question: Does it matter which political institutions are supporting sanitation improvements in India? Using two theoretical lenses, agenda setting and political control of bureaucracy, this article discusses (1) the problem, politics and policies in India’s sanitation policy subsystem, and (2) mechanisms to align policy preferences across levels of government. Utilizing an agenda setting conceptual framework, the discussion highlights the role of international organizations in problem identification; party ideology and values and capacity issues that challenge the policy arena. The discussion turns to alignment of policy preferences across India’s multi-level governance structure, pointing to monitoring to reduce principal-agent problems, drawing from political control of bureaucracy theory. Given that national political leaders observably support sanitation, this article proposes that aligning policy preferences between national political institutions and local implementation agencies is imperative for achieving sanitation policy goals in federalist India.

scholarly journals Policy Liberalism and Political Institutions

2010 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Kim Chon Kyun
Keyword(s):  
Job Performance ◽  
Social Welfare ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Policy Preferences ◽  
Party Affiliation ◽  
Welfare Programs ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Welfare Benefits ◽  
Welfare Expenditures ◽  
Job Approval

This paper examines the impacts of political institutions, especially a president`s party affiliation and job performance, on the generosity of social welfare benefits, which are one of the characteristics of policy liberalism, through an investigation of U.S. social welfare expenditures. Findings indicate that a president`s party affiliation is a key predictor of his policy preferences, agendas, and policy liberalism or conservatism despite institutional and political constraints, whereas a president`s job performance, measured by either success on congressional votes or job approval, is not linked to the generosity of social welfare benefits. In an age of global capitalism undergoing radical changes in the political and economic environment, however, a president`s party affiliation is not a crucial indicator of policy preferences or policy liberalism/conservatism. Additionally, political leaders` policy preferences and tools appear to determine more significantly the destiny of welfare programs than a president`s job performance or economic conditions like unemployment.

scholarly journals Ethnicity, Exclusion, and Exams: Education Policy and Politics in Burundi from the Independent Republics to the Civil War (1966–1993)

2021 ◽  
pp. 000203972110235
Author(s):  
Emily Dunlop
Keyword(s):  
Education Policy ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Important Case ◽  
Potential Mechanism ◽  
Social Hierarchies ◽  
Ethnic Inequalities ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Inequality In Education ◽  
Perceptions Of Inequality ◽  
Ethnicity And Politics

Education policy can embed ethnic inequalities in a country. Education in Burundi, with its historically exclusive political institutions and education, represents an important case for understanding these interactions. In this article, I interview twelve Burundians about how they experienced and perceived ethnicity and politics in their schooling from 1966 to 1993. I argue that education contributed to tangible and perceived social hierarchies based on ethnic inequalities. I show that this exclusion reflected both overt and covert policy goals, through proxies used to identify ethnicity in schools and through the exclusive nature of national exams at the time, which promoted members of the Tutsi minority at the expense of the majority Hutus. This study has implications for understanding how perceptions of inequality in education manifest as grievances against the state. It sheds light on the importance of understanding covert education policy as a potential mechanism for generating exclusion and contributing to conflict.

scholarly journals Limits and benefits of participatory agenda setting for research and innovation

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Niklas Gudowsky
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Agenda Setting ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
Societal Challenges ◽  
Social Shaping ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Societal Problems ◽  
Current Governance

AbstractCurrent governance of science, technology and innovation (STI) faces tough challenges to meet demands arising from complex issues such as societal challenges or targets, e.g. the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. For decades, scholars and civil society institutions have called for increased public participation in STI, and political institutions have been taking up the request to integrate engagement activities into their decision-making processes, at least in the form of consultations. Moving engagement in research and development further upstream makes early interventions and social shaping of technologies and innovation possible. Since research has also faced repeated requests towards taking on more responsibility for solving societal problems, engagement processes thus help in shaping research. Here, the earliest point for possible engagement can be found within the constituting phase of research agendas as topics, general lines of enquiry and targets are shaped in this phase. These are the boundaries in between which researchers later navigate. This article serves as introduction to this journal’s topical collection on participatory agenda setting for research and innovation (PASE). It provides a review of the literature on theory and practice of PASE activities, summarises the topical collection’s contributions regarding current international cases and analyses respective PASE limits and benefits, thereby promoting its conceptual and practical understanding.

How bureaucratic leadership shapes policy outcomes: partisan politics and affluent citizens’ incomes in the American states

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 305-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Berkowitz ◽  
George A. Krause
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Policy Preferences ◽  
Administrative Leadership ◽  
Policy Outcomes ◽  
Partisan Politics ◽  
State Governments ◽  
Electoral Institutions ◽  
American States ◽  
Policy Objectives ◽  
Executive Agency

AbstractWe maintain that political institutions’ policy objectives are best met under conditions when they are unified, and also when their administrative leadership is effective. We apply this argument to the understanding of how unified Democratic and Republican governments in the American states have influenced the incomes of affluent citizens. We find that affluent income gains occur under unified Republican state governments when compensation to executive agency heads is sufficiently high. These income gains are notable relative to both divided and unified partisan control of state governments. The evidence highlights the asymmetric role that bureaucratic leadership plays in attaining policy outcomes consistent with political institutions’ policy preferences, while underscoring the limits of electoral institutions to shape policy outcomes of their own accord. Efforts to lower the capacity of the administrative leadership constrain unified political institutions from converting their policy objectives into policy outcomes.

Regionalization of health services in Newfoundland and Labrador: perceptions of the planning, implementation and consequences of regional governance

2005 ◽  
Vol 10 (2_suppl) ◽  
pp. 12-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Doreen Neville ◽  
Gwynedd Barrowman ◽  
Brenda Fitzgerald ◽  
Stephen Tomblin
Keyword(s):  
Health Services ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Health Department ◽  
Governance Structure ◽  
Regional Governance ◽  
Senior Administrators ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Integration Of Services ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Senior Health

Objectives To describe the context and key drivers for regionalization of one provincial health care system in Canada; to document the original expectations of regionalization on governance and the extent to which these expectations were met; to identify the perceived successes and weaknesses of the process; and to examine the key issues and concerns that warrant further consideration and action in the future. Methods Forty-five CEO/senior administrator or senior health department officials in the period 1993-2001 were invited to participate, of whom 35 were interviewed (67% of senior health officials and 85% of CEOs/ senior administrators). Results For the most part, key informants felt that expectations of reform with respect to reduction in the number of boards and integration of services under each board's mandate did occur. However, ongoing financial restraint, failure to include the full range of health services under the regional board mandate (including physician and pharmaceutical services), uncertainty regarding the level of authority the regional boards had for decision-making, and unclear accountability mechanisms between the regional boards and the provincial Ministry of Health limited the extent to which broader expectations related to development of a population health focus, and improved continuity of care for individuals and families was achieved. Conclusions Implications for policy-makers were identified in four main areas: alignment between health policy goals and the governance structure; clarification of authority and accountability relationships; clarification of roles and responsibilities among all key actors; and strengthening of mechanisms that support accountability.

Bureaucracy and the Failure of Politics: Challenges to Democratic Governance

2019 ◽  
Vol 51 (10) ◽  
pp. 1576-1605 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth J. Meier ◽  
Mallory Compton ◽  
John Polga-Hecimovich ◽  
Miyeon Song ◽  
Cameron Wimpy
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Democratic Governance ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
The World ◽  
Quality Of Governance ◽  
Bureaucratic Reforms

Bureaucratic reforms worldwide seek to improve the quality of governance. In this article, we argue that the major governance failures are political, not bureaucratic, and the first step to better governance is to recognize the underlying political causes. Using illustrations from throughout the world, we contend that political institutions fail to provide clear policy goals, rarely allocate adequate resources to deal with the scope of the problems, and do not allow the bureaucracy sufficient autonomy in implementation. Rational bureaucratic responses to these problems, in turn, create additional governance problems that could have been avoided if political institutions perform their primary functions.

scholarly journals Nooit weer nie? ’n Teologies-etiese beoordeling van die idees oor politieke vryheid in Suid-Afrika sedert 1899

2000 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
J.M. Vorster
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Political Freedom ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Ethical Guidelines ◽  
Ethical Perspective ◽  
Boer War ◽  
Black Liberation ◽  
South African Society ◽  
Christian Leaders

Never again? A theological-ethical evaluation of ideas about political freedom in South Africa since 1899 Various conflicting concepts of political freedom and the process of liberation have played a major part in South African society over the past century. These concepts have inherently been influenced by theological-ethical guidelines given by prominent Christian leaders and churches. This article focuses on the conflicting concepts of freedom as they were defined from a theological-ethical perspective in the old republics of Transvaal and the Orange Free State during the Anglo-Boer war which started in 1899, the apartheid society since 1948 and in the Black Liberation struggle which culminated in the democracy of 1994. In every instance the theological-ethical presuppositions used in the formulation of each particular concept of freedom are defined and analysed. In conclusion attention is paid to the state of freedom in South Africa in 2000 and the church’s responsibility to contribute to the development of an ethos of human rights from an ecumenical theological-ethical foundation.

Hannah Arendt and the Ordinance of Time

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheldon S. Wolin
Keyword(s):  
Distributive Justice ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Hannah Arendt ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Political Leaders

This chapter discusses the theoretical ideas of Hannah Arendt. The corruptibility of politics was a constant theme in Arendt's thought and it served as the basis for a vision of politics that was radical and critical. Her radicalism had nothing to do with current ideologies. It was instead the classic radicalism that can be found in any of the great political theorists from Plato to Marx. The distinctive mark of the radicalism of the theoros is the claim that what most men most of the time take to be politics is not politics at all. The radical thrust of her claim lay in its denial that problems of distributive justice or socioeconomic equality are the main objects of political action, the essential stuff of politics, or the test of the quality of political institutions and political leaders.

Past Non-Dependency in the Twenty-first Century

2019 ◽  
pp. 107-119
Author(s):  
Anastassia V. Obydenkova ◽  
Alexander Libman
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Historical Perspective ◽  
Governance Structure ◽  
Political Islam ◽  
First Century ◽  
World War ◽  
Islamic World ◽  
Twenty First Century

This chapter aims to provide a different approach to the development of regional IOs since World War II, by singling out non-democratic tendencies in regionalism from a historical perspective. It explores differences between the functioning of DROs and NDROs over the last 70 years—from coerced organizations such as COMECON to modern alliances of autocrats. The chapter argues that the twenty-first-century NDROs (e.g. SCO) are different from those of the last half of the twentieth century (e.g. COMECON) in terms of membership composition, governance structure, and the characteristics discussed in earlier chapters. While historical NDROs were driven by ideologies such as Communism, in the main modern NDROs lack an ideological foundation (with the exception of ALBA and the Islamic world). The ideological foundation of Islamic ROs has changed—from pan-Arabism in the 1940s and 1950s to the dominance of various forms of political Islam and a focus on specific political institutions (e.g. the conservative rule of Gulf monarchies in the GCC).

Croatian Political Agendas

2019 ◽  
pp. 74-81
Author(s):  
Daniela Širinić ◽  
Dario Nikić Čakar
Keyword(s):  
Life Span ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Agenda Setting ◽  
Regime Change ◽  
Institutional Changes ◽  
Entire Life ◽  
Parliamentary System ◽  
The Government ◽  
Set Up ◽  
New Democracy

The Croatian Agendas Project is the newest member of the Comparative Agendas network. The project was set up to investigate agenda-setting of the main political institutions and organizations—political parties, the parliament, the government, and the president—in the last twenty-five years. The dataset’s coverage of the entire life span of a new democracy enables the comparison of agenda-setting between different stages of regime change, but also between large institutional changes such as the change from a semi-presidential to a parliamentary system of government. Finally the project is ultimately also seeking to contribute to comparative research agendas on these and related topics.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document