scholarly journals Culture(s) of control: Political dynamics in cannabis policy in England & Wales and the Netherlands

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 566-585 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Brewster
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Policy Process ◽  
Comparative Research ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Prima Facie ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Political Dynamics ◽  
Cannabis Policy ◽  
Relations Of Power

This paper draws upon an empirical comparative study of policy-making in England & Wales and the Netherlands. Recent changes in cannabis policy prima facie indicate some convergence towards a toughening of approaches, thereby suggesting commonalities in control cultures. However, analysis of findings illuminate significant differences in the policy process between these jurisdictions which contribute towards continued divergence towards small-scale supply and consumption of cannabis. It is argued that this can be understood and explained through an understanding of differences in both political institutions and cultures, and in organizational responsibilities and relations of power. Consequentially, this further supports the notion that comparative research and theorizing needs to take account of mechanisms and features which lead to variegated control cultures.

Planetary gentrification and urban (re)development

2019 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Loretta Lees
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Urban Redevelopment ◽  
Urban Transformation ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Income Groups ◽  
Low Income Groups

Abstract Gentrification is no-longer, if it ever was, a small scale process of urban transformation. Gentrification globally is more often practised as large scale urban redevelopment. It is state-led or state-induced. The results are clear – the displacement and disenfranchisement of low income groups in favour of wealthier in-movers. So, why has gentrification come to dominate policy making worldwide and what can be done about it?

scholarly journals Deepening and Connecting Democratic Processes. The Opportunities and Pitfalls of Mini-Publics in Renewing Democracy

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (11) ◽  
pp. 236
Author(s):  
Ank Michels ◽  
Harmen Binnema
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Random Sampling ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Specific Design ◽  
Fundamental Nature ◽  
The Core ◽  
Equal Chance ◽  
Political Impact ◽  
Selection Of

In recent decades, so-called “mini-publics” have been organized in many countries to renew policy making and democracy. One characteristic of mini-publics is that the selection of the participants is based on random sampling or sortition. This gives each member of the community an equal chance of being selected. Another feature is that deliberation forms the core of the process of how proposals are developed. In this paper, we investigate the possibilities and challenges of sortition and deliberation in the context of the call for a deepening of democracy and more citizen engagement in policy making. Based on extensive research on citizens’ forums (G1000) in The Netherlands, we show the potential of mini-publics, but a number of shortcomings as well. Some of these are related to the specific design of the G1000, while others are of a more fundamental nature and are due to the contradictory democratic values that deliberative mini-publics try to combine. One of these concerns the tension between the quality of deliberation and political impact. We conclude that combining institutional approaches could be a way out to deal with these tensions and a step forward to both deepen and connect democratic processes.

scholarly journals Assessing the Impact of Deliberative Democratic Initiatives at the Local Level: A Framework for Analysis

2018 ◽  
Vol 51 (5) ◽  
pp. 749-769 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ank Michels ◽  
Harmen Binnema
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Local Politics ◽  
Public Policies ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Direct Impact ◽  
Indirect Impact ◽  
The Impact

Although deliberative reforms have been proposed to strengthen democracy, little is known about their impact on politics, public policies, and society. This article develops a framework to systematically assess this impact, differentiating between direct and indirect forms of impact. We apply this framework to two cases of deliberative citizens’ summits in the Netherlands. Our analysis reveals that these summits have a limited direct impact on local politics and policy making, but a relatively strong indirect impact on the local community. The article also discusses some conditions that mediate the impact of the forum.

scholarly journals The European Parliament and the Layered Politicization of the External Dimension of the Common Fisheries Policy

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 237-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hubert Zimmermann
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Policy Process ◽  
Empirical Test ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Veto Players ◽  
Political Dynamics ◽  
Fisheries Policy ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
The Common ◽  
Policy Fields

When the Lisbon Treaty entered into effect, the European Parliament became a core player in the decision-making processes of the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and its external dimensions. This new role suggested a shift towards stronger politicization in what had previously been a rather technocratic policy field. However, the CFP is not yet marked by a clear and consistent level of politicization. I use the concept of ‘layered politicization’ to explain this pattern. Although it is not comparable to the degree of political controversy shaping fully politicized policy fields, some similar political dynamics can be observed. Among them is a transformation in the policy process due to higher ratification requirements; a higher likelihood of political deadlock resulting from an increasing number of veto-players; and a strengthening of the contested legitimacy of EU decision-making. An empirical test of these theoretical propositions is provided here in the form of two case studies; the negotiation of Fisheries Partnership Agreements with Morocco and Mauritania.

Parliamentary Committees

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingvar Mattson
Keyword(s):  
Policy Process ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Political Conflict ◽  
Minority Government ◽  
Policy Making Process ◽  
Swedish Politics ◽  
Opposition Parties

This chapter describes the role of the Swedish parliament, and parliamentary committees in particular, in the policy-making process. The role depends on the parliamentary situation: whether there is a majority government or minority government in power. In essence, the chapter shows that Parliament mainly approves governmental bills and seldom initiates legislation. It is an arena for both political conflict and consensus. Political negotiations between governmental parties and opposition parties occur in which the opposition has influence on parliamentary decisions in the policy process. Due to increased conflict between the two blocs in Swedish politics, the importance of the committees as grounds for negotiating compromises has, however, decreased.

The Portuguese ‘New State’ and the Diffusion of Authoritarian Models in Interwar Latin America

2021 ◽  
pp. 002200942110660
Author(s):  
António Costa Pinto
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Comparative Research ◽  
Political System ◽  
Radical Right ◽  
System Model ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Power Capacity ◽  
Reform Processes

As an authoritarian ‘gravity centre’ in the interwar period, the Portuguese New State was not the product of strong propaganda or power capacity. Its force of attraction derived, essentially, from having an international means of diffusion: important segments of the Catholic Church's organizations, its associated intellectual politicians, and particularly from having led a corporatist and authoritarian political system model. How and why did Salazar's New State inspire some of the new political institutions proposed by radical right-wing elites or created by many of these regimes? This article tackles this issue by adopting a transnational and comparative research approach, paying particular attention to the primary mediators of its diffusion and analyzing institutional reform processes in selected processes of crises and transitions to authoritarianism in Latin America.

Conclusion: reform and innovation

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samantha A. Shave
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Policy Process ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Policy Transfer ◽  
Process Approach ◽  
National Legislation ◽  
Poor Laws ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Reform And Innovation

The first half of this chapter examines the implications of these findings for our understandings of several areas of the poor laws: local ideas and policy transfer, national legislation and policy-making. The second half of the conclusion focuses on the influences upon the development of the poor laws. It examines the role of stakeholders and key actors, each with distinct roles in the policy process across both the old and New Poor Law eras. The chapter finishes by discussing more broadly how the policy process approach can be applied to understand reform and innovation in the broader field of social and public policy.

Civic Cultures and Skills in European Digital Rights Campaigning

2014 ◽  
pp. 273-295
Author(s):  
Yana Breindl
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Technical Skills ◽  
Digital Rights ◽  
Telecommunications Regulation ◽  
Eu Legislation ◽  
Copyright Enforcement ◽  
Gain Access ◽  
Law Making

Technical skills are increasingly necessary to successfully intervene in policy-making, especially when dealing with technical matters such as Internet or telecommunications regulation. Skills are rooted in experience and cultural practices. Dahlgren's concept of civic cultures is used in this chapter to investigate the cultural underpinnings of the emergent European digital rights movement that has repeatedly targeted EU legislation on copyright enforcement, software patents, and the Internet. The values and identity of the movement are investigated along with the way knowledge and information are processed and trust established through repeated practices in a variety of online and offline spaces. The analysis illustrates how digitally skilled actors can substantially affect policy-making by disrupting the course of parliamentary law-making at the European level. However, technical skills need to be complemented by social and political competencies to gain access and provide convincing input to political institutions that increasingly rely on extra-institutional expertise.

Four planes of social being: more connections

2021 ◽  
pp. 127-144
Author(s):  
Priscilla Alderson
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Interdisciplinary Research ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Interpersonal Relations ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Mortality And Morbidity ◽  
Critical Realist ◽  
Scale Data

Adverse mortality and morbidity effects of the huge oil spills in Bayelsa State, Niger Delta, illustrate the value of critical realism’s four planes of social being for organising complex findings and for combining large- and small-scale data sets. These planes cover every aspect of being human: bodies in relation to nature; interpersonal relations; larger social relations and structures; and inner human being in the mental-social-embodied personality. Chapter 5 also considers critical realist approaches to managing data-analysis: laminated systems analysis; interdisciplinary research and policy-making; critical realist theories about interdisciplinarity; overcoming barriers to interdisciplinarity, and interdisciplinary commitments. The detailed examples are about improving the physical health of people with a diagnosis of serious mental illness, and feminist-informed counselling after sexual assault.

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