scholarly journals Do Democracies Have Different Public Policies than Nondemocracies?

2004 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Casey B Mulligan ◽  
Ricard Gil ◽  
Xavier Sala-i-Martin
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Public Policies ◽  
Political Leadership ◽  
Policy Preference ◽  
The Political ◽  
Voting Theory ◽  
The Public ◽  
Preference Intensity ◽  
Enhance Efficiency

Estimates of democracy's effect on the public sector are obtained from comparisons of 142 countries over the years 1960–90. Based on three tenets of voting theory – that voting mutes policy preference intensity, political power is equally distributed in democracies, and the form of voting processes is important—we expect democracy to affect policies that redistribute, or economically favor the political leadership, or enhance efficiency. We do not find such differences. Instead democracy is correlated with policies that limit competition for public office. Alternative modeling approaches emphasize the degree of competition, and deemphasize the form or even existence of voting processes.

scholarly journals Condições para avaliação de resultados em políticas públicas: um debate sobre o papel da institucionalidade

2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 433-447
Author(s):  
Lucia de Fatima Nascimento de Queiroz ◽  
Mauro Guilherme Maidana Capelari
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Organizational Context ◽  
Public Policies ◽  
The Political ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
The Public ◽  
Outcomes Evaluation ◽  
The Subject

Abstract The goals of this analysis are (i) to offer elements of reflection to the actors who design and implement public policies; (ii) to keep the debate on outcomes evaluation alight; (iii) to contribute toward integrating the debate on evaluation to the complexity of actions in the public sector. This theoretical essay researched works published on the subject from 1979 to 2019. The investigation of the approaches offered by the selected authors allowed identifying variables that are relevant to the analysis of public policies. The variables are expressed in the influences of institutional trajectories, actors, and organizational context. The analysis brings the following concluions: (i) the link between institutionality and the capacity to conduct results evaluations in public policies deserves attention in future studies; (ii) the debate on the topic can be strengthened by analyses that consider not only the decisions adopted, but also the rules, norms and strategies that define the political-institutional scene in which public policies are implemented.

scholarly journals Conditions for outcomes evaluation in public policies: a debate on the role of institutionality

2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 433-447
Author(s):  
Lucia de Fatima Nascimento de Queiroz ◽  
Mauro Guilherme Maidana Capelari
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Organizational Context ◽  
Public Policies ◽  
The Political ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
The Public ◽  
Outcomes Evaluation ◽  
The Subject

Abstract The goals of this analysis are (i) to offer elements of reflection to the actors who design and implement public policies; (ii) to keep the debate on outcomes evaluation alight; (iii) to contribute toward integrating the debate on evaluation to the complexity of actions in the public sector. This theoretical essay researched works published on the subject from 1979 to 2019. The investigation of the approaches offered by the selected authors allowed identifying variables that are relevant to the analysis of public policies. The variables are expressed in the influences of institutional trajectories, actors, and organizational context. The analysis brings the following concluions: (i) the link between institutionality and the capacity to conduct results evaluations in public policies deserves attention in future studies; (ii) the debate on the topic can be strengthened by analyses that consider not only the decisions adopted, but also the rules, norms and strategies that define the political-institutional scene in which public policies are implemented.

Cultivating the Art of Anxiety: Securitising Culture in China

China Report ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 000944552110470
Author(s):  
Rudolf Fürst
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Minorities ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
Political Leadership ◽  
The State ◽  
Public Communication ◽  
The Political ◽  
Xi Jinping ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Security Concern

Deepening globalisation and worldwide availability of free information and ideas raise concerns of the communist China’s political leadership about the stability of the regime and the sustainability of the state ideological orthodoxy. Therefore, the state’s tightening control of the public communication to curtail the domestic criticism and occasional public discontent is becoming framed and legitimised in terms of cultural security as a non-traditional security concern. This study argues that the restrictive impacts of the politicisation of culture in the centralised agenda of President Xi Jinping reinvigorate China’s anti-Western narratives and attitudes. The research focuses on the state’s cultural security-related and applicable strategy in the political and institutional agenda and media. Moreover, the study also traces the state cultural security policy in the field of the civic and non-governmental sector, religious and ethnic minorities policy, literature, film and audiovisual sectors. The findings assess the concern that the intellectually anachronistic, self-restraining and internationally hostile policy devaluates China’s cultural potential and complexity.

A Discussion of Katherine J. Cramer's The Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scott Walker

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 521-522
Author(s):  
Christina Wolbrecht
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Republican Party ◽  
Lower Class ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Language ◽  
Thick Description ◽  
The Public ◽  
Interpretive Theory

The policies of Republican Governor Scott Walker have come to symbolize a resurgent assault on the public sector, and on public employee unions in particular, by the Republican Party. The fact that this is happening in Wisconsin, the state that in the last century was considered the “laboratory of Progressivism,” makes the politics surrounding these policies all the more compelling. In The Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scott Walker, Katherine J. Cramer analyzes the “politics of resentment” surrounding these developments. Employing an ethnographic “method of listening,” Cramer furnishes thick description of the political language employed by rural Wisconsinites, and proceeds to develop an interpretive theory of “political resentment” that illuminates the reasons why lower-class citizens so strongly oppose public policies seeking to offset social and economic inequality. The book is important methodologically and politically. We have thus invited a range of social and political scientists to comment on the book as a work of political science and as a diagnosis of the current political moment.

Democratic care ‘for all’ and trade-offs: the public solution, civil society and the market

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-89
Author(s):  
Helena Olofsdotter Stensöta
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Access To Care ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Care Ethics ◽  
The Political ◽  
Publicly Funded ◽  
Care Needs ◽  
The Public ◽  
Care Recipients ◽  
Trade Offs

Scholarly discussions on the political power of care and care ethics have considered democratic notions such as how care recipients can make their voices heard, but the problem has recently been expanded to include how care needs can be met in a manner consistent with democratic commitments to justice, equality and freedom for all, which addresses equal access to care. Assessing the possibilities to meet this requirement shows different trade-offs in civil society, the market and publicly funded solutions. It seems that the ideals of care ethics, such as democratic access to care, sit more comfortably with publicly funded care.

A Discussion of Katherine J. Cramer's The Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scott Walker

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 523-524
Author(s):  
Jeffrey R. Dudas
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Republican Party ◽  
Lower Class ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Language ◽  
Thick Description ◽  
The Public ◽  
Interpretive Theory

The policies of Republican Governor Scott Walker have come to symbolize a resurgent assault on the public sector, and on public employee unions in particular, by the Republican Party. The fact that this is happening in Wisconsin, the state that in the last century was considered the “laboratory of Progressivism,” makes the politics surrounding these policies all the more compelling. In The Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scott Walker, Katherine J. Cramer analyzes the “politics of resentment” surrounding these developments. Employing an ethnographic “method of listening,” Cramer furnishes thick description of the political language employed by rural Wisconsinites, and proceeds to develop an interpretive theory of “political resentment” that illuminates the reasons why lower-class citizens so strongly oppose public policies seeking to offset social and economic inequality. The book is important methodologically and politically. We have thus invited a range of social and political scientists to comment on the book as a work of political science and as a diagnosis of the current political moment.

THE IMPORTANCE OF PROPERTY ASSET MANAGEMENT IN THE SPANISH PUBLIC SECTOR

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Desiree Sandoica Paris ◽  
Manuel Soler Severino
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Asset Management ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Cycles ◽  
Electoral Cycle ◽  
Historical Heritage ◽  
Under Construction ◽  
Term Management

There are public entities that possess in their hands multiple property assets, that are difficult to manage, being, in many cases, buildings that are considered icons that contribute to the character of their surroundings or that take part of our historical heritage or have some kind of protection. It is difficult for the private sector to manage these assets, if in the public sector, we add the electoral cycle, the problems increase. At a public level, it is more complicated, since it should be understood that the planning of property assets and delivery do not correspond to the political cycles. In addition, policies change once established, perhaps with the development under construction, will inevitably have serious consequences on: the planning, cost and alignment of the building with the final needs of the asset. Therefore, it is important for all the stakeholders to realize that an approach is needed for the long-term management of property asset portfolios. To achieve this goal, we have developed a structured and programmed approach of Property Asset Management adapted to the public sector, in order to provide the best solutions.

Exploring citizens’ judgments about the legitimacy of public policies on refugees

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 355-369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria-José Canel ◽  
Evandro Samuel Oliveira ◽  
Vilma Luoma-aho
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Public Diplomacy ◽  
Intangible Assets ◽  
Public Policies ◽  
Research Strategy ◽  
Intangible Asset ◽  
International Crisis ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Focus Group Research

Purpose The purpose of this paper is threefold: to introduce a theoretical frame regarding the meaning of legitimacy as an intangible asset of the public sector; to test a way of operationalizing legitimacy typologies that allows exploring and comparing how citizens from two countries evaluate the legitimacy of public policies; and to suggest implications for governments’ legitimacy-building strategies in shared international crisis, such as the refugees coming from the Syrian region. Design/methodology/approach Building on Suchman’s typology, it was defined and categorized different types of legitimacy into concrete measurable, communication related statements concerning consequential, procedural, structural and personal. For the illustrative example, four focus groups were conducted in two different European societies as a mean to have two poles of comparison. Findings The paper reports current understanding of legitimacy by citizens, discusses how different legitimacy types might demand different communication and public diplomacy approaches. The basis for hypothesis for further research on how governments should build legitimacy during emerging societal issues such as immigration policies is set. Practical implications It proposes a typology and its operationalization, discusses how communication might shape legitimacy and profiles the challenge governments have in building it. Within a public diplomacy context, it brings clues for new strategies to the challenge of explaining policies on international crisis combining the tension of domestic with foreign publics. Originality/value There is little research so far in search for clues for communication strategies for the legitimacy of policies on the 2015 European refugee’s crisis. This contributes to the emerging area of intangible assets in the public sector and tests a focus-group research strategy with both hermeneutical and pragmatic aims. Combine public diplomacy theory with public sector intangible assets theory to respond to the tension of internal and external public demands.

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