Introduction

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hendrik Wagenaar ◽  
Helga Amesberger ◽  
Sietske Altink
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Local Policy ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Prostitution Policy ◽  
Policy Regimes ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
Public Policy Analysis

The introduction describes the historical involvement of the state in the regulation of prostitution. It introduces the concept of public policy and its neglect in the academic literature on prostitution. We argue that the literature avoids a systematic discussion of public policy by focusing on a host of other factors that shape prostitution in society, such as large extraneous influences, broad (national) policy regimes, international human rights governance, discourse, broad shifts in governmentality. Instead, it is the concerted actions of national and local policy makers in designing regulation that shape the different manifestations of prostitution: the places where it is practised, the type of prostitution that is prevalent in a society, and the position and rights of sex workers. The chapter describes the three goals of the book: to provide an overview and critique of how prostitution policy has been analysed; to provide a policy analytical approach that both recognizes the particular challenges of the field and applies the concepts and tools of public policy analysis; and to provide suggestions for how policy-makers can move forward in establishing a fairer and more humane policy.

Public Policy Making and Public Policy Analysis

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee S. Friedman
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
Policy Analysis ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
The United States ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Public Policy Analysis ◽  
Professional Class ◽  
The Many

This chapter reviews the development and growth of the policy-analytic profession. Historically, government decision makers have often called upon those with expertise to assist them in reaching their decisions. This chapter, however, concerns a new professional class of advisors that began developing during the 1950s in the United States. This new profession assists policy makers in understanding better their alternatives and relevant considerations for choosing among them. From here, the chapter offers some perspective on the research to date that has attempted to assess the effects of the profession—a perspective that emphasizes some important differences across the many types of governmental settings that utilize policy analysis, and the methodological difficulties that assessment efforts confront.

Quaking in their boots? Inaccurate perceptions of seismic hazard and public policy inaction

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
MATTHEW MOTTA ◽  
ANDREW ROHRMAN
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Policy Research ◽  
Opinion Dynamics ◽  
Earthquake Hazard ◽  
Local Policy ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Economic Productivity ◽  
Major Earthquake ◽  
Political Problem

AbstractFew Americans demand that their local policy-makers take action to address the effects of large earthquakes, even in ‘high-risk’ areas. This poses an important political problem. If policy-makers do not perceive a mandate to prepare for catastrophe, certain areas of the country may be vulnerable to loss of life and economic productivity. Why do Americans not demand more from their policy-makers? We propose a simple answer – many Americans do not accurately appraise the likelihood that they will experience a major earthquake. In a unique survey of West Coast adults, we compared respondents’ perceived likelihood of experiencing a major earthquake to their actual geocoded hazard. We uncover a wide disconnect between actual and perceived earthquake hazard, even in areas where earthquakes are comparatively more common. Critically, and in contrast to previous public policy research, we show that threats in the physical environment can shape policy opinion, but only under certain circumstances. We show that accurate appraisals of hazard significantly increase the likelihood that respondents will support preventative local policy measures. Our results shed new light on the opinion dynamics of public attitudes toward natural disasters and ameliorative policy efforts and highlight the policy importance of communicating earthquake hazard to at-risk constituencies.

Summary and conclusion

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hendrik Wagenaar ◽  
Helga Amesberger ◽  
Sietske Altink
Keyword(s):  
Sex Workers ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Prostitution Policy ◽  
Complex Process ◽  
And Control ◽  
Communication Lines

The final chapter of the book summarises its main results and conclusions. It formulates two insights. First, prostitution policy is fragile. Legalisation and decriminalisation are easily reversed, and revert back to criminalisation and heavy-handed regulation and control. This is a complex process that, triggered by the ever present sigma on prostitution and a dominant neo-abolitionist discourse, largely occurs at the local level, thereby deviating from, and even undoing, national policymaking. Second, without a detailed exposition and analysis of the design and implementation of prostitution policy at different scales of governance, statements about its nature or outcomes remain necessarily superficial and are at worst misleading. We conclude with the question: What can policy makers do to negotiate the complexity and unpredictability of the prostitution domain? Stimulating variation, facilitating new communication lines and selecting and promoting solutions that work are general strategies for effectively navigating such complexity. This requires the inclusion of stakeholders, particularly of more vulnerable groups such as sex workers, in policy formulation and implementation.

scholarly journals Entrepreneurial ecosystems in Poland: panacea, paper tiger or Pandora’s box?

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 319-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chay Brooks ◽  
Tim Vorley ◽  
Cristian Gherhes
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Entrepreneurial Activity ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Entrepreneurial Ecosystems ◽  
Practice Gap ◽  
Framework Conditions ◽  
Theory Practice Gap

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the role of public policy in the formation of entrepreneurial ecosystems in Poland. Design/methodology/approach The paper assumes a qualitative approach to researching and analysing how public policy enables and constrains the formation of entrepreneurial ecosystems. The authors conducted a series of focus groups with regional and national policy makers, enterprises and intermediaries in three Polish voivodeships (regions) – Malopolska, Mazowieckie and Pomorskie. Findings The paper finds that applying the entrepreneurial ecosystems approach is a challenging prospect for public policy characterised by a theory-practice gap. Despite the attraction of entrepreneurial ecosystems as a heuristic to foster entrepreneurial activity, the cases highlight the complexity of implementing the framework conditions in practice. As the Polish case demonstrates, there are aspects of entrepreneurial ecosystems that are beyond the immediate scope of public policy. Research limitations/implications The results challenge the view that the entrepreneurial ecosystems framework represents a readily implementable public policy solution to stimulate entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial growth. Insights are drawn from three regions, although by their nature these are predominantly city centric, highlighting the bounded geography of entrepreneurial ecosystems. Originality/value This paper poses new questions regarding the capacity of public policy to establish and extend entrepreneurial ecosystems. While public policy can shape the framework and system conditions, the paper argues that these interventions are often based on superficial or incomplete interpretations of the entrepreneurial ecosystems literature and tend to ignore or underestimate informal institutions that can undermine these efforts. As such, by viewing the ecosystems approach as a panacea for growth policy makers risk opening Pandora’s box.

scholarly journals Challenges, opportunities and solutions for local physical activity stakeholders: an implementation case study from a cross-sectoral physical activity network in Northeast England

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin P. Rigby ◽  
Peter van der Graaf ◽  
Liane B. Azevedo ◽  
Louise Hayes ◽  
Benjamin Gardner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Knowledge Exchange ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Communication Strategy ◽  
Local Policy ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Specific Implementation

Abstract Background Increasingly, national policy initiatives and programmes have been developed to increase physical activity (PA). However, challenges in implementing and translating these policies into effective local-level programmes have persisted, and change in population PA levels has been small. This may be due to insufficient attention given to the implementation context, and the limited interactions between local policy-makers, practitioners and researchers. In this paper we use a case study of a cross-sectoral network in Northeast England, to identify the local-level challenges and opportunities for implementing PA policies and programmes, particularly the updated 2019 UK PA guidelines. Methods Five focus groups (n = 59) were conducted with practice partners, local policy-makers and researchers during an initial workshop in April 2018. Through facilitated discussion, participants considered regional priorities for research and practice, along with barriers to implementing this agenda and how these may be overcome. During a second workshop in December 2018, overarching findings from workshop one were fedback to a similar group of stakeholders, along with national policy-makers, to stimulate feedback from delegates on experiences that may support the implementation of the UK PA guidelines locally, focusing on specific considerations for research, evidence and knowledge exchange. Results In workshop one, three overarching themes were developed to capture local challenges and needs: (i) understanding complexity and context; (ii) addressing the knowledge and skills gap; and (iii) mismatched timescales and practices. In workshop two, participants’ implementation plans encompassed: (i) exploring a systems approach to implementation; (ii) adapting policy to context; and (iii) local prioritising. Conclusions Our findings suggest that academics, practitioners and policy-makers understand the complexities of implementing PA strategies, and the challenges of knowledge exchange. The updated UK PA guidelines policy presented an opportunity for multiple agencies to consider context-specific implementation and address enduring tensions between stakeholders. An organically derived implementation plan that prioritises PA, maps links to relevant local policies and supports a context-appropriate communication strategy, within local policy, practice and research networks, will help address these. We present 10 guiding principles to support transferable knowledge exchange activities within networks to facilitate implementation of national PA policy in local contexts.

Challenges of prostitution policy

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hendrik Wagenaar ◽  
Helga Amesberger ◽  
Sietske Altink
Keyword(s):  
Immigration Policy ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Symbolic Politics ◽  
Local Policy ◽  
Prostitution Policy ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Academic Policy

All public policy faces general and domain-specific challenges. General challenges are key tasks, such as mobilising support for an agenda, or transforming policy goals into policy design, that need to be adhered to to realize a policy. In addition we distinguish five domain-specific challenges in prostitution. These are: The pervasive stigma and the urge to control and restrict prostitution that follows from that. Prostitution is morality politics, which results in an ideologically charged, emotive debate about prostitution and a tendency toward symbolic politics. Prostitution policy gets mixed up with immigration policy. Precise, reliable data on prostitution are generally unavailable. And, local policy making is essential for understanding the process and outcomes of prostitution policy. Local policy often deviates from, and is more repressive than national policy making. In our analysis we use concepts and theories of the policymaking process as formulated in the academic policy literature. But above all, by putting the domain-specific challenges central in describing and analysing prostitution policy, we consistently reason from the perspective of the elected official and public administrator.

Intergovernmental transfers between 1940 and 2010 and distinct policy regimes: An empirical study

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francois K. Doamekpor ◽  
Julia Beckett
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Federal Government ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Intergovernmental Transfers ◽  
Historical Trends ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Income Security ◽  
Policy Regimes ◽  
Discriminant Analyses ◽  
And Training

AbstractThis study examines five national public policy areas where states and local governments received grants-in-aid from the federal government; these grants approximate a fifth of their yearly revenue budgets. Knowing the historical trends and concentrations can minimize expectation errors of practitioners and policy makers and facilitate future revenue planning. The grants examined between 1940 and 2010 include income security, health, education and training, economic and regional development, and transportation. The study uses agency theory to rationalize relationships among the governments, and applies statistical modeling, multiple means comparisons and discriminant analyses to test whether there are distinct policy concentrations and differences among policy regimes. Our findings show transfers were continuous, physically important and unaffected significantly by adjustments due to size and prices. The study found concentrations and differences among policy regimes.

A Reappraisal of the State Sovereignty Debate

2000 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
VIRGINIE GUIRAUDON ◽  
GALLYA LAHAV
Keyword(s):  
Global Economy ◽  
National Policy ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
National Courts ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Regional Markets ◽  
National Citizenship ◽  
Two Sides ◽  
State Responses

The ability of European nation-states to control migration has been at the forefront of the immigration debate. Some scholars have argued that international human rights and the freedom of circulation required by a global economy and regional markets are the two sides of a liberal regime that undermine the sovereignty of nation-states. Others have gone even further and declared the double closure of territorial sovereignty and national citizenship to be outmoded concepts. This article inscribes itself in that debate by answering the following questions: (a) To what extent do international legal instruments constrain the actions of national policy makers? and (b) How have nation-states reacted to international constraints and problems of policy implementation? Focusing on Council of Europe's jurisprudence, the authors assess the extent to which national courts have incorporated European norms and governments take them into account. The article examines ways that national policy makers have responded by shifting the institutional locations of policy making. In evaluating state responses, the article identifies the devolution of decision making upward to intergovernmental fora, downward to local authorities, and outward to nonstate actors.

The Role of Policy Makers in the Formulation and Implementation of Public Policy for Brazilian Agriculture

2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 60-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergio Pereira Leite
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Institutional Environments ◽  
Public Administrators ◽  
Agricultural Policies ◽  
Government Programs ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Public Policy Analysis ◽  
Rural Policy

A processual approach to public policy analysis rather than the more common instrumental one can help us to understand the experience of policy makers involved in government programs related to rural Brazil and to evaluate the extent to which the implementation of rural policy is influenced by the networks and institutional environments in which administrators are engaged. A broader analytical framework for agrarian and agricultural policies, particularly those implemented during the two terms of the Lula administration (2003–2010), can be arrived at by examining the strategic political games in which public administrators were involved, the different forums in which these games were institutionalized (the spaces in which rural policies are created and implemented), and the institutional environments that structured and regulated the creation of these policies. Este trabalho aborda a experiência e a participação de gestores de políticas públicas envolvidos em programas governamentais relacionados ao meio rural brasileiro, visando compreender em que medida o ambiente institucional e as redes nas quais os mesmos estão inseridos condicionam o processo de implementação das ações observadas setorialmente, reforçando o emprego das análises de políticas públicas centradas na sua dimensão processual e não necessariamente instrumental, como é mais comum na literatura especializada. Focalizando os jogos políticos nos quais o corpo administrativo e técnico esteve envolvido (marcados por conflitos, barganhas e/ou negociações e envolvendo diversas administrações, grupos de interesses e outros stakeholders), os diferentes fóruns onde estes jogos foram institucionalizados (constituindo-se em loci privilegiados da produção e condução das políticas agrárias), e o ambiente institucional que estrutura e regula a produção destas políticas buscou-se desenhar um quadro mais amplo da análise de políticas agrárias e agrícolas, particularmente aquelas implementadas durante os dois mandatos do governo Lula (2003–2010).

Social innovation and social policy

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simone Baglioni ◽  
Stephen Sinclair
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Public Welfare ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Welfare Provision ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Policy Environments ◽  
Public Policy Analysis ◽  
Social Innovations

This chapter discusses how social innovation relates to debates in social and public policy analysis. The chapter outlines the respective normative, analytical and empirical questions raised by social innovation in relation to welfare provision and reform. It discusses how social innovations originate and develop, and the extent to which they can be actively cultivated by policy makers. The chapter examines the varying receptiveness to social innovation of different types of welfare regime. It considers how far social innovations provide secure entitlements upon which service users can rely. The chapter then discusses the potential transferability of social innovations beyond the particular socio-economic contexts and policy environments which germinate and nurture them. The respective impact of social innovation and social movements are considered. The chapter concludes by highlighting the potential conservative or regressive implications of social innovation, and how it could be used to justify withdrawing public welfare services.

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