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.

scholarly journals The Participation of Senior Citizens in Policy-Making: Patterning Initiatives in Europe

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 34
Author(s):  
Roberto Falanga ◽  
Andreas Cebulla ◽  
Andrea Principi ◽  
Marco Socci
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Civic Participation ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Senior Citizens ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Participatory Approaches ◽  
Aging Policy ◽  
Older Citizens

Worldwide, active aging policy calls for greater participation of senior citizens in the social, economic, and political realms. Despite emerging evidence of initiatives engaging senior citizens in social activities, little is known about the use of participatory approaches in the design and/or implementation of policies that matter to older citizens. This article identifies initiatives facilitating the civic participation of older people in policy-making in European Union member and associate states, drawing on a review of the literature, consultation of national policy experts, and exemplary case studies. Four main patterns of senior civic participation are identified: adopting consultative or co-decisional participatory approaches in policy design or policy implementation. The four are represented to varying degrees at different geographical levels (national, regional, local), with different actor configurations (appointed, elected/nominated, corporate representation), and with varying degree of institutionalization (temporary/permanent). Case studies illustrate approaches taken to enhance the quality and effectiveness of public services for senior citizens. Future research should strengthen this line of enquiry to cast further light on conditions facilitating the civic participation of senior citizens.

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.

Local Policy Experimentation, Social Learning, and Development of Rural Pension Provision in China

2020 ◽  
Vol 93 (2) ◽  
pp. 353-377
Author(s):  
Ting Huang
Keyword(s):  
Social Learning ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Pension System ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Shaanxi Province ◽  
Local Policy ◽  
Rural Residents ◽  
Cumulative Impact ◽  
Policy Experimentation

The rural pension system, co-financed by rural residents' contributions and government subsidies, is a remarkable institutional innovation in China. To better understand the establishment and policy design of this system, this article studies the local experimentation of (partly) government-funded new rural pension schemes prior to the national policy guideline issued in 2009. The focus is on the role of social learning as a crucial driving force in this process. Through a process tracing based on in-depth interviews in Daxing of Beijing and Baoji of Shaanxi Province, this article illustrates how local governments struggled to find suitable financing models for rural pensions, and relied primarily on hands-on experimentation and experiences. During the mobilization of participation in the schemes, the repeated and constant interactions between local officials and rural residents promoted a form of mutual learning that contributed to local policy adaptation and rural residents' internalization of the value and basic rules of contributory pension provision. The local experience had a cumulative impact on the ideational reorientation of the central officials regarding the state's financial role in provision. Specifically, the financing model in Baoji created new options that facilitated the reconciliation of a set of different concerns and objectives at the centre, notably fiscal affordability, wide coverage, and modest managerial burden, which, this article argues, was the major reason for the incorporation of this model into the national policy. The article concludes by discussing the implications of the establishment of the rural pension system and its provisions on rural state-society relations in China.

scholarly journals Policy Design and Non-Design: Towards a Spectrum of Policy Formulation Types

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 57-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Howlett ◽  
Ishani Mukherjee
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Public Policies ◽  
Careful Analysis ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Logical Process

Public policies are the result of efforts made by governments to alter aspects of behaviour—both that of their own agents and of society at large—in order to carry out some end or purpose. They are comprised of arrangements of policy goals and policy means matched through some decision-making process. These policy-making efforts can be more, or less, systematic in attempting to match ends and means in a logical fashion or can result from much less systematic processes. “Policy design” implies a knowledge-based process in which the choice of means or mechanisms through which policy goals are given effect follows a logical process of inference from known or learned relationships between means and outcomes. This includes both design in which means are selected in accordance with experience and knowledge and that in which principles and relationships are incorrectly or only partially articulated or understood. Policy decisions can be careful and deliberate in attempting to best resolve a problem or can be highly contingent and driven by situational logics. Decisions stemming from bargaining or opportunism can also be distinguished from those which result from careful analysis and assessment. This article considers both modes and formulates a spectrum of policy formulation types between “design” and “non-design” which helps clarify the nature of each type and the likelihood of each unfolding.

scholarly journals STABILIZATION AND COMMITMENT: FORWARD GUIDANCE IN ECONOMIES WITH RATIONAL EXPECTATIONS

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 122-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Hughes Hallett ◽  
Nicola Acocella
Keyword(s):  
Economic Policy ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Rational Expectations ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Policy Problem ◽  
Forward Guidance ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Time Inconsistent

We construct a theory of forward guidance in economic policy making in order to provide a framework for explaining the role and strategic advantages of including forward guidance as an explicit part of policy design. We do this by setting up a general policy problem in which forward guidance plays a role, and then examine the consequences for performance when that guidance is withdrawn. We show that forward guidance provides enhanced controllability and stabilizability—especially where such properties may not otherwise be available. As a by-product, we find that forward guidance limits the scope and incentives for time-inconsistent behavior in an economy whose policy goals are ultimately reachable. It also adds to the credibility of a set of policies.

scholarly journals What drives sub-national bioenergy development? Exploring cross-level implications of environmental policy integration in EU and Swedish bioenergy policy

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotta Söderberg
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Policy ◽  
National Level ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Policy Integration ◽  
Local Policy ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Environmental Policy Integration ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Energy Projects ◽  
Economic Motives

What are the sub-national implications, in policy and practice, of environmental policy integration (EPI) in EU and Swedish bioenergy policy? Focusing on the exceptional bioenergy expansion within the Biofuel Region in north Sweden, this paper discusses cross-level implications of supranational and national policy decisions on bioenergy; whether environmental perspectives are observable also in sub-national bioenergy discussions; and explores the drivers of sub-national bioenergy development in a multi-level governance setting. The study finds that higher-level EPI plays an important role for sub-national bioenergy development. The degree of sub-national EPI in bioenergy and the type of renewables invested in is to a large extent set by top-down influence from the EU and national level through agenda setting, policy goals and economic mechanisms. Local policy entrepreneurs play an important role for finding ‘win-win’-solutions that can help initiating local energy projects and ensure sub-national EPI, but environmental-economic – rather than merely economic – motives for getting involved are important to ensure long-term local commitment to renewable energy projects.

scholarly journals Wetlands in Ethiopia: Lessons From 20 years of Research, Policy and Practice

Wetlands ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Dixon ◽  
Adrian Wood ◽  
Afework Hailu
Keyword(s):  
Research Policy ◽  
Wetland Management ◽  
Local Level ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Research Programme ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Wetland Use

AbstractThroughout sub-Saharan Africa wetlands provide ecosystem services that are critical to the development needs of many people. Local wetland use, however, is often at odds with broader national policy goals in which narratives of conservation and protection dominate, hence a recurring challenge is how to reconcile these tensions through the development of policies and field practice that deliver sustainable development. In this paper we examine the extent to which this challenge has been achieved in Ethiopia, charting the changes in wetlands policy and discourse over the last twenty years while reviewing the contribution of the multidisciplinary Ethiopian Wetlands Research Programme (EWRP) (1997–2000). Our analysis suggests that despite EWRP having a significant legacy in developing national interest in wetlands among research, government and non-governmental organisations, its more holistic social-ecological interpretation of wetland management remains neglected within a policy arena dominated by specific sectoral interests and little recognition of the needs of local people. In exploring the impacts at the local level, recent investigations with communities in Ilu Aba Bora Zone highlight adjustments in wetland use that famers attribute to environmental, economic and social change, but which also evidence the adaptive nature of wetland-based livelihoods.

scholarly journals How party platforms on immigration become policy

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Tobias Böhmelt ◽  
Lawrence Ezrow
Keyword(s):  
Immigration Policy ◽  
Economic Performance ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Democratic Representation ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
Party Platforms ◽  
Legislative Activity ◽  
Do So

Abstract We focus on one of the most salient policy issues of our time, immigration, and evaluate whether the salience of immigration in governing parties’ manifestos translates into actual legislative activity on immigration. We contend that democratic policymakers have genuine incentives to do so. Furthermore, we argue that the country context matters for pledge fulfillment, and we find that the migration salience of governing parties’ manifestos more strongly translates into policy activity when the level of immigration restrictions is higher and when countries’ economies perform well. This research has important implications for our understanding of the relationships between economic performance, democratic representation and immigration policy making.

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