scholarly journals Ex Post Review and Expert Policymaking: When Does Oversight Reduce Accountability?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Patty ◽  
Ian R Turner
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Design ◽  
Policy Decision ◽  
Policy Choice ◽  
Policy Recommendations ◽  
Policy Recommendation ◽  
Policy Choices ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Ex Post

Ex post review is a common feature of policymaking institutions. We consider an environment in which an expert agent makes a policy recommendation, which can then be accepted or rejected by an overseer whose policy goals differ from those of the agent. The theory suggests that both behavior and optimal institutional design are sensitive to several factors, including actors' preference alignment, the importance of the policy decision, and the uncertainty about the correct policy choice. We characterize the types of situations in which ex post review creates incentives for the agent to make pathological policy choices. In these situations, ex post review can reduce accountability of the agent to overseer wishes and ultimately provide incentives to set aside review entirely. The theory also offers testable predictions about policy recommendations and the overseer's acceptance or rejection of these recommendations.

scholarly journals Judicial Institutionalization and Judicial Activism of the Post-Communist Constitutional Courts

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirill M. Bumin
Keyword(s):  
Executive Power ◽  
Contextual Influences ◽  
Constitutional Courts ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Constitutional Review ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Policy Choices ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Accession Process ◽  
Decision Making Behavior

In applying constitutional review, post-communist constitutional courts are affected by the existing political and institutional environments, as well as by their own institutional capabilities. However, our understanding of the activity of the post-communist constitutional courts remains incomplete because the existing research fails to consider how the institutional changes on these courts affect their decision-making behavior. In this study, I examine the activity of nineteen post-communist constitutional courts during the 1992-2006 period. I use an aggregate, time-series measure of judicial institutionalization to show that higher levels of institutionalization enhance these constitutional courts’ ability to pursue their policy goals and influence the degree to which they invalidate policy choices of other major political actors, while lower levels of institutionalization limit the courts’ impact on legal and political issues. The findings of this analysis thus provide the first empirical confirmation of the importance of judicial institutionalization to the policy outputs of the post-communist constitutional courts. I also illustrate how various institutional and contextual influences, such as executive power, legislative fragmentation, economic conditions, EU accession process, the identity of the litigants, and the nature of the litigated issues, influence the activity of post-communist constitutional courts. 

scholarly journals International Political Theory Meets International Public Policy

2018 ◽  
pp. 480-494 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Barry
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Institutional Design ◽  
Policy Recommendations ◽  
International Political Theory

How should International Political Theory (IPT) relate to public policy? Should theorists aspire for their work to be policy-relevant, and if so in what sense? When can we legitimately criticize a theory for failing to be relevant to practice? In this chapter, I argue that it counts heavily against a theory if it is not precise enough to guide policy and reform given certain empirical assumptions, but that theorists should be very cautious when engaging with questions of policy and institutional design. Some principles of IPT can be criticized for being insufficiently precise, but a degree of abstraction from concrete policy recommendations is a virtue, rather than a vice, of IPT. I discuss this issue with reference to John Rawls’s principle of a duty of assistance.

scholarly journals Trade Deficit of Bangladesh with China: Patterns, Propensity and Policy Implications

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ekram Hossain ◽  
HUANG Dechun ◽  
Changzheng ZHANG ◽  
Ebenezer Nickson Neequaye ◽  
Vu Thi Van ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bilateral Trade ◽  
Trade Deficit ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Trade Intensity ◽  
Policy Recommendations ◽  
Policy Recommendation ◽  
Industry Trade ◽  
Export Specialization ◽  
Import Intensity

This paper aims to examine export, import and trade intensity, export specialization index, Herfindahl-Hirschman index for bilateral concentration and diversification indices to analyze the specializations, structure and trends of deficit in bilateral trade between Bangladesh and China from 1995 to 2018 and policy recommendations in this regard. The results reveal that the gap of export and import intensity between Bangladesh and China is widening rapidly perennial. The export specialization indices expose very significant outcomes where among the analyzed 16 sectors; 6 sectors exhibit high specialization, 3 sectors demonstrate medium, 3 sectors exhibit low and the rest of the 4 sectors disclose no specialization for Bangladesh’s export to China. The findings of the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) reveal that from 1995 to 2010 the export of Bangladesh to China concentrated within few sectors but from the year 2011 to 2018 the export has been reclassifying steadily into diversification. The overall analysis of the indices suggests the necessity to be improved of the level of intra-industry trade between China and Bangladesh. Moreover, emphasis should be given to the sectors having a high specialization that endure the capacity to narrow the trade deficit. Furthermore, the export baskets of Bangladesh to China require to be diversified. Hereafter, various measures and implications are also suggested in the policy recommendation for further improvement.

Competence over Control

2020 ◽  
pp. 78-99
Author(s):  
Alexander Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Security Council ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
International Level ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Ex Post ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
Ex Ante ◽  
Over Time

The UN Security Council increasingly authorizes weapons inspections to enforce nonproliferation. These are cases of indirect governance, where the Council (the governor) relies on separate bodies (intermediaries) to conduct inspections in states of concern (targets). Despite the risks, the Council often seems willing to forego control in return for gaining the benefits of a competent intermediary that can address its ambitious policy goals and capability deficits. These cases point to important differences between preexisting intermediaries (such as the IAEA and OPCW) and ad hoc intermediaries created for specific tasks (such as the inspection commissions that operated in Iraq). The latter are far more amendable to control, both ex ante and ex post. Over time, we see increasing goal divergence between the governor and intermediaries, driven mainly by the shifting interests of Security Council members, but we also see the competence of intermediaries increase as they gain on-the-ground experience, making control more difficult. The collective nature of the Security Council further complicates control efforts, creating a temptation for individual members to interfere unilaterally with intermediaries and targets. The analysis suggests that the role of sovereign, strategic targets deserves more attention in the study of indirect governance at the international level.

scholarly journals Reviewing Procedure vs. Judging Substance: How Increasing Bureaucratic Oversight Can Reduce Bureaucratic Accountability

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian R Turner
Keyword(s):  
Substance P ◽  
Policy Environment ◽  
Substantive Content ◽  
Policy Choices ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Review Procedure ◽  
Bureaucratic Oversight ◽  
Bureaucratic Accountability

How does the scope of review affect bureaucratic policymaking? To explore this question, I consider a policymaking environment in which an expert agency develops policy that is upheld or overturned by an overseer who may have different policy goals. The agency can affect the quality of implementation through effort investments in addition to choosing the substantive content of policy. Under procedural review the overseer only reviews the agency’s effort, which allows the agency to fully utilize its expertise. Substantive review also tasks the overseer with judging agencies’ substantive policy choices, which can lead the agency to disregard its superior information and obfuscate to avoid reversal. Depending on the policy environment, this dynamic can either benefit or harm the overseer. In some cases the overseer can be made better off by having less transparent review institutions; that is, institutions that direct the overseer to only review procedure and preclude judging substance.

scholarly journals Analysis of Policy Implementation on The Duties and Functions of the Cabinet Secretariat (Case Study: Function of Policy Recommendation)

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 78
Author(s):  
Johan Kurniawan ◽  
Roy Valiant Salomo
Keyword(s):  
Policy Implementation ◽  
Qualitative Method ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Policy Recommendations ◽  
Technology Support ◽  
Policy Recommendation ◽  
Implementation Model ◽  
Strategic Position

The implementation of the duties and functions of government institutions in the President's closest circle is an interesting thing to research. Its strategic position does not necessarily make its role carried out optimally. This can be seen from the function of providing policy recommendations carried out by the Cabinet Secretariat. Problems such as the disobedience of stakeholders to the flow of policy submissions, as well as problems on administrative matters such as supporting rules, communication strategies, information technology support, the effectiveness of policy monitoring, and the implementation of sanctions, have made the implementation of such functions not run optimally. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the implementation of the function of providing policy recommendations by the Cabinet Secretariat. The analytical framework used in this study is Policy Implementation Theory, particularly the Administrative Implementation Model by Matland (1995). This research uses the qualitative method that is descriptive analysis, with the focus of the research is the Cabinet Secretariat in the period 2015 until now. The result of this study is the implementation of the function of providing policy recommendations in dealing with various challenges and problems. However, improvement efforts have been made so that the performance of the function of providing policy recommendations, which is the main performance of the Cabinet Secretariat, can be more optimal.

scholarly journals U.S. AI Workforce: Policy Recommendations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana Gehlhaus ◽  
◽  
Luke Koslosky ◽  
Kayla Goode ◽  
Claire Perkins
Keyword(s):  
Training System ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Policy Recommendations ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Workforce Policy ◽  
Equity In Access ◽  
Intelligence Education ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
And Training ◽  
The U.S

This policy brief addresses the need for a clearly defined artificial intelligence education and workforce policy by providing recommendations designed to grow, sustain, and diversify the U.S. AI workforce. The authors employ a comprehensive definition of the AI workforce—technical and nontechnical occupations—and provide data-driven policy goals. Their recommendations are designed to leverage opportunities within the U.S. education and training system while mitigating its challenges, and prioritize equity in access and opportunity to AI education and AI careers.

Conclusion: Toward Total Recall in International Organizations

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heidi Hardt
Keyword(s):  
Informal Learning ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Institutional Design ◽  
Learning Processes ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Formal Learning ◽  
Policy Recommendations ◽  
Total Recall ◽  
The Past ◽  
Institutional Memory

Chapter 8 offers a summary of the findings discussed in earlier chapters and directions for future research. The chapter first reiterates the argument that institutional memory develops in international organizations (IOs) from elites’ reliance on informal processes, such as networks, because formal learning infrastructure can disincentivize reporting. The chapter then identifies the book’s theoretical and empirical contributions to scholarship on IOs, organizational learning and organizational change. Subsequent sections proceed to discuss how the book’s argument can be applied to explain institutional memory in other IOs beyond NATO. The chapter then presents a series of policy recommendations to strengthen institutional memory. Examples include realigning incentives in the institutional design of organizations’ formal learning infrastructure and means of supporting existing informal learning processes. The chapter then provides concluding remarks about the importance of transnational interpersonal networks for protecting IOs’ institutional memory of the past to prevent future failures.

The Impact of Voter Uncertainty and Alienation on Turnout and Candidate Policy Choice

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 273-292
Author(s):  
Natalya R. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Spatial Model ◽  
Policy Preferences ◽  
Policy Choice ◽  
Formal Models ◽  
Positive Correlation ◽  
Policy Choices ◽  
Ideal Points ◽  
The Impact

AbstractFormal models of elections typically assume that voters are sure of their ideal points on the policy spectrum. Meanwhile, the empirical evidence suggests that voters are often uncertain about their ideal positions. In addition, alienation appears to play a key role in explaining voter turnout in elections. Using a spatial model that incorporates abstentions and the concepts of alienation and tolerance, I show that a positive correlation between extreme policy preferences and certainty among voters can affect voter turnout and result in the divergence of candidate policy choices.

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