scholarly journals Analyse and rule? A conceptual framework for explaining the variable appeals of ex-ante evaluation in policymaking

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1-2020) ◽  
pp. 124-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Regine Paul
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Policy Evaluation ◽  
Interdisciplinary Research ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
The Political ◽  
Ideal Types ◽  
Ex Ante ◽  
Institutional Contexts ◽  
Self Defence

This article integrates disparate explanations for increasing (but variable) turns to ex-ante policy evaluation, such as risk analysis, across public administrations. So far unconnected silos of literature – on policy tools, policy instrumentation, the politics of evaluation and the political sociology of quantification – inconsistently portray ex-ante evaluation as rational problem-solving, symbolic actions of institutional self-defence, or (less often) political power-seeking. I synthesise these explanations in an interpretivist and institutionalist reading of ex-ante evaluation as contextually filtered process of selective meaning-making. From this methodological umbrella emerges my unified typology of ex-ante evaluation as instrumental problemsolving (I), legitimacy-seeking (L) and powerseeking (P). I argue that a) these ideal-types coexist in policymakers’ reasoning about the expected merits of ex-ante evaluation, whilst b) diverse institutional contexts will favour variable weightings of I, L and P in policymaking. By means of systematisation the typology seeks to inspire an interdisciplinary research agenda on varieties of ex-ante evaluation.

Improving the questions we ask, with Psychology and Cognitive Conflict.

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brett Buttliere
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Scientific Method ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Cognitive Conflict ◽  
Empirical Literature ◽  
Present Evidence ◽  
Scientific Papers ◽  
Science In Society

Over the last decade, there have been many suggestions to improve how scientists answer their questions, but far fewer attempt to improve the questions scientists are asking in the first place. The goal of the paper is then to examine and summarize synthesize the evidence on how to ask the best questions possible. First is a brief review of the philosophical and empirical literature on how the best science is done, which implicitly but not explicitly mentions the role of psychology and especially cognitive conflict. Then we more closely focus on the psychology of the scientist, finding that they are humans, engaged in a meaning making process, and that cognitive conflict is a necessary input for any learning or change in the system. The scientific method is, of course, a specialized meaning making process. We present evidence for this central role of cognitive conflict in science by examining the most discussed scientific papers between 2013 and 2017, which are, in general, controversial and about big problems (e.g., whether vaccines cause autism, how often doctors kill us with their mistakes). Toward the end we discuss the role of science in society, suggesting science itself is an uncertainty reducing and problem solving enterprise. From this basis we encourage scientists to take riskier stances on bigger topics, for the good of themselves and society generally.

Traversing the Mexican Odyssey: Reflections on Political Change and the Study of Mexican Politics

2002 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 159-188
Author(s):  
Mark Eric Williams
Keyword(s):  
Research Agenda ◽  
Political System ◽  
Democratic Transition ◽  
Political Change ◽  
The Political ◽  
Market Reforms ◽  
New Research ◽  
Mexican Politics

This essay explains how the peculiar properties of Mexico's political system helped shape the approach to the study of Mexican politics. It assesses some of the strengths and limitations of the scholarship this produced, examines the political changes that fueled Mexico's democratic transition, and assesses their implications both for Mexico's recent market reforms and the study of Mexican politics in general. It finds that the demise of single-party rule and fundamental changes in patterns of governance have opened new research avenues, and suggests an emerging research agenda in light of these developments. En este ensayo se explica la manera en que las propiedades peculiares del sistema políítico mexicano ayudaron a configurar el acercamiento al estudio de la políítica mexicana. Se valoran algunas de las ventajas y las desventajas en este enfoque, se examinan los cambios polííticos que influyeron en la transicióón democráática mééxicana y se analizan sus implicaciones en las reformas recientes del mercado y estudio de la políítica mexicana en general. El anáálisis concluye que, debido al cese de influencia del antiguo réégimen del partido oficial y a los cambios fundamentales en los modelos de gobierno, se han abierto nuevas ááreas de investigacióón, proponiendo un nuevo programa de investigacióón que tome en cuenta el giro de los nuevos acontecimientos.

Bausteine zu einer Geographie des Kapitalismus

2003 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Zeller
Keyword(s):  
Economic Geography ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
The Political ◽  
Reciprocal Effects ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Socially Relevant

Elements of a geography of capitalism. Despite the variety of new approaches economic geography developed rather one-sided in the past decade. The regional and the firm lenses hardly enabled to recognize how economic processes and political power relations interact on different scales. These empirical deficits also express a restricted theoretical base. The approaches of the new “regional orthodoxy” claim to explain conditions of an improved competitiveness of firms and of regions. However, many socially relevant and spatially differentiated problems are ignored. In contrast, this paper argues for an integrative understanding of the capitalist economy in its historical dynamics and with its reciprocal effects for actors on various scales. In the course of neoliberal deregulation policies and globalization processes, a finance-dominated accumulation regime emerged in the USA which shapes the economy on a global scale. Institutional investors gained decisive control over investments. The political power relations and hierarchies between states remain important. Therefore, the paper suggests a shift of economic geographical research. In the perspective of an integrative geography of capitalism the paper outlines a research agenda of a geography of accumulation, a geography of production as well as a geography of power

The British General Election of 1970 - Impressions of an Academic Candidate

1971 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-57
Author(s):  
William Wallace
Keyword(s):  
General Election ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Scientist ◽  
Ideal Types ◽  
Political Behaviour ◽  
Levels Of Reality ◽  
Political Scene ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
Political Battle

THE STUDENT OF POLITICS AND THE PRACTITIONER OF POLITICS approach the same problem from different ends. The student is concerned with searching for the underlying realities which can explain the surface shifts of political ephemera; or perhaps with disentangling the different levels of reality which he discerns from his dispassionate observation of the political scene. The practitioner is concerned above all with the intricacies of day-to-day politics. He is interested in long-term patterns of political behaviour only insofar as they affect his political chances, or insofar as foreknowledge will enable him to change and shape the developing pattern. At the opposite ends of this division of interest in the phenomena of politics one may imagine, as ideal types, the ‘pure’ political scientist, the neutral observer of the political battle whose attitude to the contestants and their fluctuating fortunes is one of scholarly detachment, and the dedicated politician, glorying in the clash and chaos of the battlefield, with little more than contempt for those who stand aside and watch. For those who stand towards either end of this division, there are now two separate worlds of politics.

Introduction: Italy in the eyes of others

Modern Italy ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 251-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Osvaldo Croci ◽  
Sonia Lucarelli
Keyword(s):  
The Political ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Academic Context ◽  
Institutional Contexts ◽  
International Role ◽  
The Way

The international role and status of Italy among international powers has been an issue of debate in both the political and the academic context. What has never been systematically investigated is the way in which other powers with which Italy interacts in institutional contexts perceive Italy and its international role. It is the aim of this special issue to provide an overview of how Italy is perceived abroad. This introduction explains why it is worth looking at international images of Italy, and sums up the findings of the research project.

scholarly journals Visuality Without Form: Video-Mediated Communication and Research Practice Across Disciplinary Contexts

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 417-431 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebekah Cupitt ◽  
Per-Anders Forstorp ◽  
Ann Lantz
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Interdisciplinary Research ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Research Practice ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Scholarly Research ◽  
Video Meeting ◽  
Television Producers

Visuality is a concept that crosses boundaries of practice and meaning, making it an ideal subject for interdisciplinary research. In this article, we discuss visuality using a fragment from a video meeting of television producers at Swedish Television’s group for programming in Swedish Sign Language. This example argues for the importance of recognizing the diversity of analytical and practice-derived visualities and their effect on the ways in which we interpret cultures. These different visualities have consequences for the methods and means with which we present scholarly research. The role of methods, methodology, and analysis of visual practices in an organizational and bilingual setting are key. We explore the challenges of incorporating deaf visualities, hearing visualities, and different paradigms of interdisciplinary research as necessary when visibility, invisibility, and their materialities are of concern. We conclude that in certain contexts, breaking with disciplinary traditions makes visible that which is otherwise invisible.

scholarly journals O Aberto: O Homem e o Animal de Giorgio Agamben – Uma Tentativa Hipertextual/The Open: The man and the animal of Giorgio Agamben - A hypertext attempt

2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (7) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Cléber Ranieri Ribas de Almeida
Keyword(s):  
The Political ◽  
Public Order ◽  
Human Sciences ◽  
Giorgio Agamben ◽  
The Public ◽  
Ex Ante ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
And Control ◽  
Manipulation And Control

O artigo se propõe elaborar uma exegese do livro O Aberto: o Homem e o Animal, de Giorgio Agamben, de maneira a expor o argumento central da obra bem como situar o autor na Filosofia Política contemporânea. Para Agamben, o aberto não se situa unicamente numa analítica fenomenológico-existencial do ser: politicamente, o lugar privilegiado de movimentação desse conceito situa-se especificamente na biofilosofia dos graus do orgânico. A definição desses graus torna-se cada vez mais imprecisa à medida em que se propõe distinguir o limite entre o que é o animal e o que é o humano. A inovação de Agamben na abordagem dessa questão, portanto, está no modo como ele politiza o tema do aberto e o situa numa zona estratégica entre a zoologia e as políticas do homem. A entificação do tema, o aberto, não é para o autor um índice de conspurcação cientificista; é, antes, um índice de incessante politização, isto é, realocação conceitual, modulação disciplinar e institucionalização jurídica. Agamben não quer apenas uma ciência da política, mas também uma política da ciência, entendendo a ciência como lugar soberano de mobilização, manipulação e controle dos corpos. Numa palavra, a ciência, especificamente, a biofilosofia e as ciências do homem, são legisladoras da decisão pública acerca do que é homem. E quem decide o que é o homem, decide ex ante, qual política e qual moral deve dispor sobre a ordem pública.Abstract: This paper aims to do an exegesis of Giorgio Agamben´s book The Open: the Man and the Animal, in order to expose its central point as well as to contextualize the author in Contemporary Political Philosophy. According to Agamben the open is not situated only in a phenomenological-existential analytics of being: politically the privileged place of that concept is specifically on the biophilosophy of organic grades. The definition of those grades becomes more and more imprecise as long as it aims to distinguish the limit between the man and the animal. The innovation of Agamben is the way how he politizes the subject of open and places it on a strategic zone between the zoology and the politics of man. Agamen does not want only a science of the political, but alson a politics of science by understanding the science as a sovereign place of mobilization, manipulation, and control of bodies. In a word, the science, especially the biophilosophy and the human sciences, are legislators of public decision about what man is. And who decides what the man is, do it ex ante which politics and which moral should rule over the public order. Keywords: Agamben, mankind, animal, biophilosophy.

scholarly journals The Political Economy of Debt Bondage

2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 44-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulf von Lilienfeld-Toal ◽  
Dilip Mookherjee
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
The Political ◽  
Principal Agent ◽  
Debt Contracts ◽  
Debt Bondage ◽  
Pecuniary Externality ◽  
Ex Ante ◽  
Bonded Labor ◽  
Financial Obligations

What are the effects of restricting bonded labor clauses in tenancy or debt contracts? While such restrictions reduce agents' ability to credibly commit ex ante to repay principals in states where they default on their financial obligations, they also generate a pecuniary externality on other principal-agent pairs by reducing the equilibrium profit earned by principals. This turns out to imply that on both political and normative grounds, restrictions on bonded labor become more attractive when borrowers become wealthier or the range of collateral instruments widens. (JEL D82, D86, J82, K12)

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