Of numbers, narratives and challenges: Data as evidence in 21st century policy-making

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 1043-1055
Author(s):  
Gaby Umbach
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Evidence Use ◽  
The Third ◽  
Use Of Data ◽  
Science Advice ◽  
Governance Tools ◽  
The Impact

This article1 offers reflections on the use of data as evidence in 21st century policy-making. It discusses the concept of evidence-informed policy-making (EIPM) as well as the governance and knowledge effects of data as evidence. With this focus, it interlinks the analysis of statistics and politics. The paper first introduces the concept of EIPM and the impact of evidence use. Here it focusses on science and knowledge as resources in policy-making, on the institutionalisation of science advice and on the translation of information and knowledge into evidence. The second part of the article reflects on data as evidence. This part concentrates on abstract and concrete functions of data as governance tools in policy-making, on data as a robust form of evidence and on the effects of data on knowledge and governance. The third part highlights challenges for data as evidence in policy-making, among them, politicisation, transparency, and diversity as well as objectivity and contestation. Finally, the last part draws conclusions on the production and use of data as evidence in EIPM. Throughout the second part of the reflections, reference is made to Walter Radermacher’s 2019 matrix of actors and activities related to data, facts, and policy published in this journal.

Show Me the Numbers: Bureaucratic Use of Data in the Policy Making Process

2022 ◽  
pp. 009539972110699
Author(s):  
Tracey Bark
Keyword(s):  
Policy Making ◽  
Use Of Data ◽  
Policy Making Process ◽  
Legislative Agendas ◽  
The Impact

Bureaucracies often provide information to legislatures in an effort to influence the agenda. This paper assesses whether data affects this influence, arguing quantitative support can increase the likelihood of legislative discussion and passage of bills related to a given topic. I also assess the impact of centralization on an agency’s ability to provide information and shape legislative agendas. I find including data in bureaucratic reports can significantly increase an agency’s influence on the legislature, but this effect is only present in a centralized setting. These results suggest centralized agencies are better equipped to marshal quantitative support for arguments to legislatures.

International processes in Latin America: the legacy of the Comintern and new challenges

2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 106-125
Author(s):  
Anton Andreev ◽  
◽  
Daria Pravdiuk
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Latin America ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Third ◽  
Archival Documents ◽  
History Of ◽  
New Challenges ◽  
The Impact

The activities of the Third (Communist) International left a noticeable mark on the political history of Latin America. His ideological, organizational legacy remains a factor in shaping the theory and practice of contemporary leftist governments in the region. This article examines the impact of the legacy of the Comintern on international processes in Latin America, the development of integration projects, foreign policy projects of the left forces of the region. On the basis of archival documents, media materials, documents of parties and governments, the authors show which of the foreign policy guidelines of the Comintern are relevant for the region in the 21st century.

Development and perspectives of the global and European security environment

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (38) ◽  
pp. 111-125
Author(s):  
Petr Rožňák
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Human Life ◽  
European Security ◽  
German Empire ◽  
Security Issues ◽  
The Third ◽  
Security Environment ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Security Relations ◽  
The Impact

The development of globalization at the beginning of the third decade of the 21st century shows that unpredictable economic factors and new trends have a decisive influence on its course. Examples include continued sustained efforts to change the balance of power, the relativization of the Soviet Union’s share in the defeat of Hitler’s Nazi Great German Empire, the growing influence of the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation, turbulent developments in Belarus, as well as the impact of COVID-19 pandemic. Based on these trends, a new global system of international economic, political, social and security relations is being created. The current, dynamically and rapidly changing world brings many positive, but also many negative facts, which are manifested in various areas of human life and society. This is evidenced by the existing and ubiquitous threats and risks that prove it necessary to put security issues first. The author reflects on the current development of the security environment and the degree of threat to the security of the nation states of the Visegrad Group on the threshold of the third decade of the 21st century. The aim is to answer the question: a) Is the security environment changing: a) for better, or b) for worse? The article points out the role of the main security actors and possible changes in the security environment.

scholarly journals Representation through corporatisation: municipal corporations in Italy as arenas for local democracy

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giulio Citroni ◽  
Andrea Lippi ◽  
Stefania Profeti
Keyword(s):  
Policy Making ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
Policy Instrument ◽  
Specific Reference ◽  
Local Policy ◽  
Italian Regions ◽  
Governance Tools ◽  
Local Actors ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
The Impact

The literature on Public Utilities has increasingly shown that the adoption of corporate governance tools for the management of public services in local policy-making has given rise to a considerable reshaping of political strategies and practices. Corporatisation should be understood as not merely a policy instrument, but also as a new opportunity for local politicians to adjust their preferences, to deal with various interests, and to build unusual coalitions. Corporatisation may (and does) influence the concrete operation of local political systems. Today, the boards of municipal enterprises, as well as the public–private partnerships stemming from this emerging tendency towards corporatisation, can be conceived as both actors of local policy-making and arenas in which a number of functions traditionally associated with the mechanisms of electoral representation are performed: inter- and intra-party bargaining, recruitment of élites, and negotiation with local and ‘external’ stakeholders. The paper illustrates the impact of corporatisation on local representation mechanisms in Italy, considering its opaque side with specific reference to the problem of democratic accountability and control, and the creation of new local oligarchies. Empirical evidence is provided from research on municipal enterprises in six different Italian regions. Statistical data on companies (amount of social capital, fields of activity, private and public shareholders, etc.), as well as qualitative data, are analysed in order to show how corporatisation has provided local actors with unusual (and often non-transparent) channels of political representation and public–private bargaining.

scholarly journals Data-Related Ecosystems in Policy Making: The PoliVisu Contexts

2021 ◽  
pp. 91-104
Author(s):  
Giovanni Lanza
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Public Policies ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Public ◽  
Use Of Data ◽  
Data Ownership ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe article explores the complexity of the ecosystems that develop around data supported policy making. This complexity, which can be traced back to the multiplicity of actors involved, the roles they assume in the different steps of the decision making process, and the nature of the relationships they establish, takes on new connotations following the rising use of data for public policies. In fact, issues related to data ownership and the ability to collect, manage, and translate data into useful information for policy makers require the involvement of several actors, generating ecosystems where co-creation strategies are confronted with the limits of action of the public administrations within broader social and decisional networks. Based on this background, the article aims to provide, through the analysis of the direct experiences conducted by the pilot cities involved in the PoliVisu project, an overview of the opportunities and challenges related to the impact of data in the evolution of decision making networks and ecosystems in the data shake era.

scholarly journals The U.S. and the UK in the United Nations: The Impact of the Special Relationship (2001 – 2017)

2019 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-106
Author(s):  
A. O. Mamedova
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Special Relationship ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
The Third ◽  
Regional Conflicts ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Invasion Of Iraq

Currently U.S.-UK cooperation in the UN does no attract as much attention as it deserves. Despite a conspicuous disparity in the countries’ military and economic might, they have maintained close ties for more than seventy years, which inevitably affects their position in the UN. The allies’ role in the 2003 invasion of Iraq cast suspicion on their activities in the organization. In the early 21st century, the UN itself was faced with a number of challenges, such as terrorism and regional conflicts; U.S. frustration with its effectiveness led to some reform efforts.Covering the years 2001 – 2017, the article consists of three parts. The first part focuses on quantitative and qualitative parameters determining the U.S.’s and the UK’s roles in the UN and compares their approaches to it. The second part discusses the activity of American and British permanent representatives to the UN, based on their memoirs and interviews. The third part analyses some examples of cooperation and competition in the UN. The list of examples is illustrative rather than comprehensive given the existence of the special relationship.The analysis of U.S.-UK cooperation in the UN reveals its ambiguous nature, but it does not serve to debunk the myth of the special relationship. The cooperation is largely pragmatic.

scholarly journals Russia in the Digital World: International Competition and Leadership

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 64-85
Author(s):  
Andrei O. Bezrukov ◽  
Mikhail V. Mamonov ◽  
Maxim A. Suchkov ◽  
Andrei A. Sushentsov
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
21St Century ◽  
State Policies ◽  
International Competition ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Competitive Advantages ◽  
The Third ◽  
Digital World ◽  
The Impact

Technology has become one of the most important spheres in the race for power in the 21st century. The two main technology ecosystems—the American and the Chinese—have clearly taken shape by the beginning of the third decade of this century. A dilemma for Russia in this regard is whether to join one of the existing ecosystems or develop one of its own. The paper critically examines the impact of contemporary trends in the digital domain on international relations and state policies, weighs up Russia’s competitive advantages and the challenges in this domain, and charts a strategy that Moscow should follow in the modern world of digital competition.

Social and political dimension of stigmatization: The development of Natasha and Maria images for immigrants in Istanbul

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 159-168
Author(s):  
Bayram Unal
Keyword(s):  
Public Perception ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
State Law ◽  
Migrant Women ◽  
Political Dimension ◽  
Security Forces ◽  
Official Discourse ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Impact

This study aims at understanding how the perceptions about migrants have been created and transferred into daily life as a stigmatization by means of public perception, media and state law implementations.  The focus would be briefly what kind of consequences these perceptions and stigmatization might lead. First section will examine the background of migration to Turkey briefly and make a summary of migration towards Turkey by 90s. Second section will briefly evaluate the preferential legal framework, which constitutes the base for official discourse differentiating the migrants and implementations of security forces that can be described as discriminatory. The third section deals with the impact of perceptions influential in both formation and reproduction of inclusive and exclusive practices towards migrant women. Additionally, impact of public perception in classifying the migrants and migratory processes would be dealt in this section.

The impact of Airbnb on a non-touristic city. A Case study of short-term rentals in Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Spain)

Erdkunde ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 191-204
Author(s):  
Marcus Hübscher ◽  
Juana Schulze ◽  
Felix zur Lage ◽  
Johannes Ringel
Keyword(s):  
Santa Cruz ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Rental Market ◽  
Rural Space ◽  
Use Of Data ◽  
Web Scraping ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
Per Se ◽  
The Impact

Short-term rentals such as Airbnb have become a persistent element of today’s urbanism around the globe. The impacts are manifold and differ depending on the context. In cities with a traditionally smaller accommodation market, the impacts might be particularly strong, as Airbnb contributes to ongoing touristification processes. Despite that, small and medium-sized cities have not been in the centre of research so far. This paper focuses on Santa Cruz de Tenerife as a medium-sized Spanish city. Although embedded in the touristic region of the Canary Islands, Santa Cruz is not a tourist city per se but still relies on touristification strategies. This paper aims to expand the knowledge of Airbnb’s spatial patterns in this type of city. The use of data collected from web scraping and geographic information systems (GIS) demonstrates that Airbnb has opened up new tourism markets outside of the centrally established tourist accommodations. It also shows that the price gap between Airbnb and the housing rental market is broadest in neighbourhoods that had not experienced tourism before Airbnb entered the market. In the centre the highest prices and the smallest units are identified, but two peripheral quarters stand out. Anaga Mountains, a natural and rural space, has the highest numbers of Airbnb listings per capita. Suroeste, a suburban quarter, shows the highest growth rates on the rental market, which implies a linkage between Airbnb and suburbanization processes.

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