What Fates Impose: Facing Up to Uncertainty

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mervyn King
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Present Knowledge ◽  
Policy Decisions ◽  
The Public ◽  
Objective Information ◽  
Public Policy Decisions ◽  
Communicating Risk

This lecture discusses risk, specifically how people think, talk, and manage risk. It illustrates two propositions: thinking in terms of probabilities and the public receiving accurate and objective information about the risks. These propositions are illustrated by considering public policy about pensions as an example. The lecture also stresses that most public policy decisions are a matter of balancing risks. It determines that modelling and recognising risks means understanding the limits to a person's present knowledge, while communicating risk is about transparency.

The Relevance of Trust

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inmaculada de Melo-Martín ◽  
Kristen Intemann
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
Policy Decisions ◽  
The Public ◽  
Epistemic Trust ◽  
Proper Role ◽  
Scientific Institutions ◽  
Public Policy Decisions ◽  
Scientific Phenomena

This chapter offers a brief overview of the importance of epistemic trust and the relevance that scientific institutions and practices have in promoting or undermining warranted public trust. Epistemic trust is crucial for the production of scientific knowledge, the ability of the public to make sense of scientific phenomena, and the development of public policy. Normatively inappropriate dissent is more likely to take hold and erroneously affect people’s beliefs and actions in a context where the trustworthiness of scientists is called into question and where there is an excessive reliance on scientific information when it comes to assessing policy decisions. Thus, finding ways to facilitate and sustain warranted epistemic trust, as well as increasing understanding of the proper role of science in public policy decisions can help mitigate the negative impact of dissenting views.

In-cash Transfers: from Passive to Empowered Beneficiaries in the Global South

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Katarina Pitasse Fragoso
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Poverty Alleviation ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Cash Transfers ◽  
Cash Transfer ◽  
Main Argument ◽  
The Public ◽  
Local Public Services ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Public Policy Decisions

Over the last few years, there has been an increase in discussions advocating in-cash programmes as a way to alleviate poverty. Indeed, this represents a leap forward in comparison to in-kind programmes. However, little progress, at least in developing countries, has been achieved in answering the question of how the state should transfer the means of redressing deprivation to those who are living in poverty. This article addresses this issue by challenging anti-poverty programmes through a social-egalitarian framework. My main argument starts from the perspective that in-cash transfers are a necessary but not sufficient mechanism for poverty alleviation. I acknowledge that cash alone does not guarantee the poor an equally active role in influencing the public-policy decisions that affect their lives. I then suggest a participatory device to complement the cash-transfer proposal in order to give institutional opportunities to the poor to decide, together with practitioners, what should be done at the level of local public services.

Open Government

2021 ◽  
pp. 667-682
Author(s):  
Gary Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
International Monetary Fund ◽  
European Central Bank ◽  
Open Government ◽  
Freedom Of Information ◽  
The Public ◽  
European Central ◽  
Public Policy Decisions ◽  
The International Monetary Fund ◽  
Opening Up

Since Irish independence in 1922, governance structures have been excessively secretive. Political and civil service elites operated on a presumption of secrecy and a principle that the public did not need to know about decisions being taken in their name. In the last two decades, a number of policy innovations have gone some way towards providing for a more open polity. These include Ombudsman, regulation of lobbying, and freedom of information legislation, enacted over concerns about payments to politicians and a series of catastrophic public policy decisions that led to the bailout of the Irish economy by the International Monetary Fund, the European Commission, and the European Central Bank. This chapter assesses the importance of the principle of open government in modern Irish politics. It examines the nature of secrecy, assesses the tentative opening up of government since the 1980s, and analyses the open government proposals introduced since 2011.

Public Policy Decisions Related to Disability and Rehabilitation: Is it Time for a New Paradigm?

2001 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 310-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Ann Schroeder ◽  
Kathleen M. Buckley ◽  
Annette Tyree Debisette
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Policy Decisions ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Public Policy Decisions

ELICITING KNOWLEDGE ABOUT VALUES FOR PUBLIC POLICY DECISIONS

2006 ◽  
Vol 05 (04) ◽  
pp. 739-749 ◽  
Author(s):  
RALPH L. KEENEY
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Policy Decision ◽  
Research Needs ◽  
Policy Decisions ◽  
Public Values ◽  
Public Policy Decisions ◽  
Policy Problems ◽  
The Way

To solve or resolve public policy problems requires decisions. The intent is to choose the best alternative in each situation. Hence, the way the notion of best is defined and measured in each case is critical. A structured process is outlined to acquire knowledge about public values that could be used to evaluate alternatives and identify the best ones. These values are the foundation for any policy decision. The uses of these values for defining interest in the problem, creating alternatives, and identifying information needs are discussed. Research needs are outlined.

Dynamics of Representation: The Case of US Spending on Defence

1996 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Wlezien
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Policy Decisions ◽  
Public Preferences ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Public ◽  
Dynamic Policy ◽  
Over Time

The representation of public preferences in public policy is fundamental to most conceptions of democracy. If representation is effectively undertaken, we would expect to find a correspondence between public preferences for policy and policy itself. If representation is dynamic, policy makers should respond to changes in preferences over time. The integrity of the representational connection, however, rests fundamentally on the expectation that the public actually notices and responds to policy decisions. Such a public would adjust its preferences for ‘more’ or ‘less’ policy in response to what policy makers actually do, much like a thermostat. Despite its apparent importance, there is little research that systematically addresses this feedback of policy on preferences over time. Quite simply, we do not know whether the public adjusts its preferences for policy in response to what policy makers do. By implication, we do not fully understand the dynamics of representation. This research begins to address these issues and focuses on the relationships between public preferences and policy in a single, salient domain.

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