A critical evaluation of thirty years of state-civil society relations in Zambia, 1991 - 2021

Laburpena: Artikulu honek nudge delako administrazio-tresnak Espainiako testuinguruan izan dezakeen ahalmenari buruzko sarrera egiten du. Lehenik eta behin, tresna hori definitzen da, esanez iragartzeko moduan erabakien egitura aldatzeko era dela, hautatzeko askatasunari eutsiz. Horren ondoren, tresna bere testuinguru historikoan kokatzen da: portaeraren zientzien garapenaren ondorioz sortu zen. Hirugarrenik, nudges delakoak erabiltzeko test bidez aztertutako hamahiru moduren berri ematen da, eta adierazten da zer printzipio psikologikotan oinarritzen diren horiek, eta estatuaren testuingururako esanguratsuak diren adibide ugari ematen dira. Gero, tresna hori administrazio-prozesuan txertatzeko beharrezkoa den metodoari buruzko azalpena ematen da. Azkenik, kritikoki balioesten da zer inplikazio etiko dakartzan proposamen berri horrek administratzailearentzat eta gizartearentzat. Resumen: El presente artículo introduce el nudge como herramienta administrativa y su potencial para el contexto español. Primero se define esta herramienta como una manera de modificar la arquitectura de las decisiones de manera predecible al mismo tiempo que se mantiene la libertad de elección. Después, se contextualiza históricamente esta herramienta emergida del desarrollo de las ciencias del comportamiento. Tercero, se enumeran trece maneras testadas de utilizar nudges así como los principios psicológicos en las que se basan y numerosos ejemplos relevantes para el contexto estatal. Después, se explica el método necesario para introducir esta herramienta en el proceso administrativo. Por último, se valora de manera crítica las implicaciones éticas de esta nueva propuesta para el administrador y la sociedad. Abstract: The present article introduces the nudging as a policy-making tool and its potential for the Spanish context. First, the tool is defined as a way to predictably modify choice architecture while maintaining freedom of choice. Second, the article historically contextualizes this behaviorally-informed tool. Third, it enumerates thirteen tested ways to use nudges, as well as the psychological principles on which these hinge and numerous examples relevant to the Spanish context. Afterwards, the article elaborates on the method necessary to introduce these tools into the administrative process. Finally, there is a critical evaluation of the ethical implications of this new tool for administrators and civil society.

Download Full-text

Losing UNGASS? Lessons from civil society, past and present

Drugs and Alcohol Today ◽

10.1108/dat-02-2017-0006 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 17 (2) ◽

pp. 88-97 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

John Collins

Keyword(s):

Control System ◽

Civil Society ◽

International Relations ◽

Drug Policy ◽

Policy Reform ◽

Critical Evaluation ◽

Historical Narrative ◽

Drug Control ◽

Content Type

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of civil society in the recent history of drug policy reform. It focuses on the UN drug control system, which is designed to regulate certain “scheduled” or listed substances internationally. It provides new light on recent reformist discourses and strategic agendas and how they related to the reality of UN politics and international relations. It questions the idea that the UN General Assembly Special Session on Drugs (UNGASS) in 2016 was a failure in terms of outcomes. It concludes by suggesting that the true outcomes of the UNGASS process will initially be obscured by the complexity of national-international drug policy dialectics, but may eventually prove more tangible and enduring than proposed formal systemic reforms. Design/methodology/approach The paper examines the historical role of civil society in the UN drug control system. It highlights that although civil society played a key role in the early formation of the system, this role diminished over time as the system professionalised. Meanwhile, as a new reformist movement emerged in the 1990s challenging the status quo, the paper traces this movement through the early UNGASS process, the decline of the reformist era and the eventual UNGASS outcomes. It concludes with a critical evaluation of civil society strategies and the relationship between idealistic strategies and the realities of national and international politics. Findings Rather than a failure of outcomes, UNGASS represented a failure of assumptions, strategic vision and ultimately expectations on the part of reform optimists. These groups ultimately created and became captive to a goal of formal systemic reforms, or treaty revisions, underpinned by a dogmatic assumption of “the inescapable logic of reform necessity”. This logic argued that highlighting treaty “breaches” and contradictions would be a sufficient condition to drive a formal UN system-wide re-evaluation of drug control. These failures of strategic assumptions and vision ultimately resulted in the sense of “failure” of UNGASS 2016. Research limitations/implications This research highlights the need to critically evaluate civil society strategies and desired outcomes with an eye to history, international relations and the realities of managing a complex global issue. The application of mono-causal explanations for individual state actions or international cooperation is shown to be vastly insufficient to explain, plan for or predict the outcomes of a complex multilateral framework. Furthermore, this paper highlights a research agenda on the role of civil society in drug policy formation and how this relates to the current policy and advocacy groupings among member states and interest groups at national and international levels. Practical implications This paper highlights a more realistic appraisal of the determinants of and possibilities to change international drug policy. It thereby utilises an impressionistic historical narrative of the UNGASS process to enable an evaluation of the frontiers of policy reform at the UN level and provide some guidance on the failures of past strategies and potential future directions of international drug control and reformist strategies. Social implications As highlighted in this paper, drug policy is an area where major policy failures are recognised within the current international approach. Experimentation with new tactics and strategies are needed to break out of the traditional prohibition-centric approach to this issue. The benefits of more successful policies would be felt though a lower level of harm from drug use, drug markets and drug policy. As such, a pragmatic understanding of how the international system might evolve to support new evidence-based approaches is crucial to developing a socially beneficial approach to drugs and drug policy. Originality/value The originality of this research lies in its blending of a historical evaluation of the role of civil society in the UN drug control system and the strategies of contemporary civil society actors around the UNGASS process. Thereby it allows a more critical evaluation of the strategic goals, assumptions and outcomes of reformist strategies in the recent era and potential strategies moving forward.

Download Full-text

State, Civil Society and Draft National Tribal Policy: A Critical Evaluation

Indian Journal of Public Administration ◽

10.1177/0019556120080403 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 54 (4) ◽

pp. 811-822

Author(s):

Jadi Musalaiah

Keyword(s):

Civil Society ◽

Critical Evaluation

Download Full-text

Electron Microscopy of Metal-Matrix Composites

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100069016 ◽

1970 ◽

Vol 28 ◽

pp. 404-405

Author(s):

A. Lawley ◽

M. R. Pinnel ◽

A. Pattnaik

Keyword(s):

Electron Microscopy ◽

Metal Matrix Composites ◽

Metal Matrix ◽

Critical Evaluation ◽

Elastic Behavior ◽

Matrix Composites ◽

Directionally Solidified ◽

Fracture Characteristics ◽

Broad Program

As part of a broad program on composite materials, the role of the interface on the micromechanics of deformation of metal-matrix composites is being studied. The approach is to correlate elastic behavior, micro and macroyielding, flow, and fracture behavior with associated structural detail (dislocation substructure, fracture characteristics) and stress-state. This provides an understanding of the mode of deformation from an atomistic viewpoint; a critical evaluation can then be made of existing models of composite behavior based on continuum mechanics. This paper covers the electron microscopy (transmission, fractography, scanning microscopy) of two distinct forms of composite material: conventional fiber-reinforced (aluminum-stainless steel) and directionally solidified eutectic alloys (aluminum-copper). In the former, the interface is in the form of a compound and/or solid solution whereas in directionally solidified alloys, the interface consists of a precise crystallographic boundary between the two constituents of the eutectic.

Download Full-text