New Governance in the European Union: Omc

The main purpose of this paper is to study the new governance in the European Union: the open method of coordination (hereinafter: OMC). Some of the main features of the OMC are: an instrument of spreading the best practices of achieving the EU's main goals; to help member states develop their policies; creating a calendar for achieving project goals: short, medium and long term; translating European guidelines into national and regional policies specifying objectives and measures; as well as periodic monitoring and evaluation. The main value of the OMC is all involvement in decision-making: European Union institutions, civil society, interest groups, media, etc., through the OMC play a role in the process of drafting public policies and monitoring and evaluating implementation. The OMC aims to complement the 'democratic deficit' of EU institutions, especially in the education policy, employment policies and social welfare policies. We have used two methods for research of the paper. The first, the method of research of scientific and academic literature related to the European Union. Second, the case study of individual cases for displaying the new governance format: OMC in the European Union. The result of the research is to understand what new governance in the European Union is, when it comes to expression of this form of governance, who are the main actors in implementing new governance, when it has started to apply, etc. The conclusion of the paper is that the new governance in the European Union: the OMC has transformed the decision-making process as well as the process of drafting policies, strategies and legislation within the EU. Received: 26 October 2021 / Accepted: 15 December 2021 / Published: 5 January 2022

The architecture of school governance: Rebuilding democratic legitimacy within an academized system

Successive governments, in embracing a neoliberalist ideology of decentralization and privatization, have radically reformed the nature of community-based, comprehensive state education. The transition from ‘government to governance’ (Rhodes, 1997) combined with the ideology of academization (DfE, 2010a) has created a democratic deficit 1 (Corbett, 1977). Academies are placed outside of local elected scrutiny or community-based accountability systems and governance legitimacy is in crisis (Glatter, 2013). This article explores the problematization of academized governance (Allen and Gann, 2017) with respect to the democratic deficit and the consequential lack of stakeholder engagement – argued as unethical within a democratic society and a system that frequently leads to failings of accountability (Wilkins, 2016). Utilizing the conceptual lens of Empowered Participatory Governance (EPG) (Fung and Wright, 2003), the authors seek to present a new architecture of governance that seeks to restore democratic legitimacy. Democratic governance innovations, the micro-governance network (Allen, 2017) and a refreshed local education board (Gann, 2021) provide a new architecture for a post new governance environment and, in so doing, a counter-narrative to the rhetoric of academization.

Amazonia Beyond Borders: Indigenous Land Protection for an Indigenous Group in Voluntary Isolation

This article looks at the land protection efforts by the Manxineru, whose lands are affected by numerous actors: state agencies, enterprises and transnational mega-extraction projects. We draw especially from the experiences, activities, and articulation of the Manxineru in protection of the land for the Yine Hosha Hajene (Mascho-Piro), their kin living in voluntary isolation, who circulate more in the Manxineru’s demarcated territory in the Brazilian-Peruvian border area. The article presents Manxineru’s key land protection practices that have been strengthening the social networks of different actors as a go-between with other Indigenous group and authorities of the dominant society, as well as managing better their own forest resource use, gathering economies, and hunting practices for healthy relations of human-environment assemblage. Indigenous knowledge and perspectives for the protection of ancestral land, beyond the borders of the state-set Indigenous reserves and protected areas, have become crucial in creating new governance models. By these methods, the Manxineru have managed to cope with differing economic interests and values in living that oppose and ignore their human-environment relationality and interactions. Yet, as we will point out, the mosaic of different Indigenous areas and conservation still need the implementation of state protective activities by a variety of governmental actors.

Creating and Protecting Paths: Learning in an Entrepreneurial State

This paper discusses how a Norwegian entrepreneurial state has performed over more than seventy years, based on an analysis of state involvement in Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk/the Kongsberg Group from 1945 and to 2015. Mariana Mazzucato has argued that bold technological investments by the state has long-term beneficial effects. The development of the Kongsberg companies adds nuance to this picture. On the one hand, the defense company Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk failed as a company in 1987 and was unbundled into a number of new companies independent of one another. On the other hand, some of the successor companies have been very successful, both in the oil and gas sector and within defense. Taking the defense and oil and gas company the Kongsberg Group as a case, this paper argues that a new style of entrepreneurial state developed in the 1990s and that it proved very successful. The old entrepreneurial state was heavy-handed, bold, and very long-term in its aims; the new entrepreneurial state was cautious, many-headed, and worked through the management of the company. The new entrepreneurial state combined state ownership, stock listing, and procurement considerations and was supported by both the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Defense. This new governance structure facilitated a stable corporation that over time integrated other Norwegian maritime electronics companies, which themselves had a checkered history under the old entrepreneurial state. A new corporate governance regime emerged and managed both to protect old and established product lines and to facilitate innovation both in defense and maritime electronics.

Exploring academics’ identities in today’s universities: a systematic review

Purpose The study aims to analyse international studies on the impact that new forms of control and performativity in higher education have on academics’ identity. The aim was threefold, namely, to provide an overview of the main published findings; to establish biases and future lines of research and to offer a starting point to stimulate a debate on the future of universities. Design/methodology/approach The present study consists of a systematic review aimed at providing an overview of the main professional identities (PIs) described in the literature in the past 10 years. A bibliographic search was conducted on the Web of Science, SCOPUS and Education Resources Information Centre, which yielded a total of 26 articles that were subsequently subjected to thematic analysis. Findings The study provides an overview of the types of identities developed by academics as a result of the new forms of control. Among the main findings, this study reveals a clear predominance of PIs characterised by submission to the new neoliberal demands. The professional, social and health consequences associated with these identities are also highlighted. Finally, a proposal is made for future research to better understand how these new PIs are constructed and developed. Research limitations/implications Because of the chosen filters or databases, the study could have omitted possible articles relevant to this review. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to replicate such a study by expanding, for example, the languages used. Originality/value This study helps us to obtain a detailed description of the different identities generated as a consequence of the new governance of higher education. Furthermore, possible implications for mitigating this situation are mentioned.

Health system considerations related to voluntary and forced displacement in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: a critical analysis of the available literature

Background: The WHO Region for the Eastern Mediterranean has had a history of complex migration patterns, with high levels of migration to, from and within the Region, overlaid by massive recent forced displacement. Relatively little is known about the health system response to this large-scale mobility. Aims: To review the literature on the Region critically, identify gaps and suggest areas needing research and policy attention. Method: A search of the published literature using MEDLINE and POPLINE was conducted on health and migration focusing on the WHO health system building blocks with no date or language limitations. Results: Out of 4679 retrieved articles published between 1964 and January 2019, 140 met our inclusion criteria; 45 additional articles were included in a December 2020 update. Most publications focused on refugees and on the delivery of services. Conclusions: Few studies explored the responsiveness of health system to refugees and migrants compared with those for host communities, or assessed the quality of services or refugees’/migrants’ perceptions of available health services. Few suggested new approaches to financing health care access for these populations or new governance arrangements.

From a hard nuclear state towards a soft nuclear repository state – participation, co-designing, learning and reversibility in the site selection process for a nuclear waste repository

Since 2013 the site search for a repository for highly radioactive waste has been taking place in Germany within the framework of a new governance architecture and under new political guidelines. Based on experiences with nuclear politics in the past, Jungk (1977) coined the term hard nuclear state, characterized by decisions made in a top-down manner. The Decide-Announce-Defend (DAD) strategy, which branded the nuclear state at that time, led to conflicts, mistrust of authorities and blockages. In particular, massive resistance developed against the planned final repository site at Gorleben. Nowadays, after more than 60 years deploying nuclear energy, the (energy) political balance of power has fundamentally changed. Parts of the anti-nuclear movement have been integrated into the political party system and have contributed significantly to the nuclear phase-out. In the course of this, the unfinished task of final disposal has been readdressed: with the Repository Site Selection Act (StandAG, 2017), which was passed in 2013 and amended in 2017, an ongoing process of public participation is stated. The site selection process is required to be learning, self-questioning, science-based, reversible, and participatory. The StandAG § 5 not only provides a basis for a fundamental dialogue between the regulator, the operator, and the public, but also for „co-design“ by common citizens. The StandAG considers various elements from different participation-friendly theories of democracy as well as specific governance concepts, which we refer to collectively as the soft nuclear repository state (cf. Brunnengräber, 2021). Its characteristics need to be worked out, as the StandAG only provides some indications, but no criteria, for what good and sufficient participation in the site selection process means and what its conditions for success should be. Based on preliminary considerations on democratic theory and governance aspects (part 1), we present what good participation could mean in the current procedure and what the framework conditions for good participation could be (part 2). Additionally, we present main findings from participatory observations from the ongoing site search process and identify conditions and indications of a successful future participation process based on the ongoing process (part 3). In the résumé, we turn to the question of which of the democracy-theoretical elements of the soft repository state are already recognizable in the present procedure, but also whether the current procedure provides additional indications towards the soft nuclear repository state (part 4).