Activating Activists

The purpose of this chapter is to demonstrate the pedagogical and practical importance of learning skills around political advocacy and community engagement in prison-based classes. The primary focus of the exercises described here is upon engaging students in exercises that develop their skills in advocating for social policies that affect them directly. Learning objectives include understanding the challenges of community organizing and consensus-building, developing policy proposal- and grant-writing skills, and developing skills around public messaging.

Graphical Presentation of the Steady-state Economy Model

There are several theories claiming that their policies can save the planet from environmental catastrophe. This paper claims that it is only the Steady-State Economy model on which such reasonably effective expectations can be based. This is so for two reasons. First, the SSE is based on a clearly defined economic model which is presented graphically and briefly analysed. Second, it includes a policy proposal for reducing the size of global population. This is now approaching eight billion people and is expected to exceed nine billion in the next thirty years. The logic of the SSE suggests that stabilising population is not sufficient. The global population should actually be reduced if environmental balance is to be restored.

The impact of Court Fairness on Innovation: Firm-Level Evidence from World Enterprise Survey

Innovation works as an engine of growth for the country and the backbone for the performance of the firm. Pakistan is a developing country and it is lagging behind in terms of innovation activities in the region. In Pakistan, due to the weaker quality of institutions, court fairness is biased. The objective of the study was to measure the effect of court fairness on the innovation of the firm in the case of Pakistan using the World Enterprise Survey. The results of the study indicate that court fairness increases the likelihood of innovation. From the perspective of the policy proposal, it is suggested that proper reforms in the judicial system must be initiated and it is the utmost need of the society, firms, and the nation as a whole.

‘Community’: A Q study exploring perspectives in community governance settings in Taranaki, New Zealand

<p>Attend any public meeting in Taranaki and, more often than not, one will hear the word ‘community’ used to bolster a policy proposal, or oppose it. But when that happens, what exactly is meant by ‘community’? Taking advantage of her position as an embedded participant, the author of this thesis set out to understand what ‘community’ means to those who occupy roles of influence in decision-making settings in Taranaki, Aotearoa- New Zealand. To the study’s informants and participants, a deceptively simple question was put: ‘what do you understand by ‘community’?’ The set of techniques used to elicit responses to this question was William Stephenson’s Q Methodology. Data collection began with 29 informant interviews from which 45 statements representative of what is understood by ‘community’ were extracted. Those statements were rank-ordered by 35 participants generating 47 Q sorts (the mechanism by which each viewpoint was captured). Using PQMethod 2.35, a three-factor solution generated through principal components analysis and subjected to a varimax rotation was selected for further analysis. The interpretation of the results substantiated three somewhat highly correlated, yet nuanced perspectives where ‘community’ is: ▪ ‘Everyone and we’re all in this together’ (Factor 1), ▪ ‘Well... it depends’ given the multiplicity of interests (Factor 2), and ▪ ‘It’s everything’ (Factor 3). The primacy of relationships and expectations to contribute to where one lives provide the basis for consensus. The nuance is in the scope and reach in terms of who counts, what matters and why it is important at a given point in time. The subsequent discussion noted there is still no agreement on a definition of ‘community’ and its malleability in meaning makes ‘community’ useful for furthering political interests. Its use in the community governance settings of this study reflects the pragmatism of everyday life. ‘Community’ is affirmed as a concept that frames policy discourse. This study also identifies ‘community’ as a practice and as a way of governing that frames policy responses where the basis for ‘community’ is as: ▪ A preference for face-to-face interaction and usually over a cup of tea (Factor 1), ▪ A strategy of enabling that is realistic and pragmatic (Factor 2), and ▪ An account of the integrated connections to places, with people and to events across time and space (Factor 3). The study opens up new ground as the collection, analysis and interpretation of first- person, vested responses from those ‘doing’ ‘community’ in community governance settings is missing from the scholarly and practitioner literature. This study forms a bridge in an identified gap between those who theorise in the political philosophy of ‘community’ and those who advocate in the political practice of ‘community’. Furthermore, the three perspectives identified and discussed in this study also lead to a proposition that the phrase ‘governing communities’ would be a more apt and authentic alternative to ‘community governance’. Such a development is positioned as the next step in the evolution of the theory surrounding local decision-making and local government in New Zealand and as a normative model for political practice.</p>

‘Community’: A Q study exploring perspectives in community governance settings in Taranaki, New Zealand

<p>Attend any public meeting in Taranaki and, more often than not, one will hear the word ‘community’ used to bolster a policy proposal, or oppose it. But when that happens, what exactly is meant by ‘community’? Taking advantage of her position as an embedded participant, the author of this thesis set out to understand what ‘community’ means to those who occupy roles of influence in decision-making settings in Taranaki, Aotearoa- New Zealand. To the study’s informants and participants, a deceptively simple question was put: ‘what do you understand by ‘community’?’ The set of techniques used to elicit responses to this question was William Stephenson’s Q Methodology. Data collection began with 29 informant interviews from which 45 statements representative of what is understood by ‘community’ were extracted. Those statements were rank-ordered by 35 participants generating 47 Q sorts (the mechanism by which each viewpoint was captured). Using PQMethod 2.35, a three-factor solution generated through principal components analysis and subjected to a varimax rotation was selected for further analysis. The interpretation of the results substantiated three somewhat highly correlated, yet nuanced perspectives where ‘community’ is: ▪ ‘Everyone and we’re all in this together’ (Factor 1), ▪ ‘Well... it depends’ given the multiplicity of interests (Factor 2), and ▪ ‘It’s everything’ (Factor 3). The primacy of relationships and expectations to contribute to where one lives provide the basis for consensus. The nuance is in the scope and reach in terms of who counts, what matters and why it is important at a given point in time. The subsequent discussion noted there is still no agreement on a definition of ‘community’ and its malleability in meaning makes ‘community’ useful for furthering political interests. Its use in the community governance settings of this study reflects the pragmatism of everyday life. ‘Community’ is affirmed as a concept that frames policy discourse. This study also identifies ‘community’ as a practice and as a way of governing that frames policy responses where the basis for ‘community’ is as: ▪ A preference for face-to-face interaction and usually over a cup of tea (Factor 1), ▪ A strategy of enabling that is realistic and pragmatic (Factor 2), and ▪ An account of the integrated connections to places, with people and to events across time and space (Factor 3). The study opens up new ground as the collection, analysis and interpretation of first- person, vested responses from those ‘doing’ ‘community’ in community governance settings is missing from the scholarly and practitioner literature. This study forms a bridge in an identified gap between those who theorise in the political philosophy of ‘community’ and those who advocate in the political practice of ‘community’. Furthermore, the three perspectives identified and discussed in this study also lead to a proposition that the phrase ‘governing communities’ would be a more apt and authentic alternative to ‘community governance’. Such a development is positioned as the next step in the evolution of the theory surrounding local decision-making and local government in New Zealand and as a normative model for political practice.</p>

Hedging on the Hill: Does Political Hedging Reduce Firm Risk?

We examine whether firms’ political hedging activities are effective at mitigating political risk. Focusing on the risk induced by partisan politics, we measure political hedging as the degree to which firms’ political connections are balanced across Republican and Democratic candidates. We find that greater political hedging is associated with reduced stock return volatility, particularly during periods of higher policy uncertainty. Similarly, greater political hedging is associated with reduced crash risk, investment volatility, and earnings volatility. Moreover, the reduction in earnings volatility appears to relate to both a firm’s taxes and its operating activities, as we find that greater political hedging is associated with reduced cash effective tax rate volatility and pretax income volatility. We further find investors are better able to anticipate future earnings for firms that engage in political hedging, suggesting that political hedging helps improve firms’ information environments. Lastly, we perform an event study using President Obama’s Clean Power Plan. We find that on the days this policy proposal was debated in Congress, energy and utility firms experienced heightened intraday return volatility (relative to other firms and nonevent days). However, this heightened volatility is mitigated for energy and utility firms that are more politically hedged. Overall, we conclude that political hedging is an effective risk management tool that helps mitigate firm risk. This paper was accepted by Suraj Srinivasan, accounting.

Malcontents and Monopoly Rents: An Analysis of the Nature and Quality of Discourse Around, and the Drivers of, Policy Change in the New Zealand Electricity Sector

<p>New Zealand’s electricity sector has undergone considerable change in the three decades to 2015. Those changes are part of a broader shift within the political landscape, from state intervention to market dominance and the view of individuals as consumers. An ill-fated policy proposal in 2013 called NZ Power sought to reduce electricity prices, and implement structural reform that would reverse decades of change within the sector. This thesis examines the context in which the reforms to the sector occurred so as to understand better why some policies are successfully implemented and other proposals fail. Specifically, this thesis examines the triumvirate of principal goals the sector has sought to achieve, and the political discourse around them: security of supply, economically efficient prices, and minimising environmental damage. From these insights, a framework is constructed against which future policies can be assessed as to the likelihood of their successful implementation.</p>

Malcontents and Monopoly Rents: An Analysis of the Nature and Quality of Discourse Around, and the Drivers of, Policy Change in the New Zealand Electricity Sector

<p>New Zealand’s electricity sector has undergone considerable change in the three decades to 2015. Those changes are part of a broader shift within the political landscape, from state intervention to market dominance and the view of individuals as consumers. An ill-fated policy proposal in 2013 called NZ Power sought to reduce electricity prices, and implement structural reform that would reverse decades of change within the sector. This thesis examines the context in which the reforms to the sector occurred so as to understand better why some policies are successfully implemented and other proposals fail. Specifically, this thesis examines the triumvirate of principal goals the sector has sought to achieve, and the political discourse around them: security of supply, economically efficient prices, and minimising environmental damage. From these insights, a framework is constructed against which future policies can be assessed as to the likelihood of their successful implementation.</p>