Equity Impacts of Dollar Store Vaccine Distribution

We use geospatial data to examine the unprecedented national program currentlyunderway in the United States to distribute and administer vaccines against COVID-19. We quantify the impact of the proposed federal partnership with the companyDollar General to serve as vaccination sites and compare vaccine access with DollarGeneral to the current Federal Retail Pharmacy Partnership Program. Although dollarstores have been viewed with skepticism and controversy in the policy sector, we showthat, relative to the locations of the current federal program, Dollar General stores aredisproportionately likely to be located in Census tracts with high social vulnerability;using these stores as vaccination sites would greatly decrease the distance to vaccinesfor both low-income and minority households. We consider a hypothetical alternativepartnership with Dollar Tree and show that adding these stores to the vaccinationprogram would be similarly valuable, but impact different geographic areas than theDollar General partnership. Adding Dollar General to the current pharmacy partnersgreatly surpasses the goal set by the Biden administration of having 90% of the popu-lation within 5 miles of a vaccine site. We discuss the potential benefits of leveragingthese partnerships for other vaccinations, including against influenza.

Designed Generalization from Qualitative Research

In our earlier work on generalizing from qualitative research (GQR) we identified our two-decade struggle to have qualitative research outcomes formally “listened to” by policy personnel and bureaucratic systems in general, with mixed success. The policy sector often seems reluctant to acknowledge that qualitative research findings can be generalized, so impacts tend to be informal or simply ignored. The “official” methodological literature on generalizing from qualitative research is epitomized by Lincoln and Guba’s (1985) still oft quoted, “The only generalization is: there is no generalization” (p. 110). We now understand there are many alternative possibilities for generalizing. In this paper we hope to provide a platform for discussion on GQR. We suggest Normative Truth Statements (NTS) as a foundation. NTSs, used in our proposed generalizability cycle, are a potential key to ensuring designated qualitative research methodology provides a capacity for generalization—and therefore be considered as a valid form of evidence in policy decisions. In other words, we need a platform to articulate how to design qualitative research to maximize the type and scope of generalizability outcomes, referred to here as Designed Generalization from Qualitative Research (DGQR). Five steps of DGQR, using progressive NTSs in the generalizability cycle, are proposed as a way forward in understanding how generalizing from qualitative research may be made more transparent, accountable, and useful. The five steps are illustrated by reference to two example studies.

Using Implementation Science to Support a Research and Public Policy Sector Older Adult Social Housing Partnership

One quarter of the residents in the City of Toronto is comprised of older adults, and this number is expected to continue to grow dramatically over the next few decades. The development of evidence-based interventions to meet the health and social care needs of Toronto’s aging population can be hampered by failing to account for broader implementation considerations that can adversely affect successful uptake. The present initiative provides a case-example of a research and public policy sector partnership that used an implementation approach to co-design an older adult social housing model for low-income older adult groups. Implementation science is the study of the uptake of research evidence into practice. Our team used the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) to support the planning, implementation and evaluation process of a new social housing model for older adults by: 1) identifying all relevant stakeholders; 2) generating evidence via qualitative interviews/focus groups, a scoping review, secondary data analysis, and an environmental scan; 3) facilitating large scale stakeholder consultation events with older adults, front-line practitioners and other community agencies; 4) supporting the development of an evaluation framework; and 5) providing opportunities for knowledge exchange and transfer across each phase of the initiative. An implementation science approach has augmented the ability of the City of Toronto to optimize the co-creation of housing strategies aimed at improving the overall wellness of vulnerable older adults living in social housing. Further, a number of valuable lessons were learned on how to foster successful research and public policy relationships.

How to blame and make a difference: perceived responsibility and policy consequences in two Swedish pro-migrant campaigns

In this paper, we explore the assumption that blame-attribution can be an effective rhetorical strategy for non-elite interest groups who want power holders to be attentive to their demands. Through a qualitative analysis of two pro-migrant campaigns led by grassroot activists in Sweden, one taking place in 2005 and the other in 2017, we offer a nuanced empirical examination of non-elite initiated blame-games. We show how perceived responsibility influences these blame-games, and explore which policy consequences might emanate from them. We demonstrate that blame-making, under certain conditions, can be a successful strategy to gain policy influence, but that this strategy is conditioned by the complexity and transparency of the institutional arrangements of accountability within the policy sector. The focus on non-elite blame-making in order to change policies enables us to contribute to the theoretical discussion on the relationship between anticipatory and reactive forms of blame-avoidance behaviours, and to discuss the democratic implications of blame-games in both shorter and longer time perspectives. One implication of this study is that successful non-elite blame-making at one point in time actually can lower the chances of successful blame-making in the future.

L'International: The World's First International Journal and the Possibilities and Limits of International Studies

L'International, a journal published in Paris in the 1840s that brought together an international team of intellectuals aiming to advance international studies, represents not only a forgotten milestone in the development of international studies but also provides an important case study shedding light on the challenges that need to be overcome in the development of international studies as a distinctive area of research. This article considers both the potential and the limits of the approach to international studies set out in L'International with a view to further understanding the potential and limits of international studies today. It elucidates four features of the approach taken in L'International pertinent to debates in today's discipline: (i) the boundaries of international studies; (ii) the nature of a scientific approach to the subject; (iii) the role of race, gender, and class; and (iv) the relationship between international studies and the policy sector. While its contributors were notable for putting forward a pluralist approach to the subject, their efforts were marred by their consideration of a limited set of interests.

Policy programme cycles through old and new programmatic groups

This article draws on the Programmatic Action Framework (PAF) to tackle the question of how the dominance and decline of a specific policy programme in a policy sector can be explained. It starts from the observation that visionary policy programmes, defined as a set of policy goals and instruments that find their expression in subsequently adopted and interconnected policy reforms, may shape a sector’s policies over several decades. Linking policy programmes to programmatic groups that promote these programmes in search of boosting their careers and authority, the programme’s rising and declining dominance can be explained by the career trajectories of programmatic actors. By displaying empirical evidence for the argument from German health policy, the article shows that proponents of today’s change are opponents of tomorrow’s change since individual careers depend on the dominance of policy programmes.

22. Environment and Climate

This chapter examines the evolution of the European Union’s (EU) environmental policy. The environment is a relatively new policy area of the EU. It was not officially created until 1973 and acquired a sound legal basis in the Treaties only with the passage of the Single European Act (SEA) in 1987. When the EU was established, environmental issues were low on the political agenda. However, they have become increasingly important at both national and European levels, and there is now a comprehensive environmental policy at the EU level and the EU has developed a reputation as an environmental leader in international environmental diplomacy, especially on climate change. The chapter first explains the main drivers for the development of the EU’s environmental policy, before discussing recent developments, and some of the major issues of current concern. It concludes by evaluating the theoretical leverage of the key integration theories for explaining and critiquing this policy sector.