A Critical Assessment of the Value of Top-Down and Bottom-Up Public Policy Implementation Theories, with Reference to the Case of Implementation of Passport Seva: An eGovernance Policy in India

What are the challenges in public policy processes? Why do some critical public problems not carry to the agenda-setting of policy-making, or even if carried, they fail during implementation? One of the responses to these queries is that policy-making often happens in a complex, dynamic, sociopolitical environment where there are overarching structures above the policy makers and there are competing actors, ideas, groups, policy networks, institutions and policy subsystem that interact with unequal power and conflicting interests (Sanderson, 2009). It is thus realised that the systematic study of public policy is significant for bringing progressive change in society. Hence it is required to build new knowledge and to improve upon the working of public policy. This article will study the value of the top down and bottom up theories in the case of implementation of a new eGovernance policy on passport issuance in India. The findings are that due to resistance from different stakeholders, the project could be implemented only after certain bottom up changes to the policy along with change management strategies.

A comparison of the beginnings of exonym standardization in Croatian and Slovenian

This paper compares the beginnings of exonym standardization and some characteristics of the oldest exonyms in two similar Slavic languages, Croatian and Slovenian. It uses the comparative and exemplar methods. It is found that these processes were influenced by the sociopolitical environment of the time, especially language policies. It is shown that the nineteenth century was favorably inclined toward exonyms. They were often written inconsistently and unsystematically because there were no spelling norms for their writing and use. For some, the influences of foreign languages (German, Italian, etc.) are obvious. Numerous transitional forms also appeared, which did not become established.

Renegotiating Identity and Agency in Everyday Oppression: Experiences of Forced Migrant Youth in Malaysia

This study explored how forced migrant youth in transit renegotiated their identity and agency after fleeing their homes and sociocultural connections, and while enduring ongoing precarity in a new, oppressive sociopolitical environment in Malaysia. As Malaysia is a non-signatory state that denies legal status to forced migrants, youth face significant structural barriers that constrain their capacities to participate in society and explore their identity. Using an innovative Peer Mediated Storyboard Narrative method (PMSN), thirteen adolescents visually depicted and then explained how their experiences of forced migration affected their sense of self, belonging, and future. Participants were receiving non-formal education and services from a migrant-serving agency in Malaysia while awaiting UNHCR adjudication of their application for resettlement. Youths’ transcribed narratives were the focus of analysis using constructivist grounded theory (CGT). Youth described a process whereby renegotiating identity was inextricably linked to (re)claiming agency, if only in situated ways, as they navigated oppression, discrimination, and rejection. Their renegotiation of identity involved (re)evaluating loss and opportunity, (re)constructing belonging, and working through prescribed identities. As youth renegotiated identities, they continuously sought to recreate agency, or a sense of ownership, over their experiences and stories. Their agency was situated within seemingly ordinary assertions of preserving and expanding their identities, forging spaces of belonging, and defining their own narratives rather than accepting prescribed identities. Perceived family support, duration of stay in Malaysia, and experiences as a girl or boy within their communities were key elements that shaped youths’ negotiation. Far from being passive recipients of circumstance, forced migrant youth strategically navigated systemic oppression and actively strove to reconstruct their identity and ownership over their experiences.

Temporal comparisons, historical semantics of interaction and ‘post-war consensus’ in British Parliament: Studying time references in a deliberative environment

This article aims to demonstrate that the transition from the mainstream narrative to the interactional history of concepts promises tangible benefits for scholars of social time in general and temporal comparisons in particular. It is shown that the traditionally close alignment of narration with the production of historical consciousness at various levels hinders the study of time as a semantic variable perpetually contested, amended and upheld across society. Alternatively, the references to time made in public settings, allowing for more or less instant reactions (turn-taking) as well as expression of dissenting opinions (stance-taking), offer a much more representative palette of temporal semantics and pragmatics in a given sociopolitical environment. In a particularly intriguing case, the essentially deliberative venue where contestation is supported by both institutional arrangements and political reasons (British House of Commons) is put to test under circumstances commonly known as ‘the post-war consensus’ – the unspoken convention directing opposing political parties to suspend stance-taking regarding the past actions of the government during WWII, its immediate aftermath and its future prospects. As a reliable indicator of this arrangement, the contestation of temporal comparisons between relevant pasts and futures is tested in oppositions reflecting party allegiances (Conservatives vs. Labour vs. Liberals) and executive functions (government vs. opposition) between 1946 and 1952. It is shown that, notwithstanding the prevalence of non-contested statements aimed at preserving interactional coherence and pragmatic functionality of the setting, the moderately active contestation of the adversary’s temporal comparisons in the House of Commons at that time helped all parties, albeit to a different degree, to shape their own political and institutional roles as well as to delegitimize their respective adversaries.

Dynamics of collective action to conserve a large common-pool resource

A pressing challenge for coming decades is sustainable and just management of large-scale common-pool resources including the atmosphere, biodiversity and public services. This poses a difficult collective action problem because such resources may not show signs that usage restraint is needed until tragedy is almost inevitable. To solve this problem, a sufficient level of cooperation with a pro-conservation behavioural norm must be achieved, within the prevailing sociopolitical environment, in time for the action taken to be effective. Here we investigate the transient dynamics of behavioural change in an agent-based model on structured networks that are also exposed to a global external influence. We find that polarisation emerges naturally, even without bounded confidence, but that for rationally motivated agents, it is temporary. The speed of convergence to a final consensus is controlled by the rate at which the polarised clusters are dissolved. This depends strongly on the combination of external influences and the network topology. Both high connectivity and a favourable environment are needed to rapidly obtain final consensus.

Creolization and Creole People in Early Modern Caribbean Colonial Societies

Creolization is one of the most fascinating topics for regional studies on the Americas. Previously, scholars across various academic disciplines have extensively studied and viewed creolization in the substantial content under the trend—how did creolization proceed—such as the material and cognitive development of creole cultures and peoples: their way of living, and the linguistic aspect of creolization has been especially focused on. This paper, however, focuses more on the palpable impacts of creolization and delves into the way in which such ethnic convergence influenced the sociopolitical environment of colonial societies, or the impacts of the process, which provides a better understanding of how the dynamic of creolization affected the colonial societies back then, instead of merely informing the readers of how creolization was happening. Specific primary and secondary sources have been used and referenced, based on which the study has been conducted. The study has reached a conclusion that creolization had a complicating impact on the sociopolitical environment of the colonial Caribbean.

The Limits of Antiradicalization

This chapter summarizes the arguments of the book, reveals the consequences of these programs, and presents alternative policy options, offering three main criticisms. First, these programs fail to engage with how masculinity and femininity inform the radicalization process, and cannot understand personal drivers or the sociopolitical environment. Second, male radicalization is unreflectively linked to a flawed masculinity, and women’s radicalization depends on orientalist stereotypes about passivity and subjugation. Solutions hinge on particular ideals of masculinity that few men can obtain, while women are seen as a rescue mission. Third, a paternalist logic justifies intervention in ordinary lives in the name of security, yet fails to deliver. A gendered differential exists in the impact of counter-radicalization measures, and there are wider consequences. Individuals are denied agency, not given the option to critique for themselves the non-radical versions of agency and self being presented to them, engendering a limited form of loyalty to and security for the state.

Gender, Religion, Extremism

This volume offers a feminist critique of counter- and deradicalization programs, including those under the umbrella of “preventing and countering violent extremism.” Based on insights from five countries and examples from elsewhere, the book shows how, collectively, efforts rely on particular narratives of agency, security, and human rights. Putting gender at the center of the analysis reveals significant limitations in antiradicalization work—in construction, operation, and evaluation. First, these programs fail to explore or engage with how masculinity and femininity inform the radicalization process. As a result, they cannot successfully understand the personal drivers or the sociopolitical environment of these programs. Second, within the operations of these programs male radicalization is clearly and unreflectively linked to an excessive but flawed masculinity, while ideas about women’s radicalization depend on orientalist stereotypes about passivity and subjugation. Solutions for male deradicalization therefore hinge on particular ideals of masculinity that few men can obtain, and deradicalizing women is seen as a rescue mission. Third, the impact of these programs derives from a racialized paternalist logic that justifies intervention in “ordinary lives” in the name of security, yet fails to deliver. There is a gendered differential in the impact of counter-radicalization measures. Although the rhetoric of countering terrorism is often couched in a narrative of “women’s rights” and “liberal values,” the book demonstrates that the consequences are often detrimental to these precepts. The book concludes by offering an alternative way of thinking about and implementing antiradicalization efforts, rooted in a feminist peace.

Modernitas dan Keindonesiaan Fatwa Majelis Ulama Indonesia

This research shows that 19 (nineteen) fatwas of 104 (one hundred and four) fatwas of the Indonesian Ulama Council (MUI) from 1983 to 2009 are reflecting modernity and the Indonesia-ness. The modernity of the fatwas is implemented in the using of maqasid shari‘ah, the maslahat principle, collective ijtihad, and flexibility in madhhab. As for the Indonesianess of the fatwas is implemented at the local wisdom which includes the consideration of: National Stability of Indonesia, the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI), Public Order, National Culture, and Legislation regulated in Indonesia.The research supports the thought of the contextualist group which is represented by Sahal Mahfudh, Ali Yafie and Munawar Chalil; both of them echo the contextual relationship between fiqh and the aspects of Indonesian people’s life. Also Muhammad Atho Mudzhar which states that the implementation of any Islamic law is the result of interaction between the jurist or mufti with his sociocultural and sociopolitical environment. Musfirin al-Qahtani as well states the importance of istinbat methodology in facing the development of the contemporary Islamic law (fiqh) by standing on the shariah arguments, the fiqh formulas (qaidah fiqhiyyah), takhrij, and maqasid al-shari‘ah.