Pacific Universities’ Leadership during the COVID-19 Pandemic- a Case Study of Fiji and New Zealand

The global education system came under scrutiny in 2020 due to the unexpected pandemic. COVID-19 forced higher education institutions everywhere to rethink the way to deliver classes or continue offering their services due to travel restrictions, lockdowns and social distancing policies. This caused major disruptions in carrying out normal teaching and learning. The intervention of university leadership in maintaining decorum during the pandemic entailed making pivotal decisions within a short period of time. The aim of this paper is to highlight various statements made by a group of universities from Fiji and New Zealand to present their position, and policies during the global pandemic. This article discusses how university leaders in the South Pacific with a case study of Fiji and New Zealand have responded to the pandemic. It discusses the statements and media releases of university leaders in Fiji (a developing nation) and New Zealand (a developed nation), particularly their responses and comments on the mode of teaching, international travel, social distancing, financial impact, and research. These focus areas need to be priority for university leaders in making crucial decisions in operating higher education institutions during unexpected events such as the pandemic.

Reviewer Acknowledgements for Public Administration Research, Vol. 10, No. 2

Reviewer acknowledgements for Public Administration Research, Vol. 10, No. 2, 2021.

Multiple Variable Social Distancing Model in Reducing COVID 19 Spreading: A Long Term Social Distancing Model in Developing Nations Like Bangladesh

Covid-19 pandemic requires strong and inclusive social distancing policies for the people. Governments around the world have taken policy steps and citizen were expected to behave accordingly. However, Countries like Bangladesh faced enormous difficulties and challenges to make people understand and obey them. There is variety of groups in the society among whom a few were respectful and some were negligent towards those social distancing policies. This study tried to find what makes them obey or disobey the prescribed pandemic behavior. This research found people over-confident, religiously blind, economically bound, poorly educated, doubtful to their government, impatient about the time frame of the lockdown and social distancing rules and so on. Additionally, sometimes government policies were proved to be incompatible with the rising situation.   Primary hypothesis of this study is, ``willingness of social distancing is a dependent variable where over-confidence, education, poverty, religion, public trusts are independent variables. Taking general policies like other natural disaster or calamities may not be as effective as it was before.’’ This pandemic is an event which needs an in-depth research, wider policy analysis and firm implementation. Here is a suggestion called `multiple variable social distancing model' which will study about the variables first and guide to a wider policy structure afterwards.

Moderating Influence of Contextual Determinants on Relationship between Monitoring and Evaluation Practices and Performance of County Maternal Health Programmes in Kenya

Effective monitoring and evaluation practices is widely known to help improve performance, the quality and effectiveness of planning and decision making and achievement of results. This is because monitoring focuses on the implementation process and progress towards the achievement of project objectives. Despite the Kenya Government’s effort to promote County Maternal Health programmes through legal frameworks such as the county integrated monitoring and evaluation practices tool, and while there is empirical evidence that monitoring and evaluation practices contributes to enhanced performance, actual performance of county health sector across Kenya remains poor. The purpose of the study was to establish moderating influence of contextual determinants on the relationship between monitoring and evaluation practices and performance of County Maternal Health programmes in Kenya. The paradigm that is suitable for this study is pragmatism. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The study targeted 8 regional blocks in Kenya (Central,, Western Coast, Eastern, Rift Valley, North Eastern, Nyanza, Nairobi) where one county from each block was selected. From these counties the target population was 1165 respondents including Medical officers, Clinical Officers, Trained Community health workers, Nurses, County Health Management Team and County Delivery Unit officers from level 4 and 5 hospitals. Sampling procedure for this study was guided by the research design which is descriptive survey design. Stratified random sampling was used to obtain 282 respondents from which information was obtained for this study. The research instruments that were used for data collection are: a self-administered structured questionnaire and interview guides. Descriptive and inferential data analysis techniques were used in this study. Regression was conducted for testing the study hypothesis. The research established that there was a strong correlation between the performance of county maternal health programmes and contextual determinants (r=0.638, p=0.000<0.05). The study found that after introduction of contextual determinants into the relationship, and the interaction term in model 2 increased the R square by 0.08. This implies that the interaction between contextual determinants and monitoring and evaluation practices explains 8.0% variations in performance of county maternal health programmes. The study concluded that contextual determinants significantly moderate the relationship between monitoring and evaluation practices and performance of County Maternal Health Programmes in Kenya. The study recommends investing in robust and dynamic technical coordination platforms that can sustain the agenda for change. and at all levels is necessary to ensure the sustainability of M&E reforms in the health sector.

Implementation of Tobacco Control Policies in Bangladesh: A Political Economy Analysis

After ratifying the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control in 2004, Bangladesh enacted anti-tobacco laws, policies, and administrative measures. Evidence suggests that the progress so far has not been significant, and Bangladesh will most likely fail to meet its target to become tobacco-free by 2040. This study undertakes a national-level political economy analysis to explore the dynamics that affect the processes of required tobacco policy reforms and implementation. Based on a desk review of pertinent pieces of literature and key informant interviews, this research examines the political behavior of key individuals, institutional reform initiatives, and the government’s commitment to the tobacco control agenda. The findings indicate that the political will of becoming tobacco-free is explicitly present in key narratives. However, intra-government conflict of interests and incentives, the skewed commitment of government bodies, state-business nexus, incapacity of vital organizations, and the dubious role of key individuals and committees fail to translate this will into active implementation. The article concludes that the idea of tobacco control remains a strategic accommodation, and its implementation requires genuine commitment and wider public support. The government must confer adequate authority and resources to the national tobacco control cell and call for agencies to convene to the common of creating a tobacco-free Bangladesh.

40 Years of Policy Evolution of Chinese Farmer Cooperative Organization – Quantitative Analysis of Policy Text Based on the No. 1 Central Document

The issue of agricultural and rural farmers is a fundamental issue related to the national economy and people's livelihood. Solving farmer issues is always the top priority of the central government. At present, the construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era. Farmer cooperative organization have played an important role in agricultural output and farmers' economic income. Through text comprehensive analysis and policy tool analysis, the policies of farmer cooperative organization involved in the No.1 Central Document from 1982 to 1986 and 2004 to 2020 are sorted out, mainly including the evolution of the name of farmer cooperative organization and the policy support for the development of farmer cooperative organization. Chinese future farmer cooperative organization policies should focus on further improving the system construction of farmer cooperative organization and cultivating talents for farmer cooperatives.

Reviewer Acknowledgements for Public Administration Research, Vol. 10, No. 1

Reviewer acknowledgements for Public Administration Research, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2021.

Research on the Influence of Village Carders on the Standardized Management System of Village-Level Affairs – Based on the Investigation and Analysis of District L, Y City, Shandong Province, China

Chinese anti-corruption struggle has achieved phased victory, the national corruption governance center has gradually moved down, and the issue of "micro-corruption" of village cadres has attracted widespread attention from the political, practical and academic circles. The standardized management system of village-level affairs is promoted and implemented nationwide as an institutional arrangement for regulating the power of village cadres and combating corruption. However, in the actual implementation process, there are problems such as passive implementation and even resistance to implementation by village cadres. The study took the L District of Y City, Shandong Province as an example, and found that the village cadres did not implement the corresponding standardized management system. The factors affecting the implementation of the standardized management system of the village cadres were investigated from the three-dimensional perspective of motivation, ability, and pressure, and then reasonable policy recommendations were put forward. Aims to give better play to the effectiveness of standardized systems.

Knowledge Mapping of Grassroots Consultative Democracy Research in China (2004-2020) – Bibliometric Analysis Based on CNKI Database

Since 2003, the term "consultative democracy" has received more and more attention from Chinese scholars, and more research results have been formed. In general, these documents lack the analysis of the research stage and research hotspots in this field. Therefore, this article uses the Chinese Academic Journals Network Publishing Library (CNKI) as the data source, and uses the common word analysis and cluster analysis methods in the CiteSpace software to analyze 500 Chinese core journals in the field of grassroots deliberative democracy in my country from 2004 to June 2020. The literature conducts a text quantitative analysis. The study found that the research hotspots of grassroots deliberative democracy in our country focused on Chinese characteristics, party leadership, national governance and political consultation. Compared with capitalist democracy, socialist democracy with Chinese characteristics is a comprehensive, extensive and true democracy, and the realization of democratization at the grassroots level is the unity of electoral democracy and deliberative democracy. Based on the above research results, the following suggestions are proposed: focus on improving the ability of grassroots masses to consult democracy; in the context of the new era, broaden the development path of grassroots consultative democracy.

Analysis of China's Forest Protection Policy from the Perspective of Policy Tools

From the perspective of policy tools, this paper using content analysis to analyze 43 central-level policy texts related to forest protection from 1990 to 2016, and divides forest protection policy tools into 16 items and 4 major types. Research conclusion: Among the four policy tools, command-and-control policy tools are used the most, followed by economic incentives, and the use of information disclosure and voluntary participation policy tools is relatively inadequate. Based on the above conclusions, this paper makes the following suggestions: To increase the use of economic incentives, information disclosure and voluntary participation policy tools, it is also possible to strengthen the use of information disclosure and voluntary participation policy tools through reasonable system design. In the newly implemented forestry ecological poverty alleviation field, explore and introduce new forestry ecological poverty alleviation policies and new mechanisms based on public participation, and comprehensively enhance the policy demonstration role of forestry in building a long-term poverty alleviation mechanism.