Integrating Delegation into the Policy Theory Literature

Public policy scholars have developed a number of theories of the policymaking process. Their work has come to define what some now refer to as the "policy theory" literature. Our task is to identify theoretical and empirical courses of study that will advance this research program. We limit ourselves to identifying an existing theory that already provides such an advance and discuss some of its theoretical benefits and empirical support. Specifically, we make the case that there exists a well-developed theory of delegation that rivals what we deem to be the best of the existing policy theories. We also suggest that existing theoretical frameworks might benefit from incorporating delegation theory explicitly and conclude that policy research has much to contribute to the development and useful application of delegation models.     

Integrating Gender Interests into Health Policy

This article reviews current initiatives to integrate gender interests into health policy in Chile. The analysis outlines the debates that have arisen around the questions of mainstreaming gender, in relation to state institutions, NGOs and grassroots organizations. The discussion highlights both the constraints and opportunities identified in the literature. The study locates the Chilean case study within these broader debates and draws some overall conclusions. Despite the limitations posed by the broader context of neo‐liberal health sector reforms, the experience of the Chilean gender mainstreaming initiative does suggest that there is some cause for optimism.     

Rethinking Bureaucrats in the Policy Process: Criminal Justice Agents and the National Crime Agenda

Policy scholars have noted that bureaucrats can play an important role in defining policy alternatives. Few studies, however, examine the extent of their involvement in this process. This study contributes to public policy scholarship by offering a framework for understanding the strength of bureaucratic involvement in the process of defining problems and policy alternatives. Using witness data from congressional hearings on crime between 1947 and 1998, I find that federal, state, and local criminal justice bureaucrats have come to occupy a central role in the process of defining policy alternatives. In addition, I find that the centrality of criminal justice actors comes at the expense of interest groups, community organizations, and citizens/victims. Implications for criminal justice policy and understanding bureaucratic involvement in the policy process are discussed.     

Regional Policy as Interaction between National Institutions and Regional Science

As a reaction to emerging regional imbalances, discussions regarding growth centre policy began in the Nordic countries during the latter part of the 1960s. At this time, a working group within the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) provided a policy option based on international theories from urban and agglomeration economics. Within the actual growth centre policies in Norway, Sweden and Finland, central elements from the EFTA concept related to the scale of the centres were, however, not adopted. Instead, growth centres were located to places that had a smaller population than the 30,000 inhabitants recommended by the EFTA concept. This outcome was related to the fact that the EFTA concept was adapted to the existing regional policy institutions. As these institutions were egalitarian and redistributive in character, the Nordic growth centre policies favoured a more dispersed settlement structure than suggested by the EFTA concept.     

以色列民族政策浅析

以色列是一个以犹太、阿拉伯两大民族为主体的多民族国家。本文探析了以色列民族政策的主要特点,即表面上的犹、阿两族平等和事实上对阿拉伯人的压迫、歧视、隔离和分化。文章认为,以色列的民族政策造成了国内犹、阿两大民族的长期怀疑和敌视,削弱了以色列的国家凝聚力,损害了以色列的国家权力。     

印度民族政策初探

印度民族政策的核心是“一个国家,一个民族”。本文认为,这是对欧洲“民族一国家”理论的歧解和误读,其防止国家分裂和增强国家凝聚力的用心可以理解,但结果却并不利于国民团结的增强和各种矛盾的缓和。这一政策的实质是民族压迫和民族同化。     

The Federal Budget: Policy,Process, and Politics

Fiorina, Morris. Divided Government. New York: Macmillan, 1992. Pp. xi, 138. $13.00 Paperback.

Jacobson, Gary C. The Electoral Origins of Divided Government: Competition' in U.S. House Elections, 1946-1988. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1990. Pp. xvi, 152. $15.95.

Mayhew, David R. Divided We Govern: Party Control, Lawmaking, and Investigations, 1946-1990. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1991. Pp. viii, 228. $25.00 Hardback.     

Integrating Technical Analysis With Deliberation in Regional Watershed Management Planning: Applying the National Research Council Approach

This paper suggests that applications of watershed management planning would benefit from a theoretical consideration of the policymaking process. A conceptual schema from the field of risk analysis proposes that policymaking be conceived of as a combination of two types of activities: analysis and deliberation. We argue that these concepts are relevant to watershed management planning and we illustrate how a process successfully might integrate both kinds of activities into an iterative, participatory process that is informed competently with relevant knowledge and that promotes learning.     

The Influence Of States On Federal Policy Adoptions

This article examines whether stales, in the role of "laboratories of democracy," influence federal policy adoptions. Taking the recent past as the time frame, the article begins by examining major federal legislation to gauge the extern to which stale models were an influence. Following this, the focus shifts to important slate initiatives of the early 1980s, and their impact on subsequent federal legislation. The article concludes that the nature of the policy issue and the accompanying political dynamics are critical in determining whether states act as laboratories of democracy.     

The National Competition Policy: A Study of the Policy Process and Network

In his recent work on the Australian political system, Ian Marsh argues that interest groups and issues movements should be treated as 'potential partners and collaborators with government' (1995, p. 1). He suggests that the traditional two-party system with its inherent reliance on adversarial relations may need to mutate to cope with the demands which stakeholders are placing on the policy process and a changing political culture. This paper examines evidence that collaborative and cooperative modes of interaction are developing in Australia as a feature in the strategies used by both government and non-government players.     

The Rising Agenda of Physician-Assisted Suicide: Explaining the Growth and Content of Morality Policy

Employing theories and methods of agenda-setting analysis, this article explains the rapid rise of physician-assisted suicide (PAS) on the national political agenda based on its status as a morality policy. PAS reached the mass agenda before the professional agenda, probably because PAS is an outgrowth of previous right-to-die policies and Dr. Jack Kevorkian's assisted suicides provided major focusing events. As in other morality policies, competing groups fight for the last word, but PAS has been blocked on most governmental agendas because its image and media tone has been mostly negative and public opinion is divided. Groups in a few generally liberal states have tried to enact policy through referenda when legislators failed to address the issue. We speculate that competing interest groups will become more active and that state courts will become a venue of choice in the future.     

The Reorganization of Russia's Environmental Bureaucracy: Regional Response to Federal Changes

In documenting the merging of the State Committee for the Protection of the Natural Environment (Goskomekologiya) into the Ministry for Natural Resources (Minresursov), Peterson and Bielke (2001) made several predictions as to the merger's impact on environmental protection within the Russian Federation. Utilizing research undertaken approximately two years after the merger, this paper examines the reaction and response to these federal changes from a variety of actors at the regional level, using Samara Oblast as a case study. In so doing, it highlights the potential disparity and distance between decisions made at the federal level and their implementation locally. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: H10, O13, Q20. 1 figure, 26 references.     

Women and Rural Development Policies: The Changing Agenda

The aim of this paper is to review and evaluate policies directed at rural women in the Third World, as reflected in WID research and policy documents. This review covers the assumptions behind the advocacy of direct assistance to rural women, the goals that are sought in providing such assistance and the means advocated to achieve them. An attempt is made to show how the agenda of mainstream WID research and policy formulation has closely followed, reflected and responded to changing international priorities in matters of development assistance in a manner that leaves crucial redistributive and political issues tangentially addressed and unresolved.     

美国西部开发与联邦政府的土地政策

西部国有土地私有化是美国西部开发的基础和前提,也是美国联邦政府导引和规范西部开发的主要手段。私有化的主要途径是出售和赠予,在此过程中所出现的土地投机现象和宅地法等在当时和后来均备受争议。有必要将这些现象结合起来进行系统的考察。     

Keeping Policy Churn Off the Agenda: Urban Education and Civic Capacity

Building on the conceptual framework developed by the Civic Capacity and Urban Education Project, we investigate why sustained reform is so difficult in urban school systems. Our study addresses two questions: How does the concept of civic capacity relate to the policy change process and how do its various components relate to each other? And to what extent does civic capacity foster agenda consensus in the context of urban education reform? To address these questions we focus on the connection between problems and solutions and deal directly with the question of how mayoral leadership impacts this process. Using the Project's survey of key stakeholders and independent indicators of agenda setting and stakeholder support/opposition culled from media coverage in 11 large U.S. cities, we find considerable variation in levels of civic capacity, particularly low levels of stakeholder agreement on reform solutions, but also convincing evidence that strong mayoral leadership may indeed play an important role in fostering greater agenda consensus.     

Understanding Local Policymaking: Policy Elites' Perceptions of Local Agenda Setting and Alternative Policy Selection

Despite the increasing interest in policy agenda research in recent years, very few studies have focused their attention on the relevant processes at the local level. Drawing on agenda-setting research, particularly Kingdon's multiple-streams framework, this study examines the key forces and factors, as well as their relative importance, in local agenda setting, problem identification, and alternative policy selection. Data are collected from 271 in-depth interviews with local policy stakeholders in three U.S. Gulf Coast areas. Interview materials are coded using a protocol focused on capturing stakeholders' perceptions of the key elements and forces in local policy dynamics. Our interview data indicate that (i) governmental actors and various interest groups have relatively more influence in shaping local agendas than the general public, experts, and election-related actors, while the mass media are found to have little agenda-setting power in local policy processes; (ii) budgetary consideration and various forms of feedback to local government are more important than objective problem indicators and focusing events in setting local policy priorities; (iii) policy alternatives that are deemed compatible with existing policies and regulations are more likely to be selected than those relying on other criteria such as technical feasibility, value acceptability, and future constraints; and (iv) consensus and coalition building is perceived as the most important political factor in local policy processes. Limitations of our study and recommendations for future research are discussed in the concluding section.     

融入可持续发展目标:博物馆"重塑"的一个重要努力方向

《2030年可持续发展议程》和"可持续发展目标"显示了 21世纪联合国主导的社会、环境和经济领域最雄心勃勃的努力.因其覆盖面广、适用性强,故成为各国政府和各专业领域竞相研究和应对的对象,文化遗产和博物馆领域也不例外.国际博物馆协会在对2021年"国际博物馆日"主题"博物馆的未来:恢复与重塑"的阐释中,呼吁博物馆和博物馆从业者充分认识博物馆之于可持续发展的关键价值,并积极参与到实现联合国可持续发展目标的历史进程中.博物馆与可持续发展目标存在广泛的内在和外在关联性,通过引领社会方向、支持其他领域和变革博物馆自身,博物馆可以为人类可持续发展事业作出不可替代的贡献,这也是博物馆成功实现社会重塑过程中的一个重要方向.     

Policy for Gearing Up National Equality and Development

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