Introduction: Disability Policy as an Emerging Field of Mainstream Public Policy Research and Pedagogy

The purpose of this two-part symposium of the Policy Studies Journal is to broaden theconcept of disability policy from one that has relevance onlyforpeople interested in that substantive area to that of a major field of social policy having ramifications for the study and teaching of public policy broadly construed. The goal is for experiences in disability policy to be regarded in the same way that experiences in Other substantive areas, such as environmental policy, other social services, and civil rights, illustrate broader themes in areas such as public management, policy analysis, or ethics.     

Toward a Research and Training Capacity in Disability Policy

This paper describes the research and training infrastructure that is needed if disability policy is to flourish as a viable field of inquiry. Due to its interdisciplinary character, no one discipline or academic field has adopted disability policy as its own, and as a result, has not developed the infrastructure needed to give disability policy the visibility and focus it deserves. This paper explores the reasons for the field's underdevelopment and proposes several developmental steps essential to its future success, Inparticular, the paper proposes (a) an academic home for disability policy, (b) the development of curriculum, (c) graduate and post-doctoral research opportunities, (d) recruitment of students with disabilities, and (e) the establishment of policy research centers. The paper notes achievements already in place, such as a policy journal and the development of professional organizations. Finally, the paper notes the important role of both private and public funding.     

Policy Research: The Field Dimension

Field research, defined as an unstructured contact with public problems and programs, is essential to realistic policy research. Research linking governmental action to good outcomes is rare, because those who study government and those whose who analyze public problems are seldom the same. Field inquiry can help give policy research more governmental content. A lack of field contact is one reason why much of the research surrounding welfare reform has been incorrect. Ideally, the connections between policy and outcomes that respondents claim during field research should be verified by statistical analyses that use program data. Unfortunately, field research is discouraged by academic incentives favoring rigor at the expense of realism.     

The Implications of Parenting Standards in Child Protection: A Paradox in Disability Policy

Contemporary parenting standards in the field of child protection produce a paradox in disability policy. Focusing on the protections necessary for child safety, child protection workers are apt stereotypically to discount the abilities of parents with disabilities to raise their children. This situation runs a wide spectrum. It includes parents fully capable of parenting with no outside assistance who are nevertheless denied their children on the basis of completely baseless stereotypical assumptions. It includes parents who are mentally fully capable of parenting, but who are denied the necessary personal assistance services to perform the physical tasks of child care. This article, however, focuses on yet another situation: parents with mental, emotional, or cognitive disabilities who, without assistance to perform the cognitive tasks necessary for safely raising children, could neglect their children. It discusses this situation in light of the Americans with Disabilities Act and various state laws that protect the civil rights of persons with disabilities.     

Relating Disability Policy to Broader Public Policy: Understanding the Concept of "Handicap"

While it is recognized that disability policy is a subset of broader public policy, the relationship between disability issues and other public policy issues is not well understood. Insight into this relationship can be gained through a greater understanding of the concept of "handicap," as distinguished from the concepts of "impairment" and "disability." In everyday conversation, these terms typically are used interchangeably and erroneously. However, when applied correctly, their important differences help us to focus on the appropriate level for analyzing disability and other policy issues. When ignored for reasons concerning the "political unacceptability" of handicap as a term or concept, we risk focusing on the wrong level and possibly holding individuals with disabilities responsible for circumstances beyond their control.     

Tracing Issue Definition and Policy Change: An Analysis of Disability Issue Images and Policy Response

We examine the role of issue definition in disability policy change. Based on qualitative and quantitative evidence from media coverage and congressional hearings, we conclude that policy change was influenced by the redefinition of disability issues from medical and economic definitions to a new sociopolitical perspective. Specifically, we find evidence that media attention and tone influenced the number of congressional hearings and the tone of these hearings. The change in the congressional definition subsequently contributed to the passage of key legislation based on the sociopolitical/civil rights definition of disability. Importantly, our research supports previous studies that suggest problem definition helps to explain significant policy change.     

The Potential Impact of Disability Studies on Political Science (as well as vice-versa)

The conjunction of two seemingly disparate fields of research such as disability studies and political science creates the potential of yielding results that are either familiar or unexpected. On the one hand, it is probable that the merger of these subjects might contribute insights that could expand the scope of investigations about disability and add one more important element to policy analysis. On the other hand, it is also possible that the reciprocal impact of these areas of research could expose significant anomalies in the dominant paradigms of either or both fields that might have a lasting effect. The first portion of this paper examines the impact of political science on disability studies; the second part assesses the potential effect of disability studies on political science; and the final segment explores the prospects for a new paradigm in political science that would permit an increased analysis of social movements and political identity, theories of social change, the phenomenon of paternalism, and the implications of differences in physical appearance.     

Urban Policy Mobilities: The Case of Turin as a Smart City

This article analyses urban policy mobilities taking into consideration the idea of the smart city, which is currently a sort of leitmotif used in many cities within the framework of discourses on urban development. More specifically, this article offers an analysis concerning the circulation and implementation of the idea of the smart city in Turin, Italy. It investigates the actors, processes and networks involved in the mobilization and reproduction of the idea, as well as the mechanisms, concerning the embedding of the smart city discourse in the institutional fabric of the city of Turin, Italy. It also emphasizes how urban policy mobility can develop even without processes of “imitation” and “adaptation” of best practices from other cities.     

The Ecology of Games as a Theory of Polycentricity: Recent Advances and Future Challenges

The Ecology of Games approach to examining complex governance systems in democratic societies has been recently refurbished to infuse renewed vitality in the analysis of institutions and collective action in polycentric governance systems. This opening article to the special issue on the Ecology of Games Theory (EGT) will discuss the main component elements of the theory, as well as recently produced empirical advances that test and extend it. The article is structured in three sections. The first section describes the EGT as a theory of polycentricity and explains why it is critical to study both the structure and function of polycentric governance systems, including collaboration among policy stakeholders, learning about problems, and equitably distributing the resources generated by policy interactions. The second section reviews empirical evidence that examine structure and function in polycentric systems, including their coevolution. Finally, the third section will provide insights on future research needs to strengthen this newly developed theory of polycentricity.     

Microcredit as a Grass-Roots Policy for International Development

The failure of top-down development policies in the Third World has given rise to a variety of grass-roots, or bottom-up, development strategies to combat the severe poverty that continues to plague developing countries. Among these grass-roots approaches, microcredit has grown rapidly in popularity, scope, and impact over the last two decades. Microcredit provides financial capital for poor entrepreneurs who toil in the informal, poverty sectors in developing country economies. In addition to the thousands of predominantly nongovernmental organizations that offer microcredit programs, many national governments in the Third World are now seeking to integrate microcredit strategies into their development policy and planning. Accordingly, this article examines the microcredit movement, including its rationale and underlying premises, its impact on the poor, and its role in development policy.