Biodiversity and agricultural landscapes: Can the wicked policy problems be solved?

2004 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Brennan

Conservation issues for agricultural landscapes are typical examples of "wicked" public policy problems: that is, ones in which questions are not clearly defined, and there is apparent conflict between different sets of values, all of which are legitimate. The paper argues that how to protect intrinsic value in nature is itself a wicked policy problem, complicated by the fact that at least three different senses of "intrinsic value" are easily confused. The challenge for policy in Australian agriculture is how to protect remaining natural values by processes that are fair to stakeholders, governed by scientific credibility and sensitive to the plurality of values held by groups within the community. The paper argues that scientists themselves can play an important role not just in problem definition, but also in helping set the agenda for action that will be effective in preserving natural diversity.

Author(s):  
T. L. Nyerges ◽  
P. Jankowski

A majority of governmental problems are geographical in character and are becoming more complex as citizens/residents expect more for less. Governance, among many things, involves allocating human, natural, monetary, and infrastructure resources within and across jurisdictional boundaries in an efficient, effective, and equitable manner. Such allocations are becoming increasingly more challenging under budget constraints. Many public policy problems are called “wicked” and “ill-structured” (Rittel & Webber, 1973) because they contain intangibles not easily quantified and modelled. The scoping of such problems includes structures only partially known or burdened by uncertainties, and potential solutions mired by competing interests. Examples of such problems in a geographic domain include locally unwanted land uses (LULUs) such as landfill and hazardous waste facility siting, and more recently, polluted urban land use (so-called brownfield) redevelopment projects called into question due to the potential for increasing neighbourhood contamination. Dealing with locational conflict in an open manner is becoming more important as citizen-stakeholder participation increases in public policy/problem circumstances (Crowfoot & Wondolleck 1990).


Author(s):  
R.V. Vaidyanatha Ayyar

This chapter elaborates the shifting case law over the 24 year period from 1982 to 2006 in regard to the right of private individuals and organisations to establish educational institutions, the regulation of admissions to private-unaided institutions (self-financing institutions), and the regulatory power of AICTE. It offers a theoretical explanation of these shifts by elaborating two major reinforcing factors. The first is the adoption of an interpretational philosophy that legitimates judges going beyond the express wording and original intent of Constitution makers, discerning the purpose underlying a constitutional provision, and applying the purpose so discovered to rectify failures of public policy and governance types. The second factor is the inbuilt trait to expand as a result of a generous policy of admitting appeals. Given that judges differ considerably in the judicial philosophy they hold, and their perception of policy problem and solutions case law has bene fluid, creating uncertainty for institutions which are regulated as well as regulators like the AICTE.


1986 ◽  
Vol 51 ◽  
pp. 15-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcus D. Pohlmann

PurposeI wish to describe a role-playing simulation, as opposed to an educational game. A game normally has an elaborate set of rules and requires participants to function within the logic of its own reality. A role-playing simulation, on the other hand, allows the participants to maintain their own personalities and values as they interact within far more general roles and rules, creating a unique reality each time. The goal of this particular simulation is to overcome a public policy problem within a simulated political environment.


2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (14) ◽  
pp. 2643-2653 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Cullerton ◽  
Timothy Donnet ◽  
Amanda Lee ◽  
Danielle Gallegos

AbstractObjectiveTo progress nutrition policy change and develop more effective advocates, it is useful to consider real-world factors and practical experiences of past advocacy efforts to determine the key barriers to and enablers of nutrition policy change. The present review aimed to identify and synthesize the enablers of and barriers to public policy change within the field of nutrition.DesignElectronic databases were searched systematically for studies examining policy making in public health nutrition. An interpretive synthesis was undertaken.SettingInternational, national, state and local government jurisdictions within high-income, democratic countries.ResultsSixty-three studies were selected for inclusion. Numerous themes were identified explaining the barriers to and enablers of policy change, all of which fell under the overarching category of ‘political will’, underpinned by a second major category, ‘public will’. Sub-themes, including pressure from industry, neoliberal ideology, use of emotions and values, and being visible, were prevalent in describing links between public will, political will and policy change.ConclusionsThe frustration around lack of public policy change in nutrition frequently stems from a belief that policy making is a rational process in which evidence is used to assess the relative costs and benefits of options. The findings from the present review confirm that evidence is only one component of influencing policy change. For policy change to occur there needs to be the political will, and often the public will, for the proposed policy problem and solution. The review presents a suite of enablers which can assist health professionals to influence political and public will in future advocacy efforts.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivar Hannikainen

Conservatives and liberals disagree sharply on matters of morality and public policy. We propose a novel account of the psychological basis of these differences. Specifically, we find that conservatives tend to emphasize the intrinsic value of actions during moral judgment, in part by mentally simulating themselves performing those actions, while liberals instead emphasize the value of the expected outcomes of the action. We then demonstrate that a structural emphasis on actions is linked to the condemnation of victimless crimes, a distinctive feature of conservative morality. Next, we find that the conservative and liberal structural approaches to moral judgment are associated with their corresponding patterns of reliance on distinct moral foundations. In addition, the structural approach uniquely predicts that conservatives will be more opposed to harm in circumstances like the well-known trolley problem, a result which we replicate. Finally, we show that the structural approaches of conservatives and liberals are partly linked to underlying cognitive styles (intuitive versus deliberative). Collectively, these findings forge a link between two important yet previously independent lines of research in political psychology: cognitive style and moral foundations theory.


2002 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 309-316 ◽  
Author(s):  
John L. Daly

At the dawn of the 21st Century, there is growing interest in the sharing of policy and management “success” stories and innovative training methodologies. This is an important part of addressing public policy problems. Global training is gaining increased application especially in underdeveloped nations. This article offers eight strategies for increased participant acceptance of training when provided in other cultural settings.


Author(s):  
Gerry Czerniawski

‘Wicked policy problems’ are defined as complex, not fully understood by policy makers, highly resistant to change and seemingly immune to any evidence likely to bring about change for the better. Policy, in the case of prison education, is not necessarily driven by what works and is often not evidenced-based. It is increasingly positioned by political expediency and the signalling of politicians’ ‘toughness on crime’. In this chapter I look at three distinctly different prison education systems in Northern Europe; in England, Germany and Norway. I examine the extent to which discourses associated with both the marketisation of education and penal populism have influenced the construction and facilitation of prison education in all three countries. Finally, I argue that, to varying degrees, the reconstruction of prison ‘education’ into low-cost job skills training contributes to the domination of policies that speak more to public moral panic and the need to cut the economic costs of welfare than to the rehabilitation of prisoners.


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