The Role of Theories in Policy Studies and Policy Work: Selective Affinities between Representation and Performation?

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Hoppe
Keyword(s):  
Policy Studies ◽  
Policy Work

Directions and Perspectives of Political-Economic Studies

2008 ◽  
pp. 27-45
Author(s):  
A. Libman
Keyword(s):  
International Political Economy ◽  
Economic Research ◽  
Economic Power ◽  
Economic Approach ◽  
Policy Studies ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Economic Methods ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
Economic Studies

The paper surveys the main directions of political-economic research, i.e. variants of economic and political approaches endogenizing political processes in economic models and applying economic methods to policy studies. It analyses different versions of political-economic research in different segments of scientific community: political economics, evolutionary theory of economic policy, international political economy, formal political science and theory of economic power; main methodological assumptions, content and results of positive studies are described. The author also considers the role of political-economic approach in the normative research in economics.

The Role of Local Actors in Peacekeeping: The Cases of Liberia and Sierra Leone

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norman Sempijja ◽  
Ekeminiabasi Eyita-Okon
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Sierra Leone ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Violent Conflict ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Un Peacekeeping ◽  
Strategic Role ◽  
Local Actors ◽  
Policy Work

With the advent of multidimensional peacekeeping, in considering the changing nature of conflicts in the post–Cold War period, the role of local actors has become crucial to the execution of the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mandate. Just as peacekeeping does not have space in the UN charter, local actors do not have a clearly defined space in the UN-led conflict resolution process. However, they have gained recognition, especially in policy work, and slowly in the academic discourse, as academics and practitioners have begun to find ways of making peacekeeping and peacebuilding more effective in the 21st century. Therefore the construction and perception of local actors by international arbitrators play an important and strategic role in creating and shaping space for the former to actively establish peace where violent conflict is imminent. Local actors have independently occupied spaces during and after the conflict, and although they bring a comparative advantage, especially as gatekeepers to local communities, they have largely been kept on the periphery.

The terroir of bureaucratic practice: Everyday life and scholarly method in the study of policy

2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 617-633 ◽  
Author(s):  
Merje Kuus
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Everyday Life ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Cultural Geography ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Policy Studies ◽  
Policy Practice ◽  
Michel De Certeau ◽  
Do So

This article seeks to connect political geographic scholarship on institutions and policy more firmly to the experience of everyday life. Empirically, I foreground the ambiguous and indeterminate character of institutional decision-making and I underscore the need to closely consider the sensory texture of place and milieu in our analyses of it. My examples come from the study of diplomatic practice in Brussels, the capital of the European Union. Conceptually and methodologically, I use these examples to accentuate lived experience as an essential part of research, especially in the seemingly dry bureaucratic settings. I do so in particular through engaging with the work of Michel de Certeau, whose ideas enjoy considerable traction in cultural geography but are seldom used in political geography and policy studies. An accent on the texture and feel of policy practice necessarily highlights the role of place in that practice. This, in turn, may help us with communicating geographical research beyond our own discipline.

Co-existing institutional logics and agency among top-level public servants: A praxeological approach

2011 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 194-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toke Bjerregaard
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Logics ◽  
Practice Research ◽  
Public Servants ◽  
Institutional Organization ◽  
Passive Strategies ◽  
Action Strategies ◽  
Strategy As Practice ◽  
Policy Work ◽  
Combining Logics

AbstractWhile institutional organization research to some extent has neglected the micro agency of organization members, parts of the strategy-as-practice research have tended to bracket off wider societal environments shaping the practices-in-use of top-level strategy practitioners. This article attempts to address parts of this void. This study examines the agency exerted by top-level public servants through their everyday strategy and policy work in face of co-existing logics of public administration. The findings illustrate how their action strategies span from more passive strategies of coping with coexisting logics of administration to more skilled agency of combining logics aimed at enhancing their opportunity and action space. The study suggests that the interplay between co-existing institutional logics, action strategies and the practical skills of top-level public servants provides the basis for both coping and more proactive strategies in pluralistic public administrations. Findings illustrate the role of public servants' practical sense of realizable opportunities that inform such strategies of handling co-existing institutional logics. Implications for institutional studies of organizations are outlined.

scholarly journals A critical Discussion of Complexity Theory: How does 'Complexity Thinking' improve our Understanding of Politics and Policymaking?

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Paul Cairney ◽  
Robert Geyer
Keyword(s):  
Complexity Theory ◽  
Critical Discussion ◽  
Policy Studies ◽  
Positive Role ◽  
Complexity Thinking

In this article, we present a critical discussion of complexity theory. We ask: what does it really offer policy studies? We suggest that its stated advantages-- interdisciplinarity, theoretical novelty, and empirical advance--are generally exaggerated and based more on hope than experience. In that context, we identify a cautiously positive role for complexity theory, primarily as a way to bridge academic and policymaker discussions by identifying the role of pragmatic responses to complexity in policymaking.

Methods of French policy studies

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Dupuy ◽  
Philippe Zittoun
Keyword(s):  
Policy Analysis ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Political Sociology ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Economic Sectors ◽  
Policy Studies ◽  
Academic Policy ◽  
Sociological Approaches ◽  
Research Frameworks

The chapter discusses the various analytical methods used in French policy studies. It begins by mapping out the range of methods used in French academic policy studies. Such work mainly deals with policy-making process and their analysis, with an emphasis on the role of elite, expert, and institutional constraints. Issues and concepts from (political) sociology mainly frame these works. Policy analysis borrowed its methods from (political) sociology rather than developed a specific set of methodological approaches. Drawing on sociological approaches, policy analysis in France features a preference for qualitative over quantitative methods. Also, empirical studies prevail, and over time, small-n comparative research frameworks were introduced on a more systematic basis. The chapter also develops an analysis of the most popular methods used in the past years among practitionners, such as socio-economic appraisal in transport or housing sectors, indicators in environmental and economic sectors, and argumentative methods in public institutional debates.

Perpetuating Inequalities: The Role of Political Distraction in Education Policy

2021 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-179
Author(s):  
Amy N. Farley ◽  
Bethy Leonardi ◽  
Jamel K. Donnor
Keyword(s):  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Politics Of Education ◽  
Policy Studies ◽  
Policy Frames ◽  
Introductory Article ◽  
The Status ◽  
Five Elements ◽  
Problems Of Practice ◽  
Policy Solutions

The 2021 Politics of Education Yearbook brings together scholars from diverse theoretical orientations—including policy studies, critical trans politics, and Critical Race Theory—to explore the politics of distraction within education policymaking. This introductory article previews the work included in the Yearbook and presents a grounding framework for policy distraction, which we define as a persistent focus on a narrowly defined set of policy solutions that diverts attention from root causes, structural forces, and historical/contextual circumstances (Bell, 2003; Giroux, 2013, 2017; Spade, 2011, 2013, 2015). We articulate five elements of policy distraction. They (a) rely on narrow policy frames to address educational problems of practice; (b) name phenomena in ways that affect our understanding; and (c) largely ignore inequalities and structural conditions. In doing so, they may (d) reinforce the status quo; and (e) reify ideas of what counts as normal or, alternatively, as deviant (Spade, 2011).

scholarly journals Kajian Kebijakan tentang Informasi dan Pelayanan Obat yang Mendukung Pengobatan Sendiri di Masyarakat

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-170
Author(s):  
Sudibyo Supardi ◽  
Andy Leny Susyanti ◽  
Harimat Herdarwan
Keyword(s):  
Central Government ◽  
Descriptive Study ◽  
Professional Organizations ◽  
Medicine Information ◽  
Self Medication ◽  
Policy Studies ◽  
Medicine Service ◽  
Technical Instructions ◽  
Service Policy

Abstract Self-medication is the use of medicines by someone to treat pain complaints or self-recognizable symptoms and some chronic diseases that a doctor has diagnosed by. The purpose of the study is to obtain information about the problems and the role of pharmaceutical institutions in medicine information and services supporting self-medication in the community. The research design used a descriptive study in the form of policy studies and legislation related to medicine information and services in self-medication. Data sources are policies and legislation regarding medicine information and services regarding self-medication. The results of the study indicate: the problem of self-medication is there are no laws and regulations specifically regulate self-medication along with technical instructions on the role of each pharmaceutical institution. The problem with medicine information is that the central government program in providing medicine information has not been followed up by many district/ city health offices; people tend to buy medicines at retail in illegal medicine services facility, so they cannot read the information on the medicine packaging; and there are still many medicine advertisements in the mass media that have not provided objective and complete medicine information. The problem of medicine service policy is the lack of supervision, so that there are many illegal medicine service facilities in the community and lack of presence of pharmacy personnel in medicine information and services at pharmacies and drug stores. It is recommended that the Ministry of Health establish legislation and norms, standards, procedures and criteria for self-medication as a basis for government pharmaceutical institutions, private sector and professional organizations to support them. Abstrak Pengobatan sendiri adalah penggunaan obat oleh seseorang untuk mengobati keluhan sakit atau gejala yang dapat dikenali sendiri dan beberapa penyakit kronis yang pernah didiagnosis dokter. Tujuan kajian adalah mendapatkan informasi tentang permasalahan dan peran institusi farmasi dalam informasi obat dan pelayanan obat yang mendukung pengobatan sendiri di masyarakat. Rancangan penelitian menggunakan studi deskriptif berupa kajian kebijakan dan peraturan perundang-undangan terkait informasi obat dan pelayanan obat dalam pengobatan sendiri. Hasil kajian menunjukkan permasalahan pengobatan sendiri adalah belum ada peraturan perundangan yang khusus mengatur pengobatan sendiri beserta petunjuk teknis peran masing-masing institusi farmasi. Permasalahan dalam informasi obat adalah program pemerintah pusat dalam pemberian informasi obat belum ditindaklanjuti oleh semua Dinas Kesehatan kabupaten/kota; masyarakat cenderung membeli obat secara eceran di sarana pelayanan obat ilegal, sehingga tidak dapat membaca informasi pada kemasan obatnya; dan masih banyak iklan obat di media massa yang belum memberikan informasi obat yang objektif dan lengkap. Permasalahan dalam pelayanan obat adalah kurangnya pengawasan, sehingga banyaknya sarana pelayanan obat ilegal di masyarakat dan kurangnya kehadiran tenaga kefarmasian dalam informasi dan pelayanan obat di apotek dan toko obat. Disarankan agar Kementerian Kesehatan menetapkan peraturan perundangan-undangan dan norma, standar, prosedur, dan kriteria tentang pengobatan sendiri sebagai dasar bagi institusi farmasi pemerintah, swasta, dan organisasi profesi mendukungnya.

Permanent Secretaries, Consensus and Centrism in National Policymaking in Education – Sir David Hancock and the Reform Act 1988

2012 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 544-558 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Ribbins ◽  
Brian Sherratt
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Education Reform ◽  
Project Manager ◽  
Civil Servants ◽  
Policy Studies ◽  
Humanistic Approach ◽  
Education Reform Act

This article seeks to clarify the place of policy studies in education in the meta-field that it terms LAMPS. It is argued that this canon of work has undervalued the merits of a humanistic approach and in doing so has tended to minimize the part played by people. To illustrate what might be possible, it reports on aspects of a longitudinal study, the first of its kind, that set out to examine, evaluate and categorize to what extent, and how, permanent secretaries influence policy. Based on recorded interviews with those who held this office at the DES between 1976 and 2002 and others (senior cabinet members, secretaries of state, junior ministers, special advisers) it argues that while the role of such senior civil servants can be described as ‘meta-political’ they do nevertheless influence policy in significant ways. As such it suggests that their praxis may be located on a continuum of ‘centrism’, five forms of which are identified. From this standpoint, much of the text represents a search for the architect/s of the Education Reform Act 1988 and in doing so focuses on the thinking and contribution of Sir David Hancock – its ‘principal project manager’.

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