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Government's Role (government + role)
Selected AbstractsVested Interests in Addiction Research and Policy Alcohol policies out of context: drinks industry supplanting government role in alcohol policies in sub-Saharan AfricaADDICTION, Issue 1 2010Øystein Bakke ABSTRACT Background In this paper, we describe an analysis of alcohol policy initiatives sponsored by alcohol producer SABMiller and the International Center on Alcohol Policies, an alcohol industry-funded organization. In a number of sub-Saharan countries these bodies have promoted a ,partnership' role with governments to design national alcohol policies. Methodology A comparison was conducted of four draft National Alcohol Policy documents from Lesotho, Malawi, Uganda and Botswana using case study methods. Findings The comparison indicated that the four drafts are almost identical in wording and structure and that they are likely to originate from the same source. Conclusions The processes and the draft policy documents reviewed provide insights into the methods, as well as the strategic and political objectives of the multi-national drinks industry. This initiative reflects the industry's preferred version of a national alcohol policy. The industry policy vision ignores, or chooses selectively from, the international evidence base on alcohol prevention developed by independent alcohol researchers and disregards or minimizes a public health approach to alcohol problems. The policies reviewed maintain a narrow focus on the economic benefits from the trade in alcohol. In terms of alcohol problems (and their remediation) the documents focus upon individual drinkers, ignoring effective environmental interventions. The proposed policies serve the industry's interests at the expense of public health by attempting to enshrine ,active participation of all levels of the beverage alcohol industry as a key partner in the policy formulation and implementation process'. [source] Impact of cooperatives on smallholders' commercialization behavior: evidence from EthiopiaAGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 2 2008Tanguy Bernard Propensity score matching; Program evaluation; Market participation; Cooperatives Abstract This article examines the impact of marketing cooperatives on smallholder commercialization of cereals using detailed household data in rural Ethiopia. We use the strong government role in promoting the establishment of cooperatives to justify the use of propensity score matching to compare households that are cooperative members to similar households in comparable areas without cooperatives. The analysis reveals that although cooperatives obtain higher prices for their members, they are not associated with a significant increase in the overall share of cereal production sold commercially by their members. However, these average results hide considerable heterogeneity across households. In particular, we find that smaller farmers tend to reduce their marketed output as a result of higher prices, whereas the opposite is true for larger farmers. [source] "Grabbing Hand" or "Helping Hand"?: Corruption and the Economic Role of the StateGOVERNANCE, Issue 2 2007JONATHAN HOPKIN This article seeks to disentangle which features of government intervention are linked to corruption and which are not, by distinguishing between the government roles of regulator, entrepreneur, and consumer. It finds that the degree of regulation of private business activity is the strongest predictor of corruption, and that high levels of public spending are related to low levels of corruption. There is no evidence of direct government involvement in production having any bearing on corruption. It is concluded that advanced welfare capitalist systems, which leave business relatively free from interference while intervening strongly in the distribution of wealth and the provision of key services, combine the most "virtuous" features of "big" and "small" government. This suggests that anti-corruption campaigners should be relaxed about state intervention in the economy in general, but should specifically target corruption-inducing regulatory systems. [source] Implementation from Above: The Ecology of Power in Sweden's Environmental GovernanceGOVERNANCE, Issue 3 2001Lennart J. Lundqvist This paper seeks to assess the tenability of Rhodes' view of the "new governance" as "governing without government," as well as the validity of Pierre and Peters' assertions that the state is still at the center of structures and processes of governance. The case used for analysis is Sweden's ecological modernization and the implementation of Local Investment Programs for Sustainable Development. This case provides a crucial test of the contradictory propositions of Rhodes and Pierre and Peters. Contrary to Rhodes' assertions, central government held the initiative in the process of implementing Sweden's ecological modernization. In line with the arrguments of Pierre and Peters central government created new structures and processes of governance to keep its initiative over constitutionally independent expert agencies and municipal governments,exactly those actors that, in Rhodes' view, could make central governmental steering well nigh impossible. As the paper illustrates, what government gains in direct control over the process, it may well lose in terms of the end results. The case of "new governance" analyzed here thus directs attention to the critical interplay between structure, process, and end results, and to government's role in governance. [source] Protecting the Nation: Nationalist rhetoric on asylum seekers and the TampaJOURNAL OF COMMUNITY & APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 6 2008Kieran O'Doherty Abstract This paper analyses texts from the Australian print media that invoke nationalist discourse in the so-called ,Tampa crisis' of 2001, which involved the boarding by Australian military troops of a civilian Norwegian shipping vessel (the Tampa) that had rescued a group of asylum seekers. In particular, we are interested in how military action was justified in public discourse against a group of civilians through the use of arguments relying in some form or another on the notion of nationhood and national identity. We employ a critical discursive methodology to investigate how some of these descriptions worked to legitimate the Australian government's role in these events and demonstrate some of the mechanisms by which discourses of nation can operate in the marginalization of asylum seekers. We conclude that presenting issues relating to asylum seekers and the Tampa at a level of national identity was critical in justifying the Australian government's stance and actions. We also raise some concerns about the consequences that may follow from the Australian government's actions and reliance on nationalist rhetoric. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Shifting Models of Welfare: Issues in Relocation from an Institution and the Organization of Community LivingJOURNAL OF POLICY AND PRACTICE IN INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES, Issue 3 2006Christine Bigby Abstract, The closure of institutions and relocation of people with intellectual disabilities to community living has been the focus of many nations' intellectual disability policies in the past three decades. The author studied the relocation of 58 people from a large institution to 11 small group homes in several Australian communities. Organizational factors that contributed to a mismatch of expectations on such dimensions as individualized support and inclusion were examined. The author discusses these in a broader context of social policy developments, including the privatization and contracting-out of service provision that shifted the government's role to one of purchaser rather than provider of services; regulatory concerns in employment practices that impacted the flow of information about residents; and contract specifications that focused on individuals, leaving responsibility for tackling systemic issues uncertain. Recommendations that draw attention to the renewed emphasis on partnerships rather than business relationships and attend to broader community development strategies that have concurrently occurred in Australia are provided. [source] A critical analysis of UK public health policies in relation to diet and nutrition in low-income householdsMATERNAL & CHILD NUTRITION, Issue 2 2006Pamela Attree phd Abstract Diet and nutrition, particularly among low-income groups, is a key public health concern in the UK. Low levels of fruit and vegetable consumption, and obesity, especially among children, have potentially severe consequences for the future health of the nation. From a public health perspective, the UK government's role is to help poorer families make informed choices within healthy frameworks for living. However, the question is , to what extent are such policies in accordance with lay experiences of managing diet and nutrition on a low-income? This paper critically examines contemporary public health policies aimed at improving diet and nutrition, identifying the underlying theories about the influences on healthy eating in poor families, and exploring the extent to which these assumptions are based on experiential accounts. It draws on two qualitative systematic reviews , one prioritizing low-income mothers' accounts of ,managing' in poverty; and the other focusing on children's perspectives. The paper finds some common ground between policies and lay experiences, but also key divergencies. Arguably, the emphasis of public health policy on individual behaviour, coupled with an ethos of empowered consumerism, underplays material limitations on ,healthy eating' for low-income mothers and children. Health policies fail to take into account the full impact of structural influences on food choices, or recognize the social and emotional factors that influence diet and nutrition. In conclusion, it is argued that while health promotion campaigns to improve low-income families' diets do have advantages, these are insufficient to outweigh the negative effects of poverty on nutrition. [source] Low-income mothers, nutrition and health: a systematic review of qualitative evidenceMATERNAL & CHILD NUTRITION, Issue 4 2005Pamela Attree phd Abstract Diet is a key issue for UK health policies, particularly in relation to poorer socio-economic groups. From a public health perspective, the government's role is to help low-income families to make healthy food choices, and to create the conditions to enable them to make healthy decisions. Arguably, however, current policy on nutrition and health is influenced by individualist and behavioural perspectives, which fail to take into account the full impact of structural factors on food choices. This paper draws on a systematic review of qualitative studies that prioritize low-income mothers' accounts of ,managing' in poverty, synthesizing a subset of studies that focus on diet, nutrition and health in poor families. Synthesis findings are explored in the context of dominant discourses concerning individual responsibility for health and gendered societal values concerning ,good' mothering. The paper concludes that a shift in emphasis in health policies, affording a higher priority to enabling measures that tackle the underlying determinants of health, would be advantageous in reducing nutritional inequities for low-income mothers and their children. [source] Singapore's transition to innovation-based economic growth: infrastructure, institutions and government's roleR & D MANAGEMENT, Issue 2 2006Winston T. H. Koh Technological progress and innovation plays a central role in a country's economic progress. As an economy advances to the global technological frontier and narrows the technological gap, an innovation-based growth strategy that focuses on investments in R&D and technology creation offers the greatest potential for economic growth. In this paper, we discuss the requirements for a successful transition, in terms of changes to the technology infrastructure, economic institutions and the incentives' structure. This paper outlines the efforts made by Singapore to re-make itself as an innovation-based economy, and the challenges faced by the government in transforming the nation's infrastructure and institutions to develop innovation capabilities and encourage entrepreneurship. [source] The Role of Government in the Expansion of the Contingent WorkforceASIAN POLITICS AND POLICY, Issue 2 2010Jiyoung Kim This article examines the government's role in expansion of the contingent workforce in South Korea. I argue that the government played a determining role in transforming the South Korean labor market and increasing the number of contingent workers. Through the active adoption of a flexible labor market policy as a part of its globalization movement, the South Korean government directly contributed to a rise in contingent work. Also, the South Korean government indirectly supported the expanded use of non-regular workers through its tacit approval of companies' illegal use of contingent workers. The existing literature on contingent workers has focused primarily on economic factors. This case study highlights the need to include the role of government as an important cause of the growth of the contingent workforce. [source] Entreprises publiques et intérêt général à l'heure de la gouvernanceCANADIAN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION/ADMINISTRATION PUBLIQUE DU CANADA, Issue 3 2006Louis Simard Sommaire: Le contexte de la mondialisation et la remise en question du rôle de l'État ont menéà des modèles de gouvernance fondés sur la multiplicité et l'hétérogénéité des acteurs dans toute question d'intérêt public. Cette nouvelle gouvernance met en valeur des mécanismes d'ajustement mutuel basés sur la concertation, la négociation et l'adaptation réciproque des acteurs. La nouvelle donne commande une réflexion en profondeur sur la place des entreprises publiques au sein de différents secteurs d'activité. Présentées à l'origine comme étant garantes de l'intérêt général, les entreprises publiques sont elles aussi remises en question et confrontées à des logiques d'action parfois contradictoires (intégration internationale, intégration territoriale, planification stratégique et stratégies émergentes). Les auteurs brossent un tableau du nouveau contexte de gouvernance dans le secteur de l'énergie en l'illustrant par le cas d'Hydro-Québec et de l'un de ses derniers projets, la centrale thermique du Suroît. Abstract: The context of globalization and the questioning of the government's role have led to governance models based on the multiplicity and the heterogeneity of the players involved in any issue of public interest. The new governance framework promotes mutual adjustment mechanisms based on consensus-building, negotiation, and reciprocal adaptation among players. This new environment requires a thorough reflection on the role of public corporations in the various industry sectors. Presented originally as guarantors of the public interest, public corporations have also been challenged and are having to deal with occasionally contradictory principles (international integration, territorial integration, strategic planning, and emergent strategies). The authors provide a picture of the new governance context in the energy sector, using as an example Hydro-Québec and one of its most recent projects, the Suroît thermal plant. [source] | ||||||||||||||||