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Political Setting (political + setting)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Humanities and Social Sciences66%

Selected Abstracts

Learning from Abroad: The Role of Policy Transfer in Contemporary Policy-Making

GOVERNANCE, Issue 1 2000
David P. Dolowitz
In recent years there has been a growing body of literature within political science and international studies that directly and indirectly uses, discusses and analyzes the processes involved in lesson-drawing, policy convergence, policy diffusion and policy transfer. While the terminology and focus often vary, all of these studies are concerned with a similar process in which knowledge about policies, administrative arrangements, institutions and ideas in one political setting (past or present) is used in the development of policies, administrative arrangements, institutions and ideas in another political setting. Given that this is a growing phenomenon, it is something that anyone studying public policy needs to consider. As such, this article is divided into four major sections. The first section briefly considers the extent of, and reasons for, the growth of policy transfer. The second section then outlines a framework for the analysis of transfer. From here a third section presents a continuum for distinguishing between different types of policy transfer. Finally, the last section addresses the relationship between policy transfer and policy "failure." [source]

Undernutrition among children in South and South-East Asia

JOURNAL OF PAEDIATRICS AND CHILD HEALTH, Issue 9 2010
Sant-Rayn Pasricha
Abstract Undernutrition remains a major public health problem among children living in Asia. Although the burden is maximal among poorer, rural and Indigenous communities, the problem affects the majority in many Asian countries, especially in South Asia. In order to prevent the pervasive consequences of undernutrition, strategies that address this burden are required. Successful implementation of strategies may be limited by the complex aetiology of undernutrition, including the political setting. Rising food insecurity because of climate change, land use for biofuel production and the recent global financial crisis threaten to exacerbate childhood malnutrition. In this review, we describe the burden of undernutrition among Asian children and discuss contributing factors and potential solutions. [source]

Savage bodies, civilized pleasures: M. V. Portman and the Andamanese

AMERICAN ETHNOLOGIST, Issue 2 2009
SATADRU SEN
ABSTRACT In this article, I examine the deployment of ethnographic and photographic techniques in British colonialism in the Andaman Islands. Focusing on the work of Maurice Portman, who was "officer in charge of the Andamanese" between 1879 and 1900, I examine the mechanisms by which savagery was constructed in a marginal and newly pacified colony where the indigenous population was assumed by Britons to be dying but not quite dead. I argue that in this ideological and political setting, the colonizer's assertions of control and delinquent fantasies of losing control came together in the aesthetics and measurements of the eroticized aboriginal body. [Andaman Islands, South Asia, M. V. Portman, photography, anthropometry, colonialism, savagery] [source]

Psychotherapy, political resistance and intimacy: Dilemmas, possibilities and limitations, Part II

PSYCHOTHERAPY AND POLITICS INTERNATIONAL, Issue 3 2009
Manuel Llorens
Abstract The following paper discusses the challenges faced by psychotherapists working in Venezuela during years of political and social unrest as a way of examining psychotherapy's dilemmas when dealing with political issues. It is the second part of a two-part piece. In the first part limitations of the traditional psychotherapeutic technical recommendations in a highly polarized political setting were considered. In this second part examples of the difficulties presented in Venezuela will be shown. Reflexive psychotherapeutic alternatives to traditional technical considerations such as neutrality will be considered. The possibilities opened up by the perspectives that lead us to engage simultaneously with the personal and social aspects of life, the inclusion of the power differential in the therapeutic relationship and the potential that psychotherapy has to act as a form of resistance to unjust circumstances when thought of as a space where the intimate and the political are intertwined will be considered. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Navigating fieldwork politics, practicalities and ethics in the upland borderlands of northern Vietnam

ASIA PACIFIC VIEWPOINT, Issue 2 2010
Christine BonninArticle first published online: 28 JUL 2010
Abstract In this article, I detail and evaluate the negotiations I had to broker to conduct ethnographic research on marketplace vendors and trade in the upland borderlands of northern Vietnam. Working with the analogy of the numerous ,lines' I was constrained by, had to manoeuvre around, and at times crossed over, I begin with a discussion of the ,official lines' or state regulations imposed upon my research and how I worked with, or negotiated these limitations. I then reveal the important ,border guards' or gatekeepers, such as local state actors and also field assistants, who enabled or constrained access to informants in numerous different ways. I also highlight the logistical and practical lines that I had to accept and indeed, often draw, to accomplish my study. I conclude with a consideration of how friendships in the field drew me beyond the lines I had originally drawn around my research. These relationships furthered my anxiety over the possibilities for conducting research that ultimately contributes towards social justice in a constrained political setting such as that which presently characterises Vietnam. [source]

The Limitations of Heuristics for Political Elites

POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 6 2009
Kristina C. Miler
Despite the extensive literature on citizens' use of cognitive heuristics in political settings, far less is known about how political elites use these shortcuts. Legislative elites benefit from the efficiency of the accessibility heuristic, but their judgments can also be flawed if accessible information is incomplete or unrepresentative. Using personal interviews and a quasi-experimental design, this paper examines the use of the accessibility heuristic by professional legislative staff when assessing the importance of natural resources issues to their constituents. Staff members recall only a small subset of the relevant constituents in the district, and this subset is biased in favor of active and resource-rich constituents over other, equally relevant constituents. This paper provides a new application of cognitive psychology to political elites and addresses important normative questions about the importance of information processing for political representation. By drawing on the psychology literature on heuristics, this paper identifies the cognitive mechanisms of congressional representation and provides new evidence of old biases. [source]