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Policy Areas (policy + area)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Humanities and Social Sciences	45%
Law and Criminology	25%
Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting	16%
Medical Sciences	8%

Selected Abstracts

Is the Open Method of Coordination Appropriate for Organising Activities at European Level in Sensitive Policy Areas?

EUROPEAN LAW JOURNAL, Issue 1 2002
Caroline de la Porte
This article addresses the question of the relevance of the most recent soft policy instrument of the EU, the open method of coordination (OMC), for organising actions at European level in politically sensitive areas. In addition to describing its origins and operational principles, we will compare its application to the areas of employment and social inclusion. Two hypotheses make up the structure of the text. The first is that the discourses produced in the framework of OMC in the areas of employment and social inclusion are broad enough to cater to the different welfare models, but that the changes to be made by the Member States to be in line with the European discourses differ considerably, depending on their welfare state family and their initial situation. The second is that the form of OMC is variable, depending on policy area. Our conclusions confirm both of these hypotheses. [source]

A geomatics data integration technique for coastal change monitoring

EARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS, Issue 6 2005
J. P. Mills
Abstract This paper reports research carried out to develop a novel method of monitoring coastal change, using an approach based on digital elevation models (DEMs). In recent years change monitoring has become an increasingly important issue, particularly for landforms and areas that are potentially hazardous to human life and assets. The coastal zone is currently a sensitive policy area for those involved with its management, as phenomena such as erosion and landslides affect the stability of both the natural and the built environment. With legal and financial implications of failing to predict and react to such geomorphological change, the provision of accurate and effective monitoring is essential. Long coastlines and dynamic processes make the application of traditional surveying difficult, but recent advances made in the geomatics discipline allow for more effective methodologies to be investigated. A solution is presented, based on two component technologies , the Global Positioning System (GPS) and digital small format aerial photogrammetry , using data fusion to elim-inate the disadvantages associated with each technique individually. A sparse but highly accurate DEM, created using kinematic GPS, was used as control to orientate surfaces derived from the relative orientation stage of photogrammetric processing. A least squares surface matching algorithm was developed to perform the orientation, reducing the need for costly and inefficient ground control point survey. Change detection was then carried out between temporal data epochs for a rapidly eroding coastline (Filey Bay, North Yorkshire). The surface matching algorithm was employed to register the datasets and determine dif-ferences between the DEM series. Large areas of change were identified during the lifetime of the study. Results of this methodology were encouraging, the flexibility, redundancy and automation potential allowing an efficient approach to landform monitoring. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Differentiating and Linking Politics and Adjudication,The Example of European Electricity Policy

EUROPEAN LAW JOURNAL, Issue 3 2002
Adrienne Héritier
The paper analyses how politics and adjudication answer similar questions in the context of policy-making. It contrasts how societal problems are selected, defined, solved and legitimised by both disciplines. We raise these questions in regard to the liberalization of the European Electricity markets. We reconstruct the decision-making process at the political and adjudicative arena taking place in this policy area. By so doing, we elaborate the differences and establish the links between politics and adjudication. We argue that what differentiates these two disciplines constitutes their very links; that is, the adjudicative and political arena are linked precisely because they are different at various level. [source]

Is the Open Method of Coordination Appropriate for Organising Activities at European Level in Sensitive Policy Areas?

The European Commission: The Limits of Centralization and the Perils of Parliamentarization

GOVERNANCE, Issue 3 2002
Giandomenico MajoneArticle first published online: 17 DEC 200
The idea of an inevitable process of centralization in the European Community (EC)/European Union (EU) is a myth. Also, the metaphor of "creeping competences," with its suggestion of a surreptitious but continuous growth of the powers of the Commission, can be misleading. It is true that the functional scope of EC/EU competences has steadily increased, but the nature of new competences has changed dramatically, as may be seen from the evolution of the methods of harmonization. The original emphasis on total harmonization, which gives the Community exclusive competence over a given policy area, has been largely replaced by more flexible but less "communitarian" methods such as optional and minimum harmonization, reference to nonbinding technical standards, and mutual recognition. Finally, the treaties of Maastricht and Amsterdam explicitly excluded harmonization for most new competences. Thus, the expansion of the jurisdiction of the EC/EU has not automatically increased the powers of the Commission, but has actually weakened them in several respects. In addition, the progressive parliamentarization of the Commission risks compromising its credibility as an independent regulator, without necessarily enhancing its democratic legitimacy. Since the member states continue to oppose any centralization of regulatory powers, even in areas essential to the functioning of the internal market, the task of implementing Community policies should be entrusted to networks of independent national and European regulators, roughly modeled on the European System of Central Banks. The Commission would coordinate and monitor the activities of these networks in order to ensure the coherence of EC regulatory policies. More generally, it should bring its distinctive competence more clearly into focus by concentrating on the core business of ensuring the development and proper functioning of the single European market. This is a more modest role than that of the kernel of a future government of Europe, but it is essential to the credibility of the integration process and does not overstrain the limited financial and legitimacy resources available to the Commission. [source]

Scottish devolution: identity and impact and the case of community care for the elderly

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, Issue 2 2003
Gordon Marnoch
This article examines the emergent identity and impact of devolution in Scotland. Using the case of community care for the elderly, a model is set out for capturing the different interpretive perspectives evident in relation to a particular policy area in 1999,2001. The political story of the ,free personal care' issue, in which the Scottish Executive were unexpectedly forced into adopting a markedly different policy from the rest of the UK, is examined in some detail. Setting the episode in a broader context, four discursive thematics are identified in relation to the policy case. A model is demonstrated for examining different aspects of devolution including constitutional level and sub-system aspects of post-devolution governance. Conclusions are drawn as to the meaning which should be ascribed to the discourse associated with devolution and community care for the elderly. [source]

Tax Expenditures in Michigan: A Comparison to Federal Findings

PUBLIC BUDGETING AND FINANCE, Issue 1 2002
Kyle I. Jen
A substantial literature exists on federal tax expenditures, but almost no empirical research has been done on state tax expenditures. This article examines Michigan tax expenditures, with an emphasis on comparison to findings from the federal level. Three major topics are addressed: (1) allocation of resources by policy area, (2) distribution of tax expenditure benefits by income class, and (3) tax expenditure growth over time. Only the findings on resource allocation are consistent with findings from the federal level, suggesting that simple theories may be insufficient to systematically describe tax expenditures. [source]

The Fog of Integration: Reassessing the Role of Economic Interests in European Integration

BRITISH JOURNAL OF POLITICS & INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, Issue 1 2008
Patrick Leblond
The main theories of European economic integration argue that private economic interests provide the impetus and pressures for integration to move forward. Public policy analyses of the European Union's legislative process, however, show that intense lobbying by such interests can prevent legislative proposals from being adopted, even if economic interests were initially in favour of supranational legislation. How do we explain this apparent contradiction? The answer is that economic interests initially face great uncertainty as to the precise costs and benefits of integrating a particular policy area; only once the ,fog of integration' lifts,as a result of concrete legislative proposals being tabled by the Commission,are economic interests able to calculate these costs and benefits and, consequently, decide whether to lobby for or against the proposal. To provide a first-run validation of the argument, the article examines the cases of the Software Patent and Takeover directives. [source]

The origins of the global city: ethics and morality in contemporary cosmopolitanism

BRITISH JOURNAL OF POLITICS & INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, Issue 1 2003
Deiniol Jones
This article makes the case for a strong delineation of ethical and moral categories in contemporary international relations theory,specifically, within the theory of cosmopolitanism. The argument draws on the history of ideas, particularly observations about the nature of Stoicism in classical political thought, and a range of contemporary ,ethical' texts to make the case that there is a missing ethical category in contemporary approaches. Contemporary reflections on world citizenship and the global city, such as those contained in Linklater and Held, adopt a specifically moral notion of normativity and neglect an ethical component which is both distinct and theoretically practicable. The article offers a specific policy area,the area of international drug control,as a potential area of policy application. [source]

The Unpatriotism of the Economic Constitution?

EUROPEAN LAW JOURNAL, Issue 2 2008
European Identity, Rights to Free Movement, their Impact on National
The four single market freedoms can be used by the Court of Justice to strike down Member State laws which represent deeply held aspects of national cultural identity. The article examines whether the court does in fact act in this way and proceeds to argue that the issue of identity protection does not stop with the court. In those policy areas where the court is more interventionist, and its case-law is perceived as an identity threat, one is likely to find binding Treaty-based derogations. Where, in contrast, the effect of the court's case-law poses less of a threat, one is more likely to see non-binding declarations. The article examines a number of policy areas in which specific cultural derogations and declarations are to be found, including abortion, property acquisition, football and alcohol control. [source]

The Cultural Mainstreaming Clause of Article 151(4) EC: Protection and Promotion of Cultural Diversity or Hidden Cultural Agenda?

EUROPEAN LAW JOURNAL, Issue 5 2006
Evangelia Psychogiopoulou
The cultural cross-sectional clause of Article 151(4) EC, by calling for a reshaping of EC decision-making in other policy areas, which have to give due consideration to the impact they might have on cultural matters, enables the attainment of cultural objectives under EC headings other than Article 151 EC. In an attempt to inquire into this less-widely discussed facet of EC cultural action, the analysis highlights the principal characteristics of Article 151(4) EC and explores the influence it has exerted on both judicial and legislative Community practice. [source]

MUNICIPAL CONTRACTING OUT: GOVERNANCE CHOICES, MISALIGNMENT AND PERFORMANCE IN SWEDISH LOCAL GOVERNMENT

FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY & MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2008
Tobias Johansson
In this paper we apply a Transaction Cost Theory framework to analyse the use and effects of contracting out in Swedish local government. During the last decade Swedish local authorities, like in many other countries, have, to a larger extent, started to contract external subcontractors to fulfil their responsibilities towards its citizens. It is not only in the traditional subcontracting sectors such as housing, infrastructure, and technical services that this trend is evident, but also in policy areas like education, social care, and elderly care. In fact, very little is known about the overall effects of, and the mechanisms underlying, governance choices. The overall results corroborate transaction cost reasoning. Supplier competition and specificity have anticipated effects on municipal de-integration. Too little, but not too much, use of contracting out, in relation to theoretical predictions, worsens performance. The latter aspect is not fully in accordance with TCE-propositions. [source]

Gender, Politics and Policy Change: The Case of Welfare Reform Under New Labour

GOVERNMENT AND OPPOSITION, Issue 1 2010
Claire Annesley
Politics and gender scholarship is increasingly seeking to understand the relationship between the presence of women in politics and gendered policy outcomes , the substantive representation of women (SRW). Yet its focus remains squarely on the activities of ,critical actors' in parliaments and women's policy agencies and on ,feminist' rather than ,mainstream' policy areas. In contrast, this article investigates the impact of feminist actors in a range of institutional settings on recent processes of welfare reform in the UK. It finds that the gendered welfare reform introduced by New Labour was initiated and pushed through by a coalition of committed feminist actors across a range of institutions. Crucially, the reforms relied on the existence of ,strategic actors' and ,gate openers', defined as feminist actors in positions of significant institutional power. It makes a contribution to the actor-centred SRW scholarship, develops an institutionalist approach to this research and identifies the need for a political economy perspective to understanding how women can shape policy outcomes. [source]

Optimal HIV testing and earlier care: the way forward in Europe

HIV MEDICINE, Issue 2008
T Coenen
The articles in this supplement were developed from a recent pan-European conference entitled ,HIV in Europe 2007: Working together for optimal testing and earlier care', which took place on 26,27 November in Brussels, Belgium. The conference, organized by a multidisciplinary group of experts representing advocacy, clinical and policy areas of the HIV field, was convened in an effort to gain a common understanding on the role of HIV testing and counselling in optimizing diagnosis and the need for earlier care. Key topics discussed at the conference and described in the following articles include: current barriers to HIV testing across Europe, trends in the epidemiology of HIV in the region, problems associated with undiagnosed infection and the psychosocial barriers impacting on testing. The supplement also provides a summary of the World Health Organization's recommendations for HIV testing in Europe and an outline of an indicator disease-guided approach to HIV testing proposed by a committee of experts from the European AIDS Clinical Society (EACS). We hope that consideration of the issues discussed in this supplement will help to shift the HIV field closer towards our ultimate goal: provision of optimal HIV testing and earlier care across the whole of the European region. [source]

Germany and the European Union: from ,tamed power' to normalized power?

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, Issue 5 2010
SIMON BULMER
Germany has traditionally played a key role in promoting European Union solutions to domestic policy problems. In doing so it gained a reputation as a ,tamed power' (Katzenstein). This article reviews Germany's diplomacy two decades after unification. It explores the ,tamed power' hypothesis with reference to three policy areas: constitutional reform in the EU; Justice and Home Affairs policy; and an issue that has made German European policy very salient of late, the management of the Eurozone. The article argues that Germany has become a much less inclusive actor in European policy, pursuing policy solutions through ,pioneer groups' where these offer greater promise than the EU itself and becoming increasingly attentive to domestic political constraints. The article argues that Germany has become a normalized power, with significant implications for the EU. [source]

District health systems in a neoliberal world: a review of five key policy areas,

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HEALTH PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT, Issue S1 2003
Malcolm Segall
Abstract District health systems, comprising primary health care and first referral hospitals, are key to the delivery of basic health services in developing countries. They should be prioritized in resource allocation and in the building of management and service capacity. The relegation in the World Health Report 2000 of primary health care to a ,second generation' reform,to be superseded by third generation reforms with a market orientation,flows from an analysis that is historically flawed and ideologically biased. Primary health care has struggled against economic crisis and adjustment and a neoliberal ideology often averse to its principles. To ascribe failures of primary health care to a weakness in policy design, when the political economy has starved it of resources, is to blame the victim. Improvement in the working and living conditions of health workers is a precondition for the effective delivery of public health services. A multidimensional programme of health worker rehabilitation should be developed as the foundation for health service recovery. District health systems can and should be financed (at least mainly) from public funds. Although in certain situations user fees have improved the quality and increased the utilization of primary care services, direct charges deter health care use by the poor and can result in further impoverishment. Direct user fees should be replaced progressively by increased public finance and, where possible, by prepayment schemes based on principles of social health insurance with public subsidization. Priority setting should be driven mainly by the objective to achieve equity in health and wellbeing outcomes. Cost effectiveness should enter into the selection of treatments for people (productive efficiency), but not into the selection of people for treatment (allocative efficiency). Decentralization is likely to be advantageous in most health systems, although the exact form(s) should be selected with care and implementation should be phased in after adequate preparation. The public health service should usually play the lead provider role in district health systems, but non-government providers can be contracted if needed. There is little or no evidence to support proactive privatization, marketization or provider competition. Democratization of political and popular involvement in health enhances the benefits of decentralization and community participation. Integrated district health systems are the means by which specific health programmes can best be delivered in the context of overall health care needs. International assistance should address communicable disease control priorities in ways that strengthen local health systems and do not undermine them. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria should not repeat the mistakes of the mass compaigns of past decades. In particular, it should not set programme targets that are driven by an international agenda and which are achievable only at the cost of an adverse impact on sustainable health systems. Above all the targets must not retard the development of the district health systems so badly needed by the rural poor. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Trafficking in Persons and Development: Towards Greater Policy Coherence

INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION, Issue 4 2010
Gergana Danailova-Trainor
Poverty is often regarded as the "root cause" of trafficking, but the linkages between poverty, a lack of development and trafficking are complex. For example, there is some evidence to suggest that victims of cross-border trafficking are more likely to originate from middle-income rather than lower-income countries. Trafficking and development have tended to be treated as very separate policy areas and the assessment of the development impact of counter-trafficking programmes is still at an early stage. This paper outlines a possible framework for a more evidence-based approach to understanding the linkages between trafficking, trafficking policy and human development. The paper argues that the human development gains from greater mobility could be significantly enhanced if there was greater coherence between policies to combat trafficking and policies to promote development. [source]

International Migration and State Sovereignty in an Integrating Europe

INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION, Issue 6 2001
Andrew Geddes
This article examines the development of migration policy competencies of the European Union (EU) since the 1990s. It pays particular attention to policy framework that developed after the Maastricht and Amsterdam Treaties entered into effect in 1993 and 1999 respectively. In order to chart these developments, the article focuses on five analytical themes that illustrate key trends in EU migration policy. Reasons for and implications of shift from "pillarization" in the Maastricht Treaty to "communitarization" in the Amsterdam Treaty. , Blurring of the distinction between external and internal security. , The role that supranational institutions such as the European Commission are playing (or trying to play) in policy development. , Debates about migrants' rights in an integrating Europe. , Links between migration and EU enlargement. It is argued that far from weakening EU member states or symbolizing some "loss of control", EU cooperation and integration have thus far helped member states consolidate and reassert their ability to regulate international migration through the use of new EU-level institutional venues. This raises legitimacy issues as the EU moves into politically sensitive policy areas. Although talk of "fortress Europe" is overblown, the EU is likely to face legitimacy challenges on both the "input" (democracy, openness and accountability of decision-making) and "output" (implementation and compliance) elements of decision-making. [source]

Risking Security: Policies and Paradoxes of Cyberspace Security

INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL SOCIOLOGY, Issue 1 2010
Ronald J. Deibert
Conceptualizations of cyberspace security can be divided into two related dimensions, articulated as "risks": risks to the physical realm of computer and communication technologies (risks to cyberspace); and risks that arise from cyberspace and are facilitated or generated by its technologies, but do not directly target the infrastructures per se (risks through cyberspace). There is robust international consensus, growing communities of practice, and an emerging normative regime around risks to cyberspace. This is less the case when it comes to risks through cyberspace. While states do collaborate around some policy areas, cooperation declines as the object of risk becomes politically contestable and where national interests vary widely. These include the nature of political opposition and the right to dissent or protest, minority rights and independence movements, religious belief, cultural values, or historical claims. The contrast between the domains has led to contradictory tendencies and paradoxical outcomes. [source]

THE L.A. SCHOOL AND POLITICS,NOIR: BRINGING THE LOCAL STATE BACK IN

JOURNAL OF URBAN AFFAIRS, Issue 5 2009
STEVEN P. ERIE
ABSTRACT:,This essay critically reevaluates two key components of the L.A. School of Urbanism research program. First, we reconsider the L.A. School's alternative to the concentric circles model of urban growth developed by the Chicago School. Second, we reexamine its account of Los Angeles's modern development and transformation into a global city. We conclude that the L.A. School, much like the Chicago School it critiques, pays insufficient attention to politics and political institutions. Understanding how Los Angeles improbably grew from a frontier town to regional imperium and global city requires urban scholars to bring the local state back in. Based on recent scholarship, we argue that the local state played a critical and, frequently, autonomous role in key policy areas, such as city planning and water provision. By bringing the local state back into the L.A. growth story, L.A. scholars can offer a more robust theory of urban growth. [source]

Business Power and Tax Reform: Taxing Income and Profits in Chile and Argentina

LATIN AMERICAN POLITICS AND SOCIETY, Issue 2 2010
Tasha Fairfield
ABSTRACT This article examines efforts to increase taxation of highly concentrated, undertapped income and profits in Latin America in the aftermath of structural adjustment. Argentina has advanced further than Chile in two policy areas: corporate taxation, which taps firm-level profits; and tax agency access to bank information, which helps reduce income tax evasion. These outcomes are explained by drawing on the classic concepts of business instrumental power, which entails political actions, and structural power, which arises from investment decisions. In Chile, strong instrumental power removed reforms in both areas from the policy agenda. In Argentina, much weaker instrumental power at the cross-sectoral level facilitated corporate tax increases. Bank information access was expanded after Argentina's 2001 crisis weakened the financial sector's instrumental power and reduced structural power. [source]

The Incidence and Structure of Conflict on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

LAW & POLICY, Issue 1 2001
Isaac Unah
In 1982, Congress established the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, a specialized court, with the objective of reducing judicial conflict and harmonizing circuit law in specific policy areas of special complexity. This article examines the incidence and determinants of judicial conflict on the U.S. courts of appeals, focusing specifically on the Federal Circuit. Using international trade and customs regulation cases decided during the 1982 to 1995 terms, the analysis reviews three possible explanations of judicial conflict: policy-oriented, sociolegal, and organizational. The analysis shows that conflict appears in 8.4 percent of the trade and customs regulation decisions rendered by the Federal Circuit during the period of study. The policy direction of Federal Circuit decisions and the court's hierarchical relationship with lower specialized courts provide the strongest explanation for the emergence of conflict on the court. Organizational factors such as panel composition evinced rather anemic explanatory capacity. The results raise an important functional similarity between the Federal Circuit and the generalist courts of appeals. Contrary to the laments of legal practitioners that conflict on the Federal Circuit is excessive relative to conflict on the generalist circuit courts, this analysis finds little support for that claim. Rather, the level of overt conflict on the court is actually low and corroborates conflict levels that have been reported for other U.S. courts of appeals. [source]

Training Policy Governance in Nonprofit Boards of Directors: The Views of Trainer-Consultants

NONPROFIT MANAGEMENT & LEADERSHIP, Issue 4 2002
Jeffrey L. Brudney
Although scholars widely discuss John Carver's (1990) Policy Governance model for nonprofit organizations, they have conducted little formal research on the implementation of the model. For this study, the researchers surveyed ninety-two trainer-consultants who graduated from Carver's Policy Governance Academy. The goal was to learn three things from their experiences: (1) whether trainer-consultants maintain the model as a coherent whole or teach only parts of it; (2) what they perceive as the major challenges for nonprofit boards in implementing the Policy Governance model; and (3) what contextual factors, if any, they feel affect implementation of the model across nonprofit boards with different characteristics. Survey responses indicated that (1) consultants predominantly teach the model as a whole, (2) particular policy areas appear to be problematic for nonprofit boards of directors that implement the model, and (3) two contextual factors may negatively affect the ability of a board of directors to successfully implement Policy Governance boards larger than fifteen members, and organizations with no hierarchy, where the board also functions as staff. Overall, consultants' responses indicated that they feel Policy Governance is far superior to other models, but they recognize the problems and challenges that boards face in trying to implement it. [source]

Better Government with Older Citizens: A Test of Democracy

THE POLITICAL QUARTERLY, Issue 1 2010
BRIAN GROOMBRIDGE
Better Government for Older People: this ambitious project to involve older citizens in the improvement of policies affecting them, celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2008. Then the Government decided to close it down, setting up an Advisory Forum as an alternative. BGOP's considerable achievements were widely recognised (and acknowledged in the DWP review by John Elbourne) but there were real shortcomings. BGOP's previous history is summarised, with special reference to its work with the Older People's Advisory Group. Some activists and observers believe BGOP's weaknesses could and should have been remedied, but the Government decided to start again. There are strongly opposed interpretations of why this happened. Former BGOP staff and OPAG members have since set up ChangeAGEnts, a Co-operative charity, to continue their work. The specific issue is intrinsically and demographically important, but it also throws light on consultation in many other policy areas. [source]