Implementation analysis of the Texas Vendor Drug Program

An agency is accountable to a legislative body in the implementation of public policy. It has a responsibility to ensure that the implementation of that policy is consistent with its statutory objectives.^ The analysis of the effectiveness of implementation of the Vendor Drug Program proceeded in the following manner. The federal and state roles and statutes pursuant to the formulation of the Vendor Drug Program were reviewed to determine statutory intent and formal provisions. The translation of these into programmatic details was examined focusing on the factors impacting the implementation process. Lastly, the six conditions outlined by Mazmanian and Sabatier as criteria for effective implementation, were applied to the implementation of the Vendor Drug Program to determine if the implementation was effective in relation to consistency with statutory objectives.^ The implementation of the statutes clearly met four of the six conditions for effective implementation: (1) clear and consistent objectives; (2) a valid causal theory; (3) structured the process to maximize agency and target compliance with the objectives; and (4) had continued support of constituency groups and sovereigns.^ The implementation was basically consistent with the statutory objectives, although the determination of vendor reimbursement has had and continues to have problems. ^

A social network-based approach to assess de facto independence of regulatory agencies

This article uses a policy network perspective to assess the independence of regulatory agencies (RAs) in liberalized public utility sectors. We focus on the de facto independence of RAs from elected politicians, regulatees and other co-regulators. We go further than previous studies, which only undertook a general analysis of the de jure independence of RAs from political authorities. Specifically, we apply a social network analysis (SNA), which concentrates on the attributes and relational profiles of all actors involved in new regulatory arrangements. The concept of de facto independence is applied to the Swiss telecommunications sector in order to provide initial empirical insights. Results clearly show that SNA indicators are an appropriate tool to identify the de facto independence of RAs and can improve knowledge about the issues arising from the emergence of the ‘regulatory State’.

Dealing with bad guys: actor- and process-level determinants of the “devil shift” in policy making

Policy actors tend to misinterpret and distrust opponents in policy processes. This phenomenon, known as the “devil shift”, consists of the following two dimensions: actors perceive opponents as more powerful and as more evil than they really are. Analysing nine policy processes in Switzerland, this article highlights the drivers of the devil shift at two levels. On the actor level, interest groups, political parties and powerful actors suffer more from the devil shift than state actors and powerless actors. On the process level, the devil shift is stronger in policy processes dealing with socio-economic issues as compared with other issues. Finally, and in line with previous studies, there is less empirical evidence of the power dimension of the devil shift phenomenon than of its evilness dimension.

Policy Change in Comparative Contexts: Applying the Advocacy Coalition Framework Outside of Western Europe and North America

The advocacy coalition framework (ACF) is one of the most frequently applied theories of the policy process. Most applications have been in Western Europe and North America. This article provides an overview of the ACF, summarizes existing applications outside of Western Europe and North America, and introduces the special issue that features applications of the ACF in the Philippines, China, India, and Kenya. This article concludes with an argument for the continued application of the ACF outside of Western Europe and North America and a research agenda for overcoming challenges in using the ACF in comparative public policy research.

Institutions and coalitions in policy processes: a cross-sectoral comparison

Actors with joint beliefs in a decision-making process form coalitions in order to translate their goals into policy. Yet, coalitions are not formed in an institutional void, but rather institutions confer opportunities and constraints to actors. This paper studies the institutional conditions under which either coalition structures with a dominant coalition or with competing coalitions emerge. It takes into account three conditions, i.e. the degree of federalism of a project, its degree of Europeanisation and the openness of the pre-parliamentary phase of the decision-making process. The cross-sectoral comparison includes the 11 most important decision-making processes in Switzerland between 2001 and 2006 with a fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis. Results suggest that Europeanisation or an open pre-parliamentary phase lead to a dominant coalition, whereas only a specific combination of all three conditions is able to explain a structure with competing coalitions.

Tracing the Evidence: The Use of Evaluation Results in Direct-Democratic Campaigns

Although research on direct-democratic campaigns in Switzerland has intensified in the last decade, detailed information on the use of evidence in campaigns is still lacking. Our research aims to contribute both to research on direct democracy and to research on evidence-based policy making, by analyzing how evaluation results are used in directdemocratic campaigns. In this conceptual paper, the formulation of our hypothesis is based on a model of evaluation influence that traces the different uses of evaluation results in the process of a direct-democratic campaign. We assume that the policy analytical capacity of individual members in parliament, government and administration in the (pre)-parliamentary process fosters the use of evidence in campaigns. In the course of the campaign, symbolic use of evaluation in the form of justification, persuasion or mobilization prevails. We assume that the media is an important player in making transparent how political actors use evidence to support their positions. Evidence itself often remains ambiguous and uncertain, and evaluations are influenced by the values of the evaluator. To be able to make the right decisions, therefore, citizens should learn about possible interpretations in argumentative processes. For us, the context of direct democracy in Switzerland provides the setting for such a discourse that, besides evidence, brings up different opinions, values and beliefs.

Same same but different: Locational policies in small and medium-sized European cities

Globalized interurban competition is affecting cities of various sizes and locations. Small and medium-sized cities have to find ways to position themselves in global markets by formulating locational policies. This paper outlines an analytical framework of locational policies that cities adopt in order to increase their competitiveness. By comparing two European small and mediumsized cities (Lucerne and Ulm), we examine manifestations of locational policies and compare if these policies are being diverse or resemble each other. We found that strategies of both cities are sharing the intentions to be competitive, but their policy choices differ because the economic and political context is enabling or restricting certain kinds of locational policies. Furthermore, the findings point to the high explanatory power of municipal tax autonomy when studying locational policies.

Reconciling Perspectives on Blame Avoidance Behaviour

Blame avoidance behaviour (BAB) has become an increasingly popular topic in political science. However, the preconditions of BAB, its presence and consequences in various areas and in different political systems largely remain a black box. In order to generate a better understanding of BAB and its importance for the workings of democratic political systems, the scattered literature on BAB needs to be assessed and structured. This article offers a comprehensive review of the literature on blame avoidance. It departs from Weaver’s concept of blame avoidance and subsequently differentiates between work on BAB in comparative welfare state research and work on BAB in public policy and administration. It is argued that between these two strands of literature a bifurcation exists since both perspectives rarely draw on each other to create a more general understanding of BAB. Advantages from existing approaches must be combined to assess the phenomenon of blame avoidance in a more comprehensive way.

Identifying and removing barriers to cycling as a viable means of transportation in Houston, Texas

The citizens of Houston, Texas, spend much time commuting. It has repeatedly been named among the “Fattest Cities” by Men’s Fitness Magazine (The fittest and fattest cities in America – Men’s Fitness. ). Obesity is one of its major public health problems as Houstonians often do not engage in enough physical activity to help them maintain their ideal weights. The use of bicycles provides a healthy and ecological alternative to commuting by driving. However, because urban cyclists must often share the roads with motorized vehicles, cyclists are often exposed to high levels of emissions. As vulnerable users of the roadways, urban cyclists also face the threat of injury. Nevertheless, there are some programs that encourage the use of bicycles. Laws and ordinances not only reveal public policy relating to bicycling but are a means to develop policy which can encourage bicycling. ^

Desafíos en el proceso de investigación de la informalidad en hospitales públicos

En este trabajo se muestra la cocina de una investigación, es decir cómo se construyen los momentos que la componen y cómo se relacionan entre sí. Esta experiencia tuvo como objetivo analizar el proceso de construcción de políticas públicas en las organizaciones hospitalarias de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, haciendo foco en las acciones informales desarrolladas en su interior. Luego de una introducción para ubicar al lector en la temática, se explica la selección del marco teórico y la discusión acerca de los elementos conceptuales que aporta cada disciplina para repensar la informalidad. Luego se presentan los objetivos y la hipótesis de trabajo inicial, mostrando por qué la metodología cualitativa resultó el mejor abordaje para dar cuenta del fenómeno de estudio, dado que desde el sentido común, la informalidad en la administración pública tiende a ser confundida con prácticas discrecionales para satisfacer intereses propios. Se da cuenta de la estrategia analítica y cómo los lineamientos de la teoría fundamentada permitieron construir categorías que contribuyeran a redefinir algunos conceptos teóricos que explican el modo en que opera el aspecto informal de la organización. Como conclusión, se muestra la línea narrativa que integra y explica la articulación de los distintos componentes de dicho proceso, los cuales permitieron dar especificidad al concepto de informalidad a nivel teórico y empírico

Nivel de conocimiento de la nueva Ley de bosque nativo y fomento forestal : El caso de los pequeños propietarios forestales de la Cordillera de Nahuelbuta (Chile)

Se evaluó el nivel de conocimiento de la nueva Ley de bosque nativo y fomento forestal que poseen los pequeños propietarios forestales en dos territorios de la Cordillera de Nahuelbuta, en Chile. Para ello, se aplicó una encuesta a 53 personas (10 de las viviendas), que abordó cinco temas centrales: (1) uso del bosque nativo, (2) participación en redes sociales y acceso a la información, (3) conocimiento general de la Ley, (4) conocimiento respecto a la administración y (5) fomento de la Ley. Los resultados mostraron que: (1) el bosque nativo es usado para obtener productos madereros y no madereros, (2) las redes sociales y especialmente la radio son fundamentales para la transferencia de información, (3) tanto el conocimiento general de la Ley como (4) el nivel de conocimiento respecto de la administración de la Ley es insuficiente, y (5) se desconocen los trámites que deben efectuarse para obtener los beneficios de la Ley. Se concluye que: (1) el nivel de conocimiento de la Ley es insuficiente, (2) es fundamental estimular el uso de los instrumentos de esta Ley en la totalidad del territorio, de modo de garantizar el uso sustentable del recurso, y (3) la difusión de los beneficios de la Ley debe considerar las formas de comunicación tradicionales, el nivel de educación y la cultura de los espacios rurales