Hegemony, Institutionalism and US Foreign Policy: theory and practice in comparative historical perspective

This paper explores the theoretical and policy implications of contemporary American hegemony. A key argument is that the development of US hegemony generally, and the distinctive turn in US foreign policy that has occurred in the wake of 11 September in particular, can best be understood by placing recent events in a comparative and historical framework. The immediate post-World War II order laid the foundations of a highly institutionalised multilateral system that provided key benefits for a number of countries while simultaneously constraining and enhancing US power. An historical reading of US hegemony suggests that its recent unilateralism is undermining the foundations of its power and influence.

Public and user participation in public service delivery: tensions in policy and practice

Social-scientific analysis of public-participation initiatives has proliferated in recent years. This review article discusses some key aspects of recent work. Firstly, it analyses some of the justifications put forward for public participation, drawing attention to differences and overlaps between rationales premised on democratic representation/representativeness and those based on more technocratic ideas about the knowledge that the public can offer. Secondly, it considers certain tensions in policy discourses on participation, focusing in particular on policy relating to the National Health Service and other British public services. Thirdly, it examines the challenges of putting a coherent vision for public participation into practice, noting the impediments that derive from the often-competing ideas about the remit of participation held by different groups of stakeholders. Finally, it analyses the gap between policy and practice, and the consequences of this for the prospects for the enactment of active citizenship through participation initiatives.

Child welfare policy and practice on children’s exposure to domestic violence

There are emerging movements in several countries to improve policy and practice to protect children from exposure to domestic violence. These movements have resulted in the collection of new data on EDV and the design and implementation of new child welfare policies and practices. To assist with the development of child welfare practice, this article summarizes current knowledge on the prevalence of EDV, and on child welfare services policies and practices that may hold promise for reducing the frequency and impact of EDV on children. We focus on Australia, Canada, and the United States, as these countries share a similar socio-legal context, a long history of enacting and expanding legislation about reporting of maltreatment, debates regarding the application of reporting laws to EDV, and new child welfare practices that show promise for responding more effectively to EDV.

Review: Barbara T. Hoffman (ed) - Art and Cultural Heritage : Law, Policy and Practice

In Art and Cultural Heritage: Law, Policy and Practice Barbara Hoffman as editor brings together an impressive array of practitioners from a variety of fields (from archaeologists to lawyers), to present in single volume aspects of policy, law and practice relevant to cultural heritage, which are not normally addressed in such texts. The book is indeed a comprehensive work to be recommended to policy makers, practitioners, students and other interested readers...

Translating vision research into policy and practice to improve visibility, and hence safety, of road workers at night

This case study report describes the stages involved in the translation of research on night-time visibility into standards for the safety clothing worn by roadworkers. Vision research demonstrates that when lights are placed on the moveable joints of the body and the person moves in a dark setting, the phenomenon known as “biological motion or biomotion” occurs, enabling rapid and accurate recognition of the human form although only the lights can be seen. QUT was successful in gaining funding from the Australian Research Council for a Linkage grant due to the support of the predecessors of the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) to research the biomotion effect in on-road settings using materials that feature in roadworker clothing. Although positive results were gained, the process of translating the research results into policy, practices and standards relied strongly on the supportive efforts of TMR staff engaged in the review and promulgation of national standards. The ultimate result was the incorporation of biomotion marking into AS/NZS 4602.1 2011. The experiences gained in this case provide insights into the processes involved in translating research into practice.

Health and community services for trafficked women : an exploratory study of policy and practice

The trafficking of women has attracted considerable international and national policy attention, particularly since the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (2000), of which the Australian Government has been a signatory since 2005. The provision of health and community services for trafficked women is a central feature of this Protocol, but in Australia service provision is made difficult by how trafficked women are understood and treated in policy and legal terms. This study aimed to explore the provision of health and community services for trafficked women in the Greater Sydney region through a series of interviews with government and non-government organisations. The findings reveal that services have been inaccessible as a result of sparse, uncoordinated, and poorly funded provision. The major obstacle to adequate and appropriate service provision has been a national policy approach focusing on 'border protection' and criminalisation rather than on trafficked women and their human rights. We conclude that further policy development needs to focus on the practical implications of how such rights can be translated into the delivery of health and community services that trafficked women can access and be supported by more effectively.

Translating vision research into policy and practice to improve the visibility, and hence safety, or road workers at night

The process of translating research into policy and practice is not well understood. This paper uses a case study approach to interpret an example of translation with respect to theoretical approaches identified in the literature. The case study concerns research into “biological motion” or “biomotion”: when lights are placed on the moveable joints of the body and the person moves in a dark setting, there is immediate and accurate recognition of the human form although only the lights can be seen. QUT was successful in gaining Australian Research Council funding with the support of the predecessors of the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) to research the biomotion effect in road worker clothing using reflective tape rather than lights, and this resulted in the incorporation of biomotion marking into AS/NZS 4602.1 2011. The most promising approach to understanding the success of this translation, SWOV’s “knowledge utilisation approach” provided some insights but was more descriptive than predictive and provided “necessary but not sufficient” conditions for translation. In particular, the supportive efforts of TMR staff engaged in the review and promulgation of national standards were critical in this case. A model of the conclusions is presented. The experiences gained in this case should provide insights into the processes involved in effectively translating research into practice.

The Politics of Adoption: International Perspectives on Law, Policy and Practice, Third edition

Adoption is a complex social phenomenon, intimately knitted into its family law framework and shaped by the pressures affecting the family in its local social context. It is a mirror reflecting the changes in our family life and the efforts of family law to address those changes. This has caused it to be variously defined in different societies in the same society, at different times and across a range of contemporary societies.

Guest editorial: End of life law, ethics, policy and practice

The International Conference on End of Life: Law, Ethics, Policy and Practice was held at Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia in August 2014. It was co-hosted by the Australian Centre for Health Law Research, the Dalhousie Health Law Institute (Canada) and the Tsinghua Health Law Research Center (China). The conference attracted almost 350 delegates from 26 countries and included representation from over a dozen different disciplines with an interest in end of life care.

Dialogue to address the roots of resource competition: Lessons for policy and practice

Conflict management is an intrinsic element of natural resource management, and becomes increasingly important amid growing pressure on natural resources from local uses, as well as from external drivers such as climate change and international investment. If policymakers and practitioners aim to truly improve livelihood resilience and reduce vulnerabilities of poor rural households, issues of resource competition and conflict management cannot be ignored. This synthesis report summarizes outcomes and lessons from three ecoregions: Lake Victoria, with a focus on Uganda; Lake Kariba, with a focus on Zambia; and Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia. Partners used a common approach to stakeholder engagement and action research that we call “Collaborating for Resilience”. In each region, partners assisted local stakeholders in developing a shared understanding of risks and opportunities, weighing alternative actions, developing action plans, and evaluating and learning from the outcomes. These experiences demonstrate that investing in capacities for conflict management is practical and can contribute to broader improvements in resource governance.

A study of the extent to which Irish law, policy and practice allow for Ireland's application of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989 to pre-natal children

The central research question of this thesis asks the extent to which Irish law, policy and practice allow for the application of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) to pre-natal children. First, it is demonstrated that pre-natal children can fall within the definition of ‘child’ under the Convention and so the possibility of applying the Convention to children before birth is opened. Many State Parties to the CRC have interpreted it as applicable to pre-natal children, while others have expressed that it only applies from birth. Ireland has not clarified whether or not it interprets it as being applicable from conception, birth, or some other point. The remainder of the thesis examines the extent to which Ireland interprets the CRC as applicable to the pre-natal child. First, the question of whether Ireland affords to the pre-natal child the right to life under Article 6(1) of the Convention is analysed. Given the importance of the indivisibility of rights under the Convention, the extent to which Ireland applies other CRC rights to pre-natal children is examined. The rights analysed are the right to protection from harm, the right to the provision of health care and the procedural right to representation. It is concluded that Ireland’s laws, policies and practices require urgent clarification on the issue of the extent to which rights such as protection, health care and representation apply to children before birth. In general, there are mixed and ad hoc approaches to these issues in Ireland and there exists a great deal of confusion amongst those working on the frontline with such children, such as health care professionals and social workers. The thesis calls for significant reform in this area in terms of law and policy, which will inform practice.