Public Policy

On 29 April 2021, the European Platform tackling undeclared work (hereafter the ‘Platform’) held a webinar on ‘COVID 19: combating fraud in short-term financial support schemes’.

The event brought together 31 participants from 20 countries, representing labour inspectorates and other enforcement authorities, as well as European level social partners, and representatives from Eurofound, the European Commission and the European Labour Authority (ELA).

... This gap between what we know should be provided and what is provided is the result of a poorly structured health care financing system ... applied in a host of other settings where children are served, including schools, health clin-ics, child welfare agencies, and juvenile courts. ...

Précis
Africa faces the usual panoply of challenges endemic in developing countries with too few instruments and too few resources, while also grappling with the perennial problem of managing development. These are sequencing of policy reforms, all subject to the political constraints of containing the disruptive impacts of policy reforms to acceptable levels. This is a particularly important problem for Africa given the very narrow margins for manoeuvre imposed by fiscal and external deficits, subsistence levels of household income for much of the population and a complex political weave in the regions social fabric. Getting the priorities right and managing change are thus particularly vital issues for African integration. Hence, infrastructure development (energy, ICT, roads, railways, hydro dams, power transmission and industry – sugar factories, metallurgy, fertilizer plants…), a consumer goods revolution is just beginning in much of Africa. Emerging export industries—in mining, manufacturing and exportable services— are already making their mark as sources of growth in the economy and will soon overtake traditional foreign exchange earnings from minerals and agricultural goods. However, two overwhelming pressures in Africa's current economic climate—inflation and challenging new regulations—are putting strains on private business and could potentially dent the country's positive growth prospects. Hence, Africa should modify regulatory policies that inflate business costs and depress urban consumer incomes, go for bolder and more unconventional agricultural policies and put in place a smarter set of policies for the financial sector. Much of the public investment laid out in the two cases are needed, justified , and on the whole appropriate, but how such investment is to be financed remains only partially addressed and the issue of who should carry out the investments is—in at least three specific cases—quite questionable. The case for government investments in public goods such as roads and power infrastructure is undeniable, as it is laying the essential founda-tions—the necessary conduits and circuitry—of a modern economy.

As the number of references to landscape increases in the Brussels-Capital Region, the article analyses its place and meaning within the Regional Development Plans (1995-2018). The article intends to show that landscape may be considered as a category of Brussels public action and that in this sense it constitutes a good indicator of its evolution. The analysis allows us to identify significant changes, such as the progressive association of landscape with nature as the sustainability framework replaced the interest in heritage, and its change of scale in connection with the process of metropolisation. It also highlights certain contents which are more stable over time, such as the association of landscape with the imaginary of slow mobility or the view of it as a relatively positive and consensual subject.

https://journalistethics.com/
Free book available in PDF at this link

This book lifts the veil to identify the puppet masters behind the MK Ultra Mind Control shills that front the New World Disorder Dystopia. The usual suspects are named: Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Benjamin Netanyahu, Fake religious Patriarchs and a list of celebrities from Hollywood and other MK Ultra mind control realms.

Health care is ubiquitous in the lives of industrialized people. Yet, every medical development, technique, and procedure impact the environment. Green Bioethics synthesizes environmental ethics and biomedical ethics, thus creating an interdisciplinary approach to sustainable health care. Notably, Green Bioethics addresses, not the structure of environmental sustainability in health care institutions, but the sustainability of individual health care offerings.

Green Bioethics parallels traditional biomedical ethics by providing four principles for ethical guidance. Through these four principles, Green Bioethics presents a coherent framework for evaluating the sustainability of medical developments, techniques, and procedures. The principles of Green Bioethics are:
- Distributive Justice (Allocate Basic Medical Resources before Special Interest Access)
- Resource Conservation (Provide Health Care Needs before Health Care Wants)
- Simplicity (Reduce Dependence on Medical Interventions)
- Ethical Economics (Humanistic Health Care Instead of Financial Profit)

The future of our world may very well depend on how effectively we halt ecological destruction and conserve our resources. The principles of Green Bioethics, in tandem with the concrete examples given in this book, will support sustainability in health care.

To cite:
Wilkins, A. 2017. Rescaling the local: Multi-academy trusts, private monopoly and statecraft in England. Journal of Educational Administration and History, 49 (2), 171-185

For the past six years successive UK governments in England have introduced reforms intended to usher in less aggregated, top-down, bureaucratically overloaded models of service delivery as well as secure conditions for greater school autonomy.  Yet the ‘hollowing out’ of local government has not resulted in less bureaucracy on the ground or less regulation from above, nor has it diminished hierarchy as an organising principle of education governance.  In some cases, monopolies and monopolistic practices dominated by powerful bureaucracies and professional groups persist, albeit realised through the involvement of new actors and organisations from business and philanthropy.  In this paper I adopt a governmentality perspective to explore the political significance of large multi-academy trusts (MATs) – private sponsors contracted by central government to run publicly funded schools – to the generation of new scalar hierarchies and accountability infrastructures that assist in bringing the gaze of government to bear upon the actions of schools that are otherwise less visible under local government management.  On this account, it is argued, MATs are integral to statecraft and the invention and assemblage of particular apparatuses for intervening upon specific organisations, spaces and peoples.

Since the 1990s, governments have increasingly employed PPPs for the revitalization of subsidised housing stock and the creation of mixed-income neighbourhoods. These PPPs typically involve private-sector partners taking on the responsibility for replacing, maintaining, and operating subsidised housing for a number of decades before transferring the housing back to the public sector. Governments pay the private sector firm for the maintenance and operation of the housing units over the course of the agreement. While there is always the risk that the cost of replacing, maintaining, or operating the subsidised housing may exceed projections, there is little to no demand risk in such partnerships for either party. In Toronto, however, the success of its subsidised housing revitalization is dependent on market forces, as the sale of condos or land owned by the city's subsidised housing provider provide much of the capital needed for revitalization. This paper examines how well Toronto’s market-oriented subsidised housing PPPs address demand risk and protect the communities undergoing revitalization.

The modern-day world faces a hostile climate, depleted resources and the destruction of habitats. The dream that growth will lead to a materialistic utopia is left unfulfilled by a lack of ecological and economic capacity. The only choice is to find alternatives to increased growth, transform the structures and institutions currently shaping the world, change lifestyles and articulate a more credible vision for the future and lasting prosperity. As a reaction to the problems accrued by capitalism, new development approaches such as the concept of degrowth have evolved. Degrowth in Tourism explores newly-emerging development and philosophical approachesthat provide more equity for host communities and offer a low-carbon future by looking at alternatives to the classic models of development and applying the concept of degrowth in a tourism context. Proposing that we need to shift tourism research from models which prioritize commodified tourism experiences to those that offer alternative decommodified ones, this book: • Provides topical analysis and illustrates the key themes of degrowth; • Discusses the relationship between tourism and degrowth from both a historic perspective and through contemporary patterns of activity; • Includes international examples and case studies to translate theory into practical new approaches.

The Government of Canada's approach to performance measurement and reporting, though founded on solid principles, is undermined by flawed implementation. A large performance reporting "machine" generates data that are too rarely of use to public sector managers, Parliamentarians and Canadians. This paper analyzes the flaws of the current system and makes proposals for fixing it.

"Red Estatal eJalisco: The Network is Ours" by IJALTI, gathering in its pages the rationale, origins and motivation to perform this first strategy mainly emanating from the citizens of Jalisco, to enhance the development and inclusion of society in the digital age (IJALTI, 2013).

In the field of identity politics and cultural identity, the representation of differences plays a crucial role. The extent of the differences a society has determines the social outcomes in divergent ways. Surely, there are other variables that cause social anxiety or communal solidarity such as religious views, socio-political conditions and also gender relations. To the point of departure, the case of homosexuality, or in a general way, the boundaries of sexuality is very controversial field so as to reveal the effects of ideologies, social conditions and historical past where all of these evolved through times. In order to understand and to reach a general view, the experiences of small towns are very decisive and unavoidable parts of such studies. As a basic explanation, that is why Arlene Stein chooses to make an ethnographic study in the USA around 1990s. In this paper, I will try to make a basic analysis of ‘The Stranger Next Door: The Story of a Small Community’s Battle Over Sex, Faith and Civil Rights’ by presenting my reading of this story and through reacting to the general points.

Trabajo presentado en el VIII Congreso Internacional en Gobierno, Administración y Políticas Públicas GIGAPP. (Madrid, España) del 25 al 28 de septiembre de 2017.

Resumen
Introducción: en términos de salud y población, en las últimas décadas América Latina experimentó progresos que sin embargo si nos centramos en el embarazo adolescente la situación es prácticamente opuesta. El objetivo de este trabajo es describir el estado de situación regional y reflexionar sobre la formulación de políticas públicas en un sentido más amplio, integral e intersectorial con otras áreas del estado. Para ello se trabajó con fuentes secundarias. Resultados: a pesar de haberse implementado políticas nacionales en salud sexual y reproductiva, incluso con abordajes específicos en los adolescentes, todo pareciera indicar que abordar esta compleja y multidimensional problemática social, desde una perspectiva estrictamente sanitaria no es suficiente. De allí la inquietud por repensar el diseño de las políticas que abordan esta problemática.

Not-guilty verdicts, mistrials, and impunity for the Bundy family and many of their supporters in the armed confrontations over public land use in Nevada and Oregon. Expanded access for private oil, gas, mining, and logging industries and the downsizing of national monuments such as Bears Ears lead by Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke. A number of highly contentious debates and sensationalized events have again focused attention on land held in the public domain by the United States. This essay argues that federal land policy as a form of colonial administration has been constitutive for the logic of expectation as property in what is now the United States. From the state land cessions negotiated on behalf of the Articles of Confederation to the preemption acts (1830–1841) to the homestead acts (1862–1916) to present-day demands for land transfer, the acquisition and disposal of the so-called public domain have been central to westward colonization, the consolidation of the nation-state, and the promise of land ownership as the ostensible foundation of individual liberty. These dynamics are evident in contemporary conflicts over public lands and arguments for the transfer of public lands to either state or private ownership. Approaching the Bundy occupations as flashpoints that illuminate competing interpretations and claims to land within the history of westward colonization, this essay seeks to demonstrate the ways in which expectation emerges from particular economies of dispossession of indigenous peoples that have historically worked through and across the division of public and private property.

This is an early draft. For the actual chapter, please see the book. This chapter addresses two aspects of collection: policy and planning.  Collection policy is the long-term scheme to provide funding to research, design, acquire, and sustain collection capabilities.  The essence of collection planning is resource management—aligning assets with appropriate tasks with an eye to both effectiveness and efficiency.  Building a collection plan involves much more than assigning platforms and sensors.  While those are certainly an important part of the puzzle, there are a plethora of other challenges to work through to create an effective collection enterprise.

"The expression “mental illness” arises historically in the course of conversations about our human relational living, in an attempt to visualize some regularities that occurred in it, thinking that if we could grasp them we would be able to solve some difficulties that we were encountering in our living together, thinking that we could do so through formalizing them with some adequate theory that we would invent. However, to do that, we have to abstract those regularities in our living together first; we must respect ourselves accepting that naming is not a trivial aspect of what we do in our living: names have arisen in our history of living together as operational elements of coordination of our doings, and reveal regularities in that living."

Esta pesquisa de caráter qualitativo, descritivo, se propôs a compreender qual a contribuição,
ainda que inicial, do programa Reuni para a democratização do acesso ao ensino superior, nas
universidades federais no Brasil. A pesquisa avaliou informações textuais e apresentações
gráficas, que se referiam: a) Número de matrículas criadas pelo programa Reuni; b) Número
de vagas criadas pelo programa Reuni; e c) Recursos financeiros disponibilizados aos
programas Reuni e Expansão, informações estas disponibilizadas pelos órgãos do Poder
Executivo Federal. De fato, houve grande expansão da educação pública superior no Brasil
após a implantação do Reuni, os resultados apresentam um aumento de cerca de 30% no
número de matrículas de2003 a 2009, um aumento de cerca de 70% no número de vagas
criadas pelo Reuni no mesmo período, e de 2005 a 2009 um aumento de 90% nos recursos
financeiros disponibilizados. Todavia, essa melhora não impactará na melhoria educacional,
enquanto não houver processo de construção e desenvolvimento do discente. É preciso
construir uma visão mais completa da qualidade da educação superior no Brasil e, para tanto,
deve-se considerar variáveis como estrutura física das Universidades, grade curricular e
projetos pedagógicos dos cursos, além da constituição do corpo docente.
Palavras-chave: Universidade Federal. Ensino Superior. Reuni. Políticas Públicas.

Mexican cuisine has emerged as a paradox of globalization. Food enthusiasts throughout the world celebrate the humble taco at the same time that Mexicans are eating fewer tortillas and more processed food. Today Mexico is experiencing an epidemic of diet-related chronic illness. The precipitous rise of obesity and diabetes—attributed to changes in the Mexican diet—has resulted in a public health emergency.

In her gripping new book, Alyshia Gálvez exposes how changes in policy following NAFTA have fundamentally altered one of the most basic elements of life in Mexico—sustenance. Mexicans are faced with a food system that favors food security over subsistence agriculture, development over sustainability, market participation over social welfare, and ideologies of self-care over public health. Trade agreements negotiated to improve lives have resulted in unintended consequences for people’s everyday lives.

"Since its very inception, social work has been considered an organizationally based profession, with the majority of its workforce employed within formal organizations. Whether in nonprofit, for-profit, or governmental agencies, the practical realities of human service organizations are a central element of professional social work. This book explores the climate and culture of these agencies and provides essential information for surviving and thriving in this setting. It prepares students for their future careers so that they will feel empowered in their work and be able to fulfill their responsibilities toward organizational, community, and social change. Using real-life examples, the authors examine the internal structures of management, financing, and supervision and discuss common conflicts between agencies and professionals. The book’s straightforward tone and practical advice make it an asset to anyone entering human service organizations.

This new edition contains updated examples, case studies, and references. It also contains valuable information on the effects of the recent financial crisis on human service organizations. Agencies now face increased caseloads and more complex social problems with fewer resources and less money. Understanding how these events have changed the nature of human service organizations will allow students to be better prepared for the work ahead of them.

Features

•
Expanded content on the practical aspects of organizational theory and suggestions for developing leadership skills
•
Updated examples, case studies, and references throughout the book
•
Key points and discussion questions following each chapter
•
Updated instructor’s manual available online as a PDF or Word document"

Amazonas: ruta milenaria III trata de la forma en que se construye la idea de Amazonía como un lugar con nombre propio. Busca aportar elementos que permitan definirla y caracterizarla desde diversos ángulos: como un lugar de la naturaleza, como un escenario de intensos y diversos procesos históricos, sociales y económicos, como repositorio de la memoria histórica de los pueblos, o como espacio percibido, simbólico y heredado, formado de gentes particulares. El objetivo final es resaltar la intensa y profunda relación entre el Amazonas (y su cuenca) y las sociedades que han habitado este lugar a lo largo de su historia, definiendo los distintos valores que la caracterizan como lugar.
Amazonía, en términos de territorio, es un espacio físico conformado por un conjunto de sistemas naturales y sociales, interrelacionados por complementariedad o por oposición, todos articulados por el Amazonas y su gran cuenca y a lo largo de su historia. Bien integrados, sus sistemas sociales (productivos, económicos, sociales y culturales) deberían permitirle aproximarse al equilibrio necesario entre naturaleza y sociedad urgente para ella. Este nuevo tomo contribuye a alcanzar un nivel de conocimiento y conciencia mayor de la realidad natural y social que la identifica, entendiéndola como sujeto de su devenir histórico y como proyección del lugar imaginado. Es a partir de un desarrollo equilibrado de los procesos sociales, junto a los sueños del futuro posible, que se debe modelar el lugar que llamamos Amazonía o, más bien, por el contrario, desde donde deberíamos dejarnos modelar por ella.
Desde una mirada no indígena, existe un lugar llamado Amazonía en el que las diversas percepciones que de ella se tienen se conjugan definiéndola como una entidad por sí misma. Sin embargo, como se discute a lo largo del primer capítulo del libro, la idea de Amazonía, desde el origen mitológico de su nombre hasta las distintas y variadas definiciones naturalísticas que de ella se tienen, desde la ciencia, el arte o como lectura de un territorio económico cotidiano, parte siempre de percepciones y conceptos preexistentes y persistentes, que interpretan la realidad objetiva a la medida de los intereses del observador y del avance de su época.

The first comprehensive and authoritative work covering the entire public sector in India, including the public sector banks and the insurance companies as well as the public sector enterprises in the states, the book begins with the philosophy behind the public sector and traces their evolution in India and their subsequent privatisation and disinvestment after the economic liberalisation of 1991. Based on the most up-to-date data and the latest developments, it examines the plight and options before a public sector paralysed by excessive government interference and now trapped hopelessly between the State and the market. Drawing widely upon global experiences, the book argues that disinvestment and privatisation need not be the only answer to reform the public sector companies. They can be rejuvenated and transformed into global champions if freed from the stifling controls by an unimaginative government machinery and depoliticized, with separation of the Government’s roles as shareholder, policy-maker and regulator, along with changing their holding structure.

This Report was produced just before the Law Commission of Canada was defunded by the newly elected Conservative government. The Report argued for a new governance structure to oversee policing that incorporated the rapidly increasing private security sector.  The Report was presented to Parliament but received little consideration as the topic of police oversight remains politically charged and the structural reforms suggested were ambitious.

Background: Mental wellbeing is formed by our daily environments, which are, in turn, influenced by public policies, such as the welfare state. This paper looks at how different aspects of life conditions may mediate the welfare state effect on mental wellbeing in oldest old age.
Methods: Data were extracted from Round 6 of the European Social Survey (2012). The dataset comprised of 2058 people aged 80 years and older from 24 countries. Mediation analyses determined possible links between the welfare state, including eleven intervening variables representing life conditions and five mental wellbeing dimensions. Results: Our study confirms that the higher the level of welfare state, the better mental wellbeing, irrespective of dimension. Although several life conditions were found to mediate the welfare state effect on mental wellbeing, subjective general health, coping with income and place in society were the most important intervening variables.
Conclusions: All three variables centre around supporting autonomy in the oldest old age. By teasing out how the welfare state influences mental wellbeing in the oldest old, we can better understand the many drivers of wellbeing and enable evidence informed age-friendly policy making.