Abortion policy and medical practice

He is author of Abortion and the Private Practice of Medicineand editor of The Feeling Intellect: Selected Writings of Philip Rieff.He is presently at work on a study of the idea of vocation in three professions: ministering, doctoring, and teaching.     

Regulatory policy toward domestic crude oil production

Government policy toward domestic crude oil production has been justified in the past in reference to economic theory of regulation. Regulatory approaches have depended upon prevailing attitudes toward the price of crude oil. Imposition of price controls in 1971 represented a watershed in this area, although the future course of regulation remains uncertain.Mark W. Anderson, formerly a Research Associate with The Futures Group, is now studying the dynamics of land use regulation at the University of Maine. Special thanks are due to Dr. Stephen D. Reiling, Assistant Professor of Resource Economics, The University of Maine at Orono, for his insights into this topic and to two referees for their comments on an earlier draft of this paper.     

Advocacy coalitions and the practice of policy analysis

Sabatier and Jenkins-Smith (above) have presented a framework for describing the processes by which public policies change over time, and Heintz and Weyant (above) have provided an array of case studies illustrating and elaborating those processes. This article will focus explicitly on the manner in which the advocacy coalition framework bears on the practice of policy analysis, both from the perspective of the manager of analytical resources, and from the perspective of the practicing policy analyst.     

Policy analysis,policy practice and political science

Bridgman and Davis have responded to criticism of their widely‐used model of the policy process as a cycle, ‘a series of interlocking steps’ by describing it as ‘pragmatic’, a ‘toolkit’, ‘not a theory’. This article asks what makes for ‘practical knowledge’ of the policy process. It identifies the theoretical basis for the ‘policy cycle’ model, and asks how this model relates to research on policy and to policy practitioners' own knowledge. It argues that we need to recognise the way that underlying theory about policy forms part of policy practice, and to give more attention to the relationship between research, experiential knowledge, and formal maps like the ‘policy cycle’.     

Systems theory and policy practice: An exploration

Systems approaches in policy analysis have had a chequered history. Expectations that hard (quantitative) systems analysis would lead to better answers to policy problems have largely been disappointed. Yet systems theory has itself moved on, to embrace the concept of autopoiesis and a variety of soft systems methodologies. Collectively, these theories offer a way of analysing policy quite distinct from the institutionalist approaches which tend to dominate the theory and practice of policy-making. Rather than selecting instruments to fit a particular kind of policy problem (the conventional approach to policy design) systems analysis suggests that the nature of the problem cannot be understood separately from its solution. For policy problems characterised by complexity (such as those concerned with environmental management and regulation, and urban re-development) using systems concepts offers a way of rationalising aspects of existing practice and of suggesting directions for improvement.     

Foreign policy by commission: Reforming the intelligence community

Can presidential commissions serve as a source of significant policy innovation in the area of intelligence analysis? This study shows that intelligence commission recommendations present a decidedly mixed bag. We cannot speak of a linear movement toward improving the quality or management of intelligence analysis in which one problem is solved and attention then is turned to the next. Yet presidential commissions looking into intelligence analysis cannot be mere symbolic window dressing. Many of their recommendations have been listened to. It would be more accurate to see them as having in each instance narrowed the range of policy choices receiving serious consideration as means of improving the intelligence product.     

Foreign aid and the politics of participation in economic policy reform

Research suggests that borrower ‘ownership’ of reforms is highly correlated with the success of reforms in developing countries. One of the most important components of ownership is the nature of public–private relations and consultation with interest groups. Yet participatory reform must overcome several political dilemmas, including problems of credibility, collective action, and distributive (in)justice. The characteristics of reforms also affect the possibilities for participation. Democratic governments interested in making policy reform more participatory and presumably more sustainable can draw on several strategies, including the selective use of incentives and compensation, public education and communications, capacity building in society, institutional mechanisms for consultation, and political sequencing of reforms. These strategies have implications for the foreign aid agencies who often fund reforms. They suggest that donors need to recognize the political rationality behind cross‐payments and spending to maintain important constituencies; that political sustainability may require reform sequences that are out of step with current orthodoxy; that policies ought to create winners before creating losers; that democratic consultation will require much more time in achieving consensus; and that outside actors need to refrain from intervening too directly in the political process by throwing their support behind particular interests. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Taiwan’s investment policy in mainland China a domestic perspective

The interaction of politics and economics has complicated Taiwan’s investment in mainland China. Do we need to put some pressure on Taiwan’s investors and ask them to follow the “Jie Je Yong Ren” policy? Or can we just let them go, according to the principle of market liberalization? It is indeed very difficult to find an absolute solution. Again, it is also not easy to identify which perspective, state or market, is right or wrong. Although the conflictual situation between the government and the entrepreneurs will continue in the future, at least some of the myths relevant to this political and economic interaction across the Strait must be cleared up. Hopefully, this paper might provide some implications for both political decision-makers and enterpreneurs in Taiwan.     

Liberal and conservative dissensus in areas of domestic public policy other than business and economics

This research is part of a project that examines the nature of political ideology in the United States and its impact on the formulation of public policy. Here we explore the bases of liberal – conservative dissensus in areas of domestic policy other than business and the economy using a model developed by Janda, Berry, and Goldman. We find that the major elements of dissensus are: a strong conservative disposition to defend order; with a few exceptions a liberal indifference to order as conservatives define it; conservative opposition to the expansion of federal power over states or individuals and/or expansion in federal (and often state and local government) spending unless order is threatened; much greater liberal emphasis on equality; and varying conceptualizations of basic values to the degree that liberals and conservatives seem almost to be talking past each other using two different languages.     

The domestic politics of international development in South Korea: stakeholders and competing policy discourses

Abstract

The paper examines the domestic politics surrounding South Korea's foreign aid policy. It delineates the institutional characteristics and strategic interests of key government and non-government stakeholders, and suggests an analytical framework to comprehend the country's aid policy regime. It suggests that two competing policy discourses exist – one emphasising ‘intellectual leadership’ and the other ‘ethical leadership’ as the key principle of aid policy. In practice, the country's political leadership promulgates a complex amalgam of these discourses in alignment with their own political imperatives and interests. The paper discusses ‘Global Saemaul Undong’ as such an example under the incumbent Park Geun-Hye administration.     

The evaluation of climate policy: theory and emerging practice in Europe

Climate policy is a relatively young and dynamic area of public policy making. However, its development has attracted far more attention than the results it delivers in practice, which of course are the concern of policy evaluators. This article attempts to provide the first systematic cataloging of the emerging patterns of policy evaluation undertaken in different parts of the European Union. Theories of policy evaluation suggest that these evaluation practices should acknowledge the inherent complexity of climate policy making, be reflexive by questioning official policy goals, and be participatory. A meta-analysis of 259 climate policy evaluations suggests that current practice engages with some but not all of these issues. This article concludes by analyzing the implications of this finding for those in the academic and practitioner community who are keen to understand the extent to which climate policy evaluation is delivering on its promises.     

Public policy economics: A survey of current pedagogical practice

This article reports on a survey of economics courses in our graduate program, identifies some of their weaknesses, and presents a number of suggestions for their improvement. The major theme that underlies my suggestions is to increase the active problem-solving roles for students in these courses, not leave the task exclusively to other courses. This can be facilitated by readings that emphasize the different processes of resource allocation, by limited use of case materials, and by development of interactive computer simulation models.     

Foreign policy as a socially divisive issue: the KORUS free-trade agreement

While the Korea–United States (KORUS) free-trade agreement negotiations were concluded in 2007, and ratified in 2011, the agreement has remained deeply controversial. Labor unions, civil society groups, and opposition politicians in South Korea have criticized the agreement as being unfair, and also in the United States have voices spoken out against the agreement. The process of negotiation by South Korea was deeply flawed, and the conclusion of the agreement, that included a unilateral ratification by the ruling party in National Assembly, was forcefully opposed by many groups in South Korean society with violent demonstrations leading almost to the collapse of the Lee Myung-bak government. This article argues that it was not only the perception of potential economic damage to, in particular agricultural, domestic interest that was the main cause of the public resistance to the agreement, but that the unique nature of the relationship with the United States, and how this influenced the progress of negotiating and ratifying the agreement in South Korea, was a leading course of the divisiveness of the agreement and the massive resistance it faced. This is also why while the conservative Park Geun-hye government has expressed its willingness to re-negotiate other free-trade agreements, it has remained adamant in its refusal to even consider reopening the KORUS agreement. It is not only the apparent trade benefits that accrued to South Korea that is behind this refusal. With the ruling party having lost the April 2016 National Assembly elections and presidential elections scheduled for December 2017, the conservative elite, concerned about its electoral fate, has no interest in re-opening such a divisive issue as the KORUS free-trade agreement.     

Foreign policy indicators: Predictors of war in history and in the state of the world message

Despite the promising advances in the construction and use of social indicators, there has been little application to the formulation, monitoring, or evaluation of foreign policy. In the formulation stage—our concern here—predictor or early warning indicators could be very useful. The annual state of the world message contains many such predictive indicators of war, but in a purely verbal and intuitive form. Three of these (prior war, relative capabilities, and alliance levels) are converted into operational language and then put to the empirical test. In general, the indicators do not predict war (over the past 150 years) as postulated by the Administration. These tests are, however, very incomplete, and our objective is not to evaluate the Administration's arguments, but to suggest one way in which indicators could improve the quality of foreign policy formulation.This is a revised and abbreviated version of the paper originally prepared for the 1972 meetings of the American Political Science Association held in Washington, D.C. We want to acknowledge the important assistance of Hugh Wheeler, the comments and help of John Stuckey, Russell Leng, Stuart Bremer, Catherine Kelleher, and Charles Gochman, and the support of the National Science Foundation under grant no. GS-28476X1.     

Foreign aid in the making of economic policy in Sri Lanka, 1977–1983

The paper analyzes the interaction between inflows of foreign aid and the character of the economic policies pursued by the Sri Lankan government between 1977 and 1983. Aid did not support the policies of liberalization and balanced public investment that were preferred by donors. Rather it enabled the Sri Lankan government to push forward with the Mahaweli irrigation scheme on a scale that worked against both liberalization and other components of public investment. The process that led to the adoption and funding of the Mahaweli scheme and continued support for that scheme even after its impact on the overall economic program had become apparent is examined in detail, with particular emphasis on the decisions and behavior of both the Sri Lankan government and of aid donors.