Policy learning and change during crisis: COVID-19 policy responses across six states

Whereas policy change is often characterized as a gradual and incremental process, effective crisis response necessitates that organizations adapt to evolving problems in near real time. Nowhere is this dynamic more evident than in the case of COVID-19, which forced subnational governments to constantly adjust and recalibrate public health and disease mitigation measures in the face of changing patterns of viral transmission and the emergence of new information. This study assesses (a) the extent to which subnational policies changed over the course of the pandemic; (b) whether these changes are emblematic of policy learning; and (c) the drivers of these changes, namely changing political and public health conditions. Using a novel dataset analyzing each policy's content, including its timing of enactment, substantive focus, stringency, and similar variables, results indicate the pandemic response varied significantly across states. The states examined were responsive to both changing public health and political conditions. This study identifies patterns of preemptive policy learning, which denotes learning in anticipation of an emerging hazard. In doing so, the study provides important insights into the dynamics of policy learning and change during disaster.     

Prolonged Electro-muscular Incapacitation in a Porcine Model Causes Spinal Injury

Conducted electrical weapons are designed to cause temporary electro-muscular incapacitation (EMI) without significant injury. The objective of this study was to assess the risk and cause of spinal injury due to exposure to a benchtop EMI device. Porcine subjects were exposed to 19 and 40 Hz electrical stimuli for a prolonged duration of 30 sec. X-ray imaging, necropsy, and accelerometry found that lumbosacral spinal fractures occurred in at least 89% of all subjects, regardless of the stimulus group, and were likely caused by musculoskeletal fatigue-related stress in the lumbosacral spine. Spinal fractures occurred in the porcine model at an unusually high rate compared to human. This may be due to both the prolonged duration of electrical stimulation and significant musculoskeletal differences between humans and pigs, which suggests that the porcine model is not a good model of EMI-induced spinal fracture in humans.     

Inevitable Answers: The Joke and its Relation to Social Equilibrium in the Novels of Ivy Compton-Burnett

The majority of existing studies of Ivy Compton-Burnett’s comedy class her as either a ‘camp’ novelist, or a social satirist in whose novels jokes are used for either oppression or subversion. The present essay proposes a new reading of the social uses of jokes in Compton-Burnett’s novels. In these domestic fictions, family life is characterized by constant strife, most commonly of a verbal nature. As part of their daily struggle for power and position, her characters use aggressive jokes to keep each other in check. This process does not distinguish primarily between oppressors and oppressed, but between successful and unsuccessful egotists. As an ideal result, a social equilibrium emerges that is at least vaguely habitable to all. This way, Compton-Burnett’s comedy is essentially conservative; the ultimate function of the jokes employed by her characters is not to permanently transform social structures, but to maintain the delicate balance of power within the family.     

‘New friends,easier partners and bigger brothers’: The influence of the emerging powers on agriculture and food security in Malawi

Emerging powers are credited with influencing development cooperation, but field-based studies incorporating the viewpoints of recipient developing country actors are scarce. This article analyses the presence and the material, ideational and institutional influence of assistance in agriculture and food security in Malawi by the governments of Brazil, India, China and South Africa. The findings suggest first that, despite a similar and powerful discourse linking these four states, in practice the emerging powers' approaches diverge to a large extent. Second, the material influence of these emerging powers is relatively limited and consequently so is their influence on Malawi's decision-making process with regard to development. Finally, perceptions about the emerging powers' potential contribution to addressing development challenges differ greatly between the Malawian government and the traditional donor community. This difference arises from limited coordination and cooperation on the one hand and the importance of ideational influence on the other.     

Massacre at Waco: Biker Violence and Police Overreaction

The research is a qualitative content analyis of articles identified through Google alerts and Proquest searches one year before and two years after the deadliest biker violence in US history. The police biker shootout left 9 dead--four by police--and 18 wounded. The arrest of 177 persons--173 male and 4 females--from a variety of motorcycle clubs appears to be an overeacten by the police. The research examines the public policy issue: Law enforcement authorities made a Type 1 error during the mass arrests thereby misclassifying many of those arrested, causing severe consequences to innocent persons and committing numerous civil rights violations.