The Defining Elements of Advocacy Coalitions: Continuing the Search for Explanations for Coordination and Coalition Structures

As the theoretical and practical interest in policy networks increases, so does the need for further research into how, and based on what rationales, actors within a policy subsystem engage in interorganizational collective action and form political coalitions. The aim of this paper is to continue the search for explanations for coordination and coalition structures in the setting of Swedish carnivore policy. Based on the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) and a previous case study within the same policy subsystem, the study investigates a set of hypotheses regarding actors' coordinating behavior and the defining elements of coalitions. The empirical analysis indicates, in support of the ACF, that perceived belief correspondence is a better predictor of coordination than perceived influence. Moreover, the explanatory power of empirical policy core beliefs in general, and normative policy core beliefs in particular, is further reinforced, while deep core beliefs seemingly do not influence coalition structure. The relevance of more shallow beliefs for coalition formation cannot be dismissed and therefore calls for additional research.     

Marketing the Political Message

Abstract

The potential for Americanisation of UK political campaigning is discussed with a particular focus on message development and dissemination. The paper recognises that there is difference between policy and message development, arguing that it is through the latter that British parties have most to learn from their transatlantic counterparts. Contextual differences in operation mitigate wholesale migration of American know-how, restricting technology transfer to fund-raising techniques and the incorporation of opposition and market research techniques into the development and dissemination of the message. Parties should focus their research on how to make their messages more easily understood and where to disseminate them, but they should use a process that maintains the integrity of their content (i.e., the underlying policy).     

At the Polls

ABSTRACT

In this study, the authors attempt to add to existing knowledge on voter psyche during elections by examining the roles of voter concern and voters' desire to “keep up to date,” both of which have hitherto not been studied in this context. The analysis of data collected during a specific election in Australia reveals significant relationships with several well known psychological factors. The authors discuss these findings in the context of political marketing and furnish directions for future research.     

中共十八大对反腐倡廉政策的新发展

中共十八大系统地分析了当代中国党风廉政建设和反腐败实践所面临的新形势,在反腐倡廉政策方面提出了新的政策问题、政策思想、政策观点、政策原则、政策目标和政策工具、政策措施,基本建构了中国目前阶段新的反腐倡廉政策体系,体现了执政党的反腐倡廉政策向科学化、民主化和体系化方向发展的趋势。深入研究中共十八大对反腐倡廉政策的新发展,对于把握未来一个时期当代中国反腐倡廉政策的走向具有重要的理论价值和实践意义。     

Economic models as devices of policy change: Policy paradigms,paradigm shift,and performativity

Can the emergence of a new policy model be a catalyst for a paradigm shift in the overall interpretative framework of how economic policy is conducted within a society? This paper claims that models are understudied as devices used by actors to induce policy change. This paper explores the role of models in Danish economic policy, where, from the 1970s onwards, executive public servants in this area have exclusively been specialists in model design. To understand changes in economic policy, this paper starts with a discussion of whether the notion of paradigm shift is adequate. It then examines the extent to which the performativity approach can help identify macroscopic changes in policy from seemingly microscopic changes in policy models. The concept of performativity is explored as a means of thinking about the constitution of agency directed at policy change. The paper brings this concept into play by arguing that the “performative” embedding of models in institutions is an important aspect of how paradigm shifts unfold that the current literature has neglected.     

Financial industry groups' adaptation to the post‐crisis regulatory environment: Changing approaches to the policy cycle

This article explores the advocacy efforts of financial industry groups since the financial crisis. I describe key changes in the post‐crisis financial regulatory environment and argue that financial industry groups have adapted their advocacy strategies to these new conditions in innovative ways. Faced with a more challenging environment, financial industry groups have shifted their emphasis along the different stages of the policy cycle. Specifically, increased issue salience and a strained policy network have weakened financial industry groups' capacity to veto regulatory proposals at the stage of actual policy formulation. Focusing on the advocacy strategies of the global banking and derivatives industries, I show evidence that the response has been to invest in more subtle advocacy strategies which focus on other stages of the policymaking cycle. Self‐regulatory moves attempt to affect the agenda setting stage of policymaking, and a strong focus on the timing, rather than the content of new regulations, has attempted to affect the implementation stage. Such a transformation of advocacy strategies differs sharply from most depictions of financial industry groups simply “blocking” regulatory change since the global financial crisis.     

The Limits of Liberal Peacebuilding? International Engagement in the Sri Lankan Peace Process

Abstract

This essay explores international engagement in the Sri Lankan peace process between 2002 and 2008. The internationalization of peacebuilding in Sri Lanka is analysed as part of a broader international shift towards a model of ‘liberal peacebuilding’, which involves the simultaneous pursuit of conflict resolution, liberal democracy and market sovereignty. The essay provides a detailed and disaggregated analysis of the various exporters, importers and resisters of liberal peacebuilding, with a particular focus on the contrasting ways in which the United National Front (UNF) and the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) regimes engaged with international actors. It is argued that an analysis of the Sri Lankan case provides a corrective to some of the core assumptions contained in much of the literature on liberal peacebuilding. Rather than viewing liberal peacebuilding as simply an hegemonic enterprise foisted upon countries emerging from conflict, the essay explores the ways in which peacebuilding is mediated through, and translated and instrumentalized by, multiple actors with competing interests – consequently liberal peacebuilding frequently looks different when it ‘hits the ground’ and may, as in the Sri Lanka case, lead to decidedly illiberal outcomes. The essay concludes by exploring the theoretical and policy implications of a more nuanced understanding of liberal peacebuilding. It is argued that rather than blaming the failure of the project on deficiencies in its execution and the recalcitrance of the people involved, there is a need to look at defects in the project itself and to explore alternatives to the current model of liberal peacebuilding.     

我国发展独立第三方公共政策评估机构论析

发展独立第曼方政策评估机构是对公共政策公平与效率两大价值追求的必然要求。相比国外而青,当前我困独立笫三方政策评估机构的发展尚不健全,究其原因主要受限于内外两方面因素制约,文章对如何促进我国独立第三方政策评估机构发展展开研究。     

我国生产者责任延伸制度实施困境分析——从家电以旧换新政策实施谈起

生产者责任延伸是解决废弃产品问题的一项新兴的环境策略,在我国已初步构建并开始实施。为拉动经济增长,促进废旧电器电子产品的循环利用,我国实施了家电以旧换新政策。但该政策实施后遇到的一些问题,如回收企业技术落后不能满足回收的大量废弃电器电子产品的无害化资源化处置、生产者组织和废弃产品处理基金制度没有有效建立、政府行政干预机制和经济激励机制的缺位、法律规定的空白等阻碍着生产者责任延伸制度的实施。     

Political Evangelism

In 2000, UN Security Council Resolution 1325 called for the increased participation of women in formal political processes surrounding violent conflict. However, worldwide, women continue to be a minority in formal politics, particularly in situations of armed violence. Contrary to this trend, women have played an influential role in the Casamance peace process in southern Senegal, where a rebel movement has been fighting for independence since 1982. This article assesses the methodology, constraints and, most importantly, the gendered opportunity structures surrounding the women's peace movement in Casamance. It demonstrates how women participate in the politics of war and peace through an astute manipulation of gendered platforms and a judicious reading of political context, thus propelling their voices into the formal political arena. This case study highlights practical and local approaches to political participation that may be relevant to women around the world.