How Values Shape Program Perceptions: The “Organic Ethos” and Producers’ Assessments of U.S. Organic Policy Impacts

Among the more recognizable programs related to natural and sustainable food is the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program. Although the robustness of the organic food market is difficult to contest, many debate the extent to which U.S. organic policy outcomes adequately serve consumers and the organic agriculture producers they rely on. This paper engages the debate from the perspective of certified organic producers. Drawing on the results of a nationwide survey of USDA‐certified producers, we first provide a snapshot of how producers assess the environmental, consumer, and market impacts of U.S. organic food policy. We then examine the extent to which organic producers’ policy impact perceptions are associated with their alignment with an “organic ethos”—understood as producers’ commitment to core organic principles and the organic movement. The paper highlights producers’ values as perceptual filters and cognitive mechanisms that help shape producers’ policy impacts perceptions, illustrating a contributing factor to the enduring nature of organic policy debates.     

Multiple Streams in Hawaii: How the Aloha State Adopted a 100% Renewable Portfolio Standard

Renewable portfolio standards (RPS) are an important policy tool for reducing carbon emissions and advancing the global shift toward renewable energy. As the U.S. federal government backs away from commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, subnational governments play an increasingly important role in mitigating climate change. In June 2015, Hawaii became the first state in the United States to adopt a 100% RPS. Through understanding the conditions that gave rise to Hawaii’s RPS, policy actors will be better informed as they navigate policy processes in other states and jurisdictions. This study uses Kingdon’s Multiple Streams Framework (MSF) to explore the policy process that led to Hawaii’s 100% RPS. Data were collected during the summer of 2016 via interviews with 25 key policy actors and informants in Hawaii. Expectations based on the MSF are confirmed, and the results suggest factors that might be included or explored in future studies of RPS adoption.     

Conservation in Context: Toward a Systems Framing of Decentralized Governance and Public Participation in Wildlife Management

Governance scholars have long championed the adaptive utility of decentralized management institutions, in part due to their ability to bring diverse stakeholders into decision‐making processes. However, research into the link between decentralization and participation often looks at policy design but bypasses important system feedbacks that shape sustained participation over time. To paint a more robust picture detailing how decentralization and participation are related, this paper uses a complex systems framework to explore interacting structural, operational, and cultural components of decentralized wildlife governance institutions in the United States and Botswana. Through this comparative analysis, I argue that the landscape of public participation in decentralized governance institutions appears to be significantly impacted by three factors: 1) how decentralization processes occurred, 2) where in the process of decision making participation is situated, and 3) perceptions of power distribution between groups with competing interests.     

Governing Unconventional Oil and Gas Extraction: The Case of Pennsylvania

Over the past decade, directional drilling and hydraulic fracturing enabled an unconventional oil and gas extraction (UOGE) boom in many regions of the United States, including parts of Pennsylvania. This revolution has created serious concerns about the capability of existing institutions to govern important societal outcomes associated with UOGE. We present a conceptual framework for assessing key societal outcomes influenced by UOGE governance. In applying this framework to Pennsylvania, we discern certain institutional strengths that have allowed the Commonwealth to reap appreciable short‐term economic growth from rich resource endowments. We also find, however, that several institutional weaknesses have allowed costs externalized to the environment, public health, and community integrity to offset some proportion of those economic benefits. Likewise, we find that governance of UOGE in Pennsylvania has contributed to a bifurcated sociopolitical landscape wherein adversarial coalitions dispute the legitimacy of the industry and its governance.     

The devil we know and the angel that did not fly: An examination of devil/angel shift in twitter fracking “debates” in NY 2008–2018

Recent work has applied the Narrative Policy Framework (NPF) to examine narrative strategies in policy debates on social media platforms. We contribute to the literature by applying the NPF to fracking policy debates in New York using well-established Natural Language Processing tools, including sentiment analysis. We combine this computational approach with a qualitative hand-coding of pro- and antifracking Twitter influentials. This approach allows us to consider a much larger corpus of tweets over a much longer time frame than has been done thus far. We adapt and test NPF propositions related to the use of the devil/angel shift strategies before and after a major state-wide policy change, that is, a state-wide moratorium on high volume hydraulic fracturing or fracking. Overall, we find evidence for the use of the devil shift narrative strategy by the pro-fracking coalition aimed at the Governor prior to the moratorium. After the moratorium, the relative percentage of Tweets containing devil shift sentiments decreases as the pro-fracking coalition generally downshifts in its use of angel shift language without a corresponding increase in devil shift language, whereas, conversely, the anti-fracking coalition generally downshifts in its use of devil shift language without a general increase in angel shift language. When we shifted our analysis to Tweets containing fracking and the Governor, we found a similar postban decrease in devil shift language among anti-fracking users. Our findings offer lessons for using computational tools in the NPF as an approach to expand analytic ability and for the operationalization of concepts such as narrative strategies and policy entrepreneurs.     

浅谈加入WTO对公安院校课程编制的影响及对策

加入WTO的中国正面临着巨大的机遇和挑战。在这种背景下 ,即将到来的更加严峻复杂的社会治安形势对公安教育提出了更高的要求 ,要求按照对社会治安发展趋势的预测和与之相应的公安实战需要来进行课程编制。 ( 1 )减少职前招生 ,扩大职后培训 ;( 2 )加大经济案件侦察课程的设置 ;( 3)加大警务技能课程的设置 ;( 4 )加强语言及计算机等技能课程的设置。     

关于以德治国的思考

德治是人类社会用道德控制和评价社会成员行为的一种手段。其主要实现形式有:榜样示范,道德礼仪,教化活动,制定乡规民约和宗族家法,舆论褒贬。德治与人治没有必然的联系,只有在民主的基础上的德治才是真正的德治。人民是“治国”的主体,要以德治国,就必须以德“育”民,提高人民的“治国”能力,概括为:克明俊德、以民为本、立身惟正、明道善策、举贤任能、教而后刑。官员是社会道德活动的主体之一,以德治国,必须重视以德育官,以增强理论功力、实践能力、人格魅力。建设有中国特色的社会主义,一定要以法治国,以德固基。     

论医疗事故罪的主观方面

本文从医务人员的注意义务、注意能力以及法学理论与司法实践的冲突三个角度论述了医疗事故罪的主观方面。对医务人员诊疗中注意义务及其程度的制定标准应当综合考量多种因素 ;在认定医务人员的注意能力时 ,应采用客观说 ;并建议在医疗事故罪的主观定性方面 ,应以危害结果的发生不违背行为人的本意作为区分故意与过失的界限     

浅议当前我国证券民事赔偿机制

建立有效的证券民事赔偿机制对于维护中小投资者的合法权益、加强证券市场监管力度、防止违法违规成本过低,均具有重要意义。在具体处理证券民事赔偿案件时,应处理好责任主体的认定,因果关系的认定、举证责任和赔偿责任等难点问题。我们在积极推动证券民事赔偿机制的同时,也要防止其消极影响,以更好地维护证券市场的公平和效率。     

邓小平伦理思想初探

作为马克思主义伦理学原理与中国当代改革开放的道德实践有机结合的产物,作为社会主义初级阶段党和人民伦理道德实践经验的科学总结,邓小平的伦理思想十分丰富。本文仅就其道德价值目标、道德评价标准及道德建设问题方面的思想观点作一探讨。