Hungry for Information: Public Attitudes Toward Food Nanotechnology and Labeling

What people think about food nanotechnology (nanofood) is under‐explored in the United States, especially outside of quantitative surveys. As such, we set out to examine public attitudes toward food nanotechnology in conversational, focus group settings in order to identify policy options for nanofood governance, and in particular, options for labeling. Through analysis of focus groups in six U.S. locations, we found that the vast majority of the participants wanted nanotechnology labels for all types of food products, and most were willing to pay a premium for labeling. Participants cited abilities to choose and avoid potential risk as the main purposes of nanofood labels. However, they recognized that labels alone do not provide much meaning and that information concerning food nanotechnology products needs to be sought and supplied beyond the label to enable informed choices. Additionally, willingness‐to‐use and risk–benefit perceptions varied according to the position and intended functions of the nanomaterials in food products.     

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.     

Funding Global Public Goods: The Dark Side of Multilateralism

The funding of global public goods, such as climate mitigation, presents a complex strategic problem. Potential recipients demand side payments for implementing projects that furnish global public goods, and donors can cooperate to provide the funding. We offer a game‐theoretic analysis of this problem. In our model, a recipient demands project funding. Donors can form a multilateral program to jointly fund the project. If no program is formed, bilateral funding remains a possibility. We find that donors rely on multilateralism if their preferences are relatively symmetric and domestic political constraints on funding are lax. In this case, the recipient secures large rents from project implementation. Thus, even donors with strong interests in global public good provision have incentives to oppose institutional arrangements that promote multilateral funding. These incentives have played an important role in multilateral negotiations on climate finance, especially in Cancun (2010) and Durban (2011).     

Public Policy： The Reality in the Practice of Management Agreements

This paper presents the new version of public policy for government transparency, outlining state＇s required functions, in the context of economic globalization, to enable fulfillment of social demands and Brazil＇s competitive insertion in international markets. In this sense, public policies were adjusted to the role of social and economic development promoter and regulator： Strengthening government capacity for formulating and evaluating them; increasing governance, i.e., government＇s ability to implement public policies, from the viewpoint of efficiency, efficacy, and effectiveness through the introduction of new organizational models and new partnerships with civil society; establishing management contracts, agreements, and partnership terms; and finally modernizing public management. E-government （e-gov） includes three of the seven lines of action of the information society： universal service, government available for all and advanced infrastructure. The Integration and Intelligence Government Information System （i3-Gov） was developed in open platform. Thus, new trends in shared and interagency management for public, productive, and growing third （voluntary） sectors are contemplated. The paper presents the results obtained with the Federal Government Voluntary Transfers Integrated System （SICONV）, which adequately fulfills the expectations of service and transparency, but needs improvement in regard to government participation without state interference.     

The Convention Experience: Between Rhetoric and Participation

Abstract

This article investigates the participation of interest groups in the EU's Constituional Convention and their contribution to the debate on participatory democracy and EU governance. I argue that the constitutional moment prompted interest groups to define their priorities beyond focused policy issues to include wider principles of governance. While the Convention process was more inclusive that any previous treaty reform procedure, its institutional set up was a constraint to improving citizen participation either directly or via interest groups. The Convention reproduced a model of closed elitist politics which did not communicate sufficiently with the citizens, while the role of interest groups was restricted by a Convention designed as a drafting phase in preparation for the real decisive phase during the IGC. Despite the impact of specific domestic contexts, the ‘no’ votes in France and the Netherlands proved that civil society and participation were rhetorical devices deployed during the Convention to gain legitimacy rather than a genuine move towards a more pluralistic EU democracy capable of deploying effective mechanisms of active citizen participation.     

Civil Society Intervention in the War-Torn Gulu District in Northern Uganda: Policy Implications for Social Service Delivery

Civil society in the African Gulu district of Uganda operates in an area of acute humanitarian crisis. The fragile nature of the environment due to prolonged civil war has rendered ineffective the implementation of public policies that should enable the population access to services. Thus, civil society intervention in this area is on urgent requirement as government and market have failed to deliver services to the people. The Gulu case is representative of other developing countries undergoing similar conflicts. Development partners need to recognize the role of civil society and advocate policies that enhance their effective participation in the development process. In order to more effectively tackle global development challenges, and in this era of globalization, this article argues that serious discussions should be held by all development partners to form a global governance system led by civil society organizations.     

我国反腐败模式的变迁及其折射的社会治理理念转向

建国以来我国反腐败运动经历了四种不同的模式:权力反腐模式、规制反腐模式、综合反腐模式、预防与惩治反腐模式,不同模式之间有交叉、重合,但主旨及重心大相迥异,不同模式之间的转换不仅是历史情境的需要,也折射出社会治理理念的转向。权力反腐模式的核心是以权力压制权力,其反映的是浓郁的人治色彩。规制反腐模式是依赖法律法规和制度来反腐败,其反映的是从人治向法治的转变,但这一转变并不彻底。综合反腐模式是针对权力寻租普遍、腐败逐渐隐蔽、巨大等特点而采取的一种国家、社会、个人相结合的反腐模式,其主要特征是广大民众在反腐败中的作用得到大幅提升。预防与惩治模式严格来说不是一种独立的模式,强调惩治的同时更注重预防,立足于反腐败的同时更强调廉政建设,这一模式要求对权力深度限制与监督。     

The utility of bonding social capital

Abstract

In most studies of social capital, bridging social capital is emphasized as ‘good’ for democracy and economic performance. It is rarer to find studies showing that bonding social capital can bring positive effects. Mostly, bonding social capital is either overlooked or depicted as the ‘villain’ that leads to ethnic conflict, intolerant behaviour and poor economic and democratic development. In this article, it is argued that this picture needs to be revised. If we assume that bonding trust is a negative force for development and democracy, we ignore a substantial portion of the political history of the West. Also, new empirical evidence from India suggests that bonding social capital is related to good governance. High levels of bonding trust cannot only facilitate political cooperation. They may also work as a shield against public sector employees who attempt to exploit citizens in a corrupt or clientelistic manner. The conclusion drawn in the article is that the view of social capital as a prime mover with inherent normatively attractive qualities should give way to a perspective where social capital is more properly regarded as an intermediate variable where the way it is combined with, or interacts with, other factors determines outcomes.     

Social capital,voluntary associations and collective action: Which aspects of social capital have the greatest ‘civic’ payoff?

Abstract

Despite a great variety of theoretical approaches, empirical analyses of social capital are surprisingly similar. Virtually all of them treat membership in voluntary associations as the chief indicator of community involvement while neglecting another form of community involvement: participation in elite-challenging actions. Likewise, authors readily attribute manifold civic benefits to associational life, while hesitating to attribute such benefits to elite-challenging activity. We question these views on two grounds. Firstly, we argue that elite-challenging action reflects social capital, even though this is a specific form of it: an emancipative form typical of self-assertive publics. Secondly, we use data from the Value Surveys to demonstrate that elite-challenging action is linked with greater civic benefits, at both the individual and societal level, than is membership in voluntary associations. This finding confirms the concept of human development, which suggests that emancipative forms of social capital are more civic in their consequences than others. Following this concept, we show that mass self-expression values nurture emancipative social capital, in motivating elite-challenging action. Finally, we locate self-expression values and elite-challenging actions in a theory of emancipative social capital.     

The Democratization of Welfare Between Rhetoric and Reality: Local Planning,Participation, and Third Sector in Italy

The third sector, traditionally considered in the Italian welfare state as a residual actor of social policies, has increasingly engaged itself in various types of partnerships and collaborative planning processes with the local authority in recent years. In the rhetoric of welfare reform, third sector organizations play an important role, for they contribute to regenerating local democracy, stimulating communities, and fighting social exclusion. The article examines 12 local area plans, which have been realized in eight regions of Italy since 2000, by relying on empirical data and interviews. The article concludes that the so-called co-governance of local welfare can produce very different levels of democratization and improvement of social programs. In some areas, it may be that valorizing the third sector can effectively renew social policies, while in others the exact reverse may happen. The article offers an analysis of the main factors that influenced this result.