Defining subnational open government: does local context influence policy and practice?

Policy Sciences - What is open government? The contemporary conceptualization of open government remains rooted in transparency and accountability, but it is embedded within the political economy...     

The nature of police involvement in mental health transfers

During the course of their duties, police regularly have contact with mentally ill persons who are experiencing psychiatric crisis and require some form of mental health transfer. This study examined 2611 unique mental health transfers completed by police in the Australian state of Victoria over an eight-month period in 2009–2010. The overwhelming majority of mental health transfers performed by police during this period were the result of unplanned calls for assistance. Although police frequently requested assistance from other services, these were often not available. The study findings support a substantial body of anecdotal evidence from police citing lengthy involvement with people experiencing mentally illness, with the average mental health transfer consuming 2.5?h of police time. The frontline responses of police to people in psychiatric crisis need to be more formally acknowledged and creative solutions need to be sought with health and welfare services to better meet the needs of those who are falling between the cracks of community mental health care services.     

One step forward,two steps back? Consultant influence on local economic development policy in Canada

Cities are increasingly outsourcing economic development policy advisory and development to private consultants. To explore the role and influence of consultants, this study undertook a systematic examination of the economic development policy documents of 41 cities in the Province of Ontario, Canada. The findings of this study indicate that a small handful of consultants are key actors in economic development policy advisory in Ontario. The policy documents authored by consultants tend to be similar in style, scope, and language; and from a policy perspective, there is convergence of policy as cities are recommended the same economic development strategies.