Showing papers in "Critical Policy Studies in 2019"
TL;DR: The authors examines the post-truth debate and questions the argument that post-modernism and social constructivism is responsible for posttruth and alternative facts, including in climate denial, and questions whether post-Modernism and Social Constructivism are responsible for climate denial.
Abstract: This article examines the post-truth debate and questions the argument that post-modernism and social constructivism is responsible for post-truth and alternative facts, including in climate denial...
63 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the importance of digital citizenship for research and policy-makers alike and propose a framework for digital citizenship in the context of government and e-government.
Abstract: As governments worldwide become increasingly reliant on digital technologies and e-government, ‘digital citizenship’ has become an important topic for research and policy-makers alike While often
45 citations
TL;DR: One might be forgiven for harboring a pessimistic view of the state of human rights: there are now more people displaced by war and violence than there were during World War II, and one in nine peo...
Abstract: One might be forgiven for harboring a pessimistic view of the state of human rights: there are now more people displaced by war and violence than there were during World War II, and one in nine peo...
33 citations
TL;DR: In this article, Uber and Lyft have recently entered metropolitan markets across the US, and they do not fit into existing regulatory and policy frameworks, and their entrapment entra...
Abstract: New transportation businesses such as Uber and Lyft have recently entered metropolitan markets across the US. Because they do not fit into existing regulatory and policy frameworks, and their entra...
20 citations
TL;DR: There is a need in academic rankings research for a more critical and political analysis beyond the register of normative global governance studies and the pervasive positivism of new publi... as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: There is a need in academic rankings research for a more critical and political analysis beyond the register of normative global governance studies and the pervasive positivism of new publi...
20 citations
TL;DR: Affect and identity are often recognized as important considerations in critical policy studies, but because these notions lack materiality, it is not observably obvious how they function in policy as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Affect and identity are often recognized as important considerations in critical policy studies. But because these notions lack materiality, it is not observably obvious how they function in policy...
17 citations
TL;DR: This paper examined the UK government's use of a policy technique known as "nudge" which draws on behavioural economics in order to shape civic behavior towards more desirable ends and argued that the use of nudge tactics helps legitimate a narrowing of the sphere of governmental responsibility by pathologising working class lifestyles as irrational.
Abstract: Focusing on a long-running health campaign, this paper examines the UK government’s use of a
policy technique known as ‘nudge’, which draws on behavioural economics in order to shape civic
behaviours towards more desirable ends. Public health campaigns tend to be immune to critique
because of assumptions that their goals are laudable and that they are ‘unproblematically’ educational.
Here I argue that the use of ‘nudge’ tactics helps legitimate a narrowing of the sphere of governmental
responsibility for this complex and classed social problem by pathologising working class lifestyles as
inherently ‘irrational’. I use critical discourse analysis to explore the textual strategies through which
a corpus of TV cartoon adverts enacts a ‘biopedagogic’ discourse and shapes ‘self-disciplinary’
subjectivities, targeting children in particular. Through subtle semiotic markers (register and regional
accent) these adverts target a northern English, working class demographic, and shift responsibility
onto certain individuals while glossing over the deeply entrenched and escalating forms of social
inequality which lie behind the problem. In light of the increasing prominence of ‘soft’ governance
techniques like nudge, I argue for a close dialogue between detailed linguistic analytical methods and
a Foucauldian analytics of power.
17 citations
[...]
TL;DR: The world is complicated and at times unintelligible and it has not become any more intelligible by the rise of Trump, Bolsonaro, Erdogan, Modi, Orban and the likes who d...
Abstract: The world is complicated, no doubt. It is confusing and at times unintelligible and it has not become any more intelligible by the rise of Trump, Bolsonaro, Erdogan, Modi, Orban and the likes who d...
14 citations
TL;DR: The local governments of EU member countries are attracted to the possibility of receiving EU funding as mentioned in this paper, however, as the governance structures of EU funds are complex and dynamic, municipalities are...
Abstract: The local governments of EU member countries are attracted to the possibility of receiving EU funding. However, as the governance structures of EU funds are complex and dynamic, municipalities are ...
13 citations
TL;DR: Instead of alternative economic ideas or institutional shifts, the post-financial crisis conjuncture has witnessed the persistence of neoliberal ideas and the strengthening of the institutions impl... as discussed by the authors, the authors of this paper.
Abstract: Instead of alternative economic ideas or institutional shifts, the post-financial crisis conjuncture has witnessed the persistence of neoliberal ideas and the strengthening of the institutions impl...
13 citations
TL;DR: Wang et al. as discussed by the authors found that there has been a noticeable increase in China's academic publications about young rural migrants' love life, and social scientists play a crucial role in shaping public opinions and policy.
Abstract: Since 2010, there has been a noticeable increase in China’s academic publications about young rural migrants’ love life. Social scientists play a crucial role in shaping public opinions and policy ...
TL;DR: Network governance, which involves an informal and self-regulated set of public and private actors, who together address various political and social problems, has substantially altered the institu... as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Network governance, which involves an informal and self-regulated set of public and private actors, who together address various political and social problems, has substantially altered the institu ...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors refine the analytical tools available to critical policy scholars for analyzing policy problems by extending upon the popular "What's the problem represented to be?" (WP... ).
Abstract: This paper seeks to refine the analytical tools available to critical policy scholars for analyzing policy problems by extending upon the popular ‘What’s the problem represented to be?’ (WP...
TL;DR: Frank Fischer's essay Knowledge Politics and Post-truth in Climate Denial offers an illuminating application of social constructionist theory to make visible the logic and rationale of overt climate denial as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Frank Fischer’s essay Knowledge Politics and Post-Truth in Climate Denial offers an illuminating application of social constructionist theory to make visible the logic and rationale of overt climat...
TL;DR: This article explored the process of endogenous institutional changes using the example of conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs in Mexico's Oportunidades and Brazil's Bolsa Familia and found that the causal mechanisms underlie the rise of policy innovations that are not derived from exogenous dimensions.
Abstract: How do new social policies emerge? The literature on developed countries has put forth important assumptions about changes in welfare policies, particularly building on the work of Esping-Andersen. However, discussion of social protection policies in middle-income countries underscores that rising policy innovations derive mostly from exogenous dimensions (external ideas and factors). In examining Mexico’s Oportunidades and Brazil’s Bolsa Familia, one main question is addressed: What causal mechanisms underlie the rise of policy innovations that are not derived from exogenous dimensions? This article proposes moving beyond the argument in which international influence versus domestic politics are in opposition, and it suggests instead to compare empirical cases in different contexts, specifically by exploring the process of endogenous institutional changes using the example of conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs. By exploring recent theoretical contributions to institutional changes, the arti...
TL;DR: The observation from the perspective of social constructivism explains that its epistemological orientation to knowledge-making is not the culprit of a post-truth world but a lens that enambles scholars to better understand where the denial of facts comes from.
Abstract: We have landed in times when being in a rage against expertise is repeatedly highlighted as a legitimate political stance. While expertise has become an inherent part of policy-making, the public d...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on what invoking the public interest does for the International Accounting Standards Board [IASB], as a transnational, private regulator, and employ rhetorical redescription to identify the implications of defining public interest as procedural due process, substantive due process and outcome-focused.
Abstract: We focus on what invoking the public interest ‘does’ for the International Accounting Standards Board [IASB], as a transnational, private regulator. Our study focuses on a snapshot from 2010 to 2015 post the global financial crisis, as the IASB and the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation suffered a legitimacy crisis. We are interested in how the IASB restated the meaning of the public interest and the impact of invoking different conceptions of the public interest. With respect to metonyms, this article employs rhetorical redescription to identify the implications of defining the public interest as procedural due process, substantive due process and outcome-focused. At the same time, through careful interpretation, the article examines the rival metaphors attached to meanings of the public interest. By examining what invoking the public interest ‘does’, our ontological analysis illustrates how these redescriptions constituted a rhetorical strategy for organizational legitimacy, ...
TL;DR: In this paper, birth registration is considered a basic human right and is also considered a gateway right which aids in the realization of many other civil, political, economic and social rights.
Abstract: Birth registration is a basic human right. It is also considered a ‘gateway right’ which aids in the realization of many other civil, political, economic and social rights. After decades as an ‘orp...
TL;DR: Lasswell remains a notable figure, but is typically cast simply as an apostle of scientism and technocracy as discussed by the authors. Is there anything in his proposal for the policy sciences to be taken seriously by critic...
Abstract: Lasswell remains a notable figure, but is typically cast simply as an apostle of scientism and technocracy. Is there anything in his proposal for the policy sciences to be taken seriously by critic...
TL;DR: This paper studied implementation as performed by government bureaucracies in advanced democracies where a specific configuration of power dominates, thus shaping the frontline work of policy scholars and shaping frontline work in the implementation process.
Abstract: Policy scholarship has largely studied implementation as performed by government bureaucracies in advanced democracies where a specific configuration of power dominates, thus shaping frontline work...
TL;DR: This article examined how desire and fantasy function in a project-based welfare setting by examining a case from the context of Danish educational policy, drawing on Žižek and others' development.
Abstract: This article addresses how desire and fantasy function in a project-based welfare setting by examining a case from the context of Danish educational policy. Drawing on Žižek and others’ development...
TL;DR: Communicative discourse is widely understood as consisting of a top-down political dynamic in which policy elites actively construct discourse and convey it to a passive public as discussed by the authors. Yet, this understan...
Abstract: Communicative discourse is widely understood as consisting of a top-down political dynamic in which policy elites actively construct discourse and convey it to a passive public. Yet, this understan...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors illustrate how the voluntary and community sector has been both an object of elite policies aimed at regulating civil society activity and an instrument of that policy, through a historical sketch of the repeated "turns to civil society" of successive administrations in the UK and NI.
Abstract: The efforts of political and economic elites to instill in wider society cooperative dispositions that will value ‘partnerships’ across gradients of power are an important aspect of the neoliberal project. Neoliberalism must embed a benign cooperativeness in society in order to deliver the social stability necessary for a deregulated market economy to function. A central part of the neoliberal project is the creation of the conditions whereby subordinate groups will reject conflict for ‘the virtues’ of partnership, cooperativeness, pragmatism and consensus. Using Northern Ireland (NI) as a case study, this paper will illustrate how the voluntary and community sector has been both an object of elite policies aimed at regulating civil society activity and an instrument of that policy. Through a historical sketch of the repeated ‘turns to civil society’ of successive administrations in the UK and NI, and through interviews with voluntary and community sector staff and government officials, this paper...
TL;DR: The authors discuss Torgeson's proposal by interrogating the two faces behind Lasswell's work on the one hand, and the multiple perspectives behind critical policy studies on the other hand.
Abstract: This contribution would like to discuss Torgeson’s proposal by interrogating the two faces behind Lasswell’s work on the one hand, and the multiple perspectives behind critical policy studies on th...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the broader project of evolutionary thinking in policy studies can help reveal the analytical value of an evolutionary metaphor to our understanding of policy drift, and they develop a three-stage generic framework of drift in which an evolutionary analogy helps first by assisting with accounts of the role of selection pressures in drift and, second, by supporting different accounts of agency in recognizing and responding to drift.
Abstract: This article is a contribution to the emerging line of scholarly inquiry into the concept of drift in the study of public policy. It investigates a persistent problem in the literature on policy drift: how to explain variation in responses to drift, separately from the process of drift itself and in order to do so how to incorporate a model of agency into the concept of drift. We argue that the broader project of evolutionary thinking in policy studies can help reveal the analytical value of an evolutionary metaphor to our understanding of policy drift. The argument is developed through a three-stage generic framework of drift in which an evolutionary metaphor helps first by assisting with accounts of the role of selection pressures in drift and, second, by supporting different accounts of agency in recognizing and responding to drift. The utility of this novel policy drift framework is illustrated through a case study of UK pharmaceutical services policy.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on how disorganized climate skeptics seek an underdog position to speak truth to power and how they seek to be the voice of reason in the resistance.
Abstract: Whilst we know quite a bit about organized forms of climate skepticism, very few studies focus on how disorganized climate skeptics seek an underdog position to speak truth to power Hence, we inve
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyze the implementation of a recovery-oriented program of supported housing for people with serious mental illness and explore the contradictions that emerged between the recovery vision and the implementation.
Abstract: Mental health care has undergone several waves of reforms since the start of the asylum era. The current era has been shaped by the recovery movement, which seeks to increase the autonomy of service users. I analyze the implementation of recovery-oriented program of supported housing for people with serious mental illness. Policy documents and interviews with 95 staff involved in delivering this program were analyzed using a conceptual framework informed by the governmentality literature. I explore the contradictions that emerged between the recovery vision and the implementation of the program in three areas: promoting freedom of choice, encouraging independence and community life. I suggest that the next wave of reforms in mental health care could incorporate the principle of solidarity by creating communities that offer meaningful opportunities for participation.
TL;DR: In this article, a symposium of three ethnographic papers on the relational work of policy implementation in the context of international development is presented, which is usually unrecognized in the literature.
Abstract: This article introduces a symposium of three ethnographic papers on the relational work of policy implementation in the context of international development. Relational work is usually unrecognized...
TL;DR: Some of Lasswell's work is highly compatible with the recent trend of behavioural and psychological approaches in public policy as discussed by the authors, and his suggestions to apply psychotherapeutic techniques in policy-maki...
Abstract: Some of Lasswell’s work is highly compatible with the recent trend of behavioural and psychological approaches in public policy. His suggestions to apply psychotherapeutic techniques in policy-maki...
TL;DR: In this paper, Dikec showed how Urban Rage is the most humanizing yet tragic characterization of the Urban Age, and took us through an intense journey through highly successful mature democracies as we...
Abstract: In showing how Urban Rage is the most humanizing yet tragic characterization of the Urban Age, Mustafa Dikec takes us through an intense journey through highly ‘successful’ mature democracies as we...