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US national expert advisory bodies related to science, technology, and innovation (STI) policy have a wide range of missions, governing structures, operational practices, cultures, and impact on federal policymaking. This paper offers an analytical framework for assessing the autonomy, function, and influence of of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), a federal advisory committee consisting of 30 elite scientists, engineers, and industry leaders appointed by and advising the president. We demonstrate that PCAST carries both a strong instrumental advisory role, providing substantive advice to White House STI policy development, and a significant symbolic advisory role, offering visible public support to presidential decisions and initiatives related to STI. However, we find that the council's engagement with either or both roles has shifted depending on its available resources, the policy agenda of the administration it serves, the level of presidential attention, and the priorities of council leadership. The paper concludes with recommendations to guide future PCASTs in fulfilling their mission and appropriately influencing US national STI policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Misinformation is a complex and urgent sociotechnical problem that requires meaningful governance, in addition to technical efforts aimed at detection or classification and intervention or literacy efforts aimed at promoting awareness and identification. This review draws on interdisciplinary literature—spanning information science, computer science, management, law, political science, public policy, journalism, communications, psychology, and sociology—to deliver an adaptable, descriptive governance model synthesized from past scholarship on the governance of misinformation. Crossing disciplines and contexts of study and cases, we characterize: the complexity and impact of misinformation as a governance challenge, what has been managed and governed relative to misinformation, the institutional structure of different governance parameters, and empirically identified sources of success and failure in different governance models. Our approach to support this review is based on systematic, structured literature review methods to synthesize and compare insights drawn from conceptual, qualitative, and quantitative empirical works published in or translated into English from 1991 to the present. This review contributes a model for misinformation governance research, an agenda for future research, and recommendations for contextually‐responsive and holistic governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policy integration has become an important principle guiding public policy development. Despite its prominence, we lack comprehensive knowledge of the exact degree of policy integration and its variation across policy sectors and time, mainly due to the lack of systematic measurement approaches. We address this shortcoming by (1) developing a novel measure that evaluates the intersectorality of legal acts and (2) assessing its development in the European Union over four decades (1977–2019) for 16 policy sectors. Our mapping reveals that, on average, intersectoral policy-making has increased since the 1990s with the most substantial rise during the Barroso I and II Commissions and a trend reversal after Juncker took office in 2014. Furthermore, we identify substantial variation in intersectoral policy-making between different policy areas reflecting varying levels of political attention and public salience. We deem our measurement concept and findings to have important implications for the study of policy integration in general and the study of EU policies in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence is absent in the legal, policy and programmatic landscape of online child sexual exploitation in countries in the Global South. Our work begins to contribute to filling this literature gap, drawing evidence from Tunisia, one of the least studied countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). We reviewed legal and policy documents directly or indirectly connected to online child sexual exploitation, complemented with interviews from diverse actors in the child protection space at the national and sub‐national levels. We note that Tunisia is a signatory to several international and regional treaties and conventions that can be leveraged to tackle online sexual exploitation of children. Still, these have yet to be fully exploited for the benefit of children. Furthermore, we observed several disparate laws at the country level. These laws are scattered in many legal documents, and some aspects could be more specific, but currently not, which poses significant legal challenges to protecting children. Finally, many institutions implementing programmes in this space create less coordination and sometimes confusion. At best, interventions seem ad hoc without any clear mandate of specificity in institutional leadership. The implications of the findings for policies and programmes are highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australian and international research has consistently revealed that children residing in Out of Home Care (OOHC) experience low academic achievement, high rates of suspension, high rates of early school drop‐out and poor representation in post school study. To address the issues experienced by many students in OOHC, trauma informed policies have been introduced in schools and education districts, both in Australia and internationally. Informed by current research and by the Trauma Informed Approach Guidelines, developed by the US Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), this research aimed to identify and analyse current OOHC education policies and support documents implemented by Australian State and Territory Departments of Education. Using a thematic content analysis of national and international research on the concerning educational outcomes of OOHC students, a policy analysis framework was created and used as the tool to analyse Australian OOHC education policies currently implemented by state and territory Departments of Education. Considerable variations were evident in OOHC education policies throughout Australian Departments of Education, with only the states of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria having policies explicitly for OOHC students. Significant variations also existed in the levels and types of support provided between Australian states and territories. Australian Departments of Education, schools and teacher practitioners can do more to further enhance the educational experience of students residing in OOHC. Suggestions have been made on how this can be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Policy PointsFirst, policymakers can strengthen the inherent trust‐building effect of legislations on citizens by incorporating trust‐building principles within health data‐sharing legislations in a recognizable and comprehensive manner to explicitly signal public trust to policy implementers as one of the policy outcomes to be achieved in the implementation phase.Second, policymakers can use the proposed "public trust in health data sharing" framework as an initial guide to incorporate trust‐building principles within health data‐sharing legislations. Context: Public trust is critical to both system legitimacy and the successful implementation of data‐driven health initiatives. Legislations are an essential instrument for building public trust, as they can have a dual effect on trust: a passive effect by reinforcing the public perception of an active regulatory system that upholds the rule of law and an active effect as a tool for policymakers to signal trust‐building actions to be undertaken during the implementation phase. However, there is limited evidence on the extent to which health data‐sharing legislations contain references to trust and trust‐building principles for their practical implementation. Methods: By applying an evidence‐based "public trust in health data sharing" framework, 36 legislations from the European Union (EU), Italy, France, and Switzerland on health data sharing were analyzed to assess 1) how the term "trust" is embedded in legislations, and 2) the presence and quality of trust‐building principles within the selected legislations. Findings: Nine legislations incorporated references to "trust," mainly within the explanatory memorandum and preambles of EU legislations. The most prevalent trust‐building principles were "agencies of accountability" (72%) and data "security" (70%). In contrast, the principles "public information" (14%) and "time" (6%) were the least presented. Moreover, the qualitative analysis showed that the majority of the trust‐building principles were implicit in the legal text, with Swiss legislations having the highest number of explicit references. Conclusions: The limited and implicit use of "trust" and trust‐building principles in EU, Italian, French, and Swiss legislation emphasizes the opportunity to raise policymakers' awareness of these principles. The proposed framework provides an initial guide for policymakers to incorporate trust‐building principles within health data‐sharing legislations in a recognizable and comprehensive manner. This ensures that policy implementers at various stages of the policy process can implement trust‐building actions, contributing to public trust building in both European and national health data‐sharing initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political parties and their representatives play a crucial role in policymaking processes. However, increasing electoral volatility and unpredictability in democracies across Europe and beyond have disrupted the once relative stability of both national and subnational politics. This article offers fresh insights into the potential impacts of these transformations on subnational policies within multilevel systems. It challenges the prevailing "stability bias" in existing literature. Through an examination of the links between electoral instability and central–regional interactions, a new typology is developed to facilitate comparative analyses of territorial policy dynamics and their outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Policy Sciences of Harold Lasswell, Douglas Torgerson asks an important question–whether the logic of policy sciences can inspire democratic hope for social betterment. His response is refreshing and psychoanalytically-informed optimism, whereas a jurisprudential detour of the NHS's legacy as the most important application of policy sciences in another discipline calls for agnosticism. Revisiting the application of policy sciences in international law suggests that the very logic of policy sciences, under the influence of a defective form of naturalism, disables its potential for inclusive democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The continuity of Harold D. Lasswell's legacy as a champion of democratic policysciences is demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Internationally qualified nurses are highly sought after as a labour source due to continued shortages in the nursing profession in most developed countries. However, the lack of clear policies and procedures for nurses in the host country to use specialty nursing skills can result in the underutilisation of their expertise. Objectives: To review the registration processes of internationally qualified nurses in 20 developed countries, with a focus on the transferability of specialised skills gained overseas. Methods: A multicentre policy review design was used, using the STROBE reporting guidelines. The study sourced policy information from nurse registration bodies in developed countries and reviewed and removed redundant policies. Results: Out of 34 policies initially identified, 26 were used to show the registration process of nurses after immigration to developed countries. Only four of the 20 countries reviewed indicated the option of specialised nurse registration on their website for internationally qualified nurses, with a university qualification required before years of experience. All other countries indicated the general registration pathway only. Implications for nursing policy: More attention is needed to address the lack of well‐defined policies that guide the utilisation of internationally qualified nurses' specialised skills. Transparent procedures are essential to fully benefit from their expertise in the host country's health workforce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic focused national attention on food insecurity, equity, and the role of school meal programs in supporting children, families, and communities. In doing so, the pandemic created a rare policy window—an opportunity to advance a longstanding public health goal of guaranteed access to free school meals for all students. In July 2021, California and Maine became the first states to authorize school meal for all legislation (also known as universal free meals). The aim of this study was to explore perspectives of policymakers, state agency officials, and advocates on the conditions and mechanisms that facilitated passage of school meal for all legislation in California and Maine. A qualitative case study was conducted. Between December 2021 and June 2022, semistructured interviews were conducted with 30 policymakers, state agency officials, and advocates. Interviews were analyzed using principles of content analysis. Key themes are organized using Kingdon's multiple streams framework for public policy. Eleven key themes were identified. Lessons are drawn from the policy and advocacy strategies used to advance laws in California and Maine. For instance, paving the way with incremental policy change, tailoring messaging to diverse audiences, and organizing at the grassroots and grasstops levels were critical to success of advocacy efforts. Promising practices can guide efforts to expand access to school meals and advance other child nutrition policies in other states and nationally. Moving forward, lessons learned from implementation of universal free school meal legislation in California, Maine, and other early adopters should be documented and shared. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The way in which international actors formulate proposals for reforming or establishing public social policies not only varies between different organisations but is also dependent on the policy field in question. This article compares the positions of two international organisations (IOs), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), on the two related social policy fields of health and long-term care in Latin America. We apply qualitative document analysis to reports and strategy articles published by ECLAC and PAHO between 2000 and 2015. The analysis finds that despite some similar proposals by both organisations, there are also clear differences between their positions depending on the policy areas. While both organisations see the need to establish healthcare and long-term care as a human right, they have different ideas on targeted and universal approaches. Moreover, with long-term care as a new and emerging policy field, there is still much more variation in how the IOs address the topic, while proposals on healthcare are shaped by previous debates at international and regional levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twenty-five years ago, the author contributed a historical review of evidence on the foreign language (FL) learning problems of low-achieving and learning disabled (LD) students. Educators had proposed a new disability, FL learning disability, and developed policies permitting LD students to substitute courses or waive the FL requirement. The introduction of this new disability was premature because empirical evidence found no relationship between FL learning problems and LDs. Even so, several misguided assumptions about a unique disability for FL learning and a special relationship between FL learning problems and LDs persisted, and an LD diagnosis became the de facto criterion for FL course substitution/waiver policies. In this updated review, these assumptions and evidence falsifying them are examined. Cultural reasons for the assumptions about FL learning and LDs and the adoption of course substitution policies are proposed. The author concludes with recommendations for policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this first of three papers, we seek to understand how the new "integrated care" global policy directive, pursuing greater alignment for health and social care systems, will be translated into preparation for practice concerning interprofessional education (IPE) from pre-to-post registration level and for continuing professional development. We ask questions about the implications for leaders and practitioners in the field of IPE and collaborative practice (CP). In seeking to understand this new global policy directive, we explore the plethora of definitions, concepts and perspectives, continuously evolving and at times counterproductive as they try to synthesize complexity, to describe how health and social care systems and practitioners work together. We trace research on how integrated care is understood drawing upon transnational current understandings of integrated working in North America, Europe and the UK. We ask questions of the ambitions of integrated care aligned to forging closer working relationships between health and social care practitioners to tackle modern complex healthcare challenges. In reading the literature we have sought to identify the themes which emerge to direct the field of IPE and CP so that the workforce is prepared to deliver care, as policy makers intended, within locally designed new innovative care systems. We conclude that it remains unclear as to whether these new policy aspirations will achieve the connectivity required, for a supported workforce, committed to working together to deliver care envisaged to help people experiencing complex long-term conditions, disadvantage and health inequalities. In our second paper, we review the developmental pathway for IPE, taking a closer look at preparation for integrated care pathways and collaborative practice, seeking evidence to guide us. Finally, in our third paper, we turn our attention to the implications for the workforce composition, dynamics, and relationships, exploring heightened progressive ever-changing roles and responsibilities, focusing on social work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article "Governments, territories and public policies: an analysis from a multidimensional and multisectoral perspective. Interview with Daniel Béland" published in the journal Management and Analysis of Public Policies, addresses Professor Daniel Béland's research on the relationship between ideas and institutions in the change of public policies, focusing on fiscal federalism and the restructuring of the welfare state. Béland highlights the importance of considering ideas in politics and public policies, as well as the interaction between ideas, institutions, and political actors. Additionally, his work on comparative federalism, territorial governance, and health policies in the United States, Mexico, and Canada is mentioned. [Extracted from the article]

The COVID-19 pandemic presented unprecedented challenges for residential care homes for older people. However, the obstacles they faced and their resilience strategies have received insufficient research attention. This study, focusing on 13 residential care homes in Southeast China, addressed this research gap. The homes were visited between February and March 2023; 38 staff members (managers, nurses, social workers, and care workers) were interviewed. Thematic analysis revealed that the homes faced multidimensional challenges, including infection risks, declining mental health among residents, heavy workloads, and financial difficulties. Despite these challenges, they exhibited organizational resilience, primarily in their ability to cope with immediate issues during the pandemic, although their capacity to anticipate and adapt was weak. Factors influencing organizational resilience included their knowledge base, critical resources, a stable team with high morale and motivation, better integration of healthcare services, and government anti-COVID policies. This research highlights valuable insights for improving the quality of care in residential care homes in the post-pandemic era and in aiding policymakers and administrators in strengthening the organizational resilience of residential care homes in future crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Older adults all around the world encountered numerous challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of these challenges were pertinent to biological factors, like the risk of infection, while others resulted from social factors, like ageism and government regulations. Employing a capability approach, this study examined how age-based pandemic regulations that were imposed in Turkey affected the freedom and social environment of older adults. We used Bachhi's What is the Problem Represented to Be? (WPR) approach to analyze the memorandums issued by the central government between March 11, 2020, and June 30, 2021. Our analysis revealed that the problem is represented in these memorandums as older people's increased vulnerability to health risks, which resulted in violations of their mobility and health capabilities, as well as (mis)recognition of diversity within the older population. These findings provide vital insight into how age-based pandemic regulations define the problem based exclusively on chronological age, thereby creating circumstances that compromise older people's capabilities beyond simply maintaining health. Thus, we recommend that policymakers pay closer attention to both the intended and unintended consequences of any proposed regulations, and account for individuals' capabilities rather than merely their functionings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the growing number of anxiety disorder cases among university students in different countries, it is important to evaluate, compare and demonstrate different ways to obtain information about the mental health status of these students. This paper evaluates the prevalence and compares anxiety disorders in a population of university students to provide information to aid the formulation of public health policies and develop actions to support students. The study was conducted using primary data (n = 427), composed of students from two universities in Latin America. The fuzzy TOPSIS method was used to analyze the collected data, with the research instruments Generalized Anxiety Disorder -GAD-7 and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory- STAI. The originality of this research lies in the fact that it is the first article in the literature to use the proposed methodology to analyze anxiety disorders in university students in Latin America countries. The data were adapted for cloud analysis, particularly the multicriteria method, which contributes to public health studies. Together with the instruments, the method generated insights that corroborate the World Health Organization (WHO) data. This study may assist public policymakers in providing greater support for citizens with anxiety disorders. It is hoped that the results of this study can assist managers in public health decision making by proposing public policies that mitigate anxiety disorders that affect thousands of university students worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food insecurity and malnutrition are rising worldwide due to disruptions in food systems related to interconnected health-, climate- and conflict-related crises. Although governments globally are committed to addressing nutritional challenges, policy responses have increasingly focused on food security and, particularly, on food affordability. However, these short-term measures often overlook the necessity of integrating nutritious foods into the food system to ensure improved long-term nutrition. By drawing on the United Nations Committee on World Food Security's Voluntary guidelines on food systems and nutrition, this article outlines opportunities for policy-makers to integrate nutrition into key elements of the crisis response. Key policy areas where nutrition could be further integrated include social protection, agricultural investment, trade policy and urban planning. Strengthening the focus of nutrition in these measures will be essential to establish long-term incentives that support food systems transformation for improved nutrition. Drawing on theories of the policy process, I propose that stronger governance and cross-sectoral dialogue will be critical to achieve sustained nutritional outcomes. Health policy-makers can play a leadership role in supporting cross-sectoral policy change by carefully framing the policy issues, advocating for institutional structures that promote collaboration across sectors to prioritize nutrition, and strengthening the management of conflicts of interest in food system policy-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last few years, digitalisation has accelerated its pace, fuelling the creation of a massive amount of data. This has resulted in a need to introduce legal mechanisms to protect the privacy and security of data being exchanged between people and organisations. However, little is known about the individuals' perspective on such mechanisms. Given the gap in the literature, this research investigated the drivers and the implications of individuals' attitude towards GDPR compliance. To test the research model, structural equational modelling was employed using 540 responses. The result showed that perceived threat severity, self-efficacy and response efficacy determine a positive attitude towards GDPR compliance, which results in emotional empowerment. The findings contribute to the literature on legal privacy-preserving mechanisms, by providing a user's view on the coping and threat appraisal factors underpinning attitude and demonstrating the implications for driving confidence in control over personal data. The findings also contribute to the literature on protection motivation by demonstrating that attitude towards adaptive behaviour drives emotional empowerment. The study offers suggestions to policymakers on how to enhance public perception of the GDPR. The findings also provide guidelines for organisations on how to inform individuals' understanding of compliance with the legal framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context.--: Autopsies performed on COVID-19 patients have provided critical information about SARS-CoV-2's tropism, mechanisms of tissue injury, and spectrum of disease. Objective.--: To provide an updated database of postmortem disease in COVID-19 patients, assess relationships among clinical and pathologic variables, evaluate the accuracy of death certification, and correlate disease variables to causes of death. Design.--: The 272 postmortem examinations reported in this paper were submitted by 14 pathologists from 9 medical or forensic institutions across the United States. The study spans the eras of the 3 principal COVID-19 strains and incorporates surveyed demographic, clinical, and postmortem data from decedents infected with SARS-CoV-2, including primary and contributing causes of death. It is the largest database of its kind to date. Results.--: Demographics of the decedents reported here correspond well to national statistics. Primary causes of death as determined by autopsy and official death certificates were significantly correlated. When specifically cited disease conditions found at autopsy were correlated with COVID-19 versus non-COVID-19 deaths, only lung findings characteristic of SARS-CoV-2 infection or the absence of lung findings were significantly associated. Conclusions.--: Changes in hospitalization and disease likely stem from longer lifespans after COVID-19 diagnosis and alteration in treatment approaches. Although Omicron variants preferentially replicate in the upper airways, autopsied patients who died of COVID-19 in that time period showed the same lung damage as earlier decedents. Most importantly, findings suggest that there are still unelucidated risk factors for death from COVID-19 including possibly genetic susceptibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article highlights four major limitations of policy research related to cannabis and cannabinoids and provides suggestions for strengthening research to inform regulatory science at this critical juncture in policy implementation. These limitations include policy as a binary variable, state as primary unit of measure, and timelines based on policy passage dates.

Currently, in the United States, there is no legal obligation for medical professionals or civil courts to uphold patients' Advance Directives (ADs) regarding end-of-life care. The applicability and standing of ADs prepared by Alzheimer's patients is a persistent issue in bioethics. Those who argue against giving ADs full status take two main approaches: (1) appealing to beneficence on behalf of the Alzheimer's patient and (2) claiming that there is no longer any personal equivalence between the AD's creator and the subject of the AD. In this paper, I present profound arguments against both approaches. Firstly, I argue that the principle of beneficence cannot apply in the case of Alzheimer's patients, and, secondly, that the moral and legal authority of the AD need not depend on strict equivalence of personal identity. I conclude by arguing that valid ADs protect the dignity and autonomy of Alzheimer's patients and that, therefore, there are moral obligations to uphold ADs which should be reflected in public policy and legislation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the Hu Jintao era, policy intellectuals participated in public debates, openly criticizing existing government policies. During the Xi Jinping era, despite regime efforts to tame intellectuals, some critical voices have retained influence over policymaking processes. What adaptation strategies have they utilized to circumvent the regime's control over public speech? This article points to two strategies. First, policy intellectuals formed shifting collaborations with both state and nonstate actors. Second, they utilized collaborations with state actors to enter consultative forums. The article finds that policy intellectuals not only formed Beijing-based alliances but also cultivated closer cooperation with local officials. By "going local" in this way, they bypassed Beijing's tightening political environment. This article focuses on two important policy intellectuals in the healthcare arena who have gone local. It also includes a comparison between these two policy intellectuals and seven of their prominent peers who did not go local, as well as with intellectuals from another policy arena: education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars in several fields share a desire to better understand the inter-temporal dimensions of policy-making. While several studies analysed individuals' preferences regarding policies whose benefits unfold in the future, little is known about policy-makers' own perceptions of inter-temporal trade-offs in politics. Using an original survey of municipal politicians in Sweden, we demonstrate that factors found important in macro-level research on future-oriented policy-making also matter for politicians' micro-level perceptions. Politicians who perceive the policy-making process as consensus-oriented, characterised by corporatist concertation and by a low risk of policy reversal, and those who feel confident about (re-)election into government, are less likely to perceive a trade-off between policies that help them win elections and policies that benefit society in the long term, and less likely to view politics as short-term biased. Trade-off perceptions are, furthermore, related to previously overlooked variations in how politicians understand the inter-temporal profile of physical and social investment policies. Our findings have significant implications for comparative public policy research, by uncovering how politicians perceive inter-temporal trade-offs and shining new light on the micro-foundations of future-oriented policy-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do city-level policymakers build support for substantive action in policy domains characterized by low levels of national salience and limited local capacity, and which evidentiary resources support as well as reflect these uses? Despite much attention to policymakers' engagement with evidence, existing work tends to focus on domains where the issues at stake attract high levels of input and influence from central governments. This limits empirical and theoretical understanding of how local efforts to implement potentially contentious policies arise, and through which means. In response, we examine how municipal actors in 12 cities and regions across the UK have devised and communicated policies on immigrant integration—an area that lacks national policy inputs yet is locally consequential—through the mechanism of "action planning." Drawing on 6 years' worth of documentary evidence generated through a university-initiated collaboration with these municipalities, we show how action plans gather attention for objectives and propagate examples of practice to other cities—what we call "case-making." This serves as a micro-foundation for the action planning mechanism, which links symbolic statements about immigrant integration with substantive intended actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How can we explain the worldwide spread of evidence-based policymaking despite continuous criticism? What are the underlying mechanisms of its persistence on a global scale? This article aims at answering these questions by focusing on the cultural constellations in which evidence is imbued with political as well as epistemic authority. Evidence cultures are discursive and institutional forces (re-)producing both the scientific validation of knowledge and its relevance in policymaking. They need to be understood as self-propagating constellations of interlinking science and policy through practices, discourses and institutionally sedimented regulations. Evidence is the product of chains of practices in which the initial knowledge struggles are gradually made publicly invisible and often inaccessible. The article reconstructs the immunization of evidence cultures from criticism and their silent politics by looking at quantifications, benchmarking and randomized controlled trials as typical cases. To overcome the circularities and closures so characteristic of the evidence culture of evidence-based policymaking, politico-epistemic diversity should be actively promoted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Although the pandemic is nearing its end, the question of whether COVID-19 infection will be considered a work-related or occupational disease remains a legal issue. Therefore, this study aims to provide clarification on this matter. OBJECTIVES: Since the International Labour Organization (ILO) serves as the primary authority on work-related matters, this study is focused on analyzing the ILO's policies regarding the acknowledgment of COVID-19 infections as occupational diseases. It also investigates how States can recognize COVID-19 as such a disease while delving into the connection between the disease or injury and the occupation itself. METHODOLOGY: This study utilizes a doctrinal methodology, focusing on legal research. This approach employs an applied (expository) research method and discusses the topic from a professional constituency perspective, as proposed by Arthurs in 1983. RESULT: The findings indicate that the ILO does not explicitly mention the pandemic or COVID-19 infection as an occupational disease in its list. However, it does include "infectious-related diseases" or "work that carries a particular risk of contamination" as occupational or work-related diseases, which can logically be interpreted as encompassing COVID-19 infection as an occupational or work-related disease. RECOMMENDATION: As the ILO sets guiding principles for its member States, this study recommends that the ILO should establish clear and comprehensive guidelines for member States to recognize COVID-19 infections or any future pandemics as occupational diseases. CONCLUSION: This study will serve as a valuable resource for policymakers who intend to enact or amend national legislation to align with the ILO. Furthermore, it will assist relevant stakeholders in taking necessary actions based on the study's findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scottish devolution built on an existing structure of administrative devolution around the Scottish Office. The architects of devolution gave a lot of attention to the design of the Scottish Parliament but less to policy-making and delivery. Much of the policy capacity built up since the 1960s had been run down under Conservative governments after 1979. The new Scottish institutions faced a number of institutional, economic and political constraints on making their own policies. There have been significant divergences from policy in England but often these take the form of England diverging while Scotland remained the same. Successive Scotland Acts in 2012 and 2016 were guided by political considerations rather than examination of the powers and instruments needed. There has been a lack of the policy innovation that might have been expected in the new system. The argument is illustrated by examples, together with some footnoted personal reflections from half a century of following policy making in Scotland. There is no attempt to be comprehensive but rather to highlight key issues and trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivated by the urgent need to curb carbon emissions substantially over the next years and decades, we develop a qualitative system dynamics model to investigate the role of feedback effects on the transformation of the industry sector towards carbon neutrality. Through systems thinking, this research analyses the complex interactions between policy measures, investment decisions in different environmental measures to reduce CO2 emissions (e.g., use of electric and thermal energies from renewables and increase of energy efficiency), CO2 compliance, the pressure to take further climate action, the industry's economic success and the availability of investment funds. The study contributes to qualitatively identify and explore levers that policymakers can use to encourage industry to invest further in climate protection measures. Moreover, it provides an important basis for the development of quantitative modelling approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article identifies the conditions that made parliamentary oppositions in democratic countries more or less likely to participate in social protests against their government's COVID-19 policies from 2020 to 2021. To that end, it compares 19 cases, testing the explanatory power of causal configurations consisting of four factors. The first is the parliamentary opposition's level of power in the policy-making process. The second concerns the political-electoral moment in which the protests take place. The third and fourth refer, respectively, to the representation or non-representation of populist and far-right forces amongst the parliamentary opposition. The finding is that the parliamentary opposition's involvement in social protests is due to different causal configurations. It occurred when some kind of non-far-right populism was represented in the parliamentary opposition, the parliamentary opposition had a low level of policy-making power and the protests could be exploited for electoral gain. Another explanation is the representation of populists who are also far right amongst the parliamentary ranks, even when the other conditions are not the most favourable in terms of the political moment and the level of institutional power of the opposition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decreasing political trust poses severe challenges, particularly in policy domains where solutions to societal problems are urgently needed. The reason is that low trust decreases citizens' support for policy interventions. Since trust is difficult to increase in the short to medium term, this study explores how negative trust effects on policy support could be mitigated through policymaking procedures. We connect literature on policy design processes and trust to argue that involving broader actor coalitions when designing a policy is likely to mitigate the negative trust effect on public policy support. We test this argument with an empirical focus on environmental policy, based on data from a survey experiment in Switzerland (N = 6116). Our study design combines a choice experiment with treatment conditions for procedural inclusiveness and various levels of policy stringency with a novel approach to measuring trust. The main finding is that greater inclusiveness in terms of engaging a broader actor coalition in the policy design process reduces otherwise negative effects of low trust on policy support. The main policy implication is that political trust challenges are not a predicament for failure in addressing urgent societal problems but can be offset by including broad actor coalitions in policy design processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

European standardisation, a key institution for the functioning of the EU single market, functions at the crossroads of private rule-making and public policy. Recently, it has been subjected to fierce scrutiny by the European Commission and the European Court of Justice. Expressed concerns relate to the legal value of standards and the legitimacy of institutions creating them but have broader implications for European competitiveness, highlighting the strategic role of standards. By far much of this critique has been directed towards the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), the EU’s crown jewel of technology standardisation. ETSI’s normative power manifests itself in policymaking, legislation and market processes, rendering it an interesting organisation to study as a proxy to understand the legitimacy and resilience of European standardisation. Against this backdrop, this introduction sets the theoretical and legal context for this Special Issue. Upon discussing the background and dynamic of European standardisation, it provides a theoretical framework for ‘crises' and ‘legitimacy’, tailoring it to the particular case of ETSI and the challenges it faces at the policy and judicial level. Lastly, it provides a critical reflection on the Research Articles in this Special Issue, linking them to the current discourses on legitimacy and resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the burgeoning literature related to reparative planning, with an emphasis on housing policy. After exploring the state of theorizing related to reparative planning, this paper describes its three central dimensions: public recognition, material redistribution, and social/spatial transformation. The authors use these dimensions to evaluate a housing policy designed to repair harms to Black residents in Portland, Oregon. This in-depth analysis draws on survey, interview, and focus group data to explore the degree to which residents' experiences of the policy reflect these three dimensions. The paper concludes with implications for other municipalities considering reparative housing policies, namely the need to explicitly name the harm(s) the policy is designed to repair, for robust accountability measures to guide policy implementation and for holistic community development strategies that attend to multiple dimensions of racial reparation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a significant threat to the health and well-being of children in the United States (US). Public policies are a key public health strategy for the primary prevention of violence, including CSA. In 2021, the Enough Abuse Campaign and Prevent Child Abuse America published a comprehensive report entitled A Call to Action for Policymakers and Advocates: Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Legislation in the States to encourage state leaders to create a comprehensive strategy to prevent CSA in the US. Findings from the report show that the nation has made some effort to address CSA, but more focus needs to be given to primary prevention strategies that stop it from occurring in the first place. The report also illustrates the variability of CSA prevention policies across the US and highlights critical gaps in current approaches that must be addressed. In the spirit of the special issue, the authors reflect on key policy issues in the field, including the lack of a federal policy framework for CSA prevention, dedicated funding for the prevention of CSA, and research on the effectiveness of policies intended to prevent CSA. Suggestions for future directions in relation to policy development provided in this commentary will be useful to a variety of stakeholders interested in the topic of CSA prevention policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policy entrepreneurs interact with their wider social environment to create social and policy change. To understand entrepreneurial behavior in this context, adopting multi‐level approaches becomes increasingly important. They are crucial to explaining the interdependencies of individual entrepreneurs, immediate stakeholders (such as team members), and their wider context. Scholars focus on specific links, such as those between entrepreneurs and their local community. Very few papers have to date take a holistic approach, even though studying how entrepreneurs interact with multiple levels of stakeholders over time has the potential to better explain entrepreneurial processes. By following a qualitative research approach using two case studies of policy entrepreneurs in Bolivia and Germany, we show that policy entrepreneurs employ different modes of action over time when interacting with their immediate and wider contexts in attempting to foster policy change. Our results suggest that they co‐create with policymakers in order to shape their ecosystems and society at large. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2013, Uruguay became the first country to regulate the legal production, distribution and sale of recreational cannabis. While key officials have framed Uruguay's landmark legislation as part of the government's strategy to regulate cannabis, tobacco and alcohol, there is limited empirical research exploring the political considerations that influenced its approach. Drawing on the concept of policy coherence—the process by which policymakers seek to minimize conflicts and maximize synergies across policy agendas—this study explores the extent to which Uruguay's cannabis regulation was influenced by the promotion of policy coherence within health and across other policy spheres. Government documents, 43 semi-structured interviews and field observations were thematically analysed. The analysis shows that the pursuit of policy coherence across health issues was relatively limited, and where there is an element of regulatory coherence, there also appears to be minimal coordination. Efforts to promote substantive policy coherence were shaped by a desire to legitimate cannabis use without creating an upstream driver or structural force that would promote excessive consumption. The findings also reveal that the outcome of Uruguay's cannabis regulation was more directly shaped by broader political considerations, including how to resolve tensions between public security and unhealthy commodity regulation goals. This study raises important questions around the extent to which Uruguay's cannabis regulation was shaped by the explicit goal of policy coherence, suggesting rather that comparisons with tobacco and alcohol regulation were strategically used to justify the introduction of a legally regulated cannabis market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2017 the Scottish Government passed the Child Poverty (Scotland) Act with the commitment to significantly reduce the relative child poverty rate from the current prevailing level of around 25% to 10% by 2030/31. In response, the government introduced the Scottish Child Payment (SCP) that provides a direct transfer to households at a fixed rate per eligible child – currently £25 per week. In this paper we explore, using a micro to macro modelling approach, the effectiveness of using the SCP to achieve the Scottish child poverty targets. While we find that the ambitious child poverty targets can technically be met solely using the SCP, the necessary payment of £165 per week amounting to a total government cost of £3 billion per year, makes the political and economy-wide barriers significant. A key issue with only using the SCP is the non-linearity in the response to the payment; as the payment increases, the marginal gain in the reduction of child poverty decreases – this is particularly evident after payments of £80 per week. A 'policy-mix' option combining the SCP, targeted cash transfers and other policy levels (such as childcare provision) seems the most promising approach to reaching the child poverty targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digitalisation emerged as a central problem in global social governance in the past decade. 'Digital transformation' was expected to bring new social risks, requiring a redesign of the welfare state. This study examines the social policy responses of international actors on the digitalisation agenda in the 2010s and early 2020s. Inspired by sociological institutionalism, it shows different trajectories followed by UN agencies, the OECD and the World Bank in terms of addressing the social implications of this transformation. Despite these divergent organisational agendas, the article reveals the emergence of a new transnational policy paradigm, the 'Schumpeterian consensus', overcoming the antagonism between 'economic' and 'social' institutions from previous decades. In this paradigm, the 'Schumpeterian investment state' is seen as a mediator between the creative and destructive potential of technological change. Its social model encourages governments to invest in skills, universal social protection and flexicurity for the digital era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Healthy ageing, which is the target of life' s later developmental stage, can be achieved through building a wise perspective towards life and existence. However, it may not be achievable for older people when the societal sources are limited. The TILDA project aimed to evaluate the associated factors with healthy ageing and to transfer that knowledge into practice. Hence, determining the perspectives of older people support and advocacy organisations on the enablers and facilitators of the healthy ageing strategies of TILDA is essential to gain a better understanding of the project and plan future strategies. This study aimed to investigate how the TILDA project has influenced or impacted upon these organisations from education, policy, or practice perspectives. The participants (n = 15) included in the study's sample were reached through representative organisations acting to support older people in the Republic of Ireland. Semi-structured interviews were conducted online via Zoom. A systematic thematic data analysis procedure was followed, and three themes emerged from the qualitative data, revealing the perceptions of participants about the TILDA project: (1) Limitations of TILDA, (2) Contributions of TILDA, and (3) Future recommendations for TILDA. In conclusion, among the disadvantages of TILDA, the most significant is not being representative and visible enough; it is evident that it is pivotal to develop a more inclusive culture of TILDA with close cooperation and effective marketing strategies. It is also apparent that TILDA has several advantages that include providing insights into ageing and rich data to plan future support for older people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Classical organizational management literature draws clear parallels between organizational culture and climate and effective use of power and influence as key to successful policy implementation of reforms in public sector organizations. On the other hand, the public policy literature, in particular, policy transfer as a strand within policy studies, emphasizes the role of the national context, more specifically, 'facilitators' and 'constraints' of "politico-administrative culture" within the national context, as crucial to understanding processes of transfer, convergence, and diffusion of public policy. There is a plethora of studies by Western scholars of public management who have successfully utilized these theoretical underpinnings to study the effectiveness of public service reforms in mature policy environments such as the UK, the US, Australia, New Zealand, and others. However, the public policy and comparative public management literature only offers a limited number of case studies from developing, middle-/upper-middle countries, which rely on concepts of organizational management in addition to narratives on the impact of policy learning from global doctrines, such as Weberianism, New Public Management (NPM), and New Public Governance (NPG), and national politics, on the implementation of administrative reforms in those contexts. Kazakhstan, as a resource-affluent post-Soviet country and a bastion of modernization and 'open government' in Central Asia or the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in the post-Soviet era is a case in point. Based on ethnographic research consisting of interviews with elite academics, civil servants, and think-tank activists, as well as reviews of OECD and government strategy reports in Astana, the findings point to a potential abatement of the impact of context constraints such as large power distance and collectivist behavior by context facilitators such as those surrounding the use of 'trilingualism' and public diplomacy towards reforms in Kazakhstan particularly in recent years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the factors that contributed to the proliferation of online COVID skepticism on Twitter across Italian municipalities in 2020. We demonstrate that sociodemographic factors were likely to mitigate the emergence of skepticism, whereas populist political leanings were more likely to foster it. Furthermore, pre-COVID anti-vaccine sentiment, represented by "old truthers" on Twitter, amplified online COVID skepticism in local communities. Additionally, exploiting the spatial variation in restrictive economic policies with severe implications for suspended workers in nonessential economic sectors, we find that COVID skepticism spreads more in municipalities significantly affected by the economic lockdown. Finally, the diffusion of COVID skepticism is positively associated with COVID vaccine hesitancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on the European Union over the years has significantly advanced our understanding of the domestic impact of EU policies. However, notable blind spots persist regarding the broader impact of EU legislation on national policy portfolios and its interaction with domestic policy-making. To address this gap, we introduce a novel analytical concept that adopts a macro-perspective to scrutinise the impact of EU policy-making on national policy portfolios and their trajectories over time. We analyse EU-induced change dynamics through three dimensions of national policy portfolios: policy efforts, policy innovation, and policy design quality. Applying our framework to clean air policy across 13 EU countries over 38 years, we find ambiguous effects on national policy-making. Our findings reveal that while the EU’s role in clean air policy has expanded, it simultaneously has constrained innovative potentials within national portfolios and challenged design quality, substituting rather than complementing national policy efforts. We contribute to the state of the art by providing a novel conceptual framework on the macro dynamics of multi-level policy-making, offering theoretical arguments on the expected effects of EU influence, and presenting empirical evidence of these dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of scientific advisory committees (SACs) is a recurrent topic of research in public policy and public administration. Scholars are increasingly interested in analyzing the scientization of policy advice as well as the role played by knowledge‐based policymaking processes. Despite recent developments in the field, SACs studies continue to face an analytical and empirical gap due to the lack of parsimonious conceptualizations of the characteristics that enable them to be both theoretically relevant and effective in driving comparative analysis. To fill this research gap, this article proposes a novel typology of SACs based on a specific conceptualization of the motivations of policymakers that allows the selection of two classificatory criteria: the origin of the members and the degree to which their expertise is homogeneous. The theoretical relevance of this typology is illustrated by applying it to the SACs established in the Italian regions to address the COVID‐19 pandemic. The article highlights the relevance of the typology to the theory underlying the empirical analysis. In doing so, it provides relevant insights into the composition and nature of SACs that is useful not only for the academic debate on evidence‐based policymaking but also for both practitioners and decision‐makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policy PointsWe examined the effect of the Paid Family Leave policy (PFL) and Paid Sick Leave policy (PSL) on care provision to older parents.We found that PSL adoption led to an increase in care provision, an effect mainly attributable to respondents in states/periods when PSL and PFL were concurrently offered. Some of the strongest effects were found among women and unpartnered adult children.PFL adoption by itself was not associated with care provision to parents except when PFL also offered job protection.Paid leave policies have heterogeneous effects on eldercare and their design and implementation should be carefully considered. Context: Family caregivers play a critical role in the American long‐term care system. However, care responsibilities are known to potentially conflict with paid work, as about half of family caregivers are employed. The federal Family and Medical Leave Act passed by the US Congress in 1993 provides a nonuniversal, unpaid work benefit. In response, several states and localities have adopted the Paid Family Leave policy (PFL) and Paid Sick Leave policy (PSL) over the last two decades. Our objective is to examine the effect of these policies on the probability of personal care provision to older parents. Methods: This study used longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study (1998‐2020). Difference‐in‐differences regression models were estimated to examine associations between state‐ and local‐level PFL and PSL mandates and personal care provision to older parents. We analyzed heterogeneous effects by the type of paid leave exposure (provision of job protection with PFL and availability of both PSL and PFL [with or without job protection] concurrently). We also examined results for different population subgroups. Findings: PSL implementation was associated with a four‐ to five‐percentage point increase in the probability of personal care provision. These effects were mainly attributable to respondents in states/periods when PSL and PFL were concurrently offered. The strongest effects were found among adult children who were employed at baseline, women, younger, unpartnered, and college educated. PFL implementation by itself was not associated with care provision to parents except when the policy also offered job protection. Conclusions: Paid leave policies have heterogeneous impacts on personal care provision, potentially owing to differences in program features, variation in caregiving needs, and respondent characteristics. Overall, the results indicate that offering paid sick leave and paid family leave, when combined with job protection, could support potential family caregivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing literature at the intersection of international relations, public policy, and comparative politics has explored the role that International Governmental Organizations (IGOs) play in influencing domestic policymaking. This literature is grounded in a commonly shared theoretical expectation that policymakers will perceive IGOs as neutral and technocratic purveyors of expert information. Based on this expectation, scholars have assumed that policymakers are likely to employ recommendations from IGOs when making decisions. In this research note, we examine this assumption through an analysis of original survey data on U.S. mayors' responses to COVID-19-related guidance from the World Health Organization (WHO). In contrast to dominant theoretical expectations, we find that mayoral likelihood of considering WHO recommendations in policymaking and of trusting WHO-provided information was largely a function of ideology, an effect that remains after incorporating the interactive effect of Trump vote share. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]