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In the United States (US), biosafety and biosecurity oversight of research on viruses is being reappraised. Safety in virology research is paramount and oversight frameworks should be reviewed periodically. Changes should be made with care, however, to avoid impeding science that is essential for rapidly reducing and responding to pandemic threats as well as addressing more common challenges caused by infectious diseases. Decades of research uniquely positioned the US to be able to respond to the COVID-19 crisis with astounding speed, delivering life-saving vaccines within a year of identifying the virus. We should embolden and empower this strength, which is a vital part of protecting the health, economy, and security of US citizens. Herein, we offer our perspectives on priorities for revised rules governing virology research in the US.

In response to concerns regarding numerous complex issues facing the veterinary specialty profession, several organizations, including the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, have made a clarion call to the American Veterinary Medical Association to begin discussions surrounding the formation of an accrediting body for internships, residencies, and fellowships. A proposed name for such a body is the Accreditation Council on Graduate Veterinary Medical Education, in alignment with the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education (ACGME); the term graduate refers to specialty education that occurs after the first 4 years of the MD or DVM degree. Although the structure and financing of graduate education differ between the human medical and veterinary professions, we can nevertheless learn much from the history of evolution of human medical specialization as we navigate the path ahead.

Bureaucratic rulemaking is a key feature of American policymaking. However, rulemaking activities do not occur uniformly, but fluctuate throughout the year. We consider three mechanisms to explain these changes in rule volume, each of which produces unique expectations for rulemaking during periods of divided government and legislative recess. To test these expectations, we leverage an original dataset including all rules proposed by bureaucratic agencies in three U.S. states from 2004 to 2013 matched with data tracking periods of divided government and legislative recess. We find that state bureaucracies publish significantly more proposed rules during periods of divided government or a split legislature and are most productive in the months immediately following legislative recess. These results underscore the importance of bureaucratic policymaking and improve our understanding of the balance of power between branches of state governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Governance, health financing, and service delivery are critical elements of health systems for provision of robust and sustainable chronic disease care. We leveraged the third iteration of the International Society of Nephrology Global Kidney Health Atlas (ISN-GKHA) to evaluate oversight and financing for kidney care worldwide. Methods A survey was administered to stakeholders from countries affiliated with the ISN from July to September 2022. We evaluated funding models utilized for reimbursement of medications, services for the management of chronic kidney disease, and provision of kidney replacement therapy (KRT). We also assessed oversight structures for the delivery of kidney care. Results Overall, 167 of the 192 countries and territories contacted responded to the survey, representing 97.4% of the global population. High-income countries tended to use public funding to reimburse all categories of kidney care in comparison with low-income countries (LICs) and lower-middle income countries (LMICs). In countries where public funding for KRT was available, 78% provided universal health coverage. The proportion of countries that used public funding to fully reimburse care varied for non-dialysis chronic kidney disease (27%), dialysis for acute kidney injury (either hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis) (44%), chronic hemodialysis (45%), chronic peritoneal dialysis (42%), and kidney transplant medications (36%). Oversight for kidney care was provided at a national level in 63% of countries, and at a state/provincial level in 28% of countries. Conclusion This study demonstrated significant gaps in universal care coverage, and in oversight and financing structures for kidney care, particularly in in LICs and LMICs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accounts of police complainants and their experiences of oversight largely reflect North American data. This article examines how complainants fare in Ireland, where police crisis and reform have repeatedly occurred since 2005. Quantitative analysis of the independent police oversight agency's complaint processing highlights patterns in allegations submitted, complaint-handling mechanism applied, and outcomes realised. In doing so, this article draws attention to the experiences of Irish Travellers, the homeless and prisoners. Findings show that socially marginal complainants submitted more serious allegations, secured higher investigation designations but were less likely to have complaints substantiated. Overall, substantiation was below international levels and police investigations were more likely to substantiate complaints than was the oversight agency. Consequently, the article then considers the frequent theoretical characterisation of police oversight in term of 'justice' or 'agency', arguing for inclusion of 'agency self-interest' by the oversight body in future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research summary: This study investigates how information about public opinion and peer practices influences police executives' views on civilian review boards. We applied structural topic modeling in an experimental paradigm, a novel approach diverging from traditional experimental survey methods, to the open‐ended responses of 1331 police executives collected in an original survey experiment. This technique enables the capture of subtle shifts in belief directly from the executives' own words. The experiment systematically varied the information provided to police executives, including state‐level public opinion data from a representative sample of 16,840 U.S. residents, and peer practices in major city police agencies. Our findings reveal that police executives, although generally aligned in their views, demonstrate a readiness to update their beliefs when presented with cohesive local public opinion and information about peer practices in policing. Policy implications: In a democratic society, the core policy beliefs of police executives critically shape the existence and efficacy of civilian oversight mechanisms. Our findings demonstrate the adaptability of police executives in updating their policy positions, reflecting their commitment to informed decision making in response to the dynamic nature of police governance. We find that police executives are willing to update their beliefs related to the public's ability to oversee policing in an unbiased and qualified manner when presented with information about reforms adopted by peer agencies. In contrast, information about public demand for more aggressive forms of oversight can lead to a backlash, increasing the likelihood of police executives to favor existing oversight mechanisms and to doubt the public's qualification. For executives, reformers, and scholars, these findings highlight the limitations of public opinion and benefits of peer influence as mechanisms for policy learning in policing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Humanities Journal of University of Zakho (HJUOZ) is the property of Humanities Journal of University of Zakho and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Türkiye Adalet Akademisi Dergisi is the property of Justice Academy of Turkey and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Accountability is considered a cornerstone of public administration and good governance. This study characterizes the relationship between the Dutch Intelligence and Secret Service ("AIVD") and citizens (represented by parliament, courts, and oversight boards) as a complex actor-forum relationship. We utilize different accountability principles of public administration found in international and Dutch instruments and academic literature to propose workable principles of accountability for the AIVD. These proposed principles of accountability can be summarized as acting within duty, explainability, necessity, proportionality, reporting and record keeping, redress, and continuous independent oversight. Similarly, there are some conditions to support the workability of accountability principles. These conditions may be characterized as productive actor-forumrelationships, cooperation, flexibility, value alignment, and learning and improving opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Congress's constitutional responsibility to oversee and investigate the executive branch of government demands that instances of waste, fraud, and abuse in the administrative state be checked via both legislation and nonlegislative committee hearings. In this article, I establish an oversight agenda for Congress using the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office's (GAO) biennial identification of the most vulnerable federal agencies and programs. I then assess whether and how government-wide partisanship affects Congress's ability to address this slate of issues. I find that, when government is divided, Congress is more legislatively productive on high-risk issues, and the House of Representatives is more likely to prioritize investigative hearings on high-risk issues. My results suggest a silver lining to the reality of partisan agenda control: preexisting administrative problems identified by well-positioned and well-informed observers at GAO may get more attention when there is a partisan incentive for the legislature to investigate an opposition-controlled government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lack of explainability of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of the first obstacles that the industry and regulators must overcome to mitigate the risks associated with the technology. The need for 'eXplainable AI' (XAI) is evident in fields where accountability, ethics and fairness are critical, such as healthcare, credit scoring, policing and the criminal justice system. At the EU level, the notion of explainability is one of the fundamental principles that underpin the AI Act, though the exact XAI techniques and requirements are still to be determined and tested in practice. This paper explores various approaches and techniques that promise to advance XAI, as well as the challenges of implementing the principle of explainability in AI governance and policies. Finally, the paper examines the integration of XAI into EU law, emphasising the issues of standard setting, oversight, and enforcement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored the effectiveness of the Statutory Bodies and Public Enterprises (SBPE) Committee on budget oversight in Botswana. The accountability theory grounded this research. The study predominantly embraced a qualitative approach and an exploratory research design to interrogate the effectiveness of the Committee’s oversight function. It used both primary and secondary data collection methods. In terms of primary data collection, interviews were conducted with key stakeholders involved in the budget oversight function. Additionally, the study conducted a documentary review of relevant government reports, budgets, and financial statements to supplement the information gathered from interviews. Thematic analysis was conducted based on the data obtained. The study observed that the SBPE Committee was perceived as ineffective in undertaking its oversight responsibility. Poor accountability manifested in various ways, including untimely and inaccurate financial reporting. Also, inadequate technical expertise, funding, logistics, low autonomy, lack of enforcement capacity, and poor separation of power impeded the Committee’s ability to perform its oversight responsibility effectively. The research recommended constitutional reforms in Botswana that would empower parliament to follow through on its recommendations and emancipate the legislative arm of government from executive control and manipulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study has two objectives: First, to examine high-cost politics in Indonesian elections; Second, to propose measures to strengthen the Ministry of Home Affairs’ authority in political finance supervision and enhance regulations to promote electoral transparency, using the recent Indonesian elections as a case study. Indonesia’s political process is characterized by high-cost politics, where candidates often face pressure to raise substantial funds to finance their election campaigns. Consequently, elections, meant to serve as a democratic platform for all Indonesians, frequently become subject to abuse by individuals seeking to attain power. The primary goal of this study is to gain a comprehensive understanding of the high-cost politics in Indonesian elections and its impacts on democratic integrity. The study utilized a normative juridical methodology, incorporating statutory and conceptual approaches. The findings indicated that transactional and money politics, along with high-cost politics in Indonesia’s elections, pose a serious threat to democracy. The Ministry of Home Affairs and the General Election Supervisory Agency must strengthen their legal instruments to monitor political party finances. Furthermore, political actors must be encouraged to reduce high-cost politics.

Background and Objectives In 2022, 239 New York state long-term care facilities (LTCFs) challenged a "Safe Staffing" law in court. Our study compares LTCFs involved and not involved in the lawsuit, testing for differences in staffing measures and resident outcomes during the first year of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Research Design and Methods New York LTCF-level data were obtained from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 2019 organization and 2020 COVID-19 data files. These data were then linked to data from the Long-Term Care Community Coalition, which identified the LTCFs involved in the "Safe Staffing" lawsuit. We first tested for differences in reported 2019 staffing levels by lawsuit involvement. Second, we specified "Doubly Robust" regression models to test if lawsuit involvement was associated with differences in resident COVID-19 infections, COVID-19 deaths, and overall mortality. Results LTCFs involved in the lawsuit reported lower staff ratings and fewer staffing hours compared to LTCFs not involved in the lawsuit. Despite finding higher rates of admissions with COVID-19 in LTCFs involved in the lawsuit, we did not find that COVID-19 infections, COVID-19 deaths, or overall mortality differed by lawsuit involvement. Discussion and Implications LTCFs involved in the lawsuit were deemed by policymakers as reducing staff, earning excess profits, and placing residents at risk. While these LTCFs reported lower staffing levels, we observed no differences in resident outcomes during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers and policymakers should develop more nuanced perspectives concerning the relationship among LTCF staffing, outcomes, and organizational profitability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the adoption of some key regulatory requirements at the European level, by the member states of the European Union (EU), including and the Republic of Bulgaria, new competencies related to sustainable development are required. Auditors, as well as their clients, must integrate these innovations into their activities, but also the oversightl bodies to observe, and regulate these changes. Global issues (social, environmental, human rights) directly affect to the financial reporting. The general reason is the information that is submitted to the annual financial statements of each company. In this line, every certified public accountant is obliged to include additional expertise in the field of ecology, sociology and others, according to the specifics of the audited company's activity. A significant problem is the current lack of methodological guidelines to auditors. Although there are standards developed by the EU, this is not enough. The even more serious challenge facing the auditing community is the lack of control and oversight of policies related to environmental, social and governance factors. This fact gives grounds for the realization of mistakes and frauds, which could be with direct or indirect intent. In addition, the lack of methodology for control and oversight by public authorities indicates the formalization of the implementation of these policies. A demotivating event is the lack of regulated market prices related to sustainability audits and environmental, social and management factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 'right to be forgotten' fully contributes to shaping the kind of digital environment that the EU is trying to build. By requiring intermediaries such as search engine operators to determine whether to take down flagged content considering European standards, the EU has created a 'new-school speech regulation' tool, which operates synergistically with the Digital Services Act. Therefore, instead of revisiting debates on the right's merits, the paper intends to shed light on an aspect overlooked by the legal literature: how the right is concretely enforced against search engine operators and social network companies. Such an investigation will illuminate the issues the EU faces in overseeing intermediaries' speech regulating activities. The EU must address two main challenges: achieving effective and consistent enforcement across the EU and overcoming new issues due to the lack of judicial courts' involvement when the right is applied in defamation cases. Those challenges directly impact the relationship between the EU and the Member States, placing Data Protection Authorities in a delicate position. Harmonising the enforcement of the right to be forgotten is nevertheless crucial. With its implementation, the EU tackles critical issues: ensuring that States retain control over how speech is regulated rather than ceding regulatory authority to private entities and creating a distinctive online environment to foster European integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dissection of human body donors is a valuable part of anatomical education, research, and clinical training. In the United States, deceased human bodies are predominantly sourced through whole‐body donation programs (BDPs) housed by academic institutions. Due to the lack of information regarding BDPs, the aim of this study was to gather information from US BDPs through a survey to better understand the donation process and standard operating procedures of these programs. In 2021, a Qualtrics survey was distributed to 125 BDPs and yielded responses from 72 program leaders. Collectively, these programs received more than 26,000 whole‐body donations annually. Findings show that 70% typically receive enough donations to fit the needs of their institutions, 17% receive a surplus of donations, and 13% receive too few donations. Sixty‐eight percent of programs permit next of kin body donation regularly or in times of need, and 44% allow next of kin to make changes to a donor's donation form after death. On average, over 85% of the registered donor population is composed of white individuals, and only 6 institutions have methods in place to promote diversity among their donor population. Overall, there is considerable variability in the operation of BDPs across the United States. These findings can be used to make recommendations about donor enrollment and program operations to ultimately improve the donation process. Future research needs to investigate the opinions and preferences of body donors along with their next of kin on the body donation process and associated policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Anbar University for Law & Political Sciences is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This contemporary comment examines School Community Safety Orders (SCSOs). Introduced in 2022, these provisions permit principals in the Australian state of Victoria to ban adults from school premises and events in response to concerns about the risk of violent, threatening or abusive behaviour, and/or other perceived disruptive acts. SCSOs have only been active for a short time, and there is currently limited information regarding their use. Following an examination of the legislation, this paper discusses a number of operational and procedural concerns. These include the subjective framing of behaviours that may lead to an SCSO, the ways in which SCSOs are imposed and the absence of provision/s to prevent their misuse or abuse. The paper draws attention to the lack of clear protocols and safeguards to ensure the appropriate and proportionate use of SCSOs, advocates for consistent and transparent monitoring—to understand how many are issued, to whom and for what reasons—and asks whether the provisions adequately address concerns regarding safety in schools. More broadly, the provisions are also situated and discussed within the wider context of risk-based criminalisation—including the increasing use of pre-emption and privatisation/civilianisation—and the issues to which these developments can give rise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accountability is considered a cornerstone of public administration and good governance. This study characterizes the relationship between the Dutch Intelligence and Secret Service (“AIVD”) and citizens (represented by parliament, courts, and oversight boards) as a complex actor-forum relationship. We utilize different accountability principles of public administration found in international and Dutch instruments and academic literature to propose workable principles of accountability for the AIVD. These proposed principles of accountability can be summarized as acting within duty, explainability, necessity, proportionality, reporting and record keeping, redress, and continuous independent oversight. Similarly, there are some conditions to support the workability of accountability principles. These conditions may be characterized as productive actor-forum relationships, cooperation, flexibility, value alignment, and learning and improving opportunities.

the paper analyzed the challenges facing Lagos State Public Procurement Agency in the implementation of procurement law. The paper adopted both the primary and secondary sources of data; data were collected through administration of questionnaires on the identified respondents. The study population of workers in the selected ministries, agency, contractors, and civil society organization consisted of 1398. A proportionate random sampling technique was used in selecting a sample size of 210 respondents representing 15% of the study population. Secondary data were obtained from books, academic journal official documents of LSPPA, and internet. Data collected were analyzed with the use of percentage, frequency, and mean. The result of the study revealed that the challenges facing Lagos State Public Procurement Agency; namely: poor ethical standard (58.9%, x̅ =2.5), shortage of manpower (72.2%, x̅ =2.1), and delay in the adjudication of contract malpractices (65.8%, x̅=2.1) were largely insubstantial challenges facing LSPPA in the implementation of public procurement law of the state amongst the ten acknowledged challenges. On the other hand, the paper further shown the challenges that were largely substantial for the LSPPA in the implementation of public procurement law in the state; such as: interference from political office holders (67.4, x̅=2.9), poor ethical standard (63.9%, x̅=2.6), delay in the release of appropriated budget (57.4%, x̅=2.7), political will and commitment to prosecute offenders (54.5, x̅=2.7), sharp practices in the award of contract (65.8%, x̅=2.8), politicized civil society organization (78.2%, x̅ =3.0), and submission of procurement plan (60.9%, x̅=2.8) substantially hampers LSPPA in the quest to achieve efficiency, probity, openness, value for money, accountability, and fair pricing amongst others. The study therefore, concludes that the challenges facing LSPPA, Lagos State Public Procurement Agency in the implementation of public procurement law in the state is largely substantial, and decelerates the policy objective targets of procurement law of the State. It was further evident from seven claims confirmation as against three claims that negated it respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What patterns of behavior can we observe among the leading figures of US congressional intelligence committees' Russia inquiries? We argue that current typologies to study the roles of legislators in intelligence oversight do not fully capture the impact of partisanship on overseers' behavior. Revisiting Loch Johnson's typology of 'role definitions' to account for the behaviour of these legislators, we define four types of congressional investigators to understand how partisanship affected legislators' behavior during the congressional investigations on Russian interference. We conclude by showing how our role definitions could be used to study congressional intelligence oversight on other high-profile issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political economists have long acknowledged the importance of funded pensions acting as catalysts for processes of financialization. The transformation from rule- to risk-based pension fund governance is particularly important for pension financialization. Risk-based governance involves monitoring of internal decision-making procedures by new professionals rather than compliance with highly detailed legal restrictions. Scholars of financial regulation have termed this kind of supervision 'regulation from the inside'. Being part of the organization they monitor, internal regulators hold fundamentally ambivalent positions. Existing studies emphasize the duality of internal regulators' role perceptions as well as their attempts to span the boundaries between themselves and other organizational actors. In this paper, we extend scholarly insights on risk-based supervision of private (non-)financial institutions to pension institutions by focusing on a peculiar form of 'regulation from the inside': so-called internal supervisors in Dutch occupational pension funds. Internal supervisors are pension fund functionaries, responsible for evaluating the governing board's performance and holding the board accountable. We report findings from an original survey and interview study among internal supervisors. Contrary to the formal requirement of independence between governing board and internal supervision (a 'checks and balances' perspective), we find that internal supervisors often adopt a 'fusion of powers' approach that emphasizes collaboration with the governing board. We attribute this finding not only to internal supervision's institutional design but also to the highly networked character of Dutch pension governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Users of sociotechnical systems often have no way to independently verify whether the system output which they use to make decisions is correct; they are epistemically dependent on the system. We argue that this leads to problems when the system is wrong, namely to bad decisions and violations of the norm of practical reasoning. To prevent this from occurring we suggest the implementation of defeaters: information that a system is unreliable in a specific case (undercutting defeat) or independent information that the output is wrong (rebutting defeat). Practically, we suggest to design defeaters based on the different ways in which a system might produce erroneous outputs, and analyse this suggestion with a case study of the risk classification algorithm used by the Dutch tax agency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parliaments and legislatures are central institutions in political systems to provide legitimacy. In crisis situations, that currently seem to abound, parliaments have been diagnosed as side-stepped, fitting into a broader trend of legislative decline. Based on a fundamental discussion about what parliaments and crises are and how best to study them, it becomes clear that three relationships must be considered: First, what role parliaments in crisis situations play, second, how crises are dealt with in parliaments and third, whether this can lead to a crisis of parliaments. The article lays the conceptual groundwork for future academic study of these issues and highlights the need to identify the determinants of variety. This can help for a better understanding of parliaments in the political system and help to make institutions resilient for future crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Arab Journal for Archives, Documentation & Information (AJADI) is the property of Temimi Foundation for Scientific Research & Information and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The South African Schools Act, No. 84 of 1996 (RSA, 1996) heralded a shift in decision-making powers through decentralising school governance from the state to local communities. One of the primary functions of school governing bodies (SGBs) is to manage school finances. It is imperative for SGBs to design and implement irrefutable finance policies that clearly and unambiguously spell out specific structures and processes by applying relevant legislation and regulations enforced by the Ministry of Education. Using a generic qualitative approach within an interpretivist paradigm, this paper accentuates the oversight functions of SGBs to manage budgets effectively and efficiently. This research was grounded in a social constructivist paradigm and data were collected by way of semi-structured interviews and document analysis. Findings revealed that many SGBs place very little importance on the oversight functions of budgets which usually result in the mismanagement of school funds. This is reflected in poor finance policy formulation and implementation, and the absence of operational mechanisms (e.g. budget variance analysis) to curb wasteful and fruitless expenditure. Furthermore, challenges associated with the non-compliance of a finance policy and the failure of SGBs to take timely corrective action exasperate the problems of poor financial management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The public health measures implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in a substantially increased shared reliance on private infrastructure and digital services in areas such as healthcare, education, retail, and the workplace. This development has (i) granted a number of private actors significant (informational) power, and (ii) given rise to a range of digital surveillance practices incidental to the pandemic itself. In this paper, we reflect on these secondary consequences of the pandemic and observe that, even though collateral data disclosure and additional activity monitoring appears to have been generally socially accepted as inevitable consequences of the pandemic, part and parcel of a larger conglomeration of emergency compromises, these increased surveillance practices were not directly justified by appeals to solidarity and public health in the same way that the instigating public health measures were. Based on this observation, and given the increased reliance on private actors for maintaining the digital space, we argue that governments have a duty to (i) seek and ensure that there are justifications for collateral data disclosure and activity monitoring by private actors in the context of (future) public health emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic, and (ii) regulate and provide accountability mechanisms for and oversight over these private surveillance practices on par with governmental essential services that engage in surveillance activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A parliamentary committee of inquiry (PCI) is one of the tools with which a parliament carries out its oversight function. It enables the parliament to conduct in-depth investigations of particular issues, uncover failures and corruption, and increase accountability and transparency of the government. Surprisingly, despite its value, the PCI has received little scholarly attention. This research focuses on PCIs in Israel’s parliament (the Knesset) from an institutional perspective. Our analysis – which draws on studies on parliamentary committees in general and on cross-national and other single-country studies on PCIs – highlights the institutional weaknesses of PCIs in Israel; yet at the same time, it shows how even weak PCIs can leave a mark if their limited powers are used skilfully. Based on our findings, we propose an institutional framework to evaluate the PCI as a parliamentary oversight tool that can be developed in future studies and other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is the first to show that gender shapes the degree to which legislators use formal mechanisms to oversee government activities. Extensive scholarly work has analysed the use of oversight instruments, especially regarding who monitors whom. Whether, how, and why the conformity of men and women with institutional roles differs, has not yet received scholarly attention. We hypothesise that women become more active than men in overseeing the executive when in opposition while reducing their monitoring activities even more strongly than men when in government because of different social roles ascribed to men and women as well as differences in risk aversity between sexes. We analyse panel data for three oversight tools from the German Bundestag between 1949 and 2013 to test this proposition. Our findings imply that characteristics of political actors influence even a strongly institutionalised process as oversight and further clarify the gender bias in political representation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The study aims to explore the effectiveness of audit committee features, such as the total members, meeting frequency, financial competence, and independence, as a determinant of asymmetric information with audit quality as moderating. Design/Method/Approach: We employed a regression model with panel data, analyzing 260 firm-year observations for entities whose shares traded on the Indonesia Stock Market from 2017 to 2021, all of which fall under the category of public interest entities. Findings: Our examination uncovered meeting frequency was statistically significant in reducing asymmetric information, and audit quality enhanced the interrelation of the meeting frequency, reducing asymmetric information. In contrast, our examination could not uncover any correlation between the total members, financial competence, and independence with asymmetric information. In addition, the study demonstrated no relationship between audit quality enhancing correlation between the total members, financial competence, and independence to mitigate asymmetric information. Theoretical Implications: The study supports agency and asymmetric information theories by demonstrating the significant role of oversight through frequent meetings in mitigating conflicts between agents and principals. This academic support enriches the existing literature and provides valuable insights for future research in the field. Practical Implications: Our findings suggest that the regular occurrence of dialogue between audit committees and management needs to be increased to provide better oversight and ultimately improve organizational performance, benefiting stakeholders and the board. Finally, our study implies the current regulations in Indonesia have not succeeded in encouraging the efficacy of audit committee monitoring through other features of audit committees as mandated by Indonesian regulation. Hence, regulatory breakthroughs by policymakers are essential to foster the performance of audit committees. Originality/Value: Our study provides a novel perspective on how audit committee features influence asymmetric information by providing insights by investigating the involvement of audit quality as a moderating factor. Research Limitations/Future Research: While our study may be limited in its applicability due to the constrained data sourced from the Indonesian Stock Market, the potential insufficiency of proxy variables in apprising audit committee efficacy, and the restricted use of control variables, addressing these constraints should be a focus of future studies to achieve a more comprehensive understanding

The article discusses the implementation of governmental oversight for enhanced potential pandemic pathogen (ePPP) research. The authors respond to a commentary that opposes the recommendations of the US National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) to strengthen oversight of ePPP research. They argue that the claim of a negative impact on US research and competitiveness is false, as ePPP research represents a small percentage of biomedical and virology research. The authors also refute the examples given by the commentary, stating that neither measles nor cytomegalovirus vaccine development involves constructing ePPPs. They emphasize the importance of implementing the NSABB recommendations to prevent future pandemics. [Extracted from the article]