Obstacles and disaster risk reduction: Survey of Memphis organizations

Accepted VersionThe disaster management literature is replete with surveys at the community and household levels. However, few exist at the organizational level. This study attempts to fill this void by examining the effect of organizational obstacles on disaster risk reduction. The data come from a survey of 227 organizations in Memphis, Tennessee. This study investigates three obstacles to disaster risk reduction: lack of organizational support, lack of information, and lack of financial resources. The findings show that organizations are more likely to engage in low-effort activities indirectly related to risk reduction and are less likely to engage in high-effort activities directly related to risk reduction. The most important obstacle is lack of information about the frequency of disasters, magnitude of disasters, or organizational benefits of reducing disaster risks. Lack of financial resources and lack of organizational support are sometimes positively associated with risk-reducing activities, suggesting that, when organizations engage in risk-reducing activities, some obstacles become more apparent. The study concludes with implications, limitations, and future research strategies.National Science Foundatio

The Advocacy Coalition Framework: Lessons from Applications in African Countries

Although the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) emerged in Western democratic contexts, scholars increasingly apply it in other parts of the world to analyze diverse policy topics. These cross-country comparisons have provided a means for advancing comparative research, drawing lessons about policy processes, and offering opportunities to refine the framework. In this paper, we provide an overview of the ACF and its use as an analytical tool for comparative research. Through a systematic literature review, we identified 27 applications in 15 African countries, including democracies, authoritarian governments, and hybrid systems. Based on these applications published in peer-reviewed journals, we explore this illustrated collection of case studies to see how the ACF has been applied outside of Western democracies and to identify strengths and weaknesses of the ACF as a portable framework. These applications confirm the basic postulations of the ACF, but we also identify a few nuances and expectations. Based on these insights, we finally lay out a research agenda and a new generation of questions for applying the ACF in the African context as well as globally.Während das Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) in westlich-demokratischen Kontexten entstanden ist, wird es von Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftlern zunehmend in anderen Teilen der Welt angewandt. Diese länderübergreifenden Analysen haben es ermöglicht, die vergleichende Forschung voranzutreiben, Erkenntnisse über diverse politische Prozesse und Themen zu gewinnen und den analytischen Rahmen des ACF zu verfeinern. In diesem Papier geben wir einen Überblick über das ACF und seine Verwendung als Analyseinstrument für die vergleichende Forschung. Durch eine systematische Literaturrecherche haben wir 27 Anwendungen in 15 afrikanischen Ländern identifiziert, darunter Demokratien, autoritäre und hybride Systeme. Auf der Grundlage dieser in Fachzeitschriften veröffentlichten Anwendungen untersuchen wir – in Form einer illustrierten Sammlung von Fallstudien – wie das ACF außerhalb westlicher Demokratien angewandt wurde, und ermitteln dabei Stärken und Schwächen des ACF. Die 27 untersuchten Fallstudien bestätigen die grundlegenden Postulate des ACF, aber wir zeigen auch einige Nuancen auf. Auf der Grundlage dieser Erkenntnisse entwerfen wir schließlich eine Forschungsagenda und eine neue Generation von Fragen für die Anwendung des ACF im afrikanischen und weltweiten Kontext

Connecting Cognitive and Behavioral Characteristics of Policy Conflict in Oil and Gas Politics

The essence of policy conflicts remains largely underdeveloped, both theoretically and empirically. We explore policy conflict and explain its cognitive and behavioral characteristics using data from a survey administered to policy actors involved in oil and gas politics in Colorado, USA. The analysis begins with a description of the cognitive and behavioral characteristics of policy actors and then combines them into a single index to depict varying intensities of conflict. Cognitive characteristics are comprised of three dimensions: disagreement on public policy, perceived threats from opponents, and an unwillingness to compromise. Behavioral characteristics include engagement by policy actors in a range of activities, from mobilizing opponents to providing information to the media. Ordered Logit models are used to associate the attributes of policy actors with cognitive and behavioral characteristics and an index of conflict intensity that combines these two characteristics. The conclusion offers questions and recommendations for future research

¿Tormenta en un vaso de agua? Hacia nuevas colaboraciones entre los enfoques convencionales de estudios de los procesos de política pública y los enfoques interpretativos de política pública

Una “tormenta en un vaso de agua” es una expresión para referirse a un problema al que se le ha dado una dimensión desproporcionada. Precisamente así vemos la supuesta división entre dos tradiciones de investigación: el estudio convencional sobre procesos de política pública y el análisis interpretativo de la política pública. En este texto exploramos ambas tradiciones de investigación, comparando y contrastando sus puntos de vista sobre la definición y los procesos de política pública, usos de teorías y perspectivas de investigación. Nuestro objetivo no es unificar las dos tradiciones o desestimar puntos clave del debate entre ellas. En cambio, proponemos estrategias para desarrollar colaboraciones más productivas, incluyendo la investigación paralela o lado a lado, la investigación integradora, la profundización en discusiones constructivas sobre técnicas de investigación y la investigación aplicada

Policy Analytical Capacity Inside and Outside of Government: A Case Study of Colorado Climate and Energy Issues

This paper examines the policy analytical capacity of government compared to the non-profit and private sectors and to the research/academic community. Based on original data from a 2011 questionnaire administered to policy actors in the context of energy and climate issues in the state of Colorado, the findings show that government is not as “hollowed out” as expected. While individuals from academia and consulting firms may have higher analytical capacity than government in conducting research, government is higher across most other measures. Nonetheless, nearly all respondents agree that government needs higher levels of policy analytical capacity to address climate and energy issues

Policy Analytical Capacity and Policy Activities

The study of policy process involves the study of policy actors - people involved in the development of public policy in a particular geographic area. This paper investigates policy actors in the context of Colorado climate and energy issues with a particular emphasis on the types and levels of their engagement in policy activities. The conceptual framework guiding this study centers on policy analytical capacity, the ability to acquire and use information in the policy process. High policy analytical capacity is expected to be associated with high levels, and more diverse kinds, of policy activities. The findings partly confirm the expectations. Actors from government and the non-profit sector report the highest policy analytical capacity and highest and most diverse range of policy activities. However, researchers, despite relatively high levels of policy analytical capacity, report involvement in just a few activities beyond conducting research. Actors with strong educational backgrounds in the physical sciences are more likely to be involved in conducting research whereas those with strong backgrounds in the social sciences are more likely to be involved in evaluating and appraising policies and working with the public. The conclusion contextualizes the findings by focusing on the relationship between technical and scientific complexity of climate and energy issues and the necessity for participating actors to possess high levels of policy analytical capacity

Policy Analytical Capacity and Policy Activities

Abstract. The study of policy process involves the study of policy actors -people involved in the development of public policy in a particular geographic area. This paper investigates policy actors in the context of Colorado climate and energy issues with a particular emphasis on the types and levels of their engagement in policy activities. The conceptual framework guiding this study centers on policy analytical capacity, the ability to acquire and use information in the policy process. High policy analytical capacity is expected to be associated with high levels, and more diverse kinds, of policy activities. The findings partly confirm the expectations. Actors from government and the non-profit sector report the highest policy analytical capacity and highest and most diverse range of policy activities. However, researchers, despite relatively high levels of policy analytical capacity, report involvement in just a few activities beyond conducting research. Actors with strong educational backgrounds in the physical sciences are more likely to be involved in conducting research whereas those with strong backgrounds in the social sciences are more likely to be involved in evaluating and appraising policies and working with the public. The conclusion contextualizes the findings by focusing on the relationship between technical and scientific complexity of climate and energy issues and the necessity for participating actors to possess high levels of policy analytical capacity. Keywords. Information processing, expert-based information, climate change, policy processes Résumé. L'étude du processus de politiques publiques implique l'étude des acteurs de politiques publiques -les personnes impliquées dans le développement de politiques publiques dans une aire géographique donnée. Cet article analyse les acteurs de politiques publiques dans le contexte des questions de climat et d'énergie du Colorado, en mettant l'accent sur les types et les niveaux de leur implication dans des activités de politiques publiques. Le cadre conceptuel qui oriente cette étude est centré sur la capacité d'élaboration des politiques publiques, l'aptitude acquérir et à utiliser des informations dans le processus de politiques publiques. Une capacité analytique élevée des politiques publiques devrait hypothétiquement être associée avec des niveaux élevés ainsi que des formes plus variées d'activités de politiques publiques. Les résultats confirment en partie cette hypothèse. Les acteurs du gouvernement et du secteur à but non-lucratif signalent la capacité analytique d'élaboration de politiques publiques la plus élevée, et le registre le plus pointu et varié d'activités de politiques publiques. Cependant, les chercheurs, en dépit d'une capacité analytique d'élaboration de politiques publiques relativement élevée, signalent une implication dans seulement quelques activités, au-delà de la conduite de leurs recherches. Les acteurs avec un bagage éducatif solide en sciences physiques ont plus de chances d'être impliqués dans de la recherche, tandis que ceux dont le bagage est en sciences sociales ont plus de chances d'être impliqués dans l'évaluation des politiques publiques et de travailler avec le public. La conclusion de cet article contextualise les résultats en se penchant sur la relation entre, d'une part, la complexité technique et scientifique des questions de climat et d'énergie et, d'autre part, la nécessité pour les acteurs engagés de posséder des niveaux élevés de capacité analytique de politiques publiques. Mots clefs. Traitement d'information, information fondée sur l'expertise, changement climatique, processus de politiques publique

Policy learning and policy change: Theorizing their relations from different perspectives

All politics and policy issues involve the accumulation of data about problems and solutions in context of social interactions

The Lantern Vol. 49, No. 2, Spring 1983

• Time • The Lantern, 1933-1983 • The Battle • Lady Number 9 • That First Night • Wavering • If I Dared • The Hack • The Beauty of a Rose • H2O • The Island • Library • Unicorns • Prisoner of Myrin • How The Universe Was Won • On Success • I, The Poethttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/lantern/1122/thumbnail.jp