Sample records for political reforms lead

  1. Despite the Odds: The Contentious Politics of Education Reform

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Grindle, Merilee S.

    2004-01-01

    "Despite the Odds" poses an important question: How can we account for successful policy reform initiatives when the political cards are stacked against change? Theories of politics usually predict that reform initiatives will be unsuccessful when powerful groups are opposed to change and institutions are biased against it. This book,…

  2. The politics of health reform: why do bad things happen to good plans?

    PubMed

    Oberlander, Jonathan

    2003-01-01

    This paper examines political feasibility and its implications for health reform. I discuss the political obstacles to health reform in the United States, disentangling perennial barriers from contemporary constraints. I then explore major reform options and their political prospects. I argue that while incremental reform now appears to be the most feasible option, the political climate may change in a way that permits a bolder vision. Moreover, incremental reform may not be sustainable in the long run, for the same reason that makes it politically popular now: It does not change the status quo in the health system.

  3. Teaching American Politics through Student Projects: Electoral Reform Issues and Political Change.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Alper, Donald K.; Hogan, Eugene

    1979-01-01

    Describes two projects which involve college students in political science courses on American politics in doing research and giving class reports on proposals for reforming the electoral college and the electoral process. Findings indicate that students participating in the projects become more aware of political realities and learn how to use…

  4. Educational Reform: The Players and the Politics.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Farkas, Steve

    Substantive arguments on school reform may be disguising a hidden debate over the process and politics of such reform--a debate over who should be responsible for educating our youth, the parties responsible for the current difficulties, and how severe these difficulties are. This document attempts to identify the attitudes that drive this hidden…

  5. Health Reform Redux: Learning From Experience and Politics

    PubMed Central

    2009-01-01

    The 2008 presidential campaign season featured health care reform proposals. I discuss 3 approaches to health care reform and the tools for bringing about reform, such as insurance market reforms, tax credits, subsidies, individual and employer mandates, and public program expansions. I also discuss the politics of past and current health care reform efforts. Market-based reforms and mandates have been less successful than public program expansions at expanding coverage and controlling costs. New divisions among special interest groups increase the likelihood that reform efforts will succeed. Federal support for state efforts may be necessary to achieve national health care reform. History suggests that state-level success precedes national reform. History also suggests that an organized social movement for reform is necessary to overcome opposition from special interest groups. PMID:19299668

  6. The politics of local hospital reform: a case study of hospital reorganization following the 2002 Norwegian hospital reform.

    PubMed

    Tjerbo, Trond

    2009-11-20

    The Norwegian hospital reform of 2002 was an attempt to make restructuring of hospitals easier by removing politicians from the decision-making processes. To facilitate changes seen as necessary but politically difficult, the central state took over ownership of the hospitals and stripped the county politicians of what had been their main responsibility for decades. This meant that decisions regarding hospital structure and organization were now being taken by professional administrators and not by politically elected representatives. The question raised here is whether this has had any effect on the speed of restructuring of the hospital sector. The empirical part is a case study of the restructuring process in Innlandet Hospital Trust (IHT), which was one of the largest enterprise established after the hospital reform and where the vision for restructuring was clearly set. Different sources of qualitative data are used in the analysis. These include interviews with key actors, observational data and document studies. The analysis demonstrates how the new professional leaders at first acted in accordance with the intentions of the hospital reform, but soon chose to avoid the more ambitious plans for restructuring the hospital structure and in fact reintroduced local politics into the decision-making process. The analysis further illustrates how local networks and engagement of political representatives from all levels of government complicated the decision-making process surrounding local structural reforms. Local political representatives teamed up with other actors and created powerful networks. At the same time, national politicians had incentives to involve themselves in the processes as supporters of the status quo. Because of the incentives that faced political actors and the controversial nature of major hospital reforms, the removal of local politicians and the centralization of ownership did not necessarily facilitate reforms in the hospital structure

  7. The politics of local hospital reform: a case study of hospital reorganization following the 2002 Norwegian hospital reform

    PubMed Central

    2009-01-01

    Background The Norwegian hospital reform of 2002 was an attempt to make restructuring of hospitals easier by removing politicians from the decision-making processes. To facilitate changes seen as necessary but politically difficult, the central state took over ownership of the hospitals and stripped the county politicians of what had been their main responsibility for decades. This meant that decisions regarding hospital structure and organization were now being taken by professional administrators and not by politically elected representatives. The question raised here is whether this has had any effect on the speed of restructuring of the hospital sector. Method The empirical part is a case study of the restructuring process in Innlandet Hospital Trust (IHT), which was one of the largest enterprise established after the hospital reform and where the vision for restructuring was clearly set. Different sources of qualitative data are used in the analysis. These include interviews with key actors, observational data and document studies. Results The analysis demonstrates how the new professional leaders at first acted in accordance with the intentions of the hospital reform, but soon chose to avoid the more ambitious plans for restructuring the hospital structure and in fact reintroduced local politics into the decision-making process. The analysis further illustrates how local networks and engagement of political representatives from all levels of government complicated the decision-making process surrounding local structural reforms. Local political representatives teamed up with other actors and created powerful networks. At the same time, national politicians had incentives to involve themselves in the processes as supporters of the status quo. Conclusion Because of the incentives that faced political actors and the controversial nature of major hospital reforms, the removal of local politicians and the centralization of ownership did not necessarily facilitate

  8. A network approach for researching political feasibility of healthcare reform: the case of universal healthcare system in Taiwan.

    PubMed

    Wang, Guang-Xu

    2012-12-01

    This study evaluates the political feasibility of healthcare reform taking place in Taiwan in the past decade. Since Taiwan adopted National Health Insurance (NHI) in 1995, it has provided coverage for virtually all of the island's citizens. However, the imbalance between expenditure and revenue has resulted in a cycle of unsustainable spending which has necessitated financial reforms and political confrontations. By applying social network analysis, this paper examines multiple types of ties between policy elites and power distribution that have evolved in crucial policy events of the NHI's financial reforms between 1998 and 2010. Data sources include official documents and 62 social network interviews that were held with government officials and related unofficial policy participants. Blockmodeling and multidimensional scaling (MDS) are used to determine the major participants and network structures in the NHI domain, as well as the influential policy actors, based on information transmission, resource exchange, reputation attribution and action-set coalition networks in Taiwan's current political situation. The results show that although both public actors and all medical associations are the leading actors in the NHI reform, without good communication with societal actors, the promotion of reform proposals ends in failure. As a tool of political feasibility evaluation, social network analysis can map the political conflict between policy stakeholders systematically when policy makers pursue the result of policy adoption. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Power and process: The politics of electricity sector reform in Uganda

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gore, Christopher David

    In 2007, Uganda had one of the lowest levels of access to electricity in the world. Given the influence of multilateral and bilateral agencies in Uganda; the strong international reputation and domestic influence of its President; the country's historic achievements in public sector and economic reform; and the intimate connection between economic performance, social well-being and access to electricity, the problems with Uganda's electricity sector have proven deeply frustrating and, indeed, puzzling. Following increased scholarly attention to the relationship between political change, policymaking, and public sector reform in sub-Saharan Africa and the developing world generally, this thesis examines the multilevel politics of Uganda's electricity sector reform process. This study contends that explanations for Uganda's electricity sector reform problems generally, and hydroelectric dam construction efforts specifically, must move beyond technical and financial factors. Problems in this sector have also been the result of a model of reform (promoted by the World Bank) that failed adequately to account for the character of political change. Indeed, the model of reform that was promoted and implemented was risky and it was deeply antagonistic to domestic and international civil society organizations. In addition, it was presented as a linear, technical, apolitical exercise. Finally the model was inconsistent with key principles the Bank itself, and public policy literature generally, suggest are needed for success. Based on this analysis, the thesis contends that policymaking and reform must be understood as deeply political processes, which not only define access to services, but also participation in, and exclusion from, national debates. Future approaches to reform and policymaking must anticipate the complex, multilevel, non-linear character of 'second-generation' policy issues like electricity, and the political and institutional capacity needed to increase

  10. The Political Context of School Finance Reform

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rossmiller, Richard A.; Geske, Terry G.

    1976-01-01

    Reports the results of a case study of the political decision-making process in Wisconsin through which control over educational finance reform was exercised between January, 1972, and August, 1973. (Author)

  11. Reform and Non-Reform in Education: The Political Costs and Benefits of Reform Policies in France and Japan.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Weiler, Hans N.; Miyake, Eriko

    This paper examines how the perception and anticipation of political costs and benefits affects decisions about whether and how plans for educational reforms are to be pursued. Two case studies of major educational reform attempts are described: France and Japan. The study analyzes the two societies' underlying dilemmas, which manifest themselves…

  12. Beyond Incrementalism? SCHIP and the politics of health reform.

    PubMed

    Oberlander, Jonathan B; Lyons, Barbara

    2009-01-01

    When Congress enacted the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) in 1997, it was heralded as a model of bipartisan, incremental health policy. However, despite the program's achievements in the ensuing decade, SCHIP's reauthorization triggered political conflict, and efforts to expand the program stalemated in 2007. The 2008 elections broke that stalemate, and in 2009 the new Congress passed, and President Barack Obama signed, legislation reauthorizing SCHIP. Now that attention is turning to comprehensive health reform, what lessons can reformers learn from SCHIP's political adventures?

  13. The Politics of Teacher Education Reform. The National Commission on Teaching and America's Future. Yearbook of the Politics of Education Association. [Volume 13].

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gallagher, Karen Symms, Ed.; Bailey, Jerry D., Ed.

    This book contains a collection of papers on the politics of teacher education reform. The book begins with "Introduction to the Politics of Teacher Preparation Reform" (Karen Symms Gallagher and Jerry D. Bailey). Part 1, "Issues From the National Arena," includes "The Politics of Teacher Education Reform: Strategic…

  14. Education, Politics and the Reform of Local Government

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bogdanor, Vernon

    1976-01-01

    This article discusses the relationship between politics and education in the light of the recent reform of local government in England. Three topics are examined: 1) efficiency and the size of the local education authorities; 2) party politics in local government; and 3) local administration of education vs. administration by a central…

  15. Americans' political participation in the 1993-94 national health care reform debate.

    PubMed

    Brodie, M

    1996-01-01

    The health politics and policy communities are still struggling with the question of "what went wrong" in the 1993-94 health care reform effort. Here I identify which Americans were politically active and inactive during the health care reform debate to explore the role political participation may have had in determining the outcome of the debate. Using data from a national and California random-sample telephone surveys, and controlling for other demographic attributes, I found that those who engaged in political activity specifically related to health care reform were disproportionately more likely to be self-identified conservatives, less likely to favor an employer mandate plan, more likely to be fifty to sixty-four years old, more likely to be men, and more likely to have greater interest in and knowledge of the health care issue. Even in California, where a single-payer proposal was on the November ballot, self-identified liberals were no more likely to engage in political activity on health care reform than were moderates or conservatives. I consider implications for the reform outcome given that liberals, the elderly, and those favoring the employer mandate proposal were all disproportionately "silent" during this debate, and finally I discuss the potential for mobilization during future debates.

  16. Electricity sector liberalization in the European Union: The political economy of regulatory reform

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Infante Durana, Maria Dolores

    This dissertation looks into the reasons that pushed European countries to liberalize their electricity industries. The analysis of the political process leading to that decision in the areas pioneers of regulatory reform in this sector (United Kingdom, Sweden and the European Commission) shows that the liberalization of the European power sectors does not conform to the traditional theoretical explanations for regulatory reform that put interests and industry-specific considerations at the forefront of the explanation. The central argument of this dissertation is that, contrary to what most of the literature assumes and the theories predict, the primary impetus for the reforms in European electricity sectors did not come from industrial or economic worries, but rather from a neo-liberal turn to the ideas shared by European intellectual and political elites. The reform followed a political spill-over process by which the liberalization policy was emulated and introduced as a direct result of the international and sectoral diffusion of the new "efficiency regime" and the belief in the economic superiority of free markets over any form of government intervention. As an idea-driven policy, liberalization was not always coherent with the stated goals and, with means and ends that were not always consistent with each other, the reforms were often hampered and their results ambiguous. Liberalization transformed energy policy priorities in member states by adding the promotion and development of market-based mechanisms to the previous two of ensuring that security of supply, was adequate and of achieving ambitious environmental targets. By adding economic efficiency (and its political corollary, low prices) to its policy goals, governments effectively rendered the realization of the other two goals all the more difficult. As a result, liberalization did not entail the expected government disengagement from the affairs of the industry. On the contrary, it became

  17. The Outlines of Political Theology in the Protestant Reformation.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cooper, John W.

    1982-01-01

    The ideas of Luther and Calvin challenged Catholicism and laid the foundation for the conventional American views on church-state relationships. Knowledge of the Protestant tradition in politics is a necessary requirement to an understanding of public life and of Western political culture since the Reformation. (RM)

  18. Prospective political analysis for policy design: enhancing the political viability of single-payer health reform in Vermont.

    PubMed

    Blanchet, Nathan J; Fox, Ashley M

    2013-06-01

    In 2011 the state of Vermont adopted legislation that aims to create the nation's first state-level single-payer health care system, a system that would go well beyond national reform efforts. To conduct a prospective, institutional stakeholder analysis to guide development of a politically viable, universal health care reform proposal, as commissioned by Vermont's legislature in July 2010. A total of 64 semi-structured stakeholder interviews with nearly 120 individuals, representing 60 different groups/institutions, were conducted between July and December 2010. Interviews probed stakeholders regarding five major design components: financing options, decoupling insurance from employment, organization/governance, comprehensiveness of benefits, and payment reform. There was a range of opposition and support across stakeholder groups and components, and more remarkably a diversity of views within groups often believed to be unwavering supporters or detractors of comprehensive health reform. Given the balance of conflicting views, relative power, and acceptable trade-offs, the research team proposed a single-payer health care system financed through payroll taxes, decoupled from employment, with a generous benefit package, governed by a public-private intermediary. Prospective political analysis can assist in choosing among a range of technically sound policy options to create a more politically viable health reform package. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. The politics of paying for health reform: zombies, payroll taxes, and the holy grail.

    PubMed

    Oberlander, Jonathan

    2008-01-01

    This paper analyzes the politics of paying for health care reform. It surveys the political strengths and weaknesses of major options to fund universal coverage and explores obstacles to changing how the United States finances health care. Finding a politically viable means to finance universal coverage remains a central barrier to enacting health reform.

  20. Bringing Home the Bacon: The Politics of Rural School Reform.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sher, Jonathan P.

    1983-01-01

    Self-interested political, corporate, and education leaders have undermined recent West Virginia court decisions mandating educational reform. Three implications are: (1) principals, teachers, parents, and students must be equal partners in the educaiton reform process; (2) a constituency for rural children is needed; and (3) rural educators must…

  1. Education Policy Reform in Sri Lanka: The Double-Edged Sword of Political Will

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Little, Angela W.

    2011-01-01

    In 1997, the Government of Sri Lanka launched a comprehensive set of education reforms designed to promote equitable access to basic education and improvements in learning outcomes. The package of reforms arose as a political response to widespread youth unrest in the late 1980s and attracted considerable "political will", a vague but…

  2. China Update: Economic Reforms and Political Realities.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Eaton, Jana Sackman

    1999-01-01

    Illustrates that China has been undergoing an unprecedented rapidity of change. Discusses the high unemployment rates, job markets, reform movements, differences in economic equality, the role of the National People's Congress, and the changing political climate. Reveals that freedom is subtly beginning to permeate the lives of Chinese citizens.…

  3. Education as Recovery: Neoliberalism, School Reform, and the Politics of Crisis

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Slater, Graham B.

    2015-01-01

    Building upon critical education policy studies of crisis, disaster, and reform, this essay develops a theory of "recovery" that further elaborates the nature and operation of "crisis politics" in neoliberal education reform. Recovery is an integral process in capital accumulation, exploiting material, and subjective…

  4. The Politics of Teacher Pay Reforms. Research Brief

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center on Performance Incentives, 2008

    2008-01-01

    In "The Politics of Teacher Pay Reforms"--a paper presented at the National Center on Performance Incentives research to policy conference in February--Dan Goldhaber, a research professor at the Center for Reinventing Public Education at the University of Washington and an affiliated scholar with the Urban Institute's Education Policy…

  5. Power, Politics, Democracy and Reform: A Historical Review of Curriculum Reform, Academia and Government in British Columbia, Canada, 1920 to 2000

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Broom, Catherine A.

    2016-01-01

    This paper explores the interrelations between power, politics, academia and curriculum reform in British Columbia (BC) using social studies curriculum documents as a case study. It describes how curriculum reform occurred and argues that reform was undemocratic as it was largely the product of individuals with power who invited individuals with…

  6. Gender Politics in 21st Century Literacy Reform

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bishop, Kay

    2013-01-01

    From 2001 to 2004 Education Queensland undertook significant literacy reform in schools through the Literate Futures Project. Research into the impact of this reform has revealed that significant demands were placed on women at all levels, from those producing resources to those leading change within schools. Although the reform was a government…

  7. Social security politics: ideology and reform.

    PubMed

    Svihula, Judie; Estes, Carroll L

    2007-03-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine the distribution of dominant values, actors, and ideological advocacy coalitions influencing the Social Security debate across two presidential administrations. Through content and cluster analyses, we analyzed federal legislative hearing testimonies on Social Security reform spanning 11 years. Witnesses consistently expressed six dominant values: (a) advancing the market, (b) self-interest, (c) generational equity, (d) belief in market activity, (e) recommendations for market solutions, and (f) favoring the replacement of Social Security with private accounts. We identified three advocacy coalitions: conservative, progressive, and nonaligned. Conservatives dominated the hearings and were more consistent in their expression of market values when compared to progressives, who expressed social contract values less frequently. Congressional Democrats were inconsistent in upholding Social Security's social contract values. The distribution of testimonies paralleled historical, political, and economic events. Our research indicates that one can interpret social policies as well as policy options as sets of values, and these as ideological models. We anticipate that the coherence on one political ideological view (market) and the relative lack of consistency in another (social contract) will be highly consequential for the future of Social Security, U.S. politics, and the public.

  8. Implementing health care reform in the United States: intergovernmental politics and the dilemmas of institutional design.

    PubMed

    Béland, Daniel; Rocco, Philip; Waddan, Alex

    2014-05-01

    The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was enacted, and continues to operate, under conditions of political polarization. In this article, we argue that the law's intergovernmental structure has amplified political conflict over its implementation by distributing governing authority to political actors at both levels of the American federal system. We review the ways in which the law's demands for institutional coordination between federal and state governments (and especially the role it preserves for governors and state legislatures) have created difficulties for rolling out health-insurance exchanges and expanding the Medicaid program. By way of contrast, we show how the institutional design of the ACA's regulatory reforms of the insurance market, which diminish the reform's political salience, has allowed for considerably less friction during the implementation process. This article thus highlights the implications of multi-level institutional designs for the post-enactment politics of major reforms. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Policy Capacity Meets Politics: Comment on "Health Reform Requires Policy Capacity".

    PubMed

    Fafard, Patrick

    2015-07-22

    It is difficult to disagree with the general argument that successful health reform requires a significant degree of policy capacity or that all players in the policy game need to move beyond self-interested advocacy. However, an overly broad definition of policy capacity is a problem. More important perhaps, health reform inevitably requires not just policy capacity but political leadership and compromise. © 2015 by Kerman University of Medical Sciences.

  10. Capitalising upon political opportunities to reform drug policy: a case study into the development of the Australian "Tough on Drugs-Illicit Drug Diversion Initiative".

    PubMed

    Hughes, Caitlin Elizabeth

    2009-09-01

    The introduction of political "war on drug" strategies and Prime Ministerial advisory groups increase opportunities for drug policy reform. Yet the strengths and limitations of capitalising upon political opportunities remain unclear. This paper provides a unique insight into the development of an Australian reform, the "Tough on Drugs-Illicit Drug Diversion Initiative." This reform was one of the major policies to emerge out of the Federal Coalition "Tough on Drugs" strategy. In spite of the rhetoric the Illicit Drug Diversion Initiative (IDDI) has diverted minor drug users away from the traditional criminal justice system. This paper draws upon interviews with 16 expert policy makers involved in the advocacy and negotiations leading up to the adoption of the IDDI to examine what drove the reform and how and why a pragmatic reform emerged. The IDDI culminated from the presence of five main drivers: a crisis in relation to heroin and crime, antagonism towards the government, a weak but growing evidence-base on the merits of drug diversion, a shift in law enforcement attitudes and persuasive advocacy by a group of non-government experts. This paper contends that the Prime Minister's new "Tough on Drugs" strategy and expanded governance arrangements created new space for policy actors to intervene in the policy formulation process and to convert the governments proposed "zero tolerance" response into a more humane and potentially effective response. This paper concludes that contrary to popular opinion political venues and politicisation may offer valuable opportunities for drug policy reform. The challenge for researchers and policy advocates is to see how they can best utilise political venues to obtain pragmatic reform.

  11. Political Reform and the Historical Trajectories of U.S. Social Movements in the Twentieth Century

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Amenta, Edwin; Caren, Neal; Stobaugh, James E.

    2012-01-01

    We propose a political reform theory, a political and historical institutionalist argument that holds that shifts in political structures, partisan regimes and policy greatly influence movements. We appraise this argument, along with resource mobilization, political opportunity and media alternatives, by analyzing 600,000 articles in the "New York…

  12. A Systems Approach to School Reform.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McAdams, Richard P.

    1997-01-01

    Summarizes leading scholars' findings in leadership theory, local politics and government, state and national school politics, and change theory. Integrating this knowledge into a systematic reform effort requires superintendents with integrity and vision; political stability; good board/superintendent relations; long-term, statewide commitment;…

  13. Reforming a University during Political Transformation: A Case Study of Yangon University in Myanmar

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Esson, James; Wang, Kevin

    2018-01-01

    Since 2010, Myanmar has been transitioning from an authoritarian military regime towards a parliamentary democracy. Several education policies have been launched as part of this political transformation process, including the reform of Myanmar's flagship higher education institution, Yangon University. This article investigates the reform of…

  14. Analysis & commentary. Health reform: only a cease-fire in a political hundred years' war.

    PubMed

    Miller, Thomas P

    2010-06-01

    Four dominant political forces drove the process and product of national health reform during the past two years: federal budget constraints; public concerns about the size and reach of the federal government; the time pressure of the congressional calendar; and the political parties' high-stakes, all-or-nothing bets on what became President Barack Obama's defining policy priority. Republican congressional leaders saw little advantage in offering more detailed alternatives. Congressional Democrats calculated that they had even more to lose politically by abandoning health reform legislation than by pushing it through Congress. This essay argues that passage of the legislation merely represents a cease-fire in a long-standing war and that more battles between forces for "implementation" and those for "repeal and replace" are to come.

  15. Public service or commodity goods? Electricity reforms, access, and the politics of development in Tanzania

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ghanadan, Rebecca Hansing

    Since the 1990s, power sector reforms have become paramount in energy policy, catalyzing a debate in Africa about market-based service provision and the effects of reforms on access. My research seeks to move beyond the conceptual divide by grounding attention not in abstract 'market forces' but rather in how development institutions shape energy services and actually practice policy on the ground. Using the case of Tanzania, a country known for having instituted some of the most extensive reforms and a 'success story' in Africa, I find that reforms are creating large burdens and barriers for access and use of services, including: increasing costs, enforcement pressures, and measures to impose 'market' discipline. However, I also find that many of the most significant outcomes are not found in direct 'market' changes, but rather how reforms are selective, partial, and shaped by the wider needs and claims of the institutions driving reforms, so that questions of how reforms are implemented, how they are measured, and who tells the story become as important as the policies themselves. Using a multiple-arenas framework, including (i) a household and community level study of urban energy conditions, (ii) a study of service and management conditions at the national electric utility, (iii) an examination of the international policy process, and (iv) a study of the history of electricity services across colonial, post-independence, and reform periods, I show that African energy reforms are a technical and political project connecting energy to international investments, donor aid programs, and elite interests within national governments. Energy reforms also involve fundamental service changes that are reorganizing how the costs and benefits of energy systems are distributed, allocated, and managed. The effects of reform extend beyond formal services to have wide-reaching repercussions within natural resources, and uneven social dynamics on the ground. These features point

  16. The Political Economy of Market-Based Educational Policies: Race and Reform in Urban School Districts, 1915 to 2016

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Scott, Janelle; Holme, Jennifer Jellison

    2016-01-01

    The authors situate the emergence and effects of contemporary market-based reforms within a framework of urban political economy that centers on racial inequality. They discuss how and why market-based reforms have evolved alongside racialized political and economic trends that have transformed cities over the past century, and they critically…

  17. Cultural Flashpoint: The Politics of Teacher Education Reform in Ireland

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Conway, Paul F.

    2013-01-01

    The publication of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009 (Cosgrove et al., 2010; Perkins et al., 2010) reading literacy results heralded a crisis of confidence in educational standards in Ireland. This article examines the national and international context of teacher education reform and the politics of the policy…

  18. Symbolic Politics and Institutional Boundaries in Curriculum Reform: The Case of National Sectarian University

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Arnold, Gordon B.

    2004-01-01

    In recent years, many colleges and universities have set out to reform or revisit their general education curricula. These efforts often have failed to achieve the comprehensive change that reformers originally had envisioned. Using the example of one case, this paper explores how institutionalized organizational elements and politics can shape…

  19. The policy and politics of the 2015 long-term care reform in the Netherlands.

    PubMed

    Maarse, J A M Hans; Jeurissen, P P Patrick

    2016-03-01

    As of 2015 a major reform in LTC is taking place in the Netherlands. An important objective of the reform is to reign in expenditure growth to safeguard the fiscal sustainability of LTC. Other objectives are to improve the quality of LTC by making it more client-tailored. The reform consists of four interrelated pillars: a normative reorientation, a shift from residential to non-residential care, decentralization of non-residential care and expenditure cuts. The article gives a brief overview of these pillars and their underlying assumptions. Furthermore, attention is paid to the political decision-making process and the politics of implementation and evaluation. Perceptions of the effects of the reform so far widely differ: positive views alternate with critical views. Though the reform is radical in various aspects, LTC care will remain a largely publicly funded provision. A statutory health insurance scheme will remain in place to cover residential care. The role of municipalities in publicly funded non-residential care is significantly upgraded. The final section contains a few policy lessons. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  20. Good Ideas and Engagement Aren't Enough: School District Central Offices and the Micro-Politics of Implementing Comprehensive Human Resource Reform

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    DeArmond, Michael

    2013-01-01

    This dissertation is about how organizational politics--or what some scholars call micro-politics--shapes the implementation of comprehensive human resource (HR) reform in school district central offices. Over the last decade, education reformers and advocates have promoted comprehensive HR reform as a way to improve teaching and learning in K-12…

  1. Politics, class actors, and health sector reform in Brazil and Venezuela.

    PubMed

    Mahmood, Qamar; Muntaner, Carles

    2013-03-01

    Universal access to healthcare has assumed renewed importance in global health discourse, along with a focus on strengthening health systems. These developments are taking place in the backdrop of concerted efforts to advocate moving away from vertical, disease-based approaches to tackling health problems. While this approach to addressing public health problems is a step in the right direction, there is still insufficient emphasis on understanding the socio-political context of health systems. Reforms to strengthen health systems and achieve universal access to healthcare should be cognizant of the importance of the socio-political context, especially state-society relations. That context determines the nature and trajectory of reforms promoting universality or any pro-equity change. Brazil and Venezuela in recent years have made progress in developing healthcare systems that aim to achieve universal access. These achievements are noteworthy given that, historically, both countries had a long tradition of healthcare systems which were highly privatized and geared towards access to healthcare for a small segment of the population while the majority was excluded. These achievements are also remarkable since they took place in an era of neoliberalism when many states, even those with universally-based healthcare systems, were moving in the opposite direction. We analyze the socio-political context in each of these countries and look specifically at how the changing state-society relations resulted in health being constitutionally recognized as a social right. We describe the challenges that each faced in developing and implementing healthcare systems embracing universality. Our contention is that achieving the principle of universality in healthcare systems is less of a technical matter and more a political project. It involves opposition from the socially conservative elements in the society. Navigation to achieve this goal requires a political strategy that

  2. Politics, Modernisation and Educational Reform in Russia: From Past to Present. Oxford Studies in Comparative Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Johnson, David, Ed.

    2010-01-01

    The chapters in this volume give an account of the process of modernisation and educational reform in Russia, variously considering the cultural and political dilemmas provoked by democratisation, the structural and policy challenges associated with the reform of higher and vocational education, and the deep divisions exposed as socio-cultural…

  3. The Political Dynamics of District Reform: The Form and Fate of the Los Angeles Public School Choice Initiative

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Marsh, Julie A.

    2016-01-01

    Background: Scholars widely acknowledge that politics help explain why policies are adopted and how they play out in states, districts, and schools. To date, political analyses of education reform tend to isolate a particular policy and examine the politics of its adoption or implementation, but pay less attention to the effects of the politics of…

  4. 40 CFR 35.6115 - Political subdivision-lead remedial Cooperative Agreements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Political subdivision-lead remedial... subdivision-lead remedial Cooperative Agreements. (a) General. If the State concurs, EPA may allow a political.... If it is designated the lead for remedial action, the political subdivision must provide the...

  5. 40 CFR 35.6115 - Political subdivision-lead remedial Cooperative Agreements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Political subdivision-lead remedial... subdivision-lead remedial Cooperative Agreements. (a) General. If the State concurs, EPA may allow a political.... If it is designated the lead for remedial action, the political subdivision must provide the...

  6. 40 CFR 35.6115 - Political subdivision-lead remedial Cooperative Agreements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Political subdivision-lead remedial... subdivision-lead remedial Cooperative Agreements. (a) General. If the State concurs, EPA may allow a political.... If it is designated the lead for remedial action, the political subdivision must provide the...

  7. 40 CFR 35.6115 - Political subdivision-lead remedial Cooperative Agreements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Political subdivision-lead remedial... subdivision-lead remedial Cooperative Agreements. (a) General. If the State concurs, EPA may allow a political.... If it is designated the lead for remedial action, the political subdivision must provide the...

  8. 40 CFR 35.6115 - Political subdivision-lead remedial Cooperative Agreements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Political subdivision-lead remedial... subdivision-lead remedial Cooperative Agreements. (a) General. If the State concurs, EPA may allow a political.... If it is designated the lead for remedial action, the political subdivision must provide the...

  9. Rodriquez V. San Antonio Independent School District: Gathering the Ayes of Texas--The Politics of School Finance Reform

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yudof, Mark G.; Morgan, Daniel C.

    1974-01-01

    An historical account is given of movements toward educational finance reform in Texas, culminating in the Rodriquez v. San Antonio Independent School District case and its aftermath. The role of political pressures applied by various interest groups is traced and the prospects for future reform assessed. (EH)

  10. The Politics of Aborted Reform: Education and the Legitimacy of the State in France and West Germany.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Weiler, Hans N.

    As this paper demonstrates, studying abortive educational reforms reveals a great deal about the complex political dynamics involved in making (and unmaking) key policy decisions. Using case studies of France and West Germany, the paper argues that the state in advanced industrial countries tends to maximize the political gains derived from…

  11. Medicaid in Ohio: The Politics of Expansion, Reauthorization, and Reform.

    PubMed

    Skinner, Daniel

    2015-12-01

    When, in 2012, the US Supreme Court held that Medicaid expansion sanctioned by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was essentially optional for states, it ushered in a newly contentious state politics. States led by Republican governors and legislatures opposed to the ACA had to decide whether to accept extensive federal funding to expand Medicaid for citizens in their states who were earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. This Report from the States focuses on Ohio, whose Republican governor successfully navigated the rancorous politics of Medicaid to expand the state's program in 2014. Working at odds with his own party and gaining praise from traditional political opponents for his leadership on the issue, John Kasich circumvented the state legislature, turning to the Controlling Board to bring about initial expansion. In the wake of Kasich's landslide reelection in 2014, the politics of expansion and reauthorization have given way to a pervasive discourse of "reform." In this next phase Kasich has endorsed policy positions (e.g., cost sharing, a focus on "personal responsibility") that reunite him with his party's more traditional view of Medicaid while continuing to emphasize the importance of expansion. Copyright © 2016 by Duke University Press.

  12. Accretion, reform, and crisis: a theory of public health politics in New York City.

    PubMed Central

    Fox, D. M.

    1991-01-01

    Standard interpretations of the history of public health in New York City in the twentieth century describe either the decline or the growth of the importance accorded to public health activities. To the contrary, public health has, paradoxically, both declined in salience and attracted increasing resources. This article describes the politics of public health in New York City since the 1920s. First it describes events in the history of public health in the context of events in the economy and in city, state, and national politics. Then it proposes three descriptive models for arraying the data about public health politics: accretion, reform, and crisis. Next it describes how the politics of AIDS in New York City in the 1980s was a consequence of the history that produced these three political styles. Finally, it argues that the three political styles are generalizable to the history of public health throughout the United States in the twentieth century. PMID:1814059

  13. The political economy of healthy system reform in Israel.

    PubMed

    Chernichovsky, D; Chinitz, D

    1995-01-01

    Commission for structural change in the system, and review the politics of implementing the recommended reforms.

  14. Why Do Policy Leaders Adopt Global Education Reforms? A Political Analysis of SBM Reform Adoption in Post-Conflict Bosnia and Herzegovina

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Komatsu, Taro

    2013-01-01

    This paper presents a political analysis of school-based management reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). School-based management (SBM), based on the principle of school autonomy and community participation, is a school governance system introduced in many parts of the world, including post-conflict nations. Such a phenomenon seems to follow the…

  15. The Role of Ideas in Education Politics: Using Discourse Analysis To Understand Barriers To Reform in Multiethnic Cities.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sidney, Mara S.

    2002-01-01

    Examines how the presence of multiple racial/ethnic groups complicates educational politics. Interviews with participants in education politics in four cities highlight a complex arena of problem definitions and assessment of reforms. The arena is so infused with issues of race/ethnicity that groups agreeing upon some elements of the education…

  16. Nurses' experiences of practice and political reform in long-term aged care in Australia: implications for the retention of nursing personnel.

    PubMed

    Venturato, Lorraine; Kellett, Ursula; Windsor, Carol

    2007-01-01

    The aim of the study was to explore registered nurses' experiences in long-term aged care in light of the political reform of aged care services in Australia. In Australia, the aged care industry has undergone a lengthy period of political and structural reform. Despite reviews into various aspects of these reforms, there has been little consideration of the effect these are having on the practice experiences and retention of nursing staff in long-term care. In this critical hermeneutic study, 14 nurses from long-term care facilities in Australia were interviewed about their experiences during the reform period. The data revealed a sense of tension and conflict between nurses' traditional values, roles and responsibilities and those supported by the reforms. Nurses struggled to re-negotiate both their practice roles and values as the reforms were implemented and the system evolved. Nursing management support was an important aspect in mediating the effect of reforms on nursing staff. This research highlights both the tensions experienced by nurses in long-term aged care in Australia and the need to re-negotiate nursing roles, responsibilities and values within an evolving care system. This research supports a role for sensitive and proactive nursing management during periods of industry reform as a retention strategy for qualified nursing personnel.

  17. Politics of Externalization in Reflexive Times: Reinventing Japanese Education Reform Discourses through "Finnish PISA Success"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Takayama, Keita

    2010-01-01

    Drawing on a critical theoretical paradigm and critically engaging with the externalization thesis that Gita Steiner-Khamsi and Jurgen Schriewer have developed, this article examines the politics of "Finnish education" in the ongoing Japanese education reform debate. More specifically, it examines the various discursive uses of…

  18. The Politics of Data Use

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Henig, Jeffrey R.

    2012-01-01

    Background/Context: Many contemporary education reformers present themselves as reformers who, armed with data and evidence, are locked in battle against politics, the weapon of choice for entrenched defenders of the status quo. Although studies of school reform increasingly recognize that politics is inevitably intertwined with reform efforts,…

  19. Court-Led Educational Reforms in Political Third Rails: Lessons from the Litigation over Ultra-Religious Jewish Schools in Israel

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Perry-Hazan, Lotem

    2015-01-01

    This paper offers a model for evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of judicial involvement in educational reforms. It uses the model to analyze two case studies of court-led educational reforms in the third rail of Israeli politics--the curricula and the admission policies of ultra-Othodox (Haredi) schools. These case studies are located at the…

  20. Partial Reform Equilibrium in Russia: A Case Study of the Political Interests of and in the Russian Gas and Oil Industry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Everett, Rabekah

    While several theories abound that attempt to explain the obstacles to democracy in Russia, Joel Hellman's partial reform equilibrium model is an institutional theory that illustrates how weak institutions, combined with an instrumentalist cultural approach to the law and authoritarian-minded leadership, allowed the struggle over interests to craft and determine the nature of Russia's political structure. This thesis builds on the work of Hellman by using the partial reform theory to understand the evolution of interest infiltration and their impact on the formation of policies and institutions in favour of the elites or winners from 2004 to the present time period that allow them to wield law as a political weapon. The hypothesis posits that through their vested interests in state politics, the political and economic elites of the oil and gas industry have successfully stalled reform in Russia resulting in partial reform equilibrium. This is illustrated in a case study that was designed to collect the names, backgrounds, and social networks of gas and oil executives in order to determine how many of them have a history of, or are currently working as, ministers in the government or representatives in the Federation Council. The objective being to measure the degree to which gas and oil interests are present in government decision-making and conversely, the degree to which the government is present in the gas and oil industry. The thesis stresses the importance of institutional structure in determining Russia's political evolution, and uses vested interests as a primary source of structural institutional change, while also stressing on the social and international implications of this evolution.

  1. Maintaining Identity Political Culture In Indonesia

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fauzi, AM; Sudrajat, A.; Affandi, A.; Raditya, A.

    2018-01-01

    This study investigates the portrayal of traditional political cultures in West Kalimantan Province, a growing of election process. Results showed that Political life in Indonesia leads to modern political culture after experiencing a change of paradigm of political life. Political life in Indonesia leads to modern political culture after experiencing a change of paradigm of political life. Beginning Indonesia’s independence in the Old Order Phase, the politics used using the ideological paradigm, subsequent to the New Order Period used the political paradigm of unification and simplification of political parties but in practice it became the strategy of the State’s rulers to facilitate subjugating its citizens. After entering the reform era, several phenomena of political culture are displayed, some are using modern paradigm by giving women the widest possible role in political parties, and so on. Besides that there is the opposite of displaying and practicing traditional political culture, this is as it runs in West Borneo Province. The change of political culture in the modern direction is different from the political culture of the citizens in terms of who will be chosen, most West Borneo Province residents determine their political choice by using traditional patterns.

  2. The pleasures and perils of prophetic advocacy: Henry E. Sigerist and the politics of medical reform.

    PubMed Central

    Fee, E

    1996-01-01

    Henry E. Sigerist, an internationally renowned medical historian, played a surprisingly important and visible role in American medical politics in the 1930s and 1940s. Born in Paris of Swiss parents, he was professor in Leipzig, Germany, before coming to the United States in 1932 as professor of the history of medicine at Johns Hopkins University. Once in America. Sigerist became deeply involved in medical politics and the campaign for national health insurance. He argued that individualized medical practice was outdated and should gradually be superseded by state-run and state-financed health services. National health insurance was but one step in this historical progression. Sigerist thus lent the weight of history itself to the cause of medical care reform. The charming and erudite Sigerist was welcomed by the leaders of academic medicine in America. Soon, he emerged as a spokesman of the left wing of the medical profession, an effective and popular speaker and an impassioned advocate of socialized medicine. This paper traces Sigerist's political ideas and activities, and his contributions toward medical care reform in the United States. Images p1639-a p1642-a PMID:8916536

  3. The Science and Politics of Naming: Reforming Anatomical Nomenclature, ca. 1886-1955.

    PubMed

    Buklijas, Tatjana

    2017-04-01

    Anatomical nomenclature is medicine's official language. Early in their medical studies, students are expected to memorize not only the bodily geography but also the names for all the structures that, by consensus, constitute the anatomical body. The making and uses of visual maps of the body have received considerable historiographical attention, yet the history of production, communication, and reception of anatomical names-a history as long as the history of anatomy itself-has been studied far less. My essay examines the reforms of anatomical naming between the first modern nomenclature, the 1895 Basel Nomina Anatomica (BNA), and the 1955 Nomina Anatomica Parisiensia (NAP, also known as PNA), which is the basis for current anatomical terminology. I focus on the controversial and ultimately failed attempt to reform anatomical nomenclature, known as Jena Nomina Anatomica (INA), of 1935. Discussions around nomenclature reveal not only how anatomical names are made and communicated, but also the relationship of anatomy with the clinic; disciplinary controversies within anatomy; national traditions in science; and the interplay between international and scientific disciplinary politics. I show how the current anatomical nomenclature, a successor to the NAP, is an outcome of both political and disciplinary tensions that reached their peak before 1945. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  4. 40 CFR 35.6060 - Political subdivision-lead pre-remedial Cooperative Agreements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Political subdivision-lead pre-remedial... subdivision-lead pre-remedial Cooperative Agreements. (a) If the Award Official determines that a political subdivision's lead involvement in pre-remedial activities would be more efficient, economical and appropriate...

  5. 40 CFR 35.6060 - Political subdivision-lead pre-remedial Cooperative Agreements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Political subdivision-lead pre-remedial... subdivision-lead pre-remedial Cooperative Agreements. (a) If the Award Official determines that a political subdivision's lead involvement in pre-remedial activities would be more efficient, economical and appropriate...

  6. 40 CFR 35.6060 - Political subdivision-lead pre-remedial Cooperative Agreements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Political subdivision-lead pre-remedial... subdivision-lead pre-remedial Cooperative Agreements. (a) If the Award Official determines that a political subdivision's lead involvement in pre-remedial activities would be more efficient, economical and appropriate...

  7. 40 CFR 35.6060 - Political subdivision-lead pre-remedial Cooperative Agreements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Political subdivision-lead pre-remedial... subdivision-lead pre-remedial Cooperative Agreements. (a) If the Award Official determines that a political subdivision's lead involvement in pre-remedial activities would be more efficient, economical and appropriate...

  8. 40 CFR 35.6060 - Political subdivision-lead pre-remedial Cooperative Agreements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Political subdivision-lead pre-remedial... subdivision-lead pre-remedial Cooperative Agreements. (a) If the Award Official determines that a political subdivision's lead involvement in pre-remedial activities would be more efficient, economical and appropriate...

  9. The politics of ideas in welfare state transformation: Christian Democracy and the reform of family policy in Germany.

    PubMed

    Fleckenstein, Timo

    2011-01-01

    The expansion of employment-centered family policies of the Grand Coalition in Germany came with some surprise, as Christian Democrats have traditionally been strongly committed to the male breadwinner model and corresponding family policies. This article investigates why Christian Democrats (though with some inconsistencies) promoted “social-democratic” family policies guided by the adult worker rather than by the male breadwinner model. Illuminating the politics of recent family policy reforms, the electoral rationale for this modernization of family policy, the role of political entrepreneurship, and intraparty political conflicts over the new policy paradigm are discussed.

  10. Putting politics first.

    PubMed

    Hacker, Jacob S

    2008-01-01

    The greatest lesson of the failure of comprehensive health reform in the early 1990s is that politics comes first. Even the best-laid policy plans are worthless if they lack the political support to pass. Putting politics first means avoiding the overarching mistake of the Clinton reformers: envisioning a grand policy compromise rather than hammering out a real political compromise. It also means addressing the inevitable fears of those who believe that they are well protected by our eroding employment-based system. And it means formulating political strategies that are premised on the contemporary realities of the hyperpolarized U.S. political environment, rather than wistfully recalled images of the bipartisan politics of old.

  11. Expectations Rise for Higher Education in China as Reform Temper Begins to Take Hold.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jacobson, Robert L.

    1987-01-01

    China's national leadership is committed to a vast upgrading of education, and the pervasive spirit of reform in economics and politics is leading to higher expectations of higher education. Reforms are targeted in the system's structure, deemphasis on specialization, new emphasis on applied science, and faculty qualifications and productivity.…

  12. The politics of public health policy.

    PubMed

    Oliver, Thomas R

    2006-01-01

    Politics, for better or worse, plays a critical role in health affairs. The purpose of this article is to articulate a role for political analysis of public health issues, ranging from injury and disease prevention to health care reform. It begins by examining how health problems make it onto the policy agenda. Perceptions regarding the severity of the problem, responsibility for the problem, and affected populations all influence governmental responses. Next, it considers how bounded rationality, fragmented political institutions, resistance from concentrated interests, and fiscal constraints usually lead political leaders to adopt incremental policy changes rather than comprehensive reforms even when faced with serious public health problems. It then identifies conditions under which larger-scale transformation of health policy can occur, focusing on critical junctures in policy development and the role of policy entrepreneurs in seizing opportunities for innovation. Finally, it reviews the challenges confronting officials and agencies who are responsible for implementing and administering health policies. Public health professionals who understand the political dimensions of health policy can conduct more realistic research and evaluation, better anticipate opportunities as well as constraints on governmental action, and design more effective policies and programs.

  13. Free Speech and Campaign Reform.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sharp, Harry, Jr.

    The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, a political campaign reform measure, was enacted to limit campaign contributions and independent expenditures, to mandate disclosure of contributors, and to establish public financing of campaigns, all to minimize the opportunity for political corruption. Unfortunate implications of such reform on the…

  14. Drug law reform, performativity and the politics of childhood.

    PubMed

    Flacks, Simon Jonathan

    2018-01-01

    Children are critical to debates about drug law reform. For both advocates of liberalisation and, especially, defenders of prohibition, the protection of children is an important rhetorical device in pressing for, or resisting, change. However, the privileged position of minors within such discussions, or talk about drugs in general, has rarely been explored in any depth in either drug and alcohol studies or legal research. Drawing on scholarship on performativity, and particularly John Law's work on 'collateral realities', this article will consider how constructs such as childhood and drugs are 'produced' and '(re)made' in such discourses. Through analysis of legal measures, policy documents/statements submitted to the UN General Assembly Special Session on Drugs (UNGASS) in 2016, and scientific discussion, it will be argued that such 'realities' include the constitution of the child as the logical victim of drugs (and the natural beneficiary or casualty of reform), and the enactment of drugs as an inherent threat to children. It is suggested that drug policy research needs to pay attention to age as a social construct and cultural category, and that a critical awareness of the relevance of age in policy discourse is as necessary as, for example, race, class or gender. Moreover, attendance to the ontological politics of constructs such as 'childhood' and 'drugs' is important if law and policy measures are to account for young people's agency. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. Let's make a deal: trading malpractice reform for health reform.

    PubMed

    Sage, William M; Hyman, David A

    2014-01-01

    Physician leadership is required to improve the efficiency and reliability of the US health care system, but many physicians remain lukewarm about the changes needed to attain these goals. Malpractice liability-a sore spot for decades-may exacerbate physician resistance. The politics of malpractice have become so lawyer-centric that recognizing the availability of broader gains from trade in tort reform is an important insight for health policy makers. To obtain relief from malpractice liability, physicians may be willing to accept other policy changes that more directly improve access to care and reduce costs. For example, the American Medical Association might broker an agreement between health reform proponents and physicians to enact federal legislation that limits malpractice liability and simultaneously restructures fee-for-service payment, heightens transparency regarding the quality and cost of health care services, and expands practice privileges for other health professionals. There are also reasons to believe that tort reform can make ongoing health care delivery reforms work better, in addition to buttressing health reform efforts that might otherwise fail politically.

  16. FYI: Reforming Social Welfare Policy...Indiana's Children...Lead Poisoning Prevention.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Children Today, 1989

    1989-01-01

    Summarizes results of reports and resources concerning the reform of social welfare policy. Focuses on a profile of Indiana children, hospital policies and programs designed to meet the psychosocial needs of hospitalized children and their families, a senior center/latchkey program, and lead poisoning prevention. (BB)

  17. Reforming Reforms: Changing Incentives in Education Finance in Vermont

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schmidt, Stephen J.; Scott, Karen

    2006-01-01

    In 1997, Vermont passed Act 60, which reformed its education finance system to achieve greater equality of spending. The reform encouraged wealthy towns to reduce spending; it was politically unpopular and was replaced, in 2004, by Act 68. We analyze the spending incentives created by the two acts and estimate the effects the change will have on…

  18. [Political change, disease and healthcare reform: the response to the Toxic Oil Syndrome (Spain, 1981-1998)].

    PubMed

    Martín, Gregoria Hernández; Martínez-Pérez, José

    2011-01-01

    In 1981, Spain was threatened by the sudden appearance of an epidemic-like disease, one which was unknown to that date. The Toxic Oil Syndrome, as it was later named after the oil that caused it, thus demanded a response that became conditioned by the fact that the biological nature of the disease was unknown, but also, significantly by the complex situation in the country at that time. Spain was immersed in process of great political change, as well as a difficult economic situation, the authorities were obliged to react in not ideal conditions and in accordance with the very values that the new model of social relations that was being developed. This paper aims to look at the way in which the Toxic Oil Syndrome acted as a catalyst and accelerated the healthcare reform that, already prior to the outbreak of the epidemic, had been deemed necessary. This work focuses mainly on the response of the health system regarding those affected by the epidemic, as it was forced to treat a group of people with severe physical side effects which would lead to disability within a new framework of social relations. It thus aims to illustrate how many of the measures adopted were in accordance with the main ideas behind the reform, and also how these measures were precursors of those which were later applied to the population as a whole.

  19. Health system strengthening in Myanmar during political reforms: perspectives from international agencies.

    PubMed

    Risso-Gill, Isabelle; McKee, Martin; Coker, Richard; Piot, Peter; Legido-Quigley, Helena

    2014-07-01

    Myanmar has undergone a remarkable political transformation in the last 2 years, with its leadership voluntarily transitioning from an isolated military regime to a quasi-civilian government intent on re-engaging with the international community. Decades of underinvestment have left the country underdeveloped with a fragile health system and poor health outcomes. International aid agencies have found engagement with the Myanmar government difficult but this is changing rapidly and it is opportune to consider how Myanmar can engage with the global health system strengthening (HSS) agenda. Nineteen semi-structured, face-to-face interviews were conducted with representatives from international agencies working in Myanmar to capture their perspectives on HSS following political reform. They explored their perceptions of HSS and the opportunities for implementation. Participants reported challenges in engaging with government, reflecting the disharmony between actors, economic sanctions and barriers to service delivery due to health system weaknesses and bureaucracy. Weaknesses included human resources, data and medical products/infrastructure and logistical challenges. Agencies had mixed views of health system finance and governance, identifying problems and also some positive aspects. There is little consensus on how HSS should be approached in Myanmar, but much interest in collaborating to achieve it. Despite myriad challenges and concerns, participants were generally positive about the recent political changes, and remain optimistic as they engage in HSS activities with the government.

  20. Political economy and population health: is Australia exceptional?

    PubMed Central

    Boxall, Anne-marie; Short, Stephanie D

    2006-01-01

    Background It is accepted knowledge that social and economic conditions – like education and income – affect population health. What remains uncertain is whether the degree of inequality in these conditions influences population health and if so, how. Some researchers who argue that inequalities are important, say there is a relationship between political economy, inequality and population health. Their evidence comes from comparative studies showing that countries with neo-liberal political economies generally have poorer population health outcomes than those with social or Christian democratic political economies. According to these researchers, neo-liberal political economies adopt labour market and welfare state policies that lead to greater levels of inequality and poorer population health outcomes for us all. Discussion Australia has experienced considerable social and economic reforms over the last 20 years, with both major political parties increasingly adopting neo-liberal policies. Despite these reforms, population health outcomes are amongst the best in the world. Summary Australia appears to contest theories suggesting a link between political economy and population health. To progress our understanding, researchers need to concentrate on policy areas outside health – such as welfare, economics and industrial relations. We need to do longitudinal studies on how reforms in these areas affect levels of social and economic inequality, as well population health. We need to draw on social scientific methods, especially concerning case selection, to advance our understanding of casual relationships in policy studies. It is important to find out if, and why, Australia has resisted the affects of neo-liberalism on population health so we ensure our high standards are maintained in the future. PMID:16737549

  1. The Effects of Educational Reform

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vasquez-Martinez, Claudio-Rafael; Giron, Graciela; De-La-Luz-Arellano, Ivan; Ayon-Bañuelos, Antonio

    2013-01-01

    Educational reform implies questions of social production and of state regulation that are the key words in educational reform, education and educational policies. These reforms are always on the political agenda of countries and involve international organisms, since education is a vehicle of development for social progress. A point of departure…

  2. The New Technology and Educational Reform: Guidelines for School Administrators.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Matthews, Mark; Karr-Kidwell, PJ

    This paper presents the results of a literature review on educational methodology reforms. The first section discusses five factors in broad-based school reforms: change theory; organizational theory; state/national politics; local politics/governance; and leadership theory. Five types of reforms for school-wide success are described in the second…

  3. Constitutional Reform for Conflict Management

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2014-04-01

    conflict. Empirical studies reveal that both accommodative and integrative constitutional design can produce political stability , if properly...reform, and the ability of various constitutional designs to promote democracy and political stability .

  4. Policy reform as creative destruction: political and administrative challenges in preserving the public-private mix.

    PubMed

    Brown, L D

    1992-01-01

    As political pressure for affordable universal coverage intensifies, various proposals have been crafted to improve the system without sacrificing the role of the private sector. Some analysts view the preservation of a mixed public-private system as an exercise in incrementalism, avoiding disquieting departures from familiar arrangements. A review of the political and administrative challenges of several main options--market innovation, tax credits, play or pay, and Medicaid expansion--suggests that the path to true reform is a slippery slope. Over time, changes in particular sectors, such as insurance, employers, government, and providers, will very likely implicate the others too. Although redefining the public-private mix may be more incremental than (say) adoption of a Canadian model, it will also entail considerable "creative destruction" of existing patterns and cannot fail to disturb the institutional status quo substantially.

  5. Neo-Liberalism and the Politics of Higher Education Policy in Indonesia

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rosser, Andrew

    2016-01-01

    This paper examines Indonesia's experience with neo-liberal higher education reform. It argues that this agenda has encountered strong resistance from the dominant predatory political, military, and bureaucratic elements who occupy the state apparatus, their corporate clients, and popular forces, leading to continuation of the centralist and…

  6. Pulling Together: Civic Capacity and Urban School Reform

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shipps, Dorothy

    2003-01-01

    Educators often ignore the political requirements of urban reform in their focus on the research and models that guide it. Conversely, political scientists frequently miss the differences among reforms in their focus on coalitions and resources. Integrating Clarence N. Stone's concept of "civic capacity" with an educator's view of reform…

  7. Toward health reform for seniors in Bermuda: historical constraints on political possibilities.

    PubMed

    Miller, Edward Alan; Nadash, Pamela

    2011-01-01

    In 2009, as the United States moved toward health care reform, the government of Bermuda implemented its FutureCare program to make health care for seniors more affordable. This article investigates how preferences for reform and its eventual design were shaped by the country's social history and commitment to free market values. Data derive from 36 in-depth interviews with key stakeholders deemed knowledgeable about health care financing and delivery in Bermuda, including government officials, provider representatives, insurance executives, and consumer advocates. Data also derive from a variety of documentary sources. Results indicate that although a clear need for health care and the ability to finance it for seniors exists in Bermuda, the scope of reform was circumscribed by preferences for prior policy decisions, creating a favorable tax and business environment for international corporations and a minimalist social welfare state for addressing racial and economic inequality. This suggests that widespread agreement on the challenges in meeting the health and long-term care needs of the elderly does not necessarily lead to equally commensurable solutions to addressing it.

  8. Curriculum and Assessment Reform.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hargreaves, Andy

    Large-scale curriculum and assessment reform is neither a local peculiarity, nor a product of national political partisanship. It is a phenomenon of international dimensions. Divided into three sections and nine chapters, this book seeks to explain and interpret the nature, impact, and interrelatedness of recent important and far-reaching reforms.…

  9. 40 CFR 35.6155 - State, political subdivision or Indian Tribe-lead enforcement Cooperative Agreements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... Tribe-lead enforcement Cooperative Agreements. 35.6155 Section 35.6155 Protection of Environment... § 35.6155 State, political subdivision or Indian Tribe-lead enforcement Cooperative Agreements. (a) The State, political subdivision or Indian Tribe must comply with the requirements described in § 35.6105 (a...

  10. 40 CFR 35.6155 - State, political subdivision or Indian Tribe-lead enforcement Cooperative Agreements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... Tribe-lead enforcement Cooperative Agreements. 35.6155 Section 35.6155 Protection of Environment... § 35.6155 State, political subdivision or Indian Tribe-lead enforcement Cooperative Agreements. (a) The State, political subdivision or Indian Tribe must comply with the requirements described in § 35.6105 (a...

  11. 40 CFR 35.6155 - State, political subdivision or Indian Tribe-lead enforcement Cooperative Agreements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... Tribe-lead enforcement Cooperative Agreements. 35.6155 Section 35.6155 Protection of Environment... § 35.6155 State, political subdivision or Indian Tribe-lead enforcement Cooperative Agreements. (a) The State, political subdivision or Indian Tribe must comply with the requirements described in § 35.6105 (a...

  12. Neoliberalism and Corporate School Reform: "Failure" and "Creative Destruction"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Saltman, Kenneth J.

    2014-01-01

    In the United States, corporate school reform or neoliberal educational restructuring has overtaken educational policy, practice, curriculum, and nearly all aspects of educational reform. Although this movement began on the political right, the corporate school model has been heralded across the political spectrum and is aggressively embraced now…

  13. The political ecology of lead poisoning in eastern North Carolina.

    PubMed

    Hanchette, Carol L

    2008-06-01

    In the United States, childhood blood lead levels have dropped substantially since 1991, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) implemented new screening guidelines. Many states, including North Carolina, have established successful screening and intervention programs. Still, pockets of higher lead poisoning rates continue to be a problem in some geographic areas. One of these areas consists of several counties in eastern North Carolina. This cluster of higher rates cannot be explained by poverty and housing characteristics alone. Instead, the explanation requires an understanding of place that encompasses a range of historical, social, political, and economic processes. This paper utilizes a political ecology approach to provide a deeper understanding of how these processes can contribute to ill health.

  14. Politics and Educational Reform

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Merritt, Richard L.; Coombs, Fred S.

    1977-01-01

    Provides a brief analysis of educational policymaking processes in terms of how they underscore the political basis of educational decisions. Examines four approaches to explaining collective decisions--rational decisionmaking theory, pluralist theory, systems analysis, and cybernetic theory--to explore how each might relate in quite different…

  15. [Health care reform in the Obama administration: difficulties of reaching a similar agreement in Argentina].

    PubMed

    Belmartino, Susana

    2014-04-01

    This article presents a comparative analysis of the processes leading to health care reform in Argentina and in the USA. The core of the analysis centers on the ideological references utilized by advocates of the reform and the decision-making processes that support or undercut such proposals. The analysis begins with a historical summary of the issue in each country. The political process that led to the sanction of the Obama reform is then described. The text defends a hypothesis aiming to show that deficiencies in the institutional capacities of Argentina's decision-making bodies are a severe obstacle to attaining substantial changes in this area within the country.

  16. Blurry Vision: Institutional Impediments to Reform in Saudi Arabia

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2017-09-01

    implement economic and social reform. Analyzing interconnected political, economic , and social causes that manifest in the structure of the state and...governance and modifications to the country’s patronage policies, economic change will be limited at best. Elites’ preferences for blocking political...reform has hampered achievement of economic goals and will continue to prove problematic if not rescinded. 14. SUBJECT TERMS Saudi Arabia, Vision

  17. Political Corruption in Japan.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Reed, Steven R.; And Others

    1996-01-01

    Provides an overview of political corruption and its place in Japanese culture and society. Discusses recent scandals and efforts at political reform. These efforts are moving Japan from a "boss-patronage" system to a "civic-culture." Includes a table of post-war Japanese prime ministers and corruption scandals. (MJP)

  18. Health insurance reform: labor versus health perspectives.

    PubMed

    Ammar, Walid; Awar, May

    2012-01-01

    The Ministry of Labor (MOL) has submitted to the Council of Ministers a social security reform plan. The Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) considers that health financing should be dealt with as part of a more comprehensive health reform plan that falls under its prerogatives. While a virulent political discussion is taking place, major stakeholders' inputs are very limited and civil society is totally put away from the whole policy making process. The role of the media is restricted to reproducing political disputes, without meaningful substantive debate. This paper discusses health insurance reform from labor market as well as public health perspectives, and aims at launching a serious public debate on this crucial issue that touches the life of every citizen.

  19. Health care reforms.

    PubMed

    Marušič, Dorjan; Prevolnik Rupel, Valentina

    2016-09-01

    In large systems, such as health care, reforms are underway constantly. The article presents a definition of health care reform and factors that influence its success. The factors being discussed range from knowledgeable personnel, the role of involvement of international experts and all stakeholders in the country, the importance of electoral mandate and governmental support, leadership and clear and transparent communication. The goals set need to be clear, and it is helpful to have good data and analytical support in the process. Despite all debates and experiences, it is impossible to clearly define the best approach to tackle health care reform due to a different configuration of governance structure, political will and state of the economy in a country.

  20. Health reform: a bipartisan view.

    PubMed

    Cooper, Jim; Castle, Michael

    2009-01-01

    This optimistic assessment of the prospects for health reform from senior Democratic and Republican congressmen spells out several reasons why reform can be achieved early in the first year of the Obama administration. Political and policy factors suggest that President-elect Barack Obama is in a much better position than his predecessors to achieve comprehensive health reform, including universal coverage. The Obama administration will have to overcome numerous obstacles and resistance to enact reform. Still, after decades of frustration and disappointment, policymakers should set aside their differences and enable the United States to join the ranks of developed nations by making sure every American has health insurance.

  1. Finding Jobs: Work and Welfare Reform.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Card, David E., Ed.; Blank, Rebecca M., Ed.

    This book contains 13 papers on labor market and welfare reform, with special emphasis on the demand for low-wage workers, wages and job characteristics in the less skilled labor market, public politics to increase employment and earnings of less skilled workers, and the impact of welfare reform. The following papers are included: "The Labor…

  2. Politics, Policy and Professional Identity

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bodman, Sue; Taylor, Susan; Morris, Helen

    2012-01-01

    Standards-based reform of education is a dominant political discourse in many nations. In this paper we argue that the type of standards-based reform that is enacted has important implications for teacher agency and teacher professional development. Teacher professional development and identity is explored through theories of the teacher's role in…

  3. Scaling up Education Reform: Addressing the Politics of Disparity

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bishop, Russell; O'Sullivan, Dominic; Berryman, Mere

    2010-01-01

    What is school reform? What makes it sustainable? Who needs to be involved? How is scaling up achieved? This book is about the need for educational reforms that have built into them, from the outset, those elements that will see them sustained in the original sites and spread to others. Using the Te Kotahitanga Project as a model the authors…

  4. Is Xi Jinping a Reformer Similar to Deng Xiaoping

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2017-06-09

    core focus from ideology to economic development by announcing his policy of reform and opening up in 1978. His pragmatic policies resulted in...political stability, ideological openness, and sparked over thirty years of rapid economic growth. After 30 years since reform and opening up, China has...his commitment to rebalancing China’s economy. Despite the lack of significant progress on economic reforms, this paper finds that Xi is a reformer

  5. The Ideology of Political Science

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Heiden, Bruce

    2013-01-01

    In a recent article in "Academic Questions" political scientists Robert Maranto and Matthew C. Woessner have suggested a program to reform their discipline and enhance its social utility. They encourage researchers to engage with consequential social issues and educate the public, while admonishing political scientists to resist partisan advocacy…

  6. The art and science of political advocacy.

    PubMed

    Kosiorowski, Donna

    2014-01-01

    School nurses throughout the nation, individually and collectively, work to bring about change for the school nursing profession and to safeguard the health of children and the public. School nurses practice amidst education reform, health care reform, changes in society, and medical and technological advancements. School nurses must be active in decisions that affect their daily practice by involvement in the local, state, and federal political process. School nurses must craft the art and develop the science of political advocacy.

  7. Educational reform and the public: Two case studies of Poland and Saskatchewan (Canada)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kaproń, Danuta; Stephan, Werner

    1991-09-01

    The involvement of the public in educational reform processes in modern democratic societies primarily serves the purpose of politically legitimizing the reform agenda. This study examines the rationales implicitly or explicitly submitted to the public to explain why educational reforms in the two countries should be endorsed. Although differences in the political culture caution against a hasty comparison of the two case studies, a number of politico-economic similarities allow for a valid juxtaposition. In Poland the context of socio-political and economic renewal prompted the reformers to emphasize the human-capital model which heightened public awareness and participation in the debate surrounding the reform. Public involvement in Saskatchewan was negatively affected for mainly two reasons. First, the government evidently manipulated public input by various means and thereby appears to have predetermined the outcome. Second, the rationale for the reform, based on a free-market model, tightened the linkage between the needs of the labour market and the mandate of the schools. As a result, public interest and participation was greatly diminished.

  8. Fashion as Argument: Nineteenth-Century Dress Reform.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Torrens, Kathleen M.

    1999-01-01

    Examines the place of the body in the dress-reform movement, a social movement that focused on fashion as a vehicle for achieving social and political equality. Discusses how fashion became one arena in which definitions of gender were contested. Suggests the dress-reform movement's failure in redefining femininity indicates the depth of…

  9. Health care reform 2010: a fresh view on tort reform.

    PubMed

    Stimson, C J; Dmochowski, Roger; Penson, David F

    2010-11-01

    We reviewed the state of medical malpractice tort reform in the context of a new political climate and the current debate over comprehensive health care reform. Specifically we asked whether medical malpractice tort reform is necessary, and evaluated the strengths and weaknesses of contemporary reform proposals. The medical, legal and public policy literature related to medical malpractice tort reform was reviewed and synthesized. We include a primer for understanding the current structure of medical malpractice law, identify the goals of the current system and analyze whether these goals are presently being met. Finally, we describe and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the current reform proposals including caps on damages, safe harbors and health care courts. Medical malpractice tort law is designed to improve health care quality and appropriately compensate patients for medical malpractice injuries, but is failing on both fronts. Of the 3 proposed remedies, caps on damages do little to advance the quality and compensatory goals, while safe harbors and health care courts represent important advancements in tort reform. Tort reform should be included in the current health policy debate because the current medical malpractice system is not adequately achieving the basic goals of tort law. While safe harbors and health care courts both represent reasonable remedies, health care courts may be preferred because they do not rely on jury determination in the absence of strong medical evidence. Copyright © 2010 American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Reforms: a quest for efficiency or an opportunity for vested interests'? A case study of pharmaceutical policy reforms in Tanzania.

    PubMed

    Mori, Amani Thomas; Kaale, Eliangiringa Amos; Risha, Peter

    2013-07-13

    Regulation of the pharmaceutical sector is a challenging task for most governments in the developing countries. In Tanzania, this task falls under the Food and Drugs Authority and the Pharmacy Council. In 2010, the Pharmacy Council spearheaded policy reforms in the pharmaceutical sector aimed at taking over the control of the regulation of the business of pharmacy from the Tanzania Food and Drugs Authority. This study provides a critical analysis of these reforms. The study employed a qualitative case-study design. Data was collected through in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and document reviews. Data was analyzed thematically using a policy triangle framework. The analysis was done manually. The reforms adopted an incremental model of public policy-making and the process was characterized by lobbying for political support, negotiations and bargaining between the interest groups. These negotiations were largely centred on vested interests and not on the impact of the reforms on the efficiency of pharmaceutical regulations in the country. Stakeholders from the micro and meso levels were minimally involved in the policy reforms. Recent pharmaceutical regulation reforms in Tanzania were overshadowed by vested interests, displacing a critical analysis of optimal policy options that have the potential to increase efficiency in the regulation of the business of pharmacy. Politics influenced decision-making at different levels of the reform process.

  11. Challenging Corporate Ed Reform: And 10 Hopeful Signs of Resistance

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Karp, Stan

    2012-01-01

    Corporate school reformers like to call themselves just "reformers" and counterpose themselves to the "status quo." There is no doubt that the corporate/foundation crowd has successfully captured the media label as "education reformers." However, this political branding has little to do with reality or the substance of the issues under debate.…

  12. Framing divorce reform: media, morality, and the politics of family.

    PubMed

    Adams, Michele; Coltrane, Scott

    2007-03-01

    No-fault statutes changed divorce from an adversarial system pitting victims against victimizers, with the state acting as enforcer of marital norms, to a private decision between unhappily married but legally blameless partners. Divorce reform following no-fault primarily focused on making divorce more fair for the parties involved. Over the last several decades, divorce reform has transitioned from making divorce better to making marriage healthier. The good divorce has slipped from policy attention, elevating the potential for restigmatization of divorced couples and their children. We trace the trajectory of media framing of divorce reform discourse in three general circulation newspapers from the start of the no-fault revolution, noting how media framing parallels and naturalizes the transition in divorce reform policy. We conclude by observing the prevalence of divorce and the related need for therapists to be cognizant of this naturalization process, thereby keeping the good divorce as a goal for those who desire to end their marriages.

  13. Land Reform and Social Change in Colombia.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hirschman, Albert O.; And Others

    This conference report focuses on three major areas of interest: (1) land reform in Colombia, (2) social change in Popayan, and (3) implications for research in agrarian structure in Colombia. A case study dealing with Colombia's sequence of moves toward land reform over the last 40 years is reviewed. The impact of political factors and social…

  14. The moral economy of austerity: analysing UK welfare reform.

    PubMed

    Morris, Lydia

    2016-03-01

    This paper notes the contemporary emergence of 'morality' in both sociological argument and political rhetoric, and analyses its significance in relation to ongoing UK welfare reforms. It revisits the idea of 'moral economy' and identifies two strands in its contemporary application; that all economies depend on an internal moral schema, and that some external moral evaluation is desirable. UK welfare reform is analysed as an example of the former, with reference to three distinct orientations advanced in the work of Freeden (1996), Laclau (2014), and Lockwood (1996). In this light, the paper then considers challenges to the reform agenda, drawn from third sector and other public sources. It outlines the forms of argument present in these challenges, based respectively on rationality, legality, and morality, which together provide a basis for evaluation of the welfare reforms and for an alternative 'moral economy'. © London School of Economics and Political Science 2016.

  15. Spaghetti Politics: Local Electoral Systems and Alliance Structure in Italy, 1984-2001

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Parigi, Paolo; Bearman, Peter S.

    2008-01-01

    This article describes the impact of the Italian electoral reforms of 1993 on the structure of local political alliances. The reform, which moved Italy from a purely proportional representation system to a mixed, largely majoritarian system, was designed to increase transparency, reduce corruption, limit the number of political parties, and create…

  16. Gender, religion and democratic politics in India.

    PubMed

    Hasan, Zoya

    2010-01-01

    This article examines the impact of identity politics on gender equality. More specifically it explores the paradoxical and complex relationship of religion and politics in a multi-religious society and the complicated ways in which women's activism has both reinforced and challenged their gender identities. Contrary to the argument that religious politics does not always negate gender equality, the article argues that the Hindu religious politics and women's activism associated with it provides a compelling example of the instrumentalisation of women to accomplish the political goals of the Hindu right. It also examines the approach and strategies of influential political parties, women's organisations and Muslim women's groups towards legal reform and the contested issue of a uniform civil code. Against those who argue that, in the current communal conjuncture, reform within Muslim personal laws or Islamic feminism is the best strategy for enhancing the scope of Muslim women's rights, the article argues that such an approach tends to freeze identities within religious boundaries. It shows how women's and minority rights are used within the politics of religion to sideline the agenda of women's rights.

  17. Political Ideology and Taiwanese School Curricula

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Su, Ya-Chen

    2006-01-01

    Taiwanese textbooks play a central role in Taiwanese education. In the wake of the political reform and social protest movements of the 1970s and 1980s that prompted Taiwanese educational reform, critics have charged that traditional curricula tend to reinforce the dominant national Chinese cultural identity. The purpose of this article is to…

  18. Linking Political Influence to School Reform with a Focus on the Performance Evaluation Reform Act and Senate Bill 7

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fredericks, Juliane R.

    2015-01-01

    This study focused on the federal and Illinois State the reform legislation titled the Performance Evaluation Reform Act and Senate Bill 7. The Performance Evaluation Reform Act or "PERA" was created from collaboration between stakeholders as Illinois competed in a federal competition titled "Race to the Top." The legislation…

  19. University Students' Views on Political Influences and the Status of Law in Post-Reform China: A Moderation and Mediation Analysis.

    PubMed

    Jiang, Guoping; Lo, T Wing

    2016-07-01

    Scholars categorize societies into "rule of man" societies, "rule by law" societies, and "rule of law" societies on the basis of a status of law. After 1978, China's leaders invoked law as an alternative to the arbitrariness of the Cultural Revolution. In this study, we used quantitative methods to explore university students' views on the status of law in post-reform China. Surveys were conducted in three national universities located in different regions of China. Responses from university students show that their perceptions of well-developed legislation and perceptions of the publicity of law are associated with their perceptions of equality before the law, which could be the consequence of a "rule of law" system. However, the study found that university students are of the view that the political nature of legislation and interference in law enforcement moderate the relationship between legislation and equality before the law. The political nature of legislation also moderates the mediation effect of interference in law enforcement between law publicity and equality before the law. As such, the article concludes that although university students are no longer primary movers in China's social and political development after the Tiananmen incident, they are still knowledgeable if not critical about the status of law and its political implications. © The Author(s) 2015.

  20. "Doi Moi" (Renovation) and Higher Education Reform in Vietnam

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Thanh, Pham Thi Hong

    2011-01-01

    Vietnam has experienced significant social, economic, political, and educational changes during the last two decades since the "Doi Moi" policy was implemented. To respond to new requirements required by the global economy, Vietnamese education has undergone remarkable reforms. This article critically examines these reforms in three…

  1. Split WHO in two: strengthening political decision-making and securing independent scientific advice.

    PubMed

    Hoffman, Steven J; Røttingen, John-Arne

    2014-02-01

    The World Health Organization (WHO) has never fulfilled its original mission of simultaneously serving as the world's pre-eminent public health authority and intergovernmental platform for global health negotiations. While WHO's secretariat works hard to fulfill both functions, it is undermined by an institutional design that mixes technical and political mandates. This forces staff to walk uncomfortably along many fine lines: advising but never directing; guiding but never governing; leading but never advocating; evaluating but never judging. The result is mediocrity on both fronts. Instead, WHO should be split in two, separating its technical and political stewardship functions into separate entities, with collaboration in areas of overlap. The Executive Board and secretariat would be bifurcated, with technical units reporting to a Technical Board and political units reporting to a Political Board. Both boards would report to the World Health Assembly where all member states would continue to provide ultimate oversight. Such bold changes can be implemented either by revising WHO's constitution or through simpler mechanisms. Either way, structural governance reforms would need to be accompanied by complementary changes in culture that support strengthened political decision-making and scientific independence. States' inability to act on WHO's institutional design challenges will only lead them and non-state actors to continue bypassing the organization through the creation of new entities as they have done over the last 15 years. The key will be to mobilize those advocates and decision-makers who have the audacity to demand more from WHO and convince member states to elevate their ambitions in current WHO reform efforts. Continued progress in global health depends on it. Copyright © 2013 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. [Drug politics in the USA].

    PubMed

    Gaier, N

    2001-11-08

    About 40 million Americans over 65 years of age are enrolled in the Medicare programme. However, this programme (with some exceptions approved by the Congress) does not provide prescription drug coverage for the outpatients. Furthermore, the recent rate of drug expenditure increase has been twice higher compared to overall health care expenditures. Even though the Medicare beneficiaries are offered various forms of supplemental prescription drug coverage, there exist attempts to reform this national programme. Several such proposals, however, failed during the last 15 years (US Congress). A recent two-stage strategy for a comprehensive Medicare reform was proposed by president Bush jr. It would solve the prescription drug coverage (even without the Medicare beneficiary enrollment in supplemental private programmes) through direct support to federal states in the first stage; in the second stage, a comprehensive Medicare reform would take place and the prescription drug coverage would be subsidized in proportion to the annual income of the beneficiaries. The required cost of this reform would be about 160 thousand million $ over a decade. This plan brought about opposing proposals both from the Democrats and Republicans in the Congress. The fate of the reform will depend on the representation of the two political parties both in the House of Representatives and the Senate as well as on the political power of influential groups.

  3. Accomplishing reform: successful case studies drawn from the health systems of 60 countries

    PubMed Central

    Braithwaite, Jeffrey; Mannion, Russell; Matsuyama, Yukihiro; Shekelle, Paul; Whittaker, Stuart; Al-Adawi, Samir; Ludlow, Kristiana; James, Wendy; Ting, Hsuen P; Herkes, Jessica; Ellis, Louise A; Churruca, Kate; Nicklin, Wendy; Hughes, Clifford

    2017-01-01

    Abstract Healthcare reform typically involves orchestrating a policy change, mediated through some form of operational, systems, financial, process or practice intervention. The aim is to improve the ways in which care is delivered to patients. In our book ‘Health Systems Improvement Across the Globe: Success Stories from 60 Countries’, we gathered case-study accomplishments from 60 countries. A unique feature of the collection is the diversity of included countries, from the wealthiest and most politically stable such as Japan, Qatar and Canada, to some of the poorest, most densely populated or politically challenged, including Afghanistan, Guinea and Nigeria. Despite constraints faced by health reformers everywhere, every country was able to share a story of accomplishment—defining how their case example was managed, what services were affected and ultimately how patients, staff, or the system overall, benefited. The reform themes ranged from those relating to policy, care coverage and governance; to quality, standards, accreditation and regulation; to the organization of care; to safety, workforce and resources; to technology and IT; through to practical ways in which stakeholders forged collaborations and partnerships to achieve mutual aims. Common factors linked to success included the ‘acorn-to-oak tree’ principle (a small scale initiative can lead to system-wide reforms); the ‘data-to-information-to-intelligence’ principle (the role of IT and data are becoming more critical for delivering efficient and appropriate care, but must be converted into useful intelligence); the ‘many-hands’ principle (concerted action between stakeholders is key); and the ‘patient-as-the-pre-eminent-player’ principle (placing patients at the centre of reform designs is critical for success). PMID:29036604

  4. Mexico`s economic reform: Energy and the Constitution

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Rubio, L.

    1993-12-31

    Oil is a fundamental component of nationhood in Mexico. The 1938 expropriation of oil resources concluded a process of internal political consolidation and thus became the most important symbol of nationalism. Mexico has been undergoing a process of economic reform that has altered the country`s economic structure and has subjected it to international competition. Oil in particular and energy in general have been left untouched. There is recognition that without an equal reform of the energy industry, the potential for success will be significantly limited. While the Constitution allows private investment in the industry--with the exception of the resource propertiesmore » themselves--the Regulatory Law bans any private participation. Because of its political sensitivity, however, amending the law in order to reform the oil industry will necessitate a domestic initiative rather than foreign pressure. In this perspective, NAFTA served to slow and postpone the reform of the industry, rather than the opposite. Once NAFTA is well in place, the industry will have to face competition.« less

  5. The Politics of Reforming School Finance in Wisconsin.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Geske, Terry G.

    This paper is primarily concerned with identifying and explicating the environmental forces and political factors responsible for legislative enactment of major school finance changes in Wisconsin in 1973. Easton's political systems theory serves as a conceptual framework for the study. In addition, Lindblom's leadership model, Truman's interest…

  6. Reform, change, and continuity in Finnish health care.

    PubMed

    Häkkinen, Unto; Lehto, Juhani

    2005-01-01

    This article describes some essential aspects of the Finnish political and governmental system and the evolution of the basic institutional elements of the health care system. We examine the developments that gave rise to a series of health care reforms and reform proposals in the late 1980s and early 1990s and relate them to changes in health care expenditure, structure, and performance. Finally, we discuss the relationship between policy changes, reforms, and health system changes and the strength of neo-institutional theory in explaining both continuity and change. Much of the change in Finnish health care can be explained by institutional path dependency. The tradition of strong but small local authorities and the lack of legitimate democratic regional authorities as well as the coexistence of a dominant Beveridge-style health system with a marginal Bismarckian element explain the specific path of Finnish health care reform. Public responsibility for health care has been decentralized to smaller local authorities (known as municipalities) more than in any other country. Even an exceptionally deep economic recession in the early 1990s did not lead to systems change; rather, the economic imperative was met by the traditional centralized policy pattern. Some of the developments of the 1990s are, however, difficult to explain by institutional theory. Thus, there is a need for testing alternative theories as well.

  7. Commentary: Malpractice Reform in Policy Perspective

    PubMed Central

    Bovbjerg, Randall R

    2007-01-01

    Enacted caps on malpractice awards and proposed early offer reform address the sometimes excessive verdicts of conventional liability and its very high overhead costs. However, such reforms greatly benefit medical defendants while doing too little for claimants or patients in general. Caps and early offer only affect current claims; far broader reforms are therefore needed to improve the woeful performance of liability as a general promoter of patient safety and injury compensation. Broad reforms, however desirable, seldom surmount high political and practical hurdles. A good, more evenhanded start would seek to make claims resolution faster, more accurate, more predictable, and less expensive, while separately promoting medical quality and safety as well as greater transparency for law, medicine, and insurance. PMID:17517117

  8. The High School Curriculum in the United States and the United Kingdom: Perspectives on Reform and Control.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Holt, Maurice

    1993-01-01

    Examines the interplay of political and educational factors influencing current U.S. and British school reform. The dominant characteristic of educational policymaking in both countries is "hyperpoliticalization." Britain's 1988 Education Reform Act, motivated by conservative political considerations, represents a setback to secondary…

  9. Health care reform in the new South Africa.

    PubMed

    Benatar, S R

    1997-03-20

    The social transition which must follow the political transition in South Africa will pose major challenges for many decades. While it clear that inequities must be reduced, it is less clear how to effectively and sustainably achieve that end, especially given current rapid population growth and minimal additional resources in an economy which is growing less rapidly than hoped for by the new government. Health care reform is one of the country's many challenges. This paper provides insight into the shift from the conventional biomedical model of health care to the primary health care approach within a fixed public health budget. Obstacles to change, threats to academic activities, the 1980s and 1990s, political and social transition, health care reform since 1994, academic medicine and medical education, choices facing society, movement from political apartheid to economic apartheid, and public awareness are described.

  10. American School Reform: What Works, What Fails, and Why

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McDonald, Joseph P.

    2014-01-01

    Dissecting twenty years of educational politics in our nation's largest cities, "American School Reform" offers one of the clearest assessments of school reform as it has played out in our recent history. Joseph P. McDonald and his colleagues evaluate the half-billion-dollar Annenberg Challenge--launched in 1994--alongside other…

  11. Access, cost, and financing: achieving an ethical health reform.

    PubMed

    Daniels, Norman; Saloner, Brendan; Gelpi, Adriane H

    2009-01-01

    Three key ethical issues should inform the broader debate about health reform: (1) Why pursue universal coverage? (2) Why is cost containment an ethical issue? (3) What is fairness in financing? After examining these issues, we conclude that the core ethical values underlying each of these goals-including expanding opportunity, sharing burdens equally, and respect for persons-limit the means that can be pursued in health reform. Although national health reform will not accomplish all of the objectives of social justice, true comprehensive reform-even under conditions of political compromise-represents an important step forward.

  12. Presidents and health reform: from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Barack Obama.

    PubMed

    Morone, James A

    2010-06-01

    The health care reforms that President Barack Obama signed into law in March 2010 were seventy-five years in the making. Since Franklin D. Roosevelt, U.S. presidents have struggled to enact national health care reform; most failed. This article explores the highly charged political landscape in which Obama maneuvered and the skills he brought to bear. It contrasts his accomplishments with the experiences of his Oval Office predecessors. Going forward, implementation poses formidable challenges for Democrats, Republicans, and the political process itself.

  13. Polarized stakeholders and institutional vulnerabilities: the enduring politics of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

    PubMed

    Béland, Daniel; Rocco, Philip; Waddan, Alex

    2015-04-01

    We conducted a comparative study of how state-level political stakeholders affected the implementation of 3 major reforms within the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). Our goal was to analyze the effects of policy legacy, institutional fragmentation, and public sentiments on state obstruction of the reform. We gathered quantitative and qualitative evidence to generate cross-case comparisons of state implementation of 3 reform streams within the ACA: health insurance exchanges, Medicaid expansion, and regulatory reform. Our sources included secondary literature, analysis of official decisions, and background interviews with experts and public officials. We found that state-level opponents of the ACA were most likely to be successful in challenging reforms with few preexisting policy legacies, high institutional fragmentation, and negative public sentiments. Reforms that built on existing state legislation, avoided state veto points or offered lucrative fiscal incentives, and elicited less negative public reaction were less likely to be contested. Our findings point to the importance of institutional design for the role of political stakeholders in implementing reforms to improve the cost, quality, and availability of medical treatments. Although other research has found that political polarization has shaped early ACA outcomes, comparative analysis suggests political stakeholders have had the highest effect on reforms that were particularly vulnerable. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier HS Journals, Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. Taking Stock of Gender Reform Policies for Australian Schools: Past, Present and Future.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kenway, Jane

    1997-01-01

    Narrates 20 years of gender reform in Australian schools, including boys' education. Discusses the practices and processes of schools' gender reform work, indicating strengths and limitations. Identifies current contexts of gender reform, including the fields of educational policy and politics. Mentions larger cultural shifts affecting gender…

  15. A Postmodern Perspective on Current Curriculum Reform in China

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jin, Yu-le; Li, Ling

    2011-01-01

    This article examines the curriculum reform of basic education in China from 2001 to 2008. We first discuss postmodern features of the social background in which the curriculum reform movement takes place: (1) the political ideal of innovation, open-endedness, and harmony; (2) the economic ideal of ecological, stable, and sustainable development;…

  16. Evolution of US Health Care Reform.

    PubMed

    Manchikanti, Laxmaiah; Helm Ii, Standiford; Benyamin, Ramsin M; Hirsch, Joshua A

    2017-03-01

    Major health policy creation or changes, including governmental and private policies affecting health care delivery are based on health care reform(s). Health care reform has been a global issue over the years and the United States has seen proposals for multiple reforms over the years. A successful, health care proposal in the United States with involvement of the federal government was the short-lived establishment of the first system of national medical care in the South. In the 20th century, the United States was influenced by progressivism leading to the initiation of efforts to achieve universal coverage, supported by a Republican presidential candidate, Theodore Roosevelt. In 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt, a Democrat, included a publicly funded health care program while drafting provisions to Social Security legislation, which was eliminated from the final legislation. Subsequently, multiple proposals were introduced, starting in 1949 with President Harry S Truman who proposed universal health care; the proposal by Lyndon B. Johnson with Social Security Act in 1965 which created Medicare and Medicaid; proposals by Ted Kennedy and President Richard Nixon that promoted variations of universal health care. presidential candidate Jimmy Carter also proposed universal health care. This was followed by an effort by President Bill Clinton and headed by first lady Hillary Clinton in 1993, but was not enacted into law. Finally, the election of President Barack Obama and control of both houses of Congress by the Democrats led to the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), often referred to as "ObamaCare" was signed into law in March 2010. Since then, the ACA, or Obamacare, has become a centerpiece of political campaigning. The Republicans now control the presidency and both houses of Congress and are attempting to repeal and replace the ACA. Key words: Health care reform, Affordable Care Act (ACA), Obamacare, Medicare, Medicaid, American Health Care Act.

  17. Political Education in the Former German Democratic Republic.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dumas, Wayne; Dumas, Alesia

    1996-01-01

    Investigates civic education curricular reform in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR). Discusses the problems inherent in reforming an entire educational system, from textbooks to teachers, originally designed for Marxist-Leninist purposes. Examines the German state educational structure and the role that the main political parties play in…

  18. Speaking about Education Reform: Constructing Failure to Legitimate Entrepreneurial Reforms of Teacher Preparation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hollar, Jesslyn

    2017-01-01

    This paper investigates how this conception of failure came to prevail in the political discourse around the reform of teacher education. It explores how discursive structures and strategies in two speeches by former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan legitimate a particular construction of the failure of teacher education and encourage…

  19. "We Can't Let Them Fail for One More Day": School Reform Urgency and the Politics of Reformer-Community Alliances

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gordon, Hava Rachel

    2016-01-01

    This article provides a critical examination of neoliberal urgency in education reform. While critics of neoliberal reform policies have argued that these reforms exclude low-income community participation almost entirely, I argue that in practice this exclusion is not as total or as overt as macro-analyses would suggest. These macro analyses do…

  20. Challenging the neoliberal trend: the Venezuelan health care reform alternative.

    PubMed

    Muntaner, Carles; Salazar, René M Guerra; Rueda, Sergio; Armada, Francisco

    2006-01-01

    Throughout the 1990s, all Latin American countries but Cuba implemented to varying degrees health care sector reforms underpinned by a neoliberal paradigm that redefined health care as less of a social right and more of a market commodity. These health care sector reforms were couched in the broader structural adjustment of Latin American welfare states prescribed consistently by international financial institutions since the mid-1980s. However, since 2003, Venezuela has been developing an alternative to this neoliberal trend through its health care reform program called Misión Barrio Adentro (Inside the Neighbourhood). In this article, we introduce Misión Barrio Adentro in its historical, political, and economic contexts. We begin by analyzing Latin American neoliberal health sector reforms in their political economic context, with a focus on Venezuela. The analysis reveals that the major beneficiaries of both broader structural adjustment of Latin American welfare states and neoliberal health reforms have been transnational capital interests and domestic Latin American elites. We then provide a detailed description of Misión Barrio Adentro as a challenge to neoliberalism in health care in its political economic context, noting the role played in its development by popular resistance to neoliberalism and the unique international cooperation model upon which it is based. Finally, we suggest that the Venezuelan experience may offer valuable lessons not only to other low- to middle-income countries, but also to countries such as Canada.

  1. Minorities, the Poor and School Finance Reform. Vol. 2: The Impact of Texas' 1975 School Finance Reform on Poor and Minority Children.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brischetto, Robert

    As part of a nine-volume, six-state study of the impact of school finance reforms on minorities and the poor, the author examines the history and effects of finance reform in Texas. He presents a political and socioeconomic profile of the state and discusses past Texas school financing, the role of the Rodriguez v. San Antonio Independent School…

  2. Accomplishing reform: successful case studies drawn from the health systems of 60 countries.

    PubMed

    Braithwaite, Jeffrey; Mannion, Russell; Matsuyama, Yukihiro; Shekelle, Paul; Whittaker, Stuart; Al-Adawi, Samir; Ludlow, Kristiana; James, Wendy; Ting, Hsuen P; Herkes, Jessica; Ellis, Louise A; Churruca, Kate; Nicklin, Wendy; Hughes, Clifford

    2017-10-01

    Healthcare reform typically involves orchestrating a policy change, mediated through some form of operational, systems, financial, process or practice intervention. The aim is to improve the ways in which care is delivered to patients. In our book 'Health Systems Improvement Across the Globe: Success Stories from 60 Countries', we gathered case-study accomplishments from 60 countries. A unique feature of the collection is the diversity of included countries, from the wealthiest and most politically stable such as Japan, Qatar and Canada, to some of the poorest, most densely populated or politically challenged, including Afghanistan, Guinea and Nigeria. Despite constraints faced by health reformers everywhere, every country was able to share a story of accomplishment-defining how their case example was managed, what services were affected and ultimately how patients, staff, or the system overall, benefited. The reform themes ranged from those relating to policy, care coverage and governance; to quality, standards, accreditation and regulation; to the organization of care; to safety, workforce and resources; to technology and IT; through to practical ways in which stakeholders forged collaborations and partnerships to achieve mutual aims. Common factors linked to success included the 'acorn-to-oak tree' principle (a small scale initiative can lead to system-wide reforms); the 'data-to-information-to-intelligence' principle (the role of IT and data are becoming more critical for delivering efficient and appropriate care, but must be converted into useful intelligence); the 'many-hands' principle (concerted action between stakeholders is key); and the 'patient-as-the-pre-eminent-player' principle (placing patients at the centre of reform designs is critical for success). © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press in association with the International Society for Quality in Health Care.

  3. Ravitch Reversed: Ideology and the History of American Education Reform

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Laukaitis, John

    2017-01-01

    Diane Ravitch's "The Death and Life of the Great American School System" (2010) and "Reign of Error" (2013) represent a significant shift in the contemporary political dialogue on education reform. The once staunch supporter of national academic standards and market-based reforms, Ravitch reversed nearly every position she…

  4. Prevention in Poland: health care system reform.

    PubMed Central

    Sheahan, M D

    1995-01-01

    Despite the political and economic reforms that have swept Eastern Europe in the past 5 years, there has been little change in Poland's health care system. The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare has targeted preventive care as a priority, yet the enactment of legislation to meet this goal has been slow. The process of reform has been hindered by political stagnation, economic crisis, and a lack of delineation of responsibility for implementing the reforms. Despite the delays in reform, recent developments indicate that a realistic, sustainable restructuring of the health care system is possible, with a focus on preventive services. Recent proposals for change have centered on applying national goals to limited geographic areas, with both local and international support. Regional pilot projects to restructure health care delivery at a community level, local health education and disease prevention initiatives, and a national training program for primary care and family physicians and nurses are being planned. Through regionalization, an increase in responsibility for both the physician and the patient, and redefinition of primary health care and the role of family physicians, isolated local movements and pilot projects have shown promise in achieving these goals, even under the current budgetary constraints. PMID:7610217

  5. Prevention in Poland: health care system reform.

    PubMed

    Sheahan, M D

    1995-01-01

    Despite the political and economic reforms that have swept Eastern Europe in the past 5 years, there has been little change in Poland's health care system. The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare has targeted preventive care as a priority, yet the enactment of legislation to meet this goal has been slow. The process of reform has been hindered by political stagnation, economic crisis, and a lack of delineation of responsibility for implementing the reforms. Despite the delays in reform, recent developments indicate that a realistic, sustainable restructuring of the health care system is possible, with a focus on preventive services. Recent proposals for change have centered on applying national goals to limited geographic areas, with both local and international support. Regional pilot projects to restructure health care delivery at a community level, local health education and disease prevention initiatives, and a national training program for primary care and family physicians and nurses are being planned. Through regionalization, an increase in responsibility for both the physician and the patient, and redefinition of primary health care and the role of family physicians, isolated local movements and pilot projects have shown promise in achieving these goals, even under the current budgetary constraints.

  6. Equity through Assessment? Teachers' Mediation of Outcome-Focused Reforms in Socioeconomically Different Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Strandler, Ola

    2016-01-01

    Despite uncertainties regarding the effects of outcome-focused reforms on teaching practices, the political confidence in the potential of such reforms to create educational change remains high. This article problematizes the assumption that two such Swedish reforms (grades and national tests in younger years) can function as an impetus for…

  7. Changing times: the role of academe in health reform.

    PubMed

    Hewlett, Peggy O'Neill; Bleich, Michael; Cox, Mary Foster; Hoover, Kim Welch

    2009-01-01

    What is the role of nursing educators in the politics surrounding health reform? This critical question is posed, and exemplars of how nurse faculty can and should become more involved in the political arena are shared. The authors issue a call to action for every nurse educator in the country to become actively engaged in health reform discussions to bring this all-important perspective to the table. Recognizing and overcoming traditional roles and barriers for nurse faculty on university campuses are essential parts of the political activism that must be assumed. Opening the doors for increased patient access will result in higher utilization of health care providers, and if the nursing shortage is not abated, then bottlenecking of qualified students in programs with critical faculty shortages will create immense pressure in an overloaded care delivery system. The full impact of legislated health reform changes on academe may not be fully realized until after the fact-and as often experienced in the past, this may come too late for policy makers to adequately address questions that should have been raised by the faculty corps beforehand. The time to get involved is now.

  8. Responding to obesity in Brazil: understanding the international and domestic politics of policy reform through a nested analytic approach to comparative analysis.

    PubMed

    Gómez, Eduardo J

    2015-02-01

    Why do governments pursue obesity legislation? And is the case of Brazil unique compared with other nations when considering the politics of policy reform? Using a nested analytic approach to comparative research, I found that theoretical frameworks accounting for why nations implement obesity legislation were not supported with cross-national statistical evidence. I then turned to the case of Brazil's response to obesity at three levels of government, national, urban, and rural, to propose alternative hypotheses for why nations pursue obesity policy. The case of Brazil suggests that the reasons that governments respond are different at these three levels. International forces, historical institutions, and social health movements were factors that prompted national government responses. At the urban and rural government levels, receiving federal financial assistance and human resource support appeared to be more important. The case of Brazil suggests that the international and domestic politics of responding to obesity are highly complex and that national and subnational political actors have different perceptions and interests when pursuing obesity legislation. Copyright © 2015 by Duke University Press.

  9. Jump-Starting Educational Reform. Implementing British Columbia's Comprehensive School Act.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Goldman, Paul

    An educational reform effort to implement a comprehensive school act in British Columbia (Canada) is analyzed with a focus on some sociotechnical and political aspects. An overview of the content, background, and implementation of the reform effort is followed by identification of seven contradictions inherent in the plan. Contradictions are as…

  10. Constructivism and the Neoliberal Agenda in the Spanish Curriculum Reform of the 1980s and 1990s

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rodriguez, Encarna

    2011-01-01

    This article challenges the assumption underlying most education reforms that constructivism is politically neutral and intrinsically democratic. It makes this argument by examining the curriculum reform in Spain during the 1980s and 1990s in light of the neoliberal politics that the country was experiencing at that time. This study employs the…

  11. Power steering: The politics of utility privatization in India

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kale, Sunila Sharatkumar

    In this dissertation I offer an explanation for why Indian states are undertaking economic liberalization at different rates, focusing on reforms to the electricity sector. In the period between 1991 and 2003, India's states restructured their electricity systems to vastly different degrees. The dissertation evaluates three variables that feature prominently in the literature on economic policy change: ideological predilections of governing elites, external pressures like those coming from international financial institutions, and state-society interactions. I argue that it is the last explanation, focusing on the degree to which the potential "losers" from reform dominate state politics---that most compellingly accounts for the unevenness in state-level reforms. In my work, I lay greater analytic weight on the role of rural actors than much of the existing literature on the political economy of market reforms. The primary independent variable that explains this variation in reform outcomes is the organization and political strength of societal actors in each state, particularly rural and industrial constituencies, and middle class interests. In some parts of India, the advent of Green Revolution technologies in the late 1960s meant that farmers---chiefly larger landowners---became the primary beneficiaries of extensive development subsidies, including those for electricity. During India's period of economic liberalization in the 1990s, these beneficiaries constituted the main opponents of privatization, which today threatens to change the rules of the game by allocating resources according to market logics. Given these dynamics, where farm sectors are large or well-organized, reform has not proceeded. In the absence of rural political clout, state elites elected to privatize in order to satisfy industrial and urban constituents and signal the state's openness to private capital inflows. By comparing outcomes across states within the single country of India, the

  12. Liking Health Reform But Turned Off By Toxic Politics.

    PubMed

    Jacobs, Lawrence R; Mettler, Suzanne

    2016-05-01

    Six years after the Affordable Care Act (ACA) became law, the number of nonelderly Americans with health insurance has expanded by twenty million, and the uninsurance rate has declined nearly 9 percentage points. Nevertheless, public opinion about the law remains deeply divided. We investigated how individuals may be experiencing and responding to health reform implementation by analyzing three waves of a panel study we conducted in 2010, 2012, and 2014. While public opinion about the ACA remains split (45.6 percent unfavorable and 36.2 percent favorable), there have been several detectable shifts. The share of respondents believing that reform had little or no impact on access to health insurance or medical care diminished by 18 percentage points from 2010 to 2014, while those considering reform to have some or a great impact increased by 19 percentage points. Among individuals who held unfavorable views toward the law in 2010, the percentage who supported repeal-while still high, at 72 percent-shrank by 9 percentage points from 2010 to 2014. We found that party affiliation and distrust in government were influential factors in explaining the continuing divide over the law. The ACA has delivered discernible benefits, and some Americans are increasingly recognizing that it is improving access to health insurance and medical care. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

  13. Voluntary Self-Control: Education Reform as a Governmental Strategy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pongratz, Ludwig A.

    2006-01-01

    This paper takes the vigorous political debate unleashed in Germany by the results of the PISA study as a stimulus to take a closer look at the strategic aims and effects of the current education reforms, of which the PISA study is only one example. It shows that the reform measures underpin a powerful process of normalisation. In this context,…

  14. States Will Lead the Way toward Reform

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Duncan, Arne

    2009-01-01

    This document contains remarks delivered by the Secretary of Education who spoke at the 2009 Governors Education Symposium. Secretary Duncan spoke about uses of Recovery Act funding to drive reform in four core areas of education: (1) Robust data systems that track student achievement and teacher effectiveness; (2) Teacher and principal quality;…

  15. Final report of the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission: will we get the health care governance reform we need?

    PubMed

    Stoelwinder, Johannes U

    2009-10-05

    The National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission (NHHRC) has recommended that Australia develop a "single health system", governed by the federal government. Steps to achieving this include: a "Healthy Australia Accord" to agree on the reform framework; the progressive takeover of funding of public hospitals by the federal government; and the possible implementation of a consumer-choice health funding model, called "Medicare Select". These proposals face significant implementation issues, and the final solution needs to deal with both financial and political sustainability. If the federal and state governments cannot agree on a reform plan, the Prime Minister may need to go to the electorate for a mandate, which may be shaped by other economic issues such as tax reform and intergenerational challenges.

  16. Two Roads to School Finance Reform

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Berke, Joel S.; And Others

    1976-01-01

    Research on legislative and electoral consideration of school finance reforms identifies three important elements; the art of compromise, the fiscal context, and political leadership. Adoption of new school finance formulas is far more likely through the legislative process than through a referendum. (Author/AM)

  17. Global health governance - the next political revolution.

    PubMed

    Kickbusch, I; Reddy, K S

    2015-07-01

    The recent Ebola crisis has re-opened the debate on global health governance and the role of the World Health Organization. In order to analyze what is at stake, we apply two conceptual approaches from the social sciences - the work on gridlock and the concept of cosmopolitan moments - to assess the ability of the multilateral governance system to reform. We find that gridlock can be broken open by a health crisis which in turn generates a political drive for change. We show that a set of cosmopolitan moments have led to the introduction of the imperative of health in a range of policy arenas and moved health into 'high politics' - this has been called a political revolution. We contend that this revolution has entered a second phase with increasing interest of heads of state in global health issues. Here lies the window of opportunity to reform global health governance. Copyright © 2015 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Gubernatorial Reactions to No Child Left Behind: Politics, Pressure, and Education Reform

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fusarelli, Lance D.

    2005-01-01

    This article explores how federal authority exemplified in the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) impacts another significant trend in educational governance and control--the significant growth and expansion of gubernatorial control over education reform. After briefly outlining the history of gubernatorial activism in education reform, the reaction…

  19. Education Reform in Hong Kong: The ``Through-Road'' Model and its Societal Consequences

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Poon, Anita Y. K.; Wong, Yiu-Chung

    2008-01-01

    Although Hong Kong's education system has long been criticized as lacking in creativity and over-emphasising rote learning, on the whole it has served Hong Kong well in the past years, breeding outstanding business, academic and political leaders who continue to maintain Hong Kong's competitive edge. The traditional elite schools have played a crucial role in the process. The education reform, which is still on-going, aims to overhaul the entire system by introducing the "through-road" model. To accomplish this, some mechanisms need to be changed. J.P. Farrell's concepts of equality and equity, C.W. Mills' concept of elitism, and P. Bourdieu and J. Coleman's concepts of cultural and social capital will be applied to analyse the consequences of the reform. The paper argues that the education reform may be well-intentioned in eliminating some elements of inequality and inequity in education, but that this comes at the expense of Hong Kong's cultural and social capital and leads to the development of new forms of inequality.

  20. Attitudes to abortion in the era of reform: evidence from the Abortion Law Reform Association correspondence.

    PubMed

    Jones, Emma L

    2011-01-01

    This article examines letters sent by members of the general public to the Abortion Law Reform Association (ALRA) in the decade immediately before the 1967 Abortion Act. It shows how a voluntary organisation, in their aim of supporting a specific cause of unclear legality, called forth correspondence from those in need. In detailing the personal predicaments of those facing an unwanted pregnancy, this body of correspondence was readily deployed by ALRA in their efforts to mobilise support for abortion law reform, thus exercising a political function. A close examination of the content of the letters and the epistolary strategies adopted by their writers reveals that as much as they were a lobbying tool for changes in abortion law, these letters were discursively shaped by debates surrounding that very reform.

  1. Explaining Large-Scale Policy Change in the Turkish Health Care System: Ideas, Institutions, and Political Actors.

    PubMed

    Agartan, Tuba I

    2015-10-01

    Explaining policy change has been one of the major concerns of the health care politics and policy development literature. This article aims to explain the specific dynamics of large-scale reforms introduced within the framework of the Health Transformation Program in Turkey. It argues that confluence of the three streams - problem, policy, and politics - with the exceptional political will of the Justice and Development Party's (JDP) leaders opened up a window of opportunity for a large-scale policy change. The article also underscores the contribution of recent ideational perspectives that help explain "why" political actors in Turkey would focus on health care reform, given that there are a number of issues waiting to be addressed in the policy agenda. Examining how political actors framed problems and policies deepens our understanding of the content of the reform initiatives as well as the construction of the need to reform. The article builds on the insights of both the ideational and institutionalist perspectives when it argues that the interests, aspirations, and fears of the JDP, alongside the peculiar characteristics of the institutional context, have shaped its priorities and determination to carry out this reform initiative. Copyright © 2015 by Duke University Press.

  2. Educational Reform in Utah: The Years of Promise. 1993-94. Conditions of Education in Utah.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Galvin, Patrick F., Ed.; Sperry, David J., Ed.

    This volume, which describes the status of public education in Utah for the year 1993-94, focuses on the issue of educational reform. Following the introduction and overview, chapter 1 reviews reform legislation and implementation efforts during the last decade. It describes the context for reform in political, demographic, and economic terms.…

  3. Negotiating reform at an arm's length from the state: Disease Management Programmes and the introduction of clinical standards in Germany.

    PubMed

    Burau, Viola

    2009-07-01

    Studies of German health policy often highlight institutional constraints to reform. However, based on a case study of the introduction of clinical standards as part of the Disease Management Programmes for chronic illnesses, this article suggests that negotiating reform at an arm's length from the state can also lead to governance change, although the strengthening of hierarchy is not as prominent as that in some of the countries studied in this special issue. As such, the case of Germany offers interesting insights into the politics of governance change that occur in the shadow, but largely without the direct involvement of the state, which is typical of a corporatist health-care state. In this respect, the analysis identifies three leverages for change. First, the change in medical governance explicitly builds on earlier reforms and gives the reform alliance a competitive edge. Second, the organisations of the joint self-administration, as a more or less open ally of the state, play an influential role throughout the reform process. Importantly and third, this is complemented by the state steering at a distance.

  4. Elusive Sex Acts: Pleasure and Politics in Norwegian Sex Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Svendsen, Stine H. Bang

    2012-01-01

    While there is little political opposition towards sex education as such in Norway, recent attempts at reforming the subject reveal underlying heteronormative presumptions that seem resistant to reform. While a focus on homosexuality is included in the national curriculum at all levels of compulsory education, the sexual practices involved in…

  5. The Politics of Teaching Time in Disciplinary and Control Societies

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Thompson, Greg; Cook, Ian

    2017-01-01

    This article argues that education reform agendas which use policy levers, standardised testing and new regulatory authorities to steer teachers' work at a distance are creating a new temporal politics. Evidence from interviews with teachers and principals in Australian schools suggests that these reforms are impacting on individual experiences of…

  6. States and the politics of incrementalism: health policy in Wisconsin during the 1990s.

    PubMed

    Sparer, Michael S

    2004-04-01

    Wisconsin officials during the 1990s seemed poised to enact innovative and comprehensive health care reform. During that era, an ambitious, popular, and reform-minded governor led the state. The state had an unusually professional legislature. The state's economy was strong. Even with these advantages, however, the report card on the state's efforts is mixed. The state enacted a fairly modest set of reforms that were financed largely by the federal government and subject to extensive federal oversight. The Wisconsin story thus seems to be about the politics of incrementalism. But while critics of incrementalist politics point out that the number of uninsured continues to grow, the catalytic federalism witnessed in Wisconsin in the 1990s may well be the best model for implementing health care reform.

  7. Administrative reform in the Venezuelan Ministry of Education: A case analysis of the 1970's

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hanson, E. Mark

    1984-06-01

    Democracy arrived in Venezuela in 1958, and reforming the rigid, centralized and unrepresentative institutions of government subsequently assumed a high priority. This article, based on data gathered in Venezuela several times over a twelve-year period by means of a standard field research methodology, represents a longitudinal case study of efforts through the 70's to generate administrative reform in the Ministry of Education. Specifically, the reform proposed to decentralize and regionalize the organization and management of education in order to promote regional socio-economic development. The study describes and discusses political and organizational factors which disrupted and frustrated the reform process, including: (1) lack of political continuity and maturity; (2) lack of appropriate structures within the system and of real desire on the part of ministry officials to initiate an effective delegation of powers and responsibilities; (3) lack of adequate mechanisms for gathering, processing and distributing information; and (4) lack of sufficient personnel within the ministry with the training and sustained experience to manage complex programs. As in many other countries, the ideals of the reform in Venezuela outstripped the political and human realities of the situation there. Comparative research is now needed to enable other nations to learn from this experience.

  8. The political abuse of international health system comparisons.

    PubMed

    Ehlke, Daniel

    2011-07-01

    Though the science of medicine subscribes to learning from best practices and the transmission of superior treatment regimens across national boundaries, the same ethos does not inform political debates surrounding health system reform. The Canadian and English health systems have been used - and, more frequently - abused by American politicians in their quest to support their own model of reform, or preserve the status quo.

  9. Engaging the Community, Targeted Interventions: Achieving Scale in Basic Education Reform

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nebres, Bienvenido Florendo

    2009-01-01

    In 1983, after over 10 years of working on mathematics education reform in the Philippines, I wrote a paper for a Tokyo conference arguing that education reform in developing countries such as the Philippines should begin by working on macro-problems, namely the social, political, and economic environment of the schools, as a context for the…

  10. Can Russia Reform? Economic, Political, and Military Perspectives

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2012-06-01

    formation of a diversified economic model , it did not halt the growth of the gap between Russia and the developed world either. The result will be...years. The pure model was a unitary state economic governance scheme where Tsars, (principals) unable to micro-plan and command production...subsistence, and dividing the booty arbitrarily among themselves. TSARIST STATE ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT REFORM The core model served its purpose and was

  11. Health sector reform and reproductive health in Latin America and the Caribbean: strengthening the links.

    PubMed Central

    Langer, A.; Nigenda, G.; Catino, J.

    2000-01-01

    Many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) are currently reforming their national health sectors and also implementing a comprehensive approach to reproductive health care. Three regional workshops to explore how health sector reform could improve reproductive health services have revealed the inherently complex, competing, and political nature of health sector reform and reproductive health. The objectives of reproductive health care can run parallel to those of health sector reform in that both are concerned with promoting equitable access to high quality care by means of integrated approaches to primary health care, and by the involvement of the public in setting health sector priorities. However, there is a serious risk that health reforms will be driven mainly by financial and/or political considerations and not by the need to improve the quality of health services as a basic human right. With only limited changes to the health systems in many Latin American and Caribbean countries and a handful of examples of positive progress resulting from reforms, the gap between rhetoric and practice remains wide. PMID:10859860

  12. Future Imaginaries of Urban School Reform

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nespor, Jan

    2016-01-01

    Drawing on analytic heuristics from critical discourse analysis and cultural political economy (Jessop, 2010; Wodak, 2002), this article examines the temporal premises and "futures" embedded in a report and reform proposal created in a mid-sized, American city, Columbus, Ohio, in 2013. The product of a city-wide commission appointed in…

  13. Thirty Years of Reform and Opening Up: Teaching International Relations in China

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McMahon, Patrice C.; Zou, Yue

    2011-01-01

    In 1978, Deng Xiaoping declared that China's future depended on "gaige kaifang" (reform and opening up to the West). By any standard, China has reformed its economic system and prospered handsomely by integrating into the world economy. With less fanfare, China has taken steps to restructure its political system and committed substantial…

  14. Instructors' Perceptions of the Bologna Model of Higher Education Reform in Cameroon

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mngo, Zachary Y.

    2011-01-01

    Problem Statement. The literature on education in Cameroon suggests that there is a deep-rooted history of resistance to educational reform and harmonization both at the K12 and higher education levels. Attempts by political and educational leaders to reform and harmonize the two very distinct systems of education, inherited from former colonizers…

  15. Issue ads and the health reform debate.

    PubMed

    Bergan, Daniel; Risner, Genevieve

    2012-06-01

    The public debate over health care reform in 2009 was carried out partly through issue advertisements aired online and on television. Did these advertisements alter the course of the debate over health care reform? While millions of dollars are spent each year on issue ads, little is known about their effects. Results from a naturalistic online experiment on the effects of issue ads suggest that they can influence the perceived importance of an issue and perceptions of politicians associated with the featured policy while influencing policy support only among those low in political awareness.

  16. Abortion law reforms in Colombia and Nicaragua: issue networks and opportunity contexts.

    PubMed

    Reuterswärd, Camilla; Zetterberg, Pär; Thapar-Björkert, Suruchi; Molyneux, Maxine

    2011-01-01

    This article analyses two instances of abortion law reform in Latin America. In 2006, after a decades-long impasse, the highly controversial issue of abortion came to dominate the political agenda when Colombia liberalized its abortion law and Nicaragua adopted a total ban on abortion. The article analyses the central actors in the reform processes, their strategies and the opportunity contexts. Drawing on Htun's (2003) framework, it examines why these processes concluded with opposing legislative outcomes. The authors argue for the need to understand the state as a non-unitary site of politics and policy, and for judicial processes to be seen as a key variable in facilitating gender policy reforms in Latin America. In addition, they argue that ‘windows of opportunity’ such as the timing of elections can be critically important in legislative change processes.

  17. Interest groups and health reform: lessons from California.

    PubMed

    Oliver, T R; Dowell, E B

    We review the 1992 policy choices in California for expanding health insurance coverage, focusing on the rejection of an employer mandate by legislators and voters. We analyze how interest-group politics, gubernatorial politics, and national politics shaped those choices. Although public opinion and the shift of organized medicine showed considerable support for extending health insurance coverage, the opposition of liberal and conservative groups and a foundering economy prevented a significant change in public policy. The president's health reform plan appears to address many of the unresolved concerns in California, but overcoming resistance to any kind of mandate will require skilled leadership and negotiation.

  18. The Political Limits to School Finance Reform.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cohen, Michael A.; And Others

    This study focuses on the political feasibility of some of the alternatives open to States for raising educational revenue and allocating funds to local school districts. Eight states -- California, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, and Oregon -- were chosen for study, to represent a range in (1) the level of State…

  19. Macro- and Micro-Political Vernaculizations of Rights

    PubMed Central

    Bloomer, Fiona

    2017-01-01

    Abstract How abortion is dealt with in law and policy is shaped through the multiple political and societal discourses on the issue within a particular society. Debate on abortion is constantly in flux, with progressive and regressive movements witnessed globally. This paper examines the translation of human rights norms into discourses on abortion in Northern Ireland, a region where abortion is highly restricted, with extensive contemporary public debate into potential liberalization of abortion law. This paper emanates from research examining political debates on abortion in Northern Ireland and contrasts findings with recent civil society developments, identifying competing narratives of human rights with regard to abortion at the macro- and micro-political level. The paper identifies the complexities of using human rights as a lobbying tool, and questions the utility of rights-based arguments in furthering abortion law reform. The paper concludes that a legalistic rights-based approach may have limited efficacy in creating a more nuanced debate and perspective on abortion in Northern Ireland but that it has particular resonance in arguing for limited reform in extreme cases. PMID:28630550

  20. Rethinking Democratic Education: The Politics of Reform.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Steiner, David M.

    This book argues that democratic education should equip citizens to be "the measure of all things." The volume contends that the voices of society should develop the skills of questioning, criticizing, and reconstructing the language of the day in order to dissect the rhetoric of politics, economy, and culture. But the volume asserts that these…

  1. The inter-section of political history and health policy in Asia--the historical foundations for health policy analysis.

    PubMed

    Grundy, John; Hoban, Elizabeth; Allender, Steve; Annear, Peter

    2014-09-01

    One of the challenges for health reform in Asia is the diverse set of socio-economic and political structures, and the related variability in the direction and pace of health systems and policy reform. This paper aims to make comparative observations and analysis of health policy reform in the context of historical change, and considers the implications of these findings for the practice of health policy analysis. We adopt an ecological model for analysis of policy development, whereby health systems are considered as dynamic social constructs shaped by changing political and social conditions. Utilizing historical, social scientific and health literature, timelines of health and history for five countries (Cambodia, Myanmar, Mongolia, North Korea and Timor Leste) are mapped over a 30-50 year period. The case studies compare and contrast key turning points in political and health policy history, and examines the manner in which these turning points sets the scene for the acting out of longer term health policy formation, particularly with regard to the managerial domains of health policy making. Findings illustrate that the direction of health policy reform is shaped by the character of political reform, with countries in the region being at variable stages of transition from monolithic and centralized administrations, towards more complex management arrangements characterized by a diversity of health providers, constituency interest and financing sources. The pace of reform is driven by a country's institutional capability to withstand and manage transition shocks of post conflict rehabilitation and emergence of liberal economic reforms in an altered governance context. These findings demonstrate that health policy analysis needs to be informed by a deeper understanding and questioning of the historical trajectory and political stance that sets the stage for the acting out of health policy formation, in order that health systems function optimally along their own

  2. Implementing Comprehensive Reform: Implications for Practice

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stout, Karen A.

    2016-01-01

    This chapter describes the challenges and practical barriers community colleges face when implementing comprehensive reform, exploring how reforms are leading to some improvements but not often scaled improvements.

  3. Patrick Geddes and the politics of evolution.

    PubMed

    Renwick, Chris

    2010-12-01

    Ever since they began to be widely discussed during the early nineteenth century, evolutionary ideas have played a controversial role in debates about politics and social reform. Understanding the political commitments of those who have sought to integrate politics and evolution is a complex challenge, though; not least because memories of mid-twentieth-century eugenic policies have frequently shaped how we talk about biosocial science. However, as the case of the Scottish biologist-turned-town-planner Patrick Geddes highlights, while we need to be aware of the broad appeal that biosocial science has historically held, we also need to recognise that current political categories can be misleading when thinking about those of who have put evolution and politics together. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Stakeholder learning for health sector reform in Lao PDR.

    PubMed

    Phillips, Simone; Pholsena, Soulivanh; Gao, Jun; Oliveira Cruz, Valeria

    2016-09-01

    Development organizations and academic institutions have expressed the need for increased research to guide the development and implementation of policies to strengthen health systems in low- and middle-income countries. The extent to which evidence-based policies alone can produce changes in health systems remains a point of debate; other factors, such as a country's political climate and the level of actor engagement, have been identified as influential variables in effective policy development and implementation. In response to this debate, this article contends that the success of health sector reform depends largely on policy learning-the degree to which research recommendations saturate a given political environment in order to successfully inform the ideas, opinions and perceived interests of relevant actors. Using a stakeholder analysis approach to analyze the case of health sector reform in Lao PDR, we examine the ways that actors' understanding and interests affect the success of reform-and how attitudes towards reform can be shaped by exposure to policy research and international health policy priorities. The stakeholder analysis was conducted by the WHO during the early stages of health sector reform in Lao PDR, with the purpose of providing the Ministry of Health with concrete recommendations for increasing actor involvement and strengthening stakeholder support. We found that dissemination of research findings to a broad array of actors and the inclusion of diverse stakeholder groups in policy design and implementation increases the probability of a sustainable and successful health sector reform. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  5. The Politics of Universal Health Coverage in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Framework for Evaluation and Action.

    PubMed

    Fox, Ashley M; Reich, Michael R

    2015-10-01

    Universal health coverage has recently become a top item on the global health agenda pressed by multilateral and donor organizations, as disenchantment grows with vertical, disease-specific health programs. This increasing focus on universal health coverage has brought renewed attention to the role of domestic politics and the interaction between domestic and international relations in the health reform process. This article proposes a theory-based framework for analyzing the politics of health reform for universal health coverage, according to four stages in the policy cycle (agenda setting, design, adoption, and implementation) and four variables that affect reform (interests, institutions, ideas, and ideology). This framework can assist global health policy researchers, multilateral organization officials, and national policy makers in navigating the complex political waters of health reforms aimed at achieving universal health coverage. To derive the framework, we critically review the theoretical and applied literature on health policy reform in developing countries and illustrate the framework with examples of health reforms moving toward universal coverage in low- and middle-income countries. We offer a series of lessons stemming from these experiences to date. Copyright © 2015 by Duke University Press.

  6. Looking Back, Moving Forward: Technical, Normative, and Political Dimensions of School Discipline

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wiley, Kathryn E.; Anyon, Yolanda; Yang, Jessica L.; Pauline, Malina E.; Rosch, Alyssa; Valladares, Giovana; Downing, Barbara J.; Pisciotta, Lisa

    2018-01-01

    Purpose: School discipline reformers have presumed that such work is largely a technical task, emphasizing discrete changes to discipline policies and protocols. Yet prior theory and research suggest that emphasizing technical changes may overlook additional and important aspects of reform, namely, the normative and political dimensions within…

  7. Crabs in a bucket: the politics of health care reform in California.

    PubMed

    Bergthold, L

    1984-01-01

    In 1982 the state of California adopted a package of legislation collectively known as "the Medi-Cal reform." This article examines the background of this reform, the process through which it was adopted by the state legislature, and its effects on the various interests involved. In particular, the article focuses on the alteration of power relationships occasioned by the emergence of business interests as an active force in the formulation of health policy.

  8. Inexpensive health care reform: the mathematics of medicine.

    PubMed

    Forsyth, Roger A

    2010-02-01

    There is data to support the hypothesis that US healthcare reform will require systemic changes in their delivery system rather than a segment-by-segment approach to improving individual components such as administrative or pharmaceutical costs or illness-by-illness programs such as comparative effectiveness or disease management. Mathematically, personnel costs provide the largest potential for savings. These costs are reflected in utilization rates. However, when governments or insurers try to control utilization, shortages or dissatisfaction ensue. Therefore, reform should be structured to encourage individually initiated reductions in utilization. This can be facilitated by changing from employer-paid comprehensive group policies of variable coverage to a three-part, standardized, individually purchased, group policy with a targeted deductible and co-pays that provide disincentives to over-utilization and incentives (refunds on unused contributions) to reduce utilization. There will be a public health policy (maternal, infant, and immunizations) that will be very inexpensive and not subject to any disincentives, a catastrophic policy with a deductible and enhanced but diminishing co-pays, and a Health Savings Account that pre-positions funds to cover the deductible and co-pays. These changes will lead to a reduction in administrative costs. The excess capacity created will provide care for the currently uninsured. Savings will be refunded to individuals thereby generating taxes that can pay for needed subsidies. Reform can be inexpensive if it puts the mathematics before the politics.

  9. Ethical and Human Rights Foundations of Health Policy: Lessons from Comprehensive Reform in Mexico.

    PubMed

    Frenk, Julio; Gómez-Dantés, Octavio

    2015-12-10

    This paper discusses the use of an explicit ethical and human rights framework to guide a reform intended to provide universal and comprehensive social protection in health for all Mexicans, independently of their socio-economic status or labor market condition. This reform was designed, implemented, and evaluated by making use of what Michael Reich has identified as the three pillars of public policy: technical, political, and ethical. The use of evidence and political strategies in the design and negotiation of the Mexican health reform is briefly discussed in the first part of this paper. The second part examines the ethical component of the reform, including the guiding concept and values, as well as the specific entitlements that gave operational meaning to the right to health care that was enshrined in Mexico's 1983 Constitution. The impact of this rights-based health reform, measured through an external evaluation, is discussed in the final section. The main message of this paper is that a clear ethical framework, combined with technical excellence and political skill, can deliver major policy results. Copyright © 2015 Frenk and Gómez-Dantés. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

  10. Globalization, Statist Political Economy, and Unsuccessful Education Reform in South Korea, 1993-2003

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kim, Ki Su

    2005-01-01

    This article examines the relationship between globalization and national education reforms, especially those of educational systems. Instead of exploring the much debated issues of how globalization affects national educational systems and how the nations react by what kinds of systemic education reform, however, it focuses on what such a method…

  11. Political economy challenges in nutrition.

    PubMed

    Balarajan, Yarlini; Reich, Michael R

    2016-11-05

    Historically, implementing nutrition policy has confronted persistent obstacles, with many of these obstacles arising from political economy sources. While there has been increased global policy attention to improving nutrition in recent years, the difficulty of translating this policy momentum into results remains. We present key political economy themes emanating from the political economy of nutrition literature. Together, these interrelated themes create a complex web of obstacles to moving nutrition policy forward. From these themes, we frame six political economy challenges facing the implementation of nutrition policy today. Building awareness of the broader political and economic issues that shape nutrition actions and adopting a more systematic approach to political economy analysis may help to mitigate these challenges. Improving nutrition will require managing the political economy challenges that persist in the nutrition field at global, national and subnational levels. We argue that a "mindshift" is required to build greater awareness of the broader political economy factors shaping the global nutrition landscape; and to embed systematic political economy analysis into the work of stakeholders navigating this field. This mindshift may help to improve the political feasibility of efforts to reform nutrition policy and implementation-and ensure that historical legacies do not continue to shape the future.

  12. Inclusive Education Reform: Implications for Teacher Aides

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bourke, Patricia; Carrington, Suzanne

    2007-01-01

    In Queensland, inclusive education reform is on the political agenda, following the report of the Ministerial Taskforce on Inclusive Education (students with disabilities) in 2004. The Government's responses to the initiatives outlined in the taskforce report emphasise a commitment to social justice and equity so that all students can be included…

  13. Leading Inclusive Reform for Students with Disabilities: A School- and Systemwide Approach

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Theoharis, George; Causton, Julie

    2014-01-01

    It is of great importance to maximize access to general education for all students with disabilities. This article focuses on how leaders create inclusive schools for all students--inclusive school reform. Inclusive school reform can result in all students with disabilities being placed into general education settings (including students with…

  14. Multiple Aims in the Development of a Major Reform of the National Curriculum for Science in England

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ryder, Jim; Banner, Indira

    2011-03-01

    In the context of a major reform of the school science curriculum for 14-16-year-olds in England, we examine the aims ascribed to the reform, the stakeholders involved, and the roles of differing values and authority in its development. This reform includes an emphasis on socioscientific issues and the nature of science; curriculum trends of international relevance. Our analysis identifies largely 'instrumental' aims, with little emphasis on 'intrinsic' aims and associated values. We identify five broad categories of stakeholders focusing on different aims with, for example, a social, individual, political, or economic emphasis. We suggest that curriculum development projects reflecting largely social and individual aims were appropriated by other stakeholders to serve political and economic aims. We argue that a curriculum reform body representing all stakeholder interests is needed to ensure that multiple aims are considered throughout the curriculum reform process. Within such a body, the differentiated character of the science teaching community would need to be represented.

  15. Differences in negativity bias underlie variations in political ideology.

    PubMed

    Hibbing, John R; Smith, Kevin B; Alford, John R

    2014-06-01

    Disputes between those holding differing political views are ubiquitous and deep-seated, and they often follow common, recognizable lines. The supporters of tradition and stability, sometimes referred to as conservatives, do battle with the supporters of innovation and reform, sometimes referred to as liberals. Understanding the correlates of those distinct political orientations is probably a prerequisite for managing political disputes, which are a source of social conflict that can lead to frustration and even bloodshed. A rapidly growing body of empirical evidence documents a multitude of ways in which liberals and conservatives differ from each other in purviews of life with little direct connection to politics, from tastes in art to desire for closure and from disgust sensitivity to the tendency to pursue new information, but the central theme of the differences is a matter of debate. In this article, we argue that one organizing element of the many differences between liberals and conservatives is the nature of their physiological and psychological responses to features of the environment that are negative. Compared with liberals, conservatives tend to register greater physiological responses to such stimuli and also to devote more psychological resources to them. Operating from this point of departure, we suggest approaches for refining understanding of the broad relationship between political views and response to the negative. We conclude with a discussion of normative implications, stressing that identifying differences across ideological groups is not tantamount to declaring one ideology superior to another.

  16. The primacy of politics: charting the governance of the Papua New Guinea health system since independence.

    PubMed

    Day, Benjamin

    2009-01-01

    To chart the course of health governance in Papua New Guinea (PNG) since Independence, this article identifies two arks of public sector administration in PNG. Each was instigated by the passing of an Organic Law. The reform periods presaged by the Organic Law on Provincial Government 1976 (OLPG) and the Organic Law on Provincial Governments and Local-level Governments 1995 (OLPGLLG) have fundamentally transformed the political and administrative structures governing the country, and in particularly those relating to health. Comparing the organization of the government-operated health system during each of these reform periods not only reveals why PNG's health services have struggled to improve since Independence, but also casts light on the key drivers of fundamental reforms in PNG. Ultimately, the exercise illustrates the 'primacy of politics', and why political concerns invariably trump service delivery concerns.

  17. Education Reform When Nations Undergo Radical Political and Social Transformation.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    La Belle, Thomas J.; Ward, Christopher R.

    1990-01-01

    Analyzes the relationship between radical social transformation and educational reform in Algeria, China, Cuba, Ethiopia, Iran, Mozambique, and Nicaragua. Examines seven policy areas before and after transformation: centralized control, access to education, tracking, curriculum, personnel, language of instruction, and literacy. (28 references) (SV)

  18. The New Politics of US Health Care Prices: Institutional Reconfiguration and the Emergence of All-Payer Claims Databases.

    PubMed

    Rocco, Philip; Kelly, Andrew S; Béland, Daniel; Kinane, Michael

    2017-02-01

    Prices are a significant driver of health care cost in the United States. Existing research on the politics of health system reform has emphasized the limited nature of policy entrepreneurs' efforts at solving the problem of rising prices through direct regulation at the state level. Yet this literature fails to account for how change agents in the states gradually reconfigured the politics of prices, forging new, transparency-based policy instruments called all-payer claims databases (APCDs), which are designed to empower consumers, purchasers, and states to make informed market and policy choices. Drawing on pragmatist institutional theory, this article shows how APCDs emerged as the dominant model for reforming health care prices. While APCD advocates faced significant institutional barriers to policy change, we show how they reconfigured existing ideas, tactical repertoires, and legal-technical infrastructures to develop a politically and technologically robust reform. Our analysis has important implications for theories of how change agents overcome structural barriers to health reform. Copyright © 2017 by Duke University Press.

  19. Reforming the Curriculum in a Post-Colonial Society: The Case of Hong Kong

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kennedy, Kerry J.; Fok, Ping Kwan; Chan, Kin Sang Jacqueline

    2006-01-01

    The current curriculum reform agenda in Hong Kong is enmeshed in the politics of a post-colonial society. Yet, there is not a single view of what post-coloniality means for Hong Kong's school curriculum. This article focuses on analyzing the curriculum reform agenda that has emerged in post-colonial Hong Kong. This agenda was not only…

  20. Medical society engagement in contentious policy reform: the Ethiopian Society for Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ESOG) and Ethiopia's 2005 reform of its Penal Code on abortion.

    PubMed

    Holcombe, Sarah Jane

    2018-05-01

    Unsafe abortion is one of the three leading causes of maternal mortality in low-income countries; however, few countries have reformed their laws to permit safer, legal abortion, and professional medical associations have not tended to spearhead this type of reform. Support from a professional association typically carries more weight than does that from an individual medical professional. However, theory predicts and the empirical record largely reveals that medical associations shy from engagement in conflictual policymaking such as on abortion, except when professional autonomy or income is at stake. Using interviews with 10 obstetrician-gynaecologists and 44 other leaders familiar with Ethiopia's reproductive health policy context, as well as other primary and secondary sources, this research examines why, counter to theoretical expectations from the sociology of medical professions literature and experience elsewhere, the Ethiopian Society of Obstetricians & Gynecologists (ESOG) actively supported reform of national law on abortion. ESOG leadership participation was motivated by both individual and ESOG's organizational commitments to reducing maternal mortality and also by professional training and work experience. Further, typical constraints on medical society involvement in policymaking were relaxed or removed, including those related to ESOG's organizational structure and history, and to political environment. Findings do not contradict theory positing medical society avoidance of socially conflictual health policymaking, but rather identify how the expected restrictions were less present in Ethiopia, facilitating medical society participation. Results can inform efforts to encourage medical society participation in policy reform to improve women's health elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa.

  1. The Beleaguered College. Essays on Educational Reform

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tussman, Joseph

    The five essays of this book focus on educational reform in higher education and are based on several persistent themes: that there is a fatal conflict between the graduate school and the undergraduate college; that "liberal" education is in a fundamental sense "politics", therefore, an education needed by everyone for all in a…

  2. Education Reform Sparks Teacher Protest in Mexico

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Levinson, Bradley A.

    2014-01-01

    The current tumult in the Mexican education arena has deep roots in politics and tradition, but it is latter-day global competition and international measures of student performance that are driving reform efforts. Teacher strikes and demonstrations are not new in Mexico, but issues raised by today's protesting teachers represent a combination of…

  3. Specialty, political affiliation, and perceived social responsibility are associated with U.S. physician reactions to health care reform legislation.

    PubMed

    Antiel, Ryan M; James, Katherine M; Egginton, Jason S; Sheeler, Robert D; Liebow, Mark; Goold, Susan Dorr; Tilburt, Jon C

    2014-02-01

    Little is known about how U.S. physicians’ political affiliations, specialties, or sense of social responsibility relate to their reactions to health care reform legislation. To assess U.S. physicians’ impressions about the direction of U.S. health care under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), whether that legislation will make reimbursement more or less fair, and examine how those judgments relate to political affiliation and perceived social responsibility. A cross-sectional, mailed, self-reported survey. Simple random sample of 3,897 U.S.physicians. Views on the ACA in general, reimbursement under the ACA in particular, and perceived social responsibility. Among 2,556 physicians who responded (RR2: 65 %), approximately two out of five (41 %) believed that the ACA will turn U.S. health care in the right direction and make physician reimbursement less fair (44 %). Seventy-two percent of physicians endorsed a general professional obligation to address societal health policy issues, 65 % agreed that every physician is professionally obligated to care for the uninsured or underinsured, and half (55 %) were willing to accept limits on coverage for expensive drugs and procedures for the sake of expanding access to basic health care. In multivariable analyses, liberals and independents were both substantially more likely to endorse the ACA (OR 33.0 [95 % CI, 23.6–46.2]; OR 5.0 [95 % CI, 3.7–6.8], respectively), as were physicians reporting a salary (OR 1.7 [95 % CI, 1.2–2.5])or salary plus bonus (OR 1.4 [95 % CI, 1.1–1.9)compensation type. In the same multivariate models, those who agreed that addressing societal health policy issues are within the scope of their professional obligations (OR 1.5 [95 % CI, 1.0–2.0]), who believe physicians are professionally obligated to care for the uninsured / under-insured (OR 1.7 [95 % CI,1.3–2.4]), and who agreed with limiting coverage for expensive drugs and procedures to expand insurance coverage (OR 2.3 [95 % CI, 1.8

  4. Specialty, Political Affiliation, and Perceived Social Responsibility Are Associated with U.S. Physician Reactions to Health Care Reform Legislation.

    PubMed

    Antiel, Ryan M; James, Katherine M; Egginton, Jason S; Sheeler, Robert D; Liebow, Mark; Goold, Susan Dorr; Tilburt, Jon C

    2013-06-25

    Little is known about how U.S. physicians' political affiliations, specialties, or sense of social responsibility relate to their reactions to health care reform legislation. To assess U.S. physicians' impressions about the direction of U.S. health care under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), whether that legislation will make reimbursement more or less fair, and examine how those judgments relate to political affiliation and perceived social responsibility. A cross-sectional, mailed, self-reported survey. Simple random sample of 3,897 U.S. physicians. Views on the ACA in general, reimbursement under the ACA in particular, and perceived social responsibility. Among 2,556 physicians who responded (RR2: 65 %), approximately two out of five (41 %) believed that the ACA will turn U.S. health care in the right direction and make physician reimbursement less fair (44 %). Seventy-two percent of physicians endorsed a general professional obligation to address societal health policy issues, 65 % agreed that every physician is professionally obligated to care for the uninsured or underinsured, and half (55 %) were willing to accept limits on coverage for expensive drugs and procedures for the sake of expanding access to basic health care. In multivariable analyses, liberals and independents were both substantially more likely to endorse the ACA (OR 33.0 [95 % CI, 23.6-46.2]; OR 5.0 [95 % CI, 3.7-6.8], respectively), as were physicians reporting a salary (OR 1.7 [95 % CI, 1.2-2.5]) or salary plus bonus (OR 1.4 [95 % CI, 1.1-1.9) compensation type. In the same multivariate models, those who agreed that addressing societal health policy issues are within the scope of their professional obligations (OR 1.5 [95 % CI, 1.0-2.0]), who believe physicians are professionally obligated to care for the uninsured / under-insured (OR 1.7 [95 % CI, 1.3-2.4]), and who agreed with limiting coverage for expensive drugs and procedures to expand insurance coverage (OR 2.3 [95 % CI, 1

  5. Abortion law in Nepal: the road to reform.

    PubMed

    Thapa, Shyam

    2004-11-01

    In 2002 Nepal's parliament passed a liberal abortion law, after nearly three decades of reform efforts. This paper reviews the history of the movement for reform and the combination of factors that contributed to its success. These include sustained advocacy for reform; the dissemination of knowledge, information and evidence; adoption of the reform agenda by the public sector and its leadership in involving other stakeholders; the existence of work for safe motherhood as the context in which the initiative could gain support; an active women's rights movement and support from international and multilateral organisations; sustained involvement of local NGOs, civil society and professional organisations; the involvement of journalists and the media; the absence of significant opposition; courageous government officials and an enabling democratic political system. The overriding rationale for reforming the abortion law in Nepal has been to ensure safe motherhood and women's rights. The first government abortion services officially began in March 2004 at the Maternity Hospital in Kathmandu; services will be expanded gradually to other public and private hospitals and private clinics in the coming years.

  6. A Concise Analysis of Argentina’s Post-Junta Reform of Its Major Security Services

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2006-12-01

    Carlos Menem (1989–99), respectively a radical and a Peronist, implemented civil-military reform of the security forces. Initially, the reforms...purging the ranks, while Menem used indirect methods, while pointing to the on-going economic crisis to legitimize continuation of his reforms. In all...Politics 35, no. 1 (October 2002): 1. 93 Ibid., 2 94 David Pion-Berlin, 110. 39 civilian government, whereas Menem took advantage of the general

  7. Requirements For Security Sector Reform Success

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-05-26

    Advanced Military Studies United States Army Command and General Staff College Fort Leavenworth, Kansas 2016 Approved for public release...ACRONYM(S) School of Advanced Military Studies , Advanced Military Studies Program 11. SPONSOR/MONITOR’S REPORT NUMBER(S) 12. DISTRIBUTION...political and economic stability are required for Security Sector Reform (SSR) success over the long term. This study suggests that states with stable

  8. The SAZA study: implementing health financing reform in South Africa and Zambia.

    PubMed

    Gilson, Lucy; Doherty, Jane; Lake, Sally; McIntyre, Di; Mwikisa, Chris; Thomas, Stephen

    2003-03-01

    This paper explores the policy-making process in the 1990s in two countries, South Africa and Zambia, in relation to health care financing reforms. While much of the analysis of health reform programmes has looked at design issues, assuming that a technically sound design is the primary requirement of effective policy change, this paper explores the political and bureaucratic realities shaping the pattern of policy change and its impacts. Through a case study approach, it provides a picture of the policy environment and processes in the two countries, specifically considering the extent to which technical analysts and technical knowledge were able to shape policy change. The two countries' experiences indicate the strong influence of political factors and actors over which health care financing policies were implemented, and which not, as well as over the details of policy design. Moments of political transition in both countries provided political leaders, specifically Ministers of Health, with windows of opportunity in which to introduce new policies. However, these transitions, and the changes in administrative structures introduced with them, also created environments that constrained the processes of reform design and implementation and limited the equity and sustainability gains achieved by the policies. Technical analysts, working either inside or outside government, had varying and often limited influence. In part, this reflected the limits of their own capacity as well as weaknesses in the way they were used in policy development. In addition, the analysts were constrained by the fact that their preferred policies often received only weak political support. Focusing almost exclusively on designing policy reforms, these analysts gave little attention to generating adequate support for the policy options they proposed. Finally, the country experiences showed that front-line health workers, middle level managers and the public had important influences over

  9. Medical society engagement in contentious policy reform: the Ethiopian Society for Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ESOG) and Ethiopia’s 2005 reform of its Penal Code on abortion

    PubMed Central

    2018-01-01

    Abstract Unsafe abortion is one of the three leading causes of maternal mortality in low-income countries; however, few countries have reformed their laws to permit safer, legal abortion, and professional medical associations have not tended to spearhead this type of reform. Support from a professional association typically carries more weight than does that from an individual medical professional. However, theory predicts and the empirical record largely reveals that medical associations shy from engagement in conflictual policymaking such as on abortion, except when professional autonomy or income is at stake. Using interviews with 10 obstetrician–gynaecologists and 44 other leaders familiar with Ethiopia’s reproductive health policy context, as well as other primary and secondary sources, this research examines why, counter to theoretical expectations from the sociology of medical professions literature and experience elsewhere, the Ethiopian Society of Obstetricians & Gynecologists (ESOG) actively supported reform of national law on abortion. ESOG leadership participation was motivated by both individual and ESOG’s organizational commitments to reducing maternal mortality and also by professional training and work experience. Further, typical constraints on medical society involvement in policymaking were relaxed or removed, including those related to ESOG’s organizational structure and history, and to political environment. Findings do not contradict theory positing medical society avoidance of socially conflictual health policymaking, but rather identify how the expected restrictions were less present in Ethiopia, facilitating medical society participation. Results can inform efforts to encourage medical society participation in policy reform to improve women’s health elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa. PMID:29538641

  10. The politics of obesity: a current assessment and look ahead.

    PubMed

    Kersh, Rogan

    2009-03-01

    The continuing rise in obesity rates across the United States has proved impervious to clinical treatment or public health exhortation, necessitating policy responses. Nearly a decade's worth of political debates may be hardening into an obesity issue regime, comprising established sets of cognitive frames, stakeholders, and policy options. This article is a survey of reports on recently published studies. Much of the political discussion regarding obesity is centered on two "frames," personal-responsibility and environmental, yielding very different sets of policy responses. While policy efforts at the federal level have resulted in little action to date, state and/or local solutions such as calorie menu labeling and the expansion of regulations to reduce unhealthy foods at school may have more impact. Obesity politics is evolving toward a relatively stable state of equilibrium, which could make comprehensive reforms to limit rising obesity rates less feasible. Therefore, to achieve meaningful change, rapid-response research identifying a set of promising reforms, combined with concerted lobbying action, will be necessary.

  11. Educational Reform: The Political Roots of National Risk.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Beyer, Landon E.

    1985-01-01

    Although "A Nation at Risk" identifies many legitimate problems, the report misconstrues their causes and proposes inappropriate solutions. By blaming schools for America's economic, military, and moral shortcomings, it deflects criticism from education's social, economic, and political context, which we must analyze if we seek a more…

  12. Educational Policy Issues for the 1990s: Balancing Equity and Excellence in Implementing the Reform Agenda.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Marcoulides, George A.; Heck, Ronald H.

    1990-01-01

    Discusses problems with reform issues that focus specifically on changing the system of educational policymaking to achieve excellence but lack safeguards against compromising equality of educational opportunity in the public school system. Explores the conflicting political views of reform policy, which include economic issues and democratic…

  13. Big bang health care reform--does it work?: the case of Britain's 1991 National Health Service reforms.

    PubMed

    Klein, R

    1995-01-01

    The costs and benefits are examined of one of the very few examples of a government driving through health care reform in the face of near unanimous opposition: Britain's 1991 reforms of the National Health Service (NHS), which sought to inject the dynamics of a market into the framework of a universal, tax-financed service. The political costs to the government have been high. The public continues to see the NHS through the eyes of disgruntled doctors and nurses. The benefits, measured in efficiency gains or service improvements, are as yet difficult to establish. However, the NHS has changed in key respects. The balance has shifted from hospital specialists to general practitioners and from providers to purchasers, with increasing emphasis on professional accountability and consumerism. But the NHS continues to evolve as it strives to resolve the tensions implicit in the reforms, and the only certainty is that no future government can return to the pre-1991 situation.

  14. Political model of social evolution

    PubMed Central

    Acemoglu, Daron; Egorov, Georgy; Sonin, Konstantin

    2011-01-01

    Almost all democratic societies evolved socially and politically out of authoritarian and nondemocratic regimes. These changes not only altered the allocation of economic resources in society but also the structure of political power. In this paper, we develop a framework for studying the dynamics of political and social change. The society consists of agents that care about current and future social arrangements and economic allocations; allocation of political power determines who has the capacity to implement changes in economic allocations and future allocations of power. The set of available social rules and allocations at any point in time is stochastic. We show that political and social change may happen without any stochastic shocks or as a result of a shock destabilizing an otherwise stable social arrangement. Crucially, the process of social change is contingent (and history-dependent): the timing and sequence of stochastic events determine the long-run equilibrium social arrangements. For example, the extent of democratization may depend on how early uncertainty about the set of feasible reforms in the future is resolved. PMID:22198760

  15. Political model of social evolution.

    PubMed

    Acemoglu, Daron; Egorov, Georgy; Sonin, Konstantin

    2011-12-27

    Almost all democratic societies evolved socially and politically out of authoritarian and nondemocratic regimes. These changes not only altered the allocation of economic resources in society but also the structure of political power. In this paper, we develop a framework for studying the dynamics of political and social change. The society consists of agents that care about current and future social arrangements and economic allocations; allocation of political power determines who has the capacity to implement changes in economic allocations and future allocations of power. The set of available social rules and allocations at any point in time is stochastic. We show that political and social change may happen without any stochastic shocks or as a result of a shock destabilizing an otherwise stable social arrangement. Crucially, the process of social change is contingent (and history-dependent): the timing and sequence of stochastic events determine the long-run equilibrium social arrangements. For example, the extent of democratization may depend on how early uncertainty about the set of feasible reforms in the future is resolved.

  16. Pay, Professionalism, and Politics: Reforming Teachers, Reforming Education. Australian Education Review No. 37.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Seddon, Terri, Ed.

    In the late 1980s a new concept entered the educational lexicon in Australia--"award restructuring," or paid training leave for teachers. However, by 1993 the term had disappeared from public view. What began as a new politics of work developed into a complex debate about governance and leadership in Australian education. This book…

  17. The new institutionalist approaches to health care reform: lessons from reform experiences in Central Europe.

    PubMed

    Sitek, Michał

    2010-08-01

    This article discusses the applicability of the new institutionalism to the politics of health care reform in postcommunist Central Europe. The transition to a market economy and democracy after the fall of communism has apparently strengthened the institutional approaches. The differences in performance of transition economies have been critical to the growing understanding of the importance of institutions that foster democracy, provide security of property rights, help enforce contracts, and stimulate entrepreneurship. From a theoretical perspective, however, applying the new institutionalist approaches has been problematic. The transitional health care reform exposes very well some inherent weaknesses of existing analytic frameworks for explaining the nature and mechanisms of institutional change. The postcommunist era in Central Europe has been marked by spectacular and unprecedented radical changes, in which the capitalist system was rebuilt in a short span of time and the institutions of democracy became consolidated. Broad changes to welfare state programs were instituted as well. However, the actual results of the reform processes represent a mix of change and continuity, which is a challenge for the theories of institutional change.

  18. Office Politics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Storm, Paula; Kelly, Robert; deVries, Susann

    2008-01-01

    People and organizations are inherently political. Library workplace environments have zones of tension and dynamics just like any corporation, often leading to the formation of political camps. These different cliques influence productivity and work-related issues and, at worst, give meetings the feel of the Camp David negotiations. Politics are…

  19. Professionalism and Community: Perspectives on Reforming Urban Schools.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Louis, Karen Seashore; And Others

    Social, cultural, political, and organizational characteristics of urban schools that make them difficult settings for teachers are discussed. It is suggested that, while an emphasis on professional community would be beneficial for all students, it is particularly pressing for urban schools where other resources for school reform are limited.…

  20. Polarized Politics and Policy Consequences

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2007-01-01

    consequences with regard to policymaking process and outcomes . Alongside the study of consequences , more research is needed regard- ing institutional reforms...research organization providing objective analysis and effective solutions that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors...SUBTITLE Polarized politics and policy consequences 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) Diana Epstein

  1. Commitment and Common Sense: Leading Education Reform in Massachusetts

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Driscoll, David P.

    2017-01-01

    "Commitment and Common Sense" tells the inside story of how Massachusetts became a national model for education. Twelve years after the passage of the state's comprehensive education reform law in 1993, Bay State student scores rose to the top of "the nation's report card" (the National Assessment of Educational Progress) in…

  2. Health Reforms as Examples of Multilevel Interventions in Cancer Care

    PubMed Central

    Fennell, Mary L.; Devers, Kelly J.

    2012-01-01

    To increase access and improve system quality and efficiency, President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act with sweeping changes to the nation’s health-care system. Although not intended to be specific to cancer, the act's implementation will profoundly impact cancer care. Its components will influence multiple levels of the health-care environment including states, communities, health-care organizations, and individuals seeking care. To illustrate these influences, two reforms are considered: 1) accountable care organizations and 2) insurance-based reforms to gather evidence about effectiveness. We discuss these reforms using three facets of multilevel interventions: 1) their intended and unintended consequences, 2) the importance of timing, and 3) their implications for cancer. The success of complex health reforms requires understanding the scientific basis and evidence for carrying out such multilevel interventions. Conversely and equally important, successful implementation of multilevel interventions depends on understanding the political setting and goals of health-care reform. PMID:22623600

  3. Health reforms as examples of multilevel interventions in cancer care.

    PubMed

    Flood, Ann B; Fennell, Mary L; Devers, Kelly J

    2012-05-01

    To increase access and improve system quality and efficiency, President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act with sweeping changes to the nation's health-care system. Although not intended to be specific to cancer, the act's implementation will profoundly impact cancer care. Its components will influence multiple levels of the health-care environment including states, communities, health-care organizations, and individuals seeking care. To illustrate these influences, two reforms are considered: 1) accountable care organizations and 2) insurance-based reforms to gather evidence about effectiveness. We discuss these reforms using three facets of multilevel interventions: 1) their intended and unintended consequences, 2) the importance of timing, and 3) their implications for cancer. The success of complex health reforms requires understanding the scientific basis and evidence for carrying out such multilevel interventions. Conversely and equally important, successful implementation of multilevel interventions depends on understanding the political setting and goals of health-care reform.

  4. America Y2K: The Obsolescence of Educational Reforms.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dorn, Sherman

    2000-01-01

    Notes the passing of the deadline for fulfillment of the national education goals in the United States, the beginning of the year 2000, and indicates that pressures on schools to solve social problems will continue to make school reform a politically opportune and very visible issue. (SLD)

  5. Russian Political, Economic, and Security Issues and U.S. Interests

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2008-03-04

    global energy company. Khodorkovski criticized some of Putin’s actions , financed anti-Putin political parties, and hinted that he might enter politics...Yeltsin’s decline. Lukashenko unconstitutionally removed the parliamentary opposition in 1996 and strongly opposes market reform in Belarus, making...government in Tallinn, and called upon the EU to protest Estonia’s actions . This was accompanied by extensive cyber attacks against Estonian government and

  6. The Real Lessons in School Reform from Britain.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Walford, Geoffrey

    1993-01-01

    John E. Chubb and Terry M. Moe's booklet "A Lesson in School Reform from Great Britain (Brookings, 1992) and Denis Lawton's book "Education and Politics in the 1990s: Conflict or Consensus?" (Falmer, 1992) attempt to evaluate effects of recent educational changes in England and Wales. Lawton's thoughtful, scholarly analysis of the…

  7. The Impact of Welfare Reform on Adult Literacy Education: Conference Papers and Themes from Small Group Sessions.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy, Boston, MA.

    This document contains three commissioned papers and other materials from a 2-day conference. "Politics, Policy, Practice and Personal Responsibility: Adult Education in an Era of Welfare Reform" (Deborah D'Amico) examines the relationship between literacy, poverty, and welfare reform and the implications of those relationships for…

  8. Fashioning Curriculum Reform as Identity Politics--Taiwan's Dilemma of Curriculum Reform in New Millennium

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mao, Chin-Ju

    2008-01-01

    This paper explores indigenization and globalization, the double issue of curriculum and identity as a dialectical contradiction that characterizes the ambivalence of "Taiwanese identity." "Taiwanese identity" is treated as a social, political, and cultural construct rather than a fixed term in an essentialist sense.…

  9. A Shift Away from an Egalitarian System: Where Do the Current Reforms in Japan Lead?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yano, Hirotoshi

    2013-01-01

    This paper deals with an overall changing trend witnessed in public schooling in Japan, known as educational reforms. Through looking at recent reforms in Japan, with an international trend in view, the author first summarizes educational reforms as waves of liberalization that have changed the post-war fundamental principle of Japanese education.…

  10. Exploring Principal Capacity to Lead Reform of Teaching and Learning Quality in Thailand

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hallinger, Philip; Lee, Moosung

    2013-01-01

    In 1999 Thailand passed an ambitious national educational law that paved the way for major reforms in teaching, learning and school management. Despite the ambitious vision of reform embedded in this law, recent studies suggest that implementation progress has been slow, uneven, and lacking deep penetration onto classrooms. Carried out ten years…

  11. Leading a School through Change--Principals' Hands-on Leadership Strategies in School Reform

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Soini, Tiina; Pietarinen, Janne; Pyhältö, Kirsi

    2016-01-01

    Principal's hands-on strategies reflecting their theories of changing have a substantial effect on the development of their schools and on how the large-scale reform takes root. The study explores five comprehensive school principals' leadership strategies during a large-scale school reform in Finland. The principals' strategies in the middle of…

  12. Dilemmas of Leading National Curriculum Reform in a Global Era: A Chinese Perspective

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yin, Hongbiao; Lee, John Chi-Kin; Wang, Wenlan

    2014-01-01

    Since the mid-1980s, a global resurgence of large-scale reform in the field of education has been witnessed. Implementing these reforms has created many dilemmas for change leaders. Following a three-year qualitative research project, the present study explores the dilemmas leaders faced during the implementation of the national curriculum reform…

  13. Leaving Fingerprints: Principals' Considerations While Implementing Education Reforms

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schechter, Chen; Shaked, Haim

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: Turning an education reform program into school reality greatly depends on the principal. In certain cases, principals choose to implement reform instructions only partially. The purpose of this paper is to explore school principals' considerations leading to their decisions not to fulfill a national reform's guidelines in a full and…

  14. Health reform in Mexico: the promotion of inequality.

    PubMed

    Laurell, A C

    2001-01-01

    The Mexican health reform can be understood only in the context of neoliberal structural adjustment, and it reveals some of the basic characteristics of similar reforms in the Latin American region. The strategy to transform the predominantly public health care system into a market-driven system has been a complex process with a hidden agenda to avoid political resistance. The compulsory social security system is the key sector in opening health care to private insurance companies, health maintenance organizations, and hospital enterprises mainly from abroad. Despite the government's commitment to universal coverage, equity, efficiency, and quality, the empirical data analyzed in this article do not confirm compliance with these objectives. Although an alternative health policy that gradually grants the constitutional right to health would be feasible, the new democratically elected government will continue the previous regressive health reform.

  15. "Vergara v. State of California": A Political Analysis and Implications for Principal Practice

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tabron, Lolita A.; Irby, Beverly J.

    2015-01-01

    This political analysis uses the Vergara case as an example of how principals can be dynamic leaders who are well prepared for and engaged in their political terrain. This will be important to decrease judicial dependency and legislative interference to better ensure that reform begins with those closest to the problem.

  16. National Health Insurance or Incremental Reform: Aim High, or at Our Feet?

    PubMed Central

    Himmelstein, David U.; Woolhandler, Steffie

    2003-01-01

    Single-payer national health insurance could cover the uninsured and upgrade coverage for most Americans without increasing costs; savings on insurance overhead and other bureaucracy would fully offset the costs of improved care. In contrast, proposed incremental reforms are projected to cover a fraction of the uninsured, at great cost. Moreover, even these projections are suspect; reforms of the past quarter century have not stemmed the erosion of coverage. Despite incrementalists’ claims of pragmatism, they have proven unable to shepherd meaningful reform through the political system. While national health insurance is often dismissed as ultra left by the policy community, it is dead center in public opinion. Polls have consistently shown that at least 40%, and perhaps 60%, of Americans favor such reform. PMID:12511395

  17. National Health Insurance or Incremental Reform: Aim High, or at Our Feet?

    PubMed Central

    Himmelstein, David U.; Woolhandler, Steffie

    2008-01-01

    Single-payer national health insurance could cover the uninsured and upgrade coverage for most Americans without increasing costs; savings on insurance overhead and other bureaucracy would fully offset the costs of improved care. In contrast, proposed incremental reforms are projected to cover a fraction of the uninsured, at great cost. Moreover, even these projections are suspect; reforms of the past quarter century have not stemmed the erosion of coverage. Despite incrementalists’ claims of pragmatism, they have proven unable to shepherd meaningful reform through the political system. While national health insurance is often dismissed as ultra left by the policy community, it is dead center in public opinion. Polls have consistently shown that at least 40%, and perhaps 60%, of Americans favor such reform. PMID:18687624

  18. The Politics of Education Policy in England

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gunter, Helen M.

    2015-01-01

    In this appreciative discussion paper I provide an overview of the reforms made to education in England, and engage with the politics of education through examining the simultaneous and inter-related processes of politicisation, depoliticisation and repoliticisation of educational matters. I engage in a discussion of the papers in this special…

  19. Medical schools viewed from a political perspective: how political skills can improve education leadership.

    PubMed

    Nordquist, Jonas; Grigsby, R Kevin

    2011-12-01

    Political science offers a unique perspective from which to inform education leadership practice. This article views leadership in the health professions through the lens of political science research and offers suggestions for how theories derived from political science can be used to develop education leadership practice. Political science is rarely used in the health professions education literature. This article illuminates how this discipline can generate a more nuanced understanding of leadership in health professions education by offering a terminology, a conceptual framework and insights derived from more than 80 years of empirical work. Previous research supports the premise that successful leaders have a good understanding of political processes. Studies show current health professional education is characterised by the influence of interest groups. At the same time, the need for urgent reform of health professional education is evident. Terminology, concepts and analytical models from political science can be used to develop the political understanding of education leaders and to ultimately support the necessary changes. The analytical concepts of interest and power are applicable to current health professional education. The model presented - analysing the policy process - provides us with a tool to fine-tune our understanding of leadership challenges and hence to communicate, analyse and create strategies that allow health professional education to better meet tomorrow's challenges. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2011.

  20. The sex reform movement and eugenics in interwar Poland.

    PubMed

    Gawin, Magdalena

    2008-06-01

    This paper focuses on the relations between a liberal group of sex reformers, consisting of writers and literary critics, and physicians from the Polish Eugenics Society in interwar Poland. It illustrates the paradoxes of the mutual co-operation between these two groups during the 1930s and analyses the reason why compulsory sterilisation was rejected by politicians. From the early 1930s two movements began to forge an alliance in Poland: the sexual reform movement which advocated freedom of the individual, and eugenics, which called for limiting the freedom of the individual for the collective good. This paper draws attention to several issues which emerged as part of this collaboration: population politics, the relationship between reformers, eugenicists and state institutions, and the question of how both movements--eugenics and sexual reform--perceived the question of sexuality, birth control and abortion. It will also focus on those aspects of their thinking that led to mutual co-operation.

  1. Nudging towards nutrition? Soft paternalism and obesity-related reform.

    PubMed

    Hector, Colin

    2012-01-01

    Obesity is one of the most contentious issues facing the United States today. Some researchers warn of an obesity "epidemic" that poses a grave threat to our nation's health, while others attack these claims as alarmist and misguided. This divide reinforces the political schism between advocates of government intervention and anti-regulatory groups. As a result, obesity science finds itself entangled in partisan battles that leave little room for compromise. This paper explores the potential for the political philosophy of soft paternalism to provide a regulatory framework that may appeal to both sides of the obesity reform debate. Soft paternalism draws upon social science research in order to develop policies that encourage better decision-making, while preserving individual choice. Applying this framework to the issue of obesity, I look at two areas of potential reform: 1) information-based policies such as nutritional label design, and 2) policies that affect default choices, such as portion size norms. I find that while soft paternalism is an appealing framework that offers many promising reforms, it is not a panacea. Instead, I argue that these proposals should be considered on their own merit, not as a complete solution precluding other measures. In addition, in light of potential criticism concerning the stigmatizing effect of some obesity-related measures, I suggest that reforms based on soft paternalism can and should be tailored to promote more mindful eating habits. With these concerns in mind, I conclude that soft paternalism is a promising approach that warrants serious consideration by policymakers.

  2. The Reformulation of National Identity in the New Taiwanese Citizenship Curriculum through the Lens of Curriculum Reformers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hung, Cheng-Yu

    2017-01-01

    The national curriculum reformers, regarded as members of the social elites and intellectuals, projected their vision of identity onto the curriculum which they constructed and influenced the next generation's national consciousness. In the tangled relationship between politics and education, the selection of the reformers in a sense dictates the…

  3. Does the leading pharmaceutical reform in China really solve the issue of overly expensive healthcare services? Evidence from an empirical study

    PubMed Central

    He, Yunzhen; Dou, Guanshen; Huang, Qiaoyun; Zhang, Xinyu; Ye, Yingfeng; Qian, Mengcen

    2018-01-01

    Background Healthcare system reform of Sanming city has become a leading healthcare reform model in China. It has developed a rigorous pharmaceutical reform consisted of the Zero Mark-up Drug Policy and the Centralized Procurement of Medicine Policy to bring down drug expenses and total health expenditures. However, despite the credit and much attention have been given to Sanming’s pharmaceutical reform, its impact still remains unclear. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the impact of the pharmaceutical reform of Sanming on both drug and total health expenditures. Methods Interrupted time series analysis with three segments divided by two intervention points was employed to evaluate the impact of the pharmaceutical reform. Segment 1 was the pre-reform period which captured the baseline information. Segment 2 occurred after the first intervention point when the Zero Mark-up Drug Policy was implemented, whereas Segment 3 was after the implementation of the Centralized Procurement of Medicine Policy. Primary outcomes are outpatient drug expenditure, outpatient total health expenditure, inpatient drug expenditure, and inpatient total health expenditure. Data spanning from May 2012 to May 2014 are included. Results Both drug and total health expenditures exhibited rising trends before any policy was carried out. The launch of Zero Mark-up Drug Policy led to significant instant reductions in levels of outpatient drug expenditure (coefficient = -6,602.99, p<0.01), outpatient total health expenditure (coefficient = -9,958.58, p<0.05), inpatient drug expenditure (coefficient = -7,520.90, p<0.01), and inpatient total health expenditure (coefficient = -16,737, p<0.01). Moreover, the previous upward trends were changed into downward trends for inpatient drug expenditure (coefficient = -2,747.02, p = 0.00) and total health expenditure (coefficient = -3,069.29, p = 0.12). However, after the implementation of Centralized Procurement of Medicine Policy, we

  4. Educational Reform: A Deweyan Perspective. Critical Educational Practice. Volume 10.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Simpson, Douglas J.; Jackson, Michael J. B.

    This book re-examines the reflective, controversial voice of John Dewey. Educators and policymakers must take into account various social, political, economic, philosophical, and professional considerations that influence both formal and informal education. Following the introduction by Harvey Neufeldt called "School Reform in Dewey's…

  5. The Politics of Obesity: A Current Assessment and Look Ahead

    PubMed Central

    Kersh, Rogan

    2009-01-01

    Context: The continuing rise in obesity rates across the United States has proved impervious to clinical treatment or public health exhortation, necessitating policy responses. Nearly a decade's worth of political debates may be hardening into an obesity issue regime, comprising established sets of cognitive frames, stakeholders, and policy options. Methods: This article is a survey of reports on recently published studies. Findings: Much of the political discussion regarding obesity is centered on two “frames,” personal-responsibility and environmental, yielding very different sets of policy responses. While policy efforts at the federal level have resulted in little action to date, state and/or local solutions such as calorie menu labeling and the expansion of regulations to reduce unhealthy foods at school may have more impact. Conclusions: Obesity politics is evolving toward a relatively stable state of equilibrium, which could make comprehensive reforms to limit rising obesity rates less feasible. Therefore, to achieve meaningful change, rapid-response research identifying a set of promising reforms, combined with concerted lobbying action, will be necessary. PMID:19298424

  6. Influence of Social Reform Ideologies on Industrial/Technology Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ireh, Maduakolam

    2016-01-01

    The founding of industrial/technology education in Ameria represents the convergence of many influences dating back to the pre-industrial revolution era. Social reform movement, one of these influences, set out to change conditions considered to be causes of poverty and other social problems through active engagements in political, educational,…

  7. Keep a Focus on Meaningful Reform Efforts Instead of Political Agendas

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Curtis, Deborah; Bordelon, Deborah; Teitelbaum, Kenneth

    2010-01-01

    This article draws contrasts between useful, research-based recommendations for the further development and assessment of teacher- and leader-preparation programs and those studies aiming at total "reform" that are frequently distinguished by their questionable methods, faulty assumptions, and complete disregard for the established…

  8. The Political Economy of India’s Economic Reforms: Three Periods from 1947-2016

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-06-01

    eventual adoption of free- market principles in 1991 under Narsimha Rao’s leadership. What drove Indian economic policy decisions from independence to...three different eras of Indian economic policy, this one is characterized by a gradual shift toward free- market principles . Economic reforms, which...Margaret Thatcher in India: reform was a very pragmatic process.”126 There were no leaders in India who championed free- market economic principles

  9. Poor program's progress: the unanticipated politics of Medicaid policy.

    PubMed

    Brown, Lawrence D; Sparer, Michael S

    2003-01-01

    Advocates of U.S. national health insurance tend to share an image that highlights universal standards of coverage, social insurance financing, and national administration--in short, the basic features of Medicare. Such an approach is said to be good (equitable and efficient) policy and equally good politics. Medicaid, by contrast, is often taken to exemplify poor policy and poorer politics: means-tested eligibility, general revenue financing, and federal/state administration, which encourage inequities and disparities of care. This stark juxtaposition fails, however, to address important counterintuitive elements in the political evolution of these programs. Medicare's benefits and beneficiaries have stayed disturbingly stable, but Medicaid's relatively broad benefits have held firm, and its categories of beneficiaries have expanded. Repeated alarms about "bankruptcy" have undermined confidence in Medicare's trust funding, while Medicaid's claims on the taxpayer's dollar have worn well. Medicare's national administration has avoided disparities, but at the price of sacrificing state and local flexibility that can ease such "reforms" as the introduction of managed care. That Medicaid has fared better than a "poor people's program" supposedly could has provocative implications for health reform debates.

  10. Women, Demography, and Politics: How Lower Fertility Rates Lead to Democracy.

    PubMed

    Sommer, Udi

    2018-04-01

    Where connections between demography and politics are examined in the literature, it is largely in the context of the effects of male aspects of demography on phenomena such as political violence. This project aims to place the study of demographic variables' influence on politics, particularly on democracy, squarely within the scope of political and social sciences, and to focus on the effects of woman-related demographics-namely, fertility rate. I test the hypothesis that demographic variables-female-related predictors, in particular-have an independent effect on political structure. Comparing countries over time, this study finds a growth in democracy when fertility rates decline. In the theoretical framework developed, it is family structure as well as the economic and political status of women that account for this change at the macro and micro levels. Findings based on data for more than 140 countries over three decades are robust when controlling not only for alternative effects but also for reverse causality and data limitations.

  11. Media framing and political advertising in the Patients' Bill of Rights debate.

    PubMed

    Rabinowitz, Aaron

    2010-10-01

    The purpose of this article is to assess the influence of interest groups over news content. In particular, I explore the possibility that political advertising campaigns affect the tenor and framing of newspaper coverage in health policy debates. To do so, I compare newspaper coverage of the Patients' Bill of Rights debate in 1999 in five states that were subject to extensive advertising campaigns with coverage in five comparison states that were not directly exposed to the advocacy campaigns. I find significant differences in coverage depending on the presence or absence of paid advertising campaigns, and conclude that readers were exposed to different perspectives and arguments about managed care regulation if the newspapers they read were published in states targeted by political advertisements. Specifically, newspaper coverage was 17 percent less likely to be supportive of managed care reform in states subject to advertising campaigns designed to foment opposition to the Patients' Bill of Rights. Understanding the ability of organized interests and political actors to successfully promote their preferred issue frames in a dynamic political environment is particularly important in light of the proliferation of interest groups, the prevalence of multimillion-dollar political advertising campaigns, and the health care reform debate under President Barack Obama.

  12. Equity, governance and financing after health care reform: lessons from Mexico.

    PubMed

    Arredondo, Armando; Orozco, Emanuel

    2008-01-01

    To determine, from the perspective of providers, community leaders and users of health services, equity, governance and health financing outcomes of the Mexican health system reform.Cross-sectional study oriented towards the qualitative analysis of financing, governance and equity indicators for the uninsured population. Taking into account feasibility, as well as political and technical criteria, six Mexican states were selected as study populations and a qualitative research was conducted during 2004-2006. Two hundred and forty in-depth interviews were applied, in all selected states, to 60 decision-makers, including medical and administrative personnel; 60 service providers at health centres; 60 representatives of civil organizations, including municipal representatives and, finally, 60 members of health committees and users of services at second and first levels of care units. The analysis of interviews was performed using ATLAS-Ti software. An outcome mapping of health reform was developed. For political actors, Mexican health system reform has not modified dependence on the central level; ignorance about reform strategies and lack of participation in the search for financial resources to finance health systems were evidenced. Also, in all states under study, community leaders and users of services reported the need to improve an effective accountability system at both municipal and state levels. Health strategies for equity, governance and financing do not have adequate mechanisms to promote participation from all social actors. Improving this situation is a very important goal in the Mexican health democratization process, in the context of health care reform. There are relevant positive and negative effects of the reform on equity, governance and financing in health. Special emphasis is placed on the analysis of lessons learned in Mexico and the usefulness of the main strengths and weaknesses, as relevant evidences for other middle-income countries which

  13. Policy Reform: Testing Times for Teacher Education in Australia

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fitzgerald, Tanya; Knipe, Sally

    2016-01-01

    In Australia as well as elsewhere, initial teacher education has become centre stage to a political agenda that calls for global competitiveness in the knowledge economy. The common problem cited has been declining educational standards linked with the quality of teaching and teacher education. The avalanche of review and policy reform has exposed…

  14. Japanese Higher-Education Reformers Weigh Elitism, Academic Laxness, and "Exam Hell."

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fararo, Kim

    1987-01-01

    Reform proposals for Japan's large higher education system include diminishing the trauma of university entrance examinations, strengthening the quality and diversity of undergraduate education, improving graduate school offerings, establishing a lifelong education system, and expanding the scope of international exchange programs. Politics are…

  15. Immigration reform in France and the United States: reflections and documentation.

    PubMed

    Wenden, C W; Costa-lascoux, J

    1984-01-01

    This paper analyzes similarities and dissimilarities in French and American efforts to come to grip with irregular migration. The symbolic importance of immigration reform is argued to be a key political concern in both nations, although the politics of immigration reform has assumed a more partisan flavor in France, particularly since the municipal elections of 1983. In France, the theme of control and security, associated with the notion of preventing "automatic" immigration which would endanger the cohesion of French society, was widely utilized for political ends prior to and after May 10, 1981 (the date of Francois Mitterand's investiture). The American government, on the other hand, is confronted with the unenviable task of obtaining a legislative consensus on legalization and employer sanctions through an approach seeking to harmonize and integrate the demands articulated by various groups: employers, unions, and alien and ethnic interest groups (principally Hispanic groups divided into a hierarchy along a recently arrived/established cleavage). The American situation most sharply differs from the French case in terms of the absence of a right/left political cleavage. The real effects of clandestine immigration are to be found at the local level. In France, as in the US, the ability of local actors to exert pressure raises the fear that legalization and sanctions will change little, except in terms of symbolic legitimacy.

  16. [The health care structure law as a political public health reform in ambulatory and day surgery].

    PubMed

    Sorgatz, H

    1994-01-01

    The statutory opening of hospitals for ambulatory surgery can't without more ado be derived from the health-care reform which came into force on the 1st of January 1993. From the genesis of this reform it can be understood that the field of ambulatory surgery has been integrated just shortly before its legislation into the outlines of the health-care reform. As a consequence the hospitals are obliged to follow the principle "ambulatory before stationary" even in the stationary field. In this way the strict separation between the two fields (ambulatory and stationary) will be overcome to a great extent. Taking into consideration the further changes brought by the health-care reform in the stationary field new ranges of action for hospitals, with their chances but also their risks, have to be expected.

  17. The School Finance Reform Movement: Implications for School Business Administration.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jordan, K. Forbis

    In this speech, the author summarizes the economic and political issues relating to the current interest in school finance reform and discusses the research efforts of the National Educational Finance Project. He focuses on those efforts of direct relevance to school business administration -- cost differentials among educational programs,…

  18. Hip, Hype, Hope: Social Studies Reform for the 1990's.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nelson, Murry R.

    1993-01-01

    Maintains that current efforts to reform education and social studies are cycles of media hyperbole and political hope. Contends that issues underlying various programs are really about power and control. Argues that social studies has a role in making schools and students models of democratic thought and action. (CFR)

  19. Health, welfare reform, and narratives of uncertainty among Cambodian refugees.

    PubMed

    Becker, G; Beyene, Y; Ken, P

    2000-06-01

    Massive disruptions to a way of life, such as those brought on by widespread violence, terror, and genocide, disorder the body as well as the social order. When they flee their homelands, refugees bring their experiences of violence and terror with them. Drawing on an ethnographic study of 40 Cambodian refugees between the ages of 50 and 79 who suffered from one or more chronic illnesses, we explore how refugees who live with chronic illnesses and are dependent on government support were affected by the threat of welfare reform. When welfare reform threatened to cut Cambodian refugees' income, it posed a new crisis for those who were chronically in limbo and placed further constraints on their lives. Through their narratives, Cambodian refugees enacted their bodily distress and resisted the threat of welfare reform. The story of threatened welfare reform in the U.S. and its possible consequences for refugees is a story of quixotic U.S. politics, policies and antidotes for refugeeism gone awry.

  20. "Because We Can": Pluralism and Structural Reform in Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Glatter, Ron

    2017-01-01

    This article revisits a major paper published a decade ago by the political scientist Christopher Pollitt about the highly activist approach to the reform of public services taken in England in recent years. In education, the pace has accelerated since that paper appeared. The weaknesses of the current structures and processes resulting from this…

  1. Three periods of health system reforms in the Republic of Macedonia (1991-2011).

    PubMed

    Lazarevik, V; Donev, D; Gudeva Nikovska, D; Kasapinov, B

    2012-01-01

    To investigate, describe and classify main health policies and reform activities within the healthcare system undertaken over the past twenty years in R. Macedonia. Desk research was conducted on scientific literature and relevant documentation (in English and Macedonian) about healthcare reforms. Relevant documents available at the Ministry of Health, Health Insurance Fund, World Bank and World Health Organization were reviewed. Official data on demographic and health status indicators were collected from the Institute of Public Health and the State Statistical Office. A working hypothesis, that the health system reforms were not continuous, was generated following the shifts in decision-making power over allocation of resources and political influences. Our study identified three periods of health system reforms in Macedonia: post-socialistic, pro-market and manifesto-driven. Throughout these periods poor maintenance, low efficiency and high operational costs increased out-of-pocket expenditures for health services and drugs and reflected on the deterioration of public hospital infrastructure. In parallel, liberal healthcare market regulation initiated commercialization of the healthcare services. Disappointed in the quality of healthcare services provided in the public health sector, many citizens opt to ask for services in private health care facilities, where social health insurance largely does not cover the costs. The pace of the reforms is not continuous and the influence of politics is highly visible over the whole period of transition in the Republic of Macedonia. The main problems of the healthcare system in the Republic of Macedonia are politicization of the health sector, high centralization and government control, and poor efficiency of public health institutions. Evaluation framework should be developed to further assess the impact of the health reforms.

  2. The Little District that Could: Literacy Reform Leads to Higher Achievement in California District

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kelly, Patricia R.; Budicin-Senters, Antoinette; King, L. McLean

    2005-01-01

    This article describes educational reform developed over a 10-year period in California's Lemon Grove School District, which resulted in a steady and remarkable upward shift in achievement for the students of this multicultural district just outside San Diego. Six elements of literacy reform emerged as the most significant factors affecting…

  3. Tunisia: Islam as a Political Force

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1992-06-18

    Program Element Number Project No. Task Work Unit Accession No. II Title (Include Security Classification) Tunisia : Islam as a Political Force 12...necessary and identify by block number) Tunisia , Islam, Habib Bourguiba, Colonial France, Zine ben Ali, Rachid Ghannouchi, North Africa, L;.S./Tunisian...vernments o•l these countries. In Tunisia , the government has virtually halted its promised democratic reforms claimig that the Islamists will use

  4. Making Good Choices: Districts Take the Lead. Comprehensive School Reform.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    North Central Regional Educational Lab., Oak Brook, IL.

    Public schools across the country are aiming to improve student performance by engaging in comprehensive school reform (CSR). This guide was created to help school districts make CSR an integral part of their strategies for improving student achievement. Five components for CSR are described: (1) Strategizing, whereby the district supports CSR by…

  5. [Colombia: what has happened with its health reform?].

    PubMed

    Gómez-Arias, Rubén Darío; Nieto, Emmanuel

    2014-01-01

    The health reform adopted in Colombia in 1993 was promoted by different agencies as the model to follow in matters of health policy. Following the guidelines of the Washington Consensus and the World Bank, the Government of Colombia, with the support of national political and economic elites, reorganized the management of health services based on market principles, dismantled the state system, increased finances of the sector, assigned the management of the system to the private sector, segmented the provision of services, and promoted interaction of actors in a competitive scheme of low regulation. After 20 years of implementation, the Colombian model shows serious flaws and is an object of controversy. The Government has weakened as the governing entity for health; private groups that manage the resources were established as strong centers of economic and political power; and violations of the right to health increased. Additionally, corruption and service cost overruns have put a strain on the sustainability of the system, and the state network is in danger of closing. Despite its loss of prestige at the internal level, various actors within and outside the country tend to keep the model based on contextual reforms.

  6. An Exploration of Foreign Language Teachers' Beliefs about Curriculum Innovation in Algeria: A Socio-Political Perspective

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bellalem, Fouzi

    2008-01-01

    Recent political and economic developments in Algeria have brought about reforms of the educational system. A new curriculum was introduced as part of these reforms. This study explores the beliefs of French and English school teachers about curriculum innovation in Algeria. The study is positioned in the qualitative research tradition and looks…

  7. Reform of abortion law in Uruguay: context, process and lessons learned.

    PubMed

    Wood, Susan; Abracinskas, Lilián; Correa, Sonia; Pecheny, Mario

    2016-11-01

    In October 2012, a new law was approved in Uruguay that allows abortion on demand during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, 14 weeks in the case of rape, and without a time limit when the woman's health is at risk or in the case of foetal anomalies. This paper analyses this legal reform. It is based on 27 individual and group interviews with key informants, and on review of primary documents and the literature. The factors explaining the reform include: secular values in society, favourable public opinion, a persistent feminist movement, effective coalition building, particular party politics, and a vocal public health sector. The content of the new law reflects the tensions between a feminist perspective of women's rights and public health arguments that stop short of fully recognizing women's autonomy. The Uruguayan reform shows that, even in Latin America, abortion can be addressed politically without electoral cost to the parties that promote it. On the other hand, the prevailing public health rationale and conditionalities built into the law during the negotiation process resulted in a law that cannot be interpreted as a full recognition of women's rights, but rather as a modified protectionist approach that circumscribes women's autonomy. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Energy Security and Climate Change Policy in the OECD: The Political Economy of Carbon-Energy Taxation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lachapelle, Erick

    Why do countries tax the same fuels at widely different rates, even among similarly situated countries in the global political economy? Given the potentially destabilizing effects of climate change, and the political and economic risks associated with a reliance on geographically concentrated, finite fossil fuels, International Organizations and economists of all political stripes have consistently called for increasing tax rates on fossil-based energy. Despite much enthusiasm among policy experts, however, politicians concerned with distributional consequences, economic performance and competitiveness impacts continue to be wary of raising taxes on carbon-based fuels. In this context, this thesis investigates the political economy of tax rates affecting the price of fossil fuels in advanced capitalist democracies. Through an examination of the political limits of government capacity to implement stricter carbon-energy policy, as well as the identification of the correlates of higher carbon-based energy taxes, it throws new light on the conditions under which carbon-energy tax reform becomes politically possible. Based on recent data collected from the OECD, EEA and IEA, I develop an estimate of the relative size of implicit carbon taxes across OECD member countries on six carbon-based fuels and across the household and industrial sectors. I exploit large cross-national differences in these carbon-energy tax rates in order to identify the correlates of, and constraints on, carbon-energy tax reform. Applying multiple regression analysis to both cross-section and time-series cross-sectional (TSCS) data, this thesis leverages considerable empirical evidence to demonstrate how and why electoral systems matter for energy and environmental tax policy outcomes. In particular, I find considerable empirical evidence to support the claim that systems of proportional representation (PR), in addition to the partisan preferences of the electorate, work together to explain

  9. Adapting to social and political transitions - the influence of history on health policy formation in the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (Burma).

    PubMed

    Grundy, John; Annear, Peter; Ahmed, Shakil; Biggs, Beverley-Ann

    2014-04-01

    The Republic of the Union of Myanmar (Burma) has a long and complex history characterized by internal conflict and tense international relations. Post-independence, the health sector has gradually evolved, but with health service development and indicators lagging well behind regional expectations. In recent years, the country has initiated political reforms and a reorientation of development policy towards social sector investment. In this study, from a systems and historical perspective, we used publicly available data sources and grey literature to describe and analyze links between health policy and history from the post-independence period up until 2012. Three major periods are discernable in post war health system development and political history in Myanmar. The first post-independence period was associated with the development of the primary health care system extending up to the 1988 political events. The second period is from 1988 to 2005, when the country launched a free market economic model and was arguably experiencing its highest levels of international isolation as well as very low levels of national health investment. The third period (2005-2012) represents the first attempts at health reform and recovery, linked to emerging trends in national political reform and international politics. Based on the most recent period of macro-political reform, the central state is set to transition from a direct implementer of a command and control management system, towards stewardship of a significantly more complex and decentralized administrative order. Historical analysis demonstrates the extent to which these periodic shifts in the macro-political and economic order acts to reset the parameters for health policy making. This case demonstrates important lessons for other countries in transition by highlighting the extent to which analysis of political history can be instructive for determination of more feasible boundaries for future health policy action

  10. Pushing up against the Limit-Horizon of Educational Change: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Popular Education Reform Texts

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Anderson, Ashlee; Aronson, Brittany; Ellison, Scott; Fairchild-Keyes, Sherrie

    2015-01-01

    With this article, we work to identify the limit-horizon of possible ideas, practices, and ways of talking about education reform and schooling via a critical discourse analysis of selected popular political and governmental texts. To do so, we explore the popular discourse of education reform in the United States through our analyses of three…

  11. Advancing universal coverage of healthcare in China: translating political will into policy and practice.

    PubMed

    Tang, Shenglan; Brixi, Hana; Bekedam, Henk

    2014-01-01

    China launched its new health system reform plan in 2009 to advance its universal coverage of healthcare, after more than 4 years' consultations and discussions with various stakeholders including the public. This paper aims to introduce and discuss the context and process of China's current health system reform and analyse how political will in China has been translated into policy practice over the past decade. The paper also shares the insights of World Health Organization's contribution to China's health system reform, as the authors advised the Chinese government on the reform options and process. Furthermore, the paper describes and discusses key challenges in the implementation of the reform plan over the past 3 years and draws lessons for other countries. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  12. Human resources: the Cinderella of health sector reform in Latin America

    PubMed Central

    Homedes, Núria; Ugalde, Antonio

    2005-01-01

    Human resources are the most important assets of any health system, and health workforce problems have for decades limited the efficiency and quality of Latin America health systems. World Bank-led reforms aimed at increasing equity, efficiency, quality of care and user satisfaction did not attempt to resolve the human resources problems that had been identified in multiple health sector assessments. However, the two most important reform policies – decentralization and privatization – have had a negative impact on the conditions of employment and prompted opposition from organized professionals and unions. In several countries of the region, the workforce became the most important obstacle to successful reform. This article is based on fieldwork and a review of the literature. It discusses the reasons that led health workers to oppose reform; the institutional and legal constraints to implementing reform as originally designed; the mismatch between the types of personnel needed for reform and the availability of professionals; the deficiencies of the reform implementation process; and the regulatory weaknesses of the region. The discussion presents workforce strategies that the reforms could have included to achieve the intended goals, and the need to take into account the values and political realities of the countries. The authors suggest that autochthonous solutions are more likely to succeed than solutions imported from the outside. PMID:15659241

  13. Negotiating for Change: Women's Movements and Education Reform in Taiwan

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lee, Shu-Ching

    2011-01-01

    The dramatic changes during the past 20 years in Taiwan offer a good example of how gender policy in education is facilitated by a combination of interrelated economic, political and social forces. Taiwan's policy on gender education emerged from the interaction of state, education, academic and non-academic feminist positions in reforms. This…

  14. Seeing difference: market health reform in Europe.

    PubMed

    Jacobs, A

    1998-02-01

    The comparative literature on health care reform has identified a convergence upon market models as nations respond to similar economic, technological, social, and demographic pressures. In this article I first challenge the conventional view by comparing "market" reforms of the late 1980s and early 1990s in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Sweden. Though these nations did indeed converge upon the instrument of the market incentive, there was considerable divergence in the content and aims of their reform strategies. These nations designed their respective markets to make different tradeoffs among competing values. While all three exploited the principle of provider competition, they appointed different actors to judge the contest: the cost-conscious public authority in the United Kingdom, the quality-conscious patient in Sweden, and the optimizing consumer in the Netherlands. I argue that these countries were thus using common market tools to promote different health policy goals. Distinguishing these reforms further is the fact that--particularly in the Netherlands--there was a gap between market plans and the reality of implemented change. I then ask why nations responded so differently to such similar objective pressures. My contention is that this divergence reflects, in part, the different ideological orientations of the ruling party or coalition in each nation. Yet divergence is also the result of differences in both the design of political institutions and the structure of the pre-reform health system in each country.

  15. Politics in evaluation: Politically responsive evaluation in high stakes environments.

    PubMed

    Azzam, Tarek; Levine, Bret

    2015-12-01

    The role of politics has often been discussed in evaluation theory and practice. The political influence of the situation can have major effects on the evaluation design, approach and methods. Politics also has the potential to influence the decisions made from the evaluation findings. The current study focuses on the influence of the political context on stakeholder decision making. Utilizing a simulation scenario, this study compares stakeholder decision making in high and low stakes evaluation contexts. Findings suggest that high stakes political environments are more likely than low stakes environments to lead to reduced reliance on technically appropriate measures and increased dependence on measures better reflect the broader political environment. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. The Cultural Politics of the Texas Educational Reform Agenda: Examining Who Gets What, When, and How

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Salinas, Cinthia S.; Reidel, Michelle

    2007-01-01

    This critical policy examination of the economistic discourses that control Texas's accountability reforms explores how over the last three decades Texas business elite utilized the policy process, power relationships, and educational value conflicts that promote accountability as the paradigm for education reform. Attention on "who gets…

  17. Analysis of Security Sector Reform in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone: A Comparison of Current versus Historical Capabilities

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-03-01

    6 A. M. Fitz -Gerald, Security Sector Reform in Sierra Leone. Shrivenham, GFN-SSR. 8–10. Osman Gbla...34Security Sector Reform: Bringing the Private in.", 1– 23; Peter Albrecht and Paul Jackson, eds. Security System Transformation in Sierra Leone, 1997–2007...veterans.38 33 John R. Cartwright, Political leadership in Sierra Leone (Toronto: University of

  18. Reform, Inequalities of Process and the Transformative Potential of Communities of Practice in the Pre-School Sector of England

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Simpson, Donald

    2011-01-01

    The integration of care and education across pre-school sectors of several European countries is currently a key policy priority. In England this necessitates reform aimed at re-modelling a traditionally hierarchical and divided workforce. Drawing on research with early years professionals, this article explores the micro-politics of reform with a…

  19. Evidence as Source of Power in School Reforms: The Quest for the Extension of Compulsory Education in Zurich

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Imlig, Flavian; Ruoss, Thomas

    2015-01-01

    This article investigates the use of evidence in educational policy and politics, and how this use has changed over time. Using an analytical framework that combines research approaches from both political and educational science, evidence-related arguments in two major school reforms in the canton of Zurich, Switzerland are described. In…

  20. The Politics of Legislative Evaluations: Benefits to "Fire-Alarm" Oversight.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wohlstetter, Priscilla

    Evaluation practices used by state legislatures to monitor educational reform are analyzed in this paper, which focuses on the link between politics and choice of oversight strategies and evaluation methods. Two oversight strategies are compared--"police-patrol" and "fire-alarm.""Fire-alarm" oversight involves…

  1. Healthcare reform: the role of coordinated critical care.

    PubMed

    Cerra, F B

    1993-03-01

    To evaluate and editorialize the evolving role of the discipline of critical care as a healthcare delivery system in the process of healthcare reform. The sources included material from the Federal Office of Management and Budget, Health Care Financing Review, President Bush's Office, Association of American Medical Colleges, and publications of the Society of Critical Care Medicine. Data were selected that the author felt was relevant to the healthcare reform process and its implications for the discipline of critical care. The data were extracted by the author to illustrate the forces behind healthcare reform, the implications for the practice of critical care, and role of critical care as a coordinated (managed) care system in the process of healthcare reform. Healthcare reform has been initiated because of a number of considerations that arise in evaluating the current healthcare delivery system: access, financing, cost, dissatisfactions with the mechanisms of delivery, and political issues. The reform process will occur with or without the involvement of critical care practitioners. Reforms may greatly alter the delivery of critical care services, education, training, and research in critical care. Critical care has evolved into a healthcare delivery system that provides services to patients who need and request them and provides these services in a coordinated (managed) care model. Critical care practitioners must become involved in the healthcare reform process, and critical care services that are effective must be preserved, as must the education, training, and research programs. Critical care as a healthcare delivery system utilizing a coordinated (managed) care model has the potential to provide services to all patients who need them and to deliver them in a manner that is cost effective and recognized as providing added value.

  2. Leaders Leading and Learning (Part 1)

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hannay, Lynne M.; Manning, Michael; Earl, Sandra; Blair, Don

    2006-01-01

    Internationally, large scale reform is big business and yet relatively little is known about the senior administrators who manage and lead local educational reform implementation. In this first of a two-part article, the authors focus on the role of senior administrators in facilitating large-scale reform in one Ontario, Canada school district…

  3. Getting beyond the Facts: Reforming California School Finance. Issue Brief

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bersin, Alan; Kirst, Michael W.; Liu, Goodwin

    2008-01-01

    California's school finance system is long overdue for reform. The authors propose a new system that is more rational, more equitable, and, they believe, politically feasible. At its core, their proposal aims to link district revenue to student needs and regional costs while ensuring that all districts are held harmless at current funding levels.…

  4. Health Care Reform: How Will It Affect Nursing?--Nursing Education.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zalon, Margarete Lieb

    Nursing educators have the opportunity to advance nursing's agenda for health care reform to ensure effective health care for all members of society. They have a key role in fostering the political involvement of student nurses and nurses who have returned to school for baccalaureate or graduate education. Role modeling is critical to increasing…

  5. Reforming the World Bank: From Social-Liberalism to Neo-Liberalism

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Girdwood, John

    2007-01-01

    Using an analytics of government perspective, it is argued that neo-liberalism as an art of government, especially its form as North American advanced liberal political reason, has shaped enterprise governance and managerial reform at the World Bank. With a focus on the World Bank as a financial banking enterprise, the article explores questions…

  6. Identifying perceptions of academic reform in pharmacy using a four-frame organizational change model.

    PubMed

    Bajis, Dalia; Chaar, Betty; Basheti, Iman A; Moles, Rebekah

    2017-11-10

    In an ever-changing environment, pharmacy education is in the race to catch up and excel to produce competent pharmacists. Examining academic institutions, including schools of pharmacy, their internal systems and framework, it seems appropriate to view these institutions using multiple lenses. Bolman and Deal conceptualized a method to examine organizations using four constructs (structural, human resource, political, and symbolic). The Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR), with deep-rooted pharmacy education and practice was the setting for this research. To explore factors affecting academic reform in undergraduate pharmacy education in the EMR from stakeholders' and students' perspectives; and to apply Bolman and Deal's four-frame organizational change model to explore how these issues might be viewed. A multiple-method approach was employed and involved collecting, analyzing and integrating qualitative semi-structured interview data with open-ended questions in a survey. Cross-sector stakeholder sample from various EMR countries was recruited and interviewed. Final year pharmacy students from one school of pharmacy in Jordan were surveyed. Emergent themes were indicative that academic reform was addressed by all frames of the Bolman and Deal model. Structural and political frames received substantial weighing pointing to the importance of curricular reform, collaboration and leadership. A need for skillful and role-model teaching academic staff was highlighted, and in harmony with the human resource frame. Issues within the symbolic frame were readily apparent in the data and spanned the other three frames in relation to heritage, customs and cultural barriers. Issues pertinent to academic reform in pharmacy were presented. Viewing change in pharmacy schools from multiple perspectives highlighted the need for structural changes to pharmacy programs, human resource management, political will, leadership, and collaboration. The importance of understanding cultural

  7. The Impact of the Bologna Reform on Teacher Education in Germany: An Empirical Case Study on Policy Borrowing in Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kuhlee, Dina

    2017-01-01

    This article investigates aspects of policy transfer and educational borrowing in German higher education in the wake of the Bologna reforms of higher education in Europe. It examines the origins and results of the Bologna reform process in Germany. Focussing on teacher education, it highlights inconsistencies between political legitimation,…

  8. Adequacy, accountability, autonomy and equity in a Middle Eastern school reform: The case of Qatar

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Guarino, Cassandra M.; Tanner, Jeffery C.

    2012-04-01

    This study examines Qatar's recent and ambitious school reform in the early stages of its implementation against a set of four criteria for successful education systems drawn from guidelines developed by the international community: adequacy, accountability, autonomy and gender equity. We investigate both the initial structure of the reform and its sustainability in light of concerns that movements in these directions might be politically unfeasible. To some degree, these concerns are substantiated by the developments we trace. However, it is important to note that the reform has changed the landscape of primary and secondary education in Qatar and that many reform principles, though diluted, have been retained. This paper highlights lessons learned - both hopeful and cautionary - in the first few years of reform and presents a methodology for evaluating progress along key dimensions that can be applied to school systems in many nations.

  9. Politicians, Judges, and City Schools. Reforming School Finance in New York.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Berke, Joel S.; And Others

    This book is designed to provide public officials, leaders of organizations concerned with school funding issues, and citizens active in educational affairs with information about the political, economic, and equity issues that underlie the school finance reform debate in New York State. It discusses present inequities and potential approaches to…

  10. Spectator Democracy: An Intersectional Analysis of Education Reform in Hamburg, Germany

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bale, Jeff

    2016-01-01

    This article uses the theoretical framework of intersectionality to analyze a partially failed school reform measure in Hamburg, Germany and the political conflict over it between 2008 and 2010. The analysis focuses on "the extent to which" and the "mechanisms by which" the interests of marginalized members of the proreform…

  11. International Comparison of the Influence of Educational Reform on Superintendent Leadership

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Björk, Lars G.; Johansson, Olof; Bredeson, Paul

    2014-01-01

    During recent decades, the rise of the global economy launched a wide array of social, economic, and political changes in nations throughout the world. Heightened concern about the quality of schools launched what is arguably the most pervasive, intense, and protracted attempts at educational reform in recent history. Examinations of the…

  12. The use of advanced steam reforming technology for hydrogen production

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Abbishaw, J.B.; Cromarty, B.J.

    1996-12-01

    The demand for supplementary hydrogen production in refineries is growing significantly world-wide as environmental legislation concerning cleaner gasoline and diesel fuels is introduced. The main manufacturing method is by steam reforming. The process has been developed both to reduce the capital cost and increase efficiency, reliability and ease of operation. ICI Katalco`s Leading Concept Hydrogen or LCH process continues this process of improvement by replacing the conventional fired steam reformer with a type of heat exchange reformer known as the Gas Heated Reformer or GHR. The GHR was first used in the Leading Concept Ammonia process, LCA at ICI`s manufacturingmore » site at Severnside, England and commissioned in 1988 and later in the Leading Concept Methanol (LCM) process for methanol at Melbourne, Australia and commissioned in 1994. The development of the LCH process follows on from both LCA and LCM processes. This paper describes the development and use of the GHR in steam reforming, and shows how the GHR can be used in LCH. A comparison between the LCH process and a conventional hydrogen plant is given, showing the benefits of the LCH process in certain circumstances.« less

  13. Health care reform and changes: the Malaysian experience.

    PubMed

    Merican, Mohd Ismail; bin Yon, Rohaizat

    2002-01-01

    Health care reform is an intentional, sustained and systematic process of structural change to one or more health subsystems to improve efficiency, effectiveness, patient choices and equity. Health care all over the world is continuously reforming with time. Health care reform has become an increasingly important agenda for policy change in both developed and developing countries including Malaysia. This paper provides an overview of the Malaysian health care system, its achievements, and issues and challenges leading to ongoing reform towards a more efficient and equitable health care system that possess a better quality of life for the population.

  14. The Little State That Couldn't Could? The Politics of "Single-Payer" Health Coverage in Vermont.

    PubMed

    Fox, Ashley M; Blanchet, Nathan J

    2015-06-01

    In May 2011, a year after the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Vermont became the first state to lay the groundwork for a single-payer health care system, known as Green Mountain Care. What can other states learn from the Vermont experience? This article summarizes the findings from interviews with nearly 120 stakeholders as part of a study to inform the design of the health reform legislation. Comparing Vermont's failed effort to adopt single-payer legislation in 1994 to present efforts, we find that Vermont faced similar challenges but greater opportunities in 2010 that enabled reform. A closely contested gubernatorial election and a progressive social movement opened a window of opportunity to advance legislation to design three comprehensive health reform options for legislative consideration. With a unified Democratic government under the leadership of a single-payer proponent, a high-profile policy proposal, and relatively weak opposition, a framework for a single-payer system was adopted by the legislature - though with many details and political battles to be fought in the future. Other states looking to reform their health systems more comprehensively than national reform can learn from Vermont's design and political strategy. Copyright © 2015 by Duke University Press.

  15. Political challenges to implementing IWRM in Southern Africa

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Swatuk, Larry A.

    Southern African states are undertaking comprehensive water sector reforms. While motives for reform are partially local, they are in large part driven by the interests and ideologies of Western states and civil societies. Within the Southern African Development Community (SADC), national (water, sanitation, irrigation) master plans are being written or revised. In several states, new Water Acts are in place and new institutions have been created to improve delivery. The stated goal of these activities is integrated water resources management (IWRM) defined simply as equitable, efficient and sustainable use of the resource. This article summarizes findings of social science-oriented scholarship on water management in the region, in particular that published in three special issues of Physics and Chemistry of the Earth (vol. 27, nos. 11-22; vol. 28, nos. 20-27; vol. 29, nos. 15-18). Evidence shows, among other things, that governments have been reluctant to devolve power to stakeholders; that rural dwellers are suspicious of the motives behind reform; that already empowered actors dominate new institutions touting broad-based participation; that efforts to fully recover costs in urban areas have been met with widespread civil resistance; and that new institutions have undermined existing forms of cooperation and conflict resolution, making matters worse not better. At the same time, these studies show the utility of decision support tools, capacity building exercises and research and knowledge production-all positive outcomes that should not be discounted. The paper argues that difficulties with reform reflect the highly political nature of the undertaking. Specifically, the new water architecture proposes a profound realignment of decision making power in already fragile, underdeveloped states. As a result, what may have started as a project now constitutes a context wherein differently empowered actors negotiate and renegotiate roles and rights to resources. Thus

  16. Learning from Leaders: Welfare Reform Politics and Policy in Five Midwestern States.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Weissert, Carol S., Ed.

    This book examines welfare reform, occasioned by the federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), which abolished Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and replaced it with Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). It is based on research in Ohio, Kansas, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan that…

  17. Has Political Science Ignored Religion?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kettell, Steven

    2012-01-01

    A common complaint from political scientists involved in the study of religion is that religious issues have been largely overlooked by political science. Through a content analysis of leading political science and sociology journals from 2000 to 2010, this article considers the extent of this claim. The results show that political science…

  18. JPRS Report, Soviet Union, Political Affairs.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1989-05-23

    implement ods of work. political reform is the reorganization of the apparatus of party committees. What are the characteristics of this [Gruzinform] What...most characteristically expressed in the speech by the nost, and punishment of all the guilty parties, no matter writer, Yuri Karyakin: "The forces...and otherwise when impressionism came into being? And tortured, and to their near ones and dear ones. didn’t the public get upset when romanticism

  19. Education in the New Era: The Dissemination of Education for Sustainable Development in the Political Science Programmes at Notre Dame University--Louaize

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Labaki, Georges

    2012-01-01

    Sustainable development is continuous process of change requiring painful choices resting on political will. This paper examines the developments needed to engage with sustainable development in the field of political science through the following: the reform in political science programmes to cope with the need for sustainable development in…

  20. Cross-Border Transitions: Navigating Conflict and Political Change through Community Education Practices in Myanmar and the Thai Border

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Maber, Elizabeth J. T.

    2016-01-01

    Political oscillations in Myanmar and Thailand, between militarisation and democratic reform, have prompted a rapid renegotiation of the alignments, goals and priorities of non-state education providers, both international and community-based, along the two countries' border. This paper explores the responses to shifts in political environment…

  1. Exclusion, toleration, acceptance, integration: the experience of Dutch Reformed churches with homosexuality and homosexuals in the church.

    PubMed

    Mader, D

    1993-01-01

    The overwhelming majority of Protestant Christians in The Netherlands are members of denominations in the Reformed tradition (i.e., protestant churches characterized by Calvinist theology and a "presbyterian" church government by elected assemblies of elders). Comparable North American denominations are the Reformed Church in America and the United Presbyterian Church, both of which are facing some degree of internal controversy over homosexuality. In The Netherlands, the four major strands of the Reformed church have taken various positions on homosexuality, ranging from absolute rejection of homosexuality in the church and society, through one denomination which found itself in the curious position of approving the ordination of homosexual clergy while barring homosexuals from the Lord's Table, to creating "life covenants" which re-evaluate heterosexual marriage while also blessing relationships between homosexuals. All call upon the same set of principles for their varied stands. The two major denominational branches, the Netherlands Reformed Church (Hervormde Kerk) and the Reformed Churches in The Netherlands (Gereformeerde Kerken) have taken different approaches to resolving the issue, the former through internal political conflict and the latter through a more authoritarian (though progressive) stand. The article traces the political, theological, and juridical history of the evolution of these positions, and suggests various potential models, and their possibilities and pitfalls, for North American Protestant churches dealing with issues surrounding homosexuality and the church.

  2. Postcolonial Teacher Education Reform in Namibia: Travelling of Policies and Ideas

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Arreman, Inger Erixon; Erixon, Per-Olof; Rehn, Karl-Gunnar

    2016-01-01

    Long before Namibia's independence in 1990, Sweden initiated a policy dialogue with Namibia's future political leadership. This article reviews the impact of an educational reform in Namibia in the early 1990s called the Integrated Teacher Training Programme (ITTP), which was an outcome of collaboration between the South West African People's…

  3. Internal reforming of methane in solid oxide fuel cell systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Peters, R.; Dahl, R.; Klüttgen, U.; Palm, C.; Stolten, D.

    Internal reforming is an attractive option offering a significant cost reduction, higher efficiencies and faster load response of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) power plant. However, complete internal reforming may lead to several problems which can be avoided with partial pre-reforming of natural gas. In order to achieve high total plant efficiency associated with low energy consumption and low investment costs, a process concept has been developed based on all the components of the SOFC system. In the case of anode gas recycling an internal steam circuit exists. This has the advantage that there is no need for an external steam generator and the steam concentration in the anode gas is reduced. However, anode gas recycling has to be proven by experiments in a pre-reformer and for internal reforming. The addition of carbon dioxide clearly shows a decrease in catalyst activity, while for temperatures higher than 1000 K hydrogen leads to an increase of the measured methane conversion rates.

  4. Coverage of genetic technologies under national health reform.

    PubMed Central

    Mehlman, M. J.; Botkin, J. R.; Scarrow, A.; Woodhall, A.; Kass, J.; Siebenschuh, E.

    1994-01-01

    This article examines the extent to which the technologies expected to emerge from genetic research are likely to be covered under Government-mandated health insurance programs such as those being proposed by advocates of national health reform. Genetic technologies are divided into three broad categories; genetic information services, including screening, testing, and counseling; experimental technologies; and gene therapy. This article concludes that coverage of these technologies under national health reform is uncertain. The basic benefits packages provided for in the major health reform plans are likely to provide partial coverage of experimental technologies; relatively broad coverage of information services; and varying coverage of gene therapies, on the basis of an evaluation of their costs, benefits, and the degree to which they raise objections on political and religious grounds. Genetic services that are not included in the basic benefits package will be available only to those who can purchase supplemental insurance or to those who can purchase the services with personal funds. The resulting multitiered system of access to genetic services raises serious questions of fairness. PMID:7977343

  5. The Impact of Standards-Based Reform: Applying Brantlinger's Critique of "Hierarchical Ideologies"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bacon, Jessica; Ferri, Beth

    2013-01-01

    Brantlinger's [2004b. "Ideologies Discerned, Values Determined: Getting past the Hierarchies of Special Education." In "Ideology and the Politics of (in)Exclusion," edited by L. Ware, 11-31. New York: Peter Lang Publishing] critique of hierarchical ideologies lays bare the logics embedded in standards-based reform. Drawing on…

  6. Future Teachers Debate Charter Schools on Facebook: Analysing Their Political Subjectivities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nairn, Karen; Anderson, Vivienne; Blanch, Keely

    2018-01-01

    We argue that Garrett and Segall's concepts of "doing school" and "pushing back" are valuable tools for analysing pre-service teachers' political views of neoliberal education reforms such as the introduction of charter schools. We extend Garrett and Segall's conceptualization by hybridizing "doing school" and…

  7. Education Reform, Indigenous Politics, and Decolonisation in the Bolivia of Evo Morales

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Howard, Rosaleen

    2009-01-01

    The paper explores the relationship between education reform and Intercultural Bilingual Education (IBE) for Bolivia's majority indigenous peoples, as this has evolved since the 1990s into the era of Evo Morales, Latin America's first indigenous president, elected in 2005. In order to bring out the significance of the new Education Bill awaiting…

  8. Social Networks among Land Reform Beneficiaries and Their Use in Supporting Satellite Schools in Zimbabwe: A Case Study of a Satellite School

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tarisayi, Kudzayi Savious; Manik, Sadhana

    2017-01-01

    This article examines the ways in which land reform beneficiaries in a selected community use their social networks to support a satellite school. Contemporary literature on the implications of land reform in Zimbabwe revealed a number of perspectives, which include the political, human rights, livelihoods, and agricultural productivity…

  9. The Forest Indians in the Present Political Situation of Peru.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Varese, Stefano

    The article focuses on tribal minorities (American Indians) of the Peruvian tropical forest from the point of view of the political circumstances and the general administrative conditions of the country. In 1968 the revolutionary military government initiated a series of structural reforms which aimed at transforming Peru. This article poses and…

  10. Like Surfers Waiting for the Big Wave: Health Care Politics in Italy.

    PubMed

    Toth, Federico

    2015-10-01

    This article focuses on the main health reforms enacted in Italy over the past one hundred years. Such reforms were all undertaken in conjunction with a severe political and institutional crisis. The 1943 reform was approved a few weeks before the fall of the Fascist regime. The National Health Service, established by Law No. 833 of 1978 and enacted during one of the most turbulent times in the history of the country, represented the apex of the brief experience of the "national solidarity" governments. Even the 1992-93 reform was put into effect in the midst of the Tangentopoli scandal, which marked the transition from the First Republic to the so-called Second Republic. To attempt an analysis of the main turning points in Italian health care policies, the well-known multiple streams approach is adopted. Copyright © 2015 by Duke University Press.

  11. Problems, policies and politics: making the case for better assistive technology provision in Australia.

    PubMed

    Layton, Natasha

    2015-05-01

    Substantial evidence supports assistive technology and environmental adaptations as key enablers to participation. In order to realise the potential of these interventions, they need to be both recognised in policy, and resourced in practice. This paper uses political theory to understand the complexities of assistive technology (AT) policy reform in Australia. AT research will not be influential in improving AT policy without consideration of political drivers. Theories of policy formation are considered, with Kingdon's (2003) theory of multiple streams identified as a useful lens through which to understand government actions. This theory is applied to the case of current AT policy reformulation in Australia. The convergence model of problem identification, policy formulation and political will is found to be an applicable construct with which to evaluate contemporary policy changes. This paper illustrates the cogency of this theory for the field of AT, in the case of Australia's recent disability and aged care reforms. Political theory provides a way of conceptualising the difficulties of consumers and AT practitioners experience in getting therapeutically valid solutions into public policy, and then getting policies prioritised and funded. It is suggested that AT practitioners must comprehend and consider political factors in working towards effective policies to support their practice. AT practitioners generally lack political awareness or an understanding of the drivers of policy. The effectiveness of AT practitioners at a systemic level will remain limited without consideration of policy drivers. AT practitioners must comprehend and consider political factors in working towards effective policies to support their practice.

  12. Curriculum reform at Chinese medical schools: what have we learned?

    PubMed

    Huang, Lei; Cheng, Liming; Cai, Qiaoling; Kosik, Russell Olive; Huang, Yun; Zhao, Xudong; Xu, Guo-Tong; Su, Tung-Ping; Chiu, Allen Wen-Hsiang; Fan, Angela Pei-Chen

    2014-12-01

    Curriculum reform at Chinese medical schools has attracted a lot of attention recently. Several leading medical schools in China have undergone exploratory reforms and in so doing, have accumulated significant experience and have made considerable progress. An analysis of the reforms conducted by 38 Chinese medical colleges that were targeted by the government for upgrade was performed. Drawing from both domestic and international literature, we designed a questionnaire to determine what types of curricular reforms have occurred at these institutions and how they were implemented. Major questions touched upon the purpose of the reforms, curricular patterns, improvements in teaching methods post-reform, changes made to evaluation systems post-reform, intra-university reform assessment, and what difficulties the schools faced when instituting the reforms. Besides the questionnaire, relevant administrators from each medical school were also interviewed to obtain more qualitative data. Out of the 38 included universities, twenty-five have undergone major curricular reforms. Among them, 60.0% adopted an organ system-based curriculum model, 32.0% adopted a problem-based curriculum model, and 8.0% adopted a hybrid curriculum model. About 60.0% of the schools' reforms involved both the "pre-clinical" and the "clinical" curricula, 32.0% of the schools' reforms were limited to the "pre-clinical" curricula, and 8.0% of the schools' reforms only involved the "clinical" curricula. Following curricular reform, 60.0% of medical schools experienced an overall reduction in teaching hours, 76.0% reported an increase in their students' clinical skills, and 60.0% reported an increase in their students' research skills. Medical curricular reform is still in its infancy in China. The republic's leading medical schools have engaged in various approaches to bring innovative teaching methods to their respective institutions. However, due to limited resources and the shackle of traditional

  13. Political intersections between HIV/AIDS, sexuality and human rights: a history of resistance to the anti-sodomy law in India.

    PubMed

    Ramasubban, R

    2008-01-01

    The HIV/AIDS epidemic in India has posed unprecedented challenges to both state and society, to question prevailing constructions of patriarchal gender relations and heteronormativity. Response to the challenge has come not from the political and social mainstream but from the criminalised "margins": people of alternative sexualities, who have launched a struggle for reform of the anti-sodomy law, Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. This article documents the history of this movement, and identifies the multiple national and global-level cultural, political, and economic strands, shaping it. The legal reform movement has been invaluable as a tool to mobilise disparate alternative sexualities groups around a common strategy, thereby forging them into a tenuous national-level "community". Going beyond legal reform in the direction of sexual rights, however, requires a broader coalition of groups, and a broad-based political agenda of sexual rights for all. This agenda must critique patriarchy, dominant masculinity, and sexual violence; forces that together govern both the subordination of women and repression of alternative sexualities.

  14. Understanding electricity market reforms and the case of Philippine deregulation

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Santiago, Andrea; Roxas, Fernando

    2010-03-15

    The experience of the Philippines offers lessons that should be relevant to any country seeking to deregulate its power industry. Regardless of structure, consumers must face the real price of electricity production and delivery that is closer to marginal cost. Politically motivated prices merely shift the burden from ratepayers to taxpayers. And any reform should work within a reasonable timetable. (author)

  15. Higher Education Reform in Russia: Democratization or Bureaucratization?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Panfilova, T. V.

    2011-01-01

    Recent reforms have increased the level of administrative oversight, and also of interference of the structure and content of university education in Russia. This is leading to a weakening of Russian higher education. In this article, the author talks about the reform of the system of higher education in Russia and the bureaucratization of higher…

  16. Access to Basic Education in Ghana: Politics, Policies and Progress. CREATE Pathways to Access. Research Monograph No. 42

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Little, Angela W.

    2010-01-01

    This monograph examines the history and politics of educational reform in Ghana. Using data from interviews conducted with senior policy-makers, implementers and researchers, as well as documentary sources, to explore the drivers and inhibitors of change at the political, bureaucratic and grass-roots levels. The monograph explores the nature of…

  17. Implementation Issues in Federal Reform Efforts in Education: The United States and Australia.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Porter, Paige

    Multiple data sources are used in this study of educational change in the United States and Australia. The author considers political issues that may affect the implementation of educational reform efforts at the federal level, such as homogeneity versus heterogeneity, centralization versus decentralization, constitutional responsibility for…

  18. The Politics of Blocking Equality Reforms in Education: A Study of Organised Interests in England, 1965 2010

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wiborg, Susanne

    2017-01-01

    This article investigates how vested interests, particularly the teacher unions, responded to the British Labour government's school reforms designed to increase educational equality. Two significant reforms introduced to this end were Circular 10/65 on comprehensive education and the Learning and Skills Act of 2000 on the City Academies. The…

  19. The reorientation of market-oriented reforms in Swedish health-care.

    PubMed

    Harrison, M I; Calltorp, J

    2000-01-01

    , conflicts between reform programs and fundamental social and political values, unrealistic assumptions about the effects of competition, technical and organizational obstacles to implementation, and threats to interest groups. Since 1998, there have been indications that Sweden may be entering yet another stage of experimentation with market-oriented reform.

  20. ["Scholar officials": thoughts on the involvement of professional nurses in the political process].

    PubMed

    Wang, Hsiu-Hung

    2014-08-01

    A growing number of nurses are concerned with / participate in public affairs, politics, and policymaking processes. In particular, nursing leaders are actively leveraging their collective power to create interdisciplinary alliances aimed at encouraging the media and government to confront key nursing issues and implement healthcare reform. This article highlights the political participation and policy-making process to address the meaning and essence of politics, politics and nursing, training and strategies of public affairs and political participation, the shift from academia to health policy, and facilitation of important health policies. It is hoped that nurses may appropriately use their status and influence to actively participate in political campaigns and the policymaking process. By using their professional knowledge and skills, nurses may not only protect patient safety and public health but also facilitate nursing professional development and promote the professional image of nursing.

  1. Curriculum reform: Why? What? How? and how will we know it works?

    PubMed

    Reis, Shmuel

    2018-06-07

    In a recent IJHPR article, Dankner et al. describe a reform in one longitudinal strand within Basic Medical Education i.e." public health and preventive medicine curriculum" using a Competency Based Medical Education approach. This reform raises several concerns: What should prompt a medical school to change a curriculum? How should such change be conducted? What kinds of paradigms may inform such a change? What constitutes a success in a curricular reform? And, how can curricular reform be evaluated within a reasonable time framework?This commentary addresses these concerns and concludes that curricular reform should follow as much as possible the current wisdom of educational innovation and change strategy, follow a clear vision, mission, and selected educational paradigm, and pay attention to stakeholders, context, culture and politics. The design should allow for the emergence of unintended consequences. Implementation needs careful planning and monitoring and the evaluation should be multi-faceted. Finally, since all Israeli medical schools are now using the Competency Based Medical Education approach and aligning their curricula and testing accordingly, a fascinating collaborative opportunity exists to professionalize this process and hopefully make a positive impact.

  2. Market-Driven Education Reform and the Racial Politics of Advocacy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Scott, Janelle T.

    2011-01-01

    What is the landscape of the racial politics of public education in the age of Obama? To what factors can we attribute the seeming educational policy consensus from Washington, DC, to the states and from philanthropies and policy entrepreneurs in urban school districts? How should we understand opposition to the policy menu? This article examines…

  3. Educational Reevaluation, Political Transformation: Québec and Higher Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Unger, Zoe

    2013-01-01

    This paper considers the history of Québec's higher education system and the reforms that have contributed to the role of education in the province. Québec's education system has repeatedly been a site for social and political transformation; most recently, reevaluation of education's role in the province has revealed a tension between…

  4. Pedagogy, Performance and Politics: Issues in the Study of Primary Education.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Campbell, R. J.; Kyriakides, L.

    2000-01-01

    Presents an essay review of Inside the Primary Classroom, 20 Years On, which reports on a 1976 study of teacher-student interaction in English elementary classrooms (the ORACLE project) and discusses the next 20 years of elementary education in England, examining curriculum reform, educational policy, educational research, and related politics.…

  5. The Politics of Native American Health Care and the Affordable Care Act.

    PubMed

    Skinner, Daniel

    2016-02-01

    This article examines an important but largely overlooked dimension of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), namely, its significance for Native American health care. The author maintains that reading the ACA against the politics of Native American health care policy shows that, depending on their regional needs and particular contexts, many Native Americans are well-placed to benefit from recent Obama-era reforms. At the same time, the kinds of options made available by the ACA constitute a departure from the service-based (as opposed to insurance-based) Indian Health Service (IHS). Accordingly, the author argues that ACA reforms--private marketplaces, Medicaid expansion, and accommodations for Native Americans--are best read as potential "supplements" to an underfunded IHS. Whether or not Native Americans opt to explore options under the ACA will depend in the long run on the quality of the IHS in the post-ACA era. Beyond understanding the ACA in relation to IHS funding, the author explores how Native American politics interacts with the key tenets of Obama-era health care reform--especially "affordability"--which is critical for understanding what is required from and appropriate to future Native American health care policy making. Copyright © 2016 by Duke University Press.

  6. From Toyota to the bedside: nurses can lead the lean way in health care reform.

    PubMed

    Johnson, Joyce E; Smith, Amy L; Mastro, Kari A

    2012-01-01

    The advent of health care reform means new pressures on American hospitals, which will be forced to do more with less. In the next decade, increased use of "Lean" principles and practices in hospitals can create real value by reducing waste and improving productivity, costs, quality, and the timely delivery of patient care services. In 2010, the Institute of Medicine recommended that nurses lead collaborative quality improvement efforts and assume a major role in redesigning health care in the United States. In this article, we provide an overview of the use of Lean techniques in health care and 2 case studies of successful, nurse-directed Lean initiatives at the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. The article concludes with some lessons we have learned and implications for nursing education in the future that must include the concepts, tools, and skills required for adapting Lean to the patient care environment.

  7. Imaging the Frame: Media Representations of Teachers, Their Unions, NCLB, and Education Reform

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Goldstein, Rebecca A.

    2011-01-01

    This article examines the political discourse surrounding NCLB, educational reform, and how that discourse shaped perceptions of public education during the Bush Administration. Examining mass media campaigns in the New York Times and Time Magazine, the article demonstrates how the media has visually and textually framed and reinforced NCLB and…

  8. Defensive medicine, cost containment, and reform.

    PubMed

    Hermer, Laura D; Brody, Howard

    2010-05-01

    The role of defensive medicine in driving up health care costs is hotly contended. Physicians and health policy experts in particular tend to have sharply divergent views on the subject. Physicians argue that defensive medicine is a significant driver of health care cost inflation. Policy analysts, on the other hand, observe that malpractice reform, by itself, will probably not do much to reduce costs. We argue that both answers are incomplete. Ultimately, malpractice reform is a necessary but insufficient component of medical cost containment. The evidence suggests that defensive medicine accounts for a small but non-negligible fraction of health care costs. Yet the traditional medical malpractice reforms that many physicians desire will not assuage the various pressures that lead providers to overprescribe and overtreat. These reforms may, nevertheless, be necessary to persuade physicians to accept necessary changes in their practice patterns as part of the larger changes to the health care payment and delivery systems that cost containment requires.

  9. The Vocational Education and Training System in Bulgaria. Current Situation, Challenges and Reform Needs.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pantaleev, Tzako; Kalandarova, Natalia; Dineva, Nedka; Panev, Georgi; Petrova, Iskra

    This report reviews the current situation of Bulgaria's vocational education and training (VET) system to identify challenges facing the system and areas needing reform. Section 1 explores the following five aspects of Bulgaria's political and socioeconomic situation: (1) demography; (2) economic developments (privatization of state enterprises,…

  10. Failure of health care reform in the USA.

    PubMed

    Mechanic, D

    1996-01-01

    The failure of health reform in the USA reflects the individualism and lack of community responsibility of the American political culture, the power of interest groups, and the extraordinary process President Clinton followed in developing his highly elaborate plan. Despite considerable initial public support and a strong start, the reform effort was damaged by the cumbersome process, the complexity of the plan itself, and the unfamiliarity of key components such as alliances for pooled buying of health insurance. In addition, the alienation of important interest groups and the loss of presidential initiative in framing the public discussion as a result of international, domestic and personal issues contributed to the failure in developing public consensus. This paper considers an alternative strategy that would have built on the extension of the Medicare program as a way of exploring the possibilities and barriers to achieving health care reform. Such an approach would build on already familiar and popular pre-existing components. The massive losses in the most recent election and large budget cuts planned by the Republican majority makes it unlikely that gaps in insurance or comprehensiveness of coverage will be corrected in the foreseeable future.

  11. The Politics of 'Lifelong Learning' in Post-1997 Hong Kong

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kennedy, Peter

    2004-01-01

    This article is concerned with the politics of lifelong learning policy in post-1997 Hong Kong (HK). The paper is in four parts. Continuing Education, recast as 'lifelong learning', is to be the cornerstone of the post-Handover education reform agenda. The lineaments of a familiar discourse are evident in the Education Commission policy documents.…

  12. Values and health care: the Confucian dimension in health care reform.

    PubMed

    Lim, Meng-Kin

    2012-12-01

    Are values and social priorities universal, or do they vary across geography, culture, and time? This question is very relevant to Asia's emerging economies that are increasingly looking at Western models for answers to their own outmoded health care systems that are in dire need of reform. But is it safe for them to do so without sufficient regard to their own social, political, and philosophical moorings? This article argues that historical and cultural legacies influence prevailing social values with regard to health care financing and resource allocation, and that the Confucian dimension provides a helpful entry point for a deeper understanding of ongoing health care reforms in East Asia--as exemplified by the unique case of Singapore.

  13. Dutch research reforms cause a stir

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    van Calmthout, Martijn

    2015-02-01

    All 69 winners of the Spinoza prize - the highest award in Dutch science - have signed a petition against proposed reforms to the country's leading funding agency, the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO).

  14. Book Review: "Educational Reform and Administrative Development: The Cases of Columbia and Venezuela," by E. Mark Hanson.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lynch, Patrick D.

    1988-01-01

    Reviews "Educational Reform and Administrative Development: The Cases of Colombia and Venezuela," by E. Mark Hanson, which relates the policy-making and administrative structures of these two countries to their political, historical, and cultural contexts. (TE)

  15. Indonesian heath care and the economic crisis: is managed care the needed reform?

    PubMed

    Hotchkiss, D R; Jacobalis, S

    1999-03-01

    The ramifications of the current economic crisis are being felt throughout Asia, but problems are particularly acute in Indonesia; in the midst of high inflation and unemployment the government is considering expanding managed care reform. In this paper, we discuss the impact of the recent economic crisis on the health sector in Indonesia, and analyze the potential for implementing effective reform following the managed care model. The health sector is discussed, highlighting pre-existing problems in the health care supply environment. The determinants of the economic crisis are summarized, and the broad impacts of the crisis to date on the health sector are assessed. Next the prospects for success of current managed-care reform proposals are examined in some detail: viability of expanded managed care reform measures are assessed in light of the continuing crisis and its likely impacts on the consumers and suppliers of health care. Analysis of the potential impact of the continuing crisis focuses on key participants in health care reform: households, the government, and private health care providers. In conclusion the potential viability of managed care appears poor, given the current economic, political, and institutional conditions and likely future impacts, and suggest some alternative reform measures.

  16. Macro- and Micro-Political Vernaculizations of Rights: Human Rights and Abortion Discourses in Northern Ireland.

    PubMed

    Pierson, Claire; Bloomer, Fiona

    2017-06-01

    How abortion is dealt with in law and policy is shaped through the multiple political and societal discourses on the issue within a particular society. Debate on abortion is constantly in flux, with progressive and regressive movements witnessed globally. This paper examines the translation of human rights norms into discourses on abortion in Northern Ireland, a region where abortion is highly restricted, with extensive contemporary public debate into potential liberalization of abortion law. This paper emanates from research examining political debates on abortion in Northern Ireland and contrasts findings with recent civil society developments, identifying competing narratives of human rights with regard to abortion at the macro- and micro-political level. The paper identifies the complexities of using human rights as a lobbying tool, and questions the utility of rights-based arguments in furthering abortion law reform. The paper concludes that a legalistic rights-based approach may have limited efficacy in creating a more nuanced debate and perspective on abortion in Northern Ireland but that it has particular resonance in arguing for limited reform in extreme cases.

  17. Proposing evidence-based strategies to strengthen implementation of healthcare reform in resource-limited settings: a summative analysis

    PubMed Central

    Manyazewal, Tsegahun; Oosthuizen, Martha J; Matlakala, Mokgadi C

    2016-01-01

    of health systems, as well as a motivated and committed health workforce, are important to move healthcare reform processes forward. Political commitments at this juncture might be critical though there need to be a clear demarcation between political and technical engagements. PMID:27650769

  18. Proposing evidence-based strategies to strengthen implementation of healthcare reform in resource-limited settings: a summative analysis.

    PubMed

    Manyazewal, Tsegahun; Oosthuizen, Martha J; Matlakala, Mokgadi C

    2016-09-20

    workforce, are important to move healthcare reform processes forward. Political commitments at this juncture might be critical though there need to be a clear demarcation between political and technical engagements. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

  19. Teenagers and Welfare Reform.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Offner, Paul

    This report examines the extent to which welfare reform is changing adolescent behaviors that lead to welfare dependency. It begins by discussing the provisions in the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 that require teenagers to stay in school and live with a parent, concluding that relatively little can be…

  20. Health sector reform in Argentina: a cautionary tale.

    PubMed

    Lloyd-Sherlock, Peter

    2005-04-01

    In November 2002 the World Bank published a report on the Argentine health sector. The report accurately portrays the complexity and severity of the problems facing the health care system. It stresses that these problems are not purely a product of the country's economic collapse, noting that the system has suffered from long-standing structural problems and inefficiencies. Curiously, the report makes no mention of the leading role played by the World Bank in health reform efforts during the 1990s. This paper demonstrates that these reforms did much to worsen pre-existing weaknesses of the sector. The paper criticises the content of the reform agenda and the manner in which it was produced, arguing that these were reforms in which considerations of public health were less significant than conformity to the wider model of neo-liberal social and economic development prevailing at the time. It also highlights problems of implementing the reform agenda, which reduced the coherency of the reforms. The paper goes on to examine the impact of the crisis, noting links with the preceding reforms. It identifies a number of insights and lessons of potential value to other countries which are pursuing similar policies.

  1. Conservation and aid: designing more effective investments in natural resource governance reform.

    PubMed

    Nelson, Fred

    2009-10-01

    Biodiversity conservation outcomes are closely related to the rules and institutions governing resource use. Creating local incentives for conservation through more secure resource tenure is central to conservation outcomes on private and communal lands, where the preponderance of biodiversity occurs. Conservation efforts in sub-Saharan Africa are therefore centrally concerned with governance dynamics and institutional reform processes, such as the decentralization of property rights, and how best to achieve such reforms. Traditional mechanisms for financing conservation efforts in Africa rely heavily on funds channeled through multilateral and bilateral aid agencies. The history of development aid highlights a range of constraints these aid agencies face in terms of working toward more effective resource governance arrangements and promoting reforms. Government aid agencies possess incentives for promoting large-scale and short-term projects that maximize expenditure volumes and tend to define issues in technical rather than political terms. The history of development aid suggests that these and other characteristics of aid agencies impedes their ability to influence governance reform processes and that aid funding may discourage the adoption of reforms. Greater emphasis in African conservation financing needs to be placed on flexible, small-scale investments aligned to local interests and constituencies that prioritize innovation, learning, and experimentation. Additionally, more research is required that explores the linkages between conservation funding, donor decision-making processes, and governance reforms.

  2. [Bioethical aspects of health care reform in Chile. II. Discrimination, free election and informed consent].

    PubMed

    Rosselot, Eduardo

    2003-11-01

    Bioethical issues emerge each time health care reform projects are discussed. These affect diverse moral values and principles and have an impact on cultural, social and political areas. Thus, they demand more than just organizational, financial or administrative solutions. This review analyses discrimination, free election of professionals and informed consent. All three concepts are alluded in the legislative debate raised upon the actual process for health reform. Having clear ideas about these subjects is crucial to foresee the reactions expected to arise among physicians and the general public, when confronting the proposed changes.

  3. Electoral reform and public policy outcomes in Thailand: the politics of the 30-Baht health scheme.

    PubMed

    Selway, Joel Sawat

    2011-01-01

    How do changes in electoral rules affect the nature of public policy outcomes? The current evidence supporting institutional theories that answer this question stems almost entirely from quantitative cross-country studies, the data of which contain very little within-unit variation. Indeed, while there are many country-level accounts of how changes in electoral rules affect such phenomena as the number of parties or voter turnout, there are few studies of how electoral reform affects public policy outcomes. This article contributes to this latter endeavor by providing a detailed analysis of electoral reform and the public policy process in Thailand through an examination of the 1997 electoral reforms. Specifically, the author examines four aspects of policy-making: policy formulation, policy platforms, policy content, and policy outcomes. The article finds that candidates in the pre-1997 era campaigned on broad, generic platforms; parties had no independent means of technical policy expertise; the government targeted health resources to narrow geographic areas; and health was underprovided in Thai society. Conversely, candidates in the post-1997 era relied more on a strong, detailed national health policy; parties created mechanisms to formulate health policy independently; the government allocated health resources broadly to the entire nation through the introduction of a universal health care system, and health outcomes improved. The author attributes these changes in the policy process to the 1997 electoral reform, which increased both constituency breadth (the proportion of the population to which politicians were accountable) and majoritarianism.

  4. The Politics of Naming Reform in the Gendered Spheres of Home and Work

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pauwels, Anne; Winter, Joanne

    2007-01-01

    Naming has been a central focus of feminist language planning. The initial emphasis was on reforming naming practices for women in public spheres (work, education, media). More recently public discourses about work/life balance have drawn together the public and private, shaping the naming practices for women and men in these domains. This paper…

  5. The Politics of Legislative Evaluations: Fire-Alarm and Police Patrol as Oversight Procedures.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wohlstetter, Priscilla

    1990-01-01

    Means by which state legislatures practice evaluation are examined by analyzing oversight strategies for monitoring recent educational reforms in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania. Focus is on the inextricable link between politics and oversight; the oversight strategy and methods for policy evaluation are largely…

  6. Lessons for health care reform from the less developed world: the case of the Philippines.

    PubMed

    Obermann, Konrad; Jowett, Matthew R; Taleon, Juanito D; Mercado, Melinda C

    2008-11-01

    International technical and financial cooperation for health-sector reform is usually a one-way street: concepts, tools and experiences are transferred from more to less developed countries. Seldom, if ever, are experiences from less developed countries used to inform discussions on reforms in the developed world. There is, however, a case to be made for considering experiences in less developed countries. We report from the Philippines, a country with high population growth, slow economic development, a still immature democracy and alleged large-scale corruption, which has embarked on a long-term path of health care and health financing reforms. Based on qualitative health-related action research between 2002 and 2005, we have identified three crucial factors for achieving progress on reforms in a challenging political environment: (1) strive for local solutions, (2) make use of available technology and (3) work on the margins towards pragmatic solutions whilst having your ethical goals in mind. Some reflection on these factors might stimulate and inform the debate on how health care reforms could be pursued in developed countries.

  7. Performance analysis of a SOFC under direct internal reforming conditions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Janardhanan, Vinod M.; Heuveline, Vincent; Deutschmann, Olaf

    This paper presents the performance analysis of a planar solid-oxide fuel cell (SOFC) under direct internal reforming conditions. A detailed solid-oxide fuel cell model is used to study the influences of various operating parameters on cell performance. Significant differences in efficiency and power density are observed for isothermal and adiabatic operational regimes. The influence of air number, specific catalyst area, anode thickness, steam to carbon (s/c) ratio of the inlet fuel, and extend of pre-reforming on cell performance is analyzed. In all cases except for the case of pre-reformed fuel, adiabatic operation results in lower performance compared to isothermal operation. It is further discussed that, though direct internal reforming may lead to cost reduction and increased efficiency by effective utilization of waste heat, the efficiency of the fuel cell itself is higher for pre-reformed fuel compared to non-reformed fuel. Furthermore, criteria for the choice of optimal operating conditions for cell stacks operating under direct internal reforming conditions are discussed.

  8. The EDUCO Program, Impact Evaluations, and the Political Economy of Global Education Reform

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Edwards, Brent, Jr.; Loucel Urquilla, Claudia Elizabeth

    2016-01-01

    During the 1990s and 2000s, a policy known as Education with Community Participation (EDUCO) not only became the cornerstone of education reform in El Salvador but also became a global education policy, one which is known for decentralizing to rural families the responsibility for hiring and firing teachers. As is shown in this paper, its rise to…

  9. Leading change: curriculum reform in graduate education in the biomedical sciences.

    PubMed

    Dasgupta, Shoumita; Symes, Karen; Hyman, Linda

    2015-01-01

    The Division of Graduate Medical Sciences at the Boston University School of Medicine houses numerous dynamic graduate programs. Doctoral students began their studies with laboratory rotations and classroom training in a variety of fundamental disciplines. Importantly, with 15 unique pathways of admission to these doctoral programs, there were also 15 unique curricula. Departments and programs offered courses independently, and students participated in curricula that were overlapping combinations of these courses. This system created curricula that were not coordinated and that had redundant course content as well as content gaps. A partnership of key stakeholders began a curriculum reform process to completely restructure doctoral education at the Boston University School of Medicine. The key pedagogical goals, objectives, and elements designed into the new curriculum through this reform process created a curriculum designed to foster the interdisciplinary thinking that students are ultimately asked to utilize in their research endeavors. We implemented comprehensive student and peer evaluation of the new Foundations in Biomedical Sciences integrated curriculum to assess the new curriculum. Furthermore, we detail how this process served as a gateway toward creating a more fully integrated graduate experience, under the umbrella of the Program in Biomedical Sciences. © 2015 The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

  10. Synthesis of Findings from 15?years of Educational Reform in Thailand: Lessons on Leading Educational Change in East Asia

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hallinger, Philip; Bryant, Darren A.

    2013-01-01

    The past two decades have been a period of active education reform throughout much of the world, and East Asia is no exception. This paper synthesizes findings from a series of empirical studies of educational reform in Thailand where an ambitious educational reform law was adopted in 1999. The purpose is to identify lessons learned about…

  11. Righting wrongs and reforming rights.

    PubMed

    Ivey, Laurie C

    2014-03-01

    Discusses issues faced by LGBT people, such as a lack of equal civil rights and the need for extra legal and financial protection for families because partners cannot be married. The author notes that, in our society, it is no longer acceptable to be racist, but it is still okay to be homophobic. The many campaigns against gay marriage and efforts in the legislature to prevent change toward equal civil rights and protections are prime examples. In our current political climate, two things are very clear: (a) homophobia is freely tolerated and (b) the times are changing as we inch closer to equal rights every day. We are "righting wrongs and reforming rights."

  12. "Decentralised" Neoliberalism and/or "Masked" Re-Centralisation? The Policy to Practice Trajectory of Maltese School Reform through the Lens of Neoliberalism and Foucault

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mifsud, Denise

    2016-01-01

    The politics of the later part of the twentieth century have been marked by the emergence of neoliberalism, which has consequently impregnated the global policy climate with neoliberal technologies of government. It is within this political scenario of hegemonic neoliberal discourse that I explore one aspect of school reform in Malta--contrived…

  13. Thinking Whimsically: Queering the Study of Educational Policy-Making and Politics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lugg, Catherine A.; Murphy, Jason P.

    2014-01-01

    This paper discusses employing queer theory (QT) and queer legal theory (QLT) for critical policy analysis as applied to education. In doing so, the authors will highlight how both QT and QLT can empower analyses to look beyond the identity politics of a particular time period or space and toward potential reforms in curriculum, pedagogy, and…

  14. Public Schools and Political Ideas: Canadian Educational Policy in Historical Perspective.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Manzer, Ronald A.

    This book interprets the framework of political ideas and beliefs that structure individual and collective thinking about educational policies and give them meaning. The analysis begins with the state of education in the mid-19th century and brings up to date the prospective reforms of the early 1990s. The study argues that, from its foundation,…

  15. Political determinants of Health: Lessons for Pakistan.

    PubMed

    Jooma, Rashid; Sabatinelli, Guido

    2014-05-01

    There is much concern about the capacity of the health system of Pakistan to meet its goals and obligations. Historically, the political thrust has been absent from the health policy formulation and this is reflected in the low and stagnant public allocations to health. Successive political leaderships have averred from considering healthcare is a common good rather than a market commodity and health has not been recognized as a constitutional right. Over 120 of world's nation states have accepted health as a constitutional right but the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan does not mandate health or education as a fundamental right and the recently adopted 18th constitutional amendment missed the opportunity to extend access to primary health care as an obligation of the State. It is argued in this communication that missing from the calculations of policy formulation and agenda setting is the political benefits of providing health and other social services to underserved populations. Across the developing world, many examples are presented of governments undertaking progressive health reforms that bring services where none existed and subsequently reaping electoral benefit. The political determinant of healthcare will be realized when the political leaders of poorly performing countries can be convinced that embracing distributive policies and successfully bringing healthcare to the poor can be major factors in their re-elections.

  16. Saudi Arabia: Islamic Threat, Political Reform, and the Global War on Terror

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2005-03-01

    actions seen through the lens of anti-Saudi sentiment in the United States, stoked by the fi lm, “ Farenheit 9/11” 4 and books attacking politicians...Kingdom. However, 13 pro-reform activists, who called for a transition from absolute to constitutional monarchy and for a governmentally provided...situation prior to the 2004 elections, by certain books,99 and by the fi lm, Farenheit 9/11, that sought to provide Americans a simple explanation for the

  17. The good, the bad and the confusing: the political economy of social care expansion in South Korea.

    PubMed

    Peng, Ito

    2011-01-01

    Recent social policy reforms in South Korea indicate a progressive shift by a conservative government to modify the familialistic male breadwinner model that informs its welfare regime. The Korean government has demonstrated support for women through an increase in the provision, regulation and coordination of childcare and workplace support programmes for working parents. At the same time, labour market reforms have also created more pressures on women to seek and maintain paid work outside the home. Conflicting social and economic policy objectives have resulted in a confusing mix of policies, advancing and impeding gender equality at the same time. This contribution examines the recent family–work reconciliation policy reforms in Korea and discusses why these reforms may be good politics but a bad deal for women.

  18. Media's Impact on Educational Policies and Practices: Political Spectacle and Social Control

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Anderson, Gary L.

    2007-01-01

    To understand the role of the media in schooling and school reform, it is necessary to examine how the media collude in the construction of the political spectacle, which Edelman (1988) called a meaning machine of alternative realities. The media uses spectacle to generate points of view, perceptions, anxieties, aspirations, and strategies to…

  19. Politics of Education and Teachers' Support for High-Stakes Teacher Accountability Policies

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pizmony-Levy, Oren; Woolsey, Ashley

    2017-01-01

    Although educators are at the center of contentious high-stakes teacher accountability policies, we know very little about their attitudes toward these policies. This research gap is unfortunate because teachers are considered key actors in successful implementation of educational reforms. To what extent do the politics that accompany the…

  20. School Food Politics: The Complex Ecology of Hunger and Feeding in Schools around the World. Global Studies in Education, Volume 6

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Robert, Sarah A., Ed.; Weaver-Hightower, Marcus B., Ed.

    2011-01-01

    The essays in "School Food Politics" explore the intersections of food and politics on all six of the inhabited continents of the world. Including electoral fights over universally free school meals in Korea, nutritional reforms to school dinners in England and canteens in Australia, teachers' and doctors' work on school feeding in…

  1. Primary Health Care Reform in the cities of Lisbon and Rio de Janeiro: context, strategies, results, learning and challenges.

    PubMed

    Soranz, Daniel; Pisco, Luís Augusto Coelho

    2017-03-01

    On the 30th anniversary of Alma-Ata, the World Health Organization published in 2008 the "Primary Health Care Now More Than Ever" Report, calling on all governments to reflect on the need to reflect on four sets of reforms. These included: (i) universal coverage reforms; (ii) service delivery reforms; (iii) public policies reforms that would ensure healthier communities; and (iv) leadership reforms. In this context, in the period 2005-2016, the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Lisbon developed a profound primary healthcare reform, and did so by sharing many of the solutions based on the best internationally recognized organizational practices. Several factors were fundamental throughout Lisbon and Rio de Janeiro's path of reforms, namely: (i) teamwork with professional motivation; (ii) internal and external communication; (iii) strengthening of training activities; (iv) investment in facilities and equipment; (v) commitment to the information system and computerization; (vi) pay-for-performance; (vii) health care contractualisation between funders and providers; (viii) technical leadership; (ix) political leadership; and finally (x) quality and accreditation of facilities by public agency.

  2. British Columbia's health reform: "new directions" and accountability.

    PubMed

    Davidson, A R

    1999-01-01

    The health policy New Directions committed the British Columbia government to a population health perspective and extensive community involvement in the health services reform process. The policy envisaged elected citizen boards with authority to raise revenues and exercise a significant degree of local autonomy. Academic and public attention has been paid to the decision in November 1996 to collapse New Directions' two-tier governance structure into a single level. Less attention has been paid to the profound changes that occurred prior to the government's reversal on the question of governance. This paper focuses on those changes. During the critical three years between the 1993 launch of the reform and its formal revision in 1996, the government's positions on elections, taxation power, local autonomy and scope of action for regional boards all changed. Those changes marked a retreat from political accountability to the community and an advance towards managerial accountability to the government.

  3. Fearful Reformers: The Institutionalization of the Christian Right in American Politics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cibulka, James G.; Myers, Nathan

    2008-01-01

    This research article analyzes the ways that the Christian right uses fear as an instrument in the politics of education. The main source of data for this analysis draws from source-protected interviews with directors in state-level Christian right organizations. A semistructured, elite interviewing approach was used. The authors reframe the…

  4. Educational Policy Reform As a Result of a Failed Political Initiative.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Greene, Ravelle Lyn; Dutton, Jo Sargent

    Most political scientists argue that the term "public policy" encompasses both the actions of government and the intentions that determine those actions. This paper presents an overview of theories about the sources of impetus for policy changes, reviews public policy formation about school choice at the national level and in California,…

  5. Factors Influencing Elementary Mathematics Teachers' Beliefs in Reform-Based Teaching

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sawyer, Amanda Gantt

    2017-01-01

    I investigated a reform based teachers' beliefs about the nature of mathematics, teaching mathematics, and learning mathematics, and the factors leading to their formation. I interviewed and observed a reform-based elementary mathematics teacher with 13 years' experience teaching first grade. She held a Platonist/problem solver view of…

  6. Stigma and Roma Education Policy Reform in Slovakia

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    New, William

    2012-01-01

    This article addresses reform of Roma education in Slovakia against the backdrop of continued stigmatization of Roma students. Transnational NGOs and IGOs promote rights-based solutions leading to the fullest possible inclusion of Roma students in mainstream education. The Slovak state promotes educational policies that lead to the fullest…

  7. The Politics of "Crazy-Making" and Control: A Reform Teacher's Perspective

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Marchese, Stephanie Jo

    2017-01-01

    As a young educator, Stephanie Jo Marchese was initially emboldened by hope and naivety. However, trying to balance the resistance to her body politics and the rules of engagement forced upon her in schools set the stage for an inevitable collision. She faced the devastating reality that a Queer-White-Radical-Feminist-Survivor-Teacher heralding…

  8. The Nigerian State and Global Economic Crises: Socio-Political Implications and Policy Challenges

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Olaopa, O. R.; Ogundari, I. O.; Akindele, S. T.; Hassan, O. M.

    2012-01-01

    This article discusses how economic reforms, as a reaction to the effects of the global financial crises, have intensified popular unrests and redefined the composition, interests, and socio-economic and political attitudes of Nigeria's increasingly complex social strata. We relied basically on secondary data to analyze some of the fundamental…

  9. [Political challenges facing the consolidation of the Sistema Único de Saúde: a historical approach].

    PubMed

    Rodrigues, Paulo Henrique de Almeida

    2014-01-01

    This article investigates the circumstances in which Brazil’s sanitation reform was conceived and the Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) was constructed. A brief analysis is conducted of Brazil’s political transition to democracy, focusing on three political challenges facing the consolidation of SUS: its weak support base amongst workers, competition with the private sector, and the fragmentation of its administration caused by its municipalization. Finally, the changes in the scenario caused by the weakening of neoliberalism since the 2008 crisis, the reemergence of a multipolar political scenario internationally, and the financing conditions of the Brazilian State are described.

  10. Education System Reforms in an Unstable Political Situation: The Case of Serbia in the First Decade of the 21st Century

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ivic, Ivan; Pešikan, Ana

    2012-01-01

    In the present paper, education reform in the Republic of Serbia since 2000 is presented. The focus is on two major reform waves: 2000-2003 and 2004-2005. We analyse why these broad educational interventions failed. After 2005, there was a lull in the reform process, a period with no major changes (2005-2010). A new phase of improving education…

  11. Promise Neighborhoods: The Promise and Politics of Community Capacity Building as Urban School Reform

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Horsford, Sonya Douglass; Sampson, Carrie

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of this inquiry is to consider how the U.S. Department of Education's Promise Neighborhoods (PNs) program can improve persistently low-achieving urban schools by making their "neighborhoods whole again" through community capacity building for education reform. As the "first federal initiative to put education at the…

  12. Public health challenges in the political economy of conflict: the case of Syria.

    PubMed

    Sen, Kasturi; Faisal, Waleed Al

    2015-01-01

    Recent uprisings in the Arab world and a full-scale war in Syria are widely viewed as popular demand for political voice against repressive regimes. However, growing economic inequalities and serious economic dysfunction played a role as trigger for conflict than is commonly accepted. Tunisia, Egypt and Syria all implemented policies of liberalization over the past two decades, leading to the worsening of living standards for the majority. The various forms of liberalization played a significant role in embedding social division and discontent whose outcomes affected other countries of the region with the onset of market reforms in nascent welfare states. Egypt, for example, was viewed by the World Bank as an economic 'best performer', despite regular riots over food prices, job losses and land expropriation for tourism. Tunisia was praised by donors just prior to the uprising (in 2010), for 'weathering well' the global economic downturn through 'sound macroeconomic management'. In Syria, the market economy made its mark over the 90s, but macroeconomic adjustment policies were implemented in a bilateral agreement with the European Union and approved by the International Monetary Fund in 2003. The economic stabilization programme that followed had limited concern for social impacts such as jobs losses, price rises and national debt, which ultimately caused immense hardship for the population at large, acting as a trigger for the initial uprising in 2011, prior to its transformation into a fully blown conflict. This article focuses on reforms implemented in the health sector and sets these in the context of the current political economy of Syria. It suggests that a protective approach to public health services during and in the aftermath of conflict may increase the possibilities of reconstruction and reconciliation between warring sides. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  13. Negotiating authority: a comparative study of reform in medical training regimes.

    PubMed

    Wallenburg, Iris; Helderman, Jan-Kees; de Bont, Antoinette; Scheele, Fedde; Meurs, Pauline

    2012-06-01

    Recently the medical profession has faced increased outside pressure to reform postgraduate medical training programs to better equip young doctors for changing health care needs and public expectations. In this article we explore the impact of reform on professional self-governance by conducting a comparative historical-institutional analysis of postgraduate medical training reform in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. In both countries the medical training regime has shifted from professional self-regulation to coregulation. Yet there are notable differences in each country that cannot be explained solely by diverging institutional contexts. They also result from the strategic actions by the actors involved. Based on an assessment of the recent literature on institutional transformation, this article shows how strategic actions set negotiating authority processes into motion, producing new and sometimes surprising institutional arrangements that can have profound effects on the distribution and allocation of authority in the medical training regime. It stresses the need to study the interactions among political context, the properties of institutions, and negotiating authority processes, as they are crucially important to understanding institutional transformation.

  14. How five leading safety-net hospitals are preparing for the challenges and opportunities of health care reform.

    PubMed

    Coughlin, Teresa A; Long, Sharon K; Sheen, Edward; Tolbert, Jennifer

    2012-08-01

    Safety-net hospitals will continue to play a critical role in the US health care system, as they will need to care for the more than twenty-three million people who are estimated to remain uninsured after the Affordable Care Act is implemented. Yet such hospitals will probably have less federal and state support for uncompensated care. At the same time, safety-net hospitals will need to reposition themselves in the marketplace to compete effectively for newly insured people who will have a choice of providers. We examine how five leading safety-net hospitals have begun preparing for reform. Building upon strong organizational attributes such as health information technology and system integration, the study hospitals' preparations include improving the efficiency and quality of care delivery, retaining current and attracting new patients, and expanding the medical home model.

  15. Science, politics and ethics in the low dose debate.

    PubMed

    Baverstock, Keith

    2005-01-01

    The roles of science, ethics and politics are identified in respect of the risks of exposure to low-dose radiation. Two case studies, the epidemiology of the United Kingdom nuclear test veterans and the risks to civilians associated with the military use of depleted uranium, are considered in the context of their ethical framing, scientific evaluation and political resolution. Two important issues for the present and future, the safe management of U.K. radioactive waste and the future of nuclear power, in which the science of low dose effects will be crucial and where the ethical issues are much more complex, are introduced. Specific consideration is given to the potential hereditary effects of ionising radiation in relation to the current state of radiobiological knowledge. It is concluded that for science to be useful in public health policy making there needs to be some reform from within the profession and the political imperative for freely independent scientific institutions.

  16. Educational Reformers or Keepers of the Status Quo: Governors Reubin Askew and Jimmy Carter

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Michael, Deanna L.

    2006-01-01

    Educational reform has been an important area for debate in the southern states since the end of the Second World War. From desegregation to equity in funding, southern governors have pushed their states in the direction of their parties, their promises and their personal political beliefs. Some of these changes have been progressive in that the…

  17. "Who's winning the human race?"Cold war as pharmaceutical political strategy.

    PubMed

    Tobbell, Dominique A

    2009-10-01

    Between 1959 and 1962, Senator Estes Kefauver led a congressional investigation into the pricing practices of U.S. drug firms. As part of its defense, the industry mobilized the rhetoric of cold war and promoted the industry as a critical national asset in the global war against communism. The industry argued that any effort to undermine corporate innovation by inviting, as Kefauver proposed, greater government involvement in drug development threatened the public's health and invited socialism-in the form of socialized medicine-into the domestic political economy. This strategy proved critical to the industry's efforts to build political support for itself, particularly among the medical profession, and undermine Kefauver's reform agenda.

  18. Planes, straws and oysters: the use of metaphors in healthcare reform.

    PubMed

    Millar, Ross; Dickinson, Helen

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of the paper is to examine the metaphors used by senior managers and clinicians in the delivery of healthcare reform. A study of healthcare reform in England carried out a series of semi structured interviews with senior managers and clinicians leading primary and secondary care organisations. Qualitative data analysis examines instances where metaphorical language is used to communicate how particular policy reforms are experienced and the implications these reforms have for organisational contexts. The findings show how metaphorical language is used to explain the interactions between policy reform and organisational contexts. Metaphors are used to illustrate both the challenges and opportunities associated with the reform proposals for organisational change. The authors provide the first systematic study of patterns and meanings of metaphors within English healthcare contexts and beyond. The authors argue that these metaphors provide important examples of "generative" dialogue in their illustration of the opportunities associated with reform. Conversely, these metaphors also provide examples of "degenerative" dialogue in their illustration of a demarcation between the reform policy proposals and existing organisational contexts.

  19. Changing Ideological-Political Orientations in Chinese Moral Education: Some Personal and Professional Reflections

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Maosen, Li

    2011-01-01

    Moral education in the People's Republic of China is dominated by ideological-political orientations. However, in the last 30 years China has experienced extensive economic reform, bringing about many social changes, such as decreasing reliance on the state-owned workplace, increasing private property ownership and enhancement of the rule of law.…

  20. The Politics of Reform of Teachers' Work and the Consequences for Schools: Some Implications for Teacher Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Smyth, John

    2006-01-01

    This paper argues that we are currently experiencing a debilitating overload of political interference and media hyperbole in respect of teaching and teacher education, and that much of this blitzkrieg amounts to a "political spectacle" and blatant neo-liberal ideology dressed up as rational analysis. The politics of disparagement being unleashed…

  1. University Administration on a Political Model.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Walker, Donald E.

    1979-01-01

    It is suggested that recognizing the university as a political community may lead to better management and organization. The patriarchal role, the president as hero, dispersed power, how the university really functions, and a political model are described. (MLW)

  2. The politics of learning to teach: The juxtaposition of reform, risk-taking, and survival for a prospective science teacher

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    McLoughlin, Andrea Sabatini

    1998-12-01

    It has proven difficult for teachers to enact and sustain the changes to thinking and pedagogy called for in science education reforms. It may be especially difficult for prospective teachers to create coherent professional identities as they learn to teach in the borderland between educational change and the existing context of education. Field experiences remain a pivotal point in teacher education, as prospective teachers mature from the perspective they have lived as students to the vantage point they are constructing as developing teachers. This qualitative, naturalistic case study examined a reform-oriented preservice science teacher's beliefs and actions during a year of field practica, including student teaching. Interviews, observations, and written documents were collected to examine the extent to which the prospective teacher's thoughts and actions continued to reflect reform ideals across that time. Inductive data analysis indicated that tacit beliefs held by the participant interacted with significant events of the field experiences to direct her learning to teach process in non-educative ways. Implications include: (a) deeper examination of the beliefs and experiences of prospective teachers would allow teacher educators the ability to understand and guide professional development in deeper and more productive ways, (b) the establishment of an atmosphere of experimentation/inquiry and a more cohesive, collaborative approach to teacher education are needed, especially during field experiences, if teacher education programs are to foster the productive and educative experiences supportive of reform ideals, (c) the preparation of prospective teachers who intend to implement reform ideals should include developing understandings of the dynamics of the change process, and (d) the exploration/confrontation of the power structures inherent in the existing educational system is essential if they are to be prevented from undermining reform efforts. As science

  3. School Leadership in the 21st Century: Leading in the Age of Reform

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Butler, Thomas A.

    2014-01-01

    In an effort to increase student readiness for college and career, many States have adopted new academic standards encouraged by education reform advocates. These standards are commonly referred to as the Common Core Standards. Schools from States that have adopted the Common Core Standards have been compelled to significantly restructure their…

  4. Changing Financial Provision Leads to a Radical Reform of the English Education System.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Davies, Brent; Ellison, Linda

    This paper discusses the recent implementation in England of school improvement reforms based on school choice and in particular on a system of school-based management whereby total financial control is vested in individual schools. The first section briefly describes the financial structure of the English educational system, followed by an…

  5. School Finance Reform and the Distribution of Student Achievement. NBER Working Paper No. 22011. Revised

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lafortune, Julien; Rothstein, Jesse; Schanzenbach, Diane Whitmore

    2016-01-01

    We study the impact of post-1990 school finance reforms, during the so-called "adequacy" era, on absolute and relative spending and achievement in low-income school districts. Using an event study research design that exploits the apparent randomness of reform timing, we show that reforms lead to sharp, immediate, and sustained increases…

  6. Social Networks as a Political Resource: Some Insights Drawn from the Community Organizational and Community Action Experiences.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rosenbaum, Allan

    The development and functioning of urban social networks in highly politicized environments--particularly, the neighborhood based community organization, political coalition building of urban mayors, and community action programs--suggest implications for building locally based educational reform capacity through network development. Community…

  7. Leading Standards-Based Education Reform: Improving Implementation of Standards to Increase Student Achievement

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vogel, Linda R.

    2010-01-01

    Standards-based education (SBE) has been the dominant educational reform movement since the early 1980s, reinforced by federal and state accountability systems. This book examines the efforts of educational leaders in implementing SBE to improve student achievement in a variety of demographic contexts but with common challenges. Four stages of SBE…

  8. Bridging the Gap: Prospects for Reform and Reconciliation in Post-Conflict Sri Lanka

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-12-01

    Province governor’s post , held by an ex -military officer, with a civilian administrator. The international community, along with the Tamil political...GAP: PROSPECTS FOR REFORM AND RECONCILIATION IN POST -CONFLICT SRI LANKA by Chaminda Arjuna Bandara Tennakoon December 2016 Thesis Advisor...RECONCILIATION IN POST -CONFLICT SRI LANKA 5. FUNDING NUMBERS 6. AUTHOR(S) Chaminda Arjuna Bandara Tennakoon 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS

  9. Medicaid and the politics of groups: recipients, providers, and policy making.

    PubMed

    Kronebusch, K

    1997-06-01

    There is a substantial heterogeneity of interests within the Medicaid program. Its major beneficiary groups include the elderly, people with disabilities, children in low-income families, and adults receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children. Providers who deliver medical services to these recipients represent another set of potential claimants. These groups are likely to be treated differently by the politics that affect the design and management of the Medicaid program. The Medicaid recipient groups vary in several important dimensions: First, the groups differ politically, a dimension that includes their political participation, their relationships to parties and electoral coalitions, the images they present to other political actors, and the legacy of public policies that affect them. Second, the groups have different medical and social needs. Third, the groups differ with respect to economic constraints, including the political economy of labor markets and of government spending programs, and they have differing relationships to the various types of medical providers. The medical providers are themselves political actors with a variety of characteristics that create political advantages relative to recipients, although there is also diversity among providers. The politics of the Medicaid program involves more than simply technical decisions about eligibility, coverage of medical services, reimbursement, and the implementation of managed care initiatives. Instead the differences between the program's multiple claimants are an important element of current Medicaid politics and the likely path of future reforms.

  10. Educational Reforms and Marketization in Norway--A Challenge to the Tradition of the Social Democratic, Inclusive School?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Helgøy, Ingrid; Homme, Anne

    2016-01-01

    A social democratic, egalitarian public sector and a corporatist political economy have been strong, distinctive and enduring characteristics of Norwegian education. However, this article demonstrates that the education sector has experienced a period of rapid and extensive implementation of New Public Management (NPM) reforms and post-NPM reforms…

  11. The politics of comparative effectiveness research: lessons from recent history.

    PubMed

    Sorenson, Corinna; Gusmano, Michael K; Oliver, Adam

    2014-02-01

    Efforts to support and use comparative effectiveness research (CER), some more successful than others, have been promulgated at various times over the last forty years. Following a resurgence of interest in CER, recent health care reforms provided substantial support to strengthen its role in US health care. While CER has generally captured bipartisan support, detractors have raised concerns that it will be used to ration services and heighten government control over health care. Such concerns almost derailed the initiative during passage of the health care reform legislation and are still present today. Given recent investments in CER and the debates surrounding its development, the time is ripe to reflect on past efforts to introduce CER in the United States. This article examines previous initiatives, highlighting their prescribed role in US health care, the reasons for their success or failure, and the political lessons learned. Current CER initiatives have corrected for many of the pitfalls experienced by previous efforts. However, past experiences point to a number of issues that must still be addressed to ensure the long-term success and sustainability of CER, including adopting realistic aims about its impact, demonstrating the impact of Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) and communicating the benefits of CER, and maintaining strong political and stakeholder support.

  12. Political ideologies and health-oriented beliefs and behaviors: an empirical examination of strategic issues.

    PubMed

    Murrow, J J; Coulter, R L; Coulter, M K

    2000-01-01

    The area of health care has been called the most important political issue of the 1990s. Attitudes toward health care reform, increasing health costs, and defensive medical practices have been examined in the public press and by academicians. In addition, a substantial amount of research has been directed toward the improvement of individual personal health due to changes in personal health-related habits and behaviors. To date, there are relatively few studies which have attempted to examine the political tendencies of a nationwide sample of respondents as they relate to personal health-related beliefs and behaviors. This article explores the consumer's views on critical questions relating to health orientations and political tendencies. The results indicate a divergence between the political orientations of respondents and their beliefs and behaviors associated with health and wellness. Implications for policy-makers are discussed.

  13. Stakeholders' expectations and perceived effects of the pharmacy ownership liberalization reform in Sweden: a qualitative interview study.

    PubMed

    Wisell, Kristin; Winblad, Ulrika; Sporrong, Sofia Kälvemark

    2016-08-12

    Reforms in the health-care sector, including the pharmacy sector, can have different rationales. The Swedish pharmacies were prior to 2009 organized in a state-owned monopoly. In 2009, a liberalization of the ownership took place, in which a majority of the pharmacies were sold to private owners. The rationales for this liberalization changed profoundly during the preparatory work, making it probable that other rationales than the ones first expressed existed. The aim of this study was to explore the underlying rationales (not stated in official documents) for the liberalization in the Swedish pharmacy sector, and also to compare the expectations with the perceived outcomes. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with representatives from key stakeholder organizations; i.e., political, patient, and professional organizations. The analysis was performed in steps, and themes were developed in an inductive manner. One expectation among the political organization participants was that the ownership liberalization would create opportunities for ideas. The competition introduced in the market was supposed to lead to a more diversified pharmacy sector. After the liberalization, the participants in favor of the liberalization were surprised that the pharmacies were so similar. Among the professional organization participants, one important rationale for the liberalization was to get better use of the pharmacists' knowledge. However, all the professional, and some of the patient organization participants, thought that the counseling in the pharmacies had deteriorated after the liberalization. As expected in the interviews, the post-liberalization pharmacy sector consists of more pharmacies. However, an unexpected perceived effect of the liberalization was, among participants from all the stakeholder groups, less access to prescription medicines in the pharmacies. This study showed that the political organization participants had an ideological basis for their opinion

  14. The Effects of Comprehensive School Reform Models in Reading for Urban Middle School Students with Disabilities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shippen, Margaret E.; Houchins, David E.; Calhoon, Mary Beth; Furlow, Carolyn F.; Sartor, Donya L.

    2006-01-01

    The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) has mandated sweeping accountability in public education. Low-performing urban schools find themselves in the crossfire of political and educational divergence. Comprehensive school reform (CSR) models predate NCLB, but the impact of their implementation has been even more pronounced since the passage of NCLB.…

  15. The Politics of Diversifying Basic Education Delivery: A Comparative Analysis from East Africa

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hoppers, Wim

    2011-01-01

    This article addresses the politics and policy-making of alternative forms of basic education in the context of EFA, with an emphasis on non-formal education (NFE) for school-age children. It explores how policy-makers interpret the relevance of such alternatives, the steps that are taken to implement the reforms and factors that play a role in…

  16. Behavioralism, Postbehavioralism, and the Reemergence of Political Philosophy.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Engeman, Thomas S.

    1995-01-01

    Argues that the long reign of the behavioralists and the postbehavioralists has reduced political science theory to a Tower of Babel. Loudly trumpets the revival of Aristotelian political philosophy and identifies some of its leading adherents. Posits three fundamental objections to behavioral political theory. (MJP)

  17. Benchmarks of fairness for health care reform: a policy tool for developing countries.

    PubMed Central

    Daniels, N.; Bryant, J.; Castano, R. A.; Dantes, O. G.; Khan, K. S.; Pannarunothai, S.

    2000-01-01

    Teams of collaborators from Colombia, Mexico, Pakistan, and Thailand have adapted a policy tool originally developed for evaluating health insurance reforms in the United States into "benchmarks of fairness" for assessing health system reform in developing countries. We describe briefly the history of the benchmark approach, the tool itself, and the uses to which it may be put. Fairness is a wide term that includes exposure to risk factors, access to all forms of care, and to financing. It also includes efficiency of management and resource allocation, accountability, and patient and provider autonomy. The benchmarks standardize the criteria for fairness. Reforms are then evaluated by scoring according to the degree to which they improve the situation, i.e. on a scale of -5 to 5, with zero representing the status quo. The object is to promote discussion about fairness across the disciplinary divisions that keep policy analysts and the public from understanding how trade-offs between different effects of reforms can affect the overall fairness of the reform. The benchmarks can be used at both national and provincial or district levels, and we describe plans for such uses in the collaborating sites. A striking feature of the adaptation process is that there was wide agreement on this ethical framework among the collaborating sites despite their large historical, political and cultural differences. PMID:10916911

  18. The monopolistic integrated model and health care reform: the Swedish experience.

    PubMed

    Anell, A

    1996-07-01

    This article reviews recent reforms geared to creating internal markets in the Swedish health-care sector. The main purpose is to describe driving forces behind reforms, and to analyse the limitations of reforms oriented towards internal markets within a monopolistic integrated health-care model. The principal part of the article is devoted to a discussion of incentives within Swedish county councils, and of how these incentives have influenced reforms in the direction of more choices for consumers and a separation between purchasers and providers. It is argued that the current incentives, in combination with criticism against county council activities in the early 1990's, account for the present inconsistencies as regards reforms. Furthermore, the article maintains that a weak form of separation between purchasers and providers will lead to distorted incentives, restricting innovative behaviour and structural change. In conclusion, the process of reforming the Swedish monopolistic integrated health-care model in the direction of some form of internal market is said to rest on shaky ground.

  19. Veto player theory and reform making in Western Europe.

    PubMed

    Angelova, Mariyana; Bäck, Hanna; Müller, Wolfgang C; Strobl, Daniel

    2018-05-01

    Veto player theory generates predictions about governments' capacity for policy change. Due to the difficulty of identifying significant laws needed to change the policy status quo, evidence about governments' ability to change policy has been mostly provided for a limited number of reforms and single-country studies. To evaluate the predictive power of veto player theory for policy making across time, policy areas and countries, a dataset was gathered that incorporates about 5,600 important government reform measures in the areas of social, labour, economic and taxation policy undertaken in 13 Western European countries from the mid-1980s until the mid-2000s. Veto player theory is applied in a combined model with other central theoretical expectations on policy change derived from political economy (crisis-driven policy change) and partisan theory (ideology-driven policy change). Robust support is found that governments introduce more reform measures when economic conditions are poor and when the government is positioned further away from the policy status quo. No empirical support is found for predictions of veto player theory in its pure form, where no differentiation between government types is made. However, the findings provide support for the veto player theory in the special case of minimal winning cabinets, where the support of all government parties is sufficient (in contrast to minority cabinets) and necessary (in contrast to oversized cabinets) for policy change. In particular, it is found that in minimal winning cabinets the ideological distance between the extreme government parties significantly decreases the government's ability to introduce reforms. These findings improve our understanding of reform making in parliamentary democracies and highlight important issues and open questions for future applications and tests of the veto player theory.

  20. Veto player theory and reform making in Western Europe

    PubMed Central

    ANGELOVA, MARIYANA; BÄCK, HANNA; MÜLLER, WOLFGANG C.

    2017-01-01

    Abstract Veto player theory generates predictions about governments’ capacity for policy change. Due to the difficulty of identifying significant laws needed to change the policy status quo, evidence about governments’ ability to change policy has been mostly provided for a limited number of reforms and single‐country studies. To evaluate the predictive power of veto player theory for policy making across time, policy areas and countries, a dataset was gathered that incorporates about 5,600 important government reform measures in the areas of social, labour, economic and taxation policy undertaken in 13 Western European countries from the mid‐1980s until the mid‐2000s. Veto player theory is applied in a combined model with other central theoretical expectations on policy change derived from political economy (crisis‐driven policy change) and partisan theory (ideology‐driven policy change). Robust support is found that governments introduce more reform measures when economic conditions are poor and when the government is positioned further away from the policy status quo. No empirical support is found for predictions of veto player theory in its pure form, where no differentiation between government types is made. However, the findings provide support for the veto player theory in the special case of minimal winning cabinets, where the support of all government parties is sufficient (in contrast to minority cabinets) and necessary (in contrast to oversized cabinets) for policy change. In particular, it is found that in minimal winning cabinets the ideological distance between the extreme government parties significantly decreases the government's ability to introduce reforms. These findings improve our understanding of reform making in parliamentary democracies and highlight important issues and open questions for future applications and tests of the veto player theory. PMID:29695891

  1. On the road to reform: a sociocultural interpretation of reform

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mensah, Felicia Moore

    2011-09-01

    In this paper I discuss how reform in science education is interpreted by Barma as she recounts the story of Catherine, a grade 9 biology teacher, who reforms her teaching practices in response to a national curriculum reform in Quebec, Canada. Unlike some cases in response to reform, this case is hopeful and positive. Also in this paper, I address some familiar areas that must be considered when teachers undertake curriculum reform and how science educators may fulfill the role of facilitator and advocate in the support of teachers on the road to reform. The commentary focuses on how Barma retells the story through the lens of activity theory.

  2. Playing with Fire, or the Stuffing of Dead Animals: Freire, Dewey, and the Dilemma of Social Studies Reform

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fleury, Stephen

    2011-01-01

    In his proposal for a social studies both more critical and more participatory, Neumann's (2008) politically adaptive strategy of invoking standards for critical thinking poses troubling concerns for democratic-minded educators familiar with the trajectory of reforms. Neumann's outright dismissal of critical pedagogy ironically underscores how the…

  3. Substance Use Treatment Provider Behavior and Healthcare Reform: Evidence from Massachusetts.

    PubMed

    Maclean, Johanna Catherine; Saloner, Brendan

    2018-01-01

    We examine the impact of the 2006 Massachusetts healthcare reform on substance use disorder (SUD) treatment facilities' provision of care. We test the impact of the reform on treatment quantity and access. We couple data on the near universe of specialty SUD treatment providers in the USA with a synthetic control method approach. We find little evidence that the reform lead to changes in treatment quantity or access. Reform effects were similar among for-profit and non-profit facilities. In an extension, we show that the reform altered the setting in which treatment is received, the number of offered services, and the number of programs for special populations. These findings may be useful in predicting the implications of major health insurance expansions on the provision of SUD treatment. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  4. [The absence of stewardship in the Chilean health authority after the 2004 health reform].

    PubMed

    Herrera, Tania; Sánchez, Sergio

    2014-11-26

    Stewardship is the most important political function of a health system. It is a government responsibility carried out by the health authority. Among other dimensions, it is also a meta-function that includes conduction and regulation. The Health Authority and Management Act, which came about from the health reform of 2004, separated the functions of service provision and stewardship with the aim of strengthening the role of the health authority. However, the current structure of the health system contains overlapping functions between the different entities that leads to lack of coordination and inconsistencies, and a greater weight on individual health actions at the expense of collective ones. Consequently, a properly funded national health strategy to improve the health of the population is missing. Additionally, the components of citizen participation and governance are weak. It is necessary, therefore, to revisit the Chilean health structure in order to develop one that truly enables the exercise of the health authority’s stewardship role.

  5. Russia and China: The Impact of Reform and the Prospect of Democracy

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2002-03-01

    contends that in China, reforms have given rise to an evolution of society in the direction of pluralism and diversity thereby providing a context that...rise to new social/economic groups with diverse social interests. The evolutionary nature of China’s transition is creating the political and...workings of the polity and into the habits and values of the masses. The embeddedness of law-based behavior and the depth to which its roots are

  6. Effective Strategies for Achieving Scope of Practice Reform in Pennsylvania.

    PubMed

    Carthon, J Margo Brooks; Wiltse Nicely, Kelly; Altares Sarik, Danielle; Fairman, Julie

    2016-05-01

    Current regulatory impediments prohibit advanced practice registered nurses from practicing to their full capacity. To examine the process of successful removal of scope of practice barriers in Pennsylvania under the Rx4PA legislation introduced in 2007. We used qualitative research techniques, including purposeful sampling of participants. Twelve stakeholder informed interviews were conducted between October 2013 and May 2014. Participants were closely involved with the development of the Rx4PA legislation. Thematic content analysis was performed to analyze our interviews. Interviews identified overarching themes, including the importance of leveraging years of grass roots advocacy, identifying political allies, and recognizing mutually beneficial compromises. The combination of timing, careful political maneuvering, and compromise were key to scope of practice reform in Pennsylvania and may be useful strategies for other states seeking similar practice changes. © The Author(s) 2016.

  7. Effective Strategies for Achieving Scope of Practice Reform in Pennsylvania

    PubMed Central

    Carthon, J. Margo Brooks; Nicely, Kelly Wiltse; Sarik, Danielle Altares; Fairman, Julie

    2017-01-01

    Background Current regulatory impediments prohibit advanced practice registered nurses from practicing to their full capacity. Purpose To examine the process of successful removal of scope of practice barriers in Pennsylvania under the Rx4PA legislation introduced in 2007. Method We used qualitative research techniques, including purposeful sampling of participants. Twelve stakeholder informed interviews were conducted between October 2013 and May 2014. Participants were closely involved with the development of the Rx4PA legislation. Thematic content analysis was performed to analyze our interviews. Discussion Interviews identified overarching themes, including the importance of leveraging years of grass roots advocacy, identifying political allies, and recognizing mutually beneficial compromises. Conclusions The combination of timing, careful political maneuvering, and compromise were key to scope of practice reform in Pennsylvania and may be useful strategies for other states seeking similar practice changes. PMID:27502393

  8. Contested Practice: Political Activism in Nursing and Implications for Nursing Education.

    PubMed

    Buck-McFadyen, Ellen; MacDonnell, Judith

    2017-07-27

    Canadian nurses have a social mandate to address health inequities for the populations they serve, as well as to speak out on professional and broader social issues. Although Canadian nursing education supports the role of nurses as advocates for social justice and leadership for health care reform, little is known about how nurse educators understand activism and how this translates in the classroom. A comparative life history study using purposeful sampling and a critical feminist lens was undertaken to explore political activism in nursing and how nurse educators foster political practice among their students. Findings from interviews and focus groups with 26 Ontario nurse educators and nursing students suggested that neoliberal dynamics in both the practice setting and in higher education have constrained nurses' activist practice and favour a technical rational approach to nursing education. Implications and strategies to inspire political action in nursing education are discussed.

  9. [Desperately seeking decentralisation: Mexican health policies in two periods of reform: the 1920s-30s and the 1980s].

    PubMed

    Birn, Anne-Emannuelle

    2005-01-01

    This article compares public health policy reforms in Mexico during the 1920s and 1930s with subsequent reforms initiated in the 1980s. The attempts at decentralization in the 1920s-30s were supported by the Rockefeller Foundation, which was interested in the formation of local cooperative health units. In the 1980s, the aim of the Mexican government and international financial agencies, such as the Inter-American Development Bank, was to reduce public spending (as part of "structural adjustment" policies). One of the hypotheses of this article is that, in the end, the public health reforms were unable to overcome the limitations imposed by Mexico's political centralization and longstanding inequities in public spending. At the same time, one of the unforeseen achievements of these reforms was an increase in local capabilities to demand a better distribution of social services.

  10. Food crises, food regimes and food movements: rumblings of reform or tides of transformation?

    PubMed

    Holt Giménez, Eric; Shattuck, Annie

    2011-01-01

    This article addresses the potential for food movements to bring about substantive changes to the current global food system. After describing the current corporate food regime, we apply Karl Polanyi's 'double-movement' thesis on capitalism to explain the regime's trends of neoliberalism and reform. Using the global food crisis as a point of departure, we introduce a comparative analytical framework for different political and social trends within the corporate food regime and global food movements, characterizing them as 'Neoliberal', 'Reformist', 'Progressive', and 'Radical', respectively, and describe each trend based on its discourse, model, and key actors, approach to the food crisis, and key documents. After a discussion of class, political permeability, and tensions within the food movements, we suggest that the current food crisis offers opportunities for strategic alliances between Progressive and Radical trends within the food movement. We conclude that while the food crisis has brought a retrenchment of neoliberalization and weak calls for reform, the worldwide growth of food movements directly and indirectly challenge the legitimacy and hegemony of the corporate food regime. Regime change will require sustained pressure from a strong global food movement, built on durable alliances between Progressive and Radical trends.

  11. Health care system change and the cross-border transfer of ideas: influence of the Dutch model on the 2007 German health reform.

    PubMed

    Leiber, Simone; Gress, Stefan; Manouguian, Maral-Sonja

    2010-08-01

    To increase understanding of the cross-border transfer of ideas through a case study of the 2007 German health reform, this article draws on Kingdon's approach of streams and follows two main objectives: first, to understand the extent to which the German health reform was actually influenced by the Dutch model and, second, in theoretical terms, to inform inductively on how ideas from abroad enter government agendas. The results show that the streams of problem recognition and policy proposals have not been predominantly influenced by the cross-border transfer of ideas from the Netherlands to Germany. The Dutch experience was taken into consideration only after a policy window opened by a shift in politics in the third, the political, stream: the change of government in 2005. In many respects, the way Germany learned from the Netherlands in this case sharply contrasts with an image of solving policy problems by either lesson drawing or transnational deliberation. Instead, the process was dominated by problem solving in the sphere of politics, that is, finding a way to prove the grand coalition was capable of acting.

  12. Mental health reform in Georgia, 1992 to 1996.

    PubMed

    Elliott, R L

    1996-11-01

    In 1992 Georgia embarked on an ambitious reform of its public mental health system. Regional mental health authorities were created with consumers and family members as decision makers. Reform legislation required that hospital and community funds be combined to provide for flexible shifting of funds to communities as use of state hospitals decreased. However, after four years and at a cost of almost $15 million, few tangible results can be demonstrated. In fact, hospital admissions have increased since 1991. Further, a proposal for a Medicaid section 1115 waiver that would permit managed care organizations to assume responsibility for key decisions threatens to undermine the decision-making authority of regional mental health authorities. This paper summarizes the background leading to Georgia's reform, reviews its accomplishments, and suggests lessons to be gained from Georgia's experiences.

  13. School as Community, Community as School: Examining Principal Leadership for Urban School Reform and Community Development

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Green, Terrance L.

    2018-01-01

    For decades, reform has been a persistent issue in urban schools. Research suggests that urban school reforms that are connected to equitable community development efforts are more sustainable, and that principals play a pivot role in leading such efforts. Yet, limited research has explored how urban school principals connect school reform with…

  14. Public Understanding to Political Voice: Action Research and Generative Curricular Practices in Issues and Reform

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Agnello, Mary Frances

    2007-01-01

    The author and preservice teachers in a postbaccalaureate Issues and Reform in Secondary Education course engaged Ernest Stringer's (2004) model of action research to develop generative curricula. They adhered to Walter C. Parker's (1991, 2006) vision of public formation and essential social studies teaching and used student-centered teaching…

  15. Perspectives on Comparative Higher Education: Essays on Faculty, Students and Reform. Special Studies in Comparative Education No. 22.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Altbach, Philip G.

    Three essays by the Director of the Comparative Education Center at the State University of New York (Buffalo) have the following titles: "Comparative Perspectives on the Academic Profession,""Student Political Activism," and "University Reform". The first essay discusses the role of the academic profession in the university, stressing the…

  16. Reforming Science: Structural Reforms

    PubMed Central

    2012-01-01

    Science has a critical role to play in addressing humanity's most important challenges in the twenty-first century. However, the contemporary scientific enterprise has developed in ways that prevent it from reaching maximum effectiveness and detract from the appeal of a research career. To be effective, the methodological and culture reforms discussed in the accompanying essay must be accompanied by fundamental structural reforms that include a renewed vigorous societal investment in science and scientists. PMID:22184420

  17. The long shadow of the past: risk pooling and the political development of health care reform in the States.

    PubMed

    Chen, Anthony S; Weir, Margaret

    2009-10-01

    Why do the states seem to be pursuing different types of policy innovation in their health reform? Why so some seem to follow a "solidarity principle," while others seem guided by a commitment to "actuarial fairness"? Our analysis highlights the reciprocal influence of stakeholder mobilization and public policy over time. We find that early policy choices about how to achieve cost containment led the states down different paths of reform. In the 1970s and 1980s, states that featured oligopolistic or near-monopolistic markets for private insurance (usually dominated by Blue Cross) and strong urban-academic hospitals tended to adopt regulatory strategies for cost containment that led to broader forms of pooling and financing the costs of health risks--which subsequently positioned them to pursue major, solidaristic reform on favorable terms. On the other hand, states with competitive markets for private insurance and weak, decentralized hospitals tended to adopt market-based strategies for cost containment that led to the hypersegmentation of risk and the uneven financing of costs--thereby encouraging the proliferation of incremental policies that reinforce the principle of actuarial fairness. We illustrate our analysis with a brief comparison of Massachusetts and California, and we conclude with some thoughts on what our findings imply for the federal role in catalyzing health reform.

  18. The politics of reproductive hazards in the workplace: class, gender, and the history of occupational lead exposure.

    PubMed

    Morello-Frosch, R A

    1997-01-01

    Over the past two decades, several U.S. companies have sought to bar women from jobs that expose them to potential reproductive hazards, justifying these exclusionary policies by their professed concerns for the well-being of unborn children and potential liability. Although recent court cases have stimulated academic interest in this issue, a historical review of the public health and medical literature reveals that this debate is not new. To understand the logic behind the emergence of "fetal protection" policies, one must examine the scientific history of occupational teratogens and the socio-political and economic forces that have driven scientific research in this field. Using lead as an example, the author argues that research on the reproductive hazards of employment has historically emphasized the risks to women and downplayed the risks to men. This results in environmental health policies that do not uphold the ultimate goal of occupational safety for all workers, but rather reinforce the systemic segregation of men and women in the workplace. Although the political struggle over exclusionary policies has a feminist orientation, it also has important class dimensions and ultimately must be viewed within the broader context of American capitalist production.

  19. The Antebellum American Textbook Authors' Populist History of Roman Land Reform and the Gracchi Brothers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McInnis, Edward

    2015-01-01

    This essay explores social and political values conveyed by nineteenth century world and universal history textbooks in relation to the antebellum era. These textbooks focused on the histories of ancient Greece and Rome rather than on histories of the United States. I argue that after 1830 these textbooks reinforced both the US land reform and the…

  20. The Impact of State Tort Reforms on Imaging Utilization.

    PubMed

    Li, Suhui; Dor, Avi; Deyo, Darwyyn; Hughes, Danny R

    2017-02-01

    Defensive medicine, broadly defined as medical practices that protect physicians from malpractice lawsuits without providing benefits to patients, can lead to wasteful use of health care resources and higher cost. Although physicians cite malpractice liability as an important factor driving their decisions to order imaging tests, little research has been done to examine the systematic impact of liability pressure on overall imaging. The authors examined the extent to which radiography use is influenced by malpractice liability pressure among office-based physicians. Using National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey data from 1999 to 2010, the authors used multivariate difference-in-difference logistic regression to examine the effects of different types of state tort reforms on the probability of radiography orders by primary care physicians (PCPs) and specialists. The probability that a PCP ordered radiography decreased when states enacted permanent caps on noneconomic damages (-1.0%, P < .01), periodic payment reforms (-1.6%, P < .05), and the total number of tort reforms (-0.5%, P < .05). Specialist physicians were responsive to two reforms: caps on punitive damages (-6.1%, P < .01) and the total number of medical tort laws (-1.2%, P < .01). The passage of new indirect reforms was found to reduce radiography orders for PCPs (-1.8%, P < .05), and the repeal of indirect reforms was found to increase radiography orders for specialists (+3.4%, P < .01). State tort reform seems to reduce physicians' ordering of radiography. This analysis also suggests that reforms that make it harder to sue physicians have a stronger impact than reforms that directly reduce physicians' malpractice claim payments. Copyright © 2016 American College of Radiology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. The political effects of ideas and markets on China's economic reforms: The case of electrical power

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dodge, Laura Washington

    This study examines factors influencing contemporary economic policy-making and reform in China's electric power industry. Results of the study suggest that there is an ongoing paradigm change in China's policy-making. However, institutional resistance to changes in the policy process is strong. Policy outcomes in the case of electric power reforms reflect the interaction of both dynamics. In the early 1990s, the central government in Beijing began to consider restructuring the electric power industry to introduce competition and establish markets for electricity supply. Until then, economic policies had resulted from a process of deliberation within the upper echelons of the Communist Party. Although the Party considered the interests of dominant economic actors, particularly the large State-owned sector, its channels for participation in the policy process were closed to most economic actors. Central bureaucratic and provincial interests largely governed policy processes, leading observers to describe the Chinese State as bureaucratic authoritarian. Bureaucracy's heavy role in the economy led to what some called a corporatist State, whereby organs of government infiltrated most aspects of the economy. This institutional arrangement perpetuated bureaucracy's influence in policy-making. This study hypothesizes that transformation in domestic financial markets poses a threat to the entrenched institutions of the electric power industry. The integration of China's economy with foreign firms and markets enabled actors outside of the dominant State-owned economy to improve their positions vis-a-vis the state-owned sector, and eventually to play a role in the policy process. At the same time, Beijing's adaptation of foreign-designed restructuring policies threatened the deep-rooted institutions. The study analyzes the behavior, statements and channels utilized by those actors affected by power sector policies. Based on interviews conducted between 2000 through 2002

  2. Lead poisoning in China: a health and human rights crisis.

    PubMed

    Cohen, Jane E; Amon, Joseph J

    2012-12-15

    Acute and chronic lead poisoning is occurring throughout China and is a major cause of childhood morbidity. The Chinese government's emphasis on industrial development and poverty reduction has, over the past three decades, decreased by 500 million the number of people surviving on less than one dollar per day, but has caused significant environmental degradation that threatens public health. Drawing upon in-depth interviews conducted in 2009 and 2010 with families affected by lead poisoning, environmental activists, journalists, government and civil society organization officials in Shaanxi, Henan, Hunan, and Yunnan provinces, as well as a review of scientific and Chinese media, and health and environmental legal and policy analysis, we examine the intersection of civil, political, economic, and social rights related to access to information, screening, treatment, and remediation related to lead poisoning. In-depth interviews in each province uncovered: censorship and intimidation of journalists, environmental activists, and parents seeking information about sources and prevention of lead poisoning; denial of screening for lead poisoning, often based upon arbitrary eligibility criteria; and inadequate and inappropriate treatment being promoted and provided by health facilities. Over the past decade, the Chinese government has prioritized health care and invested billions of dollars towards universal health coverage, and strengthened environmental to address industrial pollution and guarantee access to information on the environment. Yet, despite these reforms, information remains constrained and citizens seeking information and redress are sometimes arrested, in violation of Chinese and international law. Local government officials and national environmental policies continue to prioritize economic development over environmental protection. To effectively address lead poisoning requires an emphasis on prevention, and to combat industrial pollution requires

  3. Enhancing Political Will for Universal Health Coverage in Nigeria.

    PubMed

    Aregbeshola, Bolaji S

    2017-01-01

    Universal health coverage aims to increase equity in access to quality health care services and to reduce financial risk due to health care costs. It is a key component of international health agenda and has been a subject of worldwide debate. Despite differing views on its scope and pathways to reach it, there is a global consensus that all countries should work toward universal health coverage. The goal remains distant for many African countries, including Nigeria. This is mostly due to lack of political will and commitment among political actors and policymakers. Evidence from countries such as Ghana, Chile, Mexico, China, Thailand, Turkey, Rwanda, Vietnam and Indonesia, which have introduced at least some form of universal health coverage scheme, shows that political will and commitment are key to the adoption of new laws and regulations for reforming coverage. For Nigeria to improve people's health, reduce poverty and achieve prosperity, universal health coverage must be vigorously pursued at all levels. Political will and commitment to these goals must be expressed in legal mandates and be translated into policies that ensure increased public health care financing for the benefit of all Nigerians. Nigeria, as part of a global system, cannot afford to lag behind in striving for this overarching health goal.

  4. Finding Meaningful Roles for Scientists in science Education Reform

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Evans, Brenda

    Successful efforts to achieve reform in science education require the active and purposeful engagement of professional scientists. Working as partners with teachers, school administrators, science educators, parents, and other stakeholders, scientists can make important contributions to the improvement of science teaching and learning in pre-college classrooms. The world of a practicing university, corporate, or government scientist may seem far removed from that of students in an elementary classroom. However, the science knowledge and understanding of all future scientists and scientifically literate citizens begin with their introduction to scientific concepts and phenomena in childhood and the early grades. Science education is the responsibility of the entire scientific community and is not solely the responsibility of teachers and other professional educators. Scientists can serve many roles in science education reform including the following: (1) Science Content Resource, (2) Career Role Model, (3) Interpreter of Science (4) Validator for the Importance of Learning Science and Mathematics, (5) Champion of Real World Connections and Value of Science, (6) Experience and Access to Funding Sources, (7) Link for Community and Business Support, (8) Political Supporter. Special programs have been developed to assist scientists and engineers to be effective partners and advocates of science education reform. We will discuss the rationale, organization, and results of some of these partnership development programs.

  5. The Political Socialization of Adolescent Children of Immigrants.

    PubMed

    Humphries, Melissa; Muller, Chandra; Schiller, Kathryn S

    2013-12-01

    This study aims to evaluate the adolescent political socialization processes that predict political participation in young adulthood, and whether these processes are different for children of immigrants compared to white 3 rd -plus generation adolescents. We focus on socialization agents based in the family, community and school. We use a nationally representative longitudinal survey of adolescents to evaluate the predictors of three measures of political participation: Voter registration, voting, and political party identification, and whether the process leading to political participation varies by immigrant status and race/ethnic group. We find that the parental education level of adolescents is not as predictive for many minority children of immigrants compared to white children of native-born parents for registration. Additionally, the academic rigor of the courses taken in high school has a greater positive estimated effect on the likelihood of registration and party identification for Latino children of immigrants compared to white 3 rd -plus generation young adults. The process of general integration into U.S. society for adolescent children of immigrants may lead to differing pathways to political participation in young adulthood, with certain aspects of their schooling experience having particular importance in developing political participation behaviors.

  6. Petition of Amelia Bloomer Regarding Suffrage in the West. The Constitution Community: Expansion and Reform (1801-1861).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Simmons, Linda

    In the mid-19th century people believed religious, moral, social, or political perfection was obtainable, not unlike Mrs. Amelia Bloomer. Bloomer's battles reflected and influenced gender roles in the 19th century as the United States debated social reforms and constitutional rights, such as the right to petition and the right to vote, among…

  7. Non-catalytic recuperative reformer

    DOEpatents

    Khinkis, Mark J.; Kozlov, Aleksandr P.; Kurek, Harry

    2015-12-22

    A non-catalytic recuperative reformer has a flue gas flow path for conducting hot flue gas from a thermal process and a reforming mixture flow path for conducting a reforming mixture. At least a portion of the reforming mixture flow path is embedded in the flue gas flow path to permit heat transfer from the hot flue gas to the reforming mixture. The reforming mixture flow path contains substantially no material commonly used as a catalyst for reforming hydrocarbon fuel (e.g., nickel oxide, platinum group elements or rhenium), but instead the reforming mixture is reformed into a higher calorific fuel via reactions due to the heat transfer and residence time. In a preferred embodiment, extended surfaces of metal material such as stainless steel or metal alloy that are high in nickel content are included within at least a portion of the reforming mixture flow path.

  8. Fitting the Pieces: Education Reform That Works. Studies of Education Reform.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Klein, Steven; And Others

    Nearly all school reforms, regardless of their scope or intended target, share a number of characteristics. This report reviews the essential elements of planning, implementing, and sustaining school reform and presents eight key lessons to guide prospective reformers. The lessons are drawn from 12 major studies of education reform funded by the…

  9. Does Hospital Competition Save Lives? Evidence from the English NHS Patient Choice Reforms*

    PubMed Central

    Cooper, Zack; Gibbons, Stephen; Jones, Simon; McGuire, Alistair

    2011-01-01

    Recent substantive reforms to the English National Health Service expanded patient choice and encouraged hospitals to compete within a market with fixed prices. This study investigates whether these reforms led to improvements in hospital quality. We use a difference-in-difference-style estimator to test whether hospital quality (measured using mortality from acute myocardial infarction) improved more quickly in more competitive markets after these reforms came into force in 2006. We find that after the reforms were implemented, mortality fell (i.e. quality improved) for patients living in more competitive markets. Our results suggest that hospital competition can lead to improvements in hospital quality. PMID:25821239

  10. School Reforms in Ontario: The "Marketization of Education" and the Resulting Silence on Equity.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dei, George J. Sefa; Karumanchery, Leeno L.

    1999-01-01

    Critically examines recent market-oriented educational reforms in Ontario and their impact on socially disadvantaged groups. Argues that current trends lead toward a "marketization" of education in Ontario, as the rhetoric of cost-effectiveness and bureaucratic efficiency shifts the official agenda of educational reform away from equity…

  11. The political economy of maize production and poverty reduction in Zambia: analysis of the last 50 years.

    PubMed

    Hanjra, Munir A; Culas, Richard J

    2011-01-01

    Poverty and food security are endemic issues in much of sub-Saharan Africa. To eradicate extreme poverty and hunger in the region remains a key Millennium Development Goal. Many African governments have pursued economic reforms and agricultural policy interventions in order to accelerate economic growth that reduces poverty faster. Agricultural policy regimes in Zambia in the last 50 years (1964–2008) are examined here to better understand their likely impact on food security and poverty, with an emphasis on the political economy of maize subsidy policies. The empirical work draws on secondary sources and an evaluation of farm household data from three villages in the Kasama District of Zambia from 1986/87 and 1992/93 to estimate a two-period econometric model to examine the impact on household welfare in a pre- and post-reform period. The analysis shows that past interventions had mixed effects on enhancing the production of food crops such as maize. While such reforms were politically popular, it did not necessarily translate into household-level productivity or welfare gains in the short term. The political economy of reforms needs to respond to the inherent diversity among the poor rural and urban households. The potential of agriculture to generate a more pro-poor growth process depends on the creation of new market opportunities that most benefit the rural poor. The state should encourage private sector investments for addressing infrastructure constraints to improve market access and accelerate more pro-poor growth through renewed investments in agriculture, rural infrastructure, gender inclusion, smarter subsidies and regional food trade. However, the financing of such investments poses significant challenges. There is a need to address impediments to the effective participation of public private investors to generate more effective poverty reduction and hunger eradication programmes. This article also explores the opportunities for new public

  12. Transcendentalism and the Promise of Educational Reform.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pemberton, Janette E.

    The philosophy of Transcendentalism developed in the early nineteenth century among such thinkers as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman, Theodore Parker, George Ripley, Bronson Alcott, and Caleb Sprague Henry. Transcendentalism emphasized the need for social reform that would lead the individual to self-reliance, and education…

  13. Political polarization projection: social projection of partisan attitude extremity and attitudinal processes.

    PubMed

    Van Boven, Leaf; Judd, Charles M; Sherman, David K

    2012-07-01

    What influences perceptions of political polarization? The authors examine the polarization of people's own political attitudes as a source of perceived polarization: Individuals with more extreme partisan attitudes perceive greater polarization than individuals with less extreme partisan attitudes. This "polarization projection" was demonstrated in 3 studies in which people estimated the distribution of others' political attitudes: one study with a nationally representative sample concerning the 2008 presidential election, and 2 studies concerning university students evaluating a policy regarding scarce resource allocation. These studies demonstrate that polarization projection occurs simultaneously with and independently of simple projection, the tendency to assume that others share one's partisan political attitudes. Polarization projection may occur partly because people assume that others engage in similar attitudinal processes as the self, such as extensive thought and emotional arousal. The projection of various attitudinal processes was demonstrated in a study concerning health care reform policies. Further supporting this explanation, polarization projection increased when people introspected about their own attitudinal processes, which increased the accessibility of those processes. Implications for perceptions of partisanship, social judgment, and civic behavior are discussed.

  14. Kindergarten Teacher Buy-In for Standards-Based Reforms: A Dynamic Interplay between Professional Identity and Perceptions of Control

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Briggs, Jennifer O.; Russell, Jennifer Lin; Wanless, Shannon B.

    2018-01-01

    Political and societal pressures are influencing kindergarten teachers and their classroom practices on a national level. Teachers' receptivity to reforms depends to a large degree on their buy-in to the change effort. Drawing on analyses of interviews with kindergarten teachers across school and districts, this study examined teacher buy-in to an…

  15. Experiences and Lessons from Urban Health Insurance Reform in China.

    PubMed

    Xin, Haichang

    2016-08-01

    Health care systems often face competing goals and priorities, which make reforms challenging. This study analyzed factors influencing the success of a health care system based on urban health insurance reform evolution in China, and offers recommendations for improvement. Findings based on health insurance reform strategies and mechanisms that did or did not work can effectively inform improvement of health insurance system design and practice, and overall health care system performance, including equity, efficiency, effectiveness, cost, finance, access, and coverage, both in China and other countries. This study is the first to use historical comparison to examine the success and failure of China's health care system over time before and after the economic reform in the 1980s. This study is also among the first to analyze the determinants of Chinese health system effectiveness by relating its performance to both technical reasons within the health system and underlying nontechnical characteristics outside the health system, including socioeconomics, politics, culture, values, and beliefs. In conclusion, a health insurance system is successful when it fits its social environment, economic framework, and cultural context, which translates to congruent health care policies, strategies, organization, and delivery. No health system can survive without its deeply rooted socioeconomic environment and cultural context. That is why one society should be cautious not to radically switch from a successful model to an entirely different one over time. There is no perfect health system model suitable for every population-only appropriate ones for specific nations and specific populations at the right place and right time. (Population Health Management 2016;19:291-297).

  16. A New Stress-Based Model of Political Extremism: Personal Exposure to Terrorism, Psychological Distress, and Exclusionist Political Attitudes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Canetti-Nisim, Daphna; Halperin, Eran; Sharvit, Keren; Hobfoll, Stevan E.

    2009-01-01

    Does exposure to terrorism lead to hostility toward minorities? Drawing on theories from clinical and social psychology, we propose a stress-based model of political extremism in which psychological distress--which is largely overlooked in political scholarship--and threat perceptions mediate the relationship between exposure to terrorism and…

  17. How Internal Political Efficacy Translates Political Knowledge Into Political Participation

    PubMed Central

    Reichert, Frank

    2016-01-01

    This study presents evidence for the mediation effect of political knowledge through political self-efficacy (i.e. internal political efficacy) in the prediction of political participation. It employs an action theoretic approach—by and large grounded on the Theory of Planned Behaviour—and uses data from the German Longitudinal Election Study to examine whether political knowledge has distinct direct effects on voting, conventional, and/or unconventional political participation. It argues that political knowledge raises internal political efficacy and thereby indirectly increases the chance that a citizen will participate in politics. The results of mediated multiple regression analyses yield evidence that political knowledge indeed translates into internal political efficacy, thus it affects political participation of various kinds indirectly. However, internal political efficacy and intentions to participate politically yield simultaneous direct effects only on conventional political participation. Sequentially mediated effects appear for voting and conventional political participation, with political knowledge being mediated by internal political efficacy and subsequently also by behavioural intentions. The mediation patterns for unconventional political participation are less clear though. The discussion accounts for restrictions of this study and points to questions for answer by future research. PMID:27298633

  18. National health care reform and the 103rd Congress: the activities and influence of public health advocates.

    PubMed Central

    Schauffler, H; Wilkerson, J

    1997-01-01

    OBJECTIVES: This study examined the activities and influence of public health interest groups and coalitions on the national health care reform debates in the 103rd Congress. METHODS: Congressional staff and representatives of public health interest groups, coalitions, and government health agencies were interviewed. Content analysis of eight leading national health care reform bills was performed. RESULTS: The public health community coalesced around public health in health care reform; nearly all the major interest groups and government health agencies joined two or more public health or prevention coalitions, and half joined three or more. The most effective influence on health care reform legislation was early, sustained personal contact with Congress members and their staffs, accompanied by succinct written materials summarizing key points. Media campaigns and grassroots mobilization were less effective. Seven of the eight leading health care reform bills included one or more of the priorities supported by public health advocates. CONCLUSIONS: The public health community played an important role in increasing awareness and support for public health programs in the health care reform bills of the 103rd Congress. PMID:9240098

  19. A Tale of Two Countries--Forty Years On: Politics and Teacher Education in Russia and England

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Menter, Ian; Valeeva, Roza; Kalimullin, Aydar

    2017-01-01

    The relationships between politics and teacher education have become increasingly close over recent decades in many contexts around the world, often causing significant challenges as well as some opportunities. In this article, we draw on a project on the reform of teacher education in Russia and through a comparison with the development of…

  20. School and the Future: How Teachers and Teacher Education Are Articulated in the Political Debate

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Forssell, Anna

    2015-01-01

    To Govern in the name of the future is considered to be an essential part of policy-making in education. In Sweden, this is particularly evident in the political and public rhetoric used in debates on modern schooling and educational reform. However, this is not merely a national phenomenon; rather, educational governance in the name of the future…

  1. Ethics and the politics of advancing nursing knowledge.

    PubMed

    Milton, Constance L

    2015-04-01

    The politics of academia involve intricate human relationships that are political in nature as nurse leaders and scholars struggle to advance nursing science with complex leading-following situations. This article begins a dialogue of considering potential meanings for what it means to be political within competing interest groups in academia, and within the discipline of nursing. What is most important in the struggle for identity and what possibilities surface when potential competing interests in academia collide? The ethical tenets of humanbecoming and the leading-following model are used to illustrate issues surrounding academic integrity and possibilities for the advancement of nursing scholarship in future generations. © The Author(s) 2015.

  2. The rise and fall of democratic universalism: health care reform in Italy, 1978-1994.

    PubMed

    Ferrera, M

    1995-01-01

    In 1978, a sweeping reform created the first national health service of continental Europe: Italy's Servizio Sanitario Nazionale. This new scheme was based on the principle of "full democratic universalism": The state would provide free and equal benefits to every citizen and the organization of public health would subject to popular control, essentially through political parties. However, the severe problems encountered in implementing the reform design and rapidly increasing health expenditures soon eroded any consensus on this principle. Thus the 1980s and early 1990s witnessed a gradual shift to "conditional and well managed universalism." These latter principles stress the need to differentiate access to care according to some criterion to regulate demand and the need for efficient use of scarce resources through adequate valorization of managerial skills and the use of "market-type" incentives. An elaborated system of user copayments was introduced gradually, and in 1992 a "reform of the reform" profoundly changed the organizational framework of the Servizio Sanitario Nazionale. The new government elected in the spring of 1994 announced ambitious plans to partially dismantle public universal insurance. Although these plans may prove difficult, the potential to form an anti-universalistic coalition seems strong in the contemporary Italian health care arena.

  3. Promoting Curriculum Reforms in the Context of a Political Transition: An Analysis of Hong Kong's Experience.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Morris, Paul

    2002-01-01

    Analyzes creation and implementation of Hong Kong's Target Oriented Curriculum (TOC), an education reform effort, in light of the country's transition to Chinese rule in 1997. Examines TOC's origins, its nature, means of implementation, and its impact. Discusses tension between "policy intent" and "policy actions," and…

  4. The Politics of Affirmation Theory: When Group-Affirmation Leads to Greater Ingroup Bias.

    PubMed

    Ehrlich, Gaven A; Gramzow, Richard H

    2015-08-01

    It has been well established in the literature that affirming the individual self reduces the tendency to exhibit group-favoring biases. The limited research examining group-affirmation and bias, however, is inconclusive. We argue that group-affirmation can exacerbate group-serving biases in certain contexts, and in the current set of studies, we document this phenomenon directly. Unlike self-affirmation, group-affirmation led to greater ingroup-favoring evaluative judgments among political partisans (Experiment 1). This increase in evaluative bias following group-affirmation was moderated by political party identification and was not found among those who affirmed a non-political ingroup (Experiment 2). In addition, the mechanism underlying these findings is explored and interpreted within the theoretical frameworks of self-categorization theory and the multiple self-aspects model (Experiments 2 and 3). The broader implications of our findings for the understanding of social identity and affirmation theory are discussed. © 2015 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

  5. The Redesign of Urban School Systems: Case Studies in District Governance

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McAdams, Donald R., Ed.; Katzir, Dan, Ed.

    2013-01-01

    "The Redesign of Urban School Systems" provides a uniquely valuable resource for anyone involved in preparing education leaders for the political and practical realities of district-based school reform. Edited by two leading experts in education reform, this absorbing volume brings together twelve teaching cases on urban school…

  6. [Governance and health: the rise of the managerialism in public sector reform].

    PubMed

    Denis, Jean L; Lamothe, Lise; Langley, Ann; Stéphane, Guérard

    2010-01-01

    The article examines various healthcare systems reform projects in Canada and some Canadian provinces and reveals some tendencies in governance renewal. The analisis is based on the hypothesis that reform is an exercise aiming at the renewal of governance conception and practices. In renewing governance, reform leaders hope to use adequate and effective levers to attain announced reform objectives. The article shows that the conceptions and operational modalities of governance have changed over time and that they reveal tensions inherent to the transformation and legitimation process of public healthcare systems. The first section discusses the relationships between reform and change. The second section defines the conception of gouvernance used for the analisis. Based on a content analisis of the various reform reports, the third section reveals the evolution of the conception of governance in healthcare systems in Canada. In order to expose the new tendencies, ideologies and operational principles at the heart of the reform projects are analysed. Five ideologies are identified: the democratic ideology, the "population health" ideology, the business ideology, the managerial ideology and the ideology of equity and humanism. This leads to a discussion on the dominant influence of the managerial ideology in the current reform projects.

  7. The Political Socialization of Adolescent Children of Immigrants*

    PubMed Central

    Humphries, Melissa; Muller, Chandra; Schiller, Kathryn S.

    2013-01-01

    Objectives This study aims to evaluate the adolescent political socialization processes that predict political participation in young adulthood, and whether these processes are different for children of immigrants compared to white 3rd-plus generation adolescents. We focus on socialization agents based in the family, community and school. Methods We use a nationally representative longitudinal survey of adolescents to evaluate the predictors of three measures of political participation: Voter registration, voting, and political party identification, and whether the process leading to political participation varies by immigrant status and race/ethnic group. Results We find that the parental education level of adolescents is not as predictive for many minority children of immigrants compared to white children of native-born parents for registration. Additionally, the academic rigor of the courses taken in high school has a greater positive estimated effect on the likelihood of registration and party identification for Latino children of immigrants compared to white 3rd-plus generation young adults. Conclusions The process of general integration into U.S. society for adolescent children of immigrants may lead to differing pathways to political participation in young adulthood, with certain aspects of their schooling experience having particular importance in developing political participation behaviors. PMID:24489413

  8. The effect of regional politics on regional life expectancy in Italy (1980-2010).

    PubMed

    Jonker, Marcel F; D'Ippolito, Edoardo; Eikemo, Terje A; Congdon, Peter D; Nante, Nicola; Mackenbach, Johan P; Kamphuis, Carlijn B M

    2017-03-01

    The evidence on the association between politics and health is scarce considering the importance of this topic for population health. Studies that investigated the effect of different political regimes on health outcomes show inconsistent results. Bayesian time-series cross-section analyses are used to examine the overall impact of regional politics on variations in Italian regional life expectancy (LE) at birth during the period 1980-2010. Our analyses control for trends in and unobserved determinants of regional LE, correct for temporal as well as spatial autocorrelation, and employ a flexible specification for the timing of the political effects. In the period from 1980 to 1995, we find no evidence that the communist, left-oriented coalitions and Christian Democratic, centre-oriented coalitions have had an effect on regional LE. In the period from 1995 onwards, after a major reconfiguration of Italy's political regimes and a major healthcare reform, we again find no evidence that the Centre-Left and Centre-Right coalitions have had a significant impact on regional LE. The presented results provide no support for the notion that different regional political regimes in Italy have had a differential effect on regional LE, even though Italian regions have had considerable and increasing autonomy over healthcare and health-related policies and expenditures.

  9. Reforming health care financing in Bulgaria: the population perspective.

    PubMed

    Balabanova, Dina; McKee, Martin

    2004-02-01

    Health financing reform in Bulgaria has been characterised by lack of political consensus on reform direction, economic shocks, and, since 1998, steps towards social insurance. As in other eastern European countries, the reform has been driven by an imperative to embrace new ideas modelled on systems elsewhere, but with little attention to whether these reflect popular values. This study explores underlying values, such as views on the role of the state and solidarity, attitudes to, and understanding of compulsory and voluntary insurance, and co-payments. The study identifies general principles (equity, transparency) considered important by the population and practical aspects of implementation of reform. Data were obtained from a representative survey (n=1547) and from 58 in-depth interviews and 6 focus groups with users and health professionals, conducted in 1997 before the actual reform of the health financing system in Bulgaria. A majority supports significant state involvement in health care financing, ranging from providing safety net for the poor, through co-subsidising or regulating the social insurance system, to providing state-financed universal free care (half of all respondents). Collectivist values in Bulgaria remain strong, with support for free access to services regardless of income, age, or health status and progressive funding. There is strong support (especially among the well off) for a social insurance system based on the principle of solidarity and accountability rather than the former tax-based model. The preferred health insurance fund was autonomous, state regulated, financing only health care, and offering optional membership. Voluntary insurance and, less so, co-payments were acceptable if limited to selected services and better off groups. In conclusion, a health financing system under public control that fits well with values and population preferences is likely to improve compliance and be more sustainable. Universal health insurance

  10. Unraveling the Complexity of Critical Consciousness, Political Efficacy, and Political Action Among Marginalized Adolescents.

    PubMed

    Diemer, Matthew A; Rapa, Luke J

    2016-01-01

    This research examines the complex patterns by which distinct dimensions of critical consciousness may lead marginalized adolescents toward distinct forms of political action. Structural equation modeling was applied to nationally representative data from the Civic Education Study (2,811 ninth graders; Mage  = 14.6), first establishing the measurement invariance of constructs across samples of poor or working class African American and Latino/a adolescents. Perceptions of societal inequality and aspirational beliefs that society ought to be more equal differentially predicted expected voting, conventional political action, and social action-while controlling for civic achievement and with nuances between ethnic and racial groups. Contrary to hypotheses and extant scholarship, political efficacy did not mediate or moderate relations between critical reflection and disparate forms of political action. © 2015 The Authors. Child Development © 2015 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

  11. Health policy in the concertación era (1990-2010): Reforms the chilean way.

    PubMed

    Martinez-Gutierrez, María Soledad; Cuadrado, Cristóbal

    2017-06-01

    The Chilean health system has experienced important transformations in the last decades with a neoliberal turn to privatization of the health insurance and healthcare market since the Pinochet reforms of the 1980s. During 20 years of center-left political coalition governments several reforms were attempted to regulate and reform such markets. This paper analyzes regulatory policies for the private health insurance and health care delivery market, adopted during the 1990-2010 period. A framework of variation in market types developed by Gingrich is adopted as analytical perspective. The set of policies advanced in this period could be expected to shift the responsibility of access to care from individuals to the collective and give control to the State or the consumers vis a vis producers. Nevertheless, the effect of the implemented reforms has been mixed. Regulations on private health insurers were ineffective in terms of shifting power to the consumer or the state. In contrast, the healthcare delivery market showed a trend of increasing payers' and consumers' control and the set of implemented reforms partially steered the market toward collective responsibility of access by creating a submarket of guaranteed services (AUGE) with lower copayments and fully funded services. Emerging unintended consequences of the adopted policies and potential explanations are discussed. In sum, attempts to use regulation to improve the collective dimension of the Chilean health system has enabled some progress, but several challenges had persisted. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. "[No] doctor but my master": Health reform and antislavery rhetoric in Harriet Jacobs's Incidents in the life of a slave girl.

    PubMed

    Berry, Sarah L

    2014-03-01

    This essay examines Harriet Jacobs's Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861) in light of new archival findings on the medical practices of Dr. James Norcom (Dr. Flint in the narrative). While critics have sharply defined the feminist politics of Jacobs's sexual victimization and resistance, they have overlooked her medical experience in slavery and her participation in reform after escape. I argue that Jacobs uses the rhetoric of a woman-led health reform movement underway during the 1850s to persuade her readers to end slavery. This essay reconstructs both contexts, revealing that Jacobs links enslaved women's physical and sexual vulnerability with her female readers' fears of male doctors' threats to modesty and of their standard bleed-and-purge treatments. Jacobs illustrates that slavery damages women's health as much as heroic medicine, and thus merits the political activism of her readers. Specifically, Jacobs dramatizes her conflicts with the rapacious physician-master at moments that are crucial to women's health: marriage, pregnancy, childbirth, and motherhood. Ultimately, this essay advances a new understanding of the role of health reform in social change: it galvanized other movements such as women's rights and abolition, particularly around issues of bodily autonomy for women and African Americans.

  13. Religion, politics and gender in the context of nation-state formation: the case of Serbia.

    PubMed

    Drezgić, Rada

    2010-01-01

    This article argues that nationalism has connected religion with secular politics in Serbia but that their rapprochement has been a gradual process. In order to demonstrate the transition from a limited influence of religion on politics to a much tighter relationship between the two, this article discusses the abortion legislation reform and the introduction of religious education in public schools, respectively. It argues that, while illustrative of different types of connection between religion and politics, these two issues had similar implications for gender equality-they produced discourses that recreated and justified patriarchal social norms. After religion gained access to public institutions, its (patriarchal) discourses on gender were considerably empowered. The article points to some tangible evidence of a re-traditionalisation and re-patriarchalisation of gender roles within the domestic realm in Serbia.

  14. The Politics of Organizational Reform: An Exploratory Study of the Effects of Corporate Management on Selected Aspects of the Education Service in English Local Government.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Housego, Ian E.

    In 1974 local government in England underwent external and internal reform. The external reforms involved changes in governmental structures and functions, while the internal reforms involved the introduction of "corporate management," a concept stressing more centralized administration and fewer local executive bodies. This paper first…

  15. Health Care Reform and Social Movements in the United States

    PubMed Central

    Hoffman, Beatrix

    2003-01-01

    Because of the importance of grassroots social movements, or “change from below,” in the history of US reform, the relationship between social movements and demands for universal health care is a critical one. National health reform campaigns in the 20th century were initiated and run by elites more concerned with defending against attacks from interest groups than with popular mobilization, and grassroots reformers in the labor, civil rights, feminist, and AIDS activist movements have concentrated more on immediate and incremental changes than on transforming the health care system itself. However, grassroots health care demands have also contained the seeds of a wider critique of the American health care system, leading some movements to adopt calls for universal coverage. PMID:12511390

  16. Supporting Reform in Science Education in Central and Eastern Europe--Reflections and Perspectives from the Project TEMPUS-SALiS

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kapanadze, Marika; Eilks, Ingo

    2014-01-01

    After the collapse of the former Soviet Union, many Central and Eastern European countries underwent significant change in their political and educational systems, among them Georgia and Moldova. Reforms in education sought to overcome the highly centralized educational system of the former Soviet Union as well as to conquer the teacher-centred…

  17. The Future of Health Care Reform: What Is Driving Enrollment?

    PubMed

    Callaghan, Timothy H; Jacobs, Lawrence R

    2017-04-01

    Against a backdrop of ongoing operational challenges, insurance market turbulence, and the ever present pull of partisanship, enrollment in the ACA's programs has soared and significant variations have developed across states in terms of their pace of coverage expansion. Our article explores why ACA enrollment has varied so dramatically across states. We explore the potential influence of party control, presidential cueing, administrative capacity, the reverberating effects of ACA policy decisions, affluence, and unemployment on enrollment. Our multivariate analysis finds that party control dominated early state decision making, but that relative enrollment in insurance exchanges and the Medicaid expansion are driven by a changing mix of political and administrative factors. Health politics is entering a new era as Republicans replace the ACA and devolve significant discretion to states to administer Medicaid and other programs. Our findings offer insights into future directions in health reform and in learning and diffusion. Copyright © 2017 by Duke University Press.

  18. The Hub and the Spokes: Foundations, Intermediary Organizations, Incentivist Reforms, and the Politics of Research Evidence

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Scott, Janelle; Jabbar, Huriya

    2014-01-01

    The rise in the influence of and spending by educational philanthropists and foundations over the past two decades, especially in the area of market-based reforms, such as charter schools, vouchers, and merit pay, is evident across the United States. Largely due to philanthropic investments, relatively new educational intermediary organizations…

  19. The Politics of Education in the Post-"Brown" Era: Race, Markets, and the Struggle for Equitable Schooling

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Scott, Janelle; Quinn, Rand

    2014-01-01

    Purpose: In this essay, we examine the racial politics of education in the six decades after "Brown". We consider the state of educational policy in an era in which market reform advocates often invoke the spirit of the "Brown" decision even as the Supreme Court has largely vacated the legal framework provided by…

  20. A window of opportunity for reform in post-conflict settings? The case of Human Resources for Health policies in Sierra Leone, 2002-2012.

    PubMed

    Bertone, Maria Paola; Samai, Mohamed; Edem-Hotah, Joseph; Witter, Sophie

    2014-01-01

    It is recognized that decisions taken in the early recovery period may affect the development of health systems. Additionally, some suggest that the immediate post-conflict period may allow for the opening of a political 'window of opportunity' for reform. For these reasons, it is useful to reflect on the policy space that exists in this period, by what it is shaped, how decisions are made, and what are their long-term implications. Examining the policy trajectory and its determinants can be helpful to explore the specific features of the post-conflict policy-making environment. With this aim, the study looks at the development of policies on human resources for health (HRH) in Sierra Leone over the decade after the conflict (2002-2012). Multiple sources were used to collect qualitative data on the period between 2002 and 2012: a stakeholder mapping workshop, a document review and a series of key informant interviews. The analysis draws from political economy and policy analysis tools, focusing on the drivers of reform, the processes, the contextual features, and the actors and agendas. Our findings identify three stages of policy-making. At first characterized by political uncertainty, incremental policies and stop-gap measures, the context substantially changed in 2009. The launch of the Free Health Care Initiative provided to be an instrumental event and catalyst for health system, and HRH, reform. However, after the launch of the initiative, the pace of HRH decision-making again slowed down. OUR STUDY IDENTIFIES THE KEY DRIVERS OF HRH POLICY TRAJECTORY IN SIERRA LEONE: (i) the political situation, at first uncertain and later on more defined; (ii) the availability of funding and the stances of agencies providing such funds; (iii) the sense of need for radical change - which is perhaps the only element related to the post-conflict setting. It also emerges that a 'windows of opportunity' for reform did not open in the immediate post-conflict, but rather 8

  1. Of Charlatans, Sorcerers, Alchemists, Demagogues, Profit-Mongers, Tyrants and Kings: Educational Reform and the Death by a Thousand Cuts

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Waite, Duncan

    2016-01-01

    No longer can teachers in the US simply close their classroom doors and isolate themselves, their classrooms, their students; that is, if they ever could. More than ever before, larger political, sociocultural and ideological forces find their way into the classroom on the backs of so-called educational reforms. But not every educational reform…

  2. Reforming Again: Now Teachers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Marx, Ronald W.

    2014-01-01

    Background: Educational reform responds to local and national pressures to improve educational outcomes, and reform efforts cycle as similar pressures recur. Currently, reform efforts focus on teachers, even though confidence in a host of American social institutions is dropping. One of the most widespread reforms regarding teachers is the…

  3. Pot, politics and the press--reflections on cannabis law reform in Western Australia.

    PubMed

    Lenton, Simon

    2004-06-01

    Windows of opportunity for changing drug laws open infrequently and they often close without legislative change being affected. In this paper the author, who has been intimately involved in the process, describes how evidence-based recommendations to 'decriminalize' cannabis have recently been progressed through public debate and the political process to become law in Western Australia (WA). The Cannabis Control Bill 2003 passed the WA Parliament on 23 September. The Bill, the legislative backing behind the Cannabis Infringement Notice (CIN) Scheme, came into effect on 22 March 2004. This made WA the fourth Australian jurisdiction, after South Australia, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory, to adopt a prohibition with civil penalties scheme for minor cannabis offences. This paper describes some of the background to the scheme, the process by which it has become law, the main provisions of the scheme and its evaluation. It includes reflections on the role of politics and the press in the process. The process of implementation and evaluation are outlined by the author, foreshadowing an ongoing opportunity to understand the impact of the change in legislation.

  4. Hacia la Nueva Reforma (Toward the New Reform).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ribeiro, Darcy

    A new wave of reform is needed for Latin American universities suffering from structural rigidity, duplicity, inefficiency, and lack of community. The structural crisis in the university reflects the general social crisis in which society is pressured by opposing forces leading it toward either historical modernization or evolutionary…

  5. Reformer Fuel Injector

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Suder, Jennifer L.

    2004-01-01

    Today's form of jet engine power comes from what is called a gas turbine engine. This engine is on average 14% efficient and emits great quantities of green house gas carbon dioxide and air pollutants, Le. nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides. The alternate method being researched involves a reformer and a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC). Reformers are becoming a popular area of research within the industry scale. NASA Glenn Research Center's approach is based on modifying the large aspects of industry reforming processes into a smaller jet fuel reformer. This process must not only be scaled down in size, but also decrease in weight and increase in efficiency. In comparison to today's method, the Jet A fuel reformer will be more efficient as well as reduce the amount of air pollutants discharged. The intent is to develop a 10kW process that can be used to satisfy the needs of commercial jet engines. Presently, commercial jets use Jet-A fuel, which is a kerosene based hydrocarbon fuel. Hydrocarbon fuels cannot be directly fed into a SOFC for the reason that the high temperature causes it to decompose into solid carbon and Hz. A reforming process converts fuel into hydrogen and supplies it to a fuel cell for power, as well as eliminating sulfur compounds. The SOFC produces electricity by converting H2 and CO2. The reformer contains a catalyst which is used to speed up the reaction rate and overall conversion. An outside company will perform a catalyst screening with our baseline Jet-A fuel to determine the most durable catalyst for this application. Our project team is focusing on the overall research of the reforming process. Eventually we will do a component evaluation on the different reformer designs and catalysts. The current status of the project is the completion of buildup in the test rig and check outs on all equipment and electronic signals to our data system. The objective is to test various reformer designs and catalysts in our test rig to determine the most

  6. The Politics, Policies and Progress of Basic Education in Sri Lanka. CREATE Pathways to Access. Research Monograph No. 38

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Little, Angela W.

    2010-01-01

    Sri Lanka is hailed internationally for her achievements in literacy, access to education and equality of educational opportunity. However, progress has not been straightforward due to the complex interactions between politics, policy formulation, and the implementation of reforms. This dynamic process has often led to contradictory outcomes. This…

  7. How Brazil outpaced the United States when it came to AIDS: the politics of civic infiltration, reputation, and strategic internationalization.

    PubMed

    Gómez, Eduardo J

    2011-04-01

    Using a temporal approach dividing the reform process into two periods, this article explains how both Brazil and the United States were slow to respond to AIDS. However, Brazil eventually outpaced the United States in its response due to international rather than democratic pressures. Since the early 1990s, Brazil's success has been attributed to "strategic internationalization": the concomitant acceptance and rejection of global pressure for institutional change and antiretroviral treatment, respectively. The formation of tripartite partnerships among donors, AIDS officials, and nongovernmental organizations has allowed Brazil to avoid foreign aid dependency, while generating ongoing incentives for influential AIDS officials to incessantly pressure Congress for additional funding. Given the heightened international media attention, concern about Brazil's reputation has contributed to a high level of political commitment. By contrast, the United States' more isolationist relationship with the international community, its focus on leading the global financing of AIDS efforts, and the absence of tripartite partnerships have prevented political leaders from adequately responding to the ongoing urban AIDS crisis. Thus, Brazil shows that strategically working with the international health community for domestic rather than international influence is vital for a sustained and effective response to AIDS.

  8. A window of opportunity for reform in post-conflict settings? The case of Human Resources for Health policies in Sierra Leone, 2002–2012

    PubMed Central

    2014-01-01

    Background It is recognized that decisions taken in the early recovery period may affect the development of health systems. Additionally, some suggest that the immediate post-conflict period may allow for the opening of a political ‘window of opportunity’ for reform. For these reasons, it is useful to reflect on the policy space that exists in this period, by what it is shaped, how decisions are made, and what are their long-term implications. Examining the policy trajectory and its determinants can be helpful to explore the specific features of the post-conflict policy-making environment. With this aim, the study looks at the development of policies on human resources for health (HRH) in Sierra Leone over the decade after the conflict (2002–2012). Methods Multiple sources were used to collect qualitative data on the period between 2002 and 2012: a stakeholder mapping workshop, a document review and a series of key informant interviews. The analysis draws from political economy and policy analysis tools, focusing on the drivers of reform, the processes, the contextual features, and the actors and agendas. Findings Our findings identify three stages of policy-making. At first characterized by political uncertainty, incremental policies and stop-gap measures, the context substantially changed in 2009. The launch of the Free Health Care Initiative provided to be an instrumental event and catalyst for health system, and HRH, reform. However, after the launch of the initiative, the pace of HRH decision-making again slowed down. Conclusions Our study identifies the key drivers of HRH policy trajectory in Sierra Leone: (i) the political situation, at first uncertain and later on more defined; (ii) the availability of funding and the stances of agencies providing such funds; (iii) the sense of need for radical change – which is perhaps the only element related to the post-conflict setting. It also emerges that a ‘windows of opportunity’ for reform did not open

  9. Leading Learning: Science Departments and the Chair

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Melville, Wayne; Campbell, Todd; Jones, Doug

    2016-01-01

    In this article, we have considered the role of the chair in leading the learning necessary for a department to become effective in the teaching and learning of science from a reformed perspective. We conceptualize the phrase "leading learning" to mean the chair's constitution of influence, power, and authority to intentionally impact…

  10. Social, Economic, and Political Issues Affecting End-of-Life Care.

    PubMed

    Sopcheck, Janet

    2016-02-01

    For many decades, Americans showed a preference for delaying death through a technological imperative that often created challenges for nurses in caring for dying patients and their families. Because of their vast knowledge of health and healing, and their proximity to patients' bedsides, nurses are often well positioned to advocate for healthcare reform and legislation to improve end-of-life care. This article provides an overview of the social, economic, and political factors that are shaping end-of-life care in the United States. First, historical perspectives on end-of-life care are presented to enhance understanding of why some clinicians and patients seem to resist change to current practices. Second, end of care issues related to advanced technology utilization, societal expectations of care, clinical practices, financial incentives, palliative care services, and policy reforms are discussed. Finally, future recommendations are provided to encourage nurses and other healthcare providers to improve care for individuals facing end-of-life care decisions. © The Author(s) 2016.

  11. Sputnik Reform Revisited.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Strickland, Charles E.

    1985-01-01

    Educational reforms being called for in the 1980's are compared to reforms of the 1950's. The Sputnik-inspired quest for quality called for reform in the content and structure of basic subjects. Current reports say that what educators are doing in the basic subjects is ok, but they need to do more. (RM)

  12. "La Parte Chusca" of a Pedagogical Here and Now: Oaxacan Teachers' Heteroglossic Joking about State Repression and Educational Reform

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sadlier, Stephen T.

    2016-01-01

    Faced with repression and reform, humor has become tactical for public school teachers in Oaxaca, Mexico, engaged in a decades-old movement that after 2006 involved intensified street- and school-based pedagogies. This piece explores how humor adds to a political project via mocking names, images, and dictates of elite leaders to bring a here and…

  13. Payment Reform

    PubMed Central

    Schneider, Eric C.; Hussey, Peter S.; Schnyer, Christopher

    2011-01-01

    Abstract Insurers and purchasers of health care in the United States are on the verge of potentially revolutionary changes in the approaches they use to pay for health care. Recently, purchasers and insurers have been experimenting with payment approaches that include incentives to improve quality and reduce the use of unnecessary and costly services. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 is likely to accelerate payment reform based on performance measurement. This article provides details of the results of a technical report that catalogues nearly 100 implemented and proposed payment reform programs, classifies each of these programs into one of 11 payment reform models, and identifies the performance measurement needs associated with each model. A synthesis of the results suggests near-term priorities for performance measure development and identifies pertinent challenges related to the use of performance measures as a basis for payment reform. The report is also intended to create a shared framework for analysis of future performance measurement opportunities. This report is intended for the many stakeholders tasked with outlining a national quality strategy in the wake of health care reform legislation. PMID:28083159

  14. Access to Elementary Education in India: Politics, Policies and Progress. CREATE Pathways to Access. Research Monograph No. 44

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Little, Angela W.

    2010-01-01

    This monograph examines progress in, and policies for, access to elementary education over the past 60 years, the role played by political factors in the process of policy formulation and implementation and the drivers and inhibitors of the implementation of reforms in elementary education in recent years in India. Drawing on interviews and…

  15. The Significance of Post-Racial Ideology, Black Political Struggle, and Racial Literacy for Brazilian Anti-Racist Education Policy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Da Costa, Alexandre Emboaba

    2016-01-01

    This paper furthers current analysis of anti-racist, critical multicultural, and decolonial educational reforms in Brazil through a focus on the significant role played by post-racial ideology, black politics, and racial literacy in policy design and implementation. The paper first details the ways in which post-racial commonsense and anti-black…

  16. Beyond Reform: Transformation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Davidson, Jill

    2007-01-01

    The Coalition of Essential Schools (CES) is not a reform movement. To reform is to make a thing again; reformation implies a stasis that doesn't deliver enough for the educational future. This issue of Horace demonstrates that Essential schools and the districts and networks that support them are at various points in the journey of transformation,…

  17. Health system reform.

    PubMed

    Ortolon, Ken

    2009-06-01

    A vote on reforming the nation's health care system seems likely this summer as President Obama makes good on a campaign pledge. Although the Democratic leadership in Congress appears ready to push through reform legislation before the next election, TMA and AMA leaders say very little is known about what that "reform" likely will look like.

  18. Bourdieu, Department Chairs and the Reform of Science Education

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Melville, Wayne; Hardy, Ian; Bartley, Anthony

    2011-11-01

    Using the insights of the French sociologist, Pierre Bourdieu, this article considers the role of the science department chair in the reform of school science education. Using Bourdieu's 'thinking tools' of 'field', 'habitus' and 'capital', we case study the work of two teachers who both actively pursue the teaching and learning of science as inquiry. One teacher, Dan, has been a department chair since 2000, and has actively encouraged his department to embrace science as inquiry. The other teacher, Leslie, worked for one year in Dan's department before being transferred to another school where science teaching continues to be more traditional. Our work suggests that there are three crucial considerations for chairs seeking to lead the reform of science teaching within their department. The first of these is the development of a reform-minded habitus, as this appears to be foundational to the capital that can be expended in the leadership of reform. The second is an understanding of how to wield power and position in the promotion of reform. The third is the capacity to operate simultaneously and strategically within, and across, two fields; the departmental field and the larger science education field. This involves downplaying administrative logics, and foregrounding more inquiry-focused logics as a vehicle to challenge traditional science-teaching dispositions-the latter being typically dominated by concerns about curriculum 'coverage'.

  19. An Unfulfilled Dream of an Urban Community School for Girls: A Failed Experiment in Educational Reform

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Doyle, Kerri

    2013-01-01

    This research presents the qualitative case study of an urban community school initiative that began as an educational reform effort and that ultimately failed. The process of emergence for this school and factors leading to its collapse are described through participant interviews and document analysis. Nationally, policy reformers,…

  20. Gaining control: reform, reimbursement and politics in New York's community hospitals, 1890--1915.

    PubMed Central

    Rosner, D

    1980-01-01

    This is an historical study of an early twentieth century political struggle regarding hospital reimbursement in New York City. During a period called the "Progressive Era" (1895--1915), administrators in the City's Comptroller's office sought to gain control over small, locally run community hospitals by dismantling the long-standing practice of flat-grant payments to institutions. Central office planners felt that these payments gave too much control to trustees. In its place, the Comptroller initiated a system of per-capita, per-diem reimbursement. Inspectors now judged for the institutions which services and which clients were appropriate for municipal reimbursement. From the perspective of the Comptroller's office, this change was an attempt to put rationality into the system of municipal support for charitable institutions. From the perspective of trustees and community representatives, however, this change was a political attack on the rights of institutions and local communities to control their own fate. Within the context of the larger Progressive Era "good government" movement to centralize decision-making in the hands of experts who believed strongly in the efficiency of larger institutions, it was generally the smallest, most financially troubled community institutions which felt the brunt of these changes. PMID:6990801

  1. Multicultural Challenges in Educational Policies within a Non-Conservative Scenario: The Case of the Emerging Reforms in Higher Education in Brazil

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Canen, Ana

    2005-01-01

    The article discusses the extent to which multiculturalism has had an impact in the emerging reforms in higher education in Brazil, against the backdrop of the rise of a new non-Conservative, Labour-oriented government whose political agenda is marked by a discursive stand against conservatism, neo-liberalism and neocolonialism. Building on a…

  2. Equity in Reform: Case Studies of Five Middle Schools Involved in Systemic Reform

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kahle, Jane Butler; Kelly, Mary Kay

    Science and mathematics education reform documents of the last decade have called for improved teaching and learning for all children. To overcome inequalities, a systemic approach to reform has been adopted. The case studies synthesized in this analysis arc part of a larger effort to reform science and mathematics education systemically and assess the progress of systemic reform. The purpose of this study was to assess the progress toward achieving equitable systemic reform in five middle schools. A multiple-case study design was used, and qualitative data were collected. Kahle's Equity Metric was used to analyze the schools' progress toward achieving equitable systemic reform of mathematics and science. Two results occurred: Various equity issues were identified in the five case studies, and the metric proved efficacious in identifying barriers to or facilitators of equitable reform in the schools. Overall, the study illustrates how schools might assess their commitments to providing high-quality science and mathematics education to all students.

  3. Organizational Politics of Parental Engagement: The Intersections of School Reform, Anti-Immigration Policies, and Latinx Parent Organizing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Scribner, Samantha M. Paredes; Fernández, Erica

    2017-01-01

    This article presents results from community-engaged research conducted with Latinx immigrant parents advocating for their students and themselves in and around an urban school engaged in multiple reforms, in a context affected by anti-immigrant policies and sentiments. The authors analyzed the intersection of organizing narratives related to…

  4. Harry and Louise and health care reform: romancing public opinion.

    PubMed

    Goldsteen, R L; Goldsteen, K; Swan, J H; Clemeña, W

    2001-12-01

    The question whether the "Harry and Louise" campaign ads, sponsored by the Health Insurance Association of America (HIAA) during the 1993-1994 health care reform debate, influenced public opinion has particular relevance today since interest groups are increasingly choosing commercial-style mass media campaigns to sway public opinion about health policy issues. Our study revisits the issue of the Harry and Louise campaign's influence on public opinion, comparing the ad campaign's messages to changes in opinion about health care reform over a twenty-six-month period in Oklahoma. Looking at the overall trends just prior to the introduction of the Harry and Louise campaign, public opinion was going in the "wrong" direction, from the HIAA perspective. Moreover, public opinion continued in the wrong direction until the mid-point of the campaign. However, in either the turning point of the campaign in terms of message content and tone or in the lag period following it, public opinion reversed on each health reform issue and returned to pre-campaign levels. It appears from these findings that the campaign captured public opinion when support for issues that were unfavorable to HIAA members was increasing and turned public opinion back to pre-campaign levels. The campaign may result in many more such marriages of political interest groups and commercial advertisers for the purpose of demobilizing public support for health policy initiatives that are unfavorable to special interests.

  5. The good-enough science-and-politics of anthropological collaboration with evidence-based clinical research: Four ethnographic case studies.

    PubMed

    Messac, Luke; Ciccarone, Dan; Draine, Jeffrey; Bourgois, Philippe

    2013-12-01

    The apolitical legitimacy of "evidence-based medicine" offers a practical means for ethnography and critical social-science-and-humanities-of-health theory to transfer survival resources to structurally vulnerable populations and to engage policy and services audiences with urgent political problems imposed on the urban poor in the United States that harm health: most notably, homelessness, hyperincarceration, social service cut-backs and the War on Drugs. We present four examples of collaborations between ethnography and clinical research projects that demonstrate the potentials and limits of promoting institutional reform, political debate and action through distinct strategies of cross-methodological dialog with epidemiological and clinical services research. Ethnographic methods alone, however, are simply a technocratic add-on. They must be informed by critical theory to contribute effectively and transformatively to applied health initiatives. Ironically, technocratic, neoliberal logics of cost-effectiveness can sometimes render radical service and policy reform initiatives institutionally credible, fundable and capable of generating wider political support, even though the rhetoric of economic efficacy is a double-edged sword. To extend the impact of ethnography and interdisciplinary theories of political-economic, cultural and disciplinary power relations into applied clinical and public health research, anthropologists - and their fellow travelers - have to be able to strategically, but respectfully learn to see through the positivist logics of clinical services research as well as epidemiological epistemology in order to help clinicians achieve - and extend - their applied priorities. In retrospect, these four very differently-structured collaborations suggest the potential for "good-enough" humble scientific and political strategies to work for, and with, structurally vulnerable populations in a punitive neoliberal era of rising social inequality

  6. The Good-Enough Science-and-Politics of Anthropological Collaboration with Evidence-Based Clinical Research: Four Ethnographic Case Studies

    PubMed Central

    Messac, Luke; Ciccarone, Dan; Draine, Jeffrey; Bourgois, Philippe

    2013-01-01

    The apolitical legitimacy of "evidence-based medicine" offers a practical means for ethnography and critical social-science-and-humanities-of-health theory to transfer survival resources to structurally vulnerable populations and to engage policy and services audiences with urgent political problems imposed on the urban poor in the United States that harm health: most notably, homelessness, hyperincarceration, social service cut-backs and the War on Drugs. We present four examples of collaborations between ethnography and clinical research projects that demonstrate the potentials and limits of promoting institutional reform, political debate and action through distinct strategies of cross-methodological dialogue with epidemiological and clinical services research. Ethnographic methods alone, however, are simply a technocratic add-on. They must be informed by critical theory to contribute effectively and transformatively to applied health initiatives. Ironically, technocratic, neoliberal logics of cost-effectiveness can sometimes render radical service and policy reform initiatives institutionally credible, fundable and capable of generating wider political support, even though the rhetoric of economic efficacy is a double-edged sword. To extend the impact of ethnography and interdisciplinary theories of political-economic, cultural and disciplinary power relations into applied clinical and public health research, anthropologists--and their fellow travelers--have to be able to strategically, but respectfully learn to see through the positivist logics of clinical services research as well as epidemiological epistemology in order to help clinicians achieve--and extend--their applied priorities. In retrospect, these four very differently-structured collaborations suggest the potential for "good-enough” humble scientific and political strategies to work for, and with, structurally vulnerable populations in a punitive neoliberal era of rising social inequality

  7. Middle Grades Reform: A Casebook for School Leaders.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Filby, Nikola N., Ed.; And Others

    The result of a collaborative effort to meet the needs of California educators in middle-grades reform, this volume provides access to the best ideas in research and practice, and support for local improvement efforts. The casebook format tells the strategies, problems, and diverse actions of educators focusing on the "how" of leading a…

  8. Assessing political priority for reproductive health in Ethiopia.

    PubMed

    Prata, Ndola; Summer, Anna

    2015-11-01

    Ethiopia is among the top six countries contributing to the highest numbers of maternal deaths globally. The Ethiopian total fertility rate was estimated at 4.8 in 2011, and the use of contraceptives by married women was 29%. Lack of knowledge, cultural stigma surrounding abortion, and barriers to access of services contribute to persistently high rates of unsafe abortion and abortion-related mortality. This study seeks to assess the generation and institutionalization of political priority for reproductive health within the political systems of Ethiopia. Interviews with key policy makers, government ministers, academics, and leaders of prominent non-governmental organizations in Ethiopia between July 2010 and January 2011 were conducted, using Shiffman and Smith's Framework, to analyse the key actors and ideas behind the shift towards prioritization of reproductive health in Ethiopia, as well as the political context and primary characteristics of the issues that propelled progressive action in reproductive health in that country. Some of the key lessons point to the readiness of the Ethiopian government to reform and to improve the socio-economic status of the population. The role of civil society organizations working alongside the government was crucial to creating a window of opportunity in a changing political climate to achieve gains in reproductive health. To our knowledge, this is the first time Shiffman and Smith's Framework has been used for reproductive health policies. We conclude that Ethiopian experience fits well within this framework for understanding prioritization of global health issues and may serve as a model for other sub-Saharan African countries. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Social reform versus education reform: university nursing education in Canada, 1919-1960.

    PubMed

    Baumgart, A J; Kirkwood, R

    1990-05-01

    Nurses' struggle to attain educational parity with other professional groups is closely aligned with the struggle of women for social equality within Canadian institutions. The attempts of nursing educators to shift their perspective from social reform to educational reform and to develop nursing scholarship has been restricted by the cultural views of women. Consequently, nurses' gains in attaining higher education have been realized by reforms in social and health care policies thought suitable for women. With advancement in university nursing education closely tied to social reform, nurses were not expected, nor did they expect, to pursue scholarly enquiry or develop research endeavours. This paper suggests that the feminist movement offers nurses a social and psychological basis from which to complete the educational reform of nursing.

  10. Public opinion on abortion in Mexico City after the landmark reform.

    PubMed

    Wilson, Kate S; García, Sandra G; Díaz Olavarrieta, Claudia; Villalobos-Hernández, Aremis; Rodríguez, Jorge Valencia; Smith, Patricio Sanhueza; Burks, Courtney

    2011-09-01

    This article presents findings from three opinion surveys conducted among representative samples of Mexico City residents: the first one immediately prior to the groundbreaking legalization of first-trimester abortion in April 2007, and one and two years after the reform. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed to assess changes in opinion concerning abortion and correlates of favorable opinion following reform. In 2009 a clear majority (74 percent) of respondents were in support of the Mexico City law allowing for elective first-trimester abortion, compared with 63 percent in 2008 and 38 percent in 2007. A significant increase in support for extending the law to the rest of Mexico was found: from 51 percent in 2007 to 70 percent in 2008 and 83 percent in 2009. In 2008 the significant independent correlates of support for the Mexico City law were education, infrequent religious service attendance, sex (being male), and political party affiliation; in 2009 they were education beyond high school, infrequent religious service attendance, and ever having been married.

  11. College Students in Lima: Politics, Media and Participation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cano-Correa, Ana-María; Quiroz-Velasco, María-Teresa; Nájar-Ortega, Rosario

    2017-01-01

    In Peru, young college students have leading roles in social protest mobilizations even when they seldom belong to political organizations. This study aims to analyze the perception of current politics and its institutions among young college students, and to inquire into their interest on relevant events at their surroundings and into the…

  12. Development prospects of health and reform of the fiscal system in bosnia and herzegovina.

    PubMed

    Salihbasic, Sehzada

    2011-01-01

    The functions of the health system, according to the key objectives and relationships within the sub-systems that are available to the policy makers and managers in the Health Care system in Bosnia and Herzegovina - B&H, have been elaborated in detail, with the analytical overview of relevant indicators, thus confirming the limitations of the health promotion in B&H. The ability to overcome the expressed problems is in the startup of process for structural adjustment of the health sector, reform of the health care system and its financing. The reform in health system implies fundamental changes that need to take place, in B&H, as a state in health policy and institutions in the health care system, in order to improve the functioning of health systems with the aim of ensuring better health of the population. Reform implies the existence of documents with clearly formulated health policy objectives, for which the state stands, and for which a consensus was reached on the national level with all key actors in the political structure: public promotion of the basic principles for carrying out the reform, its implementation within a reasonable time frame, the corresponding effects for providers and customer satisfaction, as well as improving health services' efficacy (i.e. micro and macro) and the quality of healthcare. In this article, we elaborated the criteria for the classification of health systems, whereby the scientifically-based and empirical analysis is conducted on the health system in B&H and elaborated the key levers of the system. Leveraged organizational arrangements relating to the economic and political environment, organization and management functions, in connection with the services of finance, funds, customers and service providers, from which it follows the framework of state legislation related to health policy and health institutions at the state level are responsible for finance, planning, the organization, payment, regulation and conduct. If we

  13. Politically informed advice for climate action

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Geden, Oliver

    2018-06-01

    Upward estimates for carbon budgets are unlikely to lead to action-focused climate policy. Climate researchers need to understand processes and incentives in policymaking and politics to communicate effectively.

  14. Developing Teachers' Leadership Knowledge: Pillars for the "New Reform"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Neumann, Maureen D.; Jones, Laura C.; Webb, P. Taylor

    2007-01-01

    This work describes how teacher education programs can inform teachers' knowledge and practice of leadership. We introduce a leadership typology to illustrate how teachers can lead organizational reform for pedagogical excellence and socially just practices. The model provides teacher educators ways to identify and resolve conflicts generated by…

  15. Health sector reform in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT): targeting the forest or the trees?

    PubMed Central

    GIACAMAN, RITA; ABDUL-RAHIM, HANAN F; WICK, LAURA

    2006-01-01

    Since the signing of the Oslo Peace Accords and the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in 1994, reform activities have targeted various spheres, including the health sector. Several international aid and UN organizations have been involved, as well as local and international non-governmental organizations, with considerable financial and technical investments. Although important achievements have been made, it is not evident that the quality of care has improved or that the most pressing health needs have been addressed, even before the second Palestinian Uprising that began in September 2000. The crisis of the Israeli re-invasion of Palestinian-controlled towns and villages since April 2002 and the attendant collapse of state structures and services have raised the problems to critical levels. This paper attempts to analyze some of the obstacles that have faced reform efforts. In our assessment, those include: ongoing conflict, frail Palestinian quasi-state structures and institutions, multiple and at times inappropriate donor policies and practices in the health sector, and a policy vacuum characterized by the absence of internal Palestinian debate on the type and direction of reform the country needs to take. In the face of all these considerations, it is important that reform efforts be flexible and consider realistically the political and economic contexts of the health system, rather than focus on mere narrow technical, managerial and financial solutions imported from the outside. PMID:12582108

  16. Reforming process

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Mitsche, R.T.; Pope, G.N.

    A process for reforming a naphtha feedstock is disclosed. The reforming process is effected at reforming conditions in contact with a catalyst comprising a platinum group metal component and a group iv-a metal component composited with an alumina support wherein said support is prepared by admixing an alpha alumina monohydrate with an aqueous ammoniacal solution having a ph of at least about 7.5 to form a stable suspension. A salt of a strong acid, e.g., aluminum nitrate, is commingled with the suspension to form an extrudable paste or dough. On extrusion, the extrudate is dried and calcined to form saidmore » alumina support.« less

  17. Neoliberal reforms in Swedish primary health care: for whom and for what purpose?

    PubMed

    Dahlgren, Göran

    2008-01-01

    The conservative government that came to power in Sweden in 2006 has initiated major market-oriented reforms in the health sector. Its first health care policy bill changed the health legislation to make it possible to sell/transfer public hospitals to commercial providers while maintaining public funding. Far-reaching market-oriented primary health care reforms are also initiated, for example in Stockholm County. They are typically presented as "free choice models" in which "the money follows the patient." The actual and likely effects of these reforms in terms of access and quality of care are discussed in this article. One main finding is that existing social inequities in geographic access to care not only are reinforced but also become very difficult to change by democratic political decisions. Furthermore, dynamic market forces will gradually reduce the quality of care in low-income areas while both access and quality of care will be even better in high-income areas. Public funds are thus transferred from people living in low-income areas to people living in high-income areas, even though the need for good health services is much greater in the low-income areas. Certain policy options for reversing the inverse law of care are also presented.

  18. Reliable in their failure: an analysis of healthcare reform policies in public systems.

    PubMed

    Contandriopoulos, Damien; Brousselle, Astrid

    2010-05-01

    In this paper, we analyze recommendations of past governmental commissions and their implementation in Quebec as a case to discuss the obstacles that litter the road to healthcare system reform. Our analysis shows that the obstacles to tackling the healthcare system's main problems may have less to do with programmatic (what to do) than with political and governance (how to do it) questions. We then draw on neo-institutional theory to discuss the causes and effects of this situation. Copyright (c) 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Educational Reform in Spain.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Marchesi, Alvaro

    1992-01-01

    Reviews the Spanish educational system, focusing on reforms enacted in 1990. Discusses reform movement issues, including quality, curricular control, curricular homogeneity versus diversity, and influence of European context. Describes reform movement aims (i.e., extending basic education and modifying educational levels to improve quality) and…

  20. Atuarfitsialak: Greenland's Cultural Compatible Reform

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wyatt, Tasha R.

    2012-01-01

    In 2002, Greenlandic reform leaders launched a comprehensive, nation-wide reform to create culturally compatible education. Greenland's reform work spans the entire educational system and includes preschool through higher education. To assist their efforts, reform leaders adopted the Standards for Effective Pedagogy developed at the Center for…

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