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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Policy sciences'
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Cheney, David W. "Information technology, science, and public policy." Fairfax, VA : George Mason University, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1920/2959.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--George Mason University, 2007.<br>Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Jan. 17, 2008). Thesis director: Don E. Kash Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Public Policy. Vita: p. 330. Includes bibliographical references (p. 289-329). Also available in print.
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Matti, Simon. "Exploring public policy legitimacy a study of belief-system correspondence in Swedish environmental policy /." Doctoral thesis, Luleå : Political Science Unit, Luleå University of Technology, 2009. http://pure.ltu.se/ws/fbspretrieve/3012491.
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Paduraru, Cosmin. "Off-policy evaluation in Markov decision processes." Thesis, McGill University, 2013. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=117008.
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This dissertation is set in the context of a widely used framework for formalizing autonomous decision-making, namely Markov decision processes (MDPs). One of the key problems that arise in MDPs is that of evaluating a decision-making strategy, typically called a policy. It is often the case that data collected under the policy one wishes to evaluate is difficult or even impossible to obtain. In this case, data collected under some other policy needs to be used, a setting known as off-policy evaluation. The main goal of this dissertation is to offer new insights into the properties of methods for off-policy evaluation. This is achieved through a series of novel theoretical results and empirical illustrations. The first set of results concerns the bandit setting (single state, single decision step MDPs). In this basic setting, the bias and variance of various off-policy estimators can be computed in closed form without resorting to approximations. We also compare the bias-variance trade-offs for the different estimators, both theoretically and empirically. In the sequential setting (more than one decision step), a comparative empirical study of different off-policy estimators for MDPs with discrete state and action spaces is conducted. The methods compared include three existing estimators, and two new ones proposed in this dissertation. All of these estimators are shown to be consistent and asymptotically normal. The empirical study illustrates how the relative behaviour of the estimators is affected by changes in problem parameters. The analysis for discrete MDPs is completed by recursive bias and variance formulas for the commonly used model-based estimator. These are the first analytic formulas for finite-horizon MDPs, and are shown to produce more accurate results than bootstrap estimates. The final contribution consists of introducing a new framework for bounding the return of a policy. The framework can be used whenever bounds on the next state and reward are available, regardless of whether the state and action spaces are discrete or continuous. If the next-state bounds are computed by assuming Lipschitz continuity of the transition function and using a batch of sampled transitions, then our framework can lead to tighter bounds than those proposed in previous work. Throughout this dissertation, the empirical performance of the estimators being studied is illustrated on several computational sustainability problems: a model of food-related greenhouse gas emissions, a mallard population dynamics model, and a fishery management domain.<br>Cette thèse se situe dans le contexte d'un cadre largement utilisé pour formaliser les méchanismes autonomes de décision, à savoir les processus de décision markoviens (MDP). L'un des principaux problèmes qui se posent dans les MDP est celui de l'évaluation d'une stratégie de prise de décision, généralement appelée une politique. C'est souvent le cas qu'obtenir des données recueillies dans le cadre de la politique qu'on souhaite évaluer est difficile, ou même impossible. Dans ce cas, des données recueillies sous une autre politique doivent être utilisées, une situation appelée "évaluation hors-politique". L'objectif principal de cette thèse est de proposer un nouvel éclairage sur les propriétés des méthodes pour l'évaluation hors-politique. Ce résultat est obtenu grâce à une série de nouveaux résultats théoriques et illustrations empiriques. La première série de résultats concerne des problèmes de type bandit (des MDP avec un seul état et une seule étape de décision). Dans cette configuration, le biais et la variance de divers estimateurs hors-politique peuvent être calculés sous forme fermée sans avoir recours à des approximations. Nous comparons également le compromis biais-variance pour les différents estimateurs, du point de vue théorique et empirique. Dans le cadre séquentiel (plus d'une étape de décision), une étude empirique comparative des différents estimateurs hors-politique pour les MDP avec des états et des actions discrètes est menée. Les méthodes comparées sont trois estimateurs existants, ainsi que deux nouveaux proposés dans cette thèse. Tous ces estimateurs se sont avérés convergents et asymptotiquement normaux. L'étude empirique montre comment le comportement relatif des estimateurs est affecté par des changements aux paramètres du problème. L'analyse des MDP discrets est complétée par des formules récursives pour le biais et la variance pour l'estimateur basé sur le modèle. Ce sont les premières formules analytiques pour les MDP à horizon fini, et on montre qu'ils produisent des résultats plus précis que les estimations "bootstrap".La contribution finale consiste à introduire un nouveau cadre pour délimiter le retour d'une politique. Le cadre peut être utilisé chaque fois que des bornes sur le prochain état et la récompense sont disponibles, indépendamment du fait que les espaces d'état et d'action soient discrètes ou continues. Si les limites du prochain état sont calculées en supposant la continuité Lipschitz de la fonction de transition et en utilisant un échantillon de transitions, notre cadre peut conduire à des bornes plus strictes que celles qui sont proposées dans des travaux antérieurs.Tout au long de cette thèse, la performance empirique des estimateurs étudiés est illustrée sur plusieurs problèmes de durabilité: un modèle de calcul des émissions de gaz à effet de serre associées à la consommation de nourriture, un modèle dynamique de la population des mallards, et un domaine de gestion de la pêche.
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Shafagatov, Ramin, and Aygun Mirzayeva. "Immigration Policy as a Challenging Issue in the EU Policy-Making Process: A Study of Immigrant Integration Policy." Thesis, Linköping University, Department of Management and Economics, 2005. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-2761.
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<p>Issue of immigration was for a long time controversial concern throughout the Europe. Because of its demand for labor, Europe needs certain level of qualified immigration. However, in late decades a big amount of refugee immigration flow created serious challenges as well. Perceived ‘threat’ of immigration resulted in restrictive policies at both national and EU level. EU level policies in this respect are very interesting to research on. Because of great sensitivity of immigration issues to state sovereignty, formulation of EU level policy also faces challenges in terms of balancing intergovernmentalist and supranationalist logic of integration. Therefore, we have studied those policy and decision-making processes in immigration policy focusing on two issues: first, the motives behind the cooperation at EU level and the role of supranational institutions in shaping these EU level policies, second, the scope and capabilities of those policies. </p><p>Immigrant integration policy have been chosen as a case to comprehend issue more closely and detailed. Immigrant integration policy is very important for the social cohesion of European societies and is inseparable part of immigration policies. Immigrant integration debate is very new in EU agenda; it is just getting its way to Brussels. Although EU has no competence on this issue, we found out that there are quite real opportunities for EU to have its own way of helping with member states’ policies. The paper identifies and discusses important aspects of immigration and immigrant integration policies at EU level, the reasons why EU level policies are not pro-active and not suprantionalised yet. It further explores the available EU level instruments and sources for constructing strategy of integrating immigrants. All these study is done in the light of theoretical framework which is the combination of several theories, due to the complexity of the immigration matters. Every theory explains either some stage in the development of EU level policies (liberal intergovernmentalism and new institutionalism) or the possible EU level policy-making framework (intensive transgovernmentalism and policy coordination/benchmarking) for the studied issues.</p>
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Meaning, Jack. "Innovations in monetary policy." Thesis, University of Kent, 2016. https://kar.kent.ac.uk/54684/.
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The turn of the century brought with it a period of stability, both for the global macroeconomy, but also for the consensus view of how monetary policy could and should operate within it. Policymakers and academics widely agreed that control of the short-term nominal interest rate was sufficient to achieve price stability and moderate the worst of the economic cycle. However, more recent history has shown this view of the world to be a best overly simplistic, and at worst, dangerously flawed. Short-term interest rates have become constrained by their lower bound and monetary policymakers have turned to a range of alternative, unconventional policy measures in pursuit of their objectives. This thesis looks to investigate some of the reasons why the previous paradigm failed and starts to assess the range of innovations that have come in to play as part of the fundamental reassessment of the policy framework. It does this from the point of view of theory, but also empirically, employing econometric techniques to quantify the impacts of recent large-scale asset purchase programmes by central banks. Finally, it looks to develop a detailed model which begins to address some of the limitations of the pre-crisis paradigm by including a role for money which can be created by either policymakers, or the financial sector.
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Rietig, Katharina. "Learning in governance : the role of policy entrepreneurs in European climate policy integration." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2014. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/3121/.
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Learning is frequently regarded as facilitating factor for policy outcomes across multiple levels of governance. Learning however competes with alternative explanations such as bargaining, actor’s interests and organisational objectives. This thesis examines from an institutional perspective the link between individual learning of policymakers and learning among governmental institutions and analyses to what extent learning matters for the policy outcome. It finds that policy entrepreneurs play a key role in transferring learning to the organisational level and in achieving policy outcomes. The empirical focus is on learning in climate policy integration, which carries increasing importance for effective environmental governance as it can help create synergies for economic development and climate mitigation. The European Union is a frontrunner in integrating climate objectives into energy, transport and agriculture policy via regulatory instruments setting overall targets and conditioning financial resources upon compliance. This thesis uses qualitative methods to examine learning in the policymaking aspects of climate policy integration at the examples of the Renewable Energy Directive, its controversial biofuels component and the greening measures in the Common Agricultural Policy. This research makes several original contributions to the agency aspects of environmental governance: the meta-theoretical framework on learning allows a more nuanced analysis of what learning aspects occur in governance such as knowledge- and experience-based learning versus changes in different types of underlying beliefs. It also allows determining the extent to which a policy outcome results from learning or alternative explanations. This contribution clarifies the under-researched link between the learning individual, changes in beliefs and the factors hindering learning from being transferred to the organisational level where policy decisions are made. Policy outcomes resulted predominantly from policy entrepreneurs using previously acquired knowledge and experience to achieve a policy outcome aligned with their pre-formed deeper beliefs and policy objectives. Overall, the thesis provides a fresh perspective on the relevance of learning in the policymaking process and of bureaucrats as policy entrepreneurs.
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Radford, Benjamin. "Misinformation in eating disorder communications| Implications for science communication policy." Thesis, State University of New York at Buffalo, 2013. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=1546959.
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<p> Though eating disorders are a serious public health threat, misinformation about these potentially deadly diseases is widespread. This study examines eating disorder information from a wide variety of sources including medical journals, news reports, and popular social activist authors. Examples of misinformation were identified, and three aspects of eating disorders (prevalence, mortality, and etiology) were chosen as key indicators of scientific illiteracy about those illnesses. A case study approach was then adopted to trace examples of misinformation to their original sources whenever possible. A dozen examples include best-selling books, national eating disorder information clearinghouses; the news media; documentary feature films; and a PBS television Nova documentary program. The results provide an overview of the ways in which valid information becomes flawed, including poor journalism, lack of fact-checking, plagiarism, and typographical errors. Less obvious—and perhaps even more important—much of the misinformation results from scientific research being co-opted to promote specific sociopolitical agendas. These results highlight a significant gap in science communication between researchers, the medical community, and the public regarding these diseases, and recommendations to address the problem are offered.</p>
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Bryson, Maggie. "Global immunization policy making processes." Thesis, University of Ottawa (Canada), 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/28146.
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Despite national immunization programs existing in each country, the national immunization policy development processes are not well described. One approach used to facilitate the process is that of national immunization technical advisory groups (ITAGs) which make technical recommendations to the national government to guide immunization policies and programs. To better understand the current policy making processes of countries across the globe, a systematic review as well as a global level survey were conducted. This thesis summarizes the characteristics of national immunization policy development processes in all countries as well as the existence of national ITAGs and their characteristics and modes of operation. In conclusion, ITAGs are considered a useful tool by countries for immunization policy development but many countries lack this tool and many of the existing groups need strengthening. Additional evaluation of these groups and further research is needed.
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Armstrong, John. "Food security policy in Lao PDR : an analysis of policy narratives in use." Thesis, City, University of London, 2018. http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/21471/.
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Food security has long been a component of the global development project. Over time, extensive definitions and conceptual frameworks for food security have emerged. This thesis explores food security policy discourse in middle income, non-crisis contexts in the Global South. Taking as its research site the Southeast Asian state of the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), the thesis explores how food security is defined as a policy problem, and what solutions are proposed. Using an interpretive analytical approach, the research analyzes authored policy documents and constructed policy texts drawn from interviews conducted between 2011-2013 with 25 international experts to identify narratives emerging from the praxis of formal policy documents, institutional mandates and policy-in practice. The role of international expertise in shaping the national level discourse is explored in detail. Four policy narratives are identified: food security as modernization/economic growth, the smallholder narrative, the nutrition narrative, and food security as development. Particular attention is paid to the totemic status of rice in the discourse. For each narrative, a matrix of problem statements, proposed solutions, key indicators, and supporting institutions is presented. A metanarrative analysis of how these narratives intersect suggests that one of the characteristics of food security conceptually is its inclusiveness, giving it a remit across a range of sectors. This research presents food security as a valence issue, which, by virtue of its expansiveness, provides a platform on which multiple, divergent policy agenda coexist. Despite recognition among experts of serious shortcomings in both the conceptual framework and applied use in policy, this fluidity ensures that food security remains in consistent use, as both a component of national policy and as an artefact of global development discourse at the national level. Because of its continued focus on undernutrition in rural areas, the omission of issues such as overnutrition, urban food systems, and environmental degradation from the discourse, narratives in food security policy are presented as hewing to pre-existing problem statements and solutions. This renders food security an incomplete fit within the policy context of rapidly developing nations in 21st Century Southeast Asia.
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Persson, Åsa Maria. "Choosing environmental policy instruments : case studies of municipal waste policy in Sweden and England." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2007. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/909/.
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European governments have during the last couple of decades shown an interest in new types of environmental policy instruments (EPIs) such as environmental taxes, tradable permit schemes and voluntary approaches, as opposed to relying on traditional forms of regulation. The interest in so-called ‘new’ EPIs (NEPIs) has led many governments to commit both to a more diverse EPI mix and to a policy process characterised by procedural rationality, in terms of considering a wide range of alternative instruments and assessing them in a systematic and transparent way. The first aim of this thesis is to examine the success of the quest for NEPIs at the national level in the field of municipal waste policy in two countries; the UK (England) and Sweden. In addition to mapping out EPI diversity, two contrasting theories on the pattern of adoption of instruments over time are evaluated, specifically focusing on the degree of coercion associated with EPIs. It is found that the waste policy mix in England has become more diverse, while the Swedish mix is characterised by a higher degree of coercion. The second aim is to analyse whether the instrument choice process has become more procedurally rational, and, if so, conducive to the adoption of NEPIs. A range of instrument choice theories at the macro-, meso- and micro-levels drawn from the public policy and political science literature are used to explain whether the ideal of procedural rationality is achievable or not. A case study methodology is used, in which the processes leading to the landfill allowance trading scheme (LATS) in England and and the waste incineration tax in Sweden are studied. It is found that the procedural rationality was higher in the England case, but that it is not a necessary nor sufficient cause for adoption of a NEPI.
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Jarrett, Matthew W. "Non-state actors in Jamaican economic policy." Master's thesis, University of Central Florida, 2011. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETD/id/4778.
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The relevance in understanding local dynamics or political culture is that as Neuman has pointed out, many traditional theories have not taken them into account and have thus failed in explaining political occurrences in the lesser developed world. For example as she has stated, "domestic factors" have not been considered into "systems theories". (Neuman, 1995, p.16) On this basis, it is necessary to point out these local factors, and furthermore, the role of non-state actors within the realm of internal dynamics, since international relations theory also aims to understand the formation and motivation behind economic policy. Therefore, to produce a proper understanding of Jamaican economic policy, specific areas are examined: the political culture of Jamaican politics and the role of non-state actors as they function within the Jamaican state. The two sets of non-state actors are defined as internal and external. The internal consists of two political parties: the People's National Party and the Jamaica Labour Party; and also one social class group: the urban poor. And also, the external consists of: the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. The relationships between these groups and their relationships with the state are examined in order to identify how they affect economic policy. The constructivist theory due to its flexibility in its units of analysis, and its emphasis on "culture", and "worldview" helps to provide a useful framework for the discussion.<br>ID: 031001354; System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader.; Mode of access: World Wide Web.; Title from PDF title page (viewed April 26, 2013).; Thesis (M.A.)--University of Central Florida, 2011.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 95-97).<br>M.A.<br>Masters<br>Political Science<br>Sciences<br>Political Science; International Studies Track
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Demetriades, Marios. "Essays in economics of science, innovation, policy and growth." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2016. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/6712/.
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In this thesis we study the effect of scientific research on economic growth of the EU27 countries for 1981-2010, finding that scientific research determines national growth through patents with a ten-year lag. We also study the effect of funding on scientific research output of researchers and find that national competitive funding and other funding are positively and significantly related to research quality. National competitive funding seems to affect positively research quantity. Internal and EU funding matter only in specific scientific fields. We investigate whether past research productivity determines success in securing competitive funding at the individual level finding a significant and positive association of past cumulative citation-related indicators with the funding decision. We also examine the effect of research output and resources on FP7 applications and success at the country level for the EU28 countries in 2007-2013. We find that for research followers both scientific publications and international collaboration matter for FP7 applications and success and for research leaders, publications matter for FP7 applications and citations matter for FP7 success rates. Finally, we use the principal-agent theory framework to discuss the choices and trade-offs that research policy-makers and researchers face and find that balance in bureaucracy and research orientation within funding schemes can produce optimal results.
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David, Rebecca Brady. "What Makes Water Policy Sustainable? An Analysis of Water Policy in US Cities." Scholar Commons, 2017. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/6647.
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This dissertation works to create a clearer understanding of sustainability in water policy. Current water policy in four US cities was compared to a matrix of recommended sustainability themes that have been presented in the literature to determine the extent of which these themes have been implemented into water policy. To best analyze policy for sustainability it is necessary to look at the policy of cities that are considered sustainable. This was determined by a city’s inclusion in “Most Sustainable US Cities” lists. The two cities that best represented sustainability were Austin, TX and San Francisco, CA. The research also included cities that are not considered leaders in sustainability but are similar in demographics, population, and state; these two cities are Fort Worth, TX and San Jose, CA. Finally, the same matrix was applied to the state policy to establish how state policy influences city sustainability.
The results of this study add to the current knowledge in this field as it contributes a current analysis of sustainable water policy. The final findings compile the themes into a sustainability pyramid framework of common, uncommon, and rare sustainability. It appears that the ‘sustainable’ cities have included more uncommon and rare themes than the traditional cities, while common themes are implemented across the board. Common themes are those that are traditionally associated with sustainability – themes like conservation, reuse, and reducing pollutant impact on water sources. In order increase sustainability, cities should apply more of the themes from the top of the pyramid.
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Bohlin-Andersson, Maria. "Informationsteknik och högskolan : policy och verklighet." Thesis, Högskolan i Borås, Institutionen Biblioteks- och informationsvetenskap / Bibliotekshögskolan, 2000. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hb:diva-18317.
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The main objective of this thesis is to examine the situation concerning information technology, computers and information resources for university students at a selection of universities, and their libraries, in Sweden. Another objective is to compare this situation to what is stated in policy documents on the subject, and if the size of the university matters regarding resources. The thesis starts with a discussion of several authors, Frank Webster, Paul F. Burton and Lars Qvortrup among others, and their views on the information society. These range from whether we are living in it, are in a transition period or are still in the Industrial Society. The important role of information in today's society is established, as is the necessity of computer literacy for today's students. The methods used in the study are questionnaires and the study of policy documents. The results show differences between the universities regarding the range of information resources made available to the students, the small and medium-sized universities generally have better computer resources. A lack of policy documents was also found, despite the government guidelines for all universities to have them. This lack of documents made a comparison difficult, and it showed no evident connection between poor resources and poor or missing policy statements regarding information resources for students.<br>Uppsatsnivå: D
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Wechsler, Barton Jay. "Strategic management of public organizations : studies of puiblic policy making and administration in Ohio /." The Ohio State University, 1985. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1261499865.
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Arroyo, Tiffany L. "Laura's law| A policy analysis." Thesis, California State University, Long Beach, 2015. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=1586845.
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<p> The purpose of this project was to analyze Assembly Bill 1421, known as Laura's Law, from a social work perspective of recovery-oriented care. Gil's framework was used to assess primary and secondary data from journal articles, government publications, and law reviews. A review of the literature was conducted to understand the historical background of coercive mental health treatment. Coercive treatment has been a pervasive problem generated from public fear and misconceptions about the association between mental illness and danger. Laura's Law was established as a result of the murder of 19 year-old Laura Wilcox by an individual with serious mental illness. The law's primary stated objective was to provide preventative mental health services to those identified as most in need before tragedy struck. Significant shortcomings were discovered within the analysis and alternatives to this policy are suggested as well as the implications for social work policy and practice.</p>
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Giannokostas, Vasileios. "Policy-Driven YARN Launcher." Thesis, KTH, Skolan för informations- och kommunikationsteknik (ICT), 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-204461.
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In recent years, there has been a rising demand for IT solutions that are capable to handle vast amount of data. Hadoop became the de facto software framework for distributed storage and distributed processing of huge datasets with a high pace. YARN is the resource management layer for Hadoop ecosystem which decouples the programming model from the resource management mechanism. Although Hadoop and YARN create a powerful ecosystem which provides scalability and flexibility, launching applications with YARN currently requires intimate knowledge of YARN’s inner workings. This thesis focuses on designing and developing support for a human-friendly YARN application launching environmen twhere the system takes responsibility for allocating resources to applications. This novel idea will simplify the launching process of an application and it will give the opportunity to inexperienced users to run applications over Hadoop.<br>De senaste åren har haft en ökad efterfrågan på IT-lösningar som är kapabla att hantera stora mängd data. Hadoop är ett av de mest använda ramverken för att lagra och behandla stora datamängder distribuerat och i ett högt tempo. YARN är ett resurshanteringslager för Hadoop som skiljer programmeringsmodellen från resurshanteringsmekanismen. Även fast Hadoop och YARN skapar ett kraftfullt system som ger flexibilitet och skalbarhet så krävs det avancerade kunskaper om YARN för att göra detta. Detta examensarbete fokuserar på design och utveckling av en människovänlig YARN applikationsstartsmiljö där systemet tar ansvar för tilldelning av resurser till program. Denna nya idé förenklar starten av program och ger oerfarna användare möjligheten att köra program över Hadoop.
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Soo, Jackie. "Point-of-Purchase Food Marketing and Policy Solutions." Thesis, Harvard University, 2016. http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:27201724.
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Background: Food marketing has been implicated as a driver of obesity. However, few studies have examined point-of-purchase marketing in supermarkets and restaurants, or marketing in lower-income countries. Furthermore, policy solutions to counteract marketing and provide consumers with objective nutritional information require evidence of efficacy.
Paper 1. We documented child-oriented marketing practices, product claims, and health-evoking images on 106 cereals sold in Guatemala City, Guatemala. Linear regression was used to evaluate the association between various marketing strategies and nutritional quality. We found that child-oriented cereals had worse overall nutritional quality and higher sugar content compared to non-child oriented cereals. Cereals with health claims were not significantly healthier than those without claims.
Paper 2. Menu items marketed on general and kids’ menu boards and signage were recorded at McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, and Taco Bell throughout the United States in 2010 and 2013. Linear regression was used to model changes over time in nutritional quality of marketed foods and beverages. On general menu boards, marketed items became healthier, improving in overall nutritional quality and decreasing in calories. This pattern was evident in all chains except Taco Bell, where marketed items increased in calories. On general menu boards and signage, while marketed foods improved in nutritional quality, marketed beverages remained the same or became worse. However, on kids’ menu boards, both foods and beverages became healthier.
Paper 3. 1,958 adults completed an online survey. Participants were randomized to one of six labeling groups: No label; Calories per bottle; Traffic light; Warning label; Calories+Warning; Traffic Light+Warning. Differences in purchase intentions and perceptions for SSBs across groups were assessed with ANCOVAs. Single health warning labels on SSBs appeared as effective as single traffic lights or combined calories plus warning labels. Warning labels were most effective when combined with traffic light labels in conveying health-related risks associated with SSB overconsumption.
Conclusions: Although marketed products in fast food restaurants in the United States appear to be showing modest improvements in nutritional quality, the increase in child-oriented marketing on nutritionally-poor items in other countries is concerning. Continued research on nutrition-minded policy solutions is essential.
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Cain, Tyler Joshua. "Central Asian energy policy : cooperative non-zero sum policy on legal status and pipeline issues benefit local and global actors." Honors in the Major Thesis, University of Central Florida, 2008. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETH/id/1068.
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This item is only available in print in the UCF Libraries. If this is your Honors Thesis, you can help us make it available online for use by researchers around the world by following the instructions on the distribution consent form at http://library.ucf.edu/Systems/DigitalInitiatives/DigitalCollections/InternetDistributionConsentAgreementForm.pdf You may also contact the project coordinator, Kerri Bottorff, at kerri.bottorff@ucf.edu for more information.<br>Bachelors<br>Sciences<br>Political Science
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Kitala, Fatuma S. "Family policy in Lithuania : Changes and problems." Thesis, Södertörn University College, School of Social Sciences, 2005. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-392.
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<p>This study endeavours to make an analysis of the major issues that Lithuanian families are facing. In doing so, it is the purpose of the research to uncover the changes and problems that have taken place in Lithuanian society since the country gained independence from the Soviet Union. The Lithuanian case will be compared with Tanzania and other eastern and western European countries. This helps to identify and understand problems that Lithuanian society and families with dependent children have been experiencing.</p><p>The current situation of families in Lithuania is based on traditional model, where men are breadwinners and women are the ones who take care of the households. However, families are undergoing changes whereby, dual model support is taking over, especially to young generation. The two models are functioning in the country but majority of the population prefer traditional model. It is observed that, due to changes and difficulties in life, people have no other way than accepting dual model support. </p><p>Families with children are facing problems which hinder them to develop well in life style. Although the family policy in Lithuania provides family benefits to the families which deserve allowances, still children are in danger of lacking proper care and guidance. Families with dependent children have been experiencing poverty at a high rate that the rest of the population. Families with more than three children are more affected than the ones with fewer children. </p><p>The analysis of this study has shown how the issue of unemployment affects the raising of children. Many citizens have lost their jobs due to privatisation although on the other hand, privatization has been proved to increase the economy of the studied countries.</p><p>This study has also shown that women in Lithuania are more disadvantaged than men. Even if women labour force participation is quite high in Lithuania, still there are many problems. Namely, women in Lithuania have lower wages compared to men; there also few women in the decision making bodies and the parliament. Both Lithuanian and Tanzanian governments have taken measures to encourage women to participate in political arena and labour market. Good relationships within the families have proved to be crucial in good bringing up of the children. The responsibility of bringing up the children is also extended to the relatives.</p><p>All in all provision of family benefits is not the only solution but it has to be associated with education to families and community on how to raise children morally, physically and psychologically so that they become responsible adults. </p>
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Linné, Alexander. "Committing to a tramway through policy development." Thesis, Malmö universitet, Fakulteten för kultur och samhälle (KS), 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-22253.
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This thesis researches a decision-making process culminating in the building of a tramway in Lund, Sweden drawing on theories of institutionalism and isomorphism (DiMaggio & Powell, 1991; Chien 2008; Czarniawska, 2015), and policy development (Flyvbjerg, Skamris holm, & Buhl, 2003). Discourse analysis and a case study is used as methodology to interpret and analyze collected empirical data. The overall objective of this thesis is to find out what role policies play in decisions of urban infrastructure investments. A case study will help to find out if the decision to build a tramway in Lund was influenced by the global phenomenon of cities growing more alike. More specifically, the thesis researches the driving factors behind the decision to build a tramway in Lund and how policies influenced the decision. By doing this, the thesis uncovers and break down what influenced the decision to build a tramway to reveal potential risks or benefits for decision-makers in Lund municipality. The empirical data mostly consists of documents found on the official website (sparvaglund.se) for finding information about the tramway in Lund.The analysis of the empirical data over the tramway project uncover a certain level of local development isomorphism in the decision-making process. The municipality singled out a tramway to be the only feasible public transport mode, that could solve the city’s anticipated capacity problem. The decision formed a sort of singular truth because it is, empirically, the only appropriately investigated alternative. The decision to build a tramway is supported by a couple of policy documents which creates a narrative for a certain political intent. Then, findings in these essential policy documents reveal an intentional or unintentional commitment to a certain degree of local development isomorphism. The thesis concludes that the decision to build a tramway in Lund has been reinforced by consultancy involvement by adopting strategies that are perceived as successful in eliminating risks and abide to external pressures. Resulting in municipalities forming similar, if not identical, solutions to potential problems. Inclusion of consultancy groups may therefore reinforce the tendency of imitation phenomena outlining the future for municipalities in Sweden.
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Leiteritz, Ralf J. "Deutsche Eliten, ihre Universitätsausbildung und Global Public Policy." Universität Potsdam, 2000. http://opus.kobv.de/ubp/volltexte/2007/1159/.
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The author detects some of the causes for the less than satisfactory representation of the German foreign policy elite on the international level within the German university structure. The article also reflects upon the issue of the 'content' of a possible and desirable German 'Weltpolitik' which is seen in Global Public Policy - an example of which is provided and reasons given for the ability of the German elite to be proactively engaged in the promotion and management of Global Public Policy Networks.
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Cuningham, Blake. "Evolutionary algorithms for optimising reinforcement learning policy approximation." Master's thesis, Faculty of Science, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/31170.
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Reinforcement learning methods have become more efficient in recent years. In particular, the A3C (asynchronous advantage actor critic) approach demonstrated in Mnih et al. (2016) was able to halve the training time of the existing state-of-the-art approaches. However, these methods still require relatively large amounts of training resources due to the fundamental exploratory nature of reinforcement learning. Other machine learning approaches are able to improve the ability to train reinforcement learning agents by better processing input information to help map states to actions - convolutional and recurrent neural networks are helpful when input data is in image form that does not satisfy the Markov property. The specific required architecture of these convolutional and recurrent neural network models is not obvious given infinite possible permutations. There is very limited research giving clear guidance on neural network structure in a RL (reinforcement learning) context, and grid search-like approaches require too many resources and do not always find good optima. In order to address these, and other, challenges associated with traditional parameter optimization methods, an evolutionary approach similar to that taken by Dufourq and Bassett (2017) for image classification tasks was used to find the optimal model architecture when training an agent that learns to play Atari Pong. The approach found models that were able to train reinforcement learning agents faster, and with fewer parameters than that found by OpenAI’s model in Blackwell et al. (2018) - a superhuman level of performance.
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Jivetti, Billystrom A. "POLICY ISSUES AND HUMAN-ELEPHANT CONFLICTS IN KENYA." Miami University / OhioLINK, 2004. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1102110034.
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Fairooz, Khalid Moinuddin. "Agricultural policy in the UAE : the views and opinions of policy maker, executives and farmers." Thesis, University of Exeter, 1998. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.263203.
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Czech, Brian. "The Endangered Species Act, American democracy, and an omnibus role for public policy." Diss., The University of Arizona, 1997. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/288737.
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The goal of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) is to conserve species and their ecosystems. The ESA has become a target for weakening and elimination. To analyze the ESA, I employed policy design theory, which states that American public policy is supposed to serve democracy while solving specific problems. Policy design analysis begins with a critique of a policy's logical framework. I identified 13 incorrect assumptions made by the authors of the ESA. Those mistakes do not prevent productive execution of the ESA, but they may result in the extinction of some species. I conducted a nationwide mail survey and found that the social construction of plants, birds, and mammals is more positive than all other species types. Birds have the most political power held in trust by humans. The allocation of ESA benefits is consistent with a model accounting for social construction and political power. Based on the ratio of construction:benefits, those concerned with species conservation may be most productive by focusing their political efforts on plants and amphibians. The ESA is technically criticized for taxonomic prioritization. However, functional genome size, molecular clock speed, and phylogenetic distance are often overlooked. With those factors considered, the taxonomic distinctions of ESA are technically legitimate. The ESA is consistent with the principles of democracy; i.e., equality, freedom of information, public participation, majority rule, and representation. My survey indicates that democracy is valued higher than species conservation, economic growth, and property rights, but no higher than ecosystem health. None of these institutions are valued as high as resources for posterity. A strong majority want ESA unchanged or strengthened, and laws that eliminate habitat degrading subsidies and promote stable populations are desired. The ESA is a logical, technically legitimate, and democratic public policy. I recommend correcting for the incorrect assumptions of the ESA authors, and that policy design theory supplement democracy with ecosystem health as an omnibus role for public policy. However, an assessment of the causes of species endangerment indicates that all conservation efforts are ultimately moot, unless economic growth is abandoned as a national goal, and replaced with a steady state economy.
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Topalian, Teny. "The role of science and scientists in marine environmental policy and management." W&M ScholarWorks, 1986. https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd/1539616878.
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The role of science and scientists in environmental policy and management is and has been an important, complex, and controversial subject for many years. The objective of this study is to determine how science and scientists interact in environmental policy formation and management and how science is or could be used in the development of policy which can ultimately be used as a basis for effective resource management plans. In the very broad sense this study attempts to evaluate the general hypothesis that "Scientists do not play a role in promoting or encouraging science as a means of changing attitudes and opinions of management and the public so as to influence public policy and ultimately environmental management.". The use of science in establishing well developed management plans for coral reef areas in Australia's Great Barrier Reef; Jamaica's - Ocho Rios Marine Park System; St. Croix's - Buck Island; Anguilla; the Netherlands Antilles - including Bonaire and Curacao Marine Parks; Puerto Rico's - La Parguera National Marine Sanctuary; and several of the Florida State reefs such as Key Largo and Looe Key Marine Sanctuaries were examined through analysis of management plans. The second component of the study involved structured interviews with a number of scientists and managers. These individuals included scientists who had been working on coral reefs as well as managers of these systems--individuals who have an interest in formulating public policy as well as those who do not have. The general hypothesis was divided into a number of statements or subhypotheses which were examined to help evaluate the hypothesis. Close-ended questions allowed determination of the reasons why scientists and/or managers feel the way they do in their responses. Appropriate statistics were used to determine if there is a difference in the way scientists perceive their role, as compared to how managers perceive the role of scientists. The null hypothesis that no significant difference exists between attitude of scientists and managers could not be rejected. The general hypothesis was accepted both by scientists and managers.
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Chen, Jia-shin. "Assembling harm reduction policy in Taiwan." Diss., Search in ProQuest Dissertations & Theses. UC Only, 2009. http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:3390036.
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Lewis, Peter M. "Community media : field, theory, policy." Thesis, London Metropolitan University, 2010. http://repository.londonmet.ac.uk/1217/.
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The submission consists of twenty-three outputs, spanning over three decades. These range from books and chapters to reports, journal articles and edited publications. The accompanying commentary aims to set the submitted work in context, demonstrate that it constitutes a coherent whole, and that it makes an independent and original contribution to knowledge and the advancement of the academic field of community media within the discipline of media studies. A number of overlapping contexts are summarised: the socio-historical setting in which the practice of electronic community media first emerged; the ‘personal/professional’ context in which reflection on practical experience led to developments in theory and policy analysis; the academic context of the development of British media studies where at first radio was marginalised and there was no discursive space for the notion of community media, then a later stage where a wider range of theoretical contexts brought community and alternative media into the academic frame. Three main sections discuss, respectively, the candidate’s contribution to the identification and categorisation of community media, the application to it of theoretical perspectives, and the development of policy analysis. All three areas, it is argued, were part of a wider strategy aimed at bringing recognition to the field and which involved activities outside the scope of the submission (advocacy, interventions in mainstream media) but which are part of the context of the submitted work. For that reason an appendix (B) lists all the candidate’s publications on the subject, while others list conference presentations and other relevant activities. In addition, the documentation includes a brief career summary and statements by co-authors.
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Kent, Avidan. "International competition policy and the WTO: Future Pathways." Thesis, McGill University, 2009. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=67049.
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Abstract The process of globalization is changing the world's economic structure as economic borders between countries are being diminished in favour of the creation of a new global market. It seems though that, at least at some fields, this process lacks international thinking. Competition regulation is an example of a field in which international thinking is currently lacking. This paper focuses on the deficiencies that the lack of competition policy creates for international trade, and the obstacles to the acceptance of a competition policy. This paper also examines structural and legislative issues with regard to international competition policy. In this paper, the author aspires to provide a pragmatic breakthrough for this deadlocked situation. Thus several suggestions are proposed on both the legislative and the judicial levels.<br>RésuméLe phénomène de la globalisation occasionne une transformation de la structure économique mondiale en cette ère où les frontières entre les pays sont abolies en faveur de la création d'un nouveau marché global. Il semble cependant, a tout le moins sous certains aspects, que ce processus souffre d'un manque de réflexion à l'échelle internationale. L'encadrement légal de la concurrence constitue l'un de ces aspects.Cette thèse s'intéresse aux carences que l'absence d'une politique de réglementation de la concurrence occasionne sur le marché international ainsi qu'aux obstacles à franchir pour la mise en place d'une telle réglementation. Les questions structurelles et législatives à l'égard de la politique de concurrence internationale seront également étudiées. L'auteur aspire à fournir une solution pragmatique à cette impasse. Aussi, plusieurs solutions seront proposées aussi bien sur le plan législatif que sur le plan judiciaire.
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Sharman, Amelia. "Climate change as a knowledge controversy : investigating debates over science and policy." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2015. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/3239/.
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Understanding climate change as a knowledge controversy, this thesis provides new insights into the form, value and impact of the climate change debate on science and policy processes. Based on 99 interviews in New Zealand and the United Kingdom as well as social network analysis, it provides an original contribution to knowledge by identifying previously unknown sites of knowledge contestation within the climate change debate, in addition to contributory factors, and potential solutions to, debate polarisation. It also addresses a fundamental gap in the literature regarding the impact of controversy on the production of scientific knowledge and policy decision-making. This thesis comprises five standalone papers (Chapters 2-6) which together explore climate change as a knowledge controversy using frameworks from science and technology studies, sociology and geography. Chapter 2 finds that the most central blogs within the climate sceptical blogosphere predominantly focus on the scientific element of the climate debate. It argues that by acting as an alternative public site of expertise, the blogosphere may be playing a central role in perpetuating doubt regarding the scientific basis for climate change policymaking. Chapter 3 suggests that the binary and dualistic format of labels used within the climate debate such as “denier” or “alarmist” contribute towards polarisation by reducing possibilities for constructive dialogue. Chapter 4 investigates rationales for debate participation and argues that identifying and emphasising commonalities between previously polarised individuals may serve to reduce antagonism within the climate change debate. Chapter 5 investigates the impact of controversy on the production of scientific knowledge and finds that climate scientists identify substantial impacts on their agency as scientists, but not on scientific practice. It argues that this distinction indicates that boundarymaking may be understood as a more active and explicit process under conditions of controversy. Finally, Chapter 6 introduces the concept of post-decisional logics of inaction, emphasising the role of place in determining the influence of controversial knowledge claims on climate change policymaking. These findings make explicit the underlying politics of knowledge inherent within the climate change debate, and emphasise the need for a more attentive consideration of the role of knowledge, place and performativity in contested science and policy environments.
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Citron, Albert. "Russian foreign policy in the post-Soviet ERA." Honors in the Major Thesis, University of Central Florida, 2010. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETH/id/1383.
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This item is only available in print in the UCF Libraries. If this is your Honors Thesis, you can help us make it available online for use by researchers around the world by following the instructions on the distribution consent form at http://library.ucf.edu/Systems/DigitalInitiatives/DigitalCollections/InternetDistributionConsentAgreementForm.pdf You may also contact the project coordinator, Kerri Bottorff, at kerri.bottorff@ucf.edu for more information.<br>Bachelors<br>Sciences<br>Political Science
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Nwafor, Chioma Ngozi. "Monetary policy, inequality and financial markets." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2015. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/6407/.
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This thesis examines the reaction of monetary policy to income inequality and the effect of asset price changes and financial sector development on income inequality. The actions of monetary authorities in the U.S and elsewhere during the financial crisis period have had a major impact on financial markets. Given that financial asset prices respond quickly to new information about monetary policy shifts, the Fed’s low interest rate policy stance that started in August 2007 led to a significant increase in asset prices, particularly stock prices. Stock prices appreciation transfers wealth to those households who already own stocks; generally speaking, the wealthier American households. Consequently, it is important to examine empirically the dynamics of monetary policy, asset prices and financial development on income inequality. First, we examined the response of monetary policy to income inequality. We tried to provide empirical answers to the following questions; is there any evidence that monetary policy responds to income inequality? If there is evidence of such a response, what is the nature symmetric or asymmetric? Secondly, is there any significant relationship between changes in stock prices and income inequality? Thirdly, what are the implications of financial sector development on income inequality? This area of literature draws from monetary economics, financial economics and welfare economics disciplines, and has become increasingly important given the massive levels of income inequality that is witnessed around the world. Chapter 2 of this thesis looks at the reaction of monetary policy to income inequality using data from the U.S. We provided evidence of a positive and significant reaction of monetary policy to income inequality measured using the income share accruing to the top 1 percent income earners. We also found evidence of asymmetric reaction of monetary policy to the income of the top 1 percent between 1960 and 2009. In chapter 3 we focused on the role of asset prices on income inequality using data from the U.S. We found that stock market developments and income of the top 1 percent wage earners are well integrated with the direction of causality running from stock returns to top 1 percent income share. One of the practical policy implications of this finding is that monetary policy stance that is directed towards the propping up of asset prices will have a concomitant effect on the income of the top 1 percent income earners. Also in chapter 3 we used the Generalized Methods of Moment GMM to examine the reaction of inequality measured using the income share of the top 1 percent, the bottom 90 percent and the lowest fifth percent households to changes in asset prices. Our task here is to examine whether changes in both financial and nonfinancial assets affects everyone in the top and bottom of the income distribution the same way, or if there are remarkable differences on how these variables affect individuals within the top and bottom income percentiles. Our results detected widespread and subtle effects of asset prices on income at the selected percentiles of the income distribution. These findings hold practical implications for policy makers because the distribution of stocks and homes has important consequences on who benefits from asset prices appreciation and who is hurt by its depreciation. Finally in chapter 4 we analysed the distributional consequences of financial sector development on income inequality using a large unbalanced dataset of 91 countries, classified according to World Bank’s income categories. The results in almost all the models suggested that increasing access to credit for households will reduce income inequality. This finding is important in the light of the potential for using financial development as a policy tool to reduce the widening income inequality around the world.
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Sanchez, Jennifer C. "Seth's Law of 2012| A Policy Analysis." Thesis, California State University, Long Beach, 2018. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10785904.
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<p> The purpose of this study was to conduct a policy analysis of Seth’s Law 2012. Bullying on school campuses is a severe and pervasive problem that has been shown to cause detrimental risk factors and negative outcomes for many LGBTQ youth. This study utilized a qualitative design, collecting data from primary and secondary sources that addressed this legislation. Results indicate that LGBTQ youth are bullied at higher rates than heterosexual youth. Additionally, the results indicated that stricter anti-bullying legislation that holds the Department of Education and its school districts accountable for following such laws is needed. Implications for social work practice, policy, and research were discussed.</p><p>
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Dixon, Zachary Parke. "Material Expertise: Applying Object-oriented Rhetoric in Marine Policy." Scholar Commons, 2016. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/6224.
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This dissertation applies object-oriented rhetorics and posthuman philosophies to environmental policy deliberation in order to help bridge gaps between policy makers, scientists, and citizens. For environmental policy scholars the non-credentialed expertise of local, or indigenous stakeholders is valued as possessing technical, objective merit that can improve the development and implementation of environmental policies. However, the utilization of stakeholder expertise in environmental policy faces serious challenges in terms of finding common grounds for communication within complex techno-social systems, of overcoming deep cultural differences and perceptions, and grave ethical issues of access and power. This dissertation develops two case studies of marine fisheries policy debates using theories of material ontology to detail the process of how the expertise of ordinary citizens develops within the context of environmental policy and how that expertise might be better utilized.
By employing object-oriented rhetorical theories to trace material agency through the Snook and Gamefish’s (SGF) stakeholder integration programs in Florida’s Spotted Seatrout and Common Snook fishery debates, this dissertation argues that a material ontology of expertise offers a means of assessing the quality of lay-publics’ non-credentialed expertise. This dissertation suggests that an enriched since of what material objects are capable of rhetorically helps us develop tangible, actionable tools for environmental policy studies. By understanding expertise in terms of the accretion of material experiences, policy makers and scholars might more easily evaluate and utilize the expertise of environmental policy stakeholders
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Warne, Tara R. "Comparing theories of the policy process and state tuition policy critical theory, institutional rational choice, and advocacy coalitions /." Diss., Columbia, Mo. : University of Missouri-Columbia, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10355/5563.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2008.<br>The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on June 17, 2009) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.
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Button, Lee. "German Foreign Policy & Diplomacy 1890-1906." TopSCHOLAR®, 1990. https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/2206.
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From 1871 to 1914, Germany experienced its first taste of world power and the failure of controlling and retaining that power. German power after 1871 had sought only a dominance of continental politics and a maintenance of a status quo in Europe favorable to Germany. Following 1890, however, the German course deviated to include a vision of world power. German foreign policy until 1890 was based on two things: hegemonic control of the heart of Europe and the force of will of one man, Otto von Bismarck. Yet despite relative control of the European situation and a cautious and able statesman at the helm, Germany was quickly intoxicated by its new power as much as reacting against the almost oppressive control of Bismarck. By all measures, the German appetite for power was growing faster than ordinary diplomatic conquests could satisfy it. The need for instant gratification caused a recklessness in foreign policy and diplomacy best characterized by Krisepolitik, or crisis diplomacy. This dilemma not only resulted from a growing appetite for power, but also from a lack of understanding of international politics. The European reaction to the new German aggressiveness and to the lack of direction in German policy was one of suspicion. With the cancellation of the Reinsurance Treaty with Russian in 1890, every German move was viewed by increasingly hostile eyes. Axes of power began to form which much threatened the growing world power of Germany, a Germany which saw the need to contest the powers on as many points as possible, while avoiding war, to retain its power in the 1890s and the first years of the twentieth century.
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Turnbull, Nicholas James Social Science & Policy UNSW. "Policy in question: from problem solving to problematology." Awarded by:University of New South Wales. Social Science and Policy, 2005. http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/22382.
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Since the postpositivist critique of the policy sciences, policy theory has come into question. More particularly, the ???problem orientation??? upon which Lasswell defined the policy sciences has come into question because policy making does not conform to his problem solving logic. That logic is inadequate. I argue that we must reconsider the problem orientation at a philosophical level to reconstruct it upon a more appropriate foundation. This thesis does not depict how we should conduct policy making but deals with foundational concepts and issues. I draw on Michel Meyer's new philosophy of questioning, problematology, to consider policy theory in terms of questioning and to reconstruct the problem orientation on problematological grounds. The thesis is in two parts. Part I reviews and critiques past policy theory in terms of questioning, commencing from the problem solving basis of Dewey's philosophy and Lasswell???s ???policy sciences???. I criticise this basis and outline how it made politics and argumentation residual aspects of reason. I discuss how the postpositivist critique problematised the policy sciences and how this permits us to pose policy theory itself as a question. Part II answers this question by reconstructing policy theory upon the problematological foundation of knowledge. Meyer???s logic of questioning incorporates problematicity in answering, allowing us to account for the politics of policy. I outline the dynamic nature of the logic of questioning and how it incorporates key concepts of interpretative epistemology; hermeneutics, dialectic, and rhetoric. I conclude by describing policy making as a synthesis of two questions: the policy question and the question of legitimacy.
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Reichenbach, Randall D. "The use of social science knowledge in administrative policy in the state of Ohio." Connect to resource, 1986. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view.cgi?acc%5Fnum=osu1263046408.
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Hellström, Carin. "The policy process of debates in the Swedish Parliament regarding cigarette smoking- 1971 and 2011 : A policy analysis." Thesis, Stockholms universitet, Institutionen för folkhälsovetenskap, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-157468.
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In 2003 a WHO treaty presented the use of cigarettes and tobacco as an international tobacco epidemic: a public health concern that needed to be diminished. Decreasing smoking prevalence can be an effect of individual choice, the social context or of governmental interventions. This master thesis originated in an interest in governmental measures aimed at decreasing the population´s smoking prevalence. The data used in this thesis include records of parliamentary and governmental bills as well as the parliamentary debates in the Swedish Parliament 1971 and 2011. Discourse analysis was used to analyse how the hazards of cigarette smoking in a public health perspective were of any interest to the national political arena of the Swedish Parliament. Fivethemes developed from the documents. The essence of the themes evolved to vision, society structure and tools for policy making. To conclude: forty years of policy making resulted in legislation; a smoking ban was put into place and shift of societal norms.The agenda of tobacco policy making expanded, what was politically acceptable and possible to add to the agenda during forty years varied. There were changes in discourse as well as development of new discourse.
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Rodriguez, Eduardo Xavier. "Redirecting treatment paradigms in global and regional health policy." Honors in the Major Thesis, University of Central Florida, 2010. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETH/id/1487.
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This item is only available in print in the UCF Libraries. If this is your Honors Thesis, you can help us make it available online for use by researchers around the world by following the instructions on the distribution consent form at http://library.ucf.edu/Systems/DigitalInitiatives/DigitalCollections/InternetDistributionConsentAgreementForm.pdf You may also contact the project coordinator, Kerri Bottorff, at kerri.bottorff@ucf.edu for more information.<br>Bachelors<br>Office of Undergraduate Studies<br>Undergraduate Studies
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Pinsker, Nathan. "Phytoremediation of PCB Contaminated Soil: Effectiveness and Regulatory Policy." VCU Scholars Compass, 2011. http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/2404.
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The purpose of this paper was to combine available peer-reviewed literature on PCB phytoremediation and make direct comparisons using ANCOVA statistics in order to determine if and what plants are presently a viable option for the remediation of PCB contaminated soils. Pumpkin (Curbita pepo cv Howden) consistently had the top root and shoot concentrations, as well as total plant accumulation. Their consistency shows that they can be reliable in the field and the most viable option. Tall fescue and sedge were also top contenders. Due to the small sample size for many plants and accounting for several confounding variables, very few of plant species and groups showed to be significantly better at PCB accumulation. PCB phytoremediation can be used in conjunction with other technologies or as an early action plan to begin decreasing PCB concentration levels as well as contain the PCBs, thereby preventing any release.
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Cook, Emilee J. "Older Americans Act of 1965, Title III| A policy analysis." Thesis, California State University, Long Beach, 2013. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=1523330.
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<p> The purpose of this thesis was to conduct a policy analysis of Title III of the Older Americans Act of 1965 (P.L. 106-501 ). The policy was enacted to assist older adults in combating food insecurity and malnutrition. The policy specifies that federal funding be allocated to states, in order for the states to provide both congregate meal programs and home-delivered meal services to older adults. For this reason, a more in-depth analysis of Title III of the Older Americans Act was conducted in this project, in order to better understand the nutritional needs of older adults, and the need for nutritional services for the older adult population. This study utilized David Gil's policy analysis framework to analyze Title III of the Older Americans Act of 1965 and the analysis indicated that its implementation has not produced the policy's intended outcomes and has not produced its intended goals of reducing food insecurity within the U.S. older adult population. </p>
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Wang, Xiaochuan (Sherry). "Three essays on population health and public health policy." Thesis, University of Ottawa (Canada), 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/29270.
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Empowered patient or empowered physician. An analysis of the importance of the gatekeeper in the health delivery system. This paper examines the important role of the gatekeeper in the health delivery system. A simple theoretical model is developed which compares the resource allocation when physicians act as gatekeepers with the decisions taken when patients are empowered. It is shown that even when there is no asymmetry of information---and so patients and doctors are equally able to identify the appropriate therapy---that the institutional arrangement matters. Patients demand more time with physicians when they are empowered whereas physicians want to spend more time developing their expertise when they are empowered. The reaction of physicians and patients to changes in policy instruments also differs across institutional arrangements. The analysis also draws attention to the design of the compensation scheme for physicians, and investigates the benefits of using a non-linear scheme.
Wealth, health, and the pursuit of happiness. This paper provides a theoretical framework to illustrate the relationship between income, utility maximization, and healthy choices. The analysis indicates that the choices of individuals who maximize utility are not the same as those arising were the individual to maximize wellness. In fact, rational individuals will over-eat and under-exercise relative to health maximizing levels. Yet as individuals get wealthier, they have better health. The paper also compares different strategies for health promotion. Income redistribution may lead to a net increase in population health and in social welfare. By contrast, policies that specifically target lifestyle choices may succeed in persuading citizens to choose a health-maximizing lifestyle, but result in a net welfare loss to society.
An empirical investigation of household income and income polices on obesity in Canada. Using the master files of the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS), this paper examines the effect of income on obesity and individuals' body-mass index. An instrumental variable technique is employed to derive consistent estimates of this effect and to take account of the possible endogeneity between income and body weight. It is found that higher income will lead to lower body weight for women, while its effect on the body-weight outcome of men is unclear. This chapter uses the estimates of the relationship between income and body weight to simulate the impact of government income policies---like social assistance and child support---on obesity. It is shown that incomes policies may not only decrease income inequality but may also contribute to a lower incidence of obesity amongst the poorer population thus decreasing overall health care costs.
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KABA, Mustafa. "Essays on empirical political economy and public policy." Doctoral thesis, European University Institute, 2020. https://hdl.handle.net/1814/69197.
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Defence date: 04 December 2020<br>Examining Board: Professor David K. Levine (European University Institute); Professor Arthur Schram (European University Institute); Professor Daniela Iorio (University of Bologna); Professor Cemal Eren Arbatli (National Research University Higher School of Economics Moscow)<br>This thesis is a collection of independent empirical essays in the field of political economy. The first chapter investigates the electoral effects of a local public good provision, using a local food subsidy program that took place in Turkey, 2019. Exploiting the variation in the geographical distances of voters to the food subsidy program groceries, I establish three results. First, the food subsidy program has a statistically significant positive effect on the incumbent vote share. Second, the effects of the program are conditional on partisanship. Although the effects of the incumbent vote share do not change across different partisan groups, the effects on turnout are heterogeneous and countervailing across partisans of incumbent and opposition party. Finally, I find that much of the electoral effects of the program come from areas where voters are uniformly partisans of either party rather than from areas with mixed partisan profiles. The second chapter investigates the evolution of class distinctiveness in economic preferences across countries and over time. To this end, I first develop a new measure of class distinctiveness by using predictive modeling. I then estimate this new measure for 18 European countries for three points in time using micro-level survey data. After validating the newly developed measure, I test whether the variation in the strength of class-based voting can be explained by the class distinctiveness in economic preferences. In the third chapter, co-authored with Nicole Stoelinga, we test whether hosting or bidding on the Olympic games leads to an increase in the exports of the host and bidding countries. Previous studies on this question provide mixed findings and typically suffer from empirical problems such as selection bias. We re-evaluate the problem by applying a synthetic control approach. Our results indicate that hosting or bidding on the Olympic Games may affect exports positively or negatively depending on the countries’ initial reputation in terms of trade.<br>-- 1. The Differential Electoral Returns to a Local Food Subsidy Program -- 2. Class Distinctiveness & Class Voting -- 3. Escaping the Reputation Trap : revisiting the Olympic effect
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Derewiany, Andrew. "U.S. foreign policy toward North Korea 1945 to present." Honors in the Major Thesis, University of Central Florida, 2011. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETH/id/369.
Full textAbstract:
The foreign policy of the United States of America toward the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), commonly known as North Korea, has an important role in maintaining the peace, stability, and security of Eastern Asia. From the partition of the Korean peninsula following World War II to the country's development of nuclear weapons, the foreign policy of the U.S. had to evolve based on the circumstances in North Korea. The United States, along with China, Japan, Russia, and South Korea, have key roles surrounding the discussions with North Korea. The thesis focuses solely on the presidential administrations of Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama; these men had the greatest impact on U.S. foreign policy with North Korea. The thesis takes a qualitative approach of research by using primarily government documents, historical records from presidential administrations, articles from foreign policy journals, and books by foreign policy experts. Throughout the research, two common themes of U.S. relations toward North Korea emerge, uncertainty and defiance. North Korea's secretive regime makes it difficult for U.S. presidential administrations to determine the intentions of North Korea's actions. Furthermore, the uncertainty often leads to defiant and aggressive actions by North Korea. From the USS Pueblo crisis to the bombing of Yeonpyeong Island, presidential administrations had to walk a fine line of responding with aggression, negotiations, or appeasement. The thesis examines not only the options and implementations of each presidential administration, but also looks toward possible solutions for maintaining peace and stability in Eastern Asia by improving relations with North Korea.<br>B.A.<br>Bachelors<br>Sciences<br>Political Science
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Olmos, Peñuela Julia. "Science-Society interactions in the social sciences and humanities:empirical studies of the Spanish Council for Scientific Research." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Politècnica de València, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/31653.
Full textAbstract:
Las interacciones entre los agentes del sistema de innovación son una pieza clave para
el fomento del intercambio de conocimiento, los procesos de aprendizaje y el proceso
innovador. El análisis de las interacciones entre universidades y organismos públicos de
investigación (ciencia) y los agentes del entorno social (sociedad) ha recibido una gran
atención en la comunidad científica, entre otras razones, porque los resultados de estas
interacciones pueden tener implicaciones en el diseño de las políticas de ciencia e
innovación y en la gestión de la organización.
En esta tesis se analizan las interacciones entre los investigadores del área de ciencias
sociales y humanidades (CCSSHH) y los agentes sociales, dado que es un colectivo que
ha sido escasamente estudiado desde esta perspectiva y presenta características
específicas respecto a otros ámbitos científicos. Los tres estudios que componen la tesis
abordan aspectos diferentes del tema objeto de estudio y se basan en datos empíricos
obtenidos mediante encuestas y entrevistas realizadas en el Consejo Superior de
Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC).
El primer estudio pretende averiguar si la utilidad del conocimiento producido en las
CCSSHH es menor que en las STEM (acrónimo inglés para ciencia, tecnología, ingeniería
y matemáticas), tal como los enfoques de las políticas científicas al uso parecen
presuponer al establecer medidas basadas en indicadores difíciles de aplicar a este
colectivo (licencias de patentes, contratos de I+D con empresas, creación de spin off). El
análisis empírico realizado muestra que los resultados de las investigaciones en
CCSSHH no son menos útiles que los de las STEM porque, en ambos casos, hay agentes
sociales interesados en ellos. Sin embargo, se aprecia que el tipo de mecanismo de
colaboración varía entre áreas del conocimiento, al igual que el tipo de agente social con
el cual los investigadores interactúan. Las empresas predominan entre los agentes
sociales con los cuales colaboran los investigadores de las STEM mientras que los de CCSSHH colaboran con un grupo más variado de agentes sociales (i.e. administraciones,
organizaciones no gubernamentales, etc.).
El segundo estudio explora en qué medida los grupos de investigación del área de
CCSSHH se relacionan con una variedad de agentes sociales mediante cauces no
formalizados. Para ello, se realizan dos análisis complementarios (cuantitativo y
cualitativo). Los resultados obtenidos ponen de manifiesto que la mayoría de las
relaciones no se formalizan institucionalmente, lo cual significa que la institución no las
identifica, registra o valora. Sin embargo, la participación en este tipo de colaboraciones
informales, que no tienen necesariamente una contrapartida económica, resulta
atractiva por su coste relativamente bajo (en términos económicos y de tiempo), por la
ausencia de condiciones restrictivas (p. ej. derechos de propiedad, confidencialidad) y
por la existencia de beneficios intangibles para el investigador.
El tercer estudio analiza en qué medida los grupos de investigación de CCSSHH
interactúan con su entorno mediante diferentes actividades de transferencia de
conocimiento (TC) ¿consultoría, investigación contratada, investigación conjunta,
actividades de formación e intercambio de personal¿ e identifica los determinantes de
cada una de ellas. Los resultados indican que las actividades de TC más frecuentes son la
consultoría y la investigación contratada, mientras que el intercambio de personal
representa una actividad marginal entre las analizadas. El estudio de los factores que
determinan la participación en estas actividades de TC muestra que considerar el
potencial uso social de los resultados desde el principio aumenta la participación de los
grupos de investigación en todas las actividades de TC analizadas.
En conjunto, los tres estudios permiten concluir que la investigación en CCSSHH
produce conocimiento y resultados que son de interés para la sociedad. Sin embargo, se
diferencian de otras áreas científicas en los mecanismos de interacción predominantes y
en la variedad de agentes sociales con los que interactúan. Estas conclusiones pueden
tener utilidad práctica para el diseño de políticas destinadas a fomentar el amplio
conjunto de interacciones identificadas, para la mejora de las prácticas de gestión y para
tratar de evaluar las citadas interacciones mediante indicadores capaces de recoger el
amplio espectro de mecanismos identificados en esta tesis.<br>Interactions among agents in the innovation system are critical for the promotion of
knowledge exchange, learning processes and the innovation process. The analysis of
interactions between universities or public research organisations (science) and social
agents (society) has received great attention in the scientific community because,
among other reasons, the results of these interactions can have implications for the
design of science and innovation policies and organisation management.
This thesis analyses the interactions between researchers in the social sciences and
humanities (SSH) and social agents. The SSH community is a collective that has been
little studied from this perspective and presents particular characteristics as compared
to other scientific fields. The three studies included in the thesis address different
aspects of the topic and are based on empirical data obtained through surveys and
interviews conducted in the Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC).
The first study explores whether the knowledge produced by the SSH is less useful than
that produced in STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), as
science policy seems to presume when establishing measures based on indicators
(patent licenses, R&D contracts with companies, creating spin off) that are difficult to
apply to the SSH community. The empirical analysis shows that SSH research outputs
are no less useful than those from STEM because, in both cases, there are social agents
interested in them. However, the preferred type of collaborative mechanism varies
across fields, as does the type of agent with whom researchers interact. Firms are the
prevailing type of agent collaborating with STEM researchers whilst SSH researchers
collaborate with a varied group of social agents (i.e. government, NGOs, etc.).
The second study explores the extent to which SSH research groups engage with a
variety of social agents through non¿formalized collaborations. To do this, two
complementary analyses (quantitative and qualitative) are conducted. Results show
that most of the collaborations are not institutionally formalized, which means that the research organisation does not identify, record or value them. However, engagement in
these informal collaborations, that do not necessarily have an economic counterpart,
are attractive due to the relatively low cost (in time and economic terms) of many such
activities, the absence of restrictive conditions (e.g. IPR, confidentiality) and other
intangible benefits accruing to the researcher.
The third study examines the extent to which SSH research groups interact with social
agents through different knowledge transfer (KT) activities ¿consultancy, contract
research, joint research, training and personnel mobility¿ and identifies the
determinants of each. Results show that the most frequent KT activities are consultancy
and contract research, while personnel exchange is a marginal activity among those
analysed. The study of the factors determining the engagement in these activities shows
that consideration of the social uses of the research outputs from the beginning
enhances research groups¿ engagement in all the knowledge transfer activities analysed.
Overall, the three studies support the conclusion that SSH research produces knowledge
and outputs that are of interest to society. However, differences from other scientific
fields are found in terms of the prevalent type of interaction mechanisms used and the
variety of social agents with whom interactions are established. These findings may
have practical utility for the design of policies aimed at encouraging and enhancing the
range of interactions, for improving managerial practices and for the assessment of
these interactions through indicators able to capture the type of interactions identified
in this thesis.<br>Olmos Peñuela, J. (2013). Science-Society interactions in the social sciences and humanities:empirical studies of the Spanish Council for Scientific Research [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/31653<br>TESIS<br>Premiado
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Chilelli, Aaron James. "The paradox of U.S. foreign policy towards revolutionary states." Honors in the Major Thesis, University of Central Florida, 2009. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETH/id/1256.
Full textAbstract:
This item is only available in print in the UCF Libraries. If this is your Honors Thesis, you can help us make it available online for use by researchers around the world by following the instructions on the distribution consent form at http://library.ucf.edu/Systems/DigitalInitiatives/DigitalCollections/InternetDistributionConsentAgreementForm.pdf You may also contact the project coordinator, Kerri Bottorff, at kerri.bottorff@ucf.edu for more information.<br>Bachelors<br>Sciences<br>Political Science
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Žielys, Povilas. "The Impact of Democracy Protection Policy on Democratic Consolidation: US Policy in Russia, Georgia and Ukraine." Doctoral thesis, Lithuanian Academic Libraries Network (LABT), 2012. http://vddb.laba.lt/obj/LT-eLABa-0001:E.02~2012~D_20120306_095211-50600.
Full textAbstract:
The dissertation examines US democracy protection policy carried out in three post-Soviet countries that had been just moved away from autocratic rule: Russia in 1991-1996; Georgia in 2003-2008; and Ukraine in 2004-2009. It aims to answer the question whether US policy increased or decreased the likelihood of democratic consolidation in new democracies. Based on theoretical insights from the disciplines of both comparative politics and international relations, two novel research instruments are developed: the ‘two scales’ model and the concept of pragmatic democracy protection policy. By employing these two research instruments, it is revealed that US national security interests have had a distorting impact on US democracy protection policy towards Russia, Georgia and Ukraine. Due to its interest in the cooperation with leaders in power, the US did not apply the principal of democratic conditionality in bilateral relations with the three post-Soviet countries and did not deter the non-democratic behaviour of their governments. Such US policy decreased the likelihood of democratic consolidation. Furthermore, US security interests corrupted US-funded democracy assistance programmes in two out of three cases (in Russia and Georgia). Instead of enabling the opposition and civil society in new democracies, these programmes increased the asymmetry of political playing field and limited the capability of civil society to control the government. This also decreased the likelihood of... [to full text]<br>Disertacijoje nagrinėjama JAV demokratijos gynimo politika, vykdyta trijose iš autokratinio režimo ką tik išėjusiose posovietinėse valstybėse: 1991–1996 m. Rusijoje, 2003–2008 m. Gruzijoje ir 2004–2009 m. Ukrainoje. Siekiama atsakyti į klausimą, ar JAV politika didino, ar mažino šių naujųjų demokratijų konsolidavimo tikimybę. Sujungiant dviejų disciplinų – lyginamosios politikos ir tarptautinių santykių – teorines įžvalgas, darbe konstruojami du nauji tyrimo įrankiai: „dvejų svarstyklių“ modelis ir pragmatinės demokratijos gynimo politikos koncepcija. Pasitelkiant šiuos tyrimo įrankius atskleidžiama, kad ir Rusijos, ir Gruzijos, ir Ukrainos atveju JAV nacionalinio saugumo interesai darė iškreipiantį poveikį JAV vykdytai demokratijos gynimo politikai. Būdamos suinteresuotos bendradarbiavimu su valdžioje buvusiais posovietinių valstybių lyderiais, JAV netaikė sąlygiškumo principo dvišaliuose santykiuose ir neatgrasė naujųjų demokratijų valdžios nuo nedemokratiškų veiksmų. Tokia JAV politika mažino demokratijos konsolidavimo tikimybę. Be to, dviem atvejais (Rusijoje ir Gruzijoje) JAV saugumo interesai darė neveiksmingomis ir JAV finansuotas paramos demokratijai programas. Užuot įgalinusios naujųjų demokratijų opoziciją ir pilietinę visuomenę, šios programos didino politinio žaidimo lauko asimetriškumą ir ribojo pilietinės visuomenės galimybes kontroliuoti valdžią. Tai irgi mažino naujųjų demokratijų konsolidavimo tikimybę.
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Tariq, Mohammad. "Federal energy policies causes and impacts." Thesis, Georgia Institute of Technology, 1986. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/28859.
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