Academic literature on the topic 'Public policy – congresses'

This article is a policy analysis that considers how the policy option of using federal programs to promote educational choice was proposed and debated in the 106th and 107th Congresses. This debate was part of the reauthorization of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) between 1999 and 2001. Over the past 20 years, Congress has debated numerous variants of private school voucher plans. The account demonstrates how the positions of the Clinton and Bush administrations, the 2000 presidential election, think tanks’ advocacy of educational privatization, and public opinion shaped congressional action. The article explains why private school voucher proposals failed to pass in two consecutive Congresses, when the Republicans held control of both houses for three of the four sessions. The article draws on interviews with congressional aides and members of interest groups during the ESEA reauthorization process, and it applies John Kingdon's framework on agenda formation to explain the persistence of alternatives for privatization within Title I. The issue of school choice in Congress reveals the limits of the GOP's ideological unity—that is, that there could be demands from Republican Party leadership to include vouchers in Title I, but President George W. Bush chose to steer his party away from those demands.

Abstract How does the Philippine Senate fare as an institutional check to the policy proposals made by the House of Representatives? The study examines a facet of bicameral policymaking by analyzing the type of measures likely to receive attention in the Philippine Senate, and the propensity by which these measures are passed into legislation. Contrary to views that portray deliberative processes in second chambers as redundant and time-consuming, the paper argues that this prerogative is institutionally functional as it affords a mechanism for checking the informational quality of legislative policies skewed by particularistic demands at the lower house. Analyzing the event histories of 10,885 bills filed and deliberated at the Philippine Senate between the 13th and the 16th Congresses, we find that policy proposals pertaining to education, health, and public works – the most frequent areas of particularistic legislative measures at the lower house – are less likely to be passed into law in the Senate even though overall they comprise the bulk of legislative proposals in the Philippine Congress. The findings are robust even when controlling for other political and institutional determinants of legislative attention.

The system of actions that is developed in the Instituto Superior Tecnológico Bolivariano de Tecnología (ITB) is a dynamic and integral process of the institutional management model as it is a substantive axis for the quality culture policy, the transformations in the functional structure of research had the objective of implementing a system of actions for the management of technical and innovative scientific knowledge, for which a policy of strengthening and supporting scientific production was developed, which began with the training of research teachers, creation of the Center for Management of Scientific Information, creation of the ITB publishing house, the Bolivarian Projection magazine and the knowledge socialization policy, for the institutional presence in national and international congresses, the results were evidenced in the accreditation process where u n quantitative result corresponds to 71.41%; being 118.79% higher than the average of the country's higher technical and technological institutes. In conclusion, these results regarding research position the ITB as a reference in the contribution to knowledge with more than 49 research projects, 7 teachers accredited as researchers in SENESCYT, participation in 9 research networks, the annual organization of 3 international congresses endorsed by UNESCO, the Ministry of Public Health, the National Institute for Educational Evaluation, among others, 79 presentations at international conferences, 22 articles in high-impact indexed journals and more than 10 books published with the ITB publishing seal recognized by the Ecuadorian Book Chamber.

INTRODUCTION:Solid organ and hematopoietic cell transplantation are some of the more expensive procedures universally paid by the public Brazilian Unified Healthcare System (SUS). Transplanted patients depend on maintenance immunosuppression to prevent death or graft loss. A bottom-up heuristic process proposed new immunosuppression drugs for incorporation into the SUS.METHODS:Systematic evidence synthesis and Brazilian transplantation registries base-cases, Kaplan-Myer survival and economic assessments were presented in specialized national congresses with open public Delphi sessions to build professional Clinical and Therapeutic Protocols (PCDT) by consensus. Five consensus transplantation PCDTs with a SUS perspective budget impact and sensitivity analysis were submitted to the Health Ministry SUS Technology Incorporation National Commission (CONITEC) plenary for a decision. PCDTs were publicized in CONITEC Internet and Diário Oficial da União, an, official periodic publication, as well as undergoing widespread dissemination through mailings for Public Consultation. Public contributions were added to PCDTs to support Health Ministry policy making.RESULTS:The São Paulo State Health Secretariat coordinated the synthesis and economic assessments made by 115 experienced transplantation specialists and health technology evaluators over ten years. Heart, lung, liver, pancreas and hematopoietic cells transplantation PCDTs (with tacrolimus, sirolimus and everolimus alternative immunosuppression) can significantly prevent 27.8 percent, 28.1 percent, 7.2 percent, 11.1 percent and 4.3 percent graft loss or graft versus host disease and death, respectively, for refractory transplantees rescue during the first year post-transplantation, saving healthcare resources. Ten-year follow-up data demonstrated partial benefits were sustained. Analysis demonstrated +USD689,655.17, +USD501,567.40, -USD377,802.51, +USD221.289,42 and +USD50.734,08 budget impact, respectively, resulting in an overall USD1,085,443.55 for 2,146 transplantees. The 5 PCDTs were favorably voted by CONITEC plenary members, 155 public contributions were added by patients and stakeholders, and the Brazilian Health Ministry decided to adopt the SUS reimbursement listing.CONCLUSIONS:Democratic participation gave PCDTs real-world basis adjustments, SUS innovation and improved compliance.

AbstractHow do political leaders politicise welfare state “reform pressures”, e.g. unemployment, ageing or globalisation, in election campaigns? Competing expectations range from no politicization at all to a clear and unbiased coupling between pressures and intended policy responses. Eighteen speeches held by prime ministerial candidates at election-year party congresses in Germany, Norway and Sweden (2000–2010) reveal an unfinished and biased problem-solution coupling. On the one hand, even in these affluent countries pressures are frequently politicised. On the other hand, leaders either cherry-pick less painful policy solutions, or refrain altogether from debating them. So, while citizens learn that the welfare state is pressured, they are not exposed to the full range of policies they increasingly have reason to expect after elections.

There is currently limited direct evidence of how sponsorship of scientific conferences fits within the food industry’s strategy to shape public policy and opinion in its favour. This paper provides an analysis of emails between a vice-president of The Coca-Cola Company (Coke) and prominent public health figures in relation to the 2012 and 2014 International Congresses of Physical Activity and Public Health (ICPAPH). Contrary to Coke’s prepared public statements, the findings show that Coke deliberated with its sponsored researchers on topics to present at ICPAPH in an effort to shift blame for the rising incidence of obesity and diet-related diseases away from its products onto physical activity and individual choice. The emails also show how Coke used ICPAPH to promote its front groups and sponsored research networks and foster relationships with public health leaders in order to use their authority to deliver Coke’s message. The study questions whether current protocols about food industry sponsorship of scientific conferences are adequate to safeguard public health interests from corporate influence. A safer approach could be to apply the same provisions that are stipulated in the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control on eliminating all tobacco industry sponsorship to the food industry.

The international situation of Russia and its foreign policy were a subject of discussions within the framework of various currents of public thought in the 19th century. However, Russian conservatives, concerned about the future of the country in a changing world, paid special attention to these issues. The conservative concept emerged and evolved in the course of reflections and polemics on Russia's place in the world and the relationships between foreign policy and domestic development. The emphasis in such discussions was placed on the era of Peter the Great, when Russia had become part of the system of international relations, declared its geopolitical interests and begun to implement them consistently. In fact, in Peter's time, the Westphalian system, in which Russia was assigned a clearly peripheral role, was replaced by a new European order based on the Congresses in Utrecht, Rastatt and BadenЯ(1713-1714), on the results of the Great Northern War (1700-1721) and the Treaty of Nystad (1721). Under these new conditions, Peter the Great showed not only continuity with his predecessors' policies but also outlined the main foreign policy vectors, which Russia followed throughout the 18th century and, as conservative thinkers pointed out, the whole of the 19th century.

In 1651 the local nobility, who had gathered for the dietine meetings in Lviv on May 26, in the resolution approved at that time named Lviv as the “capital” city. This was the first time in the dietines documents of the Ruthenian voivodeship declared the capital status of this voivodship center, although members of the general regional diet in Vyshnya repeatedly (and since the first interregnum in the history of the Commonwealth) mentioned Lviv in their resolutions, granting requests from burghers or trying to interfere in city life. The documents of general (Vyshnya) regional diet of the Ruthenian voivodeship reflected the image of Lviv in the eyes of local nobility. Previously they consisted of the resolutions on the city affairs concerning conflicts between nobility and the city, different aspects of a city life, and resulted from examination of different sorts of complaints from and against townspeople. Nobility most often perceived Lviv as a place where public institutions were based and various public events were held. The participants of Vyshnya regional diet did not have any purposeful policy concerning Lviv: the interference of nobility into city business had incidental character and resulted from requests or complaints submitted by the city council, certain groups of a city society or individuals. In general, the dietines of the Ruthenian voivodeship during the period researched served as centers of social and political life for the nobility. They functioned as dependable channels of communication between the ruler and his subjects. The regional elites had a chance to voice their positions on the national level. The events in the middle of the 17th century had impact on the perception of Lviv by the local nobility as the capital of the Ruthenian voivodeship. The siege of 1648, albeit withstood by the city, revealed the possibility of its loss and caused concern for its defensive ability. Military action necessitated various public events in a well-protected place, such as Lviv, so dietines and congresses began to gather here more often (on June 4, 1648, the congress of the Lviv district gathered after the death of king Vladislav IV and before the diet, convened by the primate; on July 5, 1650, the nobility of Lviv district, who had gathered in the city for a session of the local land court, spontaneously held a congress and approved a declaration on the situation with the circulation of coins in the country; on May 26, 1651, the dietine of Lviv district was convened in accordance with the royal universal before the gathering of the noble militia to take part in a military campaign). The significant presence of gentry from other voivodeships in the city at that time, even holding its dietine meetings here (including dietine of the Bratslav voivodeship of 1649, on September 9, when were elected four ambassadors to the sejm: Bratslav land judge Maximilian Ochesalsky, Kyiv official Michal Aksak, Bratslav official Stanislav Zhevusky and N. Korytsky), had to crystallize in the minds of the nobility of the Russian voivodeship the interpretation of Lviv as “their” “capital” city. The perturbations of wartime raised the question of the city status – “capital” or “border” i.e., the war became a catalyst for socio-political processes and changes in mentality.

The article analyzes the agitation of Greek Catholic priests in Eastern Slovakia in the 1920s to join Transcarpathian Ruthenia and introduce the Ukrainian language in schools and state institutions. The territory of propaganda distribution has been determined. The center of agitation was Presov, where the Ruthenian league union, which included Greek Catholic priests, operated. The article describes the course and requirements of the Rusyn/Ukrainian congresses: the annexation of Western Rusyn counties to autonomous Subcarpathian Rus, the introduction of the Russian written language in schools and governments, and the admission of local residents to public service. Along with educational requirements, the idea of annexing the ethnic Ruthenian territories of eastern Slovakia to Subcarpathian Rus became a significant direction of agitation. It was found out that the propaganda movement contributed to consolidation, politicization, and caused opposition from the authorities. The article describes the official government position on the Propaganda Movement. It is determined that 1921–1923 is a period of active agitation, and the decline of the movement begins in 1924. The holding of the Ruthenian people’s Congress in Presov on September 7, 1925, demonstrated an attempt at National Unification of Ukrainians. Delegates and guests discussed the socio-economic situation of the Ruthenian people, the political situation, and the requirements for education. The resolution adopted by the Congress notes the need to increase the number of educational institutions of various levels for the Ruthenian population in Slovakia, equalize the rights of teachers of Greek Catholic schools with teachers of Public Schools. These attempts at ethnopolitical consolidation were leveled by the Czechoslovak press and evaluated skeptically. The author claims that the agitation movement of Greek Catholic clergy among Rusyns/Ukrainians in eastern Slovakia in the first half of the 1920s was the result of Slovak domestic policy and its practical idea of rapid assimilation of national minorities. The Propaganda Movement in eastern Slovakia developed in two directions: for joining/uniting Transcarpathian Ruthenia and demanding the introduction of national schools and, accordingly, the language of instruction.

Human sex trafficking is a significant issue in the modern world. The International Labor Organization has estimated that 4.5 million people are the victims of forced commercial sexual exploitation worldwide. The United States' laws on human sex trafficking can be found in 22 U.S.C. -§7104 Prevention of Trafficking, and promulgate the strategy of prevention of trafficking, protection of trafficking victims, and punishment of traffickers. Under the terms of 22 U.S.C. -§7104, federal contractors can be penalized if any of their employees or subcontractor employees engage in a commercial sex act. The reliance on the private sector to curb sex trafficking through federal contracts is a nuance, and there is a gap in the literature regarding the Congressional rationale for creating a federal contract policy that places federal contractors in the position of being liable for the off-duty activities of their employees. This research question focused on understanding this shift in usage of federal contract policy to influence individual behavior expressed in this Act. A content analysis of documents was performed which relied on official U.S. government documentation, including transcripts of Congressional hearings. The findings indicate that the legislation was a tactical response to a pair of scandals involving U.S. personnel overseas, combined with a belief in money as a motivating force, international political factors, and moral certainty among elected officials that the Federal Government had to 'do something.' Positive social change was addressed in the process of this study by providing greater insight into the legislative thought process regarding federal procurement related statutes, and by providing future reformers with additional information regarding effective legislative strategies.

Thesis advisor: Marc Landy
By examining the interactions between the presidency and the other branches of government, research illuminates the causes and mechanisms by which the presidency, and its power, ebbs and flows. Due to the nature of the powers directly granted to the president within the Constitution, much consideration has been given to presidential power through the prisms of national security, international affairs, and times of national emergency. Yet the presidency consists of more than the roles of commander- and diplomat-in-chief. By looking beyond the more obvious considerations of presidential power, the complexity of the institution’s development is not only revealed, but more fully explained. Consequently, this dissertation analyzes the development of presidential power by looking at the less obvious. It considers the use of formal executive tools to implement congressionally delegated and supported authority in an area of domestic policy: the creation of federally protected public lands. Instead of seeking to understand how the use of presidential power impacted an area of public policy, this research flips that perennial question on its head by asking: how has public land policy contributed to the development of presidential power? The research presented here shows, through the analysis of five public land categories, that the consistent application of executive power within this policy realm, combined with Congressional acceptance of this application, enhanced the overall power of the American presidency
Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2016
Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Discipline: Political Science

The Christian Right has been a major contributor to the policy process since the 1980s, helping shape the national agenda by illuminating a number of social issues and influencing elections with strong grassroots campaigns. For political scientists, Christian Right organizations provide a rich source of information for studying interest group activity, electioneering, and general political theory. In particular, their efforts to lobby various policy issues such as prayer in school, education, abortion, and traditional marriage, has caused them to become a distinct coalition of advocacy groups, and the focus of much research by many scholars. However, as we advance into the twenty-first century, new biotechnology-related issues have emerged that challenge Christian Right organizations and their values. The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate the involvement of the Christian Right between 2001 and the beginning of 2009 in legislative debates regarding stem cell research policy, and attempt to distinguish its effective and non-effective lobbying strategies, and the general perception of its influence. This study addressed three research questions. First, to what extent do Christian Right organizations participate in the legislative process regarding stem cell research? Second, what is the perceived influence of its lobbying activities on federal stem cell research legislation? Third, in what ways does the Christian Right engage in lobbying legislators on stem cell research legislation? Within these broad research questions, the following subsequent study objectives were pursued: 1) learn about the reasons for the Christian Right’s influence or lack of influence; 2) understand the goals of its advocacy efforts; 3) learn about its use of outside and inside lobbying strategies; 4) better understand the approach used by Christian Right organizations in lobbying legislators who were undecided about a particular stem cell research legislation; 5) learn about the kind of rhetoric it used; and 6) find out what, if any, forms of coalition building it engaged in as part of its advocacy efforts. In addition, this study examined why legislators voted against the majority of their political party when it came to stem cell research legislation. The epistemological approach for this study was qualitative. Data consisted of verbal responses to semi-structured questions during telephone interviews with representatives from Christian Right organizations, advocacy groups that support the expansion of stem cell research policy, former legislators, and current staff members. In addition to the in-depth interviews, data was also obtained through organizational and government documents. Finally, this dissertation analyzed the Christian Right and its participation in the development of stem cell research legislation through the lens of the advocacy coalition framework. In doing so, the study captures of the essence of the stem cell debate and the role of the Christian Right within it, and offers a new theoretical framework for examining the Christian Right.

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CAPES
A pergunta a que esta tese pretende responder é: os parlamentares são omissos ao debate da política externa? Para isso, levanta-se elementos que possibilitam a compreensão sobre o interesse congressual na política externa, especificamente, na tramitação dos atos internacionais. O período da análise compreende os anos de 1988 a 2014 e será realizada tanto para a Câmara dos Deputados quanto para o Senado Federal. É comum encontrar na literatura especializada argumentos que focam nos conceitos de delegação, abdicação ou participação limitada pelas regras constitucionais. A partir desta bibliografia foram esquematizados seis objetivos específicos: 1) identificar os instrumentos de atuação na arena legislativa nos temas da política externa; 2) explorar as possíveis conexões entre a atuação parlamentar e a intervenção do Executivo; 3) pesquisar se há relação entre a atuação parlamentar e o tipo de ato internacional; 4) examinar a atuação parlamentar focando na relação governo versus oposição, partidos políticos (ideologia) e interesses locais das bases eleitorais; 5) investigar a formação profissional/acadêmica dos deputados e senadores (expertise); e 6) analisar empiricamente a política externa como política pública. Utiliza-se o multimétodo, isto é, a visão metodológica que é a favor da combinação consciente dos instrumentos analíticos qualitativos e quantitativos. E, por fim, as principais conclusões do trabalho vão no caminho oposto daquele defendido por grande parte dos pesquisadores da área.
The question that this thesis aims to answer is: are the parliamentarians silent in the debate on foreign policy? For this, it raises elements that enable the understanding of congressional interest in foreign policy, specifically in dealing with international acts. The period of analysis covers the years 1988-2014 and will be held for both the House of Representatives and the Senate. It is common to find in the specialized literature arguments that claim that constitutional rules limit delegation, abdication and participation. From this bibliography were outlined six specific objectives: 1) to identify the instruments of legislative action on issues of foreign policy; 2) to explore the possible connections between the parliamentary action and the intervention of the Executive; 3) to investigate whether there is a relationship between the parliamentary action and the kind of international act; 4) to examine the parliamentary action, focusing on the relationship government versus opposition, political parties (ideology) and local interests of the constituencies; 5) to investigate the professional and/or academic education of deputies and senators (expertise); and 6) to empirically analyze foreign policy as public policy. It is used the multi-method, i.e., the methodological vision that is in favor of conscious combination of qualitative and quantitative analytical tools. Finally, the main conclusions indicate the opposite direction from what most researchers have been advocating.

Book Summary: Offering a unique resource for students, scholars, and citizens, this work fully explains all of the 21 enumerated powers of the U.S. Congress, from the "power of the purse" to the power to declare war. • Presents comprehensive coverage of all congressional powers through authoritative essays by recognized experts • Enables readers to connect the long-ago goals and perspectives of the Founding Fathers to current issues and controversies • Facilitates a fully contextualized understanding of the legislative power of Congress―and the extent and limitations of leverage that it can wield on domestic and foreign policy • Provides an accessible gateway to further, more detailed research of each of the individual congressional powers • Includes appendices containing the full texts of the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union and the Constitution of the United States

During the last four decades, precisely from the early 1970s, U.S. foreign policy has played a dominant role in the U.S. political landscape. The current political discourse is predominantly marked by divided government, polarized politics and gridlock. Such a contentious political environment has proved to be detrimental for efficient and effective policy-making in foreign policy. There are significant factors that profoundly complicate the process of decision making and congressional-presidential relations. Partisan and ideological differences under the conditions of divided government are dominant in the current political process and in turn affect the prospects of legislative-executive consensus and dissension. Other factors such as media salience, public opinion, and electoral imperatives also complicate the dynamics of legislative-executive relations. In an era in which heightened political brinkmanship has enveloped Washington politics, continuum of consensus and dissension between Congress and the president on strategic foreign policy issues has virtually become a norm. This dissertation examines the dynamics of legislative-executive relations in two high politics U.S. foreign policy issue areas of treaty process and war powers. It appears that in contemporary U.S. foreign policymaking the trajectory of a continuum of legislative-executive consensus and dissension is a new normal and potentially irreversible, as Congress and the president try ardently to preserve their respective constitutional prerogatives.

Empirical investigation across these two issue areas demonstrates a new era of a resurgent Congress marked by its greater assertive role and acting as a consequential player in the foreign policy domain. The passage of the War Powers Resolution in 1973 by Congress, overriding a presidential veto, has profound implications in the modern political landscape. It was a pivotal moment that permanently transformed the future road map of congressional-presidential relations. Since then the U.S. political system has been relentlessly experiencing an institutional power struggle in the foreign policy domain. Findings suggest that when Congress determines to confront the president and exercise its constitutional responsibilities it becomes very difficult for the president to overcome such congressional resistance. Interbranch competition has virtually created a consistent trajectory of a continuum of legislative-executive consensus and dissension in the foreign policy decision-making process.

Orientador: Valeriano Mendes Ferreira Costa
Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas
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Resumo: A partir de meados dos anos 90 do século XX até os dias atuais, parte da literatura internacional sobre criminalização, segurança pública e justiça criminal (sobretudo nos EUA e Inglaterra) sinalizou o abandono da política criminal tradicional - chamada de penal welfarism. Esta política, baseada na tradição liberal dos direitos humanos e pautada no ideal de ressocialização do criminoso, teria sido substituída por uma política penal mais dura, abrangente e agora mais voltada para a defesa social. Modificou-se o funcionamento estratégico da justiça penal contemporânea e sua importância. A partir desse enquadramento teórico geral, este trabalho analisa quais foram as políticas criminais adotadas pelo Parlamento brasileiro. Para isso analiso a produção das principais leis aprovadas em segurança pública e justiça criminal no Congresso Nacional brasileiro no período de 1989 a 2006. Divido a pesquisa em dois momentos: i) um mapeamento do material apontando quais são os partidos, estados e casas proponentes; mandatos presidenciais que sancionaram as leis; número de leis aprovadas por ano e o tempo de tramitação das leis de acordo com a casa propositora; ii) os tipos gerais (modelos) de punição propostos pelas normas. Proponho nas considerações finais que é possível pensar: coexistências na política criminal entre criminalização, recrudescimento penal e leis que despenalizaram ou buscaram efetivar direitos dos réus; ii) apesar da coexistência ou (e) sobreposição entre estes domínios na política criminal, o Parlamento e o Executivo 'escolhem' o uso simbólico do Penal como forma fundamental de resolução de conflitos, a partir de demandas estatais (ou da sociedade civil) por maior (ou mais pesada) criminalização de condutas
Abstract: From the mid-90s of the twentieth century until today, part of the international literature on criminality, public safety and criminal justice (primarily in the U.S. and England) signaled the abandonment of traditional criminal policy - called the penal welfarism. The policy, based on the liberal tradition of human rights and on the ideal of social resocialization of criminals, would have been replaced by a tougher criminal justice policy, more comprehensive and now more focused on social defense. The strategic functioning of criminal justice and its contemporary relevance has changed. From this general framework, this research examines the criminal policies which were adopted by the Brazilian Parliament. To that end, I analyze the production of the major laws approved on public safety and criminal justice in the Brazilian Parliament in the period from 1989 to 2006. The research is divided into two different moments: i) a mapping of the material indicating which are the proponent parties, states and houses; presidential mandates, the number of laws adopted per year and the time of the drafting of laws in according to the proponent house ii) the general types (models) of punishment proposed by the laws. I propose in my final considerations that: the coexistence in Brazilian criminal policy of criminalization and the stiffening of criminal laws/expansion of rights in Brazil. Despite this coexistence or (and) overlap between these areas, the Parliament and the Executive 'choose' the symbolic use of the penal laws as a fundamental form of conflict resolution from state (or civil society) demands for more extensive (or heavier) criminalization of conducts
Mestrado
Ciencia Politica
Mestre em Ciência Política

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Esta dissertação teve como objetivo descrever e analisar quantitativamente e qualitativamente a produção legislativa que trata da questão da saúde, em tramitação, nos anos de 2007 e 2008, no Congresso Nacional. Foi realizado um estudo descritivoexploratório com corte transversal e abordagem quantitativa e qualitativa. O material de análise do estudo foi constituído por 112 projetos de lei em tramitação na Comissão de Seguridade Social e Família (Câmara dos Deputados) e 32 projetos de lei na Comissão de Assuntos Sociais (Senado Federal), relacionados à saúde, com data de apresentação entre janeiro de 2007 a dezembro de 2008. A pesquisa teve duas fases distintas: na primeira fase foi realizada uma pesquisa quantitativa através da estratificação, classificação e análise dos Projetos de Lei. Na segunda fase houve uma abordagem qualitativa através de um questionário com perguntas fechadas a um grupo de profissionais que atuavam no sistema de saúde, com a finalidade de avaliar a relevância, viabilidade, alinhamento estratégico e impacto dos projetos selecionados. Ao final da pesquisa, os seguintes resultados foram obtidos: das 144 proposições, 57,6% dos PL’s selecionados foram apresentados no ano de 2007 e 42,4% em 2008. O PT (12,5%) foi o partido político que mais apresentou PL's seguido do PMDB (11,1%) e PSDB (10,4%). Apenas 25,7% dos parlamentares que apresentaram PL's relacionados à saúde são da área da saúde. Um ano após a coleta de material de análise do estudo, foi verificado que a maioria (93,7%) dos PL's continuava em tramitação, 4,9% foram arquivados e apenas 1,4% foram transformados em Norma Jurídica. Quanto ao foco de atenção dos projetos de lei relacionados à saúde, mais da metade (57,7%) dos PL's estava relacionada com o Sistema Público de Saúde e apenas 4,2% se referem à natureza orçamentária (financiamento da saúde). Em relação aos resultados do questionário aplicado, 78,1% dos respondentes encontravam-se insatisfeito/muito insatisfeito com o Poder Legislativo e 41,8% dos respondentes classificaram o Sistema Público de Saúde como ruim/péssimo. Já no Sistema Privado de Saúde, apenas 9,6% o consideraram ruim/péssimo. Quanto aos critérios avaliativos dos projetos de lei, mais da metade (51,5%) dos respondentes declararam que não entenderam no PL a forma de viabilizar (Viabilidade) o proposto, 40,6% responderam que não existe relevância nos projetos de lei apresentados, 52,7% responderam que não existe alinhamento estratégico às prioridades e às políticas de saúde do país e 52,5% disseram que a recusa do projeto de lei não traria impactos negativos e/ou seria prejudicial para a sociedade brasileira. Quando simulado uma consulta pública, mais da metade (54,4%) respondeu que aprovaria o projeto de lei que analisou, 30,1% reprovariam e 10,1% se abstiveram da escolha. Por meio dos dados deste estudo, pôde-se perceber que a produção legislativa, no âmbito da saúde, é baixa; os parlamentares com formação acadêmica na área da saúde produzem pouco (25% da amostra) e a transformação dos projetos de lei em Norma Jurídica é mínima (apenas 1,4% da amostra). Outro aspecto importante verificado foi o alto índice de insatisfação com o Poder Legislativo e com o Sistema de Saúde Público Brasileiro, além da baixa qualidade da produção legislativa no Congresso Nacional.
This dissertation had the objective to describe and analyse qualitatively and quantitatively the legislative production which deals with health, at the National Congress, happening in 2007 and 2008. It was done a descriptive-exploratory study with transverse cut and quantitative and qualitative approach. The material of analysis from the study was constituted by 112 draft bills which were performed at Social Security and family (House of representatives) and 32 draft bills at the Social Subjects (Federal Senate), related to health, which were performed from January 2007 to December 2008. The research had two distinctive phases, at the first phase there was a quantitative research through stratification, classification and analysis of the draft bills. At the second phase there was a qualitative approach made through a questionnaire containing closed questions to a specific group of professionals who performed in the Health System and the objective was to analyse the relevance, viability, strategic balance and impact of the selected projects. At the end of the study, the following results were found; from the 144 possibilities, 57,6% of the draft bills selected were presented in 2007 and 42,4% in 2008. The Labour Party, PT, was the one which most presented draft bills (12,5%) followed by PMDB (11,1%) and PSDB (10,4%). Only 25,7% of the Members of the Congress who presented draft bills deal with Health Policy. After a year of gathering the material to analyse the study, was verified that the majority of the draft bills (93,7%) were still being done, 4,9% were filed and only 1,4% were transformed in juridical norm. Considering the aim of the draft bills related to health, more than a half (57,7%) of the draft bills are related to the SUS ( Public Health Care ) and only 4,2% are related to quotation (financing for health). Considering the result of the applied questionnaire, 78,1% from the questioned people were dissatisfied, very dissatisfied with the Legislative Power and 41,8% classified as bad, extremely bad; at the private Health System only 9,6% considered bad, extremely bad. In relation to the criteria of the draft bills, more than a half (51,5%) from the questioned people declared that they did not understand, in the draft bills, the way of making viable what was proposed, 40,6% answered that there is no relevance; 52,7% answered there is not strategic balance from the draft bills to the priorities and the health policies of the country and 52,5% answered that the refusal of the draft bills would not bring negative impacts or would be prejudicial to the Brazilian society. Through a public enquire, more than a half (54,4%) answered they would approve the draft bill they analysed; 30,1% would not approve and 10,1% did not answer. Through the data of this study we can perceive that the Legislative production, related to health, is low; the members of the congress with academic graduation in the health area has a low output (25% of the amount) and the draft bills which become juridical norm is minimal (only 1,4% of the amount). It is important to point out the high rate of insatisfaction with the Legislative Power, with the Health Public Brazilian System and the low quality of the legislative production at the National Congress.
TEDE
BV UNIFESP: Teses e dissertações

The purpose of “Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez: A Case Study of Social Media as an Agenda Setting Tool in the U.S. House of Representatives” is to explore the impact of a politician’s social media presence on agenda setting in Congress. It was born out of the research question, “how do freshman members of the House of Representatives seek power and influence in their first term?” I answer this using Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as a case study, as she is a current freshman legislator with undeniable power and influence. I studied Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s tweets from two time periods: the month leading up to her election and her second month in office. I categorized and counted each tweet into 4 categories that yielded quantifiable results. Subsequently, I did a textual analysis of certain tweets from the two periods and explained their relevance to her shift in content and success as a public figure. I found that since being elected, the proportion of Rep. Ocasio-Cortez tweets about National issues increased by four times more than during her primary. Additionally, after being elected, her tweets about her District were proportionally one-fourth of they were during her primary campaign. I interpret this finding as Rep. Ocasio-Cortez’s efforts to influence the national agenda, a task rarely taken on by a freshman Representative. I also found that she had nearly doubled the proportion of tweets that fall under the Extraneous category, utilizing personal anecdotes, inspirational messages, feminist actions and insights, and calls for progressive leadership that connect with her audience and set her apart from strictly policy-oriented politician Twitter accounts. Altogether, I have analyzed Rep. Ocasio-Cortez’s Twitter presence and believe it to be a key element of her success in agenda setting as a freshman Congress member.

The purpose of this research is to analyze the relationship between the executive and legislative branches of American federal government, during periods within which these two branches are led by different political parties, to discover whether the legislative branch attempts to independently legislate and enact foreign policy by using "the power of the purse" to either appropriate in support of or refuse to appropriate in opposition to military engagement abroad. The methodology for this research includes the analysis and comparison of certain variables, including public opinion, budgetary constraints, and the relative majority of the party that holds power in one or both chambers, and the ways these variables may impact the behavior of the legislative branch in this regard. It also includes the analysis of appropriations requests made by the legislative branch for funding military engagement in rejection of requests from the executive branch for all military engagements that occurred during periods of divided government from 1946 through 2009.
ID: 029809199; System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader.; Mode of access: World Wide Web.; Thesis (M.A.)--University of Central Florida, 2011.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 110-112).
M.A.
Masters
Political Science
Sciences

AbstractOver the past 3,000 years, speakers of the Ateker family of languages in East Africa chose various strategies to respond to periods of climate change including the end of the African Humid Period and the Medieval Climate Anomaly. Some Ateker people made wholesale changes to food production, adopting transhumant pastoralism or shifting staple crops, while others migrated to wetter lands. All borrowed new economic and social idea from neighbors. These climate-induced changes in turn had profound social and political ramifications marked by an investment in resilient systems for decentralizing power, such as age-classes and neighborhood congresses. By integrating evidence from historical linguistics and oral traditions with paleoclimatological data, this paper explores how a group of stateless societies responded to climate change. It also considers whether these cases complicate concepts such as “collapse” and “resilience” that are derived from analyses of mostly state-centric climate histories.

AbstractThis historical analysis focusses on the first four Latin American Medical Congresses (1901–1909) as transnational marketplaces for ideas and concepts and assesses their importance for the configuration of public health policies in Latin America. As a highly influential epistemic community, the medical profession loomed large at a time when the Latin American states were still in the process of formation. The agency of doctors ensured that these events gave impulses to national reform agendas. In this context two mechanisms played an important role: competitive cooperation and legitimisation. Both were highly influential as will be shown for Chile and Uruguay using conference proceedings, medical journals, memoirs and other contributions to the contemporary debate, including selected regulatory papers and laws.

AbstractIn the United States, biological invaders are managed by all Federal agencies that have responsibility for natural resources, as well as the States, territories, and occasionally regional entities. Federal agencies’ invasive species programs are implemented under the mandates and guidance provided by dozens of laws, which include statutes enacted by the Congress, Executive Orders issued by the President, and regulations adopted by the relevant agencies. Although there are numerous laws implemented by the States or occasionally regional entities, this chapter will focus on Federal legislation and regulations that guide work on all public and private forests, rangelands, and grasslands in the United States. There are three categories of laws: (1) laws to prevent introduction or initial spread; (2) laws for management or control of invasive species; and (3) more generally defined land management laws which serve as an umbrella for invasive species activities.

While it is easy to recognize that mechanical engineers can lend their expertise to public policy makers as they create public policy related to science and technology, it is not as clear as to how to introduce mechanical engineering students to public policy activities. The undergraduate curricula in most mechanical engineering programs are considered full, and there are always additional topics that people wish to add. Educators are likely to hesitate before removing material from their programs in order to add material on public policy. Yet, there are techniques that can be used to incorporate aspects of public policy into a standard mechanical engineering curriculum without the removal of much, if any, current content. In this paper, several techniques for introducing mechanical engineering students to the process of public policy creation will be discussed. While these methods will not make the students experts in policy, they can introduce students to the tools that they need to influence the public policy creation process. These techniques include a comprehensive semester-long project in a technical elective course, a short policy analysis paper for development in a required or elective course, incorporation of public policy considerations in a capstone design project, policy discussions or debates in relevant courses, and a focus on public policy development in extracurricular activities. In their education, students should not only become technically proficient, but also learn how to track current events and trends, communicate their knowledge effectively, gain knowledge on applying proper engineering ethics, and be aware of the environmental and social context of their work. Through these knowledge areas and skills, students will gain the fundamental working knowledge that they need to influence public policy creation. It may be noted that these are also desirable outcomes for a student’s educational program as defined by ABET. Therefore, finding opportunities in a mechanical engineering program’s curriculum to address public policy creation activities also benefits the program by helping it more completely fulfill ABET accreditation requirements.

This study investigates the importance of public policies in mitigating mental illness in public servants, focusing on the implementation phase of the Public Policy Cycle. The research uses a systematic and quantitative approach, analyzing five articles that address different aspects of the topic. The analysis reveals a substantial understanding of the public policy cycle (76%), however, it highlights the need for deeper identification and detailing of challenges in implementation (48%). Regarding the effectiveness of strategies (60%) and allocation of resources (60%), a modest assessment is observed, suggesting the importance of a more detailed analysis. The active involvement of public servants in the implementation presents an average of 60%, indicating a moderate consideration. These results highlight the complexity and importance of effective public policies for the mental health of public servants. The discussion among the authors highlights the need to improve the analysis of specific challenges and identify more effective strategies. In conclusion, the results provide valuable support for the development of more effective public policies in promoting the mental health of public servants.

The national energy policy debate in the 107th US Congress may mark a significant milestone in the development of energy use and conversion technologies in the United States. It has been said that the result of this congressional energy policy debate was an expensive statements that, despite proposed tax breaks and subsidies for everything from solar power and hybrid cars to coal and nuclear power, may accomplish little — with not much either on the supply or the demand side that’s going to make any difference to the American public. This paper provides an insider assessment of how the debate developed, what energy policy decisions were or were not made, and what the implications are for the development of energy use and conversion technologies going forward. This debate may represent the final exhaustive struggle of long-held, but misguided, ineffectual and limited-vision policies that date to the 1970s. In combination with the September 11 events, this stalemate may open the door to new, fresh, global perspectives on meeting the energy needs of people throughout the world, including in lesser developed countries such as Afghanistan. Engineers and entrepreneurs are advised to understand the seminal implications of the 107th congressional energy policy debate on future energy use and conversion technologies.

How should public policies respond to the dynamics of the multicultural setting? This chapter illustrates how cross-cultural psychology was used to provide tangible intellectual support to help develop and frame a policy response in the multicultural setting. Over the past twenty years, New Zealand has changed from a bicultural to multicultural society competing in the global economy. This chapter identifies policy issues and challenges the transition to a diverse, multicultural society has created, the type of response that was developed and its outcome. These are informed by the author’s personal reflections in developing and promoting Ethnic Perspectives in Policy, a government policy framework and resource guide for public servants. A survey of all departments after two years has indicated that Ethnic Perspectives in Policy affected positive institutional change and provided an impetus to develop more specific policies to address the intercultural setting. The potential for further applied research is discussed in the context of contemporary social policy issues related to settlement, social cohesion and national identity.

The rising prevalence of diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases is a major global public health concern. The consumption of junk food – food high in fat, sugar, and salt – contributes to unhealthy weight gain, obesity, and NCDs. The World Health Organization recognizes the health benefits of introducing tax on junk food, proposing that such a policy would encourage healthier dietary choices leading to the reduction of NCD prevalence. Multiple countries have adopted this policy to tackle NCDs. This systematic review focuses on the experience from Mexico and hopes to provide insights on using health tax policy as a public health intervention. The prevalence of various NCDs in Mexico is among the highest in the world. To address this issue, Mexico has decided to regulate the junk food market by introducing an 8% and a 10% tax on non-essential energy-dense foods (NEDFs) and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), respectively, since January 2014. The purchase and consumption of NEDFs and SSBs have declined in the post-tax period. Mathematical models on weight change, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease policy have also predicted a drop in the prevalence of overweight, obesity, diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, and mortality, even if calorie compensation is factored in. This translates into a promising reduction in the burden of health due to NCDs and healthcare costs, particularly for those of lower socioeconomic status, thus promoting health equity. However, the policy is not without shortcomings. For instance, the tax effect is not evenly distributed as it varies across types of foods, regions, and retailers; hence hindering the maximum potential of the policy. In addition, the awareness of the junk food tax and its motives is also not universal among the population, which diminishes the impact of the policy. Complementary strategies such as healthy food subsidies or educational campaigns to promote the policy should be considered to maximize the effect. Countries that are considering junk food tax as a public health policy to tackle NCDs should learn from Mexico’s example.

This paper analyses the dynamics of policy-making among the various political institutions in Brazil. The authors find that the driving force behind policies in Brazil is the strong set of powers given to the President, though several institutions constrain and check this power, in particular the legislature, the judiciary, the public prosecutors, the auditing office, state governors and the Constitution itself. The electorate of Brazil holds the President accountable for economic growth, inflation and unemployment. At least for the past ten years, and particularly during the Lula administration, executive power has been aimed at pushing policy towards macro orthodoxy. Achieving stable macro policies required constitutional amendments as well as considerable legislation. To attain their goals, the past administrations used their property rights over pork to trade for policy changes. The rationale for members of Congress to exchange votes on policy for pork is that the electorates reward or punish members of Congress based on the degree to which pork lands in their district.

In 2020, ARL’s Advocacy and Public Policy Committee launched a digital rights initiative focused on understanding and safeguarding the full stack of research libraries’ rights: to acquire and lend digital content to fulfill libraries’ functions in research, teaching, and learning; to provide accessible works to people with print disabilities; and to fulfill libraries’ collective preservation function for enduring access to scholarly and cultural works. Our objective is to make sure that these rights are well understood by research libraries, by Congress, by the US Copyright Office, and by the courts. This report discusses licenses and contracts for digital content in the context of the US Copyright Act. The report presents advocacy and public policy strategies, such as rights-saving clauses, open access, state strategies, and federal exemptions. The report concludes with next steps, including a test case and ARL strategies.

This AMS Policy Study examines explicitly the role that public policy plays in determining the sum societal value of Earth Observations, Science, and Services (OSS) as well as the allocation of that value and the costs of OSS production across society. It examines three policy frameworks of quite different origin, purview, and standing. The first is the 2003 Fair Weather Report developed by the National Academy of Sciences. That policy focuses on collaboration. The second is the 2017 Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act enacted by the U.S. Congress. It focuses on innovation. The third is the current World Meteorological Organization development of Resolution 42, which seeks to make international contributions to and access to data and information more equitable, and at the same time expand the domain of data and information sharing from weather per se to Earth observations, science, and services more broadly. The study takes as its point of departure views of individual stakeholders in the so-called Weather, Water and Climate Enterprise (loosely speaking, the community of U.S. providers of weather, water, and climate information and services) with respect to these policies. Their perspectives were captured through informally solicited public and private comments from senior members of the Enterprise. Individually and in aggregate the comments hint at or suggest opportunities for extending and improving Enterprise value by broadening collaboration, fostering innovation, and making the Enterprise more equitable.

Over the last decade, every Paraguayan administration has faced greater political challenges and financial pressures than its predecessor. The result has been a chronic fiscal deficit since 1995. This study disentangles the budget-making process in Paraguay by studying the key players influencing the budget cycle (preparation, approval, execution, and control), their powers, and their incentives. The document discusses how the incentives for cooperation affect the conditions for the sustainability of public expenditures, the efficient allocation of resources, and the representative quality of the spending. First the general theoretical framework based on both a transaction cost theory of the policymaking process and the public expenditure management literature is introduced. The authors emphasize the interactions between historical legacies, the overall institutional design, and budgetary procedures as factors that shape politicians' incentives to display cooperative behavior in the elaboration of the budget. Then, Paraguay's historical background, its current institutional framework, and the emerging features of the policymaking process are described. The formal and informal rules that guide the budget policy-making process are also addressed. The analysis is based on the formal instruments (the constitution and related laws) and on in-depth interviews with several policymakers in the executive branch and in Congress. Finally, it is discussed how the generally low incentives for cooperation have created negative conditions for the sustainability of public expenditures, the efficient allocation of resources, and the representative quality ofthe spending.

Policymaking in Peru over the last 25 years has been largely dominated by the Executive, and has been influenced by a variety of structural and political factors as well as by the personal ambitions of presidents and the public perception of crisis. With few exceptions, neither the Congress nor the other branches and levels of government have played effective roles in defining the national policy agenda, promoting inter-temporal cooperation and providing checks and balances on executive power. Although this situation has been partially modified since 2001, it is not clear that the general pattern has changed. While certain arenas of decision-making have been reformed in recent years, in many spheres policymaking remains an arbitrary and unpredictable process, resulting in policies that are of low quality, poorly enforced and easily reversed. Although reforming aspects of the political and electoral systems could contribute to improving this outcome, the instability of the political regime per se has been a deterrent to longer-term institutional development.

Banco de la República is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2023. This is a very significant anniversary and one that provides an opportunity to highlight the contribution the Bank has made to the country’s development. Its track record as guarantor of monetary stability has established it as the one independent state institution that generates the greatest confidence among Colombians due to its transparency, management capabilities, and effective compliance with the central banking and cultural responsibilities entrusted to it by the Constitution and the Law. On a date as important as this, the Board of Directors of Banco de la República (BDBR) pays tribute to the generations of governors and officers whose commitment and dedication have contributed to the growth of this institution.1 Banco de la República’s mandate was confirmed in the National Constitutional Assembly of 1991 where the citizens had the opportunity to elect the seventy people who would have the task of drafting a new constitution. The leaders of the three political movements with the most votes were elected as chairs to the Assembly, and this tripartite presidency reflected the plurality and the need for consensus among the different political groups to move the reform forward. Among the issues considered, the National Constitutional Assembly gave special importance to monetary stability. That is why they decided to include central banking and to provide Banco de la República with the necessary autonomy to use the instruments for which they are responsible without interference from other authorities. The constituent members understood that ensuring price stability is a state duty and that the entity responsible for this task must be enshrined in the Constitution and have the technical capability and institutional autonomy necessary to adopt the decisions they deem appropriate to achieve this fundamental objective in coordination with the general economic policy. In particular, Article 373 established that “the State, through Banco de la República, shall ensure the maintenance of the purchasing power of the currency,” a provision that coincided with the central banking system adopted by countries that have been successful in controlling inflation. In 1999, in Ruling 481, the Constitutional Court stated that “the duty to maintain the purchasing power of the currency applies to not only the monetary, credit, and exchange authority, i.e., the Board of Banco de la República, but also those who have responsibilities in the formulation and implementation of the general economic policy of the country” and that “the basic constitutional purpose of Banco de la República is the protection of a sound currency. However, this authority must take the other economic objectives of state intervention such as full employment into consideration in their decisions since these functions must be coordinated with the general economic policy.” The reforms to Banco de la República agreed upon in the Constitutional Assembly of 1991 and in Act 31/1992 can be summarized in the following aspects: i) the Bank was assigned a specific mandate: to maintain the purchasing power of the currency in coordination with the general economic policy; ii) the BDBR was designatedas the monetary, foreign exchange, and credit authority; iii) the Bank and its Board of Directors were granted a significant degree of independence from the government; iv) the Bank was prohibited from granting credit to the private sector except in the case of the financial sector; v) established that in order to grant credit to the government, the unanimous vote of its Board of Directors was required except in the case of open market transactions; vi) determined that the legislature may, in no case, order credit quotas in favor of the State or individuals; vii) Congress was appointed, on behalf of society, as the main addressee of the Bank’s reporting exercise; and viii) the responsibility for inspection, surveillance, and control over Banco de la República was delegated to the President of the Republic. The members of the National Constitutional Assembly clearly understood that the benefits of low and stable inflation extend to the whole of society and contribute mto the smooth functioning of the economic system. Among the most important of these is that low inflation promotes the efficient use of productive resources by allowing relative prices to better guide the allocation of resources since this promotes economic growth and increases the welfare of the population. Likewise, low inflation reduces uncertainty about the expected return on investment and future asset prices. This increases the confidence of economic agents, facilitates long-term financing, and stimulates investment. Since the low-income population is unable to protect itself from inflation by diversifying its assets, and a high proportion of its income is concentrated in the purchase of food and other basic goods that are generally the most affected by inflationary shocks, low inflation avoids arbitrary redistribution of income and wealth.2 Moreover, low inflation facilitates wage negotiations, creates a good labor climate, and reduces the volatility of employment levels. Finally, low inflation helps to make the tax system more transparent and equitable by avoiding the distortions that inflation introduces into the value of assets and income that make up the tax base. From the monetary authority’s point of view, one of the most relevant benefits of low inflation is the credibility that economic agents acquire in inflation targeting, which turns it into an effective nominal anchor on price levels. Upon receiving its mandate, and using its autonomy, Banco de la República began to announce specific annual inflation targets as of 1992. Although the proposed inflation targets were not met precisely during this first stage, a downward trend in inflation was achieved that took it from 32.4% in 1990 to 16.7% in 1998. At that time, the exchange rate was kept within a band. This limited the effectiveness of monetary policy, which simultaneously sought to meet an inflation target and an exchange rate target. The Asian crisis spread to emerging economies and significantly affected the Colombian economy. The exchange rate came under strong pressure to depreciate as access to foreign financing was cut off under conditions of a high foreign imbalance. This, together with the lack of exchange rate flexibility, prevented a countercyclical monetary policy and led to a 4.2% contraction in GDP that year. In this context of economic slowdown, annual inflation fell to 9.2% at the end of 1999, thus falling below the 15% target set for that year. This episode fully revealed how costly it could be, in terms of economic activity, to have inflation and exchange rate targets simultaneously. Towards the end of 1999, Banco de la República announced the adoption of a new monetary policy regime called the Inflation Targeting Plan. This regime, known internationally as ‘Inflation Targeting,’ has been gaining increasing acceptance in developed countries, having been adopted in 1991 by New Zealand, Canada, and England, among others, and has achieved significant advances in the management of inflation without incurring costs in terms of economic activity. In Latin America, Brazil and Chile also adopted it in 1999. In the case of Colombia, the last remaining requirement to be fulfilled in order to adopt said policy was exchange rate flexibility. This was realized around September 1999, when the BDBR decided to abandon the exchange-rate bands to allow the exchange rate to be freely determined in the market.Consistent with the constitutional mandate, the fundamental objective of this new policy approach was “the achievement of an inflation target that contributes to maintaining output growth around its potential.”3 This potential capacity was understood as the GDP growth that the economy can obtain if it fully utilizes its productive resources. To meet this objective, monetary policy must of necessity play a countercyclical role in the economy. This is because when economic activity is below its potential and there are idle resources, the monetary authority can reduce the interest rate in the absence of inflationary pressure to stimulate the economy and, when output exceeds its potential capacity, raise it. This policy principle, which is immersed in the models for guiding the monetary policy stance, makes the following two objectives fully compatible in the medium term: meeting the inflation target and achieving a level of economic activity that is consistent with its productive capacity. To achieve this purpose, the inflation targeting system uses the money market interest rate (at which the central bank supplies primary liquidity to commercial banks) as the primary policy instrument. This replaced the quantity of money as an intermediate monetary policy target that Banco de la República, like several other central banks, had used for a long time. In the case of Colombia, the objective of the new monetary policy approach implied, in practical terms, that the recovery of the economy after the 1999 contraction should be achieved while complying with the decreasing inflation targets established by the BDBR. The accomplishment of this purpose was remarkable. In the first half of the first decade of the 2000s, economic activity recovered significantly and reached a growth rate of 6.8% in 2006. Meanwhile, inflation gradually declined in line with inflation targets. That was how the inflation rate went from 9.2% in 1999 to 4.5% in 2006, thus meeting the inflation target established for that year while GDP reached its potential level. After this balance was achieved in 2006, inflation rebounded to 5.7% in 2007, above the 4.0% target for that year due to the fact that the 7.5% GDP growth exceeded the potential capacity of the economy.4 After proving the effectiveness of the inflation targeting system in its first years of operation, this policy regime continued to consolidate as the BDBR and the technical staff gained experience in its management and state-of-the-art economic models were incorporated to diagnose the present and future state of the economy and to assess the persistence of inflation deviations and expectations with respect to the inflation target. Beginning in 2010, the BDBR established the long-term 3.0% annual inflation target, which remains in effect today. Lower inflation has contributed to making the macroeconomic environment more stable, and this has favored sustained economic growth, financial stability, capital market development, and the functioning of payment systems. As a result, reductions in the inflationary risk premia and lower TES and credit interest rates were achieved. At the same time, the duration of public domestic debt increased significantly going from 2.27 years in December 2002 to 5.86 years in December 2022, and financial deepening, measured as the level of the portfolio as a percentage of GDP, went from around 20% in the mid-1990s to values above 45% in recent years in a healthy context for credit institutions.Having been granted autonomy by the Constitution to fulfill the mandate of preserving the purchasing power of the currency, the tangible achievements made by Banco de la República in managing inflation together with the significant benefits derived from the process of bringing inflation to its long-term target, make the BDBR’s current challenge to return inflation to the 3.0% target even more demanding and pressing. As is well known, starting in 2021, and especially in 2022, inflation in Colombia once again became a serious economic problem with high welfare costs. The inflationary phenomenon has not been exclusive to Colombia and many other developed and emerging countries have seen their inflation rates move away from the targets proposed by their central banks.5 The reasons for this phenomenon have been analyzed in recent Reports to Congress, and this new edition delves deeper into the subject with updated information. The solid institutional and technical base that supports the inflation targeting approach under which the monetary policy strategy operates gives the BDBR the necessary elements to face this difficult challenge with confidence. In this regard, the BDBR reiterated its commitment to the 3.0% inflation target in its November 25 communiqué and expects it to be reached by the end of 2024.6 Monetary policy will continue to focus on meeting this objective while ensuring the sustainability of economic activity, as mandated by the Constitution. Analyst surveys done in March showed a significant increase (from 32.3% in January to 48.5% in March) in the percentage of responses placing inflation expectations two years or more ahead in a range between 3.0% and 4.0%. This is a clear indication of the recovery of credibility in the medium-term inflation target and is consistent with the BDBR’s announcement made in November 2022. The moderation of the upward trend in inflation seen in January, and especially in February, will help to reinforce this revision of inflation expectations and will help to meet the proposed targets. After reaching 5.6% at the end of 2021, inflation maintained an upward trend throughout 2022 due to inflationary pressures from both external sources, associated with the aftermath of the pandemic and the consequences of the war in Ukraine, and domestic sources, resulting from: strengthening of local demand; price indexation processes stimulated by the increase in inflation expectations; the impact on food production caused by the mid-2021 strike; and the pass-through of depreciation to prices. The 10% increase in the minimum wage in 2021 and the 16% increase in 2022, both of which exceeded the actual inflation and the increase in productivity, accentuated the indexation processes by establishing a high nominal adjustment benchmark. Thus, total inflation went to 13.1% by the end of 2022. The annual change in food prices, which went from 17.2% to 27.8% between those two years, was the most influential factor in the surge in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Another segment that contributed significantly to price increases was regulated products, which saw the annual change go from 7.1% in December 2021 to 11.8% by the end of 2022. The measure of core inflation excluding food and regulated items, in turn, went from 2.5% to 9.5% between the end of 2021 and the end of 2022. The substantial increase in core inflation shows that inflationary pressure has spread to most of the items in the household basket, which is characteristic of inflationary processes with generalized price indexation as is the case in Colombia. Monetary policy began to react early to this inflationary pressure. Thus, starting with its September 2021 session, the BDBR began a progressive change in the monetary policy stance moving away from the historical low of a 1.75% policy rate that had intended to stimulate the recovery of the economy. This adjustment process continued without interruption throughout 2022 and into the beginning of 2023 when the monetary policy rate reached 12.75% last January, thus accumulating an increase of 11 percentage points (pp). The public and the markets have been surprised that inflation continued to rise despite significant interest rate increases. However, as the BDBR has explained in its various communiqués, monetary policy works with a lag. Just as in 2022 economic activity recovered to a level above the pre-pandemic level, driven, along with other factors, by the monetary stimulus granted during the pandemic period and subsequent months, so too the effects of the current restrictive monetary policy will gradually take effect. This will allow us to expect the inflation rate to converge to 3.0% by the end of 2024 as is the BDBR’s purpose.Inflation results for January and February of this year showed declining marginal increases (13 bp and 3 bp respectively) compared to the change seen in December (59 bp). This suggests that a turning point in the inflation trend is approaching. In other Latin American countries such as Chile, Brazil, Perú, and Mexico, inflation has peaked and has begun to decline slowly, albeit with some ups and downs. It is to be expected that a similar process will take place in Colombia in the coming months. The expected decline in inflation in 2023 will be due, along with other factors, to lower cost pressure from abroad as a result of the gradual normalization of supply chains, the overcoming of supply shocks caused by the weather, and road blockades in previous years. This will be reflected in lower adjustments in food prices, as has already been seen in the first two months of the year and, of course, the lagged effect of monetary policy. The process of inflation convergence to the target will be gradual and will extend beyond 2023. This process will be facilitated if devaluation pressure is reversed. To this end, it is essential to continue consolidating fiscal sustainability and avoid messages on different public policy fronts that generate uncertainty and distrust. 1 This Report to Congress includes Box 1, which summarizes the trajectory of Banco de la República over the past 100 years. In addition, under the Bank’s auspices, several books that delve into various aspects of the history of this institution have been published in recent years. See, for example: Historia del Banco de la República 1923-2015; Tres banqueros centrales; Junta Directiva del Banco de la República: grandes episodios en 30 años de historia; Banco de la República: 90 años de la banca central en Colombia. 2 This is why lower inflation has been reflected in a reduction of income inequality as measured by the Gini coefficient that went from 58.7 in 1998 to 51.3 in the year prior to the pandemic. 3 See Gómez Javier, Uribe José Darío, Vargas Hernando (2002). “The Implementation of Inflation Targeting in Colombia”. Borradores de Economía, No. 202, March, available at: https://repositorio.banrep.gov.co/handle/20.500.12134/5220 4 See López-Enciso Enrique A.; Vargas-Herrera Hernando and Rodríguez-Niño Norberto (2016). “The inflation targeting strategy in Colombia. An historical view.” Borradores de Economía, No. 952. https://repositorio.banrep.gov.co/handle/20.500.12134/6263 5 According to the IMF, the percentage change in consumer prices between 2021 and 2022 went from 3.1% to 7.3% for advanced economies, and from 5.9% to 9.9% for emerging market and developing economies. 6 https://www.banrep.gov.co/es/noticias/junta-directiva-banco-republica-reitera-meta-inflacion-3

Harmful and toxic algal blooms (HABs) are a well-established and severe threat to human health, economies, and marine and freshwater ecosystems on all coasts of the United States and its inland waters. HABs can comprise microalgae, cyanobacteria, and macroalgae (seaweeds). Their impacts, intensity, and geographic range have increased over past decades due to both human-induced and natural changes. In this report, HABs refers to both marine algal and freshwater cyanobacterial events. This Harmful Algal Research and Response: A National Environmental Science Strategy (HARRNESS) 2024-2034 plan builds on major accomplishments from past efforts, provides a state of the science update since the previous decadal HARRNESS plan (2005-2015), identifies key information gaps, and presents forward-thinking solutions. Major achievements on many fronts since the last HARRNESS are detailed in this report. They include improved understanding of bloom dynamics of large-scale regional HABs such as those of Pseudo-nitzschia on the west coast, Alexandrium on the east coast, Karenia brevis on the west Florida shelf, and Microcystis in Lake Erie, and advances in HAB sensor technology, allowing deployment on fixed and mobile platforms for long-term, continuous, remote HAB cell and toxin observations. New HABs and impacts have emerged. Freshwater HABs now occur in many inland waterways and their public health impacts through drinking and recreational water contamination have been characterized and new monitoring efforts have been initiated. Freshwater HAB toxins are finding their way into marine environments and contaminating seafood with unknown consequences. Blooms of Dinophysis spp., which can cause diarrhetic shellfish poisoning, have appeared around the US coast, but the causes are not understood. Similarly, blooms of fish- and shellfish-killing HABs are occurring in many regions and are especially threatening to aquaculture. The science, management, and decision-making necessary to manage the threat of HABs continue to involve a multidisciplinary group of scientists, managers, and agencies at various levels. The initial HARRNESS framework and the resulting National HAB Committee (NHC) have proven effective means to coordinate the academic, management, and stakeholder communities interested in national HAB issues and provide these entities with a collective voice, in part through this updated HARRNESS report. Congress and the Executive Branch have supported most of the advances achieved under HARRNESS (2005-2015) and continue to make HABs a priority. Congress has reauthorized the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act (HABHRCA) multiple times and continues to authorize the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to fund and conduct HAB research and response, has given new roles to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and required an Interagency Working Group on HABHRCA (IWG HABHRCA). These efforts have been instrumental in coordinating HAB responses by federal and state agencies. Initial appropriations for NOAA HAB research and response decreased after 2005, but have increased substantially in the last few years, leading to many advances in HAB management in marine coastal and Great Lakes regions. With no specific funding for HABs, the US EPA has provided funding to states through existing laws, such as the Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, and to members of the Great Lakes Interagency Task Force through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, to assist states and tribes in addressing issues related to HAB toxins and hypoxia. The US EPA has also worked towards fulfilling its mandate by providing tools and resources to states, territories, and local governments to help manage HABs and cyanotoxins, to effectively communicate the risks of cyanotoxins and to assist public water systems and water managers to manage HABs. These tools and resources include documents to assist with adopting recommended recreational criteria and/or swimming advisories, recommendations for public water systems to choose to apply health advisories for cyanotoxins, risk communication templates, videos and toolkits, monitoring guidance, and drinking water treatment optimization documents. Beginning in 2018, Congress has directed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to develop a HAB research initiative to deliver scalable HAB prevention, detection, and management technologies intended to reduce the frequency and severity of HAB impacts to our Nation’s freshwater resources. Since the initial HARRNESS report, other federal agencies have become increasingly engaged in addressing HABs, a trend likely to continue given the evolution of regulations(e.g., US EPA drinking water health advisories and recreational water quality criteria for two cyanotoxins), and new understanding of risks associated with freshwater HABs. The NSF/NIEHS Oceans and Human Health Program has contributed substantially to our understanding of HABs. The US Geological Survey, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Aeronautics Space Administration also contribute to HAB-related activities. In the preparation of this report, input was sought early on from a wide range of stakeholders, including participants from academia, industry, and government. The aim of this interdisciplinary effort is to provide summary information that will guide future research and management of HABs and inform policy development at the agency and congressional levels. As a result of this information gathering effort, four major HAB focus/programmatic areas were identified: 1) Observing systems, modeling, and forecasting; 2) Detection and ecological impacts, including genetics and bloom ecology; 3) HAB management including prevention, control, and mitigation, and 4) Human dimensions, including public health, socio-economics, outreach, and education. Focus groups were tasked with addressing a) our current understanding based on advances since HARRNESS 2005-2015, b) identification of critical information gaps and opportunities, and c) proposed recommendations for the future. The vision statement for HARRNESS 2024-2034 has been updated, as follows: “Over the next decade, in the context of global climate change projections, HARRNESS will define the magnitude, scope, and diversity of the HAB problem in US marine, brackish and freshwaters; strengthen coordination among agencies, stakeholders, and partners; advance the development of effective research and management solutions; and build resilience to address the broad range of US HAB problems impacting vulnerable communities and ecosystems.” This will guide federal, state, local and tribal agencies and nations, researchers, industry, and other organizations over the next decade to collectively work to address HAB problems in the United States.