Spanish anarchist engagements in electoralism: from street to party politics

The eruption of the Spanish 15M movement in 2011 was marked by a high degree of political participation and creative experimentation. The political repertoire has constantly been re-evaluated, with methods revised and evolving, from the occupation of public spaces to the recent creation of new constitutional parties. One of the key aspects of these tactical revisions has been the involvement of anarchist actors in an experimental process of engagement in electoral processes, a method of political engagement anarchists standardly oppose. Our study identifies the motivations and theoretical justifications that have recently led libertarian activists to take the electoral path. This paper stands in the small but growing tradition of works that examine the recent phenomenon of new parties built by ‘street’ activists, but uniquely concentrates on a detailed case study of the anarchist actors linked to the platform Castelló en Moviment (CsM). It thus describes the anarchist influence in recent electoral developments, identifies proponents’ justifications for engaging in these previously rejected methods and highlights some of the doubts raised about the electoral experiment.     

Evaluation research,policy, and politics

This article discusses the role of politics in the Juvenile Justice Educational Enhancement Program's effort to use evaluation research data to inform Florida's juvenile justice education policies and practices. Through consideration of the Juvenile Justice Education Enhancement Program's experiences with privatization and the tough love and economy of scale rationales for larger and more custodial juvenile institutions, the variable role of politics is examined. Although the two examples are different, the discussion demonstrates that by maintaining an overriding commitment to its evaluation research purpose, the Juvenile Justice Educational Enhancement Program has been able to continue its data-driven policy efforts despite operating in a politically charged environment.     

Informal employment: Two contested policy issues

This article addresses two contested issues of crucial importance to policy, namely: formal labour regulations as a cause of informal employment, and so‐called “voluntary” informal employment. The authors provide theoretical overviews on both issues and an extensive survey of empirical studies on the effects of formal labour regulations on informal employment. The article closes with observations on the relevance of the ILO's four decent work objectives for informal employment and economic development, with particular emphasis on the significance of – and potential for – organizing workers in the informal economy.     

Avoiding responsibility: The politics and discourse of European development policy

This book deals with an important subject. Regrettably, it doesnot do so in a wholly successful way. The author's general purposeis to steer a path between a normative–ethical approachto the topic and a political–scientific one, and the mainmethodological stance adopted is a version of discourse analysis.Drawing, in particular, on the work of Laclau and Mouffe, sheexamines two discursive ‘moments’ in European developmentdiscourse, or two different ways of justifying European developmentpolicy – responsibility and efficiency. The first, atleast in the early stages of European policy, entailed a paternalisticsense of European concern for its former colonial possessions,while the latter legitimizes     

Child welfare privatization: quantitative indicators and policy issues

The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the development of safety, permanency, and child well-being indicators by using administrative data sets as well as by using these indicators as tools for evaluating Florida's Community-Based Care (CBC) initiative. Longitudinal data from 37 counties including 4 counties that implemented community-based care were examined in this study. The results of the study indicated that the overall performance of CBC counties is at least as good as the performance of their comparison run by the state counties. The findings that emerged from this study may provide important lessons for developing a performance measurement system in the child welfare field.     

Estimation of elderly housing demand in an Asian city: Methodological issues and policy implications

Projection of elderly housing demands and needs has always been complex because of the volatility and heterogeneity of the factors involved. This paper argues that in a society where the tradition of elderly parents co-habiting with the children's family is breaking up, the projection of elderly housing demands for planning and policy purposes may not be scientifically possible. This owes to the impossibility to gauge housing affordability of the elderly by conventional indicators and the lack of information on the market behaviour of the elderly alone. This paper suggests the analysis of pre-retirement income, housing arrangements and housing aspiration to help elderly housing service providers to make more informed decisions. However, the projection of housing needs is more plausible if the underlying demographic projection models take care of major demographic trends such as household sizes and types, and if surveys are carried out to gauge housing aspirations of contemporary elderly persons. By using the above methods, the paper projected the future elderly housing needs and demands of Hong Kong, and found that public rental housing was perceived as the most secure type of housing regardless of affordability. This preference may reflect anomalies in elderly policies, particularly the lack of housing choices to suit the varied needs and affordability.     

Migration policy and politics in the receiving states

"This article explores the politics of migration policies in the receiving states." The author finds that "a survey of the politics of immigration in the major receiving states shows a strong pattern of restrictionism in the face of unprecedented pressures for entry, but also amnesties, exceptions on humanitarian grounds, and hesitation to enforce the law. As individual states founder, multilateral strategies abound, but with scant success....Ironically, the failure of states to deal with the crisis may reinforce national prerogatives and capacities with respect to immigration and strengthen rather than erode the distinction between economic migrants and refugees."     

Territorial Impact Assessment for European regions: A methodological proposal and an application to EU transport policy

The need to engage European research and institutions in the new field of Territorial Impact Assessment, from both a methodological and a procedural perspective, was stated some years ago by the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP). The necessity of multidimensional evaluation of the likely impact of policies and programmes on the territory – understood as the dimension on which all the other relevant dimensions (economic, social, environmental and cultural) converge and with which they integrate – emerged as a natural consequence of the importance of spatial aspects in the future development of the Union and of widespread preoccupations about certain emerging spatial trends.A proposal for a TIA methodology combining logical consistency vis-à-vis the Union's present institutional and policy guidelines with operational viability is being developed and applied to Trans-European Networks policy of the EU. Territorial impact is linked to an innovative definition of the objective of “territorial cohesion” of the Treaties in terms of territorial efficiency, quality and identity.Utilising sectoral impact studies developed inside the ESPON programme and developing territorial indicators for impact, vulnerability and desirability (territorial utility functions), a multicriteria model (TEQUILA) is implemented on priority projects as defined by the Commission, and results mapped and described for the 1360 NUTS-3 regions of the Union.     

Information technology issues in an era of greater state responsibilities: policy concerns for seniors

Five areas of state information technology policy are of special concern to seniors and senior service providers: obtaining access; closing the digital divide; developing information management systems; creating portals; and maintaining privacy. Increasing their activities in each of these areas, states continue to vary considerably in their responsiveness to meeting the challenge of including older adults, especially those living in rural areas, with the benefits of information technology.     

Bad news or good news: environmental politics and the mass media

Concern for the environment is a prominent feature of contemporary British politics and culture. Such concern is not new. Many of today's environmental pressure groups date from the turn of the century and a good deal of the legislation protecting the environment derives from the 1940s and 1950s. What is new, as Kimber and Richardson (1974) point out, is‘on the one hand, the global approach to the problem - both figuratively and literally - and, on the other hand, the popularisation of the issues by the mass media'. In this paper we will examine the media's role in popularising environmental issues and use our findings to qualify some of the prevailing assumptions about the political role of the mass media.     

Game theory and global environmental policy

Economists interpret global environmental quality to be a pure public good. Each country should contribute to its provision. However, this is hard to achieve because each government is tempted to take a free ride on the other governments’ efforts. Not only has this dilemma been analysed with game theoretical methods but game theory has also been used to think about how to make amends. This paper reviews the game theoretical discussion on how international policy frameworks may be designed to improve the chances for international cooperation. It is also shown that the evaluation of alternative environmental policy instruments deviates from the standard environmental economics model if applied to the international arena. For the benefit of an interdisciplinary readership, the evolution of the debate on global environmental policy is related to the recent history of economic thought. This history is taken to be materialised in the writings of economics’ Nobel Prize laureates.     

Labour migration from South and South-East Asia: some policy issues

The rise in migration for employment since the mid-1970s has had serious consequences for many Asian countries. This discussion examines the issues raised by the migration abroad of thousands of skilled workers and the efforts that sending countries have made in recent years to bring the effects of labor migration more closely into line with their development objectives. It also considers several problem areas requiring the attention of policymakers and authorities responsible for the administration of overseas employment policies. It is estimated that between 1976-81 annual labor migrant flows from the 8 major sending countries in Asia increased sevenfold, from a mere 146,400 to over 1 million. The Asian migrant workers tend to be young, male, married (with dependents in the sending country), and better educated than the average home population. Most of them come from rural areas and are predominantly employed in construction and labor. The most distinctive feature of these workers is their concentration in a few blue collar occupations--carpenters, masons, electricians, plumbers, lorry drivers, mechanics, and heavy equipment operators. These production and trnasport workers outnumber the professional and technical workers by anywhere from 3 to 1 (Philippines) to 17 to 1 (Pakistan and Sri Lanka). At the aggregate level labor emigration affects the sending country's economy through its impact on the labor market, on the financial market, and on the market for goods and services. It can be argued that the outflow of a significant proportion of the labor force should lead directly to a rise in labor projectivity in the sending country since capital per worker among those left behind will increase, yet it can also be argued that since migration sifts out the most skilled and experienced workers there will be an erosion of the country's human captial resources. Specific measures have been adopted in most labor sending Asian countries to protect the welfare of migrant workers, to regulate conditions of employment abroad, to restrict the outflow of scarce skills, and to secure new overseas markets for nationals. Despite the efforts of governments to ensure that workers have satisfactory contracts on going abroad, many cases of "contract substitution" have been reported. The present attitude of many governments toward private recruiters seems to reflect both an acknowledgement of their effectiveness in finding job placements overseas and a growing concern to regulate their activities. The present trend seems to be to allow private agencies easier access while exercising greater supervision over those permitted to operate. The impact of labor migration on the labor markets of sending countries has not been uniformly damaging, but most of the countries have adopted 1 kind of policy or another to reduce the outflow of scarce skills. The use of material and other incentives for retaining workers in the country has obvious advantages but is not very widespread.     

Current trends in slot machine gambling: Research and policy issues

This paper introduces a special issue of theJournal of Gambling Studies on slot machine gambling, and overviews some current trends concentrating on research and policy issues. It is demonstrated that throughout the world, research findings have linked slot machines with pathological gambling. Indeed slot machines are now the predominant form of gambling activity by pathological gamblers treated in self help groups and professional treatment centres in numerous countries. This paper briefly examines the research on slot machines and pathological gambling and then goes on more specifically to examine four areas. These are (i) slot machine gambling and youth, (ii) slot machines and arcade video game playing, (iii) the possible developmental link between slot machines and video games and (iv) pathological video game playing.     

Exploring the politics and policy surrounding senior center gambling activities

Gambling is a controversial activity that is supported by some but opposed by others for a variety of reasons that are largely ethical, moral, and religious. These issues have been in place a long time and will continue. But gambling has become even more controversial because of the ever-expanding dependence of local and state governments on gambling and gambling-related tax revenue as a source of support for their programs, including senior centers. This dissertation research addresses the politics and policy surrounding the relationship between gambling and senior centers. The results indicate that senior center gambling is on the local agenda of nearly all of the case study communities. A variety of issues relating to senior center gambling was found, including evidence of the negative impact of dependence on gambling-generated revenues for centers and their clientele. These findings have implications for future research and for practice and policy relating to senior center gambling activities. In particular, these findings suggest the need for further investigation of the independent roles of historical, political, and cultural factors in the development of gambling regulations and their respective impacts on the agenda-setting process.     

Inequality,integration, and policy: issues and evidence from EMU

Simple theoretical arguments imply that while economic integration may or may not increase income inequality and volatility, it certainly makes it difficult for National governments to conduct independent fiscal policies and to enforce income redistribution schemes. Controlling for country-level income variation, available data suggest that Europe’s Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) was associated with a small but significant increase in disposable income inequality, and that this was in turn accounted for by less generous social policies.     

Playing politics with policy: A conversation with Steven J. Pfohl

In this conversation, Stephen J. Pfohl and Maureen E. Kelleher discuss Pfohl’s experience as the chair of the Massachusetts Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee. During Pfohl’s tenure, the committee looked at the highly visible and politicized problem of violent teenagers. Pfohl reflects on the experience of chairing a committee made up of diverse representatives, leading them through a policy study process, and delivering a report with policy recommendations to the governor. He also shares insights into the political aspects of policy making. She has consulted with state agencies on various children’s policy issues, and her most recent work on institutional abuse appears inChild Welfare.     

Telemedicine,rural elderly,and policy issues

Historically, rural America has had a difficult time providing health care to its residents, particularly its frail elderly population. Rural health care is often faced with a shortage of health care specialists, facilities with inferior equipment, and insufficient resources compared to health care in more urban areas. It is anticipated that the use of telemedicine will help address many of the problems facing the delivery of health care services to rural elderly. This paper reviews some innovative projects delivering services to the elderly. Also, the paper discusses several issues that need to be addressed before telemedicine can reach its full potential in improving access to health care, including reimbursement policies, patient and provider liability and confidentiality, and the infrastructure supporting telemedicine. Although telecommunications has tremendous potential to address the care needs of frail isolated elderly, without comprehensive reimbursement policies, guidelines for ethical conduct of a teleconsultation, acceptable security measures of patient records, and adequate as well as compatible infrastructure, that potential cannot be completely realized.