The practice of deliberative policy analysis in the context of political and cultural challenges: lessons from Thailand

ABSTRACT

This article draws upon insight from a study of those involved in introducing deliberative policy analysis in Thailand at the city scale and presents lessons for both policy practitioners and scholars. The design of each deliberative forum differed, depending on lessons learned from previous forums and the consensus that emerged as a result of deliberation amongst forum facilitators. The underlying principle of this kind of deliberative design is to make deliberative processes authentic, by avoiding coercion, inclusive, by engaging stakeholders who bring forth different ideas, and impactful. To make these forums more exciting, deliberative practices are often linked to other attractive discourses, such as those surrounding smart cities, creative spaces and inclusive development. The case of Thailand sheds light on emerging challenges involved in the practice of deliberative policy analysis in the context of both national political regimes that are not democracies and those in the East.     

Anticipated Ethics and Regulatory Challenges in PCORnet: The National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network

PCORnet, the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network, seeks to establish a robust national health data network for patient-centered comparative effectiveness research. This article reports the results of a PCORnet survey designed to identify the ethics and regulatory challenges anticipated in network implementation. A 12-item online survey was developed by leadership of the PCORnet Ethics and Regulatory Task Force; responses were collected from the 29 PCORnet networks. The most pressing ethics issues identified related to informed consent, patient engagement, privacy and confidentiality, and data sharing. High priority regulatory issues included IRB coordination, privacy and confidentiality, informed consent, and data sharing. Over 150 IRBs and five different approaches to managing multisite IRB review were identified within PCORnet. Further empirical and scholarly work, as well as practical and policy guidance, is essential if important initiatives that rely on comparative effectiveness research are to move forward.     

Community care for adults with severe mental disorders in rural China: A case study

In China, family care is the dominant form of care for people with mental disorders. Since 2004, the government has been developing a community‐care model that places more responsibility on community organisations and the local governments at the provincial, municipal and county levels for the provision of formal care. As a large number of people with severe mental disorders live in rural China, this case study was conducted in a rural county in order to examine the development of community care. It was found that, although family care remains dominant, families’ need for formal care is increasing. Community services have improved, but their development is constrained by several contextual and micro factors. In this study, it is argued that the community‐care model introduces a process of reconfiguration of the relative responsibility for care among the family, social organisations and the government, but progress depends on further administrative and fiscal reforms.     

Narrating Sustainability in Canadian Health Care Reform Discourse

In Canada, as in other industrialized welfare states, definitions of health system sustainability reflect different goals and correspondingly diverse ways of understanding exactly what is to be sustained and how. In this article, we report on results from a survey of documents and groups involved in and/or concerned about sustainability of the healthcare system. We identify four broad narratives of sustainability in Canadian healthcare reform discourse, and explore what these different sustainability narratives tell us about the character and contours of these often‐fractious debates. We argue that sustainability itself may not be a paradigm shift, as has been suggested, but a plot device that helps to steer the story in a particular direction, ‘black‐boxing’ certain aspects of context and emphasizing others.     

慈善与慈善组织的秩序维度与政策选择

人是生活在秩序维度的，人的生命的价值，尤其是劳动力的价值，与处于不同秩序维度有关系。公共慈善也是如此。它有原始秩序的维度，也有扩展秩序的维度，在不同的维度里，有不同的价值。从特朗普家族慈善基金会的命运，可以见出慈善和慈善组织涉及到的不同维度秩序的冲突。更好地发展慈善和慈善组织，需要解决冲突，在不同的秩序维度里，处理好各个方面的关系。     

Deficit sustainability,and monetary versus fiscal dominance: The case of Spain, 1850–2000

In this paper, we provide a test of the sustainability of the Spanish government deficit over the period 1850–2000, emphasizing the role played by monetary and fiscal dominance in order to get fiscal solvency. Since the condition of fiscal solvency was satisfied, government deficit would have been sustainable along the sample period. In addition, the whole period can be characterized as one of fiscal dominance.     

大学生环境态度对环境政策支持度预测的跨地区研究

Kellert的态度类型量表与Dunlap等人共同编制的新生态范式(NEP)量表分别从两个角度评估环境态度。通过两个量表共同预测大学生对环境态度的支持情况,结果显示环境态度的地区和性别差异显著。西部地区学生环境态度最强烈,而中部、西部地区学生的道德感强于东部学生。不同的态度构成要素能预测对不同环境政策的支持,其中NEP量表的"人与自然"和Kellert量表的"功利主义"对环境政策支持的预测性最强。     

社会变迁过程中政府能力的政策学解读--基于系统论观点

中国正处于巨大的社会变迁之中，复杂性与不确定性的环境特征对政府能力提出了更高要求。从系统论的视角看，政府能力体现在政府对变迁中社会环境的反应、适应与变革能力。基于系统论的政策学解读，政府能力最终可以归为“制定”和“执行”公共政策的能力。从环境与组织管理的关系出发，围绕公共政策的生命过程，可以分别考察政府在输入、转化、输出三个环节中政策制定和政策执行的情况，进而探讨政府能力提升的路径。     

英国脱欧对中英贸易的影响分析

英国公投脱欧的决定,是由英国与欧盟长久以来的政治分歧与经济发展受限等原因,以及移民负担过重这一导火索共同推动的。对英国与欧盟的贸易关系进行分析,发现英国在欧盟中占据重要的贸易地位,与欧盟进出口贸易关系密切。对英国与中国的贸易现状进行分析,发现英国与中国的贸易发展良好,但贸易结合度不高。英国脱欧后,不再享有作为欧盟成员国的优惠贸易条件,可能产生中英进出口贸易额增多、贸易规模扩大、中英贸易顺差减小以及中英贸易政策出现新格局等影响。