Policy Studies Commons

Poverty of Culture

Brij Mohan — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:26:19 PST

The author presents research in progress, exploring the Poverty of Culture as a refutation of the mythical 'cycle of poverty' sustained by the older Culture of Poverty.

Health Care in America, and Everywhere Else: A Review Essay

Max J. Skidmore — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:26:18 PST

Max J. Skidmore analyzes the history of health care policies in America, and reviews T. R Reid's (2009) The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care.

What Can Be Done about Homelessness and Society's Nimby Attitude?--America Needs a Way to Eliminate the Stigma of Public Housing

Victoria A. Redd — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:26:17 PST

America needs a way to eliminate the stigma of public housing. Lawrence Vale suggests some solutions for America's public housing woes in From the Puritans to the Projects: Public Housing and Public Neighbors. If we provide the public housing, what select few of the poor will be allowed to live there? What types of dwellings will be provided as public housing for the poor? And, will this public housing for the poor be near my neighborhood? More importantly, Vale explains what he believes that housing policymakers need to do to improve on the public housing system. The need of housing is downplayed, and instead, there is a focus on what the purpose behind public housing should be. (Congress intervened and called for public housing authorities "to attract a greater mix of incomes.") Vale's view of the public housing system is enlightening, realistic, and thought-provoking.

Book Review of Lessons from the Poor: Triumph of the Entrepreneurial Spirit

Marshall Carter-Tripp — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:26:16 PST

Marshall Carter-Tripp reviews this collection of essays and assesses its value as an addition to the economic development literature already in place.

Book Review of Barack Obama's The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream

Max J. Skidmore — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:26:14 PST

Editor-in-Chief Max J. Skidmore reviews Barack Obama's The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream and uncovers possible insights into the president's upcoming poverty agenda both at home and abroad.

Devolution as a Policy Crucible: The Case of Universal Free School Meals

Carlo J. Morelli — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:26:11 PST

The election of the Scottish government, in May 2007, raised expectations that devolution may at last give rise to a sea change in the development of welfare policy. Certainly, in the areas of education and health the newly elected Scottish National Party (SNP) Scottish government, despite its minority control of the parliament, lost no time in announcing significant changes to previous policies in the areas of hospital closures and primary school class sizes. The proposals to introduce universal free school meals in all primary schools for school children in years one to three from 2010, following a pilot in selected local authorities, was one of these changes. This policy shift is of significance for three reasons. First, the previous executive had explicitly rejected proposals for universal free school meals on two previous occasions. Second, it represented a movement towards universality and away from the strategy of targeting and means-testing welfare adhered to by both the Westminster UK government and the previous Scottish Executive. As such, therefore, the introduction of universal free school meals marks a significant victory for the campaigning groups behind the move. Finally, and perhaps of still greater significance, the introduction of a pilot scheme for universal provision in England, announced by the Westminster government in September 2008, further highlights one other goal of devolution: that of a potential for policy experimentation and divergence. Universal free school provision may be the first example of devolution providing a crucible for welfare policy for the wider United Kingdom.This paper assesses the extent to which an extension of the entitlement to free school meals is likely to improve the access of free school meals to children from the poorest of households and the extent to which changes in free school meal provision leads to a regionally specific impact on child poverty due to variations of household composition within the English regions and Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In doing so we suggest that evidence for the advantages of universal provision provides a positive example of devolution's potential for acting as a welfare policy crucible.

Microfinance, Commercialization and Ethics

Reinhard H. Schmidt — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:26:09 PST

This paper discusses the so-called commercial approach to microfinance under economic and ethical aspects. It first shows how microfinance has developed from a purely welfare-oriented activity to a commercially relevant line of banking business. The background of this stunning success is the almost universal adoption of the commercial approach to microfinance in the course of the last decade. The author argues that this commercial approach is the only sound approach to adopt if microfinance is to have any social and developmental impact. Therefore, the wide-spread "moralistic" criticism of the commercial approach, which was expressed again and again in the 1990s, is ill-placed from an economic and an ethical perspective. However, some recent events in microfinance raise questions as to whether the commercial approach, in a number of cases, has gone too far. The evident example for such a development is Compartamos, the Mexican microfinance institution which recently undertook a financially extremely successful IPO. Therefore it seems that some microfinance institutions have become so radically commercial that the social and developmental considerations, which have traditionally motivated microfinance, may have lost their importance. Thus there is clearly a conflict between commercial and developmental aspirations. However, this conflict is not inevitable. The paper concludes by showing how a microfinance institution can try to use the strengths of the capital market while maintaining its developmental focus and importance.

Poverty and Deprivation in Young and Old: A Comparative Study of Australia and Japan

Peter Saunders — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:26:06 PST

This paper compares the well-being of children and older people within and between Australia and Japan using as of indicators of disadvantage income poverty rates, deprivation (defined as an enforced lack of socially perceived necessities) and consistent poverty (the combination of poverty and deprivation). Information on these three indicators is derived from two national surveys that were used to generate a set of comparable measures. The results indicate that conclusions about the extent of disadvantage and the ranking of children and older people within each country (and between them) are heavily dependent on the choice of indicator. The deprivation results confirm that the approach can be applied comparatively and is capable of producing credible and robust findings. Whether viewed in isolation or in combination with conventional poverty measures, the results indicate that the main factor that determines the risk of deprivation is living alone (or as a sole parent) rather than age or the presence of children. The results also imply that the findings and implications of studies of policy impact will be sensitive to the choice of indicator used to identify disadvantage.

Ideas, Institutions, and Welfare Program Typologies: An Analysis of Pensions and Old Age Income Protection Policies in Sub-Saharan Africa

Michael W. Kpessa — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:26:04 PST

Since the 1980s, social policy research shifted attention from institutional development of welfare programs to what were described as crises of the welfare state in an era of austerity. Much of the scholarly debate in this area had focused on the maturation of welfare programs, especially the post-war old age income support programs in the advanced industrialized countries to the neglect of social protection in Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. This paper is intended to bring the dynamics of social policy in SSA countries into the comparative welfare dialogue and into the global social security debate in particular. Using a historical institutionalist approach, this study analyzes the trajectories of old age income support development in SSA countries through a careful study of old age income security or protection strategies in the region across time and space. The paper develops ideal typologies for understandings variations and transformations of pensions and old age income provision programs in the region. In doing this, it argues that the ideas and institutions around which recent rounds of pension reforms revolves have always been at both the foreground and background of old age income protection thinking and practices in SSA countries since the pre-colonial era.

Cancer Care of American Indians and Alaska Natives and Other Racial Groups Enrolled in Public and Private Insurance Plans

Scott D. Ramsey — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:26:02 PST

Objectives. To compare cancer care among American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) patients with other racial groups. Methods. We used Washington State cancer registry records to identify 33,624 patients < age 65 diagnosed with local and regional stage breast, colorectal, and lung cancer from 1997 to 2003. Records were linked with regional tribal registry and Medicaid records to identify AIAN.Results. Enrollment in Medicaid at or after diagnosis was 50% for AIAN, 34% for Hispanic, 33% for black, and 18% for Asian/Pacific Islander compared to 13% of white cancer patients. AIAN were equally as likely as whites and other minority groups to receive surgery for breast and colorectal cancer, but significantly less likely (OR = 0.67) to receive surgery for lung cancer. Medicaid patients in general were less likely to receive surgery within 2 months of diagnosis, but AIAN were no less likely to receive timely surgery compared to other racial groups.Conclusion. AIAN rely more heavily than other racial groups on Medicaid for insurance after they are diagnosed with cancer. Issues associated with Medicaid enrollment, as well as non-insurance related factors may account for delays in time to surgery and lower rates of lung cancer surgery among AIAN.

Demystifying Social Security Financing and the General Fund

Nancy J. Altman — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:20:16 PST

Warning of the danger from the unified budget approach, the distinguished analyst of Social Security, Nancy J. Altman, last December issued a statement to the National Academy of Social Insurance. Poverty and Public Poverty now presents her cogent explanation of the issues and clarification of the threat on the following pages.

Editor's Letter

Max J. Skidmore — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:43:54 PST

Editor-in-Chief, Max J. Skidmore, contextualizes the content of Volume Two, Issue One of Poverty & Public Policy.

PSO Proceedings, New Series no. 6

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 11:55:06 PST

An Economic Perspective on a U.S. National Broadband Plan

Robert Hahn — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 13:18:19 PST

This paper responds to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's request for guidance in designing a national broadband plan. We argue that the U.S. market for Internet services is working well overall, as evidenced by nearly ubiquitous coverage, rapid adoption, large investments, and increasing speeds. Still, the market is not working well for all people in all places, and we offer a framework for considering policies intended to mitigate those issues. The core of the paper consists of nine recommendations. Two of our recommendations are general. First, the government should ensure that its interventions do more good than harm. Second, the government should define clear, measurable, goals that do not benefit particular firms, technologies, or regions. The remaining seven recommendations provide specific guidance for a U.S. broadband plan. They include: liberalizing spectrum, gathering and analyzing data on broadband demand, targeting resources to where they are most needed, defining broadband access to maximize social gain, designing mechanisms that will achieve the government's broadband goals at the lowest social cost, vigorous antitrust enforcement, and designing policies to facilitate rigorous evaluation.

Multilateral Approaches to Deliberating Internet Governance

J P. Singh — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 13:18:17 PST

This essay tackles the question of how increased interactions among multiple actors facilitated by the Internet shape patterns of global governance, especially for the Internet itself. The paper argues that in global governance the types of actors, along with their collective understandings and deliberations, shape two different types of multilateral global orders: statist multilateralism and networked multilateralism. This paper employs the language of global governance rather than that of international regimes to distinguish three keys terms for understanding governance: global order, legitimacy and deliberations. These concepts are applied to the case of Internet governance, to the Internet Corporation on Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) which is characterized as statist multilateralism, the networked scenarios of the World Summit for the Information Society (WSIS), and the Internet Governance Forum (IGF). The conclusion does not predict the demise of statist multilateralism (as do many analysts examining WSIS and IGF processes) but argues that these newer arrangements are analytically useful for understanding alternative governance arrangements likely to emerge in the future. As such, the concept of networked multilateralism could usefully be applied to cases other than the Internet.

Early Adolescents' Use of Social Networking Sites to Maintain Friendship and Explore Identity: Implications for Policy

Barbie H. Clarke — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 13:18:15 PST

This paper considers 10-14 year olds' adoption of digital technology, and the way in which the developmental tasks of early adolescence are played out within their everyday lives through their widespread interaction with digital media, considering both the social and the psychological processes that take place. It reflects on the concerns that have been expressed about children's use of digital social networking, but also looks at the benefits to children of using the media, and the implications for policymaking.The paper recognises that the widespread adoption of digital technology at this age is deeply embedded in the social context of early adolescents' lives. While the mental processes that take place and the developmental stages have not changed, it may be that digital technology is being used to process some of the tasks of early adolescence, especially in identity formation, the importance and the influence of peers, and the way that emotional support is given and received. An ethnographic study was carried out over two years in the homes of twenty-eight children living in the south-east of England. Research included over 30 hours of filmed observation, diaries, friendship maps, individual interviews, friendship focus groups and an online bulletin board.Early adolescence is viewed as a key stage in which emotional development can affect children's level of wellbeing, and friendship is especially important as they turn from their family to the outside world. In playing with identity, building relationships, maintaining friendships and turning to each other for encouragement and companionship, children gain 'digital agency'. This process may be beneficial and an important source of support and comfort to the young adolescent who is experiencing transition both cognitively, physically, and through change of school. Policy decisions need to be based on a sound understanding of how children use digital technology, raising awareness of the benefits as well as the potential risks, encouraging peer communication and support, and informing parents and teachers of children's digital world.

The Case Against Mass E-mails: Perverse Incentives and Low Quality Public Participation in U.S. Federal Rulemaking

Stuart W. Shulman — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 13:18:13 PST

Large-scale e-mail campaigns are a staple in the modern environmental movement. Interest groups increasingly use online mobilizations as a way to raise awareness, money, and membership. There are legitimate political, economic, and organizational reasons for doing so, but these gains may come at the expense of a more substantial and efficacious role for citizens who wish to use e-mail to engage in public participation. This paper situates a close examination of the 1000 longest modified MoveOn.org-generated e-mails sent to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) about its 2004 mercury rulemaking, in the broader context of online grassroots lobbying. The findings indicate that only a tiny portion of these public comments constitute potentially relevant new information for the EPA to consider. The vast majority of MoveOn comments are either exact duplicates of a two-sentence form letter, or they are variants of a small number of broad claims about the inadequacy of the proposed rule. This paper argues that norms, rules, and tools will emerge to deal with the burden imposed by these communications. More broadly, it raises doubts about the notion that online public participation is a harbinger of a more deliberative and democratic era.

The Internet and Public Policy

Helen Z. Margetts — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 13:18:12 PST

This article looks at the role of the Internet in policymaking, identifying potential policy effects of widespread use of the Internet by citizens, firms, governments and voluntary organizations. It considers how the Internet and Internet-enabled social change might impact upon each of the four 'tools' of government policy - nodality, authority, treasure and organization - and how it might impact upon the mix of tools that policymakers select. It suggests a number of values normally associated with the Internet - innovation, trust, openness and equity - that might be expected to emerge in policy trends. It discusses the implications of Internet-driven change for public policy research, pinpointing some key methodologies that will become increasingly important; generation of large-scale transactional data; network analysis and experimental methods. The article argues that we cannot understand, analyse or make public policy without understanding the technological, social and economic shifts associated with the Internet - a task that the journal Policy & Internet is poised to undertake.

Lunch Break

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:00:00 PST

Evidence Based Policy: A Global Challenge to Medicine in an Era of Mistrust

Arnauld Nicogossian — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 10:00:00 PST

Chair: Arnauld Nicogossian, George Mason University Arnauld Nicogossian Communicating the Knowledge Abstract: Policy decisions should be consistent with knowledge base. Communicating the evidence is one of the most important duty of the academic and practicing professionals. Without �the evidence and candor there cannot be transparency and public trust. Poor communication practices can lead to confusion, helplessness, anger, civil disobedience and political backlash. The example of �vaccination for seasonal and pandemic influenza will be discussed in the context of the bioethics, policy and politics. Naoru Koizumi Use of Technology to Design Better Health Policies Abstract: GIS is becoming increasingly popular in health care research in recent years. Typical GIS-based studies include an analysis such as�"hot-spot" analysis that detects clusters of an infectious disease, simulation of a disease spread, or demand & supply analysis that identifies geographical areas with over- / under- utilization of services improving decision making in outcomes. Jessica Heineman-Pieper Politics in Health Sciences & Policy Abstract: The complexity of system dynamics in the health care sector enables greater scope for politics through the collective interplay of unconscious biases, deliberate agendas, and systemic tendencies. In the international context, these dynamics operate at the level of whole world-views and are compounded by power asymmetries that, among other things, have skewed important issues in global public health policy for less powerful countries towards US economic interests rather than the true wellbeing of those countries' citizens. Public trust as well as domestic and global public health can benefit from both recognizing the operation of power and influence in public health science and policy and also mitigating these forces by reinstating core public health commitments.