University of Northern British Columbia: Open Journal Systems
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Social Impact Bonds 101
Full text linkAs of February 2017, 15 Pay for Success (PFS) contracts using social impact bonds (SIBs) have been launched in the U.S. In combination, these projects are scheduled to deliver approximately $130 million in services and serve more than 20,000 individuals. These projects tackle issues in homelessness, criminal recidivism, early childhood education, maternal and infant health, child welfare system reform, and substance abuse treatment. This policy brief discusses the reasons that governments around the country are testing the Pay for Success approach. It also explains the PFS model, describes PFS projects in the US to date, and presents some of the lessons that have been learned from the initial U.S. PFS projects
The future of archaeology: Towards a meaningful community-based archaeology
No full textArchaeology and archaeological theory are currently largely in the era of post-processualism. This has been significant as it has changed the ways that archaeologists interact with communities who are stakeholders in community-based archaeological research. However, not all archaeological research has followed suit and in many countries the archaeology still practiced does not include or benefit the local communities. I argue that moving into the future, archaeology must adopt a community-based approach as a mandatory practice in all situations. Community-based archaeology is relatively new in many parts of the world and thus its meaning is still ambiguous. How can we, as archaeologists, do better for the communities we work with and create long-lasting meaningful relationships with them? Community-based archaeology can mean many things and its breadth is part of what makes it so useful, but I argue that it must include meaningful engagement with the source community which leads to a form of heritage-building and empowerment
Using a design approach to create collaborative governance
Full text linkIn complex, shared-power settings, policymakers, administrators and other kinds of decision makers increasingly must engage in collaborative inter-organisational efforts to effectively address challenging public issues. These collaborations must be governed effectively if they are to achieve their public purposes. A design approach to the governance of collaborations can help, especially if it explicitly focuses on the design and use of formal and informal settings for dialogue and deliberation (forums), decision making (arenas) and resolution of residual disputes (courts). The success of a design approach will depend on many things, but especially on leaders and leadership and careful attention to the design and use of forums, arenas and courts and the effective use of power. The argument is illustrated by examining the emergence and governance of a collaboration designed to cope with the fragmented policy field of minority business support
Kocs University, Istanbul PPOL 501/INTL 401 - Policy Design and Implementation
No full textKocs University, Istanbul PPOL 501/INTL 401 - Policy Design and Implementatio
Designing for Social Infrastructures in Complex Service Systems: A Human-Centered and Social Systems Perspective on Service Design
Full text linkService design is one of the keys to improving how we target today’s complex societal problems. The predominant view of service sys- tems is mechanistic and linear. A service infrastructure—which includes solutions like service blueprints, scripts, and protocols—is, in some ways, designed to control the behavior of service professionals at the service in- terface. This view undermines the intrinsic motivation, expertise, and cre- ativity of service professionals. This article presents a different perspective on service design. Using theories of social systems and complex responsive processes, I define service organizations as ongoing iterated patterns of relationships between people, and identify them as complex social service systems. I go on to show how the human-centeredness of design practices contributes to designing for such service systems. In particular, I show how a deep understanding of the needs and aspirations of service professionals through phenomenological themes contributes to designing for social in- frastructures that support continuous improvement and adaptation of the practices executed by service professionals at the service interface
Social Movement Success as a Political Process: The Case of the 2012 Quebec Student Protests
Full text linkUniversity tuition fees in Quebec remain among the lowest in North America, despite recent government attempts to raise them. What explains the success of the 2012 Quebec student protests? This paper, drawing upon scholarship on social movement success, argues that the unfolding of political events in 2012 demonstrates the counter-intuitive manner in which a state can come to reflect a social movement's objectives. The Quebec student movement succeeded not by garnering public support or directly influencing policy decisions, but by allying itself with an opposition party that won an election in spite of its association with the movement. The student movement was not backed by popular opinion, and its success resulted from aligning itself with a party that was able to withstand the detrimental effects of this relationship
Canadian Arab Youth Vote 2015
No full textIn this paper, we seek to unpack some of the nuances about what motivated Canadian Arab youth to vote in the 2015 election and how their decisions inform the wider literature. How does the voting behaviour of Canadian Arab youth during the 2015 election support or challenge mainstream academic theories about ethno-cultural youth political decision-making and voting preferences? What concepts might help us better understand this rising demographic, its political animus, and its significance for Canadian politics? Of great interest in this paper is the investigation into whether voter apathy historically reported for young people and ethno-cultural communities continued to hold in the 2015 election. This paper critically interrogates what the 2015 federal election meant to Canadian Arab youth. We identify the predominant political inclinations of and issues for young Arab Canadians through the findings of structured focus groups. Our findings indicate that Arab Canadian youth were highly engaged with the issues of the election and apathy was the exception rather than the norm. Canadian Arab youth’s ethno-cultural background does explain their voting behaviour during the 2015 election, but bread and butter issues are also a concern for many young people
Public Policy Design and Implementation in Slovenia
Full text linkPublic policy design and implementation is a complex process, and so decision makers try to monitor all of the policy lifecycle stages in a particular policy domain. However, the question of coherent integration of various policy activities arises, including agenda-setting, ex-ante evaluation, formulation, decision-making, implementation, ex-post evaluation of individual policies, sector-specific ones, and even horizontal ones. Therefore, it is important to investigate and understand the reasons why an individual country, such as Slovenia, does not exploit all potential aspects of carrying out policy activities in a systematic and coherent manner. This article explores and analyzes Slovenian practice in policy design based on an in-depth empirical study among key public policyholders and decision makers. Furthermore, the authors identify the key success factors that facilitate or inhibit the development and progress of public policies, programs, and projects (PPPP) in Slovenia. The key findings indicate a particular lack of a professional policy unit to monitor the process holistically and the absence of ex-post evaluation. A need for a systemic solution in public policy design is established, which would merge different authorities’ efforts, epistemic communities, and the public in developing a structural multilevel model for good public governance
Public opinion in Quebec under the Harper Conservatives
Full text linkAt the beginning of their mandate, the Harper Conservatives made several attempts to convince Quebecers to support their government. They gave Quebec a voice at the UNESCO and adopted a motion recognizing Quebec as a nation. They also promised to rectify the fiscal imbalance and to not use the federal spending power in provincial jurisdictions. Yet, these attempts failed to translate into increased electoral support for the Conservatives.
Given this puzzle, the paper analyzes trends in public opinion to identify what measures promoted by the Conservative government were supported by Quebecers, and on what issues they are in disagreement. The paper also analyzes the levels of satisfaction with the federal government and democracy among Quebecers during the time period.
The results show that on most issues, Quebecers have become more distant from the Conservative government’s position over the years. On issues such as scrapping the gun registry and the place of Quebec in the federation, Quebecers disagreed more strongly with their federal government in 2011 than in 2006. Likewise, their satisfaction towards both the federal government and democracy declined during this time period. These trends explain why the Conservatives have been unable to win more votes in Quebec despite their commitment to open federalism
