Coronavirus (COVID-19) is one of the defining policy challenges of an era. In this article, we sketch some possible ways in which the public policy and administration community can make an enduring contribution about how to cope with this terrible crisis. We do so by offering some elements that delineate a tentative research agenda for public policy and administration scholars, to be pursued with epistemic humility. We outline the contours of seven analytical themes that are central to the challenges presented by COVID-19: policy design and instruments, policy learning, public service and its publics, organisational capacity, public governance, administrative traditions and public sector reforms in multi-level governance (MLG). The list is neither exhaustive nor exclusive to COVID-19. The knowledge we can generate must speak not only to the daunting challenge of COVID-19 itself but also to policymakers, and indeed humankind, trying to cope with future unexpected but high impact threats, by leveraging better public policies and building administrative capacities to enable more resilient, equitable and effective public services.
A promising approach to the management of dementia is 'social prescribing'. Social prescribing is a form of 'co-production' that involves linking patients with non-clinical activities, typically delivered by voluntary and community groups, in an effort to improve their sense of well-being. The success of social prescribing depends upon the ability of boundary-spanning individuals within service delivery organizations to develop referral pathways and collaborative relationships through 'networks'. This article examines the operation of a pilot social prescribing programme in the North East of England, targeted at older people with early onset dementia and depression, at risk of social isolation. It is argued that the scheme was not sustained, in part, because the institutional logics that governed the actions of key boundary-spanning individuals militated against the collaboration necessary to support co-production.
Technological solutions to domestic energy reduction are insufficient without the cooperation of householders. It does not matter how much energy hypothetically could be saved by efficient technologies, if no one wants to live in the properties, install or use efficient lighting and heating. Therefore, to improve the uptake and effectiveness of household energy efficiency interventions, it is necessary to understand 'why people react to particular energy efficiency interventions in the ways that they do?' An analysis is presented of in-depth interviews with 50 householders that participated in one of four domestic energy efficiency interventions. The findings indicate that issues such as aesthetic tastes and effects on lifestyle are central to why people reject economically viable simple and well understood domestic energy efficiency interventions.
In 2014, protests in Ferguson, Missouri (MO), and the subsequent law enforcement response, shined a light on police militarization-the adoption of military styles, equipment, and tactics within law enforcement. Since 1990, the U.S. Department of Defense has transferred excess military equipment to domestic law enforcement agencies via the federal 1033 program. This article examines transfers of mineresistant ambush-protected vehicles or MRAPs. Designed to withstand explosive blasts during U.S. military occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan, surplus MRAPs have been shipped to more than 800 domestic law enforcement agencies. This article uses national data on law enforcement agencies and on 1033 program transfers to analyze the pattern of MRAP distribution. The results show that MRAPs are disproportionately acquired by agencies that have warrior tendencies and rely on asset forfeiture to generate revenue. This pattern of militarization is consistent with a model of governance that views citizens as both opportunities and threats.
Since its introduction on 1 November 2006 the Better Access initiative has improved the access and affordability to psychological services. The enthusiastic response by Australians has resulted in the production of a large and growing dataset about the way in which psychological treatments are delivered by different professionals in routine clinical practice. Given the importance of evidence‐based decisions in psychological treatment service delivery there is now an opportunity to use the Better Access data to make a significant and sustained contribution to the evidence base. In this paper the features of the Better Access initiative and the Australian context that potentially place Australia as a unique and key contributor to the evidence‐base movement on a global scale, are described. Areas are then suggested in which improvements to the evidence base are needed, and some of the ways in which the Better Access data might clarify these issues are outlined (including the evidence to support the $AUD27,650,523.80 of higher Medicare rebate to clinical psychologists) as well as the research opportunities the Better Access initiative has created through the rapid growth in services.
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