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This report provides a comprehensive picture of federal financial support for education from fiscal year 1980 through fiscal year 2003. The federal government provides support for education well beyond programs funded through the U.S. Department of Education. It discusses off-budget suport and nonfederal funds generated by federal legislation, estimated federal tax expeditures to support education, and federal support for education institutions. A summary of dollar amounts spent on education programs in the U.S. Department of Education and other government agencies is provided. (Contains 1 appendix and 11 tables.)

It is well known that the meanings of public values can vary significantly across different settings, given their abstract nature. Despite this knowledge, however, the public values literature has not significantly examined the official meanings of public values in their local setting. Against this backdrop, on the basis of a translation perspective we examine the context-specific meanings of 219 public values as defined by the core values statements of 61 Nordic central government agencies. We show variation and patterns in the meanings, emphasizing how the meanings vary depending on whether the values are translated into (1) a work and service delivery theme, (2) an internal relations theme and (3) an external relations theme. Through these findings, the study highlights the importance of taking into consideration the official meanings of agency core values for understanding the relationship between public values and administrative behaviour. Points for practitioners: The findings from this study inform public managers and administrators of the possible variation in the official meanings that could be attributed to core values. They suggest that public managers should carefully consider how they want their agency's core values to be understood by the employees. Specifically, when translating core values, public managers are advised to assess whether the signifiers they use to translate the values should guide work and service delivery, internal relations or external relations, respectively, or a combination. By drawing attention to the intended meanings of core values, the findings create increased awareness of how different translations of core values implicate different administrative behaviours.

This chapter reviews theoretical rationales for mission-oriented innovation policy and provides an empirical overview of extant 28 papers and 49 cases on the topic. We synthetize varieties of mission formulations, actors involved, and characteristics of missions described as more or less failed or successful. Fifty-nine percent of the studied missions are still ongoing, 33 percent are considered successful, and 8 percent as failures. Sixty-seven percent of the studied missions have taken place in Europe, 24 percent in North America, and 8 percent in Asia. The majority of innovation projects referred to as missions do not fulfill the criteria defined by the OECD. Results suggest that missions related to technological or agricultural innovations are more often successful than broader types of missions aimed at social or ecological challenges. Challenges regarding the governance and evaluation of missions remain unresolved in the literature. We find no case that contains a cost-benefit analysis or takes opportunity cost into account.

Mission-oriented innovation policies put government and state agencies at the forefront of the innovation process. Currently, little is known about the interests of the government agencies in charge of implementing mission-oriented innovation policies. In this chapter, we set out to explore the incentives and behavior of such government agencies. We do so by analyzing 33 annual reports from three government agencies in charge of implementing innovation policies in Sweden over a 10-year period: Sweden’s Innovation Agency (Vinnova), the Swedish Energy Agency (Energimyndigheten), and the Swedish Agency for Regional and Economic Growth (Tillväxtverket). First, we track all cases in these annual reports where an evaluation is mentioned. Identifying 654 instances, we subsequently make a sentiment analysis and code whether these statements are positive, neutral, or negative. Our findings show that 84% of these instances are positive, 12% are neutral, and 4% are negative. Second, we relate these results to more critical evaluations and show that these agencies often ignore research that generates more critical results. In sum, our results suggest that government agencies in charge of implementing mission-oriented policies benefit from the enlarged role they are given and that they act according to their own self-interest.

The purpose of this quantitative research was to explore the relationship between two potential risk factors, children’s type of school (e.g., public, private, charter, or magnet) and quality of neighborhood, with social vulnerability. Data were collected through an online survey from January through March 2024. Hierarchical multiple linear regression conducted in SPSS demonstrated that four out of seven quality of neighborhood attributes were significant predictors of social vulnerability (p < .05); as the neighborhood conditions of vehicular traffic, teenagers present in the street, graffiti, and vandalism increased, levels of social vulnerability also increased. Factor analysis confirmed the strong reliability and internal structure of the instrument used to collect the data. No significance was found for children’s type of school, but more studies are needed to determine if research on this variable can help inform decisions about school-choice policies. This study addressed the need for knowledge about contextual environmental factors and children’s well-being. This is imperative, as social vulnerability is an emerging psychological construct in developmental research that is correlated with all aspects of social interactions, as it negatively interferes with the process of forming social bonds with others. Building alignment between the goals of schools, government agencies, and communities is essential, so that parents have access to the support and resources needed to promote healthy development in children. Thus, the empirical findings from this study will help promote awareness of social vulnerability and help children receive the empathy, dignity, and respect that they deserve.

The human factor and insider threats play a crucial role in information security. In today’s digital age, protecting organizational data requires a deep understanding of human behaviour and its impact on information security. The increasing volume of electronically stored data has led to a rise in cyber threats and breaches, necessitating effective information security policies and regulations. This study focuses on the experiences and perspectives of employees and top management in government agencies regarding the development, communication, compliance, and attitudes towards information security policies and regulations. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants from both top management or information security officers and regular employees, which allowed for an in-depth exploration of their experiences and perspectives. The findings show that government agencies systematically develop policies by engaging stakeholders, ensuring accessibility, and adhering to legal frameworks. Addressing the human factor involves training, awareness programs, and top management support. Policy development and implementation include risk assessment, stakeholder identification, objective setting, continuous review, and integration into daily operations. Communication channels such as intranets, training, coordinators, and awareness events are utilized, but their effectiveness is not directly measured. Proposed improvements include enhancing accessibility, improving policy document management, and using clearer language. Employees generally possess a positive attitude towards information security, though their understanding varies, and challenges to their understanding include complex language and unclear instructions. Compliance also varies, with difficulties arising from technical terminology and information overload. Enhanced compliance can be achieved through simplified language, providing better resources, and top management support. Proactive incident manageme

Persons with disabilities have long been overlooked and forgotten in the context of international development cooperation with less than five percent of official development aid targeting disability-related issues. Too often development agencies and organizations claim to have limited expertise related to disability, lack funds to support disability issues and pivot the responsibility of upholding the rights of persons with disabilities to someone else. Ableism, favoring those without disabilities, and disablism, viewing persons with disabilities as inferior lie at the heart of the development problem of excluding the disability community in international cooperation. Through 12 semi-structured interviews, this study examines why disability inclusion in Swedish development cooperation is limited today. The study finds that within Swedish development cooperation disability is not seen as a priority, existing power structures limit disability-inclusive development practices and many individuals working in the sector remain uncomfortable working on disability issues. The study concludes by noting that current Swedish development practices unintentionally favor those without disabilities and continue to overlook disability-related issues. Moving forward development actors and disability rights advocates are encouraged to fight forward and not back to ensure development is inclusive of every ‘body,’ not just those without disabilities.

This report combines a cost baseline analysis with five case studies of California rail projects (four local transit projects and California’s High-Speed Rail project) to identify the causes of high project costs, slow deployment, and overruns/delays beyond initial project estimates. Baselines were developed from an analysis of two prominent transit cost databases, and case studies were developed through review of the historical record and expert interviews. Key findings include lack of transit agency experience and expertise; insufficient cross-agency coordination; costly stakeholder outreach; inefficient procurement and contracting methods; and project overdesign. The report proposes a set of recommendations for transit agencies and state policymakers to overcome these challenges, including the creation of regional project delivery consultant teams, legal authorization and use of alternative contracting methods, and new agency coordination and communication structures.

The purpose of this research report is to analyze how service recipients perceive service quality. The object of research is a government agency in the Special Region of Yogyakarta, namely Manpower and Transmigration. The service quality dimensions analyzed include service quality dimensions consisting of physical evidence, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and attention. Primary data used in this research. The data is in the form of responses to questions regarding service quality. Questionnaires are used as a tool to obtain data. Questionnaires were distributed to service users at the Manpower and Transmigration Office. Questionnaires that can be processed 75 questionnaires. The data analysis method used is the average or average opinion of the respondents. The average value of respondents' opinions is a measure of service quality. Service quality is categorized into less good, good and very good. The size is not good if the average value of the variable is in the 1 – 1.67, good size if the average value is in the range of 1.67 to 3.73 while the good category is in the range of 3.74 – 5.00. The results showed that: (1) respondents had a perception that the quality of physical evidence was in the very good category. (2) respondents have a perception that the reliability dimension has good quality, (3) responsiveness according to respondents is of good quality, (4) quality assurance is not good, (5) attention (empathy) and empathy are of good quality.

This paper focuses on the professionalization project of the Swedish military and police and the interplay between profession and organization. Previous literature has suggested that the relationship between professions and organizations are crucial for understanding matters such as organizational change and the development of professional work. Against this background, we start with the assumption that the relationship between professions and organizations is an important variable also for the development and evolvement of professionalization undertakings. We start by mapping ambitions and concrete measures, undertaken from the 1990s onwards, to professionalize these two forces. Following the understanding of professionalization as the scientification of work, we study changes in officer education as well as ambitions to increase the linkage between research and the conduct of professional work. We thereafter analyze to what extent the receiving end has adopted to the input side of these reforms, by studying the importance of scientification when it comes to what knowledge base officers rely on when conducting work; the linkage between scientification and admission, promotion and the status of officers as teachers or researchers. We conclude that there is no immediate correlation between efforts to reform these professional groups and their impact on the organization. Despite similar ambitions by the state, the Swedish military and police have responded differently. We further conclude that for externally initiated professionalization reforms to have an effect, they cannot solely target the professional groups, but also the organization., Shirin Ahlbäck Öberg is noted as presenter on the conference presentation abstract page, Governing public professions: Performance management and professional autonomy in the police and military

This paper reports on a research study that aimed to understand and qualify the influences of interagency relationships on interagency government data sharing (IDS). Using a meta-analysis approach, 76 interviews previously collected from three city governments in China were analysed under the theoretical lens of a unified social network theory of inter-organisational relations (IOR).Results. The meta-analysis shows that interagency data sharing is influenced by the constitution and determinants of interagency relationships. A conceptualisation of the findings indicated that tensions between government agencies are the core cause of the lack of interagency data sharing. Therefore, effective management of interagency tensions should become a central strategy for enhancing interagency data sharing. This paper provides a novel perspective on the conceptualisation of interagency data sharing problems and a new approach to strengthen interagency data sharing in practice., Peer Reviewed, Information Seeking in Context (ISIC), Berlin, September 26 - 29, 2022

Interagency government data sharing (IDS) is an indispensable precondition for the development of citizen-centred smart government. Adopting a theory of territoriality, this paper reports on an on-going research investigation, which explores, identifies, and qualifies the barriers to the lack of IDS.Methods. The research adopts an inductive approach, which combines a critical literature review, and three case studies in Central China. 118 articles, and 45 government officials and data managers from three regional government agencies collected as interview data were included and analysed using a thematic approach. Interorganisational dynamism affects the formulation of individual agencies’ psychological ownership on data, which leads to territorial marking and defending behaviours against IDS. Territoriality theory offers a novel and useful perspective to interpret, understand and resolve IDS problems. Albeit this research is situated in China, the research findings offer valuable indications and insights that can be shared across international borders., Peer Reviewed, Information Seeking in Context (ISIC), Berlin, September 26 - 29, 2022

A central claim of the NPM doctrine is that public sector organizations will deliver better quality and improve efficiency if managers are given more autonomy in managerial and operational decisions. At the same time the idea is to keep managers under close control, which has led to the introduction of result-control instruments. This balancing strategy is referred to as the paradox of autonomization. There is, however, still scarce knowledge on whether and how the proposed balancing techniques work. Using a unique database on Swedish government agencies this article aims to mitigate this deficiency (N=1752). A balancing strategy is mainly confirmed, since higher managerial and structural autonomy are balanced with more external results control by government. We show that governments’ attempts at more managerial approaches to public service provision in reality add new ex post controls without reducing the old ones. However, policy and financial autonomy are not balanced by increased results control—these dimensions diminish when controlling for budget size. This study is an answer to a general call for more objective measures for evaluating bureaucratic autonomy

This dissertation attempts to discuss the effects and consequences of delays in delivering public construction projects of government agencies in accordance with the prevailing procurement laws and administrative contracts which differ from private contracts in terms of authority the government entity has to protect and preserve the rights of the public and the taxpayers whom are the real financiers of those projects, in addition to the contractual and legal procedures the government entity undertakes in case of delay to ensure that the rights of the public are preserved and the project agreed completion time is preserved. The dissertation also discusses the different cases and causes of delay in government projects and the extent to which the contract parties are responsible for those delays, the methods of delay analysis to determine responsibility and duration of delay, how the cost of delay is decided and calculated, conditions for applying delay damages, and enforceability of liquidated damages in case of termination. In light of the existence of several legal and judicial systems, the most important of which are the civil law and the common law, differences in the legal actions and consequences of delays in government projects in the Emirate of Dubai, which applies civil law, and the United States, which applies common law are discussed to clarify the differences in the Administrative Contracts in both countries in accordance with the enacted laws and government requirements in force. The significance of this Dissertation arises from the importance to understand the differences between administrative contracts in civil and public law jurisdictions in terms of delay damages legal definitions, legal and contractual consequences of delays, and enforceability of delay damages and their effectiveness and usefulness in achieving the governments’ intended goals in terms of completing public projects within the agreed budget and completion time, and compensating the g

This article dealt with construction projects in Iraq, and the research focused on the risks that may affect these projects. The purpose of this study is to determine the risks that construction projects are exposed to in Iraq and the methods of dealing in order to reduce these risks. Sometimes, if the construction projects are similar to each other in terms of configuration, requirements and purpose, then changing the project site is very sufficient to make these projects differ from each other and thus may be exposed to different risks. These are risks that negatively affect the implementation of these projects and may lead to delay or increase in their cost. Here a questionnaire is designed to collect data to identify risks that may occur during the construction project phases. This questionnaire was distributed electronically to several samples in the public and private sectors within state institutions in Iraq. After completion, the risks that these projects may be exposed to were identified. This was done with engineers and managers of companies and projects working in the public, private and joint sectors, and then these risks were analyzed by the Social Sciences for Packet Statistical Test program(SPSS).

Governing bodies at different levels are authoritative institutions and civil servants/policy-makers are key actors in realizing global and national climate objectives. They have largely failed to create effective, legitimate, democratic, and just policies. This is problematic in light of research that views the climate transition as a social and behavioral concern and stresses the importance of paying attention to social effects in policy-making. The authors explore the Swedish climate institutions: the Environmental Protection Agency, the Traffic Administration, the Energy Agency, and the Innovation Agency. They analyzed key policy documents and 31 interviews questions on how social issues are understood and dealt with in institutional practices. The authors confirmed that emphasis has been on technological innovations and economic incentives. Although policy-makers recognize the relevance of social concerns, efforts to date seem insufficient. The main challenge is how to incorporate such concerns when action is restricted by institutional path dependencies. The authors’ approach starts in feminist institutionalism and adds intersectionality in an analytical lens that helps explore how power relations are embedded within climate institutions and can explain their effects. Insights are that power relations are context-specific and situated in a certain place and time. The authors’ method of how to pursue contextually sensitive and situated analyses of complex intersections of power can be used across contexts in further comparative studies.

The number of scandals during the past years regarding the use and misuse of digital storage of personal infor-mation in combination with the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) within the EU member states, has resulted in a resurfaced discussion of sovereignty within the public sphere in relation to the storage of digital information. This master thesis examines the attitudes towards national data storage of personal data within twenty Swedish public agencies in the context of the analytical term Digital sovereignty.The thesis uses semi-structured interviews with employees working with data protection and qualitative con-tent analysis of internal documents connected to personal data management, in order to examine Swedish govern-ment agencies attitudes towards national data storage of personal information. The responses of the interviews and the internal policy documents in the area of personal data protections is viewed through the analytic term Digital sovereignty. The government agency the Swedish social security agency’s definition of Digital sovereignty is used in the thesis, which focuses on national governments ability to have control over both the technical and geograph-ical processing and storage of their citizen’s personal data.The thesis concludes that Swedish authorities takes the risk of transfer of personal data to third countries outside of the EU very seriously, while they also see the need to find legal ways to transfer personal data to these same countries. The thesis also concludes that Swedish government agencies try to avoid cloud services and are cautious in their use due to the implications they have for information and data security, while other research have shown that cloud services are used extensively within Swedish government agencies. The thesis also concludes that there is a lack of interest in national data storage of personal information within Swedish government, which can partially be attributed to the

The COVID-19 pandemic brought about major changes in cancer clinical trials. In its aftermath, the community has an opportunity to incorporate some of these changes as part of the future of trial conduct to make it more patient centered.

BackgroundPublic health agencies in the United States have engaged in abortion-related activities for nearly 50 years. Prior research indicates that, while most state health departments engage in some abortion-related work, their efforts reflect what is required by law rather than the breadth of core public health activities. In contrast, local health departments appear to engage in abortion-related activities less often but, when they do, initiate a broader range of activities.MethodsThis study aimed to: 1) describe the abortion-related activities undertaken by maternal and child health (MCH) and family planning professionals in state and local health departments; 2) understand how health departments approach their programmatic work on abortion, and 3) examine the facilitators and barriers to whether and how abortion work is implemented. Between November 2017 and June 2018, we conducted key informant interviews with 29 professionals working in 22 state and local health departments across the U.S. Interview data were thematically coded and analyzed using an iterative approach.ResultsMCH and family planning professionals described a range of abortion-related activities undertaken within their health departments. We identified three approaches to this work: those mandated strictly by law or policy; those initiated when mandated by law but informed by public health principles (e.g., scientific accuracy, expert engagement, lack of bias, promoting access to care) in implementation; and those initiated by professionals within the department to meet identified needs. More state health departments engaged in activities when mandated, and more local health departments initiated activities based on identified needs. Key barriers and facilitators included political climate, funding opportunities and restrictions, and departmental leadership.ConclusionsAlthough state health departments are tasked with implementing legally-required abortion-related activities, some agencies

Swedish central government is usually described as dualistic, where ministries are few and small and where the bulk of government activities are handled by a large number of semiautonomous agencies at the national level. Consequently, the Swedish model has been particularly receptive to increasing agencification associated with modern public management reforms, such as the separation of policy formation and policy implementation whereby new agencies are created, and existing agencies are given more autonomy. Since 1994 each government agency is, for example, responsible for developing state employer policies. Unlike many other countries, civil servants have not been recruited through designated elite schools but via the open labor market in competition with other private and public employers. Job advertisements are the most common channel for recruitment, and within are an arena for different institutional logics in which the organization is embedded, such as the logic of the organization, the democratic state, the market, the community, and the profession. Based on these institutional logics, job advertisements for non-stereotypical bureaucrats in two Swedish government agencies are scrutinized. Both agencies were recently involved in scandals in which IT and data security issues were at the center of events, forcing members of staff to emerge as public servants. Job ads for such positions do, however, rather emphasize organizational, professional, and market values, while public values are toned down or presented indirectly., Living reference work entry

As Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen famously remarked in 2011, software is eating the world - becoming a pervasive invisible critical infrastructure. Data on the distribution of software use and development in society is scarce, but we compile results from two novel surveys to provide a fuller picture of the role software plays in the public and private sectors in Sweden, respectively. Three out of ten Swedish firms, across industry sectors, develop software in-house. The corresponding figure for Sweden's government agencies is four out of ten, i.e., the public sector should not be underestimated. The digitalization of society will continue, thus the demand for software developers will further increase. Many private firms report that the limited supply of software developers in Sweden is directly affecting their expansion plans. Based on our findings, we outline directions that need additional research to allow evidence-informed policy-making. We argue that such work should ideally be conducted by academic researchers and national statistics agencies in collaboration. © 2020 ACM., Open access

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe the implementation of the library service instances in Surabaya-Indonesia reviewed through a national standard library (SNP) 006: 2011. Design/methodology/approach – This study used a descriptive type. The population targeted in this study is the Special Libraries Government Agencies in Surabaya-Indonesia. The sampling technique used was accidental sampling. Findings – The results of this study are many of the services provided by special libraries owned by government have not fulfilled the minimum standards of the Libraries’ National Standards (Standar Nasional Perpustakaan—SNP) 006:2011. It is expected to provide recommendations to special libraries government agencies to comply with the standards so that the library can provide excellent service to the user so that the rate of uses library increases. It also affects the employee's performance because it corresponds to the special library functions in providing information to support the activities of the institution Research limitations/implications: The standard library defines a basic reference in organizing and managing a special library of government agencies in Indonesia. SNP examines the opening hours of service, type of service, as well as cooperation. Practical implications – - Originality/value – special libraries should implement services at least in accordance with predetermined standards

BACKGROUND: Mozambique has a high maternal mortality ratio, and postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) is a leading cause of maternal deaths. In 2015, the Mozambican Ministry of Health (MOH) commenced a program to distribute misoprostol at the community level in selected districts as a strategy to reduce PPH. This case study uses the ExpandNet/World Health Organization (WHO) scale-up framework to examine the planning, management, and outcomes of the early expansion phase of the scale-up of misoprostol for the prevention of PPH in 2 provinces in Mozambique. METHODS: Qualitative semistructured interviews were conducted between February and October 2017 in 5 participating districts in 2 provinces. Participants included program stakeholders, health staff, community health workers (CHWs), and traditional birth attendants (TBAs). Interviews were analyzed using the ExpandNet/WHO framework alongside national policy and planning documents and notes from a 2017 national Ministry of Health maternal, newborn, and child health workshop. Outcomes were estimated using misoprostol coverage and access in 2017 for both provinces. RESULTS: The study revealed a number of barriers and facilitators to scale-up. Facilitators included a supportive political and legal environment; a clear, credible, and relevant innovation; early expansion into some Ministry of Health systems and a strong network of CHWs and TBAs. Barriers included a reduction in reach due to a shift from universal distribution to application of eligibility criteria; fear of misdirecting misoprostol for abortion or labor induction; limited communication and understanding of the national PPH prevention strategy; inadequate monitoring and evaluation; challenges with logistics systems; and the inability to engage remote TBAs. Lower coverage was found in Inhambane province than Nampula province, possibly due to NGO support and political champions. CONCLUSION: This study identified the need for a formal review of the misoprostol program to

The concept of digital divides has been on the agenda in research and policy making for at least the last 20 years. But it is still, a challenge to grasp this concept that is so elusive and transforming. Inclusion, access and equality are still key values for democratic governance and must be addressed in particular when forming and contributing to a digital government. This paper seeks to intervene in current debates on digital divides and digital inclusion by analyzing two cases of responses among street-level public administration in relation to e-government services in Sweden. The case studies are strategically chosen and conducted in national agencies and in local public libraries. Three lines of contributions are discussed, firstly thei mportance to care for equality secondly the need to seethe non-users, and thirdly to discuss the potential of putting focus on digital diversity.

This report describes the proceedings of the BfR-RIVM workshop on validation of alternative methods which was held 23 and 24 March 2017 in Berlin, Germany. Stakeholders from governmental agencies, regulatory authorities, universities, industry and the OECD were invited to discuss current problems concerning the regulatory acceptance and implementation of alternative test methods and testing strategies, with the aim to develop feasible solutions. Classical validation of alternative methods usually involves one to one comparison with the gold standard animal study. This approach suffers from the reductionist nature of an alternative test as compared to the animal study as well as from the animal study being considered as the gold standard. Modern approaches combine individual alternatives into testing strategies, for which integrated and defined approaches are emerging at OECD. Furthermore, progress in mechanistic toxicology, e.g. through the adverse outcome pathway approach, and in computational systems toxicology allows integration of alternative test battery results into toxicity predictions that are more fine-tuned to the human situation. The road towards transition to a mechanistically-based human-focused hazard and risk assessment of chemicals requires an open mind towards stepping away from the animal study as the gold standard and defining human biologically based regulatory requirements for human hazard and risk assessment.

Because climate change is increasing the intensity and frequency of many extreme weather events, climate adaptation and resiliency planning are increasingly important tasks for transportation agencies at all levels of government. Considering the variety of events that impact the transportation system, transportation professionals must consider a host of different adaptation actions, ranging from changes in maintenance and communication procedures to changes in design and even the relocation or replacement of infrastructure.The importance and complexity of this work is spurring a rapid expansion of new adaptation tools and numerous adaptation pilot projects. The roles for different types of agencies in implementing these measures have yet to be clearly delineated. Moreover, while workforce development in transportation is recognized as a critical issue, relatively little is currently known about the specific workforce development needs for climate adaptation.This policy brief summarizes findings from the Climate Adaptation Planning Survey (CAPS), an online survey of planners and other professionals conducted in June 2015, that assessed the adaptation planning capacity, the adequacy of technical tools, and current preparation levels of local and state agencies, as well as the workforce development needs faced by transportation planning agencies as they increasingly focus their work on adaptation to climate change.View the NCST Project Webpage

This study investigates differences in approaches to public sector relocation reforms in Denmark and Sweden, using a comparative public administration research design. These countries are both part of a Nordic administrative model, but important differences in their respective administrative traditions exist. Previous research on public sector relocation shows a varying array of arguments and approaches to such reforms used in different European countries over time. Building on the experiences from such research, the study aims to map how public service relocation reforms are conceived and designed. The objects of comparison are a Swedish relocation reform from 2005 and a Danish relocation reform from 2015. The respective approaches in Denmark and Sweden are found to differ on most of the studied variables. Using neo-institutional theory, explanations for these differences, and the few similarities that are found, are attributed to path dependency, mimetic isomorphism, and the internal logic of the reforms themselves. The differences in administrative traditions are not found to have impacted the reforms.

ContextRecent legislation in states across the United States has required governmental health agencies to take on new and different roles in relation to abortion. While there has been media attention to health department roles in regulating abortion providers, there has been no systematic investigation of the range of activities in which state and local health departments are engaged.ObjectiveTo systematically investigate health department activities related to abortion.MethodsWe searched state health department Web sites of the 50 states and District of Columbia using key words such as "abortion" and "pregnancy termination". Two trained coders categorized 6093 documents using the 10 Essential Public Health Services (EPHS) framework. We then applied these methods to 671 local health department documents.SettingState and local health department Web sites.ParticipantsN/A.ResultsOn average, states engaged in 5.1 of 10 Essential Services related to abortion. Most (76%-98%) state health departments engaged in activities to Monitor Health Status (EPHS1), Enforce Laws (EPHS6), and Evaluate Effectiveness, Accessibility, and Quality (EPHS9). Many (47%-69%) engaged in activities to Inform and Educate (EPHS3), Develop Policies (EPHS5), and Link to Services (EPHS7). A minority (4%-29%) engaged in activities to Diagnose and Investigate Health Problems (EPHS2), Mobilize Community Partnerships (EPHS4), and Assure Competent Workforce (EPHS8). No state engaged in Innovative Research (EPHS10). Few local health departments engaged in abortion-related activities.ConclusionsWhile most state health departments engage in abortion-related activities, they appear to reflect what the law requires rather than the range of core public health activities. Additional research is needed to assess whether these services meet quality standards for public health services and determine how best to support governmental health agencies in their growing tasks. These findings raise important questions abo

BackgroundUnder structural conditions of non-governability, most players in the policy arena in Israel turn to two main channels that have proven effective in promoting the policies they seek: the submission of petitions to the High Court of Justice and making legislative amendments through the Economic Arrangements Law initiated by the Ministry of Finance. Nevertheless, an analysis of the principal trends emerging from the High Court of Justice rulings and legislative amendments through the Economic Arrangements Law indicates that these channels are open to influence, primarily by forces that are essentially neo-liberal. Little is known about the effects of these trends on the right to healthcare services, which in Israel has not been legislated as an independent constitutional law in Basic Laws.MethodsWe use four major legal cases decided by the Supreme Court of Israel in the past 10 years where the Court reviewed new legislative initiatives proposed by the Economic Arrangements Law in the area of healthcare. We utilize an institutional approach in our analysis.ResultsA neo-institutional analysis of the legal cases demonstrates that petitions against the Economic Arrangements Law in the area of healthcare services have been denied, even though the Court uses strong rhetoric against that law and the government more generally in addressing issues that concern access to healthcare services and reforms in the healthcare system. This move strengthens the trend toward a neo-liberal public policy and significantly weakens the legal protection of the right to healthcare services.ConclusionIn deciding petitions against the Economic Arrangements Law in the area of healthcare, the Supreme Court allows the Ministry of Finance to be a dominant player in the formation of public policy. In doing so, it may be promoting a goal of strengthening its position as a political institution that aspires to increase the public's trust in the judiciary and especially in the Supreme Co

The high unemployment rate in South Africa encourages citizens to be job creators rather than job seekers. It is often said that small businesses hold the key to economic growth. The South African government endeavours to accelerate economic growth, job creation and to address inequalities, through enterprise development and support. It created and enacted laws that seek to create an enabling environment for the growth and support of predominantly black, women, youth and people with disabilities owning small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) and cooperatives. In ensuring support for SMMEs, the government of the Republic of South Africa promulgated the National Small Business Act (NSBA), Act 102 of 1996, which clearly outlines the support that national, provincial, local governments and private sector entities are compelled to develop and implement - programmes geared towards the support and promotion of SMMEs. Since 1996, these entities have developed programmes and projects that aim to implement support of SMMEs. Similarly, the government agencies that operate in the Capricorn District Municipality (CDM) have developed programmes in support of SMMEs and cooperatives as per the abovementioned Act. Most business owners are constantly faced with challenges, especially women-owned SMMEs. The role of government agencies and the implementation of relevant programmes and strategies to empower women-owned SMMES are explored. Despite the above-mentioned government initiatives, women-owned SMMEs are still facing challenges such as lack of financial support, inadequate infrastructure, access to market and other related problems. These challenges hinder their business initiatives and economic growth in the CDM. This research contributes to the public discourse regarding empowerment of SMMEs, with particular reference to women-owned businesses, and also to contribute to policy development in the promotion and support of SMMEs. A conceptual framework is also reviewed in the

This report is one of two NCST Research Reports produced as part of a project to evaluate the state of practice and adequacy of technical tools for resiliency and adaptation planning. A companion report, Network Requirements for Assessing Criticality for Climate Adaptation Planning, focuses specifically on the technical challenges of conducting criticality assessment for climate adaptation and resiliency planning. Because climate change is increasing the intensity and frequency of many extreme weather events, climate adaptation and resiliency planning are increasingly important tasks for transportation agencies at all levels of government. While specific climate threats and adaptation needs varies by location throughout the United States, all agencies face challenges in terms of resource availability (including staffing levels and staffing expertise) and the quality of the technical tools for adaptation planning. In 2015, the University of Vermont Transportation Research Center conducted a survey of planning organizations in the U.S. concerning climate adaptation planning intended to assess the adaptation planning capacity, workforce development needs, and current preparation levels of local and state agencies as well as the adequacy of currently available technical tools. The survey consisted of 14 multiple choice or open-ended questions and garnered 154 respondents, including representatives from planning organizations, state transportation agencies and others involved in transportation planning. Respondents in this study affirmed that workforce development is an important part of advancing climate adaptation and resiliency planning. More work is needed in examining the workforce development needs of transportation agencies by factors such as region and type of organization. In addition, a higher level of specificity of the skills and qualifications is needed to inform development of new training, new hires, and educational curriculum that prepares the future work

OBJECTIVE: To characterize and quantify barriers towards the publication of academic drug trials.STUDY DESIGN: We identified academic drug trials approved during a 3-year period (2004-2007) by the Danish Medicines Agency. We conducted a survey among the trial sponsors to describe the rates of initiation, completion, and publication, and the reasons for the failure to reach each of these milestones. Information on size and methodological characteristics of the trials was extracted from the EudraCT database, a prospective register of all approved clinical drug trials submitted to European medicines agencies since 2004.RESULTS: A total of 181 academic drug trials were eligible for inclusion, 139 of which participated in our survey (response rate: 77%). Follow-up time ranged from 5.1 to 7.9 years. Most trials were randomized controlled trials (73%, 95% CI 65-81%). Initiation and completion rates were 92% (95% CI: 88-97%) and 93% (95% CI: 89-97%) respectively. The publication rate of completed trials was 73% (95% CI: 62-79%). RCTs were published faster than non-RCTs (quartile time to publication 2.9 vs. 3.1 years, p = 0.0412).CONCLUSIONS: Many academic drug trials are left unpublished. Main barriers towards publication were related to the process from completion to publication. Hence, there is much to gain by facilitating the process from analysis to publication. Research institutions and funders should actively influence this process, e.g. by requiring the publication of trial results within a given time after completion.

ObjectiveTo characterize the health risk of enrollees in California's state-based insurance marketplace (Covered California) by metal tier, region, month of enrollment, and plan.Data source/study setting2014 Open-enrollment data from Covered California linked with 2012 hospitalization and emergency department (ED) visit records from statewide all-payer administrative databases.Data collection/extraction methodsChronic Illness and Disability Payment System (CDPS) health risk scores derived from an individual's age and sex from the enrollment file and the diagnoses captured in the hospitalization and ED records. CDPS scores were standardized by setting the average to 1.00.Principal findingsAmong the 1,286,089 enrollees, 120,573 (9.4 percent) had at least one ED visit and/or a hospitalization in 2012. Higher risk enrollees chose plans with greater actuarial value. The standardized CDPS health risk score was 11 percent higher in the first month of enrollment (1.08; 99 percent CI: 1.07-1.09) than the last month (0.97; 99 percent CI: 0.97-0.97). Four of the 12 plans enrolled 91 percent of individuals; their average health risk scores were each within 3 percent of the marketplace's statewide average.ConclusionsProviding health plans with a means to assess the health risk of their year 1 enrollees allowed them to anticipate whether they would receive or contribute payments to a risk-adjustment pool. After receiving these findings as a part of their negotiations with Covered California, health plans covering the majority of enrollees decreased their initially proposed 2015 rates, saving consumers tens of millions of dollars in potential premiums.

The SSL/TLS protocols over HTTPs main tasks are to encrypt communication and provide verification to the user that the website is the one it is claiming to be. With an increase in egovernment and agencies using e-services where sensitive information can travel over the Internet the need for SSL/TLS has increased and will continue to increase. This study therefore aims to provide answers to how the Swedish agencies have configured their websites in terms of SSL/TLS and why they are at their current level of security in regards to SSL/TLS. A technical survey using the tool Qualys SSL Server Test was used in order to collect the configurations. Follow up interviews with a semi-structured qualitative approach was then used to answer the second research question of what factors affect why they had their current security level. 48,77% of agencies had some sort of implementation but the majority did not use SSL/TLS. The ten most common factors which affected agencies security levels was “Projects”, “Availability”, “Attitude towards security”, “Perceived sensitivity of data”, “Consultants”, “Resources”, “Knowledge of SSL”, “Security responsibility”, “Eservice”, and “Laws or other externa influence”.

59 government agencies in Sweden participate in the programme Gender Main- streaming in Government Agencies (sv: Jämställdhetsintegrering i myndigheter, JiM). This programme aims to better the equal opportunities for women and men to shape society and their own lives. At the same time the social networks are steadily rising in popularity and they are excellent tools for the government agencies to communicate their values regarding equality to a broad audience in an easy and effective matter. Previous research focus mostly on the effect the content of social media have on the audience but the aim of this study was rather to examine how men and women are represented on Instagram accounts run by government agencies. This was done through a quantitative content analysis where 400 pictures posted on Instagram by Arbetsförmedlingen, Försvarsmakten, Polismyndigheten and Sida were analysed with the help of variables based on previous studies. The results showed that both men and women are portrayed with certain gender stereotypes and that government agencies are more or less equal in their frequent use of men and women in their Instagram posts.

Government agencies in Sweden are experiencing a communicative turn where notions concerning branding, image and identity have become standardized tools and concerns. Public relations, with its focus on persuasion and creating relations with external actors, is part of this communicative turn. This book is concerned with how government agencies practice political public relations in a more communicatively orientated political landscape. By describing and analyzing two government agencies’ public relations work, this dissertation aims to understand how contemporary agencies use persuasion and the management of external relations in order to promote political issues and the political and democratic implications these practices may subsequently have. In the post-financial crisis of 2008, innovation emerged as a political issue on many government agencies’ agendas. Public relations practices were implemented by government agencies on an unprecedented scale in order to promote innovation issues. Considering this increase, I have labeled innovation a political hype. By applying a multiple case study, this dissertation follows the Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications and the Swedish Institute’s public relations work in their promotion of innovation issues. These two organizations are used as a window through which to perceive the public relations practices government agencies in Sweden at large have at their disposal. The multiple case study approach was fruitful, as it provided this study with two different cases by which to perceive government agencies’ public relations. Two methods were employed for gathering the empirical material. Twentysix qualitative interviews were conducted with the government agencies’ employees, all of whom were responsible for public relations practices. A targeted sampling of government documents (directives, meeting protocols, strategies, policies, SOUs) that were created by the agencies in order to facilitate and enable their pu

The author examines the impact of international experience in Russia on the development of the state of public administration. The author pays attention to the practice for the implementation of effective management in the activities of the Russian government., Автор рассматривает влияние зарубежного опыта на развитие государственного публичного администрирования в России, уделяет внимание практике по внедрению результативного управления в деятельность российской государственной власти.

Questions of management quality improvement in public authorities and providing state services to the population are considered. It is claimed that improvement of the situation can be reached due to the introduction of quality management system in their activity according to the requirements of the international ISO 9001 standard «Quality management system. Requirements». Experience of introduction of such measures on the basis of the Complex center of social service of the population «Malachite» of Ordzhonikidzevsky district of the city of Ekaterinburg is presented, Рассматриваются вопросы повышения качества управления в органах государственной власти и предоставления государственных услуг населению. Утверждается, что улучшения ситуации можно достичь за счет внедрения в их деятельность системы менеджмента качества в соответствии с требованиями международного стандарта ISO 9001 «Система менеджмента качества. Требования». Представлен опыт внедрения таких мер на базе Комплексного центра социального обслуживания населения «Малахит» Орджоникидзевского района города Екатеринбурга

The author examines the impact evaluation of the effectiveness of professional performance in the professional mobility of civil servants of the Russian Federation, pays attention to the practice for the implementation of effective management in the activities of the Russian government, Рассмотрено влияние оценки эффективности профессиональной служебной деятельности на профессиональную мобильность государственных гражданских служащих Российской Федерации. Особое внимание уделено практике по внедрению результативного управления в деятельность российской государственной власти

The costs that climate and extreme weather disruptions are imposing on the transportation system are significant and rising. These disruptions – ranging from dust storms to landslides to floods – adversely impact the reliability of the transportation system. Increasingly, the burden of preparing for and recovering from extreme weather events is straining the resources of transportation agencies. There is a growing urgency to adapt the transportation infrastructure and institutional processes to be more resilient to these extremes. Adaptation actions can include:1. hardening, relocating or even abandoning infrastructure assets; and2. improving communications procedures and data collection, developing emergency response plans and changing maintenance schedules.Currently, climate adaptation efforts are hindered by shortfalls in financial resources and technical expertise, the need for improved data to inform design, and insufficient integration of state and local planning efforts.This policy brief summarizes findings from a study to assess the adequacy of current tools, efforts and vertical collaborations.View the NCST Project Webpage

To address the challenges posed by climate change to the transportation system, agencies are investigating climate change adaptation measures. This white paper presents a five-step framework for adapting transportation systems: inventorying and monitoring transportation assets; assessing climate threats; evaluating the vulnerability of assets; prioritizing assets; and identifying and executing adaptation actions. This framework provides a basis for further discussion and implementation. Collaboration among agencies at all levels is critical to successful adaptation efforts.View the NCST Project Webpage

Selection of effective solutions in the enterprise is largely provided by the rational organization of interaction of the enterprise with contractors: raw material suppliers, customers (buyers) of finished goods, government agencies, financial institutions and other organizations. The paper discusses the ways of organizing of such an interaction based on the methods of vector optimization and the theory of portfolio investment which goes back to the works of G. Markowitz. © 2015, IFAC (International Federation of Automatic Control) Hosting by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.