Search

In governance theory, there is a crucial theoretical conundrum of meta-governance: how can meta-governors simultaneously stay outside of the governed network while also being embedded within it, and appropriately apply hands-off and hands-on strategies? The heterogeneous experiences of governance practices in non-Western contexts may help to explore this issue. The paper examines the 'Starfish Project'(haixing jihua), a volunteer action aimed at improving the incomes of rural residents in mountainous areas of H District in N City, China, against the backdrop of promoting common prosperity. This initiative involves non-profit organizations, market actors, and government agencies, forming a multi-order meta-governance system. In this system, the government acts as a second-order meta-governor. It provides shared values, norms, and objectives, for the social network, thereby conferring institutional legitimacy upon the social network and its activities. Meanwhile, a non-profit organization operates as a first-order meta-governor within the network, and leverages market-based mechanisms to continuously incentivize network members, foster network interaction, and facilitate conflict resolution. The multi-order meta-governance model provides a potential solution to the dilemma. However, it is important to note that this may not yet be a definitive solution to the conundrum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to provide a history of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA's) extensive efforts of incorporating advanced airbag technology capability beyond that available in first-generation airbag systems into FMVSS No. 208. In the paper, NHTSA's actions and their collaborative efforts with automakers, automaker suppliers, insurance industry, academia, and other Federal agencies were reviewed, and the key efforts have been highlighted. Through their efforts, NHTSA developed its strategy by first undertaking near term actions and then undertaking the strategy for longer term actions. Rulemaking was undertaken in three steps. Then, as sufficient data became available, NHTSA documented the effectiveness of the rulemakings. The approach taken by NHTSA with the goal of preserving the safety benefits of the first-generation of frontal airbags while minimizing their danger to children and at-risk adults paved the way for the advanced airbags final rule and an interim final rule issued on May 12, 2000 (see Federal Register Notice 65 FR 30680). A follow-up final rule was issued on August 31, 2006, to change the test speed of the belted 5th percentile female dummy from 48 km/h to 56 km/h (30 mph to 35 mph). The final rule was updated on November 2, 2007, to permit manufacturers to earn advance credits for vehicles that are certified in compliance with the new higher speed requirement one year in advance of the regulatory requirements. NHTSA engagement in efforts with multiple partners toward identifying the safety issues, was an integral part of NHTSA's strategy in addressing the problem, arriving at immediate actions that NHTSA took, and detailing a comprehensive look at the longer-term approach required to resolve the safety issues. The approach taken by NHTSA paved the way for the advanced airbags final rule and an interim final rule issued on May 12, 2000 (Federal Register Notice 65 FR 30680). NHTSA had undertaken a successful collaboration of the Federal Government, the automobile industry, equipment suppliers, insurance companies, traffic safety advocates, law enforcement agencies from across the country, and the media to solve the airbag related safety issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to assess the level of awareness of safety precautions in the use of extension cords in Ho Municipality in Ghana. The relevance of this study is to provide an understanding of the awareness level of safety measures likely to lead to a significant reduction in incidents of domestic fire outbreaks when using an extension cord. A cross-sectional research was carried out in the Ho Municipality between February and April 2022. Six hundred and one (601) individuals were chosen from houses using a random selection method. A standardised questionnaire was used to gather data, and then entered and analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) V.16. Descriptive statistics, Binary logistic regression analysis with a 0.05 p-value and the adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI), Relative Importance Index (RII), and the Sample T-test were used to examine the significance of connections. Among the participants, there is a low level of awareness of extension cord ratings and standard labels from autonomous testing facilities. The participants' knowledge of awareness was significantly related to gender; [0.722 (95% (CI): 1.476 - 2.869), p = 0.001 < (0.05)]. Again, most participants overload the extension cord during usage and practice poor safety measures that could result in a fire outbreak. The study suggests that users should purchase extension cords that have been endorsed by an autonomous testing laboratory and fully be educated on the safety procedures that will aid in safeguarding lives and property by both government and non-governmental agencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite a plethora of emerging alternatives under the broad rubric of agroecology, sustainable transitions in Indian agriculture are caught between institutional inertia and lock-ins of its vast agricultural establishment on the one hand and a pro-active state promoting a natural farming. This push for Zero-Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF), while welcome as an alternative, also raises several questions on the nature of knowledge production and dissemination. This paper explores the knowledge politics around top-down "skilling regimes" and the principles and paradigms that emphasize social learning. We explore the multiple practices, meanings of agroecology among farmers, government agencies, and civil society organizations in the state of Gujarat. The action research included a survey of practices of 250 farmers in 12 districts, interviews, and stakeholder workshops. Insufficient investments in community-based extension mechanisms and lack of collaboration between state and civil society were features of the policy implementation. The absence of innovative platforms to facilitate knowledge dialogs and learning among actors to advance agroecology increases the gap between policy goals and its actual realization in practice. Programs for upscaling agroecology, we suggest, need to embed the diversity of technical and institutional processes through creating learning alliances to facilitate knowledge dialogs across dissimilar actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improper processing of sensitive personal data concerning disabled people in government information disclosure not only violates their privacy rights but also leads to discrimination, stigmatization, and other serious secondary harm, that have long been overlooked. China's procurator-led public-interest litigation system is a powerful tool for protecting the privacy rights of vulnerable groups. This paper contends that procurator-led public-interest litigation, as a supplement to and support for private-interest litigation, assists the Chinese government in fulfilling its international obligations to protect the right to privacy of disabled people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The regulatory governance literature has shown a rising interest in the development of the regulatory agencies in developing countries. We now have a relatively good number of studies on Latin America and Asia. However, there is, to date, very scarce knowledge about regulatory governance in the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA countries), where regulatory agencies diffused less systematically and more slowly. This paper makes a first step towards filling this gap and, in doing so, it raises a general question about the role of oil and gas revenues in restraining the propensity for agency creation by national states. Making use of a cross-sectoral database about the creation of regulatory agencies in MENA countries, we discuss the relevance of states' oil and gas revenue to explain their lower levels of agencification compared to other regions. A case study focused on electricity regulation in Algeria is also included for this purpose. We place several hypotheses considering variations in agencification over time and across countries, in order to strengthen our argument about the constraining impact of oil and gas rent on the process of regulatory agency diffusion that occurred worldwide in the previous decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the 1990s, the Sumangali (Tamil for "happily married women") Scheme was in practice at spinning mills in various districts of Tamil Nadu. Considering its highly exploitative characteristics, the Sumangali Scheme was generally viewed as "modern slavery". Interventions by the government and non-governmental organizations have curbed these typical characteristics of the Sumangali Scheme. In this context, this article finds that the Sumangali Scheme has not been eradicated. Rather, it has been mutated into another form. Under this "Mutated Sumangali Scheme", female labour rights violations still continue. This article analyses the reasons for these labour rights violations, including absence of collective bargaining, ineffective proactive enforcement by government agencies, inherent loopholes in substantive laws, and slack in interventions by government and non-governmental agencies. Finally, the article recommends appropriate measures to curb these violations and eradicate the Mutated Sumangali Scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes alternative development coalitions, their contradictions and complexities, and how they promoted a steeply unequal agrarian change through illicit crop substitution. We zoom into two paramilitary-controlled territories in Colombia. We show that those programs counted with significant support from, and were actually driven by, long coalitions that included regional and national politicians, sectors of the rural rich, paramilitary leaders, Colombian government and United States agencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The websites present essential healthcare information to patients, from disease symptoms, admission, and discharge to post-care. The present study proposed the CRRAV Model (Credibility, Reliability, Readability, Acceptability, and Validity) for website quality contents of Hospitals, developed from the Expectation Disconfirmation Model, Web QIM, Web Qual Serruni Lucci Model, and Minerva Model. The study also aims to assess the internet information on heart disease and compare and evaluate the quality of HCOs in developed countries like the USA and developing countries like India. The DISCERN instrument, HONcode, and WRAPIN can improve the patient's standard of information and satisfaction and remove the growing skepticism about the website on quality issues. The websites containing heart disease information with HONcode certification and WRAPIN were only four out of 65 in the USA. Out of all the evaluated websites, only a small number meet the criteria of DISCERN instrument and are accredited by HONcode. Besides this, government agencies have no regulation, supervision, or control in USA and India. There are no single quality criteria and international agreement for quality assessment of healthcare websites, except HONcode and WRAPIN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governments and other agencies seeking to tackle racism have been calling for better empirical evidence, including complaint data based on reports by people who have experienced racism. This approach requires much of those who face racism, often while offering little effective support or redress for them. There is a need to understand reporting or not reporting experiences of racism as a result of a complex interplay between different factors – as a (non-) reporting journey, rather than as a singular moment of decision. Reporting is at risk of remaining an ineffective strategy for responding to racism where the reporting pathways and support services are not sufficiently aligned with the expectations and needs of those who experience racism. This article discusses the findings of three place-based community engagement and research projects across four local municipalities in Melbourne. The projects examined locally specific community perspectives and expectations in relation to reporting pathways and support services for those experiencing racism. The analysis of this community input resulted in anti-racism roadmaps specific for each local area, which were co-developed with local communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sport governance has become one of the most prominent subjects in the field of sport management research. Nevertheless, a dearth of understanding and consensus still exists in terms of the paradigmatic orientation, conceptual classification, and taxonomy in the field, resulting in limited and vague theoretical contributions and practical implications of sport governance literature. This article is an attempt to explore the area of sport governance practice and research by focusing on the regulatory schemes and the legal aspects of the system. Pursuant to previous studies, a theoretical framework and elements of sport governance practice are identified, and as a result, a working definition of sport governance is proposed. The studies published in this special issue are introduced in the context of the conceptual framework and the identified elements while their implications are noted and possible inquiries for future research are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metrics foster trust in governing bodies, but their uncertainty can elicit an opposite sentiment of mistrust. In chemicals governance, most of the conversations concerning computational models revolve around their uncertainty, and the extent to which simulations of safe doses can be transposed in regulatory decisions. To understand the source of this mistrust in models, research in science and technology studies on policy modeling, particularly research that looks at models as an interface between science and policy, must be extended to consider the private production of predictions. Looking at the full set of actors involved in predictive regulatory knowledge – companies, regulatory agencies, modelers working with one or the other – and their concurrent articulations of uncertainty, it appears that regulators audit physiologically based pharmacokinetic models (PBPK, a key class of models used to compute safe chemical doses), because the chemical industry initially introduced them to challenge its methods of risk assessment. Regulators and their modelers established model auditing, to be able to negotiate the predictive claims of companies and their consultants. At the end of the day, neither companies nor regulators appear to dominate the production of predictive knowledge. It is the product of the shifting distribution of expertise in the regulatory space, and of the outcomes of the recurrent trials of credibility that this distribution enables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The allocation of career opportunities in state agencies is central to promote conformity and discipline in authoritarian regimes. While prior studies mostly focused on positional promotion, they have not sufficiently considered the governance problems of authoritarian regimes as multi-regional organizations. This study systematically examines spatial mobility, another crucial but less-understood component of career mobility, in the Chinese bureaucracy. I propose that there are three major mobility mechanisms: (1) rewarding bureaucrats, (2) training bureaucrats, and (3) exerting political control. These mechanisms induce spatial mobility events with distinct patterns and distributions. Empirically, I analyze a unique dataset that comprehensively tracks bureaucrats' mobility among key positions and jurisdictions in Jiangsu Province from 1990 to 2008. The findings confirm all propositions and show that political control is the most dominant mechanism. This research contributes to understanding the institutional arrangements of the Chinese bureaucracy regarding how various governance issues are addressed by spatially transferring bureaucrats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The food supply chain (GSC) involves multiple links from production to consumption. The interruption of one or more links will lead to supply risks, evolving into food crises. To better guarantee food security, maintain national security, it is essential to improve the structural imbalance of China's food supply. This article innovatively regards trade as an important link in the food supply chain and quantitatively designs 16 indicators from the four links of production, consumption, trade, and circulation to evaluate the food supply chain risks of 30 provinces in China from 2003 to 2019. The results show that: (1) The GSC risk value at the regional scale is generally stable, and the western region is slightly higher than the eastern region. (2) The distribution of risk value shows significant spatial clustering. (3) During the study period, China's grain risk has not changed significantly. The highest average risk is the production link of the supply chain, followed by the distribution and trade links. He also believes that adjusting production, enhancing regional trade, strengthening suitability, and enhancing defensiveness are corresponding measures to improve the food supply chain. It is expected to provide a reasonable reference for government agencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]