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Copyright of Politische Vierteljahresschrift is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Marshall Decision of Canada's Supreme Court inspired the Mi'kmaq in the 1700s regarding recognizing fishing rights to the Mi'kmaq communities. Despite this recognition, the Mi'kmaq communities did not have access to commercial fisheries due to the denial of absolute recognition of territories and rights and underrepresentation and participation in resource allocation, governance, and decision-making processes. A potential approach to these issues is the development of third-party Indigenous community-based sustainability certification standards for the American lobster (Homarus americanus) commercial fishery of Nova Scotia by Mi'kmaq communities. An Indigenous certification is a market-based tool that focuses on a holistic approach to the sustainability of the resource, followed by independent accreditations and standards. This study identifies the gaps, challenges, and opportunities of Indigenous-based certifications for the American lobster commercial fishery. We adopt a participatory approach to conventional policy analysis and perform a secondary analysis of existing legal and scientific resources to glean valuable information for supporting the establishment of an Indigenous certification for the American lobster. Certification could provide benefits such as increased control over fisheries management, governance, rights, and socioeconomic interest, building capacity for Mi'kmaq communities, and improving stakeholder relationships. However, there are issues with the entry points of certification for Indigenous peoples related primarily to the dominant actors in accreditation. This study will support further research and engagement of the Mi'kmaq people toward developing an Indigenous certification scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mixed treatment of municipal sludge and food waste can generate renewable energy, solve the environmental and economic challenges caused by this waste, and has attracted significant research attention. Using environmentally friendly anaerobic co-digestion of municipal sludge and food waste can improve the effects of anaerobic mono-digestion and produce more biogas. However, as the municipal sludge and food waste managers are different, balancing the interests of both managers is needed to encourage anaerobic co-digestion development. By fully considering the interests of the local authority, the waste water treatment plants, and the food waste anaerobic digestion treatment plants, this paper developed a bi-level optimization approach based on Stackelberg equilibrium theory to resolve the conflicts between the different stakeholders, in which uncertain parameters were used to describe the uncertainties. The proposed model was then applied to a real case in Chongqing, China, to test its practicality, and scenario analyses under different policy parameter values were conducted to provide guidance for local authorities, waste water treatment plants, and food waste treatment plants. The proposed approach was found to provide balanced strategies for all three stakeholders, increase the renewable energy output of municipal sludge and food waste treatment 14.2 times, and reduce carbon emissions by 50%, thereby protecting the environment and achieving a circular economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Product acquisition policies define legal markets. Policy evaluations require data but prevalence data are not always available. We introduce Legal Firearm Prevalence (LFP), a direct behavioral measure based on the population of firearm licensees in Massachusetts, and argue that it can help evaluate firearm sales and usage restrictions. LFP is not directly measurable in most firearm markets, so we test candidate proxies for LFP in several common research designs, finding that firearm acquisitions are the best proxy in every research design tested. We update the classic study of guns and crime by Cook and Ludwig (2006), finding that choosing an invalid proxy can lead to false research conclusions. We recommend systematic collection and reporting of firearm acquisition data to improve firearm research and inform firearm policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PM2.5 pollution used to be severe in China and the government has been devoted to PM2.5 control in recent years. Based on the latest multisource data and advanced algorithms, systematic environmental impact estimation of PM2.5 is achieved to demonstrate its trend and impacts under control policy. Policy validity is proved by a significant decrease in PM2.5 concentration (28%), energy intensity of GDP (13%), particulate matter emission (29%), and PM2.5 exceedance probability (51%) from the nation level. However, it still does not meet the requirement of WHO, and industrial and domestic sources are dominant for PM emission. The disaster risk index of air pollution is proposed to quantify and compare PM2.5 threat in 31 provinces, and risk gradually declines in 24 provinces except steady trend in Xinjiang, Shaanxi, Tianjin, Ningxia, Sichuan, Liaoning, and Tibet. Henan, Shanxi, Xinjiang, Hebei, Shaanxi, Tianjin, Ningxia, Jiangxi, Heilongjiang, and Anhui are identified as 10 high-risk regions with distinct driving factors. Current disease burdens attributable to PM2.5 exposure of provincial capitals in high-risk regions indicate huge health risks and economic losses. The heaviest health burden and economic burden are separately in Tianjin with 604,101 (95% CI: 302,796, 874,058) cases and 5.45% (95% CI: 2.73%, 7.89%) of population, and in Xi'an with 3122.24 (95% CI: 1398.55, 4274.53) million dollars and 2.31% (95% CI: 1.04%, 3.16%) of GDP. Results can provide references for worldwide PM2.5 control: scientific policy, treatment by the whole people and targeted control are crucial; it is urgent to arouse broad consensus on PM2.5 pollution and convert disease burden to health benefit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Think-tanks and their researchers are located within an interstitial and ill-defined ‘space between fields’; a space both constituted and divided by the worlds of academia, politics, journalism and business. This liminal position can be problematic for a think-tank researcher’s intellectual credibility as they lack the recognised cultural and symbolic capital derived from being located within an established profession’s jurisdiction. The question arises, how do think-tanks gain intellectual credibility? Drawing on interviews with think-tank researchers, this paper explores how these interstitial intellectuals produce policy reports. In following this process, we find that credibility emerges from a complex web of relationships across established fields/professions. Think-tank researchers must engage in a complex ‘dance’ of positioning the symbols, capitals and interests of a number of professions. To maintain their integrity, researchers must try to keep in step with competing interests from different professions; at times aligning them, at other times blocking or obscuring them from one another. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This editorial is aimed at promoting the new series of Research Briefs in Population Research and Policy Review. These shorter, more data-centric articles complement the longer and more conceptually organized research articles published in the journal. Other major demography and population science journals, as well as interdisciplinary journals that feature demographic research, provide opportunities for this type of publication. We are very excited to offer this option for submissions to PRPR. This new publication type presents scholars working within and across different social science disciplines a new outlet for publishing demographic research that is innovative and policy relevant but does lend itself to a full-length article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improved quality in home-based child care (family child care and family, friend, and neighbor care) is increasingly recognized as a vital component of early care and education service systems in the U.S. and abroad and is a target of recent federal and state policy initiatives in the U.S. This article presents data from a statewide survey of 73 child care resource and referral specialists across Illinois who work with family child care providers on a regular basis through home visiting, training, and technical assistance. Descriptive findings suggest that specialists who work with family child care providers perform a unique role in the early care and education field. The study examines job roles, common challenges and rewards, and needs for training. Specialists' training needs include understanding the unique context of family child care, home visiting, coaching, and working with families. Understanding the training and professional development needs of support staff as well as the challenges faced in carrying out this work has the potential to inform state professional development systems as well as other initiatives aimed at improving quality in this sector of the early care and education workforce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of evidence-based policy making has risen to prominence internationally. This paper briefly traces the history and ideological paradigms associated with evidence-based policy making. Then the international experience in respect of evidence-based policy making is discussed. Finally, the paper turns to an evaluation of the degree to which evidence-based policy making has been entrenched in the development of Provincial Growth and Development Strategies. It is found that the concept of evidence-based policy making is not well developed at provincial levels and that in many cases it is narrowed down to the use of data. Inhibiting factors at provincial government level include the reality that research is seldom institutionalised, the relationship between policy making and research is seldom understood, academic research is viewed as not being relevant to the policy-making process, there is a lack of in-house research capacity and funding resulting in poor quality, research brings conflicting results which are difficult to interpret, there are concerns around research authenticity and legitimacy, concerns around the quality of research conducted in-house, and an overall lack of strategic thinking about research at provincial level. A range of barriers at research institutions were also identified and include the fact that the formal way in which academic research is published and disseminated is not always "friendly" to policy makers, researchers view academic research and policy making as a linear process, not all provinces have universities, research used in these strategies is mainly orientated around the discipline of economics, the fact that universities are accountable to national government and not provincial government, and limited links between researchers and policy makers. Aspects such as an entrenched research culture, an acknowledgment of the importance of research in policy making, the utilisation of international and national research institutions, the ability of researchers to understand the policy-making process, and the availability of a research agenda for provinces were mentioned as reasons contributing to evidence-based policy making. In conclusion, the paper argues that space should be created to evaluate provincially based research findings, and partnerships between universities and provincial planning units are crucial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much policy-orientated research in South Africa relies solely on large-scale surveys. Little or no case study research is undertaken as part of studies despite broad international acknowledgement of the benefits of mixing methods. In the South African poverty and demographic literature, strong arguments have been made for the incorporation of case study approaches to arrive at a deeper and more accurate understanding of social phenomena. This paper, which draws on an ethnographic study of 'day labourers' (both South African and foreign) in Cape Town, together with an extensive range of relevant literature, extends this line of argument to research on casual employment and relations between South Africans and foreign nationals. It highlights a number of questionable assumptions and superficial analyses present in previous survey-based research on these topics. It also discusses the potential contribution of more case study work and some of the practical issues associated with linking methodologies in development research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: The aims of this paper are (1) to assess if perceptions of the food environment are associated with select dietary intake by neighborhood, and (2) to map neighborhood-specific findings, demonstrating a method for policy-relevant research. Methods: Using pre-collected data from a Philadelphia, PA community health survey, we aggregated individual-level data ( n = 4,434 respondents) to neighborhoods ( n = 381 census tracts), adjusting for conceptually-relevant socio-demographic factors. We estimated Spearman correlations between multivariable adjusted food-environment perceptions (perceived produce availability, supermarket accessibility, grocery quality) and select dietary intake (reported fruit-and-vegetable and fast-food consumption), and mapped variables by neighborhood using geographic information systems (GIS). Results: Difficulty finding fruits and vegetables, having to travel outside of one's neighborhood to get to a supermarket, and poor grocery quality were each directly correlated with fast-food intake (rho = 0.21, 0.34, 0.64 respectively; p values <0.001); and inversely correlated with fruit-and-vegetable intake (rho = -0.35, -0.54, -0.56 respectively; p values <0.001). Maps identified neighborhoods within the city with the worst food-environment perceptions and poorest dietary intakes. Conclusion: Negative perceptions of the food environment were strongly correlated with less-healthy eating in neighborhoods. Maps showed the geographic areas of greatest concern. Our findings demonstrate a method that might be used prospectively in public health for policy planning (e.g. to identify neighborhoods most in need), or retrospectively for policy assessment (e.g. to identify changes in neighborhoods after policy implementation). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing complexity of multi-cultural society has given rise to the thought that traditional (demographic and socio-economic) variables are no longer sufficient to substantiate policy development and planning in the housing sector. The concept of life-style is presumed to add to the description and prediction of the demand side, thus enabling housing strategies that are consistent with more dynamic and differentiated preferences. The usefulness of life-styles for policy development was studied in a literature review, in particular of research in the Netherlands. The study shows that the current significance of the concept is doubtful for various reasons: the indefiniteness of life-styles; the static and simplified view of society that is often presented, which is partly caused by the methods used; the uncertain relation to types of residential environment; and the unproven necessity of using life-styles alongside or as a substitute for more traditional variables. Recommendations are offered for future research on this subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Politische Vierteljahresschrift is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Geographers increasingly advocate placing research in the public arena and the creation of work that is useful for public policy makers. Existing literature indicates some approaches that have bearing on these goals, such as using participatory action research, clarifying positionality, and attending to the nature of discourse. It does not, however, generally offer empirical cases of addressing the goals being advocated. This article narrates an experience of a collaborative effort among two institutes for research on women and a community funding agency as they created and disseminated research aiming to influence public opinion and foster advocacy in support of policies to improve women's lives. Among the issues addressed are the importance of networking, of identifying effective partners, of adapting research to incorporate the priorities of stakeholders, and of engaging the support of media professionals. It discusses barriers encountered, strategies adopted to address them, and compromises in the process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recognizing the need to overcome the obstacles of traditional university- and discipline-oriented research approaches, a variety of incentives to promote community-based participatory research (CBPR) are presented. Experiences of existing CBPR researchers are used in outlining how this methodological approach can appeal to faculty: the common ground shared by faculty and community leaders in challenging the status quo; opportunities to have an impact on local, regional, and national policy; and opening doors for new research and funding opportunities. Strategies for promoting CBPR in universities are provided in getting CBPR started, changing institutional practices currently inhibiting CBPR, and institutionalizing CBPR. Among the specific strategies are: development of faculty research networks; team approaches to CBPR; mentoring faculty and students; using existing national CBPR networks; modifying tenure and promotion guidelines; development of appropriate measures of CBPR scholarship; earmarking university resources to support CBPR; using Institutional Review Boards to promote CBPR; making CBPR-oriented faculty appointments; and creating CBPR centers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the establishment of a host of new education institutions, educational policy making in Sri Lanka demonstrated a marked change during the last fifteen years. The idea of a national education policy that emerged during this period attempted to ensure continuity of educational policy while at the same time contributing to the production of trainable youths who could become successful in any type of activity they selected for their future. The policy was formulated with the intention of providing a good general education to the young of the nation and began to be implemented in 1998. The high academic bias, rigidity of curricula, and the widening mismatch between education and employment are the priority issues that gave rise to new education reforms in secondary education. A number of strategies are tried out today at junior secondary (grades 6 to 9) and senior secondary (grades 10 to 13) levels of the general education system to address these issues while paying attention to ways and means of strengthening the link between research and policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]