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Reputation is of growing interest for the study of public bureaucracies, but a measurement that can discern between the subdimensions of reputation and is validated on real‐life audiences has remained elusive. The authors deductively build, test, and cross‐validate a survey instrument through two surveys of 2,100 key stakeholders of the European Chemicals Agency, the European Union chemicals regulator. This empirical tool measures an agency's reputation and its building blocks. This scale represents an important contribution to reputation literature, as it allows scholars to distinguish and measure which aspects of reputation public organizations are "known for" and build their claim to authority on, as well as how the profiles of public organizations differ. The authors find that direct stakeholder contact with the agency is necessary for stakeholders to be able to evaluate the separate dimensions of reputation independently. Evidence for Practice This study equips practitioners with a reputation barometer tailored to the public sector. It allows them to measure the reputation of their organization, in a differentiated fashion, among different stakeholder groups. While public organizations increasingly engage in reputation management activities, a potential caveat that emerges from our exercise is that managers might be steering in non‐astute directions. While our study shows that, as for private actors, "performance matters," procedural and moral aspects also weigh heavily in the eyes of stakeholders when it comes to public regulators. To secure a positive organizational image and the authority crucial for public agencies to operate, the performance management turn in the public sector may need to be supplemented by an enhanced organizational attention to procedural and moral aspects.

Reputation is of growing interest for the study of public bureaucracies, but a measurement that can discern between the subdimensions of reputation and is validated on real‐life audiences has remained elusive. The authors deductively build, test, and cross‐validate a survey instrument through two surveys of 2,100 key stakeholders of the European Chemicals Agency, the European Union chemicals regulator. This empirical tool measures an agency's reputation and its building blocks. This scale represents an important contribution to reputation literature, as it allows scholars to distinguish and measure which aspects of reputation public organizations are "known for" and build their claim to authority on, as well as how the profiles of public organizations differ. The authors find that direct stakeholder contact with the agency is necessary for stakeholders to be able to evaluate the separate dimensions of reputation independently. : This study equips practitioners with a reputation barometer tailored to the public sector. It allows them to measure the reputation of their organization, in a differentiated fashion, among different stakeholder groups. While public organizations increasingly engage in reputation management activities, a potential caveat that emerges from our exercise is that managers might be steering in non‐astute directions. While our study shows that, as for private actors, "performance matters," procedural and moral aspects also weigh heavily in the eyes of stakeholders when it comes to public regulators. To secure a positive organizational image and the authority crucial for public agencies to operate, the performance management turn in the public sector may need to be supplemented by an enhanced organizational attention to procedural and moral aspects.

In 2010, the incoming Coalition government announced that it would publish details of meetings between ministers and outside interests. We have collated and coded these data and, in this article, describe patterns of access between 2010 and 2015. In some respects, access is notably fragmented. No single organisation attends more than 2.5% of the 6292 meetings held by ministers. On the contrary, business, collectively, attends fully 45% of all meetings: more than twice the share of any other category of organisation. We also find evidence of distinctive policy communities characterised by high levels of access between particular interests and ministers within specific departments.

In a supposedly 'anti-political' age, the scholarly literature on celebrity politicians argues that politicians gain popularity by adopting strategies from within the world of entertainment. This article offers the findings of a research project that has detected a marked shift in the interplay between celebrity culture and the presentational strategies adopted by politicians. At the heart of this shift is an increased focus on the concept of 'normality' as politicians increasingly attempt to shake-off the negative connotations associated with 'professional politicians' and instead attempt to appear 'just like us'. As such, this article offers an original approach by distinguishing between 'superstar' celebrity politicians and 'everyday' celebrity politicians before identifying three aspects of each strategy (i.e. media platform, marketing technique and performative role). It offers numerous empirical examples that serve to underpin this distinction before using the example of Boris Johnson as a case study in the attempted shift from 'superstar' to 'everyday' celebrity. This focus on normality offers a fresh entry-point into the analysis of contemporary political statecraft while also posing distinctive questions about the tension between political popularity and credibility in an anti-political age. As such, the approach also has significant implications for normative ideas about how celebrity can be 'democratised' to remedy anti-politics.

Co-production is a risky method of social inquiry. It is time-consuming, ethically complex, emotionally demanding, inherently unstable, vulnerable to external shocks, subject to competing demands and it challenges many disciplinary norms. This is what makes it so fresh and innovative. And yet these research-related risks are rarely discussed and, as a result, risk-reduction strategies remain under-developed within training and research processes. It is for exactly this reason that this article draws upon Mary Douglas's notion of 'social pollution' in order to understand the tensions and challenges of co-production. It seeks to expose the generally hidden politics of co-production.

Recent shifts in political support to populist parties worldwide have been linked to the changing preferences of "left behind communities." Based on apparently growing "left behind" support for populists, some commentators have argued for policy changes including tightened immigration rules coupled with increasing investment in economically deprived areas, particularly in health care. However, left behind communities' policy preferences are unclear from existing research due to a series of methodological challenges associated with researching polarization and stigmatization. We complement existing research with an innovative photo elicitation methodology covering five field sites in the United Kingdom during 2019, focusing on left behind communities' policy preferences concerning Brexit. Photo elicitation overcomes methodological challenges associated with emotional attachment and stigmatization. Drawing on 418 interviews with 489 participants, we find that interviewees rejected elite framings suggesting a logical link between Brexit and health care investment, instead articulating policy preferences for health care investment drawing on personal experiences.

While populism challenges the pluralism and technocratic expertise on which public bureaucracies are based, extant scholarship has overlooked its effects on accountability processes. In particular, it neglects the impact of anti-elite rhetoric, characterized by what can be regarded as "emotionalized blame attribution," on the thinking and behavior of accountability actors. Responding to this gap, this article examines the impact of this distinctive form of populist rhetoric on accountability relationships within the bureaucratic state. It identifies three "stages" whereby these populist pressures challenge accountability relationships, threaten the reputation of accountability actors, and result in alternative accountability practices. In doing so, the article provides a roadmap for assessing the impact of anti-elite rhetoric on accountability actions.

Intro -- Foreword -- Acknowledgements -- Contents -- List of Authors -- List of Abbreviations -- Lists of Figures and Tables -- List of Cases -- EU Legislation (date order) -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Aims and Approach I: Stories within a Story, Positionality and Reflexivity -- I. Introduction -- II. Sources for Stories on Health Governance after Brexit -- III. Our Position as Researchers -- IV. Reflecting Further on Positionality, Reflexivity and What it Means for Our Research Design -- V. Conclusion -- 3. Aims and Approach II: People, Time and Locations, Conducting Our Research and Analysis -- I. Introduction -- II. Selecting People, Time and Locations, Going 'Into the Field': The Health Policy Sector -- III. Interviews and Co-Production with Health Policy Stakeholders -- IV. Broader Engagement with the Health Policy Sector -- V. The Broader Contexts for the 'Experts' Data -- VI. Selecting People, Time and Locations, Going 'Into the Field': Accessing the Views of 'Ordinary People' -- VII. The Street Conversations: Choosing Places and Times -- VIII. The Street Conversations: Engaging and Initially Recording Our Interactions -- IX. The Street Conversations: Making Sense of Our Data -- X. Complementing and Supplementing the Street Conversations: Broader Engagement with 'Ordinary People' -- XI. Conclusion -- 4. Scope: The Effects of EU Law on Health and the NHS -- I. Introduction -- II. The 'NHS Brexit Bus' Campaign -- III. The EU's Lack of Competence Over National Health Systems -- IV. How EU Law and Policy Does Affect the NHS -- V. Visible Health Topics in the Referendum Debates -- VI. A Broader View of Transversal EU Health Law and Policy -- VII. Health Workforce -- VIII. Health Financing -- IX. Medical Products, Vaccines and Technology -- X. Information (Data Standards) -- XI. Service Delivery -- XII. Leadership and Governance -- XIII. Conclusion.

Intro -- Contents -- Contributors -- List of Figures -- Chapter 1 Depoliticisation, Post-politics and the Problem of Change -- Introduction -- Depoliticisation as a Systemic Condition -- Depoliticisation as a Governing Strategy -- Plan for the Rest of the Book -- Bibliography -- Chapter 2 Rethinking (De)Politicisation in Liberalism: Macro- and Micro-political Perspectives -- Introduction -- Situating Depoliticisation in Liberalism at the Macro-political Level -- The Paradox of (Neo)Liberalism: The Dynamism Between Depoliticisation and Politicisation at the Macro-political Level -- Dynamics of (Re)Politicisation at the Macro-political Level Through Karl Polanyi's Double Movement -- Dynamics of (Re)Politicisation Through Counter-Conduct at the Micro-political Level -- Concluding Remarks -- Bibliography -- Chapter 3 Politicising Government Accountability: The Case of Protest Network and the Model "Who?" in Bulgaria -- Introduction: The Curious Case of a Cabinet Appointment, Depoliticisation and Accountability in Bulgaria -- The Importance of Peevski's Appointment and the Model "Who?" in Bulgarian Politics -- Why Does Depoliticisation Hamper Government Accountability? -- Depoliticisation and Peevski's Appointment -- Protest Network's Strategies to Politicise the Principal -- Strategies to Politicise the Principal by Solidifying Links Within the Principal: Rich Repertoire of Protest Tactics -- Strategies to Politicise the Principal by Reaching Out to Potential Account-Holders: Increase Media Presence -- Protest Network Strategies to Politicise the Issue -- Politicising an Issue by Branding It: Make Demands More Identifiable -- Politicising an Issue by Humanising the Person at the Centre of the Contestation: Make the Demands More Relatable -- Politicising an Issue by Attaching It to More Long-standing Issues: Make the Demands More Significant.

This book investigates the extent to which depoliticisation strategies, used to disguise the political character of decision-making, have become the established mode of governance within societies. Increasingly, commentators suggest that the dominance of depoliticisation is leading to a crisis of representative democracy or even the end of politics, but is this really true? This book examines the circumstances under which depoliticisation techniques can be challenged, whether such resistance is successful and how we might understand this process. It addresses these questions by adopting a novel comparative and interdisciplinary perspective. Scholars from a range of European countries scrutinise the contingent nature of depoliticisation through a collection of case studies, including: economic policy; transport; the environment; housing; urban politics; and government corruption. The book will be appeal to academics and students across the fields of politics, sociology, urban geography, philosophy and public policy.

Risk managers are increasingly interested in incorporating stakeholder beliefs and other human factors into the planning process. Effective risk assessment and management requires understanding perceptions and beliefs of involved stakeholders, and how these beliefs give rise to actions that influence risk management decisions. Formal analyses of risk manager and stakeholder cognitions represent an important first step. Techniques for diagramming stakeholder mental models provide one tool for risk managers to better understand stakeholder beliefs and perceptions concerning risk, and to leverage this new understanding in developing risk management strategies. This article reviews three methodologies for assessing and diagramming stakeholder mental models—decision‐analysis‐based mental modeling, concept mapping, and semantic web analysis—and assesses them with regard to their ability to address risk manager needs.

Recent severe storm experiences in the U.S. Gulf Coast illustrate the importance of an integrated approach to flood preparedness planning that harmonizes stakeholder and agency efforts. Risk management decisions that are informed by and address decision maker and stakeholder risk perceptions and behavior are essential for effective risk management policy. A literature review and two expert models/mental models studies were undertaken to identify areas of importance in the flood risk management process for layperson, non‐USACE‐expert, and two USACE‐expert groups. In characterizing and mapping stakeholder beliefs about risks in the literature onto current risk management practice, recommendations for accommodating and changing stakeholder perceptions of flood risks and their management are identified. Needs of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) flood preparedness and response program are discussed in the context of flood risk mental models.

Cells release membrane enclosed nano-sized vesicles termed extracellular vesicles (EVs) that function as mediators of intercellular communication by transferring biological information between cells. Tumor-derived EVs have emerged as important mediators in cancer development and progression, mainly through transfer of their bioactive content which can include oncoproteins, oncogenes, chemokine receptors, as well as soluble factors, transcripts of proteins and miRNAs involved in angiogenesis or inflammation. This transfer has been shown to influence the metastatic behavior of primary tumors. Moreover, tumor-derived EVs have been shown to influence distant cellular niches, establishing favorable microenvironments that support growth of disseminated cancer cells upon their arrival at these pre-metastatic niches. It is generally accepted that cells release a number of major EV populations with distinct biophysical properties and biological functions. Exosomes, microvesicles, and apoptotic bodies are EV populations most widely studied and characterized. They are discriminated based primarily on their intracellular origin. However, increasing evidence suggests that even within these EV populations various subpopulations may exist. This heterogeneity introduces an extra level of complexity in the study of EV biology and function. For example, EV subpopulations could have unique roles in the intricate biological processes underlying cancer biology. Here, we discuss current knowledge regarding the role of subpopulations of EVs in cancer development and progression and highlight the relevance of EV heterogeneity. The position of tetraspanins and integrins therein will be highlighted. Since addressing EV heterogeneity has become essential for the EV field, current and novel techniques for isolating EV subpopulations will also be discussed. Further dissection of EV heterogeneity will advance our understanding of the critical roles of EVs in health and disease. ; Ministerio Español de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO). IM is supported by European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 721058 (the B-SMART Consortium) and by Estonian Research Council Personal Research Grant PUT618. PV is supported by a VENI Fellowship from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) ; Peer Reviewed