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"Neil Kraus evaluates both the influence of public opinion on local policy-making and the extent to which public policy addresses economic and social inequalities. Drawing on several years of fieldwork and multiple sources of data, including surveys and polls; initiatives, referenda, and election results; government documents; focus groups; interviews; and a wide assortment of secondary sources, Kraus presents case studies of two Midwestern cities, Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Gary, Indiana. Specifically, he focuses on several major policy decisions in recent decades concerning education, law enforcement, and affordable housing in Minneapolis; and education and riverboat casino development in Gary. Kraus finds that, on these issues, local officials frequently take action that reflects public opinion, yet the resulting policies often fail to meet the needs of the disadvantaged or ameliorate the effects of concentrated poverty. In light of citizens' current attitudes, he concludes that if patterns of inequality are to be more effectively addressed, scholars and policymakers must transform the debate about the causes and effects of inequality in urban and metropolitan settings"--

The purpose of the article is to analyze ESP in the context of different modes of governance. Assuming that ESP is a unique and multidimensional product of dynamic political, technological, and social processes and ideas coordinated by the EU, its member states as well as non-member ones and implemented in an international environment, there are some research questions to be answered. First, is there any particular mode of governance that should be applied to the analysis of ESP implementation? Second, in what way the EU introduced space policy and space assets to the European agenda? Third, how ESP can be framed within the overall process of European integration? A qualitative research approach has been applied as well as theoretic apparatus embedded in European integration studies and political science. The main finding of the article is that the most promising way of governance within ESP is experimentalist governance. The originality of the article results from the application of the newly established experimentalist governance theory to an analysis of the increasingly important segment of EU activity.

Using the economic point of view for an analysis of phenomena related to artistic activities, Arts & Economics not only challenges widely held popular views, but also offers an alternative perspective to sociological or art historic approaches.The wide range of subjects presented are of current interest and, above all, relevant for cultural policy. The issues discussed include: institutions from festivals to "superstar" museums, different means of supporting the arts, including the question whether artistic creativity is undermined by public intervention, an investigation into art as an investment, the various approaches applied when valuing our cultural properties, or why, in a comparative perspective, direct voter participation in cultural policy is not antagonistic to artistic values

Social science research that has affected social policy is discussed, focusing on the follow-up studies of the Consortium for Longitudinal Studies. It is argued that a study is likely to influence social policy if (1) it uses direct outcome measures so that the results are comprehensible to nonscientists, (2) it addresses the economic implications of the policy recommendations and so is congruent with contemporary political values, and (3) it is communicated directly to political professionals.

To use tests responsibly in implementing a national foreign language policy, it is important to understand the limitations inherent in measuring language proficiency. The underlying paradox is that while traditional examinations and functional guidelines are useful in specifying goals of instruction—and even in controlling the process—but severely limited in their ability to provide accurate individual measurements, the psychometric techniques that produce the most reliable individual scores do so by narrowing their focus to instructionally questionable abilities. The conclusion is that no policy should rely on a single measurement technique.

AbstractThis article describes an innovative application of a social justice‐infused pedagogy to an out‐of‐school program for urban high school students. Using an interdisciplinary framework, the program featured a coherent synthesis of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education, highlighting environmental and food justice perspectives; social justice education; and career and college planning. We used qualitative content analysis to analyze two separate interviews with six female and three male students of color ranging in age from 15 to 18 with an average age of 16.1 (SD=1.26) across an approximately 10‐month time span. Utilizing a model of critical consciousness development as our organizing framework, we explored the students' understanding of environmental and food justice issues. Participants indicated that they were actively engaged in learning about food and environmental justice, exploring STEM careers, and investigating the various ways that social justice is manifested in their lives. Implications for social justice and STEM education interventions as well as broader public policies are discussed.

Evidence-based management of fisheries means being continually open to new sources of scientific findings and data, but this is difficult when there is uncertainty or disagreement about their value and utility. We submit that this is the case for rapidly advancing animal tracking research, or biotelemetry. While biotelemetry science has been broadly accepted in fisheries and aquatic research communities, its incorporation into fisheries policy and management has been limited. To gain insight into this disjuncture, we conducted an exploratory study of perspectives on biotelemetry among government employees and nongovernmental stakeholders involved in co-managing salmon fisheries in Canada's Fraser River. Using a knowledge mobilization theoretical framework, we examine how respondents perceived biotelemetry research across three dimensions: its epistemic value (its capacity to generate useful and valid new knowledge), its practical value (relative to real-world considerations such as cost), and its degree of fit or discord with existing policy and management practices. We find a wide range of views between both groups, which may explain the hesitant uptake of biotelemetry into policy and management in this case. We conclude by advancing several research questions as a guide for future study of t

The adoption by WTO Members of measures relating to the protection of health and life of animals, plants and humans is regulated by the WTO Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS)Agreement. A fundamental question in the application of this agreement concerns the distinction to be drawn between legitimate regulation and unlawful restriction of trade. This distinction can be difficult to discern, particularly since different communities have different levels of tolerance for risk, which leads to varying national regulatory decisions. This paper critically examines the approach taken to this question in rulings of the WTO dispute settlement panels and Appellate Body, highlighting and analysing three emergent issues:the role attributed to science, the two stage review process adopted and the application of the principle of mutual recognition. The importance of deliberative decision-making inthis context is emphasised, as is the need for recognition and acceptance of the regulatory diversity that this will bring.

This review article examines how social science literature co-produces various imaginaries of forest-based bioeconomy transformations and pathways for reaching desired ends. Based on an analysis of 59 research articles, we find that despite a growing number of social sciences studies on the forest-based bioeconomy, much of the research tends to replicate a bioeconomy imaginary articulated in EU and national bioeconomy policies and strategies. Accordingly, the research primarily reproduces a weak approach to sustainability, which prioritize economic growth and competitiveness. Expectations are largely directed at national and regional corporate interests and forest industrial renewal, while the state has a supportive rather than restricting role. We discuss the findings against the role of social sciences, and conclude that social science scholars may adopt various strategies if interested in opening up forest-based policy debates and offer alternative imaginaries of sustainable bioeconomy transformations.

Cultural diversity has become a major source of social conflict & political debate. Here, multicultural policies are related to patterns of social integration in the nation-state & to international human rights law. It is argued that language policies that are multicultural in the sense of promoting a recognized participation of minority languages in the public sphere are the ones most likely to respond to the structural dilemmas of contemporary nation-states while respecting international standards of human rights. 16 References. Adapted from the source document.

Citizen science is an approach of public participation in scientific research which has gained significant momentum in recent years. This is particularly evident in biology and environmental sciences where input from citizen scientists has greatly increased the number of publicly available observation data. However, there are still challenges in effective networking, data sharing and securing data quality. EU BON project has analyzed the citizen science landscape in Europe with regards to biodiversity research and proposes several policy recommendations. One of the recommendations is a Pan-European citizen science gateway for biodiversity data with dedicated tools for data collection and management. The prototypes of the gateway components are part of the EU BON biodiversity portal and described in current report.

1. Introduction -- 2 Basic science : and some politics : of climate change -- 3. Sustainable agriculture : sequestering carbon for food security -- 4. Economic growth, well-being and sustainability -- 5. Development in a changing climate -- 6. Ethics and climate change -- 7. Kyoto, Paris and other international environmental agreements -- 8. Incentives for mitigation : carbon taxes and emissions trading -- 9. The costs of climate change and the benefits of mitigation -- 10. Green fiscal policy : from austerity to full employment in a low-carbon economy.

The aim of this article is to analyse the role of science in environmental regimes. The focus is on through which conceptual lenses social scientists should judge the role of science in this area. In answering this question, the article takes as its point of departure the sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK). Three key findings of SSK are central to understanding the role of science in environmental regimes, namely that knowledge never moves freely, that the value of science is the result of negotiations and that science and policy are co-produced. The usefulness and explanatory power of this perspective is illustrated by a case study of one of the most science-based regimes that exist today, the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP). By way of conclusion, it is stated that science has no strength in itself but is given strength by different institutions and actors, and this has to be explained by social scientists.