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Many governments offer scholarships specifically to foreign citizens. In recent years both policymakers and academics have associated these scholarships with political influence, arguing that they generate sympathetic and influential alumni who support positive relationships between their home country and their sponsor. Digging deeper into the histories of several scholarship programs which are now being portrayed in this way shows they were actually set up for very different reasons. Explanations for why scholarships are being given to foreign citizens have changed over time, consistent with a Kingdonian model of the policy process. We need to be cautious about taking these claims at face value, an important reminder for foreign policy analysts more generally. Adapted from the source document.

There are important parallels between the pattern of inference Kenneth Waltz uses in his Theory of International Politics and early Darwinian reasoning. This early Darwinian thinking has needed to be significantly refined by modern evolutionary biologists, and their amendments are equally relevant to Waltz's model. Waltz allows for states to imitate each other and also accepts that they are only rarely eliminated from the system. Modern Darwinian analyses show that where elimination is rare and imitation is common, it is quite possible for deleterious behaviours to become widespread. We cannot assume an anarchic system will select for security-enhancing behaviours in major powers. Thinking about Waltz's argument in these terms opens space to disagree with his conclusions while respecting the strength of his logic.

Research Highlights and AbstractGovernments offer scholarships to foreign nationals expected to become influential in their home countries and shape public opinion to the benefit of their sponsor. This is known as the 'opinion leader' model. The histories of three British scholarship programs whose directors now subscribe to the 'opinion leader' model suggest they were actually set up for other reasons. Beliefs about what the programs are for have shifted toward the 'opinion leader' model even as they have continued to do the same things. The pattern of changing objectives seems to fit a Kingdonian model of the policy process.Many governments offer scholarships specifically to foreign citizens. In recent years both policymakers and academics have associated these scholarships with political influence, arguing that they generate sympathetic and influential alumni who support positive relationships between their home country and their sponsor. Digging deeper into the histories of several scholarship programs which are now being portrayed in this way shows they were actually set up for very different reasons. Explanations for why scholarships are being given to foreign citizens have changed over time, consistent with a Kingdonian model of the policy process. We need to be cautious about taking these claims at face value, an important reminder for foreign policy analysts more generally.

AbstractIn this short article, we respond to a Commentary by Maack et al. (Environ Sci Eur 34:24, 2022) in which they challenge recommendations in Leverett et al. (Environ Sci Eur 33:133, 2021) for setting an aquatic Environmental Quality Standard (EQS) for the pharmaceutical diclofenac. Maack et al. recommend the use of results from a stream mesocosm study as the main point of departure for setting the EQS and dismiss the use of a Species Sensitivity Distribution (SSD) containing relevant and reliable single species data because of bimodality in this distribution. We present the key mesocosm data used by Maack et al. and note that these are highly variable, include control mortalities of up to 60%, and, as reported by the original authors, show a significant effect only at the highest test concentration and not at the estimated value proposed by Maack et al. We also show that there are neither regulatory nor technical grounds for dismissing the use of an SSD and respond to minor criticisms of our compliance assessment (comparison of different EQS values with reported concentrations in European surface waters). Finally, we provide comment on the EQS derivation process and subsequent opinion of the diclofenac EQS dossier by the European Commission's Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks (SCHEER).

In government, the SNP has accentuated stability, public provision, and integration in health care and focused energy and patience in neglected 'Cinderella' policy areas such as mental health, public health, and health inequalities. This approach is not dissimilar to the policies of previous devolved Scottish governments. It makes Scotland an unusual kind of NHS system- one with stability and long-term focus on issues that are not obvious political winners. The SNP's successes in health come from building on, holding firm to, and developing this distinctively Scottish style of health policy.

British public services have traditionally been overseen by appointees. The idea that many of these posts should be filled by direct election, as a means of increasing engagement with local communities and accountability to them, appears to be gaining traction. In Health Board election pilots in 2010, the Scottish government replaced appointees to regional Health Boards (serving six-figure populations) with popularly elected members. The government attempted to maintain the insulation of Health Boards from party politics by restricting the use of partisan labels. Voters were deprived of a heuristic that usually helps them to decide how to cast their votes. Many electors did not vote, while others sought alternative heuristics. Interviewees simultaneously decried partisan politics, lack of information and low turnout by the rest of the population. These dislikes seem to conflict with each other. Moreover, the experience shows how the heuristics available to voters can shape democratic governance.

AbstractDiclofenac is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory human and veterinary medicine widely detected in European surface waters, especially downstream from Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs). Veterinary uses of diclofenac in Europe are greatly restricted, so wastewater is the key exposure route for wildlife. Proposed Environmental Quality Standards (EQS) which include an assessment of toxicity to aquatic organisms are under consideration by the European Commission (EC) to support the aims of the Water Framework Directive (WFD). The EC approach favours the use of a deterministic (single test value and an assessment factor) approach to the derivation of a direct toxicity EQS for diclofenac, resulting in an EQS of 0.040 µg L−1 based on a single mesocosm study. In this paper, we discuss potential issues with this approach with respect to the EC's own guidance on EQS derivation and derive an evidence-driven alternative EQS of 0.126 µg L−1 using a probabilistic (species sensitivity distribution) approach that accounts for all of the reliable and relevant data and is in accordance with the guidance. Europe-wide freshwater monitoring data for diclofenac are used in an indicative compliance assessment using the EC and the alternative evidence-driven EQS. The implications of using only some data to derive an EQS that does not adhere to the guidance, compared to a guidance-compliant approach that uses all the data available are also discussed.

Calls to extend the franchise to 16 and 17 year olds are gaining ground, with the 2014 Referendum on Scottish Independence potentially acting as a test ground for wider reforms. Debates on the relative merits of this decision aside, there is little practical experience of registering and engaging young people with major elections in the Scottish context. This article reports research on pilot Health Board Elections held in two areas of Scotland in 2010. 16 and 17 year olds were entitled to vote in these elections, and yet many were excluded by difficulties with registration, and turnout among those who did register was strikingly low. Drawing on focus groups in local schools, we draw out some key lessons for future efforts to engage young voters in Scotland.