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31. Drug Policy and Deprivation of Liberty

Author:
Global Commission On Drug Policy
Publication Date:
06-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Global Commission On Drug Policy
Abstract:
This paper shows how the deprivation of liberty for non-violent drug crimes is a wrong and ineffective response, notably because it does not take into account the social and psychological root causes of drug consumption, nor does it consider the economic and social marginalization of low-level actors in the trade. Furthermore, people who are incarcerated are vulnerable, exposed to risks, particularly health risks, for which they are not well-equipped and do not receive adequate care. In this report, members of the Global Commission on Drug Policy analyze the last thirty years of over incarceration in closed settings, from prisons to migrant administrative detention and from mandatory treatment to private rehabilitation centers. The paper highlights the responsibility of the State towards people who are incarcerated, and demonstrates how their health and well-being are at risk.
Topic:
Law Enforcement, Prisons/Penal Systems, Public Policy, Drugs, and Incarceration
Political Geography:
Global Focus

32. Transitional Justice in Relationship to Public Sphere and Civil Society: Theoretical Approaches

Author:
Edyta Pietrzak
Publication Date:
01-2018
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Polish Political Science Yearbook
Institution:
Polish Political Science Association (PPSA)
Abstract:
The article presents the entitled fields in the framework of their mutual influence. The notion of the public sphere is valuable for understanding the role that civil society plays in transitional justice processes. However transitional justice often reduces the idea of civil society to NGOs and ignores the social movements and civil engagement in the public realm that can be perceived as integral to the creation of new cases for understanding justice in transition. This fact results in the lack of perception of the civil society place in transitional justice processes. Thus the presented paper is based on hermeneutics, critical discourse analysis and dialogue between various theoretical approaches.
Topic:
Civil Society, Transitional Justice, Public Policy, and NGOs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

33. Enhancing Public Health Outcomes in Developing Countries: From Good Policies and Best Practices to Better Implementation

Author:
Michael Woolcock
Publication Date:
02-2018
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Abstract:
In rich and poor countries alike, a core challenge is building the state’s capability for policy implementation. Delivering high-quality public health and health care – affordably, reliably, at scale, for all – exemplifies this challenge, since doing so requires deftly integrating refined technical skills (surgery), broad logistics management (supply chains, facilities maintenance), adaptive problem solving (curative care) and resolving ideological differences (who pays? who provides?), even as the prevailing health problems themselves only become more diverse, complex and expensive as countries become more prosperous. The current state of state capability in developing countries, however, is demonstrably alarming, with the strains and demands only likely to intensify in the coming decades. Prevailing ‘best practice’ strategies for building implementation capability – copying and scaling putative successes from abroad – are too often part of the problem, while individual training (‘capacity building’) and technological upgrades (e.g., new management information systems) remain necessary but deeply insufficient. An alternative approach is outlined, one centered on building implementation capability by working iteratively to solve problems nominated and prioritized by local actors.
Topic:
Health, Developing World, State, Public Policy, and Policy Implementation
Political Geography:
Global Focus

34. Drug Policy and the Sustainable Development Agenda

Author:
Global Commission On Drug Policy
Publication Date:
10-2018
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Global Commission On Drug Policy
Abstract:
The Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2030 are meant to be a transformational agenda to eradicate poverty, achieve gender equity or save the planet through their implementation. This implementation, based on coherent public policies, is still lacking at the national, regional and international levels. This is most visible in drug policy, where voices from health, human rights and science call for reform, while most countries continue to privilege ideology through law-enforcement and militarization. The members of the Global Commission on Drug Policy draw from their experience at the highest policy and political levels to provide an analysis of how - beyond powerful words and slogans - sustainable development is impeded by drug control while providing a single, forceful recommendation to address this situation.
Topic:
Reform, Sustainable Development Goals, Public Policy, and Drugs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

35. The Big Stuck in State Capability for Policy Implementation

Author:
Matt Andrews, Lant Pritchett, and Michael Woolcock
Publication Date:
01-2016
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Abstract:
We divide the 102 historically developing countries (HDCs) into those with ‘very weak’, ‘weak’, ‘middle’, and ‘strong’ state capability. Analyzing the levels and recent growth rates of the HDCs’ capability for policy implementation reveals how pervasively “stuck” most of them are. Only eight HDCs have attained strong capability, and since most of these are small (e.g., Singapore, UAE), less than 100 million (or 1.7%) of the roughly 5.8 billion people in HDCs currently live in high capability states. Almost half (49) of these countries have very weak or weak capability, and thus their long-run pace of acquiring capability is also very slow. Alarmingly, three quarters of these countries (36 of 49) have experienced negative growth in state capability in recent decades, while more than a third of all countries (36 of 102) have low and (in the medium run at least) deteriorating state capability. At current rates, the ‘time to high capability’ of the 49 currently weak capability states and the 36 with negative growth is obviously “forever”. But even for the 13 with positive growth, only three would reach strong capability by the end of the 21st century at their current medium run growth.
Topic:
Developing World, International Development, State, and Public Policy
Political Geography:
Global Focus and United States of America

36. War on Drugs

Author:
Global Commission On Drug Policy
Publication Date:
06-2011
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Global Commission On Drug Policy
Abstract:
The global war on drugs has failed, with devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world. Fifty years after the initiation of the UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, and 40 years after President Nixon launched the US government's war on drugs, fundamental reforms in national and global drug control policies are urgently needed. In this seminal report, the Global Commission on Drug Policy calls on global leaders to join an open discussion on drug policy reform.
Topic:
War on Drugs, Public Policy, and Drugs
Political Geography:
United States and Global Focus

37. Science, Public Policy, and Global Warming: Rethinking the Market‐​Liberal Position

Author:
Edwin G. Dolan
Publication Date:
10-2006
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Cato Journal
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
A survey of market-liberal or libertarian publications and websites finds a large and growing literature on the issue of global warming. Almost without exception, this literature conveys a comforting message: Our planet is in good health. The markets that regulate resource use are working well. The only real dangers come from ill-considered policy initiatives that, if implemented, would do more harm than good. It would seem that the message is well received by its audience—it is repeated, embellished, and applauded with little variation. In this article, I take a contrarian position, not so much with respect to the science of climate change as with respect to the arguments used by market liberals in support of their message of comfort and complacency. One problem area concerns the proper use of scientific evidence in reaching conclusions regarding public policy. It seems to me that market liberals are often reckless in the degree of certainty they professes regarding climatological hypotheses that are, in fact, still controversial and in early stages of development. A second problem concerns the use of cost-benefit analysis. Market-liberal writers are prone to make cost-benefit arguments regarding climate policy that they would never accept in other contexts. Third, the literature on global warming is often weakly rooted, if rooted at all, in the core principles of classical liberalism from which modern market liberalism has evolved. Instead, it is, for the most part, indistinguishable from what is said by conservatives. It might even be said that there is no market-liberal position on this issue—only an echo of arguments made by Republican patriots and the carbon lobby. In short, the whole issue of global warming policy, as viewed by market liberals, needs to be revisited. This can best be done by going back to some of the classical liberal sources, particularly Friedrich Hayek and John Locke, from which modern market-liberal thought is derived.
Topic:
Climate Change, Markets, Science and Technology, Public Policy, and Libertarianism
Political Geography:
Global Focus

38. Schools, Teachers, and Education Outcomes in Developing Countries

Author:
Paul Glewwe and Michael Kremer
Publication Date:
09-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Abstract:
Eighty percent of the world's children live in developing countries. For economists working on education, the study of developing countries offers both policy questions of fundamental importance and a rich set of experiences to examine. This paper, prepared as a chapter for the Handbook on the Economics of Education, starts by providing background on primary and secondary education in developing countries, then outlines an analytical framework that will be used in interpreting the studies discussed. The authors then review selected empirical work: examining the factors influencing the quantity of education obtained; focusing on education quality by examining the determinants of skills obtained while in school; and examining distortions in education systems, the political economy of education, and school reform initiatives. Finally, the authors review methodological lessons and provide recommendations for future research on education in developing countries.
Topic:
Education, Developing World, Public Policy, and Teachers
Political Geography:
Global Focus