The GOVERNANCE blog

Nicole de Montricher, winner of the 2010 Ulrich Kloeti Award for Distinguished Contributions to the Study of Public Policy, Administration and Institutions was presented with the award plaque at a dinner in Paris. The award recognizes scholars who have made exceptional contributions to research in the field through a sustained career. Nominees must have involved themselves significantly within SOG, both with respect to research and leadership. SOG is the Structure and Organization Research Committee of IPSA. The dinner was held at Les fils de la ferme in Paris on 26 May 2011. Photo: Philippe Bezes, Nicole de Montricher, Joel Aberbach, and Harvey Feigenbaum.

Governance is now ranked #4 for impact among scholarly journals in public administration, according to ISI’s Journal Citation Report for 2010, released on June 29. Among journals in political science, Governance is ranked #12. Since 2008, Governance is the only journal in the world that is ranked within the top twenty in both public administration and political science.

The submission period for panel proposals for the upcoming IPSA World Congress in Madrid July 8-12 2012 has opened this month. For the regular IPSA programme, each RC may propose an unlimited number of panels which are endorsed by its Board.  Research Committee 27, on the Structure and Organization of Government — otherwise known as SOG, the academic sponsor of Governance — encourages the submission of panel proposals on topics related to the mission of the committee. Panel proposals may also be co-sponsored with other IPSA Research Committees.  Download this file for more details.  The deadline for proposals is 31 July 2011.

In the current issue of Governance (24.2, April 2011) Mauricio Dussauge Laguna reviews Political Competition, Partisanship and Policymaking in Latin American Public Utilities by Maria Victoria Murillo.  Murillo “offers a comprehensive analysis of how the region’s electricity and telecommunications regimes have been transformed . . . [and] shows that political parties still matter” in shaping regulatory policies.  Read the review.  And Joseph Wong reviews Wealth, Health and Democracy in East Asia and Latin America by James W. McGuire.  McGuire challenges the idea that economic development is the key determinant of health outcomes in the global South, pointing out the effectiveness of relatively inexpensive interventions “even in the context of difficult economic circumstances.”  Wong says McGuire’s analysis is “powerful and provocative.”  Read the review.

Early childhood education and care issues have increasingly become the focus of attention for a number of international organizations.  In the current issue of Governance (24.2, April 2011), Linda White of the University of Toronto examines the different frames which these organizations use to understand these policies: sometimes in terms of rights; sometimes as parental employment policies; and sometimes as exercises in “social pedagogy.”  White finds that the choice of frame has important implications for attention to questions of gender justice and child well-being.  Read the article: The Internationalization of Early Childhood Education and Care Issues.

How much does a mother’s individual characteristics influence the impact of family policy on her labor market participation?  In the current issue of Governance (24.2, April 2011), Isabelle Stadelmann-Steffen of Universität Konstanz (right) explores this question, using data from the Swiss Labor Force Survey.  She finds that family policies most strongly influence women with medium levels of education, for whom labor market participation is regarded as optional.  High cash benefits to families tends to reduce participation by women with lower levels of education. Read the article: Dimensions of Family Policy and Female Labor Market Participation.

Voluntary schemes for promoting corporate responsibility in social and environmental matters have proliferated, and several schemes may operate in a single industry.  The overlap has “negative consequences for the effective functioning of these arrangements,” says Luc Fransen of the University of Amsterdam in the current issue of Governance.  Previous studies have suggested that these negative effects will decline over time, as the practices converge.  But Fransen says a more pessimistic approach is warranted.  Focussing on self-regulatory schemes in the garment industry, Fransens finds that political factors can cause fragmentation and competition to persist, “despite the efforts of parties inside and outside the field to stimulate cooperation.”  Read the article: Why Do Private Governance Organizations Not Converge?