Gaia Taffoni
Countries attempting to improve women's position in relation to that of men have started using a Gender Impact Assessment (GIA) to examine policies' potential effects. But social and cultural barriers to gender justice and the politicisation of gender mainstreaming challenge its successful implementation, writes Gaia Taffoni Read more
Veronica Anghel
It is three years since the World Health Organisation declared Covid-19 a pandemic, on 11 March 2020. Veronica Anghel conducts a retrospective analysis of the impact of the health crisis, from all social scientific perspectives. Did political science rise to the challenge? Read more
Niva Golan-Nadir
Innovative bureaucratic reforms are often explained by pointing to the motivations of individual bureaucrats or organisational culture. Yet, Niva Golan-Nadir explains how macro-level factors such as bureaucratic inefficiency, public criticism, and competition from NGOs also help initiate policy innovation and motivate managers into becoming entrepreneurs The bureaucratic inefficiency of Kosher food inspection in Israel The […] Read more
Niva Golan-Nadir
Niva Golan-Nadir examines the origins of alternative politics in the form of co-production of essential services. As an example, she looks at the provision of public transport services in Israel on the Sabbath. She models the way this comes about, how it works, and considers its implications for democracy Read more
Steffen Hurka
Why are laws often so hard to understand? Steffen Hurka argues that the complexity of laws increases when political conflict becomes more intense and when decision-making becomes more inclusive. Democracies aim for compromise and the balancing of interests, and complex laws are the inevitable consequence Read more
Catherine Owen
Catherine Owen argues that understanding how regime type influences public sector performance can illuminate varieties of ‘authoritarian public policy’ and the resilience of authoritarian states. To do so, she calls on the fields of public administration and comparative politics to work together Read more
Niva Golan-Nadir
Niva Golan-Nadir examines the diverse strategies state institutions use to manage unpopular policies while keeping the core of those policies intact. In Israel, citizens are only partially content with government measures to meet their demands. Crucially, however, Israelis are satisfied enough to prevent civil pressure on state institutions Citizens in modern democratic states enjoy civil […] Read more
Orlaith Rice
The Swedish government’s strategy for addressing the Covid-19 pandemic sparked international debate about its hands off approach. Orlaith Rice points to Sweden’s institutional framework and high trust levels as two key components in understanding this country's unique pandemic response Read more
