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32. Society and State in Turkey Between Two Disasters
- Author:
- Ulaş Bayraktar
- Publication Date:
- 10-2023
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
- Abstract:
- This brief assesses the responses of the central government, municipalities, civil society organisations and grassroots communities in the aftermath of the 1999 and 2023 earthquakes in the context of the changes in Turkey’s political and administrative life between these two crises.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Natural Disasters, Governance, Sustainability, and Earthquake
- Political Geography:
- Turkey
33. Budget Brief: Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0
- Author:
- Avani Kapur, Tanya Rana, and Ritwik Shukla
- Publication Date:
- 02-2023
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for Policy Research, India
- Abstract:
- In Financial Year (FY) 2021-22, the Government of India (GoI) restructured the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), POSHAN (Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nourishment) Abhiyaan, and the Scheme for Adolescent Girls (SAG) into Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, also known as Poshan 2.0. This brief uses government data to analyse: ■ Required funds, allocations, and releases; ■ Governance, including human resources; ■ Changes in coverage; and ■ Outcomes
- Topic:
- Governance, Budget, Public Policy, Human Resources, and Child Development
- Political Geography:
- South Asia and India
34. Enhancing political accountability in South Africa
- Author:
- Pranish Desai and Mxolisi Zondo
- Publication Date:
- 06-2023
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Good Governance Africa (GGA)
- Abstract:
- Enshrined in the founding provisions of South Africa’s democratic constitution is the commitment to a “multi-party system of democratic government, to ensure accountability, responsiveness and openness”.1 Today, South Africa is entering a new form of multiparty governance through the emergence of coalition governments in municipalities across the country. Following the Constitutional Court’s June 2020 decision to strike down parts of the Electoral Act of 1998, there have also been critical discussions about whether our national and provincial electoral framework of proportional representation fosters the accountability and responsiveness to which our constitution aspires.2 Both the nascent era of widespread coalition governance and the debate over electoral reform occur while the confidence that citizens have in our democracy is depreciating. In order to revive South Africans’ belief in our democratic system, we must renew that system to improve accountability. Many of the policy proposals that Good Governance Africa (GGA) considers in this briefing already exist,3 but we evaluate them in specific relation to how they can deepen political accountability in South Africa. The upshot is that a shift in approach from our institutions, political parties, civil society and citizens themselves is required.
- Topic:
- Governance, Elections, Accountability, Social Contract, and Coalition
- Political Geography:
- Africa and South Africa
35. Developments in Kazakhstan 2022: Causes and Consequences
- Author:
- Yurii Poita
- Publication Date:
- 01-2022
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Institute for Development and International Relations (IRMO)
- Abstract:
- In January 2022, mass protests arose in Kazakhstan due to an increase in gas prices for cars, which instantly covered almost the entire country. From the initial demands of the demonstrators in Zhanaozen in the southwest of the country they quickly transformed into anti-government ones: the protesters demanded the resignation of the government, a change in the current political regime and the departure of the first president, Nursultan Nazarbayev. The willingness of the Kazakh authorities to make concessions and satisfy part of the demands did not stop the protests: they expanded significantly both quantitatively and geographically and in a short time the protest was marginalized and transformed into pogroms and looting, especially in the city of Almaty in southern Kazakhstan.
- Topic:
- Governance, Social Movement, Protests, and Repression
- Political Geography:
- Central Asia, Kazakhstan, and Asia
36. Quo Vadis, Belarus?
- Author:
- Zoran Meter
- Publication Date:
- 02-2022
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Institute for Development and International Relations (IRMO)
- Abstract:
- Year 2021 was one of the most turbulent for Belarus since its independence after the collapse of the USSR. In the West Belarus is sometimes called the “European North the global economic crisis in 2008 without too many problems and internal turmoil. Belarus has also successfully overcome problems with its neighbor the Russian Federation caused by Korea” and its longtime president Alexander Lukashenko, whom the West no longer recognizes, is dubbed “Europe’s Last Dictator.” Although this country is still to a large extent dug in its communist past, it has overcome disputes related to the content and dynamics of the implementation of the establishment of a Federal State between Belarus and Russia to which they previously committed.
- Topic:
- Economics, Governance, Leadership, Dictatorship, Pandemic, and COVID-19
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Belarus
37. KDP and PUK in Sadir’s Chess Game
- Author:
- Dlawer Ala'Aldeen
- Publication Date:
- 01-2022
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Middle East Research Institute (MERI)
- Abstract:
- Muqtada Al-Sadir, the Shiite Cleric Grandmaster, is playing to win; whatever the expense. In the build-up to the game, the Sunnis got their act together and seized the opportunity to become the main winners of the first round. However, the Kurds entered the fight on one leg, lost sight of the bigger picture and intensified their internal power rivalry. This has already proven costly for the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), and if they keep on as they started, the second round will be even dearer. Fortunately, it is not too late to minimise their losses or even end up winning future rounds. To do this, they need to take into account the complex power dynamics within not just the Shiite component of Iraq (Shiite House), but also the Shiite ‘Universe’ inside and outside Iraq.
- Topic:
- Governance, Leadership, and Conflict
- Political Geography:
- Iraq and Middle East
38. Primary Care in High-Income Countries: How the United States Compares
- Author:
- Molly FitzGerald, Munira Z. Gunja, and Roosa Tikkanen
- Publication Date:
- 03-2022
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Commonwealth Fund
- Abstract:
- Primary care providers (PCPs) serve as most people’s first point of contact with the health care system. These clinicians build relationships with their patients over time and help coordinate care delivered by other health care providers.1 Evidence shows that a strong foundation of primary care yields better health outcomes overall, greater equity in health care access and outcomes, and lower per capita health costs.2 But in the United States, decades of underinvestment and a low provider supply, among other problems, have limited access to effective primary care.3 This brief highlights gaps in the U.S. primary care system by comparing its performance to systems in 10 other high-income countries.
- Topic:
- Governance, Health Care Policy, Medicine, and Primary Care
- Political Geography:
- North America and United States of America
39. Blockchain Technology: An Innovative Policy Tool for Enhancing Conventional Arms Control and Verification
- Author:
- Nicolo Miotto
- Publication Date:
- 01-2022
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
- Abstract:
- Blockchain has the potential to revolutionise our societies by radically transforming multiple sectors ranging from financial services to health care, and from international trade to logistics.1 Governments, businesses, research centres, and international organisations are becoming increasingly interested in this cutting-edge technology because it can be utilised to provide a decentralised system for data management with high levels of transparency, reliability, and security.2 Recently, inter- governmental organisations such as the United Nations (UN) and the OSCE have emphasised the relevance of blockchain, which can be utilised to improve international security.3 Blockchain has already proved that it can effectively enhance human security. For instance, the World Food Programme has pioneered a blockchain-based humanitarian aid programme to support refugees in Jordan with the use of cryptocurrencies.4 Similarly, the International Committee of the Red Cross has developed a distributed ledger technology (DLT)-based local trading system in Kenya to help fragile communities.5 In 2015 the UN International Children’s Emergency Fund even launched “Unicoin” – its own cryptocurrency – which children from poor families can exchange for goods. Although researchers have been exploring the impact of this technology on multiple fields, the implications of blockchain-based systems for CAC are still under-explored. This paper aims to fill this research gap by demonstrating that blockchain can play a crucial role in enhancing CAC monitoring and verification. It argues that blockchain offers a positive behavioural model and has advantageous practical implications for conventional arms control. The analysis is guided by the following research questions: (1) what psychological impact does blockchain have on confidence building? and (2) how do smart contracts enhance CAC?
- Topic:
- Infrastructure, Governance, and Blockchain
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
40. Unlocking the Power of Reformers to Achieve Better Progress on Extractives Governance
- Author:
- Columbia Centre on Sustainable Investment
- Publication Date:
- 01-2022
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
- Abstract:
- This project arose out of conversations over the past few years between CCSI staff and high-level officials in extractive industry (EI) ministries in Africa, the Cauca- sus, and Latin America. After describing the need for an array of genuine reforms in the governance of their re- spective countries’ energy and mining sectors, these of- ficials expressed their frustration at the resistance they encountered from within their own government when pushing for reform. These pressures come from above and below.
- Topic:
- Politics, Governance, Reform, Sustainability, and Progressivism
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus