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1. Navigating the Dynamics of Policy Politics: An Analysis of Contemporary Public Policy Formulation Trends in Bangladesh

Author:
Md. Akmal Hossain
Publication Date:
01-2026
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Political Studies
Institution:
Department of Political Science, University of the Punjab
Abstract:
Public policy formulation is an integral part of the government's role in providing essential services to citizens. Nevertheless, available studies on the policy process in Bangladesh have not thoroughly explored the detailed procedures and tendencies of the policy formulation process. The principal objective of this paper was to investigate the recent trends in the public policy-making process in Bangladesh. Based on secondary data sources, this paper argues that no analogous model can effectively analyze all policies implemented in Bangladesh over the last decade. However, the group interest and political process model is more feasible than other models in the policy formulation process. The implications of this study are to understand the nature of the policies and the role of actors who decide which policies will be developed and whose interests will be served. Moreover, this article will help policymakers and policy theorists make informed decisions, avoiding the weaknesses and drawbacks of previous policies.
Topic:
Government, Public Policy, Domestic Policy, and Decision-Making
Political Geography:
Bangladesh and South Asia

2. From fragmentation to integration: China’s “Vertical-Horizontal Model” for the protection of overseas interests

Author:
Zhiqiang Zou, Degang Sun, and Jinan Wang
Publication Date:
07-2026
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional (RBPI)
Institution:
Instituto Brasileiro de Relações Internacionais (IBRI)
Abstract:
Since the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013, China’s overseas interests have been faced with a growing array of multidimensional threats. China has carried out legislative and institutional reforms, forming a “vertical-horizontal model” for interagency cooperation and government-society fusion. The central government of China has passed a series of legislative acts to legalise China’s protection of overseas interests, a top-down vertical governance. Parallel ministries, departments, and offices have formed task-based institutions through consultation to promote China’s overseas interest protection, thereby establishing a cross-sectoral horizontal governance mechanism. The implementation of the “vertical-horizontal model,” however, confronts an array of hurdles, with heavy bureaucracy potentially giving rise to problems such as inefficiency and collective irresponsibility.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Government, Reform, Legislation, Institutions, and Vertical-Horizontal Model
Political Geography:
China and Asia

3. Diplomacy Meets Paradiplomacy: Unpacking Central Government Responses through Evidence from Turkey’s Paradiplomac

Author:
Esra Kaya Erdoğan and Emrah Atar
Publication Date:
01-2026
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
International Relations Council of Turkey (UİK-IRCT)
Abstract:
This study examines the central government’s response to the paradiplomacy of sub-state actors through an analysis of the Turkish case, using a qualitative approach. As part of this research, a total of twelve face-to-face or virtual interviews were conducted with the representatives from the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Marmara Municipalities Union, and academics between June 2023 and November 2023. It views paradiplomacy as an outcome of the ongoing trend to localize diplomacy and aims to identify varying central government responses to paradiplomacy. These responses are analyzed using a three-fold categorization: positive, negative and mixed. The characteristics of each category explored in the context of the Turkish case. The study suggests that, despite the central government’s opportunistic approach to paradiplomacy, its response has shown a cyclical tendency. The central government’s stance on paradiplomacy is therefore complex and politically driven. It fluctuates along a broad spectrum, ranging from direct support to outright exclusion. This reflects the shifting political dynamics in Turkey.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Government, Governance, Municipalities, and Sub-state Diplomacy
Political Geography:
Turkey and Middle East

4. Assessing US Government Efforts to Support Fossil Fuel–Reliant Communities

Author:
Noah Kaufman
Publication Date:
02-2026
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP), Columbia University
Abstract:
The decline of domestic fossil fuel production in the United States poses serious economic risks for communities that rely on fossil fuel industries for jobs and public revenues. Many of these communities lack the resources and capacity to manage those risks on their own. The absence of viable economic strategies for affected regions is a barrier to building the broad, durable coalitions needed for an equitable national transition to cleaner energy sources. President Joe Biden touted investments into fossil fuel–reliant communities as part of his administration’s broader place-based economic and climate change strategies. This study assesses those federal efforts, examining the rationale, design, and implementation status of the major programs involved.
Topic:
Climate Change, Economics, Government, Fossil Fuels, and Energy Transition
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

5. Democracy and its discontented: What drives demand for democracy in South Africa?

Author:
Rehan Visser
Publication Date:
04-2026
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Afrobarometer
Abstract:
Support for democracy rests on a range of foundations. Citizens may value democracy intrinsically, as the most legitimate form of rule regardless of outcomes, or instrumentally, as a system judged by its capacity to deliver material well-being, security, and effective governance. Understanding which of these logics predominates is central to assessing the resilience of democratic regimes. In the early years after the end of White-minority rule, South Africans were more likely than their continental peers to evaluate democracy in material terms, valuing it for what it could deliver rather than for its inherent virtues. Attitudes were closely tied to assessments of government performance and expectations of improvements in quality of life (Bratton & Mattes, 2001). As the regime matured, delivery of political goods entered the equation (Mattes, 2012). A generation after apartheid’s end, it is worth returning to this question: Is demand for democracy in South Africa still performance-driven?
Topic:
Government, Governance, Democracy, and Resilience
Political Geography:
Africa and South Africa

6. Federal Government Spending Is a Leaky Bucket

Author:
Chris Edwards and Ryan Bourne
Publication Date:
06-2026
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
People often hold optimistic views about federal government spending programs. They assume that new and expanded programs can fix the nation’s social and economic problems. The government is a powerful institution, and so people think that it can steer funding to individuals, businesses, and nonprofit groups to solve problems and aid those in need. However, solving problems through the federal government is not so simple. Spending programs require funding from taxation or borrowing, and both create collateral damage on the economy. As funds flow through the government, resources are wasted on bureaucracy, mismanagement, and faulty planning. As the remaining funds flow out of the government and into the private sector, they induce people to change their working and investing activities, further undermining the economy. Only a fraction of the tax dollars raised for programs ultimately delivers on the outcomes promised by policymakers. Economist Arthur M. Okun described this problem as a “leaky bucket.” When the government imposes taxes on some people to aid others, it is not a costless transfer of resources. Rather, it is like transferring water using a bucket riddled with holes. In this study, we describe the many types of holes in the government bucket, and we argue that the leakage of resources is large. We also argue that the government bucket gets leakier as federal programs and bureaucracies continue to expand. With the government running huge budget deficits, policymakers should rethink the many costly programs that it runs. Some programs are essential, and so policymakers should preserve them while reducing the types of waste or leakage that we identify. But many other programs are so leaky that their costs outweigh their benefits. These programs are spilling economic resources all over and should be eliminated from the federal budget.
Topic:
Government, Public Spending, and Fundraising
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

7. Understanding Debanking: Evaluating Governmental, Operational, Political, and Religious Financial Account Closures

Author:
Nicholas Anthony
Publication Date:
01-2026
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
This study examines the growing phenomenon of debanking—the sudden and often unexplained closure of individuals’ or organizations’ financial accounts. While media and political narratives often attribute these closures to political or religious discrimination, this study finds that the majority of debanking cases stem from governmental pressure. To identify this cause more accurately, the study distinguishes between four forms of debanking—governmental, operational, political, and religious—evaluating each form in turn. Based on public evidence, governmental debanking appears to be the most significant issue. Congress can correct this issue by reforming the Bank Secrecy Act, repealing confidentiality laws, and permanently ending reputational risk regulation. Doing so would reduce the incentives to debank, expose how widespread debanking has become, and cut out the tools that the government has used to pressure banks and other financial institutions.
Topic:
Government, Financial Institutions, Debanking, and Financial Disclosure
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

8. Addressing Civil Investigative Demand Overreach at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Author:
Solveig Singleton
Publication Date:
05-2026
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
he Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB, or the Bureau) often issues civil investigative demands (CIDs), a type of administrative subpoena that compels businesses and individuals to produce evidence such as documents and testimony. Many observers criticize the Bureau’s CIDs for being poorly justified, overbroad, vague, and costly. Modern Supreme Court precedents leave CID recipients with few constitutional protections. Courts defer to the Bureau in legal challenges to CIDs, rendering constitutional and statutory limits on the Bureau’s powers toothless. Legislators are considering reform proposals to bring accountability to the Bureau’s CID practice. The Civil Investigative Demand Reform Act of 2025 would curb overbroad CIDs by requiring them to make specific reference to particular facts, empowering recipients to petition for relief from burdensome or unnecessary demands, and allowing petitioners to appeal directly to federal court upon the denial of a petition. Policymakers should consider additional reforms. For example, the Bureau could be required to prove that CID compliance costs are proportional to the seriousness of the violation. Reforms should ensure that petitions are decided not by the Bureau’s director but by neutral arbiters such as administrative law judges housed outside the agency. The Bureau’s CID overreach can destroy lawful enterprises without corresponding benefits to consumers. Procedural reforms to the CID process are an important step. But ultimately, protection of firms’ and individuals’ liberty will require legislators to take a skeptical view of inessential substantive rules more broadly.
Topic:
Government, Reform, and Consumer Protection
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

9. A Look Back and Ahead at the Federal Budget

Author:
Alan J. Auerbach and William G. Gale
Publication Date:
04-2026
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
After running deficits from 1970 to 1997, the US government ran a budget surplus in fiscal year 2000 for the third year in a row, reaching a post–World War II high of 2.3 percent of annual gross domestic product (GDP). The Congressional Budget Office projected that surpluses would increase over time, totaling $5.6 trillion over the next 10 years, and that all public debt would be paid off by 2006. This led to a problem for policymakers and academics: How would monetary policy be conducted, and where would investors find safe assets if no US public debt were available? Then–Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan cited the need to maintain public debt in his pivotal argument in favor of tax cuts. Shortly thereafter, Congress enacted major tax-cut legislation, signed by President George W. Bush.
Topic:
Government, Budget, GDP, and Tax Systems
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

10. Transnational Government: A Faster Path to Developing Underdeveloped Nations

Author:
Ahmad Reza Taheri
Publication Date:
01-2025
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Rest: Journal of Politics and Development
Institution:
Centre for Strategic Research and Analysis (CESRAN)
Abstract:
This article introduces the concept of transnational government as a potential solution for underdeveloped states to develop themselves and overcome issues such as systemic corruption, maladministration, and dysfunctionality. The introduction defines the central problem and discusses the main idea. Subsequently, theories of development and the problems of accommodating them into the underdeveloped states will be reviewed. The article then presents a non-political inspirational model as a foundation for the discussion. This is followed by an examination of the proposed model’s theoretical underpinnings and its implementation. Finally, the article addresses the significant challenges and obstacles associated with the proposed model.
Topic:
Corruption, Development, Government, and Transnational Government
Political Geography:
Global Focus