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This study explores how democracy—often understood as an abstract concept or a location- transcending, intangible phenomenon—is produced, shaped and continuously reshaped through local library practices in certain places and under local conditions at a specific point in time. To better understand potential conflicts and/or tensions that might arise between the three levels of Swedish library policy at a time when values enshrined in the Swedish democratic model are being challenged by political right-wing populism, we explored the potential influence on and enactment of policy documents in public libraries day-to-day practice. We did so by conducting an ethnographic study of five municipalities in Sweden's Skåne County. Our study was theoretically informed by practice theory and the view of democracy as an ongoing process and a plurality. Our findings showed that policy documents are often internalized by library staff. The influence of the democratic mission established in the Swedish Library Act , in particular, was evident in the way library staff carried out their work. One tension created by the "democratic paradox" (i.e., the requirement that a democracy allow opponents of the democratic form of rule a voice) was evident in library policy enactments, inasmuch as librarians adopted different stances towards the neutrality norm. Thus, in practice, what appear to be rigid, inflexible policy documents are in fact plastic and mouldable. This plasticity allows room for librarians to legitimately promote democracy. Although public librarians spend much time engaging with various policy documents, they consider it time well spent and value the result. Public libraries appear as locations where different levels of cultural policy interconnect. In their role as public institutions, they also have a mission to fulfil in honoring the democratic paradox via a praxis that includes support for democracy as one of their goals.

Este artículo analiza el desarrollo de prácticas de cuasimercado en el contexto andaluz. Se trata de una tecnología política al servicio de las lógicas de privatización consecuentes de los procesos globales de neoliberalización. Para investigar su re-contextualización en Andalucía se sigue una metodología cualitativa, desarrollando planteamientos propios de la inducción y propuestas de la Teoría Fundamentada. Se ha utilizado la entrevista semiestructurada en profundidad como técnica de recogida de información. Se han realizado doce entrevistas en un total de seis colegios públicos de Granada. Seis a directores/as escolares y seis a representantes de asociaciones de madres y padres (AMPA). Para el análisis de la información se ha utilizado el software cualitativo QSR NVivo 11. Los resultados evidencian diversos mecanismos que favorecen procesos de competencia entre los centros y elección para la escolarización de alumnado entre las familias. Directores y directoras se esfuerzan para atraer alumnado y asegurar la supervivencia de los colegios. Para ello, pasan a ser gestores, preocupados por alcanzar distintos servicios dependientes de la administración educativa y que se adjudican en base a criterios competitivos. Éstos a su vez son reclamados por las familias, consideradas agentes activos y racionales, que deben elegir la mejor oferta educativa. Se concluye que los mecanismos de mercado responden a un plan para configurar la red escolar pública como subsidiaria de la red privada. Además, se evidencia que la mayoría de familiares no tienen capacidad para elegir determinados centros, por lo que principios como la igualdad, equidad y justicia social quedan en entredicho. ; This article analyses the development of quasi-market practices in the Andalusian context. It is a political technology at the service of the logic of privatisation resulting from the global processes of neoliberalization. To investigate their re-contextualization in Andalusia, a qualitative methodology is followed, developing own approaches to induction and proposals of the grounded theory. The semi-structured, in-depth interview was used as a technique for collecting information. Twelve interviews were conducted in a total of six public schools in Granada, with six school principals and six representatives of parent associations (AMPA). For the analysis of the information, the QSR NVivo 11 qualitative software was used. The results show several mechanisms favouring processes of competition among schools and choices for students' schooling among families. School principals strive to attract students and ensure the survival of schools. To do this, they become managers concerned with achieving different services dependent on educational administration and are awarded on the basis of competitive criteria. These, in turn, are claimed by families, considered active and rational agents who must choose the best educational offer. It is concluded that the market mechanisms respond to a plan to configure the public school network as a subsidiary of the private network. In addition, it is evident that the majority of family members do not have the capacity to choose certain centres, so principles such as equality, equity, and social justice are in question.

This paper investigates datafication in schools through an analysis of the enactments of quality assurance and evaluation (QAE) policies in Brazil. In doing so, I question how data permeates and changes school environments, school actors' conduct and their imaginaries. QAE policies encompass largescale assessments, indicators, rankings and other steering mechanisms, but importantly connect data to quality in education. Here, I analyse the discourses of school actors (principals, coordinators, supervisors, teachers, students and parents) from three Brazilian public schools collected through semi-structured interviews (n = 28). Data manifests in those schools as a technology of government. Schools enact QAE policies in distinct ways, incorporating the idea of governmentality, but also proposing alternative patterns of action. ; Peer reviewed

Despite the growing number of researches about performance-based accountability (PBA) in education, there is still scarce evidence on the mediating role of subjective variables (e.g., perceived pressure and alignment to PBA mandates) in the enactment of PBA in socially disadvantaged contexts. This is paradoxical because marginalized schools are usually those that are on probation and have to cope with the threat of sanctions more frequently. Existing investigations on PBA enactment have put increasing attention to the role of situated and material contexts, but there is still limited knowledge on how subjective variables can mediate policy enactment processes and enable the adoption of different school responses. To address these gaps, the article aims to explore how the perceived accountability pressure, the school performative culture, and meaning-making processes at the school level are mediating the enactment of PBA policies in disadvantaged schools. At the theoretical level, the study is informed by sense-making and policy enactment frameworks. Methodologically speaking, the investigation uses a comparative case study approach based on two extreme cases, which have been selected on the basis of a factorial analysis that combines both survey and secondary data. The extreme cases represent two different scenarios, which, despite operating in similar situated contexts, are characterized by having opposite levels of perceived pressure and alignment with the performative culture. The case studies combine survey data (n = 39) with documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews with the management team and teachers (n = 7). The findings show that subjective variables, in interaction with other contextual factors, can exacerbate or inhibit PBA regulatory pressures and trigger diverging school responses.

Synthesised criteria enable more analytically precise categories. Identifies ideal types based on the integration of the 2 models. Outlines Weber's categories and applies the Weberian model to the categories of distributive, redistributive, regulatory, and constituent policy. A particular orientation towards social action in the formulation stage evolves towards a particular policy arena in the enactment of legislation stage, the stage of implementation. (SJK)

Th is case study reviews the enactment and implementation of the National Security Personnel System (NSPS) in the U.S. Department of Defense. Proponents of reform seized the opportunity to enact reform in the aftermath of 9/11, basing their arguments on national security concerns. However, the policymaking process did not produce a consensus for reform among key stakeholders in the personnel management policy community. Instead, the NSPS angered and alienated the Offi ce of Personnel Management, the public employee unions, and a number of congressional Democrats. Implementation of the NSPS became problematic as Defense Department offi cials attempted to move quickly and independently to get the new system online, eventually forcing the department to put the system on hold. In the end, Congress imposed limits on its implementation, advocates for the system disappeared, and a new president supported the repeal of NSPS. Th is case provides useful insights into the formulation of future strategies for personnel management reform.

Theodore Lowi's functional policy taxonomy (see SA 14:2-3/66B9288) is described & expanded by adding Max Weber's motivational social action construct in order to enable more analytically precise categories & resolve current disagreement over a policy's position in Lowi's framework. Weber's social action categories are outlined (traditional, affective, value rational, instrumentally rational), stressing the public policy action context, & the Weberian model is applied to the categories distributive, redistributive, regulatory, & constituent policy. A particular orientation toward social action in the formulation stage is argued to evolve toward a particular policy arena in the enactment stage, in turn leading to a particular implementation (design theme). 4 Tables, 27 References. Adapted from the source document.

The article deals with strategic documents created at the regional level in the context of their relevance to the implementation of the national health policy and their relevance to the solution of the inequalities among regions in access to primary care. The aim of this contribution is to map and evaluate the activity of regions in terms of their conceptual activities related to the establishment of regional policy objectives for the 2010-2015 period. The implementation of the national health policy (i.e. the "Health 21" and "Health 2020" programs) is examined in the context of the regional conceptual activities. The obtained results show that the conceptual activities of regions in the area related to health care differ significantly. While some regional development programs devote only a few pages to healthcare issues, other regions create comprehensive concepts of health care. With the measurement of inequalities, we indicate the regions that are underserved with healthcare services, of which only the Ústí nad Labem region shows the plan to dealt with this disadvantage in its strategic health plan.

AbstractU.S. states have led the federal government in instituting policies aimed at promoting renewable energy. Nearly all research on renewable portfolio standards (RPSs) has treated RPS adoption as a binary choice. Given the substantial variation in the renewable energy goals established by RPSs, we propose a new measure of RPS ambition that accounts for the amount of additional renewable energy production needed to reach the RPS goal and the number of years allotted to reach the standard. By measuring RPS policy with more precision, our analysis demonstrates that many factors found to affect whether a state will adopt an RPS do not exert a similar effect on the policy's ambitiousness. Most notably, our analysis demonstrates that Democratic control of the state legislature is the most consequential factor in determining the ambitiousness of state RPS policies.

This case study reviews the enactment and implementation of the National Security Personnel System (NSPS) in the U.S. Department of Defense. Proponents of reform seized the opportunity to enact reform in the aftermath of 9/11, basing their arguments on national security concerns. However, the policy‐making process did not produce a consensus for reform among key stakeholders in the personnel management policy community. Instead, the NSPS angered and alienated the Office of Personnel Management, the public employee unions, and a number of congressional Democrats. Implementation of the NSPS became problematic as Defense Department officials attempted to move quickly and independently to get the new system online, eventually forcing the department to put the system on hold. In the end, Congress imposed limits on its implementation, advocates for the system disappeared, and a new president supported the repeal of NSPS. This case provides useful insights into the formulation of future strategies for personnel management reform.

The data set associated with this paper can be found at the following location: 10.17633/rd.brunel.c.4720436 Grammar tests, de facto policy and pedagogical coercion in England's primary schools. ; © The Author(s) 2020. Since their introduction by the Conservative government in 2013, primary school children in England have taken a mandated grammar, punctuation and spelling assessment, which places an emphasis on decontextualised, standardised English and the identification of traditional grammatical terminology. Despite some concise criticisms from educational linguists, there remains no detailed and critical investigation into the nature of the tests, their effects on test takers, and the policy initiatives which led up to their implementation. This article contributes to this gap in knowledge, using critical language testing as a methodological framework, and drawing on a bricolage of data sources such as political speeches, policy documents, test questions and interviews with teachers. I discuss how the tests work as de facto language policy, implemented as one arm of the government's 'core-knowledge' educational agenda, underpinned by a reductive conceptualisation of language and a problematic discourse of 'right/wrong' ways of speaking. I reveal how teachers talk about the 'power' of the tests, intimidating and coercing them into pedagogies they do not necessarily believe in or value, which ultimately position them as vehicles for the government's conservative and prescriptive language ideologies.

This article examines presidential proclamations on trade policy, a category of presidential unilateral power that we call delegated unilateral power that is used frequently in creating or modifying trade policy, between the period 1974 and 2006 and tests the boundaries of the explanations predicted by the unilateral powers literature. We also find that the use of proclamations on trade policy is independent of the partisan balance in Congress. The use of proclamations modifying policies was the only tactic that comported with predicted actions from the unilateral presidency. Therefore, contrary to the expectations of the unilateral presidency, presidents are not unrestrained political agents on trade policy, and although presidents have the capacity to do so, they rarely use political factors as a pretext to enact unilateral policy on trade. Ultimately, unilateral powers are not all created equal, as some allow for considerable presidential authority and some are more limited.