Download or read book Discretion and the Quest for Controlled Freedom written by Tony Evans and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2019-08-21 with total page 438 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Looking at discretion broadly as the exercise of controlled freedom, this edited volume introduces insights from a range of social sciences perspectives. Traditionally, discussions of discretion have drawn on legal notions of the appropriate exercise of legitimate authority specified by legislators. However, empirical and theoretical studies in the social sciences have extended our understanding of discretion, moving us beyond a narrow legal view. Contributors from a range of disciplines explore the idea of discretion and related notions of freedom and control across social and political practices and in different contexts. As this complex and important topic is discussed and examined, both total control and unconstrained freedom appear to be illusions.

Download or read book Human Freedom in the Age of AI written by Filippo Santoni de Sio and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2024-03-29 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book claims that artificial intelligence (AI) may affect our freedom at work, in our daily life, and in the political sphere. The author provides a philosophical framework to help make sense of and govern the ethical and political impact of AI in these domains. AI presents great opportunities and risks, raising the question of how to reap its potential benefits without endangering basic human and societal values. The author identifies three major risks for human freedom. First, AI offers employers new forms of control of the workforce, opening the door to new forms of domination and exploitation. Second, it may reduce our capacity to remain in control of and responsible for our decisions and actions, thereby affecting our free will and moral responsibility. Third, it may increase the power of governments and tech companies to steer the political debate, thereby affecting the possibility of a free and inclusive political participation. The author claims that it is still possible to promote human freedom in our interactions with AI. This requires designing AI systems that help promote workers’ freedom, strengthen human control and responsibility, and foster a free, active, and inclusive democratic participation. Human Freedom in the Age of AI will be of interest to scholars and graduate students working on the ethics of technology, philosophy of technology, political philosophy, design, and artificial intelligence.

Download or read book The Politics of the Public Encounter written by Peter Hupe and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2022-11-25 with total page 397 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On the ground floor of government, citizens interact with teachers, medical staff, police officers and other professionals in public service. It is during these encounters that laws, public policies and professional guidelines gain further substance and form. In this insightful book, Peter Hupe brings together expert contributions from scholars across the globe to study the social mechanisms behind these public encounters.

Download or read book A Research Agenda for Social Welfare Law Policy and Practice written by Michael Adler and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2022-12-06 with total page 343 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This timely book utilises the specialised insights and experiences of those who have carried out research on different aspects of social welfare law and policy to construct an innovative post-Brexit and post-Covid 19 research agenda that identifies what needs to be studied and how this should be carried out.

Download or read book Management Control in Hospitals written by Roman A. Lewandowski and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2023-08-24 with total page 443 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For years, problems related to health-care efficiency have been at the top of the priorities of many hospitals systems and governments. The growing cost of health care, and particularly hospitals, is a significant factor in the increasing pressure for improvement of hospitals’ efficiency while maintaining a high quality of services. Hospitals are recognized as organizations in which waste, unnecessary administrative burdens, failures of care coordination, failures in execution of care processes, and even fraud and abuse are frequently identified as causes. Adoption of management control as a response to hospital problems is consistent with the conviction that control is a critical management function that has the greatest impact on organizational performance. Research proves that the lack of adequate control, adapted to modern organizational solutions, causes many harmful consequences, such as faulty services, dissatisfied patients and employees, inability to effectively compete on market, low flexibility and innovativeness, and, consequently, poor performance of the organization. This book comprehensively presents issues related to management control and develops a breakthrough theory about management control in hospitals. It is the result of many years of research and outlines the concept of control and related theories, which are discussed in detail, taking into account the unique characteristics of medical services, the health-care market, and hospitals as public organizations. Research has shown that the main elements of management control in hospitals are information systems, diagnostic control, interactive control, innovativeness, manager’s trust in physicians, and perceived uncertainty. And that proper relationships between these elements positively influence the hospital’s performance. This book describes how the success of the entire control process is based on the hospital’s top management and its interaction with clinical managers, department heads, and directors of other medical departments as well as clinicians. After reading this book, the implementation of the solutions suggested will help hospitals improve their performance, including the quality and effectiveness of the provided medical services and patient care.

Download or read book Automated Decision Making and Effective Remedies written by Simona Demková and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2023-08-14 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This timely book explores the legal and practical challenges created by the increasingly automated decision-making procedures underpinning EU multilevel cooperation, for example, in the fields of border control and law enforcement. It argues that such procedures impact not only the rights to privacy and data protection, but fundamentally challenge the EU constitutional promise of effective judicial protection

Download or read book Research Handbook on Street Level Bureaucracy written by Peter Hupe and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2019 with total page 552 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When the objectives of public policy programmes have been formulated and decided upon, implementation seems just a matter of following instructions. However, it is underway to the realization of those objectives that public policies get their final substance and form. Crucial is what happens in and around the encounter between public officials and individual citizens at the street level of government bureaucracy. This Research Handbook addresses the state of the art while providing a systematic exploration of the theoretical and methodological issues apparent in the study of street-level bureaucracy and how to deal with them.

Download or read book The Paramedic at Work written by Leo McCann and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2022-05-26 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ambulance services and paramedics perform critical roles in contemporary healthcare economies. Trained to work in the field and respond rapidly to emergencies, societies have come to increasingly rely on ambulance services to deliver urgent care. Never has this need been more acute than in recent years given intense social inequality, overstretched and underfunded health systems, and deadly pandemics. Leo McCann offers the first book-length study of the paramedic profession in England. Based on in-depth interviews and ethnographic observation, The Paramedic at Work provides a detailed account of the complex realities of work in this fascinating occupation. Chapters explore the nature of work 'out on the road', the peculiarities of ambulance organizational culture, the intensity of workplace stress and burnout, and the current and future trajectory of paramedic professionalism. The book documents the unique paradoxes experienced by those employed in this line of work. Ambulance staff are trained to handle life-threatening trauma and disease, but most callouts consist of unplanned primary care. Paramedic work features wide autonomy but is also bound into an array of micromanaging performance indicators. Paramedics are trusted and respected in society but the profession is poorly understood and employers can be unsupportive. However, no matter how intense the personal struggles can be, paramedic work also offers rare opportunities for meaningful and socially valued work. This book shows that the role and status of the paramedic is rapidly moving from a manual occupation rooted in first aid and transportation, to a clinical profession of increasing scope, versatility, and social respect.

Download or read book The SAGE Handbook of Digital Society written by William Housley and published by SAGE. This book was released on 2022-11-23 with total page 669 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This SAGE Handbook brings together cutting edge social scientific research and theoretical insight into the emerging contours of digital society. Chapters explore the relationship between digitisation, social organisation and social transformation at both the macro and micro level, making this a valuable resource for postgraduate students and academics conducting research across the social sciences. The topics covered are impressively far-ranging and timely, including machine learning, social media, surveillance, misinformation, digital labour, and beyond. This innovative Handbook perfectly captures the state of the art of a field which is rapidly gaining cross-disciplinary interest and global importance, and establishes a thematic framework for future teaching and research. Part 1: Theorising Digital Societies Part 2: Researching Digital Societies Part 3: Sociotechnical Systems and Disruptive Technologies in Action Part 4: Digital Society and New Social Dilemmas Part 5: Governance and Regulation Part 6: Digital Futures

Download or read book The Public Policy Process written by Michael Hill and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-03-31 with total page 501 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Public Policy Process is essential reading for anyone trying to understand the process by which public policy is made. Explaining clearly the importance of the relationship between theoretical and practical aspects of policymaking, the book gives a thorough overview of the people and organisations involved in the process. Fully revised and updated for an eighth edition, The Public Policy Process provides: Clear exploration, using many illustrations, of how policy is made and implemented; Examines challenges to effective policy making in critical areas – such as inequality and climate change – including the influence of powerful interests and the Covid-19 pandemic; New material on unequal democracies, interest groups influence, behavioural policy analysis, global policies and evidence-based decision making; Additional European and comparative international examples. This text is essential reading for students of public policy, public administration and management, as well as more broadly highly relevant to related courses in health and nursing, social welfare, environment, development and local government.

Download or read book Customized Implementation of European Union Food Safety Policy written by Eva Thomann and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-08-14 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “As a Journal Editor for over twenty-five years, I have read a lot about the European Union. I am often asked, 'what are the major gaps in EU research?' My answer is always 'implementation'. Eva Thomann's book makes a major contribution to EU implementation studies. She brings really fresh thinking to the field. This is an important book for all students of the EU and of policy implementation." —Jeremy Richardson, Co-Editor of the Journal of European Public Policy This book sheds light on the patterns, causes and consequences of the “customization” of European Union (EU) policies. Even if they comply, member states interpret and adapt EU rules in very diverse ways when putting them into practice. We can think of and measure this diversity as a phenomenon of regulatory change along the implementation chain. The book explores what explains customization, and what it means for providing policy solutions to shared problems. It studies the implementation of EU food safety policies in Austria, Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Switzerland using innovative qualitative comparative techniques. After looking at the role of prominent compliance arguments and the “logics of action” for customization, the study assesses how differing degrees of customization affect the success of the implementation. The book provides a new, evidence-based perspective on “gold-plating” and better regulation in Europe for scholars, students and practitioners of policy implementation, European integration and Europeanization alike.

Download or read book Implementing Public Policy written by Michael Hill and published by SAGE. This book was released on 2021-12-08 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The only book to focus on implementing public policy, this state-of-the-art text offers a comprehensive and lively account of the major insights found in implementation theory and research. Its exploration of the field provides a reflective overview of work in the study of policy implementation worldwide. In doing so, the book reconceptualizes the policy process to highlight the essential role those implementing policy have in moulding, shaping and directing policy during their work. Realizing policy goals may be the key to ballot box victory, while policies perceived as failures may symbolise declining trust and confidence in government and politics. As such, implementing policy is as crucial to the actors in power as it is for democracy. Policymakers respond to challenging problems in highly dynamic and pressurised contexts. From the global pandemic to climate change, financial regulation to education, effective policy has never been more important to governments and society – and the role of street-level bureaucrats in implementing policy never so crucial. This is the seminal work in the field, used by thousands worldwide. Now fully revised and updated, the 20th anniversary edition includes substantial changes and additions. This edition features two entirely new chapters on the consequences of populism and the latest street-level bureaucracy research, as well as extensive examination of comparative cross-national work and a refined and more explicit conceptualization of implementation in terms of its role in governance throughout. The book concludes with an all-new chapter exploring emergent issues on implementation in practice and on the research agenda. The text is essential reading for anyone interested in public policy, social policy, public administration, public management and governance.

Download or read book Electronic Government written by Marijn Janssen and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-08-30 with total page 591 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chapters 6, 24, 26 and 36 are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

Download or read book Social Work and Social Innovation written by Jean Pierre Wilken and published by Policy Press. This book was released on 2024-06-28 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Written by leading experts from across Europe, this book provides a grounded exploration of innovation in the practice, research and education of social work. It focuses on the role of participation, collaboration and co-creation as key drivers of social innovation within these fields, providing practical examples of social entrepreneurship, people-centred design and participatory led innovation. The positive outcomes of local social innovations are analysed in the wider European framework, with reflections and recommendations for advancing innovation in policy, service provision, education and research.

Download or read book The Algorithmic Society written by Marc Schuilenburg and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-12-29 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We live in an algorithmic society. Algorithms have become the main mediator through which power is enacted in our society. This book brings together three academic fields – Public Administration, Criminal Justice and Urban Governance – into a single conceptual framework, and offers a broad cultural-political analysis, addressing critical and ethical issues of algorithms. Governments are increasingly turning towards algorithms to predict criminality, deliver public services, allocate resources, and calculate recidivism rates. Mind-boggling amounts of data regarding our daily actions are analysed to make decisions that manage, control, and nudge our behaviour in everyday life. The contributions in this book offer a broad analysis of the mechanisms and social implications of algorithmic governance. Reporting from the cutting edge of scientific research, the result is illuminating and useful for understanding the relations between algorithms and power.Topics covered include: Algorithmic governmentality Transparency and accountability Fairness in criminal justice and predictive policing Principles of good digital administration Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the smart city This book is essential reading for students and scholars of Sociology, Criminology, Public Administration, Political Sciences, and Cultural Theory interested in the integration of algorithms into the governance of society.

Download or read book Questions of Accountability written by Matthew Flinders and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2023-09-21 with total page 343 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores accountability from a range of perspectives, crossing traditional disciplinary, thematic, and professional boundaries. It asks fresh questions about accountability and its place and importance in democratic societies. Accountability matters. It matters because it connects the governors with the governed, and for this reason it is a hallmark of democratic governance. And yet, amidst a backdrop of concerns about democratic back-sliding, the rise of populism, the role of algorithmic governance, moral barbarism, and post-truth politics - to mention just a few issues - a number of potentially far-reaching questions of accountability have been asked. It is for exactly this reason that this book explores the concept of accountability from a range of perspectives, crossing traditional disciplinary, thematic, and professional boundaries. It asks fresh questions about accountability and its place and importance in democratic societies. The book considers the questions raised by the shifting architecture of accountability. Whilst some scholars suggest that accountability processes have never been so effective -trumpeting the rise of monitory democracy with its dense array of watchdogs, sleaze-busters, auditors, legislative committees, statutory supports, and investigative mechanisms - others express concern about the risk of 'overloads', 'gaps', and 'traps'. This has led to a focus on fuzzy accountability and diagonal accountability, pointing to increasing conceptual confusion. Bringing together world-leading scholars and former politicians and public servants, the book cuts through this confusion and provides the reader with the answers to the most debated issues, including rarely discussed 'pathologies of accountability', post-human governance, and a novel focus on balance and proportionality.

Download or read book Handbook of Social Sciences and Global Public Health written by Pranee Liamputtong and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-09-09 with total page 2224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This handbook highlights the relevance of the social sciences in global public health and their significantly crucial role in the explanation of health and illness in different population groups, the improvement of health, and the prevention of illnesses around the world. Knowledge generated via social science theories and research methodologies allows healthcare providers, policy-makers, and politicians to understand and appreciate the lived experience of their people, and to provide sensitive health and social care to them at a time of most need. Social sciences, such as medical sociology, medical anthropology, social psychology, and public health are the disciplines that examine the sociocultural causes and consequences of health and illness. It is evident that biomedicine cannot be the only answer to improving the health of people. What makes social sciences important in global public health is the critical role social, cultural, economic, and political factors play in determining or influencing the health of individuals, communities, and the larger society and nation. This handbook is comprehensive in its nature and contents, which range from a more disciplinary-based approach and theoretical and methodological frameworks to different aspects of global public health. It covers: Discussions of the social science disciplines and their essence, concepts, and theories relating to global public health Theoretical frameworks in social sciences that can be used to explain health and illness in populations Methodological inquiries that social science researchers can use to examine global public health issues and understand social issues relating to health in different population groups and regions Examples of social science research in global public health areas and concerns as well as population groups The Handbook of Social Sciences and Global Public Health is a useful reference for students, researchers, lecturers, practitioners, and policymakers in global health, public health, and social science disciplines; and libraries in universities and health and social care institutions. It offers readers a good understanding of the issues that can impact the health and well-being of people in society, which may lead to culturally sensitive health and social care for people that ultimately will lead to a more equitable society worldwide.