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This thesis analyses the emergence and evolution of the think-tanks in Turkey. It seeks primarily to answer to whether or not it is possible to mention &lsquo / a think-tank culture&rsquo / in Turkey. After the definition, characteristics and types of the think-tank term are debated, the historical background of think-tanks all over the world is analyzed. The thesis looks at similarities and differences among the think-tanks in and outside Turkey in terms of their size and areas of specialization. It also tries to find out who are pioneering to the establishment of think-tanks, whom the think-tanks are serving, which financial resources and functions they have in Turkey.

This thesis explains Defense Policy Making process and its effects on weapons procurement in Turkey. Main focus will be on the institutions which shape, to various degrees, Turkey&rsquo / s defense policy and weapons procurement decisions. Thesis analyzes institutions like the National Defense Ministry, Council of Ministers, General Staff, Parliament and the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries, and places them in a historical context. Following a historical background, functions and authorities of these institutions are analyzed from a perspective of Constitutional Law. Actual conduct of the legal process, relations of institutions with each other, and their behavior are also examined. In order to demonstrate the Defense Policy Making and weapons procurement processes, case studies that reflect different possibilities of outcomes are highlighted.

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Thesis (M.P.H.)--University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, School of Public Health, 2008. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 47-01, page: . Adviser: Luisa Franzini.

Is public health policy based on scholarly evidence? With the manifold variables that policy makers must consider, is evidence-based policy even realistic? While strategies exist to translate research into policy, a need to understand better how that can play out in real-life remains. Using interviews from informants occupying a range of positions, and considering the atmosphere created by media reports, this study examines the case of smoking privileges at East Coast Forensic Hospital. After a patient committed murder while on leave, apparently to smoke, public pressure over public safety, a relative lack of relevant scholarship, ethical considerations, and the divergent voices of stakeholders created challenging circumstances for policy makers. Through the use of case study methodology, this project identifies the kinds of information that are employed in the creation or modification of policy and offers insights concerning how the influences exerted on policy makers determine how information is employed.

Knowledge translation and exchange (KTE) is integral to the formation of evidence-informed policy. Prior to the work presented in this dissertation, a significant body of literature existed in the healthcare field regarding research-to-policy KTE; however, little was known about KTE between researchers and policymakers in the Canadian food safety system or the context-specific barriers that influence KTE. A mixed-methods approach was used, grounded in concepts from the healthcare literature, to explore Canadian food safety researchers’ KTE awareness and activities with policymakers, the barriers hindering KTE engagement and success, and timing and informational disparities between research and policy needs that may hinder KTE success. Canadian food safety researcher awareness of and engagement in KTE activities with policymakers was high. However engagement in activities identified as having the greatest potential for KTE success—i.e., collaboration with policymakers at all stages of the research process, provision of syntheses such as systematic reviews, and provision of a searchable database of research findings—was low relative to end-of-research dissemination of findings to policymakers. Several barriers were identified that limited KTE engagement and success from the researcher’s perspective, including an inability to identify relevant policymakers, high policymaker turnover, a lack of resources and support in the research organization, a perceived lack of KTE skills on the part of researchers, and an inability to break free from traditional publish-or-perish research roles. Apparent informational disconnects (i.e., research output not meeting policymakers’ apparent informational needs) were identified that may further hinder KTE and evidence-informed policymaking. While new methodologies, such as systematic review, have been adapted for food safety research, boosting researchers’ potential ability to produce policy-relevant evidence, a cultural shift must occur in research and policymaking organizations, if sustained KTE is to be successful. As well, significant future investment must be made on the part of research organizations and policymakers, if KTE barriers are to be mitigated. Future research should evaluate KTE tools (e.g., sustained linkages between researchers and policymakers, provision of syntheses, provision of access to a database of research findings) to identify specific methods that may facilitate research use in food safety policymaking. / Blake Graham Fellowship, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Public Health Agency of Canada

Bakalauro darbe, remiantis mokslinės literatūros analize ir empiriniu tyrimu, apibendrinamos Lietuvos Respublikos Vyriausybės bei politinių partijų kūno kultūros ir sporto programinės nuostatos, analizuojama ir vertinama vyriausybės sporto politika. / Physical culture and sport guidelines of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania and Lithuanian political parties are generalized in the article basing on the analysis of scientific literature. The Government’s sport policy is analyzed and assessed. The object of the research – the context of sport policy in the programmes of Lithuanian political parties. The objective of this article – to analyze the aspects of formation of sport policy of the Republic of Lithuania; to define the statements of main political forces in regard to sport; to assess the content of policy guidelines. The urgency of statements of physical culture and sport policy, as well as political parties’ general interest in sport policy is described in the article.

In the new democratic dispensation, the Gauteng Education and Training Council (GETC) is the first statutory council instituted in South Africa, allowing civil society to participate in education policy-making. Against this background, this study explored the policy process and the participation of stakeholders. A literature study investigated the theory on policy and the participation of civil society in the policy process. The inception of the GETC was fully documented and a qualitative study undertaken to determine the role of the GETC in education policy-making. Data gathering was done mainly through semi-structured interviews with GETC members. The data was analysed, discussed and synthesised. The major findings were that stakeholders valued the opportunity to participate and members had high expectations of the contribution they could render in the policy-making process. Although most members had a good grasp of the policy process, lack of administrative resources and participative skills founded in the exclusion of large segments of society from partaking in such consultative structures in the past, was evident in some organisations. The function of the Administrative Secretary is deemed important in facilitating the functions of the GETC and training for this incumbent was emphasised. The lines of communication between the GETC and the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) need to be clearly structured in order to expedite the movement of documents between them. The MEC needs to be more visible to GETC members. The GETC, MEC and the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) have to explore ways and means of establishing a sound relationship to serve the cause. Consensus between the GETC and the GDE should be reached regarding the role and place of the GETC in the GDE Policy Route. Areas for further investigation that would enhance the role of the GETC in the policy-making process have been identified. The study concluded that the GETC renders a valuable contribution empowering citizens to become involved in formal participative structures which will contribute towards broadening the basis of acceptance of responsibility for education, by society This will assist in attaining its declared vision to improve the level of education in South Africa.

The aim of this study was to establish whether there is a policy community for disability sport in England. Whilst structured competitive disability sport may traditionally have been organised and run by charitable bodies, segregated from mainstream non-disabled sport, contemporary policies stress a need for disability sport to be the responsibility of mainstream organisations. However, there is a dearth of literature that considers how disability sport policy has developed, which agencies have been powerful in the organisational network, and the significance of the values of key actors in the policy process and outcome. This study; a) establishes the key characteristics of disability sport policy in England, and b) establishes the interests, resources, power and relationships between organisations involved in disability sport and determines the ideologies of key actors involved in disability sport policy. Data is generated in three phases using an analysis of policy documents, a survey of 162 sports organisations and 21 interviews with key personnel. In Phase I semi-structured interviews with key personnel combined with documentary analysis were used to establish how disability sport emerged and developed. Informed by the data from Phase 1, in Phase 2a survey of governing bodies of sport and disability sport organisations was conducted to establish which national organisations are involved in the policy network, how disability sport policy is formed, the role organisations play and ideologies of key actors. In Phase 3, informed by the data from Phases I and 2 and using interviews and documentary analysis, two case studies were carried out to examine, 1) the formation and role of the English Federation of Disability Sport, and 2) the mainstreaming of disability sport. The analysis of data is informed by theories of disability, a history of disability policy and sports policy, and three prominent theories of policy analysis: Marsha and Rhodes' policy network model, Sabatier's advocacy coalition framework and Kingdon's policy streams approach. (Continues...).