Our project intends to improve our understanding of how measures against right-wing extremism can best be evaluated in terms of their effectiveness. As part of this effort, we will also gather empirical evidence about the conditions for success in measures already undertaken to combat right-wing extremism. The results of this research project will provide the underpinnings for guidelines to be followed in crafting evaluations of measures undertaken against right-wing extremism, as well as recommendations of how measures against right-wing extremism can themselves be successfully crafted. To reach these goals, the research project consist of the following elements: The first step will be to collect and synthesize information from existing evaluations of programs against right-wing extremism or similar measures in Switzerland and abroad. A metaevaluation will be conducted as part of this synthesis to provide knowledge about how the effectiveness of measures against right-wing extremism can be assessed. The second step will be to create an inventory of successful projects by surveying organizations active in employing measures against right-wing extremism. Third, using the Delphi technique, experts will assess the success of the measures contained in the inventory. The objective here will be to select two best practice examples from each of three areas (police and penal law, youth work, school) as well as two examples from other fields. The success conditions for each of these eight best practices will be worked out in detailed evaluative case studies in a fourth step. These eight evaluative studies will be compared systematically in a fifth step, primarily to provide evidence about the generalizability of the criteria for success. On the basis of the results from the preceding steps, the sixth and final step will be to provide recommendations for the future design of (1) measures against right-wing extremism in Switzerland as well as (2) evaluation of the effectiveness of these measures.
The Actor-Process-Event Scheme (APES) is a data transformation procedure that allows for a 1) systematic allocation of information on political processes gained from qualitative case studies, 2) visualization of the political processes under investigation, and 3) preparation of the data for standardized data analysis such as social network analysis. APES is easy to apply to any kinds of (political) processes. Own research currently focuses on the comparison of both policy formulation and decision-making processes in different policy areas and on the assessment of the democratic quality of selected policy processes. In its current version, APES is a web-based software application (http://pwi-apes.uzh.ch/) and free for non-commercial use.
Since January 1st, 2004, a new medical tariff system is implemented in Switzerland. The tariff system TARMED bases on an individual specification of all services provided by physicians and ambulatory in hospitals. It covers all services as defined by the mandatory basic plan of Swiss health insurance. The tariff system is implemented all over Switzerland and has to allow for comparing services provided in different regions and at different times. In Switzerland, so far, a similarly detailed comparison has not been possible. The tariff system also might have redistributed some income between groups of physicians and puts further decisions on costs of individual services on a more scientific base. TARMED has not been designed in order to decrease the raising health care costs in Switzerland in the first place. Nevertheless, it is a defined goal of the Swiss government that the tariff system at least should not increase health care costs. This study prepares the scientific bases for evaluating impacts of TARMED. In a first step, the study develops on a theoretical level the causal linkages underpinning the introduction of TARMED. In developing this causal model, we take diverging views of different stakeholders into account. Then, we study what existing sources of data can be used to measure the various variables of the causal model. Where data is missing, a design for new data collection has to be suggested. The main aim of the study is to develop and discuss a feasible research design for the evaluation of TARMED. In addition, the study provides a first evaluation of the short-term effects of the introduction of TARMED on health care costs.
This project deals with studies that have the goal to assess the fulfillment of performance contracts for Osec Business Network Switzerland. It consists of a meta-evaluative quality assessment of the studies under investigation as well as a synthesis of the information in the studies.
HIV/Aids policy in Western Europe entered the phase of normalization since the mid 1990s. There is a stabilisation of the infection rate and the incidence of new Aids cases decreased. In parallel, the advent of highly active antiretroviral therapy has altered the course of hiv infections. In the context of normalization, Aids is no longer seen as a major threat. This may not only affect individual risk behaviour, but may also threaten the continuation of policy measures for the prevention of HIV/Aids. However, in the absence of a vaccination against HIV, effective prevention of new infections still remains crucial to counter the epidemic.The objective of this research is to describe and to explain current trends in HIV/Aids prevention policy, as well as to identify the challenges for the consolidation of past achievements in the field of HIV/Aids prevention.More precisely, we will focus on the developments of HIV/Aids prevention policy in Switzerland since the mid 1990s in the following six fields: (a) large scale information campaigning, (b)counselling done in HIV test centres and by NGOs, (c) targeted prevention for sex workers and clients, (d) targeted prevention for men having sex with men, (e) community based prevention for migrants, and (f) clinical treatment for persons living with HIV.
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The designing of Swiss-South African relations during the Apartheid era must be seen within the context of various political, economic and societal changes: Both the international political system, including the role played by the Republic of South Africa, and the political and societal situations in South Africa and Switzerland underwent alterations over time. Such changes resulted in various consequences for the inner dimension of Swiss foreign policy, in particular regarding South Africa. These changes are taken into consideration by the present political science research project, which investigates how Swiss authorities’ official positions on the Apartheid regime came about, and compares them across time. The study is limited to the inner dimension in that it concentrates on Swiss governmental and non-governmental actors. The international dimension is taken into account as a potential influencing factor. The research project intends to address the following questions: 1) What was the Swiss federal government’s policy regarding South Africa from 1977 to 1994? What phases can be identified within this time span? 2) What characterizes the policy formulation processes during these individual phases? 3) Which similarities and differences can be found between different phases and what explains them? 4) Which similarities and differences can be detected when comparing Switzerland’s South Africa policy with its policies concerning two selected cases? What accounts for them? The study covers a time span beginning with the 1977 World Conference of the United Nations for Action against Apartheid and ending with the overcoming of Apartheid and the first free democratic elections in South Africa in 1994.
In the past, Aids policy in Switzerland has been characterised by a close collaboration between public and private organisations, both at the federal and local level. This project investigates the impacts of the implementation of the Federal Aids-Programme (1999-2003) by the Federal Office of Public Health on the major players in the field of Aids policy. Its aim is, ultimately, to establish which type of normalisation-scenario the Federal Programme is likely to promote in the Aids field. The theoretical concept of this project is built around the Advocacy Coalition Framework, where supplementary hypotheses were introduced in order to provide for a perspective of policy evaluation. This research project is part of the Global Evaluation of the Aids Prevention Strategy in Switzerland, coordinated by the Institut universitaire de médecine sociale et préventive of the University of Lausanne.
For decades Switzerland has discussed far-reaching and fundamental reforms of its basic political institutions, while all the substantive proposals have failed, i.e. fiscal equalization, and constitutional and major governmental reform. There have been, in the 1990s, partial reforms, particularly in the cantons. This "reform movement" - under the heading of New Public Management (NPM) - was mainly led by political and administrative practitioners. After ten years of pragmatic reform, it is time to assess the causes and consequences of these reforms. The project conceives of the ongoing reforms as part of a process of transition from the interventionist, welfare state to the negotiating, enabling state, a pattern of development which has been diagnosed by systems theory, as well as by policy sciences. From this perspective, the project aims at comparing the reform endeavours of the Swiss cantons by asking four questions: · What combination of parliamentary, governmental and administrative reforms are pursued by the Swiss cantons? · What factors best explain the concrete shape of these reform projects? · What consequences do the reforms have for the democratic process? · How do the reform projects compare to reforms in other federalist countries? To answer these questions, the project will establish an inventory of all the reforms in the cantonal parliaments, governments and administrations; analyse the causes and preconditions of the cantonal reforms; study in detail the preparation, the implementation and the democratic consequences in four case studies of cantonal reform; and finally, compare the findings with reforms in other federalist systems (Germany, Austria, Australia). The project will make a major contribution to the knowledge base of the Swiss political system, in particular, with respect to its potentials for institutional change, which is one of the important preconditions for a successful adaptation to emerging global challenges.
This pre-study, commissioned by the Swiss Federal Chancellery, deals with the current practice of evaluation in, of and for the federal administration. The research asked how, for what goals and how successful federal policies are evaluated. The aim was a) to give advice for future evaluations, and b) to assess whether a detailed study of federal evaluation activities should be envisaged. The study consists of four parts: (1) an evaluation studies survey of two federal offices (2) a meta-evaluation evaluating three evaluation studies (3) an inquiry about the evaluation practice of eight federal offices (4) and of the federal control agencies. The main findings, based on these empirical investigations are: Evaluation in the federal administration is characterized by diversity. Both, definitions of evaluation (function, quality etc) and practice of evaluation (size, procedures, resources etc.) vary greatly. Decisions to evaluate are mostly taken without systematic foundations. Planning the evaluation activities is scarce. Evaluation unities in the federal administration are relatively often re-organized, indicating that this relatively new task has not yet found its ‘ideal’ form. Compared to past investigations on the topic evaluation has made progress towards professionalisation. Yet, certain qualities still lack. Evaluation results are only partially integrated into relevant decisional procedures. Questions regarding evaluation are often perceived as issues of power-relations, therefore hindering adequate organization of procedures.