Private and political interests routinely conspire to sideline and misrepresent science and evidence in the public policy process. The Center for Science and Democracy, a new initiative at the Union of Concerned Scientists, endeavors to change this dynamic to strengthen the role of science in decision making.

In this work we develop a SD model for a make-to-order (MTO) three-stage capacitated production/inventory system. We employ a production order release mechanism affiliated with the automated pipeline inventory and order based production control system (APIOBPCS) policies family. The production rates at each stage are defined under alternative policies. One of the policies considers the human be...

Governments may also use religious soft power in pursuit of national interests and objectives. This article focuses on the role of religious soft power in the foreign policy of three states – the United States of America, India and the Islamic Republic of Iran. The main concern is to assess religious actors’ contribution to the foreign policy environment and agenda in each country. The idea of ...

Although electronic commerce has been emerged as a global phenomenon, several countries lag behind in terms of Internet and electronic commerce use. Indeed, the vast majority of the world population does not have access to the Internet and lacks the technological skills and the knowledge to do so. The particularities of nontechnologically advanced countries make policy making for electronic com...

Integrated – economic, environmental, and social – assessment tools can provide a clear indication of both the positive and the negative impacts of trade liberalisation from which effective policies to reduce the negative impacts, and strengthen the positive ones can be developed. Assessments feeding into the policy development process can promote increased integration of environmental and soci...

For the majority of European adults, who neither smoke nor drink excessively, the most significant controllable risk factors affecting their long-term health are what they eat, and how physically active they are. Scientists are supposed to clarify to policy makers and health professionals the usefulness of their health messages. However, to be able to do that, a more detailed understanding is n...

The precautionary principle is a guide to public policy decision making (Raffensperger and Tickner 1999, Schettler et al. 2002). It responds to the realization that humans often cause serious and widespread harm to people, wildlife, and the general environment. According to the precautionary principle, precautionary action should be undertaken when there are credible threats of harm, despite re...

Cultural heritage is being addressed by a number of charters and conventions and it is clear that its consideration within decision-making processes is progressively becoming a real challenge, both for developers and public authorities. Against this background, this paper reviews the environmental assessment framework developed by the European Community, as this should increasingly influence de...

The manager, by evolving the policies that guide decision making, designs a corporate system. Such systems have a feedback loop structure that determines the growth and stability of the enterprise. The complexity of these systems usually precludes intuitive determination of how a policy change will affect the total system. A simulation model of the feedback structure and policies allows one to ...

To address these challenges in the NEP, we used an online web application called Stats Report. Built on the R statistical package, Stats Report allows complex data analysis to be undertaken more easily and collaboratively. We used Stats Report in data analysis workshops with government staff in Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, and Tanzania. Statistical experts from our team prepared analysis code, and...