Border securocracy: Global expansion of the U.S. Department of homeland security bureaucratic apparatus before, during and beyond covid-19

The U.S. border security apparatus is moving around the globe as climate change, the coronavirus pandemic and corporatization create political and economic chaos. Global north governments seek to keep out migrants and refugees from the global south while corporations in the global north want protection to maintain their wealth. U.S. government bureaucratic agencies such as Custom and Border Protection's Border Patrol Tactical Unit are sent abroad to expand U.S. influence in an empire of borders to train receptive government security and border forces and to regulate, detain and prevent migrants and refugees well beyond the U.S. border. Governments are waging war against the people, creating a "securocracy" comprised of profit seeking military arms corporations and allied government agents to quell resistance and border crossers. Examined are the effects and impacts of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on global border securocracy beginning with an analysis of the Mexico-U.S. border, moving to international borders in Latin America and beyond. The theoretical concept of border securocracy is expanded from the securocracy literature in the context of the north versus south globalization conflict. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Administrative Theory & Praxis (Taylor & Francis Ltd) is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

An opinion paper on requirement for a practitioner's handbook designed for business continuity and resilience in government: a South African context

PurposeThis paper aims to find a suitable structure for a practitioner's handbook that addresses the structural elements of the business continuity (BC) practice.Design/methodology/approachThe case study using the mixed method, quantitative with a questionnaire and conceptual research approach was what has been chosen. The four steps to the research process are outlined: one, choosing the topic, two, collecting relevant literature, three, identifying specific variables and four, generating a structure. The design brought on by years of experience, should be put into an organised system and handbook that can be reused, without having to reinvent the wheel.FindingsA BC handbook should be as relevant to the executives and management as to their employees. By adopting a BC practice in a government department, state-owned entity, agency or municipality. Assurance will be ascertained for reliable, improved service delivery and reputation with much less interruption. Therefore a handbook with a "cradle to the grave” BC approach should outline, with examples of standards, awareness, policy, BC programme plan, BC structures, business impact and risk analysis, strategy, budgets, scorecards, monitoring and evaluation, recovery and BC plans, together with the audit and an International Standards Organization (ISO) 22301 certification process.Research limitations/implicationsThe research was limited to literature, questionnaires and identified variables pertaining to BC management (BCM) in the South African Government.Practical implicationsThe implications of the case study is that out of the variables identified and the relevant literature and standards, a structure for a relevant post-COVID-19 government practitioner's handbook could be made available.Social implicationsThe use of a BCM handbook for government would assist in the continuation of services through manmade and natural disasters. The service to the citizen, including but not limited to water, electricity, sanitation, medical and health services, and the food supply chain are just a few areas that can be positively impacted upon by good BCM. By implication the reliance of government structure are treated most in time of disasters as experienced through the two year period of the COVID-19 pandemic.Originality/valueThe government departments in South Africa do not have or have not implemented BCM due to the lack of clear guidelines. The COVID-19 pandemic however had accelerated the requirement for a top down BCM approach. To ensure that the scope of BCM is not limited, the possibility of having a set handbook for the government practitioner will ensure that service quality remains intact. Such a handbook related to government BCM practice is long outstanding.

"Nobody wants to be a dead hero”: Coping with precarity at the frontlines of the Brazilian and Mexican pandemic response

This study analyzes how adverse working conditions shape frontline workers' behavioral and cognitive coping mechanisms. It builds on the idea of frontline work as a precarious profession and explores how workers deal with associated challenges. Specifically, evidence is provided for factors associated with alienative commitment among frontline workers. We do so against the background of the 2020–2021 Mexican and Brazilian pandemic response by health workers, social workers, and police officers. Findings from our qualitative analysis show that they feel abandoned, vulnerable, and left to deal with the risks of the pandemic by themselves. In response, they tend to cognitively disconnect from their work and prioritize their own job survival. We contribute to the literature by showing how institutional factors over which street-level bureaucrats have little control, such as resource scarcity, lack of job security and managerial support, and low trust by citizen-clients, are fertile conditions for these coping patterns. © 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Physical to virtual: challenges and opportunities for a neighbourhood-based employment support initiative

PurposeThis paper aims to explore challenges and opportunities of shifting from physical to virtual employment support delivery prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic. It investigates associated changes in the nature and balance of support and implications for beneficiary engagement with programmes and job search.Design/methodology/approachThe study draws on longitudinal interviews conducted with beneficiaries and delivery providers from a neighbourhood-based employment support initiative in an English region with a strong manufacturing heritage between 2019 and 2021. The initiative established prior to the Covid-19 pandemic involved a strong physical presence locally but switched to virtual delivery during Covid-19 lockdowns.FindingsMoving long-term to an entirely virtual model would likely benefit some beneficiaries closer to or already in employment. Conversely, others, particularly lone parents, those further from employment, some older people and those without computer/Internet access and/or digital skills are likely to struggle to navigate virtual systems. The study emphasises the importance of blending the benefits of virtual delivery with aspects of place-based physical support.Originality/valuePrevious studies of neighbourhood-based employment policies indicate the benefits of localised face-to-face support for transforming communities. These were conducted prior to the Covid-19 pandemic and the more widespread growth of virtual employment support. This study fills a gap regarding understanding the challenges and opportunities for different groups of beneficiaries when opportunities for physical encounters decline abruptly and support moves virtually.

The role of the mid-level bureaucracy in the COVID-19 pandemic

This article explores the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the performance of mid-level bureaucracy. This qualitative and exploratory investigation adopted the research strategy of a case study of the bureaucracy responsible for the social assistance policy of the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, in 2020. The research was conducted through bibliographic and documentary research and semi-structured interviews and questionnaires. The bureaucracy's perception of the changes in the intra-organizational dimensions of public administration caused by the pandemic was captured. It was possible to notice that the crisis affected the work system, the decision-making processes, the interactions with other actors, and the skills required for the performance of the functions of these government actors. The research showed that how the mid-level bureaucracy acted helps to understand the functioning of the service and the resilience of public policy in the context of crisis.

School and district structure adaptations to the COVID-19 super-stressor

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual framework that explains structural responses to external organizational shocks. The authors illustrate framework dynamics with one district's secondary schools' responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: The conceptual framework imagines structure as emergent, dynamic and responsive to external pressures, as the authors posited in an earlier publication. From an open systems perspective, the authors focus on restructuring for more effective sensemaking and bridging and buffering. Findings: The framework in this paper shows promise for its descriptive power. Interview participants' recollections of their responses to COVID-19 revealed an emergent structure and displayed evidence of crisis management, sensemaking and bridging and buffering. Research limitations/implications: The intent of this article, consistent with the special issue, is to propose a set of concepts that, together, shed new light on how researchers and leaders might think about structural adaptations to external influences. The conceptual framework shows promise, but has yet to be put to the test with systematic empirical research. Practical implications: The conceptual framework the authors develop here may serve to guide empirical research that expands knowledge of how school and district structures adapt to external influences. Viewing structure as supportive of adaptation to changing circumstances also informs preparation for and practice of education leadership. Originality/value: Capturing school and district leaders' recollections shortly after their schools' return to in-person learning is rare in the literature, and examining their reactions from an open systems perspective sheds new light on leadership under stress. © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Note from the Editors

Mellquist ([19]) warns that this "may risk alienating both policy professionals and members of CSOs from "the cause", with the policy produced becoming detached from the members whom CSOs are supposed to represent." Our next article likewise uses the ACF - supplemented by argumentative discourse analysis (ADA) - in a qualitative analysis of the "energy efficiency first" (EE1) principle as a new legal institute in European Union energy and climate policy. Welcome to the April 2023 issue of I Politics & Policy i ( I P&P i )! " Policy Analysts in the Bureaucracy Revisited: The Nature of Professional Policy Work in Contemporary Government.". [Extracted from the article] Copyright of Politics & Policy is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

WEIGHTS AND PRESSURES Precarity and Democracy's Legislative Subjects

This short essay introduces the Our Dance Democracy (ODD) project (2018–present) and the contributions to this Forum Kritika, "Dancing Democracy in a Fractured World.” The latter includes articles, provocations, and creative responses in visual and poetic forms. Dance is an art form positioned between artists and audiences, on one hand, and institutional structures— including funding regimes and performance venues—on the other. As state and civil society infrastructure experiences pressure arising from neoliberal political economy and the exacerbating effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic, dance-makers experience increasingly burdensome conditions as artists, citizens, and human beings. Choreography itself emerges as a zone of contested meaning as the word migrates from the studio to the boardroom, and shared precarity and common-ground politicized identities both constellate, and distinguish from each other, creative practitioners in the Global North and the Global South. The role of the West as bearer of the taxonomic gaze is foregrounded, not only as experienced, historically, by colonialized Others, but by citizens of liberal democracies. As a process of critical questioning, testing the elasticity of boundaries to thought and action, Dance practices may well constitute examples of human flourishing without which the enduring promises of democracy cannot be realized. © Ateneo de Manila University.

In Between Escapade and Peril: The Impact of COVID-19 on Nepali Returnees and Their Families

The outbreak of COVID-19 has damaged the world economy, resulting in the termination of thousands of jobs which affects migrants and their families who have both economic and other investments in migration. This article explores the experiences and challenges of Nepali migrant workers who returned from Malaysia and their wives who were left behind when they originally migrated. We discuss the aspirations of returnee workers, their life and experiences in Malaysia during the pandemic and their experiences of tackling the bureaucratic challenges of the return process in Malaysia and Nepal. We find that any problems in migration also affects those family members who are left behind and discuss the experiences of husbands affect migrants' wives, including their understanding of the foreign employment situation of the husbands and their involvement in different decisions related to foreign employment and the return of their husbands. The study follows a qualitative methodology. Phone interviews were conducted with ten returnee migrants from Malaysia and ten as well as three informants who have knowledge and experience of the sector. The article argues that both migrants and their family members face the consequences of any failures and challenges in migration and that policies should encourage joint discussion among governments of source and host countries on coping with the challenges of migration including in the context of a global pandemic.

Dynamics of public service implementation before, during and post pandemic Covid-19 in Palu city

This study aims to reveal phenomena related to public services in Palu City before, during and after the Covid-19 pandemic. This type of research is qualitative with a descriptive approach. As for the collection technique through library data, reading, processing, and recording research materials. The results of the study show that the three aspects of research, namely responsiveness, responsibility and accountability, still pose various problems in the process of public service. First, the slow response of the bureaucracy in receiving complaints, wishes, community needs in public services so that it has an impact on the community itself. Second, that public services are carried out not in accordance with existing norms, wherein Law No. 25 of 2009 concerning public services explains that the State must be active to participate in the social life of society, to provide whatever is best for the people, especially in service. Third, where all the interests of society are always contrary to the interests of the bureaucracy in the administration of public services. For example, the services that are carried out must be completed as quickly as possible according to the applicable mechanism, but the results of the research show that the services carried out are not in accordance with the norms and desires of the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Technium Social Sciences Journal is the property of Technium Press Constanta and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

More of the Same, Only Worse: COVID-19 and the Administrative Burdens Facing Loved Ones of Incarcerated Men

Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, officials have introduced measures to preserve the health of incarcerated individuals and prison employees. To understand the impact of COVID-related correctional policies on individuals with incarcerated friends and family members, we conducted 181 longitudinal interviews from April 2020 to January 2021 with 29 such 'loved ones.' Participants emphasized concerns about (1) health and safety;(2) unclear, unpredictable and untrusted communications;and (3) diminished personal intimacy. We analyze these findings using an 'administrative burden' framework and discuss possible reforms. We also suggest a wider applicably of this framework for studying individuals who have diverse encounters with the criminal justice system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of British Journal of Criminology is the property of Oxford University Press / USA and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Studying teachers' work and lives: insights from research before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Drawing on the notion of professionalism and the role of emotions, this chapter examines teachers' work and lives based on data from two major research projects. Data were collected before and after the COVID-19 pandemic through two online surveys. Findings point to collaboration as one of the key dimensions of teachers' work. While individual and collegial professionalism were identified, managerial and functional issues have also played a role in how teachers deal with tensions and contradictions in their daily professional lives. Positive and negative emotions stand out in teachers' accounts as well as the relational dimension of teaching and the use of ICT. © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Women Suffering from Multiple Sources of Oppression in Upper Egypt: A Case Study of Intersectional Targeting and Integrated Development Interventions as the Way Out

Scholars in the field of gender and development are strong advocates of the concept of "intersectionality," first coined by Crenshaw in 1989, as a way of thinking about how marginalized groups may be subjected to oppression from various sources. The main purpose of this research is to make a case for how intersectional targeting, together with integrated development interventions, can be useful in helping vulnerable individuals, specifically women, suffering from multiple sources of poverty and oppression. A case study, coupled with in-depth field interviews, was the method employed for assessing the application of an intersectional lens by a nonprofit development organization (ENID) that targets vulnerable poor, illiterate, and unemployed women living in marginalized rural communities in South Egypt and employs integrated development interventions to get them out of poverty. Working on upgrading basic services, promoting small and micro enterprises, fostering sustainable agricultural development, initiating a program for knowledge dissemination and policy advocacy were some of the features of the integrated development approach utilized by ENID. The research findings indicated that ENID activities may have had a positive impact on reducing poverty and empowering women in the rural villages of South Egypt. Many challenges were faced related to government bureaucracy, restrictive cultural norms, and the COVID-19 pandemic. However, on the positive side, poverty was reported to have declined by 14.5% in absolute terms from 2015-2018 in Qena governorate where ENID works. More investments are being directed to the region, and the women beneficiaries attest to lifechanging experiences, enhanced self-confidence, and empowerment.

Governing Asylum without ‘‘Being There”: Ghost Bureaucracy, Outsourcing, and the Unreachability of the State

When, where, and how do asylum seekers encounter the state? Anyone seeking asylum in the Global North might meet state authorities of the country where they want to apply for international protection long before arriving at its borders. However, if the state often becomes "very present” by transcending its geopolitical margins in border control, once asylum seekers have managed to cross into national territory, the state frequently vanishes. Insufficient information, opaque proceedings, difficulties in reaching state agencies, which dramatically increased with the COVID pandemic, often translate into a denial of asylum seekers' rights and their exclusion from welfare programs. Moreover, following a widespread tendency to outsource public services, access to asylum and related welfare programmes are being increasingly mediated by a range of nonstate actors (such as NGOs, activist groups, companies, and individuals) acting as state agents. Drawing on the analysis of ethnographic results from Spain and Italy, this article proposes the concept of "ghost bureaucracy” to theorise the street-level bureaucrats from their absence and explore asylum seekers' encounters with a seemingly powerful and omnipresent but unreachable state through closed offices, digital bureaucracy and third-party actors. © 2023 by the authors.

A Test Case in Synodality: Australia's Fifth Plenary Council in Light of the Thought of Eric Mascall

The Fifth Australian Plenary Council comes after a time of significant upheaval, including but not limited to a royal commission into the sexual abuse of children in institutions, in which the Catholic Church was the prominent focus.3 While the abuse crisis is not the sole reason for holding a Plenary Council, it is an important catalyst.4 Across all sectors of Catholic mission, acts of abuse cause immeasurable personal suffering with implications over the whole course of human lives, and widely 'dim' the light of the Gospel meant to be shared by the church.5 In Australia, the church has been living through similar conditions to other parts of the developed world, including uneven seminary numbers, a crisis in married and family life, a loss of trust in institutions and their leaders, a decline in church practice, and a failure to capture the imagination of thought leaders in an increasingly secular context.6 Just days before the second assembly began in Sydney on 3 July 2022, the national census released its five-yearly figures, based on data from 2021, highlighting that for the first time in the history of our federation, less than 50 per cent of Australians identify as 'Christian'.7 Contemporary Australian culture vacillates between apathy and hostility with regard to a Catholic voice on public issues. After the Plenary Council was announced in 2017, a widespread consultation phase was enacted, unprecedented in Australia, in which submissions were received from individuals and groups across the diverse local contexts for Catholic life, in circumstances as different as metropolitan Catholic hospital settings and remote outback parishes, and a report was published.8 A total of 17,457 submissions were received in the official 'Listening and Dialogue' phase, including 12,758 submissions from individuals and 4699 group submissions.9 Based on the 2016 Census, this equates to about 4 per cent of the Australian Catholic population.10 In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic made an appreciable impact, delaying the start of the assemblies of the Plenary Council from 2020 to 2021, and reducing the possibility of members meeting face to face;the first session, originally intended to be in-person in Adelaide, had to be held with a mix of some inperson hubs in states and territories and most members participating from their homes, with all participants connecting via videoconferencing technology.11 These plans intersect with the experience of Australian Catholics, who, having also suffered through the pandemic and the effect of heavy social restrictions on domestic and family life, employment and education, have witnessed new social and financial pressures on clergy and church leaders, and experienced locked church doors, a deprivation of normal sacramental life and an ongoing spiritual impact amidst widespread interruption to the habits of church-attending Catholics, much like most of the world.12 While each of these crisis points will have long-term effects requiring careful sociological study, the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference maintained a focus on matters of faith and hope, and published the instrumentum laboris for the Plenary Council in January 2021.13 In Continuing the Journey, a radical call is made to 'start afresh from Christ': The National Consultation has expressed a call for renewal and reform in the Catholic Church in Australia. With the second assembly's conclusion, the final decrees ultimately follow a path including confirmation by the national episcopal conference and then a formal presentation seeking the Holy Father's approval and response.15 While the guiding document, Continuing the Journey, has received some criticism, its deliberative theological awareness is mature, and wisely avoids the cul-de-sacs of political ideologies that can so infect the Christian ecclesia at this time. [...]it has been undertaken at a time during which the church is making a study of synodality in global preparation for the Sixteenth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, in October 2023. The Mystery of the Human Person and of the Church The synodal path includes the diversity of the church's members being asked to confront our differences, and within this context the performative work of the Plenary Council does not simply involve a struggle with intra-ecclesial concerns;it also involves a struggle with the human condition as it interacts with the world, much like the way of pilgrimage in which the journey offers 'surprises and promises' .20 As human beings, we have been called by the Plenary Council to listen deeply, and to bear our vulnerabilities with humility instead of hiding them from one another.

Agile governance for the ‘new normal': Is Africa ready?

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many governments opted to use agile methodologies to tackle various challenges. Policymakers did not follow the normal protocol of policymaking and governance;instead, they adopted a more agile policymaking process that deploys agile approaches such as policy labs, policy prototyping, policy stimulus and digital-ready policies. In addition, health scientists were primarily responsible for most of the policies adopted during the pandemic. This was a major change in the policy arena. All these changes gave birth to what is currently known as "agile governance". Although not new, this form of governance has taken the world by storm, especially during the pandemic. While other regions across the world have routed for agile governance, it is not clear where Africa stands in this debate. This paper, therefore, assesses Africa's readiness for the so-called "agile governance” as the new normal. Drawing from a qualitative desktop research based on an extensive literature review and a content analysis. The study findings reveal that the future and adoption of agile governance in Africa appear bleak. Unless some changes are implemented, Africa may continue to trail behind Europe and other world regions. This is because there are still many deterrents, such as a lack of efficient leadership, the bureaucracy dilemma, the skills gap, and the legislative challenge that the continent must deal with before even thinking of becoming agile. To remedy these challenges, we conclude that African governments adapt to change by employing flexible action plans like adopting a flexible blueprint to guide agile governance strategies;innovation;streamlining bureaucracies;reskilling current public servants, and creating agile mindsets.

What Can We Learn from the Street-Level Bureaucracy Approach Regarding Gender-Based Violence Support Services During the COVID-19 Lockdown Crisis?

The COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic brought a new reality and created several complications and challenges for professionals working in gender-based violence (GBV) support networks. A gap has been found in the literature in terms of evidence on how best to operate GBV intervention and support services in times of crisis. Given this reality, this article analyses the situation caused by the pandemic, raising and highlighting relevant implications for the impact on the quality of the services provided, and emphasizing the concept of street-level bureaucracy in the face of the new reality. The article highlights how professionals are currently coping, making decisions, and adapting their ways of working. The literature review offers relevant conclusions on how to improve preparedness and prevention plans in support services for victims of violence in future crises. © Copyright 2023, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers 2023.

Die Corona-Krise ist ein Brennglas bestehender Probleme: Ohne Reformen, Mut und Ehrlichkeit werden weder die öffentlichen Haushalte in Ordnung gebracht, noch kann unser Wohlstand in Deutschland bewahrt werden

The Corona crisis marks a significant turning point in the Federal Republic's national budget. All levels of the overall budget are deep in the red: federal, state, local and social security. This stress on public budgets and social security systems will not suddenly disappear after the pandemic – rather, policy makers face long-term challenges. Public finances must be consolidated!Five theses outline the issue – before, during and after the Corona crisis:The federal budget was structurally out of order even before the Corona crisis.The Corona crisis is only a magnifying glass for budget policy problems.The debt brake is indispensable, both when the economy is strong and weak.We need a mix of tax limits, austerity policies and investments.Tax increases and more bureaucracy are hampering economic growth!

Bureaucratic Sociability, or the Missing Eighty Percent of Effectiveness: The Case of Diplomacy

This paper examines and theorises sociability–‘the play-form of association'–in diplomatic settings. I highlight the workings of sociable interaction in diplomacy and I explain how we can better discern its broader role in bureaucratic processes. Empirically, I use virtual diplomacy during the COVID-19 pandemic to illustrate the difference that in-person sociability makes in diplomatic practice. The second half of the paper title references a comment by Michael Clauss, Germany's ambassador to the European Union. Asked about virtual diplomacy, Clauss said that Zoom diplomacy is ‘20% as effective' as the in-person kind. Conceptually, I use contemporary political geography and international relations as well as two thinkers of earlier decades–sociologists Georg Simmel and Erving Goffman–to theorise sociability. Methodologically, I advocate a more playful approach to sources in our study of professional practice. My objective is to prompt further study of sociability in bureaucratic settings. © 2021 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Autocratization and public administration: the revolutionary-populist regime in Venezuela in comparative perspective

What happens to state bureaucracies when authoritarianism emerges? How do autocrats seek to use the administration to their ends, and how does it react? The paper analyzes Venezuela as a showcase for autocratization in Latin America. Under Chavismo-Madurismo, the general objective of the regime was to expand and co-opt all the state institutions, including public administration, to subordinate it to the "revolution” and to gain control over oil revenues. As the central aspect of the paper, we will analyse the strategies of the Chavista governments vis á vis the administration to achieve these goals. We identify three main strategies that were used to sideline the bureaucracy: repression and firing;circumventing and neglecting;and militarisation. With these strategies, Chavismo-Madurismo dismantled the former existing public administration and installed a new administration, loyal to the regime, as a part of the process of autocratization. The paper also addresses how the autocratic regime has (mis)used the public management of the Covid-pandemic to strengthen autocracy under the disguise of a state of emergency.