This article aims to systematize and analyze social data that reveal the dimension of racial inequalities in Brazil. The point of departure is that racial inequalities affect the capacity for integration of Blacks into Brazilian society and jeopardize the proposal to build a democratic society with equal opportunities for all. Such inequalities are present at different moments in the individual...

policy capacity focuses on the managerial and organizational abilities to inform policy decisions with sound research and analysis, and facilitate policy implementation with operational efficiency. it stems from a view of the policy process that is rational and positivistic, in which optimal policy choices can be identified, selected, and implemented with objectivity. by itself, however, policy...

BACKGROUND Western accredited medical universities can offer graduate-level academic courses to health care workers (HCWs) in resource-limited settings through the Internet. It is not known whether HCWs are interested in these online courses, whether they can perform as well as matriculated students, or whether such courses are educationally or practically relevant. METHODS AND FINDINGS In 20...

policy making in health is largely thought to be driven by three ‘i's namely ideas, interests and institutions. recent years have seen a shift in approach with increasing reliance being placed on role of evidence for policy making. the present arti­cle ascertains the role of ideas and ideologies in shaping evidence which is used to aid in policy decisions. the article dis­cusses different theor...

forest and colleagues have persuasively made the case that policy capacity is a fundamental prerequisite to health reform. they offer a comprehensive life-cycle definition of policy capacity and stress that it involves much more than problem identification and option development. i would like to offer a canadian perspective. if we define health reform as re-orienting the health system from acut...

We examine the scope of inquiry into the measurement and assessment of the state public health policy environment. We argue that there are gains to be made by looking systematically at policies both within and across health domains. We draw from the public health and public policy literature to develop the concepts of interdomain and intradomain policy comprehensiveness and illustrate how these...

This article addresses policymaking related to Emergency Care Units (ECU) in the State of Rio de Janeiro between 2007 and 2013, duly identifying the relationships between the various levels of government in this process. It prioritized the context of policy formulation, the factors that motivated the inclusion and maintenance of ECUs on the state agenda and the process of how the policy was imp...

this article seeks to identify and classify the micro factors affecting the implementation of poverty reduction policy in iran. the existence and spread of poverty in society, in spite of the existent policy programs is the sign of some weaknesses in the executive models of policy. policy making in the field of poverty reduction theoretically is classified into several categories different fact...