Browsing by Author "Radford, Brenda Margaret"

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    Are we doing good? : Catholic Social Teaching and the ethics of public policy outcomes in New Zealand : a thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Public Policy, Massey University, Albany
    (Massey University, 2010) Radford, Brenda Margaret
    From the perspective that avoidable social and environmental injustices exist in New Zealand, this research examines the ethics of public policy. It suggests that our society would be more justly sustainable if the ethics of policy outcomes were to supersede political expediency as the dominant influence in government’s decision-making. An Appreciative Inquiry with expert interviewees is applied to the two-part proposition that: (a) a greater focus on ethics and social morality is required for effective policy-making; and (b) the application of the principles of Catholic Social Teaching would enhance the ethical coherence of government policy, programme and service development. The research has found that the public policy system in New Zealand enables its workers to ‘do well,’ but often prevents them from ‘doing good,’ in policy domains such as housing and employment. Erroneous assumptions by policy actors that their work is morally neutral limit their appreciation of the effects that government decisions have on society and the natural environment. The research suggests that government should insist on ethical analysis of policy proposals and impacts as a pre-requisite for its decisions. Since Catholic Social Teaching is congruent with our accepted standards of social morality, it could helpfully be applied to policy design and implementation in this country. The best way to position CST as a moral signpost for policy-making would be to apply it to specific policies and services. This project has been oriented from the outset towards applicability in the public policy environment. Accordingly, the research includes three new policy-making frameworks which combine the principles of Catholic Social Teaching with the methodology of Appreciative Inquiry. Use of these analytical frameworks would enable all policy actors to assess the ethics of recommendations and decisions in terms of their impacts on people and the earth.
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    Unfinished business : institutional racism and the role of the state in building culturally-inclusive societies : a research report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Public Policy, Massey University
    (Massey University, 2003) Radford, Brenda Margaret
    This Research Report represents the findings from an exploratory, literature-based, comparative foundation study of institutional racism and its influence on the public policy process. The research identifies the causal links between colonisation, constitutional frameworks, present-day government policy and institutional racism. In this Report I argue that institutional racism, as a case study of public policy failure, is caused by a lack of appreciation of the macro policy environment, by consequent deficiencies in policy problem analysis and specification and by a paucity of impact evaluation at all stages of the policy process. Institutional racism is a product of the processes of colonisation and of organisational inability to respond to increasing cultural and ethnic diversity because of the controls and rigidity inherent in today's monocultural decision-making paradigms. It causes public policy and service delivery to have discriminatory impacts on some ethnic or cultural groups in the community, so that their achievements and aspirations are impeded and they suffer social and economic disadvantage relative to the majority cultural group. Its corrosive effects on social well-being and cohesion demand attention from public policy decision-makers, but it is not a priority on political agendas. It should be. It is 'unfinished business' in all three nations studied in this research, namely New Zealand, Australia and Britain. Practical illustrations augment the two main themes of the research - namely the impact of colonisation and land alienation on indigenous societies, and the effects of immigration, settlement and integration policies and inadequate social services on new migrants. The research indicates that institutional racism affects most social service domains in New Zealand, Australia and Britain. Several recurrent policy dilemmas are noted, the resolution of which is critical if institutional racism is to be tackled effectively. The long-term solution involves constitutional change.