Lihi Lahat

Sapir Academic College | sapir · The Department of Public Administration and Policy

The study explored how understanding people's behaviours and desires can inform policy design and contribute to policy feedback theory. We focused on uses of time that are affected by diverse policies. Given the growing interest in promoting well‐being and the connection between the use of time and well‐being, we examined behaviours and desires reg...

This comparative paper adds to the literature by exploring the connection between policy entrepreneurship and collaboration among street-level bureaucrats (SLBs) in two countries. We asked if SLBs, as policy entrepreneurs, promote collaborative efforts in their work. If so, in what ways? The study was based on qualitative research and in-depth semi...

Drawing on a broader study on perceptions of time and well-being during Covid-19, we show how governments can use social media platforms, such as Twitter, to acquire knowledge for policy learning and design. We argue social knowledge, which includes personal storytelling, emotion, and use of hashtags and emojis, can contribute to policy learning. U...

This paper presents a shift in attention from urban vitality to urban vitalisation as a process that reflects ongoing interactions between residents, communities, and urban government agencies. To explore urban vitalisation, we offer a conceptual framework connecting two theoretical terms, trust/distrust and citizenship regimes, and we ask in what...

Public policies aim to promote the social good, but they do not always meet this goal. We argue that to improve policy and policy analysis, it is important to pay attention to the cumulative effect of policies on how people use their time. In this study, we looked at the effect of certain policies on sleep. Our exploratory study yielded intriguing...

In this report, we focus on the potential impact of applying digital technologies in cities on in/equality between residents from different communities and the potential impact on the contact/separation between communities.

Purpose This paper contributes to the literature on performance management by offering an inside look at a collaborative process that worked to define outcomes in the field of personal social services. It asks if different kinds of trust and leadership have an effect on the outputs of a collaborative process that aims at defining outcomes. Design/...

Many welfare states have increased their regulatory role, but little attention has been given to historical changes in the regulatory role of ministries. This study embraces a mezzo perspective and explores the regulatory role of the Welfare Ministry of Israel in the field of personal social services, asking the following questions: 1) What are the...

The provision of personal social services in Israel has recently changed, with many services now outsourced to non-governmental organizations. This shift requires the strengthening of regulatory mechanisms, yet the unique characteristics of personal social services make it difficult to create an efficient regulatory framework. By linking insights d...

This book is the first to explore collaborative governance arrangements in Israel. In addition, it presents theoretical and empirical insights that are relevant to many other countries, especially those with heterogeneous populations. The definition of collaborative governance is modular and focuses on its contribution to public values and democrac...

This collection asks if collaborative governance could contribute to promote public values and to strengthen democratic processes. The answers reveal that collaborative governance, as a governance tool, has the potential to lead a paradigm shift in the way government works. However, in practice and in the Israeli context, it is at a crossroad. Whil...

Collaborative governance arrangements have been touted as a useful tool in a world of multiple actors and dynamic public policy. However, they are also cumbersome, costly, and difficult to manage and may be problematic from the democratic perspective. In this theoretical chapter, we explore the question: under what conditions is it beneficial to pr...

Collaborative governance is a mechanism intended to bring together stakeholders from various sectors to design and implement policy. It developed as a mean to increase government’s ability and capacity to govern, to reinforce trust and legitimacy in government, and to broaden inclusion in policy design and implementation. The introduction is compos...

One of the interesting advantages collaborative governance arrangements offer is a way to deal with complex problems, such as environmental issues. This short case exemplifies such an arrangement: The Partnership for Regional Sustainability is a collaboration between Ramat Hanadiv Memorial Gardens and Nature Park and five local authorities, located...

There is growing agreement on the importance of well-being in general and among employees more specifically. One area that has attracted significantly less attention is the well-being of public sector employees, especially from a comparative perspective. This study explored the factors explaining emotional well-being among public sector employees i...

Collaborative governance arrangements have been touted as a useful tool in a world of multiple actors and dynamic public policy. However, they are also cumbersome, costly, difficult to manage, and may be problematic from the democratic perspective. In this theoretical paper we explore the question: Under what conditions is it beneficial to promote...

This article explores the relationship between time and well-being as a social policy question. Although the research on time and well-being is extensive, few have dealt with them together from a comparative institutional perspective. Based on data from the third European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) of 2012, regarding 34 mostly European countries...

https://www.btl.gov.il/Publications/Social_Security/bitachon107/Pages/new_book.aspx

Academics and practitioners: the challenge of collaboration an example from social work and social services in Israel Although the need to integrate research into the practice world has always been a desire of researchers and practitioners alike, recently there has been growing interest in this collaboration. While studies have explored various asp...

Although the need to integrate research into the practice world has always been a desire of researchers and practitioners alike, recently there has been growing interest in this collaboration. While studies have explored various aspects of this connection, few have investigated the ‘black box’ of social relations between academics and practitioners...

In recent decades researchers have suggested various models for public administration organizations. These models and reforms, generally called New Public Management and Post-New Public Management, ignore the different developmental phases of public organizations, especially when dealing with non-Western countries. Instead of asking how public orga...

http://hazan.kibbutz.org.il/hafrata%20-2/skira_sprotit_mshilot_msholbt_-_21_4_17.pdf

This article explores two questions: (1) Does knowledge about poverty and exposure to poverty affect the perceptions of policymakers about how to deal with the problem? (2) Does policymakers’ trust in members of society affect their perceptions regarding ways of dealing with poverty? Based on interviewees with 103 policymakers in Israel, the findin...

In this exploratory study, we investigate whether public sector officials and non-public sector officials differ in the trust they have in members of society and whether this difference is associated with the welfare regime in which they work. Using survey data from the sixth round of the European Social Survey, we compare public sector officials'...

This article suggests one explanation to one of the intriguing phenomena that the Israeli society has experienced – the 2011 social protest. This explanation uses the framework that Bozman proposed “Public Value Failure” – a failure that occurs in situations when core public values are not reflected in social relations (markets or policy outcomes)....

The current article explores the aspects of regulatory policy in the field of personal social services. In Israel, the government sets standards, and finances and oversees personal social services, while the services themselves are provided primarily by non-governmental organizations. Based on a qualitative study we examined two questions. First, w...

One of the challenges facing policy analysts is how to improve policy processes in the era of governance. The present article examines how “perceptions analysis,” i.e. the identification of perceptions of different leaders in a specific policy field, may contribute to policy analysis. The article focuses on two questions: What explains leaders’ sup...

In view of the increasing role of local government in formulating and providing welfare programs in many countries, the factors that shape the local policy arena are of much interest. Integrating two bodies of research – that of problem definition and framing in public policy and that of perceptions about poverty – the study investigates how he...