Niva Golan-Nadir

University at Albany, The State University of New York | UAlbany · Center for Policy Research

Golan-Nadir draws on the literature review for the study which is carried out in two sections. The first section provides an account of existing schools of thought, aiming to explain gaps between public preferences and institutional designs in a democratic setting. Focusing on the two schools, the chapter aims to establish that the existing literat...

Golan-Nadir presents the research design for this study, the core of which is the comparative method. More specifically, the chapter introduces the comparative research design of two case studies, that is, a small-n comparative research that the study employs. Researching Enduring Gaps in Comparative Research: The Data, the Methods, and the Cases,...

Golan-Nadir concludes and assesses the contribution of the study, indicating the conclusive lessons from the implementation of the offered institutional explanation of enduring gaps between public preferences and institutional designs. The chapter mainly focuses on the theoretical contribution of the study, aimed to shed some further light upon the...

Golan-Nadir offers a summary of existing theoretical frameworks usually employed in order to analyze enduring gaps between public preferences and institutional designs in democratic settings. This chapter, Enduring Gaps between public preferences and Institutional Designs, highlights the contribution of the study, namely suggesting a third way to s...

Golan-Nadir reveals that in Turkey the disparity between public preferences and long-sustained marriage policy is rooted in the employment of institutional tactics by state institutions. As the chapter shows, the extensive use of institutional pressure relief valves is the cause of enduring gaps between public preferences and institutional designs....

Golan-Nadir explores the second case study, the case of Turkey, which reveals an intriguing political phenomenon, namely, the ability of institutional designs to endure over time despite diverging preferences of the majority of the population. The Turkish Case—Turkey’s Formation of Secular State Institutions—begins with the examination of the Turki...

Golan-Nadir reveals that in Israel, the disparity between public preferences and long-sustained marriage policy is rooted in the employment of institutional tactics by state institutions. As the chapter shows, the extensive use of institutional pressure relief valves is the cause of enduring gaps between public preferences and institutional designs...

Golan-Nadir explores the first case study, the case of Israel, which reveals an intriguing political phenomenon, namely, the ability of institutional designs to endure overtime despite diverging preferences of the majority of the population. The Israeli Case—Israel’s Formation of Religious State Institutions—begins with the examination of the Israe...

Golan-Nadir presents the puzzle of the absence of public pressure against current marriage policy in the Israeli case. The chapter contains two sections. The first section aims to establish the existence of a disparity between the official religious marriage policy and public preference on marriage. The data supporting this claim includes existing...

Golan-Nadir presents the puzzle of the absence of public pressure against current marriage policy in the Turkish case. This chapter contains two sections. The first section aims to establish the existence of a disparity between the official secular marriage policy and public preference on marriage. The data supporting this claim includes existing p...

Democratic theory assumes that democracies’ policies should be responsive to their citizen’s preferences. Therefore, the existence of gaps between public preferences and institutional designs in democracies is a fascinating phenomenon for research. Even more intriguing are cases in which such gaps are maintained for a long period of time without be...

Can street-level bureaucrats’ exercise of discretion lead to clients’ dissatisfaction with policy implementation? If so, under what conditions could such disaffection lead to the alternative supply of public services? Building on Albert Hirschman’s model of exit, voice, and loyalty, this article contributes to the literature by pointing to street-l...

What is the role of inter-organizational competition in motivating street-level bureaucrats to adopt policy entrepreneurship strategies? What are their main goals in adopting such strategies? We argue that in the wake of New Public Management, inter-organizational competition encourages street-level bureaucrats to adopt policy entrepreneurship stra...

What factors influence police officers’ willingness to risk themselves for others? Police officers are street-level bureaucrats, who are not only given the mandate to use deadly force in order to keep public order, but also risk their most important resource—their lives—to protect society. We suggest three factors that prompt police officers to ris...

Democratic theory assumes that democracies’ policies should be responsive to their citizen’s preferences. Therefore, the existence of gaps between public preferences and institutional designs in democracies is a fascinating phenomenon for research. Even more intriguing are cases in which such gaps are maintained for a long period of time without be...

אנו רגילים לחשוב שקבוצה גדולה גוברת על קבוצה הקטנה ממנה במאבק על כוח ושליטה, בתחרות על חלוקת משאבים ובהשפעה על הסדר הקיים. באופן דומה, אנו מסיקים כי הרוב חזק משמעותית מהמיעוט, וכי המפלגה השלטת מבטאת את בחירת הרוב (היחסי) והעדפותיו במשטר דמוקרטי. אלא ש"היגיון בריא" זה אינו עומד במבחן המציאות המעשית. בדיוק להפך. ב"עולם האמתי" דווקא הקטן מנצח את הגדול...

The chapter compares marriage regulation in Israel and Turkey. This realm of investigation is interesting theoretically and empirically because the two countries represent very different policies, yet share similar institutional dynamics. More specifically, in Israel religious marriage is the only statutory option, despite a clear preference by a s...

Are individual businesspeople who operate as policy entrepreneurs willing and able to influence peace processes in conflict areas? The literature on businesspeople as policy agents shifts when talking about peace processes, focusing on group level activities and ignoring the effect of individual agents. We argue that rather than regarding businessp...