Government Legislation

Pregnancy
commentary
How Policies That Punish Pregnant Women Backfire
Rachel Landis, Laura J. Faherty @LauraFahertyMD, Mishka Terplan
Aug 2, 2022
Santa Monica Daily Press
There is overwhelming evidence and consensus from the medical and public health communities that supportive approaches are what help pregnant women with substance use disorders. Unfortunately, the overturning of Roe v. Wade has opened the door for more policies that police and punish women rather than evidence-based solutions that we know can, do, and will save lives.
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Educational Institutions
commentary
New Legislation May Not Be Enough to Counter Chinese Interference in British Universities
Fiona Quimbre @FQuimbre
Jul 8, 2022
Times Higher Education
There is alarming evidence of growing Chinese espionage and influence in UK universities that could threaten UK national security and academic freedoms. Three complementary initiatives could increase university researchers' awareness of the potential risks of collaborating with certain Chinese partners.
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Gun Policy
commentary
The Gun Laws That Work, and the Gun Laws That Don't
Andrew R. Morral @AndrewMorral
May 27, 2022
The Washington Post
Are certain gun laws and regulations likely to improve or worsen public safety? At a time when many Americans are searching for solutions to the country's intolerably high rates of gun violence, social scientists can help provide answers.
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Fentanyl and Other Synthetic Opioids
q&a
A New Approach to Fighting Synthetic Opioids: Q&A with David Luckey and Jayme Fuglesten
Apr 26, 2022
The opioid crisis isn't just about drug policy or law. It involves national security, homeland security, intelligence, diplomacy, supply chain issues, and cryptocurrency. Drawing on RAND's expertise across all those areas, the Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking delivered a plan, a call to action about what it's going to take to save lives.
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Gun Policy
essay
Exploring the Disagreement Among Gun Policy Experts
Mar 7, 2022
A survey asked gun policy researchers, advocates, and congressional staffers who work on gun issues for their views on policies ranging from weapon bans to stand-your-ground laws. Regardless of where they stood, they were not so dissimilar in what they thought gun policies should be trying to accomplish.
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Health Insurance
commentary
Temporary Safety-Net Policies Prevented Mass Insurance Loss During the Pandemic
Christine Eibner @Chrissyeibner, Jodi L. Liu @jodilliu
Dec 13, 2021
The RAND Blog
Although it provided a foundation, the ACA alone could not have absorbed the effects of the pandemic's sudden job losses on health care coverage. Temporary expansions to the safety net enacted by Congress also were necessary to stem coverage loss. As the pandemic continues, policymakers will want to keep safety-net provisions as available policy options.
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Cannabis
commentary
Green Light for Cannabis Legalisation in Germany Is Not a Clear-Cut Decision
Stijn Hoorens @StijnHoorens
Dec 6, 2021
Der Tagesspiegel
The new “traffic light” coalition in Germany recently agreed to regulate the sale of cannabis to adults for recreational purposes in licensed shops. International experience has shown that great care is needed in how cannabis policy is shaped.
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Dispute Resolution
commentary
Nuclear Strategists Know How Dangerous the Debt Fight Is
Edward Geist @sovietologist
Nov 29, 2021
The Atlantic
Nuclear-war strategists' work offers a warning for Congress: The more times a game is played, the more treacherous it becomes, because when both sides believe catastrophe will always be averted in the end, each behaves more rashly. In the debt-ceiling dispute, the United States could end up defaulting precisely because each side keeps waiting for the other to blink.
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Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy
commentary
Biden's Proposed New Health Agency Would Emphasize Innovation. Here's How It Might Work
Luke Muggy, Catherine C. Cohen, Kristie L. Gore
May 24, 2021
Los Angeles Times
President Biden has proposed a new health agency modeled on DARPA to work on groundbreaking research. This agency could pursue the kind of high-risk research that can lead to high-reward results and help get more medical treatments to market sooner.
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Workforce Management
commentary
Should Mothers Work? We've Been Asking the Wrong Question
Kathryn A. Edwards @keds_economist
May 10, 2021
Dallas Morning News
As schools and day cares closed due to the pandemic, millions of women were driven from the labor market. What is it worth to the United States to have mothers in the workforce?
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Employment and Unemployment
commentary
A Bell That Can't Be Unrung: The CARES Act and Unemployment Insurance
Kathryn A. Edwards @keds_economist
Jan 7, 2021
The RAND Blog
The CARES Act broadcasted to everyone that Unemployment Insurance can do better by workers and employers. Congress can debate the hows of permanent reform, but its actions in 2020 proved the need.
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Employment and Unemployment
commentary
Unemployment Insurance and the Failure to Reform
Kathryn A. Edwards @keds_economist
Jan 5, 2021
The RAND Blog
Unemployment Insurance is the primary U.S. policy tool for sustaining workers during periods of high unemployment. But it has a history of being repeatedly neglected. Federal reform has been stalled for nearly 50 years.
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Cannabis
commentary
Don't Entangle COVID-19 Relief with Cannabis Legalization
Beau Kilmer @BeauKilmer
Aug 28, 2020
Philadelphia Inquirer
Cannabis legalization is a multifaceted decision that has implications for health, safety, and social equity. Whether legalization could fund COVID-19 relief should not be a major focus of debates.
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Firearms
blog
New Insights on Gun Policy in America
Apr 22, 2020
RAND's Gun Policy in America initiative aims to establish a shared set of facts about gun policies. Recently, researchers completed an update and expansion of their synthesis of all available scientific evidence on the effects of 18 classes of gun laws.
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Terrorism
commentary
The Christchurch Massacre Was Another Internet-Enabled Atrocity
James Dobbins @Jim_Dobbins
Mar 20, 2019
The Hill
Terrorism has become an internet-enabled abuse—incited, propagated, and sometimes organized and concealed by online activity. Who should be held accountable for abusive content, the author or the publisher? And what role should the government play in regulating it?
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commentary
Freedom of the Internet 'Press'
James Dobbins @Jim_Dobbins
Aug 10, 2018
The Hill
The First Amendment protects the rights of companies such as Facebook and YouTube to publish what they choose. Arguing against this right could lead to government regulation over digital media. It could also further degrade the reliability of online information.
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Gun Violence
essay
More Research Could Help Prevent Gun Violence in America
Jul 10, 2018
Both sides of the gun policy debate agree on what the objectives of any policy should be. But they disagree over which policies would best achieve those goals. Current evidence for or against most gun proposals is weak, contradictory, or nonexistent. Only research can show what does—and doesn't—work.
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Gun Violence
commentary
How to Bring Facts into the Gun Policy Debate
Andrew R. Morral @AndrewMorral
Mar 9, 2018
USA Today
As debate continues to rage over the causes and prevention of gun violence, it's worth asking how science can help lawmakers and the public resolve longstanding disagreements that have stood in the way of solutions.
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National Security Organizations
commentary
Reauthorizing DHS: Contemplating Major DHS Organizational Realignments
Daniel M. Gerstein @Daniel_Gerstein
Oct 30, 2017
The National Interest
As Congress considers DHS reauthorization, having clear organizational realignment principles could help assess the degree to which expectations will be met. Those principles could examine whether mission effectiveness would improve and whether implemented changes would introduce new issues.
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Homeland Security Legislation
commentary
Reauthorizing DHS: Aligning Requirements, Research, Development and Acquisition
Daniel M. Gerstein @Daniel_Gerstein
Oct 23, 2017
The National Interest
As part of the discussion about reauthorizing the Department of Homeland Security, Congress might want to consider how to improve acquisitions. Rather than focusing only on the steps in the acquisition process, that discussion could also include consideration of pre and post-acquisition activities.
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Homeland Security Legislation
commentary
Reauthorizing DHS: Improving Operational Control
Daniel M. Gerstein @Daniel_Gerstein
Oct 23, 2017
The National Interest
One area of focus in the debate on reauthorizing the Department of Homeland Security should be its role in directing homeland security operations. The debate should include a comprehensive discussion of the future role for the department headquarters.
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Homeland Security Legislation
commentary
Reauthorizing DHS: The Case for Reauthorization
Daniel M. Gerstein @Daniel_Gerstein
Oct 20, 2017
The National Interest
Reauthorization of the Department of Homeland Security is vital to clarifying responsibilities and setting expectations for the continued evolution of the department. Policymakers might also wish to conduct an external review, which could help inform a broader future reform bill.
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European Union
commentary
'Better Regulation': Why Timmermans Should Go Beyond the Regulatory Scrutiny Board
Stijn Hoorens @StijnHoorens
May 27, 2015
EurActiv
Promoting the 'Better Regulation' agenda in the EU could be given a real boost by turning the proposed Regulatory Scrutiny Board into an impartial evidence and scrutiny centre, putting high-quality and objective impact assessment at the heart of the legislative process.
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Politics and Government
commentary
Farsighted Leadership in a Shortsighted World: Looking Beyond the 2012 U.S. Election
Michael D. Rich @michaeldrich
Sep 21, 2012
RAND Review
As the U.S. presidential election draws close, there is increasing demand for simple answers to complex questions, immediate solutions to entrenched challenges, and ten-second sound bites to sum it all up. For nearly 65 years, RAND has focused on big, long-term, core public policy issues and has cultivated the farsighted perspectives required to address them.
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Counterterrorism
commentary
A Final Word on the NDAA
Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins
May 7, 2012
Foreign Affairs
While I have no doubt of Levin's determination to protect the constitutional rights of American citizens, incremental adjustments and seemingly small compromises, each sensible under the circumstances, can have a cumulative effect that erodes the very liberty we are trying to protect, writes Brian Michael Jenkins.
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Counterterrorism
commentary
The NDAA Makes It Harder to Fight Terrorism
Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins
Feb 1, 2012
Foreign Affairs
Much of the debate over this bill has focused on the political issue of executive authority versus rule of law. In doing so it has overlooked the indirect and insidious effects the new law may have on the United States' largely successful counterterrorist campaign, writes Brian Michael Jenkins.
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commentary
How Whistleblower Rule Enables Corporate Compliance
Michael D. Greenberg, Donna C. Boehme
Jun 14, 2011
Bloomberg Government
The kerfuffle over Dodd-Frank conceals broad agreement that corporate fraud and misconduct are bad and that internal compliance mechanisms are intended to protect companies as well the community at large from bad behavior, write Michael Greenberg and Donna Boehme.
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commentary
A House Divided: Polarization and Partisanship
James A. Thomson @thomson0145
May 14, 2010
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Certainly, ideology should play a role in public policy decisions. But when many policies—regardless of their merits—are simply off-limits for ideological reasons, then the nation as a whole has a problem, writes James A. Thomson.
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