The persistence of cliques in the post-communist state. The case of deniability in drug reimbursement policy in Poland

This article explores a key question in political sociology: Can post-communist policy-making be described with classical theories of the Western state or do we need a theory of the specificity of the post-communist state? In so doing, we consider Janine Wedel's clique theory, concerned with informal social actors and processes in post-communist transition. We conducted a case study of drug reimbursement policy in Poland, using 109 stakeholder interviews, official documents and media coverage. Drawing on 'sensitizing concepts' from Wedel's theory, especially the notion of 'deniability', we developed an explanation of why Poland's reimbursement policy combined suboptimal outcomes, procedural irregularities with limited accountability of key stakeholders. We argue that deniability was created through four main mechanisms: (1) blurred boundaries between different types of state authority allowing for the dispersion of blame for controversial policy decisions; (2) bridging different sectors by 'institutional nomads', who often escaped existing conflicts of interest regulations; (3) institutional nomads' 'flexible' methods of influence premised on managing roles and representations; and (4) coordination of resources and influence by elite cliques monopolizing exclusive policy expertise. Overall, the greatest power over drug reimbursement was often associated with lowest accountability. We suggest, therefore, that the clique theory can be generalized from its home domain of explanation in foreign aid and privatizations to more technologically advanced policies in Poland and other post-communist countries. This conclusion is not identical, however, with arguing the uniqueness of the post-communist state. Rather, we show potential for using Wedel's account to analyse policy-making in Western democracies and indicate scope for its possible integration with the classical theories of the state.</p

Pulsating flow in an oscillating pipe

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Type Evolution and Instance Adaptation

Schema evolution support is an important facility for object-oriented database (OODB) systems. While existing OODB systems provide for limited forms of evolution, including modification to the database schema and reorganization of affected instances, we find their support insufficient. Specific deficiencies are 1) the lack of compatibility support for old applications, and 2) the lack of ability to install arbitrary changes upon the schema and database. This paper examines the limitations of existing schemes, and offers a more general framework for specifying and reasoning about the evolution of class definitions and the adaptation of existing, persistent instances to those new definitions

Effects of turbulence and mass transfer on the drag coefficients of spheres in an air stream.

In chemical industry as well as in nature, one encounters numerous situations in which there is intimate contact between a finely sub-divided solid or a liquid-dispersed phase and a continuous fluid phase. This phenomenon occurs primarily in moving liquids or gaseous media and is being increasingly encountered in practical engineering applications, such as solids-gas contacting operations, spray processes, air pollution control and the design or solids-burning rocket engines. [...