We are proud to announce the publication of the Spring 2016 edition of the Public Policy and Governance Review.

Political scientist Giovanni Sartori once claimed that “(h)e who knows only one country knows none”. Given the complexity of many contemporary policy challenges, it is almost impossible to make informed decisions without analyzing other regions. This spring’s edition takes this approach to heart. Each essay holds to one underlying premise: looking to other regions’ past decisions might help Canadian policymakers craft a better future. For example, to understand England’s ability to combat cholera, we need to analyze how public health experts used data. And to understand New York City’s ability to access emergency infrastructure funding during Hurricane Sandy, we need to understand the historical precedent set in President Roosevelt’s New Deal Legislation.

We begin with a short synopsis of the challenges governments face in using—and erasing—personal data. Next, we turn to two essays that compare different municipal infrastructure funding strategies. Then we zoom out to the national level, with a paper comparing post-secondary outcomes in Denmark and Ontario. Finally, we arrive at the international scale with a piece describing the impacts of microfinance on women’s sexual health in the global south and an analysis of intergenerational equity.

As the academic year draws to a close, so too does our time as Co-Editors in Chief. We would like to thank the School of Public Policy and Governance and, in particular, our two academic advisors, Ian Clark and Janet Mason, for their support and enthusiasm. We also offer thanks to our contributors, Editorial Assistants, and Associate Editors for their hard work and creativity. We now leave the journal in incredibly capable hands, as Alexa Greig and Amelia Bredo take over as Co-Editors in Chief. We are excited to see where they take the publication next.

Zachary Lewsen
Jenny Mutton
Editors-in-Chief

To read Volume 7, Issue 2 in its entirety, please click here.

To read “When to Remember and When to Forget: The Tension between Privacy and Social Utility” by Thomas Vogl, click here.

To read “The Institutional Constraints to Funding Municipal Public Transportation in Toronto” by Celine Caira , click here.

To read “Funding Vancouver’s Infrastructure Adaptation to Climate Change: A Feasibility Assessment of Increased Federal-Municipal Transfers” by Justine Desmond, click here.

To read “Paying off or Pricing out? Postsecondary Funding Policy in Denmark and Canada” by Cayla Baarda, click here.

To read “Microfinance & Gender Equity: Evaluating the Impact of Integrating Microfinance & HIV/AIDS Prevention for Female Sex Workers in India, Kenya, & Mongolia” by Emily Rasmussen, click here.

To read “‘Generationing’ Public Policy: A Multicountry Review of Intergenerational Equity Policies” by Tamara Krawchenko and Karen R. Foster, click here.