Jörg Broschek 🇨🇦
@jbroschek.bsky.social
2.2K followers 890 following 650 posts
Political Science Prof and Laurier Research Chair | Federalism/Multilevel Governance | Political Economy | (Active) Transportation and Infrastructure Policy | Kitchener/Waterloo Region More at https://tinyurl.com/4pzjpykm
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jbroschek.bsky.social
Hello!
My research compares how governments address major policy challenges that cut across jurisdictions - from the local to the supranational level.

I currently work on
• trade + industrial policy
• transportation infrastructure policy
• local democratic governance

Recent op-ed contributions ⬇️
jbroschek.bsky.social
What buying access to the American market means in practice:

"The legislation has come under attack from US oil and gas companies, with ExxonMobil’s chief executive Darren Woods describing the rules as threatening."
jennifer-clapp.bsky.social
Bowing to bullies would only make a bad situation worse
"A panoply of laws forcing companies to fight deforestation, labour abuses and reduce their impact on the environment are being weakened or delayed, and the US is pushing Brussels to go further."

www.ft.com/content/678f...
US demands EU dismantle green regulations in threat to trade deal
Washington wants American companies to be exempted from rules such as having to draw up climate transition plans
www.ft.com
jbroschek.bsky.social
I honestly hope you are right. I also understand the difficult position the federal government is in. But - and being aware of the limited information we have, as I am reading the tea leaves here - I am even more concerned now than I was this morning (unlike Minister LeBlanc).
jbroschek.bsky.social
“But there are more areas where we are stronger together, and that’s what we’re focused on.”

The problem: "Stronger together" rests on the premise Trump views Canada as a partner, and not as a vulnerable, dependent + resource-rich neighbor it can dominate.

www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/art...
Four key moments from Carney’s meeting with Trump in Washington
Mutual love, natural conflict and 51st state jokes as leaders meet in Oval Office
www.theglobeandmail.com
jbroschek.bsky.social
Thank you @stevenchase.bsky.social for asking the Golden Dome question. But still 🤷‍♂️

Also, would be interesting to know more about what "joint ventures" and "developing certain industries together" exactly means when they talk about "formulas".
jbroschek.bsky.social
This "manufacturing" of a conflict around ASE represents a more general phenomenon. We've seen it here now with bike lanes and ASE. Other countries experience it in different areas, too. Either way, it prevents better policy outcomes and - indeed - contributes to erode public trust in institutions.
jbroschek.bsky.social
The premier, councillors and mayors, amplified by media commentary, have been:

➡️evoking emotions by suggesting non-law complying drivers are victims (it's "punitive")
➡️reframing cause and effect: bureaucrats, not drivers are the problem (cash grab)
➡️ pretending all of this is "common sense"
jbroschek.bsky.social
One has to put this puzzle into perspective. The ASE program is a general interest reform that:

➡️is effective in improving road safety
➡️only requires drivers to comply with an existing law
➡️at the expense of a few minutes added travel time.

That's it. Not a huge sacrifice. So what happened?
jbroschek.bsky.social
A comparative angle leads to a different conclusion: manufactured conflict rather than poor execution.

The question to begin with is:

Why do other countries use ASE much more broadly, e.g. hidden mobile cameras, 24/7, to enforce 30km/h speed limits in residential areas - without so much backlash?
jbroschek.bsky.social
I suspect it varies from province to province. As for Ontario, as far as I know the only potential concern would be whether or not this would pose a problem for emergency vehicles. Otherwise I believe munis have leeway.
jbroschek.bsky.social
Eine traurige Nachricht. Wenige Autoren haben mich so in den ersten Jahren meines Studiums geprägt wie Claus Offe. Nicht nur "Politische Herrschaft und Klassenstrukturen" oder die "Strukturprobleme", sondern auch Aufsätze wie "Die Utopie der Null-Option". Ich habe noch alle Kopien von damals (viele)
steffenmau.bsky.social
Herausragender Wissenschaftler, bewunderter Autor, befreundeter Kollege, kluger Ratgeber: Claus Offe ist gestorben!
jbroschek.bsky.social
And this spin is becoming a thing now, first Ottawa, now - shocker - Queen's Park:

"But targets are not outcomes. We believe in achievable outcomes, not unrealistic objectives."

Serious climate policy-making going on here.
jbroschek.bsky.social
Kitchener City Council, 12-11-2023: "I'm not seeing the dangers everyone is seeing....In fact, I hardly see any kids in schools and parks. In fact, they are rather playing video games in their bedrooms."

2:17:00ff. But the entire debate is an interesting case study.
www.youtube.com/live/mw1p4XE...
2023-12-11 - City Council
YouTube video by cityofkitchener
www.youtube.com
Reposted by Jörg Broschek 🇨🇦
christyceeck.bsky.social
Del Duca tries to reframe speeding drivers as victims w/out agency.

"People who'd never gotten a speeding ticket in their entire driving lives being dinged with not 1, not 2, but in some cases 6, 7, 8 tickets."

Like the problem is the cameras & drivers are helpless to solve this themselves?

6/
Reposted by Jörg Broschek 🇨🇦
christyceeck.bsky.social
Here Del Duca does something interesting with msging. He tries to reframe dangerous driving as benign, thereby exonerating himself from doing harm cancelling the cameras, while also sounding like he's empathetic & tough on crime. Cynical stuff for a man removing cameras meant to protect kids.

5/?
The other message that my residents have conveyed to me, which I will convey to you, and I've explained this to the premier, and he knows it instinctively, the people of this city, and I suspect the people of Ontario, want us to focus on what I will call the real criminals. 
They don't want us to be dinging them, as I mentioned a moment ago. They acknowledge occasionally going a few kilometers over, but when someone gets killed in front of their own kids, when someone has their home in a quiet residential street shot at in one case more than once, when York Regional Police do their job, but our bail system and our and our criminal justice system is letting everyone down. To equate the two, speed cameras with going after the real criminals, it's not even a close fight. 
My job as mayor, one of my most important obligations is to keep the people of Vaughn safe. It's something that I will turn over every stone to make happen.
Reposted by Jörg Broschek 🇨🇦
christyceeck.bsky.social
Next up, the mayor of Vaughn, Stephen Del Duca, leaned hard on pathos as a rhetorical device -- not for vulnerable pedestrians & cyclists but for drivers. He spoke about their "anxiety", "fear" and "concern". And he referred to the speeders getting tickets not as drivers but as "residents".

4/?
jbroschek.bsky.social
Only in 🇨🇦:
Kitchener Market this morning, waiting in line at Kipfer's Heritage Farms. "Wow, Dad - they have whole free run chicken. Can we buy one?" "Hmm, maybe next time." Woman in front, buys two, asks for a separate bag. Gives one to my son: "But you gotta help your Dad preparing it". ❤️
Reposted by Jörg Broschek 🇨🇦
petercoffman.bsky.social
"I have a right to move about without the state recording my activities."

Actually, no one has a right to move about on public roads in a potentially dangerous one-ton motorized vehicle. It’s a privilege and a responsibility that requires accountability.

www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...
Opinion: Photo radar does not belong in a free society
Let the police enforce the law, not machines
www.theglobeandmail.com
jbroschek.bsky.social
Even if I don't agree with A. Coyne's columns, which happens, I usually can see where he is coming from, and I can acknowledge that he has a point. Not in this case. Maybe it's also b/c our 13yr old is biking around more independently. Not a helicopter parent here, but it makes me very anxious.
jbroschek.bsky.social
...this effective policy tool everyone there - and vulnerable road users in particular - can enjoy much more freedom to roam around. It educates drivers to adopt a safe speed instead of letting them decide via an alleged "herd intelligence" (in fact a "herd mentality") what an appropriate speed is.
A mobile speed camera in Ulm, Germany.
jbroschek.bsky.social
Also, all these European countries that have been using ASE much more broadly for decades (e.g. mobile cameras in residential areas) with significant success? 🇨🇭, 🇦🇹, 🇩🇪, 🇫🇷, 🇸🇪 etc. – “free and democratic” societies no more? Their citizens “all too complacent about the surveillance state”?

Thanks to...
jbroschek.bsky.social
"Speed limits are necessary, and a line has to be drawn somewhere. But they are also largely enforced by community standards; the police are mostly a backstop."

Speed limits are law, for good reasons. So letting drivers in SUVs, RAMs largely determine what they perceive is an appropriate speed?