Exploring the Role of Adaptive Capacity on Democratic Performance

COVID-19及其引发的经济崩溃暴露了世界各地社区居民岌岌可危的财务、教育和社会状况。经济崩溃暴露并加剧了持久的经济和社会不平等，将那些就业、住房、衣着、教育和食物都不稳定的人推向更低或无法进入的深渊，并将那些中等富裕的人推向困难的不确定性。为这一高需求/高风险人群服务的组织也受到新的资源限制、不同的适应能力以及不同水平的协作能力和根据独特的广泛需求提高绩效的挑战。这项研究侧重于两个领域：减少不平等和脆弱性，促进民主治理和政治参与。这些焦点是密不可分的，可以富有成效地进行探讨。我们一起把它们称为民主表现。该研究运用组织理论、组织行为理论、社会学理论和民主理论，重点关注适应能力、组织间关系、绩效和官僚反应，在四个国家提出了四个问题。（美国、英国、加拿大和波兰）：（RQ 1）在COVID-19大流行期间，弱势群体出现了哪些真实的和感知的健康、社会和经济福祉不平等，疫苗接种前后的变化，它们为什么会出现？(RQ2)单一和协作组织（政府，非营利组织）的适应能力如何影响（在）脆弱人群的公平结果，疫苗接种前和接种后，如个人感到排斥和信任社会支持组织？(RQ3)单一和协作的适应能力如何影响政策遵守和弱势群体的行为？(RQ4)什么样的数字化工具将促进持续的国际和国内合作，以加强全球和地方行动，减少不平等，增加决策的包容性，并加强信任和普遍的政策遵守？研究问题将通过使用定性和定量数据收集和分析工具的多个嵌入式案例研究设计来回答。主要案例将是四个大都市地区（美国亚特兰大;联合王国曼彻斯特;加拿大蒙特利尔;波兰华沙），有政府和非营利社会支助组织。这些服务包括心理健康、残疾、老年人护理、住房、就业以及家庭和儿童支助。在每个城市，总共将招募5-10个组织，并对组织领导人进行一系列深入访谈，以解决RQ 2和RQ 3。将对每个城市或大都市地区的1100名受访者进行一般人口调查，以解决RQ 1。调查结果将与研究第二阶段的调查结果进行比较，每个大都市地区至少有300名服务接受者。在该项目的最后一年和阶段，为响应第四个研究问题，所有参与的政府和非政府组织将与每个大都市地区的研究人员进行对话，共同设计一个可持续的虚拟平台，分享应对适应能力挑战的做法，以减少服务生产者和提供者与弱势和边缘化人口之间存在的民主赤字。

COVID-19, and the economic collapse triggered by it, laid bare the precarious financial, educational, and social situations of residents in communities around the world. The collapse has exposed and exacerbated enduring economic and social inequities by pushing those precariously employed, housed, clothed, educated, and fed deeper into a low or no-access abyss and pushing those who were moderately well-off into the uncertainty of hardship. Organisations that serve this high need/high-risk population have also been challenged by new resource constraints, different capacities to adapt, and various levels of capacity for collaboration and to enhance performance in light of unique, widespread need. This research focuses in two areas: reducing inequalities and vulnerabilities and fostering democratic governance and political participation. These foci are inextricably linked and can fruitfully be explored in tandem. Together, we label them as democratic performance. Using organisational theories, organisational behaviour theories, sociological theories, and democratic theories, with a focus on adaptive capacity, inter-organizational relations, performance, and bureaucratic responsiveness, the research asks four questions across four countries (US, UK, Canada and Poland): (RQ1) What health, social and economic wellbeing inequalities both real and perceived emerged for vulnerable populations during COVID-19 pandemic, pre- and post-vaccine, and why did they emerge?(RQ2) How did single and collaborative organisational (government, nonprofit) adaptive capacities affect (in)equitable outcomes for vulnerable populations, pre- and post-vaccine, such as individual felt exclusion and trust in social support organisations? (RQ3) How did single and collaborative adaptive capacities affect policy compliance and behaviour for vulnerable populations? (RQ4) What digital tools will facilitate a sustained international and domestic collaboration to enhance global and local action to reduce inequities, increase inclusion in decision-making, and strengthen trust and universal policy compliance? The research questions will be answered through a multiple embedded case study design using qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis tools. The main cases will be four metropolitan areas (Atlanta, United States; Manchester, United Kingdom; Montreal, Canada; Warsaw, Poland) with government and nonprofit social support organisations. These will include services such as mental health, disability, eldercare, housing, employment, and family and child support. In each city, a combined total of 5-10 organisations will be recruited and a series of in-depth interviews with organisational leaders will address RQ2 and RQ3. A general population survey of 1100 respondents in each city or metropolitan region will be carried out to address RQ1. The findings will be compared to those from the survey that takes place in the second stage of the research with at least 300 service recipients in each metropolitan area. In the final year and phase of the project, in response to RQ4, all participating governmental and nongovernmental organisations will engage in dialogue with researchers in each metropolitan area to co-design a sustainable virtual platform to share practices that address adaptive capacity challenges to reduce the democratic deficit that exists between service producers and providers, and vulnerable and marginalised populations.