Political Market Orientation: A Framework for Understanding Relationship Structures in Political Parties

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ormrod, Robert P.; Savigny, Heather

2012-01-01

This article is motivated by the growing need to integrate the current political science and marketing literature in order to provide a deeper understanding of the behaviour of political actors and their relationships with relevant stakeholder groups. In our article, we demonstrate how Ormrod...... strive for contextual sensitivity. By adopting this approach it is hoped that the fears noted by political scientists that political marketing is solely concerned with applying standard management models to political parties with the resulting emphasis on communication tactics at election time, together......’s conceptual model of political market orientation complements political science models of party organization by drawing attention to the competing interests of stakeholders in shaping party strategy and organizational structure. We treat parties as a multitude of actors rather than as monolithic entities...

The Political Opportunity of the Outsider

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lubinski, Christina

between developed national economies rose in the wake of World War I, as anti-­‐colonial and communist movements gained ground, and international monetary instability increased. Yet, far from retrenching from the global economy, German MNEs capitalized on the growing political risks by developing......This paper examines the political strategies of two German firms—Siemens and I.G. Farben—in interwar India as a way to consider how multinational enterprises (MNEs) deal with political risk. The interwar period was characterized by rising political risks throughout the global economy, as conflicts...

West Germany: Federal Structure, Political Influence.

Science.gov (United States)

Toogood, Alex

1978-01-01

Describes the organizational structure of the broadcasting industry in West Germany which is unique because of the federal, public, and political elements involved. Special problems that arise from this framework are discussed, including financing, programing, creative vs technical advances, concepts of production values, and political balance.…

Dams and transnational advocacy: Political opportunities in transnational collective action

Science.gov (United States)

Fu, Teng

Possible arguments to explain the gradual decline in big dam development and its site transferring from developed to developing countries include technical, economic, and political factors. This study focuses on the political argument---the rise of transnational anti-dam advocacy and its impact on state policy-making. Under what conditions does transnational anti-dam advocacy matter? Under what conditions does transnational advocacy change state dam policies (delay, scale down, or cancel)? It examines the role of transnational anti-dam actors in big dam building in a comparative context in Asia. Applying the social movement theory of political opportunity structure (POS) and using the qualitative case-study method, the study provides both within-case and cross-case analyses. Within-case analysis is utilized to explain the changing dynamics of big dam building in China (Three Gorges Dam and proposed Nu/Salween River dam projects), and to a lesser extent, Sardar Sarovar Project in India and Nam Theun 2 Dam in Laos. Different domestic and international POS (DPOS and IPOS) impact the strategies and outcomes of anti-dam advocacies in these countries. The degree of openness of the POS directly affects the capacity of transnational efforts in influencing state dam policies. The degree of openness or closure is measured by specific laws, institutions, discourse, or elite allies (or the absence of these) for the participation of non-state actors on big dam issues at a particular moment. This degree of openness is relative, varying over time, across countries and regions. This study finds that the impact of transnational anti-dam activism is most effective when both DPOS and IPOS are relatively open. Transnational anti-dam advocacy is least effective in influencing state dam policies when both DPOS and IPOS are relatively closed. Under a relatively open DPOS and closed IPOS, transnational anti-dam advocacy is more likely to successfully change state dam policies and even

New social movements and political process: The politics of hydroelectric power in Switzerland

Science.gov (United States)

Lehmann, Luzia M.

This dissertation analyzes the mobilization and impact of the ecology movement mobilizing against and challenging hydroelectric power plants in the Alps. It argues that the political process model is the most fruitful framework for such a study, linking a political system's structural constraints and opportunities to movement action via organizational resources. The mobilization process resulting in movement impact is conceived as an interactive process among social movements, authorities, other opponents, and potential counter movements. The case study method is then used to analyze three action campaigns launched against hydro power plants in Graubunden since the 1970s: Ilanz I and II, Greina, and Curciusa. In terms of the movement's narrow goal of preventing a plant, Ilanz I and II is a failure, Greina a success, and Curciusa ambiguous. Yet the author defines movement impact more broadly, including procedural, reactive and proactive substantive impact, and structural impact, changes in the alliance/conflict system, and social learning. Based on the evidence from the case studies, these factors affect movement outcome positively: visibility in the media and framing the debate, adjusting the target level and movement repertoire to the opportunity structure and the spatial concentration of the issue, proactivity, and organizational resources with a well developed division of labor, internal communication, and a non-partisan alliance system at all levels. There are two main conceptual contributions. First, the author analyzes the political opportunity structure at all levels of the federal polity--the national, cantonal, and communal--as well as the interplay among the levels. The fact that the cantonal and communal levels exhibit more elements of closure than the national level helps explain differences in movements' organizational resources, movement repertoire, targeting of movement action, and thus movement impact. Second, the author develops the spatial

eParticipation for Political Education: Challenges and Opportunities

Science.gov (United States)

Maier-Rabler, Ursula; Neumayer, Christina

This paper argues, that the incorporation of eParticipation into political education at schools will broaden the chances of young people for political and societal engagement and strengthen civil society of a country or state. Frustration with traditional party politics especially of the younger generation is increasing in contemporary society. Since the voting age in Austria was lowered to 16, new ways of learning for political education by utilizing information and communication technologies (ICTs) that have the potential to increase participation of young people are considered. However, Austrian young people are not yet educated in developing and expressing political perspectives and therefore not prepared for actively taking part in politics. Exemplified on the project Polipedia.at, a collaborative online textbook on political education, this paper aims to give recommendations from a social science perspective for integration of ICTs into political education in order to enhance political participation of youth.

The institutional structure and political economy of food distribution systems: A comparative analysis of six Eastern European countries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Esbjerg, Lars; Skytte, Hans

This paper discusses the food distribution systems of six Eastern European countries. It considers the macro and task environments of distribution systems, discussing the constraints and opportunities the environments present to companies. The institutional structure of retailing and wholesaling...... are analysed and important developments in the institutional structure are noted. The internal political economy of distribution channels in Eastern Europe is analysed and the modernisation of distribution systems discussed. Finally, some conclusions are offered and areas for future research suggested....

Post-Structuralism and Politics: towards Postmodern Balkan Studies

OpenAIRE

Sanja LAZAREVIC RADAK

2015-01-01

Although post-structuralism, on the first sight, lacks political dimension, its application to social problems expose the potential of political engagement. First, it comes from interviving linguistics and humanities, that inspired new understanding of the relationship between structure and power. While emerging from cultural studies and therefore from synthesis of history and literary criticism, studies on the Balkan, point out a role of mental images, stereotypes, discourses and therefore, ...

State Structure and Political Regime Structure

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Paul – Iulian Nedelcu

2012-05-01

Full Text Available The political regime is the concrete form of organization and functioning of political system andtherefore, the regime means the concrete way of organize, institutionalize and function a political systemand of the exercise of political power by a social-political force in a social community or global socialistem. The political regime is not limited to institutions and state bodies, but it covers the entire politicalsystem. Form of expression in social practice plan is the result of balance of forces between classes ofcitizens, organizations, between them and civil society and politics.Designates the concrete form ofgovernment formation and organization, of state bodies, in aspect of their characteristics and principles, therelations between them and other state bodies, and also as the relationship between them and otherinstitutionalized forms of political systems. Instead, the political regime is an explicit realization ofaxiological operations, a specific hierarchy of values, in general and political values, in particular. Even ifsome elements of the political regime overlap to some extent and in some respects, those of form orstructure of guvernamnt state, thus they dissolve his identity, distinct quality of being specific traits of thepolitical regime.

Danish Political Culture: Fair Conditions for Inclusion of Immigrants?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olsen, Tore Vincents

2011-01-01

and discursive opportunity structures immigrants face as ethnic and religious minorities. The article analyzes the Danish political culture with regard to the potential barriers it has for the inclusion of immigrants in national political life. It finds that the predominantly liberal, secular and republican......In the age of migration, the inclusion of immigrants in national politics is crucial for democratic reasons, and because it increases the coordination and cooperation ability of society. The informal norms, values and beliefs of the political culture are one aspect of the institutional...

Socio-political structure of Tokat at the bases of the local elections

OpenAIRE

D. Ali Arslan; Mehmet Karataş; Sadettin Baştürk; Gülten Arslan

2013-01-01

The major ofjective of this study was to examine and discuss the political structure of Tokat and its place in the general political structure of Turkish society by using methods and techniques of political sociology. Structural-functionalist approach was used as the theoretical base. In the other words the formation of political power in Tokat and the overall operation and changing regularities were investigated. Both the province of Tokat and Tokat city center selected as the sampling group...

Class and Politics in Denmark: Are Both Old and New Politics Structured by Class?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Harrits, Gitte Sommer; Prieur, Annick; Rosenlund, Lennart

2010-01-01

The trend within studies of voting and political attitudes has been to give less attention to class as a structuring dimension and more to post-material values. The basic argument of this article is that this is a false opposition: The adherence to different sets of values is related to social...... background, although in complex ways, which can only be discovered with a multidimensional conception of what class is. This conception may be found in Pierre Bourdieu's analytical approach, which we here apply in an analysis of survey data from a Danish city, Aalborg. Data from a survey of political...... the constructed space of attitudes to a set of indicators based on a two-dimensional conception of social class. On the basis of this analysis the article concludes that the political landscape appears as highly structured by the two principles of social differentiation from Bourdieu’s class model: volume...

The Growth Opportunity Channel of Debt Structure

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Giambona, E.; Golec, J.

2013-01-01

This paper studies the importance of growth opportunities for debt structure decisions. High growth firms use more unsecured debt to preserve financial flexibility (in the form of untapped secured debt capacity) in connection with future growth opportunities: the growth opportunity channel of debt

The Political Activity in the Network Environment

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Марианна Юрьевна Павлютенкова

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The rapid development and deep penetration into all areas of modern society of information and communication technologies significantly increase the role of network interactions. Network structures represented primarily social networks, embedded in the public policy process and became one of the key political actors. Online communities take the form of public policy, where the formation of public opinion and political decision-making plays the main role. Networking environment opens up new opportunities for the opposition and protest movements, civic participation, and control of public policy in general. The article gives an insight on the political aspects of social networking, concludes on the trend formation and network's strengthening of the political activity in a wide distribution of e-networking and e-communications.

Newcomers in Politics? The Success of New Political Parties in the Slovak and Czech Republic after 2010?

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Viera Žúborová

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The last election in the Slovak and Czech Republic was special. It not only took place before the official electoral period (pre-elections, but new political parties were “again” successful. The article focuses not only on both elections in the last two years in a comparative perspective, but it analyses the opportunity structure of success as well, including types of new political parties (according to Lucardie. The article seeks to answer the question: why are new political parties electorally successful, able to break into parliament and even become part of a coalition government? We assume that the emergence and success of new political parties in both countries relied on the ability to promote “old” ideas in a new fashion, colloquially referred to as “new suits” or “old” ideological flows in new breeze.

Islamic Political Thought between Justice Value and the State Structure

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Ahmed As-Sirri

2013-06-01

Full Text Available The paper discusses the relationship between state structure and the implementing of justice in the Islamic society. The shift from caliphate system to the system of royal system starting from the Umayyad Dynasty (41-132 AH / 661-750 AD made the issue of social justice highly urgent. The main question discussed was : Is there a relationship between state structure and achieving social justice? To answer this question the paper reviews the relationship between religious authorities and political authorities in the main periods of Islamic history. Based on these relations as well as the intellectual product known as the “Heritage of Islamic Political Thought”, we concluded that the classical structure of Islamic state didn’t assure the implementing of justice. In light of the forgoing idea we could also conclude that the political islamic thought used today in context of “Arab spring” does not support the aspirations of building a modern state that assures the implementing of justice as well as variety of social, cultural and political rights.

The Politics of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs Post-Reformation 1998

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Aditya Perdana

2016-01-01

. Even though CSOs have used these political opportunities, these organizations faced seriously challenges in political field such as the fragmented of CSOs to endorse many policy reform and changes. In addition, there is lack of supporting changes in political culture structures which are still continuing patronage relations legacies among political actors. This study strengthens Aspinall (2013a and Mietzner (2013 arguments about how the CSOs take political opportunity after Reformasi and their challenges and response in order to adapt in Suharto’s political legacy in two political arenas: the policy making process and electoral politics. Moreover, Indonesian CSOs are fragmented and weakened for endorsing some progressive issues in law making process in the House and their weakness to gain electoral support for winning the CSOs candidates in election. To gather relevant data about CSOs political activities in these arenas, this study applies process tracing method. The study’s findings confirm that even though there is more openness on political opportunity to participate in political arena, however, it seems that there are no supporting changes in political structures which are patronage relations among political actors. Therefore, Indonesian CSOs are fragmented and weakened for endorsing some progressive issues in law making process in the House and their weakness to gain electoral support for winning the CSOs candidates in election.  

Nuclear politics: Exploring the nexus between citizens movements and public policy in Japan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tabusa, K.

1992-01-01

This dissertation analyzes the relationship between the grass-roots antinuclear movement and nuclear energy policy in Japan. In particular, it seeks to explain the lack of impact of the grass-roots antinuclear movement on Japanese nuclear energy policymaking. To explain the lack of political pressure exerted, the author focuses on the lack of open-quotes political opportunitiesclose quotes for the movement. Past studies on antinuclear movements and nuclear energy policymaking of the Western countries indicate that such opportunities are provided in the processes of parliamentary politics, bureaucratic rivalries, central-local governmental conflicts, and judicial intervention in the resolution of political conflicts. The author's study argues that closed political opportunity structure of the Japanese political system has separated the grass-roots antinuclear movement from the national nuclear energy policymaking process by imposing constraints on the development and achievement of the movement. The research shows that: (1) the nature of party conflicts (balance of power and idealogy) in the Japanese parliament tends to discourage the representation of antinuclear interests by opposition parties; (2) the government has successfully prevented antinuclear groups from interfering with the licensing and regulatory processes; and (3) the local governments and courts have failed to intervene in the nuclear energy conflict on behalf of antinuclear groups. The closed opportunity structure has also led the movement to stress the mobilization of public opinion rather than manipulation of institutional access to the policymaking process as its strategy. In addition to well-publicized protest activities and mass demonstrations, electoral campaigns and litigation have also become activities primarily designed to appeal to the public, which has so far failed to indicate strong support for the antinuclear movement

What Structures and Mechanisms Promote Women's Political ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The primary objective of this study was to compare the different structures and mechanisms used in South Africa and Cameroon to promote gender equality and women's empowerment in leadership position. The unit of analysis was parliament, political parties and government. A purposively sample of 120 participants, ...

Socio-political structure of Mersin at the basis of the results of the local elections

OpenAIRE

D. Ali Arslan

2012-01-01

It was aimed to investigate the political structure of Mersin and its place in the general political structure of Turkey by using methods and techniques of political sociology. Structural-functionalist was used as the theoretical base. To achieve this goal, the results of the Turkish local elections in last 50 years (were examined. First of all, the formation of political power in Turkey and the overall operation and changing regularities at the bases of the local elections were evaluated. Se...

Analyzing online political discussions: Methodological considerations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vergeer, M.R.M.; Hermans, E.A.H.M.

2008-01-01

Online political discussions are thought to lead to more political engagement and empowerment of peripheral groups in society and thereby contributing to deliberative citizenship. Because people have increased opportunities to voice their political opinions and publish these for a potentially large

Political ideology: its structure, functions, and elective affinities.

Science.gov (United States)

Jost, John T; Federico, Christopher M; Napier, Jaime L

2009-01-01

Ideology has re-emerged as an important topic of inquiry among social, personality, and political psychologists. In this review, we examine recent theory and research concerning the structure, contents, and functions of ideological belief systems. We begin by defining the construct and placing it in historical and philosophical context. We then examine different perspectives on how many (and what types of) dimensions individuals use to organize their political opinions. We investigate (a) how and to what extent individuals acquire the discursive contents associated with various ideologies, and (b) the social-psychological functions that these ideologies serve for those who adopt them. Our review highlights "elective affinities" between situational and dispositional needs of individuals and groups and the structure and contents of specific ideologies. Finally, we consider the consequences of ideology, especially with respect to attitudes, evaluations, and processes of system justification.

The Many Faces of Equal Opportunity

Science.gov (United States)

Temkin, Larry S.

2016-01-01

The ideal of equality of opportunity plays an important role in contemporary social and political discourse, and it is one of the few ideals which most people, across the political spectrum, accept. In this article, I argue that the seemingly widespread agreement about the value of equal opportunity is more apparent than real. I distinguish…

The structure of political elite networks in the Republic of Poland in 1993—2013

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Fidrya Efim

2013-12-01

Full Text Available To identify the structure of network ties within Polish political elites; to study the features of network ties formation and the impact that both primary and labour socialisation periods and diaspora characteristics have on this process; to describe the structural features of the resultant network structures over different periods of time and analyse the structural dynamics of political elites for the purpose of forecasting major trends in the structural transformation of Polish political elites. In the course of the study, biographical data on the presidents, ministers, advisors, and party leaders of the Republic of Poland was collected and processed. The work follows the network analysis paradigm and identifies the dynamics of the key network parameters: distance, density, transitivity, and compactness. The author analyses the dynamics of representation in the structure of political territorial diaspora elites, business community members, and ‘moral politicians’. The article identifies two periods of formation of political party networks in Poland: the first period (1993—2007 saw a transition from rather weakly integrated systems to high density and cohesion networks as early as the second electoral cycle, after which a gradual decrease in the key indices of network integration was registered. A new peak of network cohesion and integration was reached in 2007—2011; however, the death of some key members of political elites in a plane crash resulted in a decrease in the network integration indices to the level of 2001—2005. On the whole, the network structure of Polish political elite is characterised by unstable dynamics relating to the crisis events of the past. However, it is established that the elites have a pronounced diaspora core and an unstable periphery; the share of businesspeople directly participating in political processes is decreasing, whereas ‘moral politicians’ usually take an active part in the formation of

Political control and perceptions of corruption in Icelandic local government

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Gunnar Helgi Kristinsson

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Political control is an important value of democratic governance and without it democratic accountability can hardly mean much. This is why a number of authors have seen politicization of public service appointments and greater control by the centre as a potential counterweight against trends in recent decades towards more networked and less hierarchical organizational forms of directing public policy. It may help to reassert democratic control. The option of strengthening political control, however, has not been much studied with regard to its likely effects on corruption. Power has the potential to corrupt unless adequately controlled and strengthening political power in a networked environment may create a structure of temptation which conventional deterrents to corruption are unable to curb. The impact of strong political leadership on corruption is here studied in the context of Icelandic local government, making use of institutional variations in the office of Mayor, which provide a unique opportunity for testing the effects of strong political control on corruption. The analysis indicates that municipalities with strong political mayors are likely to be associated with perceptions of corruption even when other factors, such as the structure of temptation and deterrents, are accounted for.

Performing Femininity in Japanese Politics: Chikage Ogi Case Study

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Alison Luke

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Women’s access to the political sphere in Japan has been limited by structural constraints which perpetuate their roles primarily as housewives and mothers. Some women who seek to become professional politicians use these images of traditional femininity as a deliberate tactic in political campaigns to provide a culturally acceptable way for them to express their political views. This paper analyses the life of Chikage Ōgi, a Japanese politician who was once a Takarazuka actress, in order to develop a deeper understanding of the ways in which gender-role expectations restrict women’s access to opportunities throughout their life course and the pragmatic ways that women strive to achieve their goals despite this. Ōgi used the performance skills she developed during her time as an actress to enhance her political image and fulfil her political ambitions. This paper highlights Ōgi’s creativity in enacting agency in Japan’s male-dominated political sphere and demonstrates the complex ways she both upheld and subverted gender norms in order to achieve political longevity.

Party Political Panthers: Hegemonic Tamil Politics and the Dalit Challenge

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Hugo Gorringe

2011-12-01

Full Text Available The Viduthalai Ciruthaigal Katchi (VCK, Liberation Panther Party has successfully transformed from the largest Dalit movement in Tamil Nadu into a recognised political organisation. Social movement theorists like Gamson (1990 view political recognition and engagement as one of the main aims and successes of social mobilisation. Despite the obvious achievements of the VCK, however, activists and commentators express disappointment or disillusionment with its performance. The Panthers clearly reject the caste hierarchy, but they increasingly adopt hegemonic forms of politics which can undermine their aims. This paper, thus, engages with the questions of movement institutionalisation by tracing the political trajectory of the VCK and charting its resistance to and compliance with Dravidian hegemony. It argues that institutionalisation needs to be understood within particular socio-political contexts and notes how the hegemony of Dravidian politics partly explains the disjuncture between activist and political perceptions. It portrays how the dominant political parties have set the template for what it means to ‘do’ politics in Tamil Nadu which serves as both an opportunity and a constraint for potential challengers.

Political significance of knowledge in Southeast Europe.

Science.gov (United States)

Slaus, Ivo

2003-02-01

The processes of globalization and transition are inevitable, full of dangers and threats, but offer enormous opportunities. Surveys of public opinion show that citizens are not aware of the fact that their countries are governed by the will of the people and a large majority considers that their country and the world are not going in the right direction. Presently, knowledge is becoming a dominant political power. This article outlines a strategy for building a knowledge-based society to minimize dangers, avoid threats, and take advantage of most of the opportunities, bringing a concrete action plan for Croatia, applicable to countries with similar history and socioeconomic structure.

New politics, an opportunity for maternal health advancement in eastern myanmar: an integrative review.

Science.gov (United States)

Loyer, Adam B; Ali, Mohammed; Loyer, Diana

2014-09-01

Myanmar (formerly Burma) is a southeast Asian country, with a long history of military dictatorship, human rights violations, and poor health indicators. The health situation is particularly dire among pregnant women in the ethnic minorities of the eastern provinces (Kachin, Shan, Mon, Karen and Karenni regions). This integrative review investigates the current status of maternal mortality in eastern Myanmar in the context of armed conflict between various separatist groups and the military regime. The review examines the underlying factors contributing to high maternal mortality in eastern Myanmar and assesses gaps in the existing research, suggesting areas for further research and policy response. Uncovered were a number of underlying factors uniquely contributing to maternal mortality in eastern Myanmar. These could be grouped into the following analytical themes: ongoing conflict, health system deficits, and political and socioeconomic influences. Abortion was interestingly not identified as an important contributor to maternal mortality. Recent political liberalization may provide space to act upon identified roles and opportunities for the Myanmar Government, the international community, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in a manner that positively impacts on maternal healthcare in the eastern regions of Myanmar. This review makes a number of recommendations to this effect.

OPENNESS AND CLOSEDNESS OF THE POLITICAL SYSTEMS THAT CAUSED THE ARAB SPRING

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Hamid Bouyahi

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Most of the analysis of the Arab spring revolved around the immediate causes of the events and the role of social media in spreading the protests, in countries that succeeded in toppling their regimes. For this reason, this study adopts a different approach to tackle the long-term development of the Political opportunity structures that set the grounds for the emergence of these movements. To avoid the bias of focusing only on movements that succeeded, the paper compares the conditions of the emergence of the Egyptian movement that toppled the Mubarak regime in eighteen days, to the Moroccan movement that faded after a year of weekly protests. Instead of discussing the immediate context in which the movements appeared, or the course of events that the movements followed, the paper adopts a historical approach to review the pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial historical, economic and political developments that created different structures of opportunity and threat in each of the two countries.

Dynamic capital structure and political patronage: the case of Malaysia

OpenAIRE

Ebrahim, M. Shahid; Girma, Sourafel; Shah, M. Eskandar; Williams, Jonathan

2014-01-01

This paper investigates the effect of political patronage on firms' capital structure. The evidence is from Malaysia, a country characterised by relationship-capitalism, and covers 1988 to 2009. Using a system GMM estimator we find firms set leverage targets and adjust towards them following deviations at the rate of 28% per annum. Next, we construct a natural experiment and use a difference-in-differences model to investigate if the strategic financing decisions of politically patronised fir...

The Paradox of Equal Opportunities

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Mitja Sardoč

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The basic assumption of the idea of equal opportunities is based on the assertion that all individuals competing for an advantaged social position should have equal opportunities, i.e., that each and every one of them should have fair opportunities to achieve a particular goal. Despite the fact that equal opportunities is one of the basic mechanisms for a just distribution of advantageous social positions, the idea of fair equality of opportunity remains divided between different competing political projects, e.g., egalitarian liberalism, libertarian political theory, multiculturalism, etc. This paper examines two basic dimensions of equal opportunities to which existing conceptions fail to offer a unanimous answer, i.e., a the issue of fairness and b the issue of the currency of fairness. The concluding part of this paper presents two basic paradoxes that determine both the direction of the discussion as well as the possible solutions to the achievement of fair equal opportunities as part of any process for competing for advantageous social positions.

Comparing Critical Capitalist Commodity Chains in the Early Twenty-first Century: Opportunities For and Constraints on Labor and Political Movements

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Elizabeth Sowers

2015-08-01

Full Text Available There have been a number of critical historical opportunities for labor to exert power by interrupting long distance flows of commodities at the extraction, processing, and transport stages. This vulnerability has been used by workers in these industries to gain higher wages and better working conditions and to achieve political goals in national and international arenas. In this paper, we compare two commodity chains that are critical components of the global economy. The first, which we describe as transport, is a broad category involving a range of manufactured goods, whose delivery to customers around the world was fundamentally changed in the past fifty years via "containerization" and "the logistics revolution." The second is oil and gas, which also has experienced recently dramatic changes in both extraction (via "tar sands" and "[racking" and transportation. In each case, we discuss possibilities and challenges for labor and political organizing to disrupt capital in these key commodity chains. We identify the "stakes" in each commodity chain by demonstrating the vulnerabilities on which labor and political organizations/movements could capitalize, which usually stem from the capital intensity and global integration of each critical commodity chain. These vulnerabilities are the factors which form the most basic opportunities for organizing in these sectors. Our analysis further suggests that while transport and raw materials remain vulnerable nodes in capitalist commodity chains, there are also constraints and challenges to be faced by labor and social movement organizations (SMOs that might attempt to leverage power over these circuits of the world-economy.

Spaghetti Politics: Local Electoral Systems and Alliance Structure in Italy, 1984-2001

Science.gov (United States)

Parigi, Paolo; Bearman, Peter S.

2008-01-01

This article describes the impact of the Italian electoral reforms of 1993 on the structure of local political alliances. The reform, which moved Italy from a purely proportional representation system to a mixed, largely majoritarian system, was designed to increase transparency, reduce corruption, limit the number of political parties, and create…

Generation of global political priority for early childhood development: the challenges of framing and governance.

Science.gov (United States)

Shawar, Yusra Ribhi; Shiffman, Jeremy

2017-01-07

Despite progress, early childhood development (ECD) remains a neglected issue, particularly in resource-poor countries. We analyse the challenges and opportunities that ECD proponents face in advancing global priority for the issue. We triangulated among several data sources, including 19 semi-structured interviews with individuals involved in global ECD leadership, practice, and advocacy, as well as peer-reviewed research, organisation reports, and grey literature. We undertook a thematic analysis of the collected data, drawing on social science scholarship on collective action and a policy framework that elucidates why some global initiatives are more successful in generating political priority than others. The analysis indicates that the ECD community faces two primary challenges in advancing global political priority. The first pertains to framing: generation of internal consensus on the definition of the problem and solutions, agreement that could facilitate the discovery of a public positioning of the issue that could generate political support. The second concerns governance: building of effective institutions to achieve collective goals. However, there are multiple opportunities to advance political priority for ECD, including an increasingly favourable political environment, advances in ECD metrics, and the existence of compelling arguments for investment in ECD. To advance global priority for ECD, proponents will need to surmount the framing and governance challenges and leverage these opportunities. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Energy market opportunities post-Maui

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saha, G.

1995-01-01

As supply from the Maui and other existing producing fields decline, petroleum explorers and developers need to address the question who will be the indigenous oil and gas customers post Maui? This paper discusses major macro- and micro-environmental trends which will influence likely market opportunities. Two sub-markets are examined. First, what trends impact on current oil and gas customers. Second, what other new customers might arise. The macro-environment trends cover important economic, political, legislation, socio-economic and technical parameters. The micro-environment trends cover energy market structures and pricing parameters. (Author)

Bioethical ambition, political opportunity and the European governance of patenting: the case of human embryonic stem cell science.

Science.gov (United States)

Salter, Brian; Salter, Charlotte

2013-12-01

Scientific progress in the life sciences is dependent on the governance of tensions between the economic potential of the innovation and the cultural response from society. Ownership of the scientific innovation through patenting is a necessary part of the realization of its economic value yet, in the case of human embryonic stem cell (hESC) science, ownership of the human body and human life may offend fundamental cultural values. In the case of transnational patenting governance by the European Patent Office (EPO) and the European Union (EU), cross-national cultural conflict in the field of hESC science has produced a political demand for a form of governance that can incorporate ethical as well as economic judgements in its decision making. This paper explores how bioethics has responded to this opportunity to establish itself as a form of expert authority for the negotiation and resolution of the cultural conflict. In so doing, it shows how the political struggle that has accompanied this bid for new governance territory has been influenced both by the political tensions between the EPO and EU systems of patenting governance and the resistance of competing experts in law and science to a bioethical presence. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Legal and Political Obstacles and Opportunities for Successful Nuclear Projects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yanovskiy, M.

2014-01-01

Every business suffers from excessive regulations, unpredictable changes in legislation, various kinds of the political rent, extorting practices like 'big business social responsibility' and more. The industries with long-term return-of-investment (ROI) are most vulnerable to political and legal risks. For the nuclear industry, long-lasted public perception of radiation as an imminent threat caused the present over-regulation look natural. Therefore ROI is above two decades, essentially precluding private entrepreneurship activity. While durable solution includes changing public perception and updating regulation, both are 'facts on the ground' and 'habits are hard to break'. Political alliances, appeal to public opinion and lobbying are legitimate methods for promoting industry's interests in a democratic state. However in case of the nuclear industry, bureaucratic and political interests seem too strong to be overpowered by regular lobbying activities. Durable solutions we are searching for should not only eliminate the present legal and political obstacles, but also prevent them in near- to middle-term future. Such solutions would mitigate risks and remove barriers in number of industries, including nuclear industry as well. Particularly, 'not in my backyard' (NIMBY) attitude to nuclear installations is often viewed as a formidable problem. However, this problem has pretty old and reliable solution via compensation for real estate devaluation, if such takes place. Such solution may preclude some projects, but makes others predictable and reliable (e.g. in sparsely populated or relatively poor areas)

Political Science and Political Geography: Neglected Areas, Areas for Development.

Science.gov (United States)

Laponce, J. A.

1983-01-01

Since at least the 1950s, political scientists have tended to ignore the possible contributions of political geography to political science because of a move away from considering spatial factors on political structure. Political scientists need to use more information from geography to enhance their understanding of political power and conflict.…

The politics of researching global health politics

Science.gov (United States)

Rushton, Simon

2015-01-01

In this comment, I build on Shiffman’s call for the global health community to more deeply investigate structural and productive power. I highlight two challenges we must grapple with as social scientists carrying out the types of investigation that Shiffman proposes: the politics of challenging the powerful; and the need to investigate types of expertise that have traditionally been thought of as ‘outside’ global health. In doing so, I argue that moving forward with the agenda Shiffman sets out requires social scientists interested in the global politics of health to be reflexive about our own exercise of structural and productive power and the fact that researching global health politics is itself a political undertaking. PMID:25905482

Political legitimacy and approval of political protest and violence among children and adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Funderburk, C

1975-06-01

A question of general theoretical relevance for political socialization research concerns the role played by basic political orientations in structuring specific political opinions. This report investigates the relationship between beliefs in the legitimacy of political objects and approval of political protest and violence among a sample of children and adolescents. The setting for the research was a Florida town. Four aspects of political legitimacy are defined and measured. Measures of approval of political protest and political violence are distinguished conceptually and empirically. Beliefs in political legitimacy are shown to be of considerable importance in structuring opinions about political violence but have little impact on opinions about protest.

Politics, Security, Theory

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wæver, Ole

2011-01-01

theory is found to ‘act politically’ through three structural features that systematically shape the political effects of using the theory. The article further discusses – on the basis of the preceding articles in the special issue – three emerging debates around securitization theory: ethics......This article outlines three ways of analysing the ‘politics of securitization’, emphasizing an often-overlooked form of politics practised through theory design. The structure and nature of a theory can have systematic political implications. Analysis of this ‘politics of securitization......’ is distinct from both the study of political practices of securitization and explorations of competing concepts of politics among security theories. It means tracking what kinds of analysis the theory can produce and whether such analysis systematically impacts real-life political struggles. Securitization...

Heritability in political interest and efficacy across cultures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Klemmensen, Robert; Hatemi, Peter K; Hobolt, Sara B

2012-01-01

Interest in politics is important for a host of political behaviors and beliefs. Yet little is known about where political interest comes from. Most studies exploring the source of political interest focus on parental influences, economic status, and opportunity. Here, we investigate an alternative....... These findings add to the growing body of literature that documents political behaviors and attitudes as not simply the result of socialization, but also as part of an individual's genetically informed disposition....

POLITICAL AND EDUCATIONAL LOGISTICS IN STRUCTURAL ASSESSMENT OF VARIOUS STATES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Evgeny Aleksandrovich Zhitnov

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The aim. The theoretical and methodological foundations of political and educational logistics and also qualimetric models that characterize the role of the educational system in the structural assessment of states will be created. The method or methodology of the paper. The research is based on educational and economic theories and concepts; this study involves a wide range of cross-disciplinary approaches including the tools of pedagogy, political science, economics, economic sociology etc. The results. The results of the work are about making an attempt to create an integral model of assessing the state development level based on a wide range of various informative data, including different indicators. The field of application. The results of the research can be used in pedagogical, economic, political practices where it is required to assess the level of state development both in a separate and integral aspects.

Political Budget Cycles

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Aaskoven, Lasse; Lassen, David Dreyer

2017-01-01

The political budget cycle—how elections affect government fiscal policy—is one of the most studied subjects in political economy and political science. The key theoretical question is whether incumbent governments can time or structure public finances in ways that improve their chances of reelec......The political budget cycle—how elections affect government fiscal policy—is one of the most studied subjects in political economy and political science. The key theoretical question is whether incumbent governments can time or structure public finances in ways that improve their chances...... on political budget cycles have recently focused on conditions under which such cycles are likely to obtain. Much recent research focuses on subnational settings, allowing comparisons of governments in similar institutional environments, and a consensus on the presences of cycles in public finances...

The politics of federal-state relations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dravo, A.N.

1986-01-01

States' ability to reject siting of high-level waste repositories has rested on politics, technical judgement and the potential that procedural error could disqualify a project. Prior to enactment of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, sites were rejected through parochial political action in Congress. The NWPA limited the ability of states to receive parochial assistance, but did not eliminate the potential for Congressional politics to dominate programmatic decisions. Technical and procedural opportunity for affecting siting have, however, increased

Political communication research

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Rasmus Kleis

2014-01-01

The rise of new media and the broader set of social changes they are part of present political communication research with new challenges and new opportunities at a time when many think the field is at an intellectual impasse (e.g., Bennett & Iyengar, 2008). In this article, I argue that parts...... of the field’s problems are rooted in the way in which political communication research has developed since the 1960s. In this period, the field has moved from being interdisciplinary and mixed-methods to being more homogenous and narrowly focused, based primarily on ideas developed in social psychology......, certain strands of political science, and the effects-tradition of mass communication research. This dominant paradigm has contributed much to our understanding of some aspects of political communication. But it is struggling to make sense of many others, including questions concerning people’s experience...

Negotiating the New Media Platforms: Youth and Political Images in Kenya

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Lynete Lusike Mukhongo

2014-03-01

Full Text Available New media platforms, particularly social networks act as vehicles for visual representation of a nation’s political discourse among the youth. Web 2.0 has created online spaces (private and public that have been appropriated by Kenyan youth, locally, and in the Diaspora to weave their own political narratives and present them in forums that accommodate their views without fear of censorship or regulation that characterises “offline” communications. Using post structuralism, with emphasis on Roland Barthes “Death of the Author” and “Camera Lucida”, the article critically analyses how cultural values affect the interpretation of online political images from Kenya, by internet users from different culture zones. Further, the article discusses whether political images posted by the youth in Kenya on their online private spaces can be used to promote political stereotypes, subjectivities and perpetuate visual hegemonies; or whether it allows the youth to circumvent government surveillance tactics and afford nations an opportunity to correct the media hegemony by rewriting their own stories on a platform that is not just national, but transnational

``Political'' Science

Science.gov (United States)

Berzak Hopkins, Laura

2013-03-01

Politics and policy affect all of us, both as scientists and as citizens, and issues ranging from laboratory budgets to arms control treaties clearly require research problem-solving skills and technical expertise. There is a critical role for scientists in each aspect of the political system, and in fact, we as a society need more scientists to take part in politics. Furthermore, the research we pursue has important societal applications and is fascinating! We have a right and a responsibility to share our scientific knowledge not only with each other, but with the general public as well. So, why are we as a community of scientists reticent in the public arena, hesitant to enter politics, and even at times unsupportive of our peers who transition into governmental roles? In this time of fiscal constraint, when difficult research funding (and de-funding) choices are regularly being made, we as scientists must step up to the plate, reach across the aisle, and explain why what we do is fascinating, inspiring, and important, not just to us, but to society as a whole. A range of policy-relevant roles exists inside and outside the laboratory, such as Congressional Fellowships. Each year the Congressional Fellowships program brings together approximately thirty scientists at all stages of their careers to serve as scientific advisors in a variety of offices in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. Although the jump from lab to lobbying meetings can be frustrating, the transition can also be intriguing. Firsthand experience with the ``how'' and ``why'' (or lack thereof) of politics and policy is invaluable and provides a unique opportunity to expand and broaden one's background. The opportunity to work on Capitol Hill is unparalleled, particularly because our nation has a definite need for scientists with the inclination and interest to inform and develop policy. But, whatever role you decide to take, from contributing scientific news to local publications to

Gender inequality in education : political institutions or culture and religion?

OpenAIRE

Cooray, Arusha; Potrafke, Niklas

2010-01-01

We investigate empirically whether political institutions or culture and religion underlie gender inequality in education. The dataset contains up to 157 countries over the 1991-2006 period. The results indicate that political institutions do not significantly influence education of girls: autocratic regimes do not discriminate against girls in denying educational opportunities and democracies do not discriminate by gender when providing educational opportunities. The primary influences on ge...

Political Challenges and Opportunities to Climate Change Mitigation: A View from the Front Lines

Science.gov (United States)

Weaver, A. J.

2014-12-01

some of the political opportunities and challenges associated with efforts to ensure political decision-makers consider the long term consequences of their climate and energy policy while balancing a myriad other immediately-pressing issues.

Opportunity Structure for Gambling and Problem Gambling among Employees in the Transport Industry

Science.gov (United States)

Revheim, Tevje; Buvik, Kristin

2009-01-01

Working conditions for employees in the transport sector might present an opportunity structure for gambling by providing access to gambling during the workday. This study investigates connections between opportunity structure, gambling during the workday, and gambling problems among employees in the transport sector. Data has been collected from…

The Fourth Age of Political Communication: Democratic decay or the rise of phronetic political communication?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter Aagaard

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The ‘fourth age’ of political communication is emerging. In the fourth age the logics of media and digitization shapes the public sphere, because algorithms and polarized drama increasingly determine what we become aware of in digital and mass media. The result may very well be a less informed public sphere. The emerging class of policy professionals has the opportunity to mix the logics of mediatization and digitization. While such a mix may very well lead to democratic decay, based on elitism, it may also hold fruitful potentials for a more democratic and ethical type of political communication, called phronetic political communication.

Digital Politics: Mobilization, Engagement, and Participation

OpenAIRE

Koc-Michalska, K.; Lilleker, Darren

2017-01-01

The article provides insights into the driving forces that underpin new forms of political participation. Digital technologies offer opportunities for engaging in a wide range of civicallyoriented activities, each of which can contribute to deeper democratic engagement. Conventional acts of political participation are argued to be driven primarily by intrinsic motivations relating to self-efficacy and empowerment with participants feeling they can have influence over decision makers. Little r...

Recent Economic Perspectives on Political Economy, Part II*

Science.gov (United States)

Dewan, Torun; Shepsle, Kenneth A.

2013-01-01

In recent years some of the best theoretical work on the political economy of political institutions and processes has begun surfacing outside the political science mainstream in high quality economics journals. This two-part paper surveys these contributions from a recent five-year period. In Part I, the focus is on elections, voting and information aggregation, followed by treatments of parties, candidates, and coalitions. In Part II, papers on economic performance and redistribution, constitutional design, and incentives, institutions, and the quality of political elites are discussed. Part II concludes with a discussion of the methodological bases common to economics and political science, the way economists have used political science research, and some new themes and arbitrage opportunities. PMID:23606754

Playful Politics: Developing a Framework for Designing Video Games for Political Participation in the United Kingdom

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew James Reid

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Political participation in the United Kingdom among young voters (aged 18-24 has steadily declined over the past two decades. Alongside this decline, video game popularity has meteorically risen among the same demographic, resulting in video games becoming increasingly more integrated within modern society. While these instances are not necessarily related, there is opportunity to explore the use of video games’ popularity to increase political participation.The basis of this research is to investigate video games as a medium for social change, and its application within a political context in order to encourage political participation in the United Kingdom. The research intends to critically analyse existing video game design theories with implications of social impact, such as transformative design, procedural rhetoric, ethical design, persuasive principles and the theory of play.This research has assisted in the development of the Political Design Framework, a design methodology that provides ethical definition and validation for video games that intend to promote political engagement.

Politics of sustainability in the Arctic (POSUSA)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gad, Ulrik Pram; Jakobsen, Uffe; Strandsbjerg, Jeppe

The concept of sustainability is of central importance in Arctic politics. However, for different actors (governments, indigenious peoples, NGOs) the concept implies different sets of precautions and opportunities. Sustainability, therefore, is much more a fundamental concept to be further...... elaborated than a definable term with a specific meaning. This is the core hypothesis in a collective research project, the POSUSA project (Politics of Sustainability in the Arctic) that aims to map and analyse the role of sustainability in various political and economic strategies in the Arctic....

Politics of Sustainability in the Arctic

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gad, Ulrik Pram; Jakobsen, Uffe; Strandsbjerg, Jeppe

2017-01-01

The concept of sustainability has become central in arctic politics. However, there is little agreement on what ‘sustainable’ means. For different actors (governments, indigenous people, NGOs, etc.) the concept implies different sets of opportunities and precautions. Sustainability, therefore...... the role of sustainability in political and economic strategies in the Arctic. Sustainability has become a fundamental concept that orders the relationship between the environment (nature) and development (economy), however, in the process rearticulating other concepts such as identity (society). Hence, we...... to outline an agenda for how to study the way in which sustainability works as a political concept....

Comparing Political Communication

OpenAIRE

Pfetsch, Barbara; Esser, Frank

2012-01-01

This chapter describes the maturation of comparative political communications as a sub-discipline and defines its conceptual core. It then lays out the concept of “political communication system”. At the macro-level, this model captures the patterns of interaction between media and politics as social systems; at the micro-level it captures the interactions between media and political actors as individuals or organizations. Comparative research in this tradition focuses on the structure of pol...

Rehabilitating health services in Cambodia: the challenge of coordination in chronic political emergencies.

Science.gov (United States)

Lanjouw, S; Macrae, J; Zwi, A B

1999-09-01

The end of the Cold War brought with it opportunities to resolve a number of conflicts around the world, including those in Angola, Cambodia, El Salvador and Mozambique. International political efforts to negotiate peace in these countries were accompanied by significant aid programmes ostensibly designed to redress the worst effects of conflict and to contribute to the consolidation of peace. Such periods of political transition, and associated aid inflows, constitute an opportunity to improve health services in countries whose health indicators have been among the worst in the world and where access to basic health services is significantly diminished by war. This paper analyzes the particular constraints to effective coordination of health sector aid in situations of 'post'-conflict transition. These include: the uncertain legitimacy and competence of state structures; donor choice of implementing channels; and actions by national and international political actors which served to undermine coordination mechanisms in order to further their respective agendas. These obstacles hindered efforts by health professionals to establish an effective coordination regime, for example, through NGO mapping and the establishment of aid coordinating committees at national and provincial levels. These technical measures were unable to address the basic constitutional question of who had the authority to determine the distribution of scarce resources during a period of transition in political authority. The peculiar difficulties of establishing effective coordination mechanisms are important to address if the long-term effectiveness of rehabilitation aid is to be enhanced.

THE POLITICAL SYSTEM IN THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA: EVOLUTIONS, VULNERABILITIES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR MODERNIZATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MÎNDRU VALERIU

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The article analyzed the evolution of the political system in Moldova. The authors note three stages of the formation and consolidation of the political system in the country which have directly infl uenced the political domain and democratization of the society. The analysis is based on the legislative experience of other countries and the opinions of experts.

Expansive Learning and Chicana/o and Latina/o Students' Political-Historical Knowledge

Science.gov (United States)

Pacheco, Mariana

2009-01-01

This article examines how Chicana/o and Latina/o youth employed their political-historical knowledge to "talk back" to the xenophobia and political contradictions that underlie the (im)migration "debate." A literacy unit that honed bilingual students' everyday translating created opportunities for students to utilize this political-historical…

Political psychology.

Science.gov (United States)

Stone, Susanna; Johnson, Kate M; Beall, Erica; Meindl, Peter; Smith, Benjamin; Graham, Jesse

2014-07-01

Political psychology is a dynamic field of research that offers a unique blend of approaches and methods in the social and cognitive sciences. Political psychologists explore the interactions between macrolevel political structures and microlevel factors such as decision-making processes, motivations, and perceptions. In this article, we provide a broad overview of the field, beginning with a brief history of political psychology research and a summary of the primary methodological approaches in the field. We then give a more detailed account of research on ideology and social justice, two topics experiencing a resurgence of interest in current political psychology. Finally, we cover research on political persuasion and voting behavior. By summarizing these major areas of political psychology research, we hope to highlight the wide variety of theoretical and methodological approaches of cognitive scientists working at the intersection of psychology and political science. WIREs Cogn Sci 2014, 5:373-385. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1293 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. The authors have declared no conflicts of interest for this article. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The political spectacle phenomenon on the political scene of Bosnia and Herzegovina

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Vučetić Vuk

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This paper will examine the phenomenon of political spectacle in BiH. Our goal is to recognize the structure of political spectacle in BiH political scene and point out the functions and objectives of this relatively new term in the media and the political sphere. In this regard, we have observed a political spectacle as a method of political communication of the rulers to the ruled. A very important element of the political spectacle is the media. With the media promotion of this method of political communication achieves its full capacity. The final outcome of the political spectacle is reflected in manipulating the public. In this way the politicians try to remain in power as long as they can.

Political institutions and the development of telecomunications

OpenAIRE

Andonova, Veneta Stefanova; Díaz Serrano, Lluís

2006-01-01

It has traditionally been argued that the development of telecommunications infrastructure is dependent on the quality of countries’ political institutions. We estimate the effect of political institutions on the diffusion of three telecommunications services and find it to be much smaller in cellular telephony than in the others. By evaluating the importance of institutions for technologies rather than for industries, we reveal important growth opportunities for developing countries and offe...

Health system strengthening in Myanmar during political reforms: perspectives from international agencies.

Science.gov (United States)

Risso-Gill, Isabelle; McKee, Martin; Coker, Richard; Piot, Peter; Legido-Quigley, Helena

2014-07-01

Myanmar has undergone a remarkable political transformation in the last 2 years, with its leadership voluntarily transitioning from an isolated military regime to a quasi-civilian government intent on re-engaging with the international community. Decades of underinvestment have left the country underdeveloped with a fragile health system and poor health outcomes. International aid agencies have found engagement with the Myanmar government difficult but this is changing rapidly and it is opportune to consider how Myanmar can engage with the global health system strengthening (HSS) agenda. Nineteen semi-structured, face-to-face interviews were conducted with representatives from international agencies working in Myanmar to capture their perspectives on HSS following political reform. They explored their perceptions of HSS and the opportunities for implementation. Participants reported challenges in engaging with government, reflecting the disharmony between actors, economic sanctions and barriers to service delivery due to health system weaknesses and bureaucracy. Weaknesses included human resources, data and medical products/infrastructure and logistical challenges. Agencies had mixed views of health system finance and governance, identifying problems and also some positive aspects. There is little consensus on how HSS should be approached in Myanmar, but much interest in collaborating to achieve it. Despite myriad challenges and concerns, participants were generally positive about the recent political changes, and remain optimistic as they engage in HSS activities with the government.

Socio-political structure of Turkey in general elections (since 1950 up to 1980)

OpenAIRE

Ali Arslan

2007-01-01

This study aims to analyse socio-political structure of Turkish society at the basis of the results of Turkish General elections since 1950 up to 1980. Documentary and historical research techniques will be employed during the study.

Incorporation of Islamic Institutions into Political Structure of the Golden Horde and post-Golden Horde States »

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roman Pochekaev

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The article is dedicated to basic directions and mechanisms of incorporation of Islamic administrative and legal institutions into the Jochid Ulus. As this state included regions with well developed Islamic traditions, individual manifestations of influence of Islam on political and legal realities of the Golden Horde took place since the first stage of existing of this state. However, only after official conversion of the Jochid ulus to Islam during the reign of Uzbek Khan (in the 1320s Islamic political and juridical institutions became an integral part of state and legal structure of the Golden Horde. Their role substantially increased in the time of crisis of imperial state and legal system after disintegration of the Mongol Empire and then of its successors, the Chinggisid states. Influence of Islamic institutions on political and legal relations of the Golden Horde and post-Golden Horde states became apparent in different aspects. At first, it was participation of representatives of Islamic administration in executive power including tax collection: such functions of them are confirmed by yarliks of khans of the Golden Horde, as well as of the Crimean and Kazan khanates. Secondly, Islamic judges, the qadis were integrated into court system of the Golden Horde and later, within the post-Golden Horde states, they even ousted imperial judges, the jarguchis. Third, powerful representatives of Islamic clergy became participants of qurultays, where the khans were elected, and the ceremony of enthronement was supplemented by the oath of a new khan on Koran under their influence. At last, Islamic clergymen participated actively in diplomatic activity of the post-Golden Horde states and acted as mediators between rivals who pretended for the throne in the Jochid states. No doubts, the rise of influence of Islam and Islamic clergy in political and legal life of the later Golden Horde and post-Golden Horde states could be explained, from one side, by

Redesigning Civic Education for the Digital Age: Participatory Politics and the Pursuit of Democratic Engagement

Science.gov (United States)

Kahne, Joseph; Hodgin, Erica; Eidman-Aadahl, Elyse

2016-01-01

The digital revolution has enabled important changes in political life. Opportunities to engage in "participatory politics" have expanded significantly. Participatory politics differ from institutional politics in that they are peer-based, interactive, and not guided by deference to traditional elites and institutions. These changes…

Getting closer: the effects of personalized and interactive online political communication

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kruikemeier, S.; van Noort, G.; Vliegenthart, R.; de Vreese, C.H.

2013-01-01

Political parties and politicians increasingly use the possibilities of the Internet to communicate interactively with citizens and vice versa. The Internet also offers opportunities for individual politicians to profile themselves. These developments are often said to bring politics closer to

Data Science and Political Economy: Application to Financial Regulatory Structure

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Sharyn O'Halloran

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The development of computational data science techniques in natural language processing and machine learning algorithms to analyze large and complex textual information opens new avenues for studying the interaction between economics and politics. We apply these techniques to analyze the design of financial regulatory structure in the United States since 1950. The analysis focuses on the delegation of discretionary authority to regulatory agencies in promulgating, implementing, and enforcing financial sector laws and overseeing compliance with them. Combining traditional studies with the new machine learning approaches enables us to go beyond the limitations of both methods and offer a more precise interpretation of the determinants of financial regulatory structure.

Obesogenic environment – intervention opportunities

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Mauro Fisberg

2016-05-01

Conclusion: Intervention opportunities are related to modifications in political, environmental, and individual settings. School and physical activities in the educational environment are intertwined with nutrition intervention in continuous education. A critical review of some different scenarios in Latin American countries is presented.

The American Imprint on Alberta Politics

Science.gov (United States)

Wiseman, Nelson

2011-01-01

Characteristics assigned to America's classical liberal ideology--rugged individualism, market capitalism, egalitarianism in the sense of equality of opportunity, and fierce hostility toward centralized federalism and socialism--are particularly appropriate for fathoming Alberta's political culture. The author contends that Alberta's early…

Education and the political

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Korsgaard, Morten Timmermann

This paper presents the controversial separation of education from the realm of the political as proposed by Hannah Arendt. For the sake of children and the future of the world, we must, according to Arendt, separate education from the political. If we do not do so, we not only expose our children...... to the blinding light of public existence before they are prepared for such exposure but also risk imposing on them our beliefs and prejudices, thus robbing them of the opportunity to create something new. By reading Arendt’s argumentation for the separation as developmental and temporal, Gert Biesta is able...... to claim that this separation is based on a psychological misunderstanding and that it renders children incapable of political action. I propose here that, by considering the separation instead to be a question of protection, not only can we heed the two essences of education that Arendt articulates...

The Political Structure at Basra Gulf in the Period of Ali b. Ebu Talib and Yezid b. Muaviye

OpenAIRE

Taner YILDIRIM

2011-01-01

At this work about the political structure of the Basra Gulf, we dwelled upon the general geography of the district and its political history. The political situation of the district in this period is assessed in a way that comprises especially the period of Hz. Ali the fourth caliph of early islamic period Muaviya, the first Emevi caliph, and his son Yazid in the light of political developments in that period. When we took up Gulf of Basra we saw that the region of the Gulf is a very importa...

Fostering marginalized youths' political participation: longitudinal roles of parental political socialization and youth sociopolitical development.

Science.gov (United States)

Diemer, Matthew A

2012-09-01

This study examines the roles of parental political socialization and the moral commitment to change social inequalities in predicting marginalized youths' (defined here as lower-SES youth of color) political participation. These issues are examined by applying structural equation modeling to a longitudinal panel of youth. Because tests of measurement invariance suggested racial/ethnic heterogeneity, the structural model was fit separately for three racial/ethnic groups. For each group, parental political socialization: discussion predicted youths' commitment to produce social change and for two groups, longitudinally predicted political participation. This study contributes to the literature by examining civic/political participation among disparate racial/ethnic groups, addresses an open scholarly question (whether youths' commitment to create social change predicts their "traditional" participation), and emphasizes parents' role in fostering marginalized youths' civic and political participation.

Where does political influence go when austerity sets in?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Sune Welling; Houlberg, Kurt; Holm Pedersen, Lene

Economic crisis is argued to be an opportunity to push through political changes, which otherwise can be difficult to make. Fiscal austerity is likely to change the political agenda and in some cases also the coalitions which can be formed. Based on the asymmetric distribution of preferences...... level down to the subnational level it becomes possible to make an empirical contribution to the discussion on how austerity affects political influence. We examine the case of Danish local government and make use of a time-series cross-sectional dataset consisting of two independent surveys of elected...... guardians, who ‘should not waste a good crisis to make political changes’ because their political influence is increasing in times of austerity....

New opportunities for future tourism after 25 years of political and socioeconomic transformation – foresight in Poland’s tourism planning

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Matylda Awedyk

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the changes in political and socioeconomic conditions after 25 years of transformation and how it provided to adopt new methodology in tourism planning. It shows the possibilities offered by the use of the foresight process in planning the development of tourism in Poland. Since one of the main foresight goals is to identify trends, the paper takes attempt to verify trends that occurred in Poland after 1989 and if they have now and will have in the near future influence on Polish tourism. Detailed objective is to characterize the systemic transformation and its impact on the tourism economy. Design/methodology/approach – Paper is the review, which used literature, legislation and strategic documents query. It also includes comparative analysis. Findings – The analysis of the political and economic changes that have taken place in Poland over the last 25 years shows that they were positive for the development of tourism base. The impact of globalization and global trends is now clearly noticeable also in Poland. Political and economic changes allow the use of foresight methodology in studies on the future of tourism while maintaining its main attributes: anticipation, participation, action, networking, vision. Research limitations/implications – The analysis included the impact of political changes and social trends on the tourist economy. Proposals that show the positive aspects of these changes relate to tourism and present extensive opportunities to create scenarios, both at the national and regional levels. Practical implications – The analysis forms the basis for the activities of tourism entities in Poland. It shows the characteristics for the future of the tourism market particularly the demand side. Social implications – The analysis of changes in systemic and social trends enables anticipation of changes in tourism as a social phenomenon. Originality/value – The paper

Structural health and the politics of African American masculinity.

Science.gov (United States)

Metzl, Jonathan M

2013-07-01

This commentary describes ways in which notions of African American men's "health" attained by individual choice-embedded in the notion that African American men should visit doctors or engage in fewer risky behaviors-are at times in tension with larger cultural, economic, and political notions of "health." It argues that efforts to improve the health of Black men must take structural factors into account, and failure to do so circumvents even well-intentioned efforts to improve health outcomes. Using historical examples, the article shows how attempts to identify and intervene into what are now called social determinants of health are strengthened by addressing on-the-ground diagnostic disparities and also the structural violence and racism embedded within definitions of illness and health. And, that, as such, we need to monitor structural barriers to health that exist in institutions ostensibly set up to incarcerate or contain Black men and in institutions ostensibly set up to help them.

Political Ecologies of Global Health: Pesticide Exposure in Southwestern Ecuador's Banana Industry.

Science.gov (United States)

Brisbois, Ben Wesley; Harris, Leila; Spiegel, Jerry M

2018-01-01

Pesticide exposure in Ecuador's banana industry reflects political economic and ecological processes that interact across scales to affect human health. We use this case study to illustrate opportunities for applying political ecology of health scholarship in the burgeoning field of global health. Drawing on an historical literature review and ethnographic data collected in Ecuador's El Oro province, we present three main areas where a political ecological approach can enrich global health scholarship: perceptive characterization of multi-scalar and ecologically entangled pathways to health outcomes; critical analysis of discursive dynamics such as competing scalar narratives; and appreciation of the environment-linked subjectivities and emotions of people experiencing globalized health impacts. Rapprochement between these fields may also provide political ecologists with access to valuable empirical data on health outcomes, venues for engaged scholarship, and opportunities to synthesize numerous insightful case studies and discern broader patterns.

Women and Politics – The Glass Ceiling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irina Zamfirache

2010-03-01

Full Text Available The role of women in modern politics is a subject that needs further insight, considering the growthin number of women that nowadays have relevant political positions on the international stage.There are studies today that emphasize the equality issue and all that is gender role related, but ourinterest is to analyze the women representation in power related positions. Due to the fastmodernization of the political environment and the rapid spreading of the feminist way of thought,several authors took interest in the gender differences in politics. The article follows some keydimensions in understanding the gender-role in politics: the glass ceiling, the role of the media indrawing the image of the woman politician, the gender affinity effect. In the end we would like topoint out the differences for men and women in exploiting the opportunities and securing the positions of power.

Politics and Power in Global Health: The Constituting Role of Conflicts

Science.gov (United States)

Askheim, Clemet; Heggen, Kristin; Engebretsen, Eivind

2016-01-01

In a recent article, Gorik Ooms has drawn attention to the normative underpinnings of the politics of global health. We claim that Ooms is indirectly submitting to a liberal conception of politics by framing the politics of global health as a question of individual morality. Drawing on the theoretical works of Chantal Mouffe, we introduce a conflictual concept of the political as an alternative to Ooms’ conception. Using controversies surrounding medical treatment of AIDS patients in developing countries as a case we underline the opportunity for political changes, through political articulation of an issue, and collective mobilization based on such an articulation. PMID:26927399

[Political psychology].

Science.gov (United States)

Resch, Mária; Bella, Tamás

2013-04-21

In Hungary one can mostly find references to the psychological processes of politics in the writings of publicists, public opinion pollsters, philosophers, social psychologists, and political analysts. It would be still important if not only legal scientists focusing on political institutions or sociologist-politologists concentrating on social structures could analyse the psychological aspects of political processes; but one could also do so through the application of the methods of political psychology. The authors review the history of political psychology, its position vis-à-vis other fields of science and the essential interfaces through which this field of science, which is still to be discovered in Hungary, connects to other social sciences. As far as its methodology comprising psycho-biographical analyses, questionnaire-based queries, cognitive mapping of interviews and statements are concerned, it is identical with the psychiatric tools of medical sciences. In the next part of this paper, the focus is shifted to the essence and contents of political psychology. Group dynamics properties, voters' attitudes, leaders' personalities and the behavioural patterns demonstrated by them in different political situations, authoritativeness, games, and charisma are all essential components of political psychology, which mostly analyses psychological-psychiatric processes and also involves medical sciences by relying on cognitive and behavioural sciences. This paper describes political psychology, which is basically part of social sciences, still, being an interdisciplinary science, has several ties to medical sciences through psychological and psychiatric aspects.

Life politics, nature and the state: Giddens' sociological theory and The Politics of Climate Change.

Science.gov (United States)

Thorpe, Charles; Jacobson, Brynna

2013-03-01

Anthony Giddens' The Politics of Climate Change represents a significant shift in the way in which he addresses ecological politics. In this book, he rejects the relevance of environmentalism and demarcates climate-change policy from life politics. Giddens addresses climate change in the technocratic mode of simple rather than reflexive modernization. However, Giddens' earlier sociological theory provides the basis for a more reflexive understanding of climate change. Climate change instantiates how, in high modernity, the existential contradiction of the human relationship with nature returns in new form, expressed in life politics and entangled with the structural contradictions of the capitalist state. The interlinking of existential and structural contradiction is manifested in the tension between life politics and the capitalist nation-state. This tension is key for understanding the failures so far of policy responses to climate change. © London School of Economics and Political Science 2013.

Socio-political structure of samsun at the bases of the results of the local elections since 1960

OpenAIRE

D. Ali Arslan

2006-01-01

This study aims to analyze socio-political structure of Samsun at the basis of the results of Turkish Local elections since 1963 up to 1984. Also, the place of Samsun in the Turkish political life will be examined, and the similarities-differences with the whole Turkish society will be discussed. Documentary and historical research techniques will be used during the study.

The Concept “Trans-Regional Political Institution”

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Дмитрий Федорович Гуринович

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Considered in the paper transregional Institute, they are a new political format in the development of the multidimensionality of the conditions of contemporary globalization. The BRICS is increasingly developing global opportunities for effective, intensive and equitable international cooperation not only in the interests of the participating countries, but also ensure a maximum level of stability, security and progress of the world system, its progressive and steady development. The study of various aspects of TRANS-regional development of modern political institution, represented by the BRICS, is caused by the fact that the mechanism of its development depends not only on economic interests but also on political stability and regional cooperation of its member countries.

Political Economy of Finance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Perotti, E.

2013-01-01

This survey reviews how a recent political economy literature helps explaining variation in governance, competition, funding composition and access to credit. Evolution in political institutions can account for financial evolution, and appear critical to explain rapid changes in financial structure,

An Empirical Examination of Ownership Structure, Earnings Management and Growth Opportunities in Mexican Market

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Juan Manuel San Martín Reyna

2013-07-01

Full Text Available This paper analyses the influence of ownership structure, board and leverage on the earnings management when companies either face, or do not face, profitable growth opportunities for a sample of 90 listed Mexican firms during the period 2005-2009. The results confirm the relevance of debt and board of directors in terms of earnings management by showing a positive relationship between earnings management and both board of directors and leverage in the presence of growth opportunities. In contrast, this relationship becomes negative when firms have no profitable investment projects. The results also demonstrate the relevance of controlling shareholders on earnings management under a growth opportunity setting.Therefore, our results show that ownership structure, composition and size of board and leverage play a dual role: reduce the earnings management when there are no investments projects, but impact positively in presence of growth opportunities.

Political Market Orientation and Strategic Party Postures in Danish Political Parties

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ormrod, Robert P.; Henneberg, Stephan

2011-01-01

Purpose – This paper investigates the relationship between the strategic postures and political market orientation profile of two Danish parties. Profile stability at the organisational level is used as a control variable. Design/methodology/approach – The strategic political postures of two Danish...... are used to control for organisational stability. Findings – The self-typing study revealed that Party A was perceived to follow a Relationship Builder posture, and Party B a Convinced Ideologist posture. However, both market orientation profiles resembled the organisational structures of a Convinced...... in the political sphere. More specifically it empirically links political market orientation as an issue of political marketing implementation on the one hand, and strategic postures of parties as a strategic issue on the other, following a configuration theory logic. Research limitations...

Reconstructing the political : a study on contemporary Alevi politics from a generative structuralist perspective

OpenAIRE

Göker, Emrah

1999-01-01

Ankara : The Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Bilkent University, 1999. Thesis (Master's) -- Bilkent University, 1999. Includes bibliographical references. The thesis, fırstly, introduces and engages in a critica! relationship with the sociological theory (namely, generative structuralism) of Pierre Bourdieu, retbinking his understanding of politics as a "field". For this purpose, the theory of ageney within the paradigm of generative structuralism ...

Structural Analysis of Lexical Bundles in University Lectures of Politics and Chemistry

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Hadi Kashiha

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Referred to as extended collocations, lexical bundles are considered as a main factor in building fluency in academic discourse; helping to shape meaning and coherence in a text or speech. For decades, lexical bundles have attracted considerable amount of attention in corpus-based research in English for Academic Purposes (EAP. While, the focus of the most of the studies on lexical bundles was to explore the use of these multi-word expressions in academic written registers such as research articles, academic spoken registers such as university lectures have not received that amount of attention from the scholars. In this vein, there is still an open question of how they are structurally different across disciplines. With these concerns in mind, this study aimed to explore how lexical bundles are used structurally in a 50291 words corpus of 8 university lectures across two disciplines: chemistry and politics. To this aim, the most frequent four-word bundles in the corpus were classified according to their grammatical types to see the possible disciplinary variations in their frequency of use as well as the structure involved in their use. Results of the analysis revealed that noun phrase and prepositional phrase fragments were the most common structures in the lectures of the two disciplines, accounting for more than half of the bundles in politics. University lecturers appear to apply a variety of structures in the use of lexical bundles often peculiar to the discipline in order to convey their disciplinary messages.  This would lead to the need to emphasize the instruction of the most common structures in that discipline in a way for the lectures to be as comprehensive as possible for the intended audiences.

Political Participation and Power Relations in Egypt

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shehata, Mostafa

2017-01-01

The political use of media in Egypt post-2011 revolution brought about drastic transformations in political activism and power structures. In the context of communication power theory, this article investigates the effects of newspapers and social network sites on political participation...... and political power relations. The research employed a mixed methodology, comprised of a survey of 527 Egyptian youth and semi-structured interviews of 12 political activists and journalists. The results showed a significant relationship between reading newspapers and youth’s political participation......, but not between using social network sites and political participation. In addition, newspapers and social network sites were platforms for a series of conflicts and coalitions that emerged between pro- and anti-revolution actors. Despite the importance of social network sites as key tools for informing...

BLOGS ARE THE ELEMENTS OF POLITICAL FIELD

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Юлия Игоревна Нестеренок

2014-05-01

Full Text Available The article analyzes the influence of blogosphere on the political process. The author studies political mechanisms of public policy-making through the activity of political blogs. The article also grounds the choice of the research tools and shows that the Internet is becoming, in contrast to the other media platforms, the territory of free self-expression.The article analyses and summarizes different communication theories and defines blogs’ role in a modern political and communication space.The application of modern Internet technologies and the development of other mass media encourage the formation of different representational images of political events.During the study different types of communicative interaction in different types of democracy are represented in the article, and as well the increase of Internet community role’s influence on the modern political process.Democratic reforms are inevitably linked with the increase of public political activity, where one of the forms of expression of one’s opinion is political blogging.In a modern political space one can note a new generation of consumers of media goods with skills, talents, interest and enthusiasm to use the opened opportunities of creating and transforming the continent. In the summary we point out that modern political process differs the appearance of new determinants of mass media development as well as the development of other communication facilities.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12731/2218-7405-2013-10-44

Foreign oil companies weathering Peru's political crisis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1992-01-01

This paper reports that foreign oil companies are weathering Peru's political crisis, and the outlook for increased foreign participation in Peru's petroleum sector remains promising. There has been improvement in the political turmoil and soured international relations that followed President Alberto Fujimori's Apr. 5 suspension of Peru's Congress, charging political corruption and attempts to block his fiscal reforms. But there are fresh concerns over an increase in terrorism aimed at oil industry facilities by antigovernment guerrilla groups in Peru. Meanwhile, state-owned oil company Petroleos del Peru (Petroperu) continues efforts to sell assets as part of Fujimori's mandated privatization program. And foreign companies continue to grapple with uncertainty and bureaucratic red tape in chasing investment opportunities in Peru's beleaguered but opening petroleum sector

Political ecology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Strohm, H.

1979-01-01

Using facts and examples, this didactically structures textbook gives an insight into the extent and consequences of the damage to the environment, with the subjects - fundamentals of ecology; - population and food problems; - the energy problem; - economic growth; scarcity of resources, recycling; - ground, water, and air pollution, - city and traffic problems; - work protection and medical care; - political alternatives and 'soft technologies'. The analysis of the political and economic reasons is combined with social and technical alternatives from which demands to be made and measures to be taken can be derived for individuals, citizens' interest groups, political groups and trade unions. Teaching models intend to help teachers to work on specific problems of ecology. (orig.) [de

Structural elements in achieving legislative tobacco control in NSW, 1955-95: political reflections and implications.

Science.gov (United States)

Hooker, Claire; Chapman, Simon

2006-02-01

To analyse structural factors revealed by politicians that shaped legislation on tobacco control in New South Wales, 1955-95. Parliamentary debates and other records were collected. Open-ended interviews were conducted with 17 Members of Parliament (MPs) who were significantly involved, and then analysed for structural elements. Tobacco industry lobbying had a significant but limited influence on policy making, being exerted largely through social interactions with executives and based on concerns about the economic impact on third parties. MPs saw health advocates' chief functions as (1) generating community concern about the issue and support for control measures, and (2) bringing any new information to political attention, providing pro-control arguments and data through the media. Factors that delayed tobacco control policies included: the conservative stance of Premiers and major parties, commitments to unanimous federal action, and rivalry between parties. Factors that facilitated control policies included: reforms that gave the Legislative Council increased power, the use of parliamentary committees, and backbencher and grass roots support. Tobacco control policy and legislation has been the product of political structures that gave power to those MPs in the least powerful positions--minor parties, Members of the Legislative Council (MLCs), backbenchers, women and party rank and file--rather than to major parties and their executives. Advocates should make the most of their access points to the political process, providing information, arguments and support and demonstrating public opinion in favour of further control.

Women's Political Representation and Participation in Decentralized ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Huairou Commission User

facilitate people's participation in national development through ensuring sound local level politics. • RC evolved into local councils which then led to the implementation of decentralization through the local government act (1997). • This policy has provided opportunities for women to participate in local leadership from.

Some General Considerations Regarding the Implications of the Changing of Electoral System upon the Structure of Political Élites in Romania

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Marcela Monica Stoica

2011-05-01

Full Text Available This paper is innovating the theory of elités in the way it was configured by the Central and Eastern European thinking (researches and studies because it is focused on the way the changing of the electoral system influences the structure of political parliamentary elités. This study aims at revealing the connection between the electoral system and the structure of political élites, and it is based on two sociological researches that took place in the Romanian Parliament (Chamber of Deputies in two different chronological and political moments. The first chronological moment was in October 2008 and the second was in November 2009. The political moments are given by the presence of two different types of electoral systems. In the first research, the political élites analyzed belonged to a parliament elected by a proportional representation system (PR on closed lists, and in the second, the elections took place by „uninominal” system. It is shown that the change of electoral system from a period to another does determines the strategy of behavior of the political parliamentary élites and, implicitly, the functioning of parliamentary democracy through the political decisions that shape a certain behavior of élites.

MAPPING CHILDREN'S POLITICS: SPATIAL STORIES, DIALOGIC RELATIONS AND POLITICAL FORMATION.

Science.gov (United States)

Elwood, Sarah; Mitchell, Katharyne

2012-03-01

This article confronts a persistent challenge in research on children's geographies and politics: the difficulty of recognizing forms of political agency and practice that by definition fall outside of existing political theory. Children are effectively "always already" positioned outside most of the structures and ideals of modernist democratic theory, such as the public sphere and abstracted notions of communicative action or "rational" speech. Recent emphases on embodied tactics of everyday life have offered important ways to recognize children's political agency and practice. However, we argue here that a focus on spatial practices and critical knowledge alone cannot capture the full range of children's politics, and show how representational and dialogic practices remain a critical element of their politics in everyday life. Drawing on de Certeau's notion of spatial stories, and Bakhtin's concept of dialogic relations, we argue that children's representations and dialogues comprise a significant space of their political agency and formation, in which they can make and negotiate social meanings, subjectivities, and relationships. We develop these arguments with evidence from an after-school activity programme we conducted with 10-13 year olds in Seattle, Washington, in which participants explored, mapped, wrote and spoke about the spaces and experiences of their everyday lives. Within these practices, children negotiate autonomy and self-determination, and forward ideas, representations, and expressions of agreement or disagreement that are critical to their formation as political actors.

Opportunity structures for adult educators to acquire (pedagogical) qualifications in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Milana, Marcella

2009-01-01

The contribution aims at mapping initial education and training opportunities for Danish adult educators and to examine key structural features that characterise professionalization processes in the field. The analysis highlights that little attention is being paid on initial qualifications of ad...

Structure of Political Success Factors as an Indicator of Political Direction in Electoral System Development

OpenAIRE

Panina, Nataliia

2005-01-01

The article presents a conceptual model of democratic electoral system development and analysis of empirical data on factors of political success in the electoral situation. Various participants of the electoral process (population, politicians, journalists, government employees, analysts-politologists) evaluated the political success factors; and comparative analysis of these evaluations made it possible to determine the main vectors (“reverse” and “manipulative-mystifying”) affecting deviat...

Maternal role rewards, opportunity costs and fertility.

OpenAIRE

Oppong C

1982-01-01

ILO pub-WEP pub. Working paper comprising a literature survey of interrelations between women's social role, maternity and fertility - discusses the social theory background, opportunity cost of children, economic, political, psychic and social status, role rewards, conflicts, etc. Bibliography pp. 35 to 47 and references.

How Internal Political Efficacy Translates Political Knowledge Into Political Participation

Science.gov (United States)

Reichert, Frank

2016-01-01

This study presents evidence for the mediation effect of political knowledge through political self-efficacy (i.e. internal political efficacy) in the prediction of political participation. It employs an action theoretic approach—by and large grounded on the Theory of Planned Behaviour—and uses data from the German Longitudinal Election Study to examine whether political knowledge has distinct direct effects on voting, conventional, and/or unconventional political participation. It argues that political knowledge raises internal political efficacy and thereby indirectly increases the chance that a citizen will participate in politics. The results of mediated multiple regression analyses yield evidence that political knowledge indeed translates into internal political efficacy, thus it affects political participation of various kinds indirectly. However, internal political efficacy and intentions to participate politically yield simultaneous direct effects only on conventional political participation. Sequentially mediated effects appear for voting and conventional political participation, with political knowledge being mediated by internal political efficacy and subsequently also by behavioural intentions. The mediation patterns for unconventional political participation are less clear though. The discussion accounts for restrictions of this study and points to questions for answer by future research. PMID:27298633

Realize a world of opportunity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Christie, J.

2000-01-01

The Export Development Corporation (EDC) is a federal government-owned financial institution established to support Canadian firms of all sizes in the pursuit of international trade and investment opportunities. EDC is doing business in over 200 countries, worth over $40 billion. Over 5,000 Canadian companies were using EDC products and services in 1999. EDC offers accounts receivable insurance, contract insurance, political risk insurance and various financial products such as direct buyer loans, lines of credit, guarantees for bonds, access to surety services, and limited recourse structured finance. In evaluating a prospective transaction, EDC looks for assurances of the Canadian exporter's capability to deliver as promised, a credit-worthy counter-party, the viability of the project including, when deemed necessary, an environmental review, and benefits to Canada. CDM projects and environmental projects in general are within the mandate of EDC, provided they meet EDC's normal due diligence and analysis requirements

Politics and Power in Global Health: The Constituting Role of Conflicts: Comment on "Navigating Between Stealth Advocacy and Unconscious Dogmatism: The Challenge of Researching the Norms, Politics and Power of Global Health".

Science.gov (United States)

Askheim, Clemet; Heggen, Kristin; Engebretsen, Eivind

2015-10-15

In a recent article, Gorik Ooms has drawn attention to the normative underpinnings of the politics of global health. We claim that Ooms is indirectly submitting to a liberal conception of politics by framing the politics of global health as a question of individual morality. Drawing on the theoretical works of Chantal Mouffe, we introduce a conflictual concept of the political as an alternative to Ooms' conception. Using controversies surrounding medical treatment of AIDS patients in developing countries as a case we underline the opportunity for political changes, through political articulation of an issue, and collective mobilization based on such an articulation. © 2016 by Kerman University of Medical Sciences.

Implementing the Kyoto mechanisms. Political barriers and path dependence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Woerdman, E.

2002-01-01

The objective of the research on the title thesis is to identify and explain political barriers as well as the opportunities to overcome them. Special attention is paid to permit trading, because it is the superior alternative according to neo-classical economic theory. The author's approach is a combination of (1) political science, (2) (neo-)institutional economics and (3) law and economics. An innovative theoretical framework is presented by transforming lock-in theory from a technological and economic context to an institutional context against the background of the political barrier model. This theoretical framework allows to explain the functioning of these political barriers (including institutional, legal and cultural ones), for instance in terms of path-dependencies, positive feedbacks and set-up costs. Empirical analyses are performed to test (parts of) the theory

The Internet, Political Communications Research and the Search for a New Information Paradigm

Science.gov (United States)

Chiu, William Franklin

2013-01-01

The Internet, as a digital record of human discourse, provides an opportunity to directly analyze political communicative behavior. The rapid emergence of social online networks augurs a transformation in the quality and quantity of information people have to evaluate their political system. Digital formats instantiate new categories of actors and…

The challenges and factors of political socialization of the contemporary youth

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N М Belgarokova

2009-09-01

Full Text Available The article provides the analysis of the conditions and results of the processes of political culture development and political socialization of the contemporary youth in the frame of sociological research. The analysis of the conflicting influences of the agents of political socialization (family, system of education, mass media, the difficult circumstances and the challenging economic status of the contemporary Russian youth as well as the macropolitical environment in the country provides an opportunity to arrive at the conclusion concerning the socialization crisis of youth in contemporary Russia.

Character of the mutual perception of the political system and the environment as a criterion of the political security

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. V. Ishchenko

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Political security is connected with the lack of external and internal threats, or the reduction of their severity. The maintenance of the internal public security should start from the explanation of the nature of the relationship between the political and institutional structures and most active social groups. The author suggests using a mental construct as an indicator of conflict/harmony in this sphere. It has been proposed to implement this idea by comparing the mental constructs of political institutions and social environment. One of the methods to implement this idea has been revealed in the article. This method is based on the search of leading values which are characterizing basic political and institutional structures and social environment. Two components have been described in the mental constructor: rational and irrational. Moreover, the formula, that makes it possible to compare and evaluate the congruence of mental constructs of political and institutional structures and the environment on the basis of the detected values, has been suggested. The advantage of this formula is its flexibility. Consequently, it can describe the features of social and political interaction in all political systems. The regularity has four components. The first component describes the level of implementation of the social environment’s values being a result of certain internal and external policies. It contains a self-assessment of individuals - representatives of the social environment level of its own value system’s implementation. Moreover, the author takes into account the assessment of the political and institutional structures that is given by these individuals. Individuals assess these structures in connection to the actions and decisions aimed at the implementation of public interests and values. The second component of the formula describes the level of implementation and the congruence of values of basic political and institutional

Digital Media Shapes Youth Participation in Politics

Science.gov (United States)

Kahne, Joseph; Middaugh, Ellen

2012-01-01

Will those who Tweet vote? Social media clearly create new opportunities for voice, for agency, and potentially for influence. But they create risks as well, because there is no reason to assume that engagement with participatory politics will inevitably or organically develop in positive ways. That's where schools come into the picture, playing…

Understanding political market orientation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ormrod, Robert P.; Henneberg, Stephan C.

influences of such behavior. The study includes structural equation modeling to investigate several propositions. While the results show that political parties need to focus on several different aspects of market-oriented behavior, especially using an internal and external orientation as cultural antecedents......This article develops a conceptual framework and measurement model of political market orientation that consists of attitudinal and behavioural constructs. The article reports on perceived relationships among different behavioral aspects of political market orientation and the attitudinal......, a more surprising result is the inconclusive effect of a voter orientation on market-oriented behaviours. The article discusses the findings in the context of the existing literature in political marketing and commercial market orientation....

Formation of the Institute of Youth Political Elite in the Context of Political Transformation in the Russian Federation

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Виктория Александровна Мясоедова

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The article discusses the features of the formation of the institute of youth political elite in the Russian Federation. The author proved that the formation of youth political elites directly dependent on the fulfillment of opportunities and professional development of representatives of the youth community and requires a systematic campaign in the formation of the young man and his political socialization. Revealed aspects in the context of which it is necessary to consider the formation of the institute of youth political elite: the socio-economic, political, cognitive. Proposed key methods and forms of interaction between state institutions with the younger generation. The conditions, the implementation of which is necessary for the formation of the institute of youth political elites in Russia: the current administrative and managerial elite has to be aware of the need to create such an elite institution for young people; the existence of regulatory and organizational methods of the activities of youth leaders; a reflection of the youth leader action together communicative interactions; subject-object position of the individual in the current political process of socialization; foster civic political culture, "foundation" which are the concepts of citizenship and patriotism. In conclusion, it is concluded that the development of the political system of education and the building of the Institute of Youth elites should be based on scientific and sociological studies of actual data, reflecting the dynamics of the youth mentality and preferences. A special attention on the part of government actors should be given new urgency to inclusion of young people in the processes of formation of state policy.

Activism and the Online Mediation Opportunity Structure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Uldam, Julie

2013-01-01

The annual United Nations (UN) Framework Convention on Climate Change conferences provides a transnational mediation opportunity structure for activist networks to contest policies that favor market-based models for solving the climate crisis. Online technologies, including commercial social media......, have arguably increased possibilities for being involved in protests on a transnational level. However, this article shows how online modes of action privilege lobbying tactics over civil disobedience tactics, arguing that the former is often incommensurate with an anticapitalist climate approach...... to climate change activism. This impedes possibilities for using online media to protest at the radical end of the climate justice movement spectrum. This article explores this interrelationship between activist demands and (online) modes of action through a focus on the mobilization efforts of London...

Women Making Politics in Rural Senegal

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Prag, Ebbe

Since the Senegalese local elections in 1996, women have increasingly entered the local political arena in rural councils and municipalities. This book addresses the question of how women act politically, what interests they defend and how they influence resource allocation. The author argues...... that structural changes have opened space for resourceful women to enter local politics. However women's mobilisation does not radically break with the clientelist and factional dynamics of Senegalese politics. Women leaders often start their career in party politics as result of co-optation by male political...... leaders, but they do not continue as passive objects of male manipulation. Senegalese female politicians demonstrate that they are capable of taking up political positions using the local women's groups and the Women's Federation as political backyard and support. They create networks that can...

Explaining British Political Stability After 1832

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Donagh Davis

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Though not its main focus, Goldstone's Revolution and Rebellion in the Early Modern World (1991 threw considerable new light on 19th century Europe's revolutions and near-revolutions. While Goldstone stresses the role of an expanding and industrializing economy in absorbing 19th century England's demographic shocks, we accept this analysis but argue alongside it for similar attention to the vector of emigration, settler-colonialism, and imperial state expansion into which at least some of the exhaust fumes of the population explosion were vented. Furthermore, it is important to note the crucial role of a highly interventionist state and 'big' government in the background to these dynamics—a far cry from the light-touch, laissez-faire qualities with which the 19th century British state is often associated. To make our case, this article takes advantage of secondary literature and raw data not available prior to the publication of Goldstone's book. Of crucial importance here is our unique dataset of fatality-inducing political violence events in Britain and Ireland from 1785 to 1900. This is the first research paper to utilise this dataset. We draw upon this in the following section, which seeks to establish what the real level of political instability was in 19th century Britain—thus cross-referencing Goldstone's account with more recent data—before moving on in the following section to a more detailed overview of the socio-economic conditions underlying events at the political level. This is followed by our account of the emigration-settler-colonialism-imperial state expansion vector and the interventionist state policy behind it, which we argue was crucial to making 19th century Britain relatively 'revolution-proof'—alongside the expanding economic opportunities rightly highlighted by Goldstone. Lastly come our brief concluding remarks, which lay out the implications, as we see them, of this article's findings for research on

The politics of welfare state retrenchment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Starke, Peter

2006-01-01

Welfare state retrenchment is widely seen as a highly unpopular endeavour and, therefore, as politically difficult to pursue. This assumption has underpinned most of the political science research on this issue, notably Paul Pierson's seminal contributions about the 'new politics of the welfare...... state'. Yet, the question remains why and under what circumstances cutbacks take place in highly developed welfare states despite these formidable political obstacles. This article reviews the literature on the politics of retrenchment, namely on the impact of socio-economic problem pressure, political...... parties, political institutions, welfare state structures and ideas. Most authors agree that socio-economic problems - particularly domestic problems - contribute to an atmosphere of 'permanent austerity' which inspires cutbacks. Moreover, according to most scholars, the extent of retrenchment possible...

MAPPING CHILDREN’S POLITICS: SPATIAL STORIES, DIALOGIC RELATIONS AND POLITICAL FORMATION

Science.gov (United States)

Elwood, Sarah; Mitchell, Katharyne

2015-01-01

This article confronts a persistent challenge in research on children’s geographies and politics: the difficulty of recognizing forms of political agency and practice that by definition fall outside of existing political theory. Children are effectively “always already” positioned outside most of the structures and ideals of modernist democratic theory, such as the public sphere and abstracted notions of communicative action or “rational” speech. Recent emphases on embodied tactics of everyday life have offered important ways to recognize children’s political agency and practice. However, we argue here that a focus on spatial practices and critical knowledge alone cannot capture the full range of children’s politics, and show how representational and dialogic practices remain a critical element of their politics in everyday life. Drawing on de Certeau’s notion of spatial stories, and Bakhtin’s concept of dialogic relations, we argue that children’s representations and dialogues comprise a significant space of their political agency and formation, in which they can make and negotiate social meanings, subjectivities, and relationships. We develop these arguments with evidence from an after-school activity programme we conducted with 10–13 year olds in Seattle, Washington, in which participants explored, mapped, wrote and spoke about the spaces and experiences of their everyday lives. Within these practices, children negotiate autonomy and self-determination, and forward ideas, representations, and expressions of agreement or disagreement that are critical to their formation as political actors. PMID:25642017

Building a Tower of Babel? Integrating Core Motivations and Features of Social Structure into the Political Psychology of Political Action

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Zomeren, Martijn

The political psychology of political action provides the potential for building bridges between scholars from different fields. The main aim of this article is to set some baby steps toward building two conceptual bridges by bringing together a core motivation approach to political action with core

The issue of political behaviour in contemporary bio-political discourse

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Y. Kravets

2016-11-01

. So, the political and social behavior of «Homo Politicus» depends not only on his biological factors, such as inclination to the biological adaptation, creation of hierarchical structure, social and political domination and subjugation, but also on social factors as well, such as language, culture, morale and so on. In this case, the human brain comes out as a center of formation of political behavior and awareness of «Homo Politicus» himself and his actions.

Telecommunications: international opportunities for power utilities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lewis, A. [Teleglobe Canada, Ottawa, ON (Canada)

1996-08-01

International telecommunications services markets and trends were reviewed in an effort to identify business opportunities for Canadian power utilities. With increasing deregulation in the U.S. and Canada, and other countries around the globe, market opportunities are beginning to open up. In monopoly markets opportunities exist in providing dual infrastructures to upgrade both the power delivery services (frequently poor), and telecommunications. Billing, collection and customer service expertise might be other marketable commodities, perhaps packaged as part of a network provision project as a service to existing power and telecommunications service providers. In countries with directed competition markets local partnerships may be the only vehicle for entering the market. In managed competition markets opportunities were said to exist in cellular radio technology, as well as in switched telephone service, local, long distance, or international. In general, opportunities outside telecommunications-rich North America were considered to have better potential, due to rapid deregulation and higher current growth rates in telecommunications. Careful examination and research of the political and business environment prior to entering any of the potentially fertile areas was advised.

Politics of environmental regulation: acid rain in Ontario

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hogarth Wood, G P

1984-01-01

This study looks at the case of the Ontario government and Inco Limited in order to explain political responses to the acid rain issue and to generalize about the dynamics of environmental regulation. Existing accounts of the acid rain situation neglect a systematic explanation of the political processes that guide the selection of policy. This reflects a tendency in Canadian public policy analysis generally. Most literature in this field is both apolitical and atheoretical. In addition, most models of public policy focus attention on a narrow range of policy determinants, making the models inappropriate as exclusive guides for public policy analysis. This study follows an approach that assumes that no variable can, a priori, be viewed as the primary determinant of a policy choice. Instead, relevant features of the economic, social, and political environment surrounding the policy process have to be examined in addition to that process itself. Accordingly, a number of potential influences on the acid rain policy outcome in Ontario are explored: the economic structure of Ontario, political-geographic factors, the role of science and technology, political power in the province, political values and attitudes, the institutional structure of Ontario politics, and finally, the policy process itself. This exercise points to the overriding influence of the political system environment, particularly the economic structure of the province, in explaining the policy choice. The findings of this study can be extended to explain regulatory responses to the issue in other political jurisdictions.

An Education Politics of the Particular: Promises and Opportunities for the Quality of Higher Music Education

Science.gov (United States)

Johansen, Geir

2009-01-01

The tendency to construct grand narratives makes participants in education politics unaware of the particularities of marginalized fields such as music education. One prominent reason for this trend is the discrepancy between the values underpinning education politics and the values of higher music education. This article discusses this problem by…

Finding Feminism, Finding Voice? Mobilising Community Education to Build Women's Participation in Myanmar's Political Transition

Science.gov (United States)

Maber, Elizabeth Jane Tregoning

2016-01-01

This paper explores the role played by women activists and educators in mobilising community education to support new opportunities for women's activism in the context of Myanmar's political transition. Recent political reorientations in Myanmar which have resulted in a civilian-led democracy emerging from a repressive military regime, have…

Aging and Chronicity: Opportunities for Nursing

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José Ramón Martinez-Riera

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The growing awareness of the challenge that aging represents for modern societies translates into political initiatives aimed to find comprehensive solutions for this complex issue. This paper analyses some of these initiatives and suggests areas of opportunity where nursing research must be mobilized to take integral part of the initiatives and programmes that are to be implemented.

Dark Triad, Perceptions of Organizational Politics and Counterproductive Work Behaviors: The Moderating Effect of Political Skills

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Muhammad A. Baloch

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The aim of this work focuses on the relationship among the Dark Triad (psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism, perceptions of organizational politics, political skills, and counterproductive work behavior. This study empirically tests the mediating role of perceptions of organizational politics in the relationship between the Dark Triad and counterproductive work behavior. Furthermore, the study investigates the moderating role of political skills in strengthening the link between the Dark Triad and the perceptions of organizational politics. A sample of 149 participants was randomly selected. To analyze the data of the present work, we employed a structural equation model using partial least square and PROCESS. From empirical findings, we imply an inference that perception of organizational politics partially mediates the Dark Triad's influence on the counterproductive work behavior. Moreover, the results identify the moderating role of political skills in strengthening the link between the Dark Triad and the perceptions of organizational politics. Empirical findings suggest important policy implications for the hospitality industry.

Dark Triad, Perceptions of Organizational Politics and Counterproductive Work Behaviors: The Moderating Effect of Political Skills

Science.gov (United States)

Baloch, Muhammad A.; Meng, Fanchen; Xu, Zefeng; Cepeda-Carrion, Ignacio; Danish; Bari, Muhammad W.

2017-01-01

The aim of this work focuses on the relationship among the Dark Triad (psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism), perceptions of organizational politics, political skills, and counterproductive work behavior. This study empirically tests the mediating role of perceptions of organizational politics in the relationship between the Dark Triad and counterproductive work behavior. Furthermore, the study investigates the moderating role of political skills in strengthening the link between the Dark Triad and the perceptions of organizational politics. A sample of 149 participants was randomly selected. To analyze the data of the present work, we employed a structural equation model using partial least square and PROCESS. From empirical findings, we imply an inference that perception of organizational politics partially mediates the Dark Triad's influence on the counterproductive work behavior. Moreover, the results identify the moderating role of political skills in strengthening the link between the Dark Triad and the perceptions of organizational politics. Empirical findings suggest important policy implications for the hospitality industry. PMID:29167654

Dark Triad, Perceptions of Organizational Politics and Counterproductive Work Behaviors: The Moderating Effect of Political Skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Baloch, Muhammad A; Meng, Fanchen; Xu, Zefeng; Cepeda-Carrion, Ignacio; Danish; Bari, Muhammad W

2017-01-01

The aim of this work focuses on the relationship among the Dark Triad (psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism), perceptions of organizational politics, political skills, and counterproductive work behavior. This study empirically tests the mediating role of perceptions of organizational politics in the relationship between the Dark Triad and counterproductive work behavior. Furthermore, the study investigates the moderating role of political skills in strengthening the link between the Dark Triad and the perceptions of organizational politics. A sample of 149 participants was randomly selected. To analyze the data of the present work, we employed a structural equation model using partial least square and PROCESS. From empirical findings, we imply an inference that perception of organizational politics partially mediates the Dark Triad's influence on the counterproductive work behavior. Moreover, the results identify the moderating role of political skills in strengthening the link between the Dark Triad and the perceptions of organizational politics. Empirical findings suggest important policy implications for the hospitality industry.

Linked Data: Opportunities and Challenges in Disability Research

Science.gov (United States)

Glasson, Emma J.; Hussain, Rafat

2008-01-01

Background: Disability research data often exist in the form of individual records located within discrete registers that may extend across sensitive political boundaries. Method: This paper discusses the opportunities and challenges associated with using linked health and administrative data for disability research, with examples from research…

Communicative Planning As Institutional Capacity Building: From Discourse/Network To Opportunity

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Delik Hudalah

2013-05-01

Full Text Available The paper redefines the ideas about communicative planning as not only participatory and democratic practice but also capacity building oriented toward the improvement of governance styles and consciousness. So far capacity building has focused on the exploitation of social resources internal to actors. These internal resources include knowledge (argumentation, debate, discourse formation etc and relational (network, coalition, alliance etc building. The paper argues that in dealing with very complex planning problems characterized by fragmented and uncertain institutional systems, the internal resources need to be coupled with the exploration of resources external to actors, namely the political opportunity structure and moment of opportunity. The analysis implies that the performance of communicative decision-making process as capacity building can be assessed in three aspects: strategic and inclusive actors’ involvement, the building of actors’ awareness on neglected but important planning issues and agendas, and consistency and deliberation in realizing and delivering agreed planning ideas, frameworks and decisions.

Values in the Smart Grid: The co-evolving political economy of smart distribution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hall, Stephen; Foxon, Timothy J.

2014-01-01

Investing in smart grid infrastructure is a key enabler for the transition to low carbon energy systems. Recent work has characterised the costs and benefits of individual “smart” investments. The political economy of the UK electricity system, however, has co-evolved such that there is a mismatch between where benefits accrue and where costs are incurred, leading to a problem of value capture and redeployment. Further, some benefits of smart grids are less easy to price directly and can be classified as public goods, such as energy security and decarbonisation. This paper builds on systemic treatments of energy system transitions to characterise the co-evolution of value capture and structural incentives in the electricity distribution system, drawing on semi-structured interviews and focus groups undertaken with smart grid stakeholders in the UK. This leads to an identification of municipal scale values that may be important for business models for the delivery of smart infrastructure. Municipalities may thus pursue specific economic opportunities through smart grid investment. This supports recent practical interest in an expanded role for municipalities as partners and investors in smart grid infrastructures. - Highlights: • Smart grid investments can benefit municipal economic development. • Drawing on urban political economy we describe these values. • New values alter the smart grid investment problem. • New integration of urban policy and DNOs are proposed by this research. • Socio-technical approaches are enhanced by urban political economy and vice versa

Mixing politics and crime

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Munksgaard, Rasmus; Demant, Jakob Johan

2016-01-01

Background Dread Pirate Roberts, founder of the first cryptomarket for illicit drugs named Silk Road, articulated libertarian political motives for his ventures. Previous research argues that there is a significant political component present or involved in cryptomarket drug dealing which...... is specifically libertarian. The aim of the paper is to investigate the prevalence of political discourses within discussions of cryptomarket drug dealing, and further to research the potential changes of these over the timespan of the study. Methods We develop a novel operationalization of discourse analytic...... concepts which we combine with topic modelling enabling us to study how politics are articulated on cryptomarket forums. We apply the Structural Topic Model on a corpus extracted from crawls of cryptomarket forums encompassing posts dating from 2011 to 2015. Results The topics discussed on cryptomarket...

Acquisition of Politeness Markers in an EFL Context: Impact of Input Enhancement and Output Tasks

Science.gov (United States)

Tajeddin, Zia; Pezeshki, Maryam

2014-01-01

Although politeness markers are frequently used in written and spoken communication, pragmatic studies have not sufficiently explored the instruction of such markers to English as a foreign language (EFL) learners who lack sufficient opportunity to communicate with native speakers to acquire them in the context of use. Ignoring politeness as a…

Faithless: The politics of new atheism

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Steven Kettell

2013-11-01

Full Text Available The emergence of ‘new atheism’ during the course of the last decade helped fuel an upsurge of interest in issues around religion. But scholarly analysis of new atheism, particularly its political dimensions, remains embryonic. This paper addresses this lacuna by examining the politics of new atheism across a variety of themes related to politics. These include the causal factors underpinning its emergence and development, its organisational structure and composition, the political strategies pursued by its proponents, and the various internal tensions and conflicts that these dynamics have produced.

Commentary on session II: The politics of migration and trade

OpenAIRE

Gary P. Freeman

2006-01-01

Summary and discussion of the two papers in this session: "U.S.-Mexican migration cooperation: obstacles and opportunities" by Marc R. Rosenblum; "Political implications of U.S. public attitudes toward immigration on the immigration policymaking process" by Valerie F. Hunt

Educating Voters: Political Education in Norwegian Upper-Secondary Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Borhaug, Kjetil

2008-01-01

Research on political education in schools suggests that an emphasis on formal structure, constitutional principles, formal citizen rights, and debates on current issues is common. The Norwegian national curriculum on political education envisions a different political education emphasizing that students should be critical of political life and…

FINANCING DEMOCRACY OR CORRUPTION? POLITICAL PARTY FINANCING IN THE EU’ S SOUTHEASTERN AND EASTERN MEMBER STATES

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Ada-Iuliana POPESCU

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Fighting public-sector corruption has become a priority for most governments and international organizations. The public sector is the source of many benefits. Realizing improper private gains from these benefits has long been the core definition of corruption. As the public sector grows and expands its activities, the complexity of its activities also increases. The opportunities for improper private gains grow, too. Therefore, not surprisingly, the EU admits that the public sector, including political parties and public administrations, are especially vulnerable to corruption. Political parties, for instance, depend on the funding destined for their capability to win elections and otherwise to influence public policies. In turn, this dependency creates opportunities for a variety of corrupt activities. Ensuring that campaign funding promotes democracy and not corruption requires well-crafted, vigorously enforced laws. This article analyzes the legal framework of political party financing in the Eastern and South-eastern European EU member states, in order to assess how well it works in preventing political party corruption.

Political Microcultures: Linking Civic Life and Democratic Discourse

Science.gov (United States)

Perrin, Andrew J.

2005-01-01

At the core of democratic citizenship is deliberation: citizens' tendency and capacity for debating issues of common importance. This study considers civic organizations--often found to be political mobilizers--as political microcultures: environments for political discourse that structure participants' understanding of the practice of…

International ROR: risk, opportunity, reward

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krentz, D.; Gair, J.

1996-01-01

Norcen Energy Resources Limited's pursuit of international oil and gas opportunities since the late 1980s were outlined. By 1994 Norcen had exploration and production concessions in 12 countries stretching from Algeria, Russia, Argentina, Indonesia to offshore Australia. The company had seen its share of risks, opportunities and rewards. Since 1994 international efforts of the Company have been focused on lower risk opportunities with exploration upside in defined core areas of South America, particularly in Venezuela, a country with conventional, heavy and ultra-heavy oil resources exceeding that of Saudi Arabia. These, and other similar foreign investments in the formerly closed national oil industries of South America have been greatly facilitated by the political liberalization, economic reforms and stabilization that have taken place there over the past ten years. The story of Norcen's successful bidding on the Oritupano-Leona production block in 1993 and Delta Centro exploration block in 1996 was the subject of this presentation

Global health governance - the next political revolution.

Science.gov (United States)

Kickbusch, I; Reddy, K S

2015-07-01

The recent Ebola crisis has re-opened the debate on global health governance and the role of the World Health Organization. In order to analyze what is at stake, we apply two conceptual approaches from the social sciences - the work on gridlock and the concept of cosmopolitan moments - to assess the ability of the multilateral governance system to reform. We find that gridlock can be broken open by a health crisis which in turn generates a political drive for change. We show that a set of cosmopolitan moments have led to the introduction of the imperative of health in a range of policy arenas and moved health into 'high politics' - this has been called a political revolution. We contend that this revolution has entered a second phase with increasing interest of heads of state in global health issues. Here lies the window of opportunity to reform global health governance. Copyright © 2015 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Routledge Handbook of Scandinavian Politics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Scandinavian politics today through a series of cutting-edge chapters. It will be a key reference point both for advanced-level students developing knowledge about the subject, as well as researchers producing new material in the area and beyond. It brings geographical scope and depth, with comparative...... chapters contributed by experts across the region. Methodologically and theoretically pluralistic, the handbook is in itself a reflection of the field of political science in Scandinavia and the diversity of the issues covered in the volume. The Routledge Handbook of Scandinavian Politics......The Routledge Handbook of Scandinavian Politics is a comprehensive overview of Scandinavian politics provided by leading experts in the field and covering the polity, the politics and the policy of Scandinavia. Coherently structured with a multi-level thematic approach, it explains and details...

Ownership Structure, Earnings Management and Investment Opportunity Set: Evidence from Mexican Firms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juan M. San Martin-Reyna

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This paper analyses the influence of ownership, board of directors, and financial leverage on companies’ performance when these either face, or do not face, profitable growth opportunities. Towards that end we examined a sample of 83 listed Mexican firms during the period 2005-2011. The results confirm the relevance of debt and board of directors in terms of firm market value by showing a negative relationship between performance and both, board of directors and leverage, in the presence of growth opportunities. In contrast, the relationship between debt and performance becomes positive when firms have no profitable investment projects. The results also demonstrate that the relevance of controlling shareholders on firm value is different when firms have or not growth opportunities. Therefore, our results show that ownership structure, composition and size of board and the level of leverage play a dual role on performance (increase or decrease the firm value and determinewhether the firms have profitable investment projects.

Technology Retreats and the Politics of Social Media

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adam Fish

2017-04-01

Full Text Available This essay examines weeklong technology retreats in Silicon Valley. These retreats embody digital healthism, which I define as the discourse that promotes the self-regulation of digital consumption for personal health. I argue that the self-regulation advanced by digital healthism insufficiently addresses the politics of media refusal. Technology retreats channel frustrations about social media use into opportunities for personal and corporate growth instead of political activism. I consider how technology retreats might participate in a dialogue about the regulation of social media platforms and companies by states. Evidence for these claims come from ethnographic research with the founders of a technology retreat in Silicon Valley.

The Nuclear Energy Factor In Indian Politics

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A. A. Boyko

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Nuclear energy is a key branch of the world power system. The nuclear energy development is viewed by India as one of the ways to resolve the problem of the energy supply. In 2008 the country gained more opportunities for developing nuclear power sector and solving the national power deficit problem after NSG lifted restrictions on nuclear trade. This resulted in foreign companies emerging on the Indian nuclear market. In 2011 after the major emergency at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan India faced numerous anti-nuclear protests backed by NGOs, including those with foreign funding, and political parties. The article deals with the question of the political role this anti-nuclear opposition plays in India. According to some researchers the protests are organized by the competitors in order to compromise the business of a Russian company Rosatom in India. However, such demonstrations are spread throughout the country and directed against the competitors of Rosatom as well. The article comes to conclusion that the protests are just a reflection of the political fights in India where nuclear energy is a significant political factor.

Politics of sustainability in the Arctic - a research agenda

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gad, Ulrik Pram; Jakobsen, Uffe; Strandsbjerg, Jeppe

2017-01-01

and application from the global ecosphere to a regional environment, and, second, how sustainability is again conceptually transformed when meeting Greenlandic ambitions for postcoloniality. This discussion leads us to outline an agenda for how to study the way in which sustainability works as a political concept.......The concept of sustainability has taken centre stage in Arctic politics. However, there is little agreement on what ‘sustainable’ means. For different actors (governments, indigenous people, NGOs, etc.) the concept implies different sets of opportunities and precautions. Sustainability, therefore......, is much more a fundamental idea to be further elaborated depending on contexts than a definable term with a specific meaning. The paper argues a research agenda that aims to map and analyse the role of sustainability in political and economic strategies in the Arctic. Sustainability has become...

The Fourth Age of Political Communication: Democratic decay or the rise of phronetic political communication?

OpenAIRE

Peter Aagaard

2016-01-01

The ‘fourth age’ of political communication is emerging. In the fourth age the logics of media and digitization shapes the public sphere, because algorithms and polarized drama increasingly determine what we become aware of in digital and mass media. The result may very well be a less informed public sphere. The emerging class of policy professionals has the opportunity to mix the logics of mediatization and digitization. While such a mix may very well lead to democratic decay, based on eliti...

The political economy of urban homicide: assessing the relative impact of gender inequality on sex-specific victimization.

Science.gov (United States)

DeWees, Mari A; Parker, Karen F

2003-02-01

This research examines the ways in which the changing political economy of urban areas has contributed differently to the homicide victimization rates of females and males across US cities. Recent research, while relatively limited, has presented disparate results regarding the effect of gender inequality on urban sex-specific victimization. Our work further explores this relationship by taking into account relative gender disparities in income, education, labor market opportunities, and politics in an examination of sex-specific homicide victimization in 1990. Key to this current investigation is the evaluation of feminist and lifestyle arguments that suggest that structural gender inequality has a unique effect on female victimization. Overall, our findings reveal gender inequality to be a significant predictor of both male and female urban homicide. While these findings suggest mixed support for theoretical arguments regarding gender inequality, further analyses reveal significant differences in specific types of gender inequality on victimization patterns across genders. These additional results highlight the need for greater attention toward both methodological and theoretical issues when examining the interconnections between gender, political economy, and violence in research.

The politics of African energy development: Ethiopia's hydro-agricultural state-building strategy and clashing paradigms of water security.

Science.gov (United States)

Verhoeven, Harry

2013-11-13

As key economic, ecological and demographic trends converge to reshape Africa and its relationship with the outside world, a new politics is emerging in the twenty-first century around the water-food-energy nexus, which is central to the continent's relevance in the global economy. On the one hand, Malthusian anxieties are proliferating; pessimists link population growth and growing water scarcity to state failure and 'water wars'. On the other hand, entrepreneurs, sovereign wealth funds and speculators consider Africa's potential in water resources, energy production and food output as one of the last great untapped opportunities for the global economy: Africa is on the brink of an agro-industrial transformation. This article examines how African actors are not merely responding to economic and environmental changes but also thinking politically about water, food and energy security. Many of them are seizing the new opportunities to redefine their national politics, their relationship with local communities and their ties with external players, regionally and globally. Ethiopia's project of hydro-agricultural state-building helps to identify the most important fault lines of this new politics at the national, local and international level. The politics of water security and energy development simultaneously puts African states and their populations on the defensive, as they grapple with huge challenges, but also provides them with unique opportunities to take advantage of a more favourable global configuration of forces.

Online Political Campaigning during the 2014 Regional Elections in Poland

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paweł Baranowski

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This article is dedicated to the analysis and evaluation of political communication on a regional level. Without any doubt, the Internet revolution affected electoral campaigning on every level. Online campaigning before local elections is often marginalized by political scientists and other scholars researching political marketing. However, the question emerges: are the candidates aware of the possibilities that new media has brought to political communication? Content analysis of all the major online communication tools has allowed the author to analyze the patterns of using websites, official Facebook profiles and Twitter accounts of candidates during the 2014 Lower Silesian Regional assembly elections. The Lower Silesian Voivodeship is among the fastest developing regions in Poland with high Internet penetration rate. Is the Internet campaign treated as a second-class way to communicate with potential voters, or is it perceived as an opportunity to reach electorate online?

Power generation needs and opportunities in Eastern Europe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gadomski, C.R.; Hon, M.

1990-01-01

This article examines the market for power generation and pollution control equipment in Eastern Europe. The topics of the article include financing equipment and services, financial and political incentives, capacity, environmental impacts, energy consumption and efficiency, energy prices, energy diversification, renewable energy opportunities, strategy for the market, and the example of Poland

Political determinants of Health: Lessons for Pakistan.

Science.gov (United States)

Jooma, Rashid; Sabatinelli, Guido

2014-05-01

There is much concern about the capacity of the health system of Pakistan to meet its goals and obligations. Historically, the political thrust has been absent from the health policy formulation and this is reflected in the low and stagnant public allocations to health. Successive political leaderships have averred from considering healthcare is a common good rather than a market commodity and health has not been recognized as a constitutional right. Over 120 of world's nation states have accepted health as a constitutional right but the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan does not mandate health or education as a fundamental right and the recently adopted 18th constitutional amendment missed the opportunity to extend access to primary health care as an obligation of the State. It is argued in this communication that missing from the calculations of policy formulation and agenda setting is the political benefits of providing health and other social services to underserved populations. Across the developing world, many examples are presented of governments undertaking progressive health reforms that bring services where none existed and subsequently reaping electoral benefit. The political determinant of healthcare will be realized when the political leaders of poorly performing countries can be convinced that embracing distributive policies and successfully bringing healthcare to the poor can be major factors in their re-elections.

The Politics of Terrorism: Power, Legitimacy, and Violence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard A. Couto

2010-03-01

Full Text Available This paper examines and juxtaposes discourses about terrorism, violence, and political leadership. It presents generalizations about terrorism—a form of political violence by, for, and against the state—and politics and violence based on the theories of Max Weber and Hannah Arendt. The stark contrasts drawn from these theories include power as non-violent strength (Arendt versus power as violence-dependent (Weber and the struggle for legitimacy between different agents (states and individuals as well as terrorism by, for, and against the state. This reframing of power leads to judging a lack of power where there is violence, and the presence of power where one observes non-violence. An examination of political and criminal violence leads to questions about deliberate and purposeful violence, indirect and structural violence that has political consequences, and their relationship to terrorism. It expands the application of terrorism to include indirect structural violence by indicating its relationship to direct violence, not only in traditionally-viewed terrorist action but in the ignored terror of, for example, inner cities. Terrorism has many forms by many actors. To synthesize the results of these lines of reasoning leads to a conclusion with considerable implications for politics and for political leadership. The politics of terrorism suggest a central counter-terrorist approach: de-politicizing the violence of terrorists whenever possible and using the authority and power of the state to institutionalize it as criminal violence. This, in turn, also means politicizing other forms of violence, such as capital punishment, and their indirect and structural forms, such as the inner city.

Socio-political structure of Turkey in general elections since 1980 military intervention up to date (last 23 years)

OpenAIRE

D. Ali Arslan; Mustafa Çağlayandereli

2006-01-01

This study aims to analyze socio-political structure of Turkish society at the basis of the results of Turkish General elections since 1983 up to date. Documentary and historical research techniques will be employed during the study.

Internet politics: A comparative analysis of U.S. and South Korea presidential campaigns

OpenAIRE

Hara, Noriko; Jo, Youngmin

2007-01-01

To investigate the role of information and computer technologies (ICTs) in political campaigns, this paper discusses three areas of influence in particular (fundraising, civic participation, and e-mobilization), identifying similarities and differences between the U.S. and South Korea. The result of our analysis shows that the impact of the Internet on the two presidential elections differed in all three areas. The Internet provides ordinary citizens with political resources and opportunities...

Democracy in the Digital Communication Environment: A Typology Proposal of Political Monitoring Processes

OpenAIRE

Feenstra, Ramón A.; Casero Ripollés, Andreu

2014-01-01

The digital environment creates new opportunities for citizen political participation. Among these, the monitoring of political and economic power centers stands out. This includes public scrutiny of the management of public funds and the activities of the public and economic systems, thus denouncing dysfunctional features. This article aims to describe, differentiate, and classify the various forms that monitoring can take in current democracies. The results indicate that three major monitor...

The Ownership Structure of Corporations: Political Connections from the Resource Dependence Perspective – A Theorical Essay

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nathanael Kusch Brey

2011-12-01

Full Text Available After the 90s, which heralded the era of privatization in Brazil, the government became a shareholder in various private companies. Government participation can interfere in the objectives, strategies and ultimately in the performance and survival of corporations. This paper aims to discuss this phenomenon and the importance of political connections in terms of ownership structure for an organization's survival. The objectives of governments as owners tend to conflict with those of other shareholders, because their goals tend to have more of a social and political element, which can lead to organizational deficiency in the performance of the company. One may come to believe that when a company has the government as a shareholder, its survival is ensured, as suggested by the theory of resource dependence, but this participation may in fact negatively affect the company's performance due to government objectives. This work proposes a way to mitigate the problem while ensuring the benefits of this connection with the government by reducing the stake of government in companies to minimum levels, which would reduce the risk of political interference.

Assessing Political Dynamics in Contemporary Malaysia: Implications for Democratic Change

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Surain Subramaniam

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This article examines political dynamics in Malaysia and assesses the prospects for change in the direction of greater political liberalization. It focuses on the 12th General Election of 2008 and its implications for opportunities and challenges for liberal democratic change in Malaysia. It discusses the role of the internet-based new media in shaping an emerging public sphere, and some factors affecting the changing role of non-Malay voters in the political process. This article argues that democratization in Malaysia is already occurring, albeit at a gradual pace; it is being pushed by the new political forces of civil society actors, newly empowered opposition parties, and the internet-based media. The boundaries of this emerging democratic space is simultaneously being shaped and contested by the political competition between status-quo and reformist forces in this society. Some institutional changes have expanded the parameters of democratic space, although the entrenched dominant institutions of the ruling regime continue to wield sufficient amounts of institutional capacity to subvert any consolidation of these democratic changes for now.

Understanding the Structural, Human Resource, Political, and Symbolic Dimensions of Implementing and Sustaining Interprofessional Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Farnsworth, Tracy J; Peterson, Teri; Neill, Karen; Neill, Mark; Seikel, John A; Lawson, Jonathan

2015-01-01

This study investigated the perceptions of deans and faculty members of the Association of Schools of Allied Health Professions (ASAHP) concerning the degree to which their institutions implement and integrate the structural, human resource, political, and symbolic frames or dimensions of interprofessional education (IPE). The study identified correlations among these frames/dimensions, including their relationship with overall IPE program progress and success. This study utilized a nonexperimental comparative descriptive and correlational survey design. The instrument was developed by the researchers and administered online using a readily accessible data collection process. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Content validity and reliability were established prior to full implementation of the survey. Results revealed high levels of interest but lower levels of progress and success in implementing the various frames/dimensions of IPE. Strong correlations existed between the structural, human resource, political, and symbolic dimensions of IPE, and these dimensions individually and collectively predicted overall IPE program progress and success. The differences between interest and performance raised important questions and led to conclusions about leadership effectiveness, organizational clarity, and the process of implementing the organizational change needed for effective IPE at ASAHP institutions.

Russian criminal political victimology: notion, object and prospects of development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pavel Aleksandrovich Kabanov

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Objective to describe and explain the structure of the modern Russian criminological political victimology as a special intersectoral criminological theory. Methods the research is based on the universal dialectic method of cognition of social reality. Results basing on the normative legal acts scientific literature and law enforcement practice the author proposes a concept of the structure of the modern Russian criminological political victimology as a special sphere of the Russian political criminology. Scientific novelty for the first time in the world victimology the author proposes a new prospective scientific direction studying the victims of political crimes and power abuses comprising several special victimological theories in its structure. Practical value the authorrsquos provisions allow to elaborate the complex system of measures for victimological rehabilitation and victimological prevention of crimes in the political sphere of social life. nbsp

School Consolidation and the Politics of School Closure across Communities

Science.gov (United States)

Karanxha, Zorka; Agosto, Vonzell; Black, William R.; Effiom, Claudius B.

2013-01-01

This case involves dilemmas for educational leaders who may face the process of school consolidation brought on by decreased funding and demands for accountability. We highlight the challenges and opportunities to collaborate within and across diverse communities and schools with varying expressions of cultural, political, ethical, and…

The Value-for-Money Discourse: Risks and Opportunities for R4D

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

shanks@idrc.ca

challenge and an opportunity for research- focused organizations ... that stifle social, economic and political ... actual results, using both qualitative and quantitative measures to ... approach to interpreting the VfM discourse by ... methodology.

Brain structural abnormalities and mental health sequelae in South Vietnamese ex-political detainees who survived traumatic head injury and torture.

Science.gov (United States)

Mollica, Richard F; Lyoo, In Kyoon; Chernoff, Miriam C; Bui, Hoan X; Lavelle, James; Yoon, Sujung J; Kim, Jieun E; Renshaw, Perry F

2009-11-01

A pilot study of South Vietnamese ex-political detainees who had been incarcerated in Vietnamese reeducation camps and resettled in the United States disclosed significant mental health problems associated with torture and traumatic head injury (THI). To identify structural brain alterations associated with THI and to investigate whether these deficits are associated with posttraumatic stress disorder and depression. Cross-sectional neuroimaging study. Massachusetts General Hospital and McLean Hospital. A subsample of Vietnamese ex-political detainees (n = 42) and comparison subjects (n = 16) selected from a community study of 337 ex-political detainees and 82 comparison subjects. Scores on the Vietnamese versions of the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 (HSCL) and Harvard Trauma Questionnaire for depression and posttraumatic stress disorder, respectively; cerebral regional cortical thickness; and manual volumetric morphometry of the amygdala, hippocampus, and thalamus. Ex-political detainees exposed to THI (n = 16) showed a higher rate of depression (odds ratio, 10.2; 95% confidence interval, 1.2-90.0) than those without THI exposure (n = 26). Ex-political detainees with THI had thinner prefrontotemporal cortices than those without THI exposure (P brain map) in the left dorsolateral prefrontal and bilateral superior temporal cortices, controlling for age, handedness, and number of trauma/torture events (left superior frontal cortex [SFC], P = .006; left middle frontal cortex, P = .01; left superior temporal cortex [STC], P = .007; right STC, P = .01). Trauma/torture events were associated with bilateral amygdala volume loss (left, P = .045; right, P = .003). Cortical thinning associated with THI in the left SFC and bilateral STC was related to HSCL depression scores in THI-exposed (vs non-THI-exposed) ex-political detainees (left SFC, P for interaction = .007; left STC, P for interaction = .03; right STC, P for interaction = .02). Structural deficits in

Western Political Consulting Techniques and Post-Soviet Political Technology in Political Campaigns in Latvia

OpenAIRE

Bērziņa, Ieva

2012-01-01

Western Political Consulting Techniques and Post-Soviet Political Technology in Political Campaigns in Latvia Ieva Dmitričenko Keywords: political campaignsm political consulting, political technology, parties, marketing, media Political campaigning is an international phenomenon, because there is a free flow of information, knowledge and human resource among practitioners of political campaigning in various countries. As a result political campaigning techniques that have proven to ...

Equality of Opportunities, Divergent Conceptualisations and Their Implications for Early Childhood Care and Education Policies

Science.gov (United States)

Morabito, Christian; Vandenbroeck, Michel

2015-01-01

This article aims to explore the relations between equality of opportunity and early childhood. By referring to the work of contemporary philosophers, i.e. Rawls, Sen, Dworkin, Cohen and Roemer, we argue for different possible interpretations, based on political discussions, concerning how to operationalize equality of opportunities. We represent…

Politeness Accommodation in E-Mail Requests among Iranian Postgraduate Students of EFL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammed Parviz

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Computer-mediated communication (CMC offers us a chance to understand how social relationships are built and maintained in an environment in which interlocutors not only lack the paralinguistic features that are vital to face-to- face conversation, but are participating in a medium which has had little time to develop rules of conduct. The present study was an attempt to determine politeness accommodation in e-mail messages among Iranian postgraduate students of EFL. One hundred EFL learners, aged 22-26, participated in this study. Four different message types were constructed and sent to the participants, i.e. messages with verbal politeness markers; messages with structural politeness elements (e. g., salutation and closing remarks; messages with both verbal and structural politeness indicators; finally messages with neither verbal nor structural politeness indicators. Further, the messages varied in their degree of politeness; however, their content was the same. Results showed that the participants accommodated significantly to verbal politeness indicators in the body of a message, and to structural politeness indicators of greeting/salutation. When such indicators were included in messages, the participants responded with significantly more polite messages (greeting and body than when the indicators were absent. The results boost our understanding of CMC with reference to politeness markers, and how they are used by Iranian EFL learners.

The Prediction of Political Competencies by Political Action and Political Media Consumption

Science.gov (United States)

Reichert, Frank

2014-01-01

Political competencies are often considered a precondition for political action; however, they are not independent of previous political participation, which may also include the frequency and the kind of political media consumption. My research aims at finding out the importance of participation in political activities in the past, as well as…

Growing Economic Inequality and Its (Partially Political Roots

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kay Lehman Schlozman

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Growing economic inequality fosters inequality in the political processes of American democracy. Since the 1970’s inequalities in earnings and wealth have increased dramatically in the United States creating a higher level of inequality in disposable income than in other developed democracies. The United States also lags behind other rich nations in the way it provides for those at the bottom of the income distribution, and there is no evidence that the opportunities for success promised by the American Dream compensate for inequality in America. Technological and economic developments are significant causes of this growing economic inequality. The role of politics is more controversial, but government policy influences the distribution of income and education by the way it determines government benefits, taxes and the way markets function. For a number of reasons—including, most importantly, the relationship between education and income and the ability of the affluent to make large campaign donations—those who are economically well-off speak more loudly in politics. They are more likely to engage in most forms of individual political participation—not only ones that involve using cash but also ones that cost nothing except time. Moreover, when it comes to political voice through organizations, a professionalized domain dominated by hired experts in which the volume of political voice can be altered to reflect available economic resources, affluent interests are more likely to be organized and active. This essay considers the growing economic inequalities that form an important part of the backdrop for unequal political voice.

The U.S. Influence on Eurasia and Research Opportunity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nikolay Megits

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Since the election of the new American President, Washington position has became even more uncertain toward U.S. political activities in Eurasia. NATO is slowly but surely moving toward the Russian border but in response, Russia, as reaction to the US and EU sanctions, becomes more and more aggressive toward its European neighbors. In today’s reality, President Putin is completely isolated by Western leaders and President Trump is cornered by the U.S. politicians and media.Current American and European domestic politics and their reflection on Eurasia provide enormous research opportunities in field of economics and international affairs.

Issues in Political Development: Implications for Counsellors ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Two research questions guided the study. Questionnaire was used for data collection. The data collected were analyzed using mean scores. The findings revealed. that some impediments to political development include; Religious intolerance, poor leadership, structural imbalance, moral decadence, political instability, and ...

Was Mackenbach right? Towards a practical political science of redistribution and health inequalities.

Science.gov (United States)

Schrecker, Ted

2017-07-01

In 2010, Mackenbach reflected on England's lack of success in reducing health inequalities between 1997 and 2010, asserting that "it is difficult to imagine a longer window of opportunity for tackling health inequalities"; asking "[i]f this did not work, what will?"; and concluding that reducing health inequalities was not politically feasible at least in that jurisdiction. Exploring the empirics of that observation offers a window into the politics of reducing health inequalities. For purposes of future comparative research, I outline three (not mutually exclusive) perspectives on political feasibility, identify their implications for a political science of health inequalities, and explore what they mean for advocacy in support of reducing those inequalities. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Low Membership in Czech Political Parties: Party Strategy or Structural Determinants?

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Linek, Lukáš; Pecháček, Š.

2007-01-01

Roč. 23, č. 2 (2007), s. 259-275 ISSN 1352-3279 R&D Projects: GA MPS 1J004/04-DP1 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z70280505 Keywords : political parties * party membership * antiparty sentiments * party organization Subject RIV: AD - Politology ; Political Sciences

The politics of health sector reform in developing countries: three cases of pharmaceutical policy.

Science.gov (United States)

Reich, M R

1995-01-01

This paper examines the political dynamics of health sector reform in poor countries, through a comparative study of pharmaceutical policy reform in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and the Philippines. The paper first reviews five reasons why policy reform is political. It then presents three political economic models of the policy reform process: the political will, political factions, and political survival models. Next, the paper describes the three cases of national pharmaceutical policy reform, and identifies common conditions that made these reforms politically feasible. The paper's analysis suggests that health sector reform is feasible at certain definable, and perhaps predictable, political moments, especially in the early periods of new regimes. The most important and manipulable political factors are: political timing, which provides opportunities for policy entrepreneurs to introduce their ideas into public debate, and political management of group competition, which allows leaders to control the political effects of distributional consequences and protect the regime's stability. A strong and narrow political coalition improves the capacity of political leaders to resist the pressures of concentrated economic costs (both inside and outside national boundaries). The paper argues that for reform to succeed, policy-makers need effective methods to analyze relevant political conditions and shape key political factors in favor of policy reform. The method of Political Mapping is briefly introduced as a technique that can help policy-makers in analyzing and managing the political dimensions of policy reform and in improving the political feasibility of reform.

THE MAIN DIRECTIONS IN THE STUDY OF POLITICAL ELITES IN THE POST-CLASSICAL ITALIAN POLITICAL SCIENCE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Кирилл Сергеевич Кондрашев

2013-07-01

Full Text Available PurposeDetection the main approaches to the definition of the political elites, their appearance and function in a democracy.Methodology of workThe comparative method, structural and functional method.ResultsMarked changes in the methods of communication elites and masses, the emergence of new types of elites that meet the transforming needs of the masses, changing the structure of the political sphere in terms of postmodernism and globalization.Application of resultsThe results can be applied in the process policy advice.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12731/2218-7405-2013-5-27

Analysis of the Russian political tolerance in society-government relations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. V. Korolevska

2014-08-01

Full Text Available The high culture of tolerance accelerates political socialization, improves the qualities of a citizen, a sense of ownership of public affairs, instilling respect for democratic values. Relevance of the work is determined by processes that occur in today’s society and that lead not only to confusion but to destruction of public relations. The article reviews the state of political tolerance in the system of relations society – authorities in Russia. Based on opinion polls statistical analyzes to determine trends in contemporary ensure political tolerance is conducted. Due to correlation between support for Putin and the perception of the political situation in the country as well is determined existence. Fixes sustainable public discontent actual situation in the country, however, people do not use the opportunities for political activism. Almost two thirds of Russians believe that the interests of the government and society in do not match. The low percentage of respondents believe that the political course of the country’s leadership in the interests of ordinary people. There is a steady trend to an agreement among the Russian population to concentrate power in his hands. There is a slight increase of the population of those who are ready to connect to solve their problems in life forms of protest activity.

POLITICAL DISCOURSE – A SYNTACTIC AND SEMANTIC ANALYSIS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miodarka Tepavcevic

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The language of politics is commonly studied within discourse analysis, whereby its linguistic features relating to vocabulary, grammar structures, textual and intertextual aspects are investigated using various methodologies. This paper presents an analysis of political discourse from a syntactic-semantic point of view. The corpus studied has been extracted from five. Montenegrin dailies and the analysis attempts to describe the genre as effectuated in the Montenegrin political discourse. As a result, the functions of political language are extrapolated and illustrated and its style is described in terms of intertextuality and other linguistic strategies commonly employed in political discourse. The paper aims to give a contribution to the understanding and linguistic profiling of political language.

Opportunities and challenges in developing gas markets in South America

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Duarte, Cristiano Boaventura [PETROBRAS S.A., Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2008-07-01

The article has the objective of identifying and analyzing the key market levers and drivers, emerging issues and challenges in developing the gas markets in South America. In section 1, the paper provides an overview of the most relevant indicators in the natural gas markets of the region. Data such as natural gas proven reserves; production; consumption; trade movements (by pipeline and LNG) and main aspects of regulatory framework are shown. In section 2, some of the key challenges and opportunities in developing gas markets in the region are identified, including those relating to market integration, political aspects and the main players' investments. In section 3, possible strategies from governments and enterprises to overcome those challenges, and seize the potential opportunities of the region are examined. In section 4, the conclusions point to the potential of developing the gas markets as a means to diversify the energy sources in the region, fostering a successful process of economic growth and political integration in the area. (author)

Political Polarization in Social Media: Analysis of the "Twitter Political Field" in Japan

OpenAIRE

Takikawa, Hiroki; Nagayoshi, Kikuko

2017-01-01

There is an ongoing debate about whether the Internet is like a public sphere or an echo chamber. Among many forms of social media, Twitter is one of the most crucial online places for political debate. Most of the previous studies focus on the formal structure of the Twitter political field, such as its homophilic tendency, or otherwise limit the analysis to a few topics. In order to explore whether Twitter functions as an echo chamber in general, however, we have to investigate not only the...

Political Crowdfunding as concept of political technologies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valeria GOLKA

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Political crowdfunding is analyzed as a new concept of political science. The justification of use of crowdfunding technologies not only in business but also in the political sphere is argued. The efficiency, availability, low cost of the new forms of political investment through the development of information and communication technologies are noted. The typology of political crowdfunding is proposed. Political projects promoting domestic crowdfunding platforms are analyzed. Attention is drawn to the problem of legal gaps in the regulation of crowdfunding is studied. The foreign experience of organizing public support (mikroinvestment political projects. It is emphasized that in terms of political theory crowdfunding is based on solidarity. The crowdfunding properties of transforming social capital accumulated by social networks into financial capital are mentioned.

Space, politics, and the political

OpenAIRE

dikec , mustafa

1987-01-01

International audience; Introduction Geography and politics'', Gottmann wrote in 1980, ``have long been in search of each other'' (page 11). Debates in the literature suggest not only that they have found each other, but also that the encounter has instigated, notably in the last decade or so, a body of literature seeking to think space politically, and to think politics spatially. This is not to suggest that previous work on space was apolitical, nor to suggest that previous work on politics...

Seeking opportunities abroad : the challenges for small companies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cej, R.P.

1999-01-01

The unique challenges facing small companies seeking opportunities in world hydrocarbon trading are discussed. The paper emphasizes how the global infrastructure of the industry has changed and describes what it takes for small companies to compete for opportunities in a global market. The biggest driver re-shaping the energy sector is the pace of global development led by the Asia-Pacific region. Canada's energy sector is well into the challenges created by market liberalization. Canada has evolved into a low cost energy supply and must remain so to support the competitiveness of other industry sectors. Overall, opportunities abroad for small companies are good. Commitment to the long haul, acquiring an understanding for the culture, the politics, and the way business is done in the country in question, careful attention to estimating the size and staying power needed to manage the opportunity, and avoiding cutting corners, or spreading oneself too thinly, are crucial to success

DIGITAL PAKISTAN: OPPORTUNITIES & CHALLENGES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ghulam Muhammad Kundi

2008-12-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT IT has revolutionized the social and organizational life around the globe. Given the newness of IT as a technology, there is a lot of potential that needs to be explored. It is however, argued that as IT can revolutionize the economic development, by the same coin, although its mismanagement in adoption process can end up in problems or even straight failure of the technology at the business-end. This study was conducted with reference to opportunities and challenges in the IT adoption process in Pakistan. The aim of the study was to point out the barriers that are impeding the country’s computerization process in order to provide facts to the policy makers for smooth computerization. The primary data collected through structured questionnaires was analyzed and tested through correlation, regressions analysis and t-test. Out of 10 hypotheses, 3 were accepted while in the rest null hypotheses were not substantiated. Based on primary and secondary data analysis this study has found that all independent bureaucratic, political, education and social and cultural variables are mutually correlated and have significant impact on shaping and reshaping of IT in Pakistan, while the Pakistan IT policy is inconsistent, administrative machinery attitude is negative and non cooperative, procedures are cumbersome and implementation is weak and ineffective, not to mention the lack of IT knowledge on the bureaucratic side. The political environment is instable and law and order is worse which is discouraging the investment. Moreover, physical and legal infrastructure is insufficient and the country is lacking good quality IT professionals. IT organization alignment is another serious issue in Pakistan. However, government incentives and growing interest from the private sector indicate positive attitude towards computerization of the country.

DIGITAL PAKISTAN: OPPORTUNITIES & CHALLENGES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ghulam Muhammad Kundi

2008-10-01

Full Text Available IT has revolutionized the social and organizational life around the globe. Given the newness of IT as a technology, there is a lot of potential that needs to be explored. It is however, argued that as IT can revolutionize the economic development, by the same coin, although its mismanagement in adoption process can end up in problems or even straight failure of the technology at the business-end. This study was conducted with reference to opportunities and challenges in the IT adoption process in Pakistan. The aim of the study was to point out the barriers that are impeding the country’s computerization process in order to provide facts to the policy makers for smooth computerization. The primary data collected through structured questionnaires was analyzed and tested through correlation, regressions analysis and t-test. Out of 10 hypotheses, 3 were accepted while in the rest null hypotheses were not substantiated. Based on primary and secondary data analysis this study has found that all independent bureaucratic, political, education and social and cultural variables are mutually correlated and have significant impact on shaping and reshaping of IT in Pakistan, while the Pakistan IT policy is inconsistent, administrative machinery attitude is negative and non cooperative, procedures are cumbersome and implementation is weak and ineffective, not to mention the lack of IT knowledge on the bureaucratic side. The political environment is instable and law and order is worse which is discouraging the investment. Moreover, physical and legal infrastructure is insufficient and the country is lacking good quality IT professionals. IT organization alignment is another serious issue in Pakistan. However, government incentives and growing interest from the private sector indicate positive attitude towards computerization of the country.

Why achievement motivation predicts success in business but failure in politics: the importance of personal control.

Science.gov (United States)

Winter, David G

2010-12-01

Several decades of research have established that implicit achievement motivation (n Achievement) is associated with success in business, particularly in entrepreneurial or sales roles. However, several political psychology studies have shown that achievement motivation is not associated with success in politics; rather, implicit power motivation often predicts political success. Having versus lacking control may be a key difference between business and politics. Case studies suggest that achievement-motivated U.S. presidents and other world leaders often become frustrated and thereby fail because of lack of control, whereas power-motivated presidents develop ways to work with this inherent feature of politics. A reevaluation of previous research suggests that, in fact, relationships between achievement motivation and business success only occur when control is high. The theme of control is also prominent in the development of achievement motivation. Cross-national data are also consistent with this analysis: In democratic industrialized countries, national levels of achievement motivation are associated with strong executive control. In countries with low opportunity for education (thus fewer opportunities to develop a sense of personal control), achievement motivation is associated with internal violence. Many of these manifestations of frustrated achievement motivation in politics resemble authoritarianism. This conclusion is tested by data from a longitudinal study of 113 male college students, showing that high initial achievement motivation combined with frustrated desires for control is related to increases in authoritarianism (F-scale scores) during the college years. Implications for the psychology of leadership and practical politics are discussed. © 2010 The Author. Journal of Personality © 2010, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Social Networks and Political Parties in Chile

OpenAIRE

Adler Lomnitz, Larissa

2002-01-01

This paper describes the origin and evolution of two Chilean political parties (the Radical Party and the Christian Democrat Party) through the analysis of the social networks that originated and composed them. The aim of this study is to propose a model of national political cultures on the basis of the structure of social networks related to power and of the symbol system, which legitimizes it. The structure of social networks, horizontal and vertical, are based on reciprocal or redistribut...

The struggle is beautiful: on the aesthetics of leftist politics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hartle, J.

2013-01-01

Aesthetic discourse has always openly or secretly been linked to political projects. According to some main strands of aesthetic discourse modern aesthetics mirrors the structure of social and political emancipation and key elements of aesthetic discourse coincide with the political ontology of the

Nanocomposites: synthesis, structure, properties and new application opportunities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pedro Henrique Cury Camargo

2009-03-01

Full Text Available Nanocomposites, a high performance material exhibit unusual property combinations and unique design possibilities. With an estimated annual growth rate of about 25% and fastest demand to be in engineering plastics and elastomers, their potential is so striking that they are useful in several areas ranging from packaging to biomedical applications. In this unified overview the three types of matrix nanocomposites are presented underlining the need for these materials, their processing methods and some recent results on structure, properties and potential applications, perspectives including need for such materials in future space mission and other interesting applications together with market and safety aspects. Possible uses of natural materials such as clay based minerals, chrysotile and lignocellulosic fibers are highlighted. Being environmentally friendly, applications of nanocomposites offer new technology and business opportunities for several sectors of the aerospace, automotive, electronics and biotechnology industries.

32 CFR 644.551 - Equal opportunity-sales of timber, embedded sand, gravel, stone, and surplus structures.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... § 644.551 Equal opportunity—sales of timber, embedded sand, gravel, stone, and surplus structures... 32 National Defense 4 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 true Equal opportunity-sales of timber, embedded sand, gravel, stone, and surplus structures. 644.551 Section 644.551 National Defense Department of Defense...

Political model of social evolution.

Science.gov (United States)

Acemoglu, Daron; Egorov, Georgy; Sonin, Konstantin

2011-12-27

Almost all democratic societies evolved socially and politically out of authoritarian and nondemocratic regimes. These changes not only altered the allocation of economic resources in society but also the structure of political power. In this paper, we develop a framework for studying the dynamics of political and social change. The society consists of agents that care about current and future social arrangements and economic allocations; allocation of political power determines who has the capacity to implement changes in economic allocations and future allocations of power. The set of available social rules and allocations at any point in time is stochastic. We show that political and social change may happen without any stochastic shocks or as a result of a shock destabilizing an otherwise stable social arrangement. Crucially, the process of social change is contingent (and history-dependent): the timing and sequence of stochastic events determine the long-run equilibrium social arrangements. For example, the extent of democratization may depend on how early uncertainty about the set of feasible reforms in the future is resolved.

Job demands as a moderator of the political skill-job performance relationship

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Blickle, G.; Kramer, J.; Zettler, Ingo

2009-01-01

.g. enterprising jobs) where they have the opportunity to exercise interpersonal influence, and where that interpersonal influence is directly related to their performace. Originality/value - This paper makes several contributions to theory and practice in vocational achievement and political skill. Perhaps, most...

A modern political education. Nonviolent perspectives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claudia SECCI

2016-09-01

Full Text Available he article deals with a nonviolent perspective of political education and with some theories that may conjugate these two domains: Nonviolent Culture and Political Education. Methodologically an approach rooted in the theoretical and bibliographical research has been privileged. The discourse investigates the causes of the actual political disaffection, and follows the purpose to highlight the irrevocable role of a structured nonviolent perspective (like Gandhi’s one, in the rehabilitation of politics. Nonviolence does not remove Marxist elements of legitimation in their entirety – as Gramsci’s theory will highlight – provided that they correspond the “conquest of violence” that needs to succeed first and foremost in the “intimate” individual’s awareness. Moreover, the importance of contemporary ecological theories, which embed the nonviolent perspective in a general epistemological view, will be also discussed to reaffirm the crucial significance of the latter. Through this path, different authors, hailing from diverse backgrounds, such as philosophical, pedagogical and anthropological studies, show meaningful affinities and matching points, presenting, in some case, political education in terms of education and training of the “political emotions”. The reflection highlights the relevance of an expanded political participation and experimentation through praxis, as ways of an actual political education, in the belief that emphasizing the pedagogic dimension of political activity, means nothing less than searching for its deepest fundament.

Countering Political Risk in Colonial India

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lubinski, Christina; Giacomin, Valeria; Schnitzer, Klara

challenges, impacted the perception of racial lines of distinctions and re-casted the category “European business.” While internment was perceived and managed as a political risk, the case also shows that it created unexpected networking opportunities, generating a tight community of German businesspeople......Internment in so-called “enemy countries” was a frequent occurrence in the twentieth century and created significant obstacles for multinational enterprises (MNEs). This article focuses on German MNEs in India and shows how they addressed the formidable challenge of the internment...

Political Transmigrants: Rethinking Hmong Political Activism in America

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nengher N. Vang, Ph.D

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Since the initial resettlement of the Hmong in the United States in the mid-1970s, they have maintained strong political and military relationships with the Lao People‘s Democratic Republic (LPDR. Yet, there is little research on that relationship and the involvement of the Hmong in the United States in political developments in Laos. Most works on Hmong political activism have focused on the electoral participation and representation of Hmong Americans in relation to American domestic politics. In this article, using archival, ethnographic, and interview data that I have collected between 2006 and 2009 in Laos, Thailand, and the United States, I describe and analyze the non-domestic or transnational form of Hmong American political expression and participation. I argue that Hmong political activism in America not only was transnational from the outset, but that their transnational involvement in political developments in Laos and their relations with the Lao PDR government also had a significant impact on their ethnic politics. Many Hmong political activists made their entry into ethnic politics through the door of transnational politics, and many were motivated by transnational political issues to participate in domestic American politics. By exploring their transnational involvement in political developments in Laos and their relations with the Lao PDR government, we get a more complete and dynamic understanding of Hmong political activism in the United States than is possible by focusing exclusively on domestic and electoral participation. Examining their transnational politics also allows us to see the transnationality of not only their culture, identity, and community but also that of their political activities and aspirations.

Debating poverty porn on Twitter:social media as a place for everyday socio-political talk

OpenAIRE

Brooker, Phil; Vines, John; Sutton, Selina; Barnett, Julie; Feltwell, Tom; Lawson, Shaun

2015-01-01

This paper presents an empirical investigation of how people appropriated Twitter for socio-political talk in response to a television (TV) portrayal of people supported by state welfare and benefits. Our findings reveal how online discussion during, and in-between, TV broadcasts was characterised by distinctly different qualities, topics and user behaviours. These findings offer design opportunities for social media services to (i) support more balanced real-time commentaries of politically-...

Opportunities and challenges for structural health monitoring of radioactive waste systems and structures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Giurgiutiu, Victor [University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208 (United States); Mendez Torres, Adrian E. [Savannah River National Laboratory, Aiken, SC 29808 (United States)

2013-07-01

Radioactive waste systems and structures (RWSS) are safety-critical facilities in need of monitoring over prolonged periods of time. Structural health monitoring (SHM) is an emerging technology that aims at monitoring the state of a structure through the use of networks of permanently mounted sensors. SHM technologies have been developed primarily within the aerospace and civil engineering communities. This paper addresses the issue of transitioning the SHM concept to the monitoring of RWSS and evaluates the opportunities and challenges associated with this process. Guided wave SHM technologies utilizing structurally-mounted piezoelectric wafer active sensors (PWAS) have a wide range of applications based on both propagating-wave and standing-wave methodologies. Hence, opportunities exist for transitioning these SHM technologies into RWSS monitoring. However, there exist certain special operational conditions specific to RWSS such as: radiation field, caustic environments, marine environments, and chemical, mechanical and thermal stressors. In order to address the high discharge of used nuclear fuel (UNF) and the limited space in the storage pools the U.S. the Department of Energy (DOE) has adopted a 'Strategy for the Management and Disposal of Used Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste' (January 2013). This strategy endorses the key principles that underpin the Blue Ribbon Commission's on America's Nuclear Future recommendations to develop a sustainable program for deploying an integrated system capable of transporting, storing, and disposing of UNF and high-level radioactive waste from civilian nuclear power generation, defense, national security, and other activities. This will require research to develop monitoring, diagnosis, and prognosis tools that can aid to establish a strong technical basis for extended storage and transportation of UNF. Monitoring of such structures is critical for assuring the safety and security of the

Contentious Politics and Participatory Democracy in Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brian Wampler

2014-12-01

Full Text Available http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/2175-7984.2014v13n28p199 Contentious politics helps individuals and groups with limited political voice to place their ideas and interests on the political agenda. Contentious politics were long thought to occur when politically marginalized group had no other means to advance their political agenda. The June 2013 social mobilization in Brazil caught most political observers by surprise, especially given the creation of a large, wide-spread participatory architecture (national conferences, councils, participatory budgeting. The innovative institutions emerging in Brazil created a policy environment in which millions of citizens have regular access to state policymaking bodies. How does the institutionalization of a broader network of participatory institutions make it easier for citizens to engage in contentious politics? In what ways does this institutionalization make it more difficult for some citizens to engage in contentious politics? In what ways has the vast network of participatory institutions been largely irrelevant to how citizens use contentious politics? This article explore how the institutionalization of an extensive participatory democracy system in Brazil alters the incentive structures that encourage citizens to engage in contentious collective action.

The relationship between political ideology and ethical consumption

OpenAIRE

Cronk, Bradley; Not applicable.

2017-01-01

Problem definition and research questions\\ud \\ud The determinants of ethical consumption behaviour are largely unknown. This research explores the effectiveness of political ideology as a predictor of ethical consumption. Increasing the understanding of ethical consumption will create opportunities for organisations to supply consumer segments with products that address the ethical consumption issues that are most important to them. The issues that form overall ethical consumption include: (1...

The Political Structure at Basra Gulf in the Period of Ali b. Ebu Talib and Yezid b. Muaviye

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taner YILDIRIM

2011-06-01

Full Text Available At this work about the political structure of the Basra Gulf, we dwelled upon the general geography of the district and its political history. The political situation of the district in this period is assessed in a way that comprises especially the period of Hz. Ali the fourth caliph of early islamic period Muaviya, the first Emevi caliph, and his son Yazid in the light of political developments in that period. When we took up Gulf of Basra we saw that the region of the Gulf is a very important strategic lacation. So since the most prohestoric period this area have got a lot of civilizations, big wars, social events and contentions. We saw that in the time of the region that we take up, the pozition of the Gulf area have gotten similar events in the past. Consequently, the area of the Gulf have owned most active pozition in that term that we take up. Especially because of the land trade roads, sea trade roads and riwer trade roads, Gulf of Basra have owned a very active junction at all time in the past and we easily guess that it will be protect its status in the future, too

Ross-Cultural Aspects of Metaphorical Framing in Political Discourse

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tatyana V. Andryukhina

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The article examines cross-cultural aspects of metaphorical framing in political discourse. The author notes the importance of conceptual metaphor in framing the conceptual domain of politics, political discourse as a whole, its perception as well as political reality itself. The author shares an opinion that the metaphorical structure of basic concepts of a nation always correlates with its fundamental cultural values. However, the examination of political discourse from the cross-cultural perspective reveals the cases of metaphor uses that don't meet the requirements of cultural coherence and may lead to negative cognitive and communicative consequences. Along with admitting a wide discrepancy between metaphorical models in western and oriental political discourse, the author gives some examples of metaphorical coherence as well as its violation in a number of basic metaphors in American, British and Russian political discourse. To illustrate how cross-cultural factors determine the specific character of metaphorical framing, the article analyses the dynamic character of metaphorical models that can realize diverse scenarios in different national varieties of political discourse. An observation is made about the dependence of metaphoric scenarios in different national varieties of political discourse on the cultural, historical, social and political components of the national cultural cognitive map. The latter is heterogeneous as it is structured by the objectified individual, group, and national verbal and nonverbal experience. This explains, for instance, why there are examples of similarity as well as discrepancy between metaphorical framing in ideologically different party varieties of political discourse within the national political discourse as well as in the rhetoric of politicians belonging to different generations. The observations are illustrated by cross-linguistic data proving the dynamic character of metaphorical models, their

An investigation into the relationship between political activity levels and political market orientation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ormrod, Robert P.; Henneberg, Stephan C.

2010-01-01

Purpose - The key objective of this research is to investigate the relationship between party member activity-levels and perceptions of their party's political market orientation. Specifically, it aims to scrutinise the differences in the interplay of attitudinal and behavioural aspects of politi......Purpose - The key objective of this research is to investigate the relationship between party member activity-levels and perceptions of their party's political market orientation. Specifically, it aims to scrutinise the differences in the interplay of attitudinal and behavioural aspects...... of political market orientation. Design/methodology/approach - Using a wide variety of respondent groups within the party, the research draws on an existing conceptualisation of political market orientation and empirically test its relationship with party member activity levels. Three models, plus a baseline...... model, are developed and data from 1,156 questionnaires are used to investigate a structural equation model using the partial least square method. Findings - While the baseline model exhibits a robust pattern of positive relationships between the attitudinal and behavioural constructs, the comparative...

Structuring Knowledge of Subcultural Folk Devils through News Coverage: Social Cognition, Semiotics, and Political Economy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Patrick Williams

2011-10-01

Full Text Available The folk devil concept has been well used in subcultural studies, yet its importance might be better served by distinguishing among multiple conceptual frames through which it is articulated. In this article, I clarify how folk devils are made possible through the interaction of three concepts used by sociologists to study everyday life. The first is the process of social cognition, where producers and consumers of news construct and propagate a shared definition of who subcultural youths are and why they should be the object of fear. The second are the semiotic structures of genre and narrative, which narrow the interpretive process of producers and receivers alike and sustain discourses that limit how subcultural youths can be understood in the news. The third has to do with political economy, where the ideological features of mass mediated news-making keep the news industry in relative control of meaning making. Social cognition, semiotics, and the political economy dialectically produce the phenomenon of the subcultural folk devil and support its objective effects. I review several studies of market and state-controlled media societies and note that, in both types, the objective effects on youths are similar and significant. In studying how subcultural youths are framed in the media output of transitional states and societies, the conceptual value of social cognition, semiotics, and political economy should be recognised.

The Politics of Surprise Devaluations: Modelling Motives for Giving Up a Peg

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bohn, F.

2013-01-01

Planned ‘‘surprise’’ devaluations are often spurred by non-economic circumstances: a rentseeking government; political instability; or the opportunity to put the blame on a predecessor government. In this paper, these aspects are incorporated in the monetary and fiscal policy framework first

Extending the the behavioral immune system to political psychology: are political conservatism and disgust sensitivity really related?

Science.gov (United States)

Tybur, Joshua M; Merriman, Leslie A; Hooper, Ann E Caldwell; McDonald, Melissa M; Navarrete, Carlos David

2010-10-26

Previous research suggests that several individual and cultural level attitudes, cognitions, and societal structures may have evolved to mitigate the pathogen threats posed by intergroup interactions. It has been suggested that these anti-pathogen defenses are at the root of conservative political ideology. Here, we test a hypothesis that political conservatism functions as a pathogen-avoidance strategy. Across three studies, we consistently find no relationship between sensitivity to pathogen disgust and multiple measures of political conservatism. These results are contrasted with theoretical perspectives suggesting a relationship between conservatism and pathogen avoidance, and with previous findings of a relationship between conservatism and disgust sensitivity.

Opportunities, challenges and strategies when building a midwifery profession. Findings from a qualitative study in Bangladesh and Nepal.

Science.gov (United States)

Bogren, Malin; Erlandsson, Kerstin

2018-06-01

The aim of this paper was to identify opportunities and challenges when building a midwifery profession in Bangladesh and Nepal. Data were collected through 33 semi-structured interviews with government officials, policy-makers, donors, and individuals from academia and non-government organizations with an influence in building a midwifery profession in their respective countries. Data were analyzed using content analysis. The opportunities and challenges found in Bangladesh and Nepal when building a midwifery profession emerged the theme "A comprehensive collaborative approach, with a political desire, can build a midwifery profession while competing views, interest, priorities and unawareness hamper the process". Several factors were found to facilitate the establishment of a midwifery profession in both countries. For example, global and national standards brought together midwifery professionals and stakeholders, and helped in the establishment of midwifery associations. The challenges for both countries were national commitments without a full set of supporting policy documents, lack of professional recognition, and competing views, interests and priorities. This study demonstrated that building a midwifery profession requires a political comprehensive collaborative approach supported by a political commitment. Through bringing professionals together in a professional association will bring a professional status. Global standards and guidelines need to be contextualized into national policies and plans where midwives are included as part of the national health workforce. This is a key for creating recognized midwives with a protected title to autonomously practice midwifery, to upholding the sexual and reproductive health and rights for women and girls. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Intersection of Science and Politics

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Elias

2016-03-01

Politics and science often seem at odds. However, important political issues like climate change, cybersecurity, and space exploration require the input of both communities. To create the best possible policies, there must be a dialogue between politicians and scientists. SPS and John Mather gave me the opportunity to be part of this dialogue. Through the Mather Policy Internship, I worked for the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which has jurisdiction over telecom, health care, energy supply, and other technical areas. I worked with the technology and communications subcommittee, conducting research on cybersecurity, spectrum auctions, and the internet of things. It is clear that even the commercial side of science would benefit from the help of the science community. My background gave me an edge over the other interns; I didn't need to learn what it meant for there to be signals of different wavelength. Most importantly, I learned what it will take to pursue a career in science policy. For the number of physics undergrads who do not wish to pursue a pure physics career, science policy is a strong option. Scientists bring a rigorous, fact-based approach that might benefit the political world as a whole. Thanks to SPS, AIP, and the John and Jane Mather Foundation for Science and the Arts.

Warning Signals or Dangerous Opportunities? Globalization, Gender, and Educational Policy Shifts.

Science.gov (United States)

Blackmore, Jill

2000-01-01

Examines the relationship between education and globalization through the lenses of feminist theories, discussing the consequences of globalization for gender equity work in education. The paper argues that the restructuring of the government that flows from the neoliberal political response to globalization presents dangerous opportunities for…

Political Campaigns Of The Stalin Period: Their Content, Peculiarities And Structure

OpenAIRE

Anna S. Kimerling

2014-01-01

The article examines the content, peculiarities and procedures of mass political campaigns that took place between 1946 and 1953 as part of Stalinist policy. The author analyzes the term 'campaign', describes the role of 'letters to the authorities' (complaints) and examines two types of political campaigns: 1) campaigns mobilizing the population for 'the construction of Socialism' and 2) repressive campaigns to eliminate enemies. Archive and newspaper materials help reconstruct the procedure...

Politics drives human functioning, dignity, and quality of life.

Science.gov (United States)

Barber, Brian K; Spellings, Carolyn; McNeely, Clea; Page, Paul D; Giacaman, Rita; Arafat, Cairo; Daher, Mahmoud; El Sarraj, Eyad; Mallouh, Mohammed Abu

2014-12-01

Too little is known about human functioning amidst chronic adversity. We addressed that need by studying adult Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt), a population that has experienced longstanding economic and political hardships. Fourteen group interviews were conducted in February, 2010 in Arabic by local fieldworkers with 68 participants representing the main stratifications of Palestinian society: gender, region, refugee status, and political affiliation. Interview tasks included each participant: describing someone doing well and not well, free listing domains of functioning, and prioritizing domains to the three most important. Thematic analyses highlighted the dominating role of the political domain of functioning (e.g., political structures, constraints, effects, identity, and activism) and the degree to which political conditions impacted all other realms of functioning (economic, education, family, psychological, etc.). The discussion links the findings to relevant theory and empirical work that has called attention to the need to include the political in frameworks of quality of life. It also emphasized that values, such as justice, rights, dignity and self-determination, that underlie political structures and policies, are key elements of human functioning. This is the case not only in the oPt, but in any society where power imbalances marginalize segments of the population. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Education, Post-Structuralism and the Politics of Difference

Science.gov (United States)

Peters, Michael A.

2005-01-01

This article examines the "politics of difference," a phrase now almost synonymous with postmodernism and the critique of the Enlightenment. The article provides a post-structuralist take on this critique arguing that a critique of Enlightenment values can lead to a deepening of democracy and using Foucault's notion of governmentality to elucidate…

Assessing the Discipline: Aligning Curricular Structures and Student Learning with Disciplinary Goals in Political Science

Science.gov (United States)

Desmond, Katie

2010-01-01

Four identifiable disciplinary goals can be discerned from the development of political science as a discipline. These goals indicate that political science students will (1) attain knowledge about political systems (national and international); (2) gain an understanding of how politics works; (3) develop critical thinking skills; and, (4) learn…

Similarities and Differences in Barriers and Opportunities Affecting Climate Change Adaptation Action in Four North American Landscapes

Science.gov (United States)

Lonsdale, Whitney R.; Kretser, Heidi E.; Chetkiewicz, Cheryl-Lesley B.; Cross, Molly S.

2017-12-01

Climate change presents a complex set of challenges for natural resource managers across North America. Despite recognition that climate change poses serious threats to species, ecosystems, and human communities, implementation of adaptation measures is not yet happening on a broad scale. Among different regions, a range of climate change trajectories, varying political contexts, and diverse social and ecological systems generate a myriad of factors that can affect progress on climate change adaptation implementation. In order to understand the general versus site-specific nature of barriers and opportunities influencing implementation, we surveyed and interviewed practitioners, decision-makers, and scientists involved in natural resource management in four different North American regions, northern Ontario (Canada), the Adirondack State Park (US), Arctic Alaska (US), and the Transboundary Rocky Mountains (US and Canada). Common barriers among regions related to a lack of political support and financial resources, as well as challenges related to translating complex and interacting effects of climate change into management actions. Opportunities shared among regions related to collaboration, funding, and the presence of strong leadership. These commonalities indicate the importance of cross-site learning about ways to leverage opportunities and address adaptation barriers; however, regional variations also suggest that adaptation efforts will need to be tailored to fit specific ecological, political, social and economic contexts. Comparative findings on the similarities and differences in barriers and opportunities, as well as rankings of barriers and opportunities by region, offers important contextual insights into how to further refine efforts to advance adaptation actions in those regions.

Constitutional Openness in 1991, Ethnic and Cultural Diversity, and Political System: a Philosophical-Political Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nelson Jair Cuchumbé Holguín

2012-08-01

Full Text Available The multicultural approach seems to be the most praiseworthy instrument through which the acknowledgement of cultural diversity could renew the deontic structure legitimised by the socio-political order in Colombia. Facing a State model based on the denial and exclusion of diversity, the multicultural State allows for pluralism to be articulated into it. In this way, the formation of political unity becomes a matter determined by dialogue, mutual acknowledgement and cultural enhancement. Nevertheless, the multicultural interpretation lacks plausibility if the formation of the State is understood in a pragmatic and universalistic way. From this perspective, the inclusion of the Other is likely only if social actors promote interactions regulated by a political culture based on constitutional principles, active participation, public deliberation and the organisational ability of communities. A shared political culture of this nature seems unavoidable if the purpose is to form a citizenship more suited to living in a democracy.

Theories of opportunity creation and effective entrepreneurial actions in opportunity creation context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Behrooz Jamali

2018-09-01

Full Text Available Created opportunities are refered as the opportunities in which none of the supply and demand parties exists clearly and obviously one or both of them must be created. Therefore, several economic inventions should take place in marketing, franchising, etc. so that opportunity can be created. This perception of opportunity deals with the creation of new markets. In the meantime, identifying some entrepreneurial actions influencing on the creation of entrepreneurial opportunities can provide backgrounds for the formation and empowering the opportunity creation. In this paper, some basic ideas about the creation of entrepreneurial opportunities and the evolution of opportunity creation theories are examined. Then effective actions on the opportunity creation are identified. Finally, the structure of the investigated actions is examined using the DEMATLE Method. The results which were according to the opinions of 15 experts of entrepreneurship showed that leadership, decision making, and strategy actions influence other entrepreneurial actions.

Equal opportunities in the public and private sector

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Anca Monica Ardeleanu

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Equal opportunities are a goal to achieve in Romania at the legislative and institutional/ organizational level.In terms of legislation Romania has made progress, but the institutional mechanisms of the government dealing with gender equality issues are not functioning properly, are not generating a concreate impact on the equal opportunities for women and men.For this reason there is no specific and significant political commitmentto these issue of gender equality in Romania. Gender discrimination is addressed both by anti-discrimination and equal opportunities laws.Equality,fairness and non-discrimination in the workplace environment are present as objective requirements of economic, social and ethical behavior that goes beyond the labor market. Theoretically, on the labor market , both public and private sectors do not accept direct or indirect discrimination at the workplace, espeially during the process of recruitment , training , development, promotion, establishment, payment of the salary and benefits. In practice , the legislation regarding the equal opportunities and equal treatment it is not respected by the employers all the time.Promotion of the policies at the national and organizational level, focused on ensuring equal opportunities , will enhance the social cohesion of the population that will generate economic growrh overall.

Opportunity and obligation

CERN Multimedia

2012-01-01

As anyone in the press or VIP offices can tell you, CERN is in the spotlight like never before. In the first two months of 2012, we welcomed some 56 VIP visits and 144 media visits on site. Not long ago, those were the kind of numbers we’d have had in six months, and 2012 is not a one-off.   Ever since CERN turned 50 in 2004, our visitor numbers have been growing, and that includes teachers and members of the public as well as VIPs and the media. It’s a sign of the explosion of interest around the world in our science, and to me it means two things. Firstly, it means that I owe everyone at CERN a vote of thanks, since I know that visits impinge on everyone’s time. I can assure you all, however, that it is time well spent. That’s because the second thing it tells me is that growing interest in CERN brings opportunity. Our current visibility gives the particle physics community the opportunity to drive science up the popular and political agendas, and it...

Pathway to political participation: the influence of online and offline news media on internal efficacy and turnout of first-time voters

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Moeller, J.; de Vreese, C.; Esser, F; Kunz, R.

2014-01-01

News media play a key role in informing young citizens about politics and cultivating a sense of political efficacy. Online news media, in particular, are expected to have a positive impact due to their interactivity and new opportunities to share and discuss information. This study analyzes the

Politically Active Home Economists: Their Socialization to Politics.

Science.gov (United States)

Ley, Connie J.

1980-01-01

A nationwide study identified a pattern of political socialization for home economists who were politically active. The most outstanding feature of the politically active subjects was their perception that political activity is a professional role. (SK)

Mobilizing Resources but Still Mining for Opportunities?: Indigenous Peoples, their Land and the Philippine State

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

PRINCE AIAN G. VILLANUEVA

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The Kalipunan ng mga Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas (KAMP or the National Alliance of Indigenous Peoples’ Organization in the Philippines is al- most in their 30 years of existence and yet, like in most cases of indigenous peoples’ issues, there is still no significant number of studies about their role in campaigning for the betterment of the Indigenous Cultural Communities. Anchored on political opportunity structures theory as a guide, the basic motiva- tion of the paper is to illustrate how the KAMP fights and survives through resource mobilization and how the government represented by National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP and Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR accommodate their interests. Using archival research, secondary data analysis, elite interview and participant observation, the paper asserts that KAMP’s use of their organizational structure, advocacy campaigns and political assaults as their basic resources to fight for the Nueva Vizcaya Mining issue are relatively insufficient to a centralist and relatively closed government, despite the presence of democratic institutions. The ability of the Philippine government to strike the balance between development and indigenous peoples’ rights pro- tection shall remain to be a defining feature if not a challenge to the quality of democracy and governance in our land

How Neighborhoods Influence Health: Lessons to be learned from the application of political ecology

Science.gov (United States)

Chitewere, Tendai; Shim, Janet K.; Barker, Judith C.; Yen, Irene H.

2017-01-01

AIM This paper articulates how political ecology can be a useful tool for asking fundamental questions and applying relevant methods to investigate structures that impact relationship between neighborhood and health. Through a narrative analysis, we identify how political ecology can develop our future agendas for neighborhood-health research as it relates to social, political, environmental, and economic structures. Political ecology makes clear the connection between political economy and neighborhood by highlighting the historical and structural processes that produce and maintain social inequality, which affect health and well-being. These concepts encourage researchers to examine how people construct neighborhood and health in different ways that, in turn, can influence different health outcomes and, thus, efforts to address solutions. PMID:28342425

Transforming epistemologies in the postcolonial African university? The challenge of the politics of knowledge

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amasa Philip Ndofirepi

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The process of knowledge production, dissemination and consumption has captured much scholarly attention from a political viewpoint in recent times. Discourses on development, empowerment, transformation and democracy have revolved around knowledge and power and more precisely on the politics of knowledge. Institutions of higher learning, especially universities, globally, as nerve centres of knowledge production and distribution, have not been spared from the challenges of the politics of knowledge. In this conceptual paper, we theorise the dynamics of the challenges and opportunities of the politics of knowledge in the context of the postcolonial African university’s endeavour to transform epistemologies in higher education in the 21st century Africa. Our case is premised on three claims, namely that 1 the production and mediation of knowledge is a genuinely political process(Weiler, 2011b 2 universities can be considered among the most political institutions in society (Ordorika, 1999 and 3 recontextualisation and transformation of university epistemologies (Weiler, 2011a is a prerequisite for an authentic postcolonial African university.

Political Investment in Economic Protection: A Note

OpenAIRE

Arsenio M. Balisacan

1987-01-01

This note presents some aspects of the neoclassical political economy of economic protection. It develops a conceptual framework which focuses on the costs and benefits of investment in political in?uence to certain conditions in the society and how the benefit-cost structure may affect the level of economic protection and the amount of what Bhagwati called "directly unproductive profit-seeking" activities.

Nuclear investment: performance and opportunity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lacy, B.

2007-01-01

Nuclear power plant ownership in the United States has continued its steady trend toward ownership consolidation and removal of assets from rate regulated environments that began in 1998. This is paralleled by changes in companies providing nuclear services and growing talk of building new units. World wide, new nuclear plant construction and related supplier investment is proceeding around the world. The nuclear fuel supply part of the business is seeing interest and excitement that would have been almost inconceivable a decade ago. Nuclear is now increasingly being recognized for its energy, economic and environmental benefits. For investors, this is a time of opportunity. And the opportunity is strongly supported by excellent performance trends and fundamental change sin the US electricity business. But in order to benefit from these changes, investors must remain cautious and be committed to comprehensively and thoroughly understanding the individual and interrelated technical, regulatory and political issues that surround this useful and powerful technology. (orig.)

Evolution in the enunciative structure of the political discourse

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joanna Jereczek-Lipińska

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This study is based upon discursive and logometric analysis of the political speeches delivered by the candidates during the campaign and pre-campaign phases of the 2012 presidential elections in France, taking into account the results of previous studies related to the 2007 presidential elections. The present paper aims at tracing the different representations of the speaker within his own speeches and at analyzing the way he verbalizes himself in his campaign by observing the use, the distribution, the role and the possible impact of “I” and of the other personal pronouns within the frame of political communication. The analysis of statistical data tends to emphasize syntactic as well as morphological, stylistic, lexical, and gramatical distinctive features of the speeches delivered by the candidates to the presidential elections, especially in relation with the new possibilities conveyed by internet.

From essentialism to another way of doing politics: resuming the transformative potential of the politics of difference

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Léa Tosold

2010-12-01

Full Text Available This article aims at resuming and critically scrutinizing the debate on the politics of difference taken among liberal feminist political theorists. Firstly, I shall provide an overview of theoretical attempts to legitimate the politicization of collective-based subjects taking into account the problem of essentialism. Then I will argue that an exclusive focus on the relationship between essentialism and the conceptualization of collective-based subjects tends to overshadow the relationship between the politicization of differences and a new way of doing politics. I will defend the view that the politicization of differences is transforming rather than undermining the functioning of the polity and the possibility of real social justice. I shall evaluate the works of Anne Phillips and Iris Marion Young as offering new ways of reshaping the political sphere in order to enable proper institutional action against structural inequalities.

The ontology of "political" in political consumption

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grünbaum, Niels Nolsøe; Stenger, Marianne

2014-01-01

The aim of this paper is to create a more complex and holistic understanding of the value system of the political consumer. A case study was undertaken were the unit of analysis constituted 12 high users of organic food products. The empirical data was analysed by utilizing Reynolds and Gutman’s ...... or services will enable companies to better understand consumers need and expectations. The latter being a necessity if confirmation of expectations, satisfaction, retention of customers and customer loyalty are goals of importance for the selling company.......The aim of this paper is to create a more complex and holistic understanding of the value system of the political consumer. A case study was undertaken were the unit of analysis constituted 12 high users of organic food products. The empirical data was analysed by utilizing Reynolds and Gutman......’s laddering technique. The results revealed that the purposive selected informants activate different cognitive structures when buycotting organic food. In other words, the informants activate different values for similar attributes and consequences. This means that consumption of organic food is related...

Modernism and catholic political doctrine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Henry T. Sardaryan

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The article studies the perception of Modernism by the Catholic Church as a movement within the clerical structure and philosophy that existed during the 19-20th centuries in the framework of general skepticism and rejection of tradition, prioritization of individualism, formal equality, faith in inevitability of social, scientific and technological progress, rationalization and professionalization. A distinctive feature of this movement is the participation of the priests themselves, especially in France and Italy. The object of research is the Catholic political doctrine during the pontificate of Pius X. Modernist movement in Catholicism, in opinion of many scientists had a decisive impact on the reform direction during the Second Vatican Council, but on closer study of the discourse that took place in the late 19th - early 20th centuries, it becomes obvious that this is not true. The focus of the article is the political doctrine of Catholicism - the issue of state political structure, its relationship with church institutions, status of the individual in societyc. In this regard, the modernists gave priority to necessity of secularization and complete separation of secular and spiritual power. In the article different scientifical methods, ave used such as dialectical, logical, comparative, systematic. The main conclusion of the author is that modernism should be regarded as an unsuccessful attempt to reform the Catholic Church that could have lead to its another schism, rather than a route towards the Second Vatican Council. The desire to change the structure, methods of church mission, its hierarchy and a number of other formal elements – was implemented by church itself for multiple times before. However, revision of the foundations of Christian ethics and its ontology, including its political doctrine, ran into resistance of the Holy See, causing, in essence, a rhetorical question - whether scientific and technical progress should

Strategic political postures and political market orientation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ormrod, Robert P.; Henneberg, Stephan C.

2010-01-01

by developing an integrated concept of political marketing strategy using two complementary frameworks, namely Strategic Political Postures (SPP) and Political Market Orientation (PMO). We introduce the two main concepts and derive for each of the strategic posture-specific PMO profiles as well as inter......Recently, the areas of strategic political marketing and political market orientation have been the subject of several conceptual articles which have provided the theoretical foundations for further empirical work. However, despite the close conceptual relatedness of the proposed concepts......, these have yet to be integrated to provide a more nuanced framework which both researchers and political marketing practitioners can utilise in the development of strategies and offerings with which to achieve their organizational goals. The aim of this conceptual paper is to address this deficit...

The Double Conditioning of Political Participation: Grassroots Politics on Facebook. Conjunctions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schou, Jannick; Farkas, Johan; Hjelholt, Morten

2015-01-01

Th e emergence of social network sites as a part of everyday life has given rise to a number of debates on the demo-cratic potential aff orded by these technologies. Th is paper addresses political participation facilitated through Facebook from a practice-oriented perspective and presents a case...... of Facebook to facilitate political participation. Th e study fi nds that user participation on the Facebook page is ‘ double conditioned’ by the material structure of the social network site on the one hand and by the discourses articulated by the organisation and users on the other. Finally, the paper...... discusses the fi ndings and raises a number of problems and obstacles facing participatory grassroots organisations, such as Fight For Th e Future, when using Facebook....

Exploring Women's Understanding of Politics, Political Contestation ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Exploring Women's Understanding of Politics, Political Contestation and Gender ... First, researchers will explore women's political leadership and the extent to ... Sign up now for IDRC news and views sent directly to your inbox each month.

Political symbols and political transitions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Herrero de Miñón, Miguel

2006-11-01

Full Text Available Politics, Law and Psychology are fields that come together in the symbolic. This text takes evidence from those three areas to develop an analysis of political symbols and political transitions. The development of the analysis goes through three stages. The first succinctly describes the concept of transition and its meaning. The second closely examines the notion of the symbol, in terms of its definition, to explain aspects that allow us to understand it, characterise it and make its functions clear. Finally, from the author's experience as a witness and as an actor, I suggest three ways of understanding symbols in the processes of political transition: as symbols of change, as symbols of acknowledgment, and as symbols of support.

Political Education as a Means of Political Socialization.

Science.gov (United States)

Grabe, Weronika; Knobelsdorf, Wodzimierz

1980-01-01

This essay describes the dimensions of political socialization with systematic political education as a major component. Both promote individual acceptance of political norms--particularly where government and school systems are tightly linked. The authors argue that political socialization should promote effective citizenship rather than simply…

Women, Demography, and Politics: How Lower Fertility Rates Lead to Democracy.

Science.gov (United States)

Sommer, Udi

2018-04-01

Where connections between demography and politics are examined in the literature, it is largely in the context of the effects of male aspects of demography on phenomena such as political violence. This project aims to place the study of demographic variables' influence on politics, particularly on democracy, squarely within the scope of political and social sciences, and to focus on the effects of woman-related demographics-namely, fertility rate. I test the hypothesis that demographic variables-female-related predictors, in particular-have an independent effect on political structure. Comparing countries over time, this study finds a growth in democracy when fertility rates decline. In the theoretical framework developed, it is family structure as well as the economic and political status of women that account for this change at the macro and micro levels. Findings based on data for more than 140 countries over three decades are robust when controlling not only for alternative effects but also for reverse causality and data limitations.

Political and Professional Participation of Women in Nigeria: Its ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Women's participation is insignificant in various professional and political activities in Nigeria. Studies identified several hindrances to women's participation, little empirical study on women's roles in professions and parties' structures. This paper examines women's activities in professional and political parties in Nigeria.

Political party affiliation, political ideology and mortality.

Science.gov (United States)

Pabayo, Roman; Kawachi, Ichiro; Muennig, Peter

2015-05-01

Ecological and cross-sectional studies have indicated that conservative political ideology is associated with better health. Longitudinal analyses of mortality are needed because subjective assessments of ideology may confound subjective assessments of health, particularly in cross-sectional analyses. Data were derived from the 2008 General Social Survey-National Death Index data set. Cox proportional analysis models were used to determine whether political party affiliation or political ideology was associated with time to death. Also, we attempted to identify whether self-reported happiness and self-rated health acted as mediators between political beliefs and time to death. In this analysis of 32,830 participants and a total follow-up time of 498,845 person-years, we find that political party affiliation and political ideology are associated with mortality. However, with the exception of independents (adjusted HR (AHR)=0.93, 95% CI 0.90 to 0.97), political party differences are explained by the participants' underlying sociodemographic characteristics. With respect to ideology, conservatives (AHR=1.06, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.12) and moderates (AHR=1.06, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.11) are at greater risk for mortality during follow-up than liberals. Political party affiliation and political ideology appear to be different predictors of mortality. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

How Neighborhoods Influence Health: Lessons to be learned from the application of political ecology.

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Chitewere, Tendai; Shim, Janet K; Barker, Judith C; Yen, Irene H

2017-05-01

This paper articulates how political ecology can be a useful tool for asking fundamental questions and applying relevant methods to investigate structures that impact relationship between neighborhood and health. Through a narrative analysis, we identify how political ecology can develop our future agendas for neighborhood-health research as it relates to social, political, environmental, and economic structures. Political ecology makes clear the connection between political economy and neighborhood by highlighting the historical and structural processes that produce and maintain social inequality, which affect health and well-being. These concepts encourage researchers to examine how people construct neighborhood and health in different ways that, in turn, can influence different health outcomes and, thus, efforts to address solutions. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Political repression, civil society and the politics of responding to AIDS in the BRICS nations.

Science.gov (United States)

Gómez, Eduardo J; Harris, Joseph

2016-02-01

The policy responses to human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) in the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) nations have played out amid radically different political environments that have shaped state-civil society relations in critical ways. In contrasting these different environments, this article offers the first comparison of the policy response to AIDS in the BRICS nations and seeks to understand the way in which political context matters for conditioning the response to a major epidemic. Using a comparative historical approach, we find that while collaborative state-civil society relations have produced an aggressive response and successful outcomes in Brazil, democratic openness and state-civil society engagement has not necessarily correlated with an aggressive response or better outcomes in the other cases. Response to the epidemic has been worst by far in democratic South Africa, followed by Russia, where in the former, denialism and antagonistic state-civil society relations fuelled a delayed response and proved extremely costly in terms of human lives. In Russia, a lack of civil societal opportunity for mobilization and non-governmental organization (NGO) growth, political centralization and the state's unwillingness to work with NGOs led to an ineffective government response. Top-down bureaucratic rule and a reluctance to fully engage civil society in democratic India substantially delayed the state's efforts to engage in a successful partnership with NGOs. Nevertheless, China has done surprisingly well, in spite of its repressive approach and narrow engagement with civil society. And in all cases, we find the relationship between state and civil society to be evolving over time in important ways. These findings suggest the need for more research on the links between democratic openness, political repression and policy responses to epidemics. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press in

Politics Backstage - Television Documentaries, Politics and Politicians

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ib Bondebjerg

2006-09-01

Full Text Available This article deals with "the transformation of visibility" in political discourse on and representation of politics and politicians in resent Dansih television documentaries. Drawing on the theories of Habermas, Meyrowitz and John B. Thompson, it is argued that the political persona on television is moved closer to the individual citizen, creating a sort "mediated quasi-inter- action" giving mediated communication a stronger element of face-to-face interaction. Together with the more pervasive "live" coverage of politics and politicians, this expands media coverage to both the backstage of political processes and the private and personal backstage of politicians, changing the form of democracy and public debate.

Power and Politics in the Global Health Landscape: Beliefs, Competition and Negotiation Among Global Advocacy Coalitions in the Policy-Making Process

Science.gov (United States)

McDougall, Lori

2016-01-01

Background: Advocacy coalitions play an increasingly prominent role within the global health landscape, linking actors and institutions to attract political attention and resources. This paper examines how coalitions negotiate among themselves and exercise hidden forms of power to produce policy on the basis of their beliefs and strategic interests. Methods: This paper examines the beliefs and behaviours of health advocacy coalitions using Sabatier’s Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) as an informal theoretical lens. Coalitions are further explored in relation to the concept of transnational advocacy networks (Keck and Sikkink) and of productive power (Shiffman). The ACF focuses on explaining how policy change takes place when there is conflict concerning goals and technical approaches among different actors. This study uses participant observation methods, self-reported survey results and semi-structured qualitative interviews to trace how a major policy project of the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) era, the Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health, was constructed through negotiations among maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) advocacy coalitions. Results: The Global Strategy represented a new opportunity for high-level political attention. Despite differing policy beliefs, MNCH and SRHR actors collaborated to produce this strategy because of anticipated gains in political attention. While core beliefs did not shift fundamentally and collaboration was primarily a short-term tactical response to a time-bound opportunity, MNCH actors began to focus more on human rights perspectives and SRHR actors adopted greater use of quantifiable indicators and economic argumentation. This shift emphasises the inherent importance of SRHR to maternal and child health survival. Conclusion: As opportunities arise, coalitions respond based on principles and policy beliefs, as well as to perceptions of

Power and Politics in the Global Health Landscape: Beliefs, Competition and Negotiation Among Global Advocacy Coalitions in the Policy-Making Process.

Science.gov (United States)

McDougall, Lori

2016-01-30

Advocacy coalitions play an increasingly prominent role within the global health landscape, linking actors and institutions to attract political attention and resources. This paper examines how coalitions negotiate among themselves and exercise hidden forms of power to produce policy on the basis of their beliefs and strategic interests. This paper examines the beliefs and behaviours of health advocacy coalitions using Sabatier's Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) as an informal theoretical lens. Coalitions are further explored in relation to the concept of transnational advocacy networks (Keck and Sikkink) and of productive power (Shiffman). The ACF focuses on explaining how policy change takes place when there is conflict concerning goals and technical approaches among different actors. This study uses participant observation methods, self-reported survey results and semi-structured qualitative interviews to trace how a major policy project of the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) era, the Global Strategy for Women's and Children's Health, was constructed through negotiations among maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) advocacy coalitions. The Global Strategy represented a new opportunity for high-level political attention. Despite differing policy beliefs, MNCH and SRHR actors collaborated to produce this strategy because of anticipated gains in political attention. While core beliefs did not shift fundamentally and collaboration was primarily a short-term tactical response to a time-bound opportunity, MNCH actors began to focus more on human rights perspectives and SRHR actors adopted greater use of quantifiable indicators and economic argumentation. This shift emphasises the inherent importance of SRHR to maternal and child health survival. As opportunities arise, coalitions respond based on principles and policy beliefs, as well as to perceptions of advantage. Global health policy-making is an arena of

Indian politics encourages durgas, snubs women.

Science.gov (United States)

Kishwar, M

1999-01-01

This article talks about four Indian women--Sonia Gandhi, Jayalitha, Mayawati, and Mamta Banerjee--in contrast with India's stereotypes in the political realm. India is a land of mind-boggling diversity. Yet stereotypes about India, which reduce the Indian reality to a unidimensional monolith, hold powerful sway. One such powerful stereotype is that Indian women are brutally oppressed, denied a voice in their family and community, and marginalized in politics as in other power structures. Without doubt, there is much truth in this stereotype; but how can the current political scene be explained? A few women are holding the entire political establishment of India at ransom. The machinations of Sonia Gandhi, Jayalalitha, Mayawati, and Mamta Banerjee have caused enormous upheavals in the polity and recently brought about the fall of the BJP government. Powerful politicians dance to the erratic tunes of these women and are shamefully submissive to them.

Young people’s and employers’ perceptions of equal opportunities in the world of work

OpenAIRE

Malhi, Harshinder Kaur

2008-01-01

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University. This study investigates how young people and employers perceive equal opportunities in the world of work. Events such as the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry (Macpherson, 1999), the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 and other legislation to promote equal opportunities, for example, Employment Equality Regulations, 2003 (Phillips, 2007, p.36) have placed this issue high on the political and educatio...

Public health policy research: making the case for a political science approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Bernier, Nicole F; Clavier, Carole

2011-03-01

The past few years have seen the emergence of claims that the political determinants of health do not get due consideration and a growing demand for better insights into public policy analysis in the health research field. Several public health and health promotion researchers are calling for better training and a stronger research culture in health policy. The development of these studies tends to be more advanced in health promotion than in other areas of public health research, but researchers are still commonly caught in a naïve, idealistic and narrow view of public policy. This article argues that the political science discipline has developed a specific approach to public policy analysis that can help to open up unexplored levers of influence for public health research and practice and that can contribute to a better understanding of public policy as a determinant of health. It describes and critiques the public health model of policy analysis, analyzes political science's specific approach to public policy analysis, and discusses how the politics of research provides opportunities and barriers to the integration of political science's distinctive contributions to policy analysis in health promotion.

Political culture of civil society within synergetic paradigm context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. Z. Derzhko

2014-12-01

society can be defined as a system separate and independent from the state, interpersonal, family, economic, cultural, religious, political relations and structures that are designed to provide the conditions for self-realization of individuals and groups. Priorities of civil society are in inverse points of the political process - the elections, the formation of the state, where society depend on the prospects for change; renewal of power, improve administrative efficiency of its structures. Political culture permeates the entire set of relationships that develop between political actors, the po­tential impact on the form of government, the structure of its institutions, allowing effectively regulate the relationship between the state and civil society, ensure social consensus. Political culture is a factor that can directly help or hinder democratic political development. This confirms the practice of developed democra­cies, which shows that it is a democratic political culture, is the foundation of stability and dynamic perfor­mance. Understanding the political regime as functional characteristics of the political system, including the methods and techniques of political domination, and the order of the citizen, society and political power, helps to define the connection mode of political culture and its place in it.  In a democracy, trust in government is directly determined by its ability to real dialogue with public opin­ion and its main source - the civil society. Democratic political systems require for their existence a certain type of political culture. The lack of long-term and large-scale practices of democratic institutions and pre­vent the consolidation of a democratic political culture society. The main areas of transformation of political culture are: establishment of a democratic type of political consciousness, the formation of political behavior on democratic principles, establishment of a democratic culture functioning administrative institutions

Reregulation of the Swedish pharmacy sector-A qualitative content analysis of the political rationale.

Science.gov (United States)

Wisell, Kristin; Winblad, Ulrika; Sporrong, Sofia Kälvemark

2015-05-01

In 2009, a reregulation of the Swedish pharmacy sector took place, and a fundamental change in ownership and structure followed. The reregulation provides an opportunity to reveal the politicians' views on pharmacies. The aim of this study was to explore and analyze the political arguments for the reregulation of the Swedish pharmacy sector in 2009. The method used was a qualitative content analysis of written political documents regarding the reregulation. The primary rationales for the reregulation were better availability, efficiency, price pressure, and safe usage of medicines. During the preparatory work, the rationales of diversity on the market and entrepreneurship were added, while the original rationales of efficiency, price pressure, and better usage of medicines were abandoned. The reform can be seen as a typical New Public Management reform influenced by the notion that private actors are better equipped to perform public activities. The results point to that the reform was done almost solely in order to introduce private ownership in the pharmacy sector, and was not initiated in order to solve any general problems, or to enhance patient outcomes of medicine use. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hybrid carbon incentive mechanisms and political acceptability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vollebergh, H.R.J.; De Vries, J.L.; Koutstaal, P.R.

1997-01-01

In this paper it is analyzed how hybrid systems of carbon taxes and tradeable permits optimize some conflicting dimensions of political acceptability related to the design of these instruments. Pure systems like taxes without exemptions or auctioned tradeable permits cause problems for political acceptability in open economies due to high overall costs (abatement cost plus payments on the tax or auctions) for current polluters. Unfortunately, pure systems based on grandfathering of emission rights across the board do not provide a feasible alternative because of monitoring and enforcement problems. In contrast, consciously designed hybrid systems employ grandfathering of emission rights together with either carbon taxes or auctioned carbon permits in order to overcome acceptability problems of pure systems, while leaving incentives to reduce emissions at the margin untouched. Moreover, monitoring and enforcement costs of the hybrid systems are less due to the lower number of participating agents compared with the pure systems, while opportunities for cost- or burden-sharing exist as well. 3 figs., 4 tabs., 23 refs

Opportunities and challenges working in the former Soviet Union

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gueritte, C.

1992-01-01

The recent opening up of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) to foreign companies has provided oil and gas companies with the opportunity to enter into business relationships with CIS partners to develop that region's vast hydrocarbon resources. The CIS is experiencing a decline in production due to major declines in output from the giant oil fields, lack of equipment and technology, limited exploration investment, environmental problems, inadequate pricing structures, and social instability. Gas production, although rising up to the end of 1990, is threatened by emergence of technological problems in maintaining productivity of the main gas fields. The challenges for carrying out business in the CIS are outlined, including technical aspects, business mentality, economic approach, political organization, legal and fiscal stability, and financing. Experiences in operating in the CIS are illustrated from the viewpoint of the French company Total Exploration and Production, which is engaged in enhanced recovery operations and development of fields in joint ventures. 5 figs., 2 tabs

K. Schmitt’s Theory of Partisan: Socio - Political Eventuality of Partisan

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Mihail Petrovich Ostromenskij

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Eventual socio-political conditions of the appearance of a partisan are considered. It is shown that the appearance of the partisan becomes possible when the socio-political uncertainty in the state and social anomie in society caused serious set into question the legitimacy of the sovereign. In such circumstances, falling value of public institutions, the rule of law and the rules of the routine, but the role of the individual and adopt independent decisions, in each case, increases. And increasing the area of independent ad hoc decisions. Such conditions arise in the occupied territory, especially in a situation of the continuing war. Besides, here indigenous people without taking any illegal actions, from the point of view of both clashing sovereigns, it is struck in the rights. All this makes a real opportunity to show the political subjectivity of the citizen, even with low social status. The behavior of the occupied population can follow three models: expectations of the solution of the conflict between sovereigns and the subsequent acceptance of its results as due - absolute majority population, the active help to the occupying sovereign for the purpose of the statement new political - the collaborator, active opposition of the occupying authority for the purpose of return former political - the partisan.

The Digital Dimension of European Cultural Politics: Index, Intellectual Property and Internet Governance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nanna Thylstrup

2011-10-01

Full Text Available The Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW have become dominant fields for European Union (EU politics. What used to be at the outer fringes of the EU policies has now taken centre stage. The transnational and dialogical structure of the Internet has hardwired it for international cultural politics, yet the very same structure also works to erode the very territorial foundation of traditional cultural politics. Given the delicate and complex terrain cultural politics traverse in international politics, and the trailblazing progression of the Internet, it seems on-line cultural politics is not just the application of existing cultural politics to cyberspace but a new field to be explored, analyzed and taught. The present article maps a constituent European cultural boundary on the WWW as the EU has circumscribed it and places this cultural node within a wider array of Europeanization and globalization processes.

Effects of Political Knowledge on Political Tolerance

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, John Powell

2018-01-01

Sexual orientation continues to be an explosive issue in American classrooms. Increasing the political knowledge of students can reduce the volatility of this explosive issue by increasing tolerance toward the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. This relationship between political knowledge and political tolerance has been…

Mixing politics and crime - The prevalence and decline of political discourse on the cryptomarket.

Science.gov (United States)

Munksgaard, Rasmus; Demant, Jakob

2016-09-01

Dread Pirate Roberts, founder of the first cryptomarket for illicit drugs named Silk Road, articulated libertarian political motives for his ventures. Previous research argues that there is a significant political component present or involved in cryptomarket drug dealing which is specifically libertarian. The aim of the paper is to investigate the prevalence of political discourses within discussions of cryptomarket drug dealing, and further to research the potential changes of these over the timespan of the study. We develop a novel operationalization of discourse analytic concepts which we combine with topic modelling enabling us to study how politics are articulated on cryptomarket forums. We apply the Structural Topic Model on a corpus extracted from crawls of cryptomarket forums encompassing posts dating from 2011 to 2015. The topics discussed on cryptomarket forums are primarily centered around the distribution of drugs including discussions of shipping and receiving, product advertisements, and reviews as well as aspects of drug consumption such as testing and consumption. However, on forums whose primary function is aiding operations on a black market, we still observe political matter. We identified one topic which expresses a libertarian discourse that emphasizes the individual's right to non-interference. Over time we observe an increasing prevalence of the libertarian discourse from 2011 to the end of 2013. In the end of 2013 - when Silk Road was seized - we observe an abrupt change in the prevalence of the libertarian discourse. The libertarian political discourse has historically been prevalent on cryptomarket forums. The closure of Silk Road has affected the prevalence of libertarian discourse suggesting that while the closure did not succeed in curtailing the cryptomarket economy, it dampened political sentiments. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Trakun, politics and the Thai state

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rangsivek, Katja

accounts of Thai political history being simultaneously the accounts of the royal and other elite families, little research has aimed to understand the entanglement of families and the state. The literature on Thailand after 1932 offers even less insight into Thai kinship politics. Political trakun...... rise to the image of an organizational structure, which is recognized as the state. The praxis of government, however, is performed by an entangled mass of interlocking relationships between individuals and groups of individuals. One type of such relationships that is integral to the Thai state...

Political extremism and violence in Denmark 1917-1940

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Chris Holmsted

. Regarding the interwar years, the Danish political parties and conditions had many structural and ideological similarities with the neighboring German Weimar Republic. But more important, the situation also differed significantly in terms of particular historical and actor-based conditions– e.g. in terms...... of generalization, but since the research-subject of political violence, in a Danish context, is largely absent and at best minimal, I have concluded that for the sake of the wider perspective, it is imperative to focus on the framework as a prerequisite for a more detailed study of political violence in Denmark....... Therefore, a crucial question is why did the political extremism and violence of the interwar years not manage to scuttle the Danish democracy? And second, why were both fascist and communist protagonists unsuccessful in subverting parliamentarism through a strategy of political violence? To gain...

Two sides to every story : Causes and consequences of selective exposure to balanced political information

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brenes Peralta, C.M.

2017-01-01

Although the current information environment offers citizens an unprecedented opportunity to engage in selective exposure behavior, namely to seek mostly pro-attitudinal information about politics and public affairs, the debate about the prevalence and consequences of selective exposure in a

Urban Politics: Selected Readings Related to Planning. Exchange Bibliography No. 177.

Science.gov (United States)

Heikoff, Joseph M.

This bibliography lists books and articles dealing with the structures and processes of local politics in the U.S., especially as they relate to urban planning. The primary intent is to help planners gain the political knowledge and awareness they need to effectively perform their role in the community political process. All publications are…

Video Pedagogy as Political Activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Higgins, John W.

1991-01-01

Asserts that the education of students in the technology of video and audio production is a political act. Discusses the structure and style of production, and the ideologies and values contained therein. Offers alternative approaches to critical video pedagogy. (PRA)

Rights of Minors and Constitutional Politics in the German Länder. Legal Framework, Party Strategies, and Constitutional Amendments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lorenz Astrid

2015-11-01

Full Text Available The article analyses constitutional politics in the German Länder in the field of minors’ rights. Since this issue seems a purely legal matter dealt with at the federal, European and international level, we should expect similar, almost identically shaped policies at the Länder level. However, the analysis brings considerable variations of constitutional activities in this field to the fore: time, frequency, and contents of respective initiatives vary significantly in the period from 1999 to 2014. These variations were due to different party strategies, diverging party platforms and majority constellations in the Länder. The analysis also shows that the public arguments brought forward in favour of constitutional amendments refer only weakly and randomly to legal provisions and processes at other levels. The political debate supporting extended children's rights rather refers to general observations, to the specific regional context, and constitutional provisions in other Länder. At least with regard to this issue, the multi-level system did not systematically impact on constitutional politics in the Länder. It rather can be understood as an opportunity structure providing parties with multiple realms in which they can pursue their goals. Thus the study shows that federal and regional party strategies are key factors in explaining policy diffusion in multilevel systems.

Contemporary Political Paranoia, a Case of Political Gnosticism

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Antonio Rivera García

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This article puts forward the concept of political paranoia as a useful category to understand some contemporary manifestations of the pathologies of power. For this aim an interdisciplinary approach has been used, namely, the knowledge provided by psychoanalysis, political philosophy, theology and literary or aesthetic studies. Freud’s and Lacan’s psychoanalysis allows us to understand why the paranoid subject is a megalomaniac and hyperrational subject who wants to be in control of everything. It is a sovereign subject, who has adapted not only to the Society of Control initially defined by Deleuze, but also to a conception of philosophy that aims for totality. After dealing with the close relationship between paranoia and conspiratorial political theory, the article explains the reason why contemporary political paranoia represents a case of the most radical political theology: political Gnosticism. This term stands for a conception of politics that reduces the Other to the condition of an absolute enemy that needs to be eliminated. Lastly, the article establishes a close link between the cure for political paranoia and the assumption of an ontology of incompleteness

Political, policy and social barriers to health system interoperability: emerging opportunities of Web 2.0 and 3.0.

Science.gov (United States)

Juzwishin, Donald W M

2009-01-01

Achieving effective health informatics interoperability in a fragmented and uncoordinated health system is by definition not possible. Interoperability requires the simultaneous integration of health care processes and information across different types and levels of care (systems thinking). The fundamental argument of this paper is that information system interoperability will remain an unfulfilled hope until health reforms effectively address the governance (accountability), structural and process barriers to interoperability of health care delivery. The ascendency of Web 2.0 and 3.0, although still unproven, signals the opportunity to accelerate patients' access to health information and their health record. Policy suggestions for simultaneously advancing health system delivery and information system interoperability are posited.

Understanding voter orientation in the context of political market orientation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ormrod, Robert P.; Henneberg, Stephan C.

2010-01-01

This article develops a conceptual framework and measurement model of political market orientation. The relationships between different behavioural aspects of political market orientation and the attitudinal influences of such behaviour are analysed, and the study includes structural equation...... modelling to test several hypotheses. While the results show that political parties focus on several different aspects of market-oriented behaviour, especially using an internal and societal orientation as cultural antecedents, a more surprising result is the inconclusive effect of a voter orientation...... on political market orientation. This lends support to the argument of 'looking beyond the customer' in political marketing research and practice. The article discusses the findings in the context of the existing literature on political marketing and commercial market orientation....

Is the political animal politically ignorant? Applying evolutionary psychology to the study of political attitudes.

Science.gov (United States)

Petersen, Michael Bang; Aarøe, Lene

2012-12-20

As evidenced by research in evolutionary psychology, humans have evolved sophisticated psychological mechanisms tailored to solve enduring adaptive problems of social life. Many of these social problems are political in nature and relate to the distribution of costs and benefits within and between groups. In that sense, evolutionary psychology suggests that humans are, by nature, political animals. By implication, a straightforward application of evolutionary psychology to the study of public opinion seems to entail that modern individuals find politics intrinsically interesting. Yet, as documented by more than fifty years of research in political science, people lack knowledge of basic features of the political process and the ability to form consistent political attitudes. By reviewing and integrating research in evolutionary psychology and public opinion, we describe (1) why modern mass politics often fail to activate evolved mechanisms and (2) the conditions in which these mechanisms are in fact triggered.

Political and economic structure and energy industry status of Australia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bang, K.Y. [Korea Energy Economics Institute, Euiwang (Korea, Republic of)

1998-06-01

Looking at the composition of energy resources import of Korea per each country, Australian-made import takes up 11.8% of total energy resources import. It possesses the highest import composition of 30.5% when petroleum sector is excluded. In the order of Korea`s mineral import per each country, Australia still keep the number one position every year though Korea keep promoting the diversification of import sources. In the mean time, reflecting on the treatment aspect of import country of Australia, when Korea`s energy, the import size of resources, import intensity of Australia`s primary raw material resources and international resources situation are considered, Korea is thought to receive less treatment from Australia as the second export country of Australia than Japan who is the number one export country of Australia, relatively. Though the increase ratio of Korean tourists in Australia is the highest for the past few years and international promotion effect shows big with the IMF financial support of Korea who faces sudden economic crisis recently as a momentum, sincere evaluation through in-depth analysis between Korea and Australia is still in the initial stage. The necessity to diagnosis the general political and economic structure of Australia more in detail emerges as trade volume between two countries keep growing, esp. in the import of energy and resources sectors, the number of visits between two countries keep increasing. Therefore, the purpose of this study lies mainly in the structure of the new Australian government, general macroeconomics structure and the understanding of energy industry-related status such as energy supply and demand, development status of energy, related laws, and government`s energy agencies, etc. 6 refs., 3 figs., 22 tabs.

Defining Political Marketing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ormrod, Robert P.

’ and ‘narrow’ interpretations of political marketing, the nature of the political marketing exchange, political relationship marketing and how one can integrate the stakeholder concept into an understanding of political marketing. Finally, we propose a definition of political marketing that differs from......The aim of this working paper is to develop a definition of political marketing that builds on the political rather than commercial marketing literature. This aim is motivated by the need to make explicit our understanding of what political marketing is, a necessary exercise when discussing theory......, concepts and empirical methods in political marketing. We first present five existing definitions of political marketing that have been selected to represent advances in research from the origins of academic research into political marketing in the mid-1970’s to the present day. After this we discuss ‘wide...

Arctic potential - Could more structured view improve the understanding of Arctic business opportunities?

Science.gov (United States)

Hintsala, Henna; Niemelä, Sami; Tervonen, Pekka

2016-09-01

The increasing interest towards the Arctic has been witnessed during the past decades. However, the commonly shared definitions of the Arctic key concepts have not yet penetrated national and international arenas for political and economic decision making. The lack of jointly defined framework has made different analyses related to the Arctic quite limited considering the magnitude of economic potential embedded in Arctic. This paper is built on the key findings of two separate, yet connected projects carried out in the Oulu region, Finland. In this paper's approach, the Arctic context has been defined as a composition of three overlapping layers. The first layer is the phenomenological approach to define the Arctic region. The second layer is the strategy-level analysis to define different Arctic paths as well as a national level description of a roadmap to Arctic specialization. The third layer is the operationalization of the first two layers to define the Arctic business context and business opportunities. The studied case from Oulu region indicates that alternative futures for the Arctic competences and business activities are in resemblance with only two of the four identified strategic pathways. Introduction of other pathways to regional level actors as credible and attractive options would require additional, systematic efforts.

Pushed to the edge : political activism of Guatemalan migrant farmworkers

OpenAIRE

Valarezo, Giselle; Hughes, Christine

2012-01-01

This paper explores political engagement by Guatemalans who seasonally migrate to Canada as contracted agricultural workers. Since 2003, an ever-increasing number of Guatemalans have pursued economic opportunities in Canadian fields and greenhouses as participants in a labour migration scheme brokered by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) called the Temporary Agricultural Workers to Canada (TAWC) Project. While some describe this labour migration as a win-win situation for emp...

Performing Politics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Troy R. E. Paddock

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Walter Benjamin’s observation that fascism turns politics into aesthetics is, by now, a well-worn idea. This article argues that Benjamin’s critique of politics can apply just as much to the modern democratic politics of the United States. Borrowing from Benjamin, Jürgen Habermas, and Carl Schmitt, this article suggests that modern political discourse in the United States does not follow the classical liberal ideal of rational discourse in the marketplace of ideas within the public sphere. Instead, contemporary politics has become spectacle where images and slogans replace thought and debate in a 24/7 news cycle and political infotainment programs. The result is that progressives and conservatives have their own political “ecospheres” which enable them to have their own perspective reinforced, and debate is replaced by straw man arguments and personal attacks.

DAN DIACONESCU: THE POLITICS OF BREAD AND CIRCUSES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

VALENTIN QUINTUS NICOLESCU

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Founder and owner of two television stations, Dan Diaconescu found the opportunity to rise the electoral support for his anti-system party through media channels in the circumstances of a tumultuous political year and a bitterly personal power struggle between President Traian Băsescu and Prime Minister Victor Ponta. He described the victory in the upcoming parliamentary elections as a start of the battle against the post-communist Romanian political class that impoverished the country. Through this battle lead by him and other members of his party, his „army of angels”1, Dan Diaconescu says he can liberate the Romanian people and install „people’s dictatorship” that will punish all the political class for the injustices suffered by them. In a context of highly visible and influential populist discourse, this paper considers the self-representation of Dan Diaconescu and his People’s Party – Dan Diaconescu during parliamentary election campaign in 2012. First of all, a multi-methodological approach was adopted to examine the key elements of national populist discourse: antagonistic struggle between politicians and citizens, popular sovereignty, corruption of the political class and popular mobilization for political change. After that, I will examine how this Romanian form of populism represents the rival version of western representative democracy, the populist democracy specific to Latin America based on direct representation embodied by a leader or a party capable to symbolize the power of the people. Within this frame, I will try to analyse to what degree Dan Diaconescu’s populism enrolls in the logic of Latin American populism instead of a cultural or ethnic populism dominant in Europe.

Policy paradigms, transnationalism, and domestic politics

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Skogstad, Grace Darlene

2011-01-01

Policy Paradigms, Transnationalism, and Domestic Politics offers a variety of perspectives on the development of policy paradigms -- the ideas that structure thinking about what can and should be done in a policy domain...

Organizational Politics, Social Network, and Knowledge Management

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Hyun Jung; Kang, Sora; Lee, Jongwon

This research identifies the social relationship and structure among members as well as organization’s political inclination, through which, it also identifies the current status of knowledge management. The result shows that the socio-technological factors (individual, knowledge and IT factors) affect knowledge transfer and the knowledge transfer influences performance and that the members’ relationship based on the political inclination of the organization has a major moderating effect on the above two relation.

Politics as Culture: Contribution of Political Science to Democratic Maturity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ivan Padjen

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The article discusses the contribution of Croatian political science to the development of democracy in Croatia. The focus of the analysis is the concept of culture which author talks about in five steps. In the first step it is understood in the modern key, in the second step as different for nature and in the third as different from society. In the fourth step author differentiates political culture from political economy and political institutions, but in the fifth part there is an attempt to show culture as a fundamental part of politics, policy and polity. On the basis of these insights author shows that the matrix of Croatian political science is more and more devoted to scientific investigation of politics as culture as both study of political culture and as a source of development as politics as culture.

The emergence of maternal health as a political priority in Madhya Pradesh, India: a qualitative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Jat, Tej Ram; Deo, Prakash Ramchandra; Goicolea, Isabel; Hurtig, Anna-Karin; San Sebastian, Miguel

2013-09-30

Politics plays a critical role in agenda setting in health affairs; therefore, understanding the priorities of the political agenda in health is very important. The political priority for safe motherhood has been investigated at the national level in different countries. The objective of this study was to explore why and how maternal health became a political priority at sub-national level in the state of Madhya Pradesh in India. This study followed a qualitative design. Data were collected by carrying out interviews and review of documents. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with twenty respondents from four stakeholder groups: government officials, development partners, civil society and academics. Data analysis was performed using thematic analysis. The analysis was guided by Kingdon's multiple streams model. The emergence of maternal health as a political priority in Madhya Pradesh was the result of convergence in the developments in different streams: the development of problem definition, policy generation and political change. The factors which influenced this process were: emerging evidence of the high magnitude of maternal mortality, civil society's positioning of maternal mortality as a human rights violation, increasing media coverage, supportive policy environment and launch of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), the availability of effective policy solutions, India's aspiration of global leadership, international influence, maternal mortality becoming a hot debate topic and political transition at the national and state levels. Most of these factors first became important at national level which then cascaded to the state level. Currently, there is a supportive policy environment in the state for maternal health backed by greater political will and increased resources. However, malnutrition and population stabilization are the competing priorities which may push maternal health off the agenda. The influence of the events and factors

From political opportunities to niche-openings: the dilemmas of mobilizing for immigrant rights in inhospitable environments

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nicholls, W.J.

2014-01-01

This article examines how undocumented immigrants mobilize for greater rights in inhospitable political and discursive environments. We would expect that such environments would dissuade this particularly vulnerable group of immigrants from mobilizing in high profile campaigns because such campaigns

Lying in business : Insights from Hanna Arendt's 'Lying in Politics'

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Eenkhoorn, P.; Graafland, J.J.

2011-01-01

The political philosopher Hannah Arendt develops several arguments regarding why truthfulness cannot be counted among the political virtues. This article shows that similar arguments apply to lying in business. Based on Hannah Arendt's theory, we distinguish five reasons why lying is a structural

Politics for cities, cities for the political. About possibility (and necessity of radical urban politics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wiktor Marzec

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Essay faces the problem of determinacy of global capitalism processes for the reality of urban political life. The city is naturally communitarian form of human life and seems to be the place where radical pro-community politics could be undertaken. Already existing and operating forms of power could fruitfully influence the city social relations. Values and norms of conduct are broadly delegated on the urban space and materiality, thus conscious shaping of city space has severe consequences for community life. If a crisis of the political partly has its roots in metamorphoses of the cities, then also remedies, rising from the urban materiality and reestablishing political subjects, could be thought. City, as most real place of political life could be either reduced to the aggregate of consumers or reestablished as a political community. Due to this is the place where undesired course of action could be stopped, hence precisely here the radical democratic politics can emerge.

Political Values or the Value of Politics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simoska, Emilija

2016-04-01

Full Text Available This essay was motivated by the gap between proclaimed democratic principles and the perceptions of politics which are exhibited by the citizens in transitional countries -more specifically in the Republic of Macedonia. It is based on research data collected in the past few decades, which illustrate that, in their political actions, the citizens are highly motivated by personal benefits and profits, rather than by their internalized values and ideologies. Non-democratic, authoritarian values prevail, while politics is perceived as a value itself, in the most materialistic meaning of the word. It creates a suitable milieu for growth of corruption, nepotism and clientelism. The authors conclude that such a circulus vitsiosus is a corner stone of the Macedonian political regime, and an enormous obstacle for the advancement of the participative, democratic political culture in reality, in spite of its formal acceptance.

A Political Philosophy Approach to Teaching American Politics.

Science.gov (United States)

Bailey, Kevin E.

1982-01-01

Suggests an alternative to the civic training, political indoctrination, and descriptive presentation approaches used to teaching American government courses. Recommends a political philosophy approach within a framework of elite theory to help students develop a critical perspective on American politics. (DMM)

Academic Principles versus Employability Pressures: A Modern Power Struggle or a Creative Opportunity?

Science.gov (United States)

Jameson, Jill; Strudwick, Kate; Bond-Taylor, Sue; Jones, Mandy

2012-01-01

This paper considers both the difficulties and the opportunities created by the mounting political pressures on UK universities to increase the "employability" of undergraduate students. Using the subject of criminology as an example, the paper considers tensions that can be created when practitioners are brought into the academy to…

Valuation issues in lesser developed countries: Investment opportunities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clements, P.J.

1992-01-01

Privatization has become the buzzword of the early 1990s, as all over the world governments are selling off their assets. Monopolistic utilities such as gas, water and waste disposal - but particularly electric - are prime assets for sale because their cash flows and competitive environment are reasonably predictable. Utility privatization in lesser developed countries (LDC) is giving rise to many new investment opportunities where predictions of high growth rates lead to anticipation of lucrative returns. Potential investors, however, should fully exercise the concept of caveat emptor: let the buyer beware. Coupled with these lucrative returns are risks arising from less stable political and economic conditions. possible market inefficiencies, and potentially high transaction costs. This article explores the central issues involved in valuing privatization investment opportunities in LDCs and performing requisite due diligence reviews

The Pragmatics of Political Apology in Ghana's Contemporary Politics

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The paper discusses political apology in the 4th republic of Ghanaian contemporary politics from 2013 to 2015. It taps its data from apologetic speeches by political officials and from apologies rendered to politicians. The paper discusses the semantics and pragmatics of political apology. It examines the use of the language ...

Local election: does bureaucracy become one of main political power?

Science.gov (United States)

Amin, Muryanto; Musthafa Sembiring, Walid

2018-03-01

This writing aims to analyze the emergence of bureaucracy as one of political power in local level after the local election is held in Indonesia. Due to information authorization, media network, and stable structure, the bureaucracy soon transforms into political power which can compete with the other political power at the local level. In Medan local election in 2010 and 2015 has evidently proven the power of bureaucracy network in winning the bureaucrat-background candidates. As methods of the research, the researcher held a Focus-Group Discussion (FGD) and had an in-depth interview with ten bureaucracy elites in Medan and local political elites. The observation and Focus-Group Discussion (FGD) are analyzed using qualitative analysis technique typology. The result states that the bureaucracy network in Medan has been used in a massive way as the political power of winning. The structure of bureaucracy – from the top to the low – is involved in the winning. The most governmental programs were applied to attract the mass’ sympathy toward the candidates. The bureaucratic proximity to media network is also used to do a campaign in a massive way. The conclusion of the research is that bureaucracy emerges as a new, massive, effective local political power in the local election.

Mapping the online communication patterns of political conversations

Science.gov (United States)

Borondo, J.; Morales, A. J.; Benito, R. M.; Losada, J. C.

2014-11-01

The structure of the social networks in which individuals are embedded influences their political choices and therefore their voting behavior. Nowadays, social media represent a new channel for individuals to communicate, what together with the availability of the data, makes it possible to analyze the online social network resulting from political conversations. Here, by taking advantage of the recently developed techniques to analyze complex systems, we map the communication patterns resulting from Spanish political conversations. We identify the different existing communities, building networks of communities, and finding that users cluster themselves in politically homogeneous networks. We found that while most of the collective attention was monopolized by politicians, traditional media accounts were still the preferred sources from which to propagate information. Finally, we propose methods to analyze the use of different languages, finding a clear trend from sympathizers of several political parties to overuse or infra-use each language. We conclude that, on the light of a social media analysis perspective, the political conversation is constrained by both ideology and language.

Self-Censorship Regulatory Structure: Can We Control Political of Hates, Violence & Sex in Children Computer & Video Games?

OpenAIRE

Zanuddin, Hasmah

2008-01-01

This article examines some of the extreme negative content available to teenagers and young children in the market. Extreme negative values such as political of hates, violence and sex in some of the children computer and video games were made possible due to several factors such as lacking in regulatory structure, week policy implementation, rampant of illegal and uncensored materials. Computer and video games have been the subject of frequent controversy and censorship, due to the depiction...

Political chaos reins progress on new joint ventures in Russia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1992-01-01

This paper reports that frustration is mounting among foreign petroleum companies chasing business opportunities in Russia. Political uncertainty continues to block large oil and gas exploration and production deals there. Most foreign officials believe Russia's transformation from a centrally planned economy to a market economy is irreversible. But enough political, social, and economic uncertainty persists that Russian leaders are hesitant to approve deals with foreign companies. The lack of certainty among leaders of the former Soviet republic about who controls Russia's natural resources, who can approve contracts, and who determines winners of bid tenders is causing confusion among foreign companies trying to negotiate major E and P deals. With no clearly successful path apparent for completing large deals, various secondary negotiating strategies are prevailing. Russian industry specialists say those secondary strategies work best for small deals involving relatively small players in less prospective regions. Meantime, countervailing political forces within the country, the world's top producer of oil and gas, continue to buffet petroleum companies that are negotiating deals or getting projects off the ground

Political News and Political Consciousness

Science.gov (United States)

Schertges, Claudia

2007-01-01

This article deals with mass media in modern democratic societies, using the example of Israeli news reports in German television (TV) news. Central to this interest are processes of mediating politics: political socialisation and education; that is to say, empowering citizens via TV news to participate in democratic processes. The article…

Prosumption as a Political Practice in a “Producer-Consumer Environment”

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N V Plotichkina

2013-12-01

Full Text Available In this paper prosumption is characterized as a political practice in “producer-consumer” communities. Digital political prosumption is the result of the dissemination of Web 2.0., new social media, and 3.0. marketing. Political prosumption can develop in such forms as: the production of media political content (public journalism, political blogging, open news, citizens’ participation in ‘occupy’ movements and pirate parties. The principles of digital prosumption in politics are as follows: openness for public participation, assessment by communities, heterarchy, ad-hoc-meritocracy, common property, and personal service of community members. The appearing new forms of citizen participation are considered to be a transition to a democratic net society structure based on prosumption.

International Framework and Japan’s Pursuit of Being A Major Political Power

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Meng Xiaoxu

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The boom of post-war Japan is deeply affected by the international framework when choosing the development path of the state. The bipolar architecture of the Cold War has made Japan a sovereign state again with the support of the United States. Within the Cold War framework, Japan has come up with the goal of being a political power based on its economic strength. After the end of Cold War, multipolar architecture has become the main trend in the world, and Japan has regarded this trend as its opportunity to realize its political dream, expecting to be more involved in world affairs as well as taking responsibilities within the international order and economic system. Meanwhile, Japan has also made a breakthrough within military power and used this to become a political power. Entering the 21st century, the multipolar architecture has deepened, while emerging nations have risen sharply collectively. Japan has speeded up the process of pursuing a political path accordingly, enhancing its leadership and influence in the regional economy, revising peace constitution to breakthrough military shackles, playing a role in counter-terrorism affairs and international organizations, thus making its dream of being a political power come true. Nevertheless, Japan has faced obstacles both at home and abroad.

Oil: economic and political factors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ayoub, A.

1994-01-01

This article deals with the evolution of the international petroleum sector since 1973 with a special view to interdependence between the economic and political factors that influence it. Two issues are focused upon: (1) the effects of the nationalization of oil companies on the sharing of oil rents and on changes in the structure of the oil market; and (2) the determination of oil prices. The latter involves a discussion of, on the one hand, the political and economic behaviour of the United States and Saudi Arabia and, on the other, the combination of cooperation and conflict that has tended to characterize relations among OPEC countries. (author). 30 refs

The political reference point: How geography shapes political identity.

Science.gov (United States)

Feinberg, Matthew; Tullett, Alexa M; Mensch, Zachary; Hart, William; Gottlieb, Sara

2017-01-01

It is commonly assumed that how individuals identify on the political spectrum-whether liberal, conservative, or moderate-has a universal meaning when it comes to policy stances and voting behavior. But, does political identity mean the same thing from place to place? Using data collected from across the U.S. we find that even when people share the same political identity, those in "bluer" locations are more likely to support left-leaning policies and vote for Democratic candidates than those in "redder" locations. Because the meaning of political identity is inconsistent across locations, individuals who share the same political identity sometimes espouse opposing policy stances. Meanwhile, those with opposing identities sometimes endorse identical policy stances. Such findings suggest that researchers, campaigners, and pollsters must use caution when extrapolating policy preferences and voting behavior from political identity, and that animosity toward the other end of the political spectrum is sometimes misplaced.

Telecommunications, politics, economics, and national sovereignty: A new game

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bugliarello, G.

1996-12-31

The impact of telecommunications on politics, economics and national sovereignty is creating a new game. Political and economic power may operate over the same territory, as in the now-rare case of isolated economies, but, more often, their domains do not coincide. Increasingly, telecommunications create major challenges for countries preoccupied with issues of national sovereignty because the national state has only a limited ability to control these intrinsic and at times potentially destabilizing powers of telecommunications and the {open_quotes}telecommunities{close_quotes} they make possible. As many traditional aspects of sovereignty are becoming weakened by telecommunications, and as the intense dynamics of networks and the expansion of telecommunities revolutionize business and politics, there is a need to prevent the situation from becoming chaotic and uncontrollable, even while recognizing the possibilities of enhanced opportunities. This requires focusing on a more flexible conception of sovereignty which can enhance the state`s attractiveness for telecommunications infrastructure, while addressing issues of ethics and morality in the new telecommications environment. A new, broad socio-technological research agenda needs to be developed - with the ultimate purpose of providing society with the tools to play the new game and thrive. 10 refs., 3 tabs.

Uncovering the political in non-political young muslim immigrant identities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Niels Nørgaard Kristensen

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The theme of this paper is political identity and participation amongMuslim migrant young people in Denmark. Political identity is analysedby examining students’ political interests and perception of themselves as participants in politics, as well as their rationalities for politics. In order to address the research question ‘What characterizes political identities among Muslim immigrant young people in schools?’ we interviewed eight Muslim students from a Danish upper secondary school and from different national origins. The students’ political orientations seemed quite contradictory, even among those who might readily have been identified as a-political. Despite moderate political interest, all students showed some inclinations to participate in elections or in particular issues. However, they emphasized that their social studies classes primarily provided them with factual knowledge experience, and some students found this knowledge useful. None of the students seemed to experience school as an arena for participation. Consequently, there is first a need to emphasize the significance of a dynamic perspective on the phenomenon of political identity, and second, we need to know how students in school should be regarded as citizens in ‘the making’ or as equal citizens in a participatory arena.

Ethnicity and politics in the Romanian space. The case of northwestern Transylvania

OpenAIRE

Brie, Mircea

2014-01-01

The ethnic structure of this region has been heavily influenced by the evolution of the various historico-geographical factors and policies. Most of this structure, however, is linked to the evolution of the denominational structure. Ethnicity in this case is closely related to religion. The political reality, the events with political overtones that occurred during these centuries had a direct influence regarding the conduct of processes and phenomena related to the ethno-confessional evolut...

Hybrid Organic-Inorganic Perovskites: Structural Diversity and Opportunities for Semiconductor Design

Science.gov (United States)

Mitzi, David

Photovoltaic (PV) devices based on three-dimensional perovskites, (Cs, MA, FA)Pb(I, Br)3 (MA =methylammonium, FA =formamidinium), have attracted substantial recent interest, because of the unprecedented rise in power conversion efficiency to values above 20%, which in turn is made possible by the near ideal band gap, strong optical absorption, high carrier mobilities, long minority carrier lifetimes, and relatively benign defects and grain boundaries for the absorbers. Some of the same properties that render these materials near-ideal for PV, also make them attractive for LED and other optoelectronic applications. Despite the high levels of device performance, the incorporation of the heavy metal lead, coupled with issues of device stability and electrical hysteresis pose challenges for commercializing these exciting technologies. This talk will provide a perspective on and discuss recent advances related to the broader perovskite family, focusing on the extraordinary structural/chemical diversity, including ability to control structural/electronic dimensionality, substitute on the organic cation, metal or halogen sites, and prospects of multi-functionality arising from separately engineered organic/inorganic structural components (e.g., see). Further exploration within this perovskite structural and chemical space offers exciting opportunities for future energy and electronic materials design. This work has been financially supported by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), U.S. Dept. of Energy, under Award Number DE-EE0006712.

Science, politics, and the GM debate in Europe.

Science.gov (United States)

Tencalla, Francesca

2006-02-01

Europe today stands at a crossroad, facing challenges but also opportunities. In its intent to make Europe a leading technology-based economy by 2010, the European Commission has identified biotechnology and genomics as fields for future growth, crucial for supporting the agricultural and food processing industry. Since first commercialization in 1996, GM crop areas have grown at double-digit rates, making this one of the most rapidly adopted technologies in agriculture. However, in contrast to other world areas and despite European Commission support, Europe has found itself 'bogged-down' in a polemic between opponents and supporters of plant biotechnology. As a result, planted areas have remained small. This stalemate is due to a lack of political leadership, especially at the Member State level, all the more surprising in light of European early development and competitive advantage with crop biotechnology. This situation proves once again that, for cutting-edge innovations, a solid science base alone is not sufficient. Acceptance or rejection of new technologies depends on interlinked political, economic, and societal factors that create a favorable or unfavorable situation at a given time. This article will look at GM crops in Europe and the role science and politics have played in the introduction of crop biotechnology.

Political Culture and the Nature of Political Participation in Egypt.

Science.gov (United States)

1980-06-01

political socialization . Political-cultural values are gradually internalized within the society and political behavior is largely reflective of...the extent to which the regime used education as a means of political socialization : Socialism is articulated as a Muslim theory of socialism. The head... political socialization except for a brief period during the mobilization program of Ali Sabri. Egypt’s party system has been more relevant for

On the effects of advertising on the political behaviour of the individual

OpenAIRE

Kazdanyan S.; Yengoyan P.; Akopyan G.

2017-01-01

The article is devoted to questioning the impact of advertising on the political behavior of the individual. Several methods and technologies used in political advertising to influence the consciousness and behavior of people. The article describes the stages of the creation of political advertising and the elements of campaign strategy and noted components of the structure of political advertising. The authors believe that it is necessary to study advertising for minimizing influence and con...

Redistributive Politics in a Political Union

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Citi, Manuele; Justesen, Mogens Kamp

One of the main functions of centralized budgets in federal and political unions is to act as an equalizing mechanism to support economic cohesion. This is also the case with the European Union’s budget, which operates as a redistributive mechanism that counteracts the cross-national and cross...... remarkably over the last decades. In this paper, we investigate how and why the net fiscal position of each member state towards the rest of the EU changes over time. Using a novel panel dataset (1979-2014), we study how some key national and EU-level political and economic variables affect the EU...... find that the political orientation of national governments does not per se influence redistributive politics with in the EU. However, when the unemployment rate is rising, right-wing governments are able to extract significantly larger budgetary benefits....

The Impact of Globalization on the Formation of a Global Political System

Science.gov (United States)

Ilyin, Ilya V.; Rozanov, Alexander Sergeevich

2013-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of globalization on the formation of a global political system. Design/methodology/approach: Taking into account the fact of global political evolution, the authors of the paper point out that the global political structures tend to change. Findings: During the past millennium the global…

The political reference point: How geography shapes political identity

Science.gov (United States)

Feinberg, Matthew; Tullett, Alexa M.; Mensch, Zachary; Hart, William; Gottlieb, Sara

2017-01-01

It is commonly assumed that how individuals identify on the political spectrum–whether liberal, conservative, or moderate–has a universal meaning when it comes to policy stances and voting behavior. But, does political identity mean the same thing from place to place? Using data collected from across the U.S. we find that even when people share the same political identity, those in “bluer” locations are more likely to support left-leaning policies and vote for Democratic candidates than those in “redder” locations. Because the meaning of political identity is inconsistent across locations, individuals who share the same political identity sometimes espouse opposing policy stances. Meanwhile, those with opposing identities sometimes endorse identical policy stances. Such findings suggest that researchers, campaigners, and pollsters must use caution when extrapolating policy preferences and voting behavior from political identity, and that animosity toward the other end of the political spectrum is sometimes misplaced. PMID:28207906

The political reference point: How geography shapes political identity.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matthew Feinberg

Full Text Available It is commonly assumed that how individuals identify on the political spectrum-whether liberal, conservative, or moderate-has a universal meaning when it comes to policy stances and voting behavior. But, does political identity mean the same thing from place to place? Using data collected from across the U.S. we find that even when people share the same political identity, those in "bluer" locations are more likely to support left-leaning policies and vote for Democratic candidates than those in "redder" locations. Because the meaning of political identity is inconsistent across locations, individuals who share the same political identity sometimes espouse opposing policy stances. Meanwhile, those with opposing identities sometimes endorse identical policy stances. Such findings suggest that researchers, campaigners, and pollsters must use caution when extrapolating policy preferences and voting behavior from political identity, and that animosity toward the other end of the political spectrum is sometimes misplaced.

Issues of Political Development: Fragile Democracies in Latin America

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Armando Albuquerque

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The political development, as research field, had its origins in the second half of the last century. From the 60s, when he began to flourish, now constitutes a conceptual border with comparative politics. In subsequent decades there were many advances in the analysis of problems related to the political institutions, state structures, the rule of law, civil society, stability and crises of democratic regimes, among others. From this issue, will be made to this article, supported by the Democracy Index, analyzing the causes of one of the main shortcomings of the political development in Latin America, namely, the low quality of their democracies and the consequent non-consolidation of the same.

The Metastable City and the Politics of Crystallisation: Protesting and Policing in Kampala

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joschka Philipps

2016-01-01

Full Text Available When protests break out in downtown Kampala they tend to transform a fluid urban environment into bounded political camps, and myriad ambiguous concerns into comparatively clear-cut political issues. This article traces this process and conceptualises Kampala’s urban politics as a politics of crystallisation: as attempts to structure highly fluid dynamics into something concrete. The article is based on ethnographic research amongst opposition activists and the police forces. Both seek to activate political boundaries and make people gravitate towards their respective side. But in line with the fluidity of urban everyday life, they also work and collaborate across these boundaries. The national regime and the opposition thus function not as permanent, stable structures, but as processes, as fields of gravity whose emergence is incited and inhibited, financed, and policed. Drawing on Gilbert Simondon’s theory of individuation and AbdouMaliq Simone’s work on urbanity, this analytical framework offers a dynamic reading of urban contentious politics in general, and a reinterpretation of the paradoxes of power in African politics in particular.

Politics of the aged: orientations and behavior in major liberal democracies.

Science.gov (United States)

Edinger, L J

1985-01-01

Do the political outlook and electoral behavior of the elderly differ notably from that of younger adults in leading capitalist democracies? A cross-national examination of poll data suggests that on the whole they do not. Among the aged certain cross-national differences in rates of political participation beyond voting may be related to differences in national socio-political structures as well as differences in individual attributes.

Politics Backstage - Television Documentaries, Politics and Politicians

OpenAIRE

Ib Bondebjerg

2006-01-01

This article deals with "the transformation of visibility" in political discourse on and representation of politics and politicians in resent Dansih television documentaries. Drawing on the theories of Habermas, Meyrowitz and John B. Thompson, it is argued that the political persona on television is moved closer to the individual citizen, creating a sort "mediated quasi-inter- action" giving mediated communication a stronger element of face-to-face interaction. Together...

Resource Windfalls, Political Regimes, and Political Stability

OpenAIRE

Francesco Caselli; Andrea Tesei

2011-01-01

We study theoretically and empirically whether natural resource windfalls affect political regimes. We document the following regularities. Natural resource windfalls have no effect on the political system when they occur in democracies. However, windfalls have significant political consequences in autocracies. In particular, when an autocratic country receives a positive shock to its flow of resource rents it responds by becoming even more autocratic. Furthermore, there is heterogeneity in t...

How Intense Policy Demanders Shape Postreform Politics: Evidence from the Affordable Care Act.

Science.gov (United States)

Rocco, Philip; Haeder, Simon F

2018-04-01

The implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been a politically volatile process. The ACA's institutional design and delayed feedback effects created a window of opportunity for its partisan opponents to launch challenges at both the federal and state level. Yet as recent research suggests, postreform politics depends on more than policy feedback alone; rather, it is shaped by the partisan and interest-group environment. We argue that "intense policy demanders" played an important role in defining the policy alternatives that comprised congressional Republicans' efforts to repeal and replace the ACA. To test this argument, we drew on an original data set of bill introductions in the House of Representatives between 2011 and 2016. Our analysis suggests that business contributions and political ideology affected the likelihood that House Republicans would introduce measures repealing significant portions of the ACA. A secondary analysis shows that intense policy demanders also shaped the vote on House Republicans' initial ACA replacement plan. These findings highlight the role intense policy demanders can play in shaping the postreform political agenda. Copyright © 2018 by Duke University Press.

The politics and anti-politics of social movements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Burchardt, Marian; Patterson, Amy S.; Mubanda Rasmussen, Louise

2013-01-01

's poverty. Religious HIV/AIDS activities must be analysed in a conceptual space between a civil society/politics approach and a service-provider/anti-politics framework. That is, religious mobilisation may at times seek to engage the public realm to shape policies, while at other times it may shun politics...

Facebook, Political Narrative, and Political Change: A Case Study of Palestinian Youth

OpenAIRE

Kenderes, Amanda

2012-01-01

In this dissertation I aim to advance political narrative theory by exploring the use of political narrative on Facebook and the possibility for Facebook to be used among Palestinian youth for political change. To examine the concepts of political narrative and political change, I developed a model for political change based on the changing political narratives which in part prompted the 2011 Egyptian revolution. The model, Political Narrative Perspectives (PNPs), identifies individual and re...

Correlation not Causation: The Relationship between Personality Traits and Political Ideologies

Science.gov (United States)

Verhulst, Brad; Eaves, Lindon J.; Hatemi, Peter K.

2013-01-01

The assumption in the personality and politics literature is that a person's personality motivates them to develop certain political attitudes later in life. This assumption is founded on the simple correlation between the two constructs and the observation that personality traits are genetically influenced and develop in infancy, whereas political preferences develop later in life. Work in psychology, behavioral genetics, and recently political science, however, has demonstrated that political preferences also develop in childhood and are equally influenced by genetic factors. These findings cast doubt on the assumed causal relationship between personality and politics. Here we test the causal relationship between personality traits and political attitudes using a direction of causation structural model on a genetically informative sample. The results suggest that personality traits do not cause people to develop political attitudes; rather, the correlation between the two is a function of an innate common underlying genetic factor. PMID:22400142

Correlation not causation: the relationship between personality traits and political ideologies.

Science.gov (United States)

Verhulst, Brad; Eaves, Lindon J; Hatemi, Peter K

2012-01-01

The assumption in the personality and politics literature is that a person's personality motivates them to develop certain political attitudes later in life. This assumption is founded on the simple correlation between the two constructs and the observation that personality traits are genetically influenced and develop in infancy, whereas political preferences develop later in life. Work in psychology, behavioral genetics, and recently political science, however, has demonstrated that political preferences also develop in childhood and are equally influenced by genetic factors. These findings cast doubt on the assumed causal relationship between personality and politics. Here we test the causal relationship between personality traits and political attitudes using a direction of causation structural model on a genetically informative sample. The results suggest that personality traits do not cause people to develop political attitudes; rather, the correlation between the two is a function of an innate common underlying genetic factor.

Undergraduate Research-Methods Training in Political Science: A Comparative Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Parker, Jonathan

2010-01-01

Unlike other disciplines in the social sciences, there has been relatively little attention paid to the structure of the undergraduate political science curriculum. This article reports the results of a representative survey of 200 political science programs in the United States, examining requirements for quantitative methods, research methods,…

'Grounded' Politics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schmidt, Garbi

2012-01-01

play within one particular neighbourhood: Nørrebro in the Danish capital, Copenhagen. The article introduces the concept of grounded politics to analyse how groups of Muslim immigrants in Nørrebro use the space, relationships and history of the neighbourhood for identity political statements....... The article further describes how national political debates over the Muslim presence in Denmark affect identity political manifestations within Nørrebro. By using Duncan Bell’s concept of mythscape (Bell, 2003), the article shows how some political actors idealize Nørrebro’s past to contest the present...... ethnic and religious diversity of the neighbourhood and, further, to frame what they see as the deterioration of genuine Danish identity....

Worldviews: The Spatial Ground of Political Reasoning in Dutch Election Manifestos

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kaal, A.R.

2012-01-01

A discourse approach was developed to identify explicit perspectivisation afforded by conceptual and narrative structures in political texts. The hypothesis is that the ground perspective of political rationale is packaged in ‘worldviews’ that guide ideologically motivated attitudes. This pilot

PARTICULARITIES OF PARLIAMENTARY OVERSIGHT IN DIFFERENT POLITICAL REGIMES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Silvia-Claudia CĂLIN-MIHALCEA

2015-07-01

Full Text Available The quality and intensity of the parliamentary oversight performed over the Government are shaped by several major criteria: political regime, electoral system, structure of the Parliament (unicameral/bicameral, parliamentary culture and tradition. This paper emphasizes some distinctive elements and particular mechanisms of the control exercised over the activities of the executive power, from the point of view of the political regime established in states with modern democracies.

Political Participation and Power Relations in Egypt: The Scope of Newspapers and Social Network Sites

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mostafa Shehata

2017-05-01

Full Text Available The political use of media in Egypt post-2011 revolution brought about drastic transformations in political activism and power structures. In the context of communication power theory, this article investigates the effects of newspapers and social network sites on political participation and political power relations. The research employed a mixed methodology, comprised of a survey of 527 Egyptian youth and semi-structured interviews of 12 political activists and journalists. The results showed a significant relationship between reading newspapers and youth’s political participation, but not between using social network sites and political participation. In addition, newspapers and social network sites were platforms for a series of conflicts and coalitions that emerged between pro- and anti-revolution actors. Despite the importance of social network sites as key tools for informing and mobilizing the public, they eventually failed to empower new political actors, and this was because old actors, supported by newspapers and other mainstream media, managed to obstruct the new actors’ progress.

A Neurology of the Conservative-Liberal Dimension of Political Ideology.

Science.gov (United States)

Mendez, Mario F

2017-01-01

Differences in political ideology are a major source of human disagreement and conflict. There is increasing evidence that neurobiological mechanisms mediate individual differences in political ideology through effects on a conservative-liberal axis. This review summarizes personality, evolutionary and genetic, cognitive, neuroimaging, and neurological studies of conservatism-liberalism and discusses how they might affect political ideology. What emerges from this highly variable literature is evidence for a normal right-sided "conservative-complex" involving structures sensitive to negativity bias, threat, disgust, and avoidance. This conservative-complex may be damaged with brain disease, sometimes leading to a pathological "liberal shift" or a reduced tendency to conservatism in political ideology. Although not deterministic, these findings recommend further research on politics and the brain.

Political entrepreneurship and bidding for political monopoly

OpenAIRE

Michael Wohlgemuth

2000-01-01

An analytical framework for dealing with political entrepreneurship and reform is proposed which is based on some new combinations of Schumpeterian political economy, an extended version of Tullock's model of democracy as franchise-bidding for natural monopoly and some basic elements of New Institutional Economics. It is shown that problems of insufficient award criteria and incomplete contracts which may arise in economic bidding schemes, also - and even more so - characterise political comp...

Pirate political parties: New democracy or political utopia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karanović Bojana

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Modern society is changing under the influence of IT technologies, more and more we talk about 'digital revolution', and political and economic developments are shaped by computer networks. Undeniably, the Internet has opened new possibilities for socio-political expansion, networking and mobilization. Besides the political establishment, many social movements found their chance in cyberspace recognizing the IT technology as a platform for the development and improvement of their internal and external communication. In this article we will focus on the Pirate Party, movement that has been seriously growing on the European political stage for last several years. Following the example of German Pirate Party we will try to explain the characteristics of the movement, its goals and communication strategies, and political dilemmas which it brings.

Lifelong Political Socialization, Consciousness and Political Agency in Israel Today

Science.gov (United States)

Michel, Dirk

2007-01-01

This article deals with the nexus between biographical experiences in political extraordinary times of crisis, disaster and terror and their influence on political orientations. At the centre of interest is the reconstruction of political orientations related to two different historical-political groups of Jewish Germans who had immigrated or…

Class, Culture and Politics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Harrits, Gitte Sommer

2013-01-01

Even though contemporary discussions of class have moved forward towards recognizing a multidimensional concept of class, empirical analyses tend to focus on cultural practices in a rather narrow sense, that is, as practices of cultural consumption or practices of education. As a result......, discussions within political sociology have not yet utilized the merits of a multidimensional conception of class. In light of this, the article suggests a comprehensive Bourdieusian framework for class analysis, integrating culture as both a structural phenomenon co-constitutive of class and as symbolic...... practice. Further, the article explores this theoretical framework in a multiple correspondence analysis of a Danish survey, demonstrating how class and political practices are indeed homologous. However, the analysis also points at several elements of field autonomy, and the concluding discussion...

Rethinking political correctness.

Science.gov (United States)

Ely, Robin J; Meyerson, Debra E; Davidson, Martin N

2006-09-01

Legal and cultural changes over the past 40 years ushered unprecedented numbers of women and people of color into companies' professional ranks. Laws now protect these traditionally underrepresented groups from blatant forms of discrimination in hiring and promotion. Meanwhile, political correctness has reset the standards for civility and respect in people's day-to-day interactions. Despite this obvious progress, the authors' research has shown that political correctness is a double-edged sword. While it has helped many employees feel unlimited by their race, gender, or religion,the PC rule book can hinder people's ability to develop effective relationships across race, gender, and religious lines. Companies need to equip workers with skills--not rules--for building these relationships. The authors offer the following five principles for healthy resolution of the tensions that commonly arise over difference: Pause to short-circuit the emotion and reflect; connect with others, affirming the importance of relationships; question yourself to identify blind spots and discover what makes you defensive; get genuine support that helps you gain a broader perspective; and shift your mind-set from one that says, "You need to change," to one that asks, "What can I change?" When people treat their cultural differences--and related conflicts and tensions--as opportunities to gain a more accurate view of themselves, one another, and the situation, trust builds and relationships become stronger. Leaders should put aside the PC rule book and instead model and encourage risk taking in the service of building the organization's relational capacity. The benefits will reverberate through every dimension of the company's work.

The Occupy Central (Umbrella) movement and mental health distress in the Hong Kong general public: political movements and concerns as potential structural risk factors of population mental health.

Science.gov (United States)

Lau, Joseph T F; Kim, Yoona; Wu, Anise M S; Wang, Zixin; Huang, Bishan; Mo, Phoenix K H

2017-05-01

Political tension, as expressed by mass movements such as the Occupy Central movement (2014) in Hong Kong, is a potential but understudied structural factor of population mental health. A random population-based telephone survey anonymously interviewed 344 Hong Kong Chinese adults aged 18-65 years during the 2 weeks since the termination date of the 2-month-long Occupy Central movement (15/12/2014). Linear regression models were fit using mental distress (depression, anxiety and negative mood) and self-perceived changes in mood/sleeping quality as dependent variables. Prevalence of participation in the movement was 10.5% (self), 17.7% (family members/relatives), and 34.0% (peers); 8.5% had participated for ≥2 days. Young age, but not participation, was associated with mental distress. In adjusted analysis, three types of responses to the movement (worry about safety, negative emotional responses to media reports, and conflicts with peers about the movement) and emotional responses to local political situations were significantly associated with all/some of the dependent variables related to mental distress. The variable on emotions toward local political situations was correlated with the three responses to the movement; it fully mediated the associations between such responses and mental distress. Many citizens participated in the movement, which was led by youths and might have increased the general public's mental distress. Negative personal responses to the movement and emotions toward political situations were potential risk factors. As the political tension would last and political pessimism is globally found, politics may have become a regular and persistent structural risk factor negatively affecting population mental health.

Political Vector of Northern Sea Route Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrei A. Fomichev

2015-01-01

Full Text Available In this article the author considers the issue of exploitation of Arctic region, especially of NSR. This transport corridor is very important from geopolitical point of view. The future of NSR will be thoroughly considered and the author will pay attention to the political horizons that opens as far as the interest of international community to Arctic rises and socio-economical processes are accelerating. The political institutions which regulate exploitation of NSR, legal framework, estimations of experts from different relevant fields and the problems of exploitation of Arctic region that have emerged on grounds of the current political situation in the world - all these aspects will be considered in the article. The special attention will be paid to the possible Russian self-determined exploitation of Arctic and NSR. Even though there are considerable reserves of natural resources in Arctic, its' capacity does not afford carry out its' active exploitation in short-term. Consequently, its' capacity does not permit exclusion of exploitation of NSR on account of transit route. Saving of the current relations with Western partners and development of opportunities to exploit Arctic region on our own - the main political goals of Russia. Recent events of this year demonstrate two important forces which have an impact on the exploitation of NSR. Firstly, an important role of Russia in international exploitation of Arctic, understanding of that at the international level and interest of foreign partners in cooperation with Russia in Arctic including over the question of NSR despite exacerbation of relation with the West. Secondly, present state of Arctic territories in terms of economics and socio-political aspect does not correspond to the boost of geopolitical power of Russia in Arctic. Western sanctions seriously harm sustainable development of Arctic in short-term. However, they will accelerate political processes in the region in case Russia

The Political Parties and Political Participation in Rivers State, Nigeria

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The Political Parties and Political Participation in Rivers State, Nigeria: A Case Study of 2015 General Elections. Goddey Wilson. Abstract. The study reviewed the activities of the political parties and its impact on voters' participation in the political activities in Rivers State. In pursuit of this objective, the study generated ...

The cleavable matter: Discursive orders in Swedish nuclear power politics 1972-1980

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lindquist, P.

1997-09-01

This study applies a qualitative discourse-theoretical method to analyse the central argumentation in the parliamentary debate on nuclear power in Sweden during 1972-1980, reconstructed from official documents such as governmental and parliamentary bills, committee reports, parliamentary debate protocols, and official commission reports. Particular concern is directed to the process in which various discursive orders emerging within the political debate tend to have a structuring influence on the political argumentation regarding what can be said, by whom this can be said, and how this can be said. It is argued that these discursive orders have a profound, and in a systems theoretical sense self-dynamic influence, going beyond the original intentions of the political actors, on how the energy policy issue is interpreted and constructed. It is argued, furthermore, that these discursive orders actively exploit the political context of meaning by deliberately instrumentalising and incorporating competing argumentative elements into their own cognitive structure. In other words, the dominant political system incorporates the arguments of the political opposition and of the environmental and anti nuclear movements in order to consolidate its political power. The discourse theoretical analysis of the Swedish nuclear power debate in that sense unveils a deep resistance against a true political discourse, in the sense of Habermas, as a rational and domination-free process of reaching mutual understanding. 152 refs

Political Subjects: Decision and Subjectivity from a Post-Fundational Perspective

OpenAIRE

Martín Retamozo

2011-01-01

The problem of decision and of political subjects was addressed in the field of 20th century political philosophy by authors such as Carl Schmitt, Hannah Arendt, and Jacques Derrida, who related it closely to the concepts of sovereignty, freedom, and contingency. The works of Ernesto Laclau and Slavoj Žižek have currently turnedto the issue of decision in order to address the constitutive spects of the political. In a context dominated by deconstruction, post-Marxism, and post-structuralism,t...

Political Subjects: Decision and Subjectivity from a Post-Fundational Perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martín Retamozo

2011-12-01

Full Text Available The problem of decision and of political subjects was addressed in the field of 20th century political philosophy by authors such as Carl Schmitt, Hannah Arendt, and Jacques Derrida, who related it closely to the concepts of sovereignty, freedom, and contingency. The works of Ernesto Laclau and Slavoj Žižek have currently turnedto the issue of decision in order to address the constitutive spects of the political. In a context dominated by deconstruction, post-Marxism, and post-structuralism,the article inquires into the elation between decision and political subjects in a contemporary setting, examining in depth the difference between subjectivity,subjectivization, and subject.

Political innovations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Eva

2017-01-01

are mainly interested in assessing and promoting innovations in public service delivery, but have paid little or no attention to the need for innovations in polity, politics and policy. This article develops a research agenda for studying innovations in political institutions, in the political process...... and in policy outputs. It proposes a number of research themes related to political innovations that call for scholarly attention, and identifies push and pull factors influencing the likelihood that these themes will be addressed in future research....

Challenges and Opportunities in Scaling-Up Nutrition in Healthcare

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ian Darnton-Hill

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Healthcare continues to be in a state of flux; conventionally, this provides opportunities and challenges. The opportunities include technological breakthroughs, improved economies and increasing availability of healthcare. On the other hand, economic disparities are increasing and leading to differing accessibility to healthcare, including within affluent countries. Nutrition has received an increase in attention and resources in recent decades, a lot of it stimulated by the rise in obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus and hypertension. An increase in ageing populations also has meant increased interest in nutrition-related chronic diseases. In many middle-income countries, there has been an increase in the double burden of malnutrition with undernourished children and overweight/obese parents and adolescents. In low-income countries, an increased evidence base has allowed scaling-up of interventions to address under-nutrition, both nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive interventions. Immediate barriers (institutional, structural and biological and longer-term barriers (staffing shortages where most needed and environmental impacts on health are discussed. Significant barriers remain for the near universal access to healthcare, especially for those who are socio-economically disadvantaged, geographically isolated, living in war zones or where environmental damage has taken place. However, these barriers are increasingly being recognized, and efforts are being made to address them. The paper aims to take a broad view that identifies and then comments on the many social, political and scientific factors affecting the achievement of improved nutrition through healthcare.

Putting politics first.

Science.gov (United States)

Hacker, Jacob S

2008-01-01

The greatest lesson of the failure of comprehensive health reform in the early 1990s is that politics comes first. Even the best-laid policy plans are worthless if they lack the political support to pass. Putting politics first means avoiding the overarching mistake of the Clinton reformers: envisioning a grand policy compromise rather than hammering out a real political compromise. It also means addressing the inevitable fears of those who believe that they are well protected by our eroding employment-based system. And it means formulating political strategies that are premised on the contemporary realities of the hyperpolarized U.S. political environment, rather than wistfully recalled images of the bipartisan politics of old.

Religion and Politics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bandak, Andreas

2018-01-01

Religion and politics provide an interesting juxtaposition. On the one hand, both may initially come across as rather self-evident categories, with religion dealing with human perceptions and what people hold as sacred, and politics addressing the control and governance of fellow human beings....... Nonetheless, such a simple opposition should only work as a starting point for an interrogation of both terms and how they have come to look and function as empirical and analytical categories. Focusing on the ways that religion is played out in relation to politics reveals different historical and cultural...... constellations and positions, which can be highlighted as variations of religion as politics, religion in politics, religion out of politics, and religion not politics....

Oil: Economics and politics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ayoub, A.

1994-01-01

A review is presented of the evolution of the international petroleum sector since 1973 with a special emphasis on the interdependence between the economic and political factors that influence it. Two issues are focused on: the effects of the nationalization of oil companies on the sharing of oil rents and on changes in the structure of the oil market; and the determination of oil prices. Definitions are presented of oil rents, and the reasons for OPEC nationalization of oil companies are explored. The effects of nationalization on market structures, expansion of free markets, and vertical integration are discussed. The existence of an oil price floor and the reasons for such a floor are examined. It is shown that nationalization induced an internalization of rents by the producing countries, leading to the emergence of a differential rent supported by the politics of the industrialized countries. Nationalization led to the breakup of systems of vertical and horizontal integration, with replacement by a new dual structure with OPEC controlling the upstream activities of the oil sector and oil companies controlling the downstream ones. Prices move between a floor price set by the costs of substitute deposits in the U.S., while the determination of ceiling levels by OPEC rests on successive fragile compromises. Overall oil is still a strategic product, despite the existence of spot markets, forward trading options, etc. 29 refs

Facebook, Political Narrative, and Political Change: A Case Study of Palestinian Youth

Science.gov (United States)

Kenderes, Amanda M.

2012-01-01

In this dissertation I aim to advance political narrative theory by exploring the use of political narrative on Facebook and the possibility for Facebook to be used among Palestinian youth for political change. To examine the concepts of political narrative and political change, I developed a model for political change based on the changing…

Political Socialization and Political Interest: The Role of School Reassessed

Science.gov (United States)

Koskimaa, Vesa; Rapeli, Lauri

2015-01-01

There is a growing concern about the lack of political interest and engagement among Western youth. This has led to a revival of political socialization studies. One recent finding is that (late) adolescence is key to understanding the development of interest for politics. This study builds on this finding by examining political interest among…

THE PHENOMENON OF MIGRATION. OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carmen BOGHEAN

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Migration is not a new phenomenon, neither for Europe, nor for the entire world and it exists since the beginning of mankind. Over time, this kind of international mobility generated many opportunities, but many challenges as well. Being an extremely important and complex phenomenon, both in economic terms and mostly from the social perspective, mass emigration has never been more intense as nowadays. Together with this particular complexity, the intensity of the migration phenomenon reveals each individual’s profound freedom desire, but also the acute need to ensure a better future for himself and especially for his family. Currently, an ever increasing number of individuals migrate in search of a better place, changing regions, countries or even continents. Witnessing the events that transcend the people all around the world, we consider that migration generates economic, social and cultural, but also political profound changes. These major changes require the involvement of the political actors, namely the governments, in creating a favorable and reliable framework so as the society and decision makers to understand that immigrants represent an opportunity for the emerging economies and not a phenomenon that should be criticized. In this paper we aim to follow the theories regarding the migration process, as well as the changes it generates, taking into consideration that of the 507 million current inhabitants of the EU, approximately 20 million are from countries outside the EU. We consider this research to be underlain, taking into consideration that regardless of the form it takes, in Europe immigration is and will remain a difficult to manage reality.

Exploring Political Alternatives

Science.gov (United States)

Denhardt, Robert B.

1975-01-01

The author distinguishes between the concepts of political socialization and political education. He argues that political socialization has come to dominate both our thinking and our teaching in the area of civic education. Suggestions for promoting political education are included. (DE)

The Pragmatics of Political Apology in Ghana’s Contemporary Politics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kofi Agyekum

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The paper discusses political apology in the 4 the republic of Ghanaian contemporary politics from 2013 to 2015. It taps its data from apologetic speeches by political officials and from apologies rendered to politicians. The paper discusses the semantics and pragmatics of political apology. It examines the use of the language of apology, paying attention to expressives, commissives and persuasion, by drawing on the speech act of apology and political discourse analysis (PDA. It concludes that the obligation on the part of the offender to apologise and for the offended to accept the apology and to forgive for socio-political harmony is driven by both the social pact and the Ghanaian communalistic context.

Politics in evaluation: Politically responsive evaluation in high stakes environments.

Science.gov (United States)

Azzam, Tarek; Levine, Bret

2015-12-01

The role of politics has often been discussed in evaluation theory and practice. The political influence of the situation can have major effects on the evaluation design, approach and methods. Politics also has the potential to influence the decisions made from the evaluation findings. The current study focuses on the influence of the political context on stakeholder decision making. Utilizing a simulation scenario, this study compares stakeholder decision making in high and low stakes evaluation contexts. Findings suggest that high stakes political environments are more likely than low stakes environments to lead to reduced reliance on technically appropriate measures and increased dependence on measures better reflect the broader political environment. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Three Lenses on the Multinational Enterprise: Politics, Corruption and Corporate Social Responsibility.

OpenAIRE

Peter Rodriguez; Donald S. Siegel; Amy Hillman; Lorraine Eden

2006-01-01

Scholars who analyze multinational enterprises (MNEs) recognize the complex relationship between international business (IB) and society. However, compared with other IB topics, research on politics, corruption and corporate social responsibility – ‘three lenses’ on the MNE – remains somewhat embryonic, with unresolved issues regarding frameworks, measurement, methods, and theory. This presents unique opportunities for integration and extension of disciplinary perspectives, which we explore i...

The Effects of Majoring in Political Science on Political Efficacy

Science.gov (United States)

Dominguez, Casey B. K.; Smith, Keith W.; Williams, J. Michael

2017-01-01

This study tests, and finds support, for the hypotheses that a student who majors in political science will have stronger feelings of political competence and will be more willing to engage in hypothetical political actions than two peer groups: (a) those who major in other fields and (b) those who show an interest in politics but have not studied…

Cosmopolitan political science.

Science.gov (United States)

Grande, Edgar

2006-03-01

Until recently, the term cosmopolitism could rarely be found in modern political science literature. It was only in the 1990s that the term was rediscovered by political scientists in the critical discourse on globalization. In this article, I will explore the full potential of cosmopolitism as an analytical concept for empirical political science. I will argue that the concept of cosmopolitism should not be restricted to the analysis of global politics. Indeed, cosmopolitism has much more to offer for political scientists. Properly understood, it enables--and necessitates--a re-invention of political science in the age of globalization, comparable to the behavioural revolution in political science in the 1950s. Such a paradigmatic shift should be based on a twofold transformation of existing disciplinary boundaries: A removal of the boundary between national (and comparative) and international politics on the one hand; and a re-definition of the boundaries between empirical and normative approaches on the other. As a result, cosmopolitism may serve as a new, critical theory of politics based on the integration of hitherto separated fields and sub-fields.

What’s Political about Solar Electric Technology? The User’s Perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chelsea Schelly

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Scholars in science and technology studies have debated the various ways in which technologies are (or are not political. Here, I examine how users themselves understand and articulate the politics of a specific technology—residential solar electric technology—and how understandings of politics interact with motivations to adopt. Based on interviews with 48 individuals in 36 households across the state of Wisconsin who have adopted residential solar electric technology, I consider the user’s perspective on the question: “What’s political about residential solar electric technology use?” These users were asked about the politics of this technology and how their understanding of the technology’s politics shaped their own motivation for adoption. These solar electric technology adopters saw solar electric technology as both imbued with political character based on the current national political scene and as inherently, innately political. They described how solar electric technology interacts with the politics of environmentalism, challenges “politics-as-usual” and can bring about decentralization and redistribution of wealth. In short, to the users of solar electric technology, this technological artifact is, indeed, political; it both interacts with, and offers an alternative to, current American political structures. Further, their perspectives on the politics of solar technology shaped their understandings of motivations for and limitations to adoption of this alternative technology.

Economic and political foundations of local tax structures: an empirical investigation of the tax mix of Flemish municipalities

OpenAIRE

Benny Geys; Federico Revelli

2011-01-01

This is the authors’ final, accepted and refereed manuscript to the article Building on the revenue structure theory developed by Hettich and Winer (1984, 1988, 1999), this paper is the first to investigate the economic and political determinants of local tax mix choices. We thereby use panel data on 289 municipalities in the Flemish region of Belgium (period 1995-2002), where local governments enjoy extensive fiscal autonomy and have a wide choice of available tax instruments. Estimating ...

Political Anthropology and Anthropology of Politics: An Overview

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suresh Dhakal

2012-06-01

Full Text Available In this short review, I have tried to sketch an overview of historical development of political anthropology and its recent trends. I was enthused to prepare this review article as there does not exist any of such simplified introduction of one of the prominent sub-fields in cultural anthropology for the Nepalis readers, in particular. I believe this particular sub-field has to offer much to understand and explain the recent trends and current turmoil of the political transition in the country. Political anthropologists than any other could better explain how the politics is socially and culturally embedded and intertwined, therefore, separation of the two – politics from social and cultural processes – is not only impossible but methodologically wrong, too. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/dsaj.v5i0.6365 Dhaulagiri Journal of Sociology and Anthropology Vol. 5, 2011: 217-34

STRUCTURED CLINICAL EVALUATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arabela Maria Barbosa Sampaio

2014-05-01

Full Text Available In a world experiencing profound technological and socio-political changes in areas of knowledge and capacity, healthcare can not remain static. A new kind of professional is required, whose practice is based on ethics, scientific standards, integrity, citizenship, and health promotion, who develops skills beyond healthcare, such as decision making, communication,leadership, management, and continuing education. No single method can assess all of these elements (knowledge, skills, and attitudes, and only a combination of methods is able to produce a valid evaluation. An alternative method exists: structured clinical assessments based on observation of "to do, or how to do" that aim to complete this evaluation by focusing attention on the performance of specific skills. In order to broaden the scope of evaluation methods that have been used in health education, this article, a literature review, intends to offer readers an overview of the diverse types of structured clinical evaluation, emphasizing Objective Structured Clinical Examination, the most widely used in Brazil, with a goal of advancing opportunities for health professionals to make use of this evaluative tool.

The state of aging policy and politics in the trump era.

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Edward Alan; Nadash, Pamela; Gusmano, Michael K; Simpson, Elizabeth; Ronneberg, Corina R

2018-05-25

The surprise election of Donald J. Trump to the presidency of the United States marks a singular turning point in the American republic - not only because of his idiosyncratic approach to the office, but also because the Republican Party now holds the Presidency and both houses of Congress, presenting an historic opportunity for change. The role of older Americans has been critical in both shaping and reacting to this political moment. Their political orientations and behaviors have shaped it through their electoral support for Republican candidates, but they also stand as highly invested stakeholders in the policy decisions made by the very officials they elected, and as beneficiaries of the programs that Republicans have targeted. This article draws on the content of this issue to explore the ways in which Trump administration policies are likely to significantly undermine the social safety net for near-elderly and older Americans, including with respect to long-term care, housing, healthcare, and retirement. It also draws on issue content to speculate on the ways that these policy changes might shape politics and political behavior. It concludes that the response of older voters in the 2018 mid-term elections to efforts by the Trump administration and its Republican allies in Congress to draw back on the federal government's commitment to programs and policies affecting them will shape the direction of aging policy and politics in the years to come.

Teaching gender and politics: Feminist methods in political science

OpenAIRE

Krook, Mona Lena

2009-01-01

Feminist research in political science is marked by two major contributions: (1) introducing the concept of “gender” and (2) expanding the definition of “politics.” Given its origins in feminist theory and activism, it is guided by scholarly and political aims to transform the study and the practice of politics (cf. Hawkesworth 2006). These commitments enable feminist scholars to identify new research questions, as well as to approach traditional topics in novel ways, using a variety of resea...

Office Politics

Science.gov (United States)

Storm, Paula; Kelly, Robert; deVries, Susann

2008-01-01

People and organizations are inherently political. Library workplace environments have zones of tension and dynamics just like any corporation, often leading to the formation of political camps. These different cliques influence productivity and work-related issues and, at worst, give meetings the feel of the Camp David negotiations. Politics are…

Language and Politics.

Science.gov (United States)

Chimombo, Moira

1999-01-01

Surveys the interrelationship between language and politics. Touches on the context of political discourse, or political culture and ideology in new and old democracies and the reemerging manifestations of totalitarianism, censorship, and linguistic imperialism; then examines selected linguistic features of political discourse and their…

We Do Not Enjoy Equal Political Rights

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marie-Antoinette Sossou

2011-05-01

Full Text Available This study explores Ghanaian women’s perception and voices about issues of gender equality in terms of exercising their political and decision-making rights in connection with political participation and governance in Ghana. The study uses demographic survey and six different focus group discussions to capture the views of a total of 68 women with different educational, socioeconomical, and occupational backgrounds, in two regions of the Ghana. The findings indicate that even though theoretically the constitution of Ghana gives women equal rights as their male counterparts to actively participate in the governance of their country, in practice, women face issues of gender-based power imbalance and discrimination in addition to other structural, institutional, cultural, and traditional barriers and roadblocks. These barriers expose women as being inferior and second-class citizens compared with their male counterparts in term of participation and inclusion in the governance of their country. The study discusses the social and policy implications of the issues of gender inequality and social exclusion of women in politics and calls for empowerment and organization of women and structural change in the system.

Role of the Knowledge in the Political Socialization of Adults

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Bogomir Novak

1996-12-01

Full Text Available The author analyses a thesis of the ambivalent structure of the knowledge and the political socialization, the school's knowledge and the political socialisation dilemma in recent circum­ stances. The adults socialize themselves in postsociali­stic transition for a new system of democracy in the independent state of Slovenia. The adults are cleaved between nostalgia for the past and neces­sity of (active adaptation in present. Our political culture has a low level because the knowledge was not consider as a value. A new democratic political culture already arises in the postsocialist countries. The knowledge, which we get through the social relationships and logical, critical thinking, has double structure: it is repetition and creativi­ty, the knowledge for power over extern, physic world and knowledge for human, psycho-social world, partialised and holistic knowledge. The adults, who are included in process of long-life education addes the Jack of school knowledge with learning of contemporary knowledge. In this way they resocialize themselves for accomplish­ ing of the complex tasks of the postsocialist socie­ty.

Collaboration patterns in the German political science co-authorship network.

Science.gov (United States)

Leifeld, Philip; Wankmüller, Sandra; Berger, Valentin T Z; Ingold, Karin; Steiner, Christiane

2017-01-01

Research on social processes in the production of scientific output suggests that the collective research agenda of a discipline is influenced by its structural features, such as "invisible colleges" or "groups of collaborators" as well as academic "stars" that are embedded in, or connect, these research groups. Based on an encompassing dataset that takes into account multiple publication types including journals and chapters in edited volumes, we analyze the complete co-authorship network of all 1,339 researchers in German political science. Through the use of consensus graph clustering techniques and descriptive centrality measures, we identify the ten largest research clusters, their research topics, and the most central researchers who act as bridges and connect these clusters. We also aggregate the findings at the level of research organizations and consider the inter-university co-authorship network. The findings indicate that German political science is structured by multiple overlapping research clusters with a dominance of the subfields of international relations, comparative politics and political sociology. A small set of well-connected universities takes leading roles in these informal research groups.

The Political Future of Social Medicine: Reflections on Physicians as Activists.

Science.gov (United States)

Geiger, H Jack

2017-03-01

The academic discipline of social medicine has always had a political and policy advocacy component, in addition to its core functions of research and teaching. Its origins lie in the 18th and 19th centuries, in the work of Johann Peter Frank and Rudolph Virchow, among others. Virchow's dictum that "politics is nothing else but medicine on a large scale" highlights that most social determinants of health are politically determined and shape population health. Yet despite intense epidemiological and sociological research on the social determinants of health, less attention has been paid to this political and policy dimension.During the 1960s, the author and many other clinicians were directly involved in attempts to use health care institutions to foster structural change. However, the author argues that efforts to assist individual patients and more effectively manage their interactions with the health care system, as described in the articles in this issue's special collection on "structural competency," while worthy and useful, do not confront root causes. Going forward, efforts to effect structural change must take place outside the arena of the clinical encounter and involve interprofessional teams and collaborations with nongovernmental organizations. They should intervene directly on the structures that contribute to illness such as poor housing, income and wealth inequality, inferior education, racism and residential segregation, and toxic concentrations of extreme poverty in urban areas. Collectively, these efforts-within and outside the spheres of medicine-represent the real operative form of structural competency.

The politics of choice: roles of the medical profession under Nazi rule.

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Lekisch, K; McDonald, J H

1989-06-01

In 1933, when Adolf Hitler took power, the German medical community was faced with intense crisis and change. Because social processes become more clearly defined in times of crisis, the days of Nazi rule offer an excellent opportunity to examine health care and moral issues. This article describes historical events that illustrate physicians' and medical students' role in the political process. In addition, we detail four types of responses made by physicians and students: flight, conformism, individual resistance, and group resistance. We conclude that if the role of physicians is to aid and protect patients against disease or experimentation on humans, then he or she must maintain heightened political awareness in order to deal with social crises before they overwhelm any response.

Discourse, ideas and power in global health policy networks: political attention for maternal and child health in the millennium development goal era.

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McDougall, Lori

2016-05-18

Maternal and child health issues have gained global political attention and resources in the past 10 years, due in part to their prominence on the Millennium Development Goal agenda and the use of evidence-based advocacy by policy networks. This paper identifies key factors for this achievement, and raises questions about prospective challenges for sustaining attention in the transition to the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals, far broader in scope than the Millennium Development Goals. This paper relies on participant observation methods and document analysis to develop a case study of the behaviours of global maternal and child health advocacy networks during 2005-2015. The development of coordinated networks of heterogeneous actors facilitated the rise in attention to maternal and child health during the past 10 years. The strategic use of epidemiological and economic evidence by these networks enabled policy attention and promoted network cohesion. The time-bound opportunity of reaching the 2015 Millennium Development Goals created a window of opportunity for joint action. As the new post-2015 goals emerge, networks seek to sustain attention by repositioning their framing of issues, network structures, and external alliances, including with networks that lay both inside and outside of the health domain. Issues rise on global policy agendas because of how ideas are constructed, portrayed and positioned by actors within given contexts. Policy networks play a critical role by uniting stakeholders to promote persuasive ideas about policy problems and solutions. The behaviours of networks in issue-framing, member-alignment, and strategic outreach can force open windows of opportunity for political attention -- or prevent them from closing.

Individualism, conservatism, and radicalism as criteria for processing political beliefs: a parametric fMRI study.

Science.gov (United States)

Zamboni, Giovanna; Gozzi, Marta; Krueger, Frank; Duhamel, Jean-René; Sirigu, Angela; Grafman, Jordan

2009-01-01

Politics is a manifestation of the uniquely human ability to debate, decide, and reach consensus on decisions affecting large groups over long durations of time. Recent neuroimaging studies on politics have focused on the association between brain regions and specific political behaviors by adopting party or ideological affiliation as a criterion to classify either experimental stimuli or subjects. However, it is unlikely that complex political beliefs (i.e., "the government should protect freedom of speech") are evaluated only on a liberal-to-conservative criterion. Here we used multidimensional scaling and parametric functional magnetic resonance imaging to identify which criteria/dimensions people use to structure complex political beliefs and which brain regions are concurrently activated. We found that three independent dimensions explained the variability of a set of statements expressing political beliefs and that each dimension was reflected in a distinctive pattern of neural activation: individualism (medial prefrontal cortex and temporoparietal junction), conservatism (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex), and radicalism (ventral striatum and posterior cingulate). The structures we identified are also known to be important in self-other processing, social decision-making in ambivalent situations, and reward prediction. Our results extend current knowledge on the neural correlates of the structure of political beliefs, a fundamental aspect of the human ability to coalesce into social entities.

Politics and Development: Lessons from Latin America

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Renato Boschi

2009-06-01

Full Text Available The present article discusses the conditions for the adoption of development strategies in Latin America in the aftermath of the neoliberal reforms, focusing specifically on the role of political institutions as a component of the productive regimes in selected countries. Development is treated as an endogenous process, which is shaped over time in terms of trajectories that are continuously redefined according to specific political conjunctures. Having moved from restricted democracies or authoritarian regimes and autarchic economies to mass democracies operating in the context of open economies after the market-oriented reforms, persistent structural inequalities presently constitute the major axis framing the definition of development policies. More so than in advanced countries where the State is treated as epiphenomenon of their respective productive regimes, in the case of the Latin American semi-periphery the State is the crucial actor for the reversal of vicious circles and negative complementarities stemming from the extreme structural and social inequalities within and between countries in the region. Following a brief discussion on development and economic growth in the definition of the post-neoliberal agenda, the article examines institutional indicators for economic performance of contemporary governmental coalitions in selected countries, focusing on State policies favouring development such as financing, technological innovation, training of labour and social policies. Next, we concentrate on the analysis of political institutions and the role of political elites capable of generating national projects for sustainable development strategies, showing some of the differences between these countries. We conclude with a brief discussion on the adequacy of contemporary political economy approaches to understand processes of capitalist transformation in the periphery, calling attention to the need for a redefined regional perspective

Perceived Organisational Politics, Political Behaviour and Employee ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

facing both private and public sector organisations (Nidhi & Prerna, 2015;. Gotsis & Kortezi ... These studies suggest that organisational politics often interfere with normal ..... Rawls's (1971) theory of justice provides a theoretical foundation for the relationship between ..... Ethical considerations in organisational politics: ...

Exploring Women's Understanding of Politics, Political Contestation ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Exploring Women's Understanding of Politics, Political Contestation and Gender Transformation in the Caribbean. IDRC's Democratic Governance, Women's Rights and Gender Equality initiative is supporting a body of comparative research on whether and how democratic processes and institutions are responding to ...

Moral politics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rapp, Carolin; Traunmüller, Richard; Freitag, Markus

2014-01-01

This article combines the research strands of moral politics and political behavior by focusing on the effect of individual and contextual religiosity on individual vote decisions in popular initiatives and public referenda concerning morally charged issues. We rely on a total of 13 surveys with 1...... American research on moral politics, direct democracies, and the public role of religion....

Linguistic Legitimation of Political Events in Newspaper Discourse

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Marwah Kareem Ali

2016-08-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the discursive structures employed in legitimizing the event of U.S. forces withdrawal from Iraq and identifies them in relation to linguistic features. It attempts to describe the relation between language use and legitimation discursive structures in depicting political events. The paper focuses on the political event of U.S. forces’ withdrawal from Iraq in the English newspaper issued in Iraq. The study shows the way in which journalists express their values and attitudes concerning this critical event. Consequently, this requires a critical discourse analysis (henceforth, CDA to analyse news articles in the Iraqi English newspaper: The Kurdish Globe (henceforth, KG newspaper. Accordingly, the study presents a qualitative content analysis of newspaper articles to identify the legitimation discursive structures and their linguistic features. It is found that the main discursive structures of legitimation employed in the KG newspaper are: authorization, rationalization, and moral evaluation. Besides, there were five verb processes used to represent this legitimation, including material, verbal, relational, mental, and existential. Keywords: Critical discourse analysis, legitimation discursive structures, linguistic features, newspaper discourse, systemic functional linguistics

Spatial Politics in Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

OpenAIRE

Elham Kazemi; Mohsen Hanif

2017-01-01

http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/2175-8026.2017v70n1p287 This article examines the notion of spatial politics in Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. The two courtiers enter the politically convulsive world of Hamlet, where no legitimate power structure takes hold of the state. Their regularized political rationality ceases to apply to the world; reality violates the empirical knowledge — emplacements, geographical and spiritual directions, and generally identity — of Rosencrant...

Union Underground: Political Issues. Comparing Political Experiences, Experimental Edition.

Science.gov (United States)

Gillespie, Judith A.; Lazarus, Stuart

This is the third unit to the second-semester "Comparing Political Experiences" course which focuses on a specific, controversial, political issue. The unit analyzes the concept of political maintenance by studying the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) between 1918 and 1975 and its fight to secure mine safety standards. A documentary…

SOCIAL THEORY OF INTERNATIONAL POLITICS: The impact of social constructivism in international politics Alexander Wendt

OpenAIRE

Barros, Marilene; University of California Santa Barbara

2013-01-01

 Following the structure of Wendt’s book, I will present in this article the main arguments of his social theory, and then explain how Wendt applies them to international politics. This account will render a critique those points to the problems and promises of Wendt’s social constructivism. I argue that despite flaws in his constitutive approach, his focus on the domestic-international aspect of agency and its relation to structure (of the state system) renders a significant contribution to ...

Education and Political Participation of Women: The Case of Portugal

OpenAIRE

David, Fátima; Morais, Joana; Abreu, Rute; Marques, Lúcia; Segura, Liliane

2016-01-01

This research aims to analyses the women’s participation in Portugal politics in consequence of its educational attainment. On the one hand, the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic of April 2, 1976, gives women (and men) a right to equal opportunities for school success, to access to the higher education and to better working conditions. On the other hand, the same Constitution defends, in article 9, that fundamental task of the State is to promote equality between men and women and, in a...

Political Culture and Covalent Bonding. A Conceptual Model of Political Culture Change

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Camelia Florela Voinea

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Our class of models aims at explaining the dynamics of political attitude change by means of the dynamic changes in values, beliefs, norms and knowledge with which it is associated. The model constructs a political culture perspective over the relationship between macro and micro levels of a society and polity. The model defines the bonding mechanism as a basic mechanism of the political culture change by taking inspiration from the valence bonding theory in Chemistry, which has inspired the elaboration of the mechanisms and processes underlying the political culture emergence and the political culture control over the relationship between macro-level political entities and the micro-level individual agents. The model introduces operational definitions of the individual agent in political culture terms. The simulation model is used for the study of emergent political culture change phenomena based on individual interactions (emergent or upward causation as well as the ways in which the macro entities and emergent phenomena influence in turn the behaviors of individual agents (downward causation. The model is used in the ongoing research concerning the quality of democracy and political participation of the citizens in the Eastern European societies after the Fall of Berlin Wall. It is particularly aimed at explaining the long-term effect of the communist legacy and of the communist polity concept and organization onto the political mentalities and behaviors of the citizens with respect to democratic institutions and political power. The model has major implications in political socialization, political involvement, political behavior, corruption and polity modeling.

Parenting and Politics: Exploring Early Moral Bases of Political Orientation

OpenAIRE

Janoff-Bulman, Ronnie; Carnes, Nate C.; Sheikh, Sana

2014-01-01

Based on Lakoff’s (2002) Strict Father and Nurturant Parent metaphors for political conservatism and liberalism respectively, two studies explored parenting styles, political ideology, and the moral orientations that might link the two. Restrictive parenting (by both mother and father) predicted political conservatism, and this path was mediated by a strong Social Order orientation (Study 1) reflecting, more broadly, an inhibition-based proscriptive morality (Study 2). Political liberalism wa...

THE USE OF LANGUAGE ASPECT IN THE DISCOURSE OF POLITICAL ADVERTISING IN PADANG

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Alex Darmawan

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Political advertisement has its own phenomenon since it is presented at specific time. It commonly shows up at any specific time during the legislative (lawmakers and executive (president, governor, regent, mayor election. This research aims to describe the elements, the structure, and the use of linguistic aspects in political advertising in Padang. This research involves three stages; data provision, data analysis, and presentation of analysis results. At the first stage, data was collected by finding out clippings concerning political advertising in 2009. They were further photographed and recorded. The analysis applies contextual method based on theories of socio-pragmatics. The analysis results are presented in descriptive manners. The structures of political advertisements in Padang have been shaped by two components, which are categorized into main and explanatory components. Besides, the use of linguistic aspects of the political advertisement in the city comprises capital letters, repetition, abbreviations, acronyms, code switching, code mixing, rhymes, couplets, metaphors, and antithesis.

Education and Political Development

Science.gov (United States)

Massialas, Byron G.

1977-01-01

Considers how education is related to politics with the focus on political socialization, political recruitment, i.e., the selection and training of political elites, and political integration or nation building of groups of people. (Author/RK)

Does Family Experience Influence Political Beliefs? Relation between Interparental Conflict Perceptions and Political Efficacy in Late Adolescence

Science.gov (United States)

Serek, Jan; Lacinova, Lenka; Macek, Petr

2012-01-01

The study examined the relation between adolescents' interparental conflict perceptions and their political efficacy regarding local issues. Longitudinal data (age 15 and 17) from 444 adolescents were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results showed that young people experiencing frequent interparental conflict reported an increase in…

A Politics of Marginability

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pallesen, Cecil Marie

2015-01-01

always been contested and to some extent vulnerable. However, the Indian communities are strong socially and economically, and the vast majority of its people have great international networks and several potential plans or strategies for the future, should the political climate in Tanzania become......In the end of the 19th century, Indians began settling in East Africa. Most of them left Gujarat because of drought and famine, and they were in search for business opportunities and a more comfortable life. Within the following decades, many of them went from being small-scale entrepreneurs to big...... hostile towards them. I argue that this migrant group is unique being marginalized and strong at the same time, and I explain this uniqueness by several features in the Indian migrants’ cultural and religious background, in colonial and post-colonial Tanzania, and in the Indians’ role as middlemen between...

Identities and preferences in corporate political strategizing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wilts, A.S.

2006-01-01

This conceptual article draws on structuration theory and social identity theory to isolate firm-internal institutionalization processes as antecedents and drivers of corporate political strategizing. Path dependencies in corporate routines and actors' knowledgeability about these path dependencies

Estimation of several political action effects of energy prices

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Andrew B. Whitford

2016-01-01

Full Text Available One important effect of price shocks in the United States has been increased political attention paid to the structure and performance of oil and natural gas markets, along with some governmental support for energy conservation. This article describes how price changes helped lead to the emergence of a political agenda accompanied by several interventions, as revealed through Granger causality tests on change in the legislative agenda.

Government, Money, and International Politics

OpenAIRE

Hoppe, Hans-Hermann

2003-01-01

In this paper, the author deals with: (1) Definition of government; incentive structure under government: taxation, war and territorial expansion. (2) Origin of money; government and money; the devolution of money from commodity to fiat money. (3) International politics and monetary regimes; monetary imperialism and the drive toward a one-world central bank and fiat currency.

Political Implications of Heavy Television Viewing.

Science.gov (United States)

Jackson-Beeck, Marilyn

This paper empirically evaluates the proposition that political conformism, specifically structural, passive, psychological, and defensive conformism, is a function of exposure to mass media. Secondary analysis of data from the National Opinion Research Center's 1975 General Social Survey revealed a significant relationship between TV viewing and…

Iceland’s External Affairs from 1400 to the Reformation: Anglo-German Economic and Societal Shelter in a Danish Political Vacuum

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Baldur Þórhallsson

2013-06-01

Full Text Available The paper applies the assumption that small states/entities need economic and political shelter in order to prosper, to the case of Iceland in the period from 1400 to the Reformation in the mid-16th century. Also, it applies the findings from the first paper in this ‘hexalogy’ (a six-paper series on Iceland’s external relations in a historical context, i.e. that Iceland enjoyed societal shelter in the Middle Ages, to this period. The aim is both to analyse whether or not Icelanders enjoyed economic, political and societal cover from their engagements with the Danes, English and Germans and to evaluate the validity of the ‘shelter theory’. The paper argues that Iceland enjoyed considerable economic and societal shelter from its encounters with English and German merchants and fishermen in a period in which Danish political cover was formally in place but was not effective in practice. Moreover, the paper claims that the shelter theory, and small-state studies in general, need to take notice of the importance of social communication with the outside world for a small entity/state. Also, the Danish political vacuum in our late Medieval Period provided the islanders with economic opportunities and social engagements with the wider world. This was at the cost of continued domestic clashes between the islanders themselves, on the one hand, and between them and ‘outsiders’ on the other. Our findings indicate that in the case of Iceland there might be a trade-off between the benefits of strict political cover by a single external actor, and the economic and societal opportunities accompanied by a lack of political affiliations.

Celebrity politics: the politics of late modernity?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Marsh, D.; t Hart, P.; Tindall, K.

2010-01-01

The academic literature on celebrity politics is rarely systematic; more often it is superficial and anecdotal. In addition, most of the literature focuses either upon classifying different types/categories of celebrity politicians and their roles in politics, or upon the question of whether the

A trauma-like model of political extremism: psycho-political fault lines in Israel.

Science.gov (United States)

Laor, Nathaniel; Yanay-Shani, Alma; Wolmer, Leo; Khoury, Oula

2010-10-01

This study examines a trauma-like model of potentially violent political extremism among Jewish Israelis. We study the psychosocial characteristics of political extremists that may lie at the root of sociopolitical instability and assess personal (gender, stressful life events, Holocaust family background, and political activism) and psychological parameters (self- and political transcendence, perceived political threats, in/out-group identification ratio) that may predict readiness to engage in destructive political behavior. We examine the ideological zeal of various political groups, the relationship between the latter and perceived political threats, and the predictors of extreme political activism. Results showed that the extreme political poles displayed high level of ideological and morbid transcendence. Right extremists displayed higher perceived threats to physical existence and national identity. Left extremists scored highest on perceived moral integrity threat. Higher perceived threats to national identity and moral integrity, risk, and self-transcendence statistically explain morbid transcendence. When fear conjures up extremely skewed sociopolitical identifications across political boundaries, morbid transcendence may manifest itself in destructive political activity. © 2010 Association for Research in Nervous and Mental Disease.

HIV-related politics in long-term perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Friedman, S R

1998-06-01

Some long-term, large-scale socio-economic changes may affect the politics of HIV and other emerging viruses such as hepatitis C. It is useful to ask why the potential peace dividend of the early 1990s failed to provide adequate resources for HIV-related social and medical service delivery in developed or developing nations. This failure can be understood by looking at long-term global economic trends and the pressures they put on governments and corporations. They have produced a period in which fundamental issues of political and economic structure are at stake and, often, the response is a divide-and-rule politics to promote stability. National politics differ in terms of the extent to which such a 'politics of scapegoating' is institutionalized and in terms of which groups are scapegoated. Groups such as drug injectors, gay and bisexual men and sex traders are particularly likely to be targeted both by the scapegoaters and by HIV. Given this framework, how should public health professionals and activists engaged in HIV-related issues respond? Under what circumstances should we orient efforts upwards towards corporate, political or bureaucratic leaders? Under what circumstances, and how, should we orient towards popular forces? Relatedly, we need to consider an issue we often ignore: What do we have to offer potential allies? That is, in terms of their goals, philosophies and needs, why should they ally with us?

Spiritual Politics

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Frédéric Rambeau

2015-01-01

Full Text Available According to Foucault, the uprising of the Iranian people in the seventies reveals how much the political force of Islam is due precisely to the fact that it is not principally located in the field of politics, but in that of ethics. Religion (Shiite Islam appears as the guarantee of real change in the very mode of existence. This spiritual politics is marginalized by Marxism, where it is understood as a discontinuity in relation to proper politics, given that the latter is necessarily linked to a strategic rationalization. By indicating, at this juncture of what is intolerable, the living source and the critical impulse of the Foucauldian ethics, this spiritual politics also leads to recognize in the concept of “subjectivation” a dimension that might escape the circle of freedom as determined by a total immanence to power. This conceptual possibility is highly present in the aporias of the Foucauldian concept of the “relation to oneself”, both as a first condition of governmentality and the ultimate point of resistance against any governmentality. It thus reveals the difficulties in relating political to ethical subjectivation.

About green political parties

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Orlović Slobodan P.

2015-01-01

Full Text Available In this work the author refers to some legal and political questions in connection with green political parties. Those questions cover: the ideology of green political parties, their number and influence, both in general and in Serbia. The first part of work is generally speaking about political parties - their definition, ideology, role and action. Main thesis in this work is that green political parties, by their appearance, were something new on the political scene. But quickly, because of objective and subjective reasons, they were changing original ideas and were beginning to resemble to all other political parties. In this way, they lost their vanguard and political alternativeness.

Social Media Use and Online Political Participation Among College Students During the US Election 2012

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hongwei “Chris” Yang

2016-01-01

Full Text Available A total of 4,556 US college students were surveyed immediately after Election 2012 to investigate what social media–related psychological and behavioral factors predicted their online political participation. Structural equation modeling and hierarchical multiple regression results showed that online social capital, political self-efficacy, and Facebook group participation were positive predictors of online political participation, while social trust did not directly influence online political participation. General political use of Facebook and Twitter was a positive predictor of online political participation; however, extensive Facebook and Twitter use was a negative predictor. Implications for research and political practice are discussed.

Spatial Politics in Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

OpenAIRE

Kazemi, Elham; Hanif, Mohsen

2017-01-01

 http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/2175-8026.2017v70n1p287This article examines the notion of spatial politics in Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. The two courtiers enter the politically convulsive world of Hamlet, where no legitimate power structure takes hold of the state. Their regularized political rationality ceases to apply to the world; reality violates the empirical knowledge — emplacements, geographical and spiritual directions, and generally identity — of Rosencrantz an...

NPS: A Tested Platform for Political Transformation Against Anger & Apathy in Pakistan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Allah Nawaz

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Political inaction is a major ‘Barrier’ to the progress of democratic values and systems in a society. It is more critical in the developing countries like Pakistan. A huge body of research on political apathy and anger in Pakistan is reporting over and over on the causes and consequences of this pathetic psychology. All that is true however, rays of hope are always there provided nations continue searching for the opportunities through scientific and rigorous research accompanied with sincerity and sense of responsibility at all the decision making levels of the state. This paper postulates a solution model for the issue in the perspectives of Pakistan by capitalizing on the role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT in the Instant Political Transformation of the developing countries like Egypt & Lybia. The New Public Sphere (NPS is populated with Global Civil Society (GCS where International Citizens are connected together 24/7 from any corner of the Global Village and involved in use of ICT for Social Activism. Pakistan now has millions of Internet and Cell-users who are the part of GCS and waiting for a ‘Trigger’ to switch from the ‘Informal Activism to Formal & Political Activism’ through NPS.

Between relativism and pluralism: Philosophical and political relativism in Feyerabend's late work.

Science.gov (United States)

Heller, Lisa

2016-06-01

Relativism is one of the most problematic terms associated with philosophical discourse, with Feyerabend considered among the most important twentieth century theorists subscribing to it. This paper provides a detailed overview of relativist positions advanced in Feyerabend's mid-to-late work and investigates the associated epistemic and political applications. Emphasis is placed on how Feyerabend supported certain aspects of relativism, and at what stage he rejected others. It is noted that Feyerabend had already imposed limitations on relativism in Farewell to Reason, in which he entertained the possibility of epistemic definition within stable contexts, and advanced the notion that opportunities and equality associated with political and cultural units could only be valid within a democratic system. In Conquest of Abundance, political relativism is largely discarded, while epistemological relativism is increasingly treated as an appeal for diversity in all areas. In this re-reading of his work, it becomes clear that Feyerabend was already advocating a moderate form of epistemic and political relativism in the middle of his career, which he subsequently developed in the direction of "ontological pluralism" in his later work. This paper thus shows that Feyerabend's relativism should not be completely rejected, but rather that it continues to offer interesting food for thought. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Comparing Political Journalism

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Comparing Political Journalism is a systematic, in-depth study of the factors that shape and influence political news coverage today. Using techniques drawn from the growing field of comparative political communication, an international group of contributors analyse political news content drawn...... Comparing Political Journalism offers an unparalleled scope in assessing the implications for the ongoing transformation of Western media systems, and addresses core concepts of central importance to students and scholars of political communication world-wide....... from newspapers, television news, and news websites from 16 countries, to assess what kinds of media systems are most conducive to producing quality journalism. Underpinned by key conceptual themes, such as the role that the media are expected to play in democracies and quality of coverage...

An Agent-Based Dynamic Model of Politics, Fertility and Economic Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zining Yang

2016-08-01

Full Text Available In the political economy of development, government policy choices at a single point in time can dramatically affect a country's development path by impacting fertility, economic and political decisions across generations. Combining system dynamics and agent-based modeling approaches in a complex adaptive system, a simulation framework of the Politics of Fertility and Economic Development (POFED is formalized to understand the relationship between politics, economic, and demography change at both macro and micro levels. First, a new political capacity measurement is used; and the system dynamics model is validated with the latest data. Second, the endogenous attributes are fused with non-cooperative game theory in an agent-based framework to simulate the interactive political economic dynamics of individual intra-societal transactions. Finally, macro and micro levels are connected with policy levers of political capacity and political instability by merging system dynamics and agent-based components. This paper also explores the agent-based model's behavioral dynamics via simulation methods to identify paths towards economic development and political stability. This model demonstrates micro level human agency can act, react and interact, thus driving macro level dynamics, while macro structures provide political, social and economic environments that constrain or incentivize micro level human behavior.

Nonpolitical images evoke neural predictors of political ideology.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahn, Woo-Young; Kishida, Kenneth T; Gu, Xiaosi; Lohrenz, Terry; Harvey, Ann; Alford, John R; Smith, Kevin B; Yaffe, Gideon; Hibbing, John R; Dayan, Peter; Montague, P Read

2014-11-17

Political ideologies summarize dimensions of life that define how a person organizes their public and private behavior, including their attitudes associated with sex, family, education, and personal autonomy. Despite the abstract nature of such sensibilities, fundamental features of political ideology have been found to be deeply connected to basic biological mechanisms that may serve to defend against environmental challenges like contamination and physical threat. These results invite the provocative claim that neural responses to nonpolitical stimuli (like contaminated food or physical threats) should be highly predictive of abstract political opinions (like attitudes toward gun control and abortion). We applied a machine-learning method to fMRI data to test the hypotheses that brain responses to emotionally evocative images predict individual scores on a standard political ideology assay. Disgusting images, especially those related to animal-reminder disgust (e.g., mutilated body), generate neural responses that are highly predictive of political orientation even though these neural predictors do not agree with participants' conscious rating of the stimuli. Images from other affective categories do not support such predictions. Remarkably, brain responses to a single disgusting stimulus were sufficient to make accurate predictions about an individual subject's political ideology. These results provide strong support for the idea that fundamental neural processing differences that emerge under the challenge of emotionally evocative stimuli may serve to structure political beliefs in ways formerly unappreciated. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Primary care: choices and opportunities for racial/ethnic minority populations in the USA and UK--a comparative analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, M B

1999-08-01

This paper examines and compares the choices made and the opportunities provided by the United States and the United Kingdom in delivering primary care services to their racial/ethnic minority populations. While both nations agree that the most effective strategy for health service delivery to a diverse population lies in primary care, their approaches to obtaining this goal have been quite different. Sociological theories of functionalism and conflict perspective provide the analytical and organizing framework of the paper. Within this theoretical context, the health systems in place in each country are examined as an outgrowth of the larger socio-political, economic and cultural structures of the US and UK. Analysis of the advance of managed care in the US and the recent NHS reforms are also discussed in terms of lessons learned and the difficulties that lay ahead in order to ensure that these new developments contribute significantly to eliminating the disproportionately worse health status of racial ethnic minorities. Towards that goal the paper identifies opportunities for collaboration and specific recommendations for future action by both countries.

Usage of marketing in politics

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Marić Ivana

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Multi-party political system led to competition between political parties which caused the need for marketing in politics that improves political reputation. Politics, based on rich experience of political practice, used existing, developed methods and techniques of commercial marketing. Political marketing openly admits that politics and politicians are simply goods that are being sold on a political market. Political marketing is a whole way of operation by political parties which ask these questions: how do the voters choose; what affects their preference and how that preference can be influenced. Usage of political marketing in Bosnia and Herzegovina is still not on a satisfactory level but the knowledge about the importance of political marketing is increasing.

Construction of Gender Identity in Political Discourse

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Elizaveta D. Butsyk

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The article regards the phenomenon of political communication from the perspective of the particularities of constructing gender identity by politicians. As far as the influence of the gender factor on politicians' speech is concerned, the most relevant approach among many others is the discourse approach formed within the paradigm of cognitive linguistics, which considers political discourse as the object of study. The paper deals with the notion of political discourse and examines a hypothesis that gender factor might have a number of manifestations in political communication. It is noted that studying the specificity of constructing gender identity by politicians in discursive practices is becoming a highly topical issue as the importance of female participation in public and political life is growing. Political decision-making has long been considered the prerogativeofmen, but now the necessity of studying the female factor in this sphere is obvious. The author dwells upon the historical background of linguistic gender studies and summarizes the main stages of their development focusing mainly on the theory of the social construction of gender. The founders of this theory advance the thesis that an individual's gender identity is shaped in the process of constructing gender relations in communicative interaction. Further in the article we analyse a few devices of creating the images of masculinity and femininity by famous English and American politicians. As structural components of gender identity, masculinity and femininity turn out to be modifiable parameters depending on the pragmatic attitudes of communicators. Traditional androcentrism of political discourse may account for modifying the female speech style towards masculinity to achieve certain communicative aims.

Public sphere of politics: between classical grounds and new political actuality

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O. A. Tretyak

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The public sphere of politics as a theoretical concept of modern political science has been discussed in the article. The reasons of the increasing interest to the public sphere is a dominating subject. Studied The phenomenon of the public sphere being a tool of theoretical and methodological definition of the political world’s boundaries has been studied. The value aspects of media activity in the contemporary politics has been investigated. An attempt has been made to establish the potential of political publicity for the qualitative understanding of participatory democracy. The potential of the public sphere in the development of civil society and social capital has been described. The distinction between the public sphere of politics and political communication in the specific conditions of modern transformational societies has been reasonably grounded. The importance of the presence of state power in all spheres of life of the transformational society has been stressed. Such transformation has not been stoped after the liberal market reforms, which had to ensure the existence of a formal representative democracy. The influence of the elite and expert groups being the reason of the absence of really functioning future civil society has been considered. The features of the formation of civil and social activities as a precondition for the democratic political class’ functioning have been studied. The specifics of public political activity being the prerogative of the competent entities’ political broadcasting have been analyzed. The gradual formation of cyber public sphere and its political branch segment has been revealed. Thorough attention has been given to the processes of the public sphere’s politicization which are usual for primarily authoritarian and closed societies.

Education and participation of women in politics. An empirical investigation

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Edi Puka

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This article is the result of a research work on the relationship between education and politics, developed in view of literature, studies and research in sociology and political sciences. The first phase of the research will be devoted to the collection of documentation and information necessary to the historical reconstruction of the salient stages and the most important dates around which developed the "political action” of the Albanian woman. It was intended to comprehend the complex phenomenon of relationship between women and politics through a series of semi-structured interviews. The interviews were conducted in the cities of Tirana and Durres, addressed to a total sample of 46 women, aged between 18 and 60 years, randomly selected to represent the different types of political participation.The process of the exposed research is focused on the active, effective and conscious presence of women in society

FEATURES OF THE SOCIO-POLITICAL PROCESS IN THE UNITED STATES

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Tatyana Evgenevna Beydina

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The subject of this article is the study of political and social developments of the USA at the present stage. There are four stages of the American tradition of studying political processes. The first stage is connected with substantiation of the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches of political system (works of F. Pollack and R. Sili. The second one includes behavioral studies of politics. Besides studying political processes Charles Merriam has studied their similarities and differences. The third stage is characterized by political system studies – the works of T. Parsons, D. Easton, R. Aron, G. Almond and K. Deutsch. The fourth stage is characterized by superpower and the systems democratization problem (S. Huntington, Zb. Bzhezinsky. American social processes were qualified by R. Park, P. Sorokin, E. Giddens. The work is concentrated on the divided explanation of social and political processes of the us and the reflection of unity of American social-political reality. Academic novelty is composed of substantiation of the US social-political process concept and characterization of its features. The US social-political process is characterized by two channels: soft power and aggression. Soft power appears in the US economy dominancy. The main results of the research are features of the socio-political process in the United States. Purpose: the main goal of the research is to systematize the definition of social-political process of the USA and estimate the line of its study within American political tradition. Methodology: in this article have used methods: such as system, comparison and historical analysis, structural-functional analysis. Results: during the research the analysis of the dynamics of social and political processes of the United States had been made. Practical implications it is expedient to apply the received results in the international relation theory and practice.

Turkish Political Market and the Perception of Political Parties

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Cihat Polat

2015-06-01

Full Text Available This study attempts to describe the Turkish political market and determine where and how Turkish political parties are perceived by voters. The study uses a two-dimensional map to determine the voter perceptions of the parties in the Turkish political market based on a survey questionnaire applied to 400 young voters. It also investigates whether there are any major differences in the perception of parties in the political space based on voter ideologies. The study finds that young voters have clear perceptions of the positions of Turkish parties. It also finds that voter perceptions of parties vary based on voters’ ideological positions.

Political Campaigns

OpenAIRE

Lilleker, Darren

2017-01-01

Political campaigns are orchestrated attempts by political organizations to garner public support through persuasive communication in order to influence public policy in their favor. This broad definition encapsulates all forms of campaigns from those of neighborhood organizations seeking to influence local politicians to the campaigns of political parties and candidates who seek election to office in order to shape policy themselves. In pluralist democracies, campaigns are crucial for repres...

From Good Governance to Developmental Governance - How Policies, Institutions and Politics Matter

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lauridsen, Laurids Sandager

2012-01-01

The present global financial and economic crisis offers an opportunity to rethink the relative roles of state and market as well as of globalisation and national development strategies in the political economy of development. It has become more difficult to argue that globalisation has rendered...... national development strategies and in particular industrial policies superfluous. The crisis also calls for a rethinking of the prevailing standard recipes for development and of the ‘institutional therapy’ that has been driven by the international development establishment. The article seeks to identify...... and outline a heterodox view on how policies, institutions and politics matter for latecomer development, and does that by juxtaposing it with the orthodox view. The central argument of the article is that the orthodox view has serious weaknesses, and that a heterodox approach – developmental governance...

POLITENESS ON WHATSAPP: THE RESPONSES TO GREETINGS AND CONGRATULATIONS BY ENGLISH SPEAKING GROUPS IN INDONESIA

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Budi Purnomo

2017-12-01

Full Text Available In the last three years, WhatsApp (WA has become one of the most popular means of instant communication between individuals and the most preferred medium for contact among people who belong to a specific group. This tool provides the opportunity to send and receive text, audio and visual messages. Guidelines for writing WA messages are not available, and people may often be unsure which politeness and languages are appropriate. This research is intended to investigate the politeness markers used by English speaking groups in Indonesia to respond greetings and congratulations. This study is of a qualitative and descriptive nature. The data were the responses on behalf of 50 group members of English Student Club, 200 ones of English Teachers and 50 ones of English Lecturers, as evidenced in the politeness markers they respond to greetings and congratulations posted on the WA. Furthermore, the data were analyzed by using the parameter of politeness markers (Spencer-Oatey, 2008. The research findings show that the group members used various politeness markers on one occasion, but violate them on another occasion. The politeness markers they used from the most to the least frequency are politeness markers to greet, to agree, to give compliments, to express gratitude, to give notice, to apologize, to request, to give alternative suggestions, to command and to refuse. The value of this study contributes towards understanding politeness in online environments, such as WA, which is used for smooth communication through the establishment and maintenance of interpersonal relationships.

Neoliberalism and political actors in contemporary Argentina

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Juan Manuel Reynares

2017-11-01

Full Text Available In this paper we set out a critical reading of the literature on political neoliberal actors in Argentina. We consider that the concentration of these studies in the national level has to do with a definition of neoliberalism as a set of economical and structural macro politics. We propose to define neoliberalism as a technology of government that intends to hegemonize an “enterprise form” in different social spheres, articulating a symbolical framework in a contingent and contentious way. This insight allows analyzing neoliberal identification processes as heterogeneous trajectories with diverse geographic and temporal scopes.

Heterodox Political Economy and the Degrowth Perspective

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Kent Klitgaard

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The transition to sustainability will be difficult. Environmental sustainability entails living within the Earth’s limits, yet the majority of scientific studies indicate a condition of overshoot. For mainstream economists sustainability means perpetuating economic growth. Consequently, environmental and economic sustainability are incompatible in the present institutional context. This paper seeks to develop a new theory of sustainability based upon historical and institutional contexts, the role of economic crises, as well as focusing upon energy quality and meaningful work. Mainstream economics, which emphasizes market self-regulation and economic growth, is not a good vehicle for a theory of sustainability. Better insights are to be found in the literature of heterodox political economy and political ecology. Political ecology is based upon the theory of monopoly capital. Monopoly capitalism exhibits a tendency towards stagnation, because the economic surplus cannot be absorbed adequately in the absence of system-wide waste. The Monthly Review School continues this tradition in the context of the metabolic rift, while the Capitalism, Nature and Socialism School develops the idea of a second contradiction of capitalism. The Social Structure of Accumulation school pursues the idea of long swings of economic activity based upon institutional structures that aid or inhibit capital accumulation.

Social Networks and Political Parties in Chile

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Adler Lomnitz, Larissa

2002-09-01

Full Text Available This paper describes the origin and evolution of two Chilean political parties (the Radical Party and the Christian Democrat Party through the analysis of the social networks that originated and composed them. The aim of this study is to propose a model of national political cultures on the basis of the structure of social networks related to power and of the symbol system, which legitimizes it. The structure of social networks, horizontal and vertical, are based on reciprocal or redistributive forms of exchange, on what is being exchanged and on the articulation between networks. In every society there are symmetrical and asymmetrical exchanges, which produce horizontal and vertical networks. These networks interact among themselves to form the social fabric. The dominance of some over others and how they combine, delineate the character of the political culture (authoritarian vs. egalitarian. Chile is a multiparty country within which there are cohorts of horizontal groups of friends, who informally exercise a central control over their members and create invisible boundaries setting them apart from others, in which leadership is under constrains. The result is both a strong presidential system based on an almost fanatic legitimacy, combined with factionalism and a strong parliamentary system.

The Politics of Alliance Government in Nigeria, 1954 – 1957 | Ojo ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The formation of alliances is one of the permanent features of the politics in most multi-ethnic states. This is because, more often than not, ethnicity and competition for the control of the 'structural frame' and 'system of rewards' always prevent the existence of nation-wide or country-wide political associations and the ...

Defining Political Extremism in the Balkans. The Case of Serbia

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Babić Marko

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Political extremism (and particularly right wing political extremism remains relatively insufficiently explored due to the fact that the phenomenon is controversial and hard to define. Its ambiguity and variability depending on time and spatial point of view further complicates its definition. Its structure is amorphous and eclectic as it often includes elements from different ideologies and connects incompatible ideas. A multidimensional conceptualization and an interdisciplinary approach - sociological, social, psychological and historical, are the Author’s tools in explaining the phenomenon of political extremism in Serbia, hopefully contributing to its clarification and laying a foundation for its further explanatory theoretical studies.

Phenomenon of political actionism in modern society

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V. M. Bavykina

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Political actionism is the fenomen in social and art space, that appeared in middle of XX century as the practice of critic and protest with using different artistic methods and techniques. Political actionism as art and political tradition exist in postsoviet space, especially in Russia where actionism appeared in 1990 years and develops for actually days. In other countries this phenomenon not such systematic.  But analyze and compare actions in different countries appears the possibility to understand social and cultural context, their difference and similarity. Actionism is a reaction to external public, social and political situation, but its appearance more like the symptom of some problem than its critic or display – traditional approaches in art.  Appearance of actionism also connected with inability of manifestation of personal and civil liberty, that’s why in actions liberty affairs in such radical and hyperbolized forms. First volume of Russian political actionism began in 1990 years (Oleg Kulik, Alexander Brener, Anatoly Osmolovsky etc. and Second volume in 2010 (art-group Voina, Pussy Riot, Pyotr Pavlensky. This process not only a transformation of artistic and traditional space, but also modification of reaction on social and political situation. Actionism becomes a source of new type of knowledge, that give a possibility to see the habitual reality from another side and find in it new pointes and concepts. Political actionism contracting own interpretation of already well-established phenomenon. Usual concepts of liberty, authority, social control are deconstructed in actions. Those destructions of reality and cultural reorientation destroys traditional imposed patterns of interaction and social structure. But new views, that appeared in daily life from actions, often has mistaken interpretations. Exist a problem about identification of actions, its correct interpretations and understanding of its causes. In article was

History and Historians in the Soviet Political and Ideological Structure in 1930s – early 1940s (case study: the Siberian Region

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Dmitry V. Khaminov

2014-12-01

Full Text Available In paper deals with the issues of a place and a role of historical knowledge and historians as a special professional community (university professors, researchers and students of the history departments in the political and ideological structure of the Soviet state in the 1930s – early 1940s. The article restores politics of Communist Party and Soviet government in relation to historians on the example of a unique Siberian small region. The Author made an attempt, on the basis of party and government documents as well as archive materials, some of which were for the first time introduced in scientific circles, give a balanced assessment of these processes in the conditions of the most tragic and controversial periods in the Russian history.

The Political Is Personal: Measurement and Application of Nation-Level Indicators of Gender Equity in Psychological Research

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Else-Quest, Nicole M.; Grabe, Shelly

2012-01-01

Consistent with the dictum, "the personal is political," feminist scholars have maintained that gender equity in security, access to education, economic opportunity, and property ownership are central to women's well-being. Empirical research evaluating this thesis can include nation-level indicators of gender equity, such as the United Nation…

Sports metaphors in Polish written commentaries on politics

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Jarosław Wiliński

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This paper seeks to investigate what sports metaphors are used in Polish written commentaries on politics and what special purpose they serve. In particular, the paper examines structural metaphors that come from the lexicon of popular sports, such as boxing, racing, track and field athletics, sailing, etc. The language data, derived from English Internet websites, has been grouped and discussed according to source domains. Applying George Lakoff and Mark Johnson’s approach to metaphor, the paper attempts to determine both the kind of source domains from which common metaphors are drawn and to what degree structural metaphors are used. The data suggests that many structural metaphors can be found in the language of politics. They are drawn from a wide variety of sports source domains, although the domains of boxing, racing, sailing, and soccer are of particular prominence. It seems that the primary function of structural metaphors in written commentaries is to facilitate the interpretation of facts in a way that is enormously appealing to the reader.

The effect of political products on the decision to choose political party through the role of the candidates of legislative members as mediating variable

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Suwignyo Widagdo

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This study attempts to analyze; 1 the effect of political product on the decision to choose the candidate of legislative member; 2 the effect of political product on the decision to choose political party; 3 the effect of the decision to choose the candidates of legislative members on the decision to choose political party; and 4 the role of mediating variable of the decision to choose the candidate of legislative member on the affect the decision to choose political party. The data were analyzed using inferential statistical analysis of Generalized Structured Component Analysis (GeSCA. It shows that 1 the political product has an effect on the decision to choose the candidate of legislative member; 2 the mediating variable of the decision to choose the candidate of legislative member plays a very important role for the constituents in taking the decision to choose political party. However, of the existing three indicators, only personal characteristic can explain the strength of the effect of political product on the selection of political party. Yet, the second hypothesis test result shows that the path coefficient is significant and provides evidence that the second hypothesis is accepted. The decision to choose political party is increa-singly stronger as a result of the decision to choose the candidate of legislative member which is in accordance with the expectations of voters. Acquisition of the party vote will increase after the constituents know the candidates proposed. The higher the popularity and quality of the candidate is, the greater the electoral gains of a party.

Practicing Politics: Female Political Scientists as Candidates for Elective Office

Science.gov (United States)

Burrell, Barbara

2012-01-01

In 2007, University of Oklahoma political science professor Cindy Simon Rosenthal was elected mayor of Norman, Oklahoma, after having served as a member of its city council. Was her activity unique within the political science profession among female political scientists? Her election stimulated the curiosity of some of us in the…

Political power beyond the State: problematics of government. 1992.

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Rose, Nikolas; Miller, Peter

2010-01-01

This paper sets out an approach to the analysis of political power in terms of problematics of government. It argues against an overvaluation of the 'problem of the State' in political debate and social theory. A number of conceptual tools are suggested for the analysis of the many and varied alliances between political and other authorities that seek to govern economic activity, social life and individual conduct. Modern political rationalities and governmental technologies are shown to be intrinsically linked to developments in knowledge and to the powers of expertise. The characteristics of liberal problematics of government are investigated, and it is argued that they are dependent upon technologies for 'governing at a distance', seeking to create locales, entities and persons able to operate a regulated autonomy. The analysis is exemplified through an investigation of welfarism as a mode of 'social' government. The paper concludes with a brief consideration of neo-liberalism which demonstrates that the analytical language structured by the philosophical opposition of state and civil society is unable to comprehend contemporary transformations in modes of exercise of political power.(1).

Becoming independent: political participation and youth transitions in the Scottish referendum.

Science.gov (United States)

Breeze, Maddie; Gorringe, Hugo; Jamieson, Lynn; Rosie, Michael

2017-12-01

Sociological debates on youth engagement with electoral politics play out against a backdrop of supposed 'decline' in civic participation (e.g. Putnam , Norris, ), in turn contextualized by theories of individualization in 'late' or 'reflexive' modernity (Beck, Giddens). However, the enfranchisement of 16 and 17 year olds in the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum catalysed remarkably high levels of voter turnout among this youngest group, and was accompanied by apparently ongoing political engagement. We explored this engagement among a strategic sample of young 'Yes' voters, in the immediate aftermath of this exceptional political event. Analysis of qualitative interview data generated an unanticipated finding; that interviewees narrated their political engagement biographically, articulated their referendum participation reflexively, and located their new political ideas, allegiances and actions in the context of their own transitions to 'independent' adulthood. This inspired us to rethink young people's political engagement in relation to youth transitions. Doing so enables a synthesis of divergent strands in the sociology of youth, and offers new insights into the combinations of 'personal' agentic and 'political' structural factors involved in young people's politicization. © London School of Economics and Political Science 2017.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES IN THE RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION PROCESS OF HUMAN RESOURCES

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Aleksandra Stoilkovska

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of this article is to examine the problem of the concept of equal employment opportunities in the HR recruitment and selection process. Due to the fact that in these processes, both the HR managers and the applicants are involved, this research is conducted separately among them. Thus, it will be determined if both sides share the same opinion with respect to the existence of this concept in the mentioned processes. Providing equal employment opportunities is crucial for any company and represents a key for selecting the real employees. Therefore, the research includes the existence of prejudices in the recruitment and selection process such as discrimination based on national and social origin, gender and sexual orientation, age, political affiliation etc. As an essential part of this concept, the legislation in the Republic of Macedonia and its impact in the process of generating equal opportunities will be considered.

Intermediacy between political control and institutional autonomy: A transformative approach

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Nirmala Dorasamy

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The public sector is about providing services, managing resources efficiently and securing a return on investment. Producing results and managing performance depends on adaptation, flexibility and creativity. While one may argue for greater control to achieve performance indicators, this has to be underpinned by managerial control systems both internally and externally. Post NPM reforms have tried to respond to the problem of single purpose organisations that have distanced political control. While post NPM reforms tipped the scale toward more political control, it did not restore the balance between control and autonomy. In view of the NPM and post NPM reforms and the accompanying challenges, the paper argues that it is not possible to device a “one size fits all” response to these challenges. In trying to analyse the dilemma of balancing political control and institutional autonomy an institutional theoretical perspective is used by analysing structural and instrumental features (national political environment, cultural features (historical administrative traditions and external constraints (technical and institutional environments. It needs to be recognised that the aforementioned features have constraints. The structural and instrumental features specify the formal constraints on leaderships decisions. These constraints may give political leaders strong hierarchical control or may not give them much direction, but a lot of potential discretionary influence. The cultural features specify that public organisations develop informal norms and values which lead to a distinct institutional culture. While these informal norms and values are infused in formal structures and decision making, it may be inconsistent with the sub-culture, thereby giving it less systemic influence. The technical and institutional environment which focuses on efficiency production and internal culture may develop beliefs over time that cannot be ignored. Christensen

Partidele româneşti, între politicianism şi politică

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Bogdan Ficeac

2011-08-01

Full Text Available The „originality” of the Romanian transition from totalitarianism to democracy represents, in fact, the failure of this process. The power was not transferred from the hands of a leader or of a small group of discretionary leaders to the legal-rational-bureaucratic institutions, but to the large structures of new rich, which control the entire economic and political life of the country, including the political parties. The only way to cure the Romanian political life is to professionalize the politics, to provoke the politicians to live for politics not off politics. This vital goal could be reach by strictly bringing into force the EU rules and practice, especially the EU model of spending the public money.

Building Political Participation: The Role of Family Policy and Political Science Courses

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Parrott, Emily

2017-01-01

This mixed-methods study examined the long-term associations between two kinds of politics courses--required political science courses and required family policy courses--and the political participation, knowledge, skill, efficacy, and politically engaged identity of child and family studies alumni. Two special cases were examined: those who…

Political Consciousness but Not Political Engagement: Results from a Service-Learning Study

Science.gov (United States)

Harker, Dave

2016-01-01

How does participation in a service-learning program impact the way students think about politics and political engagement? There are reasons to expect that service-learning can contribute to the development of a political consciousness and the skills necessary for political participation. The author uses participant observation, in-depth…

Hidden consequences of political efficacy: Testing an efficacy-apathy model of political mobilization.

Science.gov (United States)

Osborne, Danny; Yogeeswaran, Kumar; Sibley, Chris G

2015-10-01

Political efficacy-the belief that one can influence politics-is a key predictor of people's involvement in social movements. Political institutions that are open to change should, however, be seen as just. Thus, political efficacy may ironically undermine minority group members' support for collective action by simultaneously increasing their belief in the fairness of the system. The current study aims to examine this possibility in a national sample of Māori-New Zealand's indigenous minority population. Participants (N = 399) were Māori (Mage = 44.22; SD = 13.30) women (n = 272) and men (n = 115; unreported = 12) who completed a survey assessing their levels of (a) political efficacy, (b) system justification, and (c) support for the political mobilization of their group, as well as relevant demographic covariates. Consistent with past research, political efficacy had a positive direct effect on participants' support for the political mobilization of Māori. Nevertheless, political efficacy also had a negative indirect effect on political mobilization support via increases in system justification. These results held after controlling for participants' ethnic identification, self-efficacy, and conservatism. Our findings uncover a hidden consequence of political efficacy and show that, while believing that the political system is receptive to change predicts political mobilization, it can also undermine minorities' support for the mobilization of their group. Thus, our results uncover a previously unknown process that maintains inequality between ethnic minority and majority group members. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

#IranVotes: Political Discourse on Iranian Twitter during the 2016 Parliamentary Elections

OpenAIRE

Marchant, James; Sabeti, Amin; Bowen, Kyle; Kelly, John; Heacock Jones, Rebekah Ann

2016-01-01

In this study, we map and analyze the content and structural features of the Iranian Twittersphere as exhibited over the course of the 2016 legislative elections in order to identify the communities that developed around various political, social, and cultural issues and to assess the influence of online political campaigning that emerged on the platform over the course of the election campaign. Given Iran’s ongoing efforts to control and restrict freedom of expression around numerous politic...

Political learning among youth

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Solhaug, Trond; Kristensen, Niels Nørgaard

2014-01-01

This article focuses on students’ first political learning and explores the research question, what dynamic patterns of political learning can be explored among a selection of young, diverse Danish students’ first political interests? The authors use theories of learning in their analytical......, but are active constructors of their political life. Their emotions and social environment are highly important for their political orientation. It is recommended that further research focus on dynamic learning and on arenas for political learning rather than on “single agent studies.” Recommendations...

Political Intersectionality and Democratic Politics in the European Public Sphere

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Siim, Birte

2015-01-01

Public Sphere (EPS). It is inspired by results and reflections from the European Gender Project (EGP) , where intersectionality was used as an approach for analysing negotiations between gender and ethno-national diversity in selected European countries and in relation to the European Public Sphere....... The aim of the essay is to further deepen the theoretical and empirical understanding of intersectionality by reflecting on the relations between political intersectionality and democratic politics from a particular European perspective. It thus confronts theory and research findings concerning...... intersections of gender and ethnic diversity in political life at the national and transnational levels across Europe. In this context, political intersectionality refers to the framing of gender and ethnic diversity by major political actors as well as by activities of women’s and anti-racist organisations...

Parenting and Politics: Exploring Early Moral Bases of Political Orientation

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Ronnie Janoff-Bulman

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Based on Lakoff’s (2002 Strict Father and Nurturant Parent metaphors for political conservatism and liberalism respectively, two studies explored parenting styles, political ideology, and the moral orientations that might link the two. Restrictive parenting (by both mother and father predicted political conservatism, and this path was mediated by a strong Social Order orientation (Study 1 reflecting, more broadly, an inhibition-based proscriptive morality (Study 2. Political liberalism was associated with a Social Justice orientation, but was not predicted by nurturant parenting in either study. Study 1 included mothers’ reports of their own parenting, and these were correlated with the students’ responses. Findings support a restrictive moral underpinning for conservatism, but raise questions about the assumed unique association between parental nurturance and political liberalism, which is addressed in the discussion.

Political and legal evolution of ukrainian sovereign bureaucracy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

О. V. Zabrodina

2015-02-01

Proved that the current stage of bureaucracy management structure tour in Ukraine related to the events of late 2004 – early 2005, during which brought to power a new political team that actualized the adaptation bureaucratic structures to European standards. This process is complicated by the intense politicization bureaucratic machine manifestations of social and psychological fatigue from endless changes. This concern fatigue, apathy, aggression in the population. Being long standby time change for the better, people lost faith in the good intentions of the government and resist any changes that are even justified. In fact, at the present stage of state is chance to overcome the effects fusion authoritarian bureaucracy that leads to cultivation among officials slavish obedience, dogmatic thinking, conservatism, social apathy, a decrease in confidence in the political and ruling elite in society.

ETHICS AND POLITICAL ACTION IN MARXISM: ELEMENTS FOR A CONTEMPORARY DISCUSSION

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Igor Fernandes Oliveira

2010-08-01

Full Text Available The present article attempts to discussions around the relationship between ethics and political activism within Marxism. Thus, we have chosen to discuss the theme from the classic texts of Marx and Gramsci. Despite the clear limitation of the number of authors discussed, it can be argued that the problems and solutions raised by Marx and Gramsci cross the Marxist debate in general, allowing therefore to glimpse some dilemmas and opportunities related to the central issue in the field.

Political economy constraints on carbon pricing policies: What are the implications for economic efficiency, environmental efficacy, and climate policy design?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jenkins, Jesse D.

2014-01-01

Economists traditionally view a Pigouvian fee on carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions, either via carbon taxes or emissions caps and permit trading (“cap-and-trade”), as the economically optimal or “first-best” policy to address climate change-related externalities. Yet several political economy factors can severely constrain the implementation of these carbon pricing policies, including opposition of industrial sectors with a concentration of assets that would lose considerable value under such policies; the collective action nature of climate mitigation efforts; principal agent failures; and a low willingness-to-pay for climate mitigation by citizens. Real-world implementations of carbon pricing policies can thus fall short of the economically optimal outcomes envisioned in theory. Consistent with the general theory of the second-best, the presence of binding political economy constraints opens a significant “opportunity space” for the design of creative climate policy instruments with superior political feasibility, economic efficiency, and environmental efficacy relative to the constrained implementation of carbon pricing policies. This paper presents theoretical political economy frameworks relevant to climate policy design and provides corroborating evidence from the United States context. It concludes with a series of implications for climate policy making and argues for the creative pursuit of a mix of second-best policy instruments. - Highlights: • Political economy constraints can bind carbon pricing policies. • These constraints can prevent implementation of theoretically optimal carbon prices. • U.S. household willingness-to-pay for climate policy likely falls in the range of $80–$200 per year. • U.S. carbon prices may be politically constrained to as low as $2–$8 per ton of CO 2 . • An opportunity space exists for improvements in climate policy design and outcomes

Nuclear power and political conflict

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kitschelt, H.

1979-01-01

The paper is limited to the first phase of conflict up to 1977. The various forms of controversy on the issue of nuclear energy are examined. The conflict is explained as being the result of relevant research and (energy) infrastructure policies. The first task of such an investigation is to analyse the depoliticization of nuclear energy policy which took place over a period of nearly 20 years (1955-1973/4). This depoliticization and non-decisionmaking on the social consequences of nuclear energy have laid the foundations for the development of the conflict which occured in the first cycle of the nuclear energy conflict. The second task is to highlight the social structure of the opposition movement, its forms of struggle, and the response of the state apparatus, The crisis of the nuclear power policy has led to a more or less distinct paralysis of the state apparatus because the political and industrial decisionmaking processes in this area were not designed to cope with social conflicts. In fact, their very structure had excluded the possibility of political opposition to a specific technology. (orig./HP) [de

Politics, Society and Communication in the Constitution of Modern Society: Early Modern England

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Devrim ÖZKAN

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The inception of Modern England comprises a hundred and fifty years between sixteenth and mid eighteenth centuries. The structural qualities of modern societies of this day occur in this era. The political and economic changes and transformations that England experienced in this period of time are in enormous scale. In this period all social structure and institutions experienced structural change in terms of cultural, economic and political processes. In addition to this in this period the framework of the international system regarding economy and politics is established too. Important qualities of current modern societies are the speed of communication and interaction between its elements, its transformational capacity and the extent of its scope. In this, it is possible to apprehend the basic cornerstones of today’s information and communication age by analyzing the early modern period of England

The Politics of Budgetary Expenses - Essential Element within the Macroeconomic Politics

OpenAIRE

Cibotariu Irina-ªtefana,; Iancu Eugenia,

2013-01-01

The budgetary politics, regarded as an assembly of state intervention instruments, generated by the forming processes, by taxes and duties, of the budgetary incomes, of budgetary expenses allotment, as well as on ensuring the budgetary equilibriums represent the budgetary politics of the state, directed towards the goals accomplishment, more or less delimited. In this way, the budgetary politics has been dissociated on more components where one of them, meaning the allotment politics or the b...

Political regimes, political ideology, and self-rated health in Europe: a multilevel analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Huijts, Tim; Perkins, Jessica M; Subramanian, S V

2010-07-22

Studies on political ideology and health have found associations between individual ideology and health as well as between ecological measures of political ideology and health. Individual ideology and aggregate measures such as political regimes, however, were never examined simultaneously. Using adjusted logistic multilevel models to analyze data on individuals from 29 European countries and Israel, we found that individual ideology and political regime are independently associated with self-rated health. Individuals with rightwing ideologies report better health than leftwing individuals. Respondents from Eastern Europe and former Soviet republics report poorer health than individuals from social democratic, liberal, Christian conservative, and former Mediterranean dictatorship countries. In contrast to individual ideology and political regimes, country level aggregations of individual ideology are not related to reporting poor health. This study shows that although both individual political ideology and contextual political regime are independently associated with individuals' self-rated health, individual political ideology appears to be more strongly associated with self-rated health than political regime.

The Political Gender Gap: Gender Bias in Facial Inferences that Predict Voting Behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Chiao, Joan Y.; Bowman, Nicholas E.; Gill, Harleen

2008-01-01

Background Throughout human history, a disproportionate degree of political power around the world has been held by men. Even in democracies where the opportunity to serve in top political positions is available to any individual elected by the majority of their constituents, most of the highest political offices are occupied by male leaders. What psychological factors underlie this political gender gap? Contrary to the notion that people use deliberate, rational strategies when deciding whom to vote for in major political elections, research indicates that people use shallow decision heuristics, such as impressions of competence solely from a candidate's facial appearance, when deciding whom to vote for. Because gender has previously been shown to affect a number of inferences made from the face, here we investigated the hypothesis that gender of both voter and candidate affects the kinds of facial impressions that predict voting behavior. Methodology/Principal Finding Male and female voters judged a series of male and female political candidates on how competent, dominant, attractive and approachable they seemed based on their facial appearance. Then they saw a series of pairs of political candidates and decided which politician they would vote for in a hypothetical election for President of the United States. Results indicate that both gender of voter and candidate affect the kinds of facial impressions that predict voting behavior. All voters are likely to vote for candidates who appear more competent. However, male candidates that appear more approachable and female candidates who appear more attractive are more likely to win votes. In particular, men are more likely to vote for attractive female candidates whereas women are more likely to vote for approachable male candidates. Conclusions/Significance Here we reveal gender biases in the intuitive heuristics that voters use when deciding whom to vote for in major political elections. Our findings underscore

The political gender gap: gender bias in facial inferences that predict voting behavior.