Search results

The investigation of the internal workings of interest groups opens the view on the behavioural dynamics within these organisations. By analysing their intraorganisational structures, this book explains how groups prepare to become active in the European Union and why we observe contact, conflict and cooperation of interest groups and other political actors in the European arena.The book presents four causal mechanisms which explain, on the one hand, why interest groups engage with contacts across a diverse set of political actors and, on the other hand, why some interest organisations are more actionable at the European level than others. It furthermore elaborates a typology of interest groups along intraorganisational criteria. The analysis of twelve differing case studies provides a rich empirical ground to explain how and why certain intraorganisational processes unfold within interest groups. It thereby sheds light on the behavioural organisational patterns which drive interest group agency in European multi-level politics.This book will be of key interest to students and scholars of interest groups, lobbying, European Union politics and more broadly to public policy/administration and comparative politics.

This article and study examined youths' interest in entrepreneurship development in Nigeria. Data were collected through a systematic review of relevant literature and a structured questionnaire. The data from the questionnaire were subjected to descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings showed that 60.25% of the respondents were not aware of any government programme for entrepreneurship development. Also, 52% of the respondents did not think the government provided the necessary support for the adequate development of entrepreneurship. A total of 58.25% of the respondents expressed their intention to start up a business within three years, and 54% of the respondents believed that they had the capacity to start and run a business on their own. Youths' perception of the role of government in the development of entrepreneurship was found to have a significantly weak and negative relationship with their intention to start up a business (r = -0.103, p < 0.05). Also, youths' perception of the role of government in the development of entrepreneurship was found to have a significantly weak and negative relationship with their ability to start up a business (r = -0.104, p < 0.05). This indicates that youths' interest in entrepreneurship and a willingness to start up businesses largely occur outside the framework of government support. However, this does not exonerate the government from promoting the development of entrepreneurship. Therefore, this paper contends that the Nigerian government should create a suitable environment for entrepreneurship to thrive among youths.

<i>Objectives:</i> To report on Finnish physicians' opinions on the possible future use of genetic screening and their interest in knowing their own risk for diseases. <i>Methods:</i> A questionnaire survey mailed to gynaecologists, paediatricians, general practitioners and clinical geneticists. Both leading physicians and a sample of other practitioners were included (response rate 74%, n = 571). <i>Results: </i>Physicians preferred genetic testing of people at risk over population-wide screening. Breast and colon cancer, familial hypercholesterolaemia and juvenile diabetes were diseases for which screening was most often considered useful. The most popular target group was the whole population. Opinions on the suitability of genetic screening were not uniform, and physicians did not take a stand on genetic screening as a whole but differentiated by disease and target group. Those wanting to know their own risk for diseases supported screening procedures in general more than did other physicians. <i>Conclusions:</i> Physicians were not enthusiastic about genetic screening. Nevertheless, testing of individuals with a family history of certain diseases is likely to become more widespread.

Russia's policy in Central Asia has arrived at a new stage in its development. This is confirmed both by the transformation of the situation in the region and by the changes in Russia's international position. At the previous stage in its Central Asian policy, Moscow was busy trying to implement the so-called Putin Doctrine. This basically consisted of attempts to integrate the post-Soviet expanse (encompassing as much territory as possible) by primarily economic means. However, political means were also implied along with the economic levers. This policy was manifested in the various integration formations that sprang up in the CIS, such as the EurAsEC-Customs Union, the SES, the CSTO, and the Belarus-Russia Union State, as well as the multitude of bilateral and multilateral agreements with Russia's participation in economic trade cooperation, the energy industry, and transportation and communications. This approach was most intensively implemented between 2003 and 2006, when Moscow was able to greatly fortify its position in Central Asia, enter long-term contracts in the production and transportation of energy resources, take partial or complete control over the strategic branches of several regional countries, and achieve advantageous conditions for building pipelines. In addition, the economic penetration of Russian companies into the region was accompanied by intensification of military-technical and military-strategic cooperation between the Russian Federation and the regional states, the setting up of Russian military bases, and the ousting of rivals (with the exception of China). However, after 2006 Russia's international position began to change, which could not help but have an effect on its Central Asian policy. Another spiral of the confrontation with the West began, pulling Moscow along with it and turning the region into an area where their interests clash. There can be no doubt that the Color Revolutions in the post-Soviet expanse were one of the main reasons for the crisis in Russian-Western relations. And Central Asia was no exception-Russia (along with Kazakhstan) did not permit escalation of this kind of revolution in Kyrgyzstan and also supported Uzbekistan in its determination not to allow a full-fledged civil war in the country as a result of the rebellion in Andijan, which was inspired from the outside.

In this Review in 1993 Shelley Burtt critiqued contemporary republican theorists who urge a reinvigorated citizenry steeped in the ideal of civic virtue. Christopher Duncan finds the essence of Burtt's argument to be that such a revival is not feasible given the level of self-sacrifice required from citizens. He suggests, however, that contemporary republican theorists, like their ancient predecessor Aristotle, are not calling for altruism or the forsaking of self-interest. Rather, virtuous political participation rightly understood is, in fact, among the highest forms of self-interested behavior. Burtt replies that her earlier remarks discussed a part of the republican revival that had little to do with an Aristotelian politics of virtue, which indeed offers an attractive account of political life as a crucial element in individual self-fulfillment. But she notes also that liberalism rightly reminds us of the dangers of public mobilization and concentrated power; moreover, the political and practical obstacles to private reeducation of the citizenry remain.

Many urban hospitals face a staffing crisis as a consequence of a shrinking and more costly housing market. Hospital administrators are committing health resources to purchase or build housing for their staffs. Questionnaire data were gathered from 240 interns, residents, and fellows across a wide range of income levels and current housing costs to determine their interest in such housing and to assess their status in the current housing market. A simultaneous equation model was developed that included current housing conditions, housing problems, and satisfaction levels, as well as selected demographic variables. Results indicated that physicians with children and those with insufficient bedrooms were not interested in such housing. Lower-income single and married physicians without children were most interested.

Opens a special journal issue devoted to the issue of interest group power & influence. Contributors understand power as "control over outcomes." Here, attention is given to rival hypotheses related to institutions, interest group characteristics, & issues as factors impacting the influence of interest groups on political outcomes. Obstacles to testing these competing hypotheses empirically are outlined. Essays are introduced. References. D. Edelman