Search results

Information access and open communication – through in person and mediated information and communication technology – are critical to an informed citizenry in democratic societies. The 2011 Arab Spring uprising that originated in Tunisia and resulted in the overthrow of long-time Tunisian authoritarian president Ben Ali, established a new transitional government with more democratic institutions and more open press and political expression. In this paper, we explore changes over time (2011–2019) in the use by young, educated Tunisians of different political information sources, the perceived reliability of these sources, their information sharing behavior, and sense of being politically well-informed (i.e., political information efficacy). We report here results from the third of three surveys we administered of an online questionnaire to three different but comparable opportunity samples of young, educated Tunisians. The first two surveys conducted in 2012 and 2015 have been previously reported. We compare results from the most recent survey regarding 2019 elections with findings from the two prior surveys. Our findings confirm increasing perceived reliability of government information sources during the 2014 and 2019 elections, and decreasing reliability of social media. Results also confirm that higher perceptions of information reliability along with information sharing, lead to greater political information efficacy which is an important predictor of further democratic political participation.

Scholars of public opinion and foreign policy recognize that the general public is poorly informed about international affairs, but they disagree about whether and how this fact affects the policies that it will support. Some argue that the lack of information has little effect, at least in the aggregate, while others hold that political information mediates attention to elite cues. We investigate a third line of argument in which political information has a direct effect on the policy options individuals support. Low levels of political information give rise to a pattern of complacency toward likely international threats in times of relative peace and a contrasting tendency to support violent and aggressive policy options during war or acute crises. We test this argument using survey data from two relevant historical settings: the American entry into World War II and the response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

We investigated the effects of ease of retrieval on confirmatory information search during and after decision making. In 2 experiments, 166 participants (96 and 70 in Experiments 1 and 2, respectively) were asked to make a decision and then to provide reasons for that decision by describing
whether or not they felt that evaluating the reasons for their selection or rejection was easy or difficult. Uniform results in both experiments showed that participants who experienced easy retrieval exhibited stronger confirmatory tendencies in information search than did those who experienced
difficult retrieval, irrespective of favorable (Experiment 1) or unfavorable (Experiment 2) reasons. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

SummaryThis paper reports on a research programme that has investigated the migration experiences of highly skilled professional and business migrants to New Zealand. Over a four‐year period, five separate studies have been conducted on the stages in the process of migration. The paper sets out a model of the stages of the migration process and the data and analysis which it has guided. Of particular interest are the information sources available to potential migrants and employers, the cultural sensitivity of settlement processes and the migrants' subsequent ease of access to the labour market. The paper analyses information flows available to migrants at crucial phases in the migration process based on a stages model of the migration process. The model indicates some of the critical steps, interactions, and decisions in the migration process from the individual's point of view. Crucial information gaps are identified and implications are drawn for actors involved at the different stages.

SummaryOver the last decades, governments all over the world have tried to take advantage of information and communication technology (ICT) to improve government operations and communication with citizens. Adoption of e‐government has increased in most countries, but at the same time, the rate of successful adoption and operation varies from country to country. This article outlines the evolution of ICT in the public sector over the past 25 years. It presents general trends by examining interactions and mutual shaping processes between ICT evolution and several inter‐related institutional changes including government operations, public services delivery, citizen participation, policy and decision making, and governance reform. The authors suggest that within a short time period, e‐governance has evolved rapidly from rudimentary uses of ICTs as simple tools to support highly structured administrative work to the integration of ICT throughout government operations. The growing use of Web 2.0, social media, and mobile and wireless ICT by citizens can also heavily impact the way public services are delivered and how citizen engagement processes are carried out. However, new management approaches, governance structures, and policy frameworks are still missing, posing a challenge for governments to operate effectively in the age of big data. Generally, developing countries are lagging behind in e‐government adoption compared with developed countries. Thus, for developing countries to successfully adopt ICT and try to leapfrog some of the obstacles encountered by early ICT adopters in developed countries, systematic analyses need to be conducted to understand the interactions among stakeholders and ICTs and co‐create the institutional environment to lead to a positive impact of ICT on public administration. Only when this relationship is clearly understood can innovative ICTs be seamlessly integrated into the governance structure. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Cover -- Contents -- Acronyms -- Executive Summary -- I. Introduction -- II. Progress, Pending Issues, and Recommendations Concerning the Compilation of ESS -- A. Current Account and Capital Account -- B. Financial Account and IIP -- III. Dissemination of ESS and Other Aspects of ESS Preparation in Argentina -- Appendices -- I. Action Plan from the November 2016 Mission with Implementation Status -- II. Participants in Mission Meetings -- III. Summary of Current and Capital Accounts under MBP5 and MBP6 Methodologies -- IV. Agreement Between the BCRA and the INDEC on the Exchange of Information and Release of Debt and DI Survey Data -- V. Quarterly Direct Investment Transactions and Holdings Reporting Form -- VI. Form for Use in Reporting Information on Reserve Transactions -- VII. International Investment Position for 2006-2016 Using the BPM6 Methodology