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The Belgian welfare state was historically structured regarding socio-professional situations and family status, which also referred to different forms of solidarity and care inside the family. Based on a research regarding single-parenthood in Brussels, we will address how recent transformations struggle to better adapt to transformations regarding the way individuals live together with others and how they share parental responsibilities. Inspired by the founding works of Blumer (1971), we will retrace through a sociological perspective how different actors (public administrations, governments, unions, as well as the « civil society » and researchers) have participated at a long process of « collective definition » that constructed single-parenthood as a new category (Dubois, 2009) of regional work policy and federal social welfare policy. Based on a qualitative survey (observation and interviews), as well as longitudinal statistics, we analyse how the various situations of single-parenthood are approached through the tension between the will to assert and recognize the specificities of these situations (cf.targeting), and the choice to favour a universal approach. The notion of "adapted universalism" permits to explain, following our hypothesis, the connections that were carried out the last years with work and welfare policy.

AbstractPrevious research has credited China's top leaders, Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao, with the social policies of their decade in power, arguing that they promoted these policies either for factional reasons or to achieve rational, problem-solving goals. But such arguments ignore the dominant "fragmented authoritarian" model of policymaking in China that centres on bargaining among bureaucratic agencies. This article asks whether top leadership factions, rational problem solving, or "fragmented authoritarianism" can explain the adoption of one of the Hu and Wen administration's flagship policies, New Rural Cooperative Medical Schemes. Based on a careful tracing of this policy's evolution, it finds little evidence for these explanations, and instead uncovers the role played by international events and organizations, and ideas they introduced or sustained within policy networks. The article highlights some of the effects that China's international engagement has had on policymaking and the need to go beyond explanations of the policy process that focus solely on domestic actors. It proposes a new model of policymaking, "network authoritarianism," that centres on policy networks spanning the domestic–international, state–non-state, and central–local divides, and which takes account of the influence of ideas circulating within these networks.

The introduction sets out a standard concern that space ethics may be unduly constrain- ing upon state and private sector activities in space. As a counter-picture, Section 2 sets up a distinction between 'standard space ethics' and 'special space ethics' which will allow us to explore ways in which space ethics enables as well as constrains. A case is then made in Section 3 for pragmatic constraints upon space ethics itself. Space eth- ics should be either 'policy apt' (able to directly shape space policy within a liberal democratic social context) or 'precursor apt' (able to contribute productively to broader, precursor discussions which may feed into policy apt deliberations). What makes any ethic satisfy either of these conditions will depend upon a range of factors. The ethic should have stability (dealt with in Section 3.1). It should not merely track transitory voting trends or the ebbs and lows of electoral politics. Secondly, it should have a high degree of political realizability (dealt with in Section 3.2). Finally, the ethic should be psychologically available. Section 4 then shows the usefulness of these basic constraints upon space ethics through a contrast between the emerging US and European agendas in astrobiology.

A vigorous anti-nuclear movement emerged in Germany in the mid 1990s, when spent nuclear fuel elements began to be transported to the interim storage facility in Gorleben, Lower Saxony. Resistance to nuclear transportation continued to grow in strength throughout the 1990s. The protests expressed people's distrust and lack of confidence in political institutions and decision-making processes. In the German Bundestag, these events relating to Gorleben caused significant political struggles over the principles and meanings of German democracy. Parliamentarians voiced competing counterarguments about the legitimacy of these demonstrations, on the one hand, and the legitimacy of the nuclear energy policy of the federal government, on the other. Ideas about liberal democracy and the tradition of the 1968 generation and new social movements clashed in the Bundestag. By applying methods of conceptual analysis to parliamentary research, this article discusses conflicting conceptualisations of democracy in the German parliament. Analysis of political language enables discussions on competing ideas, attitudes and conceptions in policy-making. The Bundestag argued about democratic beliefs and values, which legitimated parliamentary policy-making. In particular, interpretations of violence in a democratic state, the principle of majority rule and the legitimacy of decision-making were explicitly debated in the German parliament. ; peerReviewed

The introduction sets out a standard concern that space ethics may be unduly constraining upon state and private sector activities in space. As a counter-picture, Section 2 sets up a distinction between 'standard space ethics' and 'special space ethics' which will allow us to explore ways in which space ethics enables as well as constrains. A case is then made in Section 3 for pragmatic constraints upon space ethics itself. Space ethics should be either 'policy apt' (able to directly shape space policy within a liberal democratic social context) or 'precursor apt' (able to contribute productively to broader, precursor discussions which may feed into policy apt deliberations). What makes any ethic satisfy either of these conditions will depend upon a range of factors. The ethic should have stability (dealt with in Section 3.1). It should not merely track transitory voting trends or the ebbs and flows of electoral politics. Secondly, it should have a high degree of political realizability (dealt with in Section 3.2). Finally, the ethic should be psychologically available. Section 4 then shows the usefulness of these basic constraints upon space ethics through a contrast between the emerging US and European agendas in astrobiology.

EUvox2014 was a Voting Advice Application (VAA) operating during the pre-electoral period of the 2014 European Parliament elections. VAAs are online platforms developed and published online in periods before elections with the purpose of providing prospective voters with information concerning their proximity to competing political parties, given their policy preferences. Users are able to visit these platforms and, after providing their agreement or disagreement with a number of policy statements, they are provided with measures of proximity to political parties or candidates, on the basis of the latter's programmatic positions or estimates thereof.
The dataset available in the present file contains responses of individual users to a number of questions that can be summarised into 6 categories:
a) demographics,
b) politics-related questions (e.g. vote intention),
c) self-placement of users and parties on 3 axes: economic values (Left - Right), social values (Progressive – Cosnervative) and EU-integration (Pro – Against),
d) Probability To Vote for competing parties,
e) Policy preferences,
f) Questions asked following the presentation of the results of the VAA to the user.
Additionally encoded and included in the datasets are para- and meta-data, e.g. time and date of completion, web-browser used, response times for questions etc.

Political Islam and Islamist organizations have broadly gained strength across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) in the post-Cold War era. Following the Arab uprisings, the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), generally viewed as the world's largest and most influential Islamist organization, has shaped the wider landscape of MENA politics. This study examines MB leadership by comparing M. Morsi of Egypt, R. Ghannouchi of Tunisia, and K. Meshaal of Gaza as examples of Islamist leaders to explain their political belief systems and predict their foreign-policy behavior. We use the operational code approach, a content-analysis software and statistical tests to conduct the study. Results show that the three leaders' foreign policy beliefs are analogous to the averages of world leaders. Results also partially support the hypothesis that their foreign-policy propensities are similar to each other. We conclude that despite the conventional portrayal of MB leadership, these leaders use negotiation and cooperation to settle their differences in foreign affairs, and the best way to approach them is to engage in a Rousseauvian assurance game that emphasizes international social cooperation. Results also suggest important implications in terms of mainstream international relations theories.

This paper sets out to inquire whether the political will enhances or obstructs educational development in Cameroon. The problem identified here is that policy making is one reality and follow-up and implementation is another. The central arguments in this paper have been articulated within the context of political science theories like the Marxist conflict theory, John Rawls theory of justice, John Dewey's theory of democratic education, Rousseau's social contract theory and James Banks' multicultural education theory. Both qualitative and quantitative methods of research have been used in this study. Questionnaires, interviews and focus group discussions and participant observation constituted the research instruments. A thematic analysis supported by descriptive statistics was used to present and discuss the facts studied. This research questions the fairness in policy-making and wonders whether the political will follows the right procedures to enact relevant policies for educational growth. Findings prove that there is more to be desired as far as policy making and implementation of the policies in Cameroon is concerned. This paper concludes that in order to ensure fairness and quality in the provision of educational values, the political will has to be strong as far as justice, fairness and the provision of educational opportunities is concerned in Cameroon.

An earlier version of this paper was commissioned in 2014 by one of the UK governments as a 'think piece' to reflect on the importance of skills utilisation for policy development, and what more might be done to pilot new ways of addressing this issue. This version has been prepared for wider circulation. It is not intended to provide a comprehensive literature review on the topic. Those seeking such a review are directed to the report prepared by CFE for the Scottish Government (2008) and a report prepared for the OECD by Buchanan and colleagues (2010). The four national governments within the UK all face broadly similar economic and social problems, though the depth and scale of these problems varies within and between each nation. Among these policy challenges are a range of issues that relate to productivity, investment and the shape and 'balance' of the economy, as well as with the quantity and quality of employment, the structure of the labour market and the nature and management of the relationship between employer and employee (Keep, 2013; Keep and Mayhew, 2014). As will be suggested below, many of these policy problems are inter-related.

Aboriginal Australian public intellectual Noel Pearson has gained prominence and influence for his brand of policy reform in Indigenous affairs by drawing upon the capabilities approach. This article challenges the coherence of Pearson's position, arguing that his unrelenting focus on personal responsibility leads him to conflate different elements within capabilities thinking. Pearson 1) mistakes social capabilities (to which people are entitled) for human potential to be unfolded, and 2) casts and prescribes personal responsibility as a type of latent capability. The latter a) inverts the capabilities approach wherein phenomena such as personal responsibility arise as an effect of the realization of latent capabilities rather than serving as latent capabilities themselves, and b) is at odds with the liberal basis of the capabilities approach that rejects imposing "good" ways of life on people. This is illustrated through reference to Pearson's advocacy of Direct Instruction teaching and engagement with the "real economy". The paper recognizes Pearson's contribution to the policy debate and that the problems he highlights are real, but argues that the remedial approaches adopted are problematic, including in terms of Pearson's stated stance against assimilationist policy agendas.

The migrant crisis in Europe, which reached its zenith in 2015, made EU politicians realize the urgent need for a more effective migration policy that would rely more on supranational cooperation. Absence of this policy triggers migrant influx to Europe, in particular of unqualified labour force, and enhances illegal migration from which organized criminal groups profit enormously. Moreover, uncontrolled migration processes give rise to a number of social, economic, political and cultural problems all across the EU, and thus nurture the Eurosceptic mood. This leads to societal negation of the European integration project and provides fertile soil to the spread of radicalism and xenophobia. The aim of the study is to capture the position of European Parliament on recent migrant crisis. The Parliament, a democratically legitimate body, which claims the right to represent European societies, advocates adoption of systemic EU approach to migration which should be based on the respect of human rights and creation of legal migration pathways for refugees and workers needed by Europe. The solution of the present migrant crisis is sought by the EP in moving towards a common, comprehensive European immigration policy and enhanced solidarity of EU member states in response to increased influx of refugees from conflict zones.

Arrival of social change comes as a result of the process of industrializationand globalization of information, if viewed from all aspects, influenced by such changes. One aspect is the art, from the influence of these changes, the art began to shift toward commercial dimension of art. So is the case in government policy on the development and preservation of art and culture, also insists on the principle of industrial and creative economy. The policy on the one hand, has a positive impact (in economic terms), but on the other hand also have a negative impact, namely the commercialization, commodification, and profane without considering the cultural assumptions. resulting in a decline in ethical values and aesthetic, and neglect the development and preservation of ritual art tradition in the context of the natural cultural community, because they are not going to bring benefits in terms of economy and creative industries.such as the deterioration condition of art performances luambek in Pariaman Minangkabau society. Contradictions creative industries policy and conservation efforts in the arts need special attention by the relevant parties, especially in preparing the formula the preservation of traditional art concepts in the context of supporting the community. Keyword: contradiction, creative industries and traditional arts

The purpose of this work is to examine the employees ownership policy in Cameroon's companies. The information used is derived from primary data collected between November 2015 and January 2016 in 31 Public Limited Companies having opened the capital to their employees. They belong to all sectors: industry, service, agriculture, transport and trade. From the perspective of the workforce of employees, these companies are mostly large (employing more than 100 employees) and medium (employing between 20 and 100 employees). Through exploratory factor analysis and the univariate analysis, the study reveals that there are two forms of share ownership by employees in these companies: the direct form and indirect form. Similarly, the level of participation of employees in the capital of these enterprises is usually between 5% and 10% and the average level of around 7.4% . The privatization of public and para-public enterprises was a major factor of the opening of capital to employees in the firms of the sample. In addition, the establishment of global employee share plan in subsidiaries of foreign companies is also one of the reasons attached to this policy. As for the benefits of implementing this policy, they are among others the improvement of productivity, economic performance and social performance of these companies.

In this article the problem of language asymmetry and possibility of the gender and sensitive use of the Kazakh and Russian languages in the territory of Kazakhstan is discussed. One of the aspects of gender equality in society is also the language policy. Authors also suggest discussing this subject, involving experience of feministic linguistics of other countries, and first of all, of Germany. Gender and sensitive use of the language in oral and written communication is especially urgent for Kazakhstan as culturally determined features of the language policy in this cultural space have a gap due to the low level of special attention paid to gender democracy in the language. But at the same time, it creates a vast platform for further researches in this direction. Both language and political activity are determined by the fact that these intentions are part of the general social transformations in our society. An integrated approach to the analysis of gender and sensitive use of the language in Kazakhstan, systematization of theoretical knowledge demands, studying foreign experience in gender reform of the language and it is impossible to be implemented without linguistic data from other languages. Their critical judgment will allow avoiding problems connected with implementation of this policy.

Economic and education policy in the UK, as in most other nations today, emphasises raising overall skill and education levels as the principal way to improve individual and societal well-being. Such policy, however, is challenged by the widespread phenomenon of "brain drain" – that is, the movement of the highly educated across national borders, as well as across regions, industries and occupations, movements that repeatedly leave some areas of society and the economy desperately short of much needed talent and labour. What matters in addressing brain drain is not simply how much skill and education individuals and societies have, but the kinds of skill and education involved, the social and political ends to which they are put, and the economic and cultural incentives that drive individuals toward some corners of the global labour market and away from others. To resolve the brain drain problem, we need to create societies based not just on elevated levels of knowledge, skill and education, but first and foremost, on firm commitments to protecting the public interest, broadly defined. The following paper extends this argument through a critical reading and reframing of the global brain drain policy and academic research literature.