Abortion policy as it is implemented in Canada has fundamental implications for women. The existing policy, which grew out of political compromise, is found to be biased, inequitable and subject to crippling problems. Local hospital boards, comprised largely of medical doctors, ultimately serve as arbiters of public opinion. Without acting either as policy makers or as medical practitioners, these boards decide the proper social roles for women. Legal issues involve shifting responsibility among the courts, federal and provincial governments and Parliament. Evidence shows that in battling issues created by abortion policy, access to abortion by women in Canada is being diminished.
Perhaps the most important concept in wide use by social scientists for the analysis of political attitudes and behaviour has been the left-right dimension. Not surprisingly therefore, the terms "left" and "right" themselves have been used in survey research on public opinion in Canada, and have subsequently been central to the data analysis of several recent articles on Canadian politics. Important to these papers has been the assumption that the terms "left" and "right" are understood by the average Canadian in such a manner that data gathered in response to questions using these terms will be valid. This paper argues that this assumption is mistaken.
In: International review of the Red Cross: humanitarian debate, law, policy, action, Band 15, Heft 176, S. 551-557
ISSN: 1607-5889
This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Geneva Protocol of June 17, 1925 for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or other Gases and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare. This Protocol—which has been referred to in several issues of International Review—is generally considered to be the expression of the revulsion with which public opinion has at all times reacted towards poison. This general view has led a large number of governments and publicists to draw the conclusion that the norms contained in the 1925 Geneva Protocol represent a codification of customary law.
The principal occupation of the Nixon Administration was an attempt to build what it called a "structure of peace." President Ford has made it perfectly clear that he agrees with the basic thrust of his predecessor's foreign policy. Public opinion polls show that a majority of the American ipeople share Ford's assessment of the Nixon Administration's alleged achievements in world affairs. I propose to challenge the basis on which they intend to build that structure and to pose an alternative basis. Before positing that alternative I will compare the Nixon-Kissinger grand design with other policies that compete for our allegiance today.
Around the Caribbean, it is commonly believed that slavery and the plantation system have been responsible for the prevalence of short-term consensual unions, matrifocal households and children out of wedlock who grow up without the authority and support of a father or definite father- surrogate. This explanation is accepted as often by social scientists as by public opinion. Of course, this is the obverse of the line of Western social thought maintaining that small holdings and independent family farming are the basis of strong patrifocal households, exclusive life-long marriages and paternal responsibility for children.
A survey of thirty-eight union presidents and forty-seven union staff personnel indicates that many of them are concerned with the crisis facing American labor. They see as their main problems those of technical change or automation, unemployment, unfriendly legislation, weaknesses of union structure and tactics, increased management power, and an unsympathetic public opinion. Factors internal and external to the labor movement have brought these difficulties to the fore. If organized labor is to resolve its dilemmas and to expand again, unions will have to remove their blinders and, through self-analysis, seek answers to their problems within the changes occurring in twentieth-century America.
The approach of another presidential campaign should bring with it a renewal of plans for the study of the election process by a number of students of parties and of public opinion. An important instrument for use in any such investigation would be a scale for the measurement of attitude toward candidates for elective governmental office. The writer considers it timely, therefore, to release for possible use a candidate scale which has undergone considerable testing during the past four years. The psychophysical methods adapted to the use of scale construction by Professor Thurstone have been employed in the production of this scale.
Warping Time shows how narratives of the past influence what people believe about the present and future state of the world. In Benjamin Ginsberg and Jennifer Bachner's simple experiments, in which the authors measured the impact of different stories their subjects heard about the past, these "history lessons" moved contemporary policy preferences by an average of 16 percentage points; forecasts of the future moved contemporary policy preferences by an average of 12 percentage points; the two together moved preferences an average of 21 percentage points. And, in an Orwellian twist, the authors estimate that the "history lessons" had an average "erasure effect" of 8.5 percentage points—the difference between those with long-held preferences and those who did not recall that they previously held other opinions before participating in the experiment. The fact that the past, present, and future are subject to human manipulation suggests that history is not simply the product of impersonal forces, material conditions, or past choices. Humans are the architects of history, not its captives. Political reality is tenuous. Changes in our understanding of the past or future can substantially alter perceptions of and action in the present. Finally, the manipulation of time, especially the relationship between past and future, is a powerful political tool.
Building on recent efforts to bridge the elites/events dichotomy in the wartime opinion literature, we test the explanatory power of, and offer a theoretical extension to, the elasticity of reality hypothesis using the case of British support for the war in Afghanistan from 2001 through 2010. Marshaling an array of aggregate, individual-level and experimental survey data, as well as an original database of 2677 content-coded newspaper articles, we find evidence that the unshaken elite consensus behind the Afghan campaign failed to sustain strong support for war, even among the most politically engaged segments of the British public. However, we do find evidence that elites retained a measure of influence over citizens' prospective attitudes about the war's future conduct, even as they were unable to influence more general and retrospective assessments of Britain's involvement in the conflict. In stark contrast to theories of elite opinion leadership, a cross-partisan elite consensus failed to maintain strong public support among Britons for the war in Afghanistan. We argue that elites are better able to influence the public's prospective policy preferences for war, even when they cannot shape the public's retrospective assessments. Analyses of aggregate and individual-level public opinion data are consistent with our argument. An original survey experiment confirms the capacity of British elites to influence public's willingness to stay the course in Afghanistan.
A widely-held perception is that the image of North Korea among most Chinese people has changed from that of a socialist comrade and 'little brother' to an idiosyncratic, trouble-making neighbor. This research questions the homogeneity of Chinese people's viewpoints towards North Korea. Concepts of state and popular nationalism are used to examine differences and similarities between the Chinese state and its people in their perceptions and sentiments towards North Korea, mainly focusing on the period of succession from Kim Jong-il to Kim Jong-un. Examining online discussions representing Chinese popular nationalism demonstrated that Chinese netizens' political viewpoints are diversified along the ideological spectrum of left and right and that only the 'moderate left' netizens hold an image of North Korea which is close to that of their political authorities. (J Contemp China/GIGA)
In today's society, public opinion plays a large role in the adoption of various legal measures and regulations, including those related to the field of bioethics. This is why experts have a duty to inform the public in a timely and accurate manner, and it is up to educators to educate new generations to become responsible citizens who can make informed decisions. A few years ago, attempts were made to implement a project of health education and then one of civic education in schools. Those curricula predict the student will develop human, political, social, cultural, economic and environmental competences as a citizen of the class, school and local community. A spiral development model of introduction by educational cycles is envisaged, starting from the 1st grade of primary school. However, civic education is also addressed by the national curriculum for early and preschool education, which anticipates development of social and civic competences in children of this age. Bioethics and environmental issues are still not sufficiently transparent to the public. This is why proper environmental education from preschool age is very important. In preschool education, the proper approach is essential, and contemporary pedagogy emphasizes the importance of learning through play. The artistic fields are imposed as an ideal framework in which various contents can be accommodated. A drama music workshop that will help children develop awareness of various issues through play is, therefore, an ideal training ground for educating a responsible and informed citizen. One such drama music workshop was organized for the purpose of demonstration on the occasion of the First Osijek Days of Bioethics. The story used in the workshop is from a picture book by Aleix Cabrera and Rosa M. Curto: Niko and nutrition. Through the play and the story, the importance of proper nutrition was emphasized to children and made them aware that it is necessary to know what they actually eat and where and how food comes from. This paper uses the workshop as a starting point when discussing the role of artistic fields and educators in creating a responsible and informed citizen in fields of bioethics and environmental issues and the importance of early and preschool education in the process. ; U današnjem društvu javno mnijenje igra veliku ulogu u donošenju različitih zakonskih mjera i regulativa, pa tako i onih vezanih za područje bioetike. Zbog toga stručnjaci imaju obavezu pravovremenog i točnog informiranja javnosti, a na pedagozima je da odgoje nove generacije kako bi postali odgovorni građani koji mogu donositi informirane odluke. U školstvu se prije par godina pokušao provesti projekt zdravstvenog odgoja, a zatim i građanskog odgoja i obrazovanja. Tim kurikulumom predviđeno je da učenik kao građanin razredne, školske i lokalne zajednice razvije ljudskopravne, političke, društvene, kulturne, gospodarske i ekološke kompetencije. Predviđen je spiralno-razvojni model uvođenja po obrazovnim ciklusima, počevši od 1. razreda osnovne škole. No, građanskim odgojem ipak se bavi i nacionalni kurikulum za rani i predškolski odgoj koji predviđa razvoj socijalnih i građanskih kompetencija u djece rane i predškolske dobi. Problematika bioetike i okoliša još je uvijek nedovoljno transparentna u javnosti. Zbog toga je pravilan ekološki odgoj od predškolske dobi vrlo važan. Pri odgoju i obrazovanju u predškolskoj dobi bitan je pravilan pristup, a suvremena pedagogija naglašava važnost učenja kroz igru. Umjetnička područja nameću se kao idealan okvir u koji možemo smjestiti različite sadržaje. Dramsko glazbena radionica kojom će se djeci kroz igru razviti svijest o različitim problematikama predstavlja stoga idealan poligon za odgoj i obrazovanje odgovornog i informiranog građanina. Za potrebe demonstracije povodom Prvih osječkih dana bioetike organizirana je jedna takva dramsko glazbena radionica. Priča koja se koristila u radionici je iz slikovnice Aleix Cabrere i Rose M. Curto: Niko i prehrana. Njome se kroz igru i priču djeci naglasilo važnost pravilne prehrane i osvijestilo potrebu za time da znaju što zapravo jedu te odakle i na koji način dolazi hrana. Ovaj rad koristi održanu radionicu kao polaznu točku pri diskusiji o ulozi umjetničkih područja i pedagoga u stvaranju odgovornog i informiranog građanina u temama bioetike i zaštite okoliša te važnosti ranog i predškolskog odgoja u tom procesu.
Resumen Visión introductoria, amplia y suficientemente problemática sobre el estado actual de los servicios de información ciudadanos y comunitarios en América Latina, como una región contextualmente diferente. Marca caminos en cuanto a su comprensión y puesta en escena, elementos claves en la relación de las bibliotecas públicas con el hombre y la sociedad latinoamericanos, en la construcción de ciudadanía, opinión pública y democracia. Presenta una tarea estratégica para las bibliotecas públicas, cual es la de trascender la idea de la información útil solo como aquella validada en los circuitos nacionales e internacionales e integrar la información local como fundamento de la acción social. Abstract Introductory vision which is enough problematic about the current state of the citizenship and community information services in Latin America as a region contextually different. In traces routes about the comprehension and performance of the key elements in the relationship public opinion and democracy. It presents a strategic work for the public libraries, which is about to transcend the idea of the useful information only as the one validated in the national and international circuits and to integrate local information as a basis of the social action.
Resumen Visión introductoria, amplia y suficientemente problemática sobre el estado actual de los servicios de información ciudadanos y comunitarios en América Latina, como una región contextualmente diferente. Marca caminos en cuanto a su comprensión y puesta en escena, elementos claves en la relación de las bibliotecas públicas con el hombre y la sociedad latinoamericanos, en la construcción de ciudadanía, opinión pública y democracia. Presenta una tarea estratégica para las bibliotecas públicas, cual es la de trascender la idea de la información útil solo como aquella validada en los circuitos nacionales e internacionales e integrar la información local como fundamento de la acción social. Abstract Introductory vision which is enough problematic about the current state of the citizenship and community information services in Latin America as a region contextually different. In traces routes about the comprehension and performance of the key elements in the relationship public opinion and democracy. It presents a strategic work for the public libraries, which is about to transcend the idea of the useful information only as the one validated in the national and international circuits and to integrate local information as a basis of the social action.
RESUMEN: Visión introductoria, amplia y suficientemente problemática sobre el estado actual de los servicios de información ciudadanos y comunitarios en América Latina, como una región contextualmente diferente. Marca caminos en cuanto a su comprensión y puesta en escena, elementos claves en la relación de las bibliotecas públicas con el hombre y la sociedad latinoamericanos, en la construcción de ciudadanía, opinión pública y democracia. Presenta una tarea estratégica para las bibliotecas públicas, cual es la de trascender la idea de la información útil solo como aquella validada en los circuitos nacionales e internacionales e integrar la información local como fundamento de la acción social. ; ABSTRACT: Introductory vision which is enough problematic about the current state of the citizenship and community information services in Latin America as a region contextually different. In traces routes about the comprehension and performance of the key elements in the relationship public opinion and democracy. It presents a strategic work for the public libraries, which is about to transcend the idea of the useful information only as the one validated in the national and international circuits and to integrate local information as a basis of the social action.
