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AbstractThe number and variety of state policies regulating abortion each year is increasing. Opponents of abortion adopted a strategy of "legal but inaccessible" that has resulted in the passage of more than 700 state laws since the early 1990s. Despite being a very active area of policy making, we lack a coherent explanation for the proliferation of abortion policy. Scholars studying different policies at discrete moments in time have come to conflicting conclusions about how well theories of morality policy and representation explain abortion policy. Using an original dataset comprised of a near-universe of pro- and anti-abortion rights policy from 1973 to 2013, I establish the ways in which partisan control of the government and the moral preferences of constituents shape state policy. I find that anti-abortion rights policies are well explained by both theories but that pro-abortion rights policies are not well explained as a morality policy or with descriptive representation. In addition, I show the heterogeneous effect of representation across anti-abortion rights policies; Democratic women and governors decrease the probability of only certain anti-abortion rights policies.

AbstractDuring the 2004 and 2006 general elections, a number of states considered different moral policy ballot measures, including marriage definition, abortion bans, and stem cell research. Although more moral policy measures were voted on in the last two general elections, this is certainly not the first time that moral issues have been placed on the ballot. Some political pundits, during these elections, suggested that increased voter turnout in some states was due to these ballot measures. This research examines whether or not the presence of a moral policy measure on a given state's ballot generates higher voter turnout. I find that moral policy ballot measures generate higher turnout in midterm elections but not in presidential elections.

The Rohingya's most persecuted ethnic minority, practicing Sunni Islam, traces their origin from Arakan kingdom. The present democratic government of Myanmar and previous military junta have practiced ethnic cleansing and denies to grant citizenship to Rohingya's making them stateless. There has been great violation against this ethnic group by the Myanmar government in one or the other way like restriction on freedom of movement religious choice, unemployment, education, marriage and family planning. On the contrary the present de facto leader of Myanmar has totally denied such ethnic cleansing and brushed away the criticism of her not handling the crisis. This paper tries to understand the dynamics and severity involved, the origin of the ethnic tension, the exclusionary policies of the government and also examines the abuse, discrimination and gross human rights violation of Rohingya Muslims which leads to the politicization of the issue and vice-versa i.e. how politicization of the issue leads to gross human rights violation. This paper further analyzes the pattern of violation, international politics and the political and economic interest vested which contributed to forced displacement in Myanmar not only of the Rohingya's but other minorities like the Shan, the Kachin, the Karen and how this crisis has fi red up the political debate in the neighboring countries and has become a political contention and concludes with recommendation to be taken by the government and international organization to improve the situation of the minorities in Myanmar.

"If internationalization of higher education is defined as particular policies and initiatives of countries and academic institutions structured to handle global trends, then policies stimulating international student mobility and students themselves are indispensable components of this process. In the European context, it is the Bologna Process which promotes internal mobility of students, teachers, and administrative staff, and establish a framework of magnifying competition to magnetize international students and have a general purpose of transforming Europe into a prominent knowledge-based society. This article first briefly explains the Bologna Process and its main goals. Subsequently, it will give a brief overview of Turkish higher education system and demonstrates developments and implementations of the Bologna Process. Next, it will concentrate on the situation of international students in Turkey. Consequently, it has several recommendations on how to attract more international students and thus move a step closer to be a knowledge-based society in a globalizing environment." (author's abstract)

Background: Inadequate infrastructure, security threats from ongoing armed conflict, and conservative socio-cultural and gender norms that favour large families and patriarchal power structures contribute to poor sexual and reproductive health (SRH) outcomes in North and South Kivu provinces, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). In order to expand contraceptive and post-abortion care (PAC) access in North and South Kivu, CARE, the International Rescue Committee and Save the Children provided technical support to the Ministry of Health and health facilities in these regions. Partners acknowledged that community leaders, given their power to influence local customs, could play a critical role as agents of change in addressing inequitable gender norms, stigma surrounding SRH service utilization, and topics traditionally considered taboo within Congolese society. As such, partners actively engaged with community leaders through a variety of activities such as community mapping exercises, values clarification and transformation (VCAT) activities, situational analyses, and education. Methods: This manuscript presents findings from 12 key informant interviews (KIIs) with male political and non-political community leaders conducted in six rural health zones of North and South Kivu, DRC. Transcripts were analysed thematically to explore community leaders' perceptions of their role in addressing the issue of unintended pregnancy in their communities. Results: While community leaders in this study expressed overall positive impressions of contraception and strong support for ensuring access to PAC services following spontaneous and induced abortions, the vast majority held negative beliefs concerning women who had induced abortion. Contrasting with their professed opposition to induced abortion, leaders' commitment to mediating interpersonal conflict arising between community members and women who had abortions was overwhelming. Conclusion: Results from this study suggest that when thoughtfully engaged by health interventions, community leaders can be empowered to become advocates for SRH. While study participants were strong supporters of contraception and PAC, they expressed negative perceptions of induced abortion. Given the hypothesized link between the presence of induced abortion stigma and care-avoidance behavior, further engagement and values clarification exercises with leaders must be integrated into community mobilization and engagement activities in order to increase PAC utilization.