Suchergebnisse

AbstractRecent changes in government policy making and the labour market have created new opportunities for political scientists, provided that we have the skills to respond to them. We argue that changes need to be made in the area of methodology training in order to capitalize on these opportunities. Canadian political scientists should ensure that all our students acquire basic quantitative competencies, in addition to research design and qualitative analysis training, and that those graduate students interested in more sophisticated quantitative methods have the opportunity to develop those skills. We explain how expanding and deepening training in quantitative methods is one strategy for ensuring a role for political science in evidence-based policy making, for expanding labour market options for students, and for keeping apace with disciplinary trends. We caution, however, that special care needs to be taken to ensure that all political scientists have equal opportunities to develop such skills.

Future government policy assumes that elderly people will live at home independently for as long as possible instead of relying on care services. This requires a proactive policy to prevent vulnerability. Elderly people often suffer from poor muscle mass and function, known as sarcopenia, which can lead to vulnerability and an increased fall risk. This dissertation examines the frequency and consequences of sarcopenia in the elderly. Sarcopenia was present in 12% of elderly people who live at home alone, 42% of elderly people who receive home care and 59% of nursing home residents. Elderly patients with sarcopenia experienced greater limitations in their daily activities, lower quality of life and higher healthcare costs. These results confirm the link between sarcopenia and negative consequences for health and healthcare costs. Detecting sarcopenia at an early stage is therefore important for initiating targeted diet and exercise measures.

Employing a survey method to explore attitudes towards foreign workers in Japan, we uncover evidence that upends the conventional wisdom that "socio-tropic values" are anchored in perceptions of threat. Building a new typology that differentiates among native-born citizens who value or fear foreigners for their expected effects on the economic and cultural dimensions, we find that Japanese corporate managers, especially in labor-scarce sectors, appreciate the positive effects of foreign labor more than they dread the dilution of cultural beliefs and practices that underpinned the fabled Japanese labor force. This finding is significant because, even without becoming whole-hearted multi-culturalists, a positive disposition of Japanese corporate management towards foreign workers could signal a shift in policy. Although ethnocentrists remain in Japan (as elsewhere), the views of the business community are likely to have more bearing on government policy than those of other groups.

Batik is an Indonesian national culture product that awarded by UNESCO as world cultural heritage. The research takes place in Kampung Batik Laweyan Surakarta which is the oldest and the center of the traditional batik industry in Indonesia. The purpose of this research is 1) to understand the characteristics of economic culture to look at the social culture of Laweyan Batik business, 2) to explain the development of batik trading which is supported by informal economic opportunities, 3) to analyze the changes in political (policy) structure and its anticipating setrategy. This research is a qualitative research using ethnographic approach. The results showed that 1) batik entrepreneurs in Laweyan characterized as bazaar economy culture with reciprocity social relationships, 2) the business relationship is based on trust, 3) government policy on financial assistance for the development of batik Laweyan plays an important role as anticipation to free trade.

Рассматривается государственная политика налогообложения крестьянских хозяйств Иркутской губернии в один из самых непростых периодов отечественной истории. Отмечаются сходства и различия в налогообложении отдельной губернии и Сибирского региона в целом. Указываются конкретные сроки сдачи налогов и размеры налогообложения. Раскрывается ход выполнения налоговых кампаний и отношение к ним крестьянского населения. Выявляются недостатки налогообложения и изменение государственной политики в данной области. ; The paper deals with the state taxation policy for the peasant holdings of the Irkutsk province in one of the most difficult periods of Russian history. It describes the similarities and differences in the taxation of a single province as well as in the Siberian region as a whole. The article also indicates the specific deadlines for taxes and taxation size; describes the progress of tax campaigns and peasants' attitude towards them; identifies taxation shortcomings and shows the changes in the government policy in this area.

Discussions of resource management and development in northern Thailand often emphasize the threat of eviction faced by uplanders living in forest reserve zones. This "specter of eviction" is to be found in official government policy, in academic accounts of highland development, and in the activist writings of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). The review of the literature in this article suggests, however, that very few evictions have in fact taken place since the early 1980s and the threat of eviction in accounts written over the past two decades is exaggerated. The authors examine some of the political, practical, and policy reasons why the rate of eviction has been very low. They conclude by arguing that reliance on the specter of eviction by activist academics and NGOs seeking to defend the rights of upland farmers results in a political strategy that is disempowering and disengaged from current livelihood realities.

Discussions of resource management and development in northern Thailand often emphasize the threat of eviction faced by uplanders living in forest reserve zones. This "specter of eviction" is to be found in official government policy, in academic accounts of highland development, and in the activist writings of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). The review of the literature in this article suggests, however, that very few evictions have in fact taken place since the early 1980s and the threat of eviction in accounts written over the past two decades is exaggerated. The authors examine some of the political, practical, and policy reasons why the rate of eviction has been very low. They conclude by arguing that reliance on the specter of eviction by activist academics and NGOs seeking to defend the rights of upland farmers results in a political strategy that is disempowering and disengaged from current livelihood realities.

In this issue, there are three concepts that stand out as particularly important: Equality, Trust, and Agency. Three articles have equality as normative guideline. In the first article, it is analyzed how inequality is reproduced in recruitment practices, even when laws and formal rules are respected. A second article examines class and gender inequality, related to berth, maternity leave, work orientation, and the return to the labor market. A third article examines the evolution of government policy for gender equality. The concept of trust is analyzed theoretically in one article. Agency is highlighted in two articles. The analyses of the first article is at the micro level. Here, it is investigated how agency in daily work is challenged when municipalities are exposed to major reforms. Analyses in the second article are on the macro level. Here, it is investigated how European trade unions can influence EU policy (.)

The increasing consumption of fossil fuels and the limitation of its availability are twomajor causes of the fluctuating trends of fossil fuels prices. They are also believed tohave created instability of certain feedstock prices since alternative energy used as thesubstitution of fossil fuels is based on this feedstock as well.This research is aimed onreviewing the correlation between the dynamic movement of the prices of crude palmoil (CPO) which is used in the production of biodiesel and the government policy ondeveloping renewable fuels using dynamics system approach. In particular, this researchwill examine whether policy to try increase CPO export tax to 20 % and to allocate 50%of CPO production for domestic need will influence the effort of fullfilling mandatorytarget for biodiesel to contribute at least 5% of the total national energy consumption by2025 and CPO prices trends.Keyword: dynamics system, CPO, biodiesel, fossil fuel

AbstractMichael McDonald and Ian Budge have recently advanced an interpretation of democratic governance based on what they term the 'median mandate'. This perspective locates the key element of liberal democracy in a close correspondence between government policy and the policy preferences of the median voter on the left‐right scale. The cross‐national evidence they produce in favour of this interpretation is impressive, but it largely hinges on a method for measuring the median voter position in each election that relies on the positions of the various parties in the election and the vote shares they received. This article examines the validity of the median mandate hypothesis when median positions are measured more directly from public opinion surveys (particularly, the Eurobarometer and Comparative Study of Electoral Systems series). The findings show that choice between distinct alternatives, rather than conformity to the median, more accurately characterises governance in democratic systems.

Discussions of resource management and development in northern Thailand often emphasize the threat of eviction faced by uplanders living in forest reserve zones. This "specter of eviction" is to be found in official government policy, in academic accounts of highland development, and in the activist writings of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). The review of the literature in this article suggests, however, that very few evictions have in fact taken place since the early 1980s and the threat of eviction in accounts written over the past two decades is exaggerated. The authors examine some of the political, practical, and policy reasons why the rate of eviction has been very low. They conclude by arguing that reliance on the specter of eviction by activist academics and NGOs seeking to defend the rights of upland farmers results in a political strategy that is disempowering and disengaged from current livelihood realities. (Crit Asian Stud/GIGA)

This research aims to calculate fiscal capacity and estimate fiscal capacity, and poverty. Variableused in this research are fiscal capacities, Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP), and povertyvariable. Data used in this research is secondary sources from 25 Provinces in Indonesia with year timeperiod 1999 - 2003. This research limits its research object only 25 Provinces in Indonesia. In general,this paper concludes that Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) and fiscal capacity have an effecton significant statistically to poverty, its meaning that fiscal capacity in 25 the provinces can expressability to improve economic growth. Government policy in APBD as political process influence fiscalcapacities, economic growth, and poverty in Indonesia. Recomendation from this research are localgoverment must concern about fiscal capacity end Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) end govermenttry to increase responsibility so all of country can improve their wealth.Keywords: Fiscal capacity, Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP), poverty, fiscal policy

Representation is at the heart of the study and practice of democratic politics. This article uses a multilevel model to explain differences across new post-communist democracies in the representation gap between the public's policy preferences and perceptions of government policy activity. Three explanations of differences in the gap are considered: (a) principal-agent theory, which highlights the informational and sanctioning capacities of citizens and how these may be affected by institutional arrangements, particularly by presidentialism; (b) economic performance, which highlights the importance of economic expectations and state economic capacity; and (c) culture-ideology, which highlights citizens' views of representative democracy per se. For new democracies, where the public had limited democratic experience, suffered considerable economic hardship, and often expressed antirepresentational views of democracy, individual-level and institutional factors associated with citizens' informational and sanctioning capacities appear to have significantly greater explanatory power.

This paper presents an endogenous growth model which features elastic labour supply in order to address the distortions created by labour income and consumption taxation. Introducing elastic labour into an AK model greatly changes the structure of the model and raises problems regarding the existence and the stability of a balanced growth path. Another important feature of this paper is the presence of environmental quality both in the utility and in the production functions and the requirement that the growth path of the economy be environmentally sustainable. Within the framework outlined, the focus of the analysis is on optimal taxation and on the effects of government policy on the growth path of the economy. The basic result is that even in this simple setting the interaction between the economic and the ecological system are complex and the policy outcomes crucially depend on the parameters of the model.

This paper looks at Austria's pattern of development and its lessons for Eastern Europe. Austria's development path is characterized by two features. In the post-war era Austria was among the countries with the fastest convergence rate. At the same time Austria's movement up the technological ladder was slow compared to other European countries. The paper uses insights from recent dynamic theories of trade to explain these two stylized facts. It is argued that resource endowments, international knowledge spillovers, learning, and government policy have contributed to Austria's post war growth and the evolution of its pattern of trade over time. The paper looks at two lessons for Eastern Europe. First, Austria as a possible economic case for a gradual approach to economic reform. Second, in light of the Austrian experience a recent industrial and trade policy proposal for Eastern Europe is discussed.