Suchergebnisse

AbstractUnder the Chávez government, the incorporation and participation of popular sectors, which is the essence of 'social-based democracy', has been quantitatively and qualitatively different from socialist government and welfare-state strategies of the past. Venezuela's social-based democracy focuses on education, job skills, ideology, transformation of values and empowerment, achievements which Chavista leaders consider to be imperatives for socialist development. However, Chavista social programmes have been undermined by institutional weakness, are sometimes not cost-effective, and are politicised. Conflicting views among the Chavistas on the role of the state hinge on the issue of whether initiatives from above in favour of social-based democracy represent a viable strategy for far-reaching change. The Venezuelan government's changing priorities after 2007 have detracted from the primacy of social programmes.

The roles of sports journalists have been affected considerably by the influence of Twitter, but what is not known is how the social media application has been adopted across a range of sports newsrooms in different countries. Employing Rogers' diffusion of innovations theory, this study examines how Twitter has been accepted or rejected on the sports desks of six broadsheet/quality news organisations in Australia, India and the United Kingdom. A mixed methods approach is employed, combining 36 in-depth interviews with a content analysis of 4103 print and online articles. This allows a comprehensive analysis of issues such as when and why sports journalists adopt this innovation, and how much Twitter-related content appears in the sports pages. Twitter adoption contains many benefits for individuals and their organisations, and the results from this study have implications for sports journalism in other nations at various stages of diffusion.

Guided by both attachment and social support theories, the authors conducted a longitudinal investigation exploring the concomitant effects of perceptions of spouse support (anticipated and received spouse support) and internal working models of attachment (positive–self and positive–other), on childbearing depressive symptomatology. Distinct main and interaction effects for attachment dimensions and perceived support variables were hypothesized for high– and low–risk pregnancies. Participants in the final sample were 200 pregnant women who completed the self–report between the 25th and the 29th weeks of pregnancy, and 8 weeks after childbirth. Controlling for initial levels of depressive symptoms and health conditions, results demonstrated the protective role of high levels of received support and of positive–other models on childbirth depressive symptoms. Moreover, received support and models of positive–other were found to interact with health conditions, producing distinct moderation effects: Received support was found to be a significantly stronger protective factor for childbearing depression among women with low–risk pregnancies; positive–other models were found to be a significantly stronger protective factor among women with high–risk pregnancies. The implications of these findings for the understanding of intrapersonal and interpersonal factors in successful coping with a health risk situation are discussed.

Although the regional competitiveness is essentially related to its economic activity, there is an increasing consensus that competitiveness is best assessed in the context of regional business environment assets such as human capital, innovative capacity, local infrastructure quality, etc. (Huggins, Izushi, Prokop, Thopson, 2014). Thus, the regional competitiveness is not only economic indicators, it is increasingly based on creativity, knowledge and environmental conditions. Competitiveness is a multidimensional term, so soft variables need to be taken into account in order to understand, assess and strengthen regional activity and development. Therefore the purpose of this article is to determine the role of the social model to the increase of the regional competitiveness (Borozan, 2008).The aim of the article is to determine the role of the social model in increasing the competitiveness of the region. In order to achieve the goal, the following objectives are formulated: to analyze social models by identifying their characteristics; to assess the suitability of selected social models for the increase of regional competitiveness; to analyze and evaluate the regional policy in Lithuania. The main methods used are scientific literature analysis, statistical analysis, expert evaluation, descriptive analytical and comparative analysis. The first typology of welfare states models was presented by English political scientist R.Titmuss, who distinguishes three models – marginal (residual) model, which is found in United States and means that the main function of welfare providers lies with the market and family; industrial achievement performance model in Germany based on the level of industry in a country, where the welfare depends and is closely linked to work and productivity; and the institutional-redistributive model usually applied in Scandinavian countries, in which the provision of welfare depends on needs.Subsequently, Danish sociologist G.Esping-Andersen adjusted the classification of social models develop ed by R.Titmuss by adapting it more to the political science, thus identifying three welfare state regimes (models) - liberal, conservative-corporate and social-democratic (redistributive) (Aidukaitė, 2010).These three models differ in the aspects of the organization of social policy, their dependence on the market conditions, their ideology, priorities, the impact on the country's stratification system, which means the division of society into social strata and the degree of decommodification, defining the person's liberation from the need to work while maintaining the basic standards of life (material life conditions).Some states quite clearly reflect the typology of G. Esping-Andersen. For example, Germany is an example of a conservative-corporate model, Norway or Sweden is a social-democratic model, while a liberal model is typically found in Anglo-Saxon states. However, there are many states with certain characteristics that are inherent different kind of welfare systems (models). Therefore, in different scientific research the place in the typology of some countries differs because researchers tend to emphasize a particular feature or characteristic that determines the assignment of a state to different types.This article proves, that in order to review the diversity of the whole world, three models are not enough. Given that none of these models do not exist in a pure form. Taking this into account, the main attempts to extend or to adjust the essentially considered as traditional typology by E. Esping-Andersen are presented in this article. Most of such attempts are limited to extending the typology by inserting a fourth or several additional types (models), for example, southern model, Latin region model, European Union model, post-communist states model, etc.As mentioned before, there is a large variety of social models in the world, although only three are considered as main models – liberal (in Anglo-Saxon countries), conservative (in Scandinavian countries) and social-democratic (originating from Germany).In order to determine which one of these three models may be the most competitive in the globalized economy Regional Competitiveness Index published by the European Commission has been analyzed. Regional competitiveness is understood as the ability of a region to offer an attractive and sustainable environment for firms and residents to live and work. The Regional Competitiveness Index consists of eleven indicators (pillars), divided into three groups (dimensions): basic dimension, efficiency dimension and innovation dimension. The Global Competitiveness Report, published by the World Economic Forum, was also detailed analyzed.The countries representing different social models were studied: United States and United Kingdom representing the liberal model, Scandinavian countries (Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway) representing the social-democratic model and Germany representing the conservative model. The research has shown that countries with a liberal social model, compared with other models, have achieved better results in assessing their competitiveness.The particular attention is paid to the case of Lithuania – the social model as well as the development of regional policy in Lithuania have been analyzed with special focus on the decision to divide Lithuania into two regions.Having assessed all the circumstances, it is not yet clear whether the solution of division of Lithuania into two regions can be justified. Such decision was made without proper modeling of socio-economic consequences of the corresponding process. The division of Lithuania into two regions would inevitably mean greater concentration of the population in one, in economic and social sense stronger, more business-intensive and more innovative region. Therefore, the chosen decision of the division of the two regions into Lithuania can not be scientifically considered as unquestionable, consequently more detailed research is needed in order to model the consequences of such an administrative division. ; Straipsnyje siekiama nustatyti socialinio modelio įtaką regionų konkurencingumui, pateikiama detali socialinių modelių analizė, išskiriami jiems būdingi bruožai. Identifikuota, kad, nepaisant didelės socialinių modelių įvairovės, pagrindiniais laikytini trys – liberalus, konservatyvus ir socialdemokratinis – modeliai. Siekiant nustatyti, kuris iš minėtų trijų modelių gali būti tinkamiausias regionų konkurencingumui didinti, išanalizuotas Europos Komisijos skelbiamas Europos Sąjungos regionų konkurencingumo indeksas ir Pasaulio ekonomikos forumo sudaroma Pasaulio konkurencingumo ataskaita. Buvo tiriamos skirtingus socialinius modelius turinčios valstybės (valstybes sudarantys regionai): Jungtinės Amerikos Valstijos ir Jungtinė Karalystė. kurioms būdingas liberalus socialinis modelis, Skandinavijos valstybės, kurioms būdingas socialdemokratinis modelis, ir Vokietija, kuriai būdingas konservatyvus socialinis modelis. Atlikus analizę buvo nustatyta, kad konkurencingiausi regionai yra tie, kuriuose taikomas liberalus socialinis modelis. Straipsnyje taip pat analizuojamas Lietuvos atvejis – įvertinama Lietuvos regioninė politika ir sprendimas perskirti Lietuvą į du regionus.

International Relations (IR)-theorists argue that state's power is built on its geographical size, its population size, and economic status. According to this view small states lack power in international relations (Goetschel, 1998). This paper challenges this view and points out various cognitive power resources, influenced by leadership theorists, which can be of great advantage to small states. Cognitive resources are by definition qualitative resources such as negotiating skills, expertise knowledge, ideas, example-setting, norm setting and mediation, in contrast to quantitative power resources, such as financial strength and number of votes (Peterson and Bomberg, 1999). A key element associated with the use of cognitive resources is the ability to persuade others of the rightfulness of your own way, by using variety of reasons such as technical knowledge, emphasis on moral principles and/or by setting good examples (Malnes, 1995; see also e.g. Ingebritsen, 2002; Kronsell, 2002) In this paper it is claimed that small states have been known, (and can), take the lead in certain policy areas in order to make their voice heard, if they already have an established image as experts, norm-setters, role models or mediators, in the policy areas in question. This leads us to the main hypothesis which can be summarized as follows: Small states can take the lead and increase their influences in certain policy areas of concern to them by using "cognitive power resources" such as expertise knowledge, norm setting, example-setting or mediation.

A personal biography that begins with youthful denial of visual impairment, followed by travelling episodes to prove independence. With maturity came awareness, acceptance, and enlistment in the struggle to overcome stereotyped attitudes and prejudicial treatment toward visually impaired people.

1. Introduction / Sven Hessle -- 2. We meet as brothers and sisters : human solidarity in global relationships / Malcolm Payne -- 3. Desirable social policy consequences of the Arab Spring / Chakib Benmoussa -- 4 Social media and the Arab Spring : "Tunisnews" as a model / Mehdi Gharbi -- 5. Fighting poverty and social protection -- 6. Social work in contexts of political and military conflicts -- 7. Migration : challenges and possibilities -- 8. Families in transition -- 9. Social media and its impact on social development -- 10. Transforming organisations and creative practice -- 11. Recognising the face of the other : difference, identity and community / Walter A. Lorenz.