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In this paper, I discuss how I followed in the footsteps of Loïc Wacquant (2004) and took a closer and personal look at boxing as a leisure activity, from the point of view of those who participate in it, using embodied ethnography as the means of research. I was curious as to how and/or if leisure theory relates and applies to boxing, given the latter's peculiar characteristics, which seem to equate it more with "work" than with "leisure." I sought to answer a basic question, "Why do you box?" within these theoretical and methodological frameworks, and discovered that, while Robert Stebbins' casual/serious leisure dichotomy applied to boxing, the reality was far more complex than I had anticipated. The ethos of boxing did not fit neatly into any theoretical classifications, and the participant nature of the research allowed for a more nuanced analysis of boxing culture, with surprising results. Implications for leisure theory and directions for future research are discussed.

This article presents the importance of Goethe's and Spengler's morphology for the development of a morphology of language in Wittgenstein's work, after his return to Cambridge and philosophy in 1929. In fact, according to Norman Malcolm's testimony, present in 'Ludwig Wittgenstein: A memoir', Wittgenstein says, in the course of his lectures about philosophical psychology, which took place between 1946 and 1947, that what his philosophy try to give is the 'morphology of the use of an expression'. The development of a 'morphology of the use of an expression' in Wittgenstein would become the result of the application to the domain of language of the concept of morphology applied by Goethe, in his scientific writings, to the domain of nature and by Oswald Spengler to the field of the universal history, as one sees in the work 'The Decline of the West - Sketch of a Morphology of the History of the World', which constitutes for Wittgenstein one of the sources to access fundamental aspects of Goethe's morphology. Throughout Wittgenstein's writings one finds several references to the thoughts of Goethe and Spengler which enable us to understand in what extent the works of these two thinkers constitute the basis for the construction of a wittgensteinian morphology of language. Thus, taking all these elements into consideration, we'll try to elucidate to what extent Wittgenstein's morphological-philosophical method after 1929 is the re-elaboration of fundamental aspects of the morphological tradition present in the works of Goethe and Spengler.

The objective of this research is to analyze whether the political-ideological situation of municipalities affects their debt level, considering evidence from Portugal for the period 2004-2013. A static panel data model is applied, incorporating factors such as political ideology, political-electoral cycle, governance format, coincidence of the political parties between Local Executive and Local Assembly and coincidence of the political parties between the Local Executive and Central Government. An additional variable to control the effects of the economic crisis between 2008 and 2010 is also considered. Based on the assumptions of the public choice theory, findings show a statistically significant relationship for the political-electoral cycle, allowing the conclusion that, given the evidence from Portuguese municipalities, debt increases in election years. Nevertheless, this is the only factor in the political-ideological circumstances that was found to be relevant in its effect on local authorities' debt levels. It is also clear that the financial crisis in the period 2008-2010 likewise had a positive impact. The paper contributes to the strengthening of the debate on the association between municipalities' political circumstances and debt, namely, in regards to strategic (electoral) debt cycles in local government. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

In order to keep local public finances balanced, in many countries, measures restraining and controlling debt have been implemented. In Portugal such concerns have been considered too. Accordingly, several legal diplomas have been passed, namely local finances laws, defining rules, mainly related to limits and restrictions to interest, repayments of borrowings, as well as net debt level. Therefore, it should be expected that these legal restrictions would contribute to reduce municipal debt. Within this context, taking into consideration the institutional theory, particularly the coercive isomorphism perspective, this paper analyses the evolution of Portuguese municipalities' debt aiming at assessing whether institutional pressures consubstantiated in the legal framework meanwhile approved have led to a common behaviour for effectively reducing debt. A six-year period was considered (2004-2009) following a positive approach and quantitative methodology. Findings show that, during that period, contrary to what was expected, except for Açores region, municipalities in all other regions have increased their net debt levels. In summary, it may be observed that the introduction of restrictive measures to Portuguese municipalities' debt, during the analysed period, ceteris paribus, does not seem to have had the intended effects, i.e., debt reduction, hence raising questions about the effectiveness of legal control mechanisms.

Transparency of public management is fundamental to bringing citizens closer to public managers and as such universally considered an element of good governance. The main aim of this study is to identify the factors determining transparency in public management of Portuguese local authorities. Using the Municipal Transparency Index of 2013 and 2014, socio-demographic, political and economic-financial variables are studied for the population of 308 Portuguese local authorities by the means of testing the previously formulated research hypotheses in the light of the agency theory. The results show that transparency in public management of Portuguese local authorities is determined by their size, the number of individuals aged between 15 and 74 who use the internet, unemployment rate, financial autonomy and the net debt.

Transparency of public management is fundamental to bringing citizens closer to public managers and as such universally considered an element of good governance. The main aim of this study is to identify the factors determining transparency in public management of Portuguese local authorities. Using the Municipal Transparency Index of 2013 and 2014, socio-demographic, political and economic-financial variables are studied for the population of 308 Portuguese local authorities by the means of testing the previously formulated research hypotheses in the light of the agency theory. The results show that transparency in public management of Portuguese local authorities is determined by their size, the number of individuals aged between 15 and 74 who use the internet, unemployment rate, financial autonomy and the net debt. ; The article is processed as an output of a research project by UNIAG, I&D unit supported by FCT - Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and the Portuguese Ministry of Education and Science (UID/GES/04752/2016) and Research Center in Political Science (UID/CPO/0758/2013) registered by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and the Portuguese Ministry of Education and Science through national funds. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Transparency of public management is fundamental in bringing citizens closer to public managers, with this being considered universally as an element of good governance. The main aim of this study is to identify the factors determining transparency in public management of Portuguese local authorities. Using the Municipal Transparency Index of 2013 and 2014, socio-demographic, political and economicfinancial variables are studied for the universe of 308 Portuguese local authorities, by testing the previously formulated research hypotheses in the light of agency theory. The results show that transparency in public management of Portuguese local authorities is determined by size, the number of individuals aged between 15 and 74 who use the internet, unemployment rate, financial autonomy and net debt. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Transparency is universally regarded as an element of good governance. The new form of activity of local governments, including the accountability of these voters/taxpayers, medium, control bodies and other interested parties to monitor the activities of governments emphasize the attention given to transparency and its determinants. The economic, social and financial context that local governments are subject requires them to be as transparent as possible in order to create greater involvement of citizens in the affairs of political and simultaneously promote greater accountability of the local voters to those same citizens. However, transparency levels are often below the standards required for public or government agencies. Particularly, at the local level, the transparency practices may vary substantially from one local government to another. Despite recent efforts, the current empirical research does not provide definitive answers yet about the reasons for the fluctuations in the levels of transparency. The main objective of this study was to identify the determinants of transparency in Portuguese municipalities. Using the Municipal Transparency Index of years 2013 and 2014 we tried to study the socio-demographic variables, political and economic-financial to the universe of 308 Portuguese municipalities, through the test the research hypotheses previously formulated in the light of agency theory. Statistical results indicate that the size, individuals with age between 15 and 74 years old use the internet, education level, aging index, unemployment rate, financial autonomy and net debt are determinants of transparency in Portuguese municipalities. There was no empirical evidence for the political variables, e.g., form of government, political ideology and political/electoral participation.

O tema accountability tem vindo a ser amplamente discutido dentro da gestão pública, na medida em que vez mais é reconhecida a necessidade de um comportamento responsável e transparente na gestão dos recursos públicos e na prestação de contas aos diferentes interessados. A accountability representa a obrigação que a organização tem de prestar contas dos resultados obtidos, em função das responsabilidades que decorrem de uma delegação de poder. A informação produzida e divulgada parece ter um papel preponderante no processo de accountability das entidades públicas, designadamente locais. Assim, é objetivo desta investigação analisar as perceções dos responsáveis políticos e técnicos da área financeira sobre, o processo de accountability das Câmaras Distritais de São Tomé e Príncipe. A metodologia adotada para a recolha dos dados foi o questionário. Os resultados obtidos permitem concluir que embora o conceito de accountability aparente ainda estar pouco presente nos profissionais financeiros das Câmaras Distritais, o mesmo é entendido e associado ao conceito de prestação de contas. Verificou-se ainda que as principais razões apontadas para a promoção da accountabilty nas Câmaras Distritais foram: necessidade de melhorar o desempenho da Câmara Distrital e contribuição para a satisfação das necessidades dos cidadãos. Já a consequência de pressões externas, nomeadamente, da comunicação social foi a razão menos apontada. Constatou-se também que a maioria das Câmaras prepara e divulga informação financeira para diferentes utilizadores sobre as atividades mais relevantes da gestão das Câmaras e sobre o montante das dívidas a terceiros de curto, médio e longo prazos. ; The accountability issue has been widely discussed within the public management, in that it is increasingly recognized the need for a responsible and transparent behavior in the management of public resources and presentation accountants to different stakeholders. Accountability is the obligation that the organization has to be accountable for the results obtained, in light of the liabilities arising from a delegation of power. The information produced and disseminated seems to have a leading role in the accountability process of public entities, including local. Thus, the objective of this investigation is to analyze the perceptions of political and official makers by financial area over the accountability process of the local authorities of Sao Tome and Principe. The methodology adopted for data collection was a questionnaire. The final sample represents all the respondents. The results showed that although the concept of apparent accountability still be present in some financial professionals of local authorities, it is understood and associated with the concept of pesentation accountants. It was also found that the main reasons identified for promoting accountabilty the local authorities were: the need to improve the performance of the local authority and contribution to meeting the needs of citizens. Already the result of external pressures, in particular, the media was less reason given. It was also found that most cameras prepares and publishes financial information for different users on the most relevant activities of the local authorities of management and from the amount of accounts receivable short and medium-long term.

The purpose of this research is to define a structural/conjunctural model to explain the debt of municipalities. More specifically, the intention is to understand whether there is a relationship between the institutional, tax, budgetary and economic circumstances and municipalities' debt. The paper fits the theories of debt, namely the theories of public choice, tax illusion and institutional theory, allow identification of a range of factors that can influence municipalities' debt, using a structural equation methodology. The results allow concluding that the institutional, tax and budgetary situations present a negative and statistically significant relationship with municipal debt. This means that, in the local government setting, when the institutional, tax and budgetary contexts are favourable, debt levels tend to be lower. Therefore, municipalities should take advantage of their institutional context and of periods of higher tax revenue, increased central government grants and investment expenditure, to reduce their debt levels, so they can face other circumstances pushing for debt increases. ; This work is funded by National Funds through the Foundation for Science and Technology under the project UID/GES/04752/2019. This study was conducted at Research Centre in Political Science (UID/CPO/0758/2019), University of Minho and supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion