scholarly journals How Trust Makes a Difference: The Impact of the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Life Satisfaction in Germany

Author(s):  
Felix Bittmann

AbstractThe extraordinary COVID-19 pandemic is one of the most severe disruptions of human life since the end of World War II, even in rich and industrialized countries like Germany. The introduction of a rather comprehensive “lockdown” and the restriction of multiple basic civil rights have affected the population in many areas of life, like employment, economic prosperity, health and trust in public institutions. The question arises how life satisfaction is influenced by these measures in detail and whether there are interactions between institutional trust, life satisfaction and time of crisis. Fixed-effect regression analyses using German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) data demonstrate that life satisfaction has fallen sharply after the onset of the crisis and that interaction effects with institutional trust are present. Individuals with low levels of pre-crisis trust in institutions like the government, courts or the media report a stronger decrease of satisfaction than individuals with higher levels of trust. We believe that these results are relevant to explain the role of institutions in times of crisis and might serve as foundations for interventions to strengthen trust and increase overall satisfaction.

2021 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 163-185
Author(s):  
Sung Min Han ◽  
Mi Jeong Shin

AbstractIn this article, we argue that rising housing prices increase voter approval of incumbent governments because such a rise increases personal wealth, which leads to greater voter satisfaction. This effect is strongest under right-wing governments because those who benefit from rising prices—homeowners—are more likely to be right-leaning. Non-homeowners, who are more likely to vote for left-leaning parties, will view rising housing prices as a disadvantage and therefore feel the government does not serve them well, which will mitigate the advantage to left-wing governments. We find support for our arguments using both macro-level data (housing prices and government approval ratings in 16 industrialized countries between 1960 and 2017) and micro-level data (housing prices and individuals’ vote choices in the United Kingdom using the British Household Panel Survey). The findings imply that housing booms benefit incumbent governments generally and right-wing ones in particular.


2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (01) ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Michelle Kristina

The development of human life nowadays cannot be separated from various aspects such as economy, politics, and technology, including the impact of the coronavirus outbreak (Covid-19 or SARS-CoV-2) which emerged at the end of 2019. Responding to this Covid-19 pandemic outbreak In Indonesia, the government has issued various policies as measures to prevent and handle the spread of Covid-19. One of these policies is to limit community activities. These restrictions have implications for the fulfilment of the economic needs of the affected communities. Responding to the urgency of this community's economic situation, the government held a social assistance program as a measure to ease the community's economic burden. However, the procurement of the program was used as a chance for corruption involving the Ministry of Social Affairs and corporations as the winning bidders. This study uses a qualitative methodology with a normative juridical approach and literature. The approach is carried out by conducting a juridical analysis based on a case approach. The results of the study show that the corporations involved cannot be separated from corporate responsibility. However, the criminal liability process against the corporation is deemed not to reflect justice for the current situation of Indonesia is experiencing. The crime was not carried out in a normal situation but in a situation when Indonesia was trying hard to overcome the urgent situation, the Covid-19 pandemic. Corporate crimes committed by taking advantage of the pandemic situation are deemed necessary to prioritize special action or the weight of criminal acts committed by corporations. The weighting of criminal sanction is the right step as a law enforcement process for corporate crimes during the pandemic.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 94-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debashree Das ◽  
Avik Datta ◽  
Patanjal Kumar

COVID 19 pandemic is the worst crisis that mankind has seen since World War-II. It has exposed glaring loopholes in the healthcare system and led to a global health crisis. In absence of any specific treatment or vaccine, countries began to enforce strict lockdown measures leading to a complete shutdown of economic activities. The purpose of this study is to identify key exit strategies that can be implemented to mitigate the impacts of COVID 19. Identification and categorisation of parameters have been done using multi criterion decision making tool of Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) and MICMAC analysis. The study highlights a classification of key strategies based on their driving power and dependence which may enable Government to strengthen the disease surveillance system and effectively reduce the impact of the disease. The findings of the study suggest that Environmental Sustainability and Human Well-being; Online Awareness and Capacity Building Programme; Graded Surveillance- Targeted Restrictions and Stricter norms for Inter-State Mobility; and Harmonization between Centre, State and Local Authorities are the most important strategies that needs to be factored in while planning for the post lockdown economic recovery. Thus, the study can assist the government in devising exit strategies while framing the pandemic response plan.


2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-143
Author(s):  
Letitia B Johnson

The forcible relocation of Japanese-Canadians (Nikkei) during World War II has been widely examined; however, little scholarly attention has been paid to the impact of relocation on the medical services provided to, and by, the Nikkei. This article highlights the issue of providing sufficient medical care during forcible relocation and the experiences of one Nikkei physician, Dr Masajiro Miyazaki. His story illustrates both the limitations in the healthcare provided to the Nikkei community during relocation and the struggle for Nikkei medical professionals to continue their practice during the war. The agency of the Nikkei—who constantly balanced resistance and adaptation to oppressive conditions—comes to the forefront with this case study. Dr Miyazaki’s personal records of forcible relocation, as well as his published memoir, reveal aspects of the lived reality of one Nikkei physician who was not included in the government discourse, or in the dialogue among his fellow Nikkei physicians, such as inter-racial medical care. It is evident through this case that there was great diversity in the level of medical care which the Nikkei received during their relocation in Canada. Furthermore, Dr Masajiro Miyazaki’s story proves that healthcare professionals, from doctors to nurses’ aides who were both Nikkei and white, provided extraordinary medical services during the forcible relocation, despite significant constraints.


2013 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 239-259
Author(s):  
Aliaksandr Dalhouski

Aliaksandr Dalhouski Belarus after the Chernobyl Disaster: From Silence to Neglect The accident at Chernobyl was an anthropogenic disaster. In the period of the suppression of the disaster’s consequences (1986-1988), the Chernobyl accident was not perceived by the majority of Belarusians as a nation-wide tragedy. At the same time, those living in the Belorussian SSR did not possess civil rights, which prevented them from demanding compensation as a result of inflicted harm, and also they were denied full information about the impact of the disaster on the environment and human health. Such phenomena were a consequence of the state’s suppression of the disaster’s consequences as well as the weak ecological and legal consciousness of the victims in the BSSR. In the period of growing democracy (1989-1991), civic engagement came to the fore and created the perception of the catastrophe a nationwide tragedy. The protest movement forced the government to enact Chernobyl legal legislation. Within the framework of this legislation, massive resettlement was undertaken and a wide range of privileges were granted. With the emergence of an independent and authoritarian regime in the new state of Belarus in the early 1990s, the risks of radiation were downplayed by the social concerns of post-Soviet society, in which the Belarusian regime of President Alexander Lukashenko lessened the importance of the Chernobyl catastrophe.


2004 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas M. Thompson ◽  
Gregory N. Stull

Abstract The use of instream structures to modify aquatic habitat has a long history in the United States. Pioneering work by wealthy landowners in the Catskills region of New York produced a range of designs in the decades preceding the Great Depression in an effort to replenish fish populations depleted from overfishing. The scientific evaluation of structures began in 1930. Within two years, a Michigan research team claimed improved fish populations. Cheap labor and government-sponsored conservation projects spearheaded by the Civilian Conservation Corps allowed the widespread adoption of the techniques in the 1930s, before adequate testing of the long-term impact of the devices. The start of World War II temporarily ended the government conservation efforts and prevented the continued evaluation of structures. During the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, designs of instream structures remained essentially unchanged. Meanwhile, the small number of evaluations of the impact of the structures often were flawed. The continued use of early designs of instream structures helped instill a false belief that instream structures were proven to be a benefit to fish. Even modern use of instream structures continues to rely on the basic blueprints developed in the Catskills, despite documented problems with the use of these designs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-123
Author(s):  
Diena Dwidienawati ◽  
David Tjahjana ◽  
Dyah Gandasari ◽  
M. Faisal

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is on human health and other aspects of human life. The government's most common action to prevent the spread of the infection is mobility restriction. The implication of this mobility restriction is the limitation of social activities can be done. Mobility restriction was implemented in Jakarta and its surrounding cities and impacted more than 20 million people. The previous study showed that mobility restriction impacted people's happiness and life satisfaction. After one year of COVID-19 measure implementation, is the adaption effect applied? This study aims to see whether, after one year of the COVID-19 pandemic, people are starting to adapt, and their well-being level is improving compared to the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. A survey was conducted in February - March 2021. Happiness and satisfaction with life were measured using the Subjective Happiness Scale and Satisfaction with Life Scale. The reliability and validity of measures were analyzed with SPSS. The study reveals that the participant's happiness level was only slightly happy, and the level of satisfaction was only slightly satisfied. The participants claim that their happiness has deteriorated during mobility restriction (58%). Fifty-eight percent felt their satisfaction has deteriorated. The student's group is shown as the most impacted group in their happiness and life satisfaction scale.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anita Musfiroh ◽  
Mugiyati Mugiyati ◽  
Aldi Khusmufa Nur Iman

The Covid 19 has had an impact on various sectors of human life. One of them is the tourism sector. The tourism industry which is predicted to be the second largest source of foreign exchange contributions for Indonesia has experienced a drastic decline. Likewise, the halal tourism sector has also been severely affected by the Covid 19 pandemic. This is because the key to developing the halal tourism sector is Muslim tourists or visitors who come. To revive the tourism sector, it requires a number of strategies prepared by the government to improve the economy in the halal tourism sector. The purpose of writing this article is to find out how the impact of Covid 19 on the halal tourism sector and how the strategy to revive the halal tourism sector during the Covid 19 pandemic. The method used in this study is a qualitative method with data collection techniques used is literature study. The results of the study state that the strategy to restore the halal tourism sector from the Covid 19 pandemic consists of 3 stages and recommendations for implementing health protocols. The existence of this strategy and also the health protocol is expected by the enthusiastic community to return to enliven the tourism sector, including halal tourism.


Author(s):  
Jeffrey Adams

Oversight has the objective of ensuring accountability in the operations of a country’s security and intelligence organizations. Among established democracies, the United States has taken a clear lead by putting numerous legal safeguards in place, notably after the major congressional investigations of 1975. A wave of reform followed in other countries—initially in Australia and Canada and later extending to the United Kingdom, Denmark, Austria, Greece, Norway, and Italy. Emerging democracies such as South Africa and Romania initiated a similar process, while China, Japan, and the Russian Federation registered little if any change. A crucial debate confronts any representative government: preserving a protective cloak of secrecy in the interest of national security while maintaining outside scrutiny of an agency’s performance and pattern of conduct. Oversight can be exercised by either the executive or the legislative branch of the government, although most commonly one finds a mixture of the two. Occasionally the permanent courts will adjudicate espionage cases involving the unauthorized disclosure of sensitive classified information, just as more specialized bodies such as commissions, ombudsmen, and tribunals might be created and enter the picture. In some instances, the news media have proven to be critical instruments in shaping public opinion and exerting pressure on government officials; far more limited has been the impact of civil rights and other independent groups. The international repercussions of both the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001 and the National Security Agency leaks by Edward Snowden in 2013 have given fresh impetus to proponents and critics alike. As more nations have sought to democratize their intelligence communities, intelligence oversight has attracted increased attention, becoming in the process a prominent element in the expanding academic discipline of intelligence studies. Still, no universal formula or model has yet emerged—and some form of compromise among the alternatives nearly always results. The robust debate over secrecy versus transparency thus appears guaranteed to continue into the foreseeable future.


Author(s):  
Katharina Rathmann ◽  
Max Herke ◽  
Ludwig Bilz ◽  
Arja Rimpelä ◽  
Klaus Hurrelmann ◽  
...  

This study investigates whether class-level school performance affects students’ life satisfaction and if there are differential effects for high- and low-performing students. Data were derived from the National Educational Panel Study, including n = 5196 students (49.6% girls), nested in 478 classes and 250 secondary schools. School performance in class was measured by aggregating individual grade point average in Mathematics and German. The study could not reveal the “big-fish-little-pond”-effect regarding students’ life satisfaction but found differential effects for high- vs. low performing students. There was no significant association for low-performing students attending classes with higher class-level performance However, low-performing students revealed the lowest life satisfaction. High-performing students placed in classes with higher average performance reported lower life satisfaction compared to high-performing students in classes with lower average performance. This study provides evidence for the impact of the learning environment in class on school-aged children’s life satisfaction, by highlighting the differential sensitivity of high-performing students when placed in classes with higher or lower average performance.


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