scholarly journals The Covid pandemic enters the ballot box: The impact of conspiracy theories on Italians' voting behaviour during the COVID-19 crisis

Author(s):  
Danilo Serani

Abstract The spread of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in 2020 was the impetus for an exogenous shock. In addition to the disruption brought on by the spread of COVID-19, conspiracy theories flourished on many aspects of the disease. However, the association between belief in conspiracy theories and voting behaviour has not been studied sufficiently, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper investigates the association between a belief in conspiracy theories and an intention to vote for populist parties (PPs). This association is analysed in a case study of Italian voters, where PPs can be found in the government and in the opposition. By conducting a cross-sectional analysis during the third wave of panel data fielded in December 2020, this article shows that individuals who have anti-vax attitudes and who also have a higher propensity to believe in conspiracy theories are more likely to vote for PPs, although it is worth considering the roles PPs play in either the government or in the opposition.

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 229-248
Author(s):  
Betty Tresnawaty

Public Relations of the Bandung Regency Government realizes that its area has a lot of potential for various local wisdom and has a heterogeneous society. This study aims to explore and analyze the values of local knowledge in developing public relations strategies in the government of Bandung Regency, West Java province. This study uses a constructivist interpretive (subjective) paradigm through a case study approach. The results showed that the Bandung Regency Government runs its government based on local wisdom. Bandung Regency Public Relations utilizes local insight and the region's potential to develop a public relations strategy to build and maintain a positive image of Bandung Regency. The impact of this research is expected to become a source of new scientific references in the development of public relations strategies in every region of Indonesia, which is very rich with various philosophies.Humas Pemerintah Kabupaten Bandung menyadari wilayahnya memiliki banyak potensi kearifan lokal yang beragam, serta memiliki masyarakatnya yang heterogen. Penelitian ini bertujuan menggali dan menganalisis nilai-nilai kearifan lokal dalam pengembangan strategi kehumasan di pemerintahan Kabupaten Bandung provinsi Jawa Barat.  Penelitian ini menggunakan paradigma interpretif (subjektif) konstruktivis melalui pendekatan studi kasus. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa Pemerintah Kabupaten (Pemkab) Bandung menjalankan pemerintahannya berlandaskan pada kearifal lokal. Humas Pemkab Bandung memanfaatkan kearifan lokal dan potensi wilayahnya untuk mengembangkan strategi humas dalam membangun dan mempertahankan citra positif Kabupaten Bandung.Dampak penelitian ini diharapkan menjadi sumber rujukan ilmiah baru dalam pengembangan strategi kehumasan di setiap daerah Indonesia yang sangat kaya dengan beragam filosofi. 


Author(s):  
Xueli Wei ◽  
Lijing Li ◽  
Fan Zhang

Pumping elephantThe COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected the lives of people around the world in millions of ways . Due to this severe epidemic, all countries in the world have been affected by all aspects, mainly economic. It is widely discussed that the COVID-19 outbreak has affected the world economy. When considering this dimension, this study aims to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world economy, socio-economics, and sustainability. In addition, the research focuses on multiple aspects of social well-being during the pandemic, such as employment, poverty, the status of women, food security, and global trade. To this end, the study used time series and cross-sectional analysis of the data. The second-hand data used in this study comes from the websites of major international organizations. From the analysis of secondary data, the conclusion of this article is that the impact of the pandemic is huge. The main finding of the thesis is that the social economy is affected by the pandemic, causing huge losses in terms of economic well-being and social capital.


Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 2380
Author(s):  
Eduardo Sánchez-Sánchez ◽  
Jara Díaz-Jimenez ◽  
Ignacio Rosety ◽  
Maria José M. Alférez ◽  
Antonio Jesús Díaz ◽  
...  

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the mental health of people worldwide. An increase in perceived stress can lead to unhealthy behaviors such as increased food consumption. The aim of this study was to find the level of perceived stress and its relationship with increased food consumption during the “third wave” of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain. This was a cross-sectional study that employed anonline self-reported frequency of consumption questionnaire and the Perceived Stress Scale-10. A total of 637 subjects participated and 83.6% of respondents had moderate or high stress—more prevalent in the female and young respondents. Moreover, 36.1% of respondents reported that they had increased the frequency of consumption of some foods, mainly nuts, snacks, and jellybeans, along with coffee, tea, cocoa, and soft drinks. Eating between meals was more pronounced in those with high stress (65.1%) than in those with moderate stress (40.4%) and low stress (20.2%). Furthermore, the respondents with high stress reported greater weight gain. Thus, the results show that the level of perceived stress during the ‘third wave’ of this pandemic increased food consumption.


2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 305-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Panagiotis Gkorezis ◽  
Eugenia Petridou ◽  
Panteleimon Xanthiakos

Purpose – Leader-member exchange (LMX) has been proposed as a core mechanism which accounts for the impact of various antecedents on employee outcomes. As such, the purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating effect of LMX regarding the relationship between leader positive humor and employees’ perceptions of organizational cynicism. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from 114 public employees. In order to examine the authors’ hypotheses hierarchical regression analysis was conducted. Findings – As hypothesized, results demonstrated that LMX mediates the relationship between leader positive humor and organizational cynicism. Research limitations/implications – Data were drawn from public employees and, therefore, this may constrain the generalizability of the results. Also, the cross-sectional analysis of the data cannot directly assess causality. Originality/value – This is the first empirical study to examine the mediating effect of LMX in the relationship between leader humor and employees’ perceptions of organizational cynicism.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7600
Author(s):  
Wenting Ma ◽  
Rui Mu ◽  
Martin de Jong

Co-production is a solution by which the government provides public services. Co-production theory is built upon Western experience and currently focuses on the types of co-production in different policy stages, the barriers and governance strategies for co-production. However, little attention is paid to how political background will influence the co-production process. To fill the gap, we analyzed a case of co-production that occurred in China, and we characterized the political background as consisting of three main political features: political mobility, central–local relations, and performance measurement. Based on an in-depth case study of a government project in a medium-sized Chinese city, the impact and the changes of political features affecting governmental projects in different co-production stages are analyzed and assessed. We find that political features play a critical role in the co-production of China’s large government projects and may separately and jointly affect co-production. Government performance measurement affects the co-design and co-implementation of projects. Political mobility and changes in local government and performance measurement also affect the co-implementation continuity of the project. Political focus affects the co-design of projects. Central-local relations influence the support from higher government and the actual practices of lower government in the co-implementation stage.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Tofigh Maboudi ◽  
Ghazal P. Nadi ◽  
Todd A. Eisenstadt

Abstract Since the third wave of democracy, term limits have become a popular fixture of most constitutions intended to constrain the executive. Yet, recent constitutional reforms around the world show that presidents seeking re-election sometimes overturn the entire constitutional order to extend their power. What is the impact of these constitutional manipulations on the longevity of the executive in office? Using survival analysis of all political leaders and national constitutions from 1875 to 2015, this article demonstrates, for the first time, that when ‘authoritarian-aspiring’ presidents remove constitutional term limits, they increase their stay in office by more than 40%. Our findings contrast with a widely held position in the comparative authoritarian literature suggesting that dictators survive longer under institutional constraints. On the contrary, we argue that by removing constitutional barriers, rulers consolidate more power at the expense of their most ambitious allies and can stay in power longer.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 487
Author(s):  
Tauseef AMAN ◽  
Mussawar SHAH ◽  
Humera JAMAL ◽  
Younas KHAN ◽  
Muhammad ARIF ◽  
...  

The major objective of this study was to measure the association between various interventions and Chitral Gole National Park (CGNP) role in preservation of bio-diversity and socio-economic uplift. A sample size of 346 respondents was randomly selected from total population of 3326 from the 4 selected villages on the basis of close proximity. A conceptual framework including dependent variable social development and independent variable tourism development were taken. The data were analyzed through frequency and percentage distribution. Moreover, Chi-square test was applied to know the relationship between dependent and independent variables at bi-variate level. In bi-variate analysis a highly significant (P=0.000) relation was found between CGNP is main source of promoting tourism in Chitral,tourists do any impacts upon local community in terms of increased business activities, local culture is safeguarded despite influx of tourists in the area, tourism produced employment opportunities, and social development. Qualitative data supported the empirical findings, however tourism brings economic opportunities at micro and macro level, but unfortunately CGNP is not as satisfactory regarding generating income since its establishment. The government should ensure to make such polices pertaining to the entrance fee, provides accommodation services on payment to the tourists and to reserve the entrance fee or any other form of taxes to ensure CGNP to spend on self-sustaining basis by ensuring refinement in the procedures as well.


Utafiti ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 33-66
Author(s):  
Onesmo Selijio

Land management and conservation have been considered the most important aspects of sustainable productivity in economically developing countries where land degradation is a major challenge. In Tanzania, both the government and international organizations have been promoting adoption of land management and conservation technologies (LMCTs) for a long time. This paper establishes the impact of three LMCTs – soil water conservation technologies and erosion control (SWCEC), organic and inorganic fertilizers – on maize crop yields in different rainfall zones, using national panel survey data. The study employs static panel models to analyse the two-period data sets for 2008-2009 and 2010-2011. The results indicate that adoption of LMCTs do contribute significantly to maize yield. The greatest effects of organic and SWCEC methods on crop yield were realized in low rainfall zones, while that of inorganic fertilizers was observed in high rainfall zones. These findings support previous cross-sectional data analyses, suggesting for policy makers that a blanket land management and conservation programme applied uniformly to all agro-ecological zones is not strategically beneficial. The advisability of a technology employed in a given zone should be supported by local knowledge and research findings culled from that particular area.


2008 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 287-300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Edwards

There is a wide variety of universities, university campuses and university courses in Australia available to those interested in pursuing a higher education degree. This paper examines the impact of increasing competition for entrance to university on the educational outcomes for students from the government school sector. Using Melbourne as a case study, the research shows that, over a four-year period of increased competition, entry to some of the more academically accessible university campuses in the city became more difficult and this disproportionately affected the opportunities for university entrance among some groups. Despite the fact that there was no noticeable change in the academic standards achieved by government school completers, the rate at which government school students gained access to these universities declined noticeably during this time. These findings show how changes in supply of university places from year to year can have a profound effect on the opportunities of secondary-school completers—particularly those in more educationally disadvantaged settings.


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