A Politics Worthy of the Name

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
David W. Orr
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Public Affairs ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
The Public ◽  
Urban Decay ◽  
The Rich ◽  
To Receive

Relative to the problems we face, our politics are about the most miserable that can be imagined. Those who purport to represent us and who on rare occasions try to lead us have been unable to take even the smallest steps to promote energy efficiency to avoid possibly catastrophic climatic change a few decades from now. They have failed to stop the hemorrhaging of life and protect biological diversity, soils, and forests. They ignore problems of urban decay, suburban sprawl, the poisoning of our children by persistent toxins, the destruction of rural communities, and the growing disparity between the rich and the poor. They cannot find the wherewithal to defend the public interest in matters of global trade or even in the financing of public elections. Indeed, the more potentially catastrophic the issue, the less likely it is to receive serious and sustained attention from political leaders at any level. Our public priorities, in other words, are upside down. Issues that will seem trivial or even nonsensical to our progeny are given great attention, while problems crucial to their well-being are ignored and allowed to grow into global catastrophes. At best they will regard us with pity, at worst as derelict and perhaps criminally so. The situation was not always this way. The leadership of this country was once capable of responding to threats to our security and health with alacrity and sometimes with intelligence. In light of the dismal performance of the U.S. political system relative to the large environmental and social issues looming ahead, we have, broadly speaking, three possible courses of action (assuming that we choose to act). The first is to turn the management of our environmental affairs over to a kind of permanent technocracy—a priesthood of global managers. The idea that experts ought to manage public affairs is at least as old as Plato. In its current incarnation, some propose to turn the management of the earth over to a group of global experts. Stripped to its essentials, this means smarter exploitation of nature culminating in the global administration of the planet with lots of satellites, remote sensing, and geographic information systems experts mapping one thing or another.

Creating Fair (Economic) Space for Social Innovation? A Capabilities Perspective

2019 ◽  
pp. 50-79
Author(s):  
Rafael Ziegler ◽  
Nadia von Jacobi
Keyword(s):  
Social Innovation ◽  
Expert Knowledge ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Public Provision ◽  
Economic Space ◽  
Ideal Types ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Social Innovations ◽  
The Rich

Economic space for social innovation is not bounded by markets. Further to the money-based exchange relations in markets, there is self and informal provision based on social norms such as reciprocity, community, public provision of entitlements and of public goods organized via political processes, and professional provision based on expert knowledge. Although these ideal-types blur in practice, they show the rich contours and collaborative pluralism of economic space. Fostering fair space for social innovation requires taking all these modes and their relations into account. Social innovations as messages signal to the public where a change in mode or a reconfiguration of modes is demanded. Fairness as a matter of taking the perspective of those marginalized and least advantaged, calls for evaluative scrutiny with respect to such messages: do social innovations empower beneficiaries to become agents; and do they consider their well-being as patients?

scholarly journals My Life Matters

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fiona Edwards
Keyword(s):  
Black People ◽  
White Supremacy ◽  
Black Youth ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Black Communities ◽  
Growing Up ◽  
The Public ◽  
Racial Injustice ◽  
The Rich ◽  
The Cost

White supremacy presents Black communities with numerous challenges. We are constantly being injured by the anti-black racism that is deeply entrenched in the policies and practices of dominant institutions. These establishments, including, if not especially, the criminal justice system, purport to be responsible for ensuring the well-being and welfare of all, but only ever protect the rich and white. The recent re-mobilization of the Black Lives Matter movement worldwide has reminded the public of the urgency of tackling anti-black racism, but much work still needs to be done if we want future generations of Black people to live freely. Like Black adults, Black youth are not immune from racist encounters. In such a time of racial crisis, the experiences of Black youth need to be centralized in a movement that opposes racial injustice and white supremacy. Accordingly, this poem adopts the lens of a Black youth to speak to the cost of growing up Black immersed in the dominant anti-black culture of our society, underscoring the troubling realities of what it means to be a Black youth in today’s world. 

Innovative Use of ICT in Namibia for Nationhood

2013 ◽  
pp. 205-216
Author(s):  
Tutaleni I. Asino ◽  
Hilary Wilder ◽  
Sharmila Pixy Ferris
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Cell Phone ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Communications Technologies ◽  
History Of ◽  
National Newspaper ◽  
Landline Telephone ◽  
To Receive

Namibia was under colonizing and apartheid rule for more than a century. In 1990, the country declared its independence, and since that time, great strides have been made in linking its rural communities into a national communications Grid that was previously inaccessible to them, often leapfrogging traditional landline telephone technologies with universal cell phone service. In addition, one newspaper, The Namibian, has been innovatively using newer communications technologies to maintain its historic role of nation-building. This chapter showcases how SMS via cell phone and a traditional national newspaper has a sense of national identity that transcends geographic distances and a legacy of economic/political barriers. The cell phone messages made it possible for the rural communities who have been left out of discussion relating to issues of development to be included. Although the study unveiled 11% of their participation as opposed to 30% of the rural populace, this is a step forward bearing in mind that the rural areas have a history of being passively involved in everything that is being done. They have been, and continue to some great extent to be content to receive decisions made for them by outsiders including political leaders. Mobile phones have come as empowerment for them. Like the old slogan, “information is power,” this chapter illustrates that the lives of some rural area dwellers have improved a result of a technological gadget, the mobile phone.

scholarly journals How ‘smart’ is Public Administration in the Eyes of European Students? - Examining Behaviour Models in the Public Administration

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 108-126
Author(s):  
Marcin Stasz
Keyword(s):  
International Students ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Public Affairs ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The Public ◽  
New Concepts ◽  
Classic Approach ◽  
Behaviour Models ◽  
Behaviour Changes

AbstractFollowing study focussed on the perception of the public administration by the international students in the context of implementation of the concept of smart administration. New administrative reality requires that public administration should not only adapt to new conditions, but should also introduce complex plans of change, which in consequence should lead to the creation of a new type of smart administration, which adequately answers the needs and expectations of contemporary and future citizens.Smart administration should be understood as an effective, well managed organisation with reasonably simplified structure and conduct oriented primarily towards serenity, comfort and well-being of the recipient of its service. Important feature is easy, two-way communication, which is a gateway for active participation of citizens in public affairs in both local and nationwide level.For the purpose of this study, various dispositions expressed towards public administration were classified into the three categories of behaviour models. Models of behaviour in public administration presented in the paper are meritoric-despotism behaviour, efficient-democratic behaviour and anarchist-informal behaviour and were created for this study on the basis of approaches already present in the field.Main objective of the paper is to provide preliminary analysis of how the international students perceive changes in the behaviour models in public administration and what is the role of smart administration in this. This paper is based on the data collected during the interviews, conducted face to face, with four students from different part of Europe and who are following exchange programmes. Questions concerned the experience in contact with public administration, its role, performance and how should it be changed. Research results showed that regarding behaviour changes in public administration, interlocutors speak in favour of a centralised model of public administration rather than decentralised, which is interesting in the context of smart administration, because this mean that there is still a common perception that the base of classic approach to public administration should be maintained even if modified by new concepts.

The Effects of a Caffeine Placebo and Experimenter Expectation on Blood Pressure, Heart Rate, Well-Being, and Cognitive Performance

2001 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harald Walach ◽  
Stefan Schmidt ◽  
Yvonne-Michelle Bihr ◽  
Susanne Wiesch
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Heart Rate ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
Main Effect ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Being There ◽  
To Receive

We studied the effect of experimenter expectations and different instructions in a balanced placebo design. 157 subjects were randomized into a 2 × 4 factorial design. Two experimenters were led to expect placebos either to produce physiological effects or not (pro- vs. antiplacebo). All subjects except a control group received a caffeine placebo. They were either made to expect coffee, no coffee, or were in a double-blind condition. Dependent measures were blood pressure, heart rate, well-being, and a cognitive task. There was one main effect on the instruction factor (p = 0.03) with the group “told no caffeine” reporting significantly better well-being. There was one main effect on the experimenter factor with subjects instructed by experimenter “proplacebo” having higher systolic blood pressure (p = 0.008). There was one interaction with subjects instructed by experimenter “proplacebo” to receive coffee doing worse in the cognitive task than the rest. Subjects instructed by experimenter “antiplacebo” were significantly less likely to believe the experimental instruction, and that mostly if they had been instructed to receive coffee. Contrary to the literature we could not show an effect of instruction, but there was an effect of experimenters. It is likely, however, that these experimenter effects were not due to experimental manipulations, but to the difference in personalities.

“Land fever” and “Bankruptcy”: Social Problems in Hanoi’s Urbanizing Peri-urban Communities

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 550-562
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Urban Communities ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Social Problems ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Credit Market ◽  
Urbanization Process ◽  
Impact Of Urbanization ◽  
The Impact

Drawn upon field research in two peri-urban villages of Hanoi in 2014 and short re-visits recently, the research examines the widespread of gambling and other social issues in Hanoi’s urbanizing peri-urban communities which happened concurrently with the phenomenon of “land fever,” and at the time local villagers received compensation from land appropriation. The article aims to understand the impact of urbanization on these communities and the interface between urbanization and the increase of social problems. It argues that gambling, drug use, and other social problems have been existing in Vietnamese rural communities long before; however, when urbanization came, some people have higher chances to engage in these activities. Those are villagers who want to transform quickly into entrepreneurs or bosses by joining the “black credit” market and gambling. Together with middle-aged and old farmers who greatly relied on agricultural production and face difficulties in transforming their occupation, they formed the group of losers in the urbanization process. Received 6th January 2019; Revised 26th April 2019; Accepted 15th May 2019

Welfare State Values and Public Service Media in the Era of Datafication

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaarina Nikunen ◽  
Jenni Hokka
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Social Solidarity ◽  
Media Environment ◽  
The Public ◽  
Media Companies ◽  
Data Practices ◽  
Public Media ◽  
New Public

Welfare states have historically been built on values of egalitarianism and universalism and through high taxation that provides free education, health care, and social security for all. Ideally, this encourages participation of all citizens and formation of inclusive public sphere. In this welfare model, the public service media are also considered some of the main institutions that serve the well-being of an entire society. That is, independent, publicly funded media companies are perceived to enhance equality, citizenship, and social solidarity by providing information and programming that is driven by public rather than commercial interest. This article explores how the public service media and their values of universality, equality, diversity, and quality are affected by datafication and a platformed media environment. It argues that the embeddedness of public service media in a platformed media environment produces complex and contradictory dependencies between public service media and commercial platforms. The embeddedness has resulted in simultaneous processes of adapting to social media logics and datafication within public service media as well as in attempts to create alternative public media value-driven data practices and new public media spaces.

Biblical Literacy and the English King James Liberal Bible

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-211
Author(s):  
James Crossley
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Test Case ◽  
Biblical Literacy ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Arena ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Liberal Capitalism ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Popular Nationalism ◽  
King James Bible

Using the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible as a test case, this article illustrates some of the important ways in which the Bible is understood and consumed and how it has continued to survive in an age of neoliberalism and postmodernity. It is clear that instant recognition of the Bible-as-artefact, multiple repackaging and pithy biblical phrases, combined with a popular nationalism, provide distinctive strands of this understanding and survival. It is also clear that the KJV is seen as a key part of a proud English cultural heritage and tied in with traditions of democracy and tolerance, despite having next to nothing to do with either. Anything potentially problematic for Western liberal discourse (e.g. calling outsiders “dogs,” smashing babies heads against rocks, Hades-fire for the rich, killing heretics, using the Bible to convert and colonize, etc.) is effectively removed, or even encouraged to be removed, from such discussions of the KJV and the Bible in the public arena. In other words, this is a decaffeinated Bible that has been colonized by, and has adapted to, Western liberal capitalism.

Rank Status and Happiness in India: A Panel Ordered Probit Estimation of the Effect of Ordinal Relative Comparison on Well-being

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (01) ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Lakshmanasamy ◽  
K. Maya
Keyword(s):  
Life Satisfaction ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Reference Group ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Ordered Probit ◽  
Probit Regression ◽  
Differential Effects ◽  
Comparison Income ◽  
Average Reference ◽  
The Rich

Most often the social comparison or relative income hypothesis has been used as an explanation for the lack of systematic relationship between income and happiness, using the ordered probit regression method. The identification of relevant reference group and the estimation of the differential effects of comparison income have been controversial. To overcome these twin issues, this paper uses an ordinal comparison income approach based on rich/poor dichotomy and rank income. The rank income of an individual is defined as his relative position in the income distribution within the reference group and the average income of the reference group is used to define the rich/poor classification. The differential effects of ordinal incomes across life satisfaction distribution is estimated by the panel fixed effects ordered profit regression model using the WVS data for India. The estimated results show that ordinal income comparison, rather than cardinal average reference income, is a better predictor of life satisfaction levels. Raising income level is relatively important for less satisfied people while increasing rank status is important for highly satisfied people in India.

Clinical trials — the personal perspective of the research physician?

2020 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 256-263
Author(s):  
Maria Y. Egorova ◽  
Irina A. Shuvalova ◽  
Olga I. Zvonareva ◽  
Igor D. Pimenov ◽  
Olga S. Kobyakova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Medical Care ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Study Drug ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Personal Perspective ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
To Receive

Background. The organization of clinical trials (CTs) requires the participation and coordination of healthcare providers, patients, public and private parties. Obstacles to the participation of any of these groups pose a risk of lowering the potential for the implementation of CTs. Researchers are a key human resource in conducting of CT. Their motivation for participation can have a significant impact on the recruitment and retention of patients, on the quality of the data collected, which determines the overall outcome of the study. Aims to assess the factors affecting the inclusion of Russian physicians-researchers in CT, and to determine their role in relations with patients-participants. Materials and methods. The study was organized as a part of the Russian multicenter face-to-face study. A survey was conducted of researchers from 10 cities of Russia (20172018). The participation in the survey for doctors was anonymous and voluntary. Results. The study involved 78 respondents. Most research doctors highly value the importance of research for science (4,84 0,39), society (4,67 0,46) and slightly lower for participating patients (4,44 0,61). The expectations of medical researchers are related to improving their financial situation and attaining new experience (n = 14; 18,18%). However, the opportunity to work with new technologies of treatment and diagnosis (n = 41; 52,56%) acted as a motivating factor. According to the questionnaire, the vast majority of research doctors (n = 29; 37,18%) believe that the main reason for patients to participate in CT is to receive quality and free medical care. The most significant obstacle to the inclusion of participants in CT was the side effects of the study drug (n = 38; 48,71%). Conclusions. The potential of clinical researchers in Russia is very high. The patient-participant acts for the research doctor as the subject of the study, and not the object, so the well-being of the patient is not indifferent to the doctor. However, the features of the functioning of our health care system form the motivation of doctors-researchers (additional earnings, professional self-development) and the way they perceive the motivation of patients (CT as an opportunity to receive quality medical care).

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