Discrimination and Toleration

2021 ◽  
pp. 154-180
Author(s):  
Nicholas Hatzis
Keyword(s):  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Negative Attitude ◽  
Causal Link ◽  
Moral Obligations ◽  
Negative Perceptions ◽  
The Government ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Offensive Speech

The chapter discusses, and rejects, two further arguments for the prohibition of religious insults targeting minority religious beliefs. The first is that they perpetuate negative perceptions of minority groups so over time it becomes acceptable to treat their members in a discriminatory manner. I explore what exactly is meant by the claim that speech leads to discriminatory acts and what causal link between expression and discrimination ought to be required for the government to suppress religiously offensive speech. The second argument is that offending religious beliefs is a form of intolerance towards those who hold them, so when the government is restricting communications which offend, it gives effect to the value of toleration. My discussion focuses on the kind of moral obligations which flow from toleration. I defend the view that a commitment to toleration should always leave some room for the expression of a negative attitude towards that which is being tolerated and that, in principle, speech is the appropriate means for conveying such an attitude.

Blasphemy and Defamation of Religions

2021 ◽  
pp. 114-153
Author(s):  
Nicholas Hatzis
Keyword(s):  
Free Speech ◽  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
Final Part ◽  
Western World ◽  
Public Order ◽  
Legal Systems ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Offensive Speech

Blasphemy laws, the paradigmatic example of prohibitions of religiously offensive speech, remain common in many contemporary liberal legal systems. The chapter begins by tracing how blasphemy evolved over time in two important respects. First, while the blasphemy offence was initially triggered by the mere denial of the truth of Christianity, it later came to depend on the manner of expression, and only insulting or intemperate communications fell within its scope. Secondly, modern blasphemy laws in the Western world have expanded to protect not only the dominant religion but all religious beliefs, and, in some cases, deeply held secular beliefs. These newer versions of blasphemy are often referred to as ‘defamation of religion’ or ‘disparagement of religion’ laws. I discuss two types of objections to them: that they are vague and impossible to enforce in a non-discriminatory manner; and that they are as such incompatible with a free speech principle. The final part of the chapter explores the argument that religious offence bans are necessary for the protection of public order because if insults are not censored believers will become indignant and resort to violence. I argue that while the protection of order and peace is a legitimate governmental interest, the morally appropriate way to pursue it is to arrest those who threaten others with violence, not silence the non-violent speakers who offend the feelings of the listeners.

Interplays Among Railway Investment, Revenue, and GDP in India

2017 ◽  
pp. 187-200
Author(s):  
Kamal Ray ◽  
Chiranjib Neogi ◽  
Ramesh Chandra Das
Keyword(s):  
Causal Link ◽  
The Government ◽  
Revenue Elasticity ◽  
Over Time

Indian Railways is a department owned and controlled by the Government of India, via the Ministry of Railways. Progress of additional railroad construction and railway-based infrastructure of the country could be assessed with the help of interrelationship between the revenue generated with corresponding investment and growth of GDP of the country. The present chapter attempts to test two hypotheses: 1) whether there is any causal link between railway investment and GDP of the country through its revenue and 2) what are the impacts of investment, revenue on the GDP of India over time. Results show that there are bilateral causalities between investment and GDP and unilateral causality from GDP to revenue but there is no way causality between revenue and investment. Additionally, investment, not revenue, influences GDP in a significant way but the revenue elasticity of investment is insignificantly changing over time.

Byelorussian Nationalism and Western Russianism: the Problem of Confrontation

2020 ◽  
Vol 58 ◽  
pp. 161-168
Author(s):  
Alexander D. Gronsky
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Negative Attitude ◽  
Great Patriotic War ◽  
The Government ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
The Relationship

The article examines the relationship between Western Russianism (Zapadnorusizm) and Byelorussian nationalism. Byelorussian nationalism is much younger than Western Russianism, finally shaping only in the end of the 19th century. Before 1917 revolution Byelorussian nationalism could not compete with Western Russianism. The national policy of the Bolsheviks contributed to the decline of Western Russianism and helped Byelorussian nationalism to gain stronger positions. However, Byelorussian nationalists actively cooperated with the occupation authorities during the Great Patriotic war. That caused distinctly negative attitude of Byelorussians towards the movement and collaborators. Currently, Byelorussian nationalism is supported both by the opposition and by the government. Western Russianism has no political representation, but is supported by the majority of Byelorussian population.

Intra-sectoral and Intersectoral Parity Issues in Pricing of Agricultural Crops: A Preliminary Analysis

1987 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 401-417
Author(s):  
Sarfraz K. Qureshi
Keyword(s):  
Preliminary Analysis ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Terms Of Trade ◽  
Agricultural Crops ◽  
Allocation Of Resources ◽  
Price Determination ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Government ◽  
Distribution Of Income ◽  
Over Time

Intersectoral terms of trade play a cruc1al role in determining the sectoral distribution of income and resource allocation in the developing countries. The significance of intra-sectoral terms of trade for the allocation of resources within the agricultural sector is also widely accepted by research scholars and policy-makers. In the context of planned development, the government specifies production targets for the agricultural sector and for different crops. The intervention of government in the field of price determination has important implications for the achievement of planned targets. In Pakistan, there is a feeling among many groups including farmers and politicians with a rural background that prices of agricultural crops have not kept their parities intact over time and that prices generally do not cover the costs of production. The feeling that production incentives for agriculture have been eroded is especially strong for the period since the early 1970s. It is argued that strong inflationary pressures supported by a policy of withdrawal of government subsidies on agricultural inputs have resulted in rapid increases in the prices paid by agriculturists and that increases in the prices received by farmers were not enough to compensate them for the rising prices of agricultural inputs and consumption goods.

Insubstantial Burdens

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Vallier ◽  
Michael Weber
Keyword(s):  
Religious Belief ◽  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Religious Freedom Restoration Act ◽  
The Government ◽  
A Minor

This chapter articulates and defends a “partially subjectivist” way of defining burdens on religious belief under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). On this view, courts should largely defer to plaintiffs as to what is a burden on their religious belief. There is only a minor requirement that the plaintiffs have to satisfy, which is to show that the government is doing something that pressures them to act in a way contrary to their beliefs—a relatively easy hurdle to clear. In general, courts are ill-equipped to determine what people’s religious beliefs really are, and this extends to determining when those beliefs are substantially burdened. More strongly, there is a tradition that says evaluating when people’s religious beliefs are burdened is really none of the court’s business. The partially subjectivist view honors these principles.

The rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU – Still an agenda-setter?

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 497-518
Author(s):  
Austė Vaznonytė
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Changes ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Issue Salience ◽  
Political Factors ◽  
Agenda Setter ◽  
Panel Model ◽  
The Government ◽  
Council Presidency ◽  
Over Time ◽  
The Eu

What role does the rotating Council Presidency maintain a decade after Lisbon? This article argues that, regardless of institutional changes, the rotating Presidency still shapes the Council agenda to a large extent. Based on an original hand-coded dataset of rotating Presidency programmes between 1997 and 2017, I show that some policies are ‘stickier’ on the Council agenda, while the others exhibit significant changes in salience over time. Since the magnitude of these shifts varies from Presidency to Presidency, the analysis focuses on domestic political factors and the country positioning vis-à-vis the European Union to determine their relationship with agenda volatility. By means of a panel model, the examination demonstrates that the government issue salience can best explain the levels of issue salience in the Presidency programmes.

scholarly journals The Return of Large Carnivores and Extensive Farming Systems: A Review of Stakeholders’ Perception at an EU Level

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1735
Author(s):  
Marcello Franchini ◽  
Mirco Corazzin ◽  
Stefano Bovolenta ◽  
Stefano Filacorda
Keyword(s):  
Negative Attitude ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Large Carnivores ◽  
Direct Experience ◽  
Large Carnivore ◽  
Degree Of Acceptance ◽  
Extensive Farming ◽  
Over Time ◽  
The Eu

Conflicts between large carnivores and human activities undermine both the maintenance of livestock practices as well as the conservation of carnivores across Europe. Because large carnivore management is driven by a common EU policy, the purpose of this research was to assess stakeholders’ perception towards bears and wolves at an EU level. We conducted a systematic search and subsequent analysis of 40 peer-reviewed studies collected from 1990 to September 2020 within Member States of the EU. Rural inhabitants and hunters exhibited the most negative attitude compared to urban inhabitants and conservationists, whose attitude was more positive. We showed that direct experience with predators as a consequence of ongoing re-colonization may have affected the degree of acceptance of certain categories and that the long-term coexistence between humans and carnivores does not necessarily imply increased tolerance. To encourage coexistence, we recommend monitoring changes in attitudes over time relative to carnivore population dynamics.

scholarly journals Non-Price Criteria for the Evaluation of the Tender Offers in Public Procurement of Ukraine

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 44
Author(s):  
Alexander Baranovsky ◽  
Nataliia Tkachenko ◽  
Vladimer Glonti ◽  
Valentyna Levchenko ◽  
Kateryna Bogatyrova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Procurement ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Gdp Per Capita ◽  
Tender Offers ◽  
Product Categories ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Over Time ◽  
The Eu

Traditionally, public procurement has been associated with the measurement of achieving savings. However, recent research shows that the economic impact of public procurement is not limited only to savings, but by measuring the impact of four capitals—natural, human, social, and economic—on sustainable well-being over time. Ukraine is a country with a very low gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, which exacerbates the problem of the impact of public procurement results on the population’s welfare. Ukrainian public procurement legislation allows customers to apply non-price criteria (the share of non-price criteria cannot be more than 70%), which, together, are taken into account in the formula of the quoted price. The studies show that the effect of the use of non-price criteria depends on the relevance of the method of the evaluation of non-price criteria. The most important non-price criteria for Ukrainian customers by product categories and the methods of their evaluation are analyzed according to the Bi.prozorro.org analytics module. Therefore, it is concluded that the quoted price method, which is used in Ukrainian practice, is not relevant in comparison with the method used in the EU. A survey of the government buyers on the practice of applying non-price criteria was conducted, and the areas of their use were identified.

Canada’s changing innovation landscape

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Md. Razib Alam ◽  
Bonwoo Koo ◽  
Brian Paul Cozzarin
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Destination Country ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Patent Classification ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The University ◽  
Over Time

Abstract Our objective is to study Canada’s patenting activity over time in aggregate terms by destination country, by assignee and destination country, and by diversification by country of destination. We collect bibliographic patent data from the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and the United States Patent and Trademark Office. We identify 19,957 matched Canada–US patents, 34,032 Canada-only patents, and 43,656 US-only patents from 1980 to 2014. Telecommunications dominates in terms of International Patent Classification technologies for US-only and Canada–US patents. At the firm level, the greatest number of matched Canada–US patents were granted in the field of telecommunications, at the university level in pharmaceuticals, at the government level in control and instrumentation technology, and at the individual level in civil engineering. We use entropy to quantify technological diversification and find that diversification indices decline over time for Canada and the USA; however, all US indices decline at a faster rate.

Disparity and Dynamics of Social Distancing Behaviors in Japan: An Investigation of mobile phone mobility data (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zeyu Lyu ◽  
Hiroki Takikawa
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Demographic Groups ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Mobility Data ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Government ◽  
Over Time

BACKGROUND The availability of large-scale and fine-grained aggregated mobility data has allowed researchers to observe the dynamic of social distancing behaviors at high spatial and temporal resolutions. Despite the increasing attentions paid to this research agenda, limited studies have focused on the demographic factors related to mobility and the dynamics of social distancing behaviors has not been fully investigated. OBJECTIVE This study aims to assist in the design and implementation of public health policies by exploring the social distancing behaviors among various demographic groups over time. METHODS We combined several data sources, including mobile tracking data and geographical statistics, to estimate visiting population of entertainment venues across demographic groups, which can be considered as the proxy of social distancing behaviors. Then, we employed time series analyze methods to investigate how voluntary and policy-induced social distancing behaviors shift over time across demographic groups. RESULTS Our findings demonstrate distinct patterns of social distancing behaviors and their dynamics across age groups. The population in the entertainment venues comprised mainly of individuals aged 20–40 years, while according to the dynamics of the mobility index and the policy-induced behavior, among the age groups, the extent of reduction of the frequency of visiting entertainment venues during the pandemic was generally the highest among younger individuals. Also, our results indicate the importance of implementing the social distancing policy promptly to limit the spread of the COVID-19 infection. However, it should be noticed that although the policy intervention during the second wave in Japan appeared to increase the awareness of the severity of the pandemic and concerns regarding COVID-19, its direct impact has been largely decreased could only last for a short time. CONCLUSIONS At the time we wrote this paper, in Japan, the number of daily confirmed cases was continuously increasing. Thus, this study provides a timely reference for decision makers about the current situation of policy-induced compliance behaviors. On the one hand, age-dependent disparity requires target mitigation strategies to increase the intention of elderly individuals to adopt mobility restriction behaviors. On the other hand, considering the decreasing impact of self-restriction recommendations, the government should employ policy interventions that limit the resurgence of cases, especially by imposing stronger, stricter social distancing interventions, as they are necessary to promote social distancing behaviors and mitigate the transmission of COVID-19. CLINICALTRIAL None

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