Color Bind: Lessons from the Failed Homeland Security Advisory System

2007 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob N. Shapiro ◽  
Dara Kay Cohen
Keyword(s):  
Homeland Security ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Political ◽  
Alert System ◽  
Protective Measures ◽  
The Public ◽  
Advisory System ◽  
Legal Traditions ◽  
Protective Actions ◽  
National Leaders

An effective terrorism alert system in a federal government has one central task: to motivate actors to take costly protective measures. The United States' color-coded Homeland Security Advisory System (HSAS) failed in this mission. In federal systems, national leaders cannot compel protective actions by setting an alert level; they must convince constituent governments and private parties that the desired actions are worth the costs. Such beliefs can be generated either by sharing the information behind an alert or by developing enough confidence in the alert system that the government's word alone suffices. The HSAS did neither, largely because it was not designed to generate confidence. Rather, the system's creators assumed that the public would trust the national leadership and believe in the utility of the system's information. Over time, as the HSAS became increasingly perceived as politically manipulated, there was no built-in mechanism to recover confidence in the system. An alternative, trust-based terrorist alert system could solve this problem. Building on the notion of “procedural fairness” from the psychological and legal traditions, this system would retain the political advantages of the HSAS, facilitate greater compliance among the requisite actors, and ameliorate many of the strategic problems inherent in terror alert systems.

War without Citizens

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-38
Author(s):  
Stephen J. Rosow
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Consumer Culture ◽  
The United States ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Community ◽  
Democratic Citizenship ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Public ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
Advanced Technologies

Contestation over war memorialization can help democratic theory respond to the current attenuation of citizenship in war in liberal democratic states, especially the United States. As war involves more advanced technologies and fewer soldiers, the relation of citizenship to war changes. In this context war memorialization plays a particular role in refiguring the relation. Current practices of remembering and memorializing war in contemporary neoliberal states respond to a dilemma: the state needs to justify and garner support for continual wars while distancing citizenship from participation. The result is a consumer culture of memorialization that seeks to effect a unity of the political community while it fights wars with few citizens and devalues the public. Neoliberal wars fought with few soldiers and an economic logic reveals the vulnerability to otherness that leads to more active and critical democratic citizenship.

scholarly journals EMERGENCY USE AUTHORIZATION: AT ZERO HOUR

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 18-23
Author(s):  
V. Balamuralidhara ◽  
Vaishnav A.M. ◽  
Bachu V. ◽  
Pramod Kumar T.M.
Keyword(s):  
Homeland Security ◽  
Ebola Virus ◽  
Hemorrhagic Fever ◽  
The United States ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Test Device ◽  
Department Of Homeland Security ◽  
The Public ◽  
Life Threatening ◽  
Us Fda

The Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) authority plays a vital role in US FDA. They provide the authority/permission to use the unregistered products/registered product with unregistered route to treat the life threatening damages to the patients in world in some emergency conditions. The aim of this work is to give an overview on EUA in life threatening conditions and there challenges in getting the permissions under regulations with example of E-bola virus. The e-bola is a virus. It is a hemorrhagic fever deadly disease caused by one of the E-bola viral strain, which is wide spread in West Africa. The -Secretary of the Department of homeland security (DHS), determined, pursuant to section 319F-2 of the Public Health Service Act, that the Ebola virus presents a material threat against the United States population sufficient to affect national security. Issuance of EUA by the FDA Commissioner requires several steps under section 564 of the FD&C Act. The FDA Commissioner, can only issue the EUA, if criteria for issuance under the statute are met. This study’s highlights the importance of the EUA in emergency when there is no medicine for disease/virus in the world. For example the FDA has issued a EUA to use the ReEBOV which is the Rapid Antigen Test device designed by Lusys lab co. Pvt. Ltd. for detecting the Zaire Ebola virus.

scholarly journals What the Australian Public Knows About the High Court

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-63
Author(s):  
Ingrid Nielsen ◽  
Russell Smyth
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Representative Sample ◽  
Adult Population ◽  
Public Support ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Political ◽  
High Court ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Role ◽  
High Court Of Australia

Existing studies for the United States examine the extent to which the public is knowledgeable about US courts, arguing that knowledge of the courts is linked to public support for their role. We know little, though, about the Australian public’s awareness of the High Court of Australia. We report the results of a survey of a representative sample of the Australian adult population, administered in November 2017. We find that few Australians know the names of the Justices, the number of Justices on the Court, how the Justices are appointed or for how long they serve. Awareness of recent cases decided by the Court is mixed. We find that age and education are better predictors of awareness levels than is gender. Our findings are important because in the absence of awareness of the High Court, the potential exists for the public to see the Court as having a more overt political role than it has, which may lower esteem for the Court. The potential for this to occur is exacerbated if, and when, politicians attempt to drag the High Court into the political fray, by attributing political motives to it that it does not have.

scholarly journals Are sirens effective tools to alert the population in France?

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (10) ◽  
pp. 2899-2920
Author(s):  
Johnny Douvinet ◽  
Anna Serra-Llobet ◽  
Esteban Bopp ◽  
G. Mathias Kondolf
Keyword(s):  
Cell Phone ◽  
Geographical Information ◽  
The Political ◽  
Cumulative Number ◽  
Actual Number ◽  
Alert System ◽  
The Public ◽  
Know How ◽  
The Past ◽  
Principal Tool

Abstract. In France, sirens have been the principal tool designated to alert the population in the case of danger. However, their efficacity has not been objectively tested. Using a geographical information system, questionnaires, and surveys, we analyzed (1) the spatial distribution of the siren network in relation to the covered population, the hazards threatening different areas, and the actual number of disasters that have occurred in the past, (2) the political dilemma of activating sirens, and (3) the population's trust in sirens, as well as its understanding of expected behavior in the case of an emergency. Results show that, with a few exceptions, siren coverage in France is primarily determined by population density, not by the expected hazards or the cumulative number of past disasters. Sirens are also rarely used by the authorities. However, surveyed members of the population identify sirens as the most effective alert system over other alternatives such as cell-phone-based alerting tools. In a “mock” emergency most members of the public did not know how to respond in the case of an emergency, and even most of those who correctly identified the appropriate response prior to the exercise did not react upon later hearing the siren. To improve the effectiveness of the French siren network, we recommend (1) relocating sirens to optimize their efficiency, (2) complementing the sound of sirens with a clear and unified message, (3) reorganizing the competencies to activate siren alerts, and finally (4) improving public education on different alert tools and expected behavior during an emergency.

scholarly journals Reconsidering the Minimum Voting Age in the United States

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Oosterhoff ◽  
Laura Wray-Lake ◽  
Daniel Hart
Keyword(s):  
Life Experience ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Political Knowledge ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cognitive Capacity ◽  
The Political ◽  
Negative Stereotypes ◽  
Us States ◽  
The Public ◽  
Voting Age

Several US states have proposed bills to lower the minimum local and national voting age to 16 years. Legislators and the public often reference political philosophy, attitudes about the capabilities of teenagers, or past precedent as evidence to support or oppose changing the voting age. Dissenters to changing the voting age are primarily concerned with whether 16 and 17-year-olds have sufficient political maturity to vote, including adequate political knowledge, cognitive capacity, independence, interest, and life experience. We review past research that suggests 16 and 17-year-olds possess the political maturity to vote. Concerns about youths’ ability to vote are generally not supported by developmental science, suggesting that negative stereotypes about teenagers may be a large barrier to changing the voting age.

Creating the New System

2021 ◽  
pp. 146-160
Author(s):  
David Madland
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Political ◽  
Grassroots Activism ◽  
The Public ◽  
System P ◽  
Union Policy ◽  
Labor System ◽  
New System ◽  
Intellectual Climate

This chapter explores whether a new labor system could ever become law and overcome the massive political hurdles standing in the way. The path to victory is quite narrow. There needs to be sufficient grassroots activism to push labor issues to the top of the agenda, a strong majority of politicians willing to vote for pro-union policy, champions to drive the policy forward, and a favorable intellectual climate. As difficult as these are to achieve, they are possible if favorable trends continue and rise in intensity. The public must increasingly and more forcefully demand change, and the political and intellectual climate must continue shifting in favor of labor modernization. The chapter concludes by echoing the theme of the book — that a new labor system with broad-based bargaining and encouragement for union membership would help address the fundamental economic and political challenges that the United States faces. The more people recognize this, the better the chances for creating a new labor system.

scholarly journals Reconsidering the Minimum Voting Age in the United States

2021 ◽  
pp. 174569162199422
Author(s):  
Benjamin Oosterhoff ◽  
Laura Wray-Lake ◽  
Daniel Hart
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Life Experience ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Political Knowledge ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cognitive Capacity ◽  
The Political ◽  
Negative Stereotypes ◽  
The Public ◽  
Voting Age

Several U.S. states have proposed bills to lower the minimum local and national voting age to 16 years. Legislators and the public often reference political philosophy, attitudes about the capabilities of teenagers, or past precedent as evidence to support or oppose changing the voting age. Dissenters to changing the voting age are primarily concerned with whether 16- and 17-year-olds have sufficient political maturity to vote, including adequate political knowledge, cognitive capacity, independence, interest, and life experience. We review past research that suggests 16- and 17-year-olds possess the political maturity to vote. Concerns about youths’ ability to vote are generally not supported by developmental science, suggesting that negative stereotypes about teenagers may be a large barrier to changing the voting age.

scholarly journals Public risk perception and responsive behaviors in the United States, United Kingdom, and Brazil during the COVID-19 Pandemic: a cross-sectional study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anran Wang ◽  
Xiaolei Xiu ◽  
Sizhu Wu
Keyword(s):  
Risk Perception ◽  
Public Perception ◽  
Close Contact ◽  
The United States ◽  
Living Environment ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Protective Measures ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Us

Abstract Background: Understanding public perception and behaviors toward COVID-19 is valuable for mitigating the severe epidemic. Our study aimed to investigate differences of the public from the US, UK, and Brazil on the aspects of the living environment, behaviors, attitude and risk perception. Methods: Dataset were taken from the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Survival Calculator project. 89554 respondents from the US (n=71812), UK (n=10392), and Brazil (n=7350) completed online questionnaire survey from April 28 to July 8. Frequencies and percentages were calculated to describe respondents’ responses. Chi-square tests with Holm-Bonferroni correction and binary logistic regression were used to determine the differences in environmental status, behaviors and worried degree of participants among the three countries, and further explore the sociodemographic characteristics related to protective measures. Results: Brazil participants had the highest risk perception to COVID-19, followed by the US, and the UK was the lowest (39.02±24.57 vs. 32.72±22.38 vs. 29.47+22.39, P<0.001). More Brazil participants expressed that they were worried about COVID-19. The proportion of respondents from the US and UK who reported they were not worried about COVID-19 was 2.00 times (95%CI: 1.80-2.23) and 3.24 times (95%CI: 2.88-3.65) that of Brazil. A higher percentage of Brazil respondents reported they were in close contact with more than ten people, using public transport and engaging in work. Regarding behaviors, social distancing (ranges:84.9%-86.8%) and washing hands (ranges:84.8%-90.3%) were the most frequently used protective measures, but respondents from the US (69.8%) and UK (15.8%) were relatively reluctant to wear masks. Moreover, it was found that participants from ethnic minorities were more likely to take protective measures. But males, respondents under 20 years, and respondents with poor economic conditions had various degrees of neglect to take steps. Meanwhile, healthcare workers also had a relatively stronger awareness of protection. Conclusion: There are significant differences in the environment, behaviors, attitude and risk perception of the public from the US, UK and Brazil. The sociodemographic subgroups analysis indicated that it is necessary to enhance protection publicity and support for specific groups. Our findings are conducive to the public health authorities to carry out more targeted publicity work of COVID-19 protection measures.

scholarly journals To vote or not to vote? The political orientations of Millennials in a comparative perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 229-244
Author(s):  
Małgorzata Zachara
Keyword(s):  
Political Change ◽  
Distinct Group ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Orientations ◽  
Generational Shift ◽  
Political Landscapes ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
Comparative Examination

AbstractThis article concentrates on the transformative potential of the Millennial generation within the framework of the political landscapes of the United States, several European countries and Russia. Generational experiences frame the context for the comparative examination of the democratic order and the perspectives for democratic transition. In Western countries, the group is a potentially powerful political force, yet its members do not pursue traditional forms of civic engagement – they are sceptical about institutional forms of participation and have little trust in public authority. Embedded in a youth-marginalization discourse, the public identities of the Millennials are seen rather as a manifestation of the failures of democratic representation, rather than as forms of agency seeking new ways of political expression. The orientations of this distinct group also present a puzzle when the future of authoritarian regimes is discussed: Millennials’ openness to political change is often questioned, despite the prominent role they play in the rise of the opposition forces that gained influence during Vladimir Putin’s third term. Nevertheless, in both contexts, the ongoing generational shift has become an increasingly important area for social-scientific investigation and it is being directly related to broader arguments about the nature of political change.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document