Indirect accountability of political appointees

2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 383-396
Author(s):  
Christopher Li
Keyword(s):  
Public Information ◽  
Social Optimum ◽  
Political Appointees ◽  
The Social ◽  
Retention Decisions ◽  
Do So

This paper explores the indirect accountability of political appointees. The appointee’s quality is uncertain, and voters hold the politician accountable for the appointee’s performance. The politician has better information about the appointee than voters do, but electoral concerns induce the politician to make inefficient retention decisions. Specifically, there is over-retention of appointees relative to the social optimum. If the quality of candidates for appointment is low, then improving the pool of candidates can help reduce distortions and, in fact, it is in the interest of the politician to do so. I also show that more public information about the appointee reduces over-retention.

Uncertainties Revisited

2019 ◽  
pp. 216-237
Author(s):  
Liesbeth Huybrechts ◽  
Katrien Dreessen ◽  
Selina Schepers
Keyword(s):  
Network Theory ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Social Processes ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
Uncertainty Model ◽  
The Social ◽  
Matters Of Concern ◽  
Uncertainty Models ◽  
Do So

In this chapter, the authors use actor-network theory (ANT) to explore the relations between uncertainties in co-design processes and the quality of participation. To do so, the authors investigate Latour's discussion uncertainties in relation to social processes: the nature of actors, actions, objects, facts/matters of concern, and the study of the social. To engage with the discussion on uncertainties in co-design and, more specific in infrastructuring, this chapter clusters the diversity of articulations of the role and place of uncertainty in co-design into four uncertainty models: (1) the neoliberal, (2) the management, (3) the disruptive, and (4) the open uncertainty model. To deepen the reflections on the latter, the authors evaluate the relations between the role and place of uncertainty in two infrastructuring processes in the domain of healthcare and the quality of these processes. In the final reflections, the authors elaborate on how ANT supported in developing a “lens” to assess how uncertainties hinder or contribute to the quality of participation.

scholarly journals Harry Potter and the Stigma of Disability: Squibs as Outsiders to the Magical Universe

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Rhodes
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Harry Potter ◽  
Social Model ◽  
Fictional World ◽  
Social Model Of Disability ◽  
Book Series ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Disabled ◽  
Do So

In the young adult book series Harry Potter, there exists a class of citizens known as Squibs. By all accounts they can be considered a disabled group: they have a ‘disease’ (no magical abilities) that detracts from their overall quality of life and prevents them from operating at a normal level within society. This paper will prove that Squibs are restricted within the fictional world by the institutions of school and government. It will do so by studying Argus Filch and Arabella Figg, two of the most visible Squibs in the series. In this case, the social model of disability and Michel Foucault’s theories about government restrictions on disability will support the idea that Filch and Figg could succeed within the Harry Potter universe if the barriers put in place against the disabled Squibs were removed. In addition, the paper expresses the hope that the fans of Harry Potter will be able to rectify the discriminatory mistakes that the author, J.K. Rowling, has created against Squibs.

scholarly journals Energy efficiency subsidies with price-quality discrimination

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie-Laure Nauleau ◽  
Louis-Gaëtan Giraudet ◽  
Philippe Quirion
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Market Share ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Social Optimum ◽  
Ad Valorem Tax ◽  
Second Best ◽  
The Social ◽  
Single Instrument ◽  
Ad Valorem

We compare various designs of energy efficiency subsidies in a market subject to both energy-use externalities and price-quality discrimination by a monopolist. We find that differentiated subsidies can establish the social optimum. Unlike per-quality regimes, ad valorem regimes generate downstream interferences: Subsidising of the high-end good leads the monopolist to reduce the quality of the low-end good. For this reason, ad valorem differentiated rates should always decrease with energy efficiency, a result seemingly at odds with actual practice. In contrast, with per-quality differentiated subsidies, the rates can increase if the externality is large enough relative to the market share of "low" type consumers. Contrary to differentiated subsidies, what we shall call single-instrument subsidies only achieve second-best outcomes. A uniform ad valorem subsidy should have a rate higher than that needed to specifically internalise energy-use externalities. Lastly, if, as is often observed in practice, only the high-end good is to be incentivised, a per-quality regime should be preferred to an ad valorem one. An ad valorem tax on the high-end good may even be preferred to an ad valorem subsidy if the externality is small enough and low-end consumers dominate the market. © 2015 Elsevier B.V.

scholarly journals Public Perception about Social Work Profession

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 177
Author(s):  
Fatbardha Osmanaga
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Public Perception ◽  
Demographic Data ◽  
Public Information ◽  
Strong Relationship ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social

The perception of social work profession is very important, because there are people that are beneficiaries of social services. So, if we have positive perceptions, will have a strong relationship between social workers and people and the quality of services will be better.We have a quantitative study. The main purpose of the paper is to know the public information and perception about the social work profession. The research questions of the paper are:1.What is the information of Shkodra citizens regarding the social work profession?2.What is the perceptionof Shkodra citizens about the social work profession?3.What is the opinion of Shkodra citizens regarding the areas of social work?4.What is the opinion of Shkodra citizens regarding the roles of the social worker?The population of the study is composed of residents of the city of Shkodra. The sampling consists of people who have reached the age of 18. It is sed the survey method. A questionnaire composed of four parts is used. The first part includes the demographic data of the participants, the second part includes data about the information of participants for social work profession, the third part includes data related to the perception that they have regarding social work profession and the fourth part includes data about the opinion of the participants for the fields and roles of the social workers.The syrvey was created on the basis of different sources. There are given the coclusions and the appropriate suggestions. Keywords: Shkodra city, social work, public perception.

Epistemic and relational conflicts in sharing identical vs. complementary information during cooperative learning

2002 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 139-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Céline Darnon ◽  
Céline Buchs ◽  
Fabrizio Butera
Keyword(s):  
Cooperative Learning ◽  
Social Comparison ◽  
Positive Relationship ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Complementary Information ◽  
Relational Conflict ◽  
The Social ◽  
The University

When interacting on a learning task, which is typical of several academic situations, individuals may experience two different motives: Understanding the problem, or showing their competences. When a conflict (confrontation of divergent propositions) emerges from this interaction, it can be solved either in an epistemic way (focused on the task) or in a relational way (focused on the social comparison of competences). The latter is believed to be detrimental for learning. Moreover, research on cooperative learning shows that when they share identical information, partners are led to compare to each other, and are less encouraged to cooperate than when they share complementary information. An epistemic vs. relational conflict vs. no conflict was provoked in dyads composed by a participant and a confederate, working either on identical or on complementary information (N = 122). Results showed that, if relational and epistemic conflicts both entailed more perceived interactions and divergence than the control group, only relational conflict entailed more perceived comparison activities and a less positive relationship than the control group. Epistemic conflict resulted in a more positive perceived relationship than the control group. As far as performance is concerned, relational conflict led to a worse learning than epistemic conflict, and - after a delay - than the control group. An interaction between the two variables on delayed performance showed that epistemic and relational conflicts were different only when working with complementary information. This study shows the importance of the quality of relationship when sharing information during cooperative learning, a crucial factor to be taken into account when planning educational settings at the university.

The Samarin Family and the Parish Question in the Russian Empire. 1860s–1910s

2019 ◽  
Vol 54 ◽  
pp. 235-246
Author(s):  
Alexey L. Beglov
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Russian Empire ◽  
Public Discussion ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social ◽  
Church Life ◽  
The Russian Empire ◽  
In The Beginning ◽  
The Church ◽  
Do So

The article examines the contribution of the representatives of the Samarin family to the development of the Parish issue in the Russian Empire in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The issue of expanding the rights of the laity in the sphere of parish self-government was one of the most debated problems of Church life in that period. The public discussion was initiated by D.F. Samarin (1827-1901). He formulated the “social concept” of the parish and parish reform, based on Slavophile views on society and the Church. In the beginning of the twentieth century his eldest son F.D. Samarin who was a member of the Special Council on the development the Orthodox parish project in 1907, and as such developed the Slavophile concept of the parish. In 1915, A.D. Samarin, who took up the position of the Chief Procurator of the Most Holy Synod, tried to make his contribution to the cause of the parish reforms, but he failed to do so due to his resignation.

A Futures Study on the Quality Of Life from the Point Of View of Iranian Youth

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Sina Saeedy ◽  
Mojtaba Amiri ◽  
Mohammad Mahdi Zolfagharzadeh ◽  
Mohammad Rahim Eyvazi
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Life Satisfaction ◽  
Mixed Model ◽  
Satisfaction With Life ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Human Society ◽  
Futures Studies ◽  
The Social ◽  
The University

Quality of life and satisfaction with life as tightly interconnected concepts have become of much importance in the urbanism era. No doubt, it is one of the most important goals of every human society to enhance a citizen’s quality of life and to increase their satisfaction with life. However, there are many signs which demonstrate the low level of life satisfaction of Iranian citizens especially among the youth. Thus, considering the temporal concept of life satisfaction, this research aims to make a futures study in this field. Therefore, using a mixed model and employing research methods from futures studies, life satisfaction among the students of the University of Tehran were measured and their views on this subject investigated. Both quantitative and qualitative data were analysed together in order to test the hypotheses and to address the research questions on the youth discontentment with quality of life. Findings showed that the level of life satisfaction among students is relatively low and their image of the future is not positive and not optimistic. These views were elicited and discussed in the social, economic, political, environmental and technological perspectives. Keywords:  futures studies, quality of life, satisfaction with life, youth

Pakistan’s Development: Successes, Failures, and Future Tasks (Presidential Remarks)

1997 ◽  
Vol 36 (4I) ◽  
pp. 321-331
Author(s):  
Sarfraz Khan Qureshi
Keyword(s):  
Indian Subcontinent ◽  
General Meeting ◽  
The Past ◽  
Past Half Century ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Golden Jubilee ◽  
Freedom Movement ◽  
Past Half ◽  
Do So

It is an honour for me as President of the Pakistan Society of Development Economists to welcome you to the 13th Annual General Meeting and Conference of the Society. I consider it a great privilege to do so as this Meeting coincides with the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the state of Pakistan, a state which emerged on the map of the postwar world as a result of the Muslim freedom movement in the Indian Subcontinent. Fifty years to the date, we have been jubilant about it, and both as citizens of Pakistan and professionals in the social sciences we have also been thoughtful about it. We are trying to see what development has meant in Pakistan in the past half century. As there are so many dimensions that the subject has now come to have since its rather simplistic beginnings, we thought the Golden Jubilee of Pakistan to be an appropriate occasion for such stock-taking.

Shall I trust you? From child human-robot interaction to trusting relationships

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cinzia Di Dio ◽  
Federico Manzi ◽  
Giulia Peretti ◽  
Angelo Cangelosi ◽  
Paul L. Harris ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Pattern ◽  
Human Robot Interaction ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
Social Relevance ◽  
Robot Interaction ◽  
Cognitive Correlates ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Relationship

Studying trust within human-robot interaction is of great importance given the social relevance of robotic agents in a variety of contexts. We investigated the acquisition, loss and restoration of trust when preschool and school-age children played with either a human or a humanoid robot in-vivo. The relationship between trust and the quality of attachment relationships, Theory of Mind, and executive function skills was also investigated. No differences were found in children’s trust in the play-partner as a function of agency (human or robot). Nevertheless, 3-years-olds showed a trend toward trusting the human more than the robot, while 7-years-olds displayed the reverse behavioral pattern, thus highlighting the developing interplay between affective and cognitive correlates of trust.

Data analysis of social hygiene monitoring in russian regions determining environmental and hygienic safety for population

2020 ◽  
pp. 60-66
Author(s):  
O. Klepikov ◽  
S. Eprintsev ◽  
S. Shekoyan
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Safety ◽  
Environmental Risks ◽  
Priority Pollutants ◽  
Russian Regions ◽  
Social Hygiene ◽  
Atmospheric Air ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Federal Center

Data of the Federal Information Fund for Social Hygiene Monitoring conducted on the basis of the Federal Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor have been analyzed to assess environmental risks, as well as to develop environmental safety system as a factor for sustainable development of the territory in the regions of the Russian Federation. Atmospheric air pollution in Russian regions was evaluated by content of priority pollutants. Ranking of Russian regions according to the quality of drinking water supply was carried out. The possibility of using Federal Information Fund for Social Hygiene Monitoring as an integral part of the model for optimizing the social and environmental conditions of populated areas is estimated.

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