A Patchwork Quilt of Programs

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-63
Author(s):  
Annette Zimmer ◽  
Eckhard Priller
Keyword(s):  
Policy Process ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Patchwork Quilt ◽  
Regional Governments

Abstract How is Germany doing with respect to the fight against COVID-19? Did the German Federal and the country’s Regional Governments enact a coordinated approach, and did the sector have the opportunity to co-operate with government and have a “voice” in the policy process? Based on the results of recent empirical studies and desk-top, internet-based research, these questions are addressed and the outcome is that there were numerous programs issued by the Federal and regional German governments that buffer the effects of the crisis is having on the sector. However, the programs were not developed in co-operation with the sector and were not easy to access, particularly for small and non-professionalized nonprofits.

scholarly journals Understanding beverage taxation: Perspective on the Philadelphia Beverage Tax’s novel approach

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan M. Kane ◽  
Vasanti S. Malik
Keyword(s):  
Policy Process ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Sugar Sweetened Beverage ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Global Trend ◽  
Health Impact Assessments ◽  
Political Entrepreneurs

Despite the growing global trend of sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) taxes for their potential as an untapped source of revenue and as a public health boon, these legislative efforts remain controversial. Multiple articles have reviewed this trend in recent years from modeling of long-term impacts to short-term empirical studies, yet most comprehensive, long-term health impact assessments remain forthcoming. These multi-faceted efficacy studies combined with case-based assessments of the policy process, descriptive pieces highlighting unique features of the policy and reflective perspectives targeting unanswered questions create a comprehensive body of literature to help inform present and future legislative efforts. The passage of the Philadelphia Beverage tax required a mix of political entrepreneurs, timing and context; while uniquely employing a nonpublic health frame, specific earmarking and a broadened scope with the inclusion of diet beverages. This perspective on the Philadelphia Beverage Tax will describe the passage and novel features of the Philadelphia Beverage Tax with a discussion of the ethical questions unique to this case.

Strategic Modelling: “Building a New Socialist Countryside” in Three Chinese Counties

2013 ◽  
Vol 216 ◽  
pp. 831-849 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna L. Ahlers ◽  
Gunter Schubert
Keyword(s):  
Policy Process ◽  
Rural China ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
National Development ◽  
Local Models ◽  
Distinctive Features ◽  
Rural Counties ◽  
Chinese Policy ◽  
China Today

AbstractModels, pilots and experiments are considered distinctive features of the Chinese policy process. However, empirical studies on local modelling practices are rare. This article analyses the ways in which three rural counties in three different provinces engage in strategies of modelling and piloting to implement the central government's “Building a New Socialist Countryside” (shehuizhuyi xinnongcun jianshe) programme. It explains how county and township governments apply these strategies and to what effect. It also highlights the scope and limitations of local models and pilots as useful mechanisms for spurring national development. The authors plead for a fresh look at local modelling practices, arguing that these can tell us much about the realities of governance in rural China today.

E. E. Schattschneider,

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donley Studlar
Keyword(s):  
Policy Process ◽  
Agenda Setting ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
Essential Dimension ◽  
Competition For Space ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Media ◽  
Democracy In America

E. E. Schattschneider’s short book,The Semi-Sovereign People: A Realist’s View of Democracy in America(1960), is an analysis of the functioning of US democracy, especially the struggle between “privatization” and “socialization” of issues as well as the competition for space on a crowded political agenda. Its major contribution was to develop the concept of agenda-setting, the “conflict of conflicts,” as an essential dimension of the policy process. Intended as a “defense of parties” manifesto against the then-popular group theories of politics, Schattschneider’s book was part of the elitist–pluralist debate in its time as well as leading to a variety of later, more empirical studies on various dimensions of the policy process. Schattschneider’s ideas have inspired many subsequent studies on agenda-setting, both in the US and abroad. This chapter examines the longer-term impact of these ideas as well as the book’s shortcomings, such as lack of attention to the media.

An empirical review of gambling expansion and gambling-related harm

2018 ◽  
Vol 64 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 295-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debi A. LaPlante ◽  
Heather M. Gray ◽  
Pat M. Williams ◽  
Sarah E. Nelson
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Peer Review ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Expansion Method ◽  
Responsible Gambling ◽  
Review Literature ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Empirical Comparison ◽  
Related Harm

Abstract. Aims: To discuss and review the latest research related to gambling expansion. Method: We completed a literature review and empirical comparison of peer reviewed findings related to gambling expansion and subsequent gambling-related changes among the population. Results: Although gambling expansion is associated with changes in gambling and gambling-related problems, empirical studies suggest that these effects are mixed and the available literature is limited. For example, the peer review literature suggests that most post-expansion gambling outcomes (i. e., 22 of 34 possible expansion outcomes; 64.7 %) indicate no observable change or a decrease in gambling outcomes, and a minority (i. e., 12 of 34 possible expansion outcomes; 35.3 %) indicate an increase in gambling outcomes. Conclusions: Empirical data related to gambling expansion suggests that its effects are more complex than frequently considered; however, evidence-based intervention might help prepare jurisdictions to deal with potential consequences. Jurisdictions can develop and evaluate responsible gambling programs to try to mitigate the impacts of expanded gambling.

Investigating the Multimodal Nature of Human Communication

2009 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silke Paulmann ◽  
Sarah Jessen ◽  
Sonja A. Kotz
Keyword(s):  
Visual Information ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Physical Property ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Accurate Information ◽  
Human Communication ◽  
Channel Condition ◽  
Prosodic Cues ◽  
Early Processing ◽  
Related Potentials

The multimodal nature of human communication has been well established. Yet few empirical studies have systematically examined the widely held belief that this form of perception is facilitated in comparison to unimodal or bimodal perception. In the current experiment we first explored the processing of unimodally presented facial expressions. Furthermore, auditory (prosodic and/or lexical-semantic) information was presented together with the visual information to investigate the processing of bimodal (facial and prosodic cues) and multimodal (facial, lexic, and prosodic cues) human communication. Participants engaged in an identity identification task, while event-related potentials (ERPs) were being recorded to examine early processing mechanisms as reflected in the P200 and N300 component. While the former component has repeatedly been linked to physical property stimulus processing, the latter has been linked to more evaluative “meaning-related” processing. A direct relationship between P200 and N300 amplitude and the number of information channels present was found. The multimodal-channel condition elicited the smallest amplitude in the P200 and N300 components, followed by an increased amplitude in each component for the bimodal-channel condition. The largest amplitude was observed for the unimodal condition. These data suggest that multimodal information induces clear facilitation in comparison to unimodal or bimodal information. The advantage of multimodal perception as reflected in the P200 and N300 components may thus reflect one of the mechanisms allowing for fast and accurate information processing in human communication.

Handwriting Analysis and Personality Assessment

2000 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Greasley
Keyword(s):  
Personality Traits ◽  
Personality Assessment ◽  
Personnel Selection ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Handwriting Analysis ◽  
Recruitment Process ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
Personnel Recruitment ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Better Than

It has been estimated that graphology is used by over 80% of European companies as part of their personnel recruitment process. And yet, after over three decades of research into the validity of graphology as a means of assessing personality, we are left with a legacy of equivocal results. For every experiment that has provided evidence to show that graphologists are able to identify personality traits from features of handwriting, there are just as many to show that, under rigorously controlled conditions, graphologists perform no better than chance expectations. In light of this confusion, this paper takes a different approach to the subject by focusing on the rationale and modus operandi of graphology. When we take a closer look at the academic literature, we note that there is no discussion of the actual rules by which graphologists make their assessments of personality from handwriting samples. Examination of these rules reveals a practice founded upon analogy, symbolism, and metaphor in the absence of empirical studies that have established the associations between particular features of handwriting and personality traits proposed by graphologists. These rules guide both popular graphology and that practiced by professional graphologists in personnel selection.

Parenting and Adolescents’ Sexual Development in Western Societies

2011 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanneke de Graaf ◽  
Ine Vanwesenbeeck ◽  
Liesbeth Woertman ◽  
Wim Meeus
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Behavior ◽  
Parenting Styles ◽  
Sexual Development ◽  
Parental Support ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Sexual Practices ◽  
Psychosexual Development ◽  
First Sexual Intercourse ◽  
Parenting Influences ◽  
Reciprocal Associations

This review examines associations between parenting styles and the psychosexual development of adolescents. Methods and results of empirical studies of associations between parental support, control, and knowledge and the sexual behavior and sexual health of adolescents are described and evaluated. The results show that, in general, higher scores on support, control, and knowledge relate to a delay of first sexual intercourse, safer sexual practices, and higher sexual competence. Despite the vast amount of literature on this subject, the majority of these studies focus on single dimensions of parenting and unidirectional parenting influences. This review generates hypotheses regarding interactions of different parenting styles and reciprocal associations between parents and their children. There is a need for more dynamic, dialectical studies of parenting, and children’s sexual development.

Delay Discounting in Impulsive Behavior

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 312-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana Moreira ◽  
Fernando Barbosa
Keyword(s):  
Delay Discounting ◽  
Human Subjects ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Cochrane Collaboration ◽  
Initial Assessment ◽  
Impulsive Behavior ◽  
Manual Search ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
The Future

Abstract. Delay discounting (DD) is the process of devaluing results that happen in the future. With this review, we intend to identify specificities in the processes of DD in impulsive behavior. Studies were retrieved from multiple literature databases, through rigorous criteria (we included systematic reviews and empirical studies with adult human subjects), following the procedures of the Cochrane Collaboration initiative. Of the 174 documents obtained, 19 were considered eligible for inclusion and were retained for in-depth analysis. In addition, 13 studies from the manual search were included. Thus, a total of 32 studies were selected for review. The objectives/hypotheses, results, and the main conclusion(s) were extracted from each study. Results show that people with pronounced traits of impulsivity discount rewards more markedly, that is, they prefer immediate rewards, though of less value, or postponed losses, even though they worsen in the future. Taken together, the existing data suggest the importance of inserting DD as a tool for initial assessment in conjunction with measures of addiction and stress level, as well as the consideration of new therapies.

Media Psychology and Complex Modes of Entertainment Experiences

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Klimmt
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Terror Management Theory ◽  
Death And Dying ◽  
Terror Management ◽  
Media Psychology ◽  
Mixed Emotions ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Complex Modes ◽  
History Of ◽  
Media Enjoyment

This comment briefly examines the history of entertainment research in media psychology and welcomes the conceptual innovations in the contribution by Oliver and Bartsch (this issue). Theoretical perspectives for improving and expanding the “appreciation” concept in entertainment psychology are outlined. These refer to more systematic links of appreciation to the psychology of mixed emotions, to positive psychology, and to the psychology of death and dying – in particular, to terror management theory. In addition, methodological challenges are discussed that entertainment research faces when appreciation and the experience of “meaning for life” need to be addressed in empirical studies of media enjoyment.

Rehabilitation psychologists: A place in the policy process?

1990 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 766-770 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea L. Solarz
Keyword(s):  
Policy Process
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