Public-Sector Management is Complicated

Privatization ◽  
2018 ◽  
pp. 200-222
Author(s):  
Joseph Heath
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Transaction Costs ◽  
Agency Problems ◽  
The Political ◽  
Private Firms ◽  
Public Sector Management ◽  
Political Sphere ◽  
State Involvement ◽  
History Of

This chapter holds that the pre-history of this wave – the phase of “corporatization” of state-owned enterprises – served as the true driver of the changes Henry Farrell identifies, such as increased reliance on contracting. The author suggests that the reforms aimed to remove state-owned enterprises from the political sphere, as a means of redressing agency problems, but in so doing changed their governance to such a degree that they were virtually indistinguishable from the operation of private firms. The author identifies a number of circumstantial changes which affected the distribution of transaction costs, and which undermined the case for state involvement..

scholarly journals History of Symbols as Social History? Ten preliminary notes on the image and sign systems of social movements in Germany

1993 ◽  
Vol 38 (S1) ◽  
pp. 105-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gottfried Korff ◽  
Harry Drost
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Social History ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Sphere ◽  
Sign Systems ◽  
History Of

The last two centuries have produced, transformed and destroyed a myriad of political symbols of a linguistic, visual and ritual form. Between, say 1790 and 1990 the political sphere witnessed both an explosion in the generation of symbols and a radical decline of symbols. This calls for explanations.

A Question of Utter Importance: The Early History of Climate Change and Energy Policy in Sweden, 1974–1983

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristoffer Ekberg ◽  
Martin Hultman
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Climate Science ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Early Years ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Political Sphere ◽  
History Of ◽  
Scientific Results

This paper studies early arguments in Sweden for combating climate change. We show how scientific results in relation to climate change entered the political sphere as part of the debate on energy in the 1970s, a process we propose to name energysation. We argue that the use of climate science by pro-nuclear political actors served as a way of maintaining a course set by a high-energy society while simultaneously trying to outmanoeuvre the growing environmental anti-nuclear and low-energy movement. When the pro-nuclear power side met with resistance, this led to a displacement of climate change knowledge away from the realm of the national political sphere and specific energy forms, a process we conceptualise as de-energysation. By highlighting conflicts and the political framings of climate change in the early years 1974–1983, we suggest that the history of these frames influences current delay in climate change mitigation and limits the range of actions and ways of addressing the ongoing climate emergency.

Sensation, Relation and Neoconcrete Poetics

2020 ◽  
pp. 62-99
Author(s):  
Rebecca Kosick
Keyword(s):  
The Political ◽  
Object Language ◽  
Avant Garde ◽  
Political Sphere ◽  
History Of ◽  
The 1960S

Chapter 2 discusses the 1960s interdisciplinary movement known as neoconcretism. It argues for a relational poetics in which language is plastic and what’s plastic is language. Analysing examples of poetry and art that either calls itself poetry or makes use of the book form – including poet Ferreira Gullar’s ‘Buried Poem’ (an underground poem-room that invites the ‘reader’ to enter), artist Lygia Pape’s Book of Creation (a language without words which the ‘reader’ can order) and artist Hélio Oiticica’s Secret Poetics (a lyric that stills the sensible for the ‘reader’ to perceive) – this chapter shows that language powerfully shapes the history of what neoconcrete artist Lygia Clark calls the ‘relational object’. Not just a score which would guide, from the outside, the co-creation of an object, language, in a relational poetics, joins the creator and participant in becoming the object created. This conclusion also points towards one way in which avant-garde experimentation (often accused of being apolitical) can engage the political sphere – by creating the opportunity for an engagé poetics that takes shape inside sensory engagement itself.

Women in Modern Egypt

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hoda Elsadda
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Women's Rights ◽  
Women's Movement ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
The Political ◽  
Women’S Rights ◽  
Political Sphere ◽  
Egyptian Women ◽  
History Of ◽  
Modern Egypt

Women in Egypt have always played key roles in society in different historical eras. In the modern period, women were at the forefront of the modernization project that gained momentum at the end of the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century. “The woman question” occupied center stage in debates about the new modern nation in the making and against the background of colonial domination as Egypt became a British protectorate in 1882. The period from the 1920s to the early 1950s is noted as a period that was particularly vibrant in the history of the women’s movement and witnessed rapid developments in women’s participation in the public sphere. Women founded magazines, established civil society organizations in all fields, joined the national movement for independence, and contributed to key ongoing debates on the modernization project. In 1952, the Free Officers Revolution resulted in a radical shift in the political sphere: the end of British colonialism, the transformation of Egypt from a monarchy to a socialist republic, and the start of a new era. The new order promoted women’s education and access to the labor market but restricted political rights and freedoms in general, a new reality that inevitably impacted the development of an independent women’s movement. In the 1970s, women’s rights assumed center stage in international politics, a development that had an impact on women in general and Egyptian women in particular. Egyptian women entered the diplomatic corps and participated in drafting international conventions, in representing their country in international forums, and in joining international civil society campaigns for women’s rights. They also established a new generation of civil society organizations that advocated for women’s rights both locally and on the international stage. The year 2011 marks an important moment in the history of Egypt. The wave of revolutions that swept the Arab world resulted in the opening of the political sphere in an unprecedented manner. Women’s rights activists rose to the challenge, and more and more women were active participants in the movement for change. Women joined new political parties that were established in the aftermath of revolutions; they were active participants in numerous political and social initiatives and movements; and they played a prominent role in marches for political and social freedoms. In sum, women in modern Egypt have played key roles in the making of modern Egypt. The story of their contributions and achievements is the story of a movement for change toward a better future.

scholarly journals A MALAYSIA OF CITIZENS: ETHNICITY, MEMBERSHIP AND POLITICS OF MERGER

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 75
Author(s):  
Ong Argo Victoria
Keyword(s):  
Political Identity ◽  
Political History ◽  
Political Community ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Sphere ◽  
History Of ◽  
Political Dimensions ◽  
Sphere Of Influence ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

This paper examines the political history of the relationship between Malaysia and Singapore, focusing on the notion of citizenship and its ethnic, civic and political dimensions. It analyses the extent to which the merger of Singapore with Malaysia redefined the citizenship boundaries of the Malaysian national political identity. The incorporation of Singaporean citizens into the Malaysian political community was controversial, as it was closely related to electoral stakes. The ruling People’s Action Party and the Alliance Party attempted to delineate the political sphere of the population of each political unit through the demarcation between ‘citizenship’ and ‘nationality’. However, the citizenship crisis continued to trouble the relationship of these states to the point that both parties breached the perceived agreement not to interfere with the other’s political sphere of influence. This sphere of influence was delineated on the basis of race, thus cutting across political territory rather than territorial attributes. The ideological clashes over the meaning of citizenship that arose during the political merger of Singapore and Malaya, show that a truly Malaysian citizenship could not be developed-only a Malaysia of citizens.

scholarly journals Book in the literary discourse of the German Enlightenment

Bibliosphere ◽  
2018 ◽  
pp. 27-31
Author(s):  
N. N. Misyurov
Keyword(s):  
Social Communication ◽  
The Political ◽  
German Culture ◽  
Political Sphere ◽  
The Enlightenment ◽  
Philosophy Of Culture ◽  
German Enlightenment ◽  
History Of ◽  
Indispensable Tool ◽  
History Of Literature

The books’ role in the German Enlightenment discourse explores the intersection of different but complementary disciplines: bibliology, philosophy of culture and «text linguistics», as well as the history of literature that expands the possibilities of studying cultural and public communication. A text (magazine, book) is interpreted as a mechanism that controls the process of learning and understanding. To illustrate the study theoretical foundations, the author considers the historical practice of the literary era in Germany in 1770-1790. The struggle of «cilturtregers» to renew German culture moved from the political sphere to journalism and literature. The author concludes that the book (both scientific and artistic) and reading became a factor of social communication. The struggle for the renewal of German culture, its national identity preservation due to a number of historical reasons hindering the development of the country moved from the political sphere to the journalism and literature field. It was closely connected with the whole complex of the European Enlightenment ideas. The book - both scientific (philosophical work, art treatise) and artistic one (literary and journalistic composition, dramatic creation, etc.) became an indispensable tool of the nation aesthetic education. In such circumstances, a book obtains the significance of not only the «source of knowledge» but a kind of «catechism» to struggle for national culture. Thus, considering a book text as a phenomenon of the German culture of the Enlightenment century with ideological and aesthetic significance, it should be especially notes that such a «text» (a book of scientific, philosophical, moralistic or artistic content) is addressed both to a specific reader, a representative of some class, and to a «collective reader». The German novel (it is the genre of «trivial» literature that is considered directly) is a product of the era. The dialogue «author - reader» (or a complicated triad «author - publisher - reader») was the basis of the nation estetic education. Reading became a fact (and a factor) of social communication. The German book has been transformed from an expensive and exclusive «source of knowledge» targeted for scientists, connoisseurs of «beauty» to a catechism (available for the ordinary reader) of the national struggle to preserve the German culture self-existence and to acquaint the nation to the treasures of the world classical «ancient» and modern literature.

scholarly journals AFGHANISTAN: THE SHIFTING RELIGIO-ORDER AND ISLAMIC DEMOCRACY

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 309-326
Author(s):  
Anwar Ouassini
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Sphere ◽  
Religious Doctrine ◽  
Political Interests ◽  
History Of ◽  
Democratic System ◽  
First Time ◽  
The Relationship

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between the Islamic religio-order and the fledgling democratic institutions in contemporary Afghanistan. This paper challenges the predominant notion that Islam and democracy are not compatible in Afghanistan by producing a historical account that traces the history of the Afghan religio-order in relation to the ever-changing political sphere. I argue that the Afghan religio-order has historically been co-opted and controlled by Afghan political institutions, no matter what political and ideological system was in place. The legitimation of the political sphere by the Islamic religio-order reveals that Islamic authority and legitimacy given to political institutions is shaped by political interests as opposed to religious doctrine. Finally, this paper builds on the historical analysis to argue that the contemporary Islamic democratic system provides for the first time in contemporary Afghan history an autonomous Islamic religio-order via the Afghan judiciary.

scholarly journals The Socio-cultural and Political Role of Women in The Teke Kingdom XIXth - XXth Centuries

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Oba Dominique
Keyword(s):  
Political History ◽  
Central Africa ◽  
The Political ◽  
Important Place ◽  
Political Activities ◽  
Political Sphere ◽  
Political Role ◽  
History Of ◽  
Role Of Women

The Teke company recognizes a heavy responsibility of women in their status as wife and mother and in their participation in different social, cultural and political activities. In this matrimonial society, the Teke woman is a true artist in the history of the Teke kingdom. On this subject, the political history of the Teke kingdom invokes the implication of the woman in the management of the kingdom and in the sense that the role of the woman is very noticed in this Teke civilization which continues to resist as best it can the perverse effects of globalization. As one of the last kingdoms in Central Africa, the Teke kingdom, which resisted during slavery and European penetration, has long known the importance of women. It was in this sense that it had made it possible to place her in the socio-cultural and political sphere. The Teke woman being a dynamic woman worked with great ardor, occupying an important place within the kingdom where her presence was almost noticed everywhere.

scholarly journals The Nigerian State and Public Sector Management: A Political Economy Analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 5376-5383
Author(s):  
Igbokwe-Ibeto Chinyeaka Justine ◽  
Nwobi Fidelia ◽  
Nnaji Ifeoma Loretho
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Class ◽  
Colonial State ◽  
Public Sector Management ◽  
The Public ◽  
Material Condition ◽  
And Shifts

The colonial state emerged to serve the economic and political interests of the colonizing power. This state was created to formally organise the exploitation of the colonised territory in the interest of the metropolitan entity. Within the framework of political-economy theory, this article examined the Nigerian state and public sector management at the theoretical level with the aim of understanding the Nigerian state in terms of its integration into the global economy as a peripheral entity. The article relied on the political economy paradigm to explain the dynamics and shifts in the management of the public sector. The political economy approach is predicated on the primacy of material condition. The analysis of the economic sub-structure assists to account for, and explain the power politics behind the public sector management. This approach also elucidates on the character of the state, nature of its governing class and the mechanisms of domination. It concludes that, the Nigerian state and its actors have been major impediments to the deepening of the public sector management. The Nigerian state requires reconstituting in the sense that would make it humane, benevolent and less vulnerable to hijack by the political class.

scholarly journals The impact of Albanian schools in the Nation-building process

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 61
Author(s):  
Lulzim Hoxha
Keyword(s):  
Social Space ◽  
Political Identity ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Community ◽  
Political Sphere ◽  
Whole Process ◽  
Building Process ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Impact

Education is often perceived as an individual will of citizens to become part of the social edifice, in which they learn the history of their ancestors and their country despite of the political sphere. In this paper I’ll try to argue that not only education isn’t an independent category of knowledge, but also that the whole process of learning is marked and shaped by a given political goal, namely the construction of a solid social space which defines our political identity as members of a community. A further study of the historical contexts in which education gave birth to a unified social community will give an answer to the issue if education is a field deprived of any political argument but only objective truths, or if this field performs specific functions to unify a functionally divided society and its mission comes from outside the education system. This issue will be treated through a comparative analysis between two opposite scholars of nationalism such as Isa Blumi and Denisa Kostovicova. Firstly I’ll try to argue the impact of schools and mass education on the construction of national myths from the perspective of the contemporary theories of nationalism which will be explained in the discussion between the primordialist (learning has always existed and it contains historical truths despite of the political sphere with the final mission of nationally promoting mother tongue) and the instrumentalist (learning is shaped as a political instrument with a specific function) viewpoint.

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