scholarly journals A Matter of Politics

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-64
Author(s):  
Svein Tuastad ◽  
Katya Nogales Crespo
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Political Culture ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Policy Transfer ◽  
The Political ◽  
Main Question ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Weak State ◽  
Institutional System ◽  
Legal Contexts

To which extent do dysfunctional political systems lead to everyday challenges for social workers? Moreover, how do social workers benefit from working in well-ordered democracies? The purpose of this paper is to gain insights into how the interplay between the political context and social work actually operates. Our main question is: How do accountability and state capacity levels affect daily social work? This interplay frequently becomes associated with levels of democracy and redistribution. We also draw attention to how social workers’ are dependent on the capacity of the state to implement policies. We compare social work and the political and legal contexts in two widely different polities – Norway and Bolivia. Our primary findings indicate that the effects of generally unfavourable political conditions permeate the possibilities for effective social work in previously unforeseen ways. Coordination problems, clientelism and political rivalry lead to everyday challenges on the ground, as many problems seem to reflect the overall institutional system and political culture. In well-ordered political systems, these problems are hardly an issue. In our concluding discussion, we address how the nature of the institutional system and political culture apparently might call for a differentiated approach towards reform strategies. For instance, progressive politicians, citizens and social workers advocating a policy transfer could face severe hindrances in polities, thus comprising weak state capacities.

Democratic revival of political culture

2020 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
pp. 39-43
Author(s):  
D.D. Omirzakova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Political Culture ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Systems

In this article, a political culture is studied in conjunction with the cultural and spiritual ties formed in the course of history. The author reveals the essence of the concept of "democracy" and considers its versatility. Based on this, the essence of "democracy" is studied in combination with modern values, and its role in society is analyzed. Therefore, the fact that the form of power is also measured by culture has been examined in comparison with the political systems of history.

scholarly journals Policy and identity change in youth social work: From social-interventionist to neoliberal policy paradigms

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 470-490 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathrine Vitus
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
The Political ◽  
Identity Change ◽  
Professional Identities ◽  
Political Dimension ◽  
Dominant Ideology ◽  
The Social ◽  
Neoliberal Ideology ◽  
Professional Project

Summary This article analyses – by drawing on ideology critical and psychoanalytical concepts from Slavoj Žižek and Glynos et al. – how political, social and fantasmatic logics interplay and form social workers’ professional identities within two youth social work institutions that operate within different social policy paradigms: a social-interventionist paradigm in 2002 and a neoliberal paradigm in 2010. Findings The article shows how the current neoliberalisation of public policy permeates social work practices through fantasmatic narratives that create professional identities to heal discrepancies in and conceal the political dimension of everyday life. In one institution, within a welfare state-based ideology a compensating-including social professional identity is created in response to the young people’s alleged deficiencies; in the other institution, within a neoliberal ideology a mobilising-motivating identity is created to meet the young people’s alleged excess. In both narratives, however, the young people risk bearing the blame for the failure of the social professional project. Applications Fantasies in both institutions conceal how social workers’ professional identities sustain dominant ideology through dislocating uncertainties, ambiguities and ambivalences implicated in professional social work. Whether rooted in the state-based welfare or market-oriented neoliberal policy paradigms, realisation of these dynamics may expose the basic interdependencies of state, civil society and market actors implicated in the project of professional social work.

In the post-Mugabe era: the role of social work in the democratisation of Zimbabwe

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-109
Author(s):  
Respect Farai Mugodhi ◽  
Lloyd Moyo ◽  
Munyaradzi Muchacha
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Macro Level ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Space

This commentary critically discusses the political space prior to, and in the aftermath of, former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's fall from power and the possibilities for a transition from authoritarianism to democracy in a new political dispensation. The article examines the role of social work in contributing to the democratisation of Zimbabwe and makes a great case for the involvement of social workers at the micro- and macro-level in the pursuit of democracy.

scholarly journals Comparative Analysis of Southern Caucasus Countries’ Political Systems

2018 ◽  
pp. 88-101
Author(s):  
Konstantine Shubitidze ◽  
Tornike Tevdoradze
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Culture ◽  
Political System ◽  
Statistical Data ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Environment ◽  
Political Regimes ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Southern Caucasus ◽  
Points Of View

Caucasus is one of the most popular region for the world in the political view. Three countries – Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan – are part of that region. Despite of the close ties between them and the neighborhood, they have political system similarities and differences as well.  In the paper, we will discuss and compare those three countries from different points of view: political regimes, types of government, number of ministries, economics, political culture, political parties in the parliament and demography. We will find out which country is much forward in these spares, what are their problems and perspectives, what their main political course is and how they interact to each other. In addition to that, we will also discuss and prove our statements by the statistical data of democracy level or political transparency. In addition, it will show some actual problems in the region to the reader and finally it will draw clear picture of the political environment in the region. Keywords: Political Regimes, Democracy, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Ministries, Government, Political Parties, Demography, Economy, Political Culture

scholarly journals Socio-political work during the election race

2021 ◽  
pp. 77-85
Author(s):  
Svitlana Bondar ◽  
Rostyslav Tsimokha
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Professional Training ◽  
Social Problems ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Social

The article offers an analysis of political parties: their essence, functions, image formation, the role of the party as a mediator between the government and society, the activities of parties in elections. The features of the social work of political parties are shown, on the example of the political party «Team of Sergei Rudyk. A time of change!». Mechanisms, basic approaches, the most common methods and techniques of social work with people are analyzed. The main theoretical strategies and ideas of social work are presented. Position of the political party «Team of Sergei Rudyk. A time of change!» is that first, the solution of social problems is discussed before it will be accepted and even after it has been adopted. On the party’s website https://www.rudyk.org/news/page/4/, the main projects of social work are illustrated. The publication gives the main recommendations for improving the efficiency of social work: the creation of a mechanism to help youth in self-determination in choosing the profession of social worker, to extend forms and directions of professional training of social workers, to increase expansion in the number of periodicals covering the work of social services, centres, social workers. The formation of social policy occurs based on information received from the collection of statistical data and the conduct of sociological studies. Understanding this information allows you to identify the social tasks. The realization of socially significant goals and social problems solution have been organized through social projects and social programs, which form a significant part of social policy.

Understanding the Political Culture of Hong Kong: The Paradox of Activism and Depoliticization. By Lamwai-Man. [Armonk, NY and London: M.E. Sharpe, 2004. xi +291 pp. $72.95. ISBN: 0-7656-1313-1.]

2004 ◽  
Vol 180 ◽  
pp. 1108-1109
Author(s):  
Agnes S. Ku
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Political Culture ◽  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
Political Activism ◽  
The Political ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Weak State ◽  
Political Apathy

Buttressed by local scholarship, the conventional understanding of Hong Kong's political culture has long dwelt on the notions of apathy and indifference. Understanding the Political Culture of Hong Kong advances an interesting and provocative thesis to refute the conventional claim by taking readers through a historical journey of Hong Kong's major conflict events between 1949 and 1979. The author ambitiously seeks to engage in a critical evaluation of the conventional theses, especially that by Siu-kai Lau in the 1980s. Lau's idea of utilitarian familism, which is much cited in Hong Kong studies, provides an explanation of political apathy that locates the causes in the wider culture as well as in weak state-society relations. Questioning Lau's thesis on strong methodological, conceptual and empirical grounds, the author aims to present an alternative reading of Hong Kong politics, which she captures well in the subtitle: the paradox of activism and depoliticization.Contrary to Lau, the author argues that political participation was neither minimal nor simply utilitarian. She broadens the conception of political participation to include political acts targeted at the local government, the Chinese government and private institutions; discursive activities through the press; and politically relevant activities via social organizations and social movements. Using a multiple-case interpretive approach, she draws on 13 events as case studies and analyses them in terms of their scale, intensity, publicity, significance and ideological claims. The author maintains that all of the events were “impressive” and were “part of larger movements that persisted over a number of decades and that were sustained by the particular nature of society and politics at that time” (p. 229). These testify to the existence of significant levels of political activism. Adding a twist to her argument, the author further maintains that a culture of depoliticization existed side by side with political activism, which functioned to check left-wing activism in the context of Cold War and Chinese politics.

Understanding Iran’s Decision-makings in Defence Issues and Missile Programme

2020 ◽  
Vol 76 (2) ◽  
pp. 226-242
Author(s):  
Ali Bagheri Dolatabadi
Keyword(s):  
Balance Of Power ◽  
The Political ◽  
Main Question ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
The West ◽  
Strategic Partner ◽  
Military Capability ◽  
Self Sufficiency ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Realistic View

The main question of the present study is: How is it that despite the West’s insistence on negotiation on Tehran’s missile programme and the possibility of sanctions being intensified in the event of Iran’s refusal, the Tehran authorities reject any negotiations in this regard? The findings of the present study indicate that Iranian political authorities, and in particular, the Iranian Leader, have a realistic view towards the country’s defence issue and continue to lay emphasis on such measures as increasing military capability, establishing a balance of power and self-sufficiency in arms manufacturing. Iran’s fears of replication of Iraq’s and Libya’s disarmament and the subsequent overthrow of the political systems of these governments, distrust in the West in the negotiations and the related consequences, lack of a strategic partner, the bitter experience of war with Iraq, and the continuous threats made by the USA and Israel have caused Iran to reject any request for negotiations about its missile programme.

scholarly journals Policy Advisory Capability in Papua New Guinea's Central Government: Evaluation, Implications and Lessons

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Lawrence L Sause
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Policy Coordination ◽  
Policy Transfer ◽  
Policy Advice ◽  
The Political ◽  
Executive Council ◽  
Weak State ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
The Government

<p>There has been mounting criticism (generally associated with the "weak state thesis") of the inability of the Papua New Guinea (PNG) public service to discharge its various policy formulation and implementation tasks. Such criticisms tend to be generalised in nature. Information about performance and the operational deficiencies of specific departments and policy domains derived from scholarly research has been sparse. Against this background, and using as a measure key elements of capability from the development administration literature, this study examines the state of policy advisory capability in three key central agencies within the PNG central government; identifies key constraints on the agencies' ability to provide comprehensive and reliable advice; and then proposes policy intervention measures aimed at strengthening capability. The agencies play a very influential and significant role in the government advisory machine and comprise the Department of Finance and Treasury (DF&T), the Department of Prime Minister and National Executive Council (DPM&NEC) and the Department of Personnel Management (DPM). Analysis is primarily based on the responses from the policy staff of the lead policy units in each department. Such responses have been gauged using a questionnaire survey and indepth interviews in early and late 2002 in Port Moresby. This study shows that the problems affecting policy advisory capability are, in most cases, pervasive and systemic. Such a loss in capability tends to arise from a variety of interlocking (and often interwoven) problems from both the political and the administrative and organisational dimensions within which policy advice is developed and delivered. On a broader level, the weakening of policy advisory capability raises important implications for the organisation and delivery of quality and timely advice. In particular, there is a risk that policy issues will not be comprehensively assessed taking into account the available evidence, views of parties concerned and, most important, the implications arising from various policy options provided to ministers and the National Executive Council (NEC) (cabinet). There is, therefore, a risk of ministers and NEC being ill advised on policy issues. This, in turn, may affect the executive branch's effectiveness in policymaking. The deterioration in the policy advisory capability of the three key agencies also gives rise to doubts about whether the three agencies can effectively maintain their key functions of control, monitoring and oversight and policy coordination across the PNG public service. There is a risk of the centre of the PNG government losing its ability to control and steer the government machine. This conclusion is consistent with the existing anecdotal evidence of a deteriorating capability of the PNG public service and, to some extent supports the weak state thesis advanced in the literature. This study on the ground of three key agencies demonstrates, however, that the political environment is not the only cause of weak performance by the PNG public service. That is a function of a variety of interlocking political and administrative and organisational capability factors. An improvement in policy advice capability in PNG will require attention to the several systemic factors identified in the study. Using insights from the policy transfer literature this study shows that policy lessons from other jurisdictions could be drawn on to improve capability in policy advice in PNG.</p>

scholarly journals Ética e direitos humanos no trabalho de assistentes sociais na Saúde | Ethics and human rights in the work of social workers in healthcare

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (42) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sâmya Rodrigues Ramos ◽  
Aione Maria Costa Sousa ◽  
Iana Vasconcelos ◽  
Larissa Jéssica Ferreira de Souza
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Political Action ◽  
The Political ◽  
Daily Work ◽  
Unified Health System ◽  
Political Ethic ◽  
Significant Repercussion ◽  
The Impact

O Conselho Federal de Serviço Social (CFESS) vem, nas últimas décadas, construindo iniciativas para fomentar o debate ético-profissional e dos direitos humanos em diversas frentes de intervenção. Desta forma, o presente artigo analisa as repercussões da ação política do CFESS no campo da ética e dos direitos humanos no cotidiano de trabalho de assistentes sociais do Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS). Neste sentido, o artigo é fruto de uma pesquisa realizada com profissionais de Mossoró (RN), concluída em 2017. Constatamos que as ações promovidas pelo CFESS têm uma significativa repercussão e vêm ganhando materialidade no cotidiano de trabalho dos assistentes sociais, reforçando o posicionamento ético-político defendido pelo Serviço Social brasileiro nas últimas quatro décadas.Palavras-Chave: ética; direitos humanos; Serviço Social; saúde.  Abstract – In the last decades, the Federal Council of Social Work (CFESS) has been implementing initiatives to promote ethical-professional and Human Rights debate on several fronts. In this sense, this article analyzes the impact of CFESS’s political action concerning ethics and Human Rights in the daily work of social workers of the Unified Health System (SUS). The article is the result of a survey carried out with professionals from Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte concluded in 2017. We find that the actions promoted by CFESS have a significant repercussion and are gaining materiality in the daily work of social workers, reinforcing the political-ethic positioning advocated by Brazilian social work over the last four decades.Keywords: ethics; human rights; social work; healthcare.

scholarly journals ¿Crisis de la Cultura de la Transición?. Para una crítica de la cultura política de la Democracia Española.

2018 ◽  
pp. 213-226
Keyword(s):  
Political Culture ◽  
Transition To Democracy ◽  
Civic Culture ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Symbolic Resources ◽  
Palabras Clave ◽  
Democratic Character ◽  
Culture Transition

Resumen: Partiendo de la revisión interpretativista que ha cuestionado la rigidez de la clásica noción de cultura política elaborada por Almond y Verba, así como la validez explicativa de su concepto de cultura cívica para dar cuenta del carácter democrático de los sistemas políticos, nos interrogamos acerca de en qué medida los recursos simbólicos que desde la Transición habrían logrado homogeneizar un imaginario de consenso pueden no ser capaces de soportar la emergencia de nuevas formas de representar lo colectivo. El presente trabajo trata de ubicar cuáles han sido los rasgos definitorios de la cultura política de la democracia española, con el fin de estimar la caducidad de los márgenes discursivos del complejo mítico que identificamos como “cultura de la Transición”. Palabras clave: cultura política, cultura cívica, transición a la democracia, consenso, crisis. Crisis of the Culture of the Transition?: Notes and reflections for a criticism of the Political Culture of Spanish Democracy Abstract: Starting from the interpretative revision that has questioned the rigidity of the classic notion of political culture elaborated by Almond and Verba, as well as the explanatory validity of its concept of civic culture to give an account of the democratic character of political systems, we question ourselves about How far the symbolic resources that since the Transition would have managed to homogenize an imaginary of consensus may not be able to withstand the emergence of new ways of representing the collective. The present work tries to locate the definitive features of the political culture of the Spanish democracy, with the purpose of estimate the expiration of the discursive margins of the mythical complex that we identify as "culture of the Transition". Keywords:political culture, civic culture, transition to democracy, consensus, crisis.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document