Is economic inequality a universal evil?

2019 ◽  
pp. 91-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rostislav I. Kapeliushnikov
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Economic Inequality ◽  
The State ◽  
Fair Play ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Ordinary People ◽  
The Public ◽  
Discursive Power ◽  
A Current

Using published estimates of inequality for two countries (Russia and USA) the paper demonstrates that inequality measuring still remains in the state of “statistical cacophony”. Under this condition, it seems at least untimely to pass categorical normative judgments and offer radical political advice for governments. Moreover, the mere practice to draw normative conclusions from quantitative data is ethically invalid since ordinary people (non-intellectuals) tend to evaluate wealth and incomes as admissible or inadmissible not on the basis of their size but basing on whether they were obtained under observance or violations of the rules of “fair play”. The paper concludes that a current large-scale ideological campaign of “struggle against inequality” has been unleashed by left-wing intellectuals in order to strengthen even more their discursive power over the public.

What’s an Economy For?

2020 ◽  
pp. 195-212
Author(s):  
Maxine Eichner
Keyword(s):  
Young Children ◽  
Economic Inequality ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
The State ◽  
Social Safety Net ◽  
Proper Place ◽  
Public Programs ◽  
The Public ◽  
Prekindergarten Programs ◽  
Economic Goal

This chapter describes how US policymakers would regulate the economy if they became serious about supporting the American Dream. Legislators would stop making an ever-higher GDP the ultimate economic goal and instead focus on ensuring that every American gets the resources they need to thrive. Since thriving Americans require healthy families, this would require ensuring that families, too, receive the resources they need to thrive. To serve these goals, markets must be put in their proper place in the larger economy, alongside both families and government. When it comes to ensuring that families get the resources they need, the state has five critical functions to fill. These are: (1) partnering with parents to provide the conditions young children need at home; (2) investing in excellent daycare and prekindergarten programs; (3) regulating the economy to reduce economic inequality and insecurity; (4) constructing a strong social safety net; and (5) regulating the workplace to allow workers to reconcile work with family. The chapter closes by describing the public programs that would support each of these five functions.

LITIGATION MASTERS AND THE LITIGATION SYSTEM OF MING AND QING CHINA

2007 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susumu Fuma
Keyword(s):  
Civil Service ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
The State ◽  
Ordinary People ◽  
Examination System ◽  
Lower Court ◽  
The Public ◽  
Know How ◽  
Civil Service Examination

Litigation masters (songshi), who flourished in traditional China, have long been associated in the minds of the public with questionable legal behaviour, taking advantage of the lack of legal know-how of plaintiffs. Though they existed outside the law and their existence was constantly castigated by the authorities, they played a very important role in society. This article examine the reality of what it meant for ordinary people to go to law, in an attempt to reassess how the litigation system actually worked, as opposed to how it was described ideally by the state. It first looks at litigation procedures and the trial process, and concludes that the Chinese were extremely litigious, challenging the notion that people preferred to resolve disputes by mediation rather than by going to court. Court procedures were complicated and costs high, and not all plaints submitted to the court were accepted. To ensure that the correct forms were followed, expert help was necessary, and this help often took the form of the litigation master. He acted as proxy for litigants, for he was unable to appear in court in person, and he played a vital role in negotiating with the lower court functionaries whose support was vital for the success of a case. He also wrote plaints in a form acceptable to the courts, and coached litigants in their presentation. The litigation master was often a former civil service examination candidate, and so trained in the kind of writing skills the court required. Failed students often had to choose between becoming a private secretary to a magistrate or a litigation master, and there was a continuum between the two. Thus it was the examination system itself that fostered litigation masters. Because the state refused to recognize litigiousness, it also had to refuse to recognize the lawful existence of litigation masters. Nevertheless they met an important social need.

scholarly journals Improving the Mechanisms of Public-Private Partnership

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 242
Author(s):  
Aliya Zyalilevna Minnibaeva ◽  
Irina Yurievna Vaslavskaya ◽  
Irina Alexandrovna Koshkina ◽  
Artur Faridovich Ziyatdinov
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Public Private Partnership ◽  
State Regulation ◽  
The State ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
Private Partnership ◽  
Investment Projects ◽  
The Public ◽  
Activity State

Development of the Russian economy causes the growth of public requirements and structural changes connected with it directed to an increase in the efficiency of social and economic tasks solution. Need of partnership of the state and private business development for the solution of problems in the social and economic sphere predetermines by the insufficiency of opportunities of the public (budgetary) financing of investment projects, large-scale and significant for society. The public-private partnership (PPP) acts as one of the modern economic mechanisms allowing realizing the interaction of the state and business. The PPP, on the one side, represents a special form of influence of state authorities and management for the purpose of stimulation of business activity, and with another, acts as the economic mechanism of the solution of social and economic tasks. The article is devoted to the consideration of the public-private partnership mechanism as one of the most modern methods of economic activity state regulation which basis the basic coordination principle of the parties interests and allowing to combine interests and technologies of business. Need and the prospects of further development of mechanisms of state-private partnership on the basis of the state strategic planning are proved. Special attention is paid to the interrelation of development of public-private partnership and need of theoretical scientific research in the field of improvement of institutional, ensuring its realization. It is shown that the role of the mechanism of public-private partnership in the economy is defined, first of all, by its elements as subjects and objects of public-private partnership, priority spheres of realization. Authors allocate and describe a number of aspects of the mechanism of functioning of public-private partnership, namely: organizational and legal, financial and investment, technical and organizational, regional. In the article, the main problems connected with the development of the mechanism of PPP, including with lack of the description of concrete mechanisms of use of the majority of forms of PPP and lack of regulation of questions of division of powers between public authorities and business are allocated and proved.

PUBLIC-CIVILIAN COMMUNICATIVE NETWORK AS A PHENOMENON IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 285-292
Author(s):  
Yevhen Akeksandrovych Romanenko ◽  
Volodymyr Nikolaevich Kozakov ◽  
Iryna Vіtalіivna Chaplay
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Everyday Life ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
The State ◽  
Ordinary People ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
The Public ◽  
Information And Communication

For many years, Ukraine is not entirely able to reverse the dangerous tendencies of growing distrust of the public to the activities of state authorities. In particular, the promises of public authorities regarding the improvement and development of information and communication technologies that are used both in the activities of state authorities, in narrow circles of specialists, and in everyday life of ordinary people are not fully fulfilled. The state-civil communicative network is one of the main directions of stimulating economic growth, employment, expansion of competition and, as a result, contributing to overcoming "digital isolation", both social and geographic. Without the state-civilian communicative network it is virtually impossible to execute management decisions, to make feedback and to correct the goals and stages of the activity of state authorities.

Socio-economic Inequality or Demographic Conditions: A Micro-level Analysis of Terrorism in Jharkhand

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nabil Ouassini ◽  
Arvind Verma
Keyword(s):  
Economic Inequality ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
The State ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Demographic Indices ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Level Analysis

A popular perception is that left-wing extremism has its roots in the phenomenon of socio-economic inequality. Yet, empirical work analysing this perception and exploring the links between left-wing extremism and socio-economic deprivation is limited. This article examines the relationship between socio-economic-demographic indices and left-wing extremism in the state of Jharkhand in India. The analysis tests the strength of the relationship linking left-wing terrorist incidents that occurred between the years of 2005 and March of 2012 and various socio-economic-demographic factors. The results suggest that the districts that report high incidents of terrorist attacks are not only linked to socio-economic inequality but also associated with socio-demographic conditions concerning state access and the lack of penetration by security and government agencies. In the conclusion, policy implications and future research for the state of Jharkhand are suggested.

scholarly journals Blockchain in the public procurement system

E-Management ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-41
Author(s):  
N. G. Kosyan ◽  
I. V. Mil'kina
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Public Procurement ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
The State ◽  
Russian Society ◽  
Federal Law ◽  
Procurement Management ◽  
The Public ◽  
Institutional Model

Public procurement accounts for a significant share of the country's budget. It is impossible to solve the problem of effective budget spending without establishing a rational and transparent system of public procurement. On the basis of international practice, a system of public procurement has been developed and implemented in the Russian Federation. The relevance of the study of this article is determined by the fact, that a large-scale reform of the practice of public procurement is continued in Russia due to the fact that in January 2014 entered into force a new Federal law dated on April 5, 2013 № 44-FZ “On the contract system in the procurement of goods, works, services for state and municipal needs”. The contract system plays an important system-forming role in Russian society. A free and mutually beneficial economic treaty remains one of the main institutions of the market. For this reason the order of the state and separate types of legal entities forms ecosystem, in which all Russian business develops and under which adapts. One of the fundamental principles of the state procurement policy is the principle of increasing efficiency. Currently the trend of the development of the informal relations, the insufficient level of quality meet the requirements of the society. The existing institutional model of public procurement management in Moscow does not fully ensure in practice the reproduction of the necessary economic and social effects, focusing on economic. The problems of poor quality of procurement management in Moscow require a deep study and evaluation of the necessary level of efficiency of tools to improve economic and social relations in the public sector. The purpose of this article is to develop proposals for improving the mechanism of public procurement. The authors of the article consider the possibility of using blockchain in public procurement. The use of this technology will reduce the time spent on the processing of documentation, reduce the degree of corruption in the process of public procurement, by creating reputational lists available to all participants in this process. In addition, the use of a smart contract allows to minimize the number of intermediaries in the conclusion of public contracts.

scholarly journals Powering the state: The political geographies of electrification in Mozambique

2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 498-518 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcus Power ◽  
Joshua Kirshner
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
The State ◽  
Rural Electrification ◽  
The Political ◽  
Energy Access ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
Important Means ◽  
Discursive Power

This paper explores the role of electricity infrastructures in helping to create, expand or limit the contours of the state in post-colonial Mozambique. Through a focus on recent electrification campaigns and attempts to improve sustainable energy access, we argue that the extension of electricity infrastructures helps to counter the state’s ‘blindness’ and to provide a more permanent visibility for the state whilst potentially enhancing its capacity to order, arrange and ‘read’ its territory and citizenry (particularly in contested rural peripheries). We argue that the material and symbolic work of large-scale infrastructural works around rural electrification and grid extension constitute an important means through which the state performs and narrates its presence and role in order to gain meaning and importance in the lives of rural residents and to forge connections with them. Aside from extending the power and reach of state institutions and their territorial authority, we contend that the development of electricity infrastructures also helps to create neoliberal subjectivities and advance neoliberalisation whilst creating lucrative opportunities for elite accumulation. We examine the different forms of institutional, material and discursive power that influence why some ways of organising energy are privileged over others and reflect on the resulting implications for energy access inequalities and state–citizen relations.

scholarly journals Negative or Positive Understanding of Freedom

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-57
Author(s):  
Pavel Angelov Angelov
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
The State ◽  
Market Game ◽  
Ordinary People ◽  
Market Society ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Free Actions

Abstract In recent decades, the question of freedom in market society and responsibility in the behavior of market players has been raised again. Usually, in the public sphere, the thesis is stressed that the state is the main reason for restricting the freedom of the market subjects. In this article, the perception of freedom as negative or positive is stated and analysed; freedom is accepted, understood and refers to every subject, member of society and participant in the market game; subject who in his/her free actions does not subdue and does not harm others and the rest. In their complex life existence ordinary people seem to be between Scylla and Charybdis of the state and the powerful national and transnational market subjects.

scholarly journals State Policy Concerning Russian Orthodox Church Between 1958 and 1964 (Based on Krasnodar Krai)

2019 ◽  
pp. 135-147
Author(s):  
Natalia Belikova
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
The State ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
Krasnodar Krai ◽  
Religious Policy ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
The Public ◽  
System Method ◽  
The Government

Introduction. The article is devoted to the problem of revealing the consequences of state religious policy in the region under study in the period between 1958 and 1964. The initial date is associated with the end of the post-Stalin struggle for leadership in the Communist party and the state and the formation of a new Church policy aimed at the destruction of religious organizations in the USSR. The end of the period is associated with the change of the top leadership of the USSR and the attendant changes in religious policy. In order to identify the consequences of state religious policy, the author analyzes the nature and content of this policy, as well as the attitude of believers to the anti-church actions of local authorities. The territory of the Krasnodar and Kuban dioceses in the period under study corresponded to the administrative borders of Krasnodar Krai. This diocese was headed by Metropolitan Viktor (Svyatin). Methods and materials. The use of the statistical method allowed the author to reveal the dynamics of personnel changes among the Orthodox clergy, the number of closed temples in the Krasnodar and Kuban dioceses and the number of religious ceremonies performed by the clergy. As a result of applying the system method the author reveals that not only local Soviet and party authorities took part in implementing religious policy, but also the public was actively involved that gave large-scale anti-Church actions. Analysis. The aspiration of authorities to the full replacement of the Orthodox church from life of citizens in the region under study led to the loss of more than a half of personnel structure of priests and to closing more than 50 % of temples. To fight against religious traditions the government used both administrative measures expressed in changing the rules of the baptism ceremony, and distribution of experience of Soviet non-religious rites. These measures led to the fact that in the period between 1958 and 1964 the number of baptisms decreased by 38.2 %, weddings – by 87 %, funerals – by 66 %. However, residents of the region continued to visit churches and participate in religious ceremonies. Results. It was found that in Krasnodar Krai the rite of baptism amounted to the largest percentage compared to other rites, which indicates the greater demand for thisrite among the parishioners. As a result of the state religious policy, the Orthodox Church as an institution was dealta serious blow, but it was not possible to eliminate the religiosity of the population.

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