Polish, and Slovak, Women in the European Parliament: an Analysis of the Results of the Election Held in May 2019

The objective of our paper is to analyse the political activity of Polish, and Slovak, women in EP elections; we aim to determine, among other things: whether gender quotas are a decisive factor for women’s electoral success, or do other factors result in an increase/decrease in the number of female candidates and the number of women MEPs? What are the particular characteristics of women representing Poland, and Slovakia, in the EP? What was their path to the EP? Which (conservative, liberal) parties are more willing to put women forward in EP elections? Poland introduced the so-called gender quotas into the electoral system, while Slovakia does not have such legal solutions in place. However, when comparing Slovakia to the situation in Poland, it can be stated that although there is a system of election quotas in Poland, its practical implementation may be purely theoretical. In percentage terms, the number of Slovak women elected to the European Parliament (except 2019) was significantly higher than in Poland, even though there is no quota system in the Slovak Republic. The success of Polish, and Slovak, women in the elections to the EP of the 9th term is the result of many factors, which include so-called electoral engineering (quotas, gender balance, first and second places on lists), electoral strategy of a party, but above all, political and social activity of the women themselves. We consider the last factor to be determinant in this respect.

晚明軍士收入考——兼論明代國家財政之基本精神

<p>以往的明代財政史研究，大都選擇以財政收入一側的嬗遞為考察對象而不離乎制度研究的範式與國家本位的視角。本文以財政支出為切入點討論晚明軍士收入的構成與水準，進而以自下而上的進路，探討明代國家財政之基本精神。本文將晚明軍士收入劃分為常規性收入與臨時性收入，前者包括月糧、布花、馬料，後者則涉及行糧、安家銀。對於衛所軍士而言，晚明財政體制的白銀化未對其生計產生實質影響，其收入仍不過與洪武時期的標準大體相持，僅能勉強維生。相形之下，並不歸屬於衛所軍戶制之中的募兵所得餉銀明顯更高。兩者的分野與明代財政奉行的「原額主義」密切相關：國家以戶籍制束縛軍戶，設計微薄的糧餉標準，以此適應同樣偏低的財政收入。此一機制雖因晚明戰爭不斷而崩解，卻為清朝繼承乃至進一步鞏固。</p> <p>&nbsp;</p><p>Earlier studies on Ming dynasty finance have mainly focused on changes in revenue, following an institutional and state-oriented paradigm. This essay instead examines military pay, the largest expenditure of the late Ming central government, thus offering a perspective from the bottom up. This essay distinguishes late Ming military pay into regular and temporary categories. The former included monthly grain allowances, clothing, and horse fodder, while the latter included travel rations and relocation funds. For the military households, the commutation of the financial system into silver did not have a substantial impact on their livelihood. Their income had remained largely the same since the founding of the dynasty, and they could barely make ends meet. By contrast, the recruits, who were not registered with military households, received payment and rations that were significantly higher. The discrepancy between the two was closely linked to the &ldquo;quota system&rdquo; practiced in Ming financial administration. When the government established households fixed in the military category, meager rations were standardized, commensurate with the low revenue of the financial administration. Although this mechanism collapsed amidst the continuous wars of the late Ming, it was adopted and further consolidated in the Qing dynasty.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>

Bridging Barriers: Study of Refugee Integration in New Zealand Communities

<p>New Zealand is one of the 26 nations of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) who participate in a regular refugee resettlement program (“New Zealand Refugee Quota Programme”). It is also one of the few countries to have a refugee orientation program upon arrival and dedicates a centre especially to host the incoming refugees. The current refugee quota system in New Zealand provides a 6 week orientation and assessment period followed by dispersal into 6 different cities across New Zealand for permanent resettlement. Refugees develop friendships and a sense of comfort over the 6 weeks program with all the facilities available at the Resettlement centre. The transition from the centre into the independent housing in suburban locations therefore becomes more challenging due to the lack of induction of refugees into their host communities. Refugees are alienated in their new communities with the locals equally as oblivious to the new settlers. As a result, post settlement engagement with the host society becomes difficult for refugees. The community relations between the refugees and host society is neglected with refugees generally connecting with the same ethnic group (ii, Gray); limiting cross-cultural connections. This research investigates the role of architecture as a facilitator of social interaction between the refugees and local community to create a strong sense of belonging in the host society. The aim is to explore architectural solutions which can ease the process of resettlement for refugees into the different regions around New Zealand. It seeks to develop a design which offers social engagement that can extend into the society and cross-cultural interaction can be encouraged.</p>

Bridging Barriers: Study of Refugee Integration in New Zealand Communities

<p>New Zealand is one of the 26 nations of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) who participate in a regular refugee resettlement program (“New Zealand Refugee Quota Programme”). It is also one of the few countries to have a refugee orientation program upon arrival and dedicates a centre especially to host the incoming refugees. The current refugee quota system in New Zealand provides a 6 week orientation and assessment period followed by dispersal into 6 different cities across New Zealand for permanent resettlement. Refugees develop friendships and a sense of comfort over the 6 weeks program with all the facilities available at the Resettlement centre. The transition from the centre into the independent housing in suburban locations therefore becomes more challenging due to the lack of induction of refugees into their host communities. Refugees are alienated in their new communities with the locals equally as oblivious to the new settlers. As a result, post settlement engagement with the host society becomes difficult for refugees. The community relations between the refugees and host society is neglected with refugees generally connecting with the same ethnic group (ii, Gray); limiting cross-cultural connections. This research investigates the role of architecture as a facilitator of social interaction between the refugees and local community to create a strong sense of belonging in the host society. The aim is to explore architectural solutions which can ease the process of resettlement for refugees into the different regions around New Zealand. It seeks to develop a design which offers social engagement that can extend into the society and cross-cultural interaction can be encouraged.</p>

Sadr will dominate Iraqi post-election politics

Significance Unpredictable populist Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr again emerged as the de facto leader of the largest single party. Kurdish and Sunni factions also saw significant shifts. Impacts Sadr may support continuity in the positions of prime minister, president and speaker, and over an ongoing US-led military training mission. The next parliament will include many more female representatives, with almost 100 winning seats, not all because of the quota system. Initial low turnout figures of 41% (which may again prove an over-estimate) will undermine the government's legitimacy.

Quantifying Land Fragmentation Metrics for Cattle Enterprises in Northern Ireland

Farm fragmentation is the occurrence of numerous and often discontinuous land parcels associated with a single farm. Farm fragmentation is considered to be a defining feature of Northern Ireland&rsquo;s (NI) agricultural landscape, influencing agricultural efficiency, productivity, and the spread of livestock diseases. Despite this, the full extent of farm fragmentation in cattle farms is not well understood, and little is known of how farm fragmentation either influences, or is influenced by, different animal production types. This study describes and quantifies farm fragmentation metrics for cattle enterprises in NI, presented separately for dairy and non-dairy production types. We find that 35% of farms consist of five or more fragments, with larger farms associated with greater levels of farm fragmentation, fragment dispersal and contact with contiguous farms. Moreover, this was particularly evident in dairy farms, which were over twice the size of farms associated with non-dairy production types, with twice as many individual land parcels and twice as many fragments. We hypothesise that the difference in farm fragmentation and farm size between dairy and non-dairy production types is associated with the recent expansion of dairy farms after the abolition of the milk quota system in 2015, which may have driven the expansion of dairy farms via the acquisition of land. The high levels of land fragmentation, fragment dispersal and contiguous contact observed in NI cattle farms may also have important implications for agricultural productivity and epidemiology alike. Whilst highly connected pastures could facilitate the dissemination of disease, highly fragmented and parcellised land could also hamper productivity via diseconomies of scale, such as preventing the increase of herd sizes or additionally, adding to farm costs by increasing the complexity of herd management.

Virtual learning of the tribal students in Bangladesh: Constrictions and propositions

This paper depicts the current panorama of virtual learning of the tribal students in Bangladesh with the constrictions and possible solutions. The study aimed to deal with the major issues about tribal students’ online education by bringing out the key restraints of their distance learning and the possible solutions. The researchers followed a mixed method using a 5-point Likert Scale to point out the learner sensitivities, an online Focus Group Discussion (FGD) to know specific information from all the tribes who participated in the study. Additionally, four different questions were also set for multiple response analyses. The results suggested that the tribal students have not agreeably received adequate facilities such as technological support, university funding, departmental encouragements, or monetary benefits from the quota system in the current pandemic (COVID-19) time to attend virtual learning sessions though they expect arrangements and future steps for academic learning. All institutions also could not provide them adequate opportunities to attend online classes. In conclusion, the study proposed some imperative measures for example, inclusion of flipped classroom, introducing blended learning henceforth, revising quota facilities, adequate electricity support and internet connection, to help the tribal students as they should not get deprived.

Narrative Review Comparing Principles and Instruments Used in Three Active Surveillance and Control Programmes for Non-EU-regulated Diseases in the Danish Cattle Population

The objective of this paper is to provide a comparative review of three active surveillance and control programmes in the Danish cattle sector to highlight important differences for decision makers to develop successful programmes. The focus is on differences in purpose, principles, design and instruments applied to achieve the goals stated for each programme for bovine viral diarrhoea (BVDV), paratuberculosis and Salmonella Dublin. The purposes of the programmes are to reduce economic consequences and improve animal welfare, and for S. Dublin also to prevent zoonotic risk, with varying importance as motivation for the programmes over time. The targets of the BVDV and S. Dublin programmes have been to eradicate the diseases from the Danish cattle population. This goal was successfully reached for BVDV in 2006 where the programme was changed to a surveillance programme after 12 years with an active control programme. The S. Dublin dairy herd-level prevalence decreased from 25% in 2003 to 6% in 2015, just before the milk quota system was abandoned. Over the last 5 years, the prevalence has increased to 8–9% test-positive dairy herds. It is mandatory to participate, and frequent updates of legislative orders were used over two decades as critical instruments in those two programmes. In contrast, participation in the paratuberculosis programme is voluntary and the goals are to promote participation and reduce the prevalence and economic and welfare consequences of the disease. The daily administration of all three programmes is carried out by the major farmers' organisation, who organise surveillance, IT-solutions and other control tools, projects and communication in collaboration with researchers from the universities, laboratories and, for BVDV and S. Dublin, the veterinary authorities. Differences among the programme designs and instruments are mainly due to the environmental component of paratuberculosis and S. Dublin, as the bacteria able to survive for extended periods outside the host. This extra diffuse source of infection increases the demand for persistent and daily hygiene and management efforts. The lower test sensitivities (than for BVDV) lead to a requirement to perform repeated testing of herds and animals over longer time periods calling for withstanding motivation among farmers.