The price of prosociality in pandemic times

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has imposed widespread negative impacts (economically, psychologically, neurologically, and societally), and has changed daily behaviors on a global scale. Such impacts are more significant and pervasive in countries with higher levels of inequality and reduced Government capacity and responsiveness, such as those in the Global South (e.g., Colombia). Differences in social and moral cognitive skills may significantly impact individual attitudes and responses to the pandemic. Here, we aimed to assess the extent to which factors associated with prosociality (including empathy, theory of mind (ToM), and moral judgments) predict the perception of SARS-CoV-2 impacts and responses. Participants (N = 413) from Colombia answered factors associated with prosociality measures and judgments about SARS-CoV-2 risk, impact, and acceptance of quarantine guidelines. Results revealed that affective empathy (personal distress and empathic concern) and moral tendencies (deontological trends) predicted greater acceptance of quarantine but in turn yielded an increased perception of risks and individual impacts of SARS-CoV-2. Moreover, age (older) and gender (female) also increased the risk perception and impact estimation. These results underscore the role of prosocial-related predispositions informing individual responses to the pandemic and provide an opportunity to exploit this knowledge to inform successful interventions favoring behavioral change.

Government Capacity in Coping with Covid-19 in Bandung City

This article analyzes the capacity of the Bandung City Government to handle the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a gap between the policies implemented and the high curve of the spread of the virus in Bandung city. This study used a qualitative approach, and the data sources were from various documents, observations, and interviews. This article finds two factors that influence the capacity of the Bandung City Government: (i) the relationship between the central government and regional governments and (ii) the capacity of individuals to process information and exercise discretion. The weak capacity of the Bandung City Government affects trust, which has implications for the low participation of Bandung City residents. The article that elaborates on the state (government) capacity approach from Williams (2019) shows that individual capacity directly affects government capacity in crisis conditions, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

TANTANGAN DALAM PENYELENGGARAAN PELAYANAN PUBLIK YANG EFEKTIF PADA PANDEMI COVID 19

State or government affairs shall be conducted in accordance with the principles of good governance. This is considered a must in normal times and more so when the government have to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. This general obligation is also in line with the theory proposed by Muchsan about the welfare state and the government’s obligation to provide public services. But reality shows a different picture. The Indonesian government seems to fail in providing good and reliable services in health care, public transport, social assistance, economy, and security. One solution proposed is to appoint a person in charge of managing public complaints. The expectation is that this will empower the public, raise public awareness and increase government capacity to provide for public services.

Government Data Performance: The Roles of Technology, Government Capacity, and Globalization through the Effects of National Innovativeness

The availability of open, relevant, and up-to-date public data is becoming an increasingly important dimension of national competitiveness and sustainable development. It serves as a foundation for novel technologies, such as big data analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence, to take root and flourish, and it can help improve the quality and efficiency of government decision making and render governments more transparent and accessible to the public. Often referred as Open Government Data, or OGD, governments around the world have committed resources to constructing various OGD platforms. However, building a robust and effective OGD system has proved difficult, as the promise of OGD has not been realized fully around the world. At this important juncture, this study aims to explore the relationship between national technological and organizational capacities and environmental factor and the quality of OGD systems. In addition, national innovativeness and the degree of “globalization” in a country and their moderating effects between the predictors and OGD performance are examined. Our findings indicate strong positive effects of national technological capacity, government organization capacity, and globalization on OGD quality and a positive moderating effect of national innovativeness.

The Building and Breaking of Peace

The Building and Breaking of Peace considers the role of corporate firms in building peaceful societies. Examining the corporate motives for peacebuilding and then the implications of these activities for preventing violence and conflict resolution creates a holistic picture of the peace and conflict process. The book examines variation in corporate engagement as a product of corporate culture and shifts in government capacity, as well as threats to the ability to conduct business. Corporations engage in peacebuilding when there is a gap in the state’s capacity to enforce laws creating the demand for engagement but when there is stability that enables firms to supply peacebuilding. The book then considers the implications of corporate engagement for preventing and ending violence. Building on the rational choice theory of civil war and drawing from business research, The Building and Breaking of Peace examines the role of corporate firms in building peaceful societies. While firms are uniquely situated in their ability to raise the cost of violence, an active private sector acts as an additional veto player in the bargaining process, making it significantly harder to reach an agreement. The findings suggest that corporations help to prevent violence but not resolve it. These arguments are tested on original cross-national data of peacebuilding efforts by firms in Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa from 2000 to 2018 and in-depth case analyses of corporate actions and outcomes in Colombia, Northern Ireland, and Tunisia.

An Assessment of Government Capacity Building to Restrict the Marketing of Unhealthy Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverage Products to Children in the Region of the Americas

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Strategic Plan 2020–2025 committed to reduce children’s consumption of energy-dense nutrient-poor food and beverage products high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) and promote healthy eating patterns to reduce malnutrition in all forms. This paper describes the capacity-building needs in PAHO’s Member States to restrict the marketing of HFSS food and beverages to children. We asked Ministries of Health officials or national institutes/departmental representatives (n = 35) to complete a 28-item web-based survey (January to July 2020). Capacity-building needs were assessed using an adapted version of the World Health Organization’s government capacity-building framework with three modules: public health infrastructure, policies and information systems. Notable achievements for the PAHO’s Plan of Action were identified. State representatives reported strong infrastructure and information systems; however, policy improvements are needed to increase comprehensive national responses. These include using a constitutional health and human rights approach within the policies, policies that document conflict of interest from non-state actors, and strengthening regulatory oversight for digital media platforms. These findings provide baseline data and we suggest priorities for further action to strengthen national governments’ capacity-building and to accelerate the development, implementation, and monitoring systems to restrict the marketing of HFSS food and non-alcoholic beverages to children in the region of the Americas.

5. Personality, statehood, and recognition

This chapter examines the meaning of international legal personality and the range of actors that possess such personality; namely, States, international organizations, individuals, multinational corporations, and several other non-State actors. Given the centrality of States, the criteria for statehood are analysed, and both traditional and contemporary criteria are discussed. Article 1 of the 1933 Montevideo Convention is used for assessment of whether an entity satisfies these criteria, which include: permanent population, a defined territory, government, capacity to enter into foreign relations, and the relevance of human rights. Competing theories regarding the role of recognition by third States as an element of statehood are also considered. Equally, the rights and duties of non-State actors are analysed in terms of capacity conferred upon them under international law.

Three paths to e-service availability: a fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis among the EU member states

PurposeThis study aims to explore under which institutional and organizational conditions the national e-government reform efforts of EU member states lead to very high availability of e-services.Design/methodology/approachFollowing e-government literature of information systems and public administration research, this study applies an analytical framework encompassing characteristics of the national politico-administrative system (state structure, government capacity, managerial innovation orientation and civil service system) to understand why a common policy framework does not lead to convergence but great variety in the degree of e-service availability. A comparative case study approach using fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) is applied to systematically compare e-service availability in the former 28 EU member states.FindingsThree configurations of sufficient conditions are identified: government capacity in conjunction with either bureaucratic human resource practices, centralized state structure or managerial innovation orientation. Three country clusters are derived: effective bureaucrats, effective centralists and effective managers.Originality/valueThe results demonstrate the importance of administrative effectiveness for the digital transformation. Rather than mimicking best practices, countries are advised to learn from better performing countries that are most similar in terms of institutional and organizational characteristics of the politico-administrative system.