Learning from the COVID-19 pandemic to combat climate change: comparing drivers of individual action in global crises

The COVID-19 pandemic and climate change are two global crises that require collective action. Yet, the inertia typically associated with behavior change to limit climate change stands in contrast to the speed associated with behavior change to stop the spread of COVID-19. Identifying the roots of these differences can help us stimulate climate-friendly behaviors. We assessed the extent to which a number of theory-based drivers underlie behaviors aiming to counter COVID-19 and climate change with an online survey (N = 534). We focused on the role of a number of drivers derived from prominent behavior change theories and meta-analyses in the field, namely, personal threat, threat to close others, threat to vulnerable others, fear, participative efficacy, injunctive and descriptive social norms, and governmental policy perceptions. We investigated (1) what drivers people perceived as most important to engage in behaviors that limit the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change and (2) the strength of the associations between these drivers and engaging in behaviors that limit the spread of the pandemic and climate change. Results highlight three key drivers for climate change action: changing perceptions of governmental policy and perceptions of threat to close others and priming participative efficacy beliefs.

Carbon tax acceptability with information provision and mixed revenue uses

Public acceptability of carbon taxation depends on its revenue use. Which single or mixed revenue use is most appropriate, and which perceptions of policy effectiveness and fairness explain this, remains unclear. It is, moreover, uncertain how people’s prior knowledge about carbon taxation affects policy acceptability. Here we conduct a survey experiment to test how distinct revenue uses, prior knowledge, and information provision about the functioning of carbon taxation affect policy perceptions and acceptability. We show that spending revenues on climate projects maximises acceptability as well as perceived fairness and effectiveness. A mix of different revenue uses is also popular, notably compensating low-income households and funding climate projects. In addition, we find that providing information about carbon taxation increases acceptability for unspecified revenue use and for people with more prior tax knowledge. Furthermore, policy acceptability is more strongly related to perceived fairness than to perceived effectiveness.

Level Of Political Engagement In UK

If citizens do not recognize, respect, or partake in the democratic process, they are regarded as politically disengaged. In the United Kingdom, political retrenchment takes distinct forms and is more common among some populations than among others. This paper addresses the features of various political disengagement measures: selected policy perceptions; degree of participation in political activities; registration for elections; voting; and elected leaders, candidates and Members of Parliament. Youths, in particular, are less likely to register as voters, vote and get elected, and engage in some political events, whereas elderly people have more negative perceptions toward politics. Councilors, candidates as well as Members of Parliament have an average age of over 50 years. Moreover, it was less likely to register people from minority ethnic groups to vote, have them voted into political positions, and convince them to vote.

Identifying School Principal Candidates’ Perception on Teacher’s Appointment as School Principal

In order to establish a successful school, prospective school principals' perceptions are crucial. Perception has an effect on school quality because it impacts reaction and decision-making. The aim of this study was to understand prospective school principals' perceptions of the Ministry of Education and Culture Regulation Number 6 of 2018 concerning the Appointment of Teachers as School Principals, which was conducted using a quantitative approach through a survey of 77 prospective school principals from Central and East Java Provinces. The findings revealed that: the age of the prospective school principal does not have a significant effect on policy perceptions; the length of work as a prospective school principal teacher has no significant effect on policy perceptions; there is a significant difference between the principal candidates for primary school, junior high school and senior high school/vocational high school in perceiving policies; there is no significant difference between male and female principal candidates in their perception of the policy; there is no significant difference between prospective school principals based on tank (from III b to IV b) in perceiving policies; there is a significant difference between prospective school principals with bachelor's and master's degrees in perceiving policies; there is no significant difference between prospective school principals who have not and have read Ministry of Education and Culture Regulation No. 6 of 2018 in perceiving the policy; and that there is no significant difference between prospective school principals who have not and have specifically reviewed Ministry of Education and Culture Regulation No. 6 of 2018 in perceiving the policy.

Finland’s Neutrality in Soviet Foreign Policy Perceptions

The article examines the evolution of the Soviet leadership’s attitudes regarding Finland’s desire to position itself as a neutral country. Finland’s efforts to promote the idea of its neutrality became especially active after World War II. In this way the representatives of the Finnish political class tried to enhance their profile on the international arena and distance themselves from the military clauses of the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual assistance signed by the USSR and Finland in 1948. Both in Moscow and Helsinki it was understood that neutrality can play the role of an important foreign policy instrument. The Finns tried to use this instrument to weaken Soviet influence on the country, to facilitate rapprochement with other Nordic countries and, ultimately, with the West as a whole. The Soviet leadership regarded these activities negatively. However, within the framework of general deconstruction of the foreign policy priorities’ system created by Mikhail S. Gorbachev’s predecessors, the Soviet side in 1989 finally and unconditionally recognized Finland’s neutrality. After the collapse of the USSR the Soviet-Finnish Treaty of 1948 was substituted by another document, namely the Treaty on the Foundations of Relations between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Finland signed on January 20, 1992. During the elaboration of the new agreement the Russian side would have had no objection against recognizing Finland as a neutral state, but Helsinki, considering the transition from the bipolar system of international relations to the unipolar one, showed no interest to this.