Mass Observation, Apathy, and Electoral Politics in England, 1937–1950

While various historians use Mass Observation sources to study popular engagement with politics in the 1940s, they tend to rely on file reports summarizing research or the writings of the national panel, which paid limited attention to how the public engaged with key aspects of electioneering. By contrast, we re-examine Mass Observation's various election surveys to explore people's assumptions about how election campaigns should be conducted, the qualities looked for in political parties, and their reflections on the records of governments. Our conclusions shed light on the transformation of British public politics after 1918. During the interwar years it became common thinking to assume that parties would centre their campaigning around a detailed programme for government. Whereas Mass Observation's employees often claimed that much of the public was apathetic about politics, a reanalysis of the survey results indicates that many people were eager to be seen to be able to offer a considered assessment of the veracity of the competing parties’ promises. Mass Observation's election studies were criticized for their supposed amateurism. However, they offer richer insights into how the public engaged with party programmes than the quantitative surveys that came to dominate election studies in the 1950s and beyond.

Theoretical and Methodological Aspects of Studying Public Politics’ Electoral Potential and Their Social Media Positioning

This study’s subject is the theoretical and methodological aspects of studying politicians’ electoral potential and their social networks positioning. This article aims to explore politicians’ activity in social media to identify its impact on their electoral potential. The authors of the paper used the methods such as analysis and synthesis to study the positioning of politicians in social networks, as well as a systematic approach to examine political, social, cultural, and economic factors affecting the characteristics of the manifestation of activity in the Internet space as a whole, and in social media in particular. The work used empirical and analytical methods to study open empirical data, methods of qualitative analysis to study content posted in virtual space. The authors consider the theoretical and methodological aspects of public politicians’ positioning in social media and their potential electoral impact. The article highlights the main methods and approaches to studying this problem and outlines the ways for further research. The findings and results can be used to research further the electoral potential of public politicians and their social media positioning.

Patriotic Legitimation and Everyday Patriotism in Russia’s Constitutional Reform

Russia’s 2020 Constitutional reform was notable not just for the substantial institutional changes introduced, but also for the almost complete lack of public discussion of those changes in elite debates or the public campaign for the nationwide vote. Instead, proposals to write social and patriotic issues into the Constitution absorbed the lion’s share of coverage. These issues were not superfluous, but rather reveal the dynamics of patriotic legitimation and the role of everyday patriotism in Russian politics today. Among Russia’s elite, patriotic legitimation regulates competition, determines the boundaries of acceptable public politics, and provides access to regime patronage. For the public, the avoidance of politics and the appropriation of Russians’ everyday patriotism facilitated the mobilization of an apolitical electorate in the nationwide vote. While the reform may have strengthened the institutional basis of Putin’s rule, it potentially limits the regime’s adaptability and could affect its long-term survivability.

PERFORMING RELIABLE ABSORBANCE AND FLUORESCENCE MEASUREMENTS WITH LOW BUDGET – A TUTORIAL FOR BEGINNERS

Molecular absorbance and fluorescence measurements are usually performed by benchtop or portable USB spectrophotometers or fluorometers. However, even the simplest configuration of these instruments requires considerable financial input, which is not affordable to many universities and research groups especially when public politics withdraw funds from science. Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) based devices can be an interesting alternative for low-cost, portable yet reliable measurements of absorbance of fluorescence. Especially if associated with the fabrication of 3D structures by additive manufacturing techniques. Although there are many reviews in the literature dedicated to discussing the theoretical aspects and analytical performance of LED-based devices, we consider that these reviews are not easily applicable for beginners in electronics. It results in the intimidation to employ such powerful tools which could have a huge impact mainly to small and/or initial groups. In this tutorial, we present a guide that will help students and researchers to construct “lab-built” devices based on simple optoelectronic components and 3D printing to perform molecular absorbance and fluorescence measurements for analytical methods. Finally, with this tutorial guide, we anticipate a large spread of the usage of LED devices for reliable analytical measurements that can be extensively used in many scenarios.

Associated factors with dietary patterns among children under 2 years of age: a study in childcare centres and homes of South Brazil

Identifying dietary patterns in different environments attended by children is relevant to guide public politics. The aim of this study was to analyse the factors associated with dietary patterns of children under 2 years of age in childcare centres and at homes. This transversal study was enrolled in municipal childcare centres of Guaratuba, Paraná, Brazil. Food consumption data from 256 children were obtained by the food record method. From the consumption data, four dietary patterns were identified by factor analysis using the principal component method in each environment. ‘Traditional’ patterns were observed in both environments; the ‘less healthy’ pattern was found only at homes. Other patterns identified in childcare centres include ‘snacks’, ‘nutritive’ and ‘pasta and meats’; at homes, it was possible to identify patterns such as ‘milk and cereals’ and ‘mixed’. Children over 12 months presented higher scores for all the patterns in both environments. Obese children had lower scores for all the patterns in childcare centres. There was an association between maternal age below 21 years and higher adherence to a ‘less healthy’ pattern, maternal level of education less than 8 years and lower adherence to the ‘mixed’ pattern and lower familiar income per capita and higher adherence to the ‘snacks’ and ‘traditional’ patterns in childcare centres. In conclusion, adherence to dietary patterns was associated with socio-economic, demographic variables and nutritional status and further studies are needed, especially those with a longitudinal design, enabling the monitoring of dietary patterns.

Value-ideological foundations of the development strategy of the modern state

The narrative presented in this article is in the plane of a very relevant sphere of interests within the framework of modern political science, this is the search for “keys” to effective public administration, which is increasingly experiencing crises today, not only in institutional, but also in non-institutional factors, in particular axiological. The question we try to answer is whether values and ideology play a role in the development strategy of a modern state, understood as the result of the key process of state policy and governance which is decision making, and in its implementation. Wherein we take as a starting point the fact that values and ideology are overlapping concepts: values is one of the components of ideology, and ideologies are aimed at forming, perhaps, even first of all, values in people. To find the answer to the posed question, we first of all conduct the detailed analysis of influence of values and ideology on state decision making (forming a state strategy), i.e. at each level of this process — “leadership subsystem”, “network associations of the elite”, representative authorities and executive authorities. Then we look at how values and ideology influence implementation of state decisions, which requires support of society. Having shown that mass consciousness most of all responds exactly to value parameters of a state strategy, we consider three ways of bringing align value bases of a state strategy and values of society. Then, having shown that when broadcasting from state to society, values are usually clothed in the form of one or another ideology, we consider why in modern public politics the role of ideology, in its classical sense, is noticeably decreasing, but in its modern, transformed understanding, on the contrary, it is increasing, which means that state today still has a powerful resource for obtaining public support for implementing its strategies. And finally, we demonstrate that qualities and weight ratio of the named above levels of forming state strategy determine not only meaning of values and ideology in this process, but also consideration of public values in it, as well as the real role of the ideology presented to society by a state.

Os esquecimentos da memória: o tombamento do patrimônio cultural quilombola e a formulação de uma política pública / The silences of the memory: the protection of the “quilimbola” cultural heritage and the formulation of public policies

ResumoO artigo reflete sobre as possibilidades de formulação de uma política pública de tombamento voltada especificamente para a proteção dos sítios detentores de reminiscências históricas dos antigos quilombos, conforme prevê o art. 216, §5º, da CF. Para tanto, é organizado tópicos os quais refletem a posição do autor a respeito do processo de construção de direitos, a saber: a) negação, no qual apresenta os quilombos como um fenômeno insurgente da Modernidade e do colonialismo brasileiro; b) luta, em que trata da ação dos quilombos para se inserirem na narrativa do Estado-Nação; c) reconhecimento, o qual relaciona o processo de reconhecimento de exemplos da patrimonialidade negra como formas ressignificadoras de conceitos jurídicos clássicos, a exemplo do tombamento; d) inclusão, abordando as (re)existências das comunidades quilombolas às formas homogeneizantes do Estado Nacional. Como conclusão, sugere a necessidade do campo da patrimonialidade quilombola ser melhor desenvolvido, nomeando-se novas categorias, a partir de diálogos com as comunidades, o que proporcionará a possibilidade de formulação de novos direitos para as comunidades quilombolas, a partir do dispositivo contido no art. 216, § 5º da Constituição. A metodologia consistiu na revisão crítica de literatura e pesquisa documental em processos que tramitam junto ao IPHAN.Palavras-chave: Constitucionalismo. Patrimônio cultural. Quilombos. Questões raciais. Políticas públicas. AbstractThe article aims to analyze the possibilities for formulating public policies of heritage concerning specially the protection of sites that bring up the historical reminiscences of the ancient “quilombos”, according to Brazilian Constitution, article 216, § 5º. The methodology consisted in a critical review of literature and documental research through proceedings submitted to IPHAN. Therefore, the work has been organized in chapters, which reflect the author’s opinion concerning the process of rights establishment, such denial, in which the “quilombos” are presented as an insurgent phenomenon of the Modernity and of Brazilian colonialismo, struggle, in which the action of “quilombos” for being accepted in the State-Nation status quo is approached, in a process of disputes and negotiations for their national identity, in 1988’s Constitution as well, recognition, in which the processes of recognizing examples of black patrimoniality are approached by reframing classical juridical concepts, such as the heritage itself e inclusion, approaching the (re) existences of “quilombolas” communities to the homogeneous ways of National State and the political and administrative phenomenon of “non decision”. As a results and conclusions, the work suggests the necessity of a better development for “quilombola” patrimoniality, by naming new categories, from dialogues with the community, bringing up the formulation of new rights to these people, concerning the article 216, § 5º of Brazilian Constitution.Keywords: Constitutionalism. Cultural heritage. “Quilombos”: maroon societies. Racial Issues. Public Politics.

Educação infantil e políticas públicas no Brasil: visões e reflexões

The contemporary society has been through a vast number of changes that affect childhood education in the whole world, especially in Brazil. The absence of public politics that includes the education of children between zero and seven years, has been incipient. Currently, we are facing serious social problems and there is a necessity of reviewing those politics in order to avoid going against democracy, offering low quality education to the less fortunate layers of society. Therefore, the present article is not the result of a research but has its goal based on concept of politics to analyze historically the course of childhood education in Brazil, taking in consideration its challenges, and reflect which are the possible changes to be considered for the next decade.