Urban Local Authorities and the Delivery of Micromobility Strategies Obstacles in the Implementation of Bicycle Hire in the UK

The pressures on urban local authorities to deliver mobility strategies highlight both their need and ability to connect problems and solutions, and then successfully implement the schemes. These difficulties are compounded by other distinctive pressures, from both above and below. From above there can be pressures from national government to deliver strategies, but at the same time not necessarily be provided with the necessary financial and political resources. From below, there can be an attraction towards innovators who can provide strategies at apparently little or no cost to the public sector. These relationships can be unpredictable and unstable, while the technologies themselves can display weaknesses, and be subject to change. The dynamics of the delivery of micromobility can therefore offer strong challenges to urban local authorities in constructing stable networks, mobilizing public support for their actions, and in linking in with other transport services. The two case studies selected here cover the development of bicycle hire in the UK, with particular reference to dockless bicycle hire. Even when the local authorities have active intentions to oversee successful innovations, they are unlikely to succeed without the stronger involvement of central government, including the necessary statutory powers, together with adequate financial resources and associated expertise.

A Classification Method of Network Ideological and Political Resources Using Improved SVM Algorithm

In order to improve the accuracy and efficiency of the classification of network ideological and political resources and promote the efficiency of ideological education, a research on the classification of network ideological and political resources based on the improved SVM algorithm is proposed. We analyze the characteristics and current situation of network ideological and political resources and conclude that the method elements are open and technical. The ontology elements are rich and shared, and the behavioral elements are autonomous and interactive. Three types of network ideological and political resources are proposed: the main resource, content resource, and means resource. The particle swarm algorithm is used to improve the SVM algorithm. In the process of constructing the SVM classifier, the fuzzy membership function is introduced, the classification problem of network ideological and political resources is converted into a secondary planning problem, and the accuracy of network ideological and political resources is finally realized. Simulation results show that the use of improved algorithms to classify network ideological and political resources can improve the accuracy and efficiency of network abnormal data classification.

Leveraging Political Resources: Applying the Advocacy Coalition Framework to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence

As politics becomes increasingly polarized, the value of collective political action becomes more visible and overt. Nonprofit organizations act collectively in pursuit of their policy goals in nearly all aspects of public policy. Understanding how nonprofits borne of social movements engage politically expands our insight into advocacy coalition behavior following seemingly effective social movements. The coalition’s leveraging of political resources provides us this insight. This study assesses the policy activities produced or maintained within a U.S. national domestic violence advocacy coalition over its lifetime to determine how and when resources were leveraged. A directed content analysis is conducted on historical data to capture the evolution of coalition activities over a 41-year period. The coalition’s emphasis on policy change waned over time as it achieved its policy goals. The coalition then leaned on its largest resources, mobilizable troops, and information to increasingly emphasize policy implementation and evaluation. These findings indicate that when in the policy process coalitions leverage their political resources may be more important than how coalitions leverage resources. Framing nonprofit political activity across the stages of the policy process can open doors to better use of scarce political resources.

Singapores’ Media System

Singapore is working hard to become an economic and cultural information center in Southeast Asia and even the world. The Singaporean government has different controls on the opening up of the country and the freedom of speech of the people. On the one hand, they hope that the state can provide more social space and political resources to express democracy and attract investment from foreign companies. On the other hand, it limits the freedom of speech of the people and foreign media. The impact of such a contradictory regulatory system on the Singapore media system and its impact on national development is worth exploring. This article will also focus on how Singapore’s distinctive media systems face the challenges of globalization.

The philosophy of peace

The article deals with the issues of war and peace, international security, and the features of modern conflicts. It is noted that, although a powerful legal and organizational infrastructure has been constructed on the basis of the UN, which is engaged in conflict resolution, the problem of preventing war remains relevant. Russia, using its military and political resources, is actively acting as a peacemaker at the global level, but primarily in the post-Soviet space. According to the author, along with rapid response to current challenges and threats, it is necessary to consider the topic of peacekeeping at a fundamental philosophical level. The philosophy of peacemaking as a methodology implies an awareness of the deep unity of the world, with the inevitable presence of social contradictions and changes caused by them in political and socio-economic systems. Peace, understood as the absence of contradictions and conflicts caused by them, is impossible in principle. It is possible to minimize the negative consequences of conflicts, which is the meaning of peacemaking. The highest axiology of peacemaking, in the author's opinion, is ensuring security and comprehensive human development, protecting political and social rights, cultural and spiritual values. It is concluded that peacekeeping includes not only military operations to neutralize the sources of military threats, but also multifunctional and multidimensional systemic actions aimed at stabilizing the situation in the conflict region through political decisions and assistance in establishing peaceful life. Along with military and police contingents, qualified specialists in the field of political analysis and negotiation should participate in peacekeeping operations to assist in the transition to peace, security and development.

Prudent Adventure: how does political status affect local government innovations?

What are the concerns and motivations behind policy innovations? Theories claim that local policymakers carry out policy innovations mainly because of economic reasons or other internal concerns but seldomly notice the political structure they face. This study constructs a unique dataset of Chinese local government innovations during 2001-2016 and categorizes them with Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques. We then examine how economic factors affect policy innovations and how political status brings better explanations. In a centralized authoritarian state like China, local politicians concern political resources and risks more than economic development. We argue that local officials can take the adventure to make institutional rearrangements when enabled but ultimately have to be prudent when closely bonded with the center.

THE EVOLUTION OF THE INSTITUTION OF THE PRESIDENCY IN THE POST-SOVIET REPUBLICS OF TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA

The article provides a comparative analysis of the political mechanisms and fundamental constitutional principles of the functioning of the institution of the presidency in the post-Soviet republics of the Caucasus and Central Asia. According to the authors, in Georgia and Armenia, the institution of the presidency is evolving in the direction of weakening, which inevitably leads to an increase in the role of the parliament and the Cabinet of Ministers in the political process. Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan are following the path of forming personalist political regimes. The presidents of these countries have not only a wide range of formal powers, but also informal political resources that allow them to rule indefinitely and pass power on to their descendants. Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan stand apart. The first country represents an example of successful institutionalization of presidential rule. Kazakhstan is one of the few states of the post-Soviet space, where a systematic and civilized transit of presidential power took place. At the same time, the political system remained stable. The situation in Kyrgyzstan is developing in a fundamentally different way, where a whole series of coups has taken place over the past few years. This country has a president, but the institution of the presidency, de facto, is absent.