Formal Rules Research Articles

Executive recruitment and the role of institutional factors: explaining profiles of regional presidents in Slovakia and the Czech Republic

ABSTRACT We employ a comparative analysis of heads of regional executives in two similar countries with different regional political subsystems. In Slovakia, governors operate under a system of separation of powers, are directly elected through a majoritarian electoral system and are not answerable to regional assemblies. In the Czech Republic, governors are elected by the regional assemblies (therefore indirectly) and can be removed from office by a no-confidence motion. Our results suggest that direct elections tend to produce fewer female governors and empower non-affiliated (non-party) outsiders; the share of regional governors without prior political experience is not affected by the formal institutional rules.

Democratic self-determination and the need for deliberation

I offer in this paper a new conception of democratic self-determination. My proposal defends Rafanelli's peaceful reform intervention from the concern that we should not promote justice abroad, because it would interfere with the self-determining choice of other people to select an authoritarian government. I challenge this influential view of authoritarian self-determination. I argue instead that self-determination should be democratic in its input, or the procedure deliberating and voting on the constitution. Self-determination should also be democratic in its output, or the constitution's rules. Democratic self-determination offers three important advantages: it joins self-determination indivisibly with other inalienable human rights, such as the human right to racial non-discrimination. Second, it guards against the problem of the false mandate, or authoritarians attempting to legitimate their autocratic rule using rigged referenda and suppressed debate. Third, democratic self-determination reduces the risk of ethnic conflict given the diversity of actual states. Democratic self-determination passes the a ctual deliberation test, since it has been vindicated by inclusive deliberation with people from diverse cultures.

Diagnostic reasoning and cognitive error in emergency medicine: Implications for teaching and learning.

Accurate diagnosis in emergency medicine (EM) is high stakes and challenging. Research into physicians' clinical reasoning has been ongoing since the late 1970s. The dual-process theory has established itself as a valid model, including in EM. It is based on the distinction between two information-processing systems. System 1 rapidly generates one or more diagnostic hypotheses almost instantaneously, driven by experiential knowledge, while System 2 proceeds more slowly and analytically, applying formal rules to arrive at a final diagnosis. We reviewed the literature on dual-process theory in the fields of cognitive science, medical education and emergency medicine. The literature reflects two prominent interpretations regarding the relationship between the fast and slow phases and these interpretations carry very different implications for the training of clinical learners. One interpretation, prominent in the EM community, presents it as a "check-and-balance" framework in which most diagnostic error is caused by cognitive biases originating within System 1. As a result, EM residents are frequently advised to deploy analytical (System 2) strategies to correct such biases. However, such teaching approaches are not supported by research into the nature of diagnostic reasoning. An alternative interpretation assumes a harmonious relationship between Systems 1 and 2 in which both fast and slow processes are driven by underlying knowledge that conditions performance and the occurrence of errors. Educational strategies corresponding to this alternative have not been explored in the EM literature. In this paper, we offer proposals for improving the teaching and learning of diagnostic reasoning by EM residents.

ЭТИКА И ДЕОНТОЛОГИЯ КАК БАЗОВЫЙ ПРИНЦИП РАБОТЫ МНОГОПРОФИЛЬНОГО РЕАБИЛИТАЦИОННОГО ЦЕНТРА, ПРИМЕНЯЮЩЕГО МЕТОДЫ НАУЧНОЙ МУЗЫКОТЕРАПИИ

This article presents literary data on the history of the formation of norms and rules of medical ethics. It substantiates the position on the need to comply with them in medical and preventive institutions not only by doctors or nurses, but also by employees of other specialties, such as psychologists, music therapists, etc. The advantages of combining medicine and art, innovative technologies in scientific music therapy, and the norms of medical ethics in practical activities are shown using the example of the multidisciplinary rehabilitation center «Doctor Music from Estonia». Compliance with these principles has ensured a reputation as an advanced organization, as well as respect and trust from the population. Such experience may be useful for other medical and preventive organizations.

The (Il)legitimacy of Constitutional Amendments in Africa and Democratic Backsliding

Abstract In many African countries with hegemonic-party or de facto one-party systems, political leaders have historically exploited ostensibly proper constitutional amendments to undermine constitutionalism, a practice raising questions about the legitimacy, or lack thereof, of such amendments. This article argues that amendment legitimacy is contingent on achieving ‘broad consensus’, a concept endorsed by the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance. Traditional amendment procedures, such as supermajorities and referendums, while crucial, have proven to be imperfect proxies for ensuring such broad consensus. To more effectively safeguard the core constitutional rules of democratic governance, this article contends that political parties must be recognised as key sites of power division and checks and balances. Accordingly, constitutional amendment procedures should require some level of cross-party approval for key amendments, thus preventing individual political groups, regardless of their dominance, from unilaterally altering fundamental rules of the game. This approach would not only enhance the legitimacy of amendments but also serve as a safeguard against contemporary forms of democratic backsliding, where incumbents exploit formal processes to undermine democratic competition. While this process might make constitutional changes more difficult, it would apply only to a narrow set of fundamental aspects of constitutional democracy. Moreover, it does not necessarily conflict with popular self-governance (and its majoritarian expression), but instead calls for an inclusive re-imagining of majoritarianism.

Systems Thinking Principles for Making Change

Traditionally, systems thinking support has relied on an ever-increasing plethora of systems tools, methods, and approaches. Arguably though, such support requires something different from, and more accessible than, detailed instruction on somewhat abstract laws and detailed principles and/or constitutive rules associated with conventional systems approaches or systems ‘tools of the trade’. For busy managers and decision makers working in often-stressful conditions, what is perhaps more valued are simple principles for enabling systems thinking in practice. Such principles should acknowledge and build on existing (multi)disciplinary skill sets and expertise, allowing for more meaningful interdisciplinary support amongst professions, as part of a nested transdisciplinary support for addressing wider social challenges. This monograph offers three principles of systems thinking in practice (STiP): relational STiP, perspective STiP, and adaptive STiP. They each have two sets of operational principles applicable to first-order and second-order practice, respectively. The three general principles are nested in an overriding principle of STiP as praxis (theory-informed action or thinking in practice) manifest in the need for being both systemic and systematic. The three principles represent a distilled expression of a systematic literacy of systems thinking, a literacy that speaks to the systemic sensibilities of Inter-relationships, Perspectives, and Boundaries (sometimes referred collectively as IPB), associated with any area of intervention. Drawing on metaphors of bricolage, conversation, and performance, and building on philosophical foundations of boundary critique, the three principles provide for a requisite systems literacy (as an emergent property of systemic sensibilities and systems thinking literacy) for enabling appropriate STiP capabilities to flourish when making a meaningful change.

Informality and Relations in International Judicial Appointments: Evidence from Sub-regional Courts in Africa

Abstract Informality in international judicial selection practices has been acknowledged but rarely systematically researched. Described as “design innovations” that are hard to grasp, national judicial appointments to international courts (IC s), even in the most established democracies, are permeated by opacity and secretiveness that remains puzzling to researchers and the legal complex alike. This article presents evidence from three African sub-regional courts to reify the informal dimension of international judicial appointments. Drawing on qualitative research that employs two country case studies, Uganda and Malawi, we demonstrate how the particularly thin formal selection rules leave much leverage to informalities at various levels of governance. Through interviews and judicial biographical data, we reconstruct judicial appointment practices and their dynamics to account for relevant informalities and relations that shed light on the selection of judges to IC s. We argue that appointment practices are less ad hoc or arbitrary than they often appear but mirror the states’ commitment to regional integration, political assessment of the respective regional organisation, and perceptions of the courts’ relevance and ambitions in relation to the political appointers and selectors. Moreover, we raise new concerns about the risk of more silent and subtle backlash against bold regional courts.

Institutional fragmentation and smallholder irrigation performance: a case of Mkoba and Silalatshani Irrigation Schemes, Zimbabwe

ABSTRACT The study sought to understand the influence of institutions on irrigation infrastructure utilization using two irrigation schemes in Zimbabwe. The results show that duplication, overlap and fragmentation of mandates across institutions reduce the influence of formal rules while increasing the influence of socially embedded institutions yet without an official change of roles. Such conditions weaken cooperation among the irrigators and hinder infrastructure utilization and maintenance. Attention to reducing institutional fragmentation while giving space for collective efforts and other ways of knowing and doing irrigation may improve infrastructure utilization in irrigated agriculture.

The Role of Hospital By Laws in Providing Legal Protection Against Alleged Medical Malpractice at the Padang Panjang City Regional General Hospital

Hospital By Laws (HBL) is an internal hospital rule designed to provide legal protection to both patients and medical personnel. In the context of Padang Panjang Hospital, HBL should function as a reference in resolving medical disputes and maintaining the quality of health services. Based on the analysis of the situation, HBL has not functioned optimally, especially in dealing with cases of alleged medical malpractice. The purpose of this study was to analyze the role of HBL in providing legal protection against alleged medical malpractice at Padang Panjang Hospital, as well as to find obstacles faced in its implementation. The method used is a sociological juridical approach with primary data obtained through interviews with related parties in the hospital, and secondary data from related legal literature. The results of the study show that many cases of alleged malpractice are resolved informally through mediation, without using strict legal procedures based on HBL. Several cases such as misalignment of surgery, incorrect installation of infusions in infants, and negligence in the installation of Nasogastric Tube (NGT) are examples of the weak implementation of HBL at Padang Panjang Hospital. The main obstacle found in the implementation of HBL is the lack of understanding and awareness from hospitals of the importance of HBL as a legal instrument. Dispute resolution is more often carried out through a family approach without involving the formal rules regulated in the HBL. This shows that there is a gap between existing regulations and practices carried out in the field. The supervision mechanism for the implementation of HBL in hospitals has also not run well, so this rule is not functioning as it should. This study suggests the need to strengthen the implementation of HBL at Padang Panjang Hospital through more intensive socialization to all medical personnel and hospital management as well as training on professional ethics and medical service standards. Supervision is needed to ensure that these rules are properly implemented in resolving medical disputes. Padang Panjang Hospital is expected to improve the quality of its services while providing better legal protection for patients.

Potential of media resources in popularizing volunteer activities

The article is devoted to the potential of mass media in popularization of volunteering among students. Development of media technologies inevitably influences the process of socialization. Digital media resources have a strong influence on the formation of behavior patterns, norms and rules, and therefore their capabilities can be used to develop a prosocial orientation in the behavior of young people. Promotion of volunteer activities involves an appropriate choice of channels and methods of presenting information in the mass media, taking into account the characteristics of the audience. Effective constructs in this process can be strategies that involve the possibility of influencing decision-making at the subconscious level, including on the basis of priming, framing, imprinting by focusing the audience's attention on strategically important moments and situations. The combination of social, cognitive and information technologies makes it possible to include manipulative techniques in the communicative and information space that contribute to the formation of an attractive image of volunteering and motivation of corresponding behavioral attitudes.

통신판매 관련 헌법재판소 결정의 비판적 검토 - 의약품의 약국외 판매 제한과 도수 있는 안경 및 콘택트렌즈의 통신판매 제한을 중심으로

This paper aims to examine the constitutional limits on the laws of non face-to-face sales(this concept includes not only online sales but also all other sales methods that do not involve ‘real’ face-to-face interaction), focusing on the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court. In case of pharmaceuticals, with a excessively limited exception, sales are only permitted in pharmacies(the place itself). Since a temporary allowance during the COVID-19 period, non face-to-face sales have been permitted only under very exceptional conditions. In contrast, many foreign countries generally allow the non face-to-face sales of pharmaceuticals. For instance, Japan, which has a legal system similar to ours, has actively permitted non face-to-face sales to maximize Consumer’s Right to Self-determination, especially after the Supreme Court's ruling that declared the ban on non face-to-face sales unconstitutional. On the other hand, the Constitutional Court of Korea has ruled that the relevant regulations do not infringe basic rights, citing reasons such as the need for thorough medication guidance, prevention of pharmaceutical contamination, clarification of accountability, enough exceptional allowance for sales outside pharmacies, enough medical services by public health centers, difficulties in assuming the necessity of non face-to-face sales, various problems associated with allowing sales outside pharmacies, and the insignificance of the business disadvantages to pharmacists and other sellers. In the case of prescription eyeglasses and contact lenses, non face-to-face sales are completely restricted. The Constitutional Court has justified the restriction using logic similar to that applied to pharmaceuticals. However, considering that the constitutional freedom of occupation for sellers is intended to protect the freedom of economic activity rather than the occupation itself, and that it is necessary to recognize the distinct interests of consumer self-determination in guaranteeing it practically—distinguishing it from the freedom of occupation and including it within the protection scope of the Constitution while assessing the degree of restriction in actual judgment—the series of Constitutional Court rulings may not necessarily be based on sound jurisprudence. Specifically, regarding general pharmaceuticals, the primary issue is that access to relatively low-risk medications that require minimal knowledge is not allowed through more accessible means. For prescription drugs, remote methods such as video consultations could be equivalent to face-to-face guidance based on a doctor's prescription, and the complete lack of exceptions for individuals, such as those with chronic diseases, and the elderly, the physically disabled and residents of remote areas who need improved medical accessibility, is problematic. In case of prescription eyeglasses and contact lenses, considering the several distinctions from pharmaceuticals, a critical review of the Constitutional Court's stance of not recognizing the unconstitutionality of such regulations is inevitable.

Profit Tax as a Character of Regional Budget of Our Time

The authors develop approaches to tax decentralization based on the theory of imperfect institutions by T. Eggertsson, in terms of the critically important profit tax for regional budgets of Russia. We see the goal of our research in finding a balance between the action of formal rules and informal, social norms, technologies, and models for distributing the profits of the largest Russian companies as a tax base between the federal center of Russia and the regions depending on the actual location of employees and assets. The article is devoted to the action of a successful and unique formal rule of the tax institution for the Russian Federation – the formation of consolidated groups of taxpayers (CGT). The novelty of the article lies in the study of the phenomenon of transformation of the domestic system of paying profit tax in 2023 as a replacement of one formal rule (action of CGTs) with another formal rule – the introduction of a new excess profit tax for Russia. An empirical study of the regional distribution of payments of legal entities-payers of profit tax according to the formal rules of the CGTs from among the largest Russian companies registered outside Moscow was conducted. Based on the results of the study, a general conclusion was made about the acute contradiction of the current economic policy in Russia in the content of the tax institution: between the new informal social norm on territorial decentralization of the largest Russian companies and the opposite formal rules of tax centralization in terms of profit tax. In this regard, the current policy of coincidence of territorial and tax decentralization in terms of state-owned companies in China deserves attention.

Protocols of Production: The Absent Factories of Digital Capitalism

Contrary to dominant theories of postindustrial society, this article advances an alternative account of digital capitalism that repositions the factory—so often associated with industrial manufacturing—as a defining yet largely overlooked feature of the internet economy. I pursue this claim by interpreting data centers and microwork platforms as digital embodiments of the factory system through a historical theory of the factory model that reconstructs the consistent mechanisms of control and extraction that have distinguished factories as consolidated infrastructures of production since their inception. I define these “protocols of production” as formal rules deployed by a combination of technological systems, spatial arrangements, and management regimes devised to fragment tasks, discipline workers, and supervise production. By probing the socioeconomic consequences of the factory’s algorithmic redeployment and adaptation to global data production, I contend that these absent factories have amplified alienation and precarity as structural social qualities of the digital labor process.

Implementation of Fuzzy Logic to Determine the Doneness of Beef Steak

This study aims to implement fuzzy logic in determining the doneness level of beef steak based on the inputs of roasting time and roasting temperature. The output of the developed system is in the form of maturity levels in the categories of "rare", "medium rare", "medium", "medium well", and "well done". Data for this study were obtained through interviews with experienced beef steak sellers. This research method includes direct calculations as well as the use of MATLAB software to develop fuzzy logic systems. The results of the interview analysis are used as a basis for the formation of fuzzy rules for determining the degree of doneness of steaks. The results showed that in the example case with a roasting temperature of 300°C and a roasting time of 10 minutes, the resulting output value was 70, which placed the doneness of the steak in the "medium well" position. These results have been verified both through direct calculations and the use of MATLAB software. The study concluded that the implementation of fuzzy logic can help in determining the doneness level of beef steak, based on temperature variations and roasting time.

Managing supply chain disruptions in the construction industry: an institutional approach

Purpose This study aimed to explore the institutional theory as a lens for investigating how construction firms adapt to supply chain disruptions. Specifically, the paper evaluates the interactions and interdependencies amongst various organizations, participants and institutions in the construction industry as a basis for a holistic, adaptive response strategy for managing supply chain disruptions. Design/methodology/approach Following the tenets of relativist philosophy and qualitative research methodology, this study explores the lived experiences of senior-level managers across major construction firms in New Zealand through in-depth semi-structured interviews, as a basis for understanding how their respective organizations adapt to supply chain disruptions. Findings The research findings suggest that aside from the formal rules that guide the conduct of construction firms as they adapt to supply chain disruptions, informal interactions that exist amongst various organizations and players in the construction industry could also enhance the development of innovative and practical response strategies to supply chain disruptions. Originality/value This study makes original empirical contributions to the supply chain management literature by providing insights into how construction firms demonstrate normative, coercive and mimetic isomorphic tendencies amidst the complexity of supply chain disruptions. Insights from this study could enhance the adaptive response of construction firms to supply chain disruptions while also improving the overall resilience of the built environment.

Explanatory Games in International Relations

Abstract Explanation plays a central role in international relations (IR). However, as different conceptions of explanation inform our conduct of practices in IR inquiry, such centrality is far from being a settled matter in the discipline. These conceptions tend to be subsumed under broad dichotomies—such as explanation vs. understanding, constitutive vs. causal explanation, and positivism vs. interpretivism—which, in turn, generate a sense of a perennially divided discipline, obfuscating in this process the explanatory pluralism that characterises IR research. In this paper, I argue that different approaches to explanation coexist in IR, with different explanatory games being played by scholars in various fields of international inquiry. Explanatory games are characterised by constitutive rules, rules of representation, rules of inference, and rules of scope, all of which provide the basis for tailoring explanations. Scholars play the game that works best for their explanatory puzzles, following a specific set of rules that validate their form of explanation and thus achieve their research goals. Ultimately, explanation in the discipline is inherently plural. Examining this explanatory pluralism, therefore, requires investigating the rules of our explanatory games.

Backsliding Populist Governments in the Council: The Case of the Hungarian Fidesz

Populist governments aim to fundamentally challenge the EU, raising the question of when and how backsliding populist governments disrupt decision-making in the Council of the EU (hereafter Council). Due to their anti-elite and strong anti-EU stance, along with their opposition to core values of liberal democracy, I argue that these governments are more inclined to resort to <em>unpolitics</em>, understood as “unsettlement.” Analysing the behaviour of the Hungarian Fidesz government in the Council, the article demonstrates that populist governments resort to unpolitics but use an à la carte approach. Populist backsliding governments selectively oppose the Council’s formal and informal decision-making rules. Looking at the voting behaviour in the Council since 2009, the article shows that the Fidesz government preserves the norm of consensus. However, over time, it has become the government that has most often broken with this norm. Conversely, when it comes to “backsliding-inhibiting competences,” the Fidesz government challenges both formal and informal rules through a wide range of strategies, i.e., systematically contesting the legality of procedures and decisions, embracing a confrontational approach and diplomacy, self-victimisation, bending the truth, and accusatory rhetoric. To illustrate them, the article focuses on decisions related to the dismantlement of the rule of law in the country, such as Article 7 TEU, the application of Regulation 2020/2092, and the disbursement of Cohesion funds.

Under Which Conditions Do Populist Governments Use Unpolitics in EU Decision-Making

Until recently, we knew very little about the role of populist governments in EU decision-making. The “crucial case” of refugee distribution within the EU demonstrated that their behaviour was ruled by unpolitics: they rejected formal and informal rules of decision-making if these were not conducive to their preferred outcome, they rejected traditional means of ensuring compromises, and they rejected solutions to perpetuate crises. However, to what extent is unpolitics a phenomenon unique to migration—an area prone to (nativist) populist capture? This thematic issue compares the behaviour of populist governments in the Council of the EU across different policy areas. The goal is to better understand under which conditions unpolitics is more likely to manifest in EU decision-making. We argue that unpolitics is intrinsically linked to vote-seeking strategies, where populist governments use EU decision-making to mobilise domestic audiences. Hence, unpolitics is more prone to “high gain” and “low risk” issues, since they can be more easily politicised. Unpolitics is also more likely to manifest in venues that act as a tribune, where populist actors can directly speak to domestic audiences. Finally, since unpolitics relies on the mobilisation of voters, it is essentially a two-level game largely determined by domestic political and socioeconomic conditions. Overall, we see that, although the EU institutions have proved relatively resilient, unpolitics is gradually unsettling and hollowing out norms, institutions, and discourses.

Greece’s 2015 Eurozone Bailout “Renegotiation”: Beware of Greeks Bearing “Unpolitics”?

In January 2015, Greece witnessed a political earthquake with the election of the populist anti-austerity/EU bailout coalition of the left-wing party SYRIZA and the far-right party ANEL. It is argued that during January–July 2015, the SYRIZA–ANEL coalition engaged in a protracted process of renegotiation of Greece’s bailout terms that were agreed between previous Greek governments and the so-called Troika (European Commission, European Central Bank, and International Monetary Fund) adopting a behaviour ruled by “unpolitics.” First, the SYRIZA–ANEL government immediately rejected formal and informal rules of EU decision-making. Second, the SYRIZA–ANEL government rejected traditional means of compromise, such as package deals and side payments. Third, when Greece’s creditors presented their last-minute bailout offer in June 2015 to avoid Greece leaving the eurozone (Grexit), the SYRIZA–ANEL government rejected the suggested solution and tried to exploit the ensuing deadlock by calling a rashly organised referendum asking Greeks to vote against the suggested deal. This period of “unpolitics” ended almost immediately after the referendum when, in a sudden and unexpected volte-face, Tsipras interpreted the referendum result as a call for compromise with the Troika and accepted the previously intolerable bailout deal.

Queuing (im)mobilities: mobilizing the study of waiting in line

ABSTRACT Waiting in line (or queuing) is a mundane and wide-spread activity across the world. As an everyday phenomenon, this behavior features taken-for-granted dimensions that are rarely reflected upon and deserve further examination as they can shed light on the organization of social interaction and urban life. In this paper, we propose a research agenda for queuing practices that connects mobilities and design research while drawing on sociological thought. In line with the “mobilities turn”, we first highlight that queuing is more than simply being immobile. Waiting in line is a complex practice that is governed or “staged from above” through formal rules, legal procedures, and administrative procedures. Simultaneously, it is “staged from below” through the complex interactional patterns of behavior in the everyday life of millions of people. Moreover, we connect the mobilities-inspired understanding of this queuing to themes and ideas within the design realm. The article demonstrates how the act of waiting in line is “afforded” by the material and spatial layout of the environment, thus positioning mundane situations of waiting and queuing as windows into the norms and ideas governing co-presence and propinquity. After thus proposing an analytical framework that focuses on the nexus between waiting bodies and material environs, we will illustrate the value and reach of this approach through three ethnographic vignettes (supermarkets, stadiums, and airports). We conclude by identifying future research avenues for a more detailed exploration of queuing (im)mobilities.