Extensive Reforms Research Articles

Legacies, lags and long‐term trends: Effective flow restoration in a changed and changing world

Abstract Human impacts on natural ecosystems are pervasive and will play out more severely as human populations and per capita resource use increase. Freshwater ecosystems are critical for human well‐being and experience a diverse range of human‐induced pressures. Most river systems throughout the world have much‐altered flow regimes. The Murray–Darling Basin in southeastern Australian has been the focus of an extensive water reform process to address the over‐allocation of water for human uses. This has included many scientific investigations, hydrological modelling and the development of institutional and market structures to reallocate water. Substantial recovery of water has been achieved, which has been used to restore aspects of the natural flow regime. We reviewed recent papers on responses to flow restoration in the Murray–Darling Basin and complemented this with inferences from the global literature. Ecological responses to flow restoration are often inconsistent, site and taxon specific and difficult to detect. By combining ideas from mainstream thinking in restoration ecology with the insights from our review, we propose a conceptual model for understanding responses to flow restoration. This model incorporates key factors that influence the size of ecological responses to restoration, including existing ecological condition, legacy impacts of past change, interactions with other variables, life‐history traits of taxa and broad‐scale and long‐term trends due to climate or land‐use change.

체제변환기 중앙아시아 국가들의 교육개혁 서양의 영향 아래 도입된 제도 및 프로그램을 중심으로

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impacts of education reforms conducted during transitional period in Central Asian countries. In particular, this study analyzes how educational policies transferred by international agencies and NGOs for the education reforms in Central Asia produced unintended problems in the localization process. For this purpose, documents published by the international agencies as well as academic institutions and scholars were analyzed to evaluate the changes made not only in the systemic level but also institutional and personal levels in these countries. Since the independence from the Soviet Union, countries in Central Asia decentralized their educational administrations, privatized some of their educational institutions, liberalized textbooks and other services, extended years of compulsory education, and introduced new subjects such as English as foreign language and computer-related subjects (e.g. information and technology), in order to make a transition into the globalized market economy. The extensive education reforms were partly driven by the technological and financial aid provided by international agencies and NGOs from mid-1990s. However, since the education reforms were conducted primarily for economic needs, many problems occurred in the adaptation processes, including the decrease of teachers’ salary, lack of teaching and learning resources, increasing inequality between schools in urban and rural areas, increasing corruption. The problems intensified since the legacy from Soviet education, such as top-down, centralized bureaucracy in educational administration and rigid planning and control of curricula and pedagogy influenced the implementation of the reforms on the ground. This case indicates that trans-nationally driven educational reforms should be conducted with a careful consideration of the societal and cultural factors and values embedded within the society.

Progress and outcomes of health systems reform in the United Arab Emirates: a systematic review

BackgroundThe United Arab Emirates (UAE) government aspires to build a world class health system to improve the quality of healthcare and the health outcomes for its population. To achieve this it has implemented extensive health system reforms in the past 10 years. The nature, extent and success of these reforms has not recently been comprehensively reviewed. In this paper we review the progress and outcomes of health systems reform in the UAE.MethodsWe searched relevant databases and other sources to identify published and unpublished studies and other data available between 01 January 2002 and 31 March 2016. Eligible studies were appraised and data were descriptively and narratively synthesized.ResultsSeventeen studies were included covering the following themes: the UAE health system, population health, the burden of disease, healthcare financing, healthcare workforce and the impact of reforms. Few, if any, studies prospectively set out to define and measure outcomes. A central part of the reforms has been the introduction of mandatory private health insurance, the development of the private sector and the separation of planning and regulatory responsibilities from provider functions. The review confirmed the commitment of the UAE to build a world class health system but amongst researchers and commentators opinion is divided on whether the reforms have been successful although patient satisfaction with services appears high and there are some positive indications including increasing coverage of hospital accreditation. The UAE has a rapidly growing population with a unique age and sex distribution, there have been notable successes in improving child and maternal mortality and extending life expectancy but there are high levels of chronic diseases. The relevance of the reforms for public health and their impact on the determinants of chronic diseases have been questioned.ConclusionsFrom the existing research literature it is not possible to conclude whether UAE health system reforms are working. We recommend that research should continue in this area but that research questions should be more clearly defined, focusing whenever possible on outcomes rather than processes.

Cyborg political machines

Colombian professional political consultants couple information technologies and local political brokering to circumvent strict voter privacy regulations that limit campaigns’ access to voters’ personal data. I argue that political consultants use information technologies to bolster traditional vertical, personality-centered political organizations, and to produce tightly controlled “cyborg political machines.” I challenge widespread notions that oppose media-based politics to traditional face-to-face politics (known also as clientelism). Instead, I show that although political elites introduced American political marketing methods hoping to modernize campaigns, the American way provided a new framework to preserve traditional authoritarian political arrangements after the extensive democratic reforms of the early 1990s.

The Problems and Improvements of the Act on Special Cases for Punishment of Child Abuse Crime

지난 몇 년간 아동학대는 우리 사회의 가장 큰 이슈 중 하나였다. 국민적 관심에 부응하기 위해 정부는 아동학대 감소를 위한 각종의 정책들을 쏟아냈으며, 국회는 「아동학대범죄의 처벌 등에 관한 특례법」을 제정하였다. 위 법은 아동학대 범죄의 수사나 재판절차에서 아동학대의 특수성을 고려하였다는 점에서는 나름의 의미를 가지고 있으나, 아동학대의 예방이나 효과적인 보호 제공이라는 측면에서 보면 여전히 흠결이 많다. 따라서 본 논문에서는 이러한 문제점을 지적하기 위해 먼저 논의의 전제로서 현재 우리나라 아동학대의 현황과 처리절차에 관해 개관하고, 개선방안으로서 아동학대의 예방을 위해 아직 아동학대범죄의 정도에 이르지 않은 사안에서도 피해아동보호명령을 통해 학대행위자인 부모에게 상담 또는 교육을 명할 수 있는 방법 및 피해아동을 위해 적시에 효과적인 보호를 제공하기 위해 친권제한이나 친권일시정지 선고 등을 받지 않고서도 아동보호전문기관이 피해아동을 위한 각종의 조치를 취할 수 있는 방법을 모색하여 보았다.2014 was a monumental year for child abuse issue in South Korea. All of the extensive reform of the year has begun with one 8-year-old girl’s death at 2013. The government has responded rapidly to public sentiment pouring a lot of policies for reduction of child abuse, and the National Assembly has bustled up to pass Act on Special Cases concerning the Punishment, etc. of Child Abuse Crime(ASCPCAC). However, ASCPCAC has still some defects in view of prevention and full protection of child abuse. Therefore this paper aims to find ways to enforce counseling or education for parents in child abuse cases, especially when it is hard to say as a crime yet but very likely to develop into child abuse in the near future, and to provide effective protection measures to victims of child abuse in the emergency through Special Child Protection Agencies without a sentence of parental right s restriction or suspension by courts. As a premise of the discussion, I have outlined the statistics and procedures of current child abuse status in South Korea.

How Can Violence Among Urban Youth Be Stopped?

How Can Violence Among Urban Youth Be Stopped?

Comparing perceived learning experiences of two concurrent cohorts under curriculum reform in Hong Kong

PurposeHong Kong has undergone extensive curriculum reform and shifted from a three-year to a four-year university system. With a nuanced look at the impact of the curriculum reform, the purpose of the present study was to compare two concurrent cohorts by examining the extent to which the students in each cohort perceived their learning environment and learning outcomes differently and to what extent their perceptions differed.Design/methodology/approachA sample of 3,102 first-year students enrolled at a Hong Kong university responded to the student learning experience questionnaire (SLEQ). The perceived learning experiences between the two cohorts were tapped through several latent factors and validated through tests of measurement invariance. Latent mean differences were then compared. A multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis approach was used.FindingsThe findings suggested that measurement invariance of the scales of the SLEQ was established and that the two cohorts of students perceived largely similar learning experiences. The latent mean differences were statistically significant on the scales of feedback from teacher, clear goals and standards, personal integrity and ethics, intercultural competence, global perspective and civic commitment.Practical implicationsThe results facilitate the understanding of perceived student learning experiences with evidence-based implications for enhancing student learning experiences and refining the four-year curriculum under the new curriculum reform conditions.Originality/valueThis is the first institution-wide study that compares student learning experiences of two concurrent cohorts under curriculum reform initiatives of Hong Kong. It provides a meaningful and pertinent example for educators and researchers worldwide to analyze the impact of curriculum reform from the perspective of students’ perceived learning experiences. Similar studies adopting rigorous approaches in the measurement of students’ perceived learning experiences are relatively rare in higher education. Such efforts are encouraged for accountability and quality improvement purposes.

NOWELIZACJA KODEKSOWEJ REGULACJI UMOWY UBEZPIECZENIA - ZAGADNIENIA DE LEGE FERENDA

Insurance Contract in the Civil Code after the AmendmentSummaryAfter many years of work on an extensive reform of the economic Insurance law on 22 May 2003 four new acts were passed. O ne of the aims of the reform was to set in order provisions applying to an Insurance contract, which so far had been regulated not only in the Civil Code (art. 805-834), but also in the Act of 28 July 1990 about an insurance activity (art. 6-8).A new Insurance Activity Act which came into force on l January 2004 in principle does not include legal norms applying to the insurance contract. These norms - with necessary modifications - have been transferred into the Civil Code. Subject to art. 233 of the Act relevant modifications have been introduced to art. 807 § 2, art. 812 § 1-8, art. 817 § 2 and art. 822 § 1-4. Moreover, two new regulations have been implemented, namely art. 824 § 1-2 and art. 384 § 5. The above-mentioned changes are of great importance and can be called „a small amendment of the insurance contract in the Civil Code”.The author makes an argument that the recent changes of the insurance contract are far insufficient from the point o f view of a modern insurance business.

The Design Of Preservice Primary Teacher Education Science Subjects: The Emergence Of An Interactive Educational Design Model

Over the past 20 years there have been numerous calls in Australia and beyond for extensive educational reforms to preservice teacher education in the sciences. Recommendations for science teacher education programs to integrate curriculum, instruction and assessment are at the forefront of such reforms. In this paper, we describe our scholarly action–research approach to the teaching of science and science–method subjects to Australian preservice primary-school teachers in the state of New South Wales. We present an interactive educational design model founded on a solid theoretical literature base that incorporates Pedagogical Content Knowledge as an integrative mediating framework and which drives students’ interactions with the elements of the design model. The results from our mixed-methods study suggest that the approaches adopted through two extended vignettes show significant increases in preservice teachers’ competence and confidence. Together, the qualitative and extensive quantitative data suggest participants obtain a newly developed sense of enthusiasm for science and an understanding of the role that it can play in the primary- school curriculum. The data provide strong evidence that the approaches being called for in some of the earlier reforms and most recently by Bybee (2014) are effective

Economies of Scale on the Municipal Level: Fact or Fiction in the Czech Republic?

Abstract Many countries have carried out extensive amalgamation-related territorial reforms at the level of local self-government and created relatively large municipalities. The Czech Republic is one of the few remaining European countries with a fragmented territorial structure. There is a lot of discussion in the country about the need for amalgamation, but this discussion is mainly based on political arguments rather than on empirical evidence about the feasibility of amalgamation and its potential to improve local government performance. This paper analyses economies of scale on the local level as a factor that should be reflected in debates about the pros and cons of amalgamation in the Czech Republic. To add to the existing knowledge about the reality of economies of scale on the municipal level in the Czech Republic, we processed the municipal costs of three selected areas on a representative sample of municipalities in the South Moravian Region. The analysis showed that economies of scale can be identified for collecting local fees and for pre-school and elementary education, but not for local administration. Our results suggest that the existence of too small municipalities in the Czech Republic results in inefficiencies and should be addressed.

Teacher-Researchers as Levers of Doctoral Curriculum in Engineering

Policy-level interventions aim to expedite institutional change in universities but the related decisions rarely materialize as sustained grassroots-level implementations genuinely transforming teaching or learning practices. A vision without execution remains mere rhetoric or could even disrupt the persistent long-term development that committed teachers pursue as their more subtle and routine mode of operation. This article therefore suggests that attention be turned to classroom processes and research efforts that allow university teacher-researchers to practice their occupation in the most effective way possible. Such efforts draw on teacher resources, competence and motivation, and benefit the students through an elevated quality and targeted content of education. This article showcases an empirical development endeavor from Aalto University that, while responding to doctoral students’ learning needs and institutional demands for higher publication productivity, enhances teacher capacity and paves the way for a more extensive bottom-up institutional reform of doctoral education. The data-driven, quantitative analysis of a sample of 381 doctoral candidates in engineering directs the pedagogic focus in a doctoral writing course away from grammar and linguistic proficiency towards writing support that accentuates usability and communicative value. In particular, the study proposes foci on writing efficiency, effect and reader satisfaction, ultimately facilitating publication productivity and quality. This article describes the pedagogical basis for the Writing Doctoral Research course that was built as a result of the needs analysis, and presents the related course design and organization. The ultimate aim is to substantiate allocation of language teacher working hours to research by demonstrating how audience needs analyses can benefit both the quality of education and teacher renewal.

Introducing CSR - The Missing Ingredient in the Land Reform Recipe?

In reaction to the unequal land ownership brought about by decades of apartheid, the first democratically elected government embarked on an extensive land reform programme - a programme consisting of the three constitutionally protected pillars: restitution, redistribution and tenure reform. The aim of this programme is not only to provide for restitution to persons who lost their land as a result of racially based measures, but also provide previously disadvantaged South Africans with access to land in order to address the unequal land ownership. This research focuses on the restitution and redistribution pillars of the land reform programme.
 
 The progress made in terms of both these sub-programmes has been disappointing. With reference to redistribution the government has set the target to redistribute 30% of white owned commercial agricultural land to black persons by 2014. To date, less than 10% of this target has been achieved and all indications are that the overwhelming majority of land which has been redistributed is not being used productively or have fallen into a state of total neglect. The state of the redistributed land can be attributed to a variety of causes, with the main cause being the government's inability to provide proper post-settlement support to land reform beneficiaries.
 
 Against this background it is clear that alternative options have to be identified in order to improve the result of land reform. This article identifies corporate social responsibility (CSR) as one of the missing ingredients in the recipe for a successful land reform programme. The article introduces CSR and discusses the business case for CSR; identifies its benefits; considers its possible limitations; and examines the major drivers behind the notion. From the discussion of these topics it will become evident that an assumption of social responsibility by businesses in especially the agricultural sector might contribute to an improved land reform programme.

Changing Forms of Wage Labour in Zimbabwe’s New Agrarian Structure

This essay examines the changing nature of farm wage labour in the context of the extensive redistributive land reform since 2000. Using field research from two districts in Zimbabwe with contrasting agro-ecology and socio-economic patterns, it shows that agrarian wage labour is not the preserve of large-scale capitalist farms (LSCFs), which it is usually associated with. The new agrarian structure dominated by the peasantry not only employs an expanded base of unpaid family labourers, but also employs ‘informal’ wage labour whose character and conditions of employment are qualitatively different from the full and part-time labour of the past. Yet, there is continuation of the super-exploitation of agrarian wage labourers that is reflected by the payment of poor wages and differing degrees of the institution of the residential labour tenancy in both the old and new farm compounds. Landlessness and/or land shortage continues to be a key characteristic of farm wage labourers as in the past suggesting the persistence of the labour reserve dynamic.

The Role of Culture in Reform Performance: Evidence from Transition Countries

Transition economies differed widely in the extent to which they initially implemented market reforms. This paper empirically investigates the role of culture as a potential determinant of market reform adoption among the post-socialist economies of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. I examine an unbalanced panel of 21 transition countries over the period 1989-2001 and estimate the relationship between different cultural typologies and the adoption of liberalizing reforms. I report that a sense of individualism and intolerance for unequal dispersion of power, and to a limited extent tolerance for uncertainty and long-term orientation are associated with more extensive reform adoption.

Analysing the literature on university social responsibility: A review of selected higher education journals

AbstractIn the last 30 years, different economic, political and social changes have taken place in the university sector and this has led to an extensive reform to meet the new societal challenges that these institutions are facing today. This emphasises the social dimension of universities and their important role in society as educators of future leaders and policy makers. This reveals the need to integrate social responsibility principles into the mainstream functions of universities. In view of these comments, this paper offers a review of the literature about university social responsibility during the period from 2000 to 2015. The objectives of the review are to: explore patterns in publication outlets; collect, scrutinise and critically analyse the current literature on this field; to identify gaps in the literature and make recommendations for further research in this field. To accomplish this task, data were collected from 15 specialist academic journals that focus on higher education.

Accountability regimes in federal‐provincial Labour Market Agreements 1995‐2015

AbstractWorkforce development policy in Canada has undergone extensive reforms in the past two decades, often driven by intergovernmental pressures. Many of these reforms, including the transfer of thousands of federal civil servants to the provinces, along with $2.5 billion annually, have occurred largely unnoticed by the public, or even recipients of services. Accountability measures have remained weak as the federal and provincial governments have few incentives to increase public scrutiny. In particular, transparency (making information available for public scrutiny) and justification (the provision of reasons for decisions) are inadequate. A more inclusive public accountability framework in the policy area needs to be developed that can support innovation in programs.

English

This paper is on election observation and its political impact in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. It seeks to make a connection between election observation, the importance of political reforms and the declining levels of electoral violence. It argues that extensive election observation and the elaborate reportage that it produces has the potential in the short term, to lead to extensive electoral reforms and in the long run to lower electoral violence in countries that experience it. It also argues that electoral violence is most likely when a long time ruling party faces electoral defeat and that during such times, it is most difficult for parties to agree on and implement electoral reforms and hence extensive election observation is most needed. Key words: Election observation, political impact, election observation, electoral reforms, electoral violence.

Origins of Informal Coercion in China

Informal coercive tactics play an important role in maintaining political and social order in authoritarian regimes today, a fact variously attributed to the state’s incapacity to monopolize coercive force and to the strategic concealment of repression from international society. Studying the coercive tactics used by the Chinese government, this article directs attention to how state institutions and strategies create incentives for state agents to delegate coercion to third parties. In particular, this article recognizes the importance of Chinese leaders’ traditional preference to rely on third parties rather than formal state force for social control, and also the impressive improvements in the institutionalization of state coercion after the start of extensive legal reforms in the late 1970s. More important, however, is the multilayered and decentralized state structure that creates tight constraints on local officials and therefore motivates them to use informal coercion. The state structure in China is conducive to informal coercion in two ways. First, when local officials pursue local or private interests that diverge from central interests, informal coercion helps them overcome procedural barriers and avoid scrutiny from above. Second, although central and other upper authorities tend to restrict local officials’ use of force, they often exert considerable pressure on local authorities to fulfill various tasks that require strong coercion. Such conflicting or unfunded mandates have frequently prompted the use of informal coercive tactics. This study highlights the difficulty of holding local government officials accountable with formal institutions in China.

The motive of Hieros Gamos in Jesus’s Baptism in the Jordan River and in Jewish Kabballah

This paper suggests an alternative interpretation of Christ’ baptism, and more precisely, of the dove's role in it. One of the main rituals in the Ancient East was the 'sacred marriage' (Hieros Gamos), the purpose of which was to assure abundance, prosperity, and cosmic fertility, and to validate the status of the king. In many cases, the actual crowning, which followed the main ritual, was performed by a dove, one of the symbols of the feminine partner in the sacred marriage – the great goddess.Through the centuries, this ancient ritual underwent extensive transformations and reforms, but even though the goddess seemed to have vanished, her disappearance was only an illusion. There is abundant evidence to show that the ritual reform did not suppress the old traditions and beliefs but merely hid them beneath the surface. This evidence suggests that the goddess reappeared, sometimes centuries later, manifesting herself in numerous guises, as, for example, in the Kabbalah and in Middle Eastern folk tradition. Furthermore, both textual and archeological findings indicate the continuous presence of the motive of the dove as a symbol of the goddess, who elects and coronates the king. The projection of this motive onto the familiar Christian scenario of Jesus’ baptism can shed new light on the survival of the ancient, forgotten, symbolic meaning of the dove as a female divine entity who chooses and crowns Christ.

Organizational Level Performance of Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) under New Extension Reforms in the State of Assam

Organizational Level Performance of Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) under New Extension Reforms in the State of Assam