Formal Norms Research Articles

Clones and zombies: rethinking conspiracy theories and the digital public sphere through a (post)-colonial perspective

ABSTRACT This article investigates what is at stake in decolonising the study of conspiracy theories online. It challenges the confidence with which conspiracy theories are often dismissed as aberrations and negative externalities of digital ecosystems. Without reifying conspiracy theories, we identify as problematic how alternative forms of knowledge production are dismissed and colonial tropes reproduced. Contributing to conversations around ‘decolonising the internet’, we offer additional and sharper tools to understand the role and implications of conspiracy theorising for communicative and political practices in different societies globally. Empirically, we analyse a conspiracy theory circulating in Nigeria between 2018 and 2019 purporting that Nigerian President Buhari had died and the man in office was his ‘clone’. Conceptually, our analysis intersects with Achille Mbembe’s work on power in the postcolony, to illustrate how it is possible to adopt alternative forms of normativity that eschew the stigmatisation and exclusion that has prevailed, but still offer evaluative frameworks to locate conspiracy theories in contemporary digital environments. We engage with Mbembe’s ideas about how humorous and grotesque forms of communication can result in the zombification of both the ‘dominant’ and those ‘apparently dominated’. We argue that zombification as a theoretical intervention provides a useful addition to the conceptual and normative repertoire of those studying conspiracy theories, between the poles of dismissal/condemnation and pure curiosity/acceptance of what is said.

MERITOCRACY AND EGALITARIANISM: adherence of university students from public and private institutions

When assuming the form of norms within a society, meritocracy and egalitarianism may initially appear to bring numerous benefits. However, subtly within this social dynamic, they can normalize inequality and emphasize various mechanisms of prejudice within the social fabric. Given the above, this article aims to measure the adherence of university students to the social norms of meritocracy and egalitarianism through practical, descriptive, and survey-based research. The study employed a sociodemographic questionnaire and a scale of social norms, consisting of adherence to egalitarianism and meritocratic individualism principles. The survey results revealed that university students exhibited moderate to low levels of adherence, with significant differences observed in the variables of gender, age, and income, indicating higher levels of adherence among males, younger individuals, and those with lower income. These findings indicate an ideological bias that is less prevalent in the academic environment but deeply ingrained in the social fabric since the early stages of individual formation. Thus, this highlights the need for critical debates on the denaturalization of this perception of reality, providing new perspectives to individuals in confronting reality and addressing inequalities in their respective contexts.

Agents with Principles? Preventing Conflict-Related Sexual Violence with Human Rights Laws and Norms

ABSTRACT: Focusing on conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV), we posit that behavioral expectations in the form of norms and laws have a visible impact on government militaries. Using data from over 2,000 actor-incidents between 1989 and 2015, we find a robust negative relationship between physical integrity norms and CRSV. CRSV is often a gendered act, but its prevention is not. Our analysis suggests that CRSV prevention rests with the imperative to respect physical integrity rights. This inherent respect restrains government actors even when elements of formal military control are absent or only inconsistently enforced.

Tomographic Inversion Code Analysis Using Regularization Iteratively Reweighted Norm (Irn)

Indonesia is an area located in the ring of fire, which was formed as a result of the interaction between four plates, namely the Eurasian Plate on the south, the Eurasian Plate on the, the Philippine Plate, and the Pacific Plate on the northeast. The interaction between these plates causes Indonesia to have many active volcanoes and experience many geological natural disasters. In the tomographic inversion process, ill-condition problems are often found in matrix making. Therefore, a regularization technique is needed to obtain a consistent result. The regularization technique can be done using Matlab software with a package called IR Tools (Gazzola et al., 2018). In this research, inversion techniques are used in the form of Least Square and Iteratively Reweighted Norm (IRN). This study aims to analyze the tomographic inversion code with the regularization technique using the Iteratively Reweighted Norm (IRN). In this study, two types of data were used, synthetic data and real data. Based on the results, it shows that using the Least Square method has better where the resulting checkerboard is more than adequate to reconstruct the initial velocity and amplitude model, which is described more clearly and strongly. Based on the results of the real data inversion, it shows that there is a low Vp anomaly (red) in the lower area of Mt. Merapi and Mt Merbabu. Low seismic velocity anomalies are associated with magmatic zones, partial melting, or magma reservoirs. However, there is also a high seismic velocity anomaly (blue) associated with the subduction zone of the Indo-Australian Plate to the Eurasian Plate.

Reformulation of the Authority of Judicial Commission: Safeguarding the Future of Indonesian Judicial Power

Jurisdiction of Indonesian judiciary still leaves various polemics, one of which relates to decisions that are antinomian between the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court. This research aims to describe efforts to resolve these issues through reformulation within the constitution, regarding the supervisory authority of the Judicial Commission in creating harmonization of judicial decisions in the future. This type of research is normative research. The results indicate that reformulation or redefinition of the authority of the Judicial Commission in the constitution is a gateway to optimizing the role of the Judicial Commission as a product of reform in supervising judges in issuing correct, fair, and legal certainty decisions. Regulation through the constitution is an attributive authority in which the formulation of constitutional norms in the chapter on judicial power, particularly Article of the Judicial Commission, should preferably include phrases of "safeguarding" and "upholding" the code of ethics and conduct of judges, as preventive and repressive measures to prevent antinomian decisions between two judicial state institutions from recurring.

Institutional Strengthening of Village-Owned Enterprise Legal Entities as a Manifestation of Village Sustainable Development Goals

This study aims to analyze the arrangement of Village Owned Enterprises in Indonesia and their management in realizing village Sustainable Development Goals. Village Owned Enterprises as socio-economic institutions in villages can realize sustainable development goals in villages. However, most of the existing Village-Owned Enterprises have yet to function optimally in driving the village economy. This is doctrinal legal research with legal, conceptual, and philosophical approaches. This method seeks to discuss the arrangement of Village-Owned Enterprises in Indonesia and the importance of institutional strengthening of Village-Owned Enterprises as socio-economic institutions with legal status in realizing the Sustainable Development Goals in Villages. The institutional arrangement and strengthening of Village-Owned Enterprises, apart from legal and economic aspects, also require social capital support. Rural local customs in the form of local wisdom and customary law norms that are still relevant can be social capital for the institutional strengthening of Village-Owned Enterprises. Based on local wisdom and customary law norms, the institutional management of Village Owned Enterprises can be optimal in realizing the goals of village sustainable development.

Reverse Evidentiary Analysis in Article 12 B Paragraph (1) A and B of Law Number 20 of 2001 Amendments to Law Number 31 of 1999 Concerning The Eradication of Corruption

The purpose of this study is to analyze the philosophical basis of the reverse proof system for future Gratification corruption crimes and the formulation of norms for the reverse proof system for future Gratification corruption crimes. The research method used in this study is normative juridical with qualitative descriptive data analysis techniques. The results of the study are the philosophical basis of the reverse proof system for the crime of graft corruption related to bribery Article 12 B, namely that both the public prosecutor and the defendant are obliged to prove but the public prosecutor alone proves the gift received by the recipient of the gratuity while the defendant proves that the gratuity is not a bribe, has nothing to do with position and does not conflict with their duties or obligations. The construction of legal substance, which directs the formulation of reverse evidentiary norms with an emphasis on legislative policies according to the 2003 CAC as a characteristic of the combination of the hukum umum and hukum sipil legal systems as a legal system.

The normative nature of corporal punishment in Australia

AbstractCorporal punishment (CP) is the most common and socially normative form of violence perpetrated against children and is legal in the home and some other settings in Australia. CP was made a common practice through its introduction by European settlers and Christian missionaries during colonisation. Furthermore, the defence of reasonable chastisement became part of the Australian common law in 1860 and is still used in some jurisdictions. Other jurisdictions have enacted criminal laws that have entrenched the defence in legislation. This article gives a brief historical overview of the origin of CP in the English common law, the defence of reasonable chastisement and how these concepts came to be entrenched in Australian law and culture. Moreover, this contribution examines the recognition of children's rights in international law and the significant global impact this has had in elevating the status of children. Then, this article analyses the current legal framework and the permissiveness of CP in Australian states and territories. Consequently, it is argued that states and territories ought to repeal legislation that permits CP, and all jurisdictions should insert a positive statement into civil laws that CP is no longer acceptable as a disciplinary measure.

Theoretical and legal characteristics of the civil law principles

It has been noted that the purpose of the principles of law is to ensure a uniform formulation of legal norms and their impact on social relations in the form of legal regulation and other forms of legal influence. They identify ways to improve legal provisions and act as guiding ideas for legislators. When enshrined in legal acts, principles ensure the unity of the processes of creating, implementing and protecting law.
 It has been proved that the principles of civil law are best understood as the starting points, the basic ideas underlying the formation, functioning and further development of the relevant branch of law. They create and provide the ideological basis for the development and proper regulation of social relations which are the subject matter of the civil branch of law.
 It has been argued that the list of principles enshrined in the Civil Code of Ukraine is not exhaustive, but is supplemented by the following principles: good faith and good intentions; enforcement of obligations; protection of property rights; protection of the right to inviolability of the person; freedom of will; equality and equality of the parties to a civil contract (agreement); compliance with contractual obligations; economic freedom; and recognition of legal capacity.

Country-specific narratives of the professional preparation of infant–toddler teachers in Hong Kong China, Aotearoa New Zealand and the USA

ABSTRACT Using a qualitative descriptive design, researchers describe andidentify similarities and differences in the professional preparation of infant-toddler care and education (ITCE) teachers at university based teacher education programmes in Hong Kong China, Aotearoa New Zealand, and the USA. Researchers overview the ITCE landscape, describe statutory regulations, and consider major documents and prevalent ideas influencing ITCE teacher education in their respective countries. Key findings are presented from each researcher’s analysis of the teacher education programmes at their own institutions and then summarised in descriptive narratives around four major themes: (1) country-specific values, (2) pedagogical elements, (3) curriculum focus, and (4) teaching practicum expectations. On the basis of a dialogic deliberative process, the three researchers then discuss the findings together by deliberating upon how culture in the forms of norms, values, prevailing beliefs, and expectations, appeared to – intentionally or unintentionally – shape the three different approaches to preparing students to become fully-qualified teachers of infants and toddlers.

STUDI MODAL SOSIAL PADA PENAMBANG EMAS TRADISONAL DI KELURAHAN MUARA BAKANON

The background of this research is related to the existence of traditional gold mining activities carried out by the people of Muara Bakanon village on the Barito river, by looking at the Social Capital they use during mining activities. This study aims to find out how Social Capital is used by miners in carrying out traditional gold mining activities in Muara Bakanon Village. The method used in this research is descriptive-qualitative to provide a detailed description based on the facts found. The results of the findings in the field found that Social Capital in the form of values, norms, beliefs and social networks plays an important role in supporting relationships and relationships between miners during mining activities. If the Social Capital was not used during mining activities, perhaps this traditional gold mining would not survive until now and the relations and solidarity of the miners would not be formed in it.

Government externalities

AbstractGovernments are expected to tackle externalities such as pollution, epidemics and environmental catastrophes, but whether and how governments themselves generate externalities is a question equally important for exploring socially beneficial policies and institutional reforms. The problem with defining government externalities is that governments, through regulation and distribution, inevitably allocate costs and benefits asymmetrically due to preference heterogeneity in society. This problem also concerns the rules and rights governing market transactions, blurring the boundaries between market failure and government failure. In this paper, I define government externalities as costs passed on us by government actions taken outside a decision-making system in which we participate as insiders. Views about what being an insider is differ. Some will be content with democratic citizenship in majoritarian decision-making processes. Others may subscribe to Buchanan and Tullock’s liberal and more demanding normative theory based on constitutional consent. In either case, I argue, there will be externalities generated by clientelism, namely informal deals between politicians and special interests for the distribution of benefits that occur outside, and in violation of, the formal norms of participation. These are complex externalities, infiltrating policymaking and distorting institutions governing the operation of markets too. They create government failure on the same grounds that some market externalities are considered market failure: (a) the costs fall on outsiders and (b) negatively affect the terms for the production and exchange of goods and services. Government externalities influence both governance and markets simultaneously and illustrate the limits of what institutional design can constrain or achieve.

Global Polynomial Synchronization of Proportional Delayed Inertial Neural Networks

In this article, the global polynomial synchronization (GPS) using proportional delay inertial neural networks (PDINNs) as a drive-response system is studied. A feedback controller is designed, which is easy to implement in hardware. The order reduction method is used to reduce the error system of the studied systems to the first-order differential equations. The novel proportional delay differential inequalities (DDIs) in norm form are established by applying Lagrange’s mean value theorem, derivative definition, constructing auxiliary function method, and properties of matrix and vector norm. By applying the novel constructed DDIs, two GPS criteria of the studied systems are acquired, which are embodied in the form of matrix norm and are easy to verify. Ultimately, the theoretical results are supported by numerical examples.

Eksistensi Modal Sosial Atas Kewajiban Ppn Dalam Menjaga Kelangsungan Usaha

This research uses a phenomenological qualitative approach with interviews and direct observation methods conducted with taxable entrepreneurs in the province of East Nusa Tenggara which focuses on the utilization of social values in responding to changes in VAT regulations from the perspective of social capital. VAT is a burden that makes it possible for taxable entrepreneurs to avoid it, because it is considered that the 10% VAT is not in favor of PKP which has an impact on the selling price due to the additional VAT costs. The social capital of business actors is established through social relations between human beings in the business environment and leads to the norms and values of life with the surrounding community. Social capital is formed in the social environment where there is trust in one another. Social interaction, both economic and non-economic, is determined by the trust of business actors, consumers or the community around where the business operates. Actively contributing to various social activities is a way for businesses to mingle with society. Through social interaction with various actions and involvement in social activities for the surrounding environment to obtain and maintain legitimacy in the form of kinship, trust, values and norms for PKP businesses which have a positive impact on business continuity, despite the VAT rate which makes the selling price more expensive from non-PKP.

The Influence of the Muslim Brotherhood on Teaching Islam in American Universities

The significance of the Muslim Brotherhood in American academia lies in the academic articulation of the brothers’ discourse as the expression of modern Islam in general. As such, the discourse of a specific political group is taken as the appropriate example of modern mainstream Islam. This treatment of the brothers’ discourse has resulted in an assumption that Islam, or at least modern Islam, is essentially political. It is not surprising, therefore, that one can easily find courses that teach “Islam and Politics,” or “Islam and Democracy,” which have no parallel in courses taught on other religions. What creates this distortion is not the mere political nature of the Brothers as an organization. It is the redefinition of Islam as has been presented by the brothers’ discourse since its foundation. There, Islam is presented as a differentiated structure that mirrors the differentiated structure of the secular state. Islam is presented as a comprehensive modern system that includes a number of complementary systems: political, economic, social, educational, health, etc. that work in harmony, guided by the rational principle of maṣlaḥah, public interest. The discourse of the Brothers defined the object of studies for American academia and set its research agenda. Not only has this presentation of Islam over politicized it, but it marginalized a plethora of significant traditional structures and concepts, as well as several modern responses that are not included in the brothers’ discourse. The overpoliticization of Islam and presenting it as nece­ssarily Islamism has become not just a problem of media misrep­resentation, but a crisis in the quality of knowledge about Islam that is produced and nurtured in academia. Moreover, this situation developed two unfortunate scholarships on modern Islam in Western academia that further distorted and blocked our knowledge on Islam: one is minor and Islamophobic, the other is major and Islamophilic. The Islamophobic approach sees Islam as inherently opposed to the modern structures of civil society, democracy, cultural diversity, and free market. The Islamophilic approach portrays Islamism—seen as the normative form of modern Islam, which is embraced by Muslim societies, as legitimate and popular native protest movement against non-democratic regimes. An exploration of John Esposito, whose scholarship has set the tone on Islam in academia for decades, and whose books have been widely adopted in courses taught in American universities will prove my argument.

Sovereign debt assistance and democratic decision‐making

AbstractOrganizational reforms stimulating democratic decision‐making play a role in the economic effectiveness of concessional debt and debt relief. Effectiveness is defined as the increase in project approval produced by debt assistance. This claim is supported by a theoretic model illustrating the role of democratic decision‐making in increasing lending as well as in determining the effectiveness of debt assistance. Using the framework of group decision‐making in a fixed‐size committee, we suggest a novel explanation to the advantage of conditioning debt assistance on organizational reforms that target the decision‐making structure in organizations. The results imply that if the aid organization can affect the level of democratization in organizations, it can exploit its advantage and set the debt assistance that induces the maximal increase in project approval. We derive conditions under which organizational reforms that impose various forms of democratic norms in decision‐making are important for increasing the effectiveness of debt assistance. We also point to the case where replacing an autocratic decision maker can cause debt assistance effectiveness to decline.

THE CONTROVERSY OF MUSLIM WORSHIP IN POST-PANDEMIC

After the Covid-19 pandemic, the worship activities of Muslims have given rise to various controversies in the context of their principles, attitudes, and worship relations. In addition to explaining the controversies of Muslim worship after the Covid-19 pandemic, this study also analyzes the factors and implications of this phenomenon. This study uses a qualitative descriptive approach. Data was collected through direct observation and interviews with Muslims who carried out the five-time obligatory worship activities in the congregation at the mosque after the Covid-19 pandemic. The analysis in this study was carried out by reducing, describing, and inductively interpreting the data. The findings in this study show that post-Covid-19 pandemic worship controversies have not only appeared in the form of regulations, fqih, and worship norms. This context is influenced by the experience, knowledge, and meaning of Muslims, which has implications for the principles, attitudes, and patterns of worship in a more personal and subjective direction after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Contracts and Agreements as Grounds for Expenditure Obligations: A Legal Aspect

The paper analyzes the provisions of the Budget Code of the Russian Federation, stipulating that expenditure obligations in the Russian Federation arise, among other things, as a result of the conclusion of contracts and agreements. The study revealed that the provisions of the Budget Code of the Russian Federation contain broad definitions that allow for the emergence of expenditure obligations from contracts that do not have regulatory properties, in particular from contracts concluded on behalf of a public legal entity by a state institution. The paper substantiates that such regulation does not take into account the legal standing of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation according to which the expenditure obligation must be established in a normative form. It is revealed that the budget legislation regarding the regulation of expenditure obligations is not synchronized with the legislation regulating the organization of public power. The paper provides arguments proving the need to specify that only public law contracts should act as the grounds for the occurrence of expenditure obligations. According to the results of the study, it is proposed to adjust the Budget Code of the Russian Federation in terms of specifying a specific list of types of contracts and agreements, because of which expenditure obligations arise.

Pandangan Hukum Islam Terhadap Kewarisan Anak Angkat Di Kota Gorontalo

This research aims to provide knowledge to the community regarding the limitations for adopted children, especially in terms of inheritance, so that the community is not wrong in providing knowledge about adopted children. This research is a field research (Field Research), the data sources used are primary data sources collected through interviews, documentation and observation. Primary data is obtained directly from respondents regarding inheritance for adopted children in Islamic law and customary law, while secondary data is in the form of legal theories and norms as well as other supporting data obtained from literature, documentation and biographies. All of these data are materials to describe an overview of Islamic law regarding inheritance for adopted children in the perspective of customary law.
 Based on the results of the research, it turns out that the Indigenous people of the city of Gorontalo, in giving their inheritance to adopted children, carry out the provisions of Islamic inheritance law and some carry out customary inheritance law. For people who implement Islamic law, the adopted child does not get an inheritance but gets assets in the form of a mandatory testament and may not exceed 1/3 of the assets left behind, while for people who use Javanese customary law they determine their own in accordance with the agreement in the deliberations of experts the heir concerned. It is better for people who adhere to Javanese customs to be given knowledge about Islamic inheritance law.

Multicultural Education and Tolerance from Social Capital Perspective

This article discusses social capital and how social capital in the form of social values, social norms, social trust, social networks, and social bonds can support multicultural education and tolerance. Multicultural education can be carried out by integrating knowledge, reconstructing knowledge, developing attitudes, empowering schools, and developing skills. This study describes social capital through user participation in networks, trust, reciprocity, social norms, and values. Research shows that social capital can help build tolerance and multicultural education and improve performance efficiency. Therefore, paying attention to social capital in education and building strong social networks to support multicultural education and tolerance is important.