Stance Of Government Research Articles

Government Stance and Internal Diversity of Protest: A Comparative Study of Protest against the War in Iraq in Eight Countries

This study tackles the question to what extent the composition of protest events is determined by the stance of governments. Established contextual theories do not formulate propositions on how context affects individual protesters. The article engages in empirically testing whether the macro-context affects the internal diversity of the crowds that took to the streets on Feb. 15, 2003, the massive day of protest against the upcoming war on Iraq. Drawing on a survey of 6,753 individual demonstrators in eight countries, we find that the composition of the marches is determined by the stance of the government and the opposition in the countries at stake. Apart from government stance, also the support in public opinion and the type of mobilization (media support) matter for internal diversity.

Innovative Legal Approaches to Address Obesity

The law is a powerful public health tool with considerable potential to address the obesity issue. Scientific advances, gaps in the current regulatory environment, and new ways of conceptualizing rights and responsibilities offer a foundation for legal innovation. This article connects developments in public health and nutrition with legal advances to define promising avenues for preventing obesity through the application of the law. Two sets of approaches are defined: (1) direct application of the law to factors known to contribute to obesity and (2) original and innovative legal solutions that address the weak regulatory stance of government and the ineffectiveness of existing policies used to control obesity. Specific legal strategies are discussed for limiting children's food marketing, confronting the potential addictive properties of food, compelling industry speech, increasing government speech, regulating conduct, using tort litigation, applying nuisance law as a litigation strategy, and considering performance-based regulation as an alternative to typical regulatory actions. Finally, preemption is an overriding issue and can play both a facilitative and a hindering role in obesity policy. Legal solutions are immediately available to the government to address obesity and should be considered at the federal, state, and local levels. New and innovative legal solutions represent opportunities to take the law in creative directions and to link legal, nutrition, and public health communities in constructive ways.

The Civil and Military Medical Response to Natural Disasters

This article explores the topic of military involvement in disaster response. This was debated during a conference held at the Royal Society of Medicine, through presentations on experiences and procedures...

Protecting the Nation: Nationalist rhetoric on asylum seekers and the Tampa

AbstractThis paper analyses texts from the Australian print media that invoke nationalist discourse in the so‐called ‘Tampa crisis’ of 2001, which involved the boarding by Australian military troops of a civilian Norwegian shipping vessel (the Tampa) that had rescued a group of asylum seekers. In particular, we are interested in how military action was justified in public discourse against a group of civilians through the use of arguments relying in some form or another on the notion of nationhood and national identity. We employ a critical discursive methodology to investigate how some of these descriptions worked to legitimate the Australian government's role in these events and demonstrate some of the mechanisms by which discourses of nation can operate in the marginalization of asylum seekers. We conclude that presenting issues relating to asylum seekers and the Tampa at a level of national identity was critical in justifying the Australian government's stance and actions. We also raise some concerns about the consequences that may follow from the Australian government's actions and reliance on nationalist rhetoric. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Pronatalism: An Antithetical Value to Nigeria’s Reforms

The Nigerian state is heterogeneous. Despite some very sharp differences, certain values are common to all parts of the country. This paper focuses on one of such values with a view to assessing its role in bringing the Nigerian society to its present state. The value of attention is the value of pronatalism, which is here defined as beliefs and practices which underlie preference for many children. It is unfortunate that the ongoing reforms in Nigeria disregard the role of the value of pronatalism in the decay they seek to undo. A question is raised: What role has the constancy of the value of pronatalism and the resultant surge in population size played in getting the nation into the present political predicament? The paper appraises the stance of government on population matters over the years and notes that the co-incidence of the ills of rapid population growth and non-responsive governance has, more than any other factor, contributed to the present state of socio-political deformation. Based on this diagnosis, therefore, it is advocated that a negation of the value of pronatalism be factored into the reforms, if they must work.

Impact of national policy on the health of people seeking asylum

Recent Department of Health policy has modified the stage in the application process that people seeking asylum are entitled to free NHS health care. This has caused confusion, not only among asylum seekers and settled refugees, but also among healthcare professionals. In turn, this has led to increased difficulty for people seeking asylum in accessing healthcare services. This article identifies when in the process asylum seekers are entitled to free NHS care. It considers how current legislation and the government stance on immigration are having a negative effect on the health of people seeking asylum while they are in the U.K., and to what extent nurses and other health professionals can help.

Is Korea Moving Toward the Welfare State?: An IECI Approach

In this paper, it is attempted to see whether the recent increase in the actual social expenditure can be the one caused by the change in the policy stance of Korean government. IECI is calculated to check this. The initial finding is that the IECI of the welfare expenditure shows the clear increasing trend. Moreover, IECI's after 2000 are greater than 100 meaning that the welfare expenditure in Korea now is far greater than the level expected under the international (OECD) standard, currently. It is a remarkable change considering the fact that IECI's before 1997 were less than 90. Thus, it shows that there is a fundamental change in the government policy toward the welfare. In this paper, it is argued that this is a sign of the policy change toward the European welfare state, although Korea is not the one yet. This also poses a serious problem in the future because the increase in the welfare expenditure is inevitable.

The elephant in the room is awake and takes things personally: The North Korean nuclear threat and the general public's estimation of American diplomacy

The general audience for a global crisis can become a grassroots force in the ultimate fate of policy decisions. Focusing on the North Korean nuclear crisis case, certain contingent factors (dominant coalition characteristics, external threat, and external public characteristics) were overall strong predictors for public estimation about the government stance. Further, perception of situational factors (external threat and external public characteristics) was a stronger predictor for the participants’ stance estimation than perception of predisposing factors (dominant coalition characteristics). Implications for international diplomacy were discussed.

Reflections on Public Diplomacy after the Danish Cartoon Crises: From Crisis Management to Normal Public Diplomacy Work

AbstractThe Danish cartoon crisis was resurrected in Spring 2008 when the Mohammed cartoons were reprinted as an expression of solidarity following the revelation that definite death threats had been made to one of the cartoonists. During both crises the Danish government stuck to the principle of transparency and stood its ground, almost to excess, or so some thought. But the government's stance has possibly paid off, at least in the long run. A crisis situation is an inappropriate moment for a country to start a polemical discussion with its 'opposite number'. But as soon as things have quietened down, reconstruction work must take place. To stick one's head in the sand during this second phase is dangerous for a country's reputation. This article argues that the answer to this dilemma is to concentrate your counter-attack on the 'disputable area'. And the best method is to invite a meaningful dialogue.

The minimum means of reprisal: China's search for security in the nuclear age

In The Minimum Means of Reprisal, Jeffrey Lewis examines China's nuclear and space capabilities and deployment strategies, as well as the Chinese government's stance in arms control negotiations. Lewis finds that Chinese officials hold a restrained view about the role of nuclear weapons in national security and maintain a limited nuclear capacity sufficient to deter attack but not large enough for control of these weapons to be compromised.The future of cooperative security arrangements in space will depend largely on the U.S.-Chinese relationship, and Lewis warns that changes in U.S. defense strategy, including the weaponization of space, could signal to China that its capabilities are not sufficient to deter the United States from the use of force. Such a shift could cause China to reconsider its use of restraint in nuclear strategy, further damaging the already weakened arms control regime and increasing the nuclear threat to the United States and the world.

'Coming out of the Cave’: The First Inter-party Government, the Council of Europe and NATO

This article explores Ireland's participation in the Council of Europe following the repeal of the External Relations Act and departure from the British Commonwealth. It suggests that Ireland played a more significant role in international relations than is often acknowledged and contrasts the government's participation in Europeanbased organisations with its refusal to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). It examines why Ireland, under the guidance of Sean MacBride as minister for external affairs, enthusiastically embraced the opportunity to take part in the Council of Europe, the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC), and the United Nations, but not in NATO. Partition, and not particular concerns for the preservation of Ireland's neutrality, motivated the government's stance on NATO membership. Though the fixation with partition remained, participation in multilateral organisations nonetheless marked the beginning of an expanding role for Ireland in international affairs.

Political economy of preferential trade agreement: the case of bilateral asymmetric negotiation

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the political economy of preferential trade agreements based on a sequential non-cooperative Stackelberg political game between a large economy and a small one, in which the political dispute of rival lobby groups defines the unilateral stance of both governments in the first stage; and the Stackelberg "coalition-proof" equilibrium defines the free trade agreement format in the second stage. Finally, a few modifications in the initial game structure are discussed in order to enhance the small economy's negotiation power. The political economy model is applied to FTAA case.

Structural factors associated with primary fiscal balances in developing countries

The study explores the conditions under which a government in a developing country is likely to run a balanced or surplus budget. We contend that primary fiscal deficits are likely to persist where the economy is too saving constrained to raise private sector investment. To conduct the investigation, a logit model is applied to a sample of developing countries to see whether the saving constraints are associated with the fiscal stance of governments. Accordingly, income level, growth, external current account balance and foreign direct investment are used as indicators of the saving constraint. With the exception of economic growth, positive developments in these variables turned out to be significant to the likelihood of the government adopting a surplus budget.

Taking on the Opposition, Male Circumcision and Other Themes

THIS journal issue has at least two themes. The originally announced theme is about strategies for taking on the opposition to sexual and reproductive health and rights. Not surprisingly abortion is the subject of several of the papers. Interestingly the issues of support and opposition in relation to abortion law and policy are analysed from the point of view of Islam in the Middle East and North Africa (Hessini) the role of the parliament in reforming the abortion law from a gender and political perspective in democratic Spain knowledge and perceptions of ordinary people vs. the churches and government in Trinidad & Tobago (Martin et al) the stories of women who had unsafe abortions in Australia prior to legal reform and the process of taking a case to liberalise the abortion law to the Constitutional Court in Colombia. But abortion is not the only subject of papers for this theme. Opposition to emergency contraception in Latin America is the focus of two papers one about the changing political stance of different governments and the influence of that and of right-wing lobbyists on a major donor in Peru and the other about the opposition of the Catholic church in Latin America to emergency contraception with examples from Peru Brazil and Chile and a scientific and conceptual analysis of the origins of that opposition. (excerpt)

DRIVING PLASTERED: WHO DOES IT, IS IT SAFE AND WHAT TO TELL PATIENTS

The number and safety of patients who drive in an upper limb fracture cast has been largely untested. This study investigates the proportion of persons who drive in their casts and the capability of a casted persons driving is also assessed. The stance of government and insurance bodies is reviewed. The aim is to provide a guide for when a doctor should advise a patient not to drive while wearing an upper limb fracture cast. Patients attending fracture clinic in upper limb casts were anonymously surveyed and asked (along with demographics) if they drove while in a cast and if they believed it illegal or covered by insurance to drive. Driving tests of the author wearing upper limb fracture casts were undertaken. The Queensland police traffic branch, the Queensland Department of Transport and the RACQ insurance company were contacted to review the legal and insurance issues involved. Two-thirds of male and one-third of female patients (half overall) were found to drive while in an upper limb cast. The author failed driving instructor tests in all casts and occupational therapist driving assessments while wearing long arm casts. The author passed occupational therapy driving assessments in left and right short arm casts. According to these results, a doctor's advice should be to patients not to drive in a long arm upper limb fracture cast and to consider concomitant patient factors when advising patients in short arm casts. Although we do not suggest that patients drive while wearing any cast, we have found a large proportion do. Our limited study has found that a young, fit and pain-free person may be able to drive well enough to pass a driving test while wearing a short arm cast.

Not a “Real State”?

Since the 19905, pundits, parliamentarians, and professors alike have criticized the Liberal government for its seeming neglect of the Canadian forces (CF) and the resulting decline.1 They claim that spending cuts in defence threaten Canada's international standing. They contend that, for the United States, troop cuts make Canada an even more junior (and burdensome) partner in terms of North American defence. They assert that government priorities directed elsewhere have left the Canadian populace poorly protected in the post-g/n environment. In this mix of criticisms, it is also frequently asserted that the CF's growing reliance upon private commercial actors for the execution of critical tasks is representative of this neglect and decline. Reliance upon private actors is a poor second choice because, they contend, it puts the defence of the country in the hands of commercial rather than national interests. Moreover, this policy choice reveals that the government is not serious about protecting Canadians or ensuring the sovereignty of Canada because it has surrendered, for the entire world to see, responsibilities to the private sector. Overall, the complaint is that Canada may no longer be a real state as a result.2While this privatization is partially symptomatic of the government's stance towards defence since the end of the Cold War, this article argues that the net needs to be more widely cast in order to understand fully the rationale behind this shift in the balance between public and private.In fact, the private presence may even have been intended to at least address some of the concerns noted above. As such, many other variables, some of them independent of the Canadian context, have arisen that promote the private presence. To make this case, the article first describes the nature of defence privatization in Canada and then identifies the catalytic effects of neoliberal thinking, technological innovation, recruitment/retention issues, and the influence of the American military model. We will see that the motivators for privatization are often not straightforward; these factors frequently impact upon each other or stand in contradistinction. Additionally, while the change in the public/private balance does not necessarily indicate a lack of government seriousness regarding defence, it does present pitfalls and risks. Challenging issues pertaining to foreign influence, occupationalism in the CF, and governance and policymaking will likely affect Canada in specific ways.CANADIAN DEFENCE PRIVATIZATIONOn the one hand, the control and management of violence has fluctuated between public and private actors over the course of history.3 Civilians have long supported military operations, something explicitly identified in the Hague conventions on warfare. Similarly, while nationalization has sometimes occurred, private firms are usually responsible for producing the weaponry and equipment employed by militaries. This has been the case for Canada. During the Cold War, private firms provided for the CF's needs, whether they supplied the myriad bases and depots across Canada or the forward stockpiles located in western Europe. As for the production of armaments, government policy in recent decades has generally been not to interfere with the dynamics of the marketplace by overly directing, or even taking over, privately owned and operated firms.On the other hand, despite this type of private presence, it has generally been felt over the past 200 years that it is unexpected, inappropriate, and even dangerous for civilians to be overly involved in military endeavours. Civilians, so the argument goes, should not be deployed in large numbers and they should not provide services that are either critical to mission success or are needed near frontlines. It is also thought that military activities are best left to individuals who-imbued with a sense of patriotism-have agreed to the possibility of losing their lives in the course of performing them, rather than the unsavoury forces of the marketplace and private reward. …

The Strange Story of Bush and the Argentine Debt Crisis

When the government of Argentina declared itself unable to pay its debts in December 2001, the world witnessed the largest sovereign default in history. While international investors were predictably upset, the response of the USA was more unusual. Instead of supporting foreign private creditors as it had during most sovereign debt crises of the 1980s and 1990s, the US government did very little. Indeed, since the initial default, US policy makers even went out of their way to express support for the Argentine government's tough negotiating stance vis-à-vis these creditors and the imf. The Argentine government's stance culminated in early 2005 in the most dramatic private debt restructuring of recent years, under which investors took a cut of roughly 70% on the value of their bond holdings. Although US policy towards the Argentine debt default and restructuring contrasted sharply with the Bush administration's aggressive broader foreign policy since September 2001, this article shows that it reflects familiar influences: strategic goals, neoliberal ideology and conservative anti-internationalist sentiments. The article concludes with a brief discussion of the implications of this US policy for the broader politics of international debt.

When the British ‘Tommy’ went to war, public opinion followed

This article seeks to outline how public opinion changed over the course of the government's announcement of 2nd Gulf War in Iraq until the scandal over the alleged ‘sexed-up’ Downing Street intelligence dossier. Using quantitative analysis of opinion poll data, together with in-depth interviews with journalists to show how the media were complicit in providing a positive spin for the government's stance on war, the authors conclude that the positive change in public opinion once the British soldiers were deployed occurred through one of the following mechanisms: 1) a patriotic effect, 2) government communication expertise and the management of a complicit news media, 3) the public basked in the reflected glory of the initially successful military or 4) some combination of the above. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A contingency approach to the Sino–U.S. conflict resolution

Taking the dispute between the United States and China over the collision of a U.S. Navy plane with a Chinese jet in April 2001, the research confirmed at certain the Contingency Theory variables that affect the U.S. government's stance in resolving the conflict. It supported the postulates of the theory: Symmetry through a dialogue may not be inherently ethical; in a morally intractable conflict, accommodation may be impossible.

‘Coming out of the Cave’: The First Inter–party Government, the Council of Europe and NATO

This article explores Ireland's participation in the Council of Europe following the repeal of the External Relations Act and departure from the British Commonwealth. It suggests that Ireland played a more significant role in international relations than is often acknowledged and contrasts the government's participation in Europeanbased organisations with its refusal to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). It examines why Ireland, under the guidance of Sean MacBride as minister for external affairs, enthusiastically embraced the opportunity to take part in the Council of Europe, the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC), and the United Nations, but not in NATO. Partition, and not particular concerns for the preservation of Ireland's neutrality, motivated the government's stance on NATO membership. Though the fixation with partition remained, participation in multilateral organisations nonetheless marked the beginning of an expanding role for Ireland in international affairs.