Credibility Of Institutions Research Articles

Democratization and Peace after Civil War—What Difference Can International Engagement Make? Insights from Liberia

Abstract What role can international engagement play for the relationship between post-conflict democratization and conflict recurrence? Empirical evidence indicates that democratization risks triggering violence. Consequently, some scholars criticize the liberal peacebuilding approach, which centers on the promotion of democracy and competitive elections with the aim of fostering peace after civil wars. This article (1) illustrates the risks and potential of post-conflict democratization and (2) traces the effect of international support in this context. It builds on the existing literature yet goes beyond the concentration on peacekeeping forces and places particular attention on democracy promotion. The analysis draws on rich empirical data from Liberia, which is an ideal case to explore this relationship. Twice, democratic elections followed in the wake of a devastating civil war in Liberia. The first post-war elections in 1997 are often cited as an example of how externally induced democratization triggers renewed violence. The democratization process following the end of the second civil war in 2003, in contrast, is regarded as having strengthened peace. The analysis shows that international (democracy) support constitutes a key explanatory factor in the Liberian case by reducing and even substituting for the weakness and lack of credibility of local democratic institutions and procedures.

Ethical analysis of informed consent methods in longitudinal cohort studies: A Chinese perspective.

In longitudinal cohort studies involving large populations over extended periods, informed consent entails numerous urgent challenges. This paper explores challenges regarding informed consent in long-term, large-scale longitudinal cohort studies based on the longitudinal and dynamic nature of such research. It analyzes and evaluates widely recognized broad consent and dynamic consent methods, highlighting limitations concerning their ability to adapt to evolving research objectives and participant perspectives. This paper discusses trust-based informed consent and emphasizes the needs to establish and maintain trust with research participants and to balance information disclosure with respect for participants' autonomy. Informed consent in long-term studies is an evolving process that must adapt to changing research environments. Based on participant trust, researchers should observe and assess potential research risks. Finally, the paper recommends enhancing institutional credibility, implementing reconsent procedures, and ensuring robust ethical oversight to safeguard participants' rights despite the complexity of modern biomedical research.

The Role of Procedural Fairness: Land Titling Programs and Agricultural Investment in China

This study examines the moderating role of procedural fairness between land titling programs and agricultural investment. We constructed a theoretical model that introduces perceived security of land tenure and procedural fairness into the traditional “property rights-investment incentives” analytical framework. Moreover, we empirically analyze the impact of land titling and its procedural fairness on agricultural investment using data from the “Thousands of People, Hundreds of Villages” survey held in 2018 among 9596 households in China. The empirical analyses were conducted by using the ordinary least squares (OLS), probit, and instrumental variable methods. Our analysis showed that land titling in China significantly promotes agricultural investment by farm households and that procedural fairness has a significant positive moderating role in the investment incentive effect of land titling as well as significantly improving the institutional credibility of land titling and enhancing farmers’ perceived land tenure security.

Managing digital records within Nigeria's regulatory framework

Nigeria has a complicated legal and regulatory environment. This complicated history brings to mind the oft-quoted Biblical phrase, “There was no king in Israel, and every man did what was right in his own eyes.” (New King James Version Bible, 1982 Judges 17:6) As the technological landscape began to change, strong legislative frameworks are now required to guarantee the security, accessibility, and integrity of digital information. Since enacting the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) in 2019, and the subsequent passing into law of the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA) 2023, and establishing the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC), Nigeria has reached landmark milestones in Nigeria's journey toward improving data protection and privacy. This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the recent developments in Nigeria's data protection landscape and implications for digital records management in government agencies and businesses. This paper further tries to examine the implications of these developments for digital records management within Government Agencies and Businesses. It will also provide a brief history of digital records in Nigeria. Furthermore, it will analyze key provisions of the NDPA and the NDPC's strategic priorities and identify opportunities and challenges for aligning records management practices with the new framework. The paper also reviews the relationship between records management and organizational credibility in Nigeria, discussing how proper record management is crucial for the credibility of public institutions and organizations in Nigeria. Additionally, it attempts to show the benefit of data-driven regulatory approaches to assist organizations in navigating Nigeria's complex regulatory landscape. This paper offers recommendations for businesses, agencies, and regulators to utilize the NDPA and its strategies to enhance the adoption of digital records management. The methodology for selecting and analyzing sources involved a comprehensive literature review and policy analysis, focusing on key legal documents, academic articles, and reports from relevant agencies.

Can Social Media Expand Public Discourse in a ‘Captured’ Mediascape?

The Greek public sphere has historically been regarded by scholars as not having developed as robustly as in the West. Instead, it is dominated by patronage, clientelism, and an ‘iron triangle’ between the government, media, and influential oligarchs, shutting ordinary citizens and independent media out of public discourse. Amid the economic crisis of the 2010s and along with an institutional credibility crisis, many new political and media-related initiatives were launched, all heavily relying on and utilizing social media. To what extent did they demonstrate longevity and help expand the Greek public sphere? Based on interviews from two case studies of the Independent Greeks political party and the enikos.gr news portal-blog, the results show the initiatives were ephemeral or were ‘captured’ by incumbent institutions. Accordingly, the institutional credibility crisis in Greece persists. The results contribute to an understanding of how ‘alternative,’ non-traditional and crisis-related media and political initiatives can become subject to the same forces of capture as traditional institutions.

A deep learning-driven fingerprint verification model for enhancing exam integrity in Moroccan higher education

ABSTRACT In Moroccan higher education, the integrity of examinations is paramount, yet it faces the persistent challenge of identity impersonation. This form of academic dishonesty not only undermines the credibility of educational institutions but also contributes to the graduation of incompetent students. In an era where artificial intelligence is revolutionizing various sectors, its application to upholding academic integrity is both timely and essential. This paper proposes an advanced deep learning-driven fingerprint verification model specifically designed to combat impersonation in university examinations. Unlike traditional methods, our model leverages the power of Siamese neural networks (SNN), renowned for their effectiveness in learning distinct features and similarities. The model, trained, validated, and tested using the SOCOFing dataset, demonstrated high accuracy and effectiveness in fingerprint identification, crucial for verifying identities in educational exam settings. It achieved an accuracy of 99.29%, and an F1 score of 99.27%, surpassing other systems and significantly contributing to examination integrity in Moroccan higher education.

A Framework Model of Mining Potential Public Opinion Events Pertaining to Suspected Research Integrity Issues with the Text Convolutional Neural Network model and a Mixed Event Extractor

With the development of the Internet, the oversight of research integrity issues has extended beyond the scientific community to encompass the whole of society. If these issues are not addressed promptly, they can significantly impact the research credibility of both institutions and scholars. This article proposes a text convolutional neural network based on SMOTE to identify short texts of potential public opinion events related to suspected scientific integrity issues from common short texts. The SMOTE comprehensive sampling technique is employed to handle imbalanced datasets. To mitigate the impact of short text length on text representation quality, the Doc2vec embedding model is utilized to represent short text, yielding a one-dimensional dense vector. Additionally, the dimensions of the input layer and convolution kernel of TextCNN are adjusted. Subsequently, a short text event extraction model based on TF-IDF and TextRank is proposed to extract crucial information, for instance, names and research-related institutions, from events and facilitate the identification of potential public opinion events related to suspected scientific integrity issues. Results of experiments have demonstrated that utilizing SMOTE to balance the dataset is able to improve the classification results of TextCNN classifiers. Compared to traditional classifiers, TextCNN exhibits greater robustness in addressing the problems of imbalanced datasets. However, challenges such as low information content, non-standard writing, and polysemy in short texts may impact the accuracy of event extraction. The framework can be further optimized to address these issues in the future.

Interplay of Corporate Sector, Politics, and Media in Shaping News Contents in Nepal

This paper examines the intricate implications arising from the symbiotic relationship among the corporate sector, politics, and media in shaping news content in Nepal. This study analyzes the dynamics and interplay between politics, corporate sectors and the influence they can have on the media content largely within the privately run for-profit media outlets in Nepal. The theoretical foundation for this study has been rooted in Habermas’ public sphere model of mass media (1989). The study revealed that vested corporate and political interests are hugely influential both in shaping the opinion and performance of the news media. Besides, the corporate influence, the ideological division of media outlets and journalists not only raises ethical concerns but also the quality of discourse. Taken together, they only undermine the very credibility of the media institutions which does not allow them to become what Habermas calls the public sphere.

Political turmoil and parliamentary response – the constitutional crisis in Bolivia 2019

ABSTRACT In recent times, many political theorists have warned on the many signs around the world of democratic backsliding, experienced not only in emerging democracies but also in established ones. One of the areas of concern is the aggrandisement of the executive at the expense of parliaments, which erodes not only checks and balances but also the credibility and legitimacy of state institutions. Analysts are also concerned with damaging effects of political polarisation on democracy. Despite these challenges, parliaments are still seen as safeguard mechanisms during times of crises and have the potential to serve as another democratic line of defence. The severe political crisis in Bolivia in 2019 provides an example to study this role of parliament. Protests and intense social unrest erupted in response to a questionable electoral process in which President Evo Morales attempted to run for office disregarding constitutional term limits. This crisis, however, was also the result of a longstanding process of institutional capture were parliament played a key role supporting the efforts of the executive to extend its control to the rest of the state, aggravated by high levels of polarisation. Following the resignation of higher authorities including the President, the Bolivian state was practically paralysed and parliament became the centre of political negotiations, aimed at restoring constitutional order. After the initial shock, Bolivia’s Plurinational Assembly was eventually able to fulfil its constitutional role with the appointment of an interim president. This article describes salient elements of the role of parliament prior and during the crisis, highlighting some of the personalistic elements of politics in this country. It focuses on the parliamentary response to the crisis and the lessons learned, underlining that despite adversity parliaments can help restore order and provide much needed democratic continuity in times of uncertainty.

Institutional credibility and land investment: Evidence from new‐round land certification program in China

AbstractThe article examines the impact of the credibility of land institutions on households' land investment in the context of the new‐round land certification program in China. Specifically, we first build a theoretical framework differentiating effects of households' perceived credibility regarding land use right, transfer right and mortgage right on investment. Then, a two‐step control function (2SCF) approach which controls for the endogeneity of households' perceived credibility is applied to the data collected from 487 households in Jiangsu province of China in 2017. Results show that households' perceived credibility of land transfer right has a significantly positive effect on both households' labor‐intensive and capital‐intensive investment. Credibility of land mortgage right has a significantly negative effect on households' capital‐intensive investment. However, credibility regarding land use right does not significantly affect households' land investment we focused on. Policies strengthening land transfer right credibility, improving land mortgage right and encouraging households to apply credits to farm activities, may play an important role in enhancing soil‐improving land investment.

THE INFLUENCE OF PERCEPTION OF INTERNAL CONTROL ON FRAUD PREVENTION WITH ANTI-FRAUD AWARENESS AS A MODERATION VARIABLE

The occurrence of fraud can have detrimental effects on the integrity, efficiency, and credibility of public institutions. Therefore, it is crucial to thoroughly examine factors that can help mitigate its impact. This study aims to investigate the role of perceptions about internal control in preventing fraud, with anti-fraud awareness as a moderating variable. The research was conducted in the Probolinggo district of East Java, involving 28 regional government organizations. A representative sample of 150 respondents was collected using cluster sampling. Data was collected through an online questionnaire. The data was analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling-Partial Least Squares Path Modeling (SEM-PLS). The findings of the study indicate a significant positive influence of perceptions about internal control on fraud prevention. However, it was observed that anti-fraud awareness did not enhance the impact of perceptions about internal control on fraud prevention. This research is expected to provide valuable insights for stakeholders involved in fraud prevention, including the regional government organizations in Probolinggo Regency and others.

Quality Assurance in West African TVET Institutions: A Brief Literature Review

The study reviews the role of quality assurance in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) systems in supporting economic development, enhancing labor market competitiveness, and meeting industry expectations. The authors use a desk research strategy, focusing on document review and qualitative content analysis to analyze credible reports on the role of quality assurance in TVET to promote competent workforce. As per findings, quality assurance in TVET institutions is crucial to ensuring that graduates possess the necessary skills and competencies for the workforce, reducing skills gaps and enhancing employability. It aligns TVET programs with industry standards, enabling graduates to contribute effectively to the workforce. Quality assurance mechanisms also enhance the credibility and reputation of TVET institutions, increasing their attractiveness to students and employers. It helps produce highly skilled individuals, contributing to the country’s economic development and global competitiveness. However, the TVET sector in West Africa faces several challenges, including inadequate infrastructures, curriculum relevance, teaching and learning quality, limited industry collaboration, and lack of quality assurance mechanisms. To address these issues, the authors suggest some innovative dimensions of quality standards to strengthen and improve quality assurance in TVET institutions. These quality standards include leadership, governance, management, physical environment, human resources, curriculum, student participation, access, equity, career guidance, financial management, program evaluation, research, innovation and development. All of these are interrelated, thereby spurring the overall quality and effectiveness of TVET programs and institutions.

The Threshold level of Institutional Quality in the Nexus between Financial Development and Environmental Sustainability in Nigeria

Empirics on the relationship between financial development and environmental sustainability remain ambiguous in the literature. The threshold level at which institutional quality facilitates the relationship between financial development and environmental sustainability in respect to the Nigerian economy is still an open question. This study investigates the threshold level of institutional quality in the link between financial development and environmental sustainability in Nigeria from 1986 to 2020. Times series threshold autoregression technique was applied to determine the threshold level of institutional quality. The result of the threshold revealed that 4.32 is the threshold level of institutional quality in Nigeria. Below the threshold level financial development is not stimulated to improve environmental sustainability but above the threshold level institutional quality stimulates financial development to improve environmental sustainability. This study suggests that institutional credibility and transparency should be enhanced beyond the threshold level to effect the needed change in increasing environmental preservation in Nigeria.

Determinan Muslim Milenial dan Generasi Z di Wilayah Jabodetabek Untuk Membayar Zakat Melalui Lembaga Zakat Formal

This study aims to determine the factors influencing Millennials and Gen Z's intention to pay zakat in formal zakat institutions. The Theory of Planned Behavior is used as the theoretical framework in this study by including variables of education, income, perceived religiosity, literacy, social influence, and credibility of zakat institutions. Primary data was collected through a survey of a total of 100 Millennial and Gen Z Muslim respondents in the Jabodetabek area who pay zakat through a formal zakat institution. The analysis in this study uses a logistic regression model. This study found that the level of education and the credibility of zakat institutions have a positive and significant effect on the intention or willingness of millennials and Gen Z to pay zakat through formal zakat institutions. However, the variables of income, perceived religiosity, literacy, and social influence are insignificant in this study. The implications of these findings include that BAZNAS and zakat institutions need to implement programs to increase public knowledge and develop promotional strategies for paying zakat through zakat institutions. In terms of credibility, BAZNAS must be able to formulate clear regulations to guide zakat institutions in administering zakat professionally and credibly. In addition, managers of zakat institutions must also ensure they can manage institutions professionally and credibly implement digitization (online platform) to facilitate and accelerate muzaki access to pay zakat and get information on zakat distribution. Some limitations of this research that can still be developed in other studies are the use of a larger number of samples and the coverage of other cities in Indonesia.

Recruiting hard-to-reach populations via respondent driven sampling for mobile phone surveys in Colombia: a qualitative study

ABSTRACT Background Uptake of mobile phone surveys (MPS) is increasing in many low- and middle-income countries, particularly within the context of data collection on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) behavioural risk factors. One barrier to collecting representative data through MPS is capturing data from older participants. Respondent driven sampling (RDS) consists of chain-referral strategies where existing study subjects recruit follow-up participants purposively based on predefined eligibility criteria. Adapting RDS strategies to MPS efforts could, theoretically, yield higher rates of participation for that age group. Objective To investigate factors that influence the perceived acceptability of a RDS recruitment method for MPS involving people over 45 years of age living in Colombia. Methods An MPS recruitment strategy deploying RDS techniques was piloted to increase participation of older populations. We conducted a qualitative study that drew from surveys with open and closed-ended items, semi-structured interviews for feedback, and focus group discussions to explore perceptions of the strategy and barriers to its application amongst MPS participants. Results The strategy’s success is affected by factors such as cultural adaptation, institutional credibility and public trust, data protection, and challenges with mobile phone technology. These factors are relevant to individuals’ willingness to facilitate RDS efforts targeting hard-to-reach people. Recruitment strategies are valuable in part because hard-to-reach populations are often most accessible through their contacts within their social network who can serve as trust liaisons and drive engagement. Conclusions These findings may inform future studies where similar interventions are being considered to improve access to mobile phone-based data collection amongst hard-to-reach groups.

Techniques for Manipulating Public Opinion in the Online Space During an Election Campaign as a Hybrid Threat

A characteristic element of democratic society is the right of citizens to express their will in free elections. Fears about the future lower the credibility of public institutions and make it easier to interfere in electoral processes, which motivates many calculated attempts to fragment political debates. The present study points to tools that can be used to influence public opinion in the online space. Emphasis is put on the EU 27 countries, where an analysis of the development of Internet use was carried out. The goal of the paper is to point out other methods of manipulation available in the online environment, such as disinformation, defamation of a specific candidate, and artificial intelligence, which are employed and misused to massively influence public opinion. Regulation in this area is questionable, because restricting freedom of expression of a political nature directly affects a democracy, for which the widest freedom of expression is crucial. The article points out new legislative changes taking place in the EU which are focused on tightening the rules of political advertising.
 
 Received: 21 August 2023 / Accepted: 19 December 2023 / Published: 5 January 2024

STRENGTHENING TRUST TO REINFORCE ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE OF LOCAL AUTHORITIES IN MALAYSIA

This study explores the imperative of fostering Trust to enhance the organizational performance of local authorities in Malaysia. Recognizing Trust as a pivotal factor, the research delves into strategies for strengthening interpersonal relationships and institutional credibility. By addressing trust deficits, the study aims to provide actionable insights that can contribute to the overall effectiveness and efficiency of local governance in Malaysia. The primary focus of this research is to put into practice the idea of Trust, precisely honing in on the effectiveness of local authorities (LAs) in Malaysia. In this instance, the study employs the Community Integrity Building (CIB) concept, emphasizing the pivotal roles played by community monitors, contractors, and LAs in collectively navigating toward improved performance. It offers a continuous feedback mechanism that enhances understanding and improves Trust in services provided by the LAs. The paper objectively explores the measuring of Trust, therefore linking the vacuum between conceptualization and realization, which is hardly seen in LAs. Finally, it concludes by reflecting some insights on the potential of the CIB approach regarding the trust agenda towards building a more progressive and dynamic new public management ecosystem in a Malaysian organization setting.

“It’s Gonna Open Up Doors”: Alumni Reflections of Doctoral Community College Leadership Programs

Objective/Research Question: For decades doctoral community college leadership programs have prepared students for the challenges and rewards in steering community college campuses, yet minimal scholarship has explored these programs’ efficacy in serving their students. This study explores community college leaders’ motivations in starting, learning experiences during, and takeaways following participation in doctoral community college leadership programs. Methods: This narrative inquiry study draws on action learning as the theoretical framework and entails interviews with 19 community college administrators who graduated from doctoral community college leadership programs. Results: Findings are threefold, each related to the distinct pieces associated with the research questions at hand. Students’ motivations for enrolling in programing stem from financial and geographic accessibility, institutional credibility, personal fulfillment, and desires to advance their careers. During their time in programs, students benefited from curriculum that prepared them for their dissertations, cohort-based approaches that afforded community, and applicable assignments and activities that directly related to their roles as community college practitioners. Following their doctorate, students reflected on the value of having this degree for propelling their careers and recommended opportunities for programmatic improvement. Conclusion/Contributions: These findings offer new perspective into what doctoral community college leadership programs accomplish in supporting students’ objectives and professional practices, and also unveil ideas toward programmatic adjustments.

​​PRACTICAL ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL WORK INSTITUTIONS' PARTICIPATION IN RURAL EDUCATION​

Social work institutions help rural education reflect the social value of social intervention and attention to individuals, efficiency priority and promotion of development, participation in governance and provision of services. From the perspective of social work ecosystem theory and empowerment theory, this paper uses qualitative research methods to analyze the practice of Guangxi H Social Work Service Center. The study finds that social work institutions are excessively dependent on the government and have limited funding sources; The organizational structure of the institution is not sound enough, and the full-time social workers are highly mobile; The low social credibility of social work institutions and other factors affect the effectiveness of social work institutions to participate in the revitalization of rural education. Therefore, there is an urgent need for government departments to provide institutional support and development guarantee for rural development social work professional services through top-level institutional design. Social work institutions need to improve their internal management mechanism, strengthen their own capacity building, enhance the social credibility of social work, and contribute to rural education.

Are You Talking to Me? How Ideological and Gender Characteristics Moderate the Effect of Legitimizing Rhetoric on SCOTUS Legitimacy

Possessing neither purse nor sword, the unelected US Supreme Court relies on sustained public confidence in its institutional credibility to give force to its decisions. Previous research shows that Supreme Court justices are increasingly making public appearances to engage in a course of institutional maintenance to preserve its legitimacy. Amid a potential legitimacy crisis, justices seek to shore up the Court’s public support in these public appearances by emphasizing the apolitical nature of the Court and its decision making. The question for a growing body of literature is whether these attempts at institutional maintenance do, in fact, lead to higher support for the Court. Using an original survey experiment where we manipulate the identity of the justice giving legitimizing rhetoric, we find that respondents’ ideological preferences and female respondents’ level of gender identity do impact the effectiveness of such rhetoric. These results build on previous work by demonstrating the importance of justice identity in conditioning how different ideologues respond to the Court’s elite signals.