ABSTRACT Federal democracies rely on active local political participation, yet both anecdotal and empirical evidence from Western democracies highlight increasing challenges in recruiting municipal candidates in recent decades. This study provides systematic and long run empirical evidence on this issue for Switzerland, analysing data spanning municipal council elections across 500+ municipalities of three major Swiss cantons since the 1970s. Using a subsample analysis in the canton of Lucerne, we apply two-way fixed effects models to analyse the impact of monetary compensation and (expected) workload on the number of candidates and the fluctuation rate in municipal councils, drawing on the economic theory of political selection. Our findings show that higher salaries are not associated with more competitive local elections or longer terms in office. However, reducing the workload associated with municipal mandates appears to be a more effective strategy for increasing candidate supply, particularly in recruiting women.

Mapping visceral leishmaniasis and examining environmental influences in Baringo County, Kenya.

This article examines the process of reorganization of the Wonju Won and Wonju Lee clans, the indigenous surnames of Wonju in the early Joseon Dynasty, into a noble family. This course helps to reaffirm Wonju's long history and traditions. In Wonju, there were families that participated in the founding of the Goryeo Kingdom since its founding. This family was serving as the ruling class of Wonju until the end of Goryeo. Moreover, these families stayed in the capital to perform official duties, which contributed to raising the status of Wonju. One of them may be that during the Yuan Dynasty intervention, the Wonbu family from Wonju maintained close ties with the royal family and gained fame. These families formed blood ties with the dominant families of the time. This relationship extended to the royal families of Goryeo and Joseon.As a result of this, it is remembered as a distant ancestor of the famous Seonggwan (姓貫), who still left his name today. Even while working as civil servants in the capital, they did not lose interest in their hometown. As natives of Wonju, they were able to serve as local government officials for a long time, and this sense of solidarity stems from that. In this environment, Wonju was able to create conditions for local officials to transform into a bureaucratic family centered on literati even before the founding of the Joseon Dynasty. Most of them are descendants of the Won Chung-gap, Lee Song-gyeon, Won Gwang-myeong, Won Gwang-deok, and Won Yun-jeok families. They have maintained blood ties for generations. This family rose to become an influential family in the central government, having risen to high positions through past examinations. At the same time, he would have returned to his hometown and developed Wonju's academic culture and regional identity.

While the pivotal agency of local public officials in digital government transformation has been increasingly acknowledged, their own perceptions remain underexplored. This study examines how Chinese local public officials perceive these initiatives, with particular attention to their operational consequences. Employing Q-methodology within China’s hierarchical implementation context of digital governance, we identify three perceptual archetypes: data-sharing builder, service improver, and risk perceiver. These orientations prioritize practicality over easily touching on value issues, reflecting a techno-pragmatic logic that diverges from dominant Western governance models. Interview evidence further indicates that this orientation stems less from concerns about the inherent risks of digitalization than from adaptation to accountability pressures generated by central oversight and public scrutiny. The findings highlight that this orientation is conditioned by contextual factors rather than technological features of digital government.

It is indicated that the right of a person to a fair trial and an effective remedy for legal protection belongs to the fundamental principles of a state governed by law. Article 55 of the Constitution of Ukraine declares that every person has the opportunity to challenge in court the decisions, actions or inaction of state authorities, local self-government bodies, officials and service personnel. The article provides a comprehensive analysis of the effectiveness of judicial remedies in administrative proceedings through the lens of the well-established case-law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). Particular attention is given to the substantive criteria employed by the ECtHR to assess the efficiency of national protection mechanisms, including the practical capability to restore the violated right, the ability of the remedy to eliminate the consequences of unlawful interference, the substantive correlation between the chosen remedy and the nature of the violation, the accessibility and adequacy of the procedure, the mandatory and timely enforcement of judicial decisions, and compliance with the reasonable-time requirement. The study emphasizes that the mere formal possibility to apply to a court cannot be regarded as an effective remedy if it does not ensure practical and enforceable outcomes. Based on key judgments such as Kudła v. Poland, Hornsby v. Greece, Frydlender v. France, Scordino v. Italy (No. 1), Volkov v. Ukraine, Rysovskyy v. Ukraine, and Shmalko v. Ukraine, the article outlines essential standards that national remedies must meet to fully restore the individual’s prior legal status and guarantee timely enforcement. It is demonstrated that these criteria align with Articles 6 §1 and 13 of the Convention and must be considered by Ukrainian administrative courts in accordance with the Constitution of Ukraine and the Law on the Enforcement of ECtHR Judgments. Integrating ECtHR standards into judicial practice ensures genuine, rather than merely declaratory, protection of rights, eliminates legal uncertainty, strengthens judicial oversight over public authorities, and reinforces the rule of law within Ukraine’s administrative justice system.

Objectives This project aimed to introduce Health Impact Assessment (HIA) into urban redevelopment planning in Japan to promote health-conscious urban environments and support wider HIA implementation. We applied HIA to the "University of Tokyo Nishi-Chiba Campus Redevelopment Project" in Chiba City, Japan, to examine potential effects on residents' health and well-being.Methods Among the three HIA types (comprehensive, rapid, and desktop), we selected the rapid HIA because of time limitations. The project carried out the initial four HIA steps: screening, scoping, appraisal, and reporting, excluding monitoring. We developed an HIA assessment matrix tailored to Japanese urban development by adapting the "HIA Screening Tool" of the Japanese Society of Public Health and consulting international HIA resources. Using this matrix, we organized three workshops that included local government officials, developers, and academic experts. The workshops evaluated potential health impacts of the redevelopment from multiple stakeholder perspectives.Results Each indicator in the matrix was examined, and consensus on judgments was reached during the workshops. Based on these judgments, we identified necessary improvements and formulated recommendations. Pre-development recommendations included creating a green-space map with resident involvement, enhancing information sharing with nearby medical facilities, and implementing transportation and mobility measures. Post-development recommendations included establishing an area-management organization, hosting community events to support interaction between existing and incoming residents, and strengthening collaboration with local businesses. Our research group compiled these recommendations into a final report and provided it to the developers and the local government.Conclusion This HIA project enabled a systematic evaluation of the health impacts of an urban redevelopment initiative and generated actionable recommendations. Workshops involving diverse stakeholders improved the credibility and practical value of the assessment. Nevertheless, challenges remain, including limited public participation, a compressed schedule, and constrained influence on major design elements because HIA was introduced at an advanced project stage. We expect that the "HIA Checklist for Urban Planning in Japan" developed through this study will be incorporated into future redevelopment efforts and contribute to the broader adoption of HIA and the advancement of healthier urban environments in Japan.

ABSTRACT Research on new migrants from the People’s Republic of China, commonly called xinyimin has expanded, yet much of it still prioritises economic impacts over how migration reshapes urban semiotic space and how such transformations are interpreted by local publics. This study adopts a linguistic landscape approach to examine a commercially driven Chinatown in Bangkok’s Huai Khwang district. We combine quantitative mapping of 204 public signs with thematic analysis of 14 semi-structured interviews with xinyimin, Thai residents, and local officials. Findings show language patterns organised by business sector: Thai-Chinese combinations predominate in food and beverage outlets, with English concentrated in tourism-facing and higher-end businesses. Thai speaking participants often read Chinese-dominant signage as evidence of the displacement of commercial space and potential non-compliance with business and signage regulations, whereas xinyimin treat the same linguistic features as practical resources for organising economic and social networks within Bangkok. Meanwhile, xinyimin in this study emphasise mobility and ties to the People’s Republic of China, but resist being labelled as ‘migrants’, while Thai residents describe xinyimin as economically useful yet not fully incorporated. This study shows how linguistic landscape analysis can specify the mechanisms through which migrant visibility is produced, read, and governed in selectively regulated urban contexts.

This study examines the implementation of administrative law in local government policy through an empirical qualitative approach assisted by NVivo software. Administrative law serves as a fundamental framework for guiding public administration, ensuring accountability, transparency, and legal certainty, particularly in decentralized governance contexts. Despite comprehensive regulatory arrangements, local governments often face challenges in translating administrative law principles into effective policy implementation. This research aims to explore how administrative law is interpreted and applied by public officials in real policy settings. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews, field observations, and document analysis involving local government officials, legal officers, policy implementers, and community representatives. The qualitative data were analyzed using NVivo through open, axial, and selective coding processes to identify recurring patterns and key themes. The findings reveal that while administrative law principles are formally acknowledged, their implementation is frequently hindered by institutional limitations, discretionary practices, and weak oversight mechanisms. The study provides empirical insights into administrative law practices and offers policy-relevant recommendations for strengthening governance and administrative accountability at the local government level.

Existing global production network (GPN) literature debates primarily focus on how local contract manufacturers and regions achieve development goals by establishing strategic coupling relationships with global lead firms. Limited attention has been given to whether and how these local firms can establish their own brands and subsequently become global lead firms, let alone identifying the key factors driving this transformation process. By developing an analytical framework comprising regional institutions, domestic consumer markets, and global capital markets, this article unpacks how sportswear firms in Quanzhou, China, have successfully transformed from contract manufacturers to emerging global lead firms with their own brands in GPNs. Through extensive interviews in 2020–24 with Quanzhou-based sportswear firms, local government officials, and industry associations, this article explores how the interplay of the three dynamics has coshaped the brand-centered strategies of local firms in coupling and decoupling from GPNs at different stages. The findings reveal that proactive decoupling from GPNs initiated by contract manufacturers aiming to build their own brands is critical for their further upgrading. Regional institutional support and the rapidly growing domestic market provide confidence and opportunities for local firms to establish independent brands and pursue decoupling strategies. Furthermore, global financing facilitates brand-driven decoupling and further functional upgrading through intensive inputs in research and development and international acquisitions, which enriches our understanding of the significant roles of global financing and its reputational effects in GPN dynamics.

Urban diversity has intensified the importance of local governments in translating multicultural principles into concrete governance practices. This study aims to examine how local government policies shape and implement multiculturalism in Medan City, one of Indonesia’s most ethnically and religiously diverse urban centers. Using a qualitative case study design, the research draws on policy document analysis and semi-structured interviews with local government officials involved in social, cultural, and community affairs. The methodology enables an in-depth exploration of policy frameworks, institutional roles, and implementation mechanisms related to multicultural governance. The findings show that multiculturalism in Medan City is formally articulated through policy discourses of social harmony, tolerance, and inclusion, yet implemented in a largely pragmatic and sectoral manner. Multicultural practices are most visible in public service delivery, particularly in education and community-based programs, which contribute to everyday intergroup interaction and local social cohesion. However, implementation remains uneven due to fragmented coordination, limited resources, and varying institutional interpretations that prioritize social stability over cultural recognition. Overall, the study highlights that multiculturalism at the local level operates as an incremental governance practice rather than a comprehensive policy regime. These findings underscore the critical role of local governments in mediating diversity and offer insights for strengthening inclusive urban governance in plural societies.

Assessing occupational radiation exposure in academic institutions is crucial for ensuring compliance with international safety standards and mitigating risks associated with natural background radiation. To evaluate radiation dose rates across office spaces in the Faculty of Science, University of Maiduguri, Nigeria, and verify compliance with the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) public dose limit. A cross-sectional survey measured gamma radiation at 21 office locations using the RadEye G-10 gamma survey meter. A three-zone protocol recorded dose rates (μSv/hr) one meter outside doors, at thresholds, and one meter inside offices. Geographic coordinates were logged via GPS, and statistical analyses (ANOVA, correlations, K-means clustering) assessed dose variations and spatial patterns. Annual doses were calculated using 2000 working hours/year. The mean dose rate was 0.19 ± 0.05 μSv/hr. Annual doses ranged from 0.24–0.52 mSv (external), 0.24–0.68 mSv (threshold), and 0.24–0.68 mSv (internal), with location A15 reaching 0.68 mSv/year (68% of ICRP limit) in threshold/internal zones. All doses were below the ICRP 1 mSv/year public limit. The Radiation Exposure Index (REI) and K-means clustering identified three Elevated-risk locations (A12, A15, A21; 0.50–0.70 mSv/year). Radiation levels comply with ICRP standards, but three locations warrant quarterly monitoring and material investigations (e.g., granite content). The three-zone protocol and REI provide a replicable framework for radiation safety assessments in academic settings, particularly in developing nations.

Intensifying climate change poses growing challenges for socio-economic stability and rural livelihoods in China, particularly in ecologically sensitive regions such as the Inner Mongolian grasslands. Although climate adaptation has become a key policy priority, translating national objectives into locally effective action remains complex. A central challenge lies in the emergence of adaptation lock-ins—self-reinforcing institutional, epistemological, and policy dynamics that stabilize specific adaptation pathways while limiting alternative responses. This study applies the adaptive lock-in framework to examine how such dynamics have developed within China's grassland governance and how they shape climate vulnerability and adaptive capacity over time. Focusing on interactions among political–economic structures, centralized decision-making, and subnational implementation, the analysis explores how adaptation goals become institutionalized through formal policies, administrative procedures, and dominant knowledge frameworks. The study draws on 207 in-depth interviews with pastoralists, village cadres, and local officials in Inner Mongolia, complemented by a systematic review of climate adaptation and grassland management policy documents issued between 2002 and 2024. The findings suggest that adaptation lock-ins are closely intertwined with broader development and conservation agendas that influence infrastructure investment, risk framing, and institutional practice. While these arrangements facilitate policy coordination and implementation, they may also constrain flexibility in addressing diverse local conditions. By elucidating the mechanisms through which adaptation lock-ins form and persist, this study offers policy-relevant insights into how future climate adaptation efforts might strengthen responsiveness and resilience within existing governance frameworks, with implications extending beyond the Chinese context.

Abstract This paper investigates social mobilisation during the COVID-19 pandemic in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan – a peripheral region of authoritarian Russia. It explores how residents organised from the bottom up during the pandemic and what their actions reveal about local–federal power relations. The study adopts a qualitative, anthropological methodology, combining ethnographic fieldwork with digital ethnography. Field research involved participant observation and semi-structured interviews with volunteers, doctors, and local officials, complemented by analysis of online discourses, NGO websites, and media narratives. The paper examines how long-standing distrust of federal institutions coexisted with emerging collaboration between grassroots actors and state-aligned structures, and how volunteerism in colonial peripheries can reproduce, rather than challenge, authoritarian rule. It argues that civic initiatives became instruments of federal power as well as expressions of local agency, offering new insights into power, solidarity, and resistance within an authoritarian context.

This study examines the institutional determinants influencing the implementation of gender-based violence policies in Oromia, Ethiopia, focusing on the moderating role of urban-rural contexts. While national and regional gender-based violence policies are well-established, their effectiveness at the community level is inconsistent, with rural areas facing considerable challenges. These challenges include weak institutional capacity, cultural resistance, limited access to services, and reliance on informal dispute resolution mechanisms. The study combines both qualitative and quantitative methods, including a Likert scale questionnaire and in-depth interviews with a diverse group of stakeholders, such as community elders, rural women, health workers, police officers, and local government officials. The quantitative data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling and Qualitative data analysis by NVivo 14 software. The findings reveal notable differences between urban and rural areas: urban regions benefit from stronger institutional support, better public awareness, and greater access to services, while rural areas face barriers such as cultural resistance, weak enforcement mechanisms, and limited institutional capacity, hindering effective policy implementation. The study highlights the need for targeted, context-sensitive interventions to raise community awareness, strengthen institutional capacity, and improve coordination, particularly in rural areas. These findings offer valuable insights for policymakers, non-governmental organizations, and civil society organizations aiming to improve gender-based violence policy outcomes in Ethiopia, with recommendations for developing an inclusive, culturally sensitive support system for survivors across both urban and rural contexts.

The community organizing tradition in the U.S. and elsewhere sees itself as providing local schools of democracy, where leaders learn about power at the local level and build their capacity to act. Leaders in these organizations are thus directly involved in local democratic practice and in efforts to make local governments and public officials more accountable to their communities. What do leaders learn about democracy as they do this important work? What can the rest of us learn about the practice of democracy from these key leaders? This paper is based on more than thirty qualitative interviews conducted in 2020 and 2021 with local leaders of broad-based community organizations from the same national network. The paper analyzes these leaders’ responses to questions about how their work relates to democracy and politics and how the political circumstances of the pandemic and of ongoing structural racism and injustice shaped their views of their work. Leaders discussed their ideas about power and democracy and their faith in the organizing work they were doing. We argue that leaders in community organizing in the United States have much to contribute to our understanding of the ongoing work of defending and practicing democracy.

The community service initiative in Neglasari Village seeks to improve the digital competencies of women participating in the Family Empowerment and Welfare program and local village officials through training on using Google Forms. This program offers a practical understanding of a digital tool for data collection and information-driven decision-making. Furthermore, initiatives are undertaken to emphasize the significance of legal knowledge in everyday life, thereby enhancing participants' comprehension of their rights and responsibilities. The activity's results indicate that the participatory, technology-driven approach enhances participants' digital competencies and elevates legal awareness. Active discussion sessions enhance participants' engagement and motivation to implement their newly acquired information in social circumstances. We advocate frequent conduct of analogous training sessions, with content modified to meet the requirements of the Family Empowerment and Welfare program and local village officials.

Housing policies are fundamental instruments for achieving sustainable urban development and effective environmental management. However, in rapidly urbanizing contexts of developing countries, a significant disconnect often exists between policy intentions and their practical outcomes. This study evaluates the effectiveness of housing policies on environmental management in Vingunguti Ward, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Employing a mixed-methods approach, the study collected data from 376 respondents, including community members and local officials, using questionnaires and interviews. The findings reveal a strong consensus among respondents that existing housing policies are insufficient and poorly enforced, failing to adequately address pressing environmental challenges. Key issues identified include the negative environmental impact of informal settlements, the lack of incentives for eco-friendly townhouse designs, and a general neglect of community needs in the policy formulation process. The research highlights a critical need for more integrated, collaborative, and rigorously enforced housing policies that are attuned to local environmental realities. The study concludes that without robust enforcement mechanisms and genuine community participation, housing policies risk perpetuating, rather than alleviating, environmental degradation in urban areas. Recommendations are offered for enhancing policy design and implementation to bridge the gap between legislative frameworks and sustainable environmental management outcomes.

This study assessed the level of stakeholders’ participation in decision making during the formulation of School Development Plans (SDPs) in public secondary schools within Temeke Municipality, Tanzania. Guided by Participatory Governance Theory, the research adopted a mixed-methods approach combining quantitative data from questionnaires and qualitative data from interviews and document reviews. The findings revealed that stakeholder participation in SDP formulation remains limited and uneven across different groups. While local government education officers and community leaders were actively involved, other stakeholders such as teachers, parents, students, and NGOs were inconsistently engaged, often restricted to consultative or implementation roles. The study also found that although most students were aware of the SDP, their contributions were rarely integrated into final decisions. Similarly, school board members and Ward Education Officers were largely excluded from strategic discussions despite their governance and operational expertise. These findings highlight a predominantly top-down planning approach that undermines inclusivity, ownership, and accountability in school development planning. The study concludes that strengthening participatory mechanisms, enhancing communication channels, and institutionalizing inclusive planning structures are essential for fostering transparency, collective ownership, and sustainability of SDPs in public secondary schools.

This paper examines the impact of fuel subsidy removal on tourist behavior at the destination level. It focuses on the specific impact of fuel price increases on tourist spending patterns, investigates the relationship between fuel subsidy removal and length of stay in Epe, Lagos Nigeria with emerging tourism significance and recommends practical implications for hospitality and tourism sector adaptation strategies. Using quantitative design in which questionnaires were used to collect data, and analyzed with chi-square test of independence. The paper finds that fuel price increases have significantly impacted tourist spending patterns. The paper contributes refreshing insights useful for policy development, economic analysis, environmental considerations, market trends, investment decisions, consumer behaviour and regional development. The implications are vital for stakeholders, including local businesses, government officials, and community leaders to take informed decisions, navigate the challenges and opportunities arising from fuel subsidy removal and foster a resilient tourism sector in tourist destination areas.

ABSTRACT Incumbent local politicians often face high rates of turnover in many new democracies. While many studies on the renomination of local incumbents in advanced democracies focus on the voter-level origins of turnover, renomination in parties where candidate selection is centralized is less well understood. I argue that national party elites use the political scarcity generated by the high turnover of local incumbents to send a credible signal to their ethnic group by bolstering the presence of their co-ethnics in local offices. I test my argument using an original dataset of incumbent mayors in South Africa’s African National Congress party in four local government elections. I find that mayors who are co-ethnics with the president are more likely to be reselected. This finding shows that accountability to citizens is less central to parties that use centralized nomination procedures and that parties use non-merit-based criteria to evaluate politicians.