Purpose This paper aims to test whether Western-style meritocratic principles function authentically in authoritarian contexts, examining Chan’s (2024) proposition that authoritarian leaders prioritise political loyalty over administrative competence. Design/methodology/approach A survey of 4,650 civil/public servants across 35 national agencies in Kazakhstan (2021–2023) uses logistic regression to examine relationships between perceived merit-based promotion and professional knowledge, work experience, political/personal connections, loyalty, ethnicity and gender. Findings Professional knowledge decreases promotion odds by 23% (p < 0.001), while personal connections increase odds by 36.5% (p < 0.001). Ethnic Kazakh identity confers a 30.6% advantage (p < 0.001) and male gender a 22.6% advantage (p < 0.01). Political loyalty shows no significant effect. The optimal promotion profile, an ethnically Kazakh male with strong personal networks but limited professional qualifications, inverts Weberian meritocracy. Research limitations/implications Non-probability sampling limits generalisability, though sample diversity supports robustness. Findings reveal authoritarian control operates through identity-based trust and informal networks rather than explicit political loyalty, challenging Weberian universality. Practical implications Formal meritocratic structures function as legitimising symbols rather than operational mechanisms. Parallel meritocratic tracks in technical ministries may prove more viable than wholesale reform. Originality/value This study provides empirical evidence on Central Asian authoritarianism, demonstrating that meritocracy becomes a politically negotiated concept serving regime legitimacy rather than an objective selection mechanism.

This study utilizes a form of scientific methodology, ludic inquiry, to analyze a role-playing case study. Ludic inquiry considers games as experiential artistic research questions, and player behavior as a form of research data responding to that question. Thus, it is an art-scientific methodological form, with a unique capacity to approach significant topics of meaning. Games feature interactive fictions, whose rules and procedures can rhetorically be analogized to research questions, where players’ actions, thoughts and feelings within the fiction form a type of research answer of the experiencing and meaning-making they as individuals have within the gameplay. Live action role playing games in particular feature ambiguous moments where players infer boundaries and create their own norms and rules, demonstrating an even deeper insight into their reactions to the questions asked within the game. This methodology was applied in the creation and analysis of the artistic live action role playing game On the Other Side: Who We Become After We Move Abroad, which intentionally asks the question, “How does identity change as a result of experiencing a crisis?” The game represents a double crisis, migration and fascism, and simulates how changes in the socio-material context affect personality traits. Our findings suggest that the characters’ familial relationships were a response to crisis throughout the game, playing a strong role in significant events such as worker riots, choosing who to save from fascist violence, and the bending of the game’s rules. The results also indicate that the experience of crisis depended on one’s level of comfort—a crisis was only experienced when it entailed a sense of discomfort, whether it was social feedback, labor, migration, uncomfortable seating, or being asked to show political allegiance. This discomfort often became incorporated in how valuable the characters felt. This study indicates that ludic inquiry can be used to guide game design, analyze acts of play, and inspire real-world research perspectives. Future research could further develop ludic inquiry in other topics, players and contexts, genres, formats, and using other data collection methods, as well as focus on the role of family and discomfort within immigration experiences in the face of oppressive movements.

Hepatitis C virus elimination: So close, so far?

Women’s electoral participation constitutes a critical dimension of democratic inclusiveness and political equality. In India, although constitutional guarantees have ensured formal political rights for women since independence, their substantive participation in electoral politics remains uneven. This paper examines the key social, economic, cultural, and institutional factors influencing women’s participation as voters, candidates, and political representatives. Using illustrative trend-based indicators, the study highlights a persistent gap between women’s increasing voter turnout and their limited representation in legislative institutions. The paper further analyses existing policy measures and proposes strategic interventions aimed at enhancing women’s political empowerment. It argues that achieving equitable representation requires institutional reforms complemented by sustained socio-cultural transformation and political commitment.

Abstract The 2024 U.S. Presidential election highlighted Latine voters’ increasingly pivotal role in American politics, as their record‐high support for Republican candidates helped Donald Trump clinch the presidency. While many observers were surprised by this development, a historical look at Latines’ complex and shifting political allegiances exposes motivational processes amenable to social‐psychological analysis. Using two samples of U.S. Latines, we argue that their political behavior is traceable, in part, to differences in racial phenotypicality (i.e., the tendency to be perceived as “White” vs. “non‐White”) and desires for individual‐level power. Racial phenotypicality is theorized to influence the plausibility , and power motives the desirability , of psychological ties to the hegemonic national (i.e., American) group. Latines’ prioritization of national over ethnic identity, in turn, acts as a proximal determinant of pro‐Republican political affinities. In Study 1 ( N = 3753), greater physical resemblance to a prototypical (White, non‐Hispanic) American indirectly predicted affinity for Republicans in 2020 via increased feelings of inclusion in U.S. society and prioritization of American over Latine identity. In Study 2 ( N = 493), White racial phenotypicality heightened the link between power motives and positive attachment to Americanness, amplifying support for Republicans in 2024.

This article analyses educational language policy in Angola, focusing on the dominance of Portuguese as the sole medium of instruction and its implications for learners from national language communities. Grounded in sociolinguistic theory and language policy studies, and based on a documentary analysis of legislation and existing academic research, rather than original fieldwork data, the paper examines the concepts of language, the status of languages in order to understand how institutional choices shape educational access and social inclusion. Particular attention is given to Law No. 32/20, which structures the Angolan education system around a monolingual model that fails to reflect the country’s deep linguistic diversity. The study argues that the exclusive use of Portuguese in education reproduces colonial linguistic hierarchies, disadvantages children who enter school speaking national languages, and contributes to patterns of low achievement, school failure, dropout and social exclusion, especially in rural areas. By situating Angola within broader African and post-colonial debates on language, power and identity, the article shows that language-in-education policy is never neutral but plays a central role in either reproducing or challenging inequality. In response to these challenges, the article advocates for the introduction and universalisation of bilingual education, with mother tongues used as media of instruction in the early years of schooling and Portuguese taught as a curricular subject. Such a model, which works in other Portuguese speaking countries like Mozambique, is presented as a realistic and socially just alternative that can enhance comprehension, learning outcomes and learner participation while affirming linguistic and cultural identities. The article concludes by emphasising the central role of teacher education, language planning and political commitment in building a truly inclusive and multilingual education system in Angola.

The term ‘Old Chartist’ was employed regularly in many local press titles of northern England in the later nineteenth century. This article, using newspaper reports, explores the use of the term. It examines obituaries of old Chartists and notes how their Chartist pasts tended to be foregrounded, notwithstanding their later achievements. The reports of old Chartists’ deaths often prompted the telling of radical tales. Recounting old Chartists’ lives also enabled recollections of radical places within the north to be highlighted. The internationalism of old Chartists is emphasized and an exploration of their later political affiliations is undertaken. During the later nineteenth century, old Chartists are (re)claimed by various political parties and organizations, particularly at key commemorative moments. The article notes how the ongoing political commitment of old Chartists was highlighted and contrasted with the later perceived political apathy of some of the succeeding generation. The article examines how some old Chartists had prominent positions as proprietors, managers, editors and journalists on several northern newspapers during the later nineteenth century. Finally, the absence of newspaper representations of old Chartist women is emphasized, whilst an argument is advanced that the absence of evidence should not be read as evidence of absence.

Abstract Aim This scoping review synthesizes international evidence on the health, medical, and nursing needs of people experiencing homelessness or housing instability, aiming to identify key care priorities and inform integrated support models. Subject and methods A systematic search was conducted in Medline and Springer databases, supplemented by gray literature and manual searches (Google, Google Scholar) between February and April 2025. Studies published in English or German from 2015 to 2025 focusing on the health situation of homeless and houseless individuals were included. Forty-nine studies were analyzed following PRISMA 2020 guidelines. Results The findings reveal a highly vulnerable population with pronounced multimorbidity and complex psychosocial burdens. Mental illnesses (77.5–98.8%), substance use disorders, and their frequent co-occurrence emerged as the most prevalent issues. Other major categories included unmet basic needs (nutrition, hygiene, housing), high exposure to violence and abuse (particularly among women), chronic somatic diseases (cardiovascular, respiratory, musculoskeletal), infectious diseases, reproductive health problems, and geriatric syndromes occurring at an earlier age. Many conditions are diagnosed late, often at advanced stages, due to personal, institutional, and structural barriers. Conclusion Addressing the health needs of homeless populations requires a paradigm shift toward integrated, intersectoral, and low-threshold health care models that combine medical, nursing, psychological, and social support. Early intervention, prevention, and outreach strategies are crucial, alongside trauma-informed approaches and adaptations of geriatric care for prematurely aged individuals. Sustainable improvement depends on long-term political commitment, adequate funding, and coordinated health and social policies to reduce health inequalities and improve quality of life for people experiencing homelessness.

This paper is part of the research project: Family training for social workers in programs in the Western Pacific region affiliated with CONETS, 2023. It aims to understand the concept of family in training process for Social Work, which will strengthen teaching, research, and practice processes, resignifying knowledge to improve the training of students in this discipline. To this end, relevant data related to training were analyzed from two lines of reflection: the first, places of knowledge in the family (individual and family, theories and intervention processes, transversality); and the second, tensions between theoretical and theoretical-practical modalities in training. The general conclusion is that family training must take into account the social reality of the context, validate its diversity through interdisciplinary curricula, unravel power mechanisms in family representations, and construct discourses from the relational democratization with ethical and political commitment in professional education training.

Urbanization presents growing public health challenges worldwide, particularly in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) where rapid urban growth coincides with conflict, migration, and health disparities. The WHO Healthy City Programme (HCP), launched in the 1990s, addresses these through multisectoral urban health initiatives. This narrative review examines the HCP's global implementation, with focused analysis of the EMR context. A comprehensive literature search was conducted using PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science, supplemented by WHO and UN documents. Key terms included "Healthy City" and "Urban Health." Only English-language documents addressing HCP implementation were included. The HCP has expanded to all six WHO regions, with 35 cities certified in the EMR by 2019. The programme emphasizes equity, emergency preparedness and community participation in this region. Implementation challenges include weak institutionalization, limited inter-sectoral collaboration, and inadequate documentation. The paper specifically notes these barriers in the EMR context, along with the need for better monitoring systems. Successful examples from the region demonstrate the programme's alignment with Sustainable Development Goals. Scaling the HCP in the EMR requires stronger governance frameworks and systematic evaluation. The programme's multisectoral approach remains crucial for addressing urban health challenges, but requires sustained political commitment and adapted strategies for regional implementation.

Criminal law reform under the new Criminal Code represents a paradigmatic shift by formally recognizing living law, including customary law, as a legitimate source of law. This article examines the epistemological, philosophical, and structural dimensions of this integration, with particular attention to the notion of Communal Justice as the foundation of customary law, which embodies principles of environmental sustainability, restoration of harmony, and collective responsibility. Employing a legal-normative methodology, integrating legislative analysis, philosophical inquiry, and case study examination, this study addresses three objectives: (1) to philosophically assess the potential of Communal Justice as a guiding paradigm for environmental sustainability-oriented criminal law enforcement; (2) to critically evaluate the incorporation and limitations of Communal Justice values within the living law provisions of the new Criminal Code; and (3) to identify the practical challenges in operationalizing this paradigm in environmental criminal law, with a focus on cases involving the criminalization of indigenous communities. The findings indicate that, while the new Criminal Code creates opportunities to decolonize legal epistemology and embed restorative-ecological justice, these prospects are undermined by internal ambiguities in restrictive provisions and external constraints arising from unequal political-economic structures. In the absence of political commitment to ecological justice, the recognition of living law risks being reduced to symbolic acknowledgment or, worse, exploited as a tool to legitimize the criminalization of indigenous ecological resistance.

Introduction Nigeria's rapidly urbanizing landscape faces persistent governance, infrastructure, and energy challenges that undermine sustainable city development. Bureaucratic inefficiencies, corruption, and unreliable energy systems continue to constrain urban service delivery and citizen welfare. This study investigates how Artificial Intelligence (AI), digitalization, and Renewable Energy Technologies (RETs) can transform urban public service systems to promote efficiency, transparency, and inclusive governance. Methods Anchored in a mixed-methods design, the study gathered data from federal, state, and municipal institutions, yielding 642 valid responses, alongside 35 key informant interviews and six focus groups across major Nigerian cities. Quantitative analyses measured adoption levels and relationships among technology integration variables, while qualitative insights illuminated socio-technical barriers and enablers influencing innovation readiness. Results Findings reveal moderate adoption of AI and RETs (mean scores of 3.02 and 3.17, respectively), but low adoption of blockchain technologies (mean score of 2.64). Barriers such as weak digital literacy, inadequate energy infrastructure, limited regulatory frameworks, and inconsistent political commitment significantly hinder the advancement of smart governance. Discussion The study introduces the Integrated Smart Governance Transformation (ISGT) Model, which integrates governance reform, technology deployment, and capacity building to address these systemic constraints. The model provides a strategic pathway for linking digitalization and renewable energy within a participatory governance structure that enhances accountability, service efficiency, and citizen engagement at the urban level. The ISGT model evolves into the Framework for Integrating Renewable Energy Solutions and Technological Innovations for the Digital Transformation of Public Service (FIREs-TIDTPS), which operationalizes technology adoption and governance reform through regulatory support, inclusive participation, and phased implementation. By embedding renewable energy systems within digital governance infrastructures, the framework advances energy-secure, transparent, and citizen-centered urban governance. The study concludes that integrating AI-driven digital systems and renewable energy adoption can enable African cities, particularly in Nigeria, to overcome structural and governance deficits while accelerating progress toward SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), and SDG 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions). This interdisciplinary contribution offers both theoretical insights and practical strategies for achieving smart, sustainable, and inclusive cities in the Global South.

Decarbonisation of urban areas is essential to reaching climate neutrality, as cities house half the global population and account for over 70% of carbon emissions. However, applying innovative approaches, such as establishing positive energy districts (PEDs), remains challenging due to stakeholder engagement and funding constraints, largely driven by knowledge gaps and a lack of best practices. This study examines barriers, facilitators and lessons learnt from six case studies in Europe, Canada and Singapore through a mixed-methods approach, including stakeholder interviews, grey literature analysis and a semi-structured review. Findings highlight district heating networks, heat pumps and photovoltaics as key technologies, with regional variations. While Mediterranean regions prioritise solar energy, northern climates employ a diverse range of solutions, including geothermal and seasonal storage. Political commitment and funding enable progress, whereas regulatory gaps and stakeholder misalignment hinder it. The study underscores the need for sharing best practices to enable PED implementation.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global health threat predicted to hit 10 million deaths per year by 2050. Most conventional antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) strategies focus on clinical settings, failing to address community-level overuse, a primary driver of AMR in low- and middle-income countries. This commentary leverages novel evidence to argue for the prioritization of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH)-nutrition integration as a global health policy and first-line defense strategy against AMR. This argument is grounded on a target article that utilized causal mediation analysis to establish how low-cost household level WASH and nutrition interventions reduced pediatric antibiotic use via multiple biological pathways. This transforms prevention into a measurable antimicrobial defense strategy through antibiotic doses averted and limits antibiotic demand. These findings provide an empirical basis for integrated preventive measures, a quantifiable scorecard for securing political and fiscal commitment and redefinition of AMS as an element of global health policy and environmental conservation.

This review summarises Ashutosh Varshney's analysis of India’s “half-improbable won democracy,” arguing that its survival is unique and counterintuitive to Western theories. Varshney attributes its resilience to factors such as early political leadership commitment, a stabilising economic structure, a deeply rooted democratic culture from the freedom struggle, and cross-cutting ethnic identities. The book challenges Western notions that tied democracy to affluence or cultural homogeneity. However, the review highlights Varshney's identified "unfinished missions": national unity, dignity and social justice, and the failure to eradicate mass poverty. Ultimately, the work portrays Indian democracy as a successful, enduring constitutional framework, still navigating critical socio-economic struggle

Tajikistan has accomplished reductions in maternal, newborn, and child mortality over the past decades through targeted policies and interventions. Challenges remain in providing quality healthcare due to limited resources, geographic barriers, and inadequate infrastructure. We aimed to evaluate the impact of a quality improvement (QI) initiative implemented in ten district hospitals from 2021 to 2024 to improve maternal, newborn, and childcare to accelerate progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. A baseline assessment was conducted in 2021, with an endline assessment in 2023, using updated WHO quality assessment tools. A multidisciplinary team of national and international experts evaluated hospital performance across three domains: support systems, clinical management, and organisation of care. Data was collected through observations, interviews, and medical record reviews. Project interventions included working with hospital-level Quality Improvement committees, capacity building in effective perinatal care, and the use of the WHO Pocketbook of Hospital Care for Children. Regular supportive supervision and half-yearly collaborative quality improvement meetings were held among the ten hospitals. We graphically displayed, analysed, and summed the assessment scores. We observed notable improvements in the quality of hospital care, with most facilities progressing from substandard to better-performing categories. Seven out of ten hospitals demonstrated advancements in their maternity and neonatal units, with improvements in clinical management and hospital support systems, including access to drugs and equipment. Challenges remained in paediatric care, with only two of ten hospitals showing improvements in infrastructure and laboratory services, and none improving drug availability. Improvements in infection prevention and control were minimal; however, four in ten hospitals managed to improve their practices despite challenges with resource availability, infrastructure, and current protocols. Comprehensive QI interventions can raise standards of care in resource-limited settings like Tajikistan. Despite measurable progress, systemic barriers persist, with weak infrastructure, unstable workforce, and limited infection prevention and control, requiring targeted investment and political commitment. Sustained success depends on equitable resource allocation, robust monitoring systems, and the promotion of a non-punitive, systems-oriented culture. Scaling up this initiative nationwide is critical to achieving long-term improvements in health.

A commitment to co-production in which social workers co-create research, knowledge, and practice with people from multi-disciplinary backgrounds and people with direct lived experience of accessing services, who are termed experts by experience (EbEs), underpins social work ethics and values. EbEs are understood to be people who use their experiences of accessing health and social care services to influence and change all forms of social work. Despite this, EbEs have, to date, had limited involvement in teamwork in social work practice, although their contributions to social work education, research and practice innovations, as peers in the team, are of growing significance. A narrative review was undertaken to explore the gap in the routine involvement of EbEs in different forms of social work practice-based teamwork. This narrative review identified three over-arching themes to understand how EbEs contribute to social work teamwork: involvement in team relationships and in decision-making, involvement in knowledge production, and involvement in health and social care practice innovations. However, it must be acknowledged that the everyday involvement of EbEs in social work, including in multi-disciplinary teamwork, apart from small pockets of mental health practice, such as peer support workers, is lacking. It appears that EbEs are involved in practice innovations, rather than everyday practice; therefore, despite social work’s political and ideological commitment to co-production, it is less advanced than is often claimed.

Legal metrology services constitute a strategic technical public service that plays a crucial role in ensuring fairness in commercial transactions, consumer protection, and public trust in market mechanisms. Within the decentralisation agenda, authority for the administration of Legal Metrology in Indonesia has been explicitly delegated to regency and municipal governments, with the exercise of this authority operationalised through the establishment of Legal Metrology Units (Unit Metrologi Legal/UML or UPTD), which have been effectively implemented since 2018. A significant policy shift occurred with the enactment of Law Number 1 of 2022 on Financial Relations between the Central Government and Regional Governments (HKPD), which came into effect in January 2024 and abolished verification and re-verification service charges as objects of regional levies. As a consequence, local governments are required to provide legal metrology services free of charge and to finance them through the Regional Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBD). This article aims to critically analyse the readiness of local governments to deliver legal metrology services in the post-decentralisation context and following the abolition of service charges, by comparing regions that have attained the status of Orderly Measurement Regions (Daerah Tertib Ukur/DTU) with those that have not. The study adopts a qualitative approach with a comparative inter-regional design, drawing on policy and budget document analysis as well as in-depth interviews with 18 key informants across six regencies and municipalities. The findings indicate that regional success in achieving DTU status is determined by a combination of local political commitment, fiscal capacity, availability of technical human resources, and service innovation. The article underscores the need for harmonisation of central–local policies, strengthening of institutional capacity, and the development of sustainable financing schemes to ensure that the decentralisation of legal metrology services genuinely generates public value.

This study compares the role of advocacy coalitions in forming child protection policies in the United States and Indonesia, looking at the problems that arise from their different political and governance systems. The Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) in the United States aims to reduce the number of children in foster care by encouraging family-centred interventions. However, its implementation has been uneven across states due to political opposition, a lack of resources, and the fact that the federal system is not highly centralized. Consequently, marginalized communities, especially in rural regions, encounter limited access to child protection services. In Indonesia, Child Protection Law No. 35 of 2014 faces analogous challenges in rural areas, where local governments lack the necessary resources, political commitment, and coordination with national entities to effectively implement child protection legislation. This study suggests that policies work better in cities than in rural areas. For example, Jakarta benefits from better policy implementation and resource allocation. The findings show how important it is to improve inter-agency collaboration, strengthen local governance, and get more political support to fix the problems with child protection services. To make sure that all children are equally protected, both countries need to focus on implementing policies at the local level, especially for vulnerable children in areas that don't get enough services.

The remand prison of the East German Ministry of State Security in Berlin-Hohenschönhausen was the central prison of the East German secret service. It was mainly used for the investigation of political offences. In 1960, a hospital was established in the remand prison, whose doctors, according to former inmates, abused their medical authority in the interests of the secret service. While the broader history of the prison and its investigative practices have been well researched, the medical care of prisoners remains largely unexplored. Based on a systematic analysis of prisoners' personal files and other archival sources, this paper examines the role and function of the prison hospital between 1960 and 1989. We argue that the hospital functioned primarily as a disciplinary institution, serving the interests of the secret service rather than the welfare of sick prisoners. The article also considers the role of prison doctors, caught between medical ethics and political loyalty, and examines the mechanisms of prisoner discipline. The findings suggest that the hospital in Berlin-Hohenschönhausen was part of the apparatus of political persecution.