Political Solutions Research Articles

Cross-sectional survey of compliance behaviour, knowledge and attitudes among cases and close contacts during COVID-19 pandemic

ObjectivesA key public health intervention is self-isolation for cases and restriction of movement for contacts. This study aimed to identify predictors of compliance behaviour and describe knowledge and attitudes among cases and contacts identified by the national Contact Management Programme to inform the global public health response. Study designSecondary data analysis of anonymised cross-sectional survey data on national sample of cases and close contacts. MethodsA sample of 1000 cases and 1000 contacts was calculated to estimate compliance within a margin of error of 3% with 95% confidence. A telephone survey administered by trained interviewers collected information on socio-demographics, compliance behaviours, knowledge, and attitudes to COVID-19 from cases and close contacts. Data analysis included chi-squared statistics and multivariable logistic regression. ResultsMost cases and contacts complied with public health guidance with similar characteristics in those who did and did not comply. Reasons for non-compliance included exercise, medical appointment, shopping, and work. Cases and contacts reported high levels of understanding about symptoms of COVID-19 and satisfaction with available information. ConclusionAchieving high compliance with public health guidance is feasible and requires political leadership, policy changes and practical solutions.

Climate-Induced Insecurities and The ECOWAS Initiatives: Implications for Regional Goals 1991-2021

ECOWAS is a regional organization established in West Africa on May 28, 1975 with the objective of encouraging regional integration and economic cooperation to ensure mutual growth and development among member states. Since its inception, it has involved in humanitarian interventions in some of its crises-ridden member states. However, the sustenance of the success has recently met with serious challenges through the evolution of climate-induced insecurities in the region. Studies indicate that the turbulent nature of such security challenges caused by climate change seems to be overwhelming the ECOWAS. The fact is that the evolving climate-induced conflicts in West Africa largely relate to quest for survival requiring more of econometric and meteorological actions than political solutions to which the ECOWAS, apparently lacks the technical know-how to combat. It is against the backcloth of the stated problematic that this paper sets focus on climate-induced insecurities and ECOWAS initiatives by evaluating the current implications of the weather-related conflicts for West African regional cooperation and integration. Nevertheless, the main idea inherent in the evaluation tends to posit that although the regional organ faces tremendous and unprecedented challenges posed by these climatic insecurities against its original goals, reluctance on the part of the governments of the member-states to adhere to the fundamental principles of the region, further implies that there is little hopes for impactful regional cooperation, integration and development if the outlined plans are not vigorously pursued to achieve the anticipated prospects which is the only way forward. The paper adopted the qualitative and historical analytical research methods.

Diverse types of knowledge on a plate: a multi-perspective and multi-method approach for the transformation of urban food systems towards sustainable diets

Urbanization processes are accompanied by growing global challenges for food systems. Urban actors are increasingly striving to address these challenges through a focus on sustainable diets. However, transforming food systems towards more sustainable diets is challenging and it is unclear what the local scope of action might be. Co-production of knowledge between science and non-science is particularly useful for analysing context-specific solutions and promise to result in more robust socio-economic, political and technical solutions. Thus, this paper aims to integrate different types and sources of knowledge to understand urban food systems transformation towards a more sustainable diet in Vienna; and, second, to analyse and reflect on the difficulties and ways forward to integrate diverse actors’ perspectives, multiple methods and epistemologies. We created different future scenarios that illustrate the synergies and trade-offs of various bundles of measures and the interactions among single dimensions of sustainable diets. These scenarios show that there is plenty of scope for local action, but co-ordination across diverse groups, interests, and types of knowledge is necessary to overcome lock-ins.

Verletzte Geburtsintegrität während der COVID-19-Pandemie in Deutschland: Erfahrungen von Gebärenden mit der geburtshilflichen Versorgung

ZusammenfassungEinleitungDie COVID-19-Pandemie könnte die Vulnerabilität von Frauen gegenüber einer Verletzung ihrer Integrität während der Geburt verstärken. In einer Querschnittsstudie (März 2020 bis März 2022) wurde untersucht, wie Gebärende die Geburtshilfe während der Pandemie in Deutschland erlebten und welche Faktoren mit Geburtsintegrität assoziiert sind.MethodikIn der Befragung (validierter Fragebogen und zwei offene Fragen) beschrieben Frauen ≥ 18 Jahre ihre Erfahrungen mit geburtshilflicher Versorgung. Die quantitative Auswertung erfolgte durch deskriptive Statistik und logistische Regressionsanalysen zum Zusammenhang von Erfahrungen mit geburtshilflicher Versorgung und dem Gefühl, würdevoll behandelt und emotional unterstützt zu sein, gedeutet als gewahrte Geburtsintegrität. Die offenen Fragen wurden mittels qualitativer induktiver Inhaltsanalyse analysiert.ErgebnisseDaten von 1271 Gebärenden und 214 Kommentare wurden ausgewertet. Die Mehrheit fühlte sich emotional unterstützt (71 %) und mit Würde behandelt (76 %). Ein Drittel gab an, manchmal oder nie in die Entscheidungsfindung involviert worden zu sein, 14 % sahen sich körperlichen, verbalen oder emotionalen Übergriffen ausgesetzt. Für 57 % der Frauen war die Begleitperson nur begrenzt oder nicht anwesend. Diese Faktoren sind alle mit der Chance assoziiert, sich würdevoll behandelt und emotional unterstützt zu fühlen. Die qualitativen Kommentare geben Aufschluss darüber, was Frauen als integritätsverletzend wahrnehmen.DiskussionWährend der COVID-19-Pandemie zeigt sich die Vulnerabilität von Gebärenden gegenüber Integritätsverletzungen. Maßnahmen zur Förderung einer respektvollen Geburtshilfe umfassen strukturelle und politische Lösungen sowie Forschung zu weiteren Determinanten von Geburtsintegrität.

Palmares e Cucaú: O aprendizado da dominação

Palmares e Cucaú: O aprendizado da dominação

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: Aspirational or obtainable?

The <scp>United Nations</scp> Sustainable Development Goals: Aspirational or obtainable?

BIM-paved roads around Visegrád : The implementation and scientific feedback/analysis of building information modelling in V4 countries

Construction economy faces new challenges in the 21st century. Sustainability has become an inevitable imperative. Digitalization has permeated every part of our lives. The digital transformation of the construction industry presents many benefits and opportunities, yet it also encounters various barriers that impede innovation and the implementation of new advancements. Due to the conscious management and change of attitude of the construction economy, the adoption and mandatory implementation of Building Information Modelling (BIM) has already become a well-established tradition in Western Europe, the United States, and even Singapore. In Hungary, using BIM methods in public works is not mandatory, but its gradual implementation is on the agenda. Due to the shared economic and political traditions and solutions of the V4 countries, it is worth reviewing the current prevalence of BIM in practice and the available scientific results. This overview study examines public procurements and scientific literature on BIM in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary. It presents the current state of BIM and the degree of its implementation in public works. In doing so, it highlights some important similarities, differences, as well as potential issues, providing valuable insights for consideration in the implementation process.

An Employment Law Study of the Interaction of Personnel and State Policies in the Digital Age

The author considers the theoretical foundations of the interaction of personnel and state policies in terms of digitalization of the world of work. This goal is achieved by solving the following tasks: studying the concepts of "personnel policy" and "state policy"; studying of their stages of implementation; highlighting and researching certain aspects of the interaction of personnel and state policies in the digital age; formulation and substantiation of political and legal proposals. The research methodology is based on systemic and political-legal approaches. The main results of the study are as follows. The systemic-structural and substantive aspects of the interaction of personnel and state policies in the digital age are highlighted and analyzed. The systemic and structural aspect is manifested in the following: personnel policy is a part of the public administration system; the structure of any sectoral state policy always includes a personnel block. From the point of view of the substantive aspect through the implementation of personnel policy, political decisions made by the state are implemented, and employers as subjects of personnel policy using social partnership mechanisms or independently during monitoring of the implementation of state policy can express their opinion regarding identified defects in the implementation of state policy. A feature of this interaction is that not only employers, but also employees, as objects of personnel policy, can also influence the development of state policy in terms of the digitalization of the world of work, for example, through the mechanisms of social partnership. The stages of implementation of personnel and state policies are described, within which they interact with each other. The study also formulated and substantiated political and legal solutions to the problems of machine-readable labor law, replacement of human labor with digital technologies, training and additional professional education of employees.

Realny system rządów w Polsce po akcesji państwa do Unii Europejskiej

The subject of research presented in the article is the system of government in Poland. The considerations concern the relationship between the normative solutions defined in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 1997 and the influence of the EU on the modification of political solutions in Poland. It was hypothesized that after Poland’s accession to the EU, the system of government in Poland changed in terms of political practice. It has been shown that functioning in the EU resulted in a departure from the characteristic rationalization of the system of government and bringing it closer to the parliamentary model. The prediction presents possible further directions of modification of the system of governance depending on the evolution of the EU. The research was based on the following methods: institutional-legal, systemic and comparative.

ТЕОРЕТИЧНІ АСПЕКТИ ФОРМУВАННЯ ТА РОЗВИТКУ ЦИФРОВОЇ ДЕМОКРАТІЇ В УКРАЇНІ

The article summarizes theoretical aspects of the formation and development of Digital Democracy in Ukraine. The main features of digital democracy are revealed: Digital Democracy assumes that most of its forms are based on the direct participation of citizens in democratic processes; it is characterized by the breadth of coverage of citizens, since everyone connected to the internet space can become a participant in certain democratic processes; one of the essential features of this democracy is its reliance on transparency, informing citizens; Digital Democracy makes the boundaries of individual and public spaces, civil society and state power moving, including the joint search for political solutions, which increases the legitimacy of the latter, etc. Forms of digital democracy can be classified on various grounds, for example, by the source of their origin: forms created by public law institutions in digital reality; forms of democracy in digital reality that have emerged within civil society itself. According to the model of functioning of Digital Democracy: these can be models with mechanisms for using state participation, or based only on civil society, or representing a certain symbiosis of the state and civil society. The content aspects of democratic procedures implemented in digital democracy are revealed: internet voting; network communication of citizens in the internet space; electronic collection of signatures under appeals, petitions, etc.; formation of civil society institutions in digital reality; online conducting of various campaigns, dissemination of political information, mobilization of internet users; online human rights activities; implementation of the controlling function of civil society over various spheres of public life, including state / Municipal Administration through the provision of public disclosure of information in the network (transparency of Information, its availability)and reporting requirements of government structures; implementation of the function of forcing government structures to make decisions produced by civil society, hence, a mixed model of direct and indirect forms of democracy through digital information and communication technologies.

Realny system rządów w Polsce po akcesji państwa do Unii Europejskiej

The subject of research presented in the article is the system of government in Poland. The considerations concern the relationship between the normative solutions defined in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 1997 and the influence of the EU on the modification of political solutions in Poland. It was hypothesized that after Poland’s accession to the EU, the system of government in Poland changed in terms of political practice. It has been shown that functioning in the EU resulted in a departure from the characteristic rationalization of the system of government and bringing it closer to the parliamentary model. The prediction presents possible further directions of modification of the system of governance depending on the evolution of the EU. The research was based on the following methods: institutional-legal, systemic and comparative.

Amerykańscy Polacy na frontach Wielkiej Wojny: współczesny symbol i treść

The premise of this paper is to collect in a systematic way the existing research findings related to documenting the participation of Poles and Americans of Polish origin fighting in the ranks of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF). The primary objective of the paper is to analyze the historical, military, and political dimensions of this participation. The paper is a study in historical politics, which translates into contemporary realities and concepts of political solutions. The following methods have been used as research tools: the historical, comparative, and statistical methods, as well as an analysis of the content of the press, in particular the Polish-American press. The subject matter required specifically a problem- oriented approach, but also a chronological one, documenting political and social processes directly related to the war, occurring after its end and translating into contemporary events. This paper is a broader exploration of this issue.

The Issue of Independence in Opinion Polls in Wales in 2017–2023

This study presents and analyzes the results of public opinion surveys conducted in Wales in 2017–2023 regarding the political future of the region. Using quantitative, comparative and systemic methods, the political solutions proposed by the Welsh were identified. The aim of the study is to answer the question whether current centrifugal tendencies may lead to Wales gaining independence in the foreseeable future.

The Palestinian Authority after Mahmoud Abbas: Anticipation for the Future

The article discusses the possible scenarios in the event that the position of the President of the Palestinian Authority (PA) becomes vacant, in light of the absence of an institutional structure of the PA, legal justifications or political solutions that can be relied on, if Palestinian parties choose to resort to the democratic path, to elect a new president, or even bring a successor to the President of the PA, who enjoys popular and regional acceptance. Due to the difficulty of predicting the post-Mahmoud Abbas era, and the absence of any signs or indicators to anticipate the next stage and considering the persistence of the internal Palestinian division including that of the Fatah movement, and the emergence of new political currents, the author applies the scenario approach by presenting a set of possible scenarios, based on the available data and information discussed in some detail in the article. The article presents a theoretical and descriptive reading of the developments of the history of the PA, focusing on legal mechanisms through which the president of the PA is chosen, analyzing, and linking these mechanisms to the current reality of the PA through discussing the most important challenges facing the succession of Abbas. This is done based on the severe divisions within the Fatah movement, and its declining popularity, as well as the influence of regional and international parties. The article relies on many Arab, English, and Hebrew academic sources. It also includes interviews with a group of experts and specialists in Palestinian affairs. With the analysis of each possible scenario for the future of the PA after Abbas, the author concludes that the fourth scenario is most possible and realistic one, which suggests that Palestinians will be able to reach a consensus on a person to lead the PA after Abbas, especially since the absence of consensus could lead to more disintegration and internal fighting.

GENDER AND LEADERSHIP RESPONSE IN COVID-19

The study attempts to uncover the gendered construction and understanding of subjects of politics and leadership. It argues that mainstream construction of Covid-19 leadership response as, ‘success of femininity’ and ‘failure of masculinity’ encapsulates naturalisation of ‘essentialist gendered understanding’ of subjects of politics andleadership. By applying theoretical and methodological framework of post-positivist feminist traditions and identity theory, the paper tends to contextualise the origin, source and objectives of gendered lens that juxtaposes femininity with politics and leadership. In essence, the article underscores that a political agents’ leadership response to Covid-19 is a manifestation of his or her social and discursive identities, agent’s understanding of their placement within power hierarchies and internationalisation of ‘essentialist gendered identities’ and argues in favour of reworking political assumptions and identity solutions to construct gender-neutral discourses in politics and leadership.

Fighting for Time: Rhodesia’s Military and Zimbabwe’s Independence by Charles D. Melson

<i>Fighting for Time: Rhodesia’s Military and Zimbabwe’s Independence</i> by Charles D. Melson

Policing the Borribles: conjunctural crisis and moral panic in children’s literature

ABSTRACT Michael de Larrabeiti’s controversial series of novels for youth (published in 1975, 1981, and 1986) about the Borribles, children who grow feral and live in anarchic communities in London, were influential for the urban fantasy genre. The novels describe a fictional fantasy subculture but nevertheless engage with issues of the rise of a law-and-order society in the U.K. in the 1970s and police harassment of black youth. Drawing from the work of the Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies, the paper argues that the trilogy represents an imaginary political solution, grounded in anticapitalist, antiauthority, and antiracist ethics, to the conjunctural crisis of the 1970s and the rise of Thatcherism. The paper reads the structure of feeling of Borrible culture and argues how its narrative functions through a series of displacements to engage with racist police tactics, anarchist squats, and anticapitalist and antiwork ethics.

Ethnic Politics and Violation of Basic Civil Rights of Amharas in Benishangul Gumuz Regional State of the Post 1991 Ethiopia

Abstract Ethnic politics, conceptually, entails the political orientation of employing ethnicity as a means of cooperation and conflict. Based on this concept, the study was aimed to examine actors, causes and consequences of the violation plus challenges in preserving civil rights of Amharas in Benishangul Gumuz Regional State (bgrs) of the post 1991 Ethiopia. It applied qualitative research approach. Accordingly, the research found that the major actors on the violation of civil rights of Amharas are ‘titular’ nationalities, public officials, police force and agricultural investors of bgrs. The causes for the violations of rights of Amharas are ethnic attacks and evictions. These maltreatments brought the consequence of eroding their sense of citizenship and potential of development. The challenges for protection of civil rights of Amharas are problems of controlling rulers and exclusionary constitution. Thus, it concluded that civil rights of Amharas in bgrs have no guarantee and requires immediate political solution.

Politics in India via Social Media and Mass Media

The article is based on how social media and mass media especially electronic media like TV news channels impact politics in India . The advantages and disadvantages of it are also discussed . How social media and mass media builds public opinion about politics and how it affects elections is also analysed. Furtherly the impact of social media in changing the attitude of politicians and bureaucrats towards common people is understood. And finally the challenges that social media brings in political context and solutions to the same are also mentioned.

Exploring an Engineer’s Role in Society: Service Learning in a First-Year Computing Course

Contribution: This article measures the impact of a service-learning project in a first-year introduction to computing course on students’ understanding of engineers’ roles and responsibilities and their attitudes toward plastic pollution. Background: Service learning has been integrated into classrooms for many years, but its utilization in engineering courses is lacking. Furthermore, plastic pollution is a complex and multidisciplinary problem that requires social, political, environmental, and engineering solutions. This work provides a quantitative assessment on whether service learning through a litter pickup project impacts students’ views of the role of engineers in solving complex sociotechnical problems. Research Questions: 1) How does service learning change students’ perception of an engineer’s role in solving sociotechnical problems? and 2) how can service learning be used to increase students’ environmental awareness and action? Methodology: Surveys were administered to students before and after their participation in a service-learning project. The study was conducted across five sections of an introduction to a computer programming course that is required of first-year civil, electrical, and mechanical engineering students. Findings: After the service-learning project, students were more likely to agree that engineers have the skills, knowledge, and responsibility to solve societal problems. Students also demonstrated a more holistic understanding of plastic pollution and reported changes in their waste reduction behaviors.