Popular Perceptions Research Articles

The professional profile, competence, and responsiveness of senior bureaucrats: a paired survey experiment with citizens and elite respondents

Abstract How do the professional backgrounds of senior bureaucrats affect their competence and political responsiveness? This article fills a gap by examining these questions in a meritocratic context that accommodates nuanced but potentially consequential variations in the recruitment of senior bureaucrats. Using a paired survey experiment with citizens, representatives, and administrators in Norway, the article demonstrates that agency heads are perceived as less competent and – to a lesser extent – more politically responsive if their profile deviates from the meritocratic ideal of the career civil servant with mission-specific expertise. The article also compares perceptions between groups of stakeholders, filling another gap in the literature. Treatment effects go in the same direction across groups, but the results reveal a mismatch between popular and insider perceptions of bureaucracy: whereas citizens are practically indifferent, administrators are deeply concerned about the competence of an agency head who is a former politician rather than a career bureaucrat. Perceptions of substantive expertise are more aligned: all stakeholder groups view agency heads with mission-specific expertise as more competent and less politically responsive than generalists. Overall, the results demonstrate that variations in who is recruited to senior bureaucrat positions may either strengthen or undermine stakeholders’ views on good governance.

The Visible ‘Caste Gaps’ amid an ‘Invisible’ Caste System in West Bengal, India: A Study of Discrimination in Bengali Society

The invisibility of the caste system in Bengal is so firmly ingrained in the psyche of the upper-caste Bengali Hindu population that any acknowledgement of the same by the bhadralok class appears to be a pipe dream. This moral high ground of the bhadralok directly stands antithetical to the rampant cases of caste-based discrimination in the aforementioned state on a regular basis. However, this very inconspicuous nature of the caste system in Bengal has been hogging the centre stage of academic attention in recent years and has become a well-studied phenomenon in the process. Several scholars have catapulted fresh discussions on the visibly strong undercurrents of the caste system in Bengal and accorded a new legitimacy to the different ways in which caste caters to exclusion and discrimination on socioeconomic lines. Still, Bengal’s caste system remains relatively mild and lenient in popular perceptions compared to other states, owing to its strong pedigree as a cultural hotbed. Amid this invisibility of caste in public understanding, the economic (and occupational), religious, ideological and cultural gaps exuding from the allegedly ‘invisible’ caste system between the ‘bhadralok’ class and the marginalised communities are ironically very visible. Nevertheless, such existing caste gaps in several fields have remained relatively unexplored as there is not a great deal of scholarship acknowledging the tangible presence of these gaps. Therefore, I have, in my article, attempted to analyse these patent apertures and the lack of reciprocity in occupational, cultural and ideological transactions between the bhadralok and the so-called ‘chotolok’ as the byproducts of the deeply ossified caste hierarchy in Bengal that has gradually whittled away the human agency of the state’s severely disadvantaged marginalised groups.

Influence of coronavirus disease 2019 on attitudes toward forest biodiversity and nature conservation

The goal of this study is to better understand public perceptions of biodiversity loss, with a focus on the connections between deforestation and the eventual extinction of plants, animals, and birds. In Malaysia, a questionnaire study covering five variables – deforestation, the extinction of mammals, birds, and plants – as well as the moderating effect of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on public attitudes toward biodiversity loss – was conducted. Using online survey methods, 505 valid responses in total were acquired, and SMART-PLS was used for data analysis. Deforestation (the independent variable) is significantly and positively correlated with the extinction of birds, mammals, and plants, respectively. The study also demonstrates how COVID-19 moderates animal extinction and its impact on public perceptions of biodiversity protection. However, statistical study shows that popular perceptions of biodiversity protection are not significantly impacted by the loss of birds or plants. This study adds to the body of knowledge on the importance of public attitudes in reducing environmental degradation by providing a thorough analysis of popular attitudes toward biodiversity protection. The research has important ramifications for governments and organizations working to promote environmentally friendly behaviors, improve ecosystem sustainability, and encourage environmentally friendly organizations.

‘Lady Guardians’ of the Royal Society of Horticulture of Portugal, 1898–1906

In the second half of the nineteenth century gardening flourished in Portugal’s public sphere, having considerably expanded beyond the private realms of palaces and villas. Envisioned as a sophisticated branch of knowledge, horticulture became a hub for citizen science, commercial activities, public education, and civic events. This was a context that fostered and advanced women’s involvement and status as gardeners, horticulturists, and educators, a development influenced by popular Portuguese perceptions of women as protectors. The Royal Society of Horticulture of Portugal (founded in Lisbon as “National” in 1898, decreed “Royal” in 1900), instantiated this enmeshment of perception with status by designating women members as ‘Lady Guardians’ while promoting their participation, especially as competitors and jurists in the society’s flower exhibitions. The women of the society offer a window into the more general identities and professional statuses of women horticulturalists as ‘guardians’ in a generalized sense: they included landowners, writers, gardeners, and family business owners, with many assuming greater responsibility in widowhood. At a time when women’s participation in science was highly constricted, horticulture as a field, and the Royal Society of Horticulture as its premier institution, constituted a remarkable opportunity for women to be publicly engaged and recognized for their expertise as amateur botanists alongside their male counterparts. This article’s analysis demonstrates that women horticulturalists in Portugal were a quite heterogenous group, consisting of women from the highest ranks of the nobility, participating alongside women from further social ranks, inclusive of the aristocracy, bourgeoisie, and urban middle classes. Their participation in the society not only afforded them opportunities locally and civically, but also internationally, as will be illustrated by a few careers that reflect how education, travels, and professional engagement demonstrated the broad reach of Portuguese women’s horticultural activities.

‘Help Shelter Mend a Broken Family’: Homes, Homelessness, and Crisis in 1960s Britain

Abstract In 1966, a new homelessness charity, Shelter, set out to redefine the homeless as impoverished families enduring poor or insecure housing rather than single men living on the street. Through a series of ‘hard-hitting’ reports and adverts, the group highlighted the destructiveness of poor housing on young families and gained a prominent national voice. This article examines Shelter’s campaigns in the 1960s to examine how debates about homes and homelessness can reframe the development of discourses of ‘crisis’ that defined the 1970s and provided a key narrative of Thatcherism. It focuses on how Shelter deployed ideas of childhood, family, and the family home, often echoing theories of leading child psychiatrists of the post-war period, to warn of the profound and acute danger that the housing crisis represented to British society. Shelter’s prominent and successful adverts and campaigns drew on growing anxieties about social and economic crisis, but did not discuss key issues of unemployment, racial discrimination, and deindustrialization. Instead, Shelter’s campaigns focused on the damage poor housing did to family life and the education and life chances of individual children. Discourses of crisis in this period are often associated with ‘inner cities’ and failing reconstruction schemes, but Shelter presented an image of social crisis that was centred in the family and the family home. By analysing how Shelter drew on fears about the coming social crisis, the article suggests that the family home and the life chances of individuals were central to popular understandings and perceptions of crisis before the 1970s.

“When Fathers Beam and Mothers Wince”

Abstract Since the late nineteenth century, the figure of the “worried mother” has featured prominently in popular debates about American football's risks and benefits. This article analyzes portrayals of mothers’ concerns about concussions and other youth football injuries in newspapers, journals, and sports magazines. Mothers occasionally penned opinion columns or were quoted in news stories, but most commonly, the “worried mother” was depicted by male sportswriters, physicians, and coaches writing about football safety. The “worried mother” posed an existential threat to youth football should she prohibit her son from participating or insist on a wholesale transformation of the rules; she thus needed to be reassured by coaches and league administrators. From nineteenth-century appeals to the “gentler sex” to the early twenty-first-century “moms’ clinics” sponsored by the National Football League, narratives surrounding “worried mothers” profoundly shaped popular perceptions of youth football's risks.

‘The Wild West of England’: Enclosure, Stag-Hunting, and the Creation of New Popular Perceptions of Exmoor in the Nineteenth Century

ABSTRACT Recent research emphasises parallels between agrarian enclosure campaigns in eighteenth and nineteenth century Britain and Ireland, and neo-colonial discourses. Both used the ‘wasteful’ under-exploitation of land by indigenous populations as moral justifications for its appropriation for capitalist agriculture. Focusing on reclamation campaigns on Exmoor, a former royal forest in south-west England, sold by the Crown in 1818, this article shows how these discourses were displaced by emergent defences of undeveloped ‘wildness’, advanced in sustained media campaign by advocates of stag hunting. Although they pitted ‘wildness’ against ‘civilised’ agriculture, the article argues that this was an alternative discourse of modernity. 1

‘Critically disruptive’ museum interpretation as a methodology for challenging popular perceptions of Roman Britain

ABSTRACT Scholarly perceptions of Roman Britain and the wider Roman world have changed significantly in recent years, increasingly exploring more nuanced understandings of lived experiences and cultural interactions. Yet, despite the influence the ancient world continues to exert on modern identities and political discourse, it is debatable to what extent these academic shifts have influenced public perceptions. Museums have a central role to play in challenging outdated presumptions of Rome as a homogenised and civilising cultural force, and this article argues for the application of ‘critically disruptive’ interpretative methodologies to achieve this ambition. Case studies of creative prose, poetry and interactivity are explored for the opportunities they offer to reinvigorate museum narratives of Roman Britain.

Popular perceptions of the rich in 13 countries

Popular perceptions of the rich in 13 countries

Popular knowledge and perceptions of invasive exotic species in Acre, Brazil

Popular knowledge and perceptions of invasive exotic species in Acre, Brazil

ДОСЛІДЖЕННЯ МОЖЛИВОСТЕЙ СТРУКТУРОВАНИХ АНАЛІТИЧНИХ МЕТОДІВ У РОЗВІДУВАЛЬНОЇ ІНФОРМАЦІЙНОЇ РОБОТІ

Structured analytical methods are an integral component for all analytical specialists who seek to introduce transparency, scientificity into their daily analytical work, provide justification for making intelligence decisions and avoid surprises. Good analysis and foresight means that we constantly need to question ourselves. These studies show us how to do this in a structured and systematic way. They are easy to use, practice-oriented and convince even skeptics of the need to use structured technologies. The structured analytical methods explored in the work stimulate the imagination, raise the level of demandingness, and are applied to solving complex intelligence problems, as well as other areas that require significant analysis. This is a new, expanded study and a must-have resource for daily use by any serious intelligence analyst. The work noted that despite the intensive study and criticism of intelligence information work, little attention was traditionally paid to the analysis of intelligence activities. Most assessments tend to focus on issues such as covert foreign operations and covert activities, perhaps because they align more easily with popular perceptions of the intelligence world, but analysis has perhaps never been a more important part of the profession or needed by intelligence officers. Compared to the bipolar dynamics of the Cold War, in this new world the threat of underdeveloped states, spreading dangers, regional crises, rising powers and dangerous non-state actors is looming. Of course, there are valuable secrets to be discovered by intelligence - things to know and discover. But this world is also rich with mysteries related to the future course of events and the intentions of key actors. Such things are unlikely to be illuminated by a single piece of classified intelligence; these are necessarily topics for analysis.

Linking crop availability, forest elephant visitation and perceptions of human–elephant interactions in villages bordering Ivindo National Park, Gabon

AbstractFeeding by Critically Endangered forest elephants Loxodonta cyclotis in rural plantations is a conservation issue in Gabon, but studies characterizing drivers of spatiotemporal patterns of human–elephant interactions remain sparse, hindering mitigation. In this study, we use GPS tracking data from two elephants to characterize temporal patterns of village visitation, and surveys of 101 local farmers across seven villages to determine local patterns of crop planting and harvesting and of human–elephant interactions. Local farmers' perceptions of elephant visitations and empirical data on such visits were positively correlated with local crop availability. However, considering the two elephants separately revealed that the correlations were driven by just one individual, with the second elephant showing weak links between crop availability and visitation, highlighting the challenges in reliably predicting human–wildlife interactions. The most popular local perceptions of the drivers of elephant visitation were the presence of crops (53% of responses) and logging (39%). The most popular proposed interventions were letting the government find a solution (32%), killing problem elephants (30%) and providing compensation for lost crops (22%). We discuss the potential feasibility and efficacy of the proposed solutions in the context of human–elephant interactions. Future research efforts should focus on collaring elephants in zones with high potential for negative human–elephant interaction and expanding perception surveys to villages with contrasting ecological contexts (e.g. with and without logging in their surrounding forests), as these could influence local perceptions of conflicts and conservation initiatives.

The Shadow Economy and Social Change in North Korea

ABSTRACT North Koreans have relied on the shadow economy since the collapse of socialism in the 1990s, but little is known about the degree to which informal markets have influenced the country’s everyday politics. Based on a large-scale survey of defectors, as well as interviews with almost 100 defectors, including some who had been high-ranking officials prior to leaving North Korea, this article finds that the shadow economy has elicited many changes. First, informal marketisation has affected social practices in the workplace, such as reduced job attendance, decreased participation in mandatory organisational meetings, and a strengthened public perception that official job allocations are unfair. Second, the shadow economy has spread unfavourable views of the official welfare system, leading people to prefer life in the market to their past reliance on the command economy. Third, the shadow economy has led to rampant corruption, strengthening popular perceptions that officials are corrupt and law enforcement is unfair. Finally, the shadow economy has negatively affected public views of the North Korean regime, decreasing loyalty to the leadership and reducing public trust in political institutions. Despite these social transformations, people remain sceptical about the idea of regime change due to tight social control.

Developing rural communication through digital innovation for village tourism

This study examines how digital information facilitates communication in the tourism industry to spur innovation in rural communities. Digital platforms have helped Pentingsari Village improve its tourism economy and document its development. This study used content analysis on social media and online reviews to examine Pentingsari Village's change from the New Regime era to the present day. Our research reveals minor alterations in popular perceptions towards village tourism and its effects on local culture and land ownership - effective use of Internet platforms has changed negative perceptions about the tourism industry's exploitation of indigenous land and culture. This approach is viewed as an innovative means of achieving sustainable development while preserving the cultural heritage of local communities and bolstering their economies. This study is a blueprint for how other rural communities can harness similar insights to enhance their well-being. It demonstrates how rural towns can draw inspiration from Pentingsari's utilisation of digital communication to stimulate creativity, showcase their unique attractions, and monitor their progress via digital platforms, which is instrumental in attracting tourists and investors to these areas.

Contestation but not Euroscepticism: economic and security concerns and the fear of losing national traditions in Georgia

ABSTRACT This paper examines the role of utilitarian, political, and cultural/identity-based factors of Euroscepticism on a nationwide representative sample of ethnic Georgians. Hierarchical multiple logistic regression showed that for ethnic Georgians, utilitarian factors are the strongest predictors of support for the EU integration, followed by cultural/identity and political variables, supporting the rational choice theory. These predictors are, in turn, anteceded by popular perceptions of the EU in Georgia. Mediation analysis revealed that the perception of the EU as a source of peace and security precedes the hope for an increase in national security with its support (political predictor). Likewise, the perception of the EU as a champion of economic development antecedes the hope for reduced poverty in Georgia (utilitarian predictor). On the other hand, the perception of the EU as a threat to national traditions does not predict Euroscepticism. We elaborate on this result through an examination of the current political atmosphere of Georgia, where we determine that fears of losing national traditions are outweighed by fears of economic and political insecurity.

Matera in posa: The Photographic Self-Portrait of a Southern-Italian City, 1900–1920

ABSTRACT Photography has played an important role in framing popular perceptions of Matera. Scholarship has focused on its representation following 1945. Yet the fact that a photographic portrait of Matera existed before this time is often overlooked. Photographs of the city pre-dating 1920 were mostly published as postcards by local entrepreneurs. This article analyzes a selection of these in the context of evolving representations of Matera and Basilicata in the early twentieth century. Providing insight into the aesthetic and socio-cultural construction of this important aspect of the city’s early photographic portrait, it emphasises that postcards issued by local enterprises offered a perspective on Matera and Basilicata from the publisher’s point of view. They complemented a less prejudiced and sometimes positive portrayal of the region – emerging in a variety of texts, photographs, and public events – that modified narratives often narrowly focused on describing it as impoverished, backward, and isolated.

Gendered Nationalism: Bangladeshi Narratives of the War of Liberation

Within the frameworks of postcolonial analysis and gender studies, focused on the involvement of women in the struggle for independence of Bangladesh in 1971, this article presents and discusses three literary and filmic representations of Bangladesh’s War of Liberation. This analysis combines non-fictional and fictional perspectives and input and clearly confirms that, contrary to popular perceptions of predominantly male war heroes, women also participated in the struggle for independence. Women’s sacrifices and commitment to independence and justice have helped build Bangladesh and strengthen gender equality in the context of Bangladeshi nationalism. The analysis establishes the Bangladeshi Liberation War of 1971 as an aftermath of the partition of the subcontinent in 1947. This theme assumes particular importance upon the 50th anniversary of the War of Liberation in 2021 and the 75th anniversary of the Partition in 2022.

Do Stock Returns Reflect the Influence of the Pandemic on Businesses? An Empirical Study from the Indian Capital Market

This research study aims to explore whether the impact of the pandemic on different sectors was reflected in the stock market returns or not. The study has taken eight sectors of the Indian economy and started with the assumed impact of the pandemic on those industries based on popular perceptions. Then, it validated the assumed impact with the help of the analysis of the financial statements. Once the impact has been validated with the help of the financial statements, the effect on the stock market returns has been computed by comparing the changes in the stock returns for each industry with those in the index returns from the pre-pandemic times to post-pandemic times. The study reveals that the stock returns in most of the sectors reflected the influence of the pandemic on the businesses with a few exceptions. The exceptions where the stock market returns did not reflect the influence of the pandemic have been explained with the help of the measures taken by the businesses to mitigate the effect of the pandemic or with the help of other intervening factors.

Coups d'État, Political Legitimacy, and Instability in Mali

Abstract: Mali, once argued to be a democratic model for Africa, is in a state of perennial crisis, the result of poor governance, unmet democratic expectations, and competition for domestic political legitimacy among the political class, the military, and religious leaders. After the 1991 revolution, international donors poured money into Mali to promote democratization. Meanwhile, most Malian citizens were becoming increasingly disconnected from a growing political class dependent on these funds. This article shows how popular protests led to both the reversal of family-law reform and the instigation of military coups d'état. The lack of accountability of the political class and the influx of donor money have contributed to increased popular perceptions of state corruption and impunity. Peace and security are impossible amid governance failures and serial coups d'état. This article explains the political consequences of the breakdown of popular trust and political legitimacy of the ruling elite and argues that restoring trust and legitimacy is a critical element to rebuilding Mali.

Nationalism, Revivalism and Pan-Islamism: Shifts in the Political and Cultural Imaginings of Allama Iqbal’s Poetry

This paper argues that contrary to some popular perceptions, the ideological shift in Iqbal dates not from 1930 (when he apparently moved towards the acceptance of the two-nation theory at the Allahabad Session of the Muslim League) but to his stay in Europe from 1905 to 1908 (after which he made a complete and abrupt shift from Indian nationalism to revivalism and Pan-Islamism). This shift is powerfully expressed in the political and cultural imaginings of both his Urdu and Persian poetry. His poetry becomes suffused with the ideas of revivalism and Pan-Islamism in counter-position to those of composite nationhood and territorial nationalism on which the Indian national movement was premised. The shift is embodied in poetic imagery and metaphor incompatible with the modern idea of nationalism, especially the dominant idea of Indian nationalism. Iqbal’s later thoughts concerning Islam’s relations with non-Muslims in India and elsewhere promote an adversarial historical and cultural narrative of Islam. Though triggered by a passionate rejection of the West and its modernity, the shift manifested not just in a critique of the West but also of all non-Islamic cultures and civilizations. Iqbal’s narrative of Islam is teleological and triumphalist. Far from being defensive about the charges of intolerance and aggression levelled against Islam by its critics, he proudly invokes imagery of the sword and the conquest in the history of Islam, while bemoaning the decline of its political power in the modern era. Iqbal’s quest is for a supposedly pure Islam of the past and its revival in the twentieth century in the form of a redefined, reconstituted and revitalized Umma which cuts across boundaries of nations, continents and ethnicities. Few poets in the history of the modern world have had such influence as Allama Iqbal, and fewer still have made such fundamental shifts.