Political Process Research Articles

International case studies: success and failure factors for digital transformation in healthcare

Abstract Background The digitalization of healthcare systems is expected to lead to improvements in the quality and efficiency of healthcare services. Despite Germany’s leading economic and technological position, the implementation and utilization of digital health solutions is lagging far behind internationally. A look at other countries shows that the digital transformation in healthcare can be successful, and that financial resources and available technologies are not the only determining factors. Rather, it is a matter of political processes, the interests of different stakeholders and the acceptance of patients and HCPs. Methods While the impression often arises that the selection of countries in case studies is random, eight international case studies were identified using a scientific method. A systematic and multi-stage process was developed to select the case studies, taking into account various relevant criteria (e.g. degree of digitalization, geography, economy). The implementation and use of various digital health tools will be examined in selected countries and healthcare systems, in which the digitalization of the healthcare system is particularly advanced. Semi-structured interviews will be conducted with experts from the international healthcare systems between fall 2024 and summer 2025. The findings will inform the development of recommendations for actions for policymakers in Germany. Conclusions This study aims to provide new insights into the key success and failure factors for the digital transformation of healthcare systems. Recommendations for action, tailored specifically to the German healthcare system and aimed at policymakers, are intended to support decision-makers in setting the course for a successful further transformation towards digital health. Key messages • International case studies will be used to identify factors that contribute to the success or failure of digital transformation in healthcare systems. • Based on the findings of this research, recommendations for action will be developed for policymakers in Germany to set the course for the successful further digitalization of healthcare.

IMPLEMENTATION OF INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE OF STATE PROTECTION OF NATIONAL VALUES IN UKRAINE

The author of the article reveals the purpose of implementing the international experience of the system of state protection of national values through the prism of two important trends that should be implemented and and enshrined in the practice of state-building processes in modern Ukraine. One of them stipulates that national values are the central core of the national security system security system, they define the triad of ‘values-interests-goals’. The second trend defines the system of creating mechanisms for legislative support of guaranteeing and protecting of national values, which is embodied in the systemic nature of the state policy on national development and is the actual consolidation of the civilisational civilisational choice of the Ukrainian nation at the level of legal acts. The purpose of the article is to analyse practical aspects of implementation of the state mechanisms for protection of national values in foreign countries and their implementation in the Ukrainian State. The author emphasises that national values of of modern Ukraine should not be subject to political bargaining, speculation, etc. They are are always an element of political struggle. Without this, political processes are impossible, and therefore, national values should be defined and prohibited for political speculation on them, which, by the way, requires the development of an institution of for their criminal law protection; and - to have its own system of mechanisms of legislative protection. It is determined that the first step towards the implementation of the experience of foreign countries in protecting national values should be the introduction of an all-Ukrainian analytical study of the system of national values. It should should be based on long-term and medium-term forecasts of domestic development and the development of the system of world politics, its specific regional and functional subsystems. This means that the full potential of national research institutes in the field of public opinion, civil society, and sociological research should be used to society, and sociological research should be directed within the framework of a single state policy to study and define national values.

Unlocking public infrastructures? State aid and the common European data space

EU state aid rules are part of the EU’s competition policy, a form of soft law developed to nudge states away from public investments in many areas. Rules were used to impose that market competition holds a privileged position, and that enacting social, political, or economic benefits that might stifle competition requires a complicated legal and political negotiation process between the European Commission, Member States, and private companies. Nonetheless, many strategic projects or situations in recent years led to significant state aid. The Commission utilised a variety of means to encourage both private and public investments in EU based digital infrastructure that is critical for public media services and for unified European data space. Despite EU’s balancing act between the private and public interests, business interests are dangerously capturing the development in the media data space. To grasp the social and economic contribution of publicly financed productive activities, we approach public broadcasting systems as producers of public wealth of a peculiar kind whose activities and goals are defined by their public purpose, rather than the imperatives of capital and profitmaking. Unifying data spaces with too many design decisions conceded to capitalist production runs the risk of further neglecting social foundations of member states. We argue that the desired digital transformation would be more successful if it moved towards affirmative approaches to public services and public infrastructures, recognising the historical and contemporary contribution of the production of public wealth and public media in member states.

THE PHILOSOPHY OF FREEDOM AND ITS LIMITS: UKRAINIAN EXPERIENCE OF DEMOCRATIC DEVELOPMENT

The purpose of this research is a philosophical reflection on the category of freedom in the context of Ukraine’s democratic development, with a focus on its limits in light of current political and social challenges, particularly war and crises. The study analyzes the historical stages of the concept of freedom in Ukraine, the legal and ethical constraints placed on it, and the existential dimension of responsibility tied to individual choice. The research methods include critical analysis of philosophical and political works, synthesis of approaches from different philosophical schools (particularly liberalism and existentialism), comparative analysis of freedom and responsibility concepts, and systematic analysis of the legal and ethical challenges facing modern Ukrainian society. The results of the study reveal that the concept of freedom in Ukraine has specific historical features, related to the ongoing struggle for national independence, and dynamically changes under the influence of external threats and internal political processes. It is determined that the limits of freedom are shaped not only by legal norms but also by ethical and societal factors that actively shape Ukrainian public discourse. Special attention is given to the existential dimension of freedom as responsibility, which manifests in complex moral choices in the context of war. The scientific novelty of the article lies in the combination of historical, legal, and existentialist approaches to understanding freedom in the context of Ukrainian democratic development, providing deeper insights into the relationship between freedom and responsibility during periods of social crises. The theoretical significance of the work lies in expanding the philosophical understanding of the category of freedom within the Ukrainian context, its interaction with legal and ethical norms, which is essential for further research in political philosophy and law.

“No punishment is enough for monsters”: vindictiveness as an important political emotion in dealing with Belgian (potential) returnee men

ABSTRACT Building on the call to further integrate emotions in critical security and terrorism studies, we explore the ways emotions figure in media discourses and shape responses and policies on the returnee question. Through critical discourse analysis and thick description, we show how Belgian (potential) returnee men were subject to varying securitising discourses and emotional portrayals in media coverage over the past decade. Our argument contends that media discourse(s) on the returnee question exhibit a complex emotional landscape. We discern dominant, alternative and rising emotions that undergird the media coverage. We will illustrate how the “dominant” emotion of fear oscillated with an “alternative” emotion of vulnerability and, over the course of a decade, was accompanied by a “rising” emotion of vindictiveness. We argue that the cultivation of vindictiveness contributes to securitising narratives that portray Belgian (potential) returnee men as irredeemable monsters deserving of extreme punishments. This rising discourse undermines democratic principles and the rule of law. We speak of political emotions because emotions are deeply intertwined with power dynamics, societal structures, and political processes, which shape collective attitudes, behaviours, and policies towards (potential) returnees.

Феномен права и дегуманизационные факторы современности

integrity formed over a long period of time under the influence of ethical and humanistic attitudes, as well as political, economic and general cultural processes. In assessing the most important substantive foundations of law, the authors focus on the necessity to analyze the transformational processes of legal norms in relation to the human being. Comparing the ontological, socio-cultural foundations of the phenomena of “law” and “dehumanization”, a number of common and distinctive features are identified. Both of these phenomena have a “meaningful focus” on man and are simultaneously the result of his activity. However, if law is a way of constitutionalizing public relations in order to regulate them, then dehumanization is characterized as an element of destructiveness, destabilization of the world. It is assumed that the topics of law, humanism and dehumanization are relevant, as they are the most important worldview guidelines for both the individual and society as a whole.

Վրաստանի աշխարհաքաղաքական տեղաշարժը. ներքին և արտաքին գործոններ / Georgia's Geopolitical Shift: Internal and External Factors

In the post-Soviet space, the South Caucasus has always stood out as the most conflict-ridden region. Three powerful neighbors of the region - Russia, Turkey and Iran - constantly monitor developments here, seeking to increase the dose of influence. As a result of the change of power, in 2012, the Georgian Dream party came to power in Georgia, and anti-Russian sentiments in the country began to decline. Despite all the pressure, the Georgian authorities did not join the sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union against Russia. The «Georgian Dream» party put forward a legislative initiative on foreign agents in 2023, after which it faced mass protests. As a result, the bill was withdrawn, but already in the next year, 2024, the majority of members of parliament again introduced the bill and on May 28th it was adopted. In Georgia, in 2023-2024, domestic political processes are taking place around this law, including the issue of changing the foreign policy vector.

Post-Soviet Destabilization as a Struggle between Autocratic and Democratic Trends

The research paper explores the struggle between democratic and autocratic diffusions in post-Soviet space, reveals their peculiarities and emphasizes the upcoming trends, especially by taking into consideration the situations emerged after successful democratic improvements and progress in some former soviet republics. The comparative analysis of social and political processes in post-Soviet space showcases that some authoritarian states such as Russia and Azerbaijan, consistently play a destabilizing role and engender new challenges not only for democratization but also for stability and peace-building in conflicting zones. The research is focused on the study of Ukrainian, Georgian, and Armenian post-Soviet experiences as states with democratic vision challenged by their autocratic neighbors that persistently threaten democratic ones by violating their territorial integrity and sovereignty. To overcome these challenges, post-Soviet democratization needs to be protected from both inside and outside. Only in this case the foreign policies’ diversification in post-Soviet democratic states will succeed and the dependence of democratic rulers on autocratic ones will considerably decrease. In this regard, mainly Russia is very sensitive to this circumstance because such developments will lead to the fall of its geopolitical hegemony in post-Soviet space. If Russia succeeds in destroying democratic trends in post-Soviet space, it will not only keep its influence over other countries but also push them back to the authoritarian rule.

Formation and Development of the Armenian Lobbying Organizations in the USA: Historical Context

The United States has one of the most developed Armenian communities, which, since its formation, has strongly supported Armenia and Armenians by lobbying for Armenian interests within the US legislative and executive branches, both at local and federal levels. Lobbying is a vital part of the American political system, playing a decisive role in both domestic and foreign affairs. The significance of lobbying in US political processes, combined with the current political circumstances in Armenia, underscores the importance of studying ethnic lobbying. The article presents the historical context of the formation and development of the Armenian lobby in the US.

The Stability of Party Power in Turkey after President Erdogan's Victory in the 2023 Elections

The present research aims to identify the impact of Erdogan's victory on the basic budgets in Turkey and its impact on the opposition parties and the strength of the opposition, as well as on the Turkish economy, as the economic factor played a significant and influential role in the results of the Turkish elections, which led to the rise of the Justice and Development Party with Erdogan's victory. This party has an effect on the political and democratic process in the country. Thus, the investigation includes two axes: the first, political parties in Turkey, and the second, the Turkish elections in 2023 AD.

Breathe and let breathe: Breathing as a political model of organizing

Take a deep breath. Although nothing is more natural or essential to human bodies than breathing, this simple yet vital act is the critical result of complex organizational, material, and political processes. We suggest that breathing can be thought of as a political model of organizing insofar as it shapes questions of life and death while rooting these “operationally” in immediate, urgent, collective and more-than-human intra-action. Breathing is also a social act because the self is bound up with others in a fabric of relations upon which each person depends, and so breathing can serve as a trope for regenerating and rethinking social structures, institutions and organizing blueprints. We take the act of breathing—its literal and metaphorical (im)possibility and collective organization—as the focus of a reflection on relations among humans and between other living beings, humans, and their ecological surroundings. Re-thinking the question of whose breathing we care about and whose breathing counts, we offer a political model that embraces the mutuality principle for post-humanistic and post-anthropocentric organizing and community building. We thereby hope to “inspire” and materialize new social and political realities for organizing our shared future, conceptualized as building a (scholarly) community of breathers who breathe and let breathe.

Nexus Framing of Sustainability Issues: Feasibility, Synergies, and Trade-Offs in Terms of Water-Energy-Food

Multisectoral integration has been at the core of sustainability debates and is continuously rearticulated through different concepts. Following the 2007–2008 financial, food, and energy crises, a new concept, the water–energy–food nexus, gained prominence to identify trade-offs and synergies between water, energy, and food systems and guide the development of cross-sectoral policies. The nexus is essentially a systems-based perspective that explicitly recognizes these three systems as both interconnected and interdependent, and thus integrated approaches are required that move beyond sectoral, policy, and disciplinary silos. The nexus is also a political process, one in which the interplay of different types of power, as well as the actors wielding them, is not just a procedurally technical one. This tension between the nexus as a complex system and the nexus as a political process constitutes the core debating idea, in terms of feasibility, methods, and theory, in this article.

Young Chileans Evaluate the News in order to decide how to Vote in 2022

Based on the call for the mandatory vote of young Chileans to approve or reject the draft of a new constitution for Chile in 2022, this research explored how they informed themselves about this political process and what was their assessment of the news to make their electoral decision. An ad-hoc quantitative survey was designed, applied online in 2023, to which 183 participants between 18 and 24 years old, mostly higher education students, responded. Young people consider it very important to vote in an informed manner, they are interested in current affairs, they value the professional work of journalists and they searched for news about the constitutional process. However, for more than half of them, the news did not respond to their interests. This finding is particularly relevant, since when asked what quality news is for them, they refer to information that responds to their needs. It is likely that the news industry does not sufficiently consider this young audience, which constitutes an opportunity to get to know their interests.

Pandemic and Politicisation in Argentina: Nursing Professional Trajectories in the Conurbano Bonaerense Region

The article analyses the politicisation of nursing personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic in Argentina, focusing on the trajectories of nurses trained in the public universities of the so-called ‘conurbano bonaerense’, especially in the young universities of the ‘Bicentenario’, rooted in a territory with strong traditions of popular political participation. The pandemic context accelerated the struggles for professional recognition among nurses. Analysing this process constitutes a significant contribution to the social studies of health and illness in Latin America, particularly regarding the role of gender. The pandemic has highlighted the necessity of making the history and demands of the nursing profession visible. Against this background, this article emphasises the challenging working conditions and lack of recognition faced by the nursing profession in Argentina, both materially and symbolically. Based on the analysis of narratives provided by nurses in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the article analyses three politicisation trajectories of nursing graduates of Universidad Nacional Arturo Jauretche, on the conurbano bonaerense, the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires. We demonstrate the importance of the institutional context of the universities in this territory and underline its significance for the politicisation process we have observed.

Electoral participation of people with and without disabilities in urban communities in Cameroon and Senegal

Background: The right to participate in political processes is fundamental to democratic governance, economic development and human rights.Objectives: We assessed participation in political processes and also explored factors associated with voting at the most recent election for people with and without disabilities.Method: We conducted cross-sectional survey in four cities in Senegal and three in Cameroon in 2021. Disability was assessed using the Washington Group Short Set of questions. Univariate and multiple regression analyses were conducted to identify the factors associated with voting at the most recent elections.Results: Among 4180 participants in Cameroon and 4171 in Senegal, disability prevalence was 9.77% and 10.89%, respectively. More than half of the participants had voted at the most recent elections in both Cameroon (52.31%) and Senegal (58.27%). Participants with an interest in politics, having all the key documents or registered with a political party were more likely to have voted in both countries. Adjusting for socio-demographic characteristics, people with disabilities were less likely to have voted compared to those without disabilities in Cameroon (odds ratio [OR] = 0.58 [0.40, 0.84]) and in Senegal (OR = 0.36 [0.26, 0.44]).Conclusion: There is an urgent need to address the socio-political and environmental factors that have been identified so as to close the disability gaps in voting and ensure equitable opportunities and levels of political participation between people with and without disabilities.Contribution: This article contributes to the existing knowledge base on the political participation of people with and without disabilities in Cameroon and Senegal.

‘Proud of our families’: single-parent activism in the 1990s1

ABSTRACT This article explores the history of the Bristol-based organisation Single-Parent Action Network (SPAN), and its challenge to mainstream understandings of single parenthood. A sharp increase in single parent-led households since the 1970s had been met by a political and social narrative that single-parent families (c. 90% of them headed by women) were both a drain on the public purse and a root cause of social breakdown. Both the Conservatives and New Labour supported policies that aimed to decrease welfare dependency by increasing child support payments from absent fathers and getting single mothers into paid work. These policies—which reconceptualised single mothers as workers rather than carers—were opposed by SPAN, a multi-racial and women-led national and international network, which sought to challenge the stigmatisation of single parents. SPAN’s work and organisational self-understanding were underpinned by ideas and practices that had their origins in the 1970s and 1980s Black, women’s and community activism: anti-racism, a feminist understanding of care as work, and the importance of lived experience in the political process. Although SPAN often seemed out of step with modernised and professional NGOs, the values it espoused were to prove remarkably persistent and re-emerge in the new millennium in unexpected ways.

NETRALITAS APARATUR SIPIL NEGARA DALAM PEMILIHAN KEPALA DAERAH 2020 DI KABUPATEN LUWU TIMUR

The neutrality of the State Civil Apparatus (ASN) is needed in political processes such as the general election of regional heads because civil servants are public services and civil servants who truly stand independently without having to take sides. The problem in this research is the neutrality of the state civil apparatus in the head election. 2020 Region in East Luwu Regency. How to impose sanctions for violations of the neutrality of the State Civil Apparatus (ASN) in the Regional Head Election (Pilkada) in East Luwu Regency in 2020. This research aims to. To find out and analyze the neutrality of the State Civil Apparatus in the 2020 Regional Head Election in East Luwu Regency. To find out how to impose sanctions for violations of the neutrality of the State Civil Apparatus (ASN) in the Regional Head Election (Pilkada) in East Luwu Regency in 2020. This research was conducted using Normative Empirical legal research methods. The research was conducted in East Luwu Regency. The East Luwu Regency Government, together with Bawaslu, in organizing the regional elections, is committed, together with Election Organizing Institutions and Non-Election Organizing Institutions, to implementing Regional Elections with integrity, namely by preventing violations and fraud in the implementation of Regional Elections. Providing sanctions for violations of the neutrality of the State Civil Service requires fact-based case handling.

The political economy of national health insurance schemes: evidence from Zambia.

Governments in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) are increasingly considering the introduction of national health insurance scheme (NHIS) as a strategy to achieve universal health coverage (UHC) targets. The literature has widely documented the technical challenges associated with implementing UHC policies in LMICs but much less is known about the political process necessary to pass UHC legislation. In this article, we document the political economy issues surrounding the establishment of the Zambia NHIS in 2018. We adapted a political economy framework incorporating, semi-structured interviews with diverse stakeholders and document analysis of policies, operational reports, and legislatures from 1991 and 2018. Our findings show the 26-year journey towards the establishment of the NHIS in Zambia involved a long sequence of policy dialogue, technical review and stakeholder engagement. Our interviews with key stakeholders suggest that the act was eventually passed due to strong political will and dominant leadership of the Ministry of Health. Passing the law required trade-offs between choices influenced by stakeholder pressures and recommendations from research and actuarial studies. Another equally critical factor was the high public support and legacies of past policies, such as the removal of user fees that had created quality gaps and inequities in the health system. Furthermore, global ideas about UHC and initiatives implemented by other countries also generated support for Zambia's NHIS. Overall, this study highlights the complex set of political economy factors that need to align in order for governments to be able to adopt health insurance in low-income settings. We show that political leadership and commitment to getting reforms passed is crucial. We also highlight how certain narratives about countries in the global health sphere can shape policies in other countries.

The Phenomenon of Psychological Warfare in the Era of the Sun King

The article examines the main aspects of the design of the psychofield (psychological landscape) of the French monarchy in the Early Modern era in the context of the formation of absolutism (as a geopolitical doctrine) in the context of the «military revolution» in Europe. The author examines the transformations of mass consciousness within the framework of the phenomenon of the «mental revolution», which determined the emergence of new forms of legitimization of social ties in the context of the formation of innovative systems of constructing loyalties that replace, absorb or conflict with alternative identities within the framework of a new state-building, in an imperial situation. The author touches upon the problem of the formation of a new «psychoparadigma», which determines the course of a number of social and political processes that determined the formation of court society as an element of the state mechanism. A direct reflection of this process was a complex of political, psychological and socio-cultural transformations, which, following N. Henschel, we interpret as the «myth of absolutism», which gave rise to a whole complex of innovations in the development of mass consciousness, which was most manifested, first of all, in the development of military affairs. A direct reflection of this phenomenon was, among other things, the active use of the practice of «psychological warfare» in the campaigns of the «Sun King», which is associated with a rethinking of the degat principle characteristic of the Middle Ages – waging a devastating war.

Bridging the gap: Political engagement and trust as mediators of racial health inequities and vaccine reluctance

This paper investigates how political engagement and trust can reduce health disparities in the context of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. It posits that active participation in the political process and trust in political institutions enable communities, especially marginalized ones, to advocate for equitable health policies, leading to more inclusive healthcare services. The study employs a multidisciplinary approach to understand how politics influence individual and collective health behaviors and decision-making. The research uses t-tests and logistic regression to analyze the relationship between political factors (like interest and participation) and trust in political and federal systems on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. The t-test examines disparities in vaccine hesitancy across racial groups, revealing significant differences and emphasizing the impact of race on health behaviors. Logistic regression, controlling for variables such as partisanship and media influence, further explores these relationships, showing a consistent negative correlation between trust in federal institutions and vaccine hesitancy across racial groups. The study also finds that this correlation varies by race, with trust in the political system and political participation influencing vaccine hesitancy to different degrees among racial groups. These findings underscore the complex interplay between political engagement, trust, and health behaviors, highlighting the role of politics in shaping public health outcomes.