Public Thinking Research Articles

Re-organizing for public value and reclaiming post-capitalist possibilities

This editorial introduces the Special Issue on public value, urging scholars to ask fundamental questions about what public value organizing entails. It proposes key conceptual dimensions to foster public value thinking, highlighting the contested nature of the concept and the subjective understanding of public value among different publics. Themes emerging from the contributions to the Special Issue include re-imagining the State’s role in post-capitalistic regimes, re-designing approaches to economic planning, and re-experiencing public value through transforming relationships between planners and the planned, practicing active citizenship endeavors, and integrating environmental concerns into processes and systems of valuation. Problematizing the neoliberal misrecognition of the State as a legitimate institution for wealth creation, this special issue showcases its key role in fostering post-capitalist possibilities. The articles offer evidence and inspiration regarding innovating the ways we plan, design, produce and account for public value by leveraging what we conceptualize as new collaborative governance possibilities. Overall, we call for establishing stronger connections between existing studies on alternative economic, political, and democratic organizing with scholarship on public policy, strategic public management, transformative social innovation and social movements. Four areas for future research on post-capitalist governance are also proposed: State-businesses relationships beyond capitalism; changing conceptions of value including the value of care; municipal approaches toward community wealth building; re-imagining new public institutions for more participatory democracy.

Public Responsibility Towards Indonesian Idol's Music Talent: An Adorno Perspective

The music expressed around us, particularly in the realm of competitive music, faces significant challenges in maintaining subjectivity and objectivity to ensure a fair competition process. This study examines reality shows like Indonesian Idol, questioning whether they are pure competitions or avenues for capitalist profit. From Adorno's perspective, this issue is linked to societal impact, highlighting three main problems: standardization, commodification, and massification. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods, this research involved 67 respondents who completed questionnaires to explore the systematic flaws in Indonesian Idol’s competition structure. The study aimed to analyse how these flaws align with Adorno's concepts of standardization, commodification, and massification, and their influence on public perception and critical thinking. The quantitative aspect involved statistical analysis of questionnaire responses, while the qualitative approach included in-depth interviews to gain insights into participants' views on transparency and fairness in the competition. The findings indicate that Indonesian Idol’s competition system is heavily influenced by industry standards that prioritize commercial success over artistic integrity. This results in a homogenized musical output that caters to mass appeal, undermining the authenticity of the competition. Additionally, the commodification of contestants transforms them into marketable products rather than genuine artists, while the massification process dilutes the cultural significance of the musical content presented. The study concludes that for reality shows to serve as responsible public entertainment, they must instil transparency and fairness in their competition processes. Implementing these principles can foster a more critical and discerning audience, ensuring that such shows contribute positively to the cultural landscape rather than merely serving commercial interests

How do we make trade policy in Britain? How should we?

AbstractSince Brexit, the UK has been responsible for its own trade policymaking rather than inputting into the collective policy of the European Union. This paper starts by sketching how that policy has been developed and implemented and how it is turning out. Overall, it is not very complimentary about the UK Government's efforts and so it then moves on to consider how we might do better. One dimension of this is how trade policy could be made more inclusive in formulation. I propose three (sets of) institutional reforms: increasing Parliamentary (and other) scrutiny of the government's trade policy plans; after examining how the UK public thinks about trade policy, it asks whether (how) one should take into account public attitudes to trade policy issues; finally, it argues for creating an independent source of advice and analysis on trade policy. It concludes by noting that while recent history has been disappointing, trade policy by any government would be improved by the reforms recommended.

Analyzing the rhetoric behind trophy hunting narratives

Analyzing the rhetoric behind trophy hunting narratives Jens Ulrik Hogh and Stephan Wunderlich from the International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation (CIC) discuss public perceptions of trophy hunting. In 2021, the animal rights organization Humane Society International (HIS)— which is officially campaigning for a worldwide ban on ‘trophy hunting’— commissioned and funded a survey (conducted by Savanta) in five different countries (Denmark, Germany, Italy, Poland, and Spain) to understand what the public thinks about trophy hunting and the import of these trophies to Europe.

Perceptions of Japan in Hungarian Turanism

The lively Hungarian interest in Asian cultures and Japan before 1945 had several motifs, one of them being the idea of Turanism, which was formed around the ethnic, linguistic, and cultural relation of the Turanian (Ural-Altaic) peoples (including Hungarians) in the late 19th century and affected public thinking until 1945 in Hungary. The secondary literature on Turanism seems to have increased in volume in the past decades with a notable emphasis on Hungarian Turanism, and some new research has examined the issue of Japanese Turanism, making a connection with Hungarian Turanism as well. As Hungarian Turanism is regarded as a significant promoter and mediator of Turanism to other regions, too, it is important to analyse the manifold nature of this phenomenon with comprehensive approaches. The paper focuses on the Hungarian background of the Japan-related Turanist ideas with a multifaceted examination and interpretation of Hungarian Turanism based on original research of the contemporary sources (including publications, archival documents of Turanist and Japan-related associations, newspaper articles, and reports on Japan-related events) and the available secondary literature. The paper also aims to examine what perceptions of Japan appeared in the ideas of Turanism, to present why and how Japan was attributed a special significance in Hungarian Turanism, and to analyse the origin, meaning, and the contemporary importance of this outstanding role. In the course of research, new aspects have arisen for examination: the perceptions impacted by the Japanese development of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and by the notion of the situation of Japan ‘between East and West’ as similar to that of Hungary; the debate on modernisation; the isolation of Hungary after the World War I; and the cultural achievements of Hungarian Turanism. Examining the complexity of the Hungarian historical, cultural, and political context of the early 20th century in connection to the perceptions of the East of that time in Hungary may provide a more complex interpretation and deeper understanding of the formation of Turanist ideas.

Urban-Rural Differences in Respect for the Norms of American Civil-Military Relations

Democracies require militaries that protect citizen well-being without threatening to overthrow the government or otherwise jeopardize public safety. The military should therefore be firmly under the command of civilian elected leaders, playing a minimal role in the political process. Previous research examines whether the public thinks such boundaries of civil-military relations should exist, and finds that people can see the military as a check to democratically elected administrations in the opposing party. Here, we ask a parallel question: Does place of residence influence attitudes about the boundaries of civil-military relations? We expect rural individuals and those higher in rural resentment to similarly see the military as a check to a civilian government as previous research suggests that rural residents are resentful towards government and centers of power. Using original survey data, we find that people high in such rural resentment are sometimes more willing to defer to the military. Finally, we successfully replicate findings from Krebs et al. (2023) under a Democratic administration. These results have implications for democratic governance and public support, particularly among facets of the public that have lower trust in government.

Nyelvi ideológiák kisebbségben. Példák Katalóniából, a Csallóközből és Budapestről

Critical sociolinguistics with a qualitative approach seeks to explore the background of language-related social issues. Such issues include, for example, the systems of ideas that shape contemporary public thinking, especially when it comes to language choice in minority contexts. The paper compares three such contexts: the context of a diasporic group (Hungarians in Catalonia, Spain), the young adults of an indigenous minority (Hungarians in Csallóköz, Žitný ostrov, Slovakia), and the media representation of sexual minorities in Hungary. The comparison is based on three separate studies with a qualitative and explorative orientation conducted by one of the authors each. These studies examined the language ideologies of late modernity and global capitalism that the literature identifies as discourses of pride and profit. We argue that speakers’ narratives on their language choice are permeated by the concept of profit in a way that pride is no longer evidently associated with authenticity.

‘Funny’ Politics: Stand-up Political Comedy, Public Engagement, Critical Thinking, and Opinion Sharing in India

This study hypothesised that (a) exposure to online comedy about political issues promotes public engagement, critical thinking, and opinion sharing; (b) the relationship between exposure to online comedy and the dependent variables is mediated by self-perception of critical thinking on religious freedom (as an example of social justice issues); and (c) the relationship between online comedy and dependent variables (perception of public engagement and opinion leadership) is moderated by individuals’ self-reported political leaning. A post-test-only between-subject experimental design with a control group was conducted using a sample drawn from an online panel ( N = 576). The treatment group was shown a video of political stand-up comedy and asked about their perceptions of public engagement, critical thinking, and opinion sharing. The control group did not view any videos before answering the questionnaire. It was observed that viewing online political comedy is associated with lower self-reported public engagement and opinion leadership on digital platforms. The results of this study in a non-Western developing country context indicate a positive relationship between exposure to online political comedy and public engagement, critical thinking, and opinion sharing.

Associations between Recognition and Behaviors Regarding the Use, Washing and Management of Firefighting Protection Suits and Public Health Awareness of Occupational Exposure Risks among Firefighters

The firefighting protective suits (FPSs) of firefighters at fire scenes affect their health and safety. However, the association between firefighters’ health awareness of occupational exposure risks and the FPS use, washing and management remains unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the association between firefighters’ health awareness of occupational exposure risks and their recognition, behaviors regarding the use, washing and management of FPSs. This study design is a cross-sectional study and used a web-based survey of the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s electronic survey system. The survey was conducted on metropolitan firefighters performing shift work in charge of fire and rescue work for 21 days from 1 to 22 April 2019, with 1097 (40.3%) respondents. Characteristics of FPS use, washing and management and the association between thoughts and behaviors thereof and health awareness of occupational exposure risks were evaluated. Data of 1097 firefighters were analyzed using the SAS 9.4 statistical package, chi-square test and logistic regression analysis. Firefighters’ fire scene awareness rate of possible carcinogens was 94.4%. There was an association between public health thinking of occupational exposure risks and the correct use of an FPS for one’s own safety (AOR 1.97. 95% CI 1.02–3.80). However, no association was shown between correct FPS use (AOR 1.49, 95% CI 0.48–4.59), washing (AOR 2.50, 95% CI 0.93–6.68) and management (AOR 1.38, 95% CI 0.75–2.50) behaviors. This study analyzed the relationship between the use, washing and management of personal protective equipment called firefighting clothing and firefighters perceived occupational exposure risks. This study found an association between the health awareness of occupational exposure risks and recognition of the correct use of FPSs at fire scenes but not between using, washing and managing behaviors of FPSs. This study is the first to analyze the relationship between firefighting clothing and occupational health awareness level. The results confirm that future interventions are required to help firefighters practice desirable behaviors toward FPSs and provided evidenced data for preventing occupational diseases among firefighters. Therefore, this study can be used to develop a firefighter occupational health curriculum and establish health and safety plans from mid- to long-term perspectives for firefighters’ safety against occupational exposure risks.

FutureCoast: A Playful Way to Assess Public Perceptions for Better Climate Change Communication

ABSTRACT We examine how the FutureCoast storytelling game creates an accessible, online space to explore the climate problem and its impacts, as well as to glean insights regarding player perceptions. Through FutureCoast, players imagine a climate-changed future by creating stories about an altered world. A total of 251 voicemail responses generated from game participants recruited through social media and other channels were coded and analyzed. Subject engagement with the storytelling game provided valuable data about climate change understanding, as well as rich, player-created narratives that document the complexity of public thinking about climate-changed futures. Commonly occurring themes include Adaptation, Challenge, Technology, Weather, Governance and Policy, and Food. FutureCoast participants perceived optimistic scenarios for technology, energy and mitigation, and pessimistic scenarios for weather, food, water and adaptation. From FutureCoast stories, we gain an understanding of public perceptions toward climate issues that can help communicators develop more informed and effective climate change communication strategies. Key policy highlights Through playful approaches, such as FutureCoast, we can gain an understanding of public perceptions toward climate issues that can help communicators develop more informed and effective climate change communication strategies. Using novel approaches such as games to understand perceptions can elicit information from people who would otherwise not engage in surveys or other research methods. An innovation of the FutureCoast approach is its ability to produce rich, player-created narratives, which can be analyzed to uncover complex thinking about climate-changed futures. Responses may reveal where the public identifies and voices emerging issues earlier than experts. Identifying optimistic and pessimistic trends around climate issues gives communicators the opportunity to re-frame negative climate perceptions toward actions and solutions, thus empowering their audiences with information that can elicit climate action.

Valid consent in the acute hospital setting: perspectives of patients and members of the public

BackgroundPeople who interact with healthcare services have an ethical and legal right to control their own lives, to make informed decisions, and to consent to what happens to them. For consent to be considered ethically and legally valid, three key criteria must be met: consent must be given voluntarily; people must be sufficiently informed of all options; and people should have capacity to make the decision to give or withhold their consent.AimThis study set out to explore, through the use of surveys, the perspectives of patients and public in relation to consent.MethodSurveys were developed for patients and the public and administered paper based (patients) and through social media (public).ResultsOne hundred and forty surveys were posted to patients, with a 38% response rate; 104 responses were received from the public. Ninety-six percent of patients were satisfied that the decision they made was informed; 100% felt they had made a voluntary decision; 98% felt the clinician seemed knowledgeable about the procedure. What matters most to the public were being informed about the risks associated with the proposed procedure and being assured that whatever choice they make they will receive the best care possible.ConclusionsThe results highlight interesting similarities and differences in relation to consent between members of the public thinking about a possible treatment, surgery, or procedure and those patients who have actually been through the process in the past 12 months. Recommendations have been developed on the basis of these findings to co-design improvements in consent practices.

Presidential Campaign Authority in The General Election Law

The President's Authority to Campaign during the General Election has recently become an interesting topic of discourse among the public. Some people think that the President should not campaign to maintain the neutrality of elections, the President's dignity, and so on. However, on the other hand, the public thinks that it is okay for the President to campaign because basically it is not the norm in the laws and regulations that has been violated. Therefore, this research aims to examine the President's authority to campaign in Law Number 7 of 2017 concerning General Elections. This research is a qualitative research with a normative approach that uses legislative regulations as the main focus to elaborate and explain comprehensively the authority of the President's campaign in the General Election Law. The data used in this research is secondary data that researchers obtained from statutory regulations, scientific journals, books, credible websites, and a number of other sources that are commonly used in every research. These data were analyzed using grammatical and teleological legal interpretation methods. The result in this articel show 1. There are two different opinions, namely those who agree with the president's campaign with the argument of maintaining ELECTION neutrality, potentially causing abuse of power, and maintaining presidential ethics. But on the other hand, they think it's okay because no rules have been violated. 2. Article 281 paragraph 1 of Law Number 7 of 2017 concerning General Elections regulates the President's ability to campaign as long as he does not use state facilities and takes leave. However, this article was interpreted differently by Bivitri Susanti because it relates to the President who will nominate again and the President must be registered in the campaign team. Apart from that, Zainal Arifin Mukhtar also has the same opinion that the President's campaign could cause legal complications and could potentially lead to the practice of nepotism. 3. The researcher does not agree with the two constitutional experts because there is an inconsistency in Bivitri Susanti's argument that initially the president was not allowed to campaign by interpreting market 281 paragraph 1 as relating to the incumbent President, but in the next sentence it seems to allow it by requiring the President to be included in the campaign team. Regarding Zainal Arifin Mukhtar's opinion, researchers consider that campaigning and nepotism are two very different things. Can campaigning is something that has not happened and is stated in the laws and regulations, whereas nepotism is something that has already happened and needs to be proven first and it does not necessarily mean that the President campaigning is nepotism. The researcher adheres firmly to the principles of Nullum Delictum, Nulla poena sine praevia lege poenali" and the fiqh rule "Al-Ashlu Fil Muamalah Ibahah Hatta Yadulla Daliil 'Ala Tahrimiha". The researcher believes that article 281 paragraph 1 has provided a comprehensive explanation regarding these abilities and the limits of the President. if you want to campaign.

The Revolt against Humanity: Imagining a Future without Us

The Revolt against Humanity: Imagining a Future without Us

The Revolt against Humanity: Imagining a Future without Us

The Revolt against Humanity: Imagining a Future without Us

Centenary Paper: Mutuality, Community and Collectivity: The Book Review and Thinking in Public

In 1923 E. Allison Peers launched a new journal at a moment when Hispanic Studies was emerging as a field. Through reviews and editorials, he and the contributors were working out how to engage publics and build readership. From the pages of the journal, it is possible to see him creating a sense of shared dialogue. Often and without compunction, through book reviews, this involved the promotion of his own work and that of others, a question that has become sticky for academics. This article considers the question of (self)promotion, looks back at a selection of reviews from early issues of the journal, and compares these with how twenty-first century para-academia does the work of thinking in public. It proposes that the review needs rethinking and should be considered as a form that creates community and generates collective mutuality.

Getting Mileage Fees Right: What Does the U.S. Public Think?

The United States faces a critical policy dilemma with respect to transportation funding: how to fund roads, highways, and public transportation into the future given the dwindling productivity of fuel taxes. This paper explores survey data that shed light on public opinion about one promising replacement for fuel taxes, so-called “mileage fees.” We analyzed 14 years of national survey data from U.S. adults to provide policymakers and researchers with evidence to answer three questions. First, what percent of Americans support the concept of mileage fees and has that support changed over time? Second, does support for mileage fees vary substantially by personal characteristics such as income or annual mileage driven? And third, are some mileage fee design choices more popular with the public than others?

Digital Game as A Media to Increase Cognitive Intelligence of 13-18 Years Old Teenagers

Nowadays, Cognitive Intelligence plays an essential role especially on making decisions. The growth of digital media makes public thinks that video games are addictive. They think that video games are addictive and damaging. Games are design to refresh, challenge and help people to train their problem solving. In this research, the researcher explored the cognitive development of teenagers aged 13-18 with a puzzle-based digital game. Participants were 15 students studying in junior and senior high school. Participants were given three tests: pre-test and post-test by IQ test and a Game Engagement Questionnaire (GEQ) to explore the game's engagement from the participants' perspective. The average of Pre-Test is 113.2, while the Post-Test is 118.33. This Show that after playing the games it increases the IQ of the students. The researcher also discovered that many factors could influence the outcome of participant IQ. The GEQ shows that the participants agreed that some of the puzzle-based game might be a good or bad influence on them.
 Keywords: Cognitive Intelligence; Digital Games, Formal Operational Game-based Learning, Jean Piaget's Theory

Public knowledge and beliefs about the irritable bowel syndrome - results from the SOMA.SOC study

BackgroundDespite the epidemiological and economic relevance of the irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), there is a lack of research on what the general public knows and thinks about this condition (IBS literacy). Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore public knowledge and beliefs about IBS in Germany. Moreover, associations of knowledge and beliefs about IBS with socio-demographic characteristics as well as illness and treatment experiences were analysed.MethodsAnalyses made use of a national telephone survey (N = 1,205). A carefully developed vignette describing a person with typical symptoms of IBS was presented. Respondents were then asked to name the disease in question and beliefs about causes and treatment options were assessed. For the analyses respondents were divided into three groups: (1) people who never had IBS symptoms, (2) people who had or have IBS symptoms but never were in treatment and (3) individuals who reported to be or have been treated for IBS symptoms.ResultsLess than 4% of the respondents recognized IBS after presentation of the vignette. About 75% positively evaluated treatability while psychotherapy was evaluated more effective than medication. Stress and unhealthy lifestyle were the most frequently endorsed possible causes of the presented IBS symptoms. There were variations in knowledge and beliefs about IBS according to age, gender, and education. We found minor differences in beliefs and knowledge between individuals who had or have symptoms but never were in treatment and those without respective illness experience. Respondents with illness/treatment experiences rated their knowledge significantly better than those without any experiences.ConclusionsResults indicate low levels of public knowledge about IBS regarding illness recognition in Germany. A majority disagreed that they have good knowledge about IBS symptoms. Against this background, it seems reasonable to develop and test interventions to improve IBS literacy by increasing knowledge about symptoms, causes and treatment options.

Should we sell arms to human rights violators? What the public thinks

ABSTRACT Arms-exporting countries – even those that are liberal democracies – sell weapons to governments that violate human rights. Does the public support the provision of weapons to human rights violators? We examine public attitudes on arms exports through a survey experiment in Israel – a major arms exporter that is often criticized for arming repressive governments. Our analysis finds that human rights violations substantially increase the public’s opposition to the sale of arms – by 21 percentage points. Furthermore, opposition to the arms sale arises even when the recipient country carries economic or strategic importance. Overall, we find a public preference for arms exports constrained by ethical concerns – a preference that is often at odds with governments’ export practice. This study enhances our understanding of the domestic politics of the arms trade, which has received little scholarly attention, but increases in importance with rising public scrutiny and criticism of arms sales.

АКАДЕМИЧЕСКАЯ МУЗЫКА ХХ – ПЕРВОЙ ЧЕТВЕРТИ ХХI ВЕКА: НА ПУТИ К ОСВОЕНИЮ

In the musical environment of philharmonic concert venues and musical educational institutions, the compositions of past centuries prevail over the music of modern styles and trends. This article discusses a number of issues related to the causes of this imbalance and analyses its impact on the formation of the repertoire preferences of the audience and the development of musical thinking of the admirers of academic music. In addition, the author brings up for professional discussion the topic of the responsibility of performing musicians for the formation of a sound environment that plays a decisive role in shaping public thinking. The article raises a delicate topic of evaluating the actions of some representatives of the musical and educational community who claim a monopoly of absolute truth regarding which styles and trends in modern music are worthy of being performed in the “temple of art” and which are not. When identifying the reasons for the current attitude of performing musicians towards the work of modern composers, the author of the article, based on the provisions of information theory, suggests considering a musical work both as a result of the composer’s creative activity and as an example of creating an information message for society. This approach allows drawing performers’ attention to the need for mastering the modern musical language, whose synthetic sign system is uniform for all participants in musical communication: the composer, the performer and the audience. The proposals for addressing this important problem are outlined in the final part of the article.