Political Support Research Articles

Demokrasi Patronase Dan Praktik Politik Uang : Pengalaman Pilkada Sumut Oleh Mahasiswa PPKN Unimed

Indonesia, with its dynamic democratic process, is often characterized by patronage politics and money politics during the Regional Head General Election (PILKADA). This phenomenon has become an integral part of the political reality of this country. Patronage politics, which involves the use of power or position to influence political support, and political practices involving money that financially benefit interest groups, have a significant impact on the democratic process. This research aims to understand how democratic patronage and money political practices are carried out by candidates candidates based on regional election experience by UNIMED PPkn students. There are several strategies to overcome this problem, and implementing these strategies must involve cooperation between the government, supervisory institutions, civil society and the media in order to create a cleaner and more transparent political environment.

A sustainable campus for an uncertain future. Two cases of infrastructural transformation at Norway’s largest university

PurposeThis study aims to convey lessons learned from two sustainability initiatives at Norway’s largest university. This contributes to knowledge-based discussions of how future, sustainable higher education institutions (HEIs) infrastructures should be envisioned and planned if the fundamental uncertainty of the future development of learning, researching and teaching is acknowledged.Design/methodology/approachThis study was submitted on 24 January 2023 and revised on 14 September 2023. HEIs, particularly when they are engaged in research activities, have a considerable environmental footprint. At the same time, HEIs are the main producers and disseminators of knowledge about environmental challenges and their employees have a high awareness of the urgent need to mitigate climate change and biodiversity loss. In this study, the gap between knowledge and environmental performance is addressed as a question of infrastructural change, which is explored in two case studies.FindingsThe first case study presents limitations of ambitious, top-down sustainability planning for HEI infrastructures: support from employees and political support are central for this strategy to succeed, but both could not be secured in the case presented leading to an abandonment of all sustainability ambitions. The second case study exposes important limitations of a circular approach: regulatory and legal barriers were found against a rapid and radical circular transformation, but also more fundamental factors such as the rationality of an institutional response to uncertainty by rapid cycles of discarding the old and investing in new equipment and facilities.Research limitations/implicationsBeing based on qualitative methods, the case studies do not claim representativity for HEIs worldwide or even in Norway. Many of the factors described are contingent on their specific context. The goal, instead, is to contribute to learning by presenting an in-depth and context-sensitive report on obstacles encountered in two major sustainability initiatives.Originality/valueResearch reporting on sustainability initiatives too often focuses descriptively on the plans or reports the successes while downplaying problems and failures. This study deviates from this widespread practice by analysing reasons for failure informed by a theoretical frame (infrastructural change). Moreover, the juxtaposition of two cases within the same context shows the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to infrastructural change particularly clearly.

Passing a Bill “Nobody Especially Cared About": The Creation of the Department of Education

This article is a case study of the creation of the Department of Education. President Jimmy Carter promised to create a separate Department of Education during his 1976 campaign. The National Education Association (NEA) provided the impetus for the legislation but it was the White House Domestic Policy staff and OMB Director that guided the bill through by working to narrow the scope of the conflict over the proposed legislation to ensure passage. Using both primary and secondary sources I explore the methods the Carter administration used to advance passage of the bill. Carter domestic policy advisor Elizabeth Abramowitz noted that, “if we get the Department, it will be a good example of the President’s ability to get something through Congress nobody especially cared about” (Abramowitz 1979). As a result, a new cabinet agency was created with little broad-based political support and substantive policy change, creating a Department that continues to be vulnerable to calls for abolishment partially due to a lack of broad public support.

Punishment is purple: The political economy of prison building

The United States is unique among rich countries in the world in its level of contemporary mass incarceration, a massive social change that has reshaped the nature of inequality and social mobility. We have more than tripled the number of prison facilities since 1970. Despite employing nearly 450,000 corrections officers, occupying a land mass of roughly 600 square miles, and costing conservatively $30 billion to build, this massive public works project has transformed the American countryside virtually unnoticed, with nearly 70% of U.S. facilities being built in rural communities. We suggest that mass incarceration—more than 2 million locked up annually—was not possible without the transformation of the American countryside through the prison boom—the increase from roughly 500 to nearly 1700 carceral facilities. There is a longstanding belief that the rural town leaders and politicians responsible for the prison boom are almost exclusively white, male, Republicans. We explore the political, social, and economic influences of prison building across states, regions, and cities/towns. Using multilevel modeling, we find that racial and economic disadvantage predicts prison building in towns, and party affiliation of state legislatures predicts prison building across different periods of the prison boom. While others find a link between Republican Party strength in state legislatures and mass incarceration, our findings suggest that prison building, like other types of punishment, results from bipartisan political support for the state's ability to punish. We conclude by advancing an expanded theoretical approach to the prison boom.

Political Support in the Democratic Primary: The Value of an Endorsement

Political Support in the Democratic Primary: The Value of an Endorsement

МЕХАНІЗМИ РЕГУЛЮВАННЯ ПРОЦЕСІВ ЦИФРОВІЗАЦІЇ ДЛЯ ЗАБЕЗПЕЧЕННЯ НАЦІОНАЛЬНО УКОРІНЕНОЇ СТІЙКОСТІ ЕКОНОМІЧНОГО РОЗВИТКУ

The widespread use of digital technologies has become a key factor in the development of the modern economy. However, the potential risks associated with the digitalization process can weaken the stability and security of economic development, which necessitates strengthening the mechanisms of state regulation of the processes of development, implementation, and use of digital technologies through political support and the organization of appropriate regulatory and legal support. To form the theoretical basis of the research, general scientific methods were used. Based on the cross-national analysis, a comparison of the ethical and legal principles of the use of digital technologies was carried out and the priorities and peculiarities of their state regulation in individual countries of the world were determined. A systemic approach was used to identify the interrelationships between state regulation, legal support, and the use of digital technologies. Based on the use of the empirical method and the method of induction, general regularities are determined, the results are summarised and conclusions are drawn. The necessity of using the ethical and legal principles of regulating the use of digital technologies to ensure rooted resilience, increase the welfare of citizens and increase the competitiveness of the economy has been proven. There is a well-founded need to implement OECD principles into Ukraine's legislation and regulatory framework. The key tasks of the organization of state regulation, control, and supervision of the processes of development, implementation and use of digital technologies are defined, the principles of forming the legal framework in the field of digital technologies and the main components that ensure competitive advantages and digital sovereignty are formulated. It has been proven that international ethical and legal norms and standards of international organizations should be the institutional platform for the formation of effective state policy mechanisms in the field of regulation of digitalization processes. The developed recommendations can be used by the government and relevant ministries to effectively use the potential of digital technologies to increase the country's competitiveness and digital sovereignty.

Особливості управління тарифоутворенням у контексті «зеленої» економіки

The article determines that modern energy is mostly based on non-renewable primary energy sources. Therefore, the formation of renewable energy plays an important role today. It is noted that Europe and the world have identified a green economy and climate-neutral energy as a benchmark for their development. Attention is focused on the consideration that under such conditions of development, the issue of tariff setting in the context of the green economy plays a key role in the transformation of the energy system and support of the green economy, since effective tariff setting helps to attract investment in green technologies, ensures the economic attractiveness of renewable energy projects and stimulates energy efficiency. Based on the carried out analysis of scientific publications, it is concluded that tariff setting in the context of the green economy is considered through the prism of economic incentives, environmental benefits, political support and social perception, highlighting its relevance in the context of global efforts to transition to sustainable energy. It is determined that today the problems of instability of tariff policy, in some cases economic inefficiency of tariffs, social inequality, complexity of regulation and administration and a number of others remain unresolved. Addressing these challenges is critical to ensuring an effective and sustainable tariff policy that promotes the development of a green economy and renewable energy sources. It is determined that due to the imperfect, but effective at the moment model of the green tariff, the number and capacity of renewable generation in Ukraine has been steadily growing over the past 10 years. A number of problems that exist today in tariff setting in the context of the green economy from the point of view of its management in Ukraine have been identified and specific features of tariff setting in the context of the green economy have been formulated. Each of the identified specific features of tariff formation of the green economy is characterized and the authors’ own mathematical model of formation of the general tariff of the green economy is proposed. It is concluded that the features of tariff setting in the context of the green economy require an integrated approach to management, and promising in this direction are studies on clarifying each component of the base tariff, determining the basis for calculating each component, further adjustment of the tariff taking into account regional features and other aspects of pricing in the field of renewable energy sources.

Memorials and shifting meanings of rural revolts in South Africa: the Mpondo rural revolts and insurgent scholarship

This article uses the case of the commemoration of the Mpondo Revolts and the massacre by the state of defenceless villagers in Mpondoland in 1960 to argue that the political elite engage in distortions of history for political gain. The ruling party elite have over time omitted or added narratives about the revolts, thus gradually marginalising their significance. Part of the distortion of the history of the revolts is the gradual attempt to change the conversation during the annual commemoration event of the revolts and the Ngquza Hill massacre. While local people continue to be disenfranchised from their land, ironically now by the post-apartheid government, politicians at the memorial event focus not on the issues that were the causes of the revolts, especially the struggles around land, but on apparent local needs, such as electrification, access to clean water and bringing revenue to the villages through tourism. However, memorialisation of historical events is prone to these contested histories and narratives because of the political and financial support of the government in power, institutionalising both tangible and intangible aspects of the history that is being memorialised. It is only through defiant or insurgent scholarship that more accurate versions of the history of events such as the Mpondo Revolts can help to maintain their significance.

Factors Influencing Health Care Providers Payment Reforms in Central and Eastern European Countries.

Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries have recently implemented reforms to health care provider payment systems, which include changing payment methods and related systems such as contracting, management information systems, and accountability mechanisms. This study examines factors influencing provider payment reforms implemented since 2010 in Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, and Romania. A four-stage mixed methods approach was used: developing a theoretical framework and data collection form using existing literature, mapping payment reforms, consulting with national health policy experts, and conducting a comparative analysis. Qualitative analysis included inductive thematic analysis and deductive approaches based on an existing health policy model, distinguishing context, content, process, and actors. We analyzed 27 payment reforms that focus mainly on hospitals and primary health care. We identified 14 major factor themes influencing those reforms. These factors primarily related to the policy process (pilot study, coordination of implementation systems, availability of funds, IT systems, training for providers, reform management) and content (availability of performance indicators, use of clinical guidelines, favorability of the payment system for providers, tariff valuation). Two factors concerned the reform context (political willingness or support, regulatory framework, and bureaucracy) and two were in the actors' dimension (engagement of stakeholders, capacity of stakeholders). This study highlights that the content and manner of implementation (process) of a reform are crucial. Stakeholder involvement and their capacities could influence every dimension of the reform cycle. The nine countries analyzed share similarities in barriers and facilitators, suggesting the potential for cross-country learning.

“It makes me sound like I’m a NIMBY; I’m not:” Local Political Norms and Liberal Support for Housing

“It makes me sound like I’m a NIMBY; I’m not:” Local Political Norms and Liberal Support for Housing

Food environment in Burkina Faso: priority actions recommended to the government using Food-EPI tool.

The food environment is an important factor in the efforts of countries worldwide to achieve a transition to sustainable food systems. The objective of this study is to formulate and prioritize actions to be addressed to the government of Burkina Faso for the creation of a healthy food environment, which will contribute to reducing malnutrition in all its forms and non-communicable diseases. National experts were brought together to identify and prioritize actions to fill the gaps identified through a multi-step assessment process following the methodology of the Healthy Food and Environment Policy Index (Food-EPI). Up to 20 priority policy actions were recommended to the Burkina Faso government. Actions in the policy component focused mainly on regulation of food promotion and marketing, particularly to children, and others in the infrastructure support component focused largely on political leadership, i.e., strong and visible political support from the government to improve the food environment, population nutrition, diet-related non-communicable diseases and their inequalities. The priority actions to be recommended to the government will strengthen advocacy for government decisions to create a healthier food environment in the country.

Political Support for Sale: Cabinet Appointments and Public Expenditures in Brazil

Political Support for Sale: Cabinet Appointments and Public Expenditures in Brazil

The Lobbying Power of Urban Poor in the Legislative Process of Naga City, Camarines Sur, Philippines

Lobbying is a way of attempt to influence government policies. It attempts many forms to influence legislation and political system. Lobbying is a powerful trade of influence. It seeks for political support and advocates the civil society. A civil society is a third sector of the community that is highly distinct from government and business. Through lobbying, Philippines as a representative democracy exercises civil society’s power through the masses.

Khalistan Movement and Narco-Terrorism

The use of savage violence to spread terror in the security forces and society to protect the fiefdom of narcotic smuggling is no longer confined to the smuggling gangs. It has been adopted by various political movements. The study’s focus on Sikh secessionist narco-terrorism sheds light on the expansion of drug-weapon trade to ransoms, kidnapping, money-laundering, human-smuggling, and the control of entertainment industry and professional sports. Beginning with smuggling operations during the height of the cold war in South Asia, the criminal gangs were strengthened and expanded their operations in the Punjab and among Sikh Diaspora. The financial resources bought political support, which enabled the Khalistan movement to establish powerful lobbies in the West. The links created by the underworld in the Punjab expanded worldwide with the help of Sikh Diaspora. This terror-based movement gave some state actors a chance to use the Sikh card to arm-twist India on its foreign policy of strategic autonomy. Danger of savage violence faced by the civilized world is precisely the use of narco-terrorist movements by the state actors.

The influence of context on the implementation of integrated palliative care in an academic teaching hospital in South Africa.

Palliative care (PC) has been integrated to a limited extent in the South African healthcare system. Contextual factors may be a pivotal influence in this integration. This study aims to explore contextual factors that are possibly influencing the integration or lack thereof in an academic teaching hospital (ATH). A mixed-method study was conducted in a large ATH in South Africa. The mixed methods were conducted in parallel and then merged. Findings were integrated to describe the contextual factors influencing PC integration, to develop a timeline of implementation and assess the probable influence of context on the integration process. The mixed-methods phases included a narrative review of published literature related to health systems, integration of health interventions and PC in teaching hospital settings; followed by interviews, documentary and routine data analyses. Semi-structured interviews with purposively sampled participants provided the qualitative data. Primary national, provincial and organizational documents expanded the contextual phenomena and corroborated findings. Routine hospital admission and mortality data was statistically analysed to expand further and corroborate findings. All qualitative data was thematically analysed using deductive coding, drawing from the aspects of the contextual dimensions of integration. Enabling contextual factors for local PC integration were global and local advocacy, demonstrated need, PC being a human right, as well as the personal experiences of hospital staff. Impeding factors were numerous misconceptions, PC not valued as a healthcare priority, as well as limitations in functional elements necessary for PC integration: national and regional political support, leadership at all levels and sustainable financing. The normative and functional contextual aspects interplay at macro, meso and micro levels positively and negatively. How stakeholders understand and value PC directly and indirectly impacts on PC integration. Strategic interventions such as mandatory education are required to ensure PC integration. The health system is dynamic, and understanding the context in which the health system functions is core to the integration of PC. This may assist in developing integration strategies to address PC integration and the transferability of these strategies.

El catecismo patriótico de Emiliano R. Fernández como invocación política en el Paraguay de posguerra (1936–1937)

Among the variety of verses written by the popular Paraguayan poet, Emiliano R. Fernández, there is a patriotic catechism in support of the presidency of Colonel Rafael Franco. This catechism was a political invocation that did not have a significant impact on the population, as its publication in any written media of the time is unknown. However, it constitutes an interesting document for understanding the political vision of a bard who was distant from circles of power, proposing civic virtues in a post-war, revolutionary, and nationalist context. This article seeks to understand the influence of Colonel Franco's government on the catechism of Emiliano R. Fernández for post-war Paraguayan society as a model of social coexistence. Additionally, it aims to understand the poet's intention in writing the catechism. To this end, its content is analyzed by comparing it with the new government's discourse and the measures adopted. This catechism was the only written political support from the poet towards this president, so it is argued that its purpose was the product of a circumstantial effort to support a government whose discourse aligned with the political ideal he himself idealized.

Eritrea’s foreign festivals: clashes within the exile community

The Eritrean government relies upon its substantial exile community around the world for political support and an estimated one-third of its finances. This is particularly important for President Isaias Afwerki’s government, since it is vilified by the West for its human rights abuses and subjected to a range of international sanctions. Eritrean festivals abroad, organised by Eritrea’s sole legal party since 1974, have played an important role in mobilising the diaspora. Previously these events were uncontested, helping to provide the resources that the government required to fight its numerous regional wars. However, since 2014 critics of the Eritrean government have attempted to halt the festivals, leading to increasingly ferocious clashes in Europe, North America and Israel. In the past year a new pro-government Eritrean organisation has been formed to provide security at the festivals, while two new opposition movements have been organised. Next summer’s confrontations could be even more serious.

Framing Operation Dudula and Anti-Immigrant Sentiment in South African Media Discourse

This study investigates how the anti-immigrant group Operation Dudula is framed and constructed in South African media discourse. Utilizing framing theory and social constructionism, content analysis was conducted on media articles published after the arrest of Operation Dudula’s leader. Findings reveal Operation Dudula resonates with citizens by blaming immigrants for unemployment, although claims about foreign workers are often misleading or exaggerated. Media frames construct Operation Dudula as either tackling unemployment or engaging in xenophobic vigilantism. While perspectives on immigrants differ, dominant frames critical of Operation Dudula may constrain its activities by challenging legitimacy. However, some political support exists for Dudula’s goals. Unfortunately, vilifying immigrants obscures systemic issues that elites failed to address. Reducing xenophobic tensions requires tackling root causes of unrest, while promoting human rights and non-discrimination. This study concludes media discourse plays a role in enabling or inhibiting the activities of vigilante groups in South Africa. Nuanced understanding of anti-immigrant framing is key to addressing this complex social issue.

Mechanisms Driving Online Vaccine Debate During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The prevalence of the anti-vaccine movement in today’s society has become a pressing concern, largely amplified by the dissemination of vaccine skepticism. During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the vaccination debate sparked controversial debates on social media platforms such as Twitter, which can lead to serious consequences for public health. What determines anti-vax attitudes is an important question for understanding the source of the campaigns and mitigating the misinformation spread. Compared with other countries, Türkiye differentiates itself with high vaccination rates and lack of political support for anti-vaxxers despite its highly polarized political system. Analyzing Turkish Twittersphere, we explore several mechanisms capturing content production and behaviors of accounts within the pro- and anti-vax segments in online vaccine-related discussions. Our findings indicate there is no relation between political stance and anti-vaccine attitude. Both supporters of vaccination (pro-vaxxers) and opponents (anti-vaxxers) can be found across the political spectrum. Moreover, linguistic differences reveal that anti-vaxxers employ more emotional language, while pro-vaxxers express more skepticism. Notably, automated accounts are less prevalent leading to difficulty in assessing genuine support for vaccines, while anti-vaccine bots produce slightly more content. These findings have crucial implications for vaccine policy, emphasizing the importance of understanding diverse language patterns and beliefs among anti-vaxxers and pro-vaxxers to develop effective communication strategies at the national level.

Measures to Strengthen Patient Safety Management Competencies for Patient Safety Coordinators: A Qualitative Research

Purpose: This study aimed to identify strategies to enhance the competencies of patient safety coordinators in Korea.Methods: Fourteen participants from nine hospitals were interviewed between May and November 2022. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyze the data.Results: As for the strategies to enhance patient safety management competency, 3 themes and 11 sub-themes were derived. The first theme was ‘Having individual competence as a patient safety coordinator’, and the sub-themes were ‘Communication skills with members’, ‘Flexible thinking from multiple perspectives’, and ‘Preparing for administrative work competencies that they had not experienced as a nurse.’ The second theme was ‘Responding strategically to promote improvement activities’, and the sub-themes for it were ‘Multi-angle approach to the problem’, ‘A careful approach so as not to be taken as criticism in the field’, ‘Increasing the possibility of improvement activities through awareness’, ‘Activating the network between patient safety coordinators’, and ‘Expanding learning opportunities through patient safety case analysis.’ The third theme was ‘Obtaining support to facilitate patient safety activities’, and the subthemes for this were ‘Improving staff awareness of patient safety’, ‘Providing a training course for nurse professional of patient safety’, and ‘Expanding the manpower allocation standard of patient safety coordinators.’Conclusion: This study explored personal competencies such as document writing and computer utilization capabilities, focused on ways to improve the field of patient safety management, and emphasized the need for organizational and political support.