Various Aspects Of Policy Research Articles

The Hidden Face of Comradeship: popular Chinese consensus on the DPRK and its implications for Beijing's policy

As China's economic and foreign policies increasingly move away from the country's past socialist ideals, Beijing's attitude towards the DPRK has, in recent years, begun to subtly change. However, the close historic ties that exist between the two ruling communist parties prevent such changes from being overtly publicized in official discourses; criticizing the DPRK in China readily results in serious protests from Pyongyang. The popular perception in China of the DPRK, which is far more critical than the official version, is, on the other hand, hard to hide. In an authoritarian nation where exhibiting sentiments contrary to the party-state's policy is still not a safe and established practice, the Chinese people have increasingly relied on the platform of the Internet to express their views on various aspects of policy, including that towards the DPRK. This makes the Internet a rich resource for academics to gauge down-to-earth public opinion and how it contrasts with the official policy. Drawing on systematic, qualitative research on the online community, this article wishes to explore the possible differences between the written policy of Beijing and popular Chinese perceptions, or consensus if any, towards Pyongyang. The article is written in three parts. The first reviews the relevant literature on Beijing's contemporary policy towards the DPRK, the role of Internet opinions in Chinese foreign policy making, and introduces our methodology. The main part of the article typologizes and analyses the images as perceived by Chinese Internet users of the DPRK, its leaders and polices, as well as Beijing's DPRK policy, in order to highlight the differences between official policies and online opinions. Explanations for the discrepancies with the official line and the possible implications of our findings for China's future policy on the DPRK are discussed in the concluding section. As witnessed from the research, surprisingly, there was relative consensus of opinion among the different available viewpoints towards the DPRK regime, as both the Chinese nationalists and the liberals are likely to pressure Beijing to walk further away from Kim Jong-il in the future.

Reflective practice in developing world contexts: a general review of literature and a specific consideration of an Iranian experience

This paper begins with a review of an emerging set of studies, combining a critical focus on reflective teacher development in developing educational contexts, and a greater level of authorial identification (as compared with previous studies) with the contexts being researched. Next, the paper adds to this emerging literature an analysis of a teacher development initiative in Iran, aimed at giving a group of experienced English-as-a-foreign-language writing teachers time to reflect on their practice. This analysis reveals some shaping influences that appear similar to influences observed in other developing contexts. At the same time, the analysis highlights particularities of this Iranian context. Consistent with findings in other contexts, the teachers’ reflections focused on their working conditions, but did not go very far beyond understanding the challenges these conditions constituted. The teachers also talked about their limited engagement with professional literature, and reflected on how this may have affected their ability to enact new practices. Despite these constraints, the teachers did raise their awareness of various aspects of policy and practice, they did challenge aspects of the hierarchical Iranian education system, and over time they appeared to develop a heightened sense of professional agency.

Exploring the Neglected Constraints on Chindia: Analysing the Online Chinese Perception of India and its Interaction with China's Indian Policy

AbstractIn recent years, the governments of China and India have initiated a strategic partnership. Talks of creating an integrated “Chindia” economic hub have been commonplace. Many studies have been undertaken from conflicting perspectives on bilateral relations at the high level, but how ordinary Chinese people view their contemporary Indian counterparts and how this provides a civic dimension to the partnership remains under-explored. In an authoritarian nation where exhibiting sentiments contrary to the party-state's policy is not encouraged and remains uncommon, the Chinese have increasingly relied upon the internet to express their views on various aspects of policy, including that towards India. Using systematic, qualitative research on the online community, this article categorizes the various opinions expressed by Chinese internet users about India, the Indians and Beijing's Indian policy; analyses the apparent huge gap between these perceptions and the official rhetoric of Beijing; and forecasts how such perceptions might influence future Sino-Indian relations.

Consumers' Food Choices for Specific Quality Food Products

Demand for specific quality food products is highly segmented among different types of consumers and attracts the interest of researchers, as specific quality products are associated to various aspects of policy and development. The aim of the present paper is to identify consumer preferences for such products, and in particular, organic and Traditional Specialty Guaranteed (TSG) food products, and to examine potential factors that affect the willingness to pay (WTP) a premium to purchase these specific quality food products. This has been achieved by adopting a probit model and estimating the relative WTP equations. Results indicate that consumer' beliefs about the production process and quality attributes of organic and TSG food affect their WTP a premium to buy these specific value added food products. Socioeconomic factors on the other hand have an effect on consumers' WTP organic and TSG products to a lesser extent. In general, both organic and TSG products are attracted mainly by health-conscious and safety-conscious individuals.

The Europeanisation of Education Policy: Researching Changing Governance and ‘New’ Modes of Coordination

This article explores how the European Union coordinates education policy making through the use of a mode of governance called the open method of coordination (OMC). Part One briefly presents and discusses the mechanisms of the education OMC and its key characteristics. Part Two draws on contemporary theories of Europeanisation and discourse analysis to provide a theoretical and methodological framework for researching the response of member states to this policy coordination. Member states of the European Union are not seen as passive recipients of policies from the European Commission and the Council of the European Union. Rather they engage in a complex process of selective adoption of policy measures that suit particular purposes, formulate various aspects of policy often in tension with other member states, and possibly reject those elements of policy that do not fit national priorities or timelines. Finally, the author briefly exemplifies these issues by operationalising key research questions around the issue of domestic response to the education OMC through a suggested research approach for the exploration of the process of Europeanisation of education policy.

Supplying Serials to the World

Reviews the origins of the serials collection of the British Library at Boston Spa. Describes the development of a centralised serials collection to serve the needs of remote users and outlines various aspects of policy and procedures including selection, collection management, preservation and automation. Concludes with consideration of impact of current and future developments in the electronic environment.

Introduction to this Edition's Aboriginal forestry articles

This issue of The Forestry Chronicle represents a collaboration between the C m Insthte of Forestry and the National Aboriginal Forestry Association (NAFA) to explore some of the many forestry issues that are of relevance to both Aborigml and non-Aboriginal communities and businesses. From NAFA's perspective, the issue represents an example of the sort of partnership that can lead to enhanced understanding and improved relationships amongst Aboriginal communities, the forest industry and others with an interest in the forest environment. The following articles present a range of perspectives on issues of interest to Aboriginal peoples. To lead off, four articles present various aspects of policy and legal development of significance to Aboriginal forestry. First, Charlene Higgins presents a glimpse of the global context for recognition and incorporation of Indigenous participation in sustainable forest management. In particular, this article introduces the Convention on Biological Diversity that emerged out of the UNCED conference in Rio, and looks at the activities being initiated by Canada to carry this convention forward within this country. The second article, by Peggy Smith, examines the CSA and FSC certification system, and explores their potential relevance for Aboriginal communities. Next, David House helps to provide some clarity to the extensive land claims and treaty settlement processes that are slowly b e i i addressed amss the country. He also presents a brief look at three recent court decisions that have sigmficant implications for Aborigml forestry. Finally, Jack Smyth outlines Canada's First Nations Forestry Program, along with some of the successes it has contributed to and the challenges it faces. A second grouping of articles looks more closely at several aspects of the practice of Aboriginal forestry in various contexts. Annie Booth begins with a review of the concept of community forestry, and looks at how this concept is being developed and studied in a First Nations community in northern British Columbia. Next, the growing involvement of Aboriginal communities and businesses in the forest industrial sector through the development of joint venture anangements is explored by Doug ~rubacher. This is followed by an introduction, by Darcy Mitchell, to the involvement of First Nations communities in the growing non-timber forest products industry in British Columbia. To wrap up this sampling, Steve Morel and Louis Belanger present a model for sustainable forest management amongst the Innu of Quebec. Finally, to put a human face on Aboriginal forestry, a number of brief profiles of Aboriginal people and organizations involved in the forest sector are presented. Ellen Hagerman begins with an overview of the National Aboriginal Forestry Association (NAFA), and interviews with NAFA's Harry Bombay and Peggy Smith. This is followed by a series of individual profiles, by the same author, and an outline, by Madeline MacIvor, of the University of British Columbia's First Nations Forestry Program. Finally, Lorraine Rekmans presents some of the issues and opportunities facing the forestry department of the North Shore Tribal Council, in Ontario.

Serials at the British Library Lending Division

The British Library Lending Division has one of the largest collections of serials in the world. This paper outlines the history of serials at Boston Spa and describes various aspects of policy and procedures relating to serials, including selection, acquisition, record creation, automation, usage and binding. It concludes by considering the future role of the Lending Division in the light of continuing developments in electronic publishing and telecommunications.