Stakeholder influence,government power,and new opportunities for Chinese Internet companies: A multilevel network analysis of cross-sector networks

In recent decades, Chinese Internet companies have experienced exponential growth. As the Internet industry increasingly commends tremendous financial resources, they also face growing stakeholder expectations for corporate social responsibility (CSR) actions. One way through which Chinese Internet companies conduct CSR is by building cross-sectoral collaborations with nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and governmental agencies. Aiming to understand Internet companies’ strategic relationship building on CSR issues, the researchers drew from stakeholder influence theory and research on a network approach to stakeholder influence, and applied multilevel network analysis to model three networks related to Chinese Internet companies’ CSR collaborations. Specifically, we found that power and urgency are significant predictors of the structure of Internet companies’ cross-sector CSR alliance network. Organizations affiliated or endorsed by the central Chinese government are the most desirable CSR stakeholders. Additionally, the study also revealed that for Internet companies, devoting their attention to Internet-related social issues could increase their desirability as strategic stakeholders from other sectors and among Internet companies.     

Alternative Approaches to the Governance of Transnational Labor Recruitment

As globalization advances, the governance challenges relating to cross‐border labor recruitment have also grown. Transnational companies that manage the employment‐based migration process often take advantage of individuals seeking work abroad. While some states have implemented recruitment regulations, a combination of jurisdictional constraints and economic interests have limited states’ capacity and political will to take action. Supplemental strategies are emerging led by international organizations, non‐governmental organizations (NGOs), labor unions, and corporate trade groups. This paper reviews the strengths and weaknesses of strategies led by each of these different types of actors and explores potential synergies among them.     

Institutional Activism: Seeking Customary Forest Rights Recognition from Within the Indonesian State

This article aims to explain why the adat movement activists in Indonesia could expand their campaigns for state recognition of adat community rights to activities from within the state apparatus. We argue that three combined processes have contributed to the conjuncture that made institutional activism possible: the preparation of the 2014 national election offered activists opportunities to influence the government agenda; the emergence of a conscious strategy for conducting institutional activism; and the coalitions between some key state officials and the movement’s actors. This article also analyses the problems that institutional activists faced, in particular resistance from influential actors at various government units who were not sympathetic to the adat movement’s agenda. Therefore, the impact of this activism on policy changes so far remains limited. The authors’ personal involvement in this case of institutional activism to promote customary forest provided access to the information for this article.     

Travelling theory in China: contextualization,compromise and combination

In this article we explore the dissemination of human rights ideas in China through an ethnographic study of three women's organizations: the government's ‘letters and complaints’ department, the governmental NGO affiliated with it, and a legal aid centre; all are located in Beijing. We argue that there are two paths in China for the transmission of international human rights ideas – a government one and a non‐government one. The government path, featured as contextual and compromising, is rooted in socialist and collective values, and the governmental organizations we studied function squarely within the domestic legal framework and the concept of ‘women's rights and interests’. The non‐governmental path, by contrast, characterized by vernacularization, namely a combination of international ideas with local practice to promote legal reform in China, is the result of economic development and interactions with the international community. Both paths interact within their different spheres to further the development of women's rights.     

Overcoming the ownership dilemma: Contributing to peace and democracy in El Salvador and the Philippines

El Salvador and the Philippines have had relatively successful democratization processes and decades of sustained international support, but continue to experience high levels of violence from non‐state actors that prevent or delay the consolidation of democracy. How has international support helped or hindered these processes? This article finds that frequently donors and local stakeholders are vulnerable to the “ownership dilemma.” External donors often focus on strengthening state institutions rather than promoting inclusiveness. This is often the result of institutional capture by local elites that are reluctant to pursue structural reforms. While external support rarely has the influence to decisively shape processes of democratic consolidation, the analysis finds that windows of opportunity may emerge and assist in deepening support for consolidation.     

Attitudes Toward Intergenerational Redistribution in the Welfare State

Which motivations explain attitudes toward intergenerational redistribution? This study presents two perspectives. The first one is demographic aging where individuals’ attitudes are influenced by short- and long-term self-interest. The second perspective is socialization into a certain institutional context where people internalize the reciprocity and the deservingness norms. Besides investigating the impact of these motivations, the empirical analysis assesses their relative importance for explaining attitudes toward intergenerational redistribution. The ordinary least-squares regression draws on data of the “Attitudes Toward The Welfare State” survey that was conducted in 2008 in Germany. The study investigates the working age group’s attitude toward relative governmental spending for older people. The empirical analysis yields that people are motivated by long-term self-interest and hold the state responsible to protect them from the perceived future risk of old-age poverty. Also, norms of reciprocity and of deservingness are important to support intergenerational redistribution, whereas the latter seems to be the relatively most important motivation. We can take this as a sign of intergenerational cohesion that is relevant against the background of accelerating demographic aging and resulting pressure on institutions of intergenerational redistribution.     

Public-private partnerships: How institutional linkages help to build organizational legitimacy in an international environment

Gaining legitimacy in their host country environment is a key priority for multinational corporations’ public relations efforts since it secures their local social license to operate. By applying neo-institutional public relations to corporate diplomacy, this paper argued that institutional linkages between corporations and local government could enhance the building of legitimacy. The study sought to determine whether institutional relations affect the perception of organizational legitimacy, focusing on the United Arab Emirates. In non-democratic countries, public relations tends to be perceived as less sophisticated, and legitimacy becomes even more critical for foreign corporations. Therefore, a one-factorial (corporate diplomacy with/ without governmental involvement) between-subjects experimental design study surveying a representative sample of residents in the United Arab Emirates (N = 199) was conducted. The results imply that corporate diplomacy with governmental linkages leads to a higher perception of moral, pragmatic, and regulative organizational legitimacy, partially mediated by media credibility, governmental legitimacy, and issue legitimacy.     

The adoption of women’s legislative caucuses worldwide

Recent decades have witnessed the rise, across a wide range of countries, of political institutions designed to promote gender equality and women’s political representation. Existing studies have shown how international diffusion processes have contributed to the adoption of two kinds of such institutions – gender mainstreaming and gender quotas. Mounting evidence suggests that institutional reforms within legislatures constitute the latest wave of gendered institutional reform. This article identifies and explains trends in the adoption of one kind of gender-focused parliamentary institution – women’s legislative caucuses (WLCs). We use a discrete time duration model to assess the effect of several factors on WLC establishment. While there is theoretical room to expect diffusion, structural and institutional variables to affect the likelihood of caucus adoption, we find the strongest empirical support for diffusion and institutional factors. A parliament’s likelihood of adopting a WLC rises when sub-regional peers have created WLCs, when women’s international non-governmental organizations are active in the country and when the country has implemented a gender quota. Understanding the factors that affect the adoption of gender-focused parliamentary institutions is critically important, we argue, since such bodies provide space to confront masculinized institutionalized rules and norms.     

Exemplary Urban Practitioners in Neighbourhood Renewal: Survival of the Fittest… and the Fitting

Often institutional solutions such as structures and organisations are seen as best practices in neighbourhood renewal. Using empirical case study data from the Netherlands and the UK, this paper demonstrates that there should be more attention for the role of individual urban practitioners. The relevance of this conclusion goes beyond the domain of neighbourhood regeneration alone. Due to the new government policy paradigms (e.g. Big Society/Participation Society), welfare reforms are introduced that combine severe austerity measures with more responsibilities for individual citizens and cross-sectorial partnerships between institutions. This post-crisis participation society calls for individuals that are able to ‘make a difference’ by bridging the gap between the systems of government agencies and other institutions, and the lifeworld of residents. But what are the characteristics and working methods of highly effective ‘exemplary urban practitioners’? This paper explores the characteristics of these practitioners by analysing empirical data from neighbourhood renewal case studies using Habermas system/lifeworld concept.     

The Role and Effects of Efficacy in Socioeconomic Development and Foreign Direct Investment: A Comparative Study of South Korea and Singapore

Abstract

There is a sizable amount of research and explanation concerning the rapid and sustainable development of newly industrialised countries (NIC) in Asia. This article seeks to create a deeper understanding of the relationships between the governmental sector, the economic sector, and the social sector in the Asian political arena. As such, it will explain how policies pursued in selected countries could have impacted the economies of the so-called ‘tiger’ or ‘dragon’ countries. In addition, the study will show how governmental efficacy is connected with socioeconomic development by means of comparing, as exemplars, South Korea and Singapore, in the period 1960–2007. The investigated period experienced heightened socioeconomic development in South Korea and Singapore. Stressing the historical evolution of socioeconomic development, the researcher accordingly focused on social, political, and economic outcomes in their relationship with the factor of macroeconomic stability and the varying amounts of foreign direct investment in the two nations. This study looks to create a deeper understanding of the role of government efficacy and socioeconomic development in an Asian context in which government efficacy and political development and institutions have played important roles in creating stable and continuous social and economic development. This idea of government efficacy and political development has helped to strengthen the capacity of governments to adapt and adjust their political agency’s capability to achieve political goals and sustainable socioeconomic development. South Korea has created institutions that are simpler than complex organisations and may lack autonomy and coherence. In contrast, Singapore has created complex and autonomous institutions with strong coherence. The findings in the outcomes section explain the different historical developments of South Korea and Singapore.     

Terrorism threat in Belgium: The resilience of Belgian citizens and the protection of governmental reputation by means of communication

In November 2015, the terrorism threat in Belgium confronted both citizens and the government with a situation characterized by high uncertainty. In this context, a national survey was conducted among 805 respondents, with three purposes. First, this case study aimed to explore how Belgians deal with the threat by examining if they change their behavior in public places and seek information about the threat. Second, we investigated why people seek and process information about the terrorism threat based on three determinants, namely their level of involvement with the threat, the expert efficacy of the government, and attitudes towards mass media communication. Finally, this study elaborated on perceived governmental efficacy, researching how governmental reputation is affected through institutional trust and governmental responsibility. The results show that the terrorism threat leads citizens to be more alert in public places and participate less in mass events. Moreover, one fifth stopped traveling by public transport. It was found that Belgian citizens also searched for information several times a day, mostly via traditional media such as television and radio. Furthermore, based on structural equation modelling, we found that information seeking and processing behavior is determined by the cognitive assessment of the risk. This cognitive risk assessment is in turn positively influenced by risk involvement and perceived governmental expert efficacy. However, if the mass media are seen to focus too much on drama and sensationalism then the perception of risk decreases, and this in turn reduces information seeking behavior. In addition, results show that a perception of governmental expert efficacy is able to increase trust and decrease the level of governmental responsibility, which is in turn beneficial for governmental reputation. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Why Did the Communists Win or Lose? A Comparative Analysis of the Revolutionary Civil Wars in Russia,Finland, Spain,and China

According to classic interpretations of the communist revolutions, political mobilization of peasantry was critical for the success of the revolutionary forces. This article, which reexamines the experience of civil wars in Russia, Finland, Spain, and China, argues that peasants’ contribution to the revolutions in Russia and later in China became possible under two historical conditions: breakdown of state authorities during the mass mobilization wars and existence of an unresolved agrarian problem in the countryside. Neither of these conditions alone, as the experience of other countries has shown, was sufficient for a success of the revolutionaries. The Spanish civil war of 1936–1939, for instance, was not preceded by a major international war. Because institutions of the traditional social order had not been undermined by war, Franco was able to defeat the Popular Front government, despite the peasants’ support of the revolution. In the Finnish civil war of 1918, which broke out in the wake of World War I and the Russian Revolution, state institutions did not collapse completely and the peasantry was divided in their responses to the revolution; the rural smallholders, for example, aligned with the Mannerheim's White army, not with the urban revolutionaries.     

中国对苏丹的石油外交:政企角色研究

中石油—苏丹项目作为当代中国石油外交的开山之作,在取得较大成功的同时也在国际社会上引发了不小争论,特別是中石油的国企身份使人们对其海外行为与政府意志之间的关系充满了种种猜测。基于此,本文选取政企角色作为研究视角,旨在探讨中国对苏丹石油外交中政府与中石油这一国有能源企业之间的角色关系,及其中国对苏石油外交绩效的影响与成因等。     

The never changing story: Eight decades of the government public relations department of Thailand

The Government Public Relations Department (GPRD) of Thailand has existed in various forms since the country’s governing system changed from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional one in 1932. This study reflects on how the GPRD’s practices have been affected by the country’s governing and political environments over time. It has periodized the eighty-four-years of development of the GPRD into sequential phases based on a continuum approach. The GPRD’s roles and duties are detailed based on four periods: Beginning Period, Growth Period, Full Expansion Period, and Weak Period. The GPRD was firstly positioned to be the primary government tool for introducing the concept of democracy to the Thai populace and disseminating information about government policies, activities and propagandistic campaigns. Through Thailand’s periods of political instability, World War II, the Cold War and rise of communism in Indochina, globalization, and the current digital age, the GPRD has expanded in its role within the government as the center of communication for a wide variety of governmental organizations. However, even as it has expanded and undergone re-organization, it has been criticized for being a government mouthpiece rather that a reliable source of factual information. Working under the direct oversight of the various governments led by the military, as well as both appointed and elected politicians, the GPRD has struggled to maintain a balanced public relations role at the juncture of Thai politics and public interest.     

Engendering Government Budgets in the Context of Globalization(s)

This article considers the strengths and weaknesses of attempts to 'engender' government budgets in the context of globalization, drawing on my own personal engagement in such attempts, and on the work of many gender budget initiatives (GBIs) all around the world. GBIs have sought to improve the distribution, adequacy and impact of government budgets at national, regional and local levels; and to secure greater transparency in the use of public money; and greater accountability to women as citizens. Their spread has itself been an example of globalization, in this case the globalization of action for gender justice; facilitated by e-mail, the Internet and air travel; supported by international foundations and international development cooperation funds. But, it may be argued, GBIs have begun to engage with government budgets just at the time when governments, especially in the South, have less and less control over public finance decisions, due to other aspects of globalization. This article considers whether there is any point in GBIs if economic power lies in international markets, rather than in the Ministry of Finance, and draws on examples from a wide variety of countries.     

The globalization of football: a study in the glocalization of the 'serious life'

Sport, in particular football, constitutes one of the most dynamic, sociologically illuminating domains of globalization. This paper examines the globalization of football with particular reference to Robertson's theorizations of global processes. We examine football's cultural globalization through the concept of 'glocalization', which highlights the interdependence of local and global processes within the game's identities and institutions. We address economic globalization in football by considering the world's leading clubs as 'glocal' transnational corporations. We assess the political globalization of football with reference to the possible enhancement of democracy within the game's international governance. We conclude by affirming the utility of sport in advancing our empirical and theoretical understanding of globalization processes.     

Transnational Corporate Elites in Japan: International Career Mobility in East and South Asia

Although mainstream globalization literature has attempted to provide an empirical proof of the rise of transnational business elites using several indicators, it is still not clear how to pinpoint transnationality and to establish whether globalization has led to the erosion of nation‐state boundaries through worldwide mobility and networks, as globalization theorists argue. Using empirical data on career paths and mobility over three decades in Japan – compared with other East Asia economies and India – we examine the shift in career mobility. First, we maintain that a comprehensive understanding of social, political and cultural dimensions need to be considered in a discussion of transnationality. Second, we suggest that the globalizing economy does not necessarily lead to the weakening of the nation‐state territory and its institutions in all sociocultural and political dimensions. In particular, transnationality in career mobility in Asian economies is not greatly evident. We propose instead that a new career pattern, which we call brain circulation, highlighting the importance of international experience, has emerged.     

Corporate-governmental networks in the Netherlands

Corporate networks studies have been restricted mainly to the private or business sectors. Network analyses involving both corporations and state or government agencies have been extremely rare. In this paper, the intercorporate network of interlocking directorates in the Netherlands, based on 86 large corporations and financial institutions, is studied in terms of a bipartite corporate—governmental network which arises from the interlocking memberships linking these corporations with major committees, agencies and similar centers of decision in the public sector or central state mechanisms in the Netherlands. The corporations, representing 27 industrial sectors, have been related to government and state agencies in 28 policy sectors. In this exploratory analysis the two heavy industries, metal/shipbuilding and chemicals/oil stand out clearly. With respect to the 17 central firms the results demonstrate consistent correspondence between their central position in the Dutch corporate network and the degree of their interlocks with policy sectors in the state. The results also show that the interlocks are overwhelmingly linked with the two policy sectors “economic affairs” and “education and sciences”. Hence a more detailed analysis of the interlocks with these two policy sectors is reported.     

Public Segmentation and Government–Public Relationship Building: A Cluster Analysis of Publics in the United States and 19 European Countries

The purposes of this study are (a) to suggest a model of public segmentation and (b) to examine each segment's level of trust in government. By using individuals’ cognitive perceptions of government and participation in social organizations, as well as media use and demographic characteristics, as public segmentation criteria, a cluster analysis of international survey datasets of the United States and 19 European countries generated 3 public segments in each country. The largest cluster, named the underserved inactive majority, and representing a low level of income and education, low interest in politics, low trust in others, low citizenship standards, and minimal social participation, contrasted with the smallest cluster, named the satisfied active public. The identified segments differed in trust in governmental institutions, which is a key indicator of the quality of government–public relationships. Overall, the underserved inactive majority reported the lowest trust in governmental institutions, whereas citizen trust among the satisfied active public was the highest. This study highlights the theoretical and practical values of broad-based public segmentation in government public relations from the relationship-building perspective of public relations, rather than from a problem-solving perspective. Additionally, some targeted strategies for government communicators to enhance each segment's public trust in government are proposed based on the findings of this study.     

Managing the Living through the Dead

This article investigates how the Japanese colonial state's new governmental rationality was deployed and how these technologies of rule sought to regulate Koreans. Using the theory of colonial governmentality, it examines the 1912 burial rules that transformed Koreans' social norms on death and the dead. In order to achieve efficient state management of burial customs, the Japanese colonial government applied laws pertaining to burials, and the disciplinary technologies of policing and punishment. In so doing, the colonial government disciplined the individual Korean body and enforced conformity to colonial institutions.