Acculturation Effects on Trust in National and Local Government Among Mexican Americans*

Objectives. The objectives of this article are to examine the impact of acculturation on the levels of trust in both the national and local governments in a long‐term minority‐majority community and to consider the effect on Mexican Americans' level of trust of long‐term co‐ethnic control of local government. Methods. Ordered probit is applied to measures of local and national political trust derived from the National Election Studies. Data were drawn from a sample of Latino respondents residing in the predominantly Mexican‐American region of south Texas. Independent variables include a language‐based measure of acculturation, a measure of interethnic social interaction, and items dealing with respondents' evaluations of the honesty, efficiency, and beneficiaries of governmental policies. Clarify is then used to estimate the real‐world impacts of these variables. Results. Acculturation has a significant and negative impact on trust in the national government. This effect vanishes, however, at the local level. Moreover, co‐ethnic control of government appears not to be related to trust. Conclusions. Trust in the national government is significantly reduced by acculturation, while trust in local government is unaffected. Moreover, trust in government is not enhanced by co‐ethnic control of the levers of political power.     

Public Attitudes Toward the Census: Influences and Trends*

Objective. This article considers the determinants of attitudes toward the census. Methods. Data from a survey of Connecticut residents are analyzed. Some of the questions replicate items from previous national surveys. Results. Conservatives and people with low trust in government have more negative views of the census, while interest in politics has no effect. Exposure to advertising has a positive effect on some attitudes. Conclusions. Despite the Census Bureau's efforts to maintain political neutrality, support of the census is influenced by general outlook on government and politics, suggesting that conflicts over the census are likely to continue.     

Healthcare decommodification in decentralization context: Reviewing the ideational constructions of “classless hospital policy” initiatives in Kulon Progo Regency,Indonesia

This article illustrates the emergence of radical local welfare initiatives as a political response to the imperfect national program in decentralization context in Indonesia. In order to gain further understanding of the topic, it is worth reviewing Kulon Progo Regency's experience which recently embarked on removing class stratification at any in‐patient room in all local government‐owned hospitals through “classless hospital policy” initiatives. Using exploratory case study method, this article aims to review the ideational constructions of healthcare decommodification that is displayed on this initiative. It is concluded that the classless hospital policy reflects how social citizenship was organized through the mechanism of idea contestation which originated in the past community's behavior, combined with the vested interest of political regime for then subduing market logics under state power. This circumstance ultimately has provided the groundwork for encouraging innovative welfare outcome.     

Identity Politics Among Arab‐American Women*

Objective. Identity politics has dominated contemporary analyses of protest movements. Although multiple identities are commonplace, progress in delineating their empirical relationship has been slow. This article examines the relationships among ethnic and religious identities and feminist orientations among Arab‐American women, a group that bridges multiple cultural identities. The primary research question is whether ethnic and religious identities undermine feminism in this population or whether multiple identities are mutually supportive. Methods. Using data from a national mail survey of Arab‐American women, regression analyses examine the separate effects of various dimensions of ethnic and religious identity on women's feminist orientations. Results. Arab political identity is positively associated with feminism while religious and feminist identities are inversely related. The effects of ethnic cultural identity and Muslim affiliation are negligible. Conclusions. This study finds a complex pattern of relationships among multiple identities and underscores the underlying political dynamic linking group identities.     

论我国的区域差距与政府治理

区域非均衡发展是世界各国社会经济发展过程中面临的共同问题,如果这种不平衡过大,将会对国家经济和社会发展、民族团结和政治稳定产生极大的消极影响。中国无论从何种层面衡量,区域差距和区域发展的失衡都是不容乐观的现实。值得注意的是,长期以来各地区一直将发展差距主要是指涉地区间经济综合实力水平的差距,而忽视了地区之间越来越大的社会差距。本文重点比较了东部、中部、西部间的地带性的社会差距,认为要改变当前区域差距失衡严重的状况,政府要改变观念,实现经济政策向社会政策的转型。     

5.12 Wenchuan Earthquake Recovery Government Policies and Non-Governmental Organizations' Participation

This article studies government policies for the 5.12 Wenchuan earthquake recovery and NGOs' participation in recovery. It is shown that the recovery was characteristic of strong central government control and weak participation by NGOs. This is probably due to China's centralized political system, the central government's control of the majority of national revenue and limited political space for the growth of NGOs in China. We recommend that China's disaster recovery should emphasize the partnership between governments and NGOs. We also suggest China's governments to promote the development of NGOs and social workers to advocate the importance of social recovery after disasters.

An earlier version of this article was presented at 2009 International Conference on Disaster Management and Social Work: Policy, Practice and Research, Taipei, Taiwan, December 1415, 2009.     

Australia’s national urban policy: The smart cities agenda in perspective

The Australian Government's attempts at national urban policy have been sporadic and inconsistent, under the constraints of constitutional, financial, ideological and political factors. This paper concerns the recent resurgence of national urban policy under the rubric of “smart cities” adopted by the Turnbull Government and carried on by the incumbent Morrison Government. It investigates how this round of smart cities agenda articulates with Australia's political tradition of national urban policy to seek continuity and change, through comparing historical policies, unpacking major smart cities programmes, identifying explanatory factors and critically commenting on its innovation and legacy. Drawing upon these analyses, this paper argues that understanding the smart cities agenda needs to move beyond the political, ideological “to-and-fro” pendulum to national urban policy observed in history. Rather, it resonates with a globalised policy norm established upon the city-based global integration and competition, driven by an imperative of transitioning to a knowledge economy and pursuing innovation capacity. It is too early to judge whether the smart cities agenda will bring changes to Australian cities in the way it wishes, since it involves long-term infrastructure investment and urban development projects. However, a comprehensive and consistent national urban policy to govern the Australian system of cities and towns has not been established yet.     

Welfare municipalities: economic resources or party politics? Norwegian local government social programs of the 1920s

This article analyses the introduction of Norwegian local government social security programs for the elderly, disabled persons, widows and single mothers in the 1920s. The role of local government as an agent and initiator of welfare state development has been for the most part neglected within the welfare state literature. Indeed, the first social security programs in Norway were introduced by local governments, affecting nearly half of the population. Even if these programs were not very generous compared with the social security programs of our time, many of them were equal to, or even more generous than, the national pension scheme introduced in 1936. This article examines what distinguished the social security municipalities from those that did not implement such programs, and the variation in generosity profiles. The conclusion is that the main determinant regarding the implementation and generosity of the local social security programs is the political strength of the two Norwegian socialist parties at the time – the Social democratic party and the Labour party – both being too impatient to wait for a national social security plan, and both being willing to mobilise economic resources through taxation and borrowing.     

论中国社会发展的特殊道路 --中西文化比较分析

同许多西方国家相比,中国的农业社会及其向工业社会转化过程中,有着自己特殊的发展道路,这主要是中国特殊的历史文化传统造成的.中国有着特殊的社会经济结构与经济模式,特殊的国家政治体制与政治规范,特殊的思想意识形态和民族精神.中国的这种特殊的发展道路也决定了我国必须选择一条不同于西方的、有中国特色的现代化道路和现代化模式.     

SPECIAL ISSUE： NATIONAL IDENTITY IN THE COURSE OF GLOBALIZATION China＇s National Identity in Transition： Domestic and International Perspectives （1982-2012）

对全球化时代的中国而言,国家认同与民族认同、文化认同密切互动,面临着挑战与重塑的双重压力。从国内、国际两个大局密切结合的角度,就制度、经济、文化、政治、战略等五个维度深入剖析中国国家认同,有助于梳理改革开放以来中国国家认同变迁的轨迹。通过凝聚国内共识、提升国际认可来强化中国国家认同,中国应进一步培育公民意识,加强国家软实力建设,强化国家认同、地区认同与全球认同的关联,积极担当发展中国家和发达国家的桥梁。     

China’s National Identity in Transition: Domestic and International Perspectives (1982-2012)

In the era of globalization, China’s national identity is in close interaction with ethno- cultural and cultural identity, and is facing great challenges and is under pressure to reshape itself. An in-depth analysis of the Chinese national identity in its institutional, economic, cultural, political and strategic dimensions from both domestic and international perspectives can help us grasp the transition that has taken place in China’s national identity since 1978. In order to strengthen China’s national identity by building domestic consensus and increasing international recognition, China needs to further foster its civic consciousness, increase its soft power, enhance the ties between its national, regional and global identities and actively assume the role of a bridge between the developing and the developed countries.     

Political trust,young people and institutions in Europe. A multilevel analysis

The constant decline of political trust has been shown in political sociology. Young people in particular seem to display lower levels of political trust, which is a challenge for the sustainability of democracy. Still, these levels of political trust among youth differ greatly from one country to another. This article therefore seeks to answer the following question: How can we account for cross‐national diversity with regard to young people’s political trust? To answer this question, I performed multilevel analyses based on data from the European Social Survey. I show in the article that cross‐national diversity stems from the institutional arrangements that structure entry into adulthood, i.e., what I call ‘youth welfare citizenship regimes’: The more inclusive is the youth economic citizenship and the more individualised is their social citizenship, the higher is young people’s political trust – which could buffer the decline in political trust.     

Environmental Policy Attitudes: Issues,Geographical Scale,and Political Trust*

Objectives. This article examines environmental policy attitudes, focusing on the differences in preferences across issue type (i.e., pollution, resource preservation) and geographical scale (i.e., local, national, global). In addition, we study whether an individual's trust in government influences environmental policy attitudes. Methods. Analyzing data from the 2007 Cooperative Congressional Election Study, we estimate a series of OLS regression models to examine the public's environmental policy attitudes. Results. We find stronger public support for government action to address pollution issues than resources issues, and stronger support for local and national pollution abatement than dealing with global problems. We also find that Republicans and ideological conservatives are less likely to support further government effort to address the environment, and that more trusting individuals are more favorable to government action to address pollution and global issues. Conclusion. Environmental policy attitudes vary by the nature of the issue; however, political ideology and partisan affiliation are consistent predictors of preferences across issues, even when controlling for an individual's level of trust in government.     

民国文人看北京(1927～1933)

国民政府建都南京之后将北京改名为北平,这一历史事件对于文人的北京视角造成了深刻影响。左翼文人、国民政府趋附文人、海派文人、自由主义文人(京派文人)、开明文人基于各自的政治立场或文化心理,对北京的城市形象作出了不同的描述和评价。     

文化传媒精品的大众市场与政府供给效率

文化与传媒市场是文化创意产业的重要组成部分,其在国家整体经济发展战略中位置日益提高,文化传媒产品对大众的素质教育具有很好的正外部性。本文对我国的文化传媒市场进行了效率上的分析,并提出了今后可行的文化传媒市场的发展战略思路。     

Policy approaches to addressing Aboriginal social inclusion in South Australia

The concept of social inclusion has been influential in shaping many aspects of social policy in Australia over the past decade. In SA the Rann Labor government established a Social Inclusion Board in 2002, which made an important contribution to development of the SA Strategic Plan that framed SA policy directions under that government. This article considers the relevance of the concept of social inclusion for addressing the disadvantage experienced by Aboriginal South Australians. It examines the SA Social Inclusion initiative and some national measures such as the Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage and Closing the Gap initiatives and discusses the appropriateness of the methodology adopted. A number of issues are addressed: the extent of Indigenous involvement in setting targets and devising programs to achieve improved social outcomes, the relevance of the targets identified, and the problem of overlapping policy initiatives at state and national level obscuring the measurement of change against specific indicators. A particular concern is that the social inclusion approach embedded in these policies pays too little attention to the priorities and preferences of Aboriginal people and interprets ‘inclusion’ in ways that assert the cultural paradigm of non‐Indigenous Australians.     

Local newspapers,House members,and source usage

Political communication scholarship has established the standard operating procedures for national media sourcing of government and politicians. The literature shows a strong reliance by the news media on official and national-level news sources that support the status quo. This paper investigates the less known subject of local newspaper sourcing practices on local House members. House members rely on the local media to communication with constituents but we have little insight into who provides the source material for coverage. Results show that local papers often parallel the national political media by depending on official and nonlocal sources for reporting ostensibly local political angles. Further, members’ press releases, papers’ size, and presence of a Washington bureau help explain local papers’ sourcing practices.     

National Identity in the Era of Globalization: Crisis and Reconstruction

The era of globalization is posing a variety of challenges to national identity. In order to meet these challenges, it is important to offer theoretical scientific interpretations of them. A scrutiny of national identity as a concept reveals that national identity is actually a “four in one” combination of institutional identity, interest identity, cultural identity and non-national community identity, with formative mechanisms characterized the unity of the primordial state and the constructive, expressive forms characterized by the unity of consciousness and action, content characterized by the unity of politics and culture, and maintenance mechanisms characterized by the unity of emotion and self-interest. In the global age, national identity crisis usually arises in political, economic and cultural levels. The root cause for national identity crisis lies in the ineffectiveness of nation states’ self-governance. In order to promote the construction of national identity in the global age, we need to: (1) promote reform of the political system, explore democratic models of governance, and create the institutional preconditions for national identity; (2) promote economic development, ensure fairness and justice, and guarantee interests in national identity; (3) develop national culture, strengthen value integration and enrich the cultural significance of national identity; and (4) recognize different levels of community development and promote community integration in national identity.     

Thailand's reproductive revolution

Thailand has achieved a remarkable population revolution in the past 15 years, resulting in a fertility decline of 44%, the 3rd greatest decline of the major developing countries. Thailand is quite distinct from either China or South Korea, the leaders in fertility decline. It has neither China's authoritarian power system to enforce population control nor the highly developed, Westernized outlook of South Korea. Instead it achieved its astounding fertility drop through a noncoercive family planning program operating within a context of rapid social change and a cultural setting. Thailand's drop in population growth has touched almost all segments of Thai society. The preferred number of children among couples married less than 5 years has dropped in both rural and urban families at almost exactly the same rate, from about 3.2 in 1969 to 2.3 in 1984. Religious groups represent the only substantial difference in family size preference; Moslem women married less than 5 years stated a desired average of 3.1 children versus 2.3 for Buddhist women. The direct case of the fertility drop is a national increase in contraceptive use. In 1984, 65% of Thai women reported using contraception. The Thai population, however, was ripe for using contraception when it became available due to 1) mass media creating a desire for consumer goods, 2) the increased costs of education to parents, 3) the willingness of parents to trade off "parent repayment" from many children for a few quality children, 4) couples' autonomy in fertility decision making, 5) the high status of women in Thailand, and 6) the fact that Buddhism poses no barriers to contraception. Current trends show no immediate sign of change.