Relationships with Citizens in Public Management: A Study at the Largest Spanish Town Halls

This paper provides an analysis of the relationships existing between citizen participation and satisfaction levels within the framework of Spanish local administrations, additionally paying attention to the links between organisational size and the said participation and satisfaction levels. The results of a survey questionnaire answered by 388 Human Resources (HR) managers from the largest Spanish Town Halls were examined for these purposes. A claim is made both to increase the degree of citizen participation in public decision-making and to ensure the delivery of efficient and effective public services that can really meet citizens’ needs in Spanish town Halls.     

Land,territory and commons: voices and visions from the struggles

ABSTRACT

All over the world, financial capitalism and extractivism are appropriating land as if it was nothing more than a commodity, a mere ‘factor’ of production that can be exploited to generate financial returns. Movements and activists are organizing, resisting, protecting and promoting life-giving visions against this continuous enclosure of living beings and paces: they use their bodies, laws, educational projects, histories and visions to regain control over territory as a political space, self-determine and create solidarities. In the act resistance, they are the target of moral, physical and legal violence. They and their ideas are criminalized, disciplined, punished and in some cases exterminated. In this contribution, activists from the Basque Country, Guatemala, Kenya and the Six Nations and a group of academics get together to learn from each other, support the ongoing search for common vocabularies and identify possible milestones of a coordinated and international strategy for a life-enhancing future.     

Changing social responsibilities: the role of advocacy organisations in the construction of the Social Support Act in the Netherlands

This paper describes a study on civic participation in legislative processes. In January 2007 a new law on health and social care in the Netherlands was implemented: the Social Support Act (SSA). This law specifically aims at greater civic participation in the implementation of the law, in the provision of health and social care and in the social policy making process. This study focuses on civic participation in policy making, more specifically on civic participation in the legislative process of the Social Support Act. It examines whether national advocacy organisations were successful in their efforts to influence the legislative process and the final construction of the Social Support Act. The main conclusion is that the client and patient organisations were indeed successful in obtaining important changes in the law both through a well informed and professional individual lobby as well as by means of collective action. Yet questions concerning the justification of high expectations for successful local civic participation in the local policy-making process remain.     

《北美自由贸易协定》是中国的良好范例吗?——来自墨西哥和美国的经验

因为金融与粮食双重危机,中国面临着诸多挑战.中国为战胜这些挑战而做出的努力主要体现在其国际贸易谈判中,而这一谈判基于农业(农产品)贸易自由化有益于南方国家农民的理念.作为全球或地区性贸易协定范式,<北美自由贸易协定>深受美国贸易官员青睐,其在美国与墨西哥贸易中的实际影响,或许对中国未来参与双边或多边贸易,协调环境、社会、经济发展关系,正确发挥国家干预力量等能提供借鉴意义.     

The Psychology of Enfranchisement: Engaging and Fostering Inclusion of Members through Voting and Decision-Making Procedures

Democratic systems have many advantages. They elicit perceptions of appropriateness and legitimacy, they engage the psychological investment and commitment of those participating in the system and invite the voluntary cooperation of these persons. We argue that these advantages are conferred in large part through two features of democratic institutions and societies: the participative nature of procedures used to elect leaders, and the fairness of decision-making procedures used by these leaders once in power. In particular, we emphasize the capacity of these procedures to engage community members and foster their inclusion, because they convey that members' concerns are taken seriously and that they are valued by the group that developed and employed those procedures, as well as by the leaders that utilize them. Implications for creating a sense of social inclusion in members of the population, and for encouraging public confidence among those who feel marginalized, in climates of distrust, and during times of crisis are discussed.     

Rituals of migration: an introduction

ABSTRACT

This introduction presents a framework for the articles in the special issue Rituals of Migration. First, it provides an overview of studies of ritual and migration, highlighting the fruitfulness of exploring the two fields together and arguing for the use of ritual as a cultural prism on processes of continuity and change in migration. In light of these analytical approaches, the introduction continues by outlining and discussing the three major themes that crosscut the articles (the interrelations between change and continuity, processes of placemaking and lines of social differentiation), demonstrating how the articles can shed light on these issues.     

Pilot testing the detection of elder abuse through emergency care technicians (DETECT) screening tool: results from the DETECT pilot project

Objective: To pilot test the feasibility of implementing an elder abuse (EA) screening tool (DETECT) designed for medics.

Methods: Testing occurred between September 17th, 2015 and October 26th, 2015. MedStar Mobile Healthcare medics completed the DETECT tool when responding to calls for community-dwelling patients 65 years of age or older.

Results: The DETECT tool was used 1,248 times by 97% of medics responding to an eligible 911 call. Medics responded affirmatively to at least one screening item on 209 of the completed screenings (16.8%). Immediately following the introduction of the DETECT tool, there was an increase of 5.4 (226% above baseline) reports per month (p = 0.0056).

Conclusions: The DETECT tool was easily incorporated into medic’s field-based practice and resulted in an increase in medic generated reports of EA to APS. Future research designed to evaluate the tool’s validity and reliability are warranted.     

Conflicts in Family Relations,Children's Emotions and Agency

What kind of conflicts and tensions do children experience with other children and adults in the family? Content analysis of 32 thematic interviews with 10‐ to 13‐year‐old children revealed that while conflicts often concern daily actions, tasks and routines, they also relate to decision‐making and fair treatment or to matters threatening the child's sense of emotional security. Parental conflicts and conflicts in child–parent relationships often arouse negative emotions that lead children to suppress their agency. However, conflicts, particularly those between siblings, may also open up possibilities for negotiation and agency.