E-technology and Community Participation: Exploring the Ethical Implications for Community-based Social Workers

ABSTRACT

To date, much of the work on social work, ethics and technology has been focused on clinical social work and micromorality—the ethical practices of the worker and their clients in one-on-one or therapeutic group interactions. In contrast, this article foregrounds social workers engaged in community work and the ethical implications at a macromoral level. Central to community-based social work, also known as social development work, is the principle of participation. In observing the ways e-technology is affecting community participation, the focus is upon communicative and social technologies, rather than assistive technologies, or technology enabled assessment. The article explores the intersection of these three themes of community participation, technology, and ethics to examine the implications for social workers located in the complex context of community work.     

论以色列阿拉伯人的政治参与

以色列人口中有20%是阿拉伯公民。在2009年2月举行的以色列第18届国会选举中有13名阿拉伯议员当选,在国会中所占的比例远低于其人口比例。这些阿拉伯议员分别来自阿拉伯民族主义政党、以色列共产党和三个犹太复国主义政党。从以色列建国60年来阿拉伯公民参加国会选举的情况分析,阿拉伯公民在以色列的政治参与经历了质与量两方面的变化,即政治自决程度从低到高、从附属走向独立;但同时阿拉伯公民的政治参与度却逐渐走低,尤其是进入21世纪以来甚至降到了很危险的地步。阿拉伯公民对政治现状失去信心和热情,不仅削弱了以色列左翼势力,也在相当程度上影响了以色列国内政局的发展以及中东政策的制定。     

Major, Blair and the Third Way in Social Policy

Tony Blair's adoption of the catchphrase ‘the Third Way’ to précis New Labour's policy orientation allowed him to distance ‘New’ Labour from ‘Old’ Labour and to appropriate many of John Major's modifications to Thatcherism, albeit framed within a new political language. This article sets out the basic similarities and differences between the social policies of the Major and Blair governments, arguing that, although the policies have been presented within different discourses, there has been a marked similarity in policy content, with Major espousing Third Way policies if not Third Way rhetoric. Indeed, towards the end of his second term of office, Blair started to go beyond the Third Way and towards Margaret Thatcher's favoured model of spirited competition between public and private suppliers.     

论社区参与的制度安排

本文选取社区参与为研究视角,旨在从宏观角度考察社区发展过程中影响社区参与的制度安排。本文认为我国社会转型过程中政治、经济、社会制度的变革使得社区参与成为可能与必要;“街道体制”向“社区体制”转轨扩大了社区参与的空间;基层民主的制度创新保障了居民的参与权;社区服务与社区文化活动的开展营造了良好的社区参与氛围。     

大学生舆论群体的特点及校报的舆论介入方式

大学校园的舆论群体相对于社会上的舆论群体有其特殊性。研究大学校园舆论群体的特性,是高校有效地开展思想政治工作的前提。这一舆论群体有着敏感性、趋同性、舆论与个人成长的关联性、辐射面广等特点。在校园舆论中,校报处于一种独特的地位,它既是舆论的载体,又是舆论的动力。在校园舆论的动态变化中,校报要充分发挥其主动性、主导性功能,成为校园舆论积极有效的参与者、指导者。     

Participation in Decentralized Local Governance: Two Contrasting Cases from the Philippines

Contrary to the popular assumptions among international donor agencies, preceding studies have questioned the causal relations between decentralization, participation and pro-poor policy outcomes. This article introduces two cases of decentralized city governments in the Philippines: one employs radical forms of civil participation, while the other introduces modest ones, but both of them have been successfully launching pro-poor policies. Through referring these contrasting cases to a “participatory governance” model and a “governance with trusts” model, the paper argues that the approach to local governance is not linear.

Regional coordination of European environmental policies

Over the last years the European Union (EU) has implemented ambitious climate and energy targets for 2020, i.e. the 2020 Climate and Energy Package (Package), to become a highly efficient, low carbon economy. The Package assigns binding renewable energy sources (RES) target for each EU member countries. Indeed costs to reach Package's targets vary among EU countries, given heterogeneity among regions and different instruments implemented to spur RES deployment. The aim of our paper is to provide a policy tool for EU policy makers in the negotiation process that assigns achievable quantitative targets according to which countries are not inclined to deviate from the agreement.We compute potential extra costs that may arise when some EU countries fail to reach the assigned objective within the Package with reference to RES target. More generally, our simulation model is an instrument that allows EU policy makers to assess incentives that countries might have to participate or not to the environmental agreements. Our analysis shows that partial participation to the Package produces inefficiencies by rising costs for other participating countries to the environmental agreement. Finally, we propose a new policy mechanism based on progressive sanctions for countries that do not meet their national targets, which are proportional to the monetary value of the penalty they impose to the rest of the EU countries with their opportunistic behavior.     

政治稳定的相关因素研究

政治稳定问题的相关研究很多,主要是从政治稳定与政治冲突对立性研究入手,但这种研究思路存在一个问题,就是两者是否存在相关性。各国的政治实践证明两者确实存在紧密的关系,但相关研究并不多见,作者试图从这个视角对政治稳定问题进行深入剖析。     

对我国环境影响评价中公众参与的思考

公众参与对于环境影响评价的实施有着至关重要的意义。我国新出台的《环境影响评价法》有关公众参与的内容和程序方面的规定明显不足 ,扩大公众参与的范围 ,设计尽可能明确具体的公众参与程序 ,尤其是相当重要的信息公开程序、说明会程序、听证程序、环境影响评价文件审查程序等 ,并辅之以司法审查的保障机制 ,才能完善我国环境影响评价中的公众参与制度 ,从而使环境影响评价在实践中真正发挥作用     

Role of urban governance in the process of bus system reform in Seoul

The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) executed an innovative bus system reform in July 2004. The bus lines were reorganized as trunk, feeder, and circular routes; and bus numbers were arranged into eight areas. The monopolized route systems were reorganized as a semi-public operation, with a route tendering system to induce competition. A unified fare system was introduced taking into account transfers between buses; buses and the subway, and other modes of public transportation, all with the development of a new transportation card system. Exclusive median bus lanes were constructed in three major corridors. The main purposes of this paper are to (1) discuss the background and necessity of the bus system reform; (2) review the composition and functions of the Bus System Reform Citizen Committee (BSRCC), which instigated the reform; (3) analyze the role of BSRCC as a type of urban governance; and (4) provide policy implications. The study employs three techniques—literature reviews of the realities of bus service, in-depth interviews with stakeholders to analyze the roles and benefits of the BSRCC, and participant observation via a BSRCC member. All these help to shed light on a new form of urban governance which broke from the execution lead only by officials of the SMG.