Change in Public Concern and Responsive Behaviors Toward Air Pollution Under the Dome

This study evaluates the effect of the documentary Under the Dome on the concern and responsive behaviors of the public regarding air pollution in China, with two surveys conducted before and after watching the documentary. Employing difference-in-differences regression, this study answers two research questions: (1) Does Under the Dome change public concern about air pollution? (2) Does Under the Dome change public behaviors in response to air pollution, including protective behaviors (i.e., wearing face masks) and mitigation behaviors (i.e., reducing car driving)? We find that the information campaign (1) protects against the decline of public concern about air pollution in Beijing and (2) moderates the degree to which people's perceived severity, perceived susceptibility, and sense of self-efficacy influence protective behaviors and moderates the degree to which people's belief in the cooperative behaviors by others influences mitigation behaviors. This study provides evidence that information campaigns of the Under the Dome type are effective in raising public awareness; however, the information campaign did not directly influence public protective and mitigation behaviors.     

建国初期山西农村扫盲教育的师资探究

中华人民共和国成立初期,扫盲教育被作为新中国的一项重要工作。在整个扫盲进程中,师资问题是扫盲能否取得成功的重要因素。山西省在农村扫盲教育的实践中从本省实际出发探索制定的教师选拔、培训、激励具体办法,对于完成扫盲任务发挥了巨大的作用。探究建国初期山西农村扫盲教育中师资问题的有效解决方案,对于当前农村扫盲教育的开展,更具有现实的启示意义。     

The value of the Display® campaign as a voluntary energy and environmental performance certification system of buildings for sustainable municipal energy management in Ukraine

Although the significance of sustainable municipal energy management has not yet been widely recognized in Ukraine, important steps to popularize this idea among local authorities have been taken through the introduction of the Display® campaign in 11 Ukrainian municipalities. This European voluntary energy and environmental performance certification system of buildings aims to encourage local authorities to publicly demonstrate the energy and environmental performance of their buildings and to thereby convince citizens to stop wasting energy and water. This paper analyzes to what extent the campaign has been valuable for sustainable energy management in those Ukrainian cities that have set an example of an active bottom-up approach to enhancing the integration of a former Soviet Union country in the European Union on account of their support of the associations Energy Cities and “Energy Efficient Cities of Ukraine”, as well as their own endeavors to implement EU climate protection policy.     

The Disconnection In Online Politics: the youth political web sphere and US election sites, 2002-2004

In recent years, candidates and other political actors have dramatically increased their presence and activities online. Although the notion of these activities reaching beyond a limited set of early-adopters is relatively new, younger citizens have long been at the forefront of new developments on the web and continue to make up a substantial proportion of those seeking political information online. Given longstanding concern over levels of civic and political engagement among young people, questions concerning what young people seeking information and opportunities for political involvement online might find there are particularly relevant. In particular, we explore political websites that are directly targeted at younger voters (e.g. Rock the Vote and similar sites), websites produced by candidates and political parties, and possible linkages between these two web spheres. Based on content and hyperlink analyses spanning the 2002 and 2004 US election cycles, we find a complex evolution of the online political information environment offered to youth. Although the youth engagement web sphere experienced dramatic growth during this time period, our data also identify a reluctance of many mainstream political actors to speak directly to young people through the web, and a surprising underdevelopment of linkages between youth politics websites and the wider web of political information online. We conclude by considering the implications of these patterns for future research on the role of new media in processes of political communication and engagement.     

Evaluating a social marketing campaign on healthy nutrition and lifestyle among primary-school children: A mixed-method research design

Italy has one of the highest levels of childhood overweight and obesity in Europe. Therefore, preventing children from becoming overweight is a major public health challenge. Here, we used a mixed-method research approach – including a quasi-experimental design and three surveys – to create a formative evaluation of a social marketing campaign on healthy nutrition and lifestyle in Italian primary school children. The social marketing campaign was organized around the 4 Ps of the marketing mix (product: the educational activities; place: the involved schools and supermarkets; promotion: the in-person and technology-based communication; and price: hours spent by the targeted children in fulfilling the educational activities). The campaign involved primary-school children across four Italian cities. The findings suggest that social marketing education campaigns can be effective tools to improve children’s knowledge about healthy food and lifestyle, reduce their sedentary behavior, and increase their consumption of healthy food. Also, increasing children’s acceptance of healthful nourishment is a valuable tool to improve the dietary habits of the entire family. With relation to the educational program assessment method, this study can inform societal interventions especially those involving children through the integration of different qualitative and quantitative research methods, which collect data from different subjects and perspectives.     

论“农业学大寨”运动中的政治传播

领袖、组织、媒体、参观、会议等几个方面的合力作用,使“农业学大寨”运动成为当时对农村经济和社会发展均产生重大影响,也是历时最长的一次全国性的群众运动。分析其政治传播过程,对当今党的政治传播机制创新具有现实的启示作用。     

试析中央苏区群众运动模式的运作

中国共产党成立后，群众运动作为阶级斗争的表现形式就伴随着党的历史。苏区局部执政时期，党通过宣传的普适化、组织的严密化、肃反的经常化，保证了苏区群众运动轰轰烈烈的开展。建国后，群众运动动员模式虽不断重塑，但相对于苏区中共局部执政时期的运作式样，其实是形变而实存。     

义和团运动期间国内政治分野

义和团运动期间,当北方朝廷为恢复旧有统治对八国联军宣战时,南方督抚背离朝廷旨意与列强联手“互保“,南地绅士及知识界则以召开“国会”、举行起义等更为激进的方式对朝廷的举措表示反对。这种大致以南、北为界的政治分野的出现源于经济上的南富北穷、文化心态上的南新北旧、政治控制上的南松北紧。清朝廷在庚子年间的出格举动则是促使这种政治分野公开表现的直接原因。     

法律实践与乡村秩序体系的建构——基于韩村土地承包费纠纷的考察

“乡村秩序何以维系”一直是基层治理的核心议题,通过考察韩村村集体与村民间的土地承包费纠纷,着力探讨法律在乡村中的运作实践和乡村秩序体系的建构。研究结果表明,法律运作逻辑与农民认知间存在明显差异,农民持有整体性的权利义务观,法律则遵循局部性的权利义务观,导致双方往往对同一事实形成不同判定并产生分歧,降低了农民对法律的效果认同。法律在乡村的实践过程呈现出“运动式”特点,强制的法律只能实现对乡村一时的主导,一旦退出村庄,情理便再度兴起,由此形塑出“情理长期在场、法律间歇主导”的乡村秩序体系,在建构乡村双重治理规则空间的同时也影响着纠纷的现实走向与结果。当前村治困境部分源于国家使用法律来改造既有的乡村秩序体系,却难以保证法律的执行效果,未能建立起法律的权威,鉴于此,要建立起有效的法律执行体系,保证法律被彻底贯彻,强化在农民生活中的效用发挥。     

I Am Woman,Hear Me Tweet! Gender Differences in Twitter Use among Congressional Candidates

This study synthesizes two theoretical literatures to explain gender differences in Twitter usage and effectiveness among US Congressional candidates. The first suggests that candidates in perceived disadvantaged positions, females in this case, innovate to improve their chances of success, and the second, that female politicians often adopt stereotypically masculine behaviors to be successful. On the basis of these theories, we hypothesize and confirm that female candidates are more likely than males to integrate Twitter into their campaigns, but our results are less conclusive regarding a difference in the likelihood that females use negative campaigning tactics via Twitter. Our results also indicate that those females who use Twitter more than their male counterparts tended to do better electorally, but this difference is conditional. Female Republican candidates who tweeted more increased their vote share, but the opposite is true for Democrats. We speculate that this differential effect may be a product of different audiences for social media in each party’s electorate.