According to contractualism, very roughly, an action x of type X is wrong, at least in one unified and distinct way, iff and because any principle permitting actions of type X could be reasonably rejected. According to what I will call the “Thesis,” contractualism gives an account of relational morality, specifying when A owes it to some B not to x. This paper articulates how exactly contractualism gives an account of relational morality. This articulation in turn has several notable implications. Among these implications are that contractualism generates moral requirements that are owed to no one and that, because of this, contractualism may have a harder time giving an account of relational morality than might otherwise have been thought. The overarching point is that, while it might seem a matter of definition that contractualism is an account of what we owe to each other, there is a real question whether it can be.
The relevance of the study of Islamist terrorism is due to its destructive impact on national and global security, as well as on the dialogue between Western and Eastern, particularly Muslim, nations since the early 2000s. Islamist terrorism reinforces entrenched prejudices against Islam and Muslims, leading to their demonization and the subsequent prevention of constructive interaction between communities professing different religions, thus hindering the establishment of relations based on mutual trust. This study examines the number of terrorist attacks committed by Islamist groups and their victims between 2000 and 2020, and tests the methodology for scoring their terrorist activities. Based on the Global Terrorism Database and the author’s sample of 155 groups broadcasting Islamist ideology, three stages of the development of Islamist terrorism were identified, a direct proportional relationship between the number of terrorist attacks and the number of victims was proven, and the geography of Islamist terrorist activity was analyzed. Methodologically, this study combines the analysis of terrorism as both a political phenomenon and a religious manifestation, and Islamist terrorist groups themselves are seen as political projects masquerading as religiously motivated communities. In contrast to the destabilization of Iraq, which along with Afghanistan became another platform for training terrorists, the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, had little impact on Islamist terrorism. Quantitative analysis revealed that the Middle East and North Africa was mistakenly perceived as the “epicenter” of Islamist terrorism in 2000-2020, as Southeast Asia was the leader in terrorist attacks in 2000, while South Asia occupied 1st place in 2003, 2005-2013, and 2018-2020. It has been confirmed that instability at the local and national levels serves as a fertile ground for Islamist terrorism. The possibilities and limitations of the proposed methodology are outlined, and the prospects for its further application in scientific studies of Islamist terrorism are described.
International relations, Political science (General)
Before peoples reached the democratic stage of real political representation, they were suffering under the influence of excessive and controlling power according to a vision of monopolizing political decision-making, whether in the external political structure or the internal political structure. These peoples had to submit in a forced manner to the political forces exercising power, whether individual, factional, or regional. Therefore, the first indications of the success and success of the political behavior of political leaders exercising power in democratic systems is that voluntary and positive general acceptance through diligent and joint work within state institutions to accomplish and achieve what is known as the public good. Therefore, the equation of voluntary general acceptance and political stability is an equation based on the necessary approach, as whenever the public good is achieved, the general acceptance becomes voluntary and positive, and this is considered an achievement of political stability at various levels in the state.
El objetivo de este artículo es proponer un marco conceptual y teórico para entender las percepciones, las actitudes y los tipos de masculinidades como aspectos que pueden presentarse entre la población y la adopción de medidas en materia de población en Costa Rica durante la segunda mitad del siglo xx. La construcción de la propuesta se hizo a partir de la revisión de bibliografía secundaria. La principal reflexión es, a pesar de que en Costa Rica no hubo una política con objetivos específicos para controlar la natalidad, si se dio la creación de una serie de instituciones con objetivos en materia de población. En el actuar individual ante dichas instituciones y objetivos, mediado por el contexto y por el impulso del Estado (de todo el aparato desarrollado entre las instituciones nacionales e internacionales) se ponen en evidencia las percepciones, actitudes y roles de género, así como la influencia de actores como la iglesia católica.
Geography. Anthropology. Recreation, Political science (General)
Endpoint users are usually viewed as the highest-risk element in the field of cybersecurity. At the same time, they need to be protected not just from the individual-level prism but also, from the states perspective, to counter threats like botnets that harvest weakly secured endpoints and forge an army of so-called zombies that are often used to attack critical infrastructure or other systems vital to the state. Measures aimed at citizens like the Israeli hotline for cybersecurity incidents or Estonian educational efforts have already started to be implemented. However, little effort is made to understand the recipients of such measures. Our study uses the survey method to partly fill this gap and investigate how endpoint users (citizens) are willing to protect themselves against cyber threats. To make results more valid, a unique comparison was made between cyber threats and physical threats according to the impact which they had. The results show statistically significant differences between comparable cyber-physical pairs indicating that a large portion of the sample was not able to assess the threat environment appropriately and that state intervention with fitting countermeasures is required. The resultant matrix containing frequencies of answers denotes what portion of respondents are willing to invest a certain amount of time and money into countering given threats, this enables the possible identification of weak points where state investment is needed most.
A magánbiztonsági szektorban végzett legfrissebb, a foglalkoztatási adatokat is vizsgáló felmérés alapján a szektorban a 2019-es év végén 4300 társas, aktív vállalkozás működött hazánkban. A társas és az egyéni vállalkozásokban foglalkoztatottak száma túllépte a 60 ezer főt, több mint 88 ezer főnek van érvényes személy- és vagyonőri, illetve magánnyomozói igazolványa. A Személy-, Vagyonvédelmi és Magánnyomozói Szakmai Kamara 4499 tagot tart nyilván. A szektorban egyaránt megtalálhatók az alap-, közép- és felsőfokú végzettséggel rendelkező munkavállalók, akiket a hagyományos foglalkoztatás mellett gyakran valamelyik atipikus foglalkoztatási forma szerint alkalmaznak. Tanulmányomban több adatforrást elemzek online dokumentumelemzés, online résztvevő megfigyelés, szövegbányászat és szakértői megkérdezés módszerével annak érdekében, hogy egzakt képet tudjak adni a fontosabb pozíciók és foglalkoztatási formák vonatkozásában, illetve, hogy a hazai magánbiztonsági szektor innovációs potenciáljának fejlesztése és jövője szempontjából megalapozott összegző megállapításokat fogalmazhassak meg.
Political institutions and public administration (General)
Abstract The use of spatial econometric models in political science has steadily risen in recent years. However, the interpretation of these models has generally ignored the important substantive, and even spatial, nature of the estimated effects. This leaves many papers with a (non-spatial) interpretation of coefficients on the covariates and a brief discussion of the sign and strength of the spatial parameter. We introduce a general approach to interpreting spatial models and provide several avenues for an exposition of substantive spatial effects. Our approach can be generalized to most models in the spatial econometric taxonomy. Building on the example of the diffusion of democracy, we elucidate how our approach can be applied to modern political science problems.
Vladimir Putin’s regime has always drawn the attention of his international counterparts due to several reasons, among which his ability to maintain the administrative power was one of the most appealing characteristics. International mass-media has described the Kremlin leader as being an emblematic, yet intriguing character, while the global public has perceived him in various different, both negative and positive ways. The fact that Putin has a captivating personality and unshakable rhetoric is no longer a surprise to anyone. How is he managing to maintain power is a constant question that resides in the collective minds of the public worldwide. This is an attempt to link the Putin doctrine’s efficiency to the national specificity of the Russian people.
Review for a monograph Farkhutdinov I. Z. “American Doctrine of Preventive Military Strike from Monroe to Trump: International Legal Aspects”. M. : EURASNIIPP, 2017. 338 p.The monograph of the prominent Russian expert in the field of international law, Insur Zabirovich Farkhutdinov “The American Doctrine of Military Strike from Monroe to Trump: International Legal Aspects” sparked a lively scientific discussion around the problem of the use of force in the modern international system. On the one hand, to preserve the global legal order, it is absolutely necessary to intervene internationally in the political situation where human rights are violated, on the other hand, the unjustified use of force creates the threat of escalating political instability and undermines international security. It seems reasonable to conclude that the Monroe Doctrine was created as a political instrument to protect the US from interference by foreign governments in the internal affairs of America, but became a means of spreading national sovereignty to spaces with an international regime and the territory of other countries.
Political institutions and public administration (General)
Abstract Collaborative stakeholder influence and open budget actions are important elements in governance in order to promote social development (Ansell and Gash, 2008). However, it is important to clarify how to measure these supposedly independent elements. The aim of the article is to identify ways to measure the influence of collaborative stakeholders and open budget actions. The methodological aspects focus on data collection through interviews and content analysis. The conclusion is that the number of civil society organizations and the presence of social councils and their operational components are relevant measures of collaborative stakeholder influence and open budget actions, respectively. In addition, this article highlights the relevance of integrating collaborative stakeholder influences with open budget actions. Finally, a research agenda is proposed.
Political institutions and public administration (General)
Christopher Barnett, Edward Jackson, Peter O'Flynn
et al.
Background: Mobilising investment for sustainable development is a priority for many African governments and their international allies. There are many claims about the social impact of investments in small and growing businesses, and yet these mostly focus on good news stories or a narrow set of metrics (jobs created, tax revenue, etc.). There are relatively few studies that consider the diversity of social impacts, particularly in an African context.
Objectives: The aim of this research was to work collaboratively with investors in Ghana to better understand social change and contribute to their own work on improved performance and reporting.
Method: Using a theory-based examination of social impacts, the research purposively selected a subset of 13 investments from the Venture Capital Trust Fund (VCTF) in Ghana. Theories of change were used to explore the available documentation, triangulated with insights from fund managers, entrepreneurs, senior managers and, where possible, employees. The findings were validated with VCTF staff.
Results: While the research demonstrated the usefulness of a theory-based approach, it found it helpful to develop a smaller set of typologies to capture different impact pathways – a more efficient way to assess and report on social returns. In particular, the research highlights how commonly used metrics like job creation undervalue the social impact of some types of investment. Other lessons also included the value of rural businesses (not typically favoured by venture capitalists) and the potential to further extend impacts to lower income groups, but that this required real intent and leadership on the part of investors and entrepreneurs.
Conclusion: We conclude that further research is merited on two fronts. Firstly, research into the scale of the small and medium enterprises and the associated investment required to support the operating costs to really manage, improve, monitor and evaluate social impact. And secondly, further field testing of different evaluation techniques to help stakeholders better understand and improve the social benefits of venture capital.
Political institutions and public administration (General)
Robert Bredereck, Jiehua Chen, Piotr Faliszewski
et al.
Computational Social Choice is an interdisciplinary research area involving Economics, Political Science, and Social Science on the one side, and Mathematics and Computer Science (including Artificial Intelligence and Multiagent Systems) on the other side. Typical computational problems studied in this field include the vulnerability of voting procedures against attacks, or preference aggregation in multi-agent systems. Parameterized Algorithmics is a subfield of Theoretical Computer Science seeking to exploit meaningful problem-specific parameters in order to identify tractable special cases of in general computationally hard problems. In this paper, we propose nine of our favorite research challenges concerning the parameterized complexity of problems appearing in this context. This work is dedicated to Jianer Chen, one of the strongest problem solvers in the history of parameterized algorithmics, on the occasion of his 60th birthday.