Hasil untuk "Public law"

Ishmael Amartey

This paper investigates the relationship between public education spending and income inequality across U.S. counties from 2010 to 2022 using quantile regression methods. The analysis shows that total per pupil education spending is consistently associated with a small increase in income inequality, with stronger effects in high inequality counties. In contrast, the composition of education spending plays a substantially more important role. Reallocating budgets toward instructional, support service, and other current expenditures significantly reduces income inequality, particularly at the upper quantiles of the Gini distribution. Capital outlays and interest payments exhibit weaker and mixed effects. Economic and demographic factors, especially poverty, median income, and educational attainment, remain dominant drivers of inequality. Overall, the results demonstrate that how education funds are allocated matters more than how much is spent, underscoring the importance of budget composition in using public education policy to promote equity.

Aksenov Vadim

Digitalization transforms public life as the Internet moves on to Web 3.0. This shift gives rise to the entirely new phenomenon of metaverse, which totally transforms the role and function of digital marketplaces. This digital environment has a fundamentally different structure from the objective reality. This fact poses a challenge for law enforcement agencies and legislators worldwide. This article examines the private law challenges related to metaverses, with particular attention to legal norms in digital environments, the legal status of digital avatars, and the circulation of digital assets on metaverse marketplaces. It describes the core elements of the metaverse, as well as the challenges that marketplaces have to face as part of metaverses, e.g., the limited legal remedies caused by blockchains, the transfer of intellectual property rights when purchasing NFT, etc. A review of the legal status of digital avatars revealed the problem of legal norms in the digital metaverse. The legal nature of digital avatars and the specifics of digital asset circulation and marketplace operations question the correlation of digital environment with existing legal institutions. The need to develop a metaverse law requires a distinct legal approach to this phenomenon.

Jing Luo, Duozi Lin, Xiaojie Chen et al.

Over the past few decades, many works have studied the evolutionary dynamics of continuous games. However, previous works have primarily focused on two-player games with pairwise interactions. Indeed, group interactions rather than pairwise interactions are usually found in real situations. The public goods game serves as a paradigm of multi-player interactions. Notably, various types of benefit functions are typically considered in public goods games, including linear, saturating, and sigmoid functions. Thus far, the evolutionary dynamics of cooperation in continuous public goods games with these benefit functions remain unknown in structured populations. In this paper, we consider the continuous public goods game in structured populations. By employing the pair approximation approach, we derive the analytical expressions for invasion fitness. Furthermore, we explore the adaptive dynamics of cooperative investments in the game with various benefit functions. First, for the linear public goods game, we find that there is no singular strategy, and the cooperative investments evolve to either the maximum or minimum depending on the benefit-to-cost ratio. Subsequently, we examine the game with saturating benefit functions and demonstrate the potential existence of an evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS). Additionally, for the game with the sigmoid benefit function, we observe that the evolutionary outcomes are closely related to the threshold value. When the threshold is small, a unique ESS emerges. For intermediate threshold values, both the ESS and repellor singular strategies can coexist. When the threshold value is large, a unique repellor displays. Finally, we perform individual-based simulations to validate our theoretical results.

Laura Koesten, Péter Ferenc Gyarmati, Connor Hogan et al.

We present PLUTO (Public VaLUe Assessment TOol), a framework for assessing the public value of specific instances of data use. Grounded in the concept of data solidarity, PLUTO aims to empower diverse stakeholders-including regulatory bodies, private enterprises, NGOs, and individuals-to critically engage with data projects through a structured assessment of the risks and benefits of data use, and by encouraging critical reflection. This paper discusses the theoretical foundation, development process, and initial user experiences with PLUTO. Key challenges include translating qualitative assessments of benefits and risks into actionable quantitative metrics while maintaining inclusivity and transparency. Initial feedback highlights PLUTO's potential to foster responsible decision-making and shared accountability in data practices.

Alex S. Taylor, Noortje Marres, Mercedes Bunz et al.

The street has emerged as a primary site where everyday publics are confronted with AI as an infrastructural phenomenon, as machine learning-based systems are now commonly deployed in this setting in the form of automated cars, facial recognition, smart billboards and the like. While these deployments of AI in the street have attracted significant media attention and public controversy in recent years, the presence of AI in the street often remains inscrutable, and many everyday publics are unaware of it. In this paper, we explore the challenges and possibilities of everyday public engagement with AI in the situated environment of city streets under these paradoxical conditions. Combining perspectives and approaches from social and cultural studies of AI, Design Research and Science and Technology Studies (STS), we explore the affordances of the street as a site for 'material participation' in AI through design-based interventions: the creation of 'everyday AI observatories.' We narrate and reflect on our participatory observations of AI in five city streets in the UK and Australia and highlight a set of tensions that emerged from them: 1) the framing of the street as a transactional environment, 2) the designed invisibility of AI and its publics in the street 3) the stratification of street environments through statistical governance. Based on this discussion and drawing on Jane Jacobs' notion of "eyes on the street," we put forward the relational notion of "reciprocity deficits" between AI infrastructures and everyday publics in the street. The conclusion reflects on the consequences of this form of social invisibility of AI for situated engagement with AI by everyday publics in the street and for public trust in urban governance.

Robert J. Sampson

Racial disparities in contact with the criminal justice system remain a pressing concern for both scholars and the public, yet debate persists about how best to explain and reduce them. The articles in this special issue advance our understanding by evaluating research on racial bias in law enforcement, criminal justice processing, and incarceration. I highlight three unifying themes: the significance of time and place, especially how social change shapes racial inequalities; the connection between crime, criminal justice contact, and punishment, emphasizing social processes that influence both criminal behavior and legal outcomes; and structural racial inequalities that extend beyond individual bias and accumulate throughout people’s lives. Drawing from this conceptual framework and the issue’s comprehensive reviews, I outline a future research agenda to better understand—and potentially reduce—racial inequalities in criminal justice.

Conor M. W. Douglas, Tineke Kleinhout-Vliek, Rob Hagendijk et al.

Abstract Background The current organization of the pharmaceutical innovation system poses three major challenges for rare disease patients in terms of availability, accessibility and affordability of treatments. While some changes have emerged in the European Union to address some of these challenges, their impacts are not experienced uniformly across member states nor around the world. We have observed niche initiatives that are actively working to address those challenges within their local contexts. In a position paper in this journal, we characterized such initiatives as “social pharmaceutical innovation” (or SPIN): novel collaborations involving diverse sets of actors that break with conventional pharmaceutical innovation practices to develop interventions that address unmet societal needs of rare disease patients and that are not primarily market driven. Results Here we report on 15 cases of SPIN across Brazil, Canada, France and the Netherlands that we studied through semi-structured qualitative interviews (n = 151) with players involved in those cases. Our findings show how SPIN initiatives are reconfiguring pharmaceutical innovation networks to include a wider range of actors in redistributed and differentiated roles within innovation processes. Further, we find that SPINs are associated with changes in the ways data is gathered (often in clinical contexts rather than in conventional trials), and how evidence is assembled to improve access to the treatments. Finally, we demonstrate how SPINs are providing new routes for patients to access treatments for rare diseases, often at more affordable prices. Conclusions While promising, SPINs are not perfect solutions for rare disease patients or the broader challenges to the pharmaceutical innovation system. SPINs are specific solutions adapted to the particulars of local framing, institutions, national policy and care contexts of rare diseases, and should be developed as such. Our findings support these recommendations for SPIN: use local knowledge and expertise in crafting SPINs; develop comprehensive strategies for data governance, access and ownership; and explore new economic models to recoup investments and/or sustain future initiatives. We invite collaboration on these topics and emerging SPIN initiatives so as to support efforts at addressing challenges of availability, accessibility and affordability of treatments for rare diseases patients.

Salome O. Ighomereho, Ifeoma E. Ezeabasili

Public policy decision making has become more complex and complicated in recent times. Some authors have attributed this to the fact that public policy decision makers now have more variables to consider in every decision more than ever before. Others have argued that the rate of civilization, globalization and information technology has made the public to be more enlightened and abreast with the activities of government and so can oppose government decisions if they are unfavourable. This tends to increase government need for more and better information in order to satisfy the public. Consequently, this paper examined the issue of fuel subsidy removal in Nigeria, the impact of the policy on the public as well as the country and the role marketing principles would have played if the Nigerian government had taken some time to investigate what should be done, how it should be done and when it should be done. It also proposed a roadmap for future policies that have direct implications for the general public.

Anastasija Nikiforova, Martin Lnenicka, Petar Milić et al.

Public data ecosystems (PDEs) represent complex socio-technical systems crucial for optimizing data use in the public sector and outside it. Recognizing their multifaceted nature, previous research pro-posed a six-generation Evolutionary Model of Public Data Ecosystems (EMPDE). Designed as a result of a systematic literature review on the topic spanning three decade, this model, while theoretically robust, necessitates empirical validation to enhance its practical applicability. This study addresses this gap by validating the theoretical model through a real-life examination in five European countries - Latvia, Serbia, Czech Republic, Spain, and Poland. This empirical validation provides insights into PDEs dynamics and variations of implementations across contexts, particularly focusing on the 6th generation of forward-looking PDE generation named "Intelligent Public Data Generation" that represents a paradigm shift driven by emerging technologies such as cloud computing, Artificial Intelligence, Natural Language Processing tools, Generative AI, and Large Language Models (LLM) with potential to contribute to both automation and augmentation of business processes within these ecosystems. By transcending their traditional status as a mere component, evolving into both an actor and a stakeholder simultaneously, these technologies catalyze innovation and progress, enhancing PDE management strategies to align with societal, regulatory, and technical imperatives in the digital era.

Kelly McConvey, Shion Guha

Algorithmic decision-making is increasingly being adopted across public higher education. The expansion of data-driven practices by post-secondary institutions has occurred in parallel with the adoption of New Public Management approaches by neoliberal administrations. In this study, we conduct a qualitative analysis of an in-depth ethnographic case study of data and algorithms in use at a public college in Ontario, Canada. We identify the data, algorithms, and outcomes in use at the college. We assess how the college's processes and relationships support those outcomes and the different stakeholders' perceptions of the college's data-driven systems. In addition, we find that the growing reliance on algorithmic decisions leads to increased student surveillance, exacerbation of existing inequities, and the automation of the faculty-student relationship. Finally, we identify a cycle of increased institutional power perpetuated by algorithmic decision-making, and driven by a push towards financial sustainability.

Luiza Schiavon Girolimetto, Cleber Sanfelici Otero

A proteção de dados pessoais e sensíveis da pessoa idosa, bem como a segurança digital são importantes para a efetividade dos direitos da personalidade. Por meio da pesquisa, serão evidenciados os resultados acerca da aplicabilidade de um ambiente digital seguro e como essa atividade auxilia na preservação de direitos intrínsecos desse grupo vulnerável, como o direito à vida privada, à intimidade e à imagem. O método dedutivo é utilizado, com pesquisa qualitativa e bibliográfica, com a análise da doutrina e legislação atual. Há o objetivo de construir uma visão jurídica diferenciada sobre a temática apresentada, tipificando e caracterizando quais são os maiores desafios enfrentados pela pessoa idosa em sua atividade na internet e como os seus dados são gerenciados e tratados, principalmente diante dos sites e aplicativos governamentais. É evidenciado, de igual forma, como a ingerência de tais dados interfere na efetividade e na proteção dos direitos da personalidade da pessoa idosa. Há pretensão de que o presente estudo possa ser instrumento para difundir cientificamente este tema, de maneira a acrescentar e fortalecer o conhecimento jurídico sobre seus impactos, além de identificar e promover possíveis soluções para a sua aplicabilidade ao efetivo cumprimento do princípio da dignidade da pessoa humana.

Ratanond Koonchanok, Yanling Pan, Hyeju Jang

ChatGPT sets a new record with the fastest-growing user base, as a chatbot powered by a large language model (LLM). While it demonstrates state-of-the-art capabilities in a variety of language-generation tasks, it also raises widespread public concerns regarding its societal impact. In this paper, we investigated public attitudes towards ChatGPT by applying natural language processing techniques such as sentiment analysis and topic modeling to Twitter data from December 5, 2022 to June 10, 2023. Our sentiment analysis result indicates that the overall sentiment was largely neutral to positive, and negative sentiments were decreasing over time. Our topic model reveals that the most popular topics discussed were Education, Bard, Search Engines, OpenAI, Marketing, and Cybersecurity, but the ranking varies by month. We also analyzed the occupations of Twitter users and found that those with occupations in arts and entertainment tweeted aboutChatGPT most frequently. Additionally, people tended to tweet about topics relevant to their occupation. For instance, Cybersecurity is the most discussed topic among those with occupations related to computer and math, and Education is the most discussed topic among those in academic and research. Overall, our exploratory study provides insights into the public perception of ChatGPT, which could be valuable to both the general public and developers of this technology.

Adam Bouland, Bill Fefferman, Soumik Ghosh et al.

Given a local Hamiltonian, how difficult is it to determine the entanglement structure of its ground state? We show that this problem is computationally intractable even if one is only trying to decide if the ground state is volume-law vs near area-law entangled. We prove this by constructing strong forms of pseudoentanglement in a public-key setting, where the circuits used to prepare the states are public knowledge. In particular, we construct two families of quantum circuits which produce volume-law vs near area-law entangled states, but nonetheless the classical descriptions of the circuits are indistinguishable under the Learning with Errors (LWE) assumption. Indistinguishability of the circuits then allows us to translate our construction to Hamiltonians. Our work opens new directions in Hamiltonian complexity, for example whether it is difficult to learn certain phases of matter.

Timothy R. Law, Philip T. Barton

We present a practical cell-centred volume-of-fluid method developed within a pure Eulerian setting for the simulation of compressible solid-fluid problems. The method builds on a previously published diffuse-interface Godunov-type scheme through the addition of a specialised mixed-cell update that is capable of maintaining sharp interfaces indefinitely. The mixed-cell update is local and may be viewed as an interface-sharpening extension to the underlying diffuse-interface scheme along the lines of other techniques such as Tangent of Hyperbola INterface Capturing (THINC), and hence the method can be straightforwardly extended to include other coupled physics. We validate the method on a range of challenging test problems including a collapsing metal shell, cylinder impacts and the three-dimensional simulation of a buried explosive charge. Finally we demonstrate the robustness of the method, and its use in a multi-physics context, by modelling the BRL 105mm unconfined shaped charge with reactive high-explosive burn and rate-sensitive plasticity.

Slamet Riyadi, Farouq Alfaritsi, Salmi Adrizal et al.

Nagari Piobang is the hometown of Haji Piobang, one of the purization figures of Islam in Indonesia. As his homeland, the Piobang people should also inherit the spirit of Haji Piobang's struggle to uphold Islamic teachings. But in reality, people are no longer passionate about religious activities. This action research aims to revive the community's spirit of implementing Sharia in Nagari Piobang, West Sumatra. This research method is Action Based Community Development, which is action research that seeks to revive the spirit of the community by bringing up the glory of its characters in the past. Through this action research, it is hoped that it can regenerate the spirit of the community to uphold sustainable Islamic law with positive activities for the young generation of Piobang. Several programs are designed to spark public interest in religious activities, including Tahfiz Quran and Tahsin. Both of these programs are very popular, considering that this kind of activity has been absent in the community for a long time. The program's sustainability is also guaranteed by special funds from the community, amounting to approximately 30 million, for the fulfillment of infrastructure facilities. The Action Based Community Development activity carried out during Ramadan 1444 H was very satisfying. All success standards designed at the beginning of the activity are achieved with indicators that exceed expectations. Although it had dimmed, it turned out that the spirit of Hajj Piobang did not die in the Nagari Piobang, West Sumatra community. This is evidenced by the revival of religious programs for the younger generation with a form more following the times.

Hendy Setiawan

The purpose of this study is to discuss the impact of the implementation of special autonomy which has been running for two decades on welfare in Papua through the public service sector. Law Number 21 of 2001 which became the initial basis for the implementation of special autonomy in Papua is an instrument to encourage Papua to catch up with other regions in Indonesia. So far, Papua has been an area that tends to be left behind in various sectors, including its public services. Therefore, the presence of special autonomy, which is then followed by special autonomy funding that significantly increases every year, is expected to be able to improve public services to achieve prosperity. This study uses a qualitative method with a literature study approach. Data were collected from various literature, both from relevant agencies and the relevant media. Meanwhile, researchers in conducting research stages use the Creswell concept. The stages of this research consist of problem identification, literature search, research aims and objectives, data collection, data analysis and interpretation, and research reporting. The results of the study show that two decades of implementing special autonomy in Papua have not provided significant achievements for public services. High poverty rates, low Human Development Index and minimal public service facilities are still the main characteristics of the implementation after the two decades of autonomy. The implication is that there is a negative correlation between the implementation of this special autonomy and the welfare aspect to date. Therefore, the disbursement of funds that enter from the center to the regions through this regulatory scheme has not had a significant impact on welfare in Papua.

Sara Anjos, Pedro Russo, Anabela Carvalho

Communities of practice in science communication can make important contributions to public engagement with science but are under-researched. In this article, we look at the perspectives of a community of practice in astronomy communication regarding (relations with) their public(s). Most participants in this study consider that public(s) have several deficits and vulnerabilities. Moreover, practitioners have little to no contact with (and therefore make no use of) academic research on science communication. We argue that collaboration between science communication researchers and practitioners could benefit the science-public relationship and that communities of practice may be critical to that purpose.

Elżbieta Ura

Employment of officers in customs and tax administration after the reform The article presents the legal regulations concerning the officers of the former Customs Service adopted by the legislator on the occasion of the reformed customs and tax administration and the establishment of the National Tax Administration. The institution of terminating the service relations of officers by law was introduced, as well as transforming the service relations into contractual relations as a result of offering the officer further work in the structures of this administration and accepting this proposal by him. Problems with interpreting these solutions were visible in the varied jurisprudence of administrative courts as well as common courts. In order to understand these difficulties, some of the justifications of the judgments have been presented more broadly. In line with these considerations, the thesis is justified that in recent years the legislator has increasingly resorted to this type of solutions and introduced institutions of termination of employment relations by law, and their cause is not “exceptional, special circumstances justified by the state system reform,” which was emphasized by the Constitutional Tribunal, only reforms related to organizational transformations in public administration. This is viewed as the means of replacing public administration staff. ASJC: 3308, JEL: K31

Hilde Dahl

Abstract: Homicides are rare in Norway; the country’s homicide rate is among the lowest in the world (UNODC, 2013). This might be why homicides always receive attention in the national news. The topic has also received attention on a governmental level. Reducing the number of homicides is an expressed goal in several official reports. However, preventive efforts require knowledge. While a handful of studies have been conducted using a variety of disciplinary approaches and methods, several recent reports point out that homicide is not a prioritized research field in Norway (NOU 2010:3; FHI rapport, 2012; JBD, 2018). This is the first article from the project »Homicides in Norway, 1955-1982, a historical-criminological study«. Studies using historical methods on homicide in the contemporary era have not previously been conducted in Norway. The projects aim is to provide historical insight into the rates and patterns of Norwegian homicide during the period 1955 to 1982, based on material originally collected by psychologist Ragnar Christensen (1922-2011) over the course of three decades.

Junming Huang, Gavin Cook, Yu Xie

Do mass media influence people's opinion of other countries? Using BERT, a deep neural network-based natural language processing model, we analyze a large corpus of 267,907 China-related articles published by The New York Times since 1970. We then compare our output from The New York Times to a longitudinal data set constructed from 101 cross-sectional surveys of the American public's views on China. We find that the reporting of The New York Times on China in one year explains 54% of the variance in American public opinion on China in the next. Our result confirms hypothesized links between media and public opinion and helps shed light on how mass media can influence public opinion of foreign countries.