Religion‐State Interaction at the Local Level: Key Findings from a Survey of Religion and Local Elected Officials

Author(s):  
Gary J. Adler ◽  
Damon Mayrl ◽  
Jonathan S. Coley ◽  
Rebecca Sager ◽  
Eric Plutzer
Comunicar ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (69) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana-María Novella-Cámara ◽  
Clara Romero-Pérez ◽  
Héctor-S. Melero ◽  
Elena Noguera-Pigem

Children's policies at the local level stimulate initiatives in the municipalities to encourage child participation. In this article, we focus on the local political sphere as a space for the promotion of child participation and citizenship through digital mediation. It is in this immediate environment where the rights of children and adolescents are exercised and promoted. The study aims to analyse the contributions perceived by municipal leaders (elected officials and technical figures) of the digital environment and the uses they make of it to promote children’s participation in the municipality. This study is part of a national project that includes as collaborating entities the International Association of Educating Cities (IACE) and Child Friendly Cities (CAI-Unicef). 279 subjects (191 technical figures and 88 elected officials) from 179 Spanish municipalities associated members of IACE and/or CAI. Data were collected in 2020. Two ad hoc designed questionnaires were applied. Two of the most significant results of the study are: (a) the finding of the variable that establishes differences between those technical figures that mediate children’s participation with technological environments and those that do not; (b) the use made of the digital environment as an interactive space for informational purposes. It concludes on the need to rethink the digital environment as a participatory area and increasing the use of technology in support of children’s citizenship. Las políticas de infancia a nivel local dinamizan en los municipios iniciativas para impulsar la participación infantil. En este artículo nos centramos en la política local como espacio promotor de participación y ciudadanía infantil a través de la mediación digital ya que es, en ese entorno inmediato, donde los derechos de la infancia y la adolescencia se ejercitan y se promueven. El estudio persigue analizar qué aportaciones perciben los referentes municipales (cargos electos y figuras técnicas) del entorno digital y qué usos hacen de él para impulsar la participación infantil en el municipio. Este estudio forma parte de un proyecto nacional que cuenta como entidades colaboradoras a la Asociación Internacional de Ciudades Educadoras (AICE) y Ciudades Amigas de la Infancia (CAI-Unicef). Han participado en él 279 sujetos (191 figuras técnicas y 88 cargos electos) procedentes de 179 municipios españoles asociados a AICE y/o CAI. Los datos fueron recabados en 2020. Se aplicaron dos cuestionarios diseñados ad hoc. Dos de los resultados más significativos del estudio son: a) el hallazgo de la variable que establece diferencias entre aquellas figuras técnicas que median la participación infantil con entornos tecnológicos y con las que no lo hacen; b) el uso que se hace del entorno digital como espacio interactivo con fines informativos. Se concluye en la necesidad de repensar el entorno digital como un espacio participativo e incrementar el uso de la tecnología al servicio de la ciudadanía infantil.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 (1) ◽  
pp. 1172-1185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann Hayward Walker ◽  
Debra Scholz ◽  
Gary Ott

ABSTRACT Effective response to oil spills can be challenging, especially when multiple levels of government are involved. When an oil spill threatens the coast, local officials and communities are concerned about response strategies and potential impacts, which could affect their area. Local government authorities are responsible for addressing concerns of elected officials and other stakeholders at the community level. In the US and UK, a National Response System (NRS) provides oil spill coordination at the national level down to state level. The NRS can be strengthened by improving the capacity to effectively engage at the local level during preparedness. New opportunities to coordinate could improve response management going forward, by leveraging the relationships developed in emergency preparedness among local government, elected officials, and communities. Relationships and dialogue established during preparedness also support crisis communications with the public at large during response through traditional media, the Internet and social media. Stakeholder engagement is process which can benefit the response organization and those affected by pollution incidents and other emergencies, e.g., storms. Stakeholder engagement and risk communication methodologies are ways to help cultivate realistic expectations and develop consensus about response options, before, during, and after an incident. Coordination and collaboration between the Incident Management Team (IMT) and affected communities can lead to shared objectives and improved information exchange. This is accomplished through traditional media and direct engagement to address emerging risk perceptions, questions, and concerns, especially about issues that spark social conflict, such as dispersant use in the US. Dialogue is necessary to learn about stakeholder and community risk perceptions associated with an incident, to assess the situation in relation to those perceptions, and then develop appropriate responses to their questions, concerns and perceptions. This paper explores ways to enhance existing NRS processes to improve interactions and communications at the local level during preparedness, and the response and post response phases of an oil spill.


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
A Noël Racine ◽  
J M Garbarino ◽  
K Corrion ◽  
F d’Arripe-Longueville ◽  
B Massiera ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Policy is one of the levers to initiate structural change to foster the promotion of Health-Enhancing Physical Activity (HEPA). To this end, policymakers have to deal with complex ecosystems embedded in specific contexts. However, limited research has been published on this topic at the local level. The purpose of this study was to identify the barriers and levers to develop HEPA policies from the point of view of municipals managers and elected officials in mid-size French cities. Methods This study was conducted following the concept mapping approach: a list of statements was submitted to 17 French mid-size cities. These statements completed the beginning of this sentence: “In a mid-size municipality context, to develop HEPA policies, it is necessary to...”. First, key informants in each city rated the importance of each statement without considering their local context according to a Likert scale, ranging from 1 (not at all important) to 6 (extremely important). Then, they had to rate the feasibility of each statement considering their local context according to a Likert scale ranging from 1 (not at all feasible) to 6 (extremely feasible). Results A total of 23 municipal managers and 10 elected officials from sport (n = 14), health (n = 10), and social (n = 9) sectors from 11 French mid-size cities participated in this study. Statements related to political commitment, shared governance and partnership appeared as potential levers to develop HEPA policies. Statements related to the economic model of the local HEPA promotion, mandate of the mayor, and land use planning appeared as potential barriers to develop HEPA policies. The results varied according to the position and the sector of the respondent. Conclusions The results suggest that some local contextual factors could affect the development of HEPA policies in mid-size French cities. This study contributes to a better understanding of the development of local HEPA policies in the French context. Key messages Local contextual factors should be considered when developing health-enhancing physical activity policies. The perceptions of these local contextual factors varied according to the position and the sector of the respondent.


Author(s):  
Nicolas Poirel ◽  
Claire Sara Krakowski ◽  
Sabrina Sayah ◽  
Arlette Pineau ◽  
Olivier Houdé ◽  
...  

The visual environment consists of global structures (e.g., a forest) made up of local parts (e.g., trees). When compound stimuli are presented (e.g., large global letters composed of arrangements of small local letters), the global unattended information slows responses to local targets. Using a negative priming paradigm, we investigated whether inhibition is required to process hierarchical stimuli when information at the local level is in conflict with the one at the global level. The results show that when local and global information is in conflict, global information must be inhibited to process local information, but that the reverse is not true. This finding has potential direct implications for brain models of visual recognition, by suggesting that when local information is conflicting with global information, inhibitory control reduces feedback activity from global information (e.g., inhibits the forest) which allows the visual system to process local information (e.g., to focus attention on a particular tree).


2021 ◽  
pp. 13-41
Author(s):  
Ella Volodymyrivna Bystrytska

Abstract: A series of imperial decrees of the 1820s ordering the establishment of a Greco-Uniate Theological Collegium and appropriate consistories contributed to the spread of the autocratic synodal system of government and the establishment of control over Greek Uniate church institutions in the annexed territories of Right-Bank Ukraine. As a result, the Greco-Uniate Church was put on hold in favor of the government's favorable grounds for the rapid localization of its activities. Basilian accusations of supporting the Polish November Uprising of 1830-1831 made it possible to liquidate the OSBM and most monasteries. The transfer of the Pochaiv Monastery to the ownership of the Orthodox clergy in 1831 was a milestone in the liquidation of the Greco-Uniate Church and the establishment of a Russian-style Orthodox mono-confessionalism. On the basis of archival documents, the political motivation of the emperor's decree to confiscate the Pochayiv Monastery from the Basilians with all its property and capital was confirmed. The transfer to the category of monasteries of the 1st class and the granting of the status of a lavra indicated its special role in strengthening the position of the autocracy in the western region of the Russian Empire. The orders of the Holy Synod outline the key tasks of ensuring the viability of the Lavra as an Orthodox religious center: the introduction of continuous worship, strengthening the personal composition of the population, delimitation of spiritual responsibilities, clarifying the affiliation of the printing house. However, maintaining the rhythm of worship and financial and economic activities established by the Basilians proved to be a difficult task, the solution of which required ten years of hard work. In order to make quick changes in the monastery, decisions were made by the emperor and senior government officials, and government agencies were involved at the local level, which required the coordination of actions of all parties to the process.


“We regard the recent science –based consensual reports that climate change is, to a large extend, caused by human activities that emit green houses as tenable, Such activities range from air traffic, with a global reach over industrial belts and urban conglomerations to local small, scale energy use for heating homes and mowing lawns. This means that effective climate strategies inevitably also require action all the way from global to local levels. Since the majority of those activities originate at the local level and involve individual action, however, climate strategies must literally begin at home to hit home.”


2016 ◽  
pp. 73-76
Author(s):  
B.M. Ventskivskiy ◽  
◽  
I.V. Poladych ◽  
S.O. Avramenko ◽  
◽  
...  

In recent years there has been an increase in the frequency of multiple pregnancies and the associated perinatal losses. It is a result of multiple pregnancy in ART refers to a high-risk gestation, at which premature births occur in 2 times more often than in singleton pregnancies. The objective: to determine the role of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the pathogenesis of premature labor in multiple pregnancy, as a result of assisted reproductive technology. Patients and methods. to determine the pro-inflammatory cytokines that all pregnant with bagtopliddyam held immunosorbent assay, defined concentrations of interleukin (IL) in serum and cervical mucus. Results. The analysis of the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1, IL-8) in the test environment, found high concentrations in the surveyed women with multiple pregnancy, due to the use of ART, compared with spontaneous multiple and singleton pregnancy. Increased concentration of proinflammatory cytokines in patients with multiple pregnancy by ART is associated with their synthesis at the system level, it stimulated foci of inflammation in the female genitals and extragenital localization. This correlates with the clinical data and statistical analysis, patients with multiple pregnancy as a result of ART had weighed infectious-inflammatory history. Conclusion. The study showed that elevated levels of proinflammatory cytokines in the systemic and local level in patients with multiple pregnancy due to ART, typical for women with miscarriage, because of the physiological course of pregnancy characterized by the predominance of anti-inflammatory cytokines that prevent rejection of the fetus as a foreign factor. Based on the data obtained proved the role of systemic inflammatory factors in the genesis of preterm labor in women with a multiple pregnancy, as a result of assisted reproductive technology. Key words: multiple pregnancy, assisted reproductive technology, premature birth, interleukine-1, interleukine-8.


e-Finanse ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 67-75
Author(s):  
Adam Mateusz Suchecki

AbstractFollowing the completion of the process of decentralisation of public administration in Poland in 2003, a number of tasks implemented previously by the state authorities were transferred to the local level. One of the most significant changes to the financing and management methods of the local authorities was the transfer of tasks related to culture and national heritage to the set of tasks implemented by local governments. As a result of the decentralisation process, the local government units in Poland were given significant autonomy in determining the purposes of their budgetary expenditures on culture. At the same time, they were obliged to cover these expenses from their own revenues.This paper focuses on the analysis of expenditures on culture covered by the voivodship budgets, taking into consideration the structure of cultural institutions by their types, between 2003-2015. The location quotient (LQ) was applied to two selected years (2006 and 2015) to illustrate the diversity of expenditures on culture in individual voivodships.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document