scholarly journals U.S. General Election as a Possible COVID-19 Super Spreader Event

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. p39
Author(s):  
Matthew S. Mingus ◽  
Emily (Li) Cheng ◽  
Daria Blinova
Keyword(s):  
State Government ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Relative Size ◽  
State Level ◽  
The State ◽  
General Election ◽  
Court Cases ◽  
Policy Changes ◽  
The Public ◽  
Election Process

Many U.S. states changed election policies leading up to the November 3, 2020, general election to reduce the potential spread of COVID-19, and policy changes at the state level resulted in uneven access to voting options outside the polling site on the day of the election. This preliminary research examines the extent of in-person voting and other methods for voting as percentages of the overall population, separated by state, to determine if such policy changes helped reduce the spread of COVID-19. The data is correlated with the increase in the SARS-CoV-2 virus the week leading into the election compared to two weeks after the election. Political party in control of the state executive, urbanization, and the relative size of state government are also considered. While numerous court cases regarding the fairness of electoral methods were launched during the 2020 election cycle, the focus of this article is whether the percent of the population who voted in person on the day of the election may have differentially increased the spread of COVID-19 within the 50 U.S. states as well as the extent that the public service managed the election process in a safe manner by mitigating the risk of COVID-19.

Governance, Public Service Delivery and Trust in Government

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 186-202
Author(s):  
Jyoti Mishra ◽  
Vibha Attri
Keyword(s):  
State Government ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
State Level ◽  
The State ◽  
Trust In Government ◽  
The Past ◽  
Work Done ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Ruling Party

Several studies in the past show that the work done by the incumbent government helps the ruling party to get re-elected. However, most of these studies focus on re-election and do not look at the impact assessment of governance on trust in government, which is a precursor of re-election. To fill this gap, this article explores whether perceptions of good governance lead to trust in government. The results support the view that governance at the state level leads to a higher trust with the state government. Of all the variables used to measure governance as access, benefitting from welfare schemes had the maximum impact on trust. Other governance measures like availing public services and citizens’ interaction with the state too had a positive relationship with trust in the state government. Furthermore, having the same government at the centre and the state, strengthened one’s trust in the state government.

Transisi Politik Melayu-Islam Di Kedah: Analisis 2008-2016

Sains Insani ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-34
Author(s):  
Mohammad Tawfik Yaakub ◽  
Osman Md Rasip ◽  
Muhammad Uzair Azizan
Keyword(s):  
State Government ◽  
State Level ◽  
The State ◽  
General Election ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
The Status ◽  
New Policies ◽  
First Time

This article discusses on the Islamic-Malay political transition which focuses at the state of Kedah starting from 2008 up to the ‘Menteri Besar’ crisis in 2016. The revolution of Islamic-Malay politics in Kedah started drastically after the previous 12th and 13th general election. The support of Islamic-Malay voters in Kedah is greatly affected by public policy issues which arise during general election period. The political tsunami has given the opposition, especially PAS, the chance to lead the State Government of Kedah for the first time in history after the independence of Malaysia. New policies are developed during PAS’s administration period which gives impact to the politic, economy and society especially in strengthening the status of Islamic-Malay. Be that as it may, PAS’s position was seen to be in danger as the 13th general election draws nearer since there were handful of political issues at the state level and other issues which fails to be handled gently by PAS. As a result of this, UMNO has succeeded in getting back Kedah state government from PAS. The Islamic-Malay voters, as the dominant race in Kedah, have shown their dynamic political inclination based on the leadership trend demonstrated by both parties in their administration. In light of the above, this article discusses the issues, development and solutions which influence the Islamic-Malay voters in Kedah from 2008 to 2016.Keywords: Islamic-Malay politic, political tsunami, political revolution ABSTRAK: Artikel ini membincangkan mengenai transisi politik Melayu-Islam melalui fokus di negeri Kedah bermula dari tahun 2008 hingga krisis pertukaran Menteri Besar pada 2016. Dinamika perubahan politik Melayu-Islam di Kedah bermula secara drastik selepas berlangsungnya pilihan raya umum ke-12 sehingga ke-13 yang lalu. Pelbagai isu berkaitan kepentingan masyarakat yang timbul menjelang pilihan raya umum ke-12 lalu telah mempengaruhi sokongan pengundi Melayu-Islam di Kedah. Kemunculan tsunami politik telah memberi peluang kepada parti oposisi khususnya PAS untuk mentadbir Kedah buat kali pertama semenjak merdeka. Sepanjang tempoh pentadbiran PAS di Kedah, dasar-dasar baru telah diperkenalkan oleh kerajaan negeri sehingga menghasilkan pelbagai impak politik, ekonomi dan sosial khususnya dalam memperkukuhkan kedudukan Melayu-Islam. Namun, kedudukan PAS di Kedah semakin terancam menjelang pilihan raya umum ke-13 menerusi pelbagai krisis dalam politik peringkat negeri dan isu-isu semasa yang gagal ditangani sebaiknya oleh parti berkenaan. Kerencaman isu yang berbangkit menyebabkan UMNO berjaya menguasai semula kerajaan yang sebelumnya ditadbir oleh PAS. Trend kepimpinan dalam tempoh tujuh tahun memperlihatkan bahawa wujudnya kedinamikan politik dalam kalangan pengundi-pengundi Melayu-Islam yang merupakan masyarakat dominan di negeri berkenaan. Oleh hal demikian, artikel ini secara terperinci mengupas isu-isu, perkembangan dan penyelesaian yang mempengaruhi pengundi-pengundi Melayu-Islam khususnya di negeri Kedah dari 2008 hingga 2016. Kata kunci: Politik Melayu-Islam, tsunami politik, perubahan politik

scholarly journals A Panel Evaluation of the Changes in the General Public’s Social-Media-Following of United States’ Public Health Departments during COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 215013272199545
Author(s):  
Areej Khokhar ◽  
Aaron Spaulding ◽  
Zuhair Niazi ◽  
Sikander Ailawadhi ◽  
Rami Manochakian ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
State Level ◽  
The State ◽  
Public Health Department ◽  
Health Departments ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Health Departments ◽  
The Social ◽  
The U.S

Importance: Social media is widely used by various segments of society. Its role as a tool of communication by the Public Health Departments in the U.S. remains unknown. Objective: To determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on social media following of the Public Health Departments of the 50 States of the U.S. Design, Setting, and Participants: Data were collected by visiting the Public Health Department web page for each social media platform. State-level demographics were collected from the U.S. Census Bureau. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention was utilized to collect information regarding the Governance of each State’s Public Health Department. Health rankings were collected from “America’s Health Rankings” 2019 Annual report from the United Health Foundation. The U.S. News and World Report Education Rankings were utilized to provide information regarding the public education of each State. Exposure: Data were pulled on 3 separate dates: first on March 5th (baseline and pre-national emergency declaration (NED) for COVID-19), March 18th (week following NED), and March 25th (2 weeks after NED). In addition, a variable identifying the total change across platforms was also created. All data were collected at the State level. Main Outcome: Overall, the social media following of the state Public Health Departments was very low. There was a significant increase in the public interest in following the Public Health Departments during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: With the declaration of National Emergency, there was a 150% increase in overall public following of the State Public Health Departments in the U.S. The increase was most noted in the Midwest and South regions of the U.S. The overall following in the pandemic “hotspots,” such as New York, California, and Florida, was significantly lower. Interesting correlations were noted between various demographic variables, health, and education ranking of the States and the social media following of their Health Departments. Conclusion and Relevance: Social media following of Public Health Departments across all States of the U.S. was very low. Though, the social media following significantly increased during the early course of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it still remains low. Significant opportunity exists for Public Health Departments to improve social media use to engage the public better.

Institutional pressures influencing environmental management accounting adoption by Malaysian local governments

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Che Ku Hisam Che Ku Kassim ◽  
Noor Liza Adnan ◽  
Roziani Ali
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
State Government ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Management Accounting ◽  
The State ◽  
Institutional Pressures ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Reporting Practices ◽  
Environmental Management Accounting

Purpose Because of the heightened environmental awareness of the public, local governments (LGs) are being pressured to improve on the extent and quality of environmental disclosures (EDs) provided in an array of reporting media. The lack of an accounting tool to identify, measure and report EDs has propelled the infusion of environmental management accounting (EMA) to support the reporting practices. This paper aims to examine the institutional pressures influencing EMA adoption by Malaysian LGs. Design/methodology/approach Using the consensus approach, a self-administered questionnaire survey is conducted on accountants in LGs in Peninsular Malaysia. The items in the questionnaire are based on the findings of prior studies on EMA adoption. Findings The results suggest that coercive isomorphism from the state government is perceived to be the influential institutional factor placing intense pressures on LGs to adopt EMA. Research limitations/implications The results solidify the potential role of the state government in any public policy changes which could further stimulate and promote the adoption of EMA. Originality/value Insufficient empirical evidence on the adoption of EMA in LGs within a developing country’s perspective contributes to a limited understanding on the development of environmental-related practices in different economic stages and environment as well as within the public sector’s perspective.

The Other Muslim Bans

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-38
Author(s):  
Will Smiley
Keyword(s):  
Security Policy ◽  
Islamic Law ◽  
State Level ◽  
The State ◽  
The Other ◽  
State Court ◽  
Court Cases ◽  
State Laws ◽  
Foreign Law ◽  
Muslim Majority

This Article addresses and critiques the case for state-level legislative bans on courts citing “Islamic law” or the law of Muslim-majority countries. In particular, the Article reviews the most substantive evidence adduced by the bans’ supporters, in the form of a set of state court cases published by the Center for Security Policy (CSP). Very few of these cases, in fact, show courts actually applying Islamic or foreign law, and in none of these cases would the various forms of proposed legislation have been likely to alter the result. Thus even this report does not suggest a need for the state laws purporting to ban sharīʿa. The Article thus argues that even if these bans are not unconstitutionally discriminatory in their effect, they are ineffective at achieving their claimed purpose. This Article was originally published as an Occasional Paper in the Harvard Papers in Islamic Law series in 2018.

ISO 9001 and the public service: an investigation of the effect of the QMS on the quality of public service organizations

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Armando López-Lemus
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Service Quality ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Public Services ◽  
The State ◽  
Iso 9001 ◽  
Knowledge Generation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the influence exerted by a quality management system (QMS) under ISO 9001: 2015 on the quality of public services organizations in Mexico. Design/methodology/approach The methodological design was quantitative, explanatory, observational and transversal, for which a sample of 461 public servants from the state of Guanajuato, Mexico was obtained. To test the hypotheses, a structural equation model (SEM) was developed through the statistical software Amos v.21. For the analysis of the data, software SPSS v.21 was used. Regarding the goodness and adjustment indices of the SEM (χ2 = 720.09, df = 320, CFI = 0.933, TLI = 0.926 and RMSEA = 0.05) which, therefore, proved to be acceptable. Findings According to the results obtained through the SEM model, the QMS under ISO 9001: 2015 is positively and significantly influenced tangible aspects (β1 = 0.79, p < 0.01), reliability (β2 = 0.90, p < 0.01), related to response quality (β3 = 0.93, p < 0.01), guarantees (β4 = 0.91, p < 0.01) and empathy (β5 = 0.88, p < 0.01) of the quality related to public services in Mexico. The study’s key contribution is that it discovered that implementing a QMS in accordance with the ISO 9001: 2015 standard has an impact on the quality of public services, with the most influential quality of response. Similarly, the assurance and dependability of service quality turned out to be important in providing public service quality. Research limitations/implications In this paper, the QMS was only evaluated as a variable that intervenes in the process of obtaining quality in public service under the ISO 9001 standard in its 2015 version. In this regard, the results’ trustworthiness is limited to the extent that the findings may be generalized in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico’s public service. As a result, the scientific community is left primarily focused on service quality to promote new future research. Practical implications The ISO 9001: 2015 standard’s QMS is one of the tools for success in both the commercial and government sectors. However, there are practical limitations, which focus on the time during which managers exercise their vision in the public sector: first, the dynamics that managers play in public policy; second, the length of time they have served in public office; and third, the interest of directors of public institutions to improve the quality of service provided by the government. Other practical consequences concern organizational culture and identity, public servant commitment, senior management or secretaries of government, as well as work and training. Originality/value The findings of this paper are important and valuable because they foster knowledge generation in the public sector through the ISO 9000 quality area. A model that permits the adoption and implementation of a QMS based on the ISO 9001: 2015 standard in public organizations that seek to provide quality in their services offered to the user is also presented to the literature. Similarly, the paper is important because there is currently insufficient research focusing on the variables examined in the context of public service in Mexico.

scholarly journals Minister-Permanent Secretary Relationships: Lessons from Zimbabwe’s Government of national Unity

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 23
Author(s):  
Tawanda Zinyama ◽  
Joseph Tinarwo
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Large Degree ◽  
The State ◽  
Team Work ◽  
The Political ◽  
National Unity ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Government

Public administration is carried out through the public service. Public administration is an instrument of the State which is expected to implement the policy decisions made from the political and legislative processes. The rationale of this article is to assess the working relationships between ministers and permanent secretaries in the Government of National Unity in Zimbabwe. The success of the Minister depends to a large degree on the ability and goodwill of a permanent secretary who often has a very different personal or professional background and whom the minster did not appoint. Here lies the vitality of the permanent secretary institution. If a Minister decides to ignore the advice of the permanent secretary, he/she may risk of making serious errors. The permanent secretary is the key link between the democratic process and the public service. This article observed that the mere fact that the permanent secretary carries out the political, economic and social interests and functions of the state from which he/she derives his/her authority and power; and to which he/she is accountable,  no permanent secretary is apolitical and neutral to the ideological predisposition of the elected Ministers. The interaction between the two is a political process. Contemporary administrator requires complex team-work and the synthesis of diverse contributions and view-points.

Providing a Base for Executive Development at the State Level

1993 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 269-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Montgomery Van Wart
Keyword(s):  
Special Needs ◽  
Human Resource Development ◽  
Human Resource ◽  
State Government ◽  
State Level ◽  
Resource Development ◽  
The State ◽  
Executive Development ◽  
Human Resource Systems ◽  
Four Levels

Executive development can only be properly conceptualized as a part of the state's overall human resource development (HRD) system. As a part of that system, the special needs and constraints of executive development can be addressed. Some of the best human resource development systems build level by level, with executive development as the logical and integrated conclusion, even though the programs may be housed in a variety of settings. As background, this article discusses the differences in the four levels of HRD, the three major skill areas that are identified with each of these levels, and the four features that characterize good human resource systems. It concentrates on the features that characterize good executive development systems and also includes a number of examples of good executive development systems in the federal and state government sectors.

Comparable Worth: The Problematic Politicization of a Public Personnel Issue

1987 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brent S. Steel ◽  
Nicholas P. Lovrich
Keyword(s):  
State Government ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Washington State ◽  
Comparable Worth ◽  
Employee Behavior ◽  
Pay Equity ◽  
Equity Issue ◽  
The Public ◽  
Federal Workforce ◽  
Made In

The issue of comparable worth arose as a result of the discovery of serious gender inequities in the operation of the compensation system of Washington State government. Subsequent developments elsewhere have further added to the salience of the pay equity issue. In the context of this highly charged political context, what attitudes toward pay and compensation do women in the public service tend to hold? On the basis of employee surveys conducted in both the State of Washington and among the U.S. federal workforce, findings are reported that suggest that women are less likely to be dissatisfied with their pay than men. The implications of these findings are discussed, both with respect to the future politicization of the comparable worth issue and the proper assumptions to be made in conceptualizing the motivational basis of public employee behavior.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document