scholarly journals The comparative triad "state-education-church" in Ukraine and some countries of Western Europe

2014 ◽  
pp. 53-60
Author(s):  
Yaroslav Stockiy

The urgency of the topic is due to the lack of research on the problem of the school curriculum with regard to the special elective course "Fundamentals of Christian ethics", its curriculum, the professionalism of teachers, the role of students in education, certain religious uniqueness in polyconfessional Ukraine, and comparison with religious studies in public, private or church schools of some Western European countries.

2018 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zuzana Žilinčíková ◽  
Nicole Hiekel

Using longitudinal panel data from the Generations and Gender Surveys on 2,847 cohabiters from seven countries, we examine the role of marital attitudes in the transition from cohabitation to marriage and compare the strength of this association between Western and Eastern Europe. We expect a positive attitude towards marriage to increase the likelihood of cohabiters marrying. We also expect the association between personal attitudes and marriage formation to be weaker among cohabiters from Eastern Europe, due to stronger normative pressure to marry in contexts where cohabitation is less prevalent. In both Eastern and Western European countries, we find a clear positive association between favourable views on marriage among cohabiters and their entry into marriage. Contrary to our expectations, we find evidence that this association is weaker in Western Europe. We discuss this finding in light of the greater postponement of marriage among Western European cohabiters, even among those with a positive attitude towards marriage, as well as the potentially greater significance of life course events and transitions that influence their decision to marry more strongly than is the case for their Eastern European counterparts. This study extends the literature on the relationship trajectories of cohabiters by drawing attention to the normative context that may shape cohabiters’ opportunities and constrain behavioural choice in the marriage formation process. Ultimately, it contributes to an understanding of the consequences of the societal diffusion of cohabitation in Europe.


Author(s):  
L.V. Moldavan

The main factors of social component of multifunctional purpose are revealed, the main of which are the limited spheres of employment of rural population, the village-forming mission of agricultural enterprises, due to their attachment to real estate, which is permanently located within a certain radius around these settlements and the mission of a single source of food for society and the arrangement of agricultural areas, preserving the fertility of land for the needs of future generations. The dependence of the employment of the rural population on the conditions of its access to agricultural lands and social (collective) forms of organization of small farms for joint use of lands and joint production activities is substantiated, the peculiarities of these organizational and legal forms common in Western European practice are analyzed. The essence of the state policy aimed at the rational distribution of agricultural land in the interests of the peasantry and society as a whole, and to encourage owners (tenants) of small plots of land to unite for joint activities as a factor, which influence on effective employment of the united entities management. The role of diversification of agricultural production in increasing farm incomes and creating additional jobs is substantiated. An analysis of the most common in Western European practice areas of diversification related to the development of agritourism and processing of agricultural products, which are a continuation of agricultural activities. The role of cooperative forms of agricultural processing organizations in increasing the profits of its producers and creating additional jobs for the rural population is shown. The importance of including in the social function of agriculture, the maintenance of food balance of society, which is the basis for food security and food independence of the country and the state's influence on the production of low-cost, but physiologically necessary food products is studied. Proposals were made to improve agricultural policy and the institutional and legal environment to support the implementation of agriculture's social mission, taking into account the experience gained in Western Europe and other countries.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 413-426 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Gerged ◽  
Mohamed Elheddad

Purpose As the international society faces unprecedented challenges associated with resource scarcity, governance scandals, increasing injustice and inequality, new opportunities for higher education institutions are emerging. This paper aims to investigate the association between national governance standards and education quality across nine western European countries, namely, the UK, Germany, France, Finland, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark and Ireland. Design/methodology/approach Using panel data from 2002 to 2017, this paper uses fixed-effects and random-effects models to examine the relationship between national governance (proxied by voice and accountability (V&A) indicator) and education quality (proxied by human development index: education index). This analysis is supplemented with conducting instrumental variable (IV) estimations to address any concerns regarding the expected occurrence of endogeneity problems. Findings The findings are suggestive of a significant and positive relationship between national governance and education quality in Europe. This implies that national governance standards, such as V&A, are essential actors in the enhancement of the quality of educational institutions’ outcomes. Research limitations/implications Policymakers should implement stricter regulations and ensure that accountability indicators are motivated if they wish to increase the spending on education, which is associated with better qualities of educational institutions. A culture of continuous review of education policies needs to be upheld in the Western Europe region to be watchful of any emerging problems while maintaining a sustainable relationship between the rule of law and the education administration. Originality/value So far, a minimal number of studies focussed on examining the role of country-level governance in advancing education quality. This study, therefore, extends the body of prior literature by investigating the possible effect of national governance structures on education quality across a sample of Western European countries.


Author(s):  
Lorenzo Zanella

Morphological variation of central-western European populations of Abax parallelepipedus was studied in order to revise the microsystematics of this species. Original descriptions and systematic revisions published since the second half of the 18th century are discussed. Biometric variables and morphometric indexes were evaluated on 792 specimens sampled from several European countries. The data were statistically analysed in order to discriminate the populations significantly differentiated from the nominotypical form. Features of male genitalia are also discussed. The results attest that the morphological variation becomes more relevant among populations inhabiting alpine environments and the Italian ones show the most distinctive modifications of somatic and/or aedeagic traits. On the basis of these results, A. p. euganensis Schatzmayr, 1944 is resurrected from synonymy with A. p. inferior, whereas the following new synonymies are proposed:Abax parallelepipedus parallelepipedus (Piller & Mitterpacher, 1783) = A. p. subpunctatus (Dejean, 1828) syn. nov. = A. p. audouini (L. Dufour, 1851) syn. nov. = A. p. germanus Schauberger, 1927 syn. nov.Abax parallelepipedus inferior (Seidlitz, 1887) = A. p. alpigradus Schauberger, 1927 (sensu Schatzmayr, 1944) syn. nov.A phylogeographical scenario is hypothesized and discussed in the light of the collected data.


Author(s):  
Daniel Strobl ◽  
Hanna Bäck ◽  
Wolfgang C. Müller ◽  
Mariyana Angelova

AbstractThis article investigates whether governing parties strategically time austerity policies to help them win re-election. It contributes to existing research by focusing directly on government policy output, analyzing over 1,200 welfare and taxation austerity measures in thirteen Western European countries over twenty years. In line with previous research, the authors find that governments become less likely to introduce austerity measures as elections approach. The study introduces original hypotheses about which governments have theabilityandopportunityto strategically time policy decisions. The authors suggest that minimal winning cabinets with leadership change (new prime ministers) face less complex bargaining environments and can credibly shift responsibility for austerity measures to the preceding government. The empirical analyses show that these governments are most likely to strategically time austerity policies.


2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Serdar Kaya

AbstractThis study creates an index that reveals the extent to which Western European countries accommodate Islamic traditions and practices. The index covers six realms in which Muslim communities seek accommodation: (1) education, (2) chaplaincy services, (3) mosques, (4) cemeteries, (5) Islamic attire, and (6) halal food. The study examines and quantifies the state policies in twenty Western European countries on both national and municipal levels with a particular focus on actual implementation. Results indicate that Western European countries vary widely in terms of their accommodation of Islam. There are also notable within-country differences, due in part to regional governments, as they also make and/or implement policy decisions. Both between- and within-country variations in the accommodation of Islam reveal a variety of nuances, and blur dual categories, such as ethnic-civic and assimilationist-integrationist.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 78-90
Author(s):  
Maxim Kulaga

The problem of regulating migration flows in the European Union has existed for a long time and is becomingmore difficult and complex every year. Due to the complexity of the distribution of migrants among the member countries of the organization, as well as the divergence of domestic interests of individual countries and the pan-European policy vector, internal opposition arises, which is expressed in protests and political initiatives that radicalize society. Such trends are developing especially actively in the countries of Western Europe, the most economically developed and progressive, which have taken over most of the legal migrants who have arrived. The migration policy of Western European countries has undergone a very strong metamorphosis over the past five years. Since the beginning of the migration crisis in 2015, it is possible to trace a significant strengthening and tightening of measures regulating the situation of migrants on the territory of states. It should be noted that during the same period, a new round of development of radical parties followed in many European countries, but it was in Western European countries that radical changes in politics took place. It is quite difficult to determine what impact migrants have on the state of the economy of states, as well as their relations with the indigenous inhabitants of Western European countries. Accordingly, the purpose of this article will be to consider the socio-economic impact of migrants on the countries of Western Europe during the period of radicalization of the policy of the states of the region in the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Among the methods used in this study, it is necessary to distinguish empirical and theoretical ones, such as comparison, analysis and synthesis. The sources were considered on the basis of a system-structural approach to the study of complex political and social processes and phenomena, taking into account many aspects of the development of modern society and the political process in the countries. The analysis of the current situation was carried out on the basis of the principles of historicism, cultural and political continuity. The results of this study can be used in the future to form effective methods of countering social conflicts arising as a result of migration.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 40-46
Author(s):  
Lisa M. James ◽  
Apostolos P. Georgopoulos

Human leukocyte antigen (HLA), a system involved in immune response to foreign antigens and in autoimmunity, has been strongly implicated in multiple sclerosis (MS). Prior research has shown that HLA DRB1*15:01 exerts the strongest susceptibility effect, although other HLA alleles have been implicated in both susceptibility to, and protection against, MS. Here we utilized an immunogenetic epidemiological approach to evaluate correlations between the population frequencies of 127 HLA Class I and II alleles and the population prevalence of MS in 14 Continental Western European countries to identify an HLA profile for MS. The results of these analyses, which largely corroborated prior findings and revealed several novel and highly robust HLA associations with MS, revealed a larger number of protective HLA alleles than susceptibility alleles, particularly for HLA Class I. Given the role of HLA in pathogen elimination and autoimmunity, these findings point to a contributory role of exposure to pathogens in the absence of protective HLA in underlying the inflammation and autoimmunity associated with MS.


Author(s):  
Fredric Jameson ◽  
Stathis Kouvelakis

This chapter examines the role of collective narrative in Theo Angelopoulos' films from the 1970s. It begins with the premise that ‘our failure to grant Theo Angelopoulos the position he deserves in modern cinema’ stems from the fact that modern Greek history remains ‘far less familiar than that of the Western European countries’. It argues that ‘Greece has gone through a collective experience of which most other modern nations have only known bits and pieces’, and considers some of the ways that Angelopoulos depicts this experience as a kind of modern epic. The chapter analyses some of Angelopoulos' first films, including The Travelling Players, Reconstruction and The Hunters.


2021 ◽  
pp. 81-123
Author(s):  
Lieven De Winter ◽  
Patrick Dumont

While Belgium undoubtedly had the most complex coalition bargaining system in Western Europe during the period 1946–1999, it has become much more difficult for parties to form federal governments ever since. Contrary to a number of European countries, government formation complexity did not peak due the emergence of brand-new parties, nor of any new cleavage. Rather, in Belgium the main ingredients pre-existed: party system fragmentation—which was already high since unitary parties had split along linguistic lines—skyrocketed as the mainstream parties around which post-war coalitions were formed further declined in size, confronting some (in)formateurs with up to ten coalitionable parties. Their task has been further complicated by the growing saliency and Flemish radicalization of the community cleavage which led to the rise of the independentist N-VA, whose positions remain unacceptable for any French-speaking party. As a result, Belgium has often been left without a fully empowered government, the partisan composition of coalitions broke away from previous patterns, and the coalition compromise model, which was already solidly entrenched in the consociational norms and practices since the 1960s, was further elaborated. Coalition partners keep tabs on each other through compromise mechanisms and policy-monitoring devices such as long and detailed coalition agreements, the enhanced role of the inner cabinet composed of the PM and the vice-PMs of each coalition party, and strictly enforced coalition discipline in legislative matters. But, given the increasingly unbridgeable divides between Flemish- and French-speaking parties, the deadlock observed could well lead to the demise of Belgium.


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