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Do reserved seats yield substantive representation for traditionally marginalized groups? To answer that question, we turn to a remarkable and little-studied institution: reserved seats for Native American tribes in the Maine House of Representatives. Tribal representatives, who can participate in debate but lack a vote, have represented tribes in Maine’s House of Representatives since statehood in 1820. We take advantage of a 1995 rule change that allowed tribal representatives to initiate legislation, and an original dataset of pro-tribal bills, to estimate the effect of reserved seats on the production of pro-tribal bills. We find that once tribal representatives were allowed to write bills, they produced over half of all tribal-related legislation during a 36-year period. Legislators with tribal constituents sponsored fewer relevant bills after the reform but continued to cosponsor pro-tribal legislation. Although our results show tribal representatives contribute to the legislative process, we caution that reserved seats are not a panacea for improving Indigenous representation.

Abortion is the fifth highest cause of maternal mortality. Legal abortions are called abortus provocatus medicinalis and those that are illegal are called abortus provocatus criminalis. Indonesian law prohibits abortion except indications of medical emergencies and the consequences of rape. This study aims to determine the legal consequences of someone who failed an abortion and the legal protection of the doctor who treated her.This legal research uses a juridical normative with a conceptual and legislative approach.The results of the perpetrators and those who helped the abortion that caused medical emergencies to be threatened with Criminal Code Article 53. They cannot be convicted if in accordance with professional standards and standard operating procedures.The conclusion and suggestion are the doctor cannot be convicted as a criminal offender or as an assistant to an abortion crime if it can be proven that an abortion is carried out in emergency condition to save mother or fetus and prevent disability. The government needs to make laws that regulate who will carry out safe, qualitative and responsible abortions. Abortion is the fifth highest cause of maternal mortality. Legal abortions are called abortus provocatus medicinalis and those that are illegal are called abortus provocatus criminalis. Indonesian law prohibits abortion except indications of medical emergencies and the consequences of rape. This study aims to determine the legal consequences of someone who failed an abortion and the legal protection of the doctor who treated her.This legal research uses a juridical normative with a conceptual and legislative approach.The results of the perpetrators and those who helped the abortion that caused medical emergencies to be threatened with Criminal Code Article 53. They cannot be convicted if in accordance with professional standards and standard operating procedures.The conclusion and suggestion are the doctor cannot be convicted as a criminal offender or as an assistant to an abortion crime if it can be proven that an abortion is carried out in emergency condition to save mother or fetus and prevent disability. The government needs to make laws that regulate who will carry out safe, qualitative and responsible abortions.

Iraq suffers from economic and social problems and challenges, the most important one which is unemployment and the weak ability to generate income and employment. The importance of the benefiting from the experiences of countries in the field of developing small projects, where the active role of the state in drawing the features of a strategy to enhance the competitive advantages of projects in an attempt to overcome the obstacles that these projects suffer from, whether in terms of administrative aspects or the absence of organizations responsible for guiding investors or in terms of commercial and technical support The financial environment and the lack of an institutional framework and an incubating legislative environment, as well as infrastructure as basic ingredients for the development of the small projects. The small projects sector has the ability to achieve economic and social benefits due to its major role in expanding the production base, diversifying sources of income, creating job opportunities for the unemployed, especially young people, and expanding the investment circle. In Iraq, we find that small and medium-sized projects that have stopped working for several reasons need great support in light of the difficult circumstances that are characterized by the instability of the economic situation and the situation in the Iraqi market of dumping various commodities, the high general level of prices, the lack of influence of the exchange rate on local prices and the lack of profitable investment opportunities The absence of credit facilities. Where all these factors combine to pose difficult challenges for owners of small and medium projects to be reflected on the Iraqi economy.

Recent policies have restricted the rights of the US transgender people; there is a need to explore transgender people’s knowledge and attitudes regarding such policies and related mental health. In 2019, 580 transgender adults living in the Northeastern US completed a survey assessing demographics, knowledge/attitudes toward transgender-related policies, and mental health. Multivariable logistic regression models, adjusted for age, gender, race, and prior abuse, were fit to examine the association of concerns about the implementation of discriminatory policies and depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Many participants were confused about the status of federal and state protections for transgender people, and 48.4% were concerned that their state would pass policies that took away transgender rights. In adjusted models, compared to participants who were not concerned, those who were concerned about the enactment of state-level, anti-transgender policies had greater odds of depression, anxiety, and PTSD (p

The present study used a minority stress theory framework to investigate the direct and indirect relations of minority stressors (transgender discrimination experiences, internalized transphobia, identity nondisclosure), sense of belonging, and hopelessness with depression and anxiety symptoms in a sample of 301 trans and gender-diverse adults living in the United States. This study also explored the moderating effect of having knowledge of antitrans legislative efforts in one's state of residence on the overall pattern of results through a nested model comparison of the hypothesized path analysis. Participants were recruited using Internet-based forums, listservs, and social media, and survey data were collected online. Significant moderation effects were found, such that for those who reported having knowledge of antitrans legislative efforts in their state of residence reported a stronger association of external stressors (discrimination) than internal stressors (internalized transphobia, identity nondisclosure) on sense of belonging and hopelessness than their peers who did not have any knowledge of such legislative efforts. Furthermore, hopelessness emerged as a stronger predictor for those who were aware of antitrans legislative efforts. Implications of study findings for counseling, advocacy, and future research are discussed.

This paper argues for a reorientation of how we think about ethnic voting, away from an exclusive focus on voters to one that links voter behavior to the supply side of candidates. It introduces the concept of choice set, or the set of choices a voter sees on the ballot on election day, and shows that the modal choice set in three legislative elections – Kenya (2007), Ghana (2008), and Uganda (2011) – is not the mixed co-ethnic/non-co-ethnic set assumed in much of the literature on ethnic voting in Africa. Most African voters in fact see ballots that consist of either all co-ethnics or no co-ethnics. These uniform choice sets constrain choice in ways that predetermine behavior. Moreover, breaking behavior into choice and choice set reveals that differences in prevalence rates of co-ethnic voting across cases is driven as much by the choices voters see on their ballots as the choices they make in the voting booth. Shifting from choice to choice set thus induces us to identify and theorize factors shaping electoral outcomes in Africa beyond those rooted in individual voter psychology: the entry decisions of candidates and parties, constituency boundaries, and the distribution of groups across geography.

OBJECTIVE The U.S. declared the opioid epidemic as a national public health emergency in 2017. Given the strong and bidirectional relationship between trauma and substance misuse, policy responses to this crisis that reflect principles of trauma-informed care are especially salient. This study is the first to use trauma-informed policy analysis to systematically assess the U.S. Congressional response to the opioid epidemic. METHOD We used policy mapping methods to build and analyze a dataset of all opioid-related bills and resolutions proposed in Congress between 2009 and 2017 (N = 188). Following an established trauma-informed policy analysis framework, 2 researchers reviewed these policies and coded their incorporation of trauma-specific language and the principles of safety; choice; trust and transparency; collaboration and peer support; empowerment; and intersectionality. We calculated coding frequencies in these categories and rates of intercoder agreement. RESULTS A minority of policies (10.6%) directly mentioned trauma and 55% of policies incorporated at least 1 trauma-informed principle. Safety was the most commonly coded principle (38.3%), while intersectionality was the least (6.9%). CONCLUSIONS Our analysis found limited attention to trauma in opioid-related federal legislation. Based on these findings and following the example of coalitions such as the Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice, advocates can mobilize for better inclusion of trauma-informed principles in opioid policy. Further, this study demonstrates the feasibility of applying the trauma-informed policy analysis framework to code Congressional policies using publicly available data, a replicable methodology with potential application at federal and state levels. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

School managers, teachers, students, as well as their parents are faced with increasingly frequent attempts to integrate the diversity of pupils as a result of integration policies at national and European level. Educational needs of impaired persons require special attention. Is necessary to make steps should be taken to ensure access to education for each category of disabled person as part of the education system. Legislative framework in the field of special education Romania takes into account the legislation created by the international bodies on the education of persons with special educational needs, to which Romania has adhered. This paper presents aspects regarding the organization of educational support services dedicated to children, students and young people with special educational needs in mainstream schools in accordance with Romanian law; it also underlines the international legal framework of reference.This paper is part of a wider project that focuses on teacher training to optimize the integration of SEN pupils into the mainstream school; we used data collection methods, such as social document study and focus-group. An integrated and tailored approach is needed for children with SEN (special educational needs); focus-groups organized with primary school and gymnasium children, as well as with support teachers, revealed a number of adaptation issues from both sides (pupils with SEN and students with no problems). On the other hand, the itinerant teachers are assaulted by a series organization problems and it becomes impossible to provide support and assistance to children with special needs who are growing in numbers.Training of teachers is one of the most important pillars in the integration of all those involved in education, it is the way to optimize service organizations. Teacher training must respond to the real and complex needs of the beneficiaries, based on exploratory learning.In the final, will be presented and analyzed the main important problems faced by both teachers and pupils in the current educational context. Keywords: special education, educational needs, integration policies, children, teachers

The Model Penal Code’s “De Minimis” provisions (§ 2.12) cover different kinds of case in which, for reasons of equity, a prosecution should be dismissed. An exploration of these different cases illuminates some important general issues about the structure of the criminal process, and about the processes of criminalization. These include the significance of the difference between dismissing a case and acquitting the defendant, and of the distinction between offences and defenses; whether criminal offences should always be so defined that they specify at least a pro tanto wrong, or may sometimes legitimately specify only a prima facie wrong — and whether this is consistent with the presumption of innocence; what kinds of conduct we can properly be expected to answer for in a criminal court; and the proper division of labor, and of responsibilities, between legislatures, prosecutors and courts in determining what kinds of conduct are to be defined and treated as criminal wrongs.

This paper presents systems to extract measures for legislators' engagement and absence during committee meetings and the stance and affiliation of non-lawmakers making public comments. We propose a system to track the affiliation of organizations in public comments and whether the organizational representative supports or opposes the bill.

This paper presents existing linkages within the spheres of government on plant health institutional and legislative framework and further identifies the existing limitations and risks on the current existing framework on the plant health system. A survey was conducted in South Africa with the relevant scientists from the National Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) formerly known as the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) and Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) formerly known as Department of Environmental Affair (DEA) as well as extensionist and agricultural advisors from 7 Provincial Departments of Agriculture (PDAs). The sample size of the study was 60 government officials from both the national and provincial departments of agriculture. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. The data were analysed statistically using the one-way frequency and Spearman’s Rank correlation coefficients. This paper revealed that there were no formal linkages between the relevant national government and PDAs in terms of legislative and policy prescripts on plant health issues. The study further revealed that there is a need to establish a plant health unit to coordinate plant health matters from the National Plant Protection Organisation of South Africa. On the aspect of biosecurity legislative framework affecting food production and security as well as trade, the study found that there is no cross-referencing amongst relevant legislation; therefore, there is a need for harmonisation of relevant legislation.

In this article, we examine how an Operational Research (OR) modeling approach can help in identifying how structural components in the supply process of a food product subject to a small probability of almost immediate failure affects the amount of waste arising at the retailer. This process can be viewed as the cumulative effect of various possible causes, including (apparent) product flaws and breakage. This category of waste, in contrast to products that are removed based on reaching their best before or use-by date, are also having little potential for redistribtion, and may thus be most targeted in future waste reduction legislative initiatives. We develop some relatively easy to calculate measures to help a retailer with identifying the financial implications of waste production in relation to some supply source characteristics, the financial motivation of its supplier to tackle item deterioration at the retailer level, and how this is affected by the level of logistics collaboration. We also discuss how the model can help in deriving the relative benefit of technological, logistical, supplier selection, and marketing strategies available to the retailer to meet future legislative waste reduction targets, and derive conclusions with respect to the design of legislative instruments.

Immigration is changing the face of Western European electorates. Do politicians discriminate against the growing number of constituents with an immigration background? While ethnic distance can explain lower responsiveness to outgroup constituents, shared partisanship might mitigate discrimination. We examine this issue through an audit experiment with more than 1,500 MPs in fifteen German state legislatures. We find that politicians are eleven percentage points less likely to respond to a constituent’s email asking for a personal meeting if the sender has an immigrant background. Surprisingly, there is no difference in rates of discrimination between leftist and rightist parties. We also find evidence that signaling partisanship can mitigate the immigrant-background effect. Our results have important implications for the study of immigration and political representation in contemporary Western Europe.

Committee seats endow holders with both policy influence and labor obligation. These benefits and costs present the organizational majority with an interesting choice: how many seats should it allocate to the opposition? We present a theoretical framework for understanding the allocation of committee seats by the majority coalition that incorporates both procedural and electoral concerns in the decision calculus and predict that when the majority is strong, the minority will be overrepresented on committees, but when the majority is weak, the minority will be underrepresented. Mechanistic, institutional, and contextual moderators to this choice framework are also discussed. We test our predictions by examining original data on the composition of over 2,000 committees across 98 American state and federal legislative chambers. The analysis yields strong support for our central predictions while suggesting interesting and intuitive contextual constraints on the majority’s tendency to exploit its position.

The aim of this publication is to present the dysfunction that the Polish legislator (in this role de facto politicians) has had for many years in the inadequate use of the nomenclature in the space of public and legal tributes for the term tax and fee. For the above research purpose the author has used, in principle, the doctrinal views according to which the use of the name fee for benefits fulfilling all the characteristics of a tax is undoubtedly worthy of unambiguous criticism. All this is done in order to obtain budgetary revenues by concealing subsequent taxes under the name of fees so as not to arouse negative emotions among citizens, nolens volens future voters, and representatives of the faithful electorate. Założeniem niniejszego artykułu jest przedstawienie dysfunkcji, która sprawia, że polski ustawodawca (w tej roli de facto politycy) nieadekwatnie stosuje nazewnictwo w przestrzeni danin publicznoprawnych na określenie podatku i opłaty. W powyższym celu badawczym autor wykorzystał poglądy doktrynalne, według których bez wątpienia na jednoznaczną krytykę zasługuje używanie nazwy „opłata” na świadczenia mające wszelkie cechy podatku. A wszystko to dla pozyskania wpływów budżetowych poprzez zabieg polegający na ukrywaniu kolejnych podatków pod nazwą „opłata”, aby nie wzbudzać negatywnych emocji wśród obywateli – przyszłych wyborców i przedstawicieli wiernego elektoratu.

Purpose There has been almost no scholarly work on the challenges of money laundering in sovereign states that use the US dollar as their currency of choice. This study aims to break the silence by highlighting how money laundering thrives in these situations mainly due to lack of or weak regulation of the US dollar by both the adopting states and the USA. Design/methodology/approach The research depended on various secondary data sources. It is an adapted academic version of a shorter piece for a professional magazine for professionals in the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Field. Findings Preliminary findings show that due to the lack of regulation of the US dollar in dollarized economies, unscrupulous politicians, organized criminal gangs and multinational corporations among others can use a variation of the Black Market Peso Exchange (BMPE) to counteract money laundering controls and launder ill-gotten gains from crimes such as corruption, transnational crimes and tax evasion. Furthermore, ordinary citizens, migrant workers and small businesses avoiding stringent exchange rates are also using the black market, posing a further challenge to the law enforcement authorities. Practical implications The practical implications of this paper relate to how the mutations of money laundering techniques, as they are adopted by criminals, to operate in different conditions are making it difficult not only to dictate but also to address using traditional AML techniques. Social implications BMPE has far reaching social consequences. Hence, this study is significant to instigate a search for solutions and for further detailed studies into the money laundering techniques in countries that do not have a sovereign currency. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper to discuss the unique challenges faced by countries that have adopted the US dollar for domestic use. The paper also shows how dollarization is a modest reminder that money laundering technique such as the BMPE can evolve to counter the legislative and regulatory environment of the various jurisdictions in which they are laundered.

Medication reviews are effective in improving the quality of medication use among older people. However, they are conducted to various standards resulting in a wide range of outcomes which limit generalisability of findings arising from research studies. There also appear to be funding and time constraints, lack of data storage for quality improvement purposes, and non-standardised reporting of outcomes, especially clinically relevant outcomes. Furthermore, the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic has restricted many face-to-face activities, including medication reviews. This article introduces a technology-enabled approach to medication reviews that may overcome some limitations with current medication review processes, and also make it possible to conduct medication reviews during the COVID-19 pandemic by providing an alternate platform. The possible advantages of this technology-enabled approach, legislative considerations and possible implementation in practice are discussed.

Scope of practice decisions, such as granting pharmacists independent prescriptive authority, are governed at the state level and are often contentious debates. Five states – Florida (FL), New Mexico (NM), Colorado (CO), Idaho (ID), and Oregon (OR) -- have created structures that can theoretically expand independent prescriptive authority through decentralized approaches rather than needing the legislature to approve each drug that pharmacists may prescribe. These approaches have the potential advantage of allowing the states to expand independent pharmacist prescriptive authority to address public health needs more quickly. Four distinct models have been identified from most to least restrictive in practice: 1) medical veto; 2) interdisciplinary committee; 3) board of pharmacy; and 4) pharmacist-determined. These models have generally focused on postdiagnostic and preventive care by pharmacists. In terms of enabling broad pharmacist prescribing, only two of these models have demonstrated success: board of pharmacy and pharmacist-determined. Pharmacy and public health stakeholders considering similar legislation in their own states should consider the success of these decentralized models prior to enacting legislation.

Written constitutions are the norm, unwritten constitutions the rare exception. There is much that can be said as to the commonalities and differences between them. There are, nonetheless, two principal variables that underscore the respective forms of constitution, which in turn impact on the modality of change: the extent to which the constitution is committed to writing, and the extent which the constitution is perceived to be separate from, and superior to, ordinary law. These twin variables are commonly perceived to be linked. There is empirical warrant for this assumption. The paradigmatic written constitution, which contains the principal constitutional norms in a single document, will commonly also enshrine, expressly or impliedly, constitutional review through which courts subject ordinary statute to review for constitutional compliance; the constitutional norms of the paradigmatic unwritten constitution will normally be found in a plethora of sources, and ordinary statute will customarily have pride of place in the constitutional schema. There is, however, no a priori normative reason why these twin variables should be linked in this manner. The embodiment of constitutional norms in a canonical document does not predetermine the content of the constitution, nor does it impel the conclusion that constitutional review exercised by a court must be part of the resulting schema. This is exemplified, as will be seen below, by the UK, where some suggestions for the shift to a written constitution are premised on the assumption that parliamentary sovereignty remains a cornerstone of the constitutional ordering. It is, by parity of reason, equally possible in principle to think of an unwritten constitution, the central features of which are markedly similar to those of the paradigmatic written constitution, such that it is accepted by all relevant players that ordinary legislative power is bounded by certain structural and rights-based precepts that are enforced, inter alia, by the courts. The manner through which this might occur will be considered more fully below. It follows from the foregoing that while the extent to which constitutional norms are committed to writing is of significance in distinguishing the two forms of constitution, the second variable is more important in normative terms, and shapes the way in which change is effectuated. The contrast in this respect is sharp. The foundational starting point of the standard written constitution is the distinction between law-making through ordinary politics and the constitution; the latter circumscribes the former, such that the terrain of ordinary politics is bounded by the constitution. The foundational starting point of the UK unwritten constitution is that parliamentary sovereignty is the principal constitutional principle; the terrain of ordinary politics is boundless and parliamentary sovereignty instantiates and elevates ordinary statute as the vehicle for its delivery. This chapter in honour of Bruce Harris explores the foregoing ideas and their implication for the modality of constitutional change. Issues of constitutional change within the unwritten constitution have been one of the main themes in Harris’ scholarship. The discussion of written constitutions begins with certain preliminaries as to the origins of the modern constitutional form. It is followed by consideration of constitutional content, distinguishing between the horizontal, vertical and structural features generally found in written constitutions, and includes discussion of over- and under-constitutionalization. The analysis concludes with brief reflection on the manner of constitutional change. The focus then turns to the UK unwritten constitution. It begins with certain preliminaries as to historical origins. The ensuing discussion considers the horizontal, vertical and structural provisions of the UK unwritten constitution and the way in which they are shaped by parliamentary sovereignty. The analysis includes the emergence of parliamentary sovereignty in the UK constitutional order, the parallel historical discourse concerning fundamental law, the resultant centrality of parliamentary sovereignty and the ways in which this was justified over time. The inquiry concludes with the modality and frame for constitutional change in the UK.

This article examines accountability discourses in Alberta’s legislative debates on child intervention during the years 2016–19. I demonstrate that the supposedly apolitical discourse of accountability functions as a form of neoliberal and settler-colonial governmentality that reaffirms the legitimacy of settler state intervention into the pathologized Indigenous family. Using the death of Serenity in Alberta’s child intervention system in 2014, and the subsequent legislative debates surrounding her death and the lack of accountability in the child intervention system as a case study, I demonstrate that accountability as both a discourse and a mechanism moves between positioning Albertans-as-Victims, Albertans-as-Stakeholders, and, finally, Albertans-as-Responsible-Agents. Ultimately, I argue that shifting discourses of accountability, which move from governmental to societal to individual accountability, re-centre a relationship of settler possession in relation to the Indigenous Public Child, whose life and death become available for consumption by settler publics in exchange for governmental credibility and accountability.

This article interprets the notwithstanding clause in section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. When a legislature activates the notwithstanding clause, subsection 33(2) temporarily ensures a protected law’s ‘operation’ by preventing it from being ‘inconsistent’ with the Constitution of Canada in the sense of the supremacy clause, thereby precluding judicial remedies such as striking down. Construed in the light of its components (some never considered by the Supreme Court of Canada) and other constitutional features, the notwithstanding clause does not make rights irrelevant or strip them of their legal character. Nor does it confide the assessment of trade-offs about rights to the legislature alone. Instead, subsection 33(3) indicates a framework for such assessments in which the voting public plays a crucial evaluative role. The courts, as interpreters and guardians of the Constitution, can, and in some circumstances should, support the public’s constitutional role by declaring the extent to which a protected law unjustifiably limits Charter rights. The public’s ability to take such declarations into account in evaluating rights trade-offs would advance the democratic purpose of subsection 33(3), a purpose that underpins our constitutional framework more broadly.

New Zealand and Australia are countries which currently prohibit donor payment and require open-identity forms of donation. This study explored the concerns of fertility stakeholders regarding payment which would constitute financial reward for gamete donation, and factors predicting such concerns. A total of 434 participants from across New Zealand and Australia completed an online survey anonymously. Participants included those with infertility and treatment experience, donors, recipients, donor-conceived people and clinic professionals. Results indicated that participants' concerns related to their assumptions about the type of donor motivated by financial reward, and the possibility that, if paid, donors might conceal information relevant to treatment and the donor-conceived person. Furthermore, participants were concerned about increasing recipient costs. Participants with personal experience of infertility held stronger concerns overall. Professionals expressed concerns of clinical relevance, such as the withholding of donor information relevant to treatment outcomes. The lowest levels of concern were expressed in relation to payment devaluing the meaning of human life. Qualitatively, themes highlighted concerns regarding payment enticing the 'wrong' type of donor, increased cost to recipients, and concern about the wellbeing of donor-offspring. Collectively, such concerns must be understood against the New Zealand and Australia open-identity donation context which enables the possibility of contact between donors and offspring. These findings indicate that donor recruitment campaigns need to account for different stakeholder concerns, and consider ways to address donor shortages effectively while remaining compliant with legislative requirements.

Globally, the availability and delivery of cognitive pharmaceutical services (CPS) by pharmacists has expanded over time. Australia has been no exception to this trend, with government funding to support the provision of certain CPS significantly increasing over the last two decades. Whilst medication management services have been consistently funded by the government for more than 15 years, fluctuations in the funding of other CPS have been observed; for example, certain disease state management CPS and introduction of funded MedsChecks. Furthermore, legislative changes have broadened pharmacists’ scope of practice and the CPS provided, contributing to an increase in user-pay services. Although the literature to date has highlighted positive impacts associated with CPS on economic, clinical and/or humanistic outcomes, context-specific, real world evidence for the benefits of CPS is much needed to ensure the profession engages in evidence-based practice. The aim of this commentary is to outline the changes in CPS provision and funding within the Australian context, the existing evidence for CPS, and highlight the implications for future research.

OBJECTIVE: Agricultural cooperatives are formed to promote farmers’ economic, social, and legislative interests. Their role in influencing mental health is less known. We characterized farmers’ experiences with cooperatives and identified the potential impact of cooperatives in promoting mental health. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were conducted in Wisconsin with 12 participants, including farmers, cooperative professionals, and agricultural extension educators. Participants were asked about stress among farmers; cooperative structures and services provided to farmers, and farmers’ interactions with the cooperatives; and the role cooperatives play in reducing stress among farmers. RESULTS: Three main themes were developed: stress farmers were experiencing, available resources from cooperatives, and the role of cooperatives in promoting farmers’ mental health. Stress farmers were experiencing was elucidated through the subthemes: increased stress, depression, and suicide and stressors involving finances, occupational pressure, relationships, isolation, and loneliness. Available resources from cooperatives were described in subthemes: cooperative characteristics, services, and engagement activities. The role of cooperatives in promoting farmers’ mental health was discussed through subthemes: serving as a mental health first responder for farmers, providing support networks, and divergent views on whether co-ops can protect farmers’ mental health. CONCLUSION: Cooperatives provide members market stability, services, and opportunities for decision-making, social interaction, and civic engagement. These resources create a community where farmers feel a sense of belonging and retain a level of control. As rural communities continue to struggle with mental health resource shortages, identifying and evaluating community-based resources such as those offered by the cooperatives is imperative.

This article seeks to explain why Brazil, despite implementing a gender quotas policy for almost 20 years, has the least number of women in national legislatures of all countries in the Americas. It compares key institutional variables, deemed central to explain the success or failure of quotas across Latin American countries. Findings suggest that other, less often explored, variables might help complement the analysis in this field. In Brazil, a central factor explaining the low percentages of elected women is how electoral funds are managed. In an electoral system that promotes a high individualization of votes, significant differences in candidates’ campaign revenues produce imbalances in the fighting for votes that are difficult for women to overcome. Differences in campaign finance might also partly explain the variability in women’s electoral performance in other countries in the region. Este artículo busca explicar por qué Brasil, a pesar de haber implementado una política de cuotas de género que ha estado vigente por casi 20 años, es el país con el menor número de mujeres entre los legisladores nacionales de las Américas. En el artículo se comparan las variables institucionales clave que se consideran esenciales para explicar el éxito o fracaso de las cuotas de género, para participación política, en los países de América Latina. Los hallazgos sugieren que otras variables, menos exploradas, podrían ayudar a complementar el análisis en este campo. En Brasil, un factor clave que explica los bajos porcentajes de mujeres elegidas es la manera como se administran los fondos electorales. En un sistema electoral que promueve una alta individualización de los votos, diferencias significativas en los ingresos de campaña de los candidatos producen desequilibrios en la lucha por los votos que son difíciles de superar para las mujeres. Las diferencias en la financiación de las campañas también podrían explicar en parte la variabilidad en el desempeño electoral de las mujeres en otros países de la región. Este artigo pretende explicar por que o Brasil, embora haja implantado uma política de cotas de gênero vigente por quase 20 anos, é o país com o menor número de mulheres entre os legisladores nacionais das Américas. Comparam-se as variáveis institucionais fundamentais que são consideradas essenciais para explicar o sucesso ou fracasso das cotas nos países da América Latina. Seus achados sugerem que outras variáveis, menos exploradas, poderiam ajudar a complementar a análise nesse campo. No Brasil, um fator-chave que explica as baixas porcentagens de mulheres eleitas é a maneira como os fundos eleitorais são administrados. Num sistema eleitoral que promove uma alta individualização dos votos, diferenças significativas nos ingressos de campanha dos candidatos promovem desiquilíbrios na luta pelos votos que são difíceis de superar para as mulheres. As diferenças no financiamento das campanhas também poderiam explicar em parte a variabilidade no desempenho eleitoral das mulheres em outros países da região.

Financial reports are required from both the federal and municipal governments to demonstrate and improve governance and raise openness and accountability of government financial management. This study aims to determine how much mandatory disclosure in local government financial reports can be increased by adding variables such as the number of members in the legislative body, debt, and population, as well as a control variable – the age of the municipal authorities. The population of this study comprised all Local Government Financial Statements (LGFS) in Indonesia and the Supreme Audit Agency’s financial statement auditing requirements as of 2018. The paper adopted a purposive sample technique; 248 local governments in Indonesia were sampled. This study tested hypotheses using multiple regression analysis with the SPSS Version 25 application. The findings show that the number of members in the legislative body, debt, and total population do not affect the level of LGFS disclosure; however, the level of welfare does. This study should provide information that can help increase LGFS disclosure in a way that is valuable for local governments. Utilization of information technology in meeting social demands more efficiently and effectively is one of the strategies for local governments in carrying out financial statement disclosures.

While growing awareness of the unmet mental health needs of LGBTQ youth populations has prompted calls for greater emphasis on health equity, efforts have largely overlooked glaring inequities affecting LGBTQ youth who become involved with the justice system. The disproportionality of juvenile justice system involvement for LGTBQ youth is a public health concern that merits focused attention and advocacy from child and adolescent mental health professionals. The proportion of incarcerated youth in the juvenile justice system who are LGBTQ is twice that of LGBTQ youth in the general adolescent population.1 Disparities are even more pronounced for girls-40% of incarcerated girls identify as LGB and/or report same-sex attraction.2 Furthermore, gender and sexuality dimensions intersect with racial and ethnic identities for many youth involved in the justice system. In fact, 85%-90% of incarcerated LGBTQ youth are from ethnic or racial minority backgrounds.2,3 Thus, we call for attentiveness to the intersectional inequities facing LGBTQ youth involved in the justice system and offer solutions for improving their mental health outcomes. Child and adolescent mental health professionals can change trajectories of LGBTQ youth through clinical work that addresses modifiable risk factors facing LGBTQ youth, targeted research efforts on the experiences of LGBTQ youth in justice settings as well as intervention studies, and legislative advocacy that provides protective and appropriate services to LGBTQ youth across various justice system touchpoints.

Nursing advocacy serves as the bedrock for supporting problems affecting nursing practice, the nursing profession as a whole, and health care issues. Every nurse has a professional mandate to advocate for the profession and answer the call to action to be the voice in all issues affecting nursing and patient care. Dr. Nicolette Fiore-Lopez shares her personal insights by providing examples of political advocacy in the nursing arena and how one may overcome the fears of conversing with congressional leaders. She addresses the why, the how, and the interface between advocacy and nursing practice. Grounded in the advocacy mission of the American Organization for Nursing Leadership, Dr. Fiore-Lopez reminds us that advocacy is our responsibility as nurses, and we should be able to speak about our profession and the legislative issues that affect it.

Problem setting. Ukraine started recently an important public administration reform as well as an ambitious parliamentary reform. In this regard, one of the main objectives of all State bodies (in particular, Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Apparatus) will be to introduce the new tool of policy analysis in their day-to-day activity.Recent researches and publications analysis. During the last period, many Ukrainian and international scientists analyzed the different aspects of the policy analysis tool, i.e.: V. Bakumenko, M. Bilynska, O. Bosak, M. Gazizov, R. Hertzog, V. Goshovska, B. Gurne, D. Zapysnyy, M. Kanavets, Y. Kalnysh, O. Kilievytch, V. Kniazev, O. Kopylenko, V. Kostytskiy, Y. Lykhach, A. Maliuga, G. Marcou, V. Mironenko, N. Nyjnyj, E. Rakhimkulov, O. Rudenko, V. Tolkovanov, V. Tertychka and others. At the same time, the issue of the practical implementation of this tool in the State bodies’ activity is still underestimated by the scientists and practitioners which will require further researches on this important issue.Highlighting previously unsettled parts of the general problem. Study of policy analysis as a new modern is a complex task. First, the public administration is a new area in the humanitarian cycle of Ukrainian science developed in the context of the dramatic changes that have been taken place in post-totalitarian society. Secondly, most of Ukrainian scientists, politicians, civil servants are not aware of this important tool for decision-making process. Therefore, the main objective of this scientific article is to promote public awareness about policy analysis and to facilitate its implementation of the State bodies’ activity.Paper main body. The article provides a deep analysis of the issues related to the development and further implementation of the policy analysis tool in the activity of the State bodies.It is justified that introduction of this tool becomes extremely important in the framework of the public administration modernization process and the implementation of the parliamentary reform.It is highlighted the reasons of the promoting policy analysis tool as well as the experiences of other countries (in particular, EU countries) regarding its introducing in the public authorities’ activity.It is underlined that the policy analysis is a well-known in Europe and in the world tool. It is recommended by the international and European organizations for the implementation in all public institutions in order to increase their effectiveness and to improve the decision-making process.The particular attention is paid to the analysis of the different scientific schools from the different countries that realize the researches of the different issues related to the policy analysis tool and its implementation in the State bodies’ activity.It is stressed that there are three main stages of the public policy analysis realization, i.e. perspective, retrospective, integrated. At the same time, it is defined eight steps for the public policy analysis implementation, i.e.: formulating the problem, collection of the information, preparation of the alternative decisions, definition of the criteria for problems’ solution, evaluation of the consequences regarding the implementation of the alternative decisions, comparison of the alternative decisions, selecting a decision, ensuring the necessary support for further implementation of an adopted decision.It is also underlined the utility of public policy analysis not only as a theoretical subject, but also as a useful tool for the practical work of the public authorities. There are following important features: definition of the concrete actions for the public policy implementation, justification of the public bodies’ decisions, increasing the effectiveness in the activity of the public bodies, collection and dissemination of the best practices in the decision making process etc.Conclusions of the research and prospects for further studies. On the basis of the conducted research, it is presented the practical recommendations regarding further implementation of the public policy analysis tool in the activity of the executive and legislative power bodies as well as the realization of the main goals of the parliamentary reform and the public administration reform.

Blockchain is transforming not only the way of recording, processing and storing financial transactions and information, but also the way audit firms can practice their profession. The purpose of this article is to examine how this technology will affect the audit profession. Based on a qualitative study carried out on a sample of 17 auditors, this research shows that this technology could affect audit firms at six key levels. Blockchain will allow an auditor to (1) save time and improve the efficiency of their audit, (2) favor an audit covering the whole population instead of an audit based on sampling techniques, (3) focus the audit on testing controls rather than testing transactions, (4) set up a continuous audit process, (5) play a more strategic audit role and (6) develop new advisory services. The results underline the need for the establishment of a clear and coherent legislative system and new audit standards, allowing auditors to embed this technology and enhance audit practices. JEL Codes: M42

The increasing phenomenon of the shadow economy is progressing dramatically in the absence of State culture among officials, whether legislators or implementers, in the absence or ineffectiveness of an organized production sector. Non-compliance with tax accounting procedures is one of the first problems generated by the shadow economy and most difficult not to include it in national output. The lack of tax commitment in the shadow economy leads to an annual tax gap of billions of dollars, if there is no logical interest on the part of the taxing bodies in developing countries, and if domestic and international tax provisions and legislation are not amended to consider of these important economic developments, and how to keep up with this. The issue of the shadow economy is thorny, and the practical way to raise the revenue needed to finance government spending on the goods and services required by society lies in the local and international tax treatment at the technical and legislative levels. Consequently, the current tax systems and their related regulations must be prepared, whether at the technical or legislative level, especially in light of the flow rate of oil barrels and the alternative if it comes into force. The taxation processes allow time to study the tax accounting and tax and take what suits the Saudi environment from them - lessons for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Critical terms for research/shadow economy, tax regulations and systems, tax gab, tax accounting.

The experience of carrying out reforms in the field of property relations regulation both in Ukraine and other countries shows the need to develop clear concepts taking into account the specifics of the country. Nowadays, we often find that the laws governing the institution of property rights, especially land ownership, do not meet the real needs of the producer of agricultural products. That is why the absence of contradictions between the demands of the population and existing legislation must be achieved at the legislative level. The article examines the development of legal regulation of land ownership in Ukraine. The process of reforming property relations in Ukraine since 1991 has been studied, in particular: the privatization process, the mechanism of acquiring property rights to real estate, registration of property rights and other rights to real estate, legal regulation of land cadastre. Legal regulation of the ownership of agricultural land in some EU member states is revealed. Using the forecasting method, the authors formulated recommendations for improving the legal regulation of land ownership in Ukraine.

How we define our problems determines the solutions; yet problem framing within coastal management is rarely critiqued. Consequently, opportunities for comprehensive policy response, vital in addressing the complex challenges impacting the coast, are missed. To address this gap, we develop and apply coastal sustainability paradigms to critique 48 institutional instruments contributing to coastal management in Australia. In doing so, we uncover similarities and differences in the framing of coastal sustainability within Australian coastal management. An anthropocentric framing dominates, particularly at the local scale, prioritising humans over the environment. However, differences exist between and within jurisdictions based on sector and recency of policy reform. We also find evidence of problem-solution coupling, with some States prioritising hazard management over coastal management, through legislative backing of select instruments and sectors. The findings provide those involved in the complex system of coastal governance with the information needed to consider how the chosen framing supports or impedes public engagement and cross-scale and cross-sector coordination.

The research seeks to activate the role of partnership between the public and private sectors by developing successful solutions and developing partnership methods in the field of infrastructure from the economic and developmental aspects, as this research focused on infrastructure financing through the best methods of partnership between the public and private sectors in the field of infrastructure The public sector has turned to other projects through which public services can be provided in a better and more efficient manner. The research addressed the problem of weak infrastructure in the port transport sector due to low absorptive capacity, which called for the development of new methods of rehabilitating and developing these infrastructures through systems and methods. Partnership, which led to the development of port infrastructure, the increase in annual capacity and the increase in competitiveness with other ports. Conclusions have been reached, including the weak infrastructure services provided due to the instability of the economic, political and security conditions, in addition to weak oversight, and the absence of a legislative and legal framework regulating relations between the contracting parties, and despite the presence of several obstacles, the Iraqi ports witnessed rapid development and that To meet the requirements of growth and the volume of global trade through the use of the best partnership systems, including the (BOT) system, where this system is one of the best financing methods adopted by the General Company for Ports of Iraq, which has proven its success through high capacity and increased financial returns.

Effective lawmaking requires collaboration among legislators, who form coalitions to advance their legislative agendas. In this paper, we explore how legislators’ party and gender identities simultaneously influence whom they choose as collaborators by examining differential party and gender homophily during a period of shifting party control and increasing representation of women in the US House of Representatives. We introduce new methods for inferring legislative collaboration networks from bill co-sponsorship data, then estimate cross-sectional logistic regression models on these networks from 1981–2018. We find evidence of differential homophily by both party and gender: Republicans and women tend to prefer same-party and same-gender political collaborators more than Democrats and men. However, party homophily (i.e., partisanship) is stronger than gender homophily, suggesting that party is a more salient identity for legislators than gender.

Activities which are of sensitive and complex socio-economic characteristics have always been the principal focus of the legal system in every nation. “Prohibiting a sensitive and complex socio-economic activity when it cannot be managed by law’’ is a legislative trend in Vietnam which will be further clarified in the article by analyzing the activities that have been banned or just stopped at the level of banning proposals in Vietnam, namely debt collection, and sale and purchase of land in the suburbs of special urban areas. On the basis of analyzing the main causes leading to this legislative trend, the article will also propose solutions with a view to surmounting the current drawbacks and improve the Vietnamese legal system in the direction of democracy and transparency, which will contribute to the sustainable development of the economy and society.

The article examines the conceptual ideas of the World Russian Peoples Council, acting under the auspices of the Russian Orthodox Church, regarding the implementation of the right to freedom of conscience and the status of religious associations in Russia. Furthermore, the speeches of heads of the states at the Councils were studied for their attitude to the ideological content of the activities of this organization. On the basis of the data obtained, the author attempts to find a correlation between the proposals voiced at the Councils on changing certain aspects in the religious sphere and the reforms of the Russian legislation on freedom of conscience. As a result of this study, a striking coincidence was revealed between the two factors mentioned: the provisions discussed at the Councils, as a rule, after some time were reflected in Russian normative legal acts. Not having sufficient grounds for declaring an unambiguous causal relationship between conciliar ideas and legislative reform, one can, in any case, assume a significant impact of the activities of the World Russian Peoples Council on the state policy in implementation of the right to freedom of conscience in modern Russia.

The authors study the institutionalization of midwife specialization among women in Russia in the period from the 18th through the early 20th centuries. The main sources are legislative acts, clerical documents, as well as reports on the activities of medical institutions and maternity departments. The authors use the approaches of gender history, and the concept of professionalization as developed by E. Freidson. Midwifery was the first area of womens work that was officially recognized by the state. There were three main stages on the way to professionalizing the midwifery profession among women. The first stage (covering the 18th century) is associated with attempts to study and systematize the activities of midwives. The practical experience of midwifes was actively sought by doctors whose theoretical knowledge was limited. The second stage of professionalization (corresponding to the first half of the 19th century) was associated with the normative regulation of midwife work and the formation of a professional hierarchy in midwifery. The third stage (comprising the second half of the 19th century and the early 20th century) saw a restriction of the midwives spheres of activity, as well as the active inclusion of male doctors in practical obstetrics and their rise to a dominant position. With the development of obstetric specialization, operative obstetrics, and the opening of maternity wards, midwives were relegated to a subordinate position in relation to doctors. In contrast to the United States and Western European countries, Russia did not have professional associations of midwives. Intra-professional communication was weak, and there was no corporate solidarity. In Soviet medicine, finally, the midwives subordinate place in relation to doctors was only cemented.

The introduction of amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation necessitated a theoretical understanding of the established legal norms after their legislative update. Inclusion in the text of the state basic law of the public authorities concept, which requires its theoretical understanding, is of unconditional interest. To identify the specifics of the position of local self-government bodies in the state mechanism, depending on a particular model of state governance, it is necessary to study the experience of organization and functioning of the state apparatus at various historical stages. The aim of the study is to analyze the concepts of theoretical scientists on the legal nature and role of public authorities in the life of the state and to determine the position of local authorities in the public authority system in connection with consolidation of their unity with public authorities in the basic law of the state. In the process of research, the authors used general scientific methods of analysis and synthesis, as well as specific scientific methods - historical and comparative legal. It is concluded that, despite the novelty of the concept of public authorities in the text of the basic law of the state, conceptually it does not change the basis of the functional interaction of public authorities and local governments. Nevertheless, the normative consolidation of the unity of public authorities in the Constitution of the Russian Federation does not abolish the organizational separation of local self-government and its bodies from public authorities.

This study investigates how supermajority rules in a legislature affect electoral competition. To this end, we construct a probabilistic voting model and show that supermajority rules magnify the divergence of policy platforms generated by aggregate uncertainty about the electoral outcome. Thus, supermajority rules involve an important trade-off: they induce the convergence of policies for non-commitment issues, while also causing the divergence of policies for commitment issues. In addition, we show that the effect of aggregate uncertainty on the optimal voting rule depends on whether its source is a large district-specific shock or a small number of competitive districts.

China’s national legislature uses a process known as ‘recording and review’ (R&R) to ensure that major categories of legislation enacted by other governmental bodies conforms to national law and policy. Long criticised for being ineffective and opaque, recently R&R has grown more robust, transparent, and accessible to the public, and has become the legislature’s main vehicle for cautiously pushing ahead with constitutional review. This article provides an overview of the recent developments surrounding R&R.

study summary this brief study deals with forgery in official and customary literature . which is one of the most important crimes . Because it's dangerous . Not only domestically, but also internationally, it impinges on the freedom of individuals to express their will in legal acts of all kinds , Wasting and undermining trust in state in situations .This study highlighted the organization and legal qualification of the crime. Using the Analytical approach . To analyze the legislative texts . Which dealt with that crime . Comparisons have used these texts together . In order to know the content of the crime and methods used to accomplish it. After that . Legal characterization of element of damage if it is a separate element , an element of the material element or an aggravating circumstance of punishment. Opinions differed on the legal qualify coition of the graduation element from these three tracks .It was concluded that the crime could only occur in the presence of damage. Then we dealt with. The different penalties for that crime and cases where the crime is classified as misdemeanor and the cases where the offence is classified as a Felony. We can concluded that it was necessary for the Egyptian project to promulgate a special law regulating this crime or amending the provisions of its articles . to conclude the recommendations made at the end of this research.

Reproductive coercion is increasingly recognised as a common part of women’s experiences of domestic violence. The term refers to behaviour that aims to compromise a woman’s control over her reproductive choices. It includes coercing a woman to become pregnant or to terminate a pregnancy and sabotaging contraception. There is no Australian research exploring how domestic violence support and legal services understand and respond to reproductive coercion when it is raised. Drawing on focus group discussions, this article questions the use of the terminology ‘reproductive coercion’ suggesting that ‘reproductive abuse’ may be more accessible. The article finds that the response to reproductive coercion in the legal context may be similar to sexual violence allegations, particularly regarding difficulties associated with reporting and with the victim being believed. This connection is worthy of further investigation. The article concludes that legislative change may improve the recognition of reproductive coercion.

The undisputed success of Sri Lanka’s first Election Commission (2015 – 2020) was the conduct of free and fair elections, that is to say, electoral management. I argue in this article that, by design and in practice, it was unable to or failed to advance electoral integrity that is urgently required for the health of Sri Lanka’s constitutional democracy. At critical points when electoral integrity and constitutional democracy were threatened, it is the Court, the traditional institutional check on the Executive and the Legislature, that prevented its further erosion. In this regard, the Commission made a modest contribution, but that contribution was contingent on personal disposition of the Commissioners. The Commission, therefore, was an institutional innovation that addressed symptoms of Sri Lanka’s ailing constitutional democracy but not its root-causes. The Commission has been a necessary but insufficient fix for the electoral pathologies of Sri Lanka’s constitutional democracy. Its ‘guarantor’ function, as I illustrate in this article, is narrowly conceived, perceived and lived out.