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Teacher education in Russia has become the subject of considerable reform over the past 50 years. It is today a complex system of continuous training which gives students a chance to enter the profession in a number of different ways, as well as maintain their professional skill set throughout the course of their careers. This paper offers a comprehensive overview of the history and the state of art initial teacher education in Russia during the last 50 years. It aims to draw on scholarly expertise in Russia and will locate the policies and practices that are discussed within the context of teacher education reform. The main themes of the paper are the history and current practice of Russian initial teacher education. The paper will consider the relationship between policy and practice and examine the respective influences of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), and processes of wider reform in the Russian Federation since the 1990s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent debates about the replication crisis, two positions have been dominant: one that focuses on methodological reforms and one that focuses on theory building. This paper takes up the suggestion that there might be a deeper difference in play, concerning the ways the very subject matter of psychology is construed by opposing camps, i.e., in terms of stable effects versus in terms of complexity. I argue that each gets something right, but neither is sufficient. My analysis suggests that the context sensitivity of the psychological subject matter needs to be front and center of methodological and theoretical efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Every year about thirty billion dollars are spent on aid across Africa, yet recurrent crises followed by a blame game amongst different actors, and a poor understanding of the failures encountered, result in ambiguous assessments and unclear paths for reforms. Through the extended case study of the village of Lojom, this article examines the historical unfolding of a failing aid system in the Karamoja region of northeastern Uganda. The article traces a nexus between the agrarian crisis, the protracted humanitarian regime and social protection, in a regional context of structural underdevelopment. It argues that at the core of failing aid in Karamoja lies a manufactured agrarian crisis that dates back to colonial times. The article concludes that if aid policies and programmes remain inscribed in an enduring agrarian crisis, they will only continue to exacerbate exploitative dynamics of patronage, clientelism and subversion that characterize what is called here "the failing aid complex". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Welfare bureaus constitute a safety net for the dispossessed Arab minority in Israel who are partially excluded from the state social services. The welfare bureau reforms discussed in this article are consequently crucial to improve welfare services for the underprivileged minority service users. This article partially fills a lacuna in the relevant literature by adopting a critical approach to assess the reforms' actual contributions to improving the organizations' performances for minority population social services. It did this by investigating Arab social workers' views on the outcomes of different welfare services reforms for them. An exploratory study drew data from two tools: content analysis of official documents and in‐depth semi‐structured interviews with 19 Arab welfare bureau managers. The documents indicated that the 'Change Program' (1977) produced minimal to no positive outcomes for Arab welfare bureaus. Also, the respondents indicated that the 'Reform in Local Welfare Services' (2017) produced insufficient achievements, detailed in five themes. Two Arab representatives were consulted for the proposed 'Right to Quality Welfare' program (June 2023), which aims to offer a 'uniform welfare basket' to all citizens. The findings indicate that the concept of up‐down comprehensive organizational reforms should be re‐examined, considering instead small but incremental down‐up modifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature on cognitive distortions offers insight on why we continue to face reform challenges regarding police use of force- and citizen interaction-related outcomes. We used two studies of police officers to determine the extent to which one cognitive distortion—dichotomous thinking—was associated with problematic orientations about use of force and citizen interactions. In Study 1, we found that dichotomous thinking was associated with weaker support for de-escalation, procedural justice, and maintaining self-control during hypothetical citizen interactions. Dichotomous thinking also was associated with more support for force-related misconduct. Study 2 showed that officers who engaged in dichotomous thinking were more likely to perceive an immediate and serious threat from watching suspects in body-worn camera videos. Also, they were more likely to believe suspects had greater ability, opportunity, and intent to cause harm. We discuss the practical implications of these findings for policing and police reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sizeable music collection from the Osek monastery has previously been interpreted in light of a catalog that was updated 1754–c1802. The completion of a modern catalog allows for a reappraisal of the history of the institution. Previous research has explained the lack of updates in the catalog during the years 1778–1802 with a decline in musical activity following the reforms of Joseph II. The collection, however, suggests that Jan Jakob Trautzl, regens chori since 1783, began his tenure by acquiring sacred works by Johann Baptist Waṅhal which rank among the largest and most ambitious from the era. There is also evidence of local adaptations of masses into polychoral and polyorchestral arrangements. Except for a possible low point during the years 1787–1789, the reforms thus seem to have had limited effect. The failure to accurately represent the collection in the catalog suggests the necessity for a new paradigm for reading such documents. One may preliminarily consider catalogs' limited potential for additions and emendations and understand them as tools for music professionals rather than librarians. In this view there is nothing surprising about lacunae, but the inclusion of a work becomes a sign of intent from the cataloger. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reflects on the evolution of the coroner's role, coronial legislation, and the processes of coronial inquests into deaths over the past fifty years, highlighting both progress and the need for further reforms. Topics include the broadening scope of coroners' investigations, improvements in death investigations, and the challenges in addressing sensitive cases such as deaths in custody and medical tourism.

This article reviews the history and working mode of the Central Commission for Comprehensively Deepening Reform (CCCDR) to shed light on the underpinnings of 'top-level design' in China's policy process. We demonstrate the paradoxical nature of the CCCDR's 'hard steering': on the one hand, agenda-setting and the creation of major reform policies has been centralized and highly formalized; on the other hand, local circumstances are not adequately taken into account, resulting in low resource-efficiency in policy implementation. This article makes an important contribution to our understanding of the Chinese policy process under conditions of 'top-level design'. By showing how political steering is conducted at the central level and by drawing on a case study, we also critically assess the CCP's governing capacity in the Xi Jinping era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Netherlands reformed its disability insurance (DI) scheme in 2006. Reintegration incentives for employers became stronger, access to DI benefits became more difficult, and benefits became less generous. Using administrative data on all individuals who fell sick shortly before and after the reform, we study the impact of the reform on labor participation of individuals who fell sick and their spouses. Difference-in-differences estimates show, among other things, that the reform led to an increase of labor participation of the individuals who fell sick only if these individuals had a permanent job, whereas spouses responded to the DI reform in other cases, where the individuals reporting sick had a temporary job or were unemployed. More generally, the spouses respond when the sick individual's labor market position is weak and the individual him- or herself has trouble finding or retaining employment. The effects are persistent during the 10 years after the reform. The effect on the spouse can be seen as an "added worker effect," where additional earnings of the spouse compensate for the sick individual's income loss so that both partners share the burden of a more stringent DI scheme. Comparing individuals reporting sick with and without partner provides further support for the notion that the responses of couples to the reform are joint decisions of the two partners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses survey data from Kyoto citizens in Japan to examine the factors affecting citizen evaluations of local government finances. In particular, it probes whether information delivery alters citizen perceptions of government finances. In the pre-information condition, findings indicate that citizens who rate performance, compliance and respect for rights, and accessibility to government information evaluate government finances more highly. The impact of information delivery formed the focus of this inquiry, and the results confirmed the learning effect of the modification of citizen perceptions after accurate financial information was received. Those who have higher or lower prior beliefs about the government are also more likely to revise their beliefs in cases of overestimation or underestimation when provided with information based on accurate fiscal indicators. In addition, when information is provided to citizens who have low accessibility to government information, they are more likely than other citizens to improve their evaluation. This study offers key directions for the exploration of the learning effects of information delivery by local governments and recommends methods for constructing desirable relationships between citizens and governments through such efforts. Points for practitioners This study elucidates the learning effects of the information provided by government officials on citizens. The finding that citizens dissatisfied with their access to government information evaluate the government more highly after receiving accurate information from the government is particularly significant. In addition, citizens focus on the performance of services provision, adherence to established rules and observance of the rights granted to them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the peculiarities of the reform of agricultural protection legislation in Ukraine in the context of European integration obligations. It was concluded that the European agricultural protection model, in addition to substantive and formal components, also has a mandatory technical and legal part, which is represented by important legal mechanisms: a) land registration systems (IACS and LPIS); b) accounting and analytical networks (FADN); c) institutional and functional structures (national payment agencies). European integration transformations in the domestic agro-protection sphere should concern all three components at once: substantive component (specific support mechanisms), formal component (compliance with legislation), technical-legal component (creation of an implementation environment for successful implementation of legislative requirements). In the course of our research, the imbalance of the European integration reform of domestic agricultural protection legislation was recorded. Such an imbalance is manifested in the active anticipatory development of the technical and legal component and in the passivity of rule-making in relation to the substantive and formal parts of the agro-protection model. The identified disproportionality can lead to future legislative problems and conflicts. Perhaps the lawmaker is postponing the reform (or at least its conceptual outline), hoping that he will have time to do it relatively quickly, relying on agricultural protection regulations and EU directives. However, this task is not so simple, because each EU member country must develop its own national version of legislation on state support for agriculture, focusing on its own needs, opportunities and priorities. Given the specific circumstances of Ukraine becoming a candidate for EU membership and the ultra-crisis modern conditions of preparation for accession, Ukraine is once again taking a crooked path of European integration reform of agricultural protection legislation, which may have negative consequences. In this regard, the classic sequence of the European integration reform of legislation on state support for agriculture of Ukraine "from abstract to concrete" seems optimal, namely: 1) conceptual stage (theoretical development of a new system of agricultural protection legislation, selection of legal mechanisms and their legislative form, outline future system of legislation); 2) the rule-making stage (creating the regulatory framework for the functioning of the new support system); 3) technical stage (creation, testing, launch of necessary information products for proper implementation of legal requirements). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThe study employed data from the 2006, 2010–2011 and 2015 Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys to assess the decade of early childhood care and education (ECCE) development in Kazakhstan. Enrollment grew from 15% to 60% but remained lower than the targeted rate of 75%. The effects of the wealth gradient and language disparities on enrollment were reduced significantly. Concurrently, regional disparities in enrollment increased during the reform period and the child’s age became a significant precursor of enrollment over time. Parents opted to enroll relatively older children to ECCE and this trend has been shown to become more prominent over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Once broadly applied, the term "tribe" has been discredited and is now rarely used in the social sciences. Critics argue that the concept is vague, is evocative of primitive and backwards connotations, and has been inappropriately applied to societies that are not "tribal." While these criticisms are well-founded and legitimate, I argue in this Perspective piece that we must not abandon the study of tribes in the Arab world. The concept of "tribe" continues to be salient for Arab citizens and one that they aptly assign to themselves. To address criticisms of previous studies, I offer three ways to reform scholarly pursuit on tribes: (1) adopting a thin conception of tribe (2) treating the concept as a dynamic not static unit and (3) being led by on-the-ground reality and not by theoretical biases regarding the applicability of this term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite zealous political declarations in 2008–2009, post-crisis reform of EU financial markets ended up being rather light handed. This article is an attempt to explore the reasons behind this legislative and regulatory failure by using the theoretical tools of Bourdieu’s field sociology. Studying the regulatory workforce of all players involved in the production of EU financial regulation both in terms of volumes and career paths, it presents the internal hierarchy of what constitutes a distinct socio-professional space or a specific ‘sub-field’ of the ‘field of Eurocracy’ (Georgakakis, D., & Rowell, J. [2013]. The field of Eurocracy, mapping EU staff and professionals. Palgrave-Macmillan). The article then explores the limits in the space of possibilities for reform put in place by this hierarchy. Its conclusions cast doubt on pluralist interpretations of EU decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractMost research on planning systems in Europe focused on North and West Europe, with limited interest in Central Europe and even less attention to ‘post-socialist’ Europe. This study examines the recent reform of spatial planning in Ukraine by developing a new model of institutional change. Based on the empirical findings, supported by the results of an adapted ESPON-COMPASS questionnaire, we argue that Ukraine has undergone a fundamental transformation of the planning system. The research contributes to the theoretical debate on international comparative planning research by establishing a new approach to studying institutional change in planning systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chinese authorities issued the "Guiding Opinions on Further Deepening the Reform of the Household Registration System" in 2014. This policy maintained strict controls on urban hukou in megacities, while slightly less stringent controls were applied in large cities. However, the restrictions on obtaining urban hukou were significantly relaxed in medium-sized cities and completely lifted in small cities. This study examines the causal effects and underlying mechanisms of hukou reform on urban innovation in cities of different sizes, using DID method based on a quasi-natural experiment by the 2014 hukou reform in China. The findings suggest that the hukou reform can significantly promote urban innovation, with particularly strong positive effects observed in large cities in the eastern region, small- and medium-sized cities in the central and western regions, as well as cities with favourable conditions for innovation. The primary mechanisms in which hukou reform influences urban innovation involve enhancing both the quantity and quality of urban labor force, as well as creating a better environment for innovation in cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prevailing view that authoritarian regimes primarily respond to threats of instability is challenged by our research, which posits that such regimes also take citizen complaints seriously, even when they do not pose a direct threat. Based on 238,835 citizen claims from China's largest national online petition platform from 2020 to 2021 and 793,119 citizen claims from Wuhan's local petition website, this study reveals that online complaints result in greater governmental responsiveness, compared to non‐complaints. This institutionalized feedback mechanism is driven by a mix of factors: the upper‐level officials' expectation for negative feedback, combined with bureaucrats' efforts to preserve themselves and avoid punitive consequences. Our findings thus enhance the understanding of what drives authoritarian responsiveness and signal a caution that an overreliance on managing complaints may deepen a stability‐maintenance mechanism, potentially impeding substantial reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is dedicated to the analysis of the functioning of the judicial system and the peculiarities of the judicial proceedings in the rural communities of Galicia between the end of the XVIIIth century and the first half of the XIXth century. The development of legal institutions following the annexation of Galicia to the Habsburg Monarchy is examined, particularly the introduction of the Austrian judicial system, which replaced traditional forms of rural adjudication. The primary focus is on the changes in the structure of courts, the jurisdiction of judges, the process of case hearings, and the participation of peasants in judicial proceedings. The article also characterizes the influences of political, social as well economic factors on judicial procedures and decisions. Special attention is given to the role of peasant self-governance and its integration into new legal norms. The article highlights a significant contribution to understanding the evolution of judicial proceedings in the rural areas of Galicia, which will foster a deeper comprehension of the processes of legal modernization in the Austrian Empire. It describes the impact of the Austrian administration on the judicial system, including a series of reforms aimed at unifying judicial proceedings and implementing Austrian law. This led to significant changes in the structure of the courts, their jurisdiction, and the procedures for implementing their decisions, as the peasants of Galicia had their own traditional legal customs and norms, which often conflicted with Austrian legislation. The integration processes associated with the introduction of the new justice system substantially affected the unique legal culture of the peasants, as rural courts had specific characteristics compared to urban and district courts. The article analyzes legislative acts and reforms introduced by the Austrian authorities in the field of judicial proceedings, their role, and their impact on judicial practice. It identifies the specific features of courts and judicial proceedings in the villages of Galicia during the period under study. The importance of researching this issue lies in understanding the evolution of legal norms, judicial practice, and their impact on the lives of the rural population. The study of the declared problem allows for a better understanding of the legal and social processes that took place in this part of Europe during the specified period. This not only supplements the general picture of the history of law but also helps to identify the roots of contemporary legal traditions and issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Korea has been struggling with its faltering growth over recent years. Sorting out the key elements that have gone into this slowdown and what it takes to sustain growth into the future is important. We address the nature of growth deceleration, structural factors, and future growth scenarios and present the evidence that structural rigidities and poor-quality institutions are important factors behind Korea's very low productivity and hold a key to reviving growth. Reforms can put Korea back on a higher growth path. However, in the absence of reforms or global growth recovery, there is a great risk of long-term stagnation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Almost all medical devices reviewed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are authorized via the 510(k) clearance process, a pathway that does not always require clinical evidence of safety and effectiveness. In September 2023, the FDA issued 3 guidance documents that would modify this process considerably. This article provides an overview of the suggested reforms and identifies opportunities to further promote transparency in device availability and patient safety. Nearly all medical devices reviewed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are authorized via the 510(k) clearance process. Established in 1976, this review pathway bases authorizations on the comparability of new devices to previously authorized devices ("predicates"). This evaluation usually does not require clinical evidence of safety and effectiveness. Advocates of the 510(k) clearance process tout its support for device innovation and rapid market access, and critics of the 510(k) clearance process express that it may inadequately protect patient safety. In September 2023, the FDA issued 3 guidance documents that, if finalized, would significantly change medical device regulation. This article provides clinical and regulatory context for the proposed guidance documents, which focus on predicate selection, clinical testing requirements, and implantable devices, and identifies opportunities for further reforms that promote transparency and patient safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During DNA replication, core histones that form nucleosomes on template strands are evicted and associate with newly synthesized strands to reform nucleosomes. Mcm2, a subunit of the Mcm2-7 complex, which is a core component of the replicative helicase, interacts with histones in the amino-terminal region (Mcm2N) and is involved in the parental histone recycling to lagging strands. Herein, the interaction of Mcm2N with histones was biochemically analyzed to reveal the molecular mechanisms underlying histone recycling by Mcm2N. With the addition of Mcm2N, a histone hexamer, comprising an H3-H4 tetramer and an H2A-H2B dimer, was excised from the histone octamer to form a complex with Mcm2N. The histone hexamer, but not H3-H4 tetramer was released from Mcm2N in the presence of Nap1, a histone chaperone. FACT, another histone chaperone, stabilized Mcm2N-histone hexamer complex to protect from Nap1-dependent dissociation. This study indicates cooperative histone transfer via Mcm2N and histone chaperones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Campaign finance and other political reforms often have redistributive consequences when they improve the position of one group over another. When potentially redistributive reforms are debated or passed, groups may resist or support such reforms depending on their belief about whether the reforms will be advantageous or not to their own position. In dominant party systems such as Japan, we expect that major reforms will have heterogeneous effects for different factions within Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). In 1975 and 1994, reformers in Japan introduced major changes that they hoped would reduce corruption and strengthen political parties over factions. In this article, we empirically investigate the asymmetrical impact of the reforms on the total amount of revenue and contributions disclosed by factions in the LDP. We find that the 1975 reform had significant redistributive effects, including a relatively adverse impact on the faction linked to Tanaka Kakuei in terms of total revenue. The 1994 reforms, in contrast, reveal that the Tanaka faction did the best among the factions in collecting revenues and consolidating its power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study offers a comparative examination of desegregation policy reforms in Belgium, Chile, and the Netherlands, addressing equity reforms to universal school choice systems. Through an analysis of the reform trajectories, we explore the evolution of policies, the causal mechanisms of change, efforts to institutionalize policies, and the sources of resistance to reform. We then undertake a cross-national comparison to discern trends and confirm or disconfirm theorized causes. Policy strategies from each context included nondiscrimination policies, fiscal incentives, and eventually reform of admissions procedures. Causal mechanisms facilitating equity reforms included shifts in political context, grassroots mobilization, generated focusing events through scholarly work and reports of civil society and transnational actors, and effective framing. Oppositional forces from non-state school networks and middle-class/white parents emerged in each context, affecting reform design and the path to institutionalization, but were unable to block reforms. The resulting reforms in each context were the products of compromise that retreated from deeper structural changes, likely mitigating the effects of reforms on school-based segregation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A key element of Plantinga's religious epistemology is that de jure objections to Theistic belief succeed only if de facto objections to Theistic belief succeed. He defends that element, in part, by claiming that human beings have an innate theistic faculty, the sensus divinitatis. In this paper, I argue that Plantinga's religious epistemology makes Christian Theism open to a de facto objection due to the characteristics and distribution of religious beliefs in the world. I defend my argument from a potential objection from skeptical theism, before concluding with a comparison to a similar argument. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article seeks to explain why spatial policy in England has been so ineffective in recent decades. It offers a novel framework – 'Hyper-Active Incrementalism' – to conceptualise the way that public policy in this area is prone to being short-term, under-evaluated, reactive, fragmented, incremental and top-down. It applies this framework to a historical survey of spatial policy, offering a nuanced understanding of the causes of these pathologies. We argue that Hyper-Active Incrementalism helps explain the persistence of a range of Westminster pathologies, as it drives the ongoing dialectic relationship between over-centralisation and policy failure. The data drawn from our historical survey suggest that Hyper-Active Incrementalism has accelerated overtime, a dynamic of increasing governance fragmentation that contributes to the incoherence of the UK state. In conclusion, we argue that governments must learn from past failure not just in this policy area but also elsewhere, by adopting a system-wide approach to reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In several Western countries, police stops have become the object of political controversies on what the objectives and targets of police activities should be. By using the examples of two European countries (France and Scotland) where the issue has been highly politicised over the last 15 years, we will conduct a comparative analysis to show how it has led to significant change in legislation, policy and police practice in Scotland and yet to a policy blockage in France. In both cases, police stops have been politicised through the combination of three interlinked axes: the production of critical scientific evidence, intense media coverage and forceful political attention. Differing national traditions are not sufficient to explain the divergent outcomes. Drawing upon historical institutionalism, we will underline how institutions, understood as stable sets of formal and informal rules, favour certain policy developments rather than others. We will explore how each political context has shaped the balance of constraints and opportunities for reform and we will stress the importance of the respective dynamics of reforms. While both jurisdictions experienced 'hot'political climates, certain conditions needed to be met in order for significant reform to manifest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do workers in low-skilled jobs picture their futures? How are aspirations for career reorientation activated? What influence do institutions have on the objectives that individuals pursue? How do various socio-occupational groups approach and manage their future? What are the major differences between skilled and low-skilled workers? These are some of the questions raised after a series of reforms passed in France that aim to make all individuals the genuine agents of their professional lives and pathways rather than being the passive focus of training programmes and employability initiatives. This paper seeks to investigate these issues. Based on Sen's capability approach and the French linked and longitudinal Defis surveys, we contend that French low-skilled workers are more likely to aspire to career reorientation but have less capability to aspire. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article studies a set of ideological orientations and policy networks in Russia that could be grouped under the term "technocratic liberalism." It provides an account of the origins of the liberal economic experts, their participation in various reform projects, their political and discursive strategies. The focus is on the contradictions of the technocratic approach to reform as revealed in the discourse and actual practice of the reformers, and their attempts to overcome or avoid these contradictions that ultimately led them to the position they found themselves in after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay serves as an urgent cause for action and open call to envision the abolition of U.S. law schools. Traditional legal education's current manifestation, I argue, serves as a unique system of socialization that advances harm in service of the USA as a settler nation-state. Through a historically grounded analysis of the law school as a project of exclusionary power, this essay identifies traditional U.S. legal education's (1) pedagogical harm, in the imperial curriculum and instruction of law students; (2) structural harm, in the gatekeeping of legal knowledge; and (3) ideological harm, in the training of future lawyers as agents of settler-state power. Drawing from movements of scholarship-activism in critical legal pedagogy, rhetorical studies, and abolition, this essay proposes radical reforms to the law school as footholds toward freedom. In situating the law school as a critical zone of abolitionist struggle, this essay makes the case that rhetoricians, legal scholars, and advocates aligned with the work of liberation might join across disciplines, jurisdictions, and time to advance "non-reformist reforms" to traditional U.S. legal education. Only through conscious processes of reimagination, I insist, can we more forcefully contribute to the abolition of oppressive formations of power everywhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study conducts a critical discourse analysis on Turkey's European Union (EU) accession, focusing on the narratives of TÜSİAD and MÜSİAD. Employing the Discourse-Historical Approach within Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), the research explores how economic, political, and social factors shape these groups' stances on EU accession. The findings reveal TÜSİAD's advocacy for economic integration and democratic reforms, in contrast with MÜSİAD's emphasis on economic sovereignty and pragmatic EU engagement. These perspectives reflect the interplay of interests within Turkish society and broader EU policy trends, highlighting these groups' roles in shaping Turkey's EU accession discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the moderating role of the business environment in the relationship between top manager gender and firm performance, using firm‐level data from 29 African countries. Controlling for endogeneity and country fixed effects, we find that female‐managed firms generally underperform male‐managed firms, except among large firms where female managers excel. The performance gap is exacerbated by a weak business environment, highlighting the need for reforms to close the managerial gender gap in Africa. Strengthening the business environment is essential for improving female‐led firm performance and by extension promoting gender equality in African business leadership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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To estimate the causal effect of employment protection on firms' worker selection, we study a policy change that reduced dismissal costs for the employers of more than a tenth of Sweden's workforce. Our difference-in-differences analysis of firms' hiring uses individual ability measures, including estimated worker fixed effects, GPA at age 15, and military test scores. We find that the reform reduced minimum hire quality by around 2 percent. Our results show that firms both decreased their hiring thresholds and hired more workers. We find that firms increasingly hired young, foreign-born, and long-term nonemployed individuals, suggesting potential welfare gains from the reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction sector has undergone significant reforms towards increased sustainability in recent decades. Therefore, there has been a great interest in developing alternative binders for stabilising expansive clay subgrades and improving their mechanical properties while mitigating their swelling and shrinking behaviour. One such alternative binder is vinyl acetate-ethylene (VAE) polymers. However, there are only a few studies on utilising polymers, especially VAE polymers, for clay stabilisation. Specifically, there is a lack of research on using VAE polymer-stabilised clays for road subgrade purposes. This study aims to address this knowledge gap by evaluating the potential of using a VAE solid powder polymer to stabilise expansive clay subgrade through a comprehensive series of mechanical tests as well as physicochemical and microstructural analyses. The results of the experiments provide evidence that the introduction of the polymer considerably improved the mechanical strength and swell and shrinkage behaviour of the expansive clay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women are underrepresented in many prestigious positions. Could increasing the share of women in hiring committees boost the rates at which women are hired into these positions? I use a difference-in-differences design to examine the effects of a French law on academic hiring committees that required each gender to represent a share of at least 40% of members. Contrary to the objectives of the law, I show that the reform backfired and significantly lowered women's probability of being hired. Because the negative effect of the reform is concentrated in committees headed by men, this result seems driven by the reaction of men to the reform. I find little evidence that the reform affects supply-side characteristics, such as the likelihood of women applying. The results suggest that the underrepresentation of women is unlikely to be solved by simply increasing the share of women in hiring committees or interview panels. This paper was accepted by Isabel Fernandez-Mateo, organizations. Funding: This work is supported by the ANR LIEPP [Grants ANR11LABX0091 and ANR11IDEX000502]. Supplemental Material: The online appendix and data files are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2022.01637. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the state's competing obligations to enforce and not enforce the law, arguing for the existence of a general duty against maximal enforcement. It explores the reasons why excessive enforcement can be inefficient, oppressive, and counterproductive, suggesting that the state has a freestanding obligation to limit its enforcement of laws, particularly in the context of criminal justice reform and minimalism.

The article focuses on criminal law minimalism, analyzing its scope and scale as a framework for reforming the U.S. criminal system. It explores key questions about what aspects of the criminal law should be minimized—such as substantive laws, carceral punishment, and policing and how much minimalism should guide institutional practices. It argues that minimalism presents both radical and pragmatic possibilities, raising critical debates about the normative vision of criminal law.

Decentralization is an important and commonplace type of reform, yet our understanding of its effects remains limited. This paper documents the effects of the 2009–10 wave of district creation in Uganda, which increased the country's districts by 42 percent, using rich data on subdistrict units to assess the effects of district creation on a broad range of post-decentralization outcomes in a difference-in-differences framework. The effects of decentralization are concentrated in newly split off—rather than split from—districts, and are heterogeneous across outcome types. Newly split-off districts have more per capita frontline workers, but appear to have worse quality infrastructure and lower economic development. The study also presents suggestive evidence that administrative capacity decreases for newly formed districts post-split. These findings demonstrate the importance of considering a broad range of outcomes when thinking about decentralization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why are some countries able to go ahead with comprehensive top-down local government amalgamation reforms, despite the many challenges such a reform entails? So far, we have limited theoretical and empirical understanding of how central governments manage to adopt such reforms. Drawing on different theoretical frameworks around public policy as well as research into territorial reforms, this article presents key political and institutional factors that are likely to facilitate top-down municipal mergers and examines whether these theoretical propositions help to explain the adoption of comprehensive top-down municipal amalgamation in four cases: Denmark, Estonia, Ireland, and Portugal. Key political and institutional factors identified in existing frameworks provide a useful starting point for understanding and explaining top-down comprehensive municipal amalgamation reforms, such as the role played by the breaking up of existing policy monopolies and emergence of new venues for discussing the reform. At the same time, the cases also reveal some important nuances that at times run counter to theoretical expectations. Our cases also reveal further factors, including the "bundling" of amalgamation reforms with other wider initiatives, and the potential effect of "distracting events" that should be taken into account in the further development of theoretical frameworks concerning top-down amalgamations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gender is traditionally conceptualized as a binary construct, which is reflected in the use of binary‐gendered third‐person pronouns. Gender‐inclusive pronouns such as singular they challenge this conceptualization, which can evoke resistance against their use. Singular they can be used generically when gender is unknown (de‐gendering), or to specifically highlight an individual's non‐binary gender identity (multi‐gendering). The different uses of singular they can threaten different ideological convictions and impact the use and perception of the pronoun. Experiment 1 (N = 599) showed that in de‐gendering contexts, participants preferred to use singular they but in multi‐gendering contexts they preferred binary pronouns. Social identification with one's gender group, RWA and binary gender views predicted less use of singular they in both contexts. In Experiment 2 (N = 199), participants evaluated sentences with singular they in de‐gendering and multi‐gendering contexts. Overall, sentences with singular they in de‐gendering contexts were more positively evaluated. SDO predicted less positive evaluations of they in de‐gendering contexts, while RWA and binary gender views predicted less positive evaluations of they in multi‐gendered contexts. The findings provide important knowledge in understanding ideological motivations for resistance against gender‐inclusive language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The complexity of the idea of a university has been intensified globally as more universities pursue entrepreneurship. For modern universities in China as latecomers, contemporary entrepreneurial reforms are implemented against a backdrop of ongoing interactions between Chinese and Western ideas of a university, with the Western established as the formal system and the Chinese functioning informally yet powerfully. Through 71 semi-structured interviews at four universities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, this study explores how academic freedom and institutional autonomy are perceived by Chinese academics under entrepreneurial reforms. The study has two major findings through Clark’s analytical framework of academic, government, and market forces: (1) A novel form of statist academic freedom is emerging, merging traditional Chinese scholarly values with state-driven entrepreneurial demands; (2) The adapted triple helix model in China emphasises competition and excellence, shaped by a unique blend of state influence and market dynamics. It offers a nuanced perspective on academic freedom and institutional autonomy amidst entrepreneurial reforms in China, highlighting a compatibility with Chinese idea of a university and a response to global entrepreneurial pressures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a tentative reading of proposed English planning reform under the Labour government elected in July 2024. Key aspects of the agenda are reviewed, together with the proposed extension of an ongoing devolution and decentralisation programme. Labour’s reforms are characterised as the leading-edge of a generally cautious ‘new state capitalism’. Though there are similarities with previous ‘roll-out neoliberal’ arrangements under the New Labour governments from 1997 to 2010, the altered political-economic context will likely reinforce some distinctiveness in terms of the meaning and implementation of reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We introduce a typology of election administration harms and apply it to empirically study the consequences of ballot design. Our typology distinguishes between individual, electoral, and systemic harms. Together, it clarifies why ballot design can be a particular vulnerability in election administration. Using both ballot‐level and precinct‐level data, we revisit Florida's 2018 United States Senate race, in which Broward County's ballot design flouted federal guidelines and, according to critics, was pivotal to the outcome. We estimate that Broward's ballot design induced roughly 25,000 voters to undervote in a race determined by about 10,000 votes and that these excess undervotes were concentrated among low‐information voters. Broward's ballot did not, however, affect the outcome of the election. Nonetheless, flawed ballot designs are still concerning in an age of voter distrust. Given the risk that flawed ballots can cause systemic harm, we offer a roadmap for procedural reforms to improve ballot design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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A company's 3.1 MM TPY continuous reforming unit adopts domestic ultra-low pressure continuous reforming (SLCR) technology with indigenous intellectual property, and uses continuous reforming catalyst PS-VI. It is currently the largest domestic continuous reforming unit. During the shrink-fit assessment stage after the large-scale installation, the displacement of various equipment and pipeline supports and hangers in the reaction and regeneration system is normal and consistent with the design data. After the unit is put into operation, the trend of thermal displacement in the reaction and regeneration system is consistent with the results of the shrink-fit assessment. The performance assessment results of the unit show that, in the case where the aromatic potential content of the raw material is 7.49 percentage points lower than the design value, the liquid yield of C5+ of the unit is 88.15%, the pure hydrogen yield is 3.80%, the mass fraction of aromatic hydrocarbon in the depentane oil is 82.84%, and the aromatic hydrocarbon conversion rate is 172% . After half a year of operation, the catalyst dust content remains stable from 8 kg/d to 12 kg/d, and all economic indicators are good. The PS-VI catalyst exhibits good reaction activity, selectivity and low wear rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ‘Greek language problem’ in the USSR represented a special ‘case of complex ethno-linguistic identification,’ because in the Soviet Union, in addition to Katharevousa and Dimotiki, several dialects (languages) were used as a spoken language. In May 1926, at the first All-Union Meeting on Cultural Building among the Greeks of the USSR it was decided to abandon the use of Katharevousa. However, the reform of 1926 created the ground for a very broad interpretation. In 1932–1934, several more meetings on the ‘Greek issue’ were organized in the USSR, as well as a linguistic expedition to the places of residence of the Greeks. But the final decision on the ‘language problem’ has never been made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using China’s seemingly contradictory positions on the Arctic as a starting point, this article examines China’s official and academic Arctic discourses. This paper proposes that China’s apparently contradictory positions in the Arctic region are the result of the dialectical resolution of discursive tensions. Using an original dataset of over one thousand Chinese academic articles and books, together with China’s official statements, this article presents China’s Arctic policy discourse as a polyphonic landscape where diverse opinions and ideas compete within a discursive field. The research proposes that by utilising dialectical thinking, China is able to seek a middle ground between conflict and cooperation, between the near-Arctic state and stakeholder identities and between resource development and environmental protection. China also aims to preserve the status quo while striving to reform Arctic governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Size-controlled monodisperse droplets are indispensable in food, cosmetics, and healthcare industries. Although emulsion formation from bulk phases is well-explored, a robust in situ method to continuously reform existing emulsions is unavailable. Remarkably, we introduce a continuous flow acousto-microfluidics technique which enables simultaneous trapping–coalescence–splitting of droplets to reform an existing polydisperse emulsion into size-controlled droplets with improved monodispersity. In contrast to conventional approaches, our platform enables controlling droplet characteristics in situ by regulating acoustic power without altering hydrodynamical parameters thereby improving response time and facilitates continuous nozzle-less clogging-free droplet generation from a liquid plug in a chamber instead of from a liquid stream at a narrow junction. The technique can process polydisperse droplets produced not only due to fluid-source fluctuations or unstable jetting regime but also externally by non-microfluidic or inexpensive setups. Our theoretical scaling suggests that the sum of capillary (Ca) and acousto-capillary (Caa) numbers ∼ (1), and predicts the generated droplet size, both agreeing well with the experimental findings. We identify acousto-visco-capillary number, Caav = (Ca Caa)1/2, which governs the generated droplet size. We also explore and characterize acoustic streaming- and coalescence-based mixing of samples inside the trapped plug. Distinctively, our platform is amenable to continuous mixing of inhomogeneous droplets, offering monodisperse mixed-sample droplets, and holds the potential to match current throughput standards through suitable design modifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mobility of R&D elements is an essential means to achieve the optimal allocation of regional resources and to promote regional high-quality development. However, there is still a wide divergence in academic research on the relationship between R&D element mobility and regional innovation, as well as a lack of evidence on the magnitude of the correlation. It constrains the effective operation of the innovation system to a certain extent. Based on this, this paper employs a meta-analysis to summarise and interpret the 411 effect values of 33 representative literature to explore the mechanism of R&D element mobility on regional innovation. The results reveal a moderate positive correlation between R&D element mobility and regional innovation. Sampling scope, sampling region, data period, mobility direction and innovation output all significantly moderate the relationship between the two. This finding is of great significance for the future reform of factor marketisation. It provides theoretical support and practical guidance for the further realisation of the goal of high-quality development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]